Brownies!

I’m making brownies for friends and family tonight. Last time I made brownies I didn’t have the right ingredients so it didn’t come out very good. They were just ok. This time I bought cake mix and a 15oz can of pumpkin and that’s all I needed. Well I did add 1/4 cup water.
This recipe is like the weight watchers chocolate cupcakes. I used gluten free cake mix from Bob’s Red Mill. They use garbanzo bean flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, and other flours. I’ll let you know how they go over tonight in the comments.
One of the best things about baking vegan brownies is batter that is 100% safe to lick off the spoon!

Pita Bread

I made pita bread for the first time today. They came out great, all but one puffed up perfectly, and my defected one still tasted great.

I got the recipe from Pinterest. The author says it it important that the dough be rolled evenly to ensure proper puff  levels. Mine here were about 1/4 of an inch. I made a few large ones for dinner and some small ones to snack on.

It was really fun watching them puff up in the oven.

I will be making these again because they come out really good and they were super easy.

Pretty much all you do is make a simple dough of yeast, water, salt and flour, roll into small discs, les sit for 35 minutes and pop them in the oven for 10 minutes. The simplicity is beautiful!

-Kerri

End of August

Well we did it! One blog post everyday in the month of August! Most days we had two posts. What a wonderful and fulfilling challenge. It was a great way to kick off the blog! I’m really pleases with the positive response we’ve gotten. THANKS.

I hope you all have a great weekend and nice (US) holiday. Take some time over the long weekend to smell the flowers (like Lucy here)
-Kerri

Throw everything in the pan curry

I am a firm believer that great things come from one pan. I will throw everything i have in the fridge in a pan and serve it up about once a week or every two weeks.
This time I also used up a can of pigeon peas that I bought for the first time. I’ve never eaten them before so I didn’t know how I would like them. Turns out they were the perfect thing for my vegetable curry.
I cooked onion, garlic, pigeon peas, tomato, carrot, and mushroom in one pan and added a couple scoops of curry powder and soy milk. Simmered for 10 minutes and devoured! I will be buying more pigeon peas next time I go shopping! Next time I’ll use a little less curry powder and I think this meal will be perfect. It’s great for leftovers too!
What do you add to your curry?
Or what’s your favorite one pot meal?
-Kerri

Lentil Soup, lots and lots of lentil soup

I’ve been wanting to cook lentils for a while now. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten the before this year. They always looked weird and un appetizing to me. Some lovely Indian dal changed me mind. I’m still too intimidated to cook Indian food at home, so i made lentil soup. This recipe is simple and tastes great! It came out more like a stew, perfect with a piece of toast. It tastes way better than it looks, trust me 🙂 

Simple Lentil Soup:

1 lb green lentils

1 large potato

1 large tomato

3 large carrots

1 med onion

6 leaves of kale

5 cloves of garlic

2 tbs oil

1 quart vegetable stock

2 cups water

salt and pepper

 

In a blender, pulse garlic, onion, carrots, and kale. This cuts down on the chop time.

 

Heat oil in large soup pot.

Add vegetables from blender to pot.

 

Add salt and pepper. (A good large pinch)

Chop potato into small pieces and add to pot, stir occasionally, cook for 5 minutes.

Rinse lentils with cold water.

Add Vegetable stock to pot. (I poured the stock into the blender and then into the pot so I could get every last little piece of the green vegetable mix out of the blender.

Add extra water (I added 2 cups and it came out pretty much like stew, add more water of veg. stock for a thin broth)

Cover pot and let cook for 30 minutes.

taste test lentils, continue to cook until lentils are soft but not mushy.

Serve with toasted crusty bread.

Enjoy. Makes enough for sharing and the freezer 🙂 

Vietnam Noodle House

I went to the Vietnam Noodle House on Main St. in  Nashua, NH the other night. I’ve been meaning to go there for ages.

It was really late, so I was glad to see they were still open, and still taking sit down customers (they have huge take out popularity).

I was overjoyed to see that half the menu was vegan AND the vegan menu including appetizers were listed first! I Hate having to search forever in a menu to find anything.

Mike was glad to see that they also offered omnivore options too.
We Split the vegan egg rolls. They were AWESOME! the best I’ve ever had! perfectly crispy, not oily, and the presentation was lovely. We ate it with the spicy “rooster sauce” (watch out, it’s super spicy)

For my meal I order the house special which was like stir fried veggies with tofu and their three types of marinated seitan (mock beef, mock pork, and mock chicken). The veggies were nice and firm, just how I like them. This was piled high over a bed of broad noodles (resembled wide egg noodles). I loved this dish but next time I’ll try a different noodle.

My meal was only $7.50 and there was enough for great leftovers lunch the next day.

The staff was a bit slow but super polite and friendly resulting in the tip of a lifetime 🙂

The decor is comically weak, but the food speaks for itself.

I can’t wait to go back here!

Anyone want to go with me?

-Kerri

The Sweet Simple Pleasures of Late Summer

My neighbors started a small but amazing garden this year. They generously gave me some of their tomatoes the other day.

