This weeks menu. 2/26/12-3/3/12

This week I decided it was time to use up as many items as I can from my freezer. First off, I don't know exactly what's in there and second, I need more room. I've been shoving things in hoping the won't fall out whenever someone opens the door. I also wanted to keep our grocery list small because we seemed to over do the shopping last week (we needed to replenish our spice rack!).

Sunday 2/26/12:
We are going to do the nachos we were supposed to do last night. Last night friends took us to dinner for the hubbies birthday (and mine too...a little late, yay!). We'll have chips and salsa as well. I have some beets to make so I'll roast those for a side.

Monday 2/27/12:
I found a bag of stir fry mix in the freezer I had bought from Trader Joe's. I'll make that with some rice and whatever veggies I have left from the CSA. We also have salad left over.

Tuesday 2/28/12: The hubby's birthday!
He said he still wanted salad so I'll make a big ole salad and then a chocolate mousse for dessert. Yum!

Wednesday 2/29/12:
"Chicken" sandwiches with sweet potato fries and green beans.

Thursday 3/1/12:
Spaghetti and meatballs for us and meatball subs for Joe. I do love those meatless meatballs from Trader Joe's. We try and stay away from the fake meats but it seems my BK really likes them so we'll give in when necessary so he'll eat. :)

Friday 3/2/12:
The hubby's family is taking us to dinner for his birthday. Goes with the no cook Friday theme!

Saturday 3/3/12:
I'm going to ransack the freezer and make what we have, whatever that may be. I'm pretty sure we'll have stuff from the CSA to eat up as well. It will be more like a potluck...all made by me!

Cheers and happy eating!

A great summer or spring salad

This salad was super easy and to be honest with you I did not make it up on my own. I have to thank Trader Joe's for giving me this great salad idea!

All it took was some multi-colored quinoa (bagged from Trader Joe's) some veggie confetti (also graciously cut up and in a bowl from Trader Joe's) and champagne dressing, again Trader Joe's. After making the quinoa according to package directions I mixed what I thought was a good combo together and threw it in the fridge for a bit. Wow, so tasty and so easy!!!

I think I'll make this simple salad for my daughter's first birthday for sure!!



Cheers and happy eating!

Tamale Pie

So, the first time I made tamale pie (last week) it was NOT a success. It was quite horrible, actually. It was a big mess! We ended up ordering out. I followed a recipe exactly and it was not good!



Oh yes, it was THAT bad!

I'm not one to give in to failure so I tried again tonight. Huge success! Why? Well, I'll tell you why. I didn't follow a recipe. I read up on tamale pie from several different websites and made my own. It was a hit, a success, we all loved it!



So much better!!!



This is what I did. This, so I remember and if you would like to make it you can. I'm thinking it will be great for a cookbook entry. :)

Tamale dough:
2 cups masa harina
2 cups room temp vegetable stock
1 Teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup oil (I used canola)

Mix all these ingredients in a bowl, it will become like a paste. Cover with foil or saran wrap and let sit at room temp for 15 minutes. This will allow all the water to absorb.

Tamale filling:
1 medium or half a large onion, chopped
1 yellow, red, or green bell pepper, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 14.5 oz can great northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 14.5 oz can refried beans
1 pablano pepper, roasted and chopped
1 cup frozen corn

For seasoning I used the taco seasoning you can get at Trader Joe's then added about 1/2 tablespoon of garlic and 2 teaspoons oregano. (you can make this up as you want or use your favorite taco seasonings)
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oven to broil. Move a rack to the top. Roast your pepper until it turns brown/black on all sides. Take it out and place it in a ziploc bag for a few moments. Rinse the charred bits off the pepper under running water. Small dice the pepper.

Heat a sauce pan with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil (or veg broth 1/4 cup if you prefer) and saute the onions, bell peppers, and garlic until translucent about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, beans, and corn and mix well. Let cook for 4-5 minutes. Add the seasoning and let cook for 10 minutes or until the mixture becomes thick. Be careful to not have too much liquid for baking.

