First LTEV recipe review!

A while ago, amidst my pregnancy tiredness and sickness, I received this in the mail.

Oh yea baby, yours truly received a copy of the amazing Dreena Burton's latest cook book Let Them Eat Vegan to review. I already own a copy of her Eat, Drink and Be Vegan and Vive le Vegan! and love them both.  So I was very excited to check out this new one.  And it was mine all mine to cook up tasty vegan treats from and review.  That was a good day.  However that good day has been surrounded by lots of bad, sick, tired pregnancy days.  And so the little book has sat on the shelf while PB&Js, green smoothies and oatmeal were dished out.  Lame-O. 

Finally tonight I had the chance to make my first (of many) recipes.  And...drum roll please...I chose the French Lentil Soup with Smoked Paprika.  

Why did I choose that on a warmish night?  A.  It looked super simple.  B. I had all the ingredients on hand.  C. It uses two of my favorite things, smoked paprika and lentils (french no less!).  D. I'm notorious for fixing soups on warm nights anyways.  Yes is makes things doubly warm, but I'll be danged if soups aren't one of the the EASIEST things to throw together when you don't have time.  Chop, toss, and simmer.   And this soup was no different.  So.  Easy. 

So the soup got made.  The picture was forgotten until hubby came home later and was eating his bowl.  Thus the terrible picture of the soup.  But it was the best I could get, and it is perked up dramatically by my two men smiling. :-)

The soup itself is SUPER yummy, although I knew it would be as soon as I read 'smoked paprika' in the title. I'm not a smoked paprika addict or anything.  The smokiness from the paprika, the earthiness from the thyme and lentils really give this soup an inviting flavor.  Paired with a crusty whole wheat bread or some croutons and you'd really be dining in fine style.  Lentil soups are so hearty and filling and this one is no different.  Not to mention chock full of protein, fiber, folate, iron and a whole HOST of other vitamins and nutrients.  Note the iron and the folate mention, since I'm preggo and my midwife has been emphasizing them to me. 

The soup looks very thick in the photo, and that's because I used a little less water than what was called for (hey we like our soups thick), and I tossed in a cubed potato so that it would be seasoned nicely and Charlie could practice chewing a new texture for therapy.  Worked out great.   Oh, I also didn't have any straight french lentils on hand, so I threw in a lentil blend mixture that I had.  While I love the firmer texture of the French Lentils, the mix of varieties worked just fine too since it contained French and Beluga, which are a bit firmer, and then varieties like red and ivory which almost melt into nothingness.  It was all good.

So back to the cook book, which I'll hopefully talk a little bit more about later... you want to know some of the recipes catching my eye? ;-)

Proper Healthy Granola Bars

Cocoa Cookie Dough Balls

Smoky Sweet Potato and Black Bean Salad

Creamy Curried Almond Dressing

Smoky Spiked Tahini Sauce

Chipotle Avocado Cream

Truffled Cashew Cheese

Mac-oh-geez!

That's just a sampling of the goodness I want to try.  And I won't even go into the list of desserts that I want to make.  We'll see how much this baby cooperates and how much energy I get back in my second trimester. Fingers crossed folks - almost there.  

In the mean time.  It was a awesome soup.  Dreena strikes again with her delicious eats.  :-D

Tabouli

Yay!  Finally another recipe posted!  

This is one of our favorites.  Well, it didn't used to be my favorite.  Growing up my mother made this, and I would cringe anytime I was forced into a bite.  Amazing how our tastes change, isn't it?

I really couldn't even tell you what prompted me to make this when we were first married, or when I discovered that my hatred of it turned to love.  But to love it did turn, and for a large chunk of our pre-child life, I would make this every Saturday for lunch.  Oh.  Good.

Tabouli or Tabbouleh is an Arabic salad, which apparently has some variation to it, depending on whose hands it ends up in.  Lebanese go heavier on the parsley than the bulgar, and this version is generally more parsley heavy than most versions I see of it in stores or restaurants, so I'm gonna go with this is a Lebanese version of tabouli.

Once you get the parsley washed and picked, this salad is also painfully easy to make.  Actually depending on your parsley pick method, it can still be painfully easy including the parsley.  Pre-children I meticulously picked each leaf from the stems.  Post-children I am not so careful. :-)

Lebanese Tabouli Salad

2 bunches Italian flat leaf parsley

2 large tomatoes (or 3 medium ones)

2-3 green onions (I almost never do more than 2)

pinch of salt

3/4c bulgar wheat

1-2 Tbsp olive oil

1/4-1/2c lemon juice

water if needed

Night before (or at least 3 hours before) soak your bulgar in the lemon juice, olive oil and water mixture.  Really I don't even measure the liquids anymore, I just make sure it sufficiently covers the bulgar plus a little more.  The bulgar will soak up the liquid and then no cooking is needed.  When soaking, store in fridge.

Wash parsley and pick leaves from stems.  Depending on how much stem you like or can tolerate in your salad, you would either carefully pick the leaves from the stems, or do a general ripping of the leaves from the whole bunch, getting both stem and leafy bits.  Up to you.

Finely chop parsley and dump into bowl.  Dice tomato and dump into bowl.  Chop onions and dump into bowl.  Add soaked bulgar mixture and stir.  Season with a little salt.  Bam!  Easy peasy.

