Amazing Snacks!

Featured above is a spread of soy ice cream, local granny smith apples and homemade creamy caramel sauce from Vive le Vegan. I made this once before with turbinado sugar and decided to have a go at it again, but with darker, muscovado sugar. Oh, yum. This had strong accents of molasses from the dark sugar. At first, I wanted to sweeten it with agave but decided to let it do it's thing, and I'm glad I did. This was wonderful, having apples, ice cream and caramel all in one. Plus, plenty of caramel sauce for apple dipping. I also topped it with Soyatoo whip, not pictured.

This was a nice, dark, creamy caramel sauce. And easy, hence the name.

I didn't know what to do with myself one day, it was late afternoon, I had only consumed a small amount of food that day and needed something substantial- fast. Good fats, protein, veggies and carbs (and more)... I pulled out two processed items (aka, pre-made, not homemade leftovers), crackers which are light, yet super crunchy and heavy duty at the same time. They are made with everything from quinoa to flax and sesame with a nice japanese-style-cracker-crunch. I also had some pita bread leftover from falafel delivery (yes! vegetarian delivery!) a few nights ago. I whipped up some creamy hummus from one of my favorite books, Vive le Vegan, peeled and chopped a few carrots and took raw cashews out of the freezer. I think it may have been between 5 and 10 minutes, this snack was complete. I ate so much hummus, I'd call it lunch.

It's been a while... I love ice cream pie. I love just taking pre-made whole wheat non-bake pie crust, and filling it with a food-processor-mixed blend of ice cream, nut butter (in this case cashew), sunspire chocolate chips, pecans, maple syrup, tons and tons of blueberries and a lot of love (and probably other things I'm forgetting and anything you want). I topped it with Ahlaska chocolate syrup and the Easy Caramel Sauce from Vive le Vegan. Oh, yum.

I usually eat most of this pie myself. This time was no exception. I could probably have 2. Notice how blue it is from all the blueberries... my favorite.

Warning, if you thought all of the above looked awesome (or not), check this stuff out...

...This creamy cashew dip is courtesy of Dreena Burton. I can't get over how quick, easy and awesome this dip is. I could go on and on about all I'd dip in it, but I just ate it with some local organic granny smith apples. This dip has 4 or 5 ingredients and is going to be featured in her upcoming third cookbook. I however, have a subscription to VegNews and within 24 hours of reading the recipe, this fabulous, creamy, healthy, addicting yet filling dip was created. The main ingredients consist of vanilla soy yogurt and cashew butter. Yep- killer. Go make it now. Go get the magazine. Seriously people, this is some intense, wonderful stuff she creates!

The Best Stir-Fry I've Ever Made (Twice)

I randomly came up with my own spicy stir-fry the other night. It was quick and easy. The spices lingered the rest of the night (most likely the red curry paste) and the thought lingered in my head a few days later. I decided to make it again with the same spices, except the second time I made this I served it over quinoa. I can't decide which way I like better. They are both spicefully fabulous. It's the curry paste that ties it together. I get the Thai red curry paste kind, it's about 2 dollars and lasts for many many uses.

I recommend using firm or extra firm tofu, pressed well and marinated for as long as possible.

Leslie's Special New Stir-Fry
Serves 3 hungry people (probably 4)

Marinade:
5T tamari (or soy sauce)
2T rice vinegar
juice of 1 lime
1.5t red curry paste (this is the part that gives it spice and ties the recipe together)
*red curry paste ingredients: red chili, garlic, lemongrass, thai ginger, salt, onion, kaftir lime, coriander, pepper*
2t agave nectar
1t fresh ginger, grated, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

1T olive oil (optional)

Stir-Fry:
1/2c edamame
1c thin sliced bell peppers
1/4t red pepper flakes
14oz rice noodles
2-3 carrots, peeled, cut
1/2 small onion, cut
1t arrowroot
2 more cloves garlic, minced
10oz firm tofu cut into triangles

Method: In a container with a lid, combine marinade ingredients and place pressed and cut tofu in the container. Let sit for at least an hour, shaking or stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, fill a saucepot with water and bring to a boil. Take off the heat and add rice noodles. Soak for 10 minutes then rinse and drain with cold water. Set aside for later.

Heat a wok with olive oil and add stir-fry ingredients, minus the arrowroot. Cook on med-high for a few minutes and then add the tofu. Keep the marinade in the container and add the arrowroot, stirring to dissolve. Add arrowroot-marinade mix to the wok and heat until it is a thicker sauce and veggies are cooked and heated through. Serve over rice noodles or quinoa.

