Camping-vegan style

Hubby and I went camping with a big group of friends on May long. What a blast! And I wanted to have fantastical food and meals with me, rather than relying on veggie dogs and burgers (although they came along for the ride too...). With a little planning and prepping, it is definitely possible to eat like kings while camping!

Not pictured, I grilled up a seitan steak from Veganize this, with BBQ sauce. I served it with couscous and pea salad from La Dolce Vegan and Prospect Park Potato Salad from Veganomicon. Chilled salads like that are perfect for camping, since you don't have to worry about warming them up, and they're very satisfying.

Also, I prepped everything I needed to make tofu scramble, so all I did to do in the morning was saute it on the propane stove. Mmmm it was sooooo good, served with a banana nut muffin (La Dolce Vegan).


I also had Yves chicken burgers and soy hot dogs, which hit the spot roasted on the fire. Throw in lots of fresh veggies and fruit (prewashed and chopped), and I did not feel deprived at all.

Breakfast on the last day was this delicious grilled bacon tempeh in a TLT sandwich. Oh god, it was good.






Also, last week my staff had a potluck salad lunch. I contributed potato salad from La Dolce Vegan. Yes, those are grapes, and they're actually quite nice in potato salad!


Wolffie's B'nanner bars! From La Dolce Vegan...I love these cakey bars. They've got a buttercream frosting on them.

The Dog

Note: this post is not meant to debate whether or not your pet should be on a vegan diet. I am well aware that dogs are omnivores, but healthy, nutritionally balanced vegetarian pet food is available. It is an informational post to help inform others and maybe give them a helping start if they choose to do so.

After watching a video (which I may or may not post in the future), I have decided to switch my dog to a vegetarian diet. Most dog food is made from leftovers from slaughterhouses. Picture them scraping up the leftovers and hauling them into a truck....not what I want to feed my dog. Anyways, I've made the decision not to *buy* any meat products for my dog, but I will not make a huge deal out of other people feeding her meat products if it happens (although she's not supposed to get scraps:P)

So far, we've got her eating Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Vegetarian Dog Kibble. Vegetarian dog kibble is easily available as many dogs have meat sensitivities. Dill really likes it, and as a treat I pour some olive oil over it every few days.

Also, once a week or so, she's given a can of Holistic Blend canned dog food, the fruits and veggies flavour. Dill eats this up in two minutes flat. She adores it.




And from How It All Vegan, I made her the bad breath doggy biscuits. I get the same reaction out of Dill when I give her one of these as if I just gave her a milk bone. I only had gingerbread men cutouts, but I'm going to look for bone shaped ones.


So far, Dill has lost her little winter tummy and has tons of energy (as usual).

Picture Heavy!

I haven't posted all week so I've got lots of pictures! In no particular order, because I don't feel like moving all of them around, here it is...
Bean Pizza Pocket- Vegan Italiano
Pizza pockets filled with navy beans, basil, salt and pepper and pizza sauce. I also threw in some Daiya cheese I had kicking around. These are quick, easy and yummy!



Garden Wraps-Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Foods
This was lunch this week. Whole wheat flax tortillas with a dijon mayo spread (with nutritional yeast and parsley too), and filled with green leaf lettuce, tomato and broccoli sprouts. I loved it!


Sunday was BBQ night. I did a steak and potato dinner and it was phenomenal.

Loaded baked potato: Earth Balance margarine, Tofutti sour cream, Daiya cheddar.


I picked up these weiner dog corn holders last weekend....I couldn't resist!


Grilled seitan steak with garlic rosemary sauce and mushrooms- Veganize This!
This steak is so good! I love the texture of the seitan (meaty) and it grills up really well on the BBQ. It's topped with a rosemary garlic white sauce and cremini mushrooms. It was a bit salty, but I'll just leave out the seasoning rub next time.


Here's the "steak" before being grilled.


I made these lemon and rosemary potatoes for Billy on the grill since he doesn't really go for baked potatoes.



We split a bottle of home-brewed black cherry wine courtesy of the in-laws. Best wine I've ever had!


Poached Pears in Amaretto-Vegan Italiano

And for a light dessert, poached pears in a sweet Amaretto syrup. Delicious! Cinnamon and cloves make this really special. Billy's favourite fruit combined with his favourite liqueur.


And, since I was cooking so much Italian, I wanted one of my favourite appetizers from when I was in Italy (and the easiest). Bread dipped in extra virgin olive oil, with a splash of balsamic vinaigrette.


Happy Cooking!

Endings and Beginnings

Here's my latest finished object, a block pattern sofa pillow. One side is all green, the other is stripes of green and grey. It matches my cabled throw, my couch and my walls :) I just used our old pillows, which didn't match anything in the living room anymore.





And my latest project, bamboo socks. This is Dye-Version bamboo fingering yarn (100% bamboo). I bought this skein of yarn without a project in mind, but I loved the colours (it's name is Jewel). When I check Ravelry's pattern database I found that this yarn is used primarily for shawls. I didn't want a shawl so I decided to make socks since I like variegated yarn, but not as a large clothing item (not my style). I think my feet deserved to be pampered with a little bit of beautifully coloured bamboo...don't you??

Early Mother's Day

We sent our Mother's Day gift for my mom-in-law this week and it got there early. So I can post this because I know she opened it :P Can't blame her, I wouldn't wait if I got a big box in the mail, that's for sure!
One of the gifts was these knitted gardening gloves by Debbie Bliss (pattern in The Knitter's Year). They're made of Debbie Bliss' Ecobaby 100% organic cotton. Love this yarn, squishy and soft... And the colour, sage, is really cute too. These would be great for pruning, tying up, watering in the morning when the sun hasn't had time to warm everything up, or like Billy's mom said, wrapping your hands around a cup of tea in the morning.




In other gardening news, I'm thinking the chance of freezing has passed now and I can start planting soon!

Carb-o-licious

Potato Tortino-Vegan Italiano
Potatoes layered with caramelized onions, veggie broth and bread crumbs. A nice, comforting casserole, served with salad.



Fusilli with lentil sauce-Vegan Italiano

I love this cookbook! Pasta tossed with a delicious sauce made of broth, spinach, lentils, tomatoes, carrots and onions. Rosemary and thyme tie it all together.