This meal wasn’t super gourmet, but definitely much more so than anything I’ve prepared in the last couple of months.  I was in Sacramento over the weekend and got a huge haul of organic fruits and veggies at the farmer’s market there.  Since I haven’t been to the regular grocery store, that’s pretty much what we had on hand.  I used what I had to whip up these stuffed portobello mushroom caps, which I served alongside a mixed green salad with blueberries and cherry tomatoes and a few slices of white peach.  And then for dessert, I used some frozen bananas to make an “ode to Elvis” ice cream.  I think we had our 5 servings of fruits and veggies just in this one meal!    I’m sure there are far worse things to O.D. on.

Since this stuffing would work really well with any vegetable mix, I’ll just describe how I made it.  Feel free to sub whatever it is you’ve got on hand.  I did use a bag of organic instant stuffing mix that I’ve had in my pantry since Thanksgiving, but I imagine you could use your own favorite homemade stuffing recipe as a substitute, or even something like Stove Top would work.  I have no idea whether or not Stove Top is vegan and/or healthy (I imagine it’s neither), which is why I’m saying to try something like it.  I know that mine was vegan and was relatively healthy, as in it didn’t have anything in it besides bread and spices.  Anyway, cook your stuffing according to package directions or follow your own homemade recipe.

While the stuffing is cooking, saute the veggies.  I diced up some onion, carrots, the mushroom stems and 2 small zucchini– one yellow and one green.  Be sure to add in the remnants of whatever veggie you are stuffing– for example, if you will be stuffing an eggplant, add the part of the eggplant that you scooped out to make room for the stuffing.  I also added in a clove of minced garlic to the veggies.  Saute in a wee bit of olive oil until just beginning to get tender.  Add about 1/2 cup raisins or dried fruit of your choosing (cherries, cranberries, apricots would all be good) and about 1/2 cup white wine.  At this point, I also threw in a bay leaf.  Turn up the heat and allow the wine to reduce so that there is no liquid left.  Seas0n with salt and pepper.  Once the wine has completely cooked off, combine with an equal amount of the cooked stuffing so that your final stuffing mixture is about half stuffing and half sauteed vegetables.  Stuff into your vegetable of choice.

If you are using portobellos, you’ll want to scrape the gills off with a spoon before stuffing.  I also rubbed mine on both sides with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper.  Once stuffed, place into a 425 degree oven for about 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, turn on the broiler and broil for about 2 minutes or until the top of the stuffing is crunchy and golden.

These turned out really, really good… and I have to mention that I detest mushrooms.  I could eat these every day and not get tired of them.

And now, let’s talk dessert!  When I returned home from Sac, I found that all of my bananas had spots on them.  Even one spot on a banana indicates it’s too ripe for me (I prefer mine slightly green and starchy), so I peeled and sliced them and put them in the freezer.  When they were frozen, I put them into my food processor (sorry, but you will need a food processor for this… a blender isn’t going to work) and processed them until smooth like ice cream.  It’ll take a little while to get them super smooth and you may even find that you need to let them defrost a bit.  Once smooth, add about 2 TB peanut butter– I used 5 bananas to give you an idea of the banana to peanut butter ratio– and a drizzle of agave.  Either eat right away or place back in the freezer to solidify.  Actually, you may even want to make dessert before dinner so that it can be freezing while you make and eat dinner.  I topped mine with a drizzle of chocolate sauce, but I think a handful of vegan chocolate chips would have been yummier.  Any kind of nut butter will work here, so use your favorite or leave it out if you want plain banana.  I’ve made this type of “ice cream” with all kinds of different fruits, so play around with it.

My little one requested waffles for breakfast this morning.  What she meant was frozen waffles, but since we didn’t have any, she had to settle for homemade, from scratch, fresh waffles out of the waffle iron.  She has a tough life. 

I followed this recipe here, but used rice milk in place of soy.  Because rice milk doesn’t have the fat that soy does (and because I find it to be not the best thing to make baked goods with), I increased the oil to 4 TB or 1/4 cup.  These turned out crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, just the way waffles are supposed to be.  To some of them, I added some chopped up fresh, organic blueberries.  I make blueberry pancakes all the time, but have never made blueberry waffles and I think I have a new favorite!  They were super yummy.