Truthfully this is best served with chips.  Best tasting that is.  If you are being good and healthy and smart (sometimes I am....and sometimes I'm just not) you eat it by the spoonful and it's still absolutely delicious.  If you are throwing caution to the wind, it is amazing on chips.  :-)

Aside from being seriously high in Vit. A, C and K, when you are talking about a cups worth of parsley (which you are if you are eating tabouli), it actually has a nice chunk of folate and iron.  Bonus!

Seriously yum folks.  I kind of wish I had it on my menu for tomorrow now.  

Blast!

Hummus Soup

I'm sure you all know by now my fascination and obsession with hummus.  Hummus is cheap and healthy, easy to make large quantities of, and most importantly, super tasty!

So imagine me when a friend passed on a recipe to me for hummus soup!! :-D  No way.  I of course had to try it.  I tried the recipe as was, and it was, I admit, less than stellar.  I thought how could that be possible given the inherent tastiness of hummus.  Then I realized the recipe just needed some tweaking (insert my hummus recipe here), and then BAM!  We had a super tasty soup that I could seriously eat every day, for a really long time before ever even considering getting tired of it.

I can't actually remember where the original recipe came from, so my apologies for lack of credit where credit is due.  But I did make some pretty serious alterations to it, so this version is my version. :)

As always, picture quality leaves a lot to be desired, as I am no photographer.  But it gives you an idea. :)

Tangy Hummus Soup!  (Because a soup like Tangy Hummus Soup must have an exclamation point with it)

5-6c veggie stock, depending on how thick you like your soup

2 batches of homemade hummus

1-3tsp of fresh garlic (I liked 3, William only liked 1 - compromise people)

4 tsp cumin

2 tsp coriander

1.5-2 tsp turmeric

1/2c cilantro (optional, but totally awesome)

1 onion chopped

Additional ingredients for a more hearty soup: potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, diced tomatoes

In a little bit of olive oil or broth, saute onions, garlic (and any additional ingredients you are using) until soft (don't have to be fully cooked).  Add rest of veggie broth and seasonings and let veggies cook until soft.  Stir in 2 batches of hummus, let cook for 5 minutes or so to let the flavors meld, and then serve with fresh chopped cilantro (if using).

This soup packs an incredible flavor punch and when paired with a crusty bread (which we don't do a lot of in this house), is Ah-MAZ-ing.  But then again I AM an extreme hummus fanatic.  

But I'm pretty sure if you love hummus and tons of flavor, you'll love this too.  :)  

If you try it let me know what you think!

Sunflower Lentil Pie and Sesame Mustard Tahini

Here we go.  Finally posting the latest yummy recipes in our lives.  I can take no credit for these, as I pulled them from the yummy Vive le Vegan! cookbook by Dreena Burton.  She has several cookbooks out - I have eat, drink & be vegan and Vive le Vegan!.  I would recommend both, and I'm sure her other books would be just as awesome.

So I tried the Sunflower Lentil Pie and Sesame Mustard Tahini Sauce about two months ago and my husband and I were BOTH instantly hooked.  So yummy.  I cooked it up with a side of pesto couscous and sauteed green beans and we had a really yummy, healthy, and filling meal.

Sunflower-Lentil Pie - my alterations

3/4c brown lentils, washed and picked
1 3/4c water
1 1/2c red onion, roughly chopped (I have used both red and yellow onion just fine)
1c quick oats (I used regular rolled oats and it worked just fine)
1/2c sunflower seeds
1/2c celery (I didn't add)
1 med-large clove garlic, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp ketchup
2 Tbsp tamari (or Bragg's Liquid Aminos)
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp vegan Worchestershire sauce
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp sea salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a large pot over medium high heat, combine lentils and water and bring to boil.  Reduce heat to med-low, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes.  Add the onions, stir through, and let cook for another 10-15 minutes, covered, until lentils are soft and absorbed all the water.  In food processor, combine the lentil mixture, with the remaining ingredients and puree until just smooth, but retaining some texture.  Transfer mixture to a lightly oiled pie plate, and distribute evenly.  Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until lightly browned and just firm.  Let stand a few minutes before serving.  (It firms up as it cools.)

My Notes:

• I have easily doubled the recipe and put it in a 9x13 pan and it turns out beautifully.  Let it cook a little longer than given times.
• If you don't have a pie plate, just use an 8x8 casserole dish or something similar sized
• I left out celery because I've always been an ardent hater of it, but if you aren't an ardent hater, you should use it.

Sesame Mustard Tahini Sauce (picture on the Sunflower-Lentil Pie in the picture)

1/2c water (use more if you desire thinner consistency)

1/2c tahini

1/3c apple cider vinegar

1 small clove garlic

1 1/2 Tbsp honey alternative (I use agave)

3 Tbsp tamari (or Bragg's Liquid Aminos)

2 tsp dijon mustard

2 1/2-3 tsp toasted sesame oil (I just did 2tsp)

1/4-1/2tsp sea salt

Put all ingredients in blender and blend till smooth.  Season to taste with more of any ingredient.

The combination of the flavors between the dish and the sauce are just awesome.  The sauce has a hint of sweetness, lots of tang and is an awesome contrast to the Lentil-Sunflower Pie.  I think I have made the dish a total of 3-4 times since first trying it.  This is definitely a regular in our house now.

