Happy Passover and info about giveaway!

This post will be kind of a whole bunch of things mixed up into one blob of a post.

First, Happy Passover to those that celebrate.  We are not very religious in this family, although we used to go to or have our own Seders.  Last night was a very informal dinner, most of which was not kosher for Passover, but still vegan.

We started and ended with the kosher items: matzo ball soup and charoset.

In between, we had a cabbage/carrot/broccoli salad with tahini dressing, from the VeganYumYum book. It was the Nearly Raw Tahini Noodles....without the noodles!

And then we had the Tomato Barley Risotto from the same book.

(I added kale....of course)

Tanya's Quick Charoset:

2 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into wedges

2/3 cup raw almonds

6-7 pitted dates

cinnamon

Put it all into a food processor.  Don't leave it in too long...you don't want a big ball of sticky apple/almond flour!  You still want little bits of dates and apple.

Do you have some good vegan Passover recipes??  Post a link!

A few days ago, I made a Red Wine Lentil Soup that I had ripped out of a Parade magazine a long time ago. Still good!  If you want the recipe, email me.

(I added Vitamin D mushrooms....and kale!)

And then of course we went to the market on Saturday morning: collard greens, sweet potatoes, brown rice, strawberries, hydroponic tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, eggs(for my husband), lacinato kale, lettuce, and shiitake mushrooms.

We were near a good local grocery and so I picked up a few items I can't find in the stores closer to where I live: kombucha (since I read about it on all your blogs!!), Purely Decadent ice cream, and Rice Vegan Cheddar flavor "cheese". (oddly, their shredded cheddar in the store had casein in it, but not the slices)

Thursday, I'll be doing my first giveaway!  You still have time to vote for your favorite giveaway item, before I decide. Vote here.


Other giveaways:

Lindsay over at CookVeganLover is having a Spring Into Veganism giveaway!! A box of amazing stuff!

Elena of Eat Healthy! Be Happy! Vegan Recipes and Living Blog is giving away Organic Artisana Cacao Bliss RAW Coconut Chocolate Butter. Enter to win HERE.


Averie of LoveVeggiesAndYoga is giving away some Tazo goodies!


Blogger of the Week: ChocolateCoveredKatie because she puts so much humor into her posts and she's so clever and comes up with so many different, whacky, and creative recipe ideas!

Here's another question:
The only SOY yogurt I found in our local stores is O'Soy. I was reading the label and guess what's in it? "Our live active cultures are milk-based"!! Hmmmm.....that kind of defeats the purpose.  Grrrr......I want my yogurt! Now I can't have any. If you're going to make soy yogurt.......don't put milk products in it please!

Eat smart,
T.

Broccoli Bake and the Goods

Several days ago, I made VeganYumYum's Creamy Broccoli Mushroom Bake and it was absolutely amazing! I will definitely make it again and again.  I used arrowroot powder instead of corn starch and I left out the oil.  I had some leftover mini spelt shells, so I used those instead of orzo.  I was a bit worried when I put it into the 8x8 pan.  It was quite liquidy(not a real word, I know) and really soaked up the breadcrumbs when I put them on top.  But when I took it out of the oven, it had solidified and the breadcrumbs on top gave it a nice crunch.  So it really did come out great :)

On our way back from Florida yesterday (more on that awful trip later), my husband was nice enough to let me stop at a big health food store in Mobile, AL (Virginia's Health Foods), even though he was sick....poor guy.  I tried to make it quick....you know, quick for me....at a health food store :)

The goods: bulk oat groats, bulk raw sunflower seeds, bulk raw cashews, Artisana Coconut Butter, raw almond butter, Primal Strips, sprouted grain pasta, large agave nectar, chia seeds, quinoa, millet, and Arame. Forgot to add the tempeh to the picture.....can't find it here, so I bought two packages!

It's very exciting....I love health food stores! Is that so wrong? I guess it's a good thing I didn't spend all day in there, or I would've emptied out our bank account :)

Perhaps I'll wait until tomorrow to blog about our disaster of a trip....something to look forward to.

Eat smart,
T.

Brownies, Tamarind, Cabbage and Market Goods

I've been really out of it for a few days now....sleeping a lot and not in blogging moods.  I think I feel better today.  Our chamber music concerts are done, so there's a weight off my shoulders too. I can relax a bit now....although we still have "regular work"....meaning orchestra rehearsals and concerts.  This week is the Verdi Requiem.  Great piece! I recommend a listen, if you get a chance.