I like to mix up the sauce with the noodles on my plate, not before hand. Plus, I think it makes the presentation better and the noodles not soggy. The second time I made this I served it over quinoa. Eating this with quinoa made me 100 times fuller, faster (duh).

Edit to Add: I finally responded to all the comments in the post below.

Whole Fennel, Cranberry Almond Bark & Coconut Chocolate Pudding

This is fennel. I always used to just pass it by in the produce section having no idea what it was like or knowing what on Earth to do with it, until the day I needed it for some nasty potato leek soup. As you know, that went to shit, and I still had a fennel bulb in the fridge. Surprisingly, I do like fennel, just not the first way I prepared it. I decided to make these and I like fennel now (or at least prepared a certain way). So here's a photo for all of you (in whole form) who have always passed it up like me. You can save the little hairs and dry them and use as dried herbs.

What you sort-of see above (sorry, this is around when I messed up my camera) is some Cranberry Almond Bark from La Dolce Vegan by Sarah Kramer. It only has dried cranberries, raw almonds, cocoa powder and maple syrup. All organic and all yum. They lasted in the fridge for about 10 days. They were easy to make and you don't need a double boiler or anything fancy. I already have variations lined up in my mind...

Above is some very wiggly chocolate coconut pudding from VwaV. This is nothing like I have ever made before, hence me using tofu for pudding all the time. I'd say this is more like a real pudding and my regular recipe is more like a mousse, so it is unfair to compare- they're different categories. I enjoyed this because it is made with soymilk, coconut milk and arrowroot to make it wiggle. I think I had more fun wiggling it like a child would do (holding it upside down above my head and all), than making it and eating it.

And lastly, another photo of moroccan chickpea patties... I made them for a second time only a few days later, but served it the same way both times with the ginger dipping sauce and raw cashews. I forgot to post about this last week, so here's a look.

Also, if you haven't noticed yet, I've been posting more often. I plan on keeping it up...

Tofu Noodle Soup (Post 1 of 2, #2's Below)

I am absolutely hooked on this tofu noodle soup. Talk about comfort food, this soup is so flavorful and seriously addicting, I have made it five times in the past two weeks. It's just all around soul-soothing. It all started when Ray started coming down with the flu. I told him I'd kick it for him with my cooking (lots of garlic, ginger, tumeric, etc.). It was only the day before that my wonderful soup book by Nava Atlas came in the mail. I decided the first recipe I'd make would be Mock Chicken Noodle Soup (page 54 if you have the book). I didn't like the name at all since I'm not a fan of real dead meat nor fake meats, but reading the ingredient list, it didn't sound chicken-y at all, especially with tofu (I think seitan can be subbed easily). I decided to have a go at it, especially because I convienently had all the ingredients on hand. Minus the baked tofu, but I fried (lightly) up my own and it came out wonderful. My only issue with this book is that it calls for one teaspoon of "salt-free seasoning", forget the salt-free, that's fine, it's the whole mix up of spices in one container (minus good curry powder) that I don't care for. I don't like seasonings like this guy does. So, I decided to think up what the hell would be in mock chicken noodle soup. Besides the called-for dill (which totally ties the whole soup together). I made up my own spices using almost everything in my spice rack, sort of, and the soup came out wonderful. I used way more than 1t. of spices!

Since I have made this recipe 5 times now, I made it the first time following the recipe almost exactly, minus the baked tofu and my own seasonings, plus more. The next few times I tweaked it around, and I'd say I've come up with close, but my own modified version of this recipe. The photos you see here are from my modified and very different, more medicinal than the original version. It is so wonderful, the leftovers are good but the noodles absorb a lot of the water so you have to either add more water and add more seasonings or just eat really non-brothy soup.

Leslie's Tofu Noodle Soup (adapted from Nava Atlas Vegetarian Soups for All Seasons and modified by me, Leslie)
This yields about 4 quarts.
1T olive oil
3 large celery stalks, diced small
4-5 carrots, peeled and diced small
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
2t. minced or grated fresh ginger
1 yellow onion, small, diced
8c water
2 boullion cubes (or broth equiv)
1 to 1.5t dried dill (you must add this!)
1t. oregano (all seasonings are dry)
1t. basil
1/4 to 1/2t. paprika
1t sea salt
1t black pepper
1t tumeric
1/2t thyme
8oz thin noodles broken into 1.5" sticks
8oz firm tofu, pre-baked, pre-fried, or make your own like I do using firm tofu, pressed, heat up a bit of olive oil in a pan, place 1/2" thick squares on the pan and add all of the same spices you put in the soup plus optional breadcrumbs and heat until golden brown. Dice small.

