Vegan delights

Almost vegan banana coconut eggrolls

2011-04-10T16:40:00.001-07:00

This dessert is almost vegan because I used box store eggrolls. I know you can get the eggless variety but frankly I did not feel like driving 20 miles round trip to get them. The eggroll wrappers are the only thing non-vegan in this recipe.

eggroll wrappers

2 overly ripe bananas

1 cup coconut, toasted

2 Tbsp. agave syrup (amber)

2 Tbsp. olive oil

The first step is to toast the coconut in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Use the unsweetened variety and be sure to watch it closely. If you leave this unattended it will quickly burn.

After a couple minutes you will begin to see the coconut browning, continue to stir constantly.

When it’s ready it should be a nice golden brown color. Place the toasted coconut into a bowl to cool slightly.

Coarsely chop the ripe banana.

Mix the chopped banana with the toasted coconut and 2 Tbsp. agave syrup.

Place about 2 tsp. of the banana mixture in the center of an eggroll wrapper.

Fold up each side.

Get a bowl or small cup of cold water and using your fingertips, gently wet the sides of the eggroll wrapper.

Fold the wrapper up from the bottom to cover the filling.

Continue rolling until tightly wrapped.

Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Once hot, begin cooking the eggrolls for 5 minutes on each side, turning only once during cooking.

They should be golden brown in color and crispy on the outside.

Serve with a drizzle of agave syrup or with ice cream. This recipe will make about 10 eggrolls.

Vegan chili

2011-04-10T16:28:00.001-07:00

So, I know everyone has their own favorite chili recipe and there has always been a great debate about beans vs. no beans (all meat). Well, this is one of my versions of vegan chili, this version has loads of roasted green peppers and has a really fresh taste to it.

1 cup uncooked lentils

1 medium yellow onion, diced

8 cloves garlic, diced

3 carrots, chopped

2 poblano peppers, roasted and peeled

1 green bell pepper, roasted and peeled

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 15 oz. cans dark red kidney beans

2 15 oz. cans pinto beans

1 32 oz. can petite diced tomatoes

1 15 oz. can corn

2 Tbsp. cumin

2 Tbsp. salt

2 Tbsp chili powder

1 Tbsp. dried red chili

First thing is to cook the dry lentils in cold water, one cup dry lentils will yield about 2 cups cooked lentils. You can buy the canned variety too but it’s more cost effective to cook them yourself. Bring them to a boil and cook for about 20 minutes, drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, broil the poblano peppers and green bell pepper to roast. Turn about every 2-3 minutes until the skin bubbles and turns dark brown.

See how the skin has bubbled and darkened. Now they are time to peel.

Run them under cold water while peeling off the skin. It should peel away easily, and now you have naked peppers (ooh).

Now you want to cut them in half, discard the stems and the seeds.

Then coarsely chop the peppers.

While those peppers are roasting you can chop the onion, garlic, and carrots. Sauté in he olive oil for several minutes until opaque.

Add the canned beans, corn, tomatoes, spices, and finally the chopped peppers. Cook for about 1 hour.

Serve topped with some vegan rice cheese and tortilla chips if desired.

Salty, chocolate balls (definitely NOT vegan)

2011-04-10T13:47:00.001-07:00

Nothing says howdy like salty, chocolate balls and a lemon kamikaze.

When you make cakes you always end up with lots of leftover cake bits from leveling the cakes. Why waste perfectly good leftover cake bits? What better use for them than salty chocolate covered balls? Just take the leftover cake and crumble it all up together in a big bowl. I used dark chocolate truffle and french vanilla – just mix them all up together. At this point it pretty much looks like dirt.

I also had some leftover chocolate ganache from the cake filling so I just threw that into the bowl too. Now instead of dirt, it looks like brown goop.

Now comes the fun, take a bout a tablespoon sized amount into your palm and roll it into a ball. For the coating, melt a bag of chocolate chips. In a microwave safe bowl, dump a whole bag of chocolate chips. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir, and them microwave for another 30 seconds. At this point you will still see some whole chips but keep stirring until they all dissolve. If you heat it further at this point it may burn and become unusable.

Dip each ball into the melted chocolate to coat. Place them on sheets of plastic wrap or waxed paper to harden. If you want to hurry things up just pop them into the fridge. After coating, sprinkle on a few large crystals of sea salt. If this sounds gross, trust me and just do it, the salt is pretty much the best part.

