5 foods before you die

I was tagged by AlbionCooks to to "create a list of food bloggers' top picks for things you've eaten and think that everyone should eat at least once before they die." Hmmmmm... this is hard. I've actually thought about it last night while I was trying to sleep. (damn insomnia)...

I came up with some simple things that make my life so much better.

1. Tropical Fruit Salad with mango, papaya, coconut, kiwi, orange, banana, passion fruit and star fruit and lime juice.

2. Guacamole with hass avocados, chiles, tomatoes, red onion, garlic, lime juice and sea salt

3. Chipolte-Citrus Black Beans, black beans, fresh orange juice, fresh lime juice, onions, garlic, chipotle peppers, cilantro, green pepper, red pepper, olive oil

4. Coconut Milk, very decadent, but oh so good. A little can go a long way and can add so much to a meal. I limit our intake of coconut milk in recipes to twice a month.

5. Vegan Sushi, my favorite roll is made out of brown rice, mock chickpea tuna salad, avocado, ginger, wasabi, rice vinegar, and soy. Dip it in a mixture of Braggs, Sesame Oil, Garlic, Ginger and Wasabi thinned out with water until you reach the desired taste.

Ok, I tag:

Vegan Diva

Vikki

Urban Vegan

Kleo

Eden in the Kitchen

Now, each of you answer this in your blog and tag 5 more people!

It's a souper day

Italian Vegetable Soup and Focaccia

I love soup and now that the weather is cool, I will be making a lot more of it. It's been cool and rainy all day, the perfect soup weather. I had some leftover pizza dough in the freezer, so I threw that in the toaster oven with fresh rosemary and sea salt and garlic for a quick and crispy focaccia. The soup was made with a bit of olive oil, fresh sage, rosemary, thyme, garlic, red pepper flakes, fennel seed, onions, carrots, potatoes, a bit of marinara, tofu, tvp, red chard and finished with a tiny bit of miso, freshly grated nutmeg and nutritional yeast stirred in at the last minute. I used water and a bit of Marmite as the broth.

My interview went well, I think. It's hard to tell. I really liked the man and respect his business practices. I'm sure I'd enjoy working there. His wife does the baking and she's very talented. I admire anyone who can do pastry work and cake decorating..

If I'm meant to work there, I will get the job.. (and I sure hope I'm meant to work there!)

I've been reading all of your blogs, but not doing much commenting because it is so irritating to constantly have to log on and off and back in. I hope blogger fixes this.

Indian food

Dal, Sag "Paneer", Basmati Rice

This was dinner last night. I used tofu instead of paneer, just drained it and fried it in a cast iron skillet with a tiny bit of olive oil, then added the spices, onions and garlic. I about 2 lbs of spinach and 1/2 cup coconut milk to cream it up. Here is the recipe for the dal. I added some cauliflower, green beans and peas to it because I had them around. It was a little runny on the plate.. that is not oil. My youngest son is so funny, he loves dal. He ate 4 huge bowls of it for dinner and went on and on about how it was the perfect food. When my kids were little, I used to make brown rice, dal and veggies and puree it and freeze it in ice cube trays for instant baby food. They must have developed a taste for it at early age. Both my kids ate veggies before fruit and I've never had an issue with them not liking vegetables.

School starts tomorrow and I'm ready for it. I can't believe my kids are going into the 8th and 10th grades. Time flies.

I have a job interview tomorrow morning. It is at a natural foods cafe and bakery. From what I can gather, the place seems like a great place to work and they have very high standards for their food. I hope I get the job! It will be a change, working full time, but I very much look forward to doing so. My husband works from home, so he can be here when the kids get home and he can drive them places if need be.

Blogger has been acting up a lot for me.. I changed over to the new beta and I hate it. It keep logging me out and everytime I post comments, it seems to freeze up. bleh.

RIP Lea.. marinara , eggplant casserole

Blogger is a total pain lately... oy..