Heat an oven to 350 degrees. Spray a rectangular baking pan with cooking spray. Put the bean mixture into the pan and spread evenly. Place the tamale dough on top as evenly as you can. I made little patties with my hands and pressed it on top of the filling. Bake for 45-60 minutes with foil on top. Remove the foil during the last 15 minutes of cooking. Remove from oven and let cool for a moment before serving.

If you make this let me know if this recipe is easy to use. :)

Cheers and happy eating!

***I edited this recipe, I forgot to add the roasted pepper***

Meatless bolognese...no way!

I love bolognese sauce. It's always so meaty, so thick, so delicious. Topped with melted mozzarella it's the best!

Well, yeah we don't eat meat and cheese anymore so I had to figure out how to make a tasty bolognese vegan style!

I do think I could work on this sauce a bit more but I must say, it was quite good. It took 12 hours in the crockpot, 6 hours on high and 6 hours on low. I split it up between two days. What I was surprised about was the lentils still had a bite to them, they were not soft as I thought 12 hours would make them. There was carrots, onions, celery and tomatoes in this sauce. Some seasoning and a long cooking time and you've got a hearty dish. I made a veggie pasta to go with. The one thing I forgot that I will definitely add next time, vegan cheese! I would love the melted goodness on top.

As a side I made a gynormous salad, as I do every Tuesday. I usually put just balsamic vinegar on mine but this week I got a champagne vinagrette from Trader Joe's and used that. I also made the cole slaw, kholrabi/fennel slaw because I wanted to use up some of my CSA stuff. I wasn't sure it would go with dinner but it actually went quite well. Very tasty and makes a great snack the next day.



I'm going to work on this recipe a bit more so I can add it to my future cookbook. This and chili so far are candidates for entry. Perhaps it will be a vegan comfort food cookbook. Any thoughts on your end? Would love to hear!

Cheers and happy eating!

CSA Week 1 Round 2

Lot's of great stuff from the CSA yet again. I'm really liking that we have this option in our food diet.

This week we got black radishes, lettuce, cauliflower(the pretty green one), garlic greens, rapini, red potatoes, chard, and turnips! Yummy!!



I just made a fennel kohlrabi slaw from one of our CSA baskets. Wow, so tasty. I added some carrot and green onions. J didn't like it much but she's not really a sweet fan. The hubby likes a dressing that's on the sweet side so that's what I made.

I will have to figure out what to do with rapini...I have no idea!

Cheers and happy eating!

Menu for the week of 2/19/12-2/26/12

It's menu time again. I do need to remember to go through my cabinets and freezer to use up that food for next weeks menu. I'm running out of space in my kitchen!!

Sunday 2/19/12:
Chili. Yes, chili again. I'm working hard at perfecting it so we'll be eating it a lot! Cornbread on the side!

Monday 2/20/12:
Bolognese sauce with pasta. Now, I've only every had bolognese sauce with lot's of meat so this will be different but why not give it a try. I'm also going to make a quinoa vegetable salad!

Tuesday 2/21/12:
Is it Fat Tuesday? I have no idea. But, if it is I may make vegan etouffe instead of salad. But, what's planned is salad.

Wednesday 2/22/12:
I'm going to give Tamale Pie another go. Wish me luck. New recipe...it's gotta be good. Chips and salsa.

Thursday 2/23/12:
Falafel (pita sandwich), curry rice and green beans. I'm going to make the falafel myself. First time for everything.

Friday 2/24/12:
No cook Friday night. We'll see!

Saturday 2/25/12:
Ultimate Nachos! BK's mom told us of a "meat" that's super tasty so we're going to give it a try too. Yum!

Cheers and happy eating!

General Tao's Tofu and some other stuff...