Mmmmmmm, and there you have it, a perfect salty chocolate ball. Gooey on the inside with a thin, crispy chocolate coating and perfect amount of salt.

A first birthday cake

2011-04-10T05:08:00.001-07:00

This is what I was busy doing yesterday, baking and decorating a three tier birthday cake for Kaiden, a friends son who turned 1. Kaiden loves monkeys and his party theme was all about monkeys. Sadly, the cake itself was not vegan. The bottom layer was a dark chocolate truffle cake with chocolate ganache filling. The middle was french vanillas cake with white chocolate ganache filling. And a plain white cake for the top which Kaiden destroyed within a matter of seconds and then cried when he realized his hands were dirty.

Vegan sushi quinoa salad

2011-04-10T04:59:00.001-07:00

Who says vegans can’t enjoy the flavors of sushi? A common misconception is that sushi is raw fish. Sushi can actually be any number of fresh ingredients flavored with rice vinegar and doesn’t have to include fish at all. I was craving sushi and wanted to give this recipe that sushi flare and flavor in salad form and without even using any rice.

1 package Extra Firm Tofu, drained and patted dry

2 cups quinoa

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 clove minced garlic

1 1/2 Tbsp. grated ginger

2 cups mung bean sprouts

2 cups broccoli

2 diced green onions

2 carrots, peeled and chopped into small pieces (or about 1 cup of baby carrots sliced into thirds)

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced

1/3 cup rice vinegar

1/3 cup soy sauce

1 jalapeno, seeded and diced

1 small bunch fresh basil leaves, torn

1/3 bunch cilantro leaves

Avacado

Unfortunately, I was in a hurry and only got one good picture but doesn’t it look mouthwatering?

To make this salad, first cook the quinoa in 2 quarts of cold water. Bring the quinoa and water to a boil, cover, and cook on low heat for 12 minutes, then drain.

While the quinoa is cooking you can start cooking your tofu and prepping the other veggies. After draining the tofu and patting it dry, pat it dry again until you have sucked out all the life in it. I do this by using 2 thick white kitchen towels, place the tofu block on one towel, cover with the second towel and press repeatedly while turning the tofu. This helps extract as much water as possible and is the key to getting your tofu crisp. Slice the tofu into bite sized pieces and toss with 1 Tbsp. soy sauce and 1 Tbsp. of the grated ginger. Meanwhile heat the olive oil in a nonstick pan and add the tofu. When cooking the tofu, do not disturb it! Let it cook for a full 5 minutes on one side without touching it. Then gently stir, cook another 5 minutes without touching, stir again, and then cook 5 minutes more. DO NOT TOUCH IT! If you touch it, you will have mushy tofu, mushy tofu = not good.

Now for the veggies, chop the broccoli and blanch in boiling water for 3 minutes. To speed this up you could also microwave it in a covered, microwave safe dish with a couple Tbsp. of water for 3 minutes. This just takes a bit of the crisp out of it and I think makes it better in the salad.

Wash and drain the bean sprouts, chop the green onions, carrots, cucumber, jalapeno. Then wash and tear your basil and cilantro leaves. Set all of these aside in a large bowl.

For the dressing combine 1/3 cup rice vinegar, 1/3 cup soy sauce, and 1/2 Tbsp. grated ginger. Mix and pour over the prepped veggies.

After the quinoa has cooked, rinse thoroughly in cold water to cool it down, make sure to drain all of the water out. Do the same with the blanched broccoli. Then mix the quinoa and broccoli with the vegetables and dressing. The last step is to add your cooked and crispy (because you DID NOT touch it) tofu. Toss everything together really well with the dressing. Top with diced avocado – YUM squared.

Tabbouleh inspired Quinoa

2011-03-20T15:16:00.001-07:00

Mmmmmmm, I love, love love, quinoa and tabbouleh so I decided to combine the two into one delicious meal. Yumaliciousness!

1 1/2 cups quinoa

1 bunch parsley

1 bunch mint

juice and zest of 1 lemon

1/2 of a red onion, diced

1 cucumber, peeled and diced

3-4 green onions, diced

2-3 small tomatoes, seeded and finely diced

1/3 cup olive oil

1 tsp salt

The cast of characters. If you haven’t cooked with quinoa before, you can usually find it in the rice section of your supermarket. You can get it packaged in a bag like this one or look in the bulk bins. Buying it from the bulk bins will save you a ton of money which is what I usually do. This bag just happened to be on sale.