"Do NOT eat the pistachio ice cream! It has turned."

I cannot tell you how many times in the past week I have heard that line.

Or oh, wait wait, "Tow mater, average intelligence."

Or I know, "Two of them sweets for me, too."


We are not Cars 2 addicts at all.  It has gone way beyond that.

It started a week ago with a nasty black eye for poor Charlie.  He was in pain and pretty droopy.  So we started snuggling on the couch and watching some movies.  2 days later and he was well underway with a nasty cold.  He got even droopier and I can only assume in even more pain since he would wail every time I wiped his nose, and, oh yea, wake up every hour at night because he couldn't sleep due to the head cold.  So there was more couch movie watching.  And then Mommy caught Mr. Sniffles' cold.  Bummer.

So we have been house bound for the last 3 days, and watching a movie storm.  Although it's pretty much been confined to the likes of Cars 2, Tangled, Happy Feet, Wall-E, and Cars 1, and repeat.  And repeat.  Not exactly my viewing choices, but it distracts Mr. Sniffles from his running nose and cough, and it lets me sit down and rest a bit.

Cars 2 is by far the viewing favorite for at least one member of our sick party.  I think he gets such a kick out of Mater.  I don't mind too much.  I sit here, subconsciously memorizing parts of Cars, while perusing the internet.  I'm just under the weather enough to need to get off my feet and rest, but not sick enough to be knocked out flat on the couch.  Just sick enough to have food taste weird, but not sick enough to lose these crazy food cravings that are raging.  Just sick enough to not feel up for cooking, but not sick enough to squelch this insane desire to try some really yummy looking, new vegan recipes right now - sickness and all.


How about these...

Vegan Mac n Cheese?  I'm always skeptical, and usually rightly so, but I'm always curious anyways since Mac n Cheese is such a comfort food.  Too much margarine in this though. :(

Pumpkin yumminess!  Looks incredible.  And we do eat tofu.  But not that much.

How about this vegan taco recipe.  Now that looks supremely yummy.

Asian salad, heavier on the veggies (once Farmer's Market time hits), and whole wheat noodles of course.

These look AMAZING.  Not for everyday that's for sure, but special treats, yum-ME!

These are plain chocolate chip cookie dough balls without the addition of coconut like the above recipe.

This chickpea cookie is actually based off of a recipe I've already tried, which I'll try and blog about soon.  Chickpeas are amazing, btw, if you didn't know.  Clever little buggers can be used in so many ways.

Chickpea falafel - Mmmmmm.

Blueberry Coconut Pancakes.  Again, not for everyday, but a treat every now and then sure would be awesome.

Okay, I'm reciped out.  Not to mention I'm tired.  And sniffly.

The whirlwind trip part 2

Part 2 of Seattle Adventure

The next morning we were back at Jamba Juice so I could start out my day with another healthy smoothie, and this time, I went ahead and got a full shot of wheat grass juice.

This was Christeen, the sweet lady who gave us the wheat grass juice.  They grow it hydroponically, right there in the store, and juice it fresh.  Mmm.

Bottoms up!  (again!)

I couldn't resist. :)

This was lunch for day 2.5.  It was very good, but by far the most unhealthy vegan dishes we had.

It was a cute little corner vegan deli, and while it tasted great, I know that was largely due to the grease I could feel dripping down my hand.  I probably should have stopped eating it, cause my tummy felt a little sloshy afterwards, but I admit to not being perfect.  I generally don't eat greasy foods now - almost never.  But I do admit that this one tasted great, in spite of or because of, the grease.  So I ate it, enjoyed it, and realized I wouldn't eat there again.

That pretty much sums up the food pictures for the trip.  There was one very memorable meal we didn't get pictures of, that took place at a lodge, in the mountains, on an icy night, with a chef who went above and beyond and made a special 5 course vegan meal, just for me.  I totally should have asked the waitress if I could snap a few non-flash pictures anyways, even though cells and cameras were frowned upon.  I've never had such fancy and well crafted food in my life!  It was truly gorgeous to look at and gorgeous to eat (does that even make sense??).

So I realized this trip that my nutritarian sensibilities were somewhat clashing with my vegan sensibilities.  It was all amazing, vegan food.  But I wouldn't say it was all nutritarian food (high nutrient density food) by a long shot.  The last sandwich picture, case in point.  It was vegan, but it was not what I'd call healthy.  It just goes to show you that even vegans can eat unhealthily.  What, you didn't realize that white flour, white pasta and white sugar are all vegan but still really unhealthy whether you consider yourself a carnivore, omnivore or herbivore?

So here are some last pictures of us on the ferry boat ride - the last thing we did before our icy lodge dinner and heading back to the airport.  It was cold by the way.  Freezin' cold.  Thank goodness for my sister's coat and scarf!!

"I have a thing for ferry boats."

I love this man.

 Oh oh, and here is a picture of the gorgeous Snoqualmie Falls, where we had our fancy dinner at Salish Lodge.  We got to the falls right before dusk and I quickly snapped this picture.  You can see the icy bushes in the foreground.  There were signs up everywhere telling us to watch out for the slippery ice.

So the weekend was great and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

I know you are wondering, "what about Seattle and Microsoft?!?!?!" - the really important question.