On to the food.  Here's what I got at Saturday's market: cabbage, cauliflower, cilantro, turnips, kale, green onions, grapefruit, satsumas, oranges, shiitakes, brown rice, tomatoes, meyer lemons, and broccoli. 

Today I made VeganYumYum's Tamarind Tofu Cabbage Bowl.

Here are my alterations:

I left out the oil and the tofu.
I added an extra cup of rice and an extra cup of cabbage.
I used ALL the tamarind chutney in the recipe.

This is the first time I've ever used tamarind.  I found it in our Asian food store.  I think it had pits in it? Is that possible?  There were some very hard small pit-like things in my portion.  So perhaps next time I'll strain the sauce before it cools and thickens.  It was labeled as tamarind paste. The flavor was really nice and just spicy enough for me, although my husband poured on more red pepper flakes (he loves spicy).

And now for the brownies.  I was hesitant to blog about them, because I've seen sooo many great reviews of them and I was really looking forward to making them: HappyHerbivore's Black Bean Brownies.

Now let me just say, my husband loves them and we had a guest over and he liked them too.  My husband actually thought there was pumpkin in them (must be the cinnamon).  I just found the texture really weird.  Maybe it was my little 3 cup food processor that didn't quite process it well enough? Maybe I should've added the extra sugar?? I'm not sure.  I mean, I like them, but I won't be eating a ton of them (not to worry, my husband is eating them up). I really wanted to love them.  Maybe I'll try them again if I ever get a REAL food processor. And maybe I'll add the extra sugar too.  That won't keep me from trying out other HappyHerbivore recipes.....she's great.  And you should check out her daily online tv streamed recipes here.

On to other news.  Check out ChocolateCoveredKatie's Vitamix giveaway! I really want one, so I'll be entering too :)

And don't forget to check out her recipes for Fudge Babies.  I made some great Marzipan Balls....click for the recipe.  I also made her Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Babies...amazing!

Eat smart,

T.

More dessert balls!! And other good food...

Last night we had friends over to eat VeganYumYum's Cauliflower Bake.  I ended up adding broccoli to it because the head of cauliflower I got at the market wasn't big enough!  I also left out the tofu layer, because they didn't have any at the store.  It was still delicious!

I also made a Curried Tomato Spread I found on the fatfreevegan website.  It was really good...nice Indian flavors.  Made up some salsa too! Although the onions I used (all I had on hand) were a bit strong for it.  I put 1 big tomato in a food processor and added about 1/4 cup onion, a handful of fresh cilantro, juice from 1/2 key lime, crushed red pepper flakes, and some salt and pepper.  Process for a little bit, still leaving it a bit chunky.

And today I had to try making a new flavor of ChocolateCoveredKatie's fudge babies: Pumpkin Pie Chocolate Balls.  (I still had leftover pumpkin puree).  They're very tasty.


UPDATE: ChocolateCoveredKatie has already made pumpkin pie babies, but this is slightly different.

Pumpkin Pie Chocolate Balls:

1 cup raw cashews
8 dates, pitted
3 TB pureed pumpkin
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or just cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, etc...)
~1/4 cup chocolate chips or other dark chocolate (added towards the end, so there are still chunks)
A little water to help it process more easily


Mix it all up in a food processor.  Shape into balls and put in the fridge!

And finally, today's lunch was a nice spinoff of a "peanut" sauce on veggies.  I used VeganYumYum's recipe for Nearly Raw Tahini Noodles.  But I left out the noodles!!  (on purpose of course....trying not to eat so much pasta) I just shredded some cabbage and carrots and chopped up some broccoli.  Then put the sauce on top.  I doubled the sauce, and we used most of it!  It's very good.  I left out the chili sauce, because I didn't have any.  I added some crushed red pepper flakes instead.  And I added a bunch of fresh cilantro we got at the farmer's market.  Good stuff!

Off to rehearsal soon.  We have our first performance of this Tchaikowsky Sextet coming up on Thursday....then another on Sunday.   If you like classical music, I highly recommend listening to it.  It's called "Souvenir of Florence"

That's it for now.....oh, is the weekend over already??  As a musician, we never keep track, because we work weekends too.

Eat smart,
T.

SHEESE. FAIL.

Ok, people, I tried....I really tried.  I just can't do it.  I can't eat the Strong Cheddar Style Sheese.