Here is the quinoa up close before it is cooked. You can use this as a much healthier rice substitute too. It has a slightly nutty flavor and is full of healthy vitamins. Put 1 1/2 cups of quinoa into about 2 quarts of water. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 14 minutes then rinse with cold water. While you are waiting for your quinoa to cook, get the rest of your yummies together.

Throw the parsley, mint, green onions, olive oil, salt, lemon juice, and zest right into your food processor – stems and all. Why waste the stems? They taste just as delicious as the leafy part and you are chopping it up so small you won’t notice them anyway. You could also do this by hand, just be sure to chop it very finely.

Look, all chopped up and not a stem in sight. The aroma is delightful and making me hungry already.

No, the ingredients did not call for worms. I am showing this worm to stress the importance of washing all fruits, veggies, and herbs thoroughly. My packaged mint said it was clean and ready to go but this little fella was living in there. The best way to wash leafy things is to fill your sink with cold water, separate the leaves, submerge them, and wish them right around for a few minutes.

There’s that tasty quinoa all cooked and ready to eat. When it’s done it will look like there are little “sprouts” coming out.

Put all of your chopped veggies that you were prepping while the quinoa was cooking into a bowl. At least I hope you were prepping these and not playing with your worm. Mix it all together and it is ready to eat.

This recipe is so good that I always have to eat a little as soon as I make it – I can’t wait. Sometimes I will even eat it for breakfast and lunch. Make up a big batch, throw it in the fridge and eat it all week for lunch.

Navy Bean Gratin

2011-01-23T16:19:00.001-08:00

This would make a nice main course but I portioned the finished dish out into lunch containers to take with me to work this week. I couldn’t resist trying a small bowl when it first came out of the oven though, and you will not be disappointed at all.

1 lb bag dry navy beans

1 onion, quartered

1 bunch rosemary

1 bunch parsley, plus 3 Tbl chopped (divided)

1 leek

6 cloves garlic

2 Tbl olive oil

2 diced carrots

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

3/4 cup vegan rice cheese

1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs

salt, and pepper

Soak the beans overnight according to the package directions. Place the soaked beans into a dutch oven and fill to about 2” above beans with water. Throw in the whole quartered onion, skin and all, the whole bunch of rosemary and bunch of parsley (reserving the chopped parsley). Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 40 minutes – beans should be tender. Drain the beans, reserving the cooking liquid.

In the same dutch oven sauté the leek, garlic, and carrots in the olive oil for 5 minutes.

Add the drained beans to the pot along with 1 Tbl chopped parsley, 1/2 cup of the cheese, vinegar, and salt and pepper. Stir well to combine.

In a small bowl mix the breadcrumbs, remaining cheese, and remaining parsley together and sprinkle on top of the beans. Transfer to the over and cook uncovered in a 400 degree oven for 40 minutes.

I didn’t get a done picture, but this is what it looked like before going into the oven. The cheese and breadcrumbs make a nice flavorful, crunchy crust on top.

Glorious Vegan Breakfast muffins

2011-01-23T16:05:00.001-08:00

Who says yummy muffins have to have eggs, milk, and butter in them? Certainly not, you can make these healthy, most yummy muffins with none of the above. I found this recipe in the Jan/Feb edition of Vegetarian Times.

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp freshly grated ginger

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

8 oz can crushed pineapple in its own juice, drained and juice reserved

1/2 cup carrot juice

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup finely grated carrots

1/2 cup raisins

12 c chopped nuts (optional)

I was not able to find carrot juice so I substituted the carrot juice for orange juice that I had on hand. Any fruit juice should work so use what you have.

Whisk the flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a bowl until blended.

Gently fold in the oil, pineapple, 1/4 cup of the reserved pineapple juice, carrot juice, vanilla, carrots, raisins, and nuts.

In a 12 cup muffin tin lined with paper muffin liners, fill the muffin liners full of the mix. This recipe will make 12 muffins.

Bake at 350 degrees for 18-22 minutes (mine were perfectly done at 20).

These muffins are so wonderful, they have just the right amount of sweetness. The pineapple and carrots give them so much moisture flavor. I think I will be making more next weekend they were so good.

