It's time...

NAME THIS UTENSIL ....
I will tell you what it is at the end of this post.

GARDEN

I feel like an expectant mother who has been waiting for her first born to arrive. The weather has been right and the ground ideal to begin planting again. Armed with my mantis tiller, onion hoe, 4 tine cultivator and sack of seeds to plant I have visions of wonderful produce dancing in my head. The two small, barely visible yellow packets say PEAS, one kind in Sugar Anne and the other Mr Big Pea. Some people get into flowers and yea, I do enjoy these but vegetables fulfil the practical side of me perfectly.

I recruited my mom and niece to help me plant yellow onions. I have three rows which were planted about 1 inch apart so I can thin them while harvesting young onions with greens. We cannot start large onions that can be stored for winter use from seed here because our zone 4 growing season is not long enough so we use bulbs or "sets" for that purpose. I personally have not had much luck with red onions, which I'm not sure why yet and I usually do not use the white onions. I have heard there is flavor differences, but I am satisfied with the foods I have.... except vidalia onions are super sweet. I will buy these on occasion (when they are "in season" at out grocery store at a reasonable price).

Right now I have planted premium green top broccoli plants even though I prefer packman type, snowball cauliflower plants, nappa cabbage, salad bowl lettuce plants, 2 kinds of peas (edible pod and the kind that needs shelled), cylinder beets, and Yukon gold potatoes.
I like English breakfast radish which have a very mild flavor. I am going to wait to plant these for a couple of weeks because they have a short harvest time and I like these esp well in fresh salads. Soon I will have rhubarb and asparagus coming up as well as oregano and marjoram in my herb bed... these come back each year with little assistance. Corn and green beans (planted every three weeks up through August) will wait until the first week of May while tomatoes and green pepper plants will wait until the first of June with chard. Turnips will be planted in June plants and Brussels sprouts near the end of July for a mid to end October harvest because they can stand a good frost and have a better flavor when they get it.

FOOD...
This has become a staple for my regular lunch at work. It is simply a rectangular Tupperware container that holds my salad which I like to top with a container of balsamic vinegar combined with a little salt and stevia. It is made from romaine lettuce, shredded purple cabbage, carrots, fresh mushrooms, and oven baked flavored tofu. I prefer to get my fats in with a square of dark chocolate (not pictured) instead of in salad dressing. Complete the meal with an apple which I usually eat mid morning.
Here is another meal...

This one comes from Dreena's Everyday Vegan. Chickpea Sweet potato casserole served with 1/2 a whole grain wrap rolled around a lettuce leaf with apricot mustard (I made this). I like to add currants into this stew which offers a little color boost. I ended the meal with some chopped fruit (apples, apricots, dates, and currants over leftover brown rice. I sprinkled it with a sweet lime juice, cardamom, and almonds.

It was good.

On a side note I want to mention that my 90+ year old granmother is in a nursing home. She is blind due to two strokes that have also limited her mobility. Her mind is excellent and she loves good company to talk with. It saddened me when I stopped for a brief visit and she said she enjoyed the visit because conversation helps her to feel alive, she doesn't get much otherwise. I have since made it a point to stop regularly to tell her what I am doing with my day. She loves to hear about the garden and often shares stories that certain vegetables remind her of. I think get just as much from the visit as she does. If I would make a list of things that would become well known for a friendly and peaceful lifestyle, visiting nursing homes and talking to a few residents would be one that list. Peace!

And now for the revealing of the above utensil . . .

Easter . . . Snow?!

This is the facts of living in my Midwestern town even though it is more than one month into spring. April showers are supposed to bring May flowers... no one said anything about April SNOW! This is a picture of green grass topped with white snow. Right now we have an inch and could receive anywhere from 3 - 12 inched today (we got 7 inches). Another sad fact about where I live is that March 26th and 27th we had beautiful sunny skies and temperatures near 80.