I ate it alone.
I ate it on a cracker.
I put it on some rice to melt.
I put it on toast to melt.
It did not melt.
It smells bad.
It tastes bad.
I tried.

There's my Sheese poem for the day.
I'm so sorry.  I really wanted to like it, especially because it's so expensive.  Thank goodness I have my Dr. Cow as a backup.

If you know a way I might like it, please PLEASE let me know.
(this is what happens when you don't vote on my vegan cheese poll...I have to test for myself!)

On to good food.  Made a variation of my Indian dish today for lunch.  Still not spicy enough for my husband.  Oh well.  Again, I tried.  I need some good red chili paste or something.  What has a LOT of kick and is vegan? (& is not a fresh pepper, because I'd have to use gloves and that's a pain)

Tanya's Gobi Curry:
(see here for my original Indian dish)


Instead of potatoes, use steamed cauliflower (lower calorie and tastes just as good).  Make sure it's not too soft though, you don't want it to totally disintegrate into the food.

Cook onions and celery in a little water to start, before adding some grated carrots and the chickpeas.  


This time I used a new spice I bought: Sharwood's Hot Curry Powder (it's not spicy hot though....sigh.) instead of the garam masala.  


I cut up a fresh tomato into small wedges and added that with the grated carrots.  


Otherwise, the recipe is still mostly the same....so go have a look at the original!

The exciting news: I got my copy of 1,000 Vegan Recipes yesterday!!  I won it off of OneFrugalFoodie's blog.  Thank you to Alisa from OneFrugalFoodie and to Robin Robertson (the author of the book) for their help in getting that sent out again after a problem with the first shipment of it!

A quick addition.....I made a version of VeganYumYum's Moroccan Spiced Vegetable Home Fries yesterday. Delicious!  I made them in the oven instead, as baked fries.  And I forgot the sugar, which turned out fine. No oil, except for the spraying of the pan and I left out the celery root, because I didn't have any.  Great flavor...will make again!

Well, I wish you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Until next year,
Eat smart,
T.


CWF8PXWRCXKZ

All day in the kitchen...

I'm warm and exhausted from cooking all day! Ok, it was also 73 degrees today, which didn't help.  But it sure was nice.....we were able to get a couple of good walks in....in shorts :)

This morning, I made Stuffed Cabbage.  I tried to find recipes online.....they're all so different.  I based mine on one I found here, but sort of made my own version of it. Then I ran out of Chocolate-Covered-Katie's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough balls I'd made, so I had to make more.  This time: Banana Bread Balls! Yup, I made up my own flavor :)  And finally, for dinner, I made the Red and White Cauliflower Bake from the VeganYumYum cookbook.

Let's start off with the Stuffed Cabbage, shall we? I had a nice cabbage I got from my local farmer's market this past weekend, so I had to come up with something! (I'll have to find a use for the rest of it......maybe cabbage salad??)

Stuffed Cabbage, based on a recipe I found online (the author apparently had already adapted it from a Vegetarian Times recipe):

1 head of cabbage, cored and soaked in boiling water for somewhere between 5 and 15 minutes)
2 cups cooked brown rice
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup chopped button mushrooms
3/4 cup chopped onion
4 tsp minced garlic
a handful of raisins
1 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes (made a little too much sauce)
2 TB agave nectar
3 TB lemon juice

To make the tomato sauce: Saute 1/2 the onion and 1/2 the garlic in about 1/4 cup water.  When soft, add the tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes on medium heat.  Add 2 TB lemon juice and 1 TB agave nectar (this gives it a nice sweet and sour taste).  Cover and simmer for about 5 minutes.


To make the filling: Saute the rest of the onion, the celery, and the garlic in about 1/4 cup water until soft.  Then add the chopped mushrooms and cook for another 2 minutes.  Add the rice and the raisins.  Stir well. (you may need to keep adding just a little water to keep it from sticking) Stir in 1 TB lemon juice and 1 TB agave nectar. Mix well and let cook for another 2 minutes.


Heat the oven to 350.  Spray a baking dish with oil.  Spread half of the tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan. Take about 8 leaves off of the cabbage, one by one, spreading a big spoonful of filling onto each leaf.  Roll it up and tuck the ends under.  Put it seam side down on top of the sauce.  Mine made about 8.  You'll have to judge for yourself how much filling to use.  When all the stuffed cabbages are in the pan, pour the rest of the tomato sauce over them evenly.  Cover with tinfoil and bake for 30 minutes.