Thick and Hearty Vegan Spaghetti

2011-01-23T15:51:00.001-08:00

Who doesn’t love spaghetti, it is such a classic comfort food. Most people have their own favorite variation or family recipe that usually include meat. My goal with this version was to make a sauce that would be so flavorful and thick that you wouldn’t miss the meat one bit. I think I succeeded, the spaghetti was a huge success and my vegetable leery 6 year old even loved it – he doesn’t know spaghetti sauce is a vegetable but this sauce actually has 6 vegetables! This sauce is so flavorful it doesn’t even need any salt and pepper.

Thick and hearty vegan spaghetti

1 onion, finely diced

1 head of garlic – about 12 cloves

1 leek, finely diced

2 carrots, finely grated

1 shallot, finely diced

1 Tbl olive oil

1 6.5 oz jar sundried tomatoes in oil, drained and finely chopped

12 large mushrooms finely diced

1 bunch fresh sage, chopped

1 Tbl fresh rosemary, chopped

2, 28 oz cans tomato puree

2 Tbl tomato paste

Start by prepping all of the vegetables, a food processor comes in handy with this recipe and will save you a lot of time. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch Oven over medium heat, sauté the leek and shallot for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the carrots and garlic, cook 3 more minutes.

Stir in the sun dried tomatoes and mushrooms, cook for 5 minutes more, stirring every minute or so. Add the tomato puree and tomato paste, stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Mix in the sage and rosemary and simmer for one more hour.

You can see how thick this sauce is because of the addition of so many finely diced vegetables. Serve over hot spaghetti noodles.

I roasted some garlic to spread on french bread too…….mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Vegan cowboy “pie”

2011-01-18T16:14:00.001-08:00

Mmmmmmmm, this vegan cowboy “pie” isn’t really a pie but tastes like a delicious, fresh, pot-pie without the crust. It was so easy to make and could be done very quickly even on a weeknight.

Cowboy pie

1/4 cup vegan margarine

1 yellow onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

2 sliced carrots

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup frozen peas

1 can butter beans

2 pre-cooked baked potatoes, sliced.

2 cups plain almond milk

1 Tbsp. tomato paste

1 Tbsp. flour

vegetable bouillon cube

Melt the butter in a large saucepan and sauté the onions for 2 minutes. Add the red peppers, and carrots, and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the corn and peas and cook for 5 minutes. Add the almond milk, tomato paste, and bouillon cube and bring to a boil. At this point you may not need to add the flour, just take a look and see how thick the mixture looks. Almond milk is pretty thick on it’s own. If you want to thicken it, add the flour slowly while stirring to avoid lumps and stir until thick.

Pour the mixture into a baking dish and top with the sliced potatoes.

I baked some potatoes previously and saved some for this dish, if you do not have any baked potatoes on hand you could microwave some or top the mixture with raw potatoes and just bake it a little longer.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes, if using raw potato slices, reduce the heat to 375 and cook for 45 minutes. If you are really in a hurry, you could eat this as a “stew” and omit the potato and baking altogether.

The final result was probably my favorite vegan dish so far. Not only was it easy but the flavor was so comforting and reminded me of the little frozen pot-pies that I ate when I was a kid – only fresher and healthier tasting.

Eggplant Curry

2011-01-16T12:21:00.001-08:00

I often hear people say that they do not like curry but I think they are making a mistake of referring to the spice called curry. A curry dish can be any type of stewed vegetable or meat dish that contains spices, and it does not have to contain the spice named “curry.”

This eggplant “curry” has no curry spice in it but it is full of flavor from other spices. I hope you will give it a try even if you do not like other “curry” dishes you’ve tried.

Eggplant Curry

2 eggplants

2 cloves of garlic, diced

1 jalapeno, diced

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 bunch green onions (about 7-8), diced

1 cup diced mushrooms

1 large can diced tomatoes

1 tsp caraway seeds

1 Tbsp Cumin

1 Tbsp chili powder

cilantro

salt and pepper to taste

Poke the eggplants all over with a fork, wrap in foil and bake them in a 400 degree oven for one hour.

As long as you plan to heat the oven up, throw some potatoes in to bake too. That’s what I did and now I can have baked potatoes for lunch the next couple of days.

The eggplants look like really ugly, giant shriveled up raisins when they come out of the oven. Wait for them to cool and then peel the skin right off, it should slide off easily, discard the skin. Mash the eggplant with a potato masher or fork.

