Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday. Ours was busy, with lots of traveling, but fabulous none the less.

Here's the food I've made in the last few weeks, in random order.

Roasted garlic and tomato rice soup-Veganomicon
YUM


Braised "chicken", kale and brussel sprouts- Veganomicon

Delicious, quick and easy. I used PC meatless chicken instead of making seitan.


Pasta with arugula and sundried tomatoes- Vegan Italiano
Another simple pasta dish from VI....never goes wrong.


Vegetable Pizza- Vegan Italiano
This has tons of veggies: asparagus, zucchini, tomato, onion. And instead of tomato sauce its garlic olive oil as a base. I topped it with some Daiya mozzarella. Mmmmmmm.


Minestrone- Vegan Slow Cooker
I left the pasta in a little long at the end, so it ended being more of a pasta dish with soupy sauce, but it was fantastic. Billy devoured this.


I've been knitting like a fool since October to make my family some knitted Christmas gifts. Now that I can finally show them, here they are!

Mom-in-law's argyle lace hat
I loved that I got to make my own buttons!



Mom's cable lap blanket
Super quick and easy but it ended up being smaller than I hoped. When I make this again, I'll add a fifth panel and knit it all in one piece rather than seaming four panels together.


Sister's Firefly Shawl-
I was a bit skeptical of this but it looks awesome on my stylish sister!


Brother's Extra Warm Man Scarf
Meant as a hug every time he puts it on :)


And to use up some scrap yarn, I knitted two snoods for our dogs on those cold winter walks ;) (Also known as the hat of humiliation)

"Nothing will turn a man's home into a castle more quickly and effectively than a dachshund."

From Queen Victoria herself!
We love the breed so much. So much so that...

We got a second dog! We adopted Kali from the Canadian Dachshund Rescue last weekend. She's a six year old black and tan dachshund. She weighs the same as Dill but is much skinnier (very bony). Her owner died, which is how she ended up with the CDR. She is just the sweetest dog ever! Dill and her had a rough start on Saturday, as Dill was very possessive of her belongings (including us!), but a week later they're sleeping in the same bed and following each other around with no aggression. Hopefully they will be fast friends soon! The CDR has offered us support the entire time and I highly recommend them if you are thinking of getting a wiener dog...rescue is so much better than buying from a breeder (we've done both).




On to the food!

I love the urge to cook comforting foods that comes with winter. It's kind of like a middle finger to the cold! Yes, it may be cold, but I'm inside enjoying a delicious meal :)

"Stuffed Shells"- 125 Best Vegan Recipes
These are meant to be stuffed pasta shells, but Billy was the shopper last weekend and didn't get the right size. So I just mixed the pasta with the stuffing and sauce. Its ground round and breadcrumbs with seasonings. Simple and tasty.


Scalloped Potatoes-Vive le Vegan
These are pretty good. Potatoes and onions topped with a soymilk sauce that includes miso and nutmeg.


Ice Cream Sandwiches
For the ice cream I used chocolate peanut butter soy ice cream, and for the cookies, I used the chocolate chocolate chip cookies from Veganomicon. Yum!

Winter Foods

We put up our Christmas tree last weekend! Tis the season. The Christmas spirit has hit me sooner this year (maybe because I finished my shopping before the stores got crazy). Here are my favourite handmade crafts on the tree

Santa


Mrs. Claus


Winter Harvest Soup-Vive le Vegan
This soup is so comforting. It's a great winter soup. Mellow and savoury, and it tastes better every day. Its got beans, sweet potatoes, rutabega, bok choy and lots of herbs.


French Onion Soup-Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Food
Was it worth smelling like onions for two days to make this soup? YES! The picture isn't good, its next day leftovers, but I was too excited to eat the soup when it was ready to stop and take a picture. A yummy onion broth topped with french baguette and Daiya mozzerella. Mmmmmmmm.....


Tempeh Chili-La Dolce Vegan
This is a simple and hearty chili. I used leftovers with potatoes, and also made chili fries.

A letter

Dear Calgary Film Festival,
Thank you for lumping me in the same category as sexual deviants, hippies and weirdos.

That is all.

