2 Quick Book Reviews

I'd like to thank Book Publishing Company again for sending me some of these books.

The first book here is The 4 Ingredient Vegan by Maribeth Abrams and Anne Dinshah.

Actually, I wasn't planning on reviewing this book, but they sent it anyway. At first I skimmed through it, just browsing the recipes. And most have maybe 5 or 6 ingredients. The only downfall here, for me, is that a lot of the recipes use prepackaged foods, like packaged pierogies, frozen pizza, hummus, spaghetti sauce, and soups. I wish there had been some easy recipes for these instead. Even the hummus can be a 4 ingredient recipe!! I've been so busy, I really only got around to making one of the recipes, but I will definitely make some more of them when I have the time.

Harvest Mash:

Before

After

This was really delicious and so easy to make! Lots of healthy vegetables, seasoned with broth....and I had lots of leftover broth left to use for something else. Of course I spiced it up a little with my Creole Seasoning :)

The author does list all sorts of foods you should stock your kitchen with, but alas, it includes premade soups, vegan meats, vegan sour cream/cream cheese, and canned foods. I suppose if you're in a real hurry, perhaps you should have some of these on hand, but I try to minimize them. I do have vegan cream cheese and sometimes sour cream in the fridge, but I use them very sparingly. Just because it's vegan, doesn't mean it's healthy!

So if you're the kind of person that's always in a hurry and keeps lots of canned tomatoes, beans, etc, stocked in your pantry, you'll get a lot of use out of this book.

Sproutman's Kitchen Garden by Steve Meyerowitz

I'd been looking at this book for a while, so I was excited to get it. Yes, it's a bit old, in that it was published in 1999. But....I really wanted a sprouting book. This one has a lot of various recipes for things, from breads, to pies and snacks. I wish it had a little more info on the actual sprouting process. It does dedicate a small section in the back to sprouting beans, seeds, and grains, but I wish it had explained it a little more in detail.

I tried (and failed) to make the Sprout Bread. I'd always wanted to make sprouted grain bread. Well, this one didn't seem to work for me. It was more like a thick cracker. Although it had a nice sourish flavor. I think perhaps it was my food processor.....I need a bigger, more robust one. This recipe also only called for sprouted wheat. No yeast, no nothing else. So my next try will be the kind with yeast. If you really want pictures of my failure.....here it is:

The nice sprouted wheat (did I sprout them too long perhaps??):

On the pans, before baking:

After baking:

The bottom fell out:

FAIL.

Next recipe, with success: Party Sprouts

The sprouted lentils:

The baked:

These were really delicious! Although they didn't totally dry out in the oven....they did keep well in a container for quite a while. I'll make these again. Great snack!

And lastly, the Hotcha Zucchini

I baked these instead of using the dehydrator, as I don't have one. But they were pretty good too, albeit a bit salty for my taste. S liked them! And he hates zucchini!

The book has recipes using all sorts of sprouts and soon, I will learn to sprout more than lentils and alfalfa. If you're a sprout fan, you should check out this book!

Have you ever made 100% sprouted grain bread? With or without yeast? In the oven, or bread machine?

If you still want to help me out with trip suggestions, you can here.

If you're in the New Orleans area, don't forget to check out the NOLA VeggieFest 2011!!! I'll be there!

Eat smart,
T.

Eating Tasty Things

So I ran into a slight glitch with my CSN Stores giveaway. Not to worry....as soon as it's fixed, I will let you know! Oh wait, I just got the email from them.....as it turns out, I will post the giveaway later this evening!!

And while I'm on the topic of giveaways, I will be having a Tasty Bite giveaway next month!

I recently won an awesome totebag and cookbook from Kathy over at Healthy.Happy.Life. blog!

And check it out....Kathy's got her own recipe in there!!

Thanks so much, Kathy!!

On to more stuff I've eaten in the past week or two:

Chocolate Banana Soft Serve with a cocao/agave sauce and crumbled brownies

Kidney Bean Chili

Chocolate Zucchini Bread (absolutely amazing!!)

(used soymilk instead of coconut, 1/3 cup oil, 1 1/2 cups sugar & whole wheat flour)

Cauliflower and Couscous a la Lemon

Roasted Veggies with Tomato Sauce

Green Smoothie for 2 (see below)

Creamy Cauliflower Bake

Brownie topped with Purely Decadent Ice Cream

Green Smoothie for 2:

1 1/2 cups cold, filtered water

1 apple

1 carrot

3-4 large kale leaves

2 stalks celery

Blend in a high speed blender. Has just a hint of bitterness (from the kale).