Garden Update....
I didn't get the potatoes planted Saturday like I had hoped because it was raining, now behind schedule some however this is not a big deal, I'll still have potatoes. I will be buying broccoli and cauliflower plants already started so these are okay to, I should be still be harvesting about mid June. This is last year's herb bed (and a great dog named pup who is no longer with us), I will post it now for motivation to hang in there a little longer. If I don't I am sure that I would be running off to California or Seattle soon and then you would never see me in blog land because I wouldn't be cooped up inside avoiding our ever changing weather.

Things that make life fun....
Matthew was in an Easter play which we attended Good Friday night, part 1, and Sunday morning , part 2 @ 6:30 am. Part 1 was the traditional Good Friday type play. Part 2 was the resurrection story investigated Dragnet style (a show from the 50's). Matt is the one in glasses. He is wearing a traditional Judea robe under his "Dragnet style" white shirt/ black tie. The play was really cute and if others knew Matt like we do they would realize he was not really acting..... that is his type of humor! His senior prom is coming up. My 6'3" baby boy is again taking a 4'6" little red headed girl for a date (I really think Charlie Brown, Matt's hero, and his little red headed girl has really affected him.)

Food....
I consider myself a family food blogger, so the fact the food follows all the above is not to out of the normal. I have three food pictures to share, considering that I eat at least three times a day and have not blogged in about 8 days = 24 meals, yet I have only three to share..... my diet as of late has been pretty boring. However, what I did do with the burritos will become a staple because I do love the convenience.

SMOKEY CHIPOTLE BURRITOS -
A NICE STOCK OF THEM IN THE FREEZER (this recipe makes 4, but I quadruple it)
I had some TVP taco meat filling leftover in the freezer that I wanted to get used up. I actually prepared it and weighed into a 1 lb package for ease of use later, sure a little fuss but I was happy for the ease of preparation when I made these. I also remember awhile back I was hankering some store bought vegan burritos, but decided that the cost was not worth it. Being a die hard "do it your-selfer" here's my filling recipe....
1 C chopped onion
1 1/2 Tbsp garlic crushed
1 - 14.5 oz can of black beans
1 - 7 oz can of whole kernel corn
1/2 C salsa
1/4 C plain soy yogurt, optional OR use veg refried beans
1 1 /2 Tbsp Smokey Mesquite Seasoning
Saute onions and garlic in a non-stick pan, when browned add corn, black beans, salsa and seasoning. Cook about 2 minutes until all is warmed. Add refried beans (or yogurt is you choose) and cook until mixture is thickened. Add 1/4 of mixture to a tortilla and top with 2 Tbsp soy cheese. Fold in sides, roll up, allow to cool, wrap, and freeze.

I originally got the recipe seasoning idea from a weight watchers core forum that I used to read some time ago, I believe they calculate at 4 points each. I put 1/2 cup of the filling into a whole wheat wrap, fold, wrap in saran wrap individually, and put into a freezer bag. Then when I want one I take it out, remove the saran wrap, and microwave on a plate for one "frozen entree" setting and it is wonderful. I usually top it with homemade salsa, serve with a side salad and follow-up with a square of dark vegan chocolate.

A Little Indian...
This picture is a little steamy, but about as good as the picture. I made it using a recipe in The Enlightened Kitchen cookbook which called it an Indian dish. However it did not use any typical Indian seasonings like curry powder. Although the dish was okay, I was a little disappointed by lack of true Indian flavor which I have come to like, although my family is a little slow to come around. I know they will eventually ... they did with Chinese style stir-fry's a number of years ago.
Last foody picture, an eggroll laptop lunch with a side of tropical veggies and a nice romaine salad topped with carrots and sliced mushrooms. I have salad dressing in the little container. I haven't actually used my laptop lunchbox in a month or so. I found a salad container that I like better so I can take bigger salads. I also have access to a frig now.... next year I will probaly not use my box at all. I will have five kitchens in my room along with 30 sewing machines. I don't regret buying it though.





Sophie likes to sit in the sun on my desk. Here she is comfortably a glow.

Lunchboxes, gas and keilbasa

This weekend I made some seitan that I thought my readers would enjoy seeing. I was impressed with the fact that this was cooked in my crockpot.