Seattle and Microsoft were amazing.  Seattle was gorgeous and we could totally see ourselves settling down there (at least for a little while).  Microsoft looked like an incredible company to work for, with lots of amazing people I was already wishing to get to know better at the end of 4 days.    They treated us well and we liked what we saw.


So are we moving?


No.  In the end, what we value most in life is right here in Raleigh.  There were so many reasons we could have moved, and yet equally as many and more for staying right here.  So after what felt like a really long, agonizing decision, with lots of questioning and prayer and "what ifs" and "are you sures", we now know that we are staying here and that it's not just the easy/lazy decision, it's the wise decision.  And peace is knowing that you prayerfully considered and made a wise choice.  Even when part of you wishes for the opposite decision, peace is knowing that God will take care of you and provide for you, wherever you are.  Seattle.  Raleigh.  Or any where in between.

So, look out Raleigh!!!    .......    We're staying here!!!!!  :-D

The whirlwind trip - Part 1

After my last abbreviated and somewhat scatter brained post, I thought I'd update the situation a bit and share some fantastic pictures.  This post was intended to go out about 2 weeks ago, but what can I say?  Life happened.  Christmas happened.  And mostly, being a mother day in and day out happened.  And so the post did not happen.

Long story short, Microsoft in Seattle offered William a job - a good job - one that wasn't easy to immediately turn down.  We were unsure (on many levels), and they decided to fly us out there to try and convince us!  It was amazingly fast turn around.  He interviewed 2 Fridays ago with them, they offered him a job, and then the following Friday plane tickets were booked for us to head out 2 days later (last Sunday) for a 4 day trip to Seattle (4 days including a bunch of plane time in there unfortunately).  All of the timeline here is about 2 weeks late now, since this post has sat in my drafts box for about that long.

For those that don't know, Seattle is much more friendly to those who have certain allergies and food preferences.  Specifically dairy allergies like I have!  There were lots more vegan friendly places to eat and I found myself surrounded by tasties at every corner almost.  So without giving you a blow by blow of the weekend, here are some high lights of the yummy food consumed and other various and sundry shots from our whirlwind, stressful, romantic, weekend in Seattle with my husband.

First stop, 5 Graces!  This was by far my favorite meal of the trip.  We have some friends (long time family friends of the Coxes) who are in Seattle, and they recommended this place to us.  They had several yummy options to choose from, but I settled on the Raw Tacos "Rawcos" and I was blown away by the tastiness.

It's hard to see exactly what is going on in that picture, but it's a huge collard leaf filled with a walnut pate kind of thing, avocado, tomato, mango (I think), cilantro, and a yummy slaw on top.  Truthfully I wasn't sure how my first all raw, gourmet meal was going to be.  IT. WAS. AMAZING.  William admitted it was better than his meat and pasta dish. :-)  There were two of those huge things, and I blew right through both!

We followed up lunch with a delicious Raw Vegan Pomegranate Cheesecake.  It was truly as good as it looks.

Shot of the Seattle sunset from the dock.  It was pretty gorgeous.

Thank goodness for William's long arms in order to snag our few and far between couples shots. :)

Me and my boys. ;-)  I have no idea why Patrick Dempsey and Rainn Wilson's heads were used with the shirts, but I had to snap a picture with them. :)

The amazing gift basket that was waiting for us in our fancy Westin hotel room.  Seriously, the room was so lovely.  I didn't even mind sleeping in a hotel bed, since it was so fancy.

Aww, I feel like we're still young and cute!  Actually thanks to two new sweaters, and a coat and scarves borrowed from my sister, I felt young and cute and hip all weekend long. :) Nice to feel that way when normally I am just "mom".

Day 2 was started out with some delicious, engine revving smoothie!

Can I mention that I love that Jamba Juice (as well as some other places), list out their calorie counts for menu items?  I'm not a huge calorie counter, but losing weight does eventually come down to basic calories in v. calories out, so yes, in the grand scheme of things I watch my calories, knowing that most of the time, if I'm fueling my body with healthy, whole foods, with lots of veggies, fruits, legumes and some grains and nuts, the calories all work themselves out and I end up generally consuming about what I need every day, no more.  That being said, I still love that they include their calories so I know what I'm putting in my body.  

I had some fabulous berry/red veggie concoction with an energy boost and spirulina added!  It was delicious, sweet and yummy!  William had a carrot, apple, mango thing, which was still yummy though not as flavorful as mine.

And yes, I had my first wheat grass shot!  I had never had it before, but I've heard about it (heard how unpalatable it is but how friggin' healthy it is), and I was so curious, that the sweet Jamba Juice lady comped William and I each a 1/2shot of wheat grass juice.  Bottoms up!

It was actually really quite palatable.  I don't know if it's cause I was steeling myself for the worst, or what, but it was actually pretty good.  It had a sweet, grassy, earthy taste.  It's no ice cream, but gosh, I'd seriously drink it every day.

Believe it or not, the next series of shots, meat-ish though they look, were all vegan entrees that were consumed buy us and one of the recruiters Stephanie and her husband Aaron, at a really cool place called the Plum Bistro.

This was the amazing Vegan Mac 'n' Cheese that tasted almost identical to the regular stuff.  It had a little more herbed taste to it, which I really loved, but it is by far the closest vegan mac 'n' cheese I've tasted.  I could have had 3 apps of this.

