Surprise!

I just came back from a surprise birthday dinner for my dear friend Caroline. We ate at Respect is Burning and wow, it was good. The owner came over when he heard I was vegan and offered to make me a pasta dish off the menu with tons of yummy stuff. I told him no capers, no olives, please and have at 'er! I was not disappointed. I don't like to take food pictures at swanky restaurants, but it was fusilli with mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, greens, and lots of flavour!

My friend Erica, the baker extraordinaire, made delicious vegan cupcakes for everyone (since Caroline is also vegan). OMG They were sooooooo good. Dense chocolate cupcakes topped with a sweet raspberry icing. I love going out and getting so much delicious food. It just tastes better when you don't have to do it yourself.

I brought Billy home a cupcake since it was a girls only dinner and managed to snap a quick picture before he ate it.


Happy Birthday Caroline! xoxo

300!!

No, not the half-naked kind of 300....it's my 300th blog post! And yay, I have dessert to show as a celebration. Things just work out for me that way :P

Billy and I went to visit the in-laws this weekend for Easter. As usual, I had a plate piled high with yummy, cruelty-free food (which I ate too quickly to take a picture of). I had Tofurky and gravy, mashed potatoes, mixed veggies, buns, and stuffing. Delicious....also, we stayed a night at my brother in law's new apartment, and him and his fabulous girlfriend made us a yummy mexican pasta. Gotta love being spoiled (and not cooking every once in a while).

Dessert was a low fat chocolate bundt cake with cherry filling and "whipped" topping. My MIL found a tofu based "whipped cream" recipe. While it wasn't the same consistency as cool whip, it was actually really good and added a little decadence to the cake, which was similar to a black forest cake.

The drive home was not a pleasant one for Dill (or my mom's car). She ate something and has been sick since last night. She puked no less than 10 times in the car :(


A big thank you to those that read this blog. Here's to 300 more!

Orange ch'kn

From Quick and Easy Comfort Foods, this orange chicken is really good! Neither orange nor containing much orange flavour, it's still satisfying (only 1/4 cup oj in the recipe). And finally, Billy can have some OJ since I told him hands off til I made this :) I served it with arborio rice and some mixed veggies. Very filling. Instead of using tofu or seitan, like the recipe said, I used PC meatless chicken and some Yves turkey I had in the freezer.

WIPs: Works in Progress

I recently finished a zigzag pillow cover and now I'm knitting another one (from the same pattern book). This is using Bernat Super Value Solids (100% acrylic) in Forest Green. It is using up the leftover yarn from the sofa blanket I made earlier this year. So while I may hate my couch, I will love the super comfy blanket and two matching pillow covers! This one is easier to knit than the zigzag pattern as it's a bit more repetitive and intuitive, so I don't have to check the pattern every minute.



I'm always searching out new vegan knitting blogs to find out about the best non-animal fibers out there. I've recently added some of my favourites to my blogroll. Anyways, I thought I would say a little about the yarns I use for my projects for anyone else searching for this information.
My latest work in progress, garden gloves, is made using Debbie Bliss Ecobaby 100% fairtrade organic cotton (in sage). I found it to be very splitty at first, while casting on, but once the project got under way it improved drastically. It's nice and squishy and I love the colour! It's softer than some other cottons I've used. I got it at my local yarn store for 7.95 a skein (50g).


The glove is a simple stockinette stitch, with ribbing for the wrist. There will be individual fingers for the gloves, without fingertips.

New cookbook!

I bought myself a new cookbook, which is one of my favourite ways to treat myself! I got Veganize This!. It's gotten some poor reviews for being complicated, time consuming and requiring substitutions. But I like to have all kinds of recipes on hand ranging in the spectrum from super easy to super fancy. I made two recipes from it this week. The titles are really long and seem to list every ingredient in them, but don't let that scare you away!

Vegan Escargots à la bourguignonne en croûte vegan brioche with café de Paris butter (woo what a mouthful!)- Veganize This!

This is a Sunday kind of recipe, the kind where you need a whole day to be able to lazily make this. First, you have to make the brioche. I was a bit too hasty and didn`t let it rise enough because my loaf wasn`t as big as it`s supposed to be. BUT, it's delicious!! Then you shape the brioche into little cups, top it with mushroom that's been cooked in a seasoned broth with veggies, and then top it with the cafe de Paris butter. I will be reducing the mustard in the butter sauce next time, but other than that...delicious! I only had escargots a few times when I was around 12 or so, so I don't remember them other than being chewy, so I think these fit the bill. I couldn't get morels, so I used shiitakes.



Cumin and Avocado Oil-Rubbed Portobello Tortas with Pico de Gallo and Basil-White Peppercorn Mayo- Veganize This

Again, don't be put off by the title. In real life, this is a portabello "burger" with mayo and pico on a bun. And it's scrumptious!! I couldn't find tortas, so I bought kaiser rolls which is what the book suggests as a sub. Also, it's supposed to be a dragon fruit pico, but mine rotted before I could make this (what a waster). Also, it's supposed to be purple basil in the mayo. But I did what I could. I love everything about this recipe: the flaky kaiser, the creamy mayo where basil is centre stage, the fresh pico, the savoury and grilled portobello and the crunchy romaine to top it off. I highly recommend this recipe. Also, it didn't take much time (and would take even less if you pre-made the condiments).


I love when I can use my grill pan :) And, I was really excited to use avocado oil, since that's new for me.



Dill and Mushroom Frittata- Vegan Brunch

I totally bought the wrong tofu for this recipe (too soft), so it didn't keep the pie shape it's supposed to when it comes out of the oven. So mine is more of a scramble/omelette. But still very tasty. How great is fresh dill??