Signed,
Someone who will not be going to Calgary anytime soon...

Winter is coming...

and with winter, comes the urge to cook! I cooked a lot last week and this weekend. In no particular order...

This is my new adorable cookie jar. Billy said if I got a cookie jar, I would have to fill it. So....


I made cookies! In the top left, it's the chocolate chip cookies from Vive le Vegan. These came out a bit differently, because I had to sub out some maple syrup for agave. But still tasty. In the top right, we've got the chocolate raspberry cookies from Veganomicon (a household favourite), and front and centre, we have chocolate chip cookies from Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.


Artichoke Marinara and Spaghetti- Vegan Italiano
Most of the meals I made come from this cookbook. That's because the food always comes out delicious, and the ingredients are simple and easy to find at the local grocery store. I have to be in a special and rare mood to drive to the health store these days!


Apples poached in red wine- Vegan Italiano
Very simple to make. There's a touch of cinnamon in these that makes it extra yummy.


Gnocchi with Sundried Tomato and Almond Pesto- Vegan Italiano
Yum!


Chocolate Strudel-Vegan Italiano
Holy cow people! I found vegan puff pastry at the grocery store! :) This is the first thing I made with it. Chocolate and almonds mixed with icing sugar, surrounded by a puffy, flakey crust. Billy must prepare to be puff pastried in the upcoming weeks.


Meatloaf, smashed potatoes and garlic green beans- Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Foods
Comfort food at its best. The meatloaf firmed up well the next day. The smashed potatoes are super easy (I don't believe in peeling my potatoes, so it was nice to see a recipe of the same mindset). I also threw in a spoonful of horseradish. The garlic green beans are AMAZING! They're steamed and then sauteed with onions and garlic and slivered almonds.... I also made sage gravy to top it all off.


Cauliflower soup- Vegan Italiano
I love soups.... This soup is so simple, and by blending the cauliflower after cooking, it really gives the soup some creaminess, without the use of soymilk or cream. I'm adding this one to my regulars. And Billy says its good but its still cauliflower and therefore refuses to eat it (we all hold on to some childish behaviours lol). More for me!


Lemon Cranberry Poppy Seed muffins- La Dolce Vegan

I like the addition of dried cranberries to this classic combo. Yes, those are Disney princess muffin cups!

Happy Halloween!

I was so excited for my first time handing out candy to trick or treaters (we've always been in apartment buildings before). We got about 50 kids, which is great for our little neighbourhood. I had fun carving pumpkins too. Not pictured, I also did a vampire pumpkin.


I roasted the pumpkin seeds with salt...mmmmmm.


We put Dill upstairs and blocked the stairs with a baby gate so that she wouldn't be barking and scaring the little ones that came. For some reason she is afraid of the baby gate, and wouldn't go near it. This picture shows the closest she would get to it to look at me down the stairs, hahaha.

Birthday...

Our beautiful puppy turned 2 today :) Apparently, they're puppies until 2, so maybe we will see some more mellow behaviour now...or not.
On a whim (and I am prepared to accept jabs about how we did this for a dog), we bought a dog "birthday cake" at PetSmart. It's totally vegan and we thought it would be cute. Also, we didn't give her the whole thing!




You know its good when it gets carried over to the dog bed...


In knitting news, here's a picture of the finished bolero. I haven't washed it yet, so I'm hoping it will block a bit and that the ribbing will settle down a bit more nicely. Other than that, I'm quite pleased with the results, although it did stretch out a lot from being worn one day (it is cotton after all).


I've also completed a different project and begun a new one, but these shall remain top secret as they are Christmas gifts :)

Craft Night!

I had a few of my favourite girls in the world over last Friday for a Halloween craft night. There were some challenges (although I picked the simplest crafts from Martha Stewarts website....we decided she has robots to make them for her), but we ended up with a few cute things.

Halloween candles...




Paper Hangups...



And food!

Caroline's vegan chocolate pie (delicious)

the Perfect Sunday

To me, there's lots of different "perfect days" out there. But Sunday is special. That's me time. I was awoken this morning to the smell of cinnamon rolls, because Billy was holding up a cup of "cinnamon pastry" coffee to my nose, along with a plate of cinnamon toast. Mmmmm. Then we caught up on some DVR'ed shows and brought the dog for a walk in the park, while taking in all the beautiful fall colours.