First, sad news.. My cat, Lea is probably dead. She's been missing for a week and we've found out that 4 cats in our neighborhood have disappeared. I feel so sad and guilty... for several reasons... We got her and her brother out of a free litter. Luke was hit by a car a couple years ago and died. When we got them, we allowed them to go outside because we lived in a very safe neighborhood for cats.... so they got used to that. When we moved to our current town, 6 years ago, they were totally used to coming and going. Every time the door opened, they would bolt out... but would always come home. One night, Luke was killed... it was horrible for all of us... we tried to hard to keep Lea in, ,but she NEEDED to be outside.. if that makes sense... so we had a family meeting. We decided that we would allow her to go outside, but realized that her life would potentially end early if we did so.... and now we are paying for that decision. The only reason we allowed it, was because she HATED being inside all the time... we chose quality or quantity of life for her... and she died.... she was 9 years old. I am sad.. and as I said, I feel guilty.. but when I think hard of her and her sweet and curious personality, I think it was the right thing for her... but man, do I miss her. My computer is not set up due to the work being done in my room, but when I get it back, I will post her picture.

Rest In Peace, sweet Lea..... we sure loved you and will miss you so much.

Veggie Infused Marinara, 4 Quarts

I love my marinara sauces.. I make several versions... this one had tons of garlic, rosemary, oregano and dried red peppers.. infused with extra virgin olive oil... I did this over low heat for around 30 mins.. then added onions, shredded carrots, zukes, yelllow squash and around 4 cups of basil.. oh and 6 lbs of canned tomatoes.. and a splash of balsamic vinegar... We love this sauce.

I put together this quick eggplant casserole using the sauce... this is before it has been baked. It will probably sit for a day before I bake it. Basically, it is sauted eggplant, basil tofu "ricotta" and the sauce.. I will bake it for 45 mins or so and top it with some shredded cashew cheez from the freezer.

Tonight for dinner, we are having Angel Hair, Sauce, Salad, Garlic Bread and White Bean Dip..

For breakfast, I had a baby spinach salad with pumpkin seeds, red bell pepper, tomato, avocado, tempeh bacon, sprouts, shredded carrots and homemade "Goddess" dressing.. it's funny, because I've been making a sesame based dressing for a while now and it tastes so much like the commercial "Goddess" dressing.. I use toasted sesame seeds instead of the tahini.... and it's sooo good!

Food pics and then some! Plus a FACE

My brother and his wife are having a baby! My niece is due in 3 weeks and I am so excited. I have two boys and am sooo looking forward to a little girl in the family. She is my first niece and her name will be Arwen. I visited them yesterday, and took some food down for them. Some of the following is not vegan. I made a batch of Basil "Ricotta" from WvaV and a batch of homemade sausage from TVP to use in the pizza and calzones. I added cooked spinach to the ricotta mixture.

Calzones and Pizza

Basil Ricotta/Sausage Pizzas
Vegan Pizza for me and my freezer
Split Pea Dal (I made 8, 16 oz servings for their freezer)
Couscous with veggies, white beans, "sausage", before topping with cheese
Seitan Fajita Fixins
Another couscous casserole with veggies, "sausage", veggies, white beans and cheese
Curried Eggplant and Veggies with Chickpeas, 8 2 cup portions for the freezer
My famous Salsa, this has caused great strife when they fight over it.. I make them at least 2 gallons at a time so they can freeze it. They still fight over it. Silly people. The funny thing about this salsa, is that there is a FACE in the reflection.
A bigger picture of the salsa.. Can you see the face?

Grilled Cheez, Eggplant Parm Sub, more Pad Thai

Blogger is acting up again, I can barely post comments, it keeps timing out on me. It is also not letting me upload, so sorry for the big pics.

We've been eating sandwiches.. I love sandwiches.


This was a grilled "cheez" and tomato, onion and saurkraut. I made a quick 1000 island dressing out of silken tofu, vegenaise, relish, onion powder and ketchup and carawy seeds. Simple and good. The bread was the bread that caught fire in my toaster oven, so I had to cut off the top of it. It is still really good. I used a lot of vital wheat gluten in it to up the protein content.

More Pad Thai
This time I vegged it up and added carrots, green beans and green peppers. The pound of whole wheat pasta will now yield at least 8 large servings.

Grilled Eggplant and "Parmesan" Sub...
Oh boy.. this is soo good! I used toffuti cheez.... bad for you, but very good now and then. I spray it with olive oil and baked the sandiwch for around 10 minues at 400, then ran it under the broiler.. it kind of looks melted..