Method: In a large stockpot (I use 6 quarts), heat olive oil and add carrots, celery, onion, garlic and ginger. Heat on medium and add 2T of water (I just grab a bit from the sink in my palm). Put a lid on and let it "sweat" for 10 minutes, stirring once or twice. Carefully take the lid off (the steam is quick and hot) and turn up the heat. Add the boullion or broth, water, and all the spices. Bring to a rapid simmer and then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the veggies are soft. Take the lid off, increase the heat again but not as high, and add the noodles. Cook them 5-8 minutes, until al dente. As soon as you throw the noodles in is a good time to start sauteing the tofu. Heat the tofu in a bit of olive oil, and a pinch of each spice in the soup, plus 1T soy sauce (optional, but good) and mix and heat until crispy and brown. The noodles should be soft but not mushy now. Lower the heat even more, add the tofu. Stir, serve immediately. If you don't serve immediately, you can choose not to add the tofu right away. I like to put it in at the last minute and Ray likes it soaking, even overnight. It's up to you. There are many spices total, but they totally make the soup wonderful. I even use a lot more tumeric and ginger, as I said above, we were trying to kick the flu.

Oh, and Dreena told me about a ginger tea that I think also helped kick it. Not to mention I didn't even get one symptom of illness (hence the veganness). No one needs to be sick or even close to love this soup. It is wonderful, healthy, full of healing ingredients and easy and quick to make. I'm addicted I think. You should be too.
See the next post below for post 2 of 2.

The Potato Trio (Post 2 of 2)

I found these local purple potatoes at the co-op for $1.49 a pound. Usually I prefer cheaper deals, but these were so vibrant that day they were hard to pass up. Since they were a bit costly, I didn't want to buy 4-5 pounds of just those so I got some yukon golds and red potatoes. There was a man who was curious about them while I was checking out and he was very surprised that I exclaimed with enthusiasm that they were just as vibrant on the inside (he thought they would be white). Check them out all cut up.

I decided to make mashed potatoes. And mashed taters are not even close to complete without VwaV Chickpea Gravy (I love that stuff with a big part of my heart). Here you see the very creamy mashed potatoes. I was so excited to eat that I almost forgot to take a photo so this is the very very creamy bottom part that my handheld mixer didn't get to (too much Earth Balance at the bottom). Oh well, they were still fabulous and super-colorful. I left the skin on but peeled the skin on the red ones beacause I couldn't get all the dirt off. I love colorful potatoes. I have a few more and I plan on dicing them up and doing something with them on the stovetop. These were served with Sunshine patties (SouthWest kind, of course) and a side of sweet corn. Yum.

Moroccan Chickpea Patties, Lentil-Quinoa Stew & The New #1

I think I have found something new to add to the list of foods I make over and over again. "Moroccan Chickpea Patties"!!! These wonders come from page 97 of Vive le Vegan, delicious and creative courtesy of Dreena. If you are like me and have never made these before and have owned the cookbook since it practically came out, make them very soon because you are missing out. I cannot wait to make them again! I served these with the recommended Ginger Dipping Sauce. So good...

I have had my eye on this recipe but passed it by many times due to the ingredient called fennel bulb, but if it weren't for the fennel incident, I would possibly never have tried these. After I decided to throw away all that nasty potato leek soup as described in the post below, I still had a fennel in the fridge that was lonely and yearning for my attention. I decided to email Dreena and asked for her suggestions for some non-oven fennel recipes. Among others, she suggested the Moroccan Chickpea Patties from one of my favorite cookbooks, and my tastebuds will never be the same again. I cannot give away too much, but just be prepared for some ginger, cinnamon, cumin and fennel = amazing.

Next up is some lentil-quinoa stew. Specifically, red lentil. I made this once or twice before but I believe I based it on a recipe or a few recipes combined. This time I just used what sounded good. I have a real recipe to provide (I'm on a roll, huh?!).

Leslie's Special Lentil Quinoa Stew
*yields aprox. 3 quarts (probably serves 6, I served 3 super-hungry people and have leftovers for 2 more)

1T olive oil
1 med-large onion, diced
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
5c total liquid (H2O, veg broth, etc)
1c red lentils, sorted and rinsed
1/2c quinoa, rinsed for 2 minutes
1t basil, dried
1t oregano, dried
1t sea salt
1t black pepper
2t salsa (or if you actually have real tomatoes use 1)
1/2t cilantro, dried, or 1/4c loose fresh
2T apple cider vinegar

Method: In a large stockpot on medium heat saute onions in olive oil until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the rest of the veggies and spices and stir. Turn heat up to medium-high and add the water (or equiv), lentils and quinoa. Stir. Cover. Bring to a boil and lower the heat. Simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. With an immersion blender (or in 1/2 batches, carefully), puree only 1/2 of the soup. This step isn't necessary, but blends everything nicely (highly recommended). Turn off the heat and let it chill. Finally, add the salsa (or equiv), cilantro and apple cider vinegar. Stir and serve.