I'd like to start off by talking about the fact that I have not blogged much this week. I find that cooking is sort of a therapy for me. It brings me, mentally, to a calmer place. I find a bit of solace in it. It hasn't always been this way though. I started out telling my mom and sister, both of which cooked often, that I would never learn because I would marry rich and have a cook. Well, many years later I became that cook after attending culinary school. I went for my BS in Microbiology and Chemistry and when I felt I was bored with that field I moved on to culinary school. It was that or massage school(the thought of touchy excessively hairy bodies of those I did not know grossed me out so culinary school was my choice). I basically taught myself to cook because of my food issues, not being able to eat processed foods and all. But, I went anyway and it turn learned more than I went in with.

So, since then I've used it as a form of therapy. I feel good when I cook. Even when I'm running around the kitchen like a chicken with its head cut off and ranting and raving I still enjoy every minute of it. It fuels me, it excites me. This week, however, I just didn't even have the energy to muster to cook. My mood was pretty low and I didn't even want to use cooking to perk me up. I had quite the stressful week.

In August of last year I was involved in a car accident. I was hit from behind which then pushed me into the truck in front of me. I was far enough behind him that I didn't expect to be moved that far ahead to hit him. I basically became a Beetle sandwich. Initially only my neck and back bothered me but by late that evening my left arm near my elbow really started to bother me. A few days later it felt as though my arm had fallen asleep and nothing I did would wake it up. So, fast forward to now. I have nerve damage(found by surgery) which had to released so to speak. I had one of my nerves, the ulnar nerve, relocated in my arm and my medial nerve was released as well. I've been through physical therapy, acupuncture, and pain medications. It's been a long tough road.

This week after going through this since the surgery(November of last year) I was told that I wasn't giving my short term disability people through my work the information they actually needed. The problem is, I was told(this whole time) that I was. So, my claim has been denied which puts me in deep trouble with work. Because I have not been then quite a year nor have I worked 1250 hours I do not qualify for FMLA so my job is not secure. All this time I thought I was doing the right thing because I was told that I was. Anyway, I'm going to appeal the decision and hope for the best. But, in the meantime this week has just been rough. I'm in pain every day and have been since August. This can wear on ones mind, hence the therapeutic cooking sessions. And now this. On top of it I'm going through, ironically, painful pain management therapy and I have to pay for it out of pocket. This too wears on me quite a bit.

I will do my best to get to Valentine's Day dinner, it was a tasty evening. After that I hadn't cooked until tonight.

Just throwing some non-food blog out there because I feel it's something that needs to be said.

As for tonight:
I made General Tao's Tofu. I must admit I really enjoyed it. I'm not generally one for sweeter sauces but this one was quite good. The hubby, however, thought the "breading" on the tofu was too chewy. Next time I will coat it better with the coating mixture and fry a bit longer. I think that may satisfy his palate. The recipe I used was from vegweb.com. I used egg replacer and water to coat the tofu then threw in some cornstarch. It made a thick paste. I then fried it in vegetable oil. I removed it from the pan and cooked up garlic, ginger and green onions. To that I added veg stock, soy sauce, sherry, white vinegar, red pepper flakes, and sugar. I mixed up some cornstarch and water and threw that in to make a thick sauce. Tossed the tofu back in and served over rice. I also steamed up some broccoli for a side. Again, I thought it was great!!



I'll definitely make this dish again but modify to my own liking.

And, I'll do my best to get back to what I love, cooking. My therapy, my solace, my peace. One day I'll write a cookbook. I think that will be the ultimate!

Cheers and happy eating!

CSA Week 6(the last week of the grouping)

This is the last of our first grouping/purchase with the CSA. We wanted to give it a try and ended up loving it! So, we've gone in for another 6 weeks!!