So, today my room is FINALLY getting fixed. I will have a new ceiling soon, hopefully. I've been getting really sick of living in a room with no ceiling and I know it's not healthy air wise to breathe, so this is good.

Mango Ginger Tofu, Brussel Sprouts, Coconut Lime Cookies

VWaV inspired Mango Ginger Tofu

Ok, so this was really good. I started with the recipe and then added more garlic and pureed all the mango because I know my kids would not be into eating cooked mango. I did some other tweaking, but can't remember now because the tofu has been soaking in the marinade for 2 days!.. oh.. yeah.. I pressed the tofu and fried in in a dry cast iron to crisp it up before marinating it because I knew it would be at least a day before I'd use it.. also... I didn't want to bake it, yet wanted the crispy tofu. I topped it off with scallions and siracha. We loved it. My oldest son has been "sneaking" the tofu out of the fridge over the last day or so. He was at band camp tonight, so it was just the three of us.. I will send leftovers with him tomorrow. We served it over plain basmati rice.. and with:

Steamed Brussel Sprouts tossed with vinaigrette

Coconut Lime Cookies

Earlier today I made a batch of these from Vive.. I sub'd stevia for the sugar, but still used 1/3 cup of maple syrup. I was very pleased with the result! I had one earlier in the day and we each had one after dinner. Oy... we have a problem. Before I went vegan, I hardly ever ate sweets or baked good because I hated eggs and sugar... now this whole new world has opened up, egg and sugar free. I need to limit myself to empty calories 1 day a week. I've been using stevia in smoothies almost daily, but they are very healthy and delicious. Usually just frozen fruit, ice, greens, flax, stevia and coconut extract.

Pasta, Brownies, Philly Cheezsteak

I threw together this dish yestreday. I needed to use up some of the Basil "Ricotta" (from WVaV). While the 12 oz of whole wheat penne was cooking, I sauted 6 cloves of garlic in about 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 red pepper, 1 can artichoke hearts diced up (not the marinated ones), about 1 cup of sundried tomatoes which I reconsituted in veggie stock (I saved the stock for the sauce), about 3/4 cup Basil "Ricotta", about 1.5 cups of chickpeas, olives, fresh basil, fresh rosemeary, yeast. It was fresh thyme and finished it off with a bit of miso and 2 tbsp nutritional very good. Unfortunately the brand of pasta I used turned to mush, so I ended up throwing out the leftovers. Trader Joes is the only brand of WW pasta I like. I hate wasting food and in the past I would have turned the mush into veggies burgers, but I have a bunch of veggie burgers and I didn't feel like making more. I can be a food hoarder. I've come to the realization that while, I will of course continue to use leftovers and love them, I don't need to use every last thing. It's OK if I have to throw something out once in a while. I am overweight, and some of it comes from eating food that I feel should be consumed.. it's better if I eat food that I love. I feel this is a step in the right direction for me. From now on, if I used that brand, I will only cook 6 oz of pasta if I'm going to beef it up with veggies and beans. That's better for us anyway.
Brownies with raspberry glaze and chocolate

Dori turned me onto KAL stevia several months ago. Since then my family has been enjoying more sweets than ever. I am not a huge sweet person, but I think most of that was because I hated how I felt when I ate sugar. Dori blogged about baking a cake with pure stevia instead of sugar, so I figured I'd give it a try. I baked some brownies yesterday, replacing the sugar for stevia. I have no idea where I got the original recipe from, it contained 1 cup of flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tbsp arrowroot, cocoa, soymilk, vinegar, sugar, oil, flaxmeal and vanilla.. I baked it and when it was done I added some dark chocolate chips (which did contain sugar) to the top so they'd melt and warmed around 1/3 cup of Raspberry All Fruit, then poured it over the top. They were a little cakey for my taste, but the flavor and texture was good considering. I baked them in a 9 inch square pan and cut them into 16 small squares.

Philly Cheezsteak

So, the other day, Urban Vegan blogged about her Philly Cheese Steak sandwich, and I've been craving one ever since. I used a white sesame seed sub roll and topped it with sauted mushrooms, garlic, onions, crushed red pepper and sea salt. I cut thin sliced of my cashew cheez and put it in the toaster oven at 400 for around 10 minutes. I also added pickled jalapenos and before eating, put some of the salad and some vegenaise on it. Soooo good. Seriously. Next time, I will use green pepper too. I've made many versions of this sandwich, usually using seitan, but I like it better without. I guess I need to figure a way to slice my seitan paper thin.

