Happy Valentines Day!!!

Happy Valentines Day!!  I know I know...Hallmark Holiday that is pretty much a big corporate scheme to make money...all very true buuuttt I'm sure we all would agree that all this world needs is a little more LOVE and we'd all be a lot better off, so I'm definitely not opposed to a day to celebrate it!!!  So even if you do or don't have a "romantic" other to spend today with let's all spread the LOVE to all those that deserve it (if you're feeling extra spiffy go ahead and spread it to even those that don't deserve it...who knows it might just turn them around).  So this is me sending out my LOVE via cyber space.  Especailly to you readers and those little, or not so little, animals I love so dearly.  This blog is for you!

I had the pleasure of surprising my Husband with a wonderful (If I do say so myself) romantic dinner at home, just the two of us (or three with Bella) yesterday for V-day.  I started all of the planning/prepping on Saturday.  Let me tell you it was a lot of work, but honestly each dish wasn't all that "hard" pursey, just a lot of time and coordinating to make it all work.  Everything turned out yummy..I had a few uh oh moments that I thought I would lose a dish or two, but it all worked out (thanking the good lord for my wonderful V-day luck).  Even though he got home 30 MIN EARLY!!  At least everything was warm and ready to eat.  He just got to hang out in the bedroom for 30 minutes until I was ready for him.  =) 

We started the night with champagne and fresh raspberries....I saw this somewhere a long time ago and just had to have it.  Even though fresh raspberries are a little expensive for my beer budget.  =)  Oh and forgive me now for all the photos in today's posts.  I tried my best to take good photos but I was in such a rush and frenzy I wasn't paying that much attention and left my photos for much to be desired.  Plus certain areas in my house SUCK for lighting...soo...You get what you get..especially with my iPhone! 

Thanks Maw for the champagne glasses!! 

Next up was stuffed mushrooms for appetizers.  I found the recipe at a new blog I found.  I made these on Saturday at my moms and they were SUPER simple.  My mom loved the stuffing and was eating it by itself.  It's basically the stems of the mushrooms, bread crumbs, red onions, garlic, parsley, basil and a little salt/pepper...stuff them in the caps and bake.  I made them on Saturday, kept them in the fridge and baked on Sunday before we ate.  Sorry I didn't get a close up of the mushrooms.  They are in the right side of the picture.  As you can see my hectic small kitchen.  Like my balancing skills with the cookbook?  LoL.

Next up the main course.  I made home made ravioli from scratch shaped like HEARTS!!  How adorable is this!?!  I found the recipe here at another blog.  The instructions don't always make sense.  In the filling it calls for nutmeg, but in the instructions it doesn't list nutmeg and adds cayenne?  I used what it calls for nutmeg and mixed with the filling, and just added a little Tony Chacherie's seasoning since I didn't have any cayenne at my moms.  Since I figured the instructions were a little off, I didn't follow the filling recipe too closely.  I added more bread crumbs and adjusted to my taste on the other items.  Seemed to turn out fine.  The ravioli were pretty labor intensive.  A lot of rolling out dough that was pretty sticky, cutting the little hearts, stuffing, sealing, etc.  I made these at my mom's on Saturday and then put them in a container lined with parchment making sure none of them touched each other.  Preferrably if I was doind this again I would cook them same day.  They still stuck to the parchment, and were a pain to get un done.  Plus they got a little smooshed in transit and didn't look as pretty the next day.  Also they tasted good but were a little "chewy".  I'm not sure what that was from.  This was my first time making home made pasta so I'm definitely a novice.  I cooked them about a minute after they floated to the top thinking they didn't cook long enough?  Not sure.  They were still edible, just not ideal.  I also stuffed half of them with the left over stuffing that I used for the mushrooms so we had some variance.  Both were yummy.  I had a ton of spinach stuffing left over though. 

ravioli filling

Ravioli dough

Making heart shaped ravioli...so cute! ♥



Finished product!

 

All together!  The recipe actually made about 2 more than shown. 