This week came some very unusual items for us. The cauliflower(down in front) is green instead of the usual white and looks almost sea plant like. I can't wait to steam it up and give it a try. It's so beautiful the hubby is still taking photos of it. We also got Yukina Savoy. I've never heard of this but it is quite beautiful. It's the large green leafed item towards the back right. It reminds me of bok choy just prettier. I threw some in my soup this evening and I'm sure it will fair well with some stir fry or something for No Cook Fridays. We have a couple of heads of lettuce as well as Shungiku. Shungiku is considered a green but kind of looks like parsley or cilantro to me. I'll have to do some research on how to prepare it. Kohlrabi is one of my favorites! I first tried it while I was pregnant and in the not able to eat time frame. I loved it! Kinda a taste and texture like broccoli stems. I will probably do a slaw with that, the fennel from last week, maybe some radish and some carrots. I think it will be delicious. We did receive some Endive but seeing as we haven't eaten last week I traded for some more kale. We now have lots of kale!! Yum. We also got garlic greens. They have the same look as green onions and again this is new to me so I'll have to figure out what to do with it. But, that's part of the fun with CSA. I do believe that's the entire basket. I'm super excited about it!!

They offer a bread share as well. I don't have a bread share but I was there earlier enough for pick up I was able to buy a loaf of their rustic whole grain wheat bread. I'm not a huge bread fan but this bread was to die for!! It was from Barrio Bread Company. So very tasty. We enjoyed it with dinner!

Can't wait for the next six weeks of local goodness the CSA provides.

Cheers and happy eating!

Menu for the week of 2/12/12-2/18/12

I apologize for not posting last weeks menu.

So, here's this weeks menu!

Sunday 2/12:
Zingy Italian White Bean Soup(seems very similar to what we had last night but looked so tasty)
I may grab some bread bowls and use those! Yum!

Monday 2/13:
Fantastic Sloppy Joe's with mashed potatoes
I will make this more like a Sheppard's Pie(we are trying this one out without BK first to see if it's something he might eat)

Tuesday 2/14:
It's Valentine's day but I couldn't think of anything fancy to make. Most other years we make lamb, this year we are saving our hearts. I think it will be salad like most Tuesdays. I may make a chocolate mousse as well, put it in a wine or champagne class topped with strawberries and you've got romance!

Wednesday 2/15:
Tamale Pie. I'll serve some salsa and chips and perhaps get the hubby to make guacamole.

Thursday 2/16:
I could not thing of something BK would like so it's a staple...burgers and tots. Black bean burgers for us, regular for him.

Friday 2/17:
No cook Friday. We'll all have to wait and see.

Saturday 2/18:
General Tao's Tofu with rice and steamed broccoli. Yum! Looking forward to this one.

With all of these I do add veggies I just don't always know what. We get our CSA basket on Tuesday so I work from there and when I go to the store I find whatever looks good. My menu tends to go with the main more than the sides I suppose. I do have a beautiful red cabbage from last weeks CSA, I more pickle it or throw it into a slaw. I do have fennel too, fennel/coleslaw slaw! Yummy!

Cheers and happy eating!

Dinner & Dessert

The weekends are generally saved for longer cooking dinners, that is if we're not running around like crazy, and sometimes dessert. I do love my crockpot and make it a point to use it any day of the week but I do believe I use it more on the weekend. You would think I'd be smart and use it more during the work week. Oh well. Maybe next week.

Last night I used the Cassoulet recipe out of The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook: 125 Easy and Delicious Recipes to Jump-Start Weight Loss and Help You Feel Great. I actually did not know what Cassoulet was but the description said hearty stew and I was sold! It's quite warm in these neck of the woods these days, even in February but I like to believe it's still winter. I'm not ready for summer cooking yet.

The recipe was fairly simple. Onion, carrot, garlic, great northern beans, tomatoes, seasoning and vegan sausage. I like my stew a little more hearty so I added potato, collard greens and corn. I also omitted the vegan sausage. Now, I would have been fine without fake meat but there is a better chance BK will eat it with fake meat so I added Trader Joe's Meatless Meatballs. Next time I'll bake them first before adding, they fell apart in the stew. We were all in a agreement they would be tastier with a little sear on the outside. I made it up in a pot like the recipe said then threw it all in my favorite crockpot and let it do it's thing on low for several hours.

Finished product(okay, BK said it looked awful but he did like it!)


Now, what to do with all this extra time on my hands? Oh right...MAKE CHEESECAKE!

