This is the first photo taken with my new photo box I got for Christmas. I'm so excited that I can now take food photos at night!!
Starting at 12 and going clock-wise:
1. Steamed collard greens with fresh lemon
2. Black Eyed Peas cooked in the Crockpot with sweet onion, garlic, and serrano pepper
3. Vegan Orange Chicken in tangy orange sauce with fresh oranges
4. Mashed potatoes
Garnished with boiled gold beets and a cherry tomato.
The girls and I met Karen for lunch at the Veggie Grill on Campus Drive. This place rocked my taste buds and is 100% animal-free! I have a fantasy that this restaurant replaces every single McDonalds on Earth. Imagine that.
Karen ordered The V-Burger (grilled steak burger) for now and The Stack (grilled veggie sandwich) for later at work. I got the Grillin' Chickin' (with cilantro pesto, avocado & other veggies on a wheat bun). Quinoa is a treat in the salads and you must get Sweetheart Fries.
I can't resist vegan cookbooks, so I was eager to check this place. The store is tucked in the back corner of a San Diego shopping center - similar to the way the books are crammed in the store. Stacks and piles of (mostly) cookbooks everywhere! I like scavenger hunts and found an abundant vegetarian section, but not one vegan book. With all the clutter, I asked. She said there's a HUGE demand for vegan cookbooks and she can not keep them in stock. Disappointing. A Moosewood and Newman's Own Organics Guide was the best I could do.
Vicious Dogs. It's a meathouse with killer vegan hotdogs! Willie understands and cooks it separately with pride. I've raved about this place a time or two before, and I mean it, if you are anywhere near North Hollywood and crave a delicious, no fuss, inexpensive vegan meal, you must give this a try. Really, do yourself a favor.
You see fries, a plain with ketchup for Abi, and my new favorite. A #4 "Chicago Style" featuring tomatoes, onion, peppers, pickle, & green relish. What a treat! So fresh & zesty!
I savored a shopping spree at Whole Foods while in California. I miss them and Trader Joe's dearly since moving to Idaho, but I digress. These are the things that caught my eye: I'd buy both food bars again (Organic Fiber Bar & Raw*Revolution) which are vegan and raw. Nature's Path Hemp Plus Granola is completely addicting. O.N.E. coconut water is rich in potassium & good in smoothies, but I'll stick to bananas. We went ga-ga over the eco-planet cookies. And I look forward to raw chocolate adventures with the cacao beans.
and look! I won a BIG jar of Vitamineral Green from Kristen's Raw, who drinks it daily, says: "Many ways... in a fruit smoothie is great, or add a teaspoon to a green juice. If you're not used to it... start small with a teaspoon in whatever you put it in. I'm at a tablespoon serving now, but I worked my way up to it. Sometimes I just chug it down fast with some water or orange juice - it's very green, but so good for you! It's easily hidden in smoothies though :)"
Next up is a Follow Your Heart restaurant review.
I updated my FB status with, "Vicki asks What to do with all this broccoli?" Getting responses like a YouTube of Dana Carvey's "Chopping Broccoli", or the "Love Food Hate Waste" link with recipes to use it up. Or, a PPK recipe Theresa suggested "Classic Broccoli Quiche" which you see. It was OK. I think it'd be righteous sandwich spread, or burrito filling - being complimented by other ingredients. If nothing else, go learn potluck faux pas & eves drop on the fall-out of one potluck party gone bad.
This is the pie shell I used for the quiche. It was delicious and convenient. No wonder Wholly Wholesome was named "Best Pie Crust" in the November 2008 issue of Real Simple Magazine.
Green because they are organic, animal-free pie shells. They are available in Traditional, Whole Wheat & Spelt, as well as Graham & Chocolate Pie. No kneed to roll the dough.
My Costco broccoli bag continued...
VICKI'S BROCCOLI POTATO SOUP
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
3 lb yukon gold potatoes, chopped
6 cups boiling water
2 tbsp "Better Than Bouillon" vegetable base
4-5 cups fresh broccoli, cooked & drained
sea salt, fresh ground pepper & nutritional yeast
1. In a soup pot saute onion & garlic in oil. Add potatoes, water and veg base. Cover, bring to boil and then reduce heat to medium and cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
2. Clean & remove broccoli stems and steam. Once cooked add to soup.
3. In a food processor puree the soup and return to stock pot. Season with salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast.
If you're lucky, you'll have Sweet & Saras on hand for dessert! Seriously.
Have you heard of Cono Sur?