 I just made a jar of spaghetti sauce, fixed it up with some extra onion, garlic and my fav spices and let simmer while I did everything else.  Everything else I cooked was made from scratch so the sauce got the short end of the stick.  I didn't want to stretch myself too thin.  =).  Crappiest photo award below.  Obviously some ravioli turned out better then others.  The spinach ones don't look as pretty cause you can see through them.  All in All I was happy with the dish.  It definetly needs some adjusting to make perfect, but GREAT first try.  I'm just glad everything was edible.  Plus Husband said I was being too hard on myself and they tasted awesome! 

I was going to make a vegetable side (like green beans) but kinda forgot, and didn't have anything good in the fridge to put together so I just stuck with this.  For additional starch I made home made from scratch foccacia bread with carmelized onions from The Conscious Cook by Tal Ronnen.  Perfect side to slop up the extra sauce.  This also was a little labor intensive.  You have to knead the dough for 10 minutes..which doesn't sound like long..but boy does it get tiring.  Other then that it was pretty easy.  I probably should have cooked the onions a little longer, but Husband was home and the bread wasn't done yet, the mushrooms still had to be baked and I was a little short on time.  It tasted fine, but next time I would cook them down more.  I also must have miss measured because the topping was a little salty.  None of this really took away from the bread just a few things to work on next time to make it even better!  It was DELISH.  I will definitely make it again.  Husband raved about it!  (On a side note, I'm going to take a part of the loaf and make croutons for my upcoming cesar salad..YAY!). 

Making bread..the old fashioned way!



Carmelizing onions, boiling water for pasta, and clow cooking the sauce!



All done! 

Next up DESSERT!! Since V-day is all about the dessert I made it a two parter.  Mainly because I couldn't make up my mind which too make.  I'm glad I made both.  I started with a home made Strawberry Champagne Sorbet.  OMG sooo good..and SOOO easy!!  Aside from waiting for it to freeze this takes no time at all.  You dissolve some sugar in water, add it to purred strawberries with 2 T of agave nectar (recipe called for corn syrup, I improvised), and champagne (recipe called for 2C I used 1C plus 1C of water) let freeze for 4-6 hours, mix with a blender or food processor, freeze again until firm.  I am definitely making this on a regular basis.  ESPECIALLY for summer time.  This is the perfect dessert.  Great to make for a party too...Just make sure to keep in the freezer until you are ready to serve.  I served in a martini glass which made it extra classy!! =)   You can easily omit the champagne if making for little ones. 



While we ate our sorbet I popped dessert course numero dos in the oven to cook.  CINNAMON ROLLS!!!  Oh how simple and awesome they were.   There were a few things I would have done differently this time around.  I made the cinnamon rolls on Saturday at my mom's.  Sunday I took them out of the fridge and a lot of the butter/cinnamon/sugar mixture had melted? and was sitting at the bottom of the pan.  Not ideal.  They still baked up well, I just had to cook them a little longer to absorb the liquid.  Mine don't look as pretty as hers either...I think that could have been fixed with more frosting.  You can never have too much frosting!!

Saturday after assembly, and before melting.



Just prior to devouring!!

So there you have it, a 100% vegan Valentines day dinner for two.  I tried to gear the menu around my husband.  He loves mushrooms, ravioli, spinach, bread, strawberries and cinnamon rolls.  I didn't want to use too much "fake" meats/cheeses.  He gets enough of that during the week.  I think any of these dishes would happily satisy a meat eater.  I'm glad I had an occasion to try so many new recipes all in one day.  I found some great ones that I might not have tried otherwise.  Here are some additonal photos of our table decor.  Not the best lighting.  We had the lights off for most of the night with just the candle light (AWW..so romantic!!) but we had to turn the lights on for the best photo.  My phone isn't so great at catching the right "mood".  Thanks to my mom for helping me with all of the decor ideas, letting me borrow most of her things, and making us the beautiful frame featured in the center!  Love you!!  I also had music playing to set the mood.  I found a GREAT pandora station for old 1950ish music.  Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong!!  Brilliant combo and the perfect music for a night like yesterday.  I hooked up our computer to the TV stereo.  Since the TV has to be on for it to work I found a heart photos and kept it up so we didn't have to look at the computer monitor.  =)   

Pre chaos.  The beautiful flower is from my moms house.  LOVE!

Pretty blurry

Mood set with candles

I hope you all are feeling as loved as I am feeling today (Husband is surprising me with a hot air balloon ride once the weather looks up and we both get a day off together...SOOO excited!!  I'll be sure to blog about the trip!).  Cheers to LOVE and many more years to celebrate it!  Now go out there and tell those you love that ...well ..you LOVE them!!  ♥ ♥ ♥

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!

Swiss Chard Time!

For lunch I had left over mac n cheese.  I was going to saute some broccoli again but remembered I had the chard in the fridge.  I chopped the stems from the chard and sauted with some olive oil along with roughly cut garlic (about one clove).  I only used a few leaves of chard since I was just making it for me.  After the stems cooked down for a few minutes I added the leaves (that were also roughly chopped).  I let it cook down just a little and added some balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper and a dash of onion powder.  Let it cook down and added it to the mac n cheese.  It went really good together, plus the colors were FAB!  The red/purple chard died some of the macaroni.  I again added some hot sauce, and a little of parma this time around.  Perfection!!  It was quick and easy lunch. 

Stems cooking





Adding the leaves

Cooked down (I ate a few leaves already thats why it looks a little sparse)

All finished with mac n cheese!  Yum!

For dinner I wanted to finish off the rest of the chard, and enchiladas were back on the menu.  This time instead of jalapenos, some chili's in adobo sauce.  I loved the flavor it gave the chili I made awhile back and thought they would be great in some enchiladas.  I used the basic recipe I used last time see here.  This time I used sprouted wheat tortillas by ezekiel.  I love sprouted wheat bread so I figured these would be good too.  They were a little harder with folding, but worked out fine.  The fold doesn't have to be perfect.  Use the chili's sparingly because they are really spicy (I think I used mine too sparingly...should have known.  It didn't have enough kick for me, next time I would add more).  I used cheddar daiya this time.  Due to some technical malfunctions I stabbed my finger while cutting the chard and I left them in the oven a little too long.  They got a little too done, but were still good.  (don't worry, the thumb made it through, granted after I almost passed out, Husband fixed me up with some antibacterial ointment and band aids). For the side I found this recipe for some mexican chard.  I cut the recipe in half because I don't have that many mouths to feed and it still cooked a ton.  I did use jalapenos in this recipe.  But subbed crushed tomatoes for chopped, because that's what I had in the fridge.  I also cut the stemps off the chard and added them in with the onions to soften.  It was good and Husband liked it.  He loves his greens though.  Dark leafy greens aren't my absolute favorite, but when cooked right I like them.  Plus I know how good they are for me (especially being vegan) so I'm trying to incorporate them more in my meals.  Honestly if you cook them down a little and add them in a casserole, or baked dish you barely notice them (I need to take my own advice and do this more often!!). 

Making enchiladas!!

Swiss chard and potatoes

A little well done

Pretty plate!

Stay tuned, I'm making some cesar salad (with home made dressing), Home made foccacia bread with carmelized onions (some made into croutons), and chickpea cutlets soon!  Doesn't it sound yummy!  It might not be until this weekend because the bread takes a long time to cook. 

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler! 

Mac N' Cheese

As a disclosure I would like to point out that I am for the most part blind, have been since a baby.  Contacts help, but I've been having some problems with my current pair and the eye dr. is taking forever to get me new ones.  So I can see but just not as well as normal so if you see more than normal typos I'm blaming it on my eyes.  I know I normally have typos (I sometimes re-read after posted and is too lazy to fix it) so for arguments sake, I'm blaming those on my eyes too.  =)  I would like to start with an update on Bella Bella (Not sure why or how but she has adopted a nick name that is longer than the original, we barely call her Bella in this house, it's always Bella Bella.  Not that y'all needed an explanation).  She seems to be liking her food.  She doesn't gorge on it and make herself so full that her stomach is as hard as a rock but I think that's a good thing.  She is definitely eating it, so far so good! 

The day before yesterday I tried making some veggie stir fry with ginger sauce but it was not good at all!  I couldn't even eat it.  You know how I am with throwing away food.  So I usually don't throw something out unless I have to.  I tried eating it, but it just wasn't happening.  It called for 2 tablespoons of ground ginger, and I'm thinking it was a typo.  I kept re-reading it thinking I was seeing it wrong.  It was WAYYY too much.  I only put 1 Tablespoon because after I dumped it in the bowl I thought...that's a lot.  But it was too late, it was ruined.  =/ 

Yesterday I was invited to my co-workers super bowl party.  I decided to bring bruschetta and a cabbage salad.  They are both really quick and easy.  I'm totally lame and didn't take any pictures of the food.  I did get some pre-photos which don't really help.  I did manage to remember to take a photo of the salad, after it was mostly eaten.  LoL.  Everyone loved them, so mission accomplished.  I had a few recipes that I roughly used as a guidance.  I didn't really follow one very closely, and I wasn't the best at measuring what I was doing, so these really are just a guideline, don't follow to closely, and adjust to your taste. 

All my ingredients ready to cook!

Le Cuisinier

Bruschetta:

Baguette sliced and toasted in the oven for a few minutes (Feel free to try different things with the bread.  You can drizzle oil and sea salt, or rosemary, or your favorite italian spice.  The bread I got at the store already had sea salt so I didn't make any adjustments)
About 2 fresh tomatoes (I used about 1 can of diced tomatoes, drained.  I highliy recommend using fresh.  I wasn't a fan of the canned tomato taste, but I was in a bind.  Everyone still liked it so feel free to substitute if you wish)
Sea salt (I'm not sure how much I used 1/2 teaspoon?)
Few shakes of black pepper
Olive oil (about 3 tablespoons)
Balsamic Vinagrette (about 1/4 a cup, but I started with less and had to keep adding because it needed more, so honestly I'm not sure, I would start with a few splashes and gradually increase to your liking)
Chopped garlic (I used about 3 large cloves)
Fresh torn basil (I didn't really measure this either, I just kept adding until there was enough to well incorporate all of the other ingredients)

1.  Combine all ingredients (except bread), and mix to combine, top on toasted bread.  Easy as pie! 

Cabbage-Ramen Sald (I'm not really sure what to name this one, I've heard it called asian sald, but that's kind of vague, so I'll go with this)

1 head of cabbage (I used napa, but you can use whatever you'd like) chopped
2 bags of ramen noodles (flavor doesn't matter, you don't use the seasoning) crumbled (not into powder, you still want some big chunks so you get a good "bite" of the salad
1/4 cup of butter
A few green onions sliced
A few tablespoons of sesame seeds

Dressing:  (I can't find my recipe with the measurements. I'll find it and edit the post, sorry!!)
Oil (I used olive)
White vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
Sugar (I used agave nectar)
Soy sauce

1.  The recipe I found you heat the oil, vinegar and sugar over the stove, bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute.  You let cool and stir in soy sauce.  When my mom use to make this we never heated the dressing.  I'm not sure if it's because they wanted to dissolve the sugar?  Since I used agave I wasn't worried about that anyway.  I would skip this step next time because I thought it was just time consuming. 
2.  The recipe I found also suggesting melting the butter then adding the ramen and sesame seeds and brown.  I think this is pointles too.  We always added them in raw.  I would again skip this step next time because I didn't feel it was necessary.  Again my mom never did this and I didn't taste much of a difference.  If you do decide to do this, cool the ramen after cooking
3.  In a large bowl mix the cabbage, green onions, ramen and sesame seeds together.  Mix the dressing ingredients together and stir to mix.  Add to the salad and combine to coat.  This is meant to be served room temperature, or cold.  However you prefer.  Room temperature is typically how I enjoy this. 

Pre-baked

Tonight I had the pleasure of cooking in my mom's kitchen!!  Oh how I enjoy that!  I get to use the huge space, with a gas stove and BONUS my dad's vita mixer!  Oh how I need one of those.  This is the third mac n' cheese recipe I've made.  I've been trying a bunch to find my favorite.  So far my favorite is the "cheese" sauce I used for the broccoli, rice and cheese casserole.  Probably because it uses Daiya.  All of my other mac n' cheese recipes didn't use store bought cheese.  I think that sauce would be easy to top over pasta, or anything really that calls for a cheese sauce.  With that said this recipe was pretty tasty.  I don't have any complaints really.  I found the recipe here.  It was definitely didn't have as much of a "cheesy" flavor as say Daiya would.  But it was very creamy and thick like a cheese.  My niece and sister ate it and they liked it.  My mom passed.   I have to say it was super easy to make.  I love that the sauce incorporates a bunch of veggies.  I also loved how yellow the cheese got.  I was suprised by the color, I guess the little mustard goes a long way.  The last mac n cheese I made for christmas I think tasted a lot better after it sat in the fridge for a day, so I'll let you know if the left overs taste any better.  I also topped my bowl with some hot sauce which is a must.  If I was at home I would have added some parma.  They will definitely be topping my left overs.

I meant to add some broccoli to the dish before baking but forgot.  So I just steamed some broccoli on the stove, added a little salt and pepper and added it after.

Sorry not the best lighting

That is the extent of my cooking the past few days.  Although I did have some left over rice and green onions for lunch.  I took this thai sweet n spicy sauce and mixed it with some soy sauce and topped it on the rice.  It was nice and spicy.  If I had the time I would have added some veggies but I was in a rush and that is what was in the fridge.  As always more to come.  See y'all next time!

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!

Veggie Bella

Since I've become a vegetarian turned vegan I have kept feeding my chihuhua Bella her normal dog food.  I didn't really think much of it until recently.  Honestly we haven't bought dog food in awhile because my Husband thought it would be a good idea to buy her a million pound bag from Sam's Club.  Well I guess it was a good thought, but in reality not such a good idea.  Dog food tends to attract rats (if you didn't already know that) and that big OLE bag didn't fit in our locked plastic container.  So you guys do the math.  Plus it would take our little baby Bella about 5 thousand years to finish a bag that big.  I'm not sure the shelf life on dog food but I don't think it would stand the test of time.  Well I take that back with all the crap they put in dog food...it just might.  Of course that is beside the point.  Plus Bella has been gaining a little bit of weight (thanks to my Husband and Uncle for very clearly pointing this out.  I'm sure Bella now has a complex).

So with all of that said, and the dog food finally gone (and partially thrown away...what a waste of bad food) I've finally been putting some thought and research into the food we are giving our dog.  I don't know why these things didn't cross my mind earlier.  I guess everything happens with time.  The more knowledge you have the better decisions you make (or so we hope).  I put a lot of thought and care into the food I eat.  There are a million reasons why I'm a vegan and so why would I forget all of that and not share that with my beloved Bella?

As I'm sure most of you are thinking (and my first thought as well) Can a dog live without meat???  Well Yes....Yes they can!  As long as they are getting all of the nutrients and protein a dog needs (kinda like a human) a vegan diet can be very healthy for a dog.

So I started my journey at Petco in Davis.  I did some research and knew they at least had one brand of dog food that had a vegetarian option.  To my surprise (Not sure why I would be surprised I do live in Davis) there was a whole aisle or two dedicated to all natural dog food!!!  There were sooo many choices!  I should have taken a picture.  Not all were vegetarian per sey but they had a ton of great all natural dog food that anybody would be proud to give there dog.

I settled on the Natural Balance the vegetarian formula.  I was a little nervous that Bella wasn't going to like it.  She is very picky with her food.  But she loves it!!!  I'm very excited to finally say that Bella is finally a veggie puppy!!!  A dog after my own heart ♥!  Now if only I could convert my Husband.  I feel like i've been a tad of a fraud this whole time, but like I said before, it all comes with time.  I'm sure I still have a ways to go until I can really call myself a vegan.  I always tredge lightlty with the word because I never know if what I'm eating/doing/buying is really considered Vegan.  I try my best but what if I'm missing something?  There is a lot still to learn, but I'm enjoying the journey!  Human food will be up tomorrow! 

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler! 

Broccolli, Rice, and Cheese Casserole

Today's dinner was SOOOO good!!!  It honestly tasted like the real thing.  Any meat eater would love this.  I found the recipe from my iPhone app, VegWeb.  It was submitted and created by Allychristine.  I made a few minor adjustments

3 Cups Water
1 Veggie Bouillon Cube
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups rice (the recipe called for white, but I used brown and it was fine, 3 cups is if you used brown, if using white the recipce calls for 2 3/4 cups)
1 Tablespoon of vegan butter
1 Cup of vegan cheese (the recipe called for cheddar daiya, but I had some left over mozzarella that I used)
1 1/2 cups unsweetened non dairy milk (I used rice)
3 bunches of broccoli (This is what the recipe called for, I used frozen and just threw in a few large handfuls)
Few dahses of onion powder (not in original recipe)
Few dahes of garlic powder (not in original recipe)
Few dashes of red chili flakes (not in original recipe)

1.  Preheat oven to 375*.  Grease an 8x8 glass dish.  Add rice, bouillon, water and pepper to pot and cover.  Bring to boil.  Stir then reduce to low and simmer for about 30 minutes until the rice has absorbed all of the water.  The rice might not be cooked all the way. 

2.  Meanwhile melt the butter in a saucepan.  Add the cheese and stir for about a minute.  Slowly add the milk until the cheese melts to desired consistency (you can add more milk if you think it needs it).  I added the onion and garlic powder and red chili flakes to taste.  I didn't really measure. 

3.  When the rice is almost done I added the broccoli to the sauce since it was frozen so it could defrost a bit.  Then add the sauce/broccoli mixture to the rice.  Transfer to the baking dish and bake for about 20-30 minutes until bubbly.  Turn to broil and cook for a few minutes until top is golden brown. 

This will definitely be a repeat in my house.  We served by itself with a dash of Louisiana Hot Sauce.  YUMMMMMM!!  I highly recommend you try this!!

For Lunch I had another tofurkey pizza.  Pepperoni this time.  It was good but I think I liked the roasted veggie one better.  I'm not a huge ranch eater, but pre vegan I loved it with my pizza.  I felt the pepperoni was lacking so I did a quick search for a vegan ranch recipe and found this.  Honestly it is SOOOOOO good!!!  It tastes just like ranch.  I highly reduced the recipe and didn't really measure.  I didn't want as much as the recipe called for.  This totally MADE the meal.  I'm sure I've said this before but my weak spot was pizza pre vegan and I feel I can finally indulge those cravings without any guilt!!! 

It feels good to be back in the kitchen and creating new things.  On a side note I bought an awesome bottle of riesling and it was quite tasty!!  If you like a sweet wine that isn't too strong, try it!!  

Yum!! 

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler

Rainbow Swiss Chard

I couldn't wait to share with you the rainbow swiss chard I found at the co-op today!!!  I swear it is like a candy store on the veggie aisle.  They have so many fun things you can't find anywhere else!!  How beautiful is this!! 

I also picked up a sweet indulgence for myself!  Vegan cookie dough!  Oh YES!!!

I'll be back tomorrow!!!

Hello all!

Sorry it's been a few days since I've posted.  I haven't cooked anything blog worthy recently.  Just some more sauted veggies, veggie burgers, left overs. etc.  I'm going shopping today after work so I'm set to make some new stuff!  Stay tuned!!

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!