I'm a HUGE cheesecake fan(strange thing: I hated it when I was pregnant) and worried I would never get that fluffy sweet goodness again. I found a recipe on Vegweb.com(if you haven't checked out this website yet, now's the time!) and gave it a go. BK was skeptical, he didn't want a runny cheesecake. Neither did I, I forged ahead.

First off...WOW...SO GOOD!!! It actually tasted like cheesecake!! Wow!!

But, with that there are a few things I will change next time. I added Ener-G Egg Replacer, the box says add water, the website, per recommendations says not to. I didn't add any water, next time I will add just a tinsie bit. The graham cracker crust says to use 16 graham crackers, I will cut that in half. I used a spring form round pan and there ended up being way more crust than cheesecake. Along with that I will double the cheesecake "batter" because it was so very tasty!!

Here is the recipe from vegweb.com:
Yummy Vegan Cheesecake

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

16 cinnamon graham crackers, crumbled
1/2 cup vegan margarine
1 tablespoon light Karo syrup
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
16 ounces vegan cream cheese (I use Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese)
1/3 cup sugar
4 egg substitutes (http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=7678.0) (I use Ener-g)
1 teaspoon vanilla
juice of 1 lemon
vegan chocolate syrup (I use Ah!Laska)
fresh raspberries, to serve

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. For crust: Combine graham crackers, margarine, Karo syrup, and flour in a bowl. Mix by hand and press firmly into a round pan.

2. For filling: Combine cream cheese, sugar, egg substitutes, vanilla, and lemon juice in a blender and blend until creamy and smooth. Pour onto crust.

3. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until set (doesn't jiggle when you move the pan). Let cool. Place in refrigerator and chill for 12 hours. Drizzle with vegan chocolate syrup and add fresh raspberries.

You may use any kind of topping, such as strawberries in syrup, chocolate, vegan whipped cream, etc.

Serves: 8-10, Preparation time: 30 min.

Oh, and by the way also from recommendations I only added juice from half a lemon.

Picture(I added strawberries and chocolate syrup):


BK loved it! Yay!!!

This morning I was still on my high with dinner and dessert everyone liked I made pancakes. Again, I used a recipe off vegweb.com. Instead of egg replacer I added a mashed banana. I added some cinnamon to the recipe and instead of all non-dairy milk I added in some cinnamon juice. And instead of sugar I used agave nectar. I've made regular pancakes several times in my life and none have been very pretty(I guess I just wasn't that good at it) but these turned out beautifully. I'd prove it but I was so excited I forget to get a picture. Not only were they beautiful they tasted so darn good!! Everyone ate them..FAST! J had 2 whole pancakes, I don't know where she puts it all. BK loved them as did the hubby. I was very impressed. I was all ready to go get bagels in case they were horrible. Not horrible one bit! Mmmm...tofu scramble you're going to have to step it up a notch.

Cheers and happy eating!

Not so inspired.

Ever have one of those nights where inspiration for food is just NOT there? I had one of those nights. I guess a plus to my weekly menu(I know, I forgot to post it this week) is I already have something to make even if I'm just not feeling it.

The recipe I used, Garlicky Pinto Bean Past Bake from The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook: 125 Easy and Delicious Recipes to Jump-Start Weight Loss and Help You Feel Great obviously called for pinto beans. Now, I'm far from perfect so at times I forget to write down ingredients from the recipe I use. I read it in the book and, in my mind, it's been magically written on my shopping list. Boy, I wish that were true. So, I forgot the pinto beans so I decided to use black instead. Again, I was not inspired by this dish nor was I looking forward to it. I often feel quite inspired by food. Sometimes I even dream of food, wake, and make it that day. Of course lately dreams seem to be a bit of a luxury with an infant who wakes at night and all so I haven't had one of those nights in some time. Anyway, gosh I just keep getting side tracked(it's the U of A game!) back to the pasta bake. Tonight we have BK so of course I try to make something, anything, he may like. After sauteing some onion and garlic I added tomatoes(with their juices) and whole wheat elbow macaroni. Cooked that til the pasta was al dente(I do love using that) and added black beans. Included were a bunch of yummy spicy seasonings. I then put the bake in a casserole dish with tortilla chips on top and baked it. I wasn't giving this dish much because to be honest I did what I don't want BK to do, I came to the table with the notion it may not be good. When I got to the table BK was putting pepperoncini on his...wow! great idea!! I followed suit. It was actually not bad. Simple. Easy. Good.