I bought my first sweet potato. I plan on making a soup from Nava Atlas' soup book which I love (more on that in another post). And an organic pumpkin. And 2 russets but those aren't exciting. I do have exciting purple creamer potoatoes in the pantry keepin' cool (yeah right) and dark. The stem came off the pumpkin, but I really don't know what to do with it since it needs to be un-baked. I am really more excited about looking at it than eating it. I'm not really a pumpkin-eating person. I do love the seeds though.

Yum. Need I say more?! Yes...

This is totally my new favorite ice cream flavor. I am super-happy that it finally made it over to AZ and I am even happier that I know someone who loves it just as much. This ice cream has also changed a few things in my ice-cream-standards world and it has moved up and kicked cookies and creme out of the #1 spot (for now?). I have mixed feelings about admitting this (as if I am really *admitting* anything), but I am on my second pint of Turtle Trails in barely over 24 hours. That's how freakin' good this is and I don't really say freakin so you must know how amazing this is... Imagine... thick, creamy swirls of caramel, not skimped at all, swirling around creamy vanilla with--- get this--- chocolate coated candied pecans and the candied part is made of beet sugar. All organic too. I can't get over how good this is.

At first my main reason for talking about the ice cream was the following (I got held up in describing how amazing it is): I knew this was coming one day soon, but it has slowly arrived... safety seals! I am so happy about this. For those who don't know, I've read books, been through microbiology labs, and I am picky, so I get concerned of my ice cream tops lifting off so simply. Ray eats StoneyField Farm organic (dairy but non-egg) ice cream and it has a plastic seal like yogurts have. This is hard to see in the photo, but it is a safety seal that uses minimal (I think?) plastic and is just around the outside of the lid. I feel so much better about eating ice cream now... I didn't even think it could get better. It has! The only 2 flavors I've seen so far that are safety sealed are the Turtle Trails and Cookies n Creme pint size. I am so happy about the new advances in the [soy] ice cream world.

Authentic Faux-Baking, Piano, Tofu Scramble & A Disaster and a Half

I recently faux-baked some apple crisp and it came out wonderful. The fake-coming-from-the-oven-smell was exactly what I needed after almost a year with no oven usage. The very next day I decided to faux-bake again, and this time it was the real deal. I'll get to that in a minute... First a non-food rant: I would like to exclaim how happy I am that we (Ray and I) have an electric piano (aka, not a crappy keyboard with a lot of stupid buttons and sounds, yet not a performance piano). It came at an odd moment, I'd been thinking about playing again recently since I was taught to play at an early age. I really miss it in a weird way. Now, don't think I can really play, I can't. I can just read music (to a point) and play mostly with my right hand... Ray, on the other hand is a musician, a music student, a teacher, and a music-student-teacher. He needs the piano for various reasons (as well as his double basses, electric bass, violin, viola, cello next semester, trumpet, and we have even had an oboe, bassoon and french horn here). I love it. I have mastered "Puff the Magic Dragon", a Danish Folk Song, and "Conjunction Junction" and have moved on to the Real Book vol. 4 (I think), therefore I can now play "Autumn Leaves" and I am sort-of working on "So What" and a few other jazz tunes that I probably shouldn't say I can play. But it is really fun. We had to move Killian's condo and his box (see below) and he is surprisingly very happy about that.

Back to the authentic faux-baking. I have been wanting to try a Grunt for a long time. I've never heard of such a thing and I hear these are confused with cobblers, as well as being popular in the New England area (am I right or wrong?). The obvious reason I have wanted to try this for so long is because it looks like it came out of the oven, but didn't. I searched and searched (for months) to find the ultimate grunt recipe. I think I found one, but of course, my own modifications, so this is My Organic Blueberry Grunt. Check out our desserts below. I served these (3 of us) with soy vanilla ice cream and soy whip on top. It was wonderful and I have made it a few times already.