You can feel even nicer drinking this wine because it's green. They are the first winery in the world to obtain CarbonNeutral delivery status, which means that CO2 emissions from the shipping has been measured and balanced to net zero through Greenhouse Gas Emissions reductions projects. They also grow organic grapes, and ride bicycles. Bet they recycle & compost too. And the wine doesn't suck either!
We used to make something like this when I was a kid. We creatively called them Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Treats, and it's what we settled for when we were out of marshmallows.
Things have changed since then. I don't feel the same love for marshmallows, and thanks to my daughter, they now have a snappy new name.
Bear Sweets
1 1/3 c Rice Krispies
1/3 c confectioners' sugar
1/3 c smooth peanut butter
3 tbsp Earth Balance
Adorn with dried cranberries, blueberries, raisins, nuts, or piped icing. Olivia can't resist chocolate chips, and pictured are baby sized semi-sweet m&ms I found in bulk, and 'Lets Do Organic Coconut Flakes'. Use what you have.
Mix together the cereal and confectioners' sugar.
Melt the peanut butter and margarine in a pan over low heat.
Pour the mixture into the bowl and stir until everything is well mixed together.
Use an ice cream scoop to divide the mixture into 6 parts on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
Squish them together to make patties. Use a plastic baggie as a glove to keep fingers clean if you must. Try to flatten and consolidate them as much as possible.
Decorate!
Chill in the fridge about 30 minutes or until they hold together nicely in your hand.
To say these were a hit with the younger generation would be a serious understatement!
My family prefers Yves Hot Dogs, hands-down. We've tried other veggie dogs, and think these are by far the best. Abi digs the taste, Art likes how they grill, and I like that they are nutritious, vegan, and can be found at WinCo (our regular grocery store).
Even our dog agrees that these hot dogs are top dog.....
A Hot Dog slipped out of the package and on to the floor.
My daughter screamed "Oh no!" as our dog Jolie quickly claimed the spoils and trotted it back to her spot to enjoy...
Coming in for this photo, Jolie gave me a warning growl to say she wasn't going to give it back.
I came back to find Abi double-fisted with hot dog. She gave me a warning growl to say she was keeping both of them.
That's a lot of hot dog hoarding! So I thought it'd be fun to capitalize on the Hot Dog enthusiasm.
Vegan Lunch Box has a great recipe for 'Pups in Blankets'. After dressing them up, we liked calling them 'Mummy Dogs'.
It was a snap to also make the 'Piroshki' because I happened to have left-over mashed potatoes in the fridge.
Here they are oven ready. We gobbled them up without a photo they were so irrestible. What's stopping schools from serving these in their lunches?!
A thoughtful friend gifted me a can of Spanish Smoked Paprika for my birthday after reading how deprived I was feeling.
Now, I can't wait to try it!!
Please, can you help me remember all those fabulous recipes using Smoked Paprika?
I was excited to find a package from ProBar on our doorstep. They sent a sampling of their new 'Sweet & Savory' line for my consideration. How fun! I learned that Pro Bar is a whole food meal made with organic ingredients, no trans fat, rich in raw foods, and vegan. Sounds good, eh? They really are, but we had to play favorites, and Art was willing to humor me with a taste test. We ranked the bars according to what we thought we'd like (anticipated). Then, ranked them again after tasting and analyzing each bar (actual).
Art(anticipated) -- Art(actual)
#1MaplePecan #1MaplePecan
#2CocoaPistach #2CherryPretzel
#3CherryPretz #3KettleCorn
#4KettleCorn #4CocoaPistach
#5SesameGoji #5SesameGoji
Vic(anticipated) -- Vic(actual)
#1CherryPretzel #1CherryPretzel
#2KettleCorn #2KettleCorn
#3SesameGoji #3MaplePecan
#4CocoaPistachio #4SesameGoji
#5MaplePecan #5CocoaPistachio
I'll pick up a ProBar next time. Each bar is packed with whole pieces of nuts and fruit, and the combination of sweet and savory flavors keep your taste buds interested. They're delicious and good for you. What is your favorite flavor (anticipated or actual)?!
Art wanted to take me back to his current favorite, Flore (3818 W. Sunset Blvd. Silver Lake 323.953.0611) because last time we had brunch, which is a limited menu compared to the dinner and not a fair sampling of the many delectable options.
We both started with a bowl of the soup of the day 'Roasted Broccoli Soup' and I nearly licked the bowl. It was so tasty! I put the sprouty things in mine which tasted like radishes.
I was torn on what to order, and mentioned the 'Delectable Selectable' to our server. He kindly tipped me to get 'The Salad' instead because it includes all that and more: Bed of mixed baby greens topped with portions of tofu egg salad, shredded carrot, baked tofu, roasted beets, edamame salad, tomato, avocado, daikon sprouts, and a side of hummus. $9.95 Such a great sampling of the delicious, fresh food.