The original recipe came from Bryanna Clark Grogan, it is kielbasa style heavy on the garlic and pepper. All seitans recipes she has are good, but this one is simply my favorite. Since she is coming out with an e-book on seitan making soon I will encourage anyone to give it a try. Comparably I have been a Bryanna seitan fan from the beginning and have been satisfied with no desire to stray. My perspective is that nothing compares. She also has so many wonderful seitans using a variety of flavors and ingredients, I have never been bored or lacked trying new recipes either.

Picture #1: Seitan rolled out on the counter into logs. This dough uses tofu as a wet ingredient. The texture is my families favorite. They do not like seitan without tofu - I like them either way, but there is a very big difference when regular firm tofu is used.

Picture #2: Logs placed into the warmed and intensely flavored cooking broth. This broth was cooking while I made my guten dough. I use a BOSCH kitchenaid dough hook to mix it... I let it knead for 10 minutes so the gluten is very well developed.

Picture #3: The cooked logs (overnight on low in my 6 quart oval pot). The smell permeates the house.

Picture #4: The logs removed from the crockpot and placed on a plate. I sometimes quarter a log and use on hotdog buns or set as a protein portion on a plate with a main grain dish and salad.

LUNCHBOXES . . .

I have a few pictures of recent lunchboxes too, although they are not the expected "using the harvest" post I have promised but not yet completed it dies use up some of my home canned goods. The red beans were home canned using the wonderful and flavorful recipe in Bryanna's Almost No Fat Cookbook for Red Beans and Rice.... the first red bean recipe I have ever tried, good enough that I keep coming back to it. When pressure canning legumes the required time to process is 1 hour 25 minutes under 1o pounds of pressure. Since the temperature is so high and long I soak the legumes and bring them to a boil, cook five minutes and then proceed with the recipe. I do not cook any of the veggies, just combine all, divide evenly between the pint jars. They are perfect once all is processed. I ate on one pint jar two days in a row for lunch... one day with orange and red sides and the next with a big scrumptious salad. The rice was prepared in my rice maker.
Then I made a meal of eggless rolls, salad and tropical fruit mix. The sauce is my own homecanned plum sauce which I got the recipe from an Andrea Chesman book (see my side links). It is a little hard to see in the picture.... actually it was a little hard to see in my kitchen too because it was eaten so fast that if you didn't make a quick grab you didn't get any.

SAY NO TO GAS
I have read many times that "healthy" food causes some to have painful gas or other negative side effects. As a vegan and whole foods promoter I must admit that when I first started changing my diet I had problems and occasionally still do with some foods. I was reading book by Dr McDougal (one of my first vegan reads) he mentioned that a client of his health resort mentioned that his diet should be called the Mc Bugle for obvious reasons. I was saddened that this must be a consequence and ate small amounts of food, but the food was healthy and fit the requirements I had however did not have enough calories. I became weak with low blood pressure (dizzy spells) and anemic. I was not ready to give up and I knew I needed to eat more despite the consequences... at the time I learned about fennel tea, ginger, and other digestive remedies. Finally I started finding information about food allergies and the the symptoms of such. I know that it is an overload of various foods that causes me digestive upset, not just "healthy" food or "soy", although I never figured out the science of eating w/o ever having complications I have reigned to carrying this little jar of pills with me and use it when I have a day in which I eat a hodge podge of food or that some food may disagree with me... cabbage, corn, amaranth, quinoa and millet have all given me problems at different times (yet unpredictable), however not when I take this. To me it's worth it to have the confidence that I can eat what I desire.... whole foods, healthy foods, soy foods, vegan foods, etc.

That being said I can continue to post whole food, bean filled, vegetable abundant meals that are healthy for me and considerate of others.

Cooking away the cold ...

(updated)

LINK TO COOK BEHIND THE APRON
I have noticed other blogs I enjoy reading have been posting their 28 cooks "coming out". I did mine a few days ago, but wanted to add a link to it again.