My Organic Blueberry Grunt Recipe
serves 3 to 4 people
2c frozen or fresh blueberries, organic
1/2c. raw sugar
1/2c. spelt flour
1/4c. stone ground whole wheat flour
1t. baking powder
1/8t. sea salt
1/4t. ground cinnamon
1/8t. nutmeg
1/3c. + 2T. soymilk
Method: In a 2 or 3 quart saucepot, combine berries and half of the sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring often until the berries come to a boil. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder, sea salt, remaining sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. Add milk, just to moisten. Drop tablespoon-fulls of batter into the boiling blueberries. You can let them touch each other, they will seperate. Cover with a tight fitting lid and lower heat to med-low. Cook without lifting the lid for 15 minutes. To serve, use a large, flat spoon and lift out "cakes" and serve with ice cream. It is also good alone, but always better with ice cream.
And below is one of my favorite things in the world... I can put simmering blueberries with almost anything.

Here is an up-close, yet kinda crappy shot of the inside of the grunt. See how baked it looks?!

Moving on... I really messed up bigtime here. I attempted to make potato leek soup. Come on people, is there one good recipe on the web? *If you have a good recipe for potato leek soup I would be very happy to have it in my home* There aren't many recipes in my cookbooks and the one I found (I think online) called for fennel, leeks and russet potatoes. I thought it was going to be alright, that is, until I had my first experience with raw fennel. And whole fennel. This veggie freaked me out at first. I should have read the back of Vive le Vegan where it tells all about fennel, how it tastes and what to do with it, but then again, I may not have bought it then. I got 2 bulbs as the recipe called for, opened one, almost puked, and decided to hold off with the fennel, thinking the soup would be alright without it. Boy, was I wrong. This soup pretty much tasted like bland crap and it was way too creamy for me. I attached a copy of the recipe (that I made up based on many) just in case maybe someone can tell me where I went wrong. Or what I should have added or taken out. Or if this is just crap anyway, and I should move on... I actually ended up throwing the cut fennel away because it went bad during the whole week it stared me in the face every time I opened the fridge. I also threw about 2 quarts of crappy soup down the drain (terrible guilt). Stay tuned within the next few days to see what I did with the other fennel bulb. I had a major delicious success! But what you see below is crap, so don't use the recipe unless you are making it for someone who likes bland, uninteresting foods (or other reasons). Or if you can tweak it for me.

Tofu scramble! I made it but didn't eat it. This falls under the category of "yes it is vegan, but Leslie won't eat it foods" such as faux meats and pre-made faux cheeses. I used to gag at the smell of my mom making scrambled eggs for my brother starting 20 years ago, and I knew this would be ok and not stinky to make. In fact, it smelled good, I just have "issues". Tofu scramble is something Ray has been requesting for a long while. I either had silken tofu or really firm tofu for a long time and never got around to making it. Finally, last Saturday I made Dreena's wonderful crepe test-recipe for the tenth time or so and also decided to make tofu scramble on the other burner. In the middle of cooking both at once (I like to pre-make the maple butter cream), a friend of mine / ex-co-worker called and she was going to stop by. There were 3 people eating the tofu scramble and the verdict was positive, yet not with much energy. It was all eaten but probably just because they were hungry and it was there. I made the tofu scramble from VwaV and next time I will experiment with other recipes. I still won't eat it (or try it).

Next up we have some veggie bean and veggie-dyed-alphabet noodle soup. This soup is a random recipe that I made up with scragglers from the co-op sale, and I used way too much fire roasted tomatoes. It was good, Ray rated it an 8, I gave it a 6, but there is lots of room for replacement. I will give the basic recipe, but please feel very free to elaborate and change it up. It was good for a meal, but very tomato-y for me. I made so much (which I am sort-of unhappy about) and we still have that huge-ass bag left in the freezer. I plan on thawing it out, doctoring it up, adding some onions, and seeing how that goes. For now, here is the recipe and it makes almost 6 quarts. Ok, here's a basic recipe, cut it down, change it up...
8.5c water (or veg broth + water)
1/4c dry alphabet noodles
1- 28oz can fire roasted tomatoes, crushed
1 can kidney beans
1 can chickpeas
3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 handfuls chopped green peppers
4 cloves garlic
3 yukon gold potatoes, cut
1/2t basil
1/2t oregano
1/2t thyme
1t sea salt
black pepper to taste
1/2t jalepeno hot sauce
I really wanted to use spinach... I'm now just seeing it around.
Directions: Add everything together. Boil. Cover. Simmer until potatoes are soft. Consume.

Served with a whole wheat bun on Ikea snack sets.

And finally, same deal as last time, faux-baked, but with added blueberries. After taking this photo, the blueberries were extra soft, and turned everything a nice purple hue. Highly recommended.

