La Vegan Loca
Compassionate and conscious cooking, eating, reading, writing, gardening, cleaning, decorating, crafting, beautifying, losing weight, getting healthy, working out, couponing & living with a DIY Dervish.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Couponing: $.93 Old Navy Flip-Flops and Free Cocoa Pebbles Treats
Monday, April 18, 2011
Today's Breakfast Smoothie: Blueberry Acai Vanilla
- 1 cup Organic Rice Dream Rice Drink, Original and Enriched
- 1 rounded scoop vegan vanilla protein powder
- 1 cup frozen blueberries
- 1 shot GoodBelly Plus Probiotic Juice Drink, Blueberry Acai
- Dump it all in the Vita-Mix and give it a whiz.
- Enjoy!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Slow Cooker: Curried Butternut Squash Soup
I love using my slow cooker. I love how easy it is. I love how the smell of whatever's bubbling away in there builds throughout the day to an olfactory climax 'round dinner time. Love love love. Especially when it's the type of recipe that allows me to dump ingredients into a pot, hit a button and forget about it for hours. I'm pleased to report that this is one of those recipes.
It's not, however, a perfect recipe. In fact, if I make it again, I have some planned alterations in mind. But I'll get to those in a minute.
Curried Butternut Squash Soup
Makes 6-8 Servings
About 10 minutes prep time
- 2 pounds butternut squash (or pumpkin), rinsed, peeled, seeded and chopped into 1-inch cubes
- 2 firm, crisp apples, peeled, seeded and chopped (whatever you've got laying around)
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 5-6 cups veggie stock
- 1 tablespoon curry powder, sweet or hot
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries (optional)
- Add squash, apples and onion to the slow cooker.
- Pour the stock, curry powder and cloves on top. Give it a gentle stir.
- Cook on HIGH for 4 hours or on LOW for 5-5 1/2 hours until the veggies are tender.
- Using an immersion or traditional blender, blend the soup to desired consistency. Add salt and black pepper.
- Garnish individual bowls with cranberries (optional).
This recipe was tasty. Not OMGdelicious, but tasty. As you may or may not have noticed, it's super healthy with absolutely no added fat, so it may be worth tinkering with. Which brings me to my planned alterations.
- I think adding a smooth-skinned potato would help make it more creamy and not so obviously broth-based, though the fact that I was cooking with canned stock didn't help.
- Also, I think the 1 tablespoon of curry powder may be better replaced with 1/2 tablespoon curry powder with 1/2 - 1 tablespoon cumin.
- I'd also cut the cloves from 1/4 to 1/8 teaspoon.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Sesame Slaw
Today I've signed on to tell you about this delish and super easy salad my mom turned me on to a few weeks ago. The original recipe appeared in PEOPLE December 6, 2010. Apparently it's something that CSI Miami's Emily Procter used to whip up while she was in college. Well you know me, I've tinkered with it - I dare say improved it - and renamed it. The dish comes together in 15 minutes or less and is great for easy entertaining, though I've just been making it for myself because... yum!
Sesame Slaw
Serves 4-6
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
- 1/2 cup raw sesame seeds
- 1/4 cup + 3 tbsp. rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup agave nectar (yes, you can use sugar if your cabinet is agave deficient)
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. ground pepper
- 1/4 cup sesame oil (preferably organic)
- 1/4 cup canola oil (preferably organic)
- 1 16-oz. bag coleslaw mix
- 2 packages Ramen noodles, uncooked and broken up (discard the icky, sodium laden, and not vegan seasoning packet)
- In a skillet (cast iron if you've got one) over medium heat, toast the almonds and sesame seeds until they are light brown and you smell the nutty goodness wafting up from the pan.
- In a large bowl, combine the vinegar, agave nectar, salt and pepper. Whisk in the oils until you get an emulsion.
- Throw the coleslaw mix and Ramen noodles on top and toss to combine ingredients with the dressing at the bottom of the bowl. Add and gently stir to combine almonds and seeds just before serving.
I think it'd be great for a picnic, barbeque, potluck or as a side at a tailgate party. Play with the seasonings (maybe add some Chinese Five Spice?) and have fun!
