20 November 2008

I’ve had headaches off and on for the past couple weeks (probably due to a combination of stress, lack of sleep and less than stellar eating habits), so tonight I’m off to the chiropractor to get popped back into shape.

In the meantime, I’ve been wallowing in self pity while checking out some pretty horrific specimens of cake decorating “artistry” via Cake Wrecks. Too funny. And they make my amateur cupcake decorating skills look that much better in comparison.

Tags: cakes, headache

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14 November 2008

With a leftover baguette idling on the counter this past week, my thoughts turned to French toast. I borrowed my in-laws’ electric frying pan (since my last encounter with trying to make French toast on top of the stove wasn’t a huge success) and set to make Fronch Toast (VWAV). The toast browned nicely and was delicious.

And because I’m a sucker for toppings, I veganized a recipe from my mum that she uses to top puffed pancakes. Adam is now addicted to “sweet apples” and would have happily chowed down a bowl of them all by himself and left me to eat the French toast plain.

Adam’s Sweet Apples

4 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (I used large Golden Delicious apples)
3 tbsp. Earth Balance
3 tbsp. agave nectar (I used amber)
1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon

In a medium saucepan, combine Earth Balance, agave nectar and cinnamon. Heat on low heat until Earth Balance has melted.
Add apple slices and toss to coat. Cover and simmer for 5 - 7 minutes or until apples are soft.
Serve over French toast, pancakes or all by itself (à la Adam).

Tags: apples, fronch toast, recipe, vegan baking

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7 November 2008

How did that happen that we’re already a week into November, yet it feels like September? Sadly, I’m inundated with work at the moment, but I can see the sunshine streaming through the window and am living vicariously through the Weather Network.

Last weekend was a busy one; Adam dressed up as a knight for Halloween and we took him trick-or-treating to only a few houses by Todd’s parents. Thankfully, his bag was little and filled up quickly, so he thought he’d really raked in the loot.

Later that evening, we went to Hallelujah Night, a carnival hosted by the Korean Presbyterian church where Adam attends a weekly kids program. While Adam had no interest in the face painting or the bouncy castles (he didn’t want to have to take off his shoes), he was all over the idea of cotton candy.

At least until his hands became too sticky to bear. Then he was willing to share with Todd and me. Sweet, eh?

On Saturday Adam graduated from his first session of Korean classes; he can now identify parts of the body, count to 10, introduce himself and name animals. Not too shabby for six weeks.

Adam was one of the few kids not wearing a hanbok; he’s outgrown his old one and we were waiting till we could travel to Korea next year to purchase a new one.

Part of the graduation ceremony involved the children performing a few songs that they’d learned during the class. Adam refused to participate until we bribed him with getting Korean food after the ceremony. Then he relented and sang, but wouldn’t do the actions. He’s a stubborn one.

Oh, and I’ve been cramming in some knitting in between client phonecalls and cursing Dreamweaver for not being able to read my mind, but I have no photos to show for it, so you’ll just have to trust me.

Tags: adam, halloween, korean class

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31 October 2008

I’m not entirely certain what happened, but somewhere between Adam getting sick and me suffering countless miserable headaches this month, I lost track of posting our yummy vegan meals. In some cases, I even forgot to take photos. Sigh. Hopefully I’ll do better next year.

Here are a few of the dishes I made during the past couple weeks.

This is Vegan Dad’s Potato Apple Ginger Soup, in which we dipped chunks of French bread. It was definitely one of those soups that tasted better the next day (and the day after that!). I severely underestimated the amount of time it would take to peel and chop the potatoes, carrots and apples, so by the time it was ready to eat, I was famished. Unfortunately, I neglected to add enough salt, so we initially found the soup relatively bland tasting until we each added our own.

Next up is Mediterranean-Style Cashew-Cucumber Dip (VCON) with carrots for dipping. Todd and I found the dip to be refreshing, but not even the lure of creamy dip would entice Adam to try a raw carrot. (It’s one of the few vegetables he doesn’t like, particularly raw.)

Thankfully, Adam was happy to eat the cooked carrots in this stirfry. Served up again with peanut sauce, we were all happy to have a veggie-heavy meal and Adam was especially thrilled that I’d included broccoli (one of his favourites) and water chestnuts.