Coming up: A CSN Stores giveaway, a Tasty Bite giveaway and my Kale and Carrot Salad recipe!

Eat smart,

T.

Tasty Stuff

Last week we got a HUGE amount of produce at the market: lettuce, mixed greens, radishes, turnips, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, shiitakes, kale, swiss chard, satsumas, sprouts, mustard greens, broccoli, green beans, and cucumbers.

I sort of made Robin Robertson's Fusili with Potatoes, Green Beans, and Lemon Basil Creme from her cookbook, "Vegan On the Cheap". I made noodles...udon noodles.  I left out the potatoes. I left out the oil & used almond milk instead of soy. Basically, I made her sauce and spooned it over the udon noodles with steamed vegetables (yellow squash, zucchini, & carrots). Then I had leftover sauce spooned over a baked potato with steamed veggies. Both were delicious! I'll definitely make this one again.

The other night, we had a friend over and I needed something quick for a starter, while I finished cooking my main meal. I found a recipe for Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus in "Ani's Raw Food Kitchen."  I thought I had sun-dried tomatoes.....I KNOW I have them.  I couldn't find them. Oh well, it's basically made from zucchini, which I DID have.  So I made the recipe, and just left out the tomatoes.  It was pretty good....perhaps a bit too much tahini for my taste. Next time I won't put in as much, and will add maybe a bit more salt or lemon juice.

Then for the main meal I made two parts: my mix 'n mashed potatoes and one of my Indian dishes. You can find them on my recipes page.

(the curry is in the front, the potatoes in the back)

BROWNIES! I've been craving something sweet and chocolate for a while now. I hadn't baked anything in a while, so I finally made some brownies the other night.  Found a recipe in Alicia Silverstone's "The Kind Diet" for Coffee Fudge Brownies.  They're excellent! And I just happened to have some decaf coffee from the morning, still around. How convenient :)

I used whole wheat flour only and used raw cane sugar (1 1/4 cups).  I did add oil (what??). I mean, the recipe called for oil and I used some, but not all. I usually leave out the oil entirely. I also left out the nuts & glaze. Didn't really need the extra calories on top of the brownies themselves. The brownies were very cake-like. So if you like dense brownies, these are not for you. They are delicious though!

Remember when I went to NYC and brought back Murray's whole wheat everything bagels??? I finally pulled one out of the freezer the other day and smothered it with Tofutti Cream Cheese.  The fine folks over at Tofutti sent me some coupons for free products so I thought I'd pick up some of their cream cheese and sour cream.  They both use NON-HYDROGENATED oil! I don't use these products all that often, but for once in a while use, like my 'once every couple of weeks'  bagel n' cream cheese, it's really delicious!

(my half bagel with Tofutti Cream Cheese)

And for the sour cream, I made my Sour Cream Dip! So good!

Coming up: My CSN Store item review. It's a very cool item!

If you missed it, check out my own recipe for Vegan Queso.

What are your thoughts and experiences with these stores? Which are your favorites? (I've only shopped at Pangea & Cosmo's so far)

Pangea Vegan Store
Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe
Vegan Essentials

Eat smart,

T.

Catching up and lots of pics

Hey everyone! So sorry for not having posted in over a week.  And just to let you know, there won't be much posting over the next month.....but hopefully I'll be able to at least post some pics from various travels and eats.

First let's start off with the latest produce from the farmer's market: pattypan squash, peaches, blueberries, yellow grape tomatoes, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, hot peppers, horticulture beans (cranberry, maybe??), cucumbers, golden zucchini, yellow crookneck squash, fairytale eggplant, and green peppers.

I was a bit angry, as I noticed that the poster for my blog had been taken down at the market.  Grrrrr......not too happy about that. At first, I gave them several copies, to put on the table so people could just take them.  They decided it would be better to hang just ONE on the wall. I didn't think so....who's gonna remember the website? Anyway, now there's nothing and I know they still have several copies, unless they threw them away.  I don't think I'll say anything though......usually I would, but since I shop there every week....probably not the best idea. What do you think?

I made some of the pattypan squash from the previous week into that stuffed pattypan I'd made before.  You can find it here.  This time I used up the rest of my Teese mozzarella. Didn't melt as well on top, but melted really nicely when mixed into the hot stuffing. Still tasty though :)

Still have a ton of yellow crookneck squash, even though I've tried to sneak it into whatever I can (husband doesn't like it).  Can I puree it and freeze it? Maybe to make salad dressing out of it later? Any ideas?