In a large saucepan, toast the caraway seeds for a few minutes in the olive oil, you may hear them start to pop. Add the diced green onion, jalapeno and garlic to the pan and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Add the tomatoes to the pan along with the spices and bring to a boil.

Add the mushrooms, and eggplant bring back up to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes until the mushrooms are cooked.

That’s it! Another really easy dish loaded with flavor that can be cooked in minutes (not counting the eggplant cooking time of course). You can always cook the eggplant ahead and store them in the fridge for a couple days until you are ready to make the curry. I served my curry over a little rice and garnished with fresh cilantro.

Lentil loaf and veggie pilaf

2011-01-10T18:40:00.001-08:00

I’ve been making lentil loaf for years. I make it for all of my meat eating friends who always and for the recipe and even my six year old who doesn’t like anything loves it!

I’ve modified my old recipe which calls for cheese and eggs and you can’t even taste the difference. I thought I would miss the cheese but it must not have been needed in the first place because the lentil loaf tasted exactly the same as ever.

Lentil Loaf

one onion

3 cloves garlic

2 ribs celery

2 carrots

1 14 oz can of lentils

1 14 oz can or red kidney beans

1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs

1 Tbsp tomato paste

1 Tbsp ketchup

salt and pepper to taste

Egg substitute of your choice, equivalent of one egg (like Ener-G)

I wanted to make this as super simple as possible since I am a working mom. Who has time to spend an hour making dinner on a weeknight? I cut this prep time down to 15 minutes with the help of my food processor and the grater blade.

Just toss in your onion, garlic, carrot, and celery and let the processor grate it up. Once you have all of those vegetables blended, add the rest of the ingredients and blend away. Pour into a large bread/loaf pan that has been coated with olive oil. Bake this loaf for one hour at 350 degrees. And there you have it, super simple to prepare lentil loaf. It comes out with a delicious crunchy coating mmmmmmmmm.

As for the pilaf, this almost took longer to prep than the loaf did but is equally as yummy.

1 cup basmati rice, rinsed until water is clear

2 cups water

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup frozen peas

1 vegetable bouillon cube

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander or fresh cilantro

salt and pepper to taste

Rinse the rice until water runs clear. Add water and remaining ingredients to a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat without lifting the lid and let sit for 10 minutes.

Here is my pilaf sitting in the pan of water. I forgot to take after pictures of the meal. I also added some zucchini that I had leftover form yesterday's baba ganoush. You could add any veggies that you want to this recipe. It would make a great main course too.

Baba Ganoush

2011-01-09T11:06:00.001-08:00

I love baba ganoush and the eggplants were on sale for only $.88 each! Needless to say, I will be featuring a few eggplant dishes this week but none tastier than the beloved baba ganoush. Making this stuff is a bit of a process but well worth it.

Baba Ganoush

one eggplant

1/8 cup raw almonds

2 Tbl tahini

1 clove garlic

juice from 1/2 of a lemon

2 Tbl olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Place the whole eggplant on a cookie sheet and roast under the broiler for about 15 minutes or until the skin starts to darken and bubble. Remove the eggplant and cool slightly. Peel the skin, (it should slip off easily) and roughly chop. Strain the eggplant in a colander for about 30 minutes to get rid of excess water.

While the eggplant is draining, process the almonds in a blender or food processor.

After sitting, squeeze the eggplant to get rid of any water that remains and it to the food processor with the almonds. Add the tahini, garlic, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. Process for about 30 seconds or until a smooth paste forms.

Serve the baba ganoush with pita bread or grilled veggies.

The eggplant does not look too appetizing as it drains.

I served it with lightly cooked zucchini and whole wheat pita bread. Yummmmmmm.

To make zucchini for dipping, slice the ends from 2 zucchini, cut them in half, and then slice lengthwise into 1/8” strips. Cook the slices in a non-stick pan over medium heat with a little olive oil. 2 minutes per side is enough to cook them slightly but keep a little of the crunch and make them perfect for dipping.

I also “doctored” up some store bought whole wheat pita bread. Slice the bread down the middle and cute each round in half. Sprinkle with a little olive oil, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds. Cook under the broiler for a few minutes until brown and crisp.

This baba ganoush was delicious, we ate all of it for lunch. I would recommend doubling the recipe to make sure you have enough and some for leftovers. You can also use store bought pita chips for sipping if you don’t have the time to toast the pitas and cook the zucchini, or raw veggies would taste great too.