Now back to food (my favorite subject)...
It is really cold here ..... like below zero cold and I'm not talking wind chill. BRRR! I live in an "extreme" (winter and summer temperature differences) weather area. As I was contemplating the ability to complain I decided to look through past blog entries to find warming thoughts, here is a link to a post I made in July when the thermometer was reading over 100 (and no not dry heat). I won't complain anymore. Instead I will begin to think different warm thoughts ... like crock pots and soup. The crock pot is god send, I love warm comforting food when I get home. Yesterday I made a recipe from Bryanna's Oct-Dec 2006 newsletter called LOCRO (a squash and vegetable stew). She didn't make it in the crock pot, but I did. I had it on low all day (about 8 hours) and it worked well. I used 2 3/4 cups mixed vegetables instead of the recommended corn and peas. I also made seasoned brown rice in the rice maker and refrigerated it for quick micro heating when I was ready to serve. Although the recipe looked simple and didn't stand out as exciting, it was excellent.... even DD said this is pretty good. It is pretty colorful too. I have a basket of four more butternut squash I want to use up so I'll be trying more recipes with them soon.

ON TO LUNCHES (Can you tell I'm having fun with these?)
This is a whole grain English muffin sandwich with one of Bryanna's crock pot steak patties / roasted red pepper and onion, a romaine salad with sprouts/ red pepper/ purple onion/ currants, homemade apple pie filling sprinkled with homemade granola, and "sushi" pickles that I made using a recipe from the book Summer in a Jar by Andrea Chesman. The pickles are made with large thin slices of ginger root and carrots and tastes just like the little pink pickled ginger slices on a sushi bar (yum).

The steak again only cut up with some seasoned brown rice, romaine salad with sweet corn relish (Andrea Chesman's book again, homemade using my home grown garden gooodies too), home canned pear slices that I didn't grow (no pear trees here) but bought in abundance from an organic Amish farmer, and strips of roasted peppers and onions to add to my rice and steak. The little red container has balsamic dressing for my salad.

Today's lunch. If you turn your head like you would to read a smiley you will notice that this lunch has a container of Stacey's pita chips, roasted red pepper dip from Marie Oser's Soy of Cooking, romaine salad with carrots and sprouts, a sorta trail mix container including roasted peanuts/sunspire m&m's/ currants, along with a banana which I intend to use as a "poker" to pick up the "trail" mix.
NOTE: The red pepper dip called for 2 cloves of garlic. I used two fresh cloves and let my magic bullet mixer whip it with the roasted red pepper, seasonings and tofu smooth. The garlic has come back to haunt. I really like to taste of this so the next time I make it I will roast the garlic with the red pepper.

Thanks to the Oser cookbook and then confirmed by Megan the Vegan I have been hankering mushrooms. My new Oser cookbook calls for ground chicken style gimme lean, which I have never bought before and I didn't want to make any from scratch so, I then decided to have something different for supper and prepared the mushrooms to use another time. I then remembered the mushrooms I made some time ago using brussell sprouts so I looked it up and decided these are what I would try again . . . . here's the link to my previous entry about them and ia link to the recipe included.

Since I bought a 24 ounce package of the nice stuffer size mushrooms I had plenty of stems and 1/3 of the package which I could make into another dish. A dish like Oser's creamy mushrooms sauce over pasta. I actually left the recipe out and asked DH to make it so supper would be ready when I got home tonight. We'll see how it turns out, DH is a sweetheart and said he would however I will c hop the carrots and onions this morning as a time saver for him this evening. I'm looking forward to it, will share pictures later.

No pictures of the pasta because DD chopped the carrots into a salad with romaine and used up the sliced mushrooms I had planned for the sauce also before DH could get on the pasta. Last night we had pita pizza and salad NOT the pasta. I also still have the mushroom caps for stuffed mushrooms, but intend to use them soon.

Stuffed in green with a lunchbox

I made stuffed green peppers in the crockpot using a recipe from The Vegetarian Slowcooker, although I once made them in the oven several years ago and didn't like them I was pleasantly surprised this time. I like these alot. The stuffing is basically brown rice, salsa, minced onion, and red beans with salt and pepper. I cooked the red beans in the crockpot to (way easy!) and was impressed with how easy this was and how the flavor improved when onion, garlic, and a bay leaf was added during the cooking process. Although the recipe adds a sauce made from canned tomatoes and seasoned I happened to have some homemade pasta sauce leftover in the freezer that I added some cumin to. I had three large green peppers that fit well in my 4 quart pot and divided the stuffing equally between the three... the stuffing was supposed to make 4 peppers but my three were large and all the stuffing was used for that purpose.