Here's a picture of my Banana Bread Balls! I basically used the Choc. Chip Cookie Dough Ball recipe, but added in a little banana. I used about a half of a banana...maybe next time I'll use a little less.

And last but certainly not least, the Red and White Cauliflower Bake from VeganYumYum.   This was an excellent dish! It uses a ton of cauliflower, which is good, because I picked up a locally grown one the other day and it was HUGE!

I left out the vegan margarine/olive oil in the recipe.  I also forgot to blend up the stewed tomatoes first...but that's ok. I crushed it up the best I could in the pot.  Actually, I probably could've used more tomato...I love my tomatoes!!!  I used arrowroot powder in place of the cornstarch...I used almond milk instead of soy milk...and I used whole wheat flour for the all-purpose.  I definitely recommend this great recipe!!

Wow, ok, I'm tired.  Ooooooh my package from Barry Farm just showed up! Exciting! Unfortunately, my VeganStore package is stuck in Louisville by UPS.....wonder when it will get here...it's got my vegan cheeses in it....

Eat smart and Happy Holidays,
T.

Greens Stew and Pasta w/Alfredo

Yay, two meals in one day for the blog!  That's cuz I finally had a day off. Another day off tomorrow, but we're going to a pizza place for our friend, Dave's birthday.

So for lunch I thought I'd try my colleague, Kate's suggestion to parboil mustard greens.  It worked!  No bitterness.  Thanks Kate!  Here's my recipe for it:

Tanya's Greens and Beans Stew:

1 large bunch of mustard greens (& any other greens you have, like kale, if you want)
1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes
1/2 cup garbanzo beans (chick peas)
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 stalk green onions, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup water
salt, pepper, creole seasoning
optional: cornstarch or arrowroot (if you want a thicker sauce)

Tear the greens into small pieces and wash.  Drain well.  Bring a pot of water to a boil, with some salt.  Once boiling, add the greens.  Boil for a few minutes until the color is brighter....my water turned green and purple!  Drain.  In a saute pan, pour in the 1/4 cup water and onions. Cook on medium heat until soft.  Add the garbanzo beans and garlic.  Cook for a few minutes, then add the tomatoes (w/liquid) and seasonings.  Add in the greens.  If there's too much liquid, go ahead and mix a little cornstarch with water, then add it to the stew. I didn't, but I probably will next time. (I feel like I"m forgetting ingredients...if I think of any, I'll add them)
Serve over brown rice, or another grain if you want. I mixed mine up in the bowl.

And now on to dinner! I thought I'd try VeganYumYum's Hurry Up Alfredo. Didn't look anything like the picture in the cookbook, but it was very good! I used almond milk instead of soy and I left out the margarine. I also thought I'd try the new Sprouted Grain Pasta I bought in Alabama the other day.  It was kind of strange, and very sticky. But oddly, it tasted pretty good.  Since I'm trying not to eat too much flour these days, it looked really interesting to me (I love pasta). It was very chewy, but again, not bad.  I've got one more box to test out :) The sauce itself was really tasty.  I added fresh basil and parsley to the past, after adding the sauce.  And I steamed broccoli to mix in.  Needed a bit of salt, but that's about it.  I prefer VYY's Creamy Tomato Pasta, but I would make this again.

We bought a great Franken wine at that health food store in Alabama.  This stuff is hard to find! It's easy to spot, because it comes in a round green wine bottle.  We've got one more bottle to go through...

Until tomorrow...
Eat smart,
T.

World Vegan Day!!!

HAPPY WORLD VEGAN DAY!!!!

And now to the food......yes, vegan food.  Tonight I made the Creamy Sweet Potato Bake from the VeganYumYum cookbook.  A very different combination of flavors, but well worth it!  It took a bit of prep time, since I had to cook the pasta first, and cut and boil the sweet potatoes beforehand.  But bake time was only 20 minutes. I only have one medium pot to cook this stuff in, so I had to do them one after another in the same pot.  Here's what I own: 1 HUGE pot, 1 MED pot, & 1 LITTLE pot.  The medium pot is where I do all my boiling.....pasta, potatoes, etc....