Lastly, here’s my favourite breakfast of late: oatmeal. I usually dice half an apple and toss in some raisins, chopped walnuts and cinnamon. Once it’s finished cooking, I drizzle some maple syrup on top and then sit back with a cup of tea to enjoy. Of course, Adam’s now decided that he loves raisins (he used to turn up his nose at them) so I often end up sharing. Not that I mind.

And now I need to go get Adam ready for Halloween. Trick or Treat!

Tags: dip, oatmeal, soup, stirfry, vegan cooking, veganmofo, veganomicon

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15 October 2008

Since I woke up way too early on Monday morning, I surprised Todd and Adam with freshly baked muffins for breakfast.

These are my new favourite pumpkin muffins (The Best Pumpkin Muffins from VWAV), which were yummy the last time I made them (having added 1/2 cup chopped walnuts to the batter). But this time, I also added 1/2 cup dried cranberries, which made them even more delicious (and rather seasonal, assuming you like cranberries). Unfortunately, Adam has now decided he no longer likes walnuts, so he very carefully extracted and ate all the cranberries and left the remaining muffin on his plate. Sigh. Then he asked if I could make more banana bread instead, because he loves chocolate chips.

We had Thanksgiving lunch/dinner at Todd’s parents’, where there were lots of veg-friendly sides (mashed potatoes made with soy milk, sweet potatoes, a mashed carrot and turnip casserole that I avoided due to my strong dislike of turnip, and steamed broccoli and cauliflower). I brought a wild rice dish that my mother used to make which I veganized (and improved by increasing the number of mushrooms (and the decreasing the amount of broth) and adding cranberries). Why yes, I was on a bit of cranberry kick.

Thanksgiving Wild Rice

1 cup uncooked wild rice
1/4 cup Earth Balance
1/2 cup slivered almonds
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
3 cups sliced mushrooms
2-1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 - 3/4 cup dried cranberries (depending on how much you like cranberries)

Soak wild rice in water for 1 hour. Drain.
In a medium saucepan, bring 3 cups of water and 1 teaspoon salt to a boil. Add rice and cook for 10 minutes. Drain.
Preheat oven to 325°F.
In a large, heavy-bottomed frypan, combine rice, Earth Balance, almonds, green onion and mushrooms. Cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes, or until almonds are lightly browned, stirring frequently.
Pour rice mixture into a 3-quart casserole. Add vegetable broth and cranberries, stirring to combine.
Cover dish tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour 30 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.

Serves 6 - 8

Tags: muffins, recipe, vegan cooking, vegan with a vengeance, veganmofo, wild rice

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10 October 2008

Today I’m feeling a lot more like myself and less like a miserable, crampy hag. This calls for celebratory baking! I had four bananas languishing on the counter, just waiting to be made into Lower Fat Banana Bread (VCON).

Adam was desperate to help, so I let him assist with the banana mashing.

And then he measured out chocolate chips (I doubled the recipe and added 1 cup of chocolate chips).

He was very precise and was excited to get to try a single chocolate chip, after which he proclaimed “that’s enough chocolate for Adam.”

The finished product was delicious. Each of us has been sneaking slices all day and Adam even thanked me for making it. I’ve made this recipe a few times and it gets rave reviews from everyone who samples it. Todd has designs on the second loaf, and is under the impression that he’s taking it to work tomorrow to share. Maybe I’ll let him.

Since I was oh-so-energetic today, I also made Pumpkin Baked Ziti with Carmelized Onions and Sage Crumb Topping (VCON) for dinner (that title is such a mouthful!). The last time Todd and I made this we underestimated how long it would take to put together, so this time I decided to make the Cashew Ricotta in the morning and refrigerate it till I was assembling dinner.

This is so creamy and yummy that I could eat it straight out the bowl, but in the interest of having enough left for the pasta, I restrained myself.

The dish went together beautifully, and since it makes a 9×13″ casserole, there are lots of leftovers (which reheat nicely). I love dishes that make more than what we can eat for one meal, since it saves me from having to cook every single night.

This isn’t the loveliest photo, so please rest assured that it tastes way better than my photography and food styling skills would indicate!