While watching the Food Network the other day, I was inspired by one of the dishes that Giada was making. She made these individual lasagne and I thought I could do the same, but make them vegan. The dish was a surprising success!  Also, you could prepare these ahead of time, like over the weekend, and throw them in the oven for a quick weeknight meal.  Just be sure to let them come to room temperature before baking.  Putting a cold ramekin into a hot oven probably isn’t a good idea.

For mine, I used some spinach lasagna noodles that my cousin-in-law brought back for me from Argentina. These noodles are wider and shorter than normal lasagna noodles, so I cut them in half to give me two longer, skinnier pieces. Also, my noodles are the “no boil” type, but since they need to be soft for this dish, I soaked them for a few minutes in some hot water. I bet you could take a similar approach with regular “no boil” noodles or use the boil type and cook per package directions.

The tofu ricotta that I used in mine are based on this recipe, but I changed the recipe just a tad.  Here’s how I made mine:

Tofu Basil Ricotta

1/2 lb tofu, packed in water (use the kind that comes in those twin packs and just use one side)

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

2 TB nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp. salt

15 large basil leaves

Pat the tofu dry and add it and the rest of the ingredients to your food processor.  Process until completely smooth.

Step 1: Begin by preheating the oven to 425 degrees.  Liberally grease your ramekin dishes and place them on a baking sheet.  Take one noodle and layer it in the bottom of the dish so that the edges of the noodle hang over the edge of the dish (again, since my noodles were wider and shorter than normal noodles, I overlapped the two pieces at the bottom):

Step 2:  Place another noodle in the bottom of the dish, but the in opposite direction to form a “X” in the bottom of the dish.  Top with a generous amount of tofu ricotta (recipe above– I put mine in a piping bag to make it easier to dispense into each dish):

Step 3:  Put a generous amount of marinara sauce on top of the tofu ricotta.  I used about 3 TB.  Top that with a layer of sliced zucchini (or other vegetable of your choice– eggplant slices or spinach leaves would be yumy).

Step 4:  Fold over one set of the noodle edges.

Step 5:  Top with a little bit more tofu ricotta (not as much as used in Step 2; maybe half that amount).  Top with about 1 more TB of marinara and more zucchini slices.

Step 6: Fold over last set of noodle edges.  Top with another TB of marinara and vegan mozzarella of your choosing.  I used Diaya, which I had been keeping in my freezer (just to explain why it looks a little funny in the photo).

Step 7:  Bake uncovered at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is golden and the sauce is bubbly.

Step 8:  Allow to cool for a few minutes, then use a large spoon to scoop it out of the ramekin and place onto a plate.

When Emma was visiting my parents in Sacramento last month, she convinced them that she would enjoy going apple picking.  As I suspected, she became disinterested in apple picking about 30 seconds into the adventure, but still came home with a big box of apples.  I’ve had these apples in my fridge and most are now past the point of being edible unless cooked.  I’m still trying to work out an apple spice cupcake recipe (after 7 failed attempts!), so I will save some for that.  In the meantime, I thought I could whip up a yummy, healthy granola based on a Raw granola recipe that I made and liked a while ago (which I’m not even sure I blogged about).

Another reason for wanting to make granola is that I picked up a carton of coconut milk (product review to come later), and I thought the milk would go great with some granola.  This recipe is great, has no added fats (as in oil or margarine) and is free of refined sugars.  What more could you ask for?!    The spice in this granola is subtle.  If you want more bang in the spice department, add a little more.

Spicy Apple Granola

3 cups oats

1 cup oat bran (sub more oats if you don’t have oat bran)

2 cups oat groats (or more oats)

1 cup shredded coconut (NOT the kind in the baking aisle, the one that is just shredded coconut without any sugar)

1/2 cup flax meal

1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds

1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds

1 cup raw pecan pieces

1 cup raw almonds, roughly chopped

1 cup raisins

6 apples, peeled and grated

1/2 cup maple syrup (or agave or liquid sweetener of choice)

1 tsp salt

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  In a very large roasting pan, combine the oats, oat bran, oat groats, coconut, flax, seeds, nuts, and raisins.  Use your hands to combine them well.  Add the grated apples and mix to thoroughly combine.  Drizzle the maple syrup over everything and sprinkle on the salt and pumpkin pie spice.  Stir to combine, being sure that everything is evenly coated with the syrup.  Bake for 60-90 minutes, or until the granola is light brown and crispy stirring every 15-20 minutes.