Anyway,  I really liked the flavors in this.  My little chopper (mini food processor) had a bit of a melt down and started leaking all over the place (I don't have a blender), so my "alfredo" sauce was a bit soupy with little pieces of cashews in it.  Well it still tasted good!  I could've used more kale, less pasta (I used whole wheat pasta).  I left out the Earth Balance Margarine and thyme (didn't have either) too. And I did add a little tiny bit of salt onto my plate.  I'll make this dish again!

So far, except for those candied sweet potatoes, all of VeganYumYum's recipes have been great and I'd make them again and again.  

That's it folks! Still wondering what to do with all the turnips.....can you cook and mash them like potatoes???

Eat smart,
T.

Tomato Barley Risotto

I'm really enjoying my new vegan yumyum cookbook!  And I love that it has color pictures of everything too :)

Tonight I made the Creamy Tomato Barley Risotto and it was excellent! This  was my first ever recipe with nutritional yeast!  (am I too excited about that??)  The only thing I added was kale and mustard greens.  Really was just like eating risotto, except that it's barley! And like she says, you don't have to stir forever. I used unsweetened almond milk instead of the soymilk.  I also had to cook it a little longer, as the barley wasn't quite cooked all the way.  But I highly recommend this recipe and the cookbook!

Off to work I go.  Get ready, I've got several days off starting tomorrow and I hope to post quite a bit! Already excited about Saturday's market(s)!!

Eat smart,
T.

Creamy Tomato Pasta for Fall

I think I'm starting to feel a bit better today, and it helped that it was quite Fall-like today.  I even have the kitchen window open!  Feels good.

I had work today, but what I made was so easy, I don't even think it counts as cooking :)

"Creamy" Tomato Pasta adapted from Super Quick Tomato Basil Cream Pasta from the VeganYumYum cookbook

6-10 ounces whole wheat pasta (I used a  mix of shells and rotini)


Sauce:
1 - 1 1/2 cups crushed canned tomatoes ( I needed my fresh tomatoes, so I used leftover crushed)
1/2 cup raw cashews
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp tomato paste
1-3 tbsp red wine

salt, pepper, garlic, fresh basil

Throw the 1st 5 sauce ingredients into a food processor (the original recipe uses a blender, but I don't have one) and process until creamy and thick.  Boil pasta.  While pasta is cooking, put sauce into a pan and heat.  Add salt, pepper and garlic to taste.  Add the wine. Simmer.  When past is cooked, drain it and add it to the pan with the sauce.  Toss and add fresh basil.  Yay, done!


It was really good.  I'm not sure if it would've been even creamier using a blender???  I've never used cashews in cooking before...gives it a nice texture and flavor.  I left out the oil from the original recipe (trying to follow McDougall's no oil rule when I can).  Of course he doesn't like nuts either....oh well.

Anyway, this was a great recipe for an easy quick dinner after work, so you should try it.

Time to go relax now.
Eat smart,
T.

Tempeh and Sweet Potatoes

First I want to say I'm sorry for not posting anything the past 2 days.  I've been pretty busy with work and finally had some time tonight.  Might even have some time this weekend.....after checking out this week's farmer's market!

So the first recipe I did was a new one.  It's from  the Vegan YumYum cookbook: Candied Lime Sweet Potatoes. For my taste, it was a bit too sweet.  I even cut down the amount of sugar a little.  Next time, I'll cut it way down.  It was like eating candy....but maybe it's supposed to be???  I've gotta say, I'm not a huge sweet potato fan.   I think I've only ever made one recipe from them.  Some sweet potato salad, which was actually really good.  I'll have to find that recipe somewhere again if we get more sweet potatoes from the market.

I feel like I need to brush the candy off my teeth now....it's still lurking.  Also, I made it in a nonstick baking pan. Wonder if that was a bad idea.  The whole bottom is black from the caramelization of sugar.  Think it'll come off???  It's soaking, so hopefully.

Second recipe I made was Tempeh Barbecue from the Kripalu Cookbook.  Excellent recipe!  I've made this one a few times before.  The taste varies a bit, depending on the kind/brand of molasses you use.  Some are stronger than others.  I added green pepper this time, because I still had plenty and we're getting more at the market tomorrow. And I use crushed tomatoes instead of tomato sauce.  If you've got tempeh and mushrooms on hand, you HAVE to try this recipe!

Wow, that's it I guess.  We've got leftover tempeh for tomorrow, yay!  Was thinking of making a potato/turnip salad for lunch tomorrow, since we still have more turnips from the market.  We'll see.

Have a good Friday night!
Eat smart,
T.