Tags: banana bread, pasta, veganmofo

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8 October 2008

I’ve been feeling crappy for the last couple days (I hate cramps) so any and all thoughts of baking muffins or brownies have fallen by the wayside. In fact, I feel too miserable to cook much at all, so Adam has enjoyed the fruits of my inability to prepare lunch today.

Behold: the tried and true peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich.

Thankfully, Adam will happily eat PB&J whenever the opportunity presents itself, providing that the correct ingredients are used.

While Adam’s not terribly picky about the bread (we used whole wheat bread that Todd made in the bread machine on Monday) he strongly prefers smooth peanut butter and is insanely particular about the jam. He’ll only eat organic “premium” jam — the one time we ran out and used the cheap stuff, Adam said it tasted bad. Go figure. He’s got good taste. Like his mummy, I think.

Tags: lunch, pb&j, veganmofo

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6 October 2008

The vegan month of food blogging continued through the weekend, beginning with Friday’s dinner.

Ever since Adam joined our family, we’ve tried to incorporate Korean meals in our rotation, but after a few failed attempts, we’ve mostly stuck to going out to eat at Korean restaurants. However, Adam’s now taking Korean classes, conveniently located in one of the community rooms at a Korean grocery store, so we stocked up on some staples and I tried to make a reasonably authentic meal.

The main dish is vegetable mandu (the little dumplings on the bottom right), which I purchased frozen and then pan-fried and steamed at home. They were pretty decent but they didn’t brown as much as I’d hoped they would, so next time I’ll cook them a little longer. The dipping sauce in the middle is supposed to contain plum extract, but I forgot to buy any, so I used agave nectar instead, which seemed to work. The kimchi was also purchased, but I made spinach and seasoned green bean sprouts.

Everybody scarfed down the meal quickly, so I was pleased to have a successful Korean meal at home, even if it wasn’t all made from scratch.

On Saturday I realized it had been far too long since we’d had hummus (recipe from Veganomicon), so I pulled out the food processor and quickly puréed a yummy snack for Adam and me. I used a bulb of roasted garlic this time, which made for a much richer flavour. Adam thought it should be eated directly out of the bowl like ice cream.

Not that I blame him. It was that tasty.

Lastly, we had a potluck to attend Saturday night, so I put together one of our favourite salads, Corn and Edamame Salad (also from Veganomicon).

It’s cold and crunchy and the combination of tamari and rice vinegar makes for a delicious dressing. Plus the toasted black sesame seeds give it a little extra colour.

Adam’s been asking for muffins, so I’m hoping to find a little time to bake this week. I think pumpkin muffins sound rather seasonal…

Tags: corn and edamame salad, hummus, korean cooking, mandu, veganmofo, veganomicon

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3 October 2008

Last night’s dinner was one of my standard “use up all the produce that needs to be eaten right away” kinds of meals: peanut stirfry. It’s a mindless meal to make, which was particularly helpful since I was tired. And since we’re making conscious efforts not to eat out so much, easy meals are super helpful when nobody really feels like cooking.

This version used three large carrots, two stalks of celery, three yellow peppers, several large handfuls of bean sprouts, two cups of shiitake mushrooms and a handful of peanuts. It was enough for the three of us plus leftovers.

The peanut sauce is easy to throw together while the veggies are cooking.

Peanut Sauce
(serves 4) 

1/3 cup natural smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup tamari
2 tablespoons water
1 clove garlic, minced
1-1/2 teaspoons grated ginger
juice of 1 lime
2 teaspoons agave nectar

In a small saucepan, combine ingredients and cook over low heat until peanut butter is melted, whisking until sauce is smooth.
Serve over stirfried vegetables and rice.

Tags: recipe, stirfry, vegan cooking, veganmofo

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2 October 2008

It’s that time of year again! Time for an entire month of food-related posts, and while I recognize that I’m already a day late, I’m hopeful that my enthusiasm makes up for my tardiness.

First up is last night’s dinner, Corn Chowder from VWAV. This was simple to prepare (a must for weeknight dinners around here) and super tasty with the accompanying baguette.

It was filling (which was good, since I never got around to making salad to go with it) and everyone enjoyed it. Adam was a little hesitant but managed to eat about half a bowl of chowder in between scarfing down slices of bread.

The best part is that we have leftovers for lunch today!

Tags: corn chowder, vwav

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