Note: I usually don't post too often (sorry, I'm working on that). I am going to provide you all with a post within the next few days for your personal viewing and eating pleasure. Part of it will be about what I did with the fennel today (plus other stuff). I'm giving the warning so you all don't fall out of your chair from me posting frequent posts and real recipes! Stay tuned...

What's New: Kitchen Stuff, Washing Method, Co-Op Location, Soup Recipes & Faux Baking

It finally feels like fall here. That means nice temps in the 80* degree + range, sunny days and a bit of rare rainfall. I also finally broke out my hoodie for night time because once the sun is behind the mountains it gets chilly quickly. I have been wondering when I was going to start craving autumn foods and the time has finally come! I have about 10 pounds of apples in the fridge that are quickly releasing gases and ripening all other foods, and need to be turned into something, or plain eaten. Even though it has been cooler outside, I still eat ice cream as much as possible (soy, not cow, for those new readers). Here we have a newer version of my infamous fruitshake with a lot less ingredients. This is Double Rainbow Soy Vanilla Bean ice cream with 365 organic soy milk, organic hemp seeds, tons of blueberries and a few Newman's O's. Oh yum.

Above is my new veggie and fruit washing method. Dreena has a wonderful method for washing produce and I decided to do the same. What a time-saver. I love having everything cleaned at once, ready to go in the fridge, and I don't have to worry about those extra steps while prepping food. This is my real dish drainer, but I have converted a smaller one, but deeper for my new washing method. I highly recommend trying this. It really cuts out a lot of time in the long run. Thanks Dreena!

Ah, yes... fridge photos. This is craziness I tell you! The co-op is in the process of moving. The new store will be open this Saturday and I don't know how I am surviving all week without the co-op. Oh wait, I do... look at all this produce and other good stuff I stocked up on. I'll be fine for a long while! One day stuff was 25% off and then Julie let me know that the next day it was 40% off! I stocked up both days. The first day was mostly bulk items that you can't see because they are in the pantry, not fridge (minus hemp seeds for 60% off!), and the organic oj with pulp. The next day is where I really went crazy. You will see 4 pomegranites on the bottom left. I love pomegranite and have since I tried them in first grade. I asked the lady if they were "by the pound" or "each" and that would make a difference in the size I would buy. She didn't know, and I was holding 2/4 of them and she said to just "take them". Sweet. Then she looked over and saw the other 2 lonely guys and told me I could just have those also! I got 4 free organic fresh poms (not that crappy POM company that refuses to stop testing on animals) and that really added to the bonus of the overall sales. I am happy.

The fridge looks ridiculously full, but there is a lot that was not new from the co-op, I could only buy perishables and frozen stuff for the sale anyway. For example, that chocolate stout beer that's been sitting there for months. And some leftover pastas (you will see below), always many kinds of "milks", and lots of tofu I keep on the middle shelf. Plus some kiwi and other produce I already had... I did splurge on certain items such as Tofurky, miso and Men's Bread, items that are usually more costly, but not this time. There's also stuff that I keep on hand all the time tucked in the back (wheat germ, extra Earth Balance, pita breads). Oh, and those are Virgil's cream soda's but I found out after reviewing my reciept, they were not on sale. Ray really likes Virgil's brand (I'm not a soda/carbination fan).

As per Julie's request, here's what I got (the second day for 40% off)... all organic.
Soy Delicious creamy orange bars, 2 Virgils cream sodas, oj with pulp, boylan's black cherry soday, soy whip cream, non-hydrogenated Tofutti cream cheese, frozen peppers (a few bags), 2 blueberry spelt donuts, frozen edamame, naan bread, many limes and lemons, a green bell pepper as big as my face!, yellow bell pepper, 2 red bells, 6 jalepenos, Asian pears, a red pear, a bunch of red chard, oranges, poms (free), white miso, Rocky Road Soy Delicous, White Chocolate Raspberry Double Rainbow ice cream (yes, 3 ice creams 40% off), hemp seeds, 2# carrots, 10# apples, Tofurky, Men's Sprouted bread that I forget the name of the brand. Total = $44 including multiple bag discounts. That's a lot of stuff, I'd say.

I am really proud of myself for creating this soup above. I am also really surprised and proud of Ray for liking the soup, as I thought he'd turn his nose up at it. Overall, this is a thick soup, and I froze the leftovers and plan on serving it over rice or quinoa. Probably quinoa.