Art's regular is the 'Avocado & Seitan Salad' $8.95, which is basically what you see. We enjoyed the patio street scene.
If you have kids in LA, you gotta go here....
The Boone Children's Gallery -- LACMA West
6067 Wilshire Blvd. @ Fairfax Ave. 323.857.6128
This photo shows only a small portion of the large, stocked art studio that everyone is free to explore.
The exhibit is called Construct -- where you can learn, play, paint, build, and be artists. It's so great.
The Boone Children's Gallery is an open art studio for everyone.
Here are Abi & Liv painting to their heart's content.
We enjoyed checking out this city built from recycled materials, complete with planes and rocket ships hanging from the ceiling.
Did I mention that this is all free?! Free of charge for you, and for the kids. This must be the best deal in town for kid's activities. I highly recommend it, and we'll be back for sure.
The girls were zonked out in the backseat when we drove by Nature Mart on Hillhurst and Art says, "I'll drop you, and park," gifting me a rare opportunity to shop hands-free. I wandered around a bit, then spotted something I've been wanting to try for years -- Uncle Eddie's Vegan Cookies. I had to cross state lines to finally find them, and it was well worth it. I selected the peanut butter chocolate-chip cookies and they were soft, super delicious, and a family favorite for sure. Wish we had another bag.
I usually don't wear message shirts. Just not my style I guess.
But today I felt good wearing it.
The shirt felt right and good. Literally because it's 70% bamboo & 30% organic cotton and is the softest shirt I own; and figuratively because today, on Earth Day I felt free to be passionate about the environment.
We know Earth Day should be Every Day, and that is even more crucial after 8 dismal years with Bush (arguably the most anti-environmental president in our nation's history). No matter who wins, it'll be a greener white house. We can make sure of that by educating ourselves and those around us, becoming politically active, and voting with our dollars by supporting those who are making efforts to use good environmental practices. Be a proud tree hugger!
Feeling empowered, I decided to make cupcakes! I only needed: Cherrybrook Kitchen chocolate cake mix and vanilla frosting mix, Keebler Bug Bites (yes, they're vegan), the usual suspects, and a jar of beet juice.
I've been "dying" to try natural food dyes since learning that artificial food colors are derivatives of either coal tar or petroleum. Eck. Red #40 has been banned in at least 8 European countries and linked to several health problems. Oooh.
For a craft, the kids painted ladybug rocks.
I vowed that I wouldn't buy anything from the store, and I didn't.
I'm proud of my resistance to not buy more black paint, even though we were dangerously low. You can see, that as it turned out, there was plenty to go around.
We went for a hike to explore some of nature's wonders.
There were 4 moms and 9 kids whose age ranges 1 to 5 years.
Then, we came back for cupcakes. Ta Dahhh!
I like this pastel shade of pink and will keep the beet juice in the fridge. Next time we cook kale, I plan to bottle some of that juice as well.
Anna mentioned that on St. Patrick's Day she put some kale water in with the mashed potatoes and they turned a bright shade of green. Very cool!
My eco-friendly friends brought some cool gifts. Wendy was finished with a couple copies of 'body + soul' and passed them on to me. I flipped through and spotted ads from Matt & Nat and articles on power foods. Another green gift was a basil plant from Anna. Thank you!
Next time, I'll post about my Earth Day gift to myself.... A COMPOSTING BIN!!!!!! Can you tell I'm excited?! Thanks for your composting tips, Anna and Lynn, I'll add water tomorrow. Until then, happy Earth Day today and always.
Olivia and I won two Aerogardens in PeTA's Cooking with Kid's Contest (click to see the winning cookie!) which included two seed kits: Italian herb (mint, Italian basil, dill, thyme, parsley, purple basil, chives) and cherry tomato.
Here's a current photo of the herbs, and as you can see it's raging ~ I can barely keep up! In fact, I need to harvest the dill and dry or freeze more basil. If you like to cook with fresh herbs, you would love an AeroGarden. You don't need to be a gardener to be successful, and it's the absolute ultimate in organic, fresh & local!
Here's some dried Italian and purple basil:
1. Cut the stem. Dip the herbs quickly in a bowl of cool water and shake off the excess water. Pat the herbs dry.
2. Cut several holes in a small paper bag. Place the herbs inside, and secure the opening of the bag and the herbs with a string.
3. Hang it upside down for a couple days until dry. The bag protects the herbs from sunlight and keeps it clean.
4. Store in an airtight container ~ an old sea salt container is perfect.
And yes, we've had our share of pesto! And there's quite a reserve in the freezer as well, so don't be surprised to see pesto on baguettes, pasta, pizza, polenta ~ well you get the picture.