Along with the pasta bake I made some kale. Wilted in some water with garlic. Yum! The hubby, BK and J all ate it. J loved the pasta bake as well. I'm happy, everyone ate it. Everyone seemed to like it. Maybe not putting so much "worry" into made it all the better!

Here's a pretty picture:


If you're uninspired, cook anyway...you just never know!

Cheers and happy eating!

Nachos!

With the bonus kid with us this evening I do try and make food I think he may like. That's no easy task these days. Tonight I decided to make ultimate nachos. I thought they would be a big hit!!



I used TVP(texturized vegetable protein) for the first time. I must admit when I first put it in the saute pan with water it did not smell appetizing. But, I forged ahead regardless of smell. I added yellow and red bell pepper, taco seasoning(a yummy packet I found at Trader Joe's that makes my life easier), a little soy sauce(Bragg's Amino Acids), tomatoes, and salsa. I tasted it, not bad! Not bad at all. The texture kind of reminds me of ground chicken. Maybe not as chewy but who wants overly chewy food(especially food that shouldn't be), right? I was impressed!

I think putting nachos all together is fun but again I do love food, all things food really. Warm tortilla chips, TVP(with seasoning), black olives, black beans, refried pinto beans, shredded carrot, shredded daikon radish(added a little kick), salsa, lettuce and avocado all with vegan queso(found this at Whole Foods). Who wouldn't like this? Wow, it was SO good!! I loved it, J loved it, the hubby wants to have it again. As for BK, he said meh, it was okay. He did, however, eat a bit more than he has been. Yay! I think he prefers the meatless meatballs. Perhaps next time I'll make nachos with the meatballs.

I'm full! I'm happy! And I think the picture shows just how darn yummy it all was. What do you think?

Cheers and happy eating!

Birthday Weekend with great food!

Birthday Weekend, a set on Flickr.

Everyone gets older, everyone dreads it(unless you're a kid and you can't wait for the next birthday to come round). This year I wanted to get some time in with family, friends, and I certainly wanted to enjoy great food!

The weekend started with No Cook Friday Night. By no cook I mean either eat out, order in, or cook up all the left overs(whatever they may be) in the fridge. Since we had A LOT of veggies left in the fridge I made a very quick stir fry. Green beans, broccoli, carrots, celery, bok choy, water chestnuts, red cabbage and bean sprouts. I made some rice and threw the stir fry on top, so good! I made a sauce with Gin(replaces rice wine vinegar which for some reason I cannot find in the stores), black bean garlic sauce, cornstarch, and ginger. I then added Bragg's and some sesame oil. The weekend started off so tasty!

Saturday morning was sort of the same theme, make what you have. I decided on a tofu scramble(I suppose I should venture out and make something different but I'm liking the scrambles). I added mini bell peppers(I buy a big bag at costco and use them for two weeks!), spinach, potatoes, onion, garlic, broccoli, and green onions. Yum! We headed out on Saturday to the Botanical Gardens to see the Butterfly exhibit, such a beautiful day! J loved the butterflies!! We decided to grab a small snack there. We split a hummus sandwich with tomato and spinach. It was good, but I think I could have done better.