I cut the green pepper to make a " flower so it would spread out in a bowl that would contain all of the stuffing. I spooned extra sauce on the top and sprinkled it with some veg Parmesan sprinkles (Bryanna's homemade stuff using English walnuts). Today's lunch is a bowl of this. I attempted using the laptop lunchbox to carry this, but it just isn't made for this style of feast... back to the Tupperware. I added a chocolate soy protein bar to complete this meal.

Next I present pictures of my last couple of days lunch that did fit in the little box. I had another lunchtime meetings (the one that I starved at last time, but it is the day I also ordered my lunchbox) and received many compliments on the box as well as the "really healthy food".... I don't like to be set apart as though my food is somehow "different", I think my food should be the standard against what all food should be compared to. I think comments should be made about when other people choose the dead, preservative packed, etc, etc... like somehow IT stands out and needs to be mentioned. Anyways, I smiled and said it is tastey when the comments were made.

Wrap containing leftover dahl with sprouts, a small plastic "roll" of my zucchini relish (blue ribbon county fair stuff) to add to my wrap, and Dreena's Curried chickpea with sweet potato she calls it a casserole (made in my crockpot) but I think it is more of a hearty stew - I liked it.

Then I have a pumpkin seeded lentil burger (Dreena recipe) with a side container of homemade rhubarb chutney, a salad with more pumpkin seeds and currants, soy yogurt, two dark chocolate pieces, and a wrap all folded up and ready to be used for the burger with some salad. However, when lunchtime came I actually didn't feel like making a wrap using my pretty burger so I folded the chocolate inside the wrap and ate it dipped in my stevia sweetened soy yogurt.... not quite what I had intended but a nice change non the less.

The weekend will soon be approaching, my New York sis will be flying in again to share my "detox" stew as she calls it .... the clam style chowder from Bryanna's 20 minute cookbook. I have some seitan steaks cooking in my slow cooker right from Bryanna's latest Vegan Feast Newsletter. I'll be sharing this sometime this weekend. Have a great one too!

Lunchboxes (bigger pictures)

For Erica. "My what big food pictures I have." :)

Some lunch boxes from last week.
Brown seasoned rice, pineapple / mango mix, salad sprouts, onion curry relish in the lil' red container(link to recipe), and What a Dahl (slow cooker recipe).

A sandwich on homemade bread maker machine bread with sprouts currants and soy cream cheese spread, Dreena's earthy lentil stew, apples with currants (home canned from our apple tree) and stevia sweetened plain soy yogurt with a saran wrap plastic cover.

To answer Midwest Vegan's question from my previous blog entry I noticed last week that sometimes my salad juices would leak in side the box a little because only one container has a lid. I'm still loving it anyway, I just put a little plastic over some things now but not everything needs this (like the sandwich) because the food stays in place even while carrying it strapped to your shoulder.

I liked this one a lot. 3 small Dreena pumpkin seed coated lentil patties (home made rhubarb chutney in the small red container), romaine salad with a few extra pumpkin seeds and craisins, Sweet potato mashed with cinnamon and stevia, and 2 squared dark vegan chocolate (yum!).

I now have a coffee pot at my desk at work that I keep hot water in. A cup of hot herbal tea after my yummy munches is a wonderful treat.

A Lunchbox , Dahl

I made "What A Dahl" in Fresh from the Vegetarian Slowcooker by Robin Robertson. I ate this over basmati rice, however the rest of the family is not yet accustomed to the curry flavor. Over time they may adjust, but after the two bite rule (no pressure to do so needed) applied no one but me continued to eat it.

picture Indian Spice Mix:
I added the spices called for in this Dahl recipe to a small bowl before adding it to the crockpot. It was so pretty I couldn't miss taking a picture.