As you can see, the cashew cheez doesn't really "melt", but it does get really soft and it tastes great with other things. I'm not a huge fan of it straight up. It will get brown if you run it under the broiler, but I don't find it that necessary.

This morning I had kind of an irritating day in the kitchen. I made some bread and ended up burning the top of it because it rose so high! I had to cut about 1/3 of the bread off. I bake in my toaster oven, and usually don't have a problem.. but for some reason my bread really took off today. I think I added more Vital Wheat Gluten than normal. I never measure when I bake bread, I just throw it together. I probably could have gotten two loaves from this batch. Hopefully, I salvaged the rest of the loaf. I think I did.

I pressed the tofu for the Mango Ginger Tofu from VWaV.. of course, I am incapable of following a recipe, so I also fried it (with no oil) in my cast iron before marinating, because I don't want to turn on my big oven yet. I used toasted sesame oil instead of peanut oil and added more garlic and 3 jalapenos to the marinade.. and I pureed it all. When the tofu triangles were fried and crispy, I threw a tiny bit of soysauce on them and poured the hot mango marinade over them. I will let them chill until tomorrow's dinner... then I'll either bake them in the toaster oven in two batches, or cook them on the stovetop. I'm sure they will be fabulous regardless. I'll definitely take pics of the finished meal.

I got two bunches of organic collards at the farmers market on Sat.. and I went to cook them today. They were rotten inside. I was so irritated.

My son is in band camp for the next couple of weeks.. I have to send both lunch and dinner with him and snacks. He's almost 15 and eats so much. This will be somewhat challenging.. because he likes a lot of food hot.. such as veggie burgers, so I can't sent those. I'm thinking tofu salad, tofu sandwiches, salads, veggies, fruits, baked goods, cheese sandiwches, burritos, cold pizza, cold quesadillas.. cold Pad Thai.. actually, I have a lot of options.. he is a kid who loves raw, plain tofu. hehe.. I got him a bunch of Cliff Bars too.

simple basil ricotta tortilla, grossed out

Tofu Basil "Ricotta" Tortilla

This was my breakfast.. simple and easy and good. My son had one too. It is the basil ricotta from WVaV (but with more basil and garlic than called for) on my homemade tortilla with tomatoes, broiled for several minutes.

Dinner last night was a quick meal of snap peas, broccoli, healthy "ramen" nooodles, garlic, peanut butter, lime juice and cilantro. Oh.. and tofu too. My son had a friend over, so I tried to make something he would like and he at a bowl.

My husband took the kids camping overnight, so I'm here all alone. No cooking for me!

I had a good experience this morning. I was making smoothies for my kids and we had some yogurt (dairy) that needed to be used.. It's amazing how few dairy products we are eating now that I'm almost 100% vegan. I got a HUGE craving for the smoothie... I used to love yogurt.. I mean love it.., so I decided to just have a small taste of it on a spoon. The craving was so strong... so, I took a small spoonful and spit it out! It was disgusting. I was shocked... I figured the yogurt must have been rotten or something or just off.. but the kids and my husband loved it.. they said it tasted like normal yogurt smoothies. I can't tell you how gross it was to me... A similar thing happened to me the other night while dishing up ice cream for them.. I didn't take a taste, but the smell of it grossed me out. It just smelled... OFF.. and nasty..

almost a burger and cheeze recipe, bfast pizza

First of all, sorry the pics are so big, blogger is not allowing me to upload the pics, so I have to post this all in html.. and I'm not in the mood to look up resizing codes.

Anyways... this is a pic of my "raw ground beef patties" AKA uncooked veggie burgers.
I've been asked several times to elaborate on the method.. I'm sorry to say, I still haven't written down a recipe, but I promise, the next time I make them I will. And I make them two times a week at least.

The pic here is to give you an idea of the texture the pattie needs to be before grilling. They key to this texture is chilling it overnight or for a minimum of 3 hours.