This was my dinner, and I think by far the best choice of the night.  Some tofu in balsamic and white bean sauce, with a bed of greens and sweet tomatoes.  Yum.  I don't normally eat a lot of tofu, but this was a tasty treat! :)  Missing at this meal was the roasted brussel sprout app and the smoked kale and tofu app.  They were both good - the kale really was amazing though.

More vegan cheesecake.

Vegan almond blondie with ice cream.

Yikes!  Long post.  To be continued in Part 2 post.

Vegan Pumpkin Coconut Pie for Sarah :)

So this year I am experimenting with a different kind of pumpkin pie.  Clearly you already know that if you read the blog title.  And actually it's custard not pie.

Custard typically has both milk and eggs.  We don't keep either of those in the house for allergy and health reasons.  But oh how I love me some pumpkin pie.  Pumpkin anything really, will do.

When I started to throw together my custard this morning for tomorrow's Thanksgiving meal, I suddenly got struck with the hair-brained idea of using coconut milk instead of my typical almond milk.  I thought perhaps it would make the pie a bit richer since there is a marked difference between almond milk and sweetened condensed death...er...milk in taste, texture, thickness and richness.  While I am fine with plain almond milk I thought that experimenting with the slightly richer milk option was a good idea.  Enter 1 cup of reduced fat coconut milk.  Not the full fat, although I'm sure you could do that and it would be AMAZING.  I just didn't feel like adding THAT many extra calories.


I also had been tossing around the idea of adding some cashews to my custard to help thicken it up and add some richness.  I googled both these combinations and found I wasn't totally off the wall in my scheming, but the recipes were very different from what I was thinking for reasons involving dairy and a non-bake, fridge option.

So I started dumping and came out with something pretty tasty.  I won't say it's amazing, cause I don't think it is yet.  I'd have to do more experimenting.  But is it tasty?  Oh yea.  Very good.  A little bit coconutty and pumpkiny.  Very yummy.

And while I wouldn't necessarily post a recipe I wasn't fully done with, a friend asked for the recipe for her little girls for Thanksgiving who I believe have some dairy intolerances, so I'm sharing early.  So if you are looking to change up your typical punkin pie/custard this year, you might give this a whirl and give me some feedback. :)

The picture is nothing fab since it was taken amidst lots of kitchen chaos.  Then again I don't ever pretend to have fabulous pictures since I am not a photographer and haven't spent any time increasing my knowledge in that area.  Lame me.  But really, how fabulous can custard look?

Vegan Pumpkin Coconut Custard

1 15oz can pumpkin
1 cup lower fat coconut milk*
1/2 cup almond milk (needed it to balance out the cashews and get it to blend)*
1/4c cashews**
1/4c cornstarch***
1 3/4 pumpkin pie spice
1 Tbsp molasses
1/2c agave  (I could have been happy with 4-6 Tbsp, but since this was for others too, I went with 1/2c)
1 tsp vanilla

Everything gets combined in a blender, poured into a lightly greased pie plate (or pie crust), and baked at 350 for 45-1 hour.  Simple as that.  Now for notes.

*If you are hesitant about the coconut flavor and want to start out with half of the coconut milk and start tasting, do so.  Don't add the cornstarch until you are satisfied with your coconut/almond milk ratio.
**Cashews were added for richness and can be left out if you have allergies.  If you omit them, start out using only 1 cup of milk and add the rest only if you need it to blend.  The extra almond milk was really just to balance out the thickness from the cashews.  ALSO, if you are not sure your blender will blend them sufficiently, either try adding them first with the milk and half the pumpkin to see if they will thoroughly blend, OR try adding cashew butter instead of cashew pieces.
***The cornstarch helps it set since it doesn't have eggs.

If you feel like playing up the coconut a bit more, I'd try adding some unsweetened shredded coconut to your custard or sprinkling some on top towards the end of baking for some toasted coconut topping.  If you feel like ignoring the coconut milk, just use all almond milk instead. :)

So, here is a recipe in the rough.  If you are brave enough to try it at this point, tell me what you think!! :-)

I am becoming my mother...

That title really might sound more ominous than it should.  Unfortunately most of the time when people make such statements as "I'm becoming my mother!" or "My parents used to do that!" it's in a negative tone.  How unfortunate.  There are of course sins of every father that the child does not wish to repeat themselves.  We are all imperfect.  However, people should focus on the good aspects of being like their parents more than they do.

Soap box aside....

I am in fact becoming my mother.  At least where my salads are concerned.