Lunchbox #2:
Mexi Calzone (oatmeal bread dough with vegan chorizo inside) and a chili seasoned sauce for which to dip it in, home canned sugar free apple pie filling, homegrown green beans mixed with cooked red beans and mushrooms.

My Growing Want List ...
I want one of these (twinkie baking set)! This is way to have fun even if it ends up being one Saturday's entertainment (okay $15 for a couple of hours of fun and a lifetime of memories - pretty cheap entertainment if you ask me). Perhaps this will be my treat with the first paycheck, I think I am going to check out the B&B at the mall on Saturday and if I can't find it I'll buy it from the link above. I am not a twinkie fan so much but would do it for a smile from one of my kids, however the corndogs made by Schmoo's mom would make me get this pan for myself.

On a more serious note ...
I want one of these (link to site about adopting older children) too. Although I love the age my kids are and the freedoms I am experiencing, sometimes I wish I could have a few more around to extend my ability to make simple treats and get looks and admiration like I am the best person in the world. I'd love to know if anyone has ever considered such a thing.

TRASH and Exercise (all in the same entry)

It's a cold out! Time for some soup and Texas Trash (thanks so much ATxVegn) The family LOVED it!. Here's the recipe as posted in the original blog entry. I used whole wheat pretzel rods instead of the tortilla chips, air popped popcorn, with pecans and almond slices instead of mixed peanuts. Matthew was pulling out the pretzel rods to eat and I asked if he liked those the best, he said no that he liked the pecans best which he already picked out.

Texas Trash

4 c. tortilla chips

3 c. Crispix

1 bag microwave plain popcorn, popped

1 can (12 oz.) mixed nuts

1/2 c. corn syrup

1/2 c. margarine

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 T. chili powder

1/4 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. cayenne

Heat oven to 250. Combine chips, cereal, popcorn, and nuts in a large roasting pan.
Combine corn syrup, margarine, sugar, and spices in a small saucepan; heat to boiling, then pour over cereal mixture. Stir to coat. Bake one hour, stirring every 20 minutes. Cool on waxed paper. Keeps in an airtight container for two weeks.

I asked Dave what soup he liked the best expecting him to say chili. He said broccoli cheese which was news to me. This soup is my own. I was aiming for a comforting cheesy like texture, the family liked it well enough but I am curious if anyone else tries this how they might adjust the spices and seasoning.

DORI'S GOLDEN CAULIFLOWER SOUP
(link to recipe)

Several years when I first started using a grain mill I started milling my own legumes for quick cooking easy soups. I liked the way white beans thickened the soup and gave body similar to heavy cream dairy soups. This soup recipe is similar to what I used to make with white bean flour, but I decided to try it with besan (chickpea flour) and split red lentils.... the color was spectacular with these choices and add great nutrition that is easier to digest that the freshly milled white bean flour. Although this would not end up on my top five list it was comforting and well liked by everyone else in the family.

MY VERY FIRST LUNCHBOX
Black bean soup, cooked and cut up sweet potato, cabbage sprout craisin apple salad, and pineapple. I was so excited I have actually put forward a good effort of thought into my next lunch box to and making food that would look nice in this.


Using my sprouts salad with broiled seasoned tofu, apple slices, radish, and carrot shreds on a bed of romaine lettuce.

LAST NOTE:

HI SIS!
My oldest sister has been checking out my blog. I think she is interested in healthier eating because she bought a sweet potato and a variety of fresh fruits (she told me this, why would she tell me this and ask for my blog address within a 24 hour period) .... for her this is an accomplishment because she lives in a hotel for weeks at a time coming home for a weekend a month. Also, the water aerobics is to start on the 15th (Monday), but now that I accepted the extra work after school Monday is one of the days I work so I would not be home in time (drats!). I have purchased a few fitness tools below though so that I can meet some personal fitness goals, they are three Pilates workouts from Amazon. Pasta Queen influenced my decision. I had a Pilates workout video several years ago when I was a beginner and the video wasn't ummm, try I may and try I might but me body only got mean (not lean). It is also 13-17 degrees here during the warmest part of the day, so I'm not to disappointed not to be able to do water aerobics other than the fact I wanted to have time with the friend.