Leslie's Chickpea and Red Lentil Soup (yes, a real recipe)
1/2c green peppers, diced
1/2 medium onion, diced
3 carrots, sliced and peeled
1c veggie broth
2c water
1 15oz can chickpeas
14oz can diced fire roasted tomatos
1c red lentils, rinsed and drained
1t salt
few dashes black pepper
1/2t tumeric
2 cloves garlic, minced
1T olive oil

Method: In a 3 quart stockpot, saute onions and carrots in olive oil until onions are translucent. Add garlic and saute for a few minutes longer. Add the rest of the ingredients and cover. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to simmer. Simmer for about 30 minutes, or until lentils are soft and soup has thickened. *Edit to add: to make the soup like the photo, simply blend 1/2 the soup with an immersion blender or take 1/2 the soup in batches and carefully blend in a blender or food processor. Enjoy as a soup/stew or serve over a grain. Makes almost 3 quarts.

Now on to the seasonal goods. I haven't used the oven since December and I am really starting to miss using it now. Especially smelling all the wonderful baked goods, besides eating. Since I still wasn't going to use the oven, I decided to make something oven-like and pretend it was baked. I made an apple crumble to top vanilla soy cream. Oh yum! I am finally starting to make my own recipes again which is nice because I tend to make pretty good random stuff. Here's the recipe for my faux-baked apple crumble.

Leslie's Faux-Baked Organic Apple Crumble
serves 4
3 large apples, keep the peel on, diced
3 handfuls of organic rolled oats
1 handful walnuts (toasted yourself or untoasted is ok)
1 handful pecans (same as above)
1/3c maple syrup
pinch of sea salt
1T brown rice syrup
1t blackstrap molasses (for added nutrition)
1t cinnamon, ground
1/4t nutmeg, ground
Method: In a small pot or skillet, toast the nuts and oats until you smell the wonderful aroma, and not anything burnt, about medium-high heat. Mix in the syrups, salt and molasses. Reduce the flame and stir for about 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, including the chopped apples, and mix around. Heat for a few more minutes and take off the stove. Cover the pot and let the heat steam the apples to get a bit softer for 5 minutes. Serve over ice cream (or plain) and enjoy.

View from the pot.

Ok, I promise this is going to be the last of the pesto. Well, the last photo really is. I decided to have a go at an easy, quick, dense meal. I had one leftover pesto that I made a while back and took that out of the freezer. I really wanted more than just pesto so I skimmed through VwaV and decided on the Creamy Alfredo Suace. I've looked at the recipe before but finally needed a photo for convincing. I am sure glad I made this but I never was a fan of alfredo sauce, so this was a bit too creamy fo me. I do like the flavor though. I will modify next time. And, this plate below is 2 servings, not one, we sort-of slid our halves onto each plates.

This is the last of the pesto for real. This is strictly pine nuts. Follow my recipe in the post below and sub pine nuts for any other nut in the recipe. Yum.

Fin.

A Bunch of Food and a REAL Recipe

I have been loving all these avocados! I think I may be down to only two now but I do have a ton of leftover guac in the fridge and have gone through countless avocados in the past week. I obtained four huge ones from the co-op the other day and they were super green inside and had the smallest pits. It was almost scary, I've never seen avocado pits so small, but then I was thankful how much avocado gut I got out of that. For this meal above, I got way out of hand. First of all, I am one who's eyes are always a lot larger than the stomach. My eyes are probably larger than my whole body! I decided to make over a gallon of chili the other night so Ray and I could have some and then I'd freeze the rest in double and individual servings. We had "burritos" but it was only filled with guac and chili. Don't get me wrong, the chili was loaded with veggies and beans and other good stuff, it was just strange having a burrito without rice or a grain. I still ate it all and the soft tortilla was a nice texture to it. There's also guac of course, and I find that the more garlic I add to it, the more I like it. We had some Garden of Eatin organic blue corn chips to accompany the meal. To the left is a small side of Muir Glen organic medium salsa which I just dumped all over everything after I snapped the photo. You also see what I'm talking about now with my eyes being way bigger than my stomach... That bowl of chili (three ladle scoops, may I add) was not touched and I quickly set it aside to put away for the next day. What was I thinking?!

Below is one pound of organic basil, which is equivalent to 12 cups, packed. I have been going crazy with pestos and basil lately and I found this huge basil plant at Trader Joes for $2.99. The plant was half-way as tall as me and there was so much beautiful smelly basil. I didn't buy it since it wasn't organic. I got my kicks just by looking at it for a few minutes. I found the organic basil and for 79 cents less each than that huge-ass plant, I bought three 4.5 ounce containers of organic. I was happy because stupid Whole Foods has 2.5oz of basil for $4. I just couldn't get myself to get that little for so much. My goal with all this basil was to whip up batches of pesto and freeze them for later. I mentioned that in my last post, but I was only able to keep the pestos frozen for one day before eating them all up. I had to make many for them to last, same with the black bean chili.