The rest of the day will be spent alternating between knitting and cooking/baking to fill the house with pleasant smells. And who knows, I may even throw a puzzle in the mix.

Here's what I've made so far:

Pumpkin Cake- Sinfully Vegan


This is a lovely spiced cake. On its own its satisfying but nothing spectacular. Topped with the whipped pumpkin topping however, puts it over the edge. The sweetener in this recipe is maple syrup (lots of it). It also has applesauce, whole wheat flour and flax powder in it, so its pretty healthy for a dessert :)

Chicken Soup- Skinny Bitch in the Kitch

Yummy! Apparently this is Billy's NEW favourite chicken soup. It has PC's meatless chicken chunks, veggies, and rice. I subbed the rice for pasta. It's a tad salty for my taste, so I will cut that down next time, but other than that, it's delicious!

Spicy Pumpkin Soup-Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Foods

There is a lot of pureed pumpkin floating around our household due to Thanksgiving and the season. I'm trying to find different ways to use it (this week was pumpkin chocolate chip muffins). This soup is very spicy, but kind of bland. It only has pumpkin, milk, veggie broth, maple syrup and dried chili flakes in it. Maybe I'll like it more with crackers. However, I also find it hard when an ingredient transitions from "dessert" to "dinner". I think its also why I don't like coconut milk in savoury dishes.

Knitting Update:
I finally finished my brown cotton lacey bolero that I've been working on since June (I frequently hibernated this project when I got to a tough step :P). I just need to sew up the arm seams and weave in loose ends, then I will show it off here :)

Happy Sunday!

Nooooooooooooooooo!

My first time ever hosting Thanksgiving and I forget my &%!$ camera in my classroom! Bah! So we will have to settle with a list of all the food I'm making :(

-chocolate truffles (The Vegan Table): so yummy and simple!
-spinach dip (125 Best Vegan Recipes): always a winner. Note: this recipe is best made with Vegenaise (there are no other comparisons)
-tofu roast (homemade tofurkey, La Dolce Vegan)
-mashed potatoes (mine will have horseradish in them)
-mushroom gravy
-pumpkin cheesecake (Sinfully Vegan)
-green beans in garlic butter sauce (Vegan Table)
-holiday cranberry sauce (Veganomicon)
-stuffing (boxed)
-pumpkin and apple pie

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians...may it be delicious and cruelty free ;)

Whoops

Two months since I posted...yikes. Buying the house, fixing it up and moving in was a huge drain, not to mention kicking off a new school year! I've been cooking a bit but not bothering to take pictures. Til now!

I'm also hosting Thanksgiving next weekend, so there will lots of pictures from that.

Cupcakes!
Just basic chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting and various sprinkles. These were made for a BBQ night that we had at our place in August to celebrate the end of the mixed league baseball season.


Cheezy cream of broccoli soup- Skinny Bitch in the Kitch

As the weather gets colder, I turn to soups to comfort me. This is a very yummy soup with daiya cheese in it. I was expecting a more orange soup but the daiya doesn't melt all the way into the soup. It's nice and thick though. Skinny Bitch gets a bad rap for having lots of "junky" recipes that use lots of vegan cheese and meats. But every once in a while I get a craving for those kinds of foods, so I like it!




Attention readers: any recommendations for great crowd-pleasing vegan Thanksgiving recipes?

Cooking in the heat...

Vegetable Risotto- Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Foods


Fruit Cobbler- Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Food


Broccoli Bake-Mom

It doesn't look very pretty, but it's delicious! Steamed broccoli topped with a thick mushroom sauce, crumbled Ritz crackers and Daiya Cheddar.


Watermelon Sorbet


Huevos Rancheros- Garden of Vegan
One of my favourite breakfast items. Tortilla, refried beans, scrambled tofu and cheese, baked to yumminess!


Wolffie's Fiesta Macaroni Salad- La Dolce Vegan

Another favourite, and as I discovered this weekend, a crowd pleaser.