1 "Pilates - Beginning Mat Workout"
Ana Caban; DVD; $12.99

1 "10 Minute Solution: Pilates"
Lara Hudson; DVD; $10.99

1 "10 Minute Solution: Rapid Results Pilates"
Lara Hudson; DVD; $7.47

Finished.

Weight Loss and Lunch

HALF OF ME BLOG

Check out the entry from the link, a great
testimony of what diet and exercise can do.

I was browsing around on some other sites, checking out other blog links. Although I really wasn't looking for anything special I did find a humorous blog that mentioned certain words in her post just to up the site meter count, unfortunately she joked that it was only perverted teen boys who would probably look. However she did discuss healthy food and weight loss and mentioned Pasta Queen who has lost a lot of weight. I checked out Pasta Queen and am pretty impressed with her computer skills. Her pictures turn when you click them and one picture shows her at a very obese weight and then today, she also has an overlay of a 10 pound weight loss - you can really see the difference!

I am so excited that my lunchbox came in. I have been browsing the pages reading about how much our disposable lunch packaging costs the environment. I love the little sauce dipper and silverware - FUN! There is even a tag on the front in which I can write my name. I can't wait to begin using it.

I now have the perfect reason to pack my lunch. I will be working extra hours in a unique opportunity to act as a "home school mom" (what I call it) for a student who needs the service for the rest of this tri-mester, it is in addition to my current work and is paid separately. My role will happen in a public library although the situation is very complex unlike my mention of it here, I am very happy that this is an option that the school/ parent could opt for.

Also concerning school, Matthew just finished his first semester in a college computer class (CISCO I). He is really a high school senior, but is earning these credits through a post secondary enrollment option. He made it through with a 72%, 70% is passing. As a previous homeschool student he needed to learn some study skills, which he did under pressure of finals week. When asked what he would do differently next semester he said he would take better notes and actually study from them. He'll be taking CISCO II next... he has Monday and Tuesday off so you'll probably see some more great cooking from him.

He is thinking of Bryanna's 20 minute seashell casserole with a salad. I think is also time to make a seitan roast and to make some good European bread. I'm going to have to pull out my crockpot again also, because three days a week I won't get home until 6 pm and will desire to have supper ready to eat. I'm also getting hungry for some of the basics, like red beans and rice or a simple black bean stew over a sweet potato. It is super cold as of yesterday, below zero kind of cold which is normal for us. We finally got our fist snow and it is expected to snow 3-6" tonight which is also normal. It is not normal that we have had autumn kind of weather up to now. Besides lots of warm herbal teas and hot cocoas here is some of the food we have been eating...

Dreena's Vive Le Vegan Stork Muffins, DD made these as her breakfast recipe of choice. The muffin portion was not very sweet, but when you get the pieces of the chopped date and cranberries - delish! Made with oat flour, ww pastry, and barley flour. I am a little bit of a stevia fan, so I would add just a tad bit of that to these muffins for the family's sweet tooth. DD says the coconut in them make it hard to eat with her braces.

I love Dreena's hummus and have had some on hand for several weeks now. This was a "salad" plate I made before a meal this week - - - yum! I cooked up about 3 lbs of chickpeas not long ago and froze them in 2 cup quantities as well as made two batches of hummus so that I could pull it out and use it as needed. I could have canned the chickpeas, but will wait a bit longer.... I really need to stock up on my home canned soups again. I miss having it ready to grab and go.

Yesterday when I was in a hurry for something quick I made this dish of Pasta and Greens over Mueller's multigrain pasta. The recipe came from Bryanna's 20 Minutes to Dinner cookbook. My picture doesn't give this recipe much glory, but I really loved the flavor. I ended up mixing the turnip green and beans topping which offered a strong flavor in with the spaghetti. I served a side of cooked cauliflower to go with it. The veggies were from my garden, both came from the freezer.