I use Lipton Onion Soup Mix in these. If you don't want to do that, then I suggest some veggie bouillon cube and dried onion flakes. If you won't want to do that, then saute 1 small onion with soy sauce or salt and use that.
Some of the TVP in the above pic was caramel colored, so that's why you see some dark flecks.

Here's a rough recipe:

1 batch Okara from making soymilk, you can subsitute this with 1.5 cups of pureed white beans, soybeans being the best since they contain fat. Warm the bean puree.. the okara I use is piping hot from making soymilk. You can do this in the microwave
6 oz tomato paste
Lipton Onion Soup Mix (1 pouch)
TVP (enough to make the mixture come together)
Hot soymilk or water to bring the mixture together if needed.
Black Pepper
Garlic Powder
A couple TBS oil if desired

Add: any flavorings you wish. I like to add fresh herbs, condiments, spices or whatever suits my fancy. For instance, I have added fresh basil fresh garlic and a bit of live oil for a pizza like burger. I have added horseradish and caraway for reuben like patties, I add dijon or yellow mustard and browning liquid (Gravy Master) for a traditional type "hamburger" pattie.

It is very important to let the mixture chill. (I can't say this enough).. Grill on an oiled grill or grill pan over medium heat (I use my cast iron grill pan on 5 on my electric stove) covered for 5 minutes on the first side, flip and grill for 5 mins uncovered.

You can also add fresh garlic,parsely, basil, miso and roll into small balls for meatballs. brown them in a skillet, then bake at 400 for 25 mins or so. Also, if you make the meatballs, add oil.

Ok, onto cheese. I made some Cashew Cheese.. in fact, I made quite a bit. I took a lot from the Native Foods Cookbook recipe, but left out a few things and added more flavor. This made 5 8oz domes. 3 are in the freezer, as I'll use them to top pizzas and other baked goods.

Here's a summary of what I used.

3 cups piping hot, freshly made soy/rice milk (literally as soon as it was done)
3 tbsp Agar Powder (yes, it's a lot.. but it works)
-bring these two to a boil for a minute or two, whisking. Let it cool down for 5 minutes or so.
Pour into a blender and add:
2 cups cashews
1 tbsp prepared mustard (I like dijon)
3 tbsp miso
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1/2-3/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp kosher salt (taste before adding, because some miso is very salty, start by adding 1/4 tsp kosher salt... if using table salt, add much less and taste)
Blend for several minutes... pour into 8 oz containers. I kept the last 8 oz in the blender and added around 1/4 capful of liquid smoke for a "smoked" provolone type cheese..

As you can see, this set up nicely. I grated some for my breakfast pizza, which I made on one of my homemade tortillas. I added marinara and veggies and around 1/4 cup of the "cheese".

Coconut rice and beans, tortillas, yummy lunch

Coconut Rice and Beans with Habanero Sauce

I made this today to have as a side dish for Mango Ginger Tofu from WVaV.. I'm still waiting for my mangos to ripen!

I also made 9 veggie burgers out of Okara, TVP, Oats, Tomato Paste and spices. Lots of onion/garlic and fresh basil. I actually made the mixture yesterday and let it sit all night in the fridge, then grilled them this morning. They are delicious and I only have 3 left because my oldest son ate two for breakfast, then two for lunch! Then I made one for my husband and younger son for lunch. I didn't take pics, because they were eaten up before I could... plus how many pics of veggie burgers can one have on a blog?

Ok, are these flabreads or tortillas? hmmmmm..

I love my Vita-Mix. I took around 2.5 cups of wheatberries and ground it into flour, then added a bit of water, salt, 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and about 1 tsp of baking powdeer. Rolled it into 16 balls and rolled them out... then cooked them in my beloved cast iron skillet.
I like to use these for open faced sandiwches. tostadas, "pizzas" and for quesadillas. The home ground flour is very coarse, but works very well. I had a smallish one that I decided to put to use for lunch. I used homemade refried beans, habanbero sauce, sprouts, tomatoes and topped it with guacamole... Delicious. This pic is of a small plate, and I've found that fresh, whole grain, really fills you up. It's almost 6 and I'm not hungry at all. I love healthy food.

This morning, I had a great smoothie... I didn't take a pic though, it had pineapple, spinach, flax meal, strawberries, blueberries, soymilk, lemon juice, coconut extract and stevia. YUM! The fruit was all frozen and it came out like a thick shake... or sorbet. The blueberries turned it a lovely purple and my kids had no clue they were drinking spinach! Yay for green smoothies. No pic though, we drank them too fast.