And using my serious voice... if you're reading this, thanks for sticking around. It's good to be back.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Our 2010 Vegan Thanksgiving Menu and Prep Plan
What brought on this rant? I'm glad you asked. Having resisted the black hole of guilt from my mother with regard to Thanksgiving for the last two years, this year I've somehow been sucked into her omnivoric vortex. So, without further ado, I present to you the complete Thanksgiving meal, from appetizer to dessert, that I'm making and packing up to take to my parent's house. This is what a coordinated meal looks like to them...
I'm making:
APPETIZER
- Lentil Pecan Pâté from the September 2008 issue of Vegetarian Times served with apple slices, cucumber medallions and rice crackers.
SALAD
- Cranberry Pecan Salad with a Cranberry Vinaigrette from the Nov/Dec 2009 Vegetarian Times
THE MAIN EVENT
- Old Fashioned Lentil Loaf from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
- Mighty Miso Gravy to smother the steamed white rice with from How it All Vegan! by Tanya Barnard & Sarah Kramer
- Balsamic-Roasted Asparagus from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites by The Moosewood Collective
DESSERT
- Pumpkin Cheesecake with Candied Cranberries from the Nov/Dec 2009 Vegetarian Times
See what I mean? At least I strategically selected dishes I can prepare ahead of time because what I really want to do on Thanksgiving, not that anyone asked, is watch football and drink hard cider.
Now I need to make my shopping list and figure out when I'm going to get all these ingredients. Then I need to determine how I'm going to manage to cook most of it ahead of time with my six-year old placing food orders like he's at a 24-hour diner and our new puppy constantly underfoot. My motivation: to suffer the least amount of stress and shared kitchen time as possible on Thanksgiving day.
That concludes my rant.
Oh... and Happy Thanksgiving. :::grin:::
Monday, July 5, 2010
Veggie Quiche
Towards the end of the night, I was lending some help in the kitchen on clean-up duty. Bridgette, the woman who made the veggies, packaged up the leftovers and asked if I could use them. I had been wanting to try my hand at making a vegan quiche for quite some time, and thought the veggies would make a perfect filler. So, I happily took them home, promising I'd give them new life the next day.
I used the two recipes for quiches in Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz as a guideline, but I basically improvised my quiche as I threw it together. I was smart enough to take notes, though (this time). And I'm glad I did because it came out better than I ever could have imagined it would. Now, not only can I recreate it in all its quiche-y goodness, but I can share it with you! :::grin:::
Veggie Quiche
makes one 9" pie - eight slices
The structure of this quiche is designed to make use of veggie leftovers, but you can always make the whole thing fresh, from scratch.
- 3 cups leftover, cooked veggies (whatever you've got on hand)
- 2/3 cup raw, unsalted cashews
- 1 lb. firm tofu, squeezed & drained
- 3 fresh sage leaves, chopped
- 1/2 tablespoon fresh thyme (leaves removed from stems)
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 9" whole wheat pie crust (from the frozen foods section) - or make your own pie crust if that's how you role
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Pulse the cashews in a food processor until you have fine crumbs.
- Break the tofu up into chunks and add it to the cashew crumbs. Add the sage, thyme, turmeric and nutritional yeast. Process until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of your food processor as needed.
- Add one cup of your leftover veggies to the tofu mixture and pulse a few times to incorporate, but not obliterate the veggies.
- Empty contents of food processor into mixing bowl along with remaining 2 cups of leftover veggies. Fold all ingredients together until well incorporated.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.
- Pour mixture into frozen pie crust and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until center of quiche is firm and the edges are are starting to brown.
- Allow the quiche to sit for 15-30 minutes before slicing and eating.
For dessert we had Whole wheat, Fat-Free Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Muffins - a recipe from the Happy Herbivore. They were amazing! Easy to put together, incredibly aromatic and insanely delicious, especially for how healthy they were. I'll definitely be making those again!
As for the quiche, I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. I look forward to experimenting with different kinds of leftover veggies and various fresh herbs from my garden. I hope you enjoy it, too!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
My Workouts, Part I: Free Weights
I didn't understand how I could be doing the very activities that had been so effective only the week or month before, and see absolutely no results. It was beyond frustrating. I just kept doing the same workouts and waited for them to start working again. I even did two 1-hour workouts per day one week thinking that would help break the plateau.