Here is a little review I found on the Internet (here) about the pasta ...."a box of Mueller's Multigrain Pasta, an 80 percent whole-grain pasta that cooked up chewy and dense like a great semolina pasta. The flavor was surprisingly full but not distracting or overpowering. I suspect the reason this pasta is more tasty than other whole-grain pastas is that it's made from a mix of rice, oats and wheat. The pasta is made by the American Italian Pasta Company. The pastas come in penne, rotini and spaghetti shapes."

DH's birthday is the 14th (today). I made him flaming breakfast muffins (they are Dreena's carob chip made with 100% barley flour) frosted and complete with candles, fresh sweetened hot soymilk and oranges.

Have a good week!

Robin Hood and the merry first day

Finally.

Here is Matt's costume from the renaissance fair last weekend. He has been eyeing a big long cloak on e-bay that he thinks he would like to add if he ever desires a more "royal" presentation, $180 (dori gulps). He discovered that there was a Tuesday night sword practice two months prior to the fair for any volunteers that wanted to come each weekend for various performances, if they did they were admitted free. He desires to try this next year and hopes to stay in the area where he is attending school now.

The first day of school is a favorite time to take pictures. Dave snapped one of me before I left last Monday. It seems like the living room door is the best place to snap pictures, any place else in our house causes light glares in the pictures due to the placement of our windows plus I like the greenery to be a part of the background. My first week went well, despite the unexpected I enjoyed it. Of course every teacher needs a bag with a packed lunch inside. Onto a little of the food we ate last week. ...

I tried Dreena's Coconut Creme Pie, page 193 in Everyday Vegan. I subbed stevia for sugar and the family enjoyed the pieces of pie that I didn't eat... :) This pie reminded me of a Mounds candy bar, so i sprinkled some toasted coconut on top of it and drizzled it with a little melted dark chocolate.

I also enjoyed a tofutti cream cheese and craisin sandwich that I took for lunch one day, different but good for a change. I had it packed with a romaine lettuce, roasted beet, and shredded carrot salad with a small container of balsamic vinaigrette.

PROSTITUTE'S STEW
From page 155 in Bryanna's Nonna's Italian Kitchen Cookbook. She says, "Don't ask - it's delicious anyways, sort of an Italian ratatouille with potatoes added. Can be served hot or cold. Maybe you still have fresh garden produce in your area that you can make it. Last week our gardening season ended with a hard frost, you'd never know considering the very nice weather we've been having yesterday and today. The picture is of the stew before being cooked in my crock pot. I served this with some fresh baked bread.... but I used Vivacious Vegan's idea and baked them in muffin tins.

I give you my variation of this recipe. Place all of the following into the crock pot.
1 lb eggplant cut into small cubes
1 large potato
1 carrot, cut into fingers
1 stick celery, diced
1 large zucchini, sliced and quartered
1 large green pepper, seeded and cut into squares
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 vegetable broth cube (I use Knorr Vegetarian Vegetable)
2 pounds fresh ripe tomatoes (

• I cleaned mine in the sink and took off the stem, then gave them a whirl in my blender. My family doesn't mind the skins on them when I do this)

a small handful of fresh rosemary and Italian parsley, chopped
1 tsp salt
a little fresh ground black pepper

Another last week lunch......
This LRM (Romaine lettuce, red pepper and sweet mustard) Wrap was delish along side of Dreena's Chickpea Mash Stew from Everyday Vegan page 84... the picture of the stew behind the wrap is to dark to see, but I liked it. Dave is not a chickpea fan, so he opened a jar of white chili that I pressure canned awhile ago instead. The soup is handy right now. I will be endeavoring to use my slow cooker more over the next several weeks so that dinner can be ready as soon as or shortly after I get home.

Last lunchbox idea from last week...
My favorite chili sin carne( I use TVP), a couple of "muffin" rolls , slices of cucumber and some fruit . The fruit was actually for morning break, I have a late lunch time, 12:28.

I wish you all a wonderful week. I am looking forward to homecoming week.... they have spirit days planned, I'm not sure that I will participate except maybe superhero day I could wear Melissa's shirt (no cape and no teensy red shorts). I do intend to buy the school's sweatshirt so I can show a little team pride.