Chocolate spread on matzoh! When you're craving sweets, you gotta do whatcha gotta do! Take a handful or more of vegan chocolate chips and put them in a bowl, into the microwave.  Heat them on high for 30 seconds at a time, mixing after each.  Add in a few drops of non-dairy milk and nuke another 30 seconds.  Make sure it's nice and smooth.  Work quickly and spread it onto your matzoh.  Put it in the fridge for several minutes to let the chocolate harden and there you have a nice quick dessert!

Cucumber noodles with raw marinara (my husband preferred the zucchini, but I found cucumber pretty refreshing):

I made Averie's Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls, although to me they were more like oatmeal chocolate chip.  They are incredible!  I made them twice and the second time, I actually did 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup cashews and only about 1 Tbsp of sweetener.  Still incredible! Thanks, Averie :)

I made some Golden Zucchini Bread again. See my original post about it here. This time I added raisins, used all spelt flour, and it was REALLY good!

Here's a picture of my new steamer that I got for over 50% off at Dillards! And of course, a picture of my colorful steamed vegetables :)

Made some guacamole: 2 avocados, 1 chopped tomato, some cilantro, salt, and lemon juice, all mashed up together.

My guacamole, mixed with cooked brown rice, taco seasoning, and broccoli slaw for a great cold power lunch:

Made Choosing Raw's Zucchini Dressing (with golden zukes, since that's all I had) and it's really delicious! (her Tomato Curry Dressing is great too)

Cooked up some red quinoa and mixed it with a ton of chopped vegetables, added some balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and garlic for a great dressing.

And last, but not least, I made up some of that great Tempeh Barbecue (used shiitakes this time):

Ok, I think I'm mostly caught up. It's been really hot here...in the mid 90's with high humidity.  Still trying to get my walking in, though.

Still contemplating the blender vs. food processor situation.  But...I think I've decided to wait on the Vita-Mix because it's so dang expensive.  I'm going to get a large food processor and get some sort of small cheaper blender. Any suggestions? Something good for salad dressings, smoothies (that can handle frozen fruit) and sauces.

Blogger of the Week: FatFreeVegan.  She's got TONS of recipes that are right up my alley: fat free (or lowfat) and vegan, yay! Check her out. This was one of the first blogs I ever started following.

Giveaway: CSN stores $40 gift card giveaway at OperaSingerInTheKitchen!

Eat smart,
T.

Sweet & Sour Chipotle Tempeh w/Sweet Potatoes and other eats.

I'm up way too early this morning.....so.....I thought I'd get some posting done.

Several days ago, I made a recipe from Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan, by Dreena Burton.  (I found a copy of this recipe online here, but I don't know if they had permissions to post it-and it leaves out the chipotle)At the time, I really needed to find a use for all my sweet potatoes.  This recipe is amazing!  It's the Sweet and Sour Chipotle Tempeh with Sweet Potatoes.  If you have this book.....you MUST make this. It's really sweet though, so even though I already cut down on the sugars, I would do it even more next time.  I left out the oil and I used chipotle powder.  I also bought a fresh pineapple to use in it.....and eat the rest :) So good.

Then I made Ani Phyo's Raw Sun Burgers from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen. (And I really want her new book....maybe one of these days!).  I didn't have a dehydrator, so for me, these worked better as a "spread" on my sprouted grain bread.  And, to top it off, I put some raw ranch dressing on top and it was sooooo good! The dressing is from Rawdawg Rory (click on his recipe videos). It's my new favorite thing! I had it on some salad the other day and then on some potatoes yesterday....you HAVE to try it.  The only thing is that it called for a bit too much salt for me, so I'll go light on that next time.  These "raw" people are so creative! If only I could come up with this stuff.

The Ranch Dressing:

The Sun Burger:

The meal:

Ok, let's move on to dessert.  Averie always has delicious stuff on her site, and so I made her Vegan Mint Chocolate Chip Softserve .  This stuff is unbelievable!

And here's some more Zucchini Spiral pics, with raw marinara:

Ok, I think maybe I'm caught up???

Question:

Vacation planning.....which would you pick and why?
Portland, Maine or Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  Thinking of doing a weekend at one or the other sometime this summer.

Eat smart,
T.