Notice the stainless steel mixing bowl.  Only a mixing bowl will do for that size salad.  Relax, it's just my medium 2qt bowl, not my large one. :)

My mother is the Queen of "Everything but the kitchen sink" salads.  Seriously.  While I don't particularly care for all the toppings she includes, I am stepping ever closer to the "...but the kitchen sink" part.  In the above salad there is:

Standard Salad fare:
-good old romaine
-carrots
-tomato
-zucchini

Standard Jamie Salad fare:
-black beans
-hummus
-lemon juice
-ACV
-Bragg's Liquid Aminos  (the 3 liquids and the hummus make a killer dressing)
-pepper

New additions today:
-Urad Dal (aka Ivory Lentils I recently picked up at the Indian Market and cooked up a small portion of to see if I liked it enough to go back and buy another 4lb bag before the Diwali sales went off)
-mixture of leftover regular brown lentils and ivory lentils cooked up with my Smoky Autumn Blend seasonings used to make a sandwich spread/filling
-some stray white beans
-green onions

If I had been thinking about it, some pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds would have made a nice addition.  I don't think I'm nearing the number of ingredients that my mother usually puts on a salad, but she is the Queen after all. :)  I'll keep trying Mom. ;-)

And for better or worse, I am one of those people who likes uniform flavor in her food (not dull, just uniform), so once I reach the desired ingredients and flavor, I mix it up like crazy so that every bite is evenly covered with dressing/lentils, and I try and get a small bite of each veggie in every forkful.  Yes, I am I that person, who turns a beautiful bowl of salad into a crazy stirred up mess in order to enjoy the same awesome flavor in every bite.  Don't hate me because I'm a food stirrer.

You should also know that the Ivory Lentils were just one of 4 different types of lentils picked up at the Indian Market the other day.  I can now proudly state that I have 5 different kinds of lentils in my house, several of them in 4lb bags.


Don't kid yourself, 4lb bags of any bean don't last real long in our house, especially if it's a lentil or a chickpea. 

Chocolate oats anyone?

For those of you thinking "how gross!"  Don't.  It's seriously not gross, and kind of fun to eat chocolate for breakfast in the morning. :)  For those of you wondering just how sugary and unhealthy this cereal is - Don't you know me better than that by now?!  This breakfast totally not gross, it's fun to eat, very tasty AND pretty healthy too.  Not green smoothie healthy, but really not much can compare to that.  In the realm of oats, we're talking pretty tasty and good for you.

The ingredients are fairly basic too.  All you need is oats, water, non-dairy milk (like almond or soy - or regular milk works too), cinnamon, vanilla, unsweetened cocoa powder, banana and stevia (or other healthy sweetener, or sugar if you are willing to go that route).  Since bananas are naturally so sweet, they help prevent the need for oodles of sweetener to be added, plus they give this oatmeal a super creamy texture that is amazing.  I will probably never make another batch of oats again without adding a banana to it, FYI.

Chocolate Oats  ~  Serves 2

1 cups rolled oats (not instant), covered in water in a glass jar and soaked over night

1/2c water

1/2c non-dairy milk

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

2-3 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder, to taste

1 banana, thinly sliced

1/4 tsp stevia powder, or other sweetener to taste*

Soak oats in a jar covered with water, overnight.  (This cuts down on cooking time the following morning.)  Drain excess water from oats in strainer and place in pot.  Add 1/2c water and bring to a boil and let simmer (stirring occasionally) till most of the water has been absorbed and it is just beginning to stick to the bottom of the pan.  Whisk in non-dairy milk, cinnamon, vanilla, cocoa and banana slices.  Whisk until rest of liquid has been absorbed and the banana has broken down, forming a really creamy oatmeal.  Remove from stove and stir in stevia or any additional sweetener of choice.

*Note that this recipe is not a super sweet chocolate recipe.  It's just enough sweetness to combat the bitterness from the chocolate, making it a very mellow, and creamy chocolate taste - not a super sweet chocolate dessert.  Also, what sweetener you use and how much of it you use dictates how healthy or unhealthy this becomes.  One of the nice things about stevia is it's a highly concentrated, but healthy herbal sweetener, so using a 1/4tsp does the trick for me and I'm not adding a bunch of calories from processed sugar.  If you decide to stir in like 2 Tbsp of white sugar, then the healthy factor of this recipe has decreased some.

I love this a lot.  Even though it's not a really sweet chocolate flavor, it's just sweet enough to feel indulgent about eating chocolate for breakfast, while still staying healthy.  I enjoy this breakfast a lot, although not as much as the Pumpkin Overnight Oats that I've been making now that pumpkin is back in season.  I'll share that recipe soon too.  In all fairness though, hubbs does not like this recipe.  So while I enjoy chocolate oats immensely for breakfast, it was not a home run for both of us.  Take that for what you will.

But DO let me know if you try this breakfast and like, so I'll know I'm not alone in the chocolate oat love. :)

P.S.  The weirdest bit of all, this tastes good as cold leftovers.  Seriously not kidding!  Usually cold oatmeal texture skeeves me out, so in the past if my bowl of oats got cold, I couldn't finish it.  I think the addition of the banana making the texture super creamy is what makes this eatable as cold leftovers.  It becomes almost like a cold rice pudding in texture.  You may not like it, but I love it.  Bonus for me - I don't have to make breakfast the next day!

I finally won a giveaway!!!

Let's all take a moment and marvel at the fact that I FINALLY WON A GIVEAWAY!!  I can't even remember the last time I entered a giveaway contest and won something.  Maybe never.  I really can't remember ever receiving anything.

But that all changed when I won this giveaway!

I was really excited to win this giveaway since these are items that I actively use or that I know I will have a bunch of fun trying out.

We currently use the NuStevia Powder sweetener in small amounts in our morning oatmeal.

The Vanilla Stevia liquid is something that I can't wait to try in coffee, oatmeal, maybe the occasional iced coffee treat (not now that we're approaching winter though - that will have to wait till summer), and things like that.