Finished Object
A pointy elf baby hat, how cute! I made this with my leftover organic cotton. Did you know that cotton farmers have a very high rate of cancer?? I'll never complain about the cost of organic again!


And lastly, our fur baby family, all getting along, because they're unconscious I guess ;)

WANT

http://www.herbivoreclothing.com/products/Cow-Hugger-gray-tote-bag.html

I maybe have to make some internet orders soon. This picture reminds me of a picture book my dad once got me about children that visit a farm. I have warm memories of that book :)

Pesto Gnocchi

Potato Gnocchi with Ligurian Pesto and Peas- Vegan Italiano
This cookbook has never disappointed. The recipes are pretty basic and the recipes are so pure and easy, that you can't go wrong. None of the recipes call for tofu or non-dairy milks, or "cheese". It's traditional Italian fare (so not the bastardized North American version) using fresh ingredients, from the regular grocery store.

Lunch today was no different. It's gnocchi tossed with peas and Ligurian (a region of Italy) pesto. So good! Billy had a bite and said "hey, that's actually really good", like he was expecting it not to be :P He's never had gnocchi or much pesto for that matter, so it was a good first experience!

The pesto has fresh basil and parsley, pine nuts, salt and olive oil. I added a bit of vegan parm too. I bought a huge bag/bouquet of basil at the market today. Honestly, you could bring me that instead of flowers and I would be happy. It's such a great smell!


Knitting
I finally finished a cushion cover I've been knitting off and on since December. I got bored and kind of ignored it for a while, but I'm pleased with the end result. My couch pillows are old and the colour doesn't go with our living room anymore so I thought this would be a cheap fixer-upper. The yarn is the same yarn used in the blanket I made a while back (also pictured).

6 away

After this post, I'm 6 posts away from 300! What am I going to do...probably let it pass by quietly since I am horrible at planning ahead.

This week's kind of a non-grocery week so we're making whatever we've got.

Veggie Bake- Looneyspoons
Pretty much like a pot pie but with bread crumbs sprinkled on top instead of a crust. It's okay, nothing special.


Random Pasta
Spaghetti mixed with tomato sauce, spinach and TVP, as well as a bit of salsa. Quite good.


I had to go to the grocery store for some margarine, and I found some great vegan stuff they didn't have before, so I'll be doing a product review soon. Also, they now carry Daiya! Woo hoo!

Knitting Update

I got a Michael's gift card from my brother and sister in law for my birthday. So I splurged and bought two skeins of organic cotton, which was 11$ a skein. So worth it! It is so soft and I love the earthy colour. I made a soft basket with it, which is currently holding more yarn! I have almost a whole skein left (as seen in the picture), and I've already cast on with it to make a cute pointy elf hat for a baby.






Also, I just finished these fingerless mitts using the leftover yarn from my socks. I made them the bigger size, because I have big hands, but even then, they are loose. I'm a loose knitter and need to remember that! These are finished just in time, while the weather is warming up and my winter mitts are becoming a bit warm.


I finished those baby socks I showed a while back. Still working on that darn pillow cover. I also finished a baby bonnet but don't have pictures yet.

The local yarn store has started stocking summer yarns, which means more cottons, viscose, linen, bamboo, and less wool. So I will be stocking up and hopefully starting some more projects.

Happy Knitting!

Saturday morning...a cuppa tea and blogging :)

Happy Saturday! The sun is out and the air smells like the promise of spring! This has been a rough and tiring week so the cooking kind of slacked, and we had a birthday dinner for Billy but I managed to make some things...

Mac and Cheeze- QAEVCF
Dinner last night. I love this mac and cheese. I love that it doesn't use non dairy milk or cheese to make it so creamy and delicious. Cashews and macadamia nuts do that. And carrots give it it's lovely yellow hue.


Pizza Pockets
Billy wanted to make ham and cheese pockets again. This time we tried it with pizza dough instead of croissant dough, and he added pizza sauce. They were yummy! But we will stick to croissant dough, its more flakey and less heavy. These have slices of Tofurkey deli slices and vegan cheese in them.


Lemon cashew stuffed crepes- Vegan Brunch
I made these on Sunday morning. You need quite a bit of time. The cashews need to be soaked overnight, you have to make the creamy cashew stuffing, the berry sauce, and the crepe batter has to sit for an hour. That being said, it is SO worth it!! Like the book says, this is almost like eating cheesecake for breakfast! The cashew filling is like a sweet ricotta, and it gets better if you let it sit in the fridge a bit and absorb all that lemon flavour. Mmmmmmmmm. If you've got Vegan Brunch, make this! I chose to make blueberry sauce because I felt it would go really well with the lemon flavour.




Billy's BBQ meal of the week
Billy had the idea to BBQ some "chicken" and make wraps with it. He is awesome on the BBQ and it's nice to let him do some of the cooking ;). After he BBQ'ed this PC meatless chicken, I chopped it up and mixed it with a bit of vegan mayo and some A1 BBQ sauce. Topped with lettuce and tomato and wrapped up in a flour tortilla, it really hit the spot!


Curried chickpeas and rice

This is one of my favourite simple meals to make. The cookbook Garden of Vegan has a good recipe for it with onions, garlic, etc But I was even too lazy and tired to chop up onions and garlic. So I just sauteed the chickpeas in a bit of margarine with curry powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. I served it over brown rice. It could've done with some green veggies too. I love chickpeas! Next time someone asks you where you get your protein, shove a bowl of this in their face!