Pad Thai, Mooshi Tofu, Wheatberry Salad

Brooklyn Pad Thai

This was from VWaV.. I followed the recipe, but added more garlic, lots of ginger, lots of siracha and some liquid smoke. It was excellent. In fact, my almost 15 year old said that it was the best food he's eaten in his life! Next time I make it, I'll add more veggies. I'm thinking green beans, shredded carrots and red bell peppers would be amazing. I have a feeling we'll be eating this a lot over the next 6 months or so. It will pack well in for school lunches too.

MooShi Veggies and Tofu

This was delicious as well. I made a bunch, using a whole head of cabbage. Here's the recipe.

Wheatberry Salad

Pure Bliss

midweek munchies, wheat berry salad, menu

Midweek Munchies: What Melody is contributing for the week 1 gallon organic milk 3 lbs peanuts soy sauce wasabi rice crackers whole wheat bulkie rolls toasted sesame oil raspberry all-fruit spread wasabi paste dried apricots annies cheese crackers rice vinegar 2 loaves whole wheat bread 4 blocks extra firm tofu 4 avocados cilantro 5 heads garlic a lot of ginger root fresh basil (large bunch) 3 mangos 1 lb cremini mushrooms 5 lbs onions baby spinach scallions bean sprouts sun dried tomatoes Total: 72.37 ... I will be doing more shopping later in the week, as I will need more veggies/fruits and other things. Links to other Midweek Munchies (If you participate, leave your link in the comments and I'll post it below; or, you can post in the comments)

Click here for the Midweek Munchies code
Click here for Harmonia's blog

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Technorati Tag: Midweek Munchies

A special thanks to Running2Ks and Rift for all of their help with coding, graphics, and encouragement for this project.

PURPOSE of Midweek Munchies: Put together by a small group of Veg Women, we hope to spread the word about healthy vegetarianism while obtaining idea starters for meals, recipes, learn about new products, and meet other female veg*n bloggers. Visiting and commenting on other participants lists are encouraged but not required. Have fun and Go Veg!

Over the next four days, I will be making:

Pad Thai (I will try to follow the VWaV recipe)
Mango Ginger Tofu (another VWaV)
Mooshi Veggies and Tofu (I didn't end up making it today)
Pesto Sauce
Pasta with basil, toasted walnuts, sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts and kalamata olives
Veggie Burgers
Seitan
Soymilk.. (I make this at least 3 times a week)
Some sort of "cheese"

There will be food porn. I'm looking forward to cooking again! I may even do a little bit of baking depending on the weather. I need to make pizza sometimes soon, as I have cheese for the dairy heads that will need to be used. It's amazing to me how much cheese I used to eat.. I hardly buy any now. Me going vegan has been great for my kids because they get less cheese by default. I can't believe I don't even miss it on pasta anymore. I loved me some fresh parmesan and romano.. gorgonzoloa and feta..

Yesterday I made some ice cream out of silken tofu, soymilk, coconut extract, vanilla extract, stevia, cocoa powder and about 1/2 cup of walnuts. I pureed it all in the vita mix til smooth, then chiled it and used my ice cream maker. It is really good. I still have around 4 cups left.

Today, I made a Wheatberry salad inspired by Bryanna's post. I used 2.5 cups of wheat berries.. (The same wheat I use for my flour), and boiled it with water and a bouillon cube. When it was tender, I added around 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar, 2 garlic cloves, 1 red bell pepper, 2 carrots, 1 red onion, about 1 cup of shelled edaname, about 1 cup of frozen corn, 2 large tomatoes, salt/pepper, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme and chives. It was a little wet, so I added some dried TVP to soak up the juices and up the protein level... and then poured around 4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil. It is delicious and I have quite a bit leftover. I don't have my camera (my kids and husband took it on a hike), but I will take a pic of it when they get back. I served that with Coleslaw for a light, but satisfying lunch. I also served watermelon slushies. (fresh watermelon, ice, lime-juice and a tiny bit of stevia blended in the vitamix.

Freezer eating, old friends, AWESOME BAG!