Nope.
As the holidays approached, I just gave up. I stopped working out altogether and allowed myself to indulge in all the decadent, naughty treats that Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas had to offer. As a result, I gained back about 15 of the pounds I had worked so hard to lose.
But now it's a new year. 2010, baby! I'm completely recharged and recommitted. I've done my research and understand that varying workouts is important to shock the body into responding. I'm doing more than just cardio, incorporating free weights into my routines and trying to change things up every couple of weeks, or so. And, I'm already seeing results.
Several of you have asked about my workout routines, so I'm going to start blogging about them. I've added a box on the sidebar that shows my current workout schedule. For January, it looks like this:
Weeks 1 & 2:
- Monday: Upper body free weights and 30 minutes cardio
- Tuesday: 60 minutes cardio
- Wednesday: Rest
- Thursday: Lower body free weights and 30 minutes cardio
- Friday: 60 minutes cardio
- Saturday: Rest
- Sunday: 60 minutes cardio
Weeks 3 & 4:
- Monday: Upper body free weights and 30 minutes cardio
- Tuesday: 60 minutes cardio
- Wednesday: Lower body free weights and 30 minutes cardio
- Thursday: Rest
- Friday: Upper body free weights and 30 minutes cardio
- Saturday: 60 minutes cardio
- Sunday: Lower body free weights and 30 minutes cardio
My current weight routines are pretty simple. For weeks 1 & 2, I'm doing two sets of 15 reps using high weight for each exercise.
Upper Body:
- Dumbbell Bench Press
- Two-Arm Dumbbell Row
- Standing Twisting Dumbbell Press
- Overhead Dumbbell Triceps Extension
- Dumbbell Curl
- Double Crunch
Lower Body:
- Dumbbell Squat
- Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
- Dumbbell Side Lunge
- Dumbbell Reverse Lunge
- Dumbbell Unilateral Calf Raise
If you'd like to know more about these exercises and routines, check out the January 2010 issue of Oxygen as that's where I pulled the information.
I'm excited to be exercising again, excited about the change to my routine and super-excited about the results I've already seen in such a short period of time. I'm committed to sticking with things this year, even if I hit another plateau, and I'm doing everything in my power to avoid that scenario.
I can't tell you as I approach that dreaded plateau weight that I'm not going to be a bit nervous. I'm sure I will. But I'm confident things will be different this time around. I'm better equipped, better informed and I'm certainly more fit than I was this time last year. Everything's in my favor.
This was Part I of what I think will be a 2-part, initial series on my workout routines. I hope to be back sometime very soon to explain what I'm doing for cardio and how I use my Wii Fit (and now Wii Fit Plus!) to full advantage.
If you have any questions just let me know and I'll do my part by blogging as I go with reports on how I'm doing, what's working and what's not.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
2010 Resolution Roundup and My One LIttle Word
- LOSE ANOTHER 50 POUNDS: Yeah, I know this one is super-specific, but since I lost 50 pounds last year I'm pretty confident I can do it again this year. Besides, I have several external motivations that'll help keep my fire lit. Like what? Well, like the fact that I'm getting my next tattoo in April, for one. From Daniel Smith! I'm so excited and yes, I'll post pics. Promise. I'm also training for the Mud Run in June and I want to beat my 2009 time. On top of that, I have wicked costuming ideas for this year's ComiCon and the more fit I feel, the more options I'll allow myself to consider. ComiCon's in July, so my external motivators will take me pretty far into the year. Plus, as I go I'm sure to come up with others.
- CUT BACK OR NEARLY ELIMINATE CONSUMPTION OF REFINED SUGAR: See, now here's a case where I need to be vague. I don't consume a whole lot of refined sugar. I cut most of it out when I went vegan. But I do eat and drink more than I'd like and I really want to explore other natural sweetening options.
- ONE SUBMISSION PER MONTH: I've had some moderate success with my writing over the past year, or so. I've won a couple contests and had a short story published here and there. Writing allows me to flex my noodle, release the bad whispers in a constructive way and genuinely feeds my soul. I'd like to continue this and up my output. I think one submission per month is reasonable, but as always I reserve the right to modify my resolutions as needed.