I’ve had my eye on this book for quite some time and I finally found it at the library this week. Emma is getting to the stage where she’s starting to notice differences in peoples’ diets. For example, we went out for ice cream (and she is allowed to choose whatever flavor she wants, regardless of what it’s made from), and she asked me if I was going to have some too. The place we were going didn’t always have a non-dairy option (they do now, thanks to me!), so I had to explain the difference between her ice cream and my ice cream. (I do want to say that when there is a non-dairy option in the flavor she wants– chocolate– I will order that for her instead of the dairy-based ice cream). Anyway, this whole milk discussion led to an egg discussion and her proclamation: “I don’t eat eggs because I’m not a chicken.” I never told her she couldn’t have eggs; this was her decision based on her knowledge of where the egg comes from. I hope that as she gets older she’ll think the same way about milk and choose a vegan diet.

That’s why I thought this book, That’s Why We Don’t Eat Animals: A Book About Vegans, Vegetarians, and All Living Things, would be a good thing to read to her. She already knows that we don’t eat chickens and cows and pigs because it’s “not nice,” but I thought this book would explain the concept better than I can. It’s hard to know what a 3-year-old will understand and what may or may not be appropriate.

I read through this book once before attempting to read it to her, and I thought it would be more appropriate for kids 5 and older. We didn’t even get through one page before she lost interest, so I stick by my initial feeling that it’s most appropriate for 5+. It’s a simplified version of what happens to the animals on factory farms (and they are called factory farms in the book– I think to make the distinction between what a kid thinks of as a “farm” and what a farm that raises animals for food is really like). It also talks about how fishing boats are ruining the ocean by catching dolphins, sea turtles, etc– but in terms that a kid could understand. It also talks a bit about climate change, rainforest destruction, world hunger and how animal agriculture is the biggest contributor to all these things.

The Verdict: I really do like this book and will add it to my home library at some point. It will be an important tool in the future for educating Emma about our diet, how it’s different from everyone else’s diet that we know, and why we choose to eat the way that we do.

I made waffles the other morning and they were just so darn yummy!

To make plain waffles, follow my sweet potato waffle recipe and omit the sweet potato. An easy way to make the batter is to use a blender– start by first whipping the flax seeds with the water, then add all of the other wet ingredients. Once the wet ingredients are pretty well mixed, add the dry. Couldn’t be easier!

For a tasty twist, try adding some chocolate chips to the batter.

Okay, I’m sure I’m not the first person to come up with something like this, but it was so darn easy and tasty that I couldn’t help but blog about it.  We don’t have any vegan bread in this house and I’ve been too lazy (and it’s been too hot) to make any.  Even just using the bread machine heats up the house.  Anyway, what I did have were some tortillas left from last night’s burrito fest, so I made a PB&J-dilla.  And it was SOOOOOOO good!!

Spread some natural (organic) PB on one side of your tortilla.  Top with J of choice (I used strawberry).  Add some fruit, if you want.  I added some sliced banana and green apple.  Fold.  Place in a hot skillet and toast about 2 minutes per side.  Remove from pan and enjoy!

a peak at the inside

As you know, I have LOTS of zucchini around here.  I’ve been using it up by making lots of zucchini bread and giving it away or freezing it for later.  Last night, I really wanted to make these chocolate zucchini muffins again, but I wanted it in loaf form because it doesn’t take up so much freezer space, and I was also in the mood for a little experimantation.  So, I took the chocolate zucchini muffin recipe and smooshed it with the zucchini bread recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking and came up with this Chocolate Zucchini Bread hybrid.  And it is soooo delicious!