Snugglebug Carriers

How cute is that bag? Sara made it to order for me and I love it! It's actually not as hot pink in real life, it's more purple. I love the web. She also makes Baby Carriers, Clothes and Diaper Bags. Check her out!

I am finally starting to feel better.. I've been able to sleep a bit. Now, all we have to do is get the ceiling taken care of. I'm sick of living like this.

My friend Regina is coming for a visit tomorrow with her boyfriend and son. I'm excited, as it gives me an excuse to cook. I'm not sure what I'll be making. Her BF is a meat eater, but very open to trying new things. I've cooked Indian food for him before and he loved it. I'm thinking I might make a MooShi stir fry dish over brown rice. I adore this dish. I blogged about it in one of my first posts. I have a head of cabbage and some carrots. All I'll need to buy is mushrooms, garlic, ginger and scallions. I may even make some Seitan tonight in the crockpot and use instead of tofu. hmmm..

We've been eating out of the freezer a lot this past week. It's been 7 days since I've been grocery shopping. I definitely need to make a trip. The heat broke yesterday and it's nice and cool. I should have gone to the store today and done a marathon session, but again, I didn't. That's OK because my freezer was nice a full. For dinner tonight, I defrosted some dairy lasagna (with lentils, green beans and spinach mixed with ricotta) for Mark and the kids. I found a nice sized portion of Chickpea Crepe Lasagna stuffed with a tofu/spinach/garlic mixture for me. Yay for the freezer! I also have some Buffalo Tofu and Seitan that I will put on top of a salad to round out the meal for my husband and younger son.

Last night I talked to my oldest and best friend, Rebecca. We've been friends since we were infants and she's literally like a sister to me. It pains me to realize that we haven't seen each other in almost 10 years. Our children don't know each other. We always thought we'd raise our kids together, and for the first 4 years, we did.

Last night we made plans to get together next year, in September. That will give her a full year to figure out childcare and we can each save money so we can get away for a week! Next year, she's going to fly here to New Hamsphire (She lives in Oregon) and we're going to go to Maine for 5 days or so. The year after that, I will goto Oregon and we'll stay in a hotel somewhere in her neck of the woods. I am sooo excited about this! It's funny, because I still feel just as close to her as when we were little. It is shocking to think it's been so long since we've seen each other.

Griller like burgers, grilled veggies

"Griller" like burgres, grilled veggies

I think these are the best veggie burgers I've ever made. My husband actually asked me if I made them or bought them! He said they reminded him of Grillers. I hate Grillers, because they are to "meaty" for me, but I loved these. I used Okara from 1 batch of soymilk, lentils, some cheese sauce from the macncheese, dried tvp, lipton onion soup mix, oats and a couple of tbsp vital wheat gluten. That's it. They held together perfectly after chiling for 2 hours and I grilled them, covered for 5 minutes a side in my grill pan. My only complaint was they were too salty, so next time I will not use as much soup mix or I'll just use onion flakes and a veggie cube.

The veggies were brushed with my mustard vinaigrette (I use whatever is leftover in a dijon mustard container, add apple cider vinegar, garlic, stevia and a little bit of olive oil). We go through a ton of mustard, so I have a bottle of this every week. I like to save the plastic mustard bottles to keep my other salad dressings, habanero sauce and other sauces in.

I've been having wicked bad luck lately. I had that fall over a week ago and I'm still not doing vrey well. I'm in a lot of pain and I have barely slept. I'm pretty much close to losing my sanity.. uugghh.. but I know this will pass. On Sunday, I was sitting in my room on the computer and all of a sudden, my ceiling fell down around me. I wasn't hurt, but it's really annoying and I'm waiting for my husband to either take care of it or figure out we need to hire someone. My husband and I have separate bedrooms and it's hard sleeping in here like this. I feel like it's unhealthy to breathe all of the insulation. I am a total insominac anyway, and between my injury and this I feel like I'll never sleep again. (I have to sleep with a sound machine and ear plugs and it's almost impossible for me to sleep with anyone in the room... I'm very oversensitive)..

It's going to be extremely hot here for the next 3 days and I am not planning on doing much cooking. I should have done a marathon session yesterday, but I didn't. At least I have the burgers and veggies for today. Maybe I'll be doing a raw food day!