Saturday, September 30, 2006

I've been tagged

Judy tagged me with a meme of sorts, I suppose, which I've never participated in before, but this one sounded fun.
Judy, I sort of read the details page about this top 5 thing going around, but I'm horribly notorious for skimming everything. So here's my top 5 foods that I've tried that everyone should try before they die...is that how it works? haha. Although I've been to Europe a few times, I don't have many experiences with veg restaurants, but I wish there was a to-die-for one I could recommend.


1-vegetable paella from Spain. While all my classmates were grossed out because their seafood paella came with whole tiny crabs in it, mine was all veggies, and amazingly delicious. You could try and make it yourself but nothing's as good as the real thing. Plus its a great excuse for a trip! Have it with a chilled glass of sangria.

2-Poutine. This is a toss up. I haven't made vegan poutine yet...but to all non-vegans, if you think poutine is authentic in any part of the world other than Quebec...wrong! I admit, I did live in la belle province for 6 years so I *may* be slightly biased. But honestly, who did Mickey D's think they were serving what they wanted to pass off as poutine. Horrors! Maybe I'll move to Quebec and open up a vegan poutine stand.

3- Portobello mushroom bake...not a food, a meal, a recipe from Garden of Vegan by Sarah Kramer and Tanya Barnard. Of the hundreds of recipes I've tried from many books, this still remains my absolute favourite.

4-Gelato from GG Gelati in Winnipeg's Little Italy district. I've had gelato in Italy that for some reason didn't taste as good as the stuff in the 'peg. Once I went vegan, my options were reduced, but they still have a variety of dairy free flavours that rock my socks off...including one that tastes just like fudgsicles. The fruit flavours taste like they just came from the farmer's crop to your mouth....so juicy and fresh. Its actually a main reason that I miss living in Manitoba.

5-Tofu. While most people reading this blog are probably intimately familiar with that beautiful block of soy, tofu really is a food that everyone should try. Its so innocent, its made from a bean, yet its probably the scariest food that many people can think of. I used to be one of those people. But its so versatile, that sometimes, you wouldn't even guess that a dish had tofu in it. In fact, that's how I've gotten my family to try it, and probably the only way that would've worked. You should see the look on peoples' faces when they eat a dessert I made and I tell them there's tofu in it. WHAT?!?! haha. If you don't try it, you'll seriously miss out on a plethora of ideas and options, folks. Even Billy likes tofu in some way...usually when I use it to make Naked Mousse...;). My favourites include: tofu omelets, tofu stirfries (I mash it up into little pieces), and tofu cheesecake.

And now I'm to tag more people...read the links up above for more info folks:
Michelle(Goob lol)
Michelle
Carrie
Urban Vegan
Danielle

Ladies, there's no pressure, you don't have to do it...this brings back memories of chain letters and feeling bad for not doing them :P

By a show of hands?

I've been avoiding putting word verification on my comments section, just because I know it slows people down. But maybe its a necessary evil...I am getting sick of the anonymous bots. If I change the option of who can post to "registered users" will that just mean that you have to have an account with blogger?

More Fun in the Kitchen

So the picture of my leftover portobello cannelloni from LDV isn't that great...since most foods that involve cheese never look good as leftovers (think mac and cheese) , and the lighting is horrid, but I'll still post it to give you an idea. Yesterday, I enjoyed the sauce, but today, it wasn't really saucy anymore. But, the flavour of the mushrooms really came out today. I do believe I'll be making this dish again. The lighting in the apartment isn't all that great for pictures, and its been cloudy all day, so my pictures aren't very pretty today. Oh well, the food is still delish.













I also made the blueberry buns from Vive le Vegan last night. These turned out to be more like giant cookies (which isn't always a bad thing I guess haha). They're sweet but not overly sweet and the ground oats and blueberries make this a great, healthy snack for my school lunches. They have a muffin-like texture. I used frozen berries that leaked alot, so the batter turned out purple/blue.













I am quite sick today, so all I managed to do was make a brown rice/wild rice mix that I will be using tomorrow in a recipe and I also made the berry oat squares from LDV. I have made a few oat-based bars, and I have to say I really enjoy them. The bottom baked really nicely, to give a crunchy texture. The filling is made from blueberries and jam. And the top is just the same oat based mix as the bottom, but sprinkled on. Again, these aren't overly sweet, just perfect from the fruit. You could even eat these for breakfast, a step up from boring granola bars ;)













Well I have to do a species account on the common stingray. You think there would be more info available on a species with the name common in it??? I chose the species because everyone knows the stingrays, and logically there would be lots of reputable, available information. Oh well. See you later!

Friday, September 29, 2006

What took me so long?

Wow I'm dead tired. But I promised to post for a reason...so I wouldn't get out of it! It feels good to be back! So I'll start off with another Wolffie sensation from La Dolce Vegan...her BLT brunch casserole. Sounds weird doesn't it? But its delicious and great any time of the day. Its base is toast "cubes" spread with veganaise (or your choice of mayo) followed by scrambled tofu, slice tomatoes, "bacon" bits, a yummy cheese sauce made with nutritional yeast and green onions. After its done baking you serve it on a bed of lettuce. This was my second time making it. I've had other nutritional yeast sauces before that were so-so, but this one is great.














Tonite for dinner I made the portobello cannelloni with sun-dried tomato white sauce from LDV. From the few bites I've taken so far, it is turning out very nicely. However, my camera batteries are recharging so I'll have to take a picture of the leftovers later. Its a very elegant looking meal though.

On the non-food side of things, Billy and I adopted a kitten from PetSave two weekends ago. There were lots of cute kitties, but Billy wanted an all-black cat, since he had one in his childhood. So we took home a 3 month old cat that was named Jetty...and after about 6 name changes, he is now named Logan/Wolverine, as in the Xmen movie. I had settled on the name Andre/Dre, but we soon realised that this kitty likes to use his claws! It suits him pretty well, until we find another name ;) haha. He's very playful and I'm trying to train him not to bite or scratch us but its not working out so far.
Did I mention he likes climbing things?? Including our legs (we've got the scratch marks to prove it)














Coming soon...

I think I'm sufficiently remotivated to start posting (and cooking) again. I haven't figured out how to load pictures onto our new computer without the software CD that I can't find, but I can load pictures onto my laptop and then load them onto my new USB drive.

I don't work tonight so I'm going to be cooking up a storm. But before I start that I'll write a short post with at least one food picture and I'll show you guys our new kitten Logan/Wolverine!

In other news, I have an orientation at the Children's Aid Society today. Instead of placing me in a school to complete my practicum, the School of Ed. put me with the CAS. There's one good thing about it though, I get trained for non-violent crisis intervention, which apparently is very pricey if you take it independently.

See you soon!

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Does anyone know what to do so that my profile and links to blogs isn't at the bottom of the page??? Still looking for that CD that will let me transfer pictures onto the computer. I miss my blog and am saddened over my procrastination!