The More Fiber Baking Blend was an extra bonus the company threw in, not part of the giveaway, and was not something I'm familiar with.  Apparently it will give me more fiber and I can use it in baking as a sweetener.  Great!  I've been looking for some other sweetener options in William's morning breakfast bakes other than just straight up banana.  Don't get me wrong, I don't think he really minds if every. single. bake. is flavored with banana. and. nothing. else.  But I like to experiment with healthier sweeteners anyways, knowing that even though I personally don't consume a lot of baked goods, I'm sure that one day I will end up incorporating a bit more baking back into our diet for our children.  So this is great that I get a chance to experiment with it!

So what is stevia?  Stevia is an natural herbal sweetener that is much sweeter than sugar, much lower in carbohydrates and has negligable effect on blood glucose levels, making it a great sweetener for diabetics and other carb-controlled diets.  I love that I can add 1/4-1/2 tsp of it to my morning bowl of oats and get way more sweet bang for my buck than I could with the same amount of processed white sugar, plus I'm not putting those extra calories in my body.

So, am I excited about my first giveaway win??  Totally.  :-D

Smoky Black Bean Dip

I honestly have no idea why it took me this long to come up with a black bean dip.  You'd think it would have been a no brainer since I love black beans and you all know I LOVE me some dips!  Maybe it has to do with the fact that the bean dip that comes in a jar kind of skeeves me out a bit, and the one homemade black bean dip I've had was not all-that-and-a-bag-of-chips.  I did just say that.  

But finally something ended up inspiring me and, voile!  A homemade, smoky and spicy black bean dip I could eat by the spoonful.  Seriously.  I may or may not have done that already.  

Don't you love how I tried to get all fancy and garnish?  Yea I'm pretty sure parsley is the standard garnish and not cilantro.  You make do with what you have.

The best part is, it's super easy.  Even if you cook your black beans from scratch like I do  instead of dumping from a can, the dip is still super easy.

Smoky Black Bean Dip  ~  makes roughly 3 cups

3 cups black beans, cooked fresh or 2 cans worth, drained and rinsed

1 cup salsa of choice

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt  (or less if you can swing it)*

1/4-1 tsp liquid smoke (as desired)*

cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes (optional)*

Dump all ingredients into food processor and process till smooth!  That easy folks.  

*If you use canned beans (which have some salt in them), don't add any salt initially as you might not need it. If you have cooked up your beans from scratch with no salt (like I do) then you may want to use 1/4-1/2 tsp salt.

*The liquid smoke is all about preference here.  How smoky do you want it?  Start small and increase your way up.  While I ADORE smokiness and could put it in just about any food, I have discovered through an unfortunate soup incident that there is such a thing as too much liquid smoke.  

*The red pepper is totally optional.  I'm not a big fan of heat, but I'm sure my husband would love this dip even more if I added some heat.

This dip is totally yummy by itself, with chips, on Roasted Chickpea Tacos, slathered on leaves of lettuce and topped with tomatoes, on burgers and sandwiches as a spread, on your taco salad - you get the idea.  Versatile.

Hubbs declared it really good and Charlie even likes it too, so this is totally a winner in my book.  But then again, I am totally a sucker for bean dips. :)

Also, my husband just told me this morning that if he had the money, he would hire his brother to design me a shirt that said "I love beans" so I could sell it here on my website.  All I could think of was how sweet that was.  It gave me the warm fuzzies on the inside.  And no that wasn't the beans talking.  

Roasted Chickpea Tacos

This is a recipe I have been wanting to share with you for a while, but due to all the internet issues I've been having, on top of all the regular business, it has just fallen by the wayside.  Too bad, 'cause it hasn't over here on the menu!  Fallen by the wayside that is.  We have already had it twice and probably will have it a third time soon.  It is just SO tasty!  I got the recipe from Peas and Thank You, a new blog I discovered recently.  "Mama Pea" as she calls herself has a saucy writing style that initially I wasn't too in to, but now I really enjoy.  She blogs about all things vegan and yummy and she is the one to credit for this recipe.  In fact, I think this is one of the few recipes that I haven't altered at all....except the lack of Daiya cheese on top.  We didn't do that.  Oh, and we added some of our own toppings.  And decreased the salt slightly.  Okay, so this recipe almost made it out without extra tampering.

Recipe adapted from Peas and Thank You.

Roasted Chickpea Tacos   ~   makes 8

2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp each, onion powder, garlic powder, dried oregano

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1/2-3/4 tsp salt (do as little as you can)

1 Tbsp lime juice

2 Tbsp water

1 14oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

8 crunchy taco shells

Taco Toppings: tomato, guacamole, lettuce, hummus, non-dairy cheese, Smoky Black Bean Dip

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine all seasonings and chickpeas in a bowl and let marinate for at least 30 minutes.  Do try and get the marinating in folks.  The second time I made them I forgot to allow time to marinate and the flavors were not as strong.

Dump chickpeas on a lightly oiled baking sheet or parchment paper and bake for 20-30 minutes until chickpeas are slightly crispy.  I didn't really think this got them to the "slightly crispy" point, rather they were no longer wet and swimming in marinade.  But it didn't matter cause they were still super tasty at this point.