These tomatoes are the most flavorful tomatoes I can ever remember tasting. They are far and above, way better than the tomatoes in my CSA.

I ate these tomatoes by themselves and they were awesome, but what really hit the spot was my open faced tomato and  mayonnaise sandwich.

I have a sweet memory of my first tomato and mayonnaise sandwich. I was probably 11 when I went through a pretty severe Harriet the Spy phase. Harriet love tomato and  mayonnaise sandwiches, so of corse I needed to try one.

My Nanna lived with us, and she saw me making the sandwich in the kitchen and got all excited. Seeing the tomato and  mayonnaise sandwich stirred up memories of her past and childhood when she used to make them all the time. She said that she had not seen one in years and years and decided to join me and have a sandwich of her own.

Now tomato and  mayonnaise sandwiches are like comfort food. It always brings me back to that day with my Nanna in the kitchen and Harriet the Spy on my mind.

I made my tomato and  mayonnaise sandwich open faced this time because the tomatoes were so beautiful I thought it would be a shame to cover them with a piece of bread.

I toasted scali bread in the toaster oven (an italian style bread covered with sesame seeds), and topped the toast with vegan  mayonnaise and large slices of tomato.

I could eat this everyday for the rest of my life.

-Kerri

Cold Cucumber Rice Salad

I’m always looking for things to make for lunch at work. This cold cucumber and rice salad is the perfect thing because I can make it ahead of time, and the flavors blend beautifully by the time my lunch break rolls around. I made a batch of this and ate it two days in a row, and it was even better the second day.

I thought of this dish because i wanted something with a light flavor, that would stick my your ribs. I had a lot of cucumbers but i didn’t think my Cool Cookout Cucumber Salad would fill my up enough, and I didn’t want anything with a slot of dressing. This salad has just the right balance of flavors and texture. I’m really happy with the way it tuned out.

Cold Cucumber Rice Salad

1 cup plain rice (measured uncooked rice)

2 cucumbers

1 lime

1 teaspoon white vinegar

vegan mayo

I use extra long grain white rice. I make it like sushi rice because I love it slightly sticky. I make sticky rice by rinsing the uncooked rice with really cold water. I swish the water around and scrunch the damp rice in my fists so the grains rub against each other polishing the outside of the rice. Rinse several times until the water is pretty much clear. Drain rinsing water and add fresh water to the pot. Bring water and rice to a boil. Then turn the heat down and cover the pot to steam the rice. Simmer (watch out for boiling over) for 30 minutes.

While the rice is cooking cut cucumbers into bite sized pieces.

When rice is cooked remove from heat and place in mixing bowl, add white vinegar and fold into the rice.

Add Cucumbers to the bowl.

Add the juice from one lime.

Add a small amount of vegan mayo. Just enough to bring the mixture together. Taste test the salad until you get the right amount. People are very picky about how much mayo to use. Remember you can always add more if you want, but you can’t take it out once it’s in there.

You want to fold the ingredients together while the rice is warm and then place the batch in the refrigerator. I suggest making this at least 20 minutes before serving, but you can do it a day in advance. The flavor is better when its had time to blend.

Enjoy!

I’d love a comment if you try this recipe.

-Kerri

TOMS vegan shoes

In 2006 I was introduced to TOMS shoes by my (and Kate’s) all-time favorite band HANSON.

Hanson has been working with TOMS shoes since the company started up. For every pair of shoes they sell, TOMS gives a pair of shoes to a child in need. ONE-FOR-ONE. every time you buy TOMS a kid in Africa gets shoes. Done deal.

Hanson lead mile long, bare-foot walks before every show for several concert tours to raise awareness of the children in need “Would you walk a mile in someone else’s shoes even if they didn’t have any?” Hanson also donated a dollar for every person who participated in The Walk. They walked along side fans, walked enough miles to go around the world (TWICE) and donated money for medical care, education, drinking water, and shoes!

Why is this on a Vegan blog?

VEGAN SHOES!!!

It’s so hard to find a great pair of vegan shoes. It’s not so hard to be mindful of the things we eat, but sometimes we just don’t think about what is in the soles of our shoes.

 

TOMS vegan shoes contain no animal bi-products. They even have organic shoes. I have owned classic TOMS and vegan TOMS and they are both super super comfortable. TOMS shoes are pretty much single-handedly responsible for this shorty being finally ok with her height enough to wear flats 🙂

Now you can benefit yourself, animals, the earth and an awesome charity all in one pair of guilt free shoes! I have been wearing TOMS for years and I can’t say enough about them. I love them, I want to buy every style they come out with. This post was inspired by my catalog that just came in the mail!

Please check out TakeTheWalk.net

and TOMS vegan styles

“Take The Walk is about giving you simple tangible ways to take action against the HIV/AIDS pandemic and poverty in Africa. A small donation, the purchase of a pair of shoes, the download of a song or simply taking a one-mile walk.”

One bad thing about being vegan

One bad thing about eating vegan and adding new foods to your diet: FARTS!