After a lovely day we met up with some friends at a restaurant the hubby and I have not been to. Zemams Ethiopian Cuisine. If you haven't tried Ethiopian food, do it! It was so incredibly good!! The picture with all the, well what looks like baby food on a pizza dish, is the dinner for that evening. The hubby and I both got the veggie samplers(comes with your choice of 3 dishes) so we had 6 veggie dishes to enjoy. We got the chickpea dish blended with berbere and other spices, carrots and cabbage in a mild sauce, split peas cooked with garlic, and a potato and veggie dish. We order two of the potato dishes and two of the cabbage dishes. The potato, veggie dish was my favorite! We got a lentil dish as well, J loved that one!! She tried all of them. The "bread" served is called injera, it's a cross between naan and a tortilla. It's a bit spongy but very good. They do not provide utensils there, you simply pick up the food in the injera and enjoy. I will definitely go back! Meeting friends for a pre birthday dinner at a fantastic restaurant really made for a great weekend! Another of our friends offered to watch the little one while we went out. Going out for us is so rare! We decided on a movie and had a great time!

Sunday, my actual birthday, we wanted something hearty for breakfast. The hubby ran out for bagels, jalapeno for me and sesame for him. We toasted them and added the warmed up tofu scramble left overs to the top then melted some soy cheese on top. Topped with baby spinach and that I must say was super!!

For my birthday we took the little one to the zoo. Again, it was a beautiful day. For lunch we headed over to Pei Wei and order to take it home. I got the Spicy Korean with tofu and vegetables(I asked for the sauce on the side so it wouldn't be too spicy). The hubby was able to order Pad Thai without the eggs, he too added tofu and veggies. If you want a quick place to eat out but want to stick with the Vegan route try Pei Wei. If you look up online the Nutrition guide there are many dishes they can easily make Vegan. They are very accommodating. Now, if any of you have kids you will understand why we ended up eating in the car in front of our house. The baby fell asleep on the way home. I told the hubby to think of it as a picnic in our front yard. Fun!

After lunch I met up with a girlfriend to get pedi's. A girl needs one every now and again. I then headed off to a Superbowl party to meet up with the hubby. I didn't eat while I was there but I noticed quite the lovely spread of veggies! Heaven. We then dashed off to dinner with my mom. Yoshimatsu was the place and noodle soup was for dinner. I love this restaurant! The best part, things are clearly marked as V for vegan. It was a hit with everyone including the baby. She enjoyed the gingered tofu and the edamame.

Gosh, looking over all that makes it sound like all we did was eat! I must say it was a tasty tasty weekend!! Last night, the day after my birthday, I had non-dairy ice cream...cookie avalanche. Great way to end it all!

Cheers and happy eating!

Meatless Meatballs from Trader Joe's, but I forgot to take a picture!

Last night I was really feeling spaghetti. Simple, inexpensive, and tasty. My Bonus Kid is no longer a fan of spaghetti though so I found Meatless Meatballs from Trader Joe's to make and serve as a meatball sub. To try and pull it off I cooked them up with the notion I did not want to make my meatballs(wouldn't want to work with meat and all) and that only he would be eating them. Once he tried his meatball sub and liked it, the hubby and I added the meatballs to our dinner as well! I bit devious but he ate them, right? And, he like them! That's the best part. I really liked them as well.

I also made the largest salad ever to go along side it. I put the head of romaine lettuce we got from the CSA, spinach, mixed greens(also from the CSA), celery, carrots, cucumber, radish, peppers, red cabbage, green onions, and edamame. Gosh, I may have forgotten some ingredients. I just know it was big! So tasty.

We got a bunch of turnips from the CSA this week so I roasted those up as well. I used some olive oil, a little bit of sugar, red pepper flakes, ginger, allspice and vanilla extract then roasted them at 400 degrees for about 20-30. They were good, a little sweet for me but BK ate them! His first turnip. All and all dinner was a hit.

Cheers and happy eating!

CSA week 4

CSA week 4, a photo by VlinderM on Flickr.

Wow, what a great basket this week! Great looking fennel, huge daikon radishes, head of lettuce, mustard greens, broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, and a great bunch of turnips!

I'm so excited every week to get this basket. I just love it! I think I'll make some slaw with the daikon, they are huge!

If you've thought about getting CSA baskets as well but thinks it's too much think about maybe splitting with a friend. It's such great stuff and each week you find new recipes/ways to cook by using new foods!

Cheers and happy eating!