Prepare taco shells according to package instructions, and then stuff shells with roasted chickpeas and toppings of choice!  

My mouth is seriously watering looking at this picture again.

These pictures were taken the first time when all we had was guac, tomatoes, and chickpeas (and lettuce which I forgot to put on for the pictures).  The next batch is where we added Smoky Black Bean Dip which I had just recently come up with, and that was a SUPER tasty addition.  I'll be posting that recipe very soon and link to it as soon as it's up.  Update 10/10/11 - Get your black bean dip love on here!

These tacos were out of this world!  Even my husband declared these were pretty darn tasty and has asked for them several times now. :)  Admittedly with crunchy taco shells involved, these don't fall on my SUPER healthy list of recipes, and if you are watching your calories/weight, you want to be careful to only consume 1 or 2 taco shells and then either eat the rest of your taco insides in a bowl, or better yet supplement with a large, tasty green salad.  :)  But whether you eat 1 or 4, these babies are Yum-MEE!

Mmm, all this taco talk makes me wish tonight was taco night tonight!  Enjoy your weekend folks!

  

Autumn Lentil Soup

I'm  not sure why I'm working on this post first since I don't have any pictures of it, and I don't have plans to make the soup again in the next oh, 3 days.  But I love this soup so much, I guess I feel like I must share.  Besides, lentil soup is not exactly the most glamorous soup to look at, not to mention that this soup is a very simple soup without extra additions anyways.  Therefore, decreed: picture not needed.

I don't actually do a ton of totally original recipe work.  I do LOTS of adapting recipes to fit our dietary needs, and even an exact recipe or two here and there.  I'd like to do more original recipe experimentation, but it doesn't always come to me.  Anyways....  I was in Whole Foods bulk aisle when I saw this Autumn Blend of dried lentils.  It contained French Green, Petite Crimson, Golden, Black Beluga, Spanish Pardina and Ivory White - most of which I've never heard of or eaten.  The most exotic I've gotten is the French Lentils.  And I know why now - they are definitely more expensive than your typical green flat lentil in the 1lb bags at the grocery stores.  But I was so curious, I scooped up a cup and brought them home.

Okay, I realized a picture of the Autumn Blend would be nice.

For those of you that adept at tiny reading, ignore the fact that the container says "sunflower seeds".

Then the question was how to cook them.  I couldn't just toss them in one of my typical lentil dishes.  I had to make something special to go with the $3.69/lb lentils - or at least different.  I knew I wanted to use smoked paprika, as I have been addicted to that recently.  I'm not sure how I went all this time without knowing how superior smoked paprika is to regular paprika.  I went to the spice rack and started sniffing.  Then I found it - white pepper.  I haven't used it in a dish in ages, so I'd forgotten how great it smelled.  But after that I wasn't sure what would be good to pair with it, so I went pretty basic - garlic powder, onion powder, veggie broth, and some salt.  Simple soup it is then.

It's so basic some of your jaws dropped in underwhelmation - I saw them.  And yes, I did just make up that word.  But it is so good you have to try it anyways.  Even the hubbs pronounced it "Mmm, really good".

Autumn Lentil Blend Soup

1 cup dried Autumn Lentil Blend*, carefully picked through and rinsed
3 cups veggie broth (or 3 cups water and 2-3tsp of veggie broth powder)
1/4 tsp of white pepper
1/4-1/2 tsp salt
heaping 1/4 tsp of garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika**

Okay, so I probably added more smoked paprika than that.

Place all ingredients in a pot, bring to a boil and simmer for around 15 minutes or until the lentils are soft, with a little bite.  If you cook them till they are completely soft the soup gets mushy, and the lentils lose their color and it does not have quite as pleasing a texture.  So cook just until they have a little chewiness left to them.

*If using regular flat green lentils, add closer to 4 cups water and cook for an extra 10 minutes or so.
**If you don't have smoked paprika, I would A. recommend you get some, or B. would assume that using regular paprika and some liquid smoke would achieve a similar result.  But I haven't tried that, fyi.

So this soup is a really great simple side the way it is, or go ahead and add some chopped up carrot and potato and onion (or other veggies of choice), and make it a heartier meal.  Since it's lentils, which are packed full of protein, adding some veggies to round it out makes it a great main dish recipe.

Also, if you haven't already been thinking "do I really like lentil soup enough to pay nearly $4/lb for these lentils" you should be now.  And the correct answer of course is

YES OF COURSE YOU LOVE LENTILS THAT MUCH!

Hah, no just kidding.  I understand budgets.  I know I love lentils this much, but do still have a budget to think about.  I did try this with regular flat green lentils, with pretty much the same taste result, but a mushier texture.

Do note that the flat green lentils are sometimes referred to as brown as that is the color they actually are (!) and that they cook up to be.

You can slightly under cook the regular green lentils till they have a bit of bite left like the blend, but it still ends up different texture than the Autumn Blend.  And I really think I can taste a very subtle difference. (I think hubbs thinks I'm making that one up, but I swear I'm not.)

At any rate, not having the money to buy the more expensive lentils is definitely not a reason to not make this!!  It's totally delicious either way, and a really cheap side dish if you use the regular lentils.  Honestly I'll probably try mixing the special blend with the regular, or saving the blend for the special 1 time out of 4 or something.

Learn to Love your Lentils!