How could I make pesto and not make Dreena's pesto?! After all, I was just really meant to test this recipe, and I have ended up making it a billion times. I think it's wonderful and so flavorful. I had this pesto immediately for dinner and finished it off the next day for lunch. It's awesome cold.

I decided to make VwaV Classic Pesto again. I liked it as a dip with bread and veggies, so I am going to have it tonight for dinner over pasta for the first time (probably very late, after Ray is done at his orchestra concert which I am not at and instead sitting in my pj's at home, blogging... I had a "rough" day today). Then I made VwaV Classic Pesto but instead of walnuts, I added only pinenuts. It's hard to tell any difference in these pestos just by looking at them but you can sort of tell the pine nut one since it has so much white in it. I am most excited to try that one. Finally, I was sick of following recipes, especially for something that can be done pretty simply, so I made up my own pesto recipe. It has walnuts and pinenuts and some other good stuff too. The one in back is my pesto recipe. The VwaV ones I find are very "oily" so I limit the oil when following the recipe for Classic Pesto. On the other hand, Dreena's pesto recipe only has 1 tablespoon of oil for the whole batch (suitable to top a pound of pasta) and I really prefer that. Plus there's an array of interesting ingredients in her pesto but I'm not allowed to tell. Stay tuned one more year (sorry!). Leslie's Special Pesto Recipe
(it's special because you can use it with pasta, pizza, sandwiches, dip, filling and probably more)
1/4c. walnuts or almonds
1/2c. pinenuts
3 cups packed basil leaves, no stems

2-3 large cloves crushed garlic
1t. sea salt
dash of black pepper
1/3c. olive oil
1/4-1/3c. nutritional yeast flakes
2t. lemon juice

Blend everything except the oil and the nutritional yeast in a blender or food processor. When that all starts to get pureed (or too stiff your blender can't handle it), start to pour the olive oil while blending. Add the nutritional yeast and blend a bit more. Makes about 2 cups.
(note: I love pesto with walnuts, pinenuts and almonds. Use all of them, just one, or in their own combos, these raw nuts really tie the pesto together. Feel free to experiment with variety.)

This is what I had the other night when I was super lazy. Yes, there is spinach in here and I don't care! How crazy all this b.s. about the spinach, I've been eating it up as much as I can get ahold of it). Anway, how easy is this... take out the frozen container that you never even pre-made, take out the jar of marinara sauce that is already pre-made. Take out the bag of pine nuts from the freezer that were just pulled down with the handle from bulk. So easy!!! Boil for a few and combine. I made both of these kinds at once so we would have leftovers, although we barely did. I don't really buy this type of stuff too often and if I do, like in this case, it sits in the freezer for a really long time. I bought these because I had a coupon (well, 2) for the Rising Moon brand and I also noticed they were on a pretty good sale at WFM. They ended up being way less than $2 each (to easily serve two each), and they are normally up to $4 for one. The ravioli's came out just fine and I am happy to report that Ray's taste buds are changing more and more each day. He tried these ravioli's the last time I had them (about a year, year and a half ago) and he didn't care for them. The other day he ate the whole thing up. Same with guac, but not together with the pasta.

I made Dori's No-Bake Cookies the other night and they came out super-chocolately and wonderful. I am thankful for this no-oven recipe, even though it really isn't the same these days. I must have my firefighter friend come over and stand guard while we check out this oven business. These look like cookies I made before but these are much denser and richer. Below is what they looked like when cooled (but not blurry).

Finally I made something from RAW. I don't think I ever bragged about how I got this at Changing Hands for about $8. This is normally a $30-something book, and it looks like no one even read it before me. I have read through almost the whole book now and I had been eyeing the raw whipped cream, hence me not having a dehydrator for other recipes (yet). This recipe shouldn't be called whipped cream. It should be called some sort of sweet nut dip. I tried it with some Newman's O's and a few slices of apple. I prefer the apple since the cookies make the dip not sweet tasting at all. Of course, who would really go through the time to soak nuts, follow a raw cookbook, and then eat something with pre-packaged Newman's O's?! At least they weren't hydrogenated and they were organic. Anyway, if you make this stuff, eat it with raw food and don't be as weird as me! The book shows a photo of the whipped cream and there's no way in hell mine would have looked like that no matter how hard I tried. And I blended for a loooong time!

The only ingredients are: walnuts, cashews, 3 dates and oj. Doesn't this "raw whipped cream" look freakishly like something else that I've made before?! Weird.