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

(makes 2 loaves)

Wet

2 ripe bananas, mashed well

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 TB white distilled vinegar

2 cups sugar

2 cups grated zucchini

2 tsp vanilla extract

Dry

3 cups flour (I used 1.5 cups whole wheat pastry and 1.5 cups all-purpose)

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Prepare 2 loaf pans by spraying them with non-stick spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients and mix well.  In a separate bowl, either sift together the dry ingredients (minus the chocolate chips) or use a whisk to break up any clumps.  Mix everything together well.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until just combined.  Divide evenly between the 2 loaf pans and bake for 60-70 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

This weekend was pretty fun…  we headed to Sacramento for a family reunion (my mom’s side) and I was in charge of dessert!  Not knowing how many people would actually show up, I made a batch of strawberry cupcakes with strawberry buttercream, chocolate cupcakes with cookies & cream buttercream, and (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World) tiramisu cupcakes.  As you may expect, there were way more cupcakes than necessary, but it allowed people to have seconds and take some home!

The tiramisu cupcakes are a vanilla cake (I used my own recipe, not the one in the book because– in my opinion– the cake recipes in the book all turn out really weird) topped with cream cheese frosting.  Before putting on the frosting, you scoop out a little well in the center of the cake and generously fill it with Kahlua and coffee.  Delicious!  I think this is my new favorite.  It would also make a really delicious layered cake.

Everyone enjoyed all three, but I think the kids (well, teenagers) really liked the chocolate with cookies & cream.  I’ve made it before, but this time I used my food processor to get the cookie chunks much smaller.  I liked that better.

Last, but not least, we have my mom’s favorite, the strawberry.  I’m really anxious to try the strawberry recipe with peaches.  Doesn’t that sound heavenly and so summery?  Peach cupcakes!  Yum!!

My dad has a garden and this year he’s planted more than just tomatoes. His tomatoes are awesome, btw. Check out these zucchini that he said “got away from him.”

The photo doesn’t really do them justice.  The larger one is about 18″ long and 15″ around. It weighs 6 pounds. That’s not much smaller than Emma when she was born. The smaller one is 15″ long, 11.5″ around and 4 pounds. I predict lots of zucchini bread and some chocolate zucchini muffins in our future.

Now for the best part. There is this billboard near our house that I see all the time. Since I’m the one driving and I almost never have my camera handy, I can never get a picture of it. Well, as we were crossing the Bay Bridge yesterday (Matt was driving), I saw the exact same one and was able to get a pic.

In case you can’t read it, it says “Be Veg!  Go Green!  Save the Planet!”  The ad is sponsored by the people that run this website.  While the website is a little strange, it does have some very interesting information on it:

• According to the UNreport “Livestock’s Long Shadow,” livestock production is the greatest contributor to global warming.
• Animal waste and feed cropland dump more pollutants into our waterways than all other human activities combined.
• Meat-based diets require 10-20 times as much land as plant-based diets – nearly half of the world’s grains & soybeans are fed to animals.

I can think of NO good reasons to eat meat, when you take into account how horribly the animals are treated, how it contributes to climate change, and it’s effects on your health.  Seriously, I’m the weirdo at a restaurant who has to pick apart a menu item to make it suitable for me, when in reality, you are the weirdo for suppoting this.  Anyway, I was really surprised that someone would pay for such an ad (happy about it, but still surprised).  I do hope there are ads elsewhere other than the Bay Area where vegetarianism is really pretty common.

Weird combo, huh? Sweet potatoes in a waffle? Surprisingly, it actually works pretty well. This breakfast project originally started out as banana waffles, but when I remembered that I had an extra (already cooked) sweet potato in the fridge that needed eating, a light went off. I’m always looking for ways to sneak in extra veggies, so this was a perfect combo.  To my amazement, the kiddo actually ate some and liked it!

Sweet Potato Waffles

3 TB ground flax seeds

9 TB water

1 1/2 cups non-dairy milk mixed with 1 1/2 TB apple cider vinegar (I used almond)

1 medium sweet potato, cooked and peeled

2 TB brown sugar

2 TB Earth Balance, melted

2 cups flour (I used half all-purpose and half ww pastry)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

First, mix together the “milk” and vinegar and set aside.  In a food processor, combine the ground flax seeds with the water and process until thick and creamy.  Add the milk, sweet potato, brown sugar and Earth Balance.  Process until completely smooth (no chunks of potato left).

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Add the wet ingredients from the food processor and stir to combine.  Thin out with a few tablespoons more milk or water if it is too thick.

Cook in a waffle iron according to the manufacturers directions.  I like my waffles extra crispy, so I transfer them to a warm (250 degree or so) oven after removing from the waffle iron.