Fettuccini Alfredo with spinach, mushrooms, and sun-dried tomatoes

2011-01-08T17:38:00.001-08:00

I’ve been wanting to make this vegan Alfredo recipe for the past couple of weeks ever since I saw it on the Cooking Channel. This was featured on a special called The Veg Edge which was all about vegan cooking. I made some modifications to the original Alfredo recipe to suit my taste and am going to recommend further modification now that I’ve tried it.

Fettuccini Alfredo

1 pound fettuccine noodles

2 Tbl olive oil

salt and pepper

6 ounces mushrooms

1 bunch spinach, chopped

1 jar sun-dried tomatoes in oil, diced

Alfredo sauce (recipe follows)

Alfredo Sauce

1 cup raw almonds

4 cups water, plus 2 cups water

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced

Cook the fettuccini according to the package.

Sauté the mushrooms in olive oil and set aside. Season with salt and pepper.

Sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil and set aside.

Toss the fettuccini with the mushrooms, spinach (the warm pasta will wilt the spinach so there is no need to cook it ahead of time), and sun-dried tomatoes, and Alfredo sauce, serve hot.

For the Alfredo Sauce

Boil 4 cups of water, add the almonds and boil 5 minutes. Drain the almonds. Using your fingers, peel the almonds and discard the skins.

Blend the skinless almonds in a blender or food processor with 2 cups of water until smooth. Strain through a colander lined with cheesecloth or paper towels. Reserve the liquid and discard the solids. Return the almond milk to the blender and process with the onion garlic mixture . Season with salt and pepper to taste.

I mentioned earlier that I modified the original recipe a bit. One of the modifications I made was to use spinach instead of kale. I like them both but the kale at the store didn’t look quite as perky as I would have liked and the spinach was on sale for $.88. The next time I make this I will also be using Almond milk from a carton rather than going through the trouble to make this sauce from scratch. It was a fun process but I don’t think the flavor would be affected and it is also going to save you a lot of time.

I had never skinned an almond before and it was rather gratifying when their little skins just popped right off.

Here is my almond milk straining. I did not have cheesecloth and strained it through two paper towels which worked just fine.

Chopped spinach and sun-dried tomatoes. These tomatoes are like candy, I could have eaten the entire jar and skipped the pasta completely.

The final verdict on this vegan Alfredo was that though it did not taste like a traditional cheese Alfredo it was quite delicious. The sauce stuck to the noodles and gave them a ton of flavor. Next time I am using almond milk from the carton to save time and also plan to double the amount of spinach and mushrooms I used just because I love them so much.

NOT Chos for lunch

2011-01-08T16:03:00.001-08:00

I decided to also keep it simple for lunch on the first day. Along with the breakfast shake Nacho’s or Taco Salad is also something that we eat a lot. It was so simple to turn Nachos into Not chos that I can’t imagine anyone not wanting to try it!

Notchos

Whole grain tortilla chips

Vegetarian refried beans

shredded lettuce

one whole tomato diced

avocado

cilantro

rice cheese

Heat the refried beans. Place a layer of tortilla chips on a plate and top with the warm beans. Top the beans with shredded lettuce, diced tomato, avocado, cilantro, and shredded rice cheese.

Another very simple vegan meal. If you have never tried rice cheese, this stuff is AMAZING! It tastes just like, if not even better than real cheese but has no fat and no cholesterol! nom nom

Vegan Breakfast Day 1

2011-01-08T15:55:00.001-08:00

It’s day one of eating Vegan and I decided to start the day with a shake that I have most mornings anyway. This shake is super delicious, filling, and so quick and easy. I normally make it with skim milk or yogurt but just replaced that with almond milk today which did not change the taste at all. You could even add some wheat germ to this if you wanted.

Vegan Breakfast Shake

One banana

4 Oz. frozen blueberries (any fresh or frozen fruit of your choice)

1 cup almond milk or juice

Place all of the ingredients into a blender and puree for 30 seconds until thoroughly blended.

There is no set of specific ingredients for this shake. You can replace the almond milk with juice which I often do, or even make it with half juice and half milk.

mmmmmm……… so delicious, so quick, and so pretty in this Windows 7 (shameless plug) cup.

The yarn is organized!

