More Food that wasn't for me

Iceberg Lettuce Wedge with homemade vegan blue cheese dressing. I found the recipe online somewhere vegweb.com maybe? I heard it was crazy blue cheesy tasting. Some omni friends were trippin out on it. It smelled funky like the real stuff. Buffalo Tempeh Wingz from Don't Eat Off the Sidewalk zine. I served them with the blue cheese, celery, and my Nana Dottie style green beans sans the soggy bacon. I LOVE these green beans. I just chop up an onion and stick it in the steaming basket, throw all the beans on top, and lightly steam. The onions infuse the beans with yumminess! Throw some EB, salt and pepper and you're done. SO GOOD. Some not very photogenic Chocolate Chip Cookies from JofVbaking. People said these were the best Choc Chip Cookies they have ever had. Well good for them.

Food I couldn't eat

because I was on the Master Cleanse. It was fun to make and smell though! Okay, the golden stream snacks I didn't make obviously but ewwwww. What a horrible name! Individual Heart Shaped Apple Galettes from Veganomicon. I heard these were overcooked but at least they look pretty. Baked Potato Soup with greens and a potato wedge crouton (also Vcon), tempeh bacon, and sourdough roll. Peanut Butter cookies from The Joy of Vegan Baking. Some had chocolate chips in 'em but i think they were all gone by the time I got around to taking a picture.

What I ate today

I had a green smoothie for breakfast (apples, spinach, lime, and a bananus). For lunch I made some raw nori rolls. They had baby greens tossed in creamy garlic dressing (Rawvolution by Matt Amsden) avocado, and tomatoes. Super YUM! For dinner I had what is quite possibly my favorite meal ever. I usually make it on Mondays so we call it Macro Monday around my house. Short Grain Brown rice (which I sprouted this time-I liked it and we got those GABAs too!) Adzuki bean and winter squash (i always use butternut) saute from Vegan Planet, steamed kale, and Ume plum vinegar. There are no words to describe my insane love for kale. My kids actually love this meal too and they both really dig the vinegar on it which surprises and pleases me. For dessert I think I might slice an apple and put slivers of dates on top (tastes just like a caramel apple I swear!) or some really dark chocolate! YAY

Corn Fritters

I used two of the fresh ears of corn to make fresh corn fritters from......you guessed it- Vegan with a Vengeance. Yikes, I do have other cookbooks. They were so good, sweet and very eggy in taste and texture.

Chickpea Broccoli Casserole

I used the broccoli and carrots from the box to make Vegan with a Vengeance's Chickpea Broccoli Casserole. I was concerned that it was going to be plain as the only seasoning involved is salt but it was suprisingly flavorful! I served it with a green salad using the box's lettuce, cucumber, and heirloom tomato. I fed the whole family (the kids ate it all!) and still had over 3/4's of it left!

Fall Baking!

We picked some more apples in Julian this past weekend so I used up 2 pounds of granny smith in this Gingerbread Apple Pie from Vegan with a Vengeance. Wow- it is super yummy but really needs to be made with super tart apples because the gingerbread crust and crumble topping are really sweet. I will definitely make this again! Also pictured are some chocolate cupcakes with vegan buttercream frosting tinted orange. They were for my daughter's Halloween party at school but she was the only one who ate one! What the heck?? Some other lady brought some crappy store bought cupcakes with a little toy ring on the top so those got picked first. Whatever- no animals were harmed in the making of my cupcakes! Do you like my new platter? Well too bad- you can't have it!!! My friend owns a Color Me Mine and she made it for me. It has blood dripping down the pedestal and the plate and 5 dangling skulls. I am in love.

Spinach Pasta & Potato Salad

I used the spinach and yellow pear tomatoes in this pasta sauce. I tossed it with some whole wheat spaghetti and tossed it with some Parmezeno Sprinkles and Pinenuts.





I used the red potatoes in a potato salad to go with our tofu dogs. I couldn't decide between the chili or saurkraught so I cut it in half and had a little of both!

CUPCAKES!

Okay- so absolutely no produce went into these cuppies but I am so enamored right now I had to share. I am a lucky owner of "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. Thankfully there have been a few Birthdays this month so I have had a good excuse to bake. The Halloween decorated ones are Chocolate with Chocolate Buttercream. Next we have the Chocolate Mint which I think look the nicest but they were a little too minty for me (and I like the choc/mint combo) I will try them again though with some alterations. Lastly behold the Tiramisu cupcake. Wow-I haven't thought about tiramisu in a long time and these did not disappoint! Doused with an espresso Kahlua mixture and topped with a vegan cream cheese frosting. YUM

Exotic Fruits!

It seems like every week I love my delivery more and more! This time I got some red potatoes, watercress, carrots, broccoli, spinach, an avocado, corn, a red onion, yellow pear tomatoes, apples, a cucumber, grapefruit, red leaf lettuce, asian pears, pineapple guava (I think), and FRESH DATES! I am 99.9% sure about the dates and I will check with my produce lady on Saturday but WOW! I have never seen fresh dates before. I am not a fan of the dried ones but they are so fun and different this way.

Lettuce and green onion

I used some lettuce in the kid's pinwheel rollups and some green onion in a breakfast potato/sausage hash. I found some baby kiwi at Trader Joe's and had to try them! They taste just like full size kiwi without the fuzzy peel. Even my son ate them and he isn't a fan of "KIWEED" as he calls them. I also added some of the yellow pear tomatoes to my daughter's lunch.

Broccoli Pesto

I made Broccoli Pesto with whole wheat penne from The Uncheese Cookbook. It was very different, quick, and easy. The whole family loved it and I served it to our non-vegan gamenite friends. I have never had broccoli that was so sweet before. I topped it with some chopped tomato from the box. I only wish I had leftovers!

I'm Back!

Okay so after a month or so of no boxes or posts I am back! This week I got a huge head of red leaf lettuce, a bag of SPINACH (I have been missing it!), insanely fragrant basil, broccoli, carrots, corn, green onions, tomatoes, yellow pear tomatoes, a grapefruit, apples, limes, and oranges. Any suggestions for what to do with my prized spinach? It is local and organically grown so don't be scared! Go check me (and the kiddos) out on-
http://vegancupcakes.wordpress.com/

p.s. Did I mention that the basil smells amazing? WOW- I think the family is concerned about their herb huffing mama.

Zeal for Zucchini

Here are a couple of things I have made with all my zucchini. Although it's been delicious, I am glad to be rid of the stuff! It is hard work trying to find different things to do with one item. First we have a zucchini bread from "How it all Vegan". The recipe called for raisins but I didn't have any so I substituted dried cranberries. It also called for "nuts" so I went with almonds (my favorite!). MMMMMM- such a yummy combo and appealing to the eye as well. I will have to remember this for Christmas time. Next up was Zucchini Chedda Soup with rice from "The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook". So far, every recipