Saturday, January 5, 2008

Holiday Wrap-Up

We did lots of delicious eating over the holidays! This was my Christmas dinner plate:
*Idaho potatoes mashed with soy milk, Earth Balance, and sea salt
*bread stuffing with vegetable broth
*Tofurkey slices
*Brussels sprouts sauteed in EB
*side green salad with local greenhouse
tomatoes & carrots
*fruit salad with apples, pears, banana, and pineapple with juice (less local):


With all this food preparation, it was nice having a couple helping elves in the kitchen!












We strive for food that is locally grown and organic. We're completely vegetarian (consume nothing with eyes) and almost vegan (eliminating dairy)! We
realize the immense impact our day-to-day food choices have. Reducing or eliminating meat consumption is something concerned citizens can do every day to help our planet. In the face of our daunting global warming problem, I find it comforting and encouraging to know there IS something you can do every time you eat! The force of the fork has great potential! Pass it on. . .


All of this healthy eating is great fuel for a winter bicycle ride around town and through city parks. What an exhilarating ride!

Art was able to stay home from work a couple weeks, and we vacationed at the best place... home! :)






BIG smiles for snow! Bring it on!

It took several hours to build Frosty and was quite a playful workout. To Liv's delight, he looked in our kitchen window for about a week!





Below is a photo of a warming meal! From Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson, 'Sweet and Spicy Lentil Chili' I added celery & carrots, omitted the red bell pepper, with Eden organic crushed tomatoes.





Next time it'll be in a burrito with rice &/or sauteed seitan, Smart Ground by Lightlife, tofu scramble or something. . .

This time, the '
Skillet Corn Bread' from Veganomicon stole the show - the Double-Corn Variation. I feel like a (mad) scientist curdling the soy milk with apple cider vinegar to simulate buttermilk. ahhhha!



'Chocolate Brownies' from The Joy of Vegan Baking. Warning! These brownies are super moist and sinfully chocolaty! Your resistance will be low. . .

The fun here is using ground "good for you" flax seed as the binder. That's right, just whirr it up with water in your blender, and presto! No eggs needed. (or wanted.)

This cookbook really is awesome, and I'm still bent on baking every single item!

22 comments:

julie hasson said...

Happy new year Vicki! It looks like you all had a fabulous holiday together. How cute to see your girls rolling out that dough.

I might just have to give that brownie recipe a try soon. They look really good!

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year! Your daughters seem really focused on rolling out that dough - they're so cute.

I got Joy of Vegan baking for Christmas but the only thing I've made so far is the Light Lemon bundt cake. It's really good.

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Welcome back to blogging, and happy belated new year!! the contents of your Christmas dinner plate look fabulous (especially the Brussels sprouts - my favorite!!); and of COURSE the "little elves" in the kitchen" (haha) are quite adorable, making goodies for the holidays :0)

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Your cute elves look like they're deep in concentration. And the snowman is great :o).

As a chocolate-covered vegan, I am loving the picture of those brownies.

Carolann said...

Happy New Year! You have two of the cutest kids I've seen :)

The brownies look fantastic! I'm actually thinking about pulling out my cookbook and making them right now lol.

Anonymous said...

Happy new year Vicki!!!

what a great photos i cant decide what i will love more to eat : your dinner plate or your sweets. yummmm

Theresa said...

Happy Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy second week of 2008! It sounds like you had a perfect holiday. All the food looks so good! I'll bet even Frosty was wishing for some of that warming lentil chilli.

Jackie said...

Happy New Year to you. What a wonderful snowman.

Love the concentration on the girl's faces as they roll out the dough....looks like you are developing two great bakers in the family.

turquoise cro said...

I can seeeeeeeeeeee those elves having their own vegan CHEF show!!! Yeah!!! I bet the gals were sad when Frosty melted!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR SWEETIES!!!

Jenni (aka Vegyogini) said...

I'm glad those brownies turned out for you, cuz they never set up for me. My Sweet Vegan's brownies, on the other hand, are fabulous. It's wonderful that you were able to vacation at home this holiday season; I agree that home's the best vacation spot around!

Vegan_Noodle said...

Looks like you had a wonderful holiday Vicki! I agree that sometimes vacations spent at home are the best ones! And oh, your snowman picture has me wishing for some of those white flakes here (fat chance! it's like 80 degrees here right now). Hope you're having a great start to the new year!

zippiknits...sometimes said...

Brownies too! And a snowman to bring in the new year. It's great. Happy Cooking!

urban vegan said...

You have the cutest little elves to help you. All the chow looks great--I love that you try to buy all organic and local.

moi + toi PHOTOGRAPHIE said...

Aww, it looks like you had a great holiday!! Peace and love for your family for the new year!

Shananigans said...

Happy new year! I always love checking out your baked goods, all looks so yummy :)

The Little Mama said...

Happy Holidays! Your dinners look lovely, and those brownies... sigh.
Thanks so much for the tips on the Joy of Vegan Baking.

moi + toi PHOTOGRAPHIE said...

ps. I can't wait till i have little helpers in the kitchen!!!

Carrie™ said...

I love it when you put up pictures of the girls. They are so adorable! Your Christmas dinner looked fabulous. I've just tried brussels sprouts again for the first time in years and I really liked them. Now I'm sources out other ways to cook them. Did you par-boil them before sauteeing?
Brownies! My resistance is low at the mere mention. These ones look so rich. I'm going to check out that cookbook.
I'm not completely vegan although I do have a lot of vegan days. I love your phrase "the force of the fork has great potential". Mind if I use it from time to time?
Excellent post Vicki! See you at the Scrabble board.

Carrie™ said...

I should have proof read before I hit publish. I meant to say I'm "sourcing" out other ways to cook brussels sprouts.

bazu said...

This post is actually making me... miss snow??? Good thing, since I'm getting back to Syracuse in 2 short days! Thanks for the holiday wrap-up, Vicki. ;-)

vko said...

Okay- your elves are the absolute cutest and those brownies are the absolute "drool-est"!

Jen said...

Oh, that looks like a fun bike ride :-) Happy New Year!