Art threw some basil in the risotto last night and the flavor was very apparent and special. It's a fun charge to clip some herbs for a recipe.
As nice as all the herbs are, what I was really looking forward to was fresh tomatoes!!!!!
But that was not to be. I pulled the plug on my "experimental" tomato plants recently because they grew into the grow lamps rapidly, singeing the leaves, making me trim them back buds and all only to do it all over again. Please understand that these were NOT the original Aerogarden seed pods. The original seedlings were plucked out by my mis-guided 2 year-old gardener. Not wanting to waste the nutrients or opportunity to have fresh winter tomatoes, I started again & "cheated" with regular cherry tomato seeds from a packet. Experiment failed.
The AeroGarden fueled my desire to move away from processed foods, away from food traveling great distances, and away from farming chemicals. To become a little more self-sufficient -- though that could never be, as my seed experiment illustrated. You need their seed kits, and they aren't cheap. ($19.95) But I must admit, the luxury of having fresh tomatoes in the middle of winter would be awesome. I'd like to try them again as well as the strawberry plants.
Why is it that organic produce gets the sticker?
It snowed yesterday!
So we made what we think will be our last snowman of the year....
Which is kinda weird, since this is what we were doing just the day before....
That's Spring in Idaho for ya.
Liv's favorite cookie! Oatmeal chocolate chip. I use the recipe 'Oatmeal Raisin Cookies' from The Joy of Vegan Baking and simply sub in the chips. I LOVE that this recipe uses ground flaxseed instead of eggs.
I sent some of these cookies with Art to band practice the other night. Art produced the band's CD and also will be playing guitar for a few numbers at their Record Release Show. You can check them there:
www.the-invasion.com
'Wolffie's Banana Blueberry Muffins' from La Dolce Vegan!
These muffins are really good - light & moist. I always omit the ginger and use vanilla soy milk.
When I want an easy & reliable recipe, I turn to Sarah Kramer. Who is Wolffie, anyway??
'Crock Pot Stew'. I've made this once or twice before, but this time I topped it with Lightlife Steak Style Strips. If you haven't tried the strips before, you should. They are really good and are super easy to prepare.
'Blueberry Cake' from The Joy of Vegan Baking for my friend's birthday. (At some point in life, one candle is sufficient)
Ann doesn't like things overly sweet or fattening. I wanted her to enjoy the dessert without feeling guilty, so I thought this would be perfect. Her first post-bite words were, "Light, delicately sweet. Mmmm, this is really good!"
For an appetizer, I served an old favorite of mine -- Dreena Burton's 'Cornmeal-coated Polenta Fries' from the Dec. '06 issue of VegNews. (#52)
The dipping sauce is my own creation!
1 package Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
1 can Mandarin Oranges
Many squirts SRIRACHA Hot Chili Sauce
For these chickpea tacos, I started out making my newest addiction 'Tamari-Roasted Chickpeas' from eat, drink, and be vegan. As ususal, with coconut oil and lime juice. This recipe is memorized.
Next, the shells received avocado, tomato, and black olives. I didn't even use salsa. The flavor of the garbanzos carried these taco all the way.
I thought making sugar cookies would be a fun thing to do in the afternoon, but feeling slightly lazy, I busted out a Cherrybrook Kitchen sugar cookie mix.
I've tried most of their products, and each time I've been very pleased, this is no exception. I'm still impressed at the idea of having vegan convenience.
Italian Basil is the first official harvest from the Aerogardens we won in PeTA's Cooking with Kid's Contest. (I'm still glowing)
Just enough to make 'White Bean Hummus with Fresh Thyme & Basil' from eat, drink & be vegan. Imo, Dreena is pretty much the queen of dip, nibblers, spreads, & appetizers...
And this was a yummy dip, although Art said it was too strong for kissing. Just eat up, then go brush.
I'll tell more about the AeroGardens in another post, but here's a sneek peek at what's "growing on" around here: mint, Italian basil, dill, thyme, parsley, purple basil, chives, and 3 cherry tomatoes.
It's great having some fresh greens to eat in the dead of winter. The girls are completely fascinated with the quickly growing plants.
Last week, Art bought me these pretty roses --- before Valentine's day, and before I made these cookies. Just because. What a sweetie!
I made 'Oatmeal Raisin Cookies' again from The Joy of Vegan Baking. I used whole wheat pastry flour and subbed semi-sweet chips for the raisins. These cookies were great, and more on the healthy side. How do I love this cookbook, let me count the ways......