2011-01-03T11:30:00.001-08:00

I set a few goals for myself this year and in order to start things off right I really needed to get my yarn organized. I’ve tried a variety of ways to organize it in the past but never found the right way that really worked well for me.

After doing some investigating I decided the best way to get this yarn under control would be to organize it by project, and then organize the leftovers by type. I always have many projects floating around in my head at any given time and because the yarn was never easy to find before I would just end up buying more (yippee)! This only made my problem worse.

Sorting by project was going to be just the thing I needed to use up my stash and keep things under control. At first I thought about buying plastic bins to put each project in, or even large zipper bags but then I saw my stash of gift bags across the room. I always save these darn things intending to re-use then but every time I need one I end up buying a new one anyway. These are just the thing to sort my projects and not have to buy anything else.

The first project bag filled up quickly and before I knew it I had a whole pile of projects, bagged and ready to crochet!

Now that the yarn was organized I decided to figure out a way to organize my patterns too. I am notorious for writing my patterns down on little scraps of paper and even post it notes. I found these old plastic stacking trays in the closet. I used to use them when I used paper for work but now everything is on the computer so I had packed them away. They will work perfect for storing my patterns as I write them down (using real paper and NOT post its)! I have 6 trays and divided them up into baby items, blankets, accessories, amigurumi, women, and men. This seems like it will work for now but I may need to modify this system later as I start using it. I am just excited about the possibility of actually being able to find a pattern when I need it!

This book shelf is serving as my inventory storage for now. The shelves are adjustable so I am hoping it can hold most of my items. I’ve started doing more custom orders so that I do not have to keep as much inventory on hand at any given time. I can see outgrowing this quickly though if things pick up in the new year like I hope they will.

Here is my workspace, I decided to store all of the festive project bags under my desk area. My 2 Italian Greyhounds, Paige and Emma are always curious about anything that has been moved or is new in the house.

Paige was posing so nicely here!

Here is the other side of the room which we mainly use as a library. I wish these were all craft books but there is quite a bit of science fiction thrown in too.

That’s one goal down and I think I am off to a good start to the new year so far. I hope I can keep this system up and make it work unlike so many other ways of organizing yarn that have failed in the past.

A new member of the family

2010-11-07T08:58:00.000-08:00

We adopted an Italian Greyhound yesterday. His name is Ricky and he is oh so sweet. We already have one Italian Greyhound named Paige who was adopted from the same rescue group IGCA.

Italian Greyhounds are the most incredible dogs you can ever hope to find. They love to sit in your lap, snuggle, and give you kisses. I am allergic to both dogs and cats and the IG's minimal amount of hair makes them an ideal choice for anyone with allergies. They are not annoying barkers, nor do they have a dog smell. Truth be told, Itlaian Greyhounds are happiest snuggling down under the covers next to their owner.

My love of Italian Greyhounds has inspired me to start a new line of doggie couture clothing and accessories for my Etsy shop. This breed is so hard to find clothing for because of their odd shape and size but sweaters are an absolute neccessity for them. You can order a custom made hand-crocheted dog sweater for your own hound in my shop. There will be many more styles coming soon.

The tale of two Octopus

2010-11-05T09:22:00.001-07:00

I have just completed the process of transferring all of my information from another blog service and setting up my new blog. The other blog service was not nearly as good or user friendly but I had spent so much time setting it up that I figured I would give it a chance. I should have scrapped them before I invested all that time! Oh well, I am here now and love the ease of using Blogger.

This fella is Monsieur, he is the better half of Mademoiselle. I use this pair of amigurumi as my Etsy avatar. After making them I created an entire scene in which to photograph them. Complete with a bedroom and living room area.

Monsieur is pictured here sitting on the sofa reading his Sea Life magazine. He has to use a monocle because his eyes aren't what they used to be. Pictured below him is Mademoiselle. She appears to be sewing one of her creations at her sewing machine. I think that might be the pair of legwarmers she was really hoping to finish before winter. The project was taking longer than she thought because of having eight legs, and long ones at that!

Monsieur just reads while she sews, the constant hum of the machine relaxes him. Monsieur is such a nice Octopus that he soon decides to take a break from the Sea Life article on rogue plankton to surprise Mademoiselle with a little gift. It is a new headpiece to match her legwarmers! Hooray!!! You can see how happy Mademoiselle is, and she gives Monsieur a big grateful hug.