- RE-COMMIT TO MY DAILY PRACTICE: My daily spiritual practice wavered and waned pretty hardcore over the holidays. I need to recommit to it because it anchors me through my days, fills me up and allows me a daily opportunity to exercise my will.
- CONTINUE PURGING, ORGANIZING and REDECORATING MY HOME: This one's pretty self-explanatory. We were able to purge a lot of clutter this past year and I want to keep that momentum going. With the newfound space, I was able to organize things better and we began redecorating with the money we made from our multiple garage sales. I have no delusions that I'll finish my entire home this year, but as long as I continue to make forward progression throughout the year, I'll be happy.
Friday, January 1, 2010
New Year's Day Eats
This is just a quick rundown of the food I prepared and enjoyed today. I don't know if I'll get to my resolutions post tonight, but I'll be sure to get it posted before this weekend is over.
We kicked off 2010 with bread pudding for breakfast. This recipe is one of our favorites and has garnered me a marriage proposal from a meat-loving omni. He's so dedicated to the consumption of meat, he sports a bacon tattoo on his shoulder and a sushi tatt on his forearm. But he loves it, despite it's vegan status, and we love it because it just rocks.
The recipe came to me after just a little tinkering and the desire to add texture to traditional bread puddings (that's where the topping comes in). It's a blueberry-banana bread pudding with a pecan-oat streusel topping drizzled in a warm and creamy lemon cashew sauce. The sauce isn't my recipe, though I did adjust it a bit. I got the sauce out of 1,000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson.
The decadent bread pudding held us 'til dinner and I prepared a version of our New Year's Day traditional fare. We just finished big plates of toasted and steamed basmati rice topped with black-eyed peas, miso-baked tofu with a little liquid smoke thrown in for even more flavor, cornbread muffins, and red Swiss chard sautéed in Earth Balance with chopped pecans. So, so good!
None of today's food was low-fat eating, but it was all vegan, homemade, mostly organic, and smack-yer-momma tasty. We're all so stuffed. Fat n' happy.
I'll be back soon to discuss my thoughts about and resolutions for 2010. I hope your New Year's Eve and New Year's Day was filled with good friends, big grins, great food, and happy surprises. May this coming year bring health and happiness to us all.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Resolutions and One Little Word

Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Creamy Roasted Garlic Mashers
Yeah, me too. So far, I've got the Maple Cranberry Sauce made and I just finished my famous (at least amongst my family and friends) Creamy Roasted Garlic Mashers. They are amazing. I don't use a recipe when I make them, but today I measured everything as I threw them together just so I could create a recipe to share with you, dear readers. I can feel the love, can't you?
I'm serving the mashers tomorrow beneath a healthy slathering of Mighty Miso Gravy from How it all Vegan, which makes them even more heavenly. The mashers are definitely delish enough to be nommed without gravy, but it's Thanksgiving and in the American tradition of excess and indulgence, we're gonna go big or go home. Hence, gravy.
Everyone's got their own method for making mashed potatoes. Here's mine:
Creamy Roasted Garlic Mashers
makes about 8 1-cup servings
- 3 medium heads of garlic, roasted with the cloves removed - yes you read that right, 3 heads, we likes us some garlic preciousssss
- 4 medium russet potatoes, peeled
- 4 medium red potatoes, cleaned but not peeled
- 1 stick or 1/2 cup vegan margarine (Earth Balance)
- 1/4 cup vegan sour cream (Tofutti)
- 1/4 cup vegan cream cheese (Tofutti)
- 1/4 teaspoon (or more) freshly ground nutmeg
- salt and pepper to taste
- Cut potatoes into equal sizes. I usually quarter the red potatoes and then cut the russets into pieces that are about the same size. You want to do it this way so they cook in the same amount of time.
- Boil all the potatoes in salted water until easily penetrated with a fork. The time varies here but start checking them at around 15 minutes boil time. Don't let them stay in the boiling water too long or they'll become water-logged and yicky. Yeah, that's a technical term: yicky. Yuck + Ick = Yicky. Mkay? Moving on.
- When they are done, carefully retrieve the potatoes from the water and transfer them into a colander to drain. The tool that I've found works best for this is a spider skimmer but use what you've got. If you must resort to dumping the potatoes along with the water into a colander, just be gentle.
- After they are drained, carefully transfer the potatoes into a large bowl. Slice the stick (yup, the whole stick) of vegan margarine into pats and artfully place them all over the surface of the potatoes. Okay, you don't have to get too artistic here because we're about to mix it all up anyway, but I just can't seem to help myself sometimes.
- Using a masher, smash the potatoes by hand, mixing the vegan margarine in as you go. They must be mashed by hand. Do not, under any circumstances, take a mixer to your potatoes. You'll be breaking a major cooking Thou Shalt Not and you'll end up with a sticky, gluey mess. It'll be beyond yicky. I'm not even going to use the appropriate word here because my mom reads my blog now. Just take a deep breath, get out your masher and do it by hand.
- When they are about half-way mashed, add your vegan sour cream and vegan cream cheese. Continue mashing and mixing keeping in mind that Though Shalt Not Over-Mash Potatoes.
- When your potatoes are nearly at your desired consistency (I prefer a chunk here and there for textural interest over perfectly smooth potatoes), add the nutmeg, salt and pepper and give them one last mixing mash.
- Taste and adjust the seasonings as necessary. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to nosh.
I like to use a combination of both russets and red potatoes for my mashers because it makes them creamier. It also allows the inclusion of the skin from the red potatoes, which we totally dig. But, if it's not your thing, peel those along with your russets.
One of the best things about using this recipe for entertaining is that it can be made ahead of time and stowed in your fridge. When you're ready, simply warm it up in an oven-safe dish or in your microwave. It's delicious and so decadently creamy thanks to the combination of potatoes, egregious amount of vegan margarine, and addition of vegan sour cream and cream cheese. If you're watching fat and calories, make adjustments accordingly.
The nutritional breakdown per 1-cup serving, assuming you used about 3 tablespoons of olive oil when you roasted the garlic and the brands of margarine, sour cream, and cream cheese I recommended, is as follows: 348 calories; 19g fat; 6g saturated fat; 0mg cholesterol; 1272mg sodium; 41g carbohydrates; 4g fiber; 2g sugars; 5g protein; 0% Vitamin A; 32% Vitamin C; 4% calcium; 7% iron
NOTE: The final four percentages are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
DIY Gardening: Upcycling Broken Clay Pots
As everyone who gardens in containers knows, along with proper watering, drainage is an issue of utmost importance. I usually use rocks at the bottom of my pots to facilitate easy drainage. But, I was inspired by poor broken pots and ... well, let's face it, I'm a bit hormonal right now ... so I took a hammer to them and used the broken shards of ceramic in place of rock. Upcycling or repurposing something destined for the land fill rocks pretty hard but let's face it, breaking shit with a hammer rocks even harder.
This particular pot ended up home to our wee garden gnome, Aingeru, and three new Celosia which is an annual that produces striking flowers in outrageous colors. Most importantly, because we're in the midst of a level two drought right now and it's been hot as Hades here, Celosia is quite heat-tolerant to boot. Score!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Canning Cantaloupe Jam
One of our current favorites is cantaloupe - particularly the "Tuscan Cantaloupes." Holy magnificent melons batman, those babies are fruit of the gods if ever there were such a thing. The melons we've been getting are so sweet and juicy, it's ridiculous. Neither of us can remember cantaloupes being this good for a long time.
So the other day, as we sat at our dining room table with melon juice down to our elbows, we were singing the praises of the 'Loupe and I said I wished there were a way we could get melon this good year-round (while abiding by our pledge to eat in-season produce, most of which is locally grown, of course).
Perhaps the heat had gotten to my brain, but it really did take me a while to remember that I already know all sorts of ways of preserve the harvest! Freezing, dehydrating, liqueurs, syrups, canning ... I can do it all. So I pulled out one of my favorite canning books, Blue Ribbon Preserves by Linda J. Amendt, and much to my sticky-fingered delight, found a recipe for cantaloupe jam. Neither of us had ever heard of melon jam before, and since I had yet to start canning this year, I decided this recipe would be my first of the season.
I just pulled 7 half-pint jars of the most delicious jam I've ever made from my canner and practically danced around my kitchen as I heard each of them ping (a sign they've made a proper seal and all is well).
So I'm happy to report that we've got some seriously kick-ass jam to carry us through the cold winter. Um, and by "cold" I mean less than 70 degrees ... this is San Diego, after all. I'm even happier to report that I still have plenty of melons left over so I can put up a whole other batch (or three) of jam if I want. Actually, that's probably a good idea because the likelihood of these seven jars remaining untouched 'til winter arrives is nil. And finally, I'm happiest to report that canning season has officially begun! I've got all sorts of wicked canning fun planned. In fact, just yesterday I scored some killer green tomatoes so I can put up some Green Tomato Mincemeat Pie Filling, which not only tastes awesome but I think will make for great holiday gifts.
That it's for now. I think I need an afternoon snack. Perhaps toast with ... oh, I don't know ... jam?
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The Boy's New Tooth Zombie Pillow
The day his tooth came out I realized The Husband and I hadn't discussed what sort of Tooth Fairy-ish lore we were going to pass on nor had we even thought about how we were going to handle liberated teeth and their exchange for gifts or cash. When I asked The Husband about it, I got the stock response, "Whatever you want to do, baby."
Since I already knew I wanted to make The Boy's tooth receptacle (DIY or die!), I began googling for tooth fairy pillow patterns and inspiration. I came across a tutorial for an adorable Ballerina Tooth Fairy Pillow and decided I'd start there and alter it to suit our family aesthetic.
As I sat and read the instructions for the Ballerina Fairy, I realized the pocket in which the discarded teeth were to be placed was inside the fairy's mouth. Which begged the question ... "What kind of fairy eats teeth?"
The tooth fairies from Hellboy II crawled through my brain for a moment and I briefly indulged the idea of trying to recreate one of those before I came to my senses and remembered how terrifying they were. Evoking terror in my 5-yr-old wasn't my goal, but I was on the right track with regard to a lovely twist on the traditional lore.
Then it hit me: Zombies eat people. Surely they eat teeth as well. I mean really, have you ever seen a discerning zombie picking out icky bits before sinking teeth into dinner? Nope. Me neither. And it's no secret that I love zombies.
I printed the pattern for the Ballerina Fairy so I could use the overall shape but pretty much changed everything after that. I gave my zombie a gaping maw and embroidered around it to reinforce the mouth pocket and underscore his zombie-ish-ness with pale blue lips.
I also gave him goofy teeth and a scratch that he probably earned wrangling a meal. I decided he'd also lost an eye at some point, and embroidered an "x" where it should have been. I selected a blue button for the other eye to match The Boy's blue eyes.
And, of-course, no zombie would be complete without a large wound. This zombie was turned when someone went after his brains and left a large chomp out of his head. I used glittery red felt to represent glistening brain matter.
On the back I embroidered the words "Tooth Zombie", the date The Boy lost his first tooth, and his name (though I've edited that out). I was going for campy-cute and I think I achieved it. More importantly, I had a blast designing and creating this little Tooth Zombie and The Boy absolutely loves it.
He now knows, every time he looses a tooth, he needs to feed it to his Tooth Zombie. In exchange, the Zombie (whom we have yet to name) will leave a small gift for The Boy. This time, it was a new set of 3D reels for his View-Master - The Animals of North America.
Just thought I'd share my latest project and remind you all to watch out for those Tooth Zombies!
Monday, June 22, 2009
School Lunches


Friday, June 19, 2009
Winner Winner Chickpea Dinner ... er ... Brunch

"My fav restaurant for brunch is WaterCourse Foods. Everything on their menu is available vegan. They offer up mouth-watering tofu scrambles, a blue plate special, pancakes, french toast ... but not "normal" french toast, whoa no. *Banana Bread french toast.* Yes. Let's just take a moment to savor that thought.
...
Mewkay.
Also for the having, an Amsterdam Hash that's just as good as the name implies, and ... the nummers to end all nummers ... biscuits and gravy. Uh! So good, makes you want to smack yer mama. Metaphorically speaking, of-course.
And I'm not even mentioning the giant cinnamon rolls. Nope. This is me. Not mentioning them.
Did I say they're in Denver, CO yet? Thank goodness I live in San Diego, CA or I'd be working off a never-ending tab washing dishes or something. But every time I'm in Denver, I can be seen fogging up the glass in the wee hours of the morning, waiting for them to open and creeping out the wait staff."
Turns out they liked my answer, so they announced in today's post that I won! Le squee!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE ZOMBIES?!?!?!
nomnomnomnomnom
Sunday, June 14, 2009
New DIY Zine
So earlier today imagine my squee-ish delight when I spotted a zine I'd never seen before with the tag line, "Easy Ideas for Hands-On People." I practically started drooling. I grabbed it off the stand and immediately began thumbing my way through it. Inside I saw...
- an article on 13 smart ways to snazz up your kitchen
- building plans for a DIY kitchen serving cart
- an article about throw pillows complete with DIY instructions
- a piece on how to use color to create specific moods in various rooms
- plans for building your own outdoor dining table and benches
- decorating ideas
- tips on hanging art
- an article with instructions on 3 different ways to refinish an old table
- plans for an outdoor potting bench
- tips for DIY bouquets
- clever garage storage ideas
- plans for outdoor movable planter boxes
- plans for a kick-ass arbor
- a list of kitchen-scraps that make for great garden fertilizers
- plans for making and instructions for flying your own kites (both diamond and box-styles)
- tips on saving energy
- info on cooking, product reviews, and more
All that just in the one issue! Plus, each of the projects has a DIY versus purchase cost comparison along with a difficulty rating and estimated time requirement. Needless to day, the zine took up residence in my shopping cart and I've had my nose in it ever since I got home. The name of this new gift from the pantheon of DIY deities is "Fresh Home" and, at least for now, I think I'm in love. There's only one thing about it I don't like at this point, and that's it's decidedly yuppie feel. I'm used to consuming my DIY literature smothered in punk rock/alternative sauce. But I'm willing to look past the pastels and sweaters tied 'round the shoulders as long as they keep coughing up great ideas, projects and plans. If you're a hardcore DIY'er like me, check it out for yourself. Because it's brand new, you can subscribe for only $10 (half off the cover price).
Score!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Memorial Day Barbeque
We also grilled tofu slathered in homemade barbeque sauce. I used the recipe in Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites and it was delish. It had the taste of a traditional barbeque sauce, but with a kick from the pepper and a distinctly homemade texture. You just don't realize how much nicer it is to have homemade versions of sauces and condiments you typically buy until you make 'em yourself. Above and beyond anything you can get off the shelf of your local market, for sure. Plus, it was easy to make and virtually fat-free. I should have pressed the tofu, though. Next time, I'll remember to do so.
I threw together a slaw with red cabbage, jicama, raw pumpkin seeds, and seedless cucumber dressed with a little lemon juice, olive oil, parsley and some other stuff, but it wasn't nearly as good as the slaw I made for our last barbeque.
For dessert, we enjoyed grilled pineapple. Yum! We ate a lot of grilled pineapple last summer and I'm so happy grilling weather is back. We love this tasty, healthy, simple, and delicious dessert. If you've never had grilled pineapple, you owe it to yourself to give it a try. The heat from the grill caramelizes the sugars in the pineapple and adds some nummy crispy bits, too. Fabu!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Apple-Rosemary Oat Bars
Since The Husband and I are on the wane, I selected the recipe that delivered the lowest amount of fat per serving (4g): Apple-Rosemary Oat Bars. Oh man, are these little babies delicious!
First, they are not too sweet. I love that. So they can easily be eaten with a cup of coffee or tea for breakfast, as a snack any time of the day, or as a light dessert. Whenever you want, really. Second, the lemon zest and juice really balance out what little sweet there is in the bars, adding a fun little zing to every bite. Third, the rosemary. How I love rosemary! Paired with apple, it's just fantastic. Fourth, the consistency is just perfect. Nice little crunchy bits on the outside and a soft, moist center.
The only change I made to the recipe was I substituted spelt whole grain flour for the all-purpose flour. No problem there. The recipe offers several options with regard to nut butters - I used almond butter. Yum!
I'm looking forward to working our way through this batch of bars and I think this recipe could serve as a fantastic template to play with and create new herby, fruity bars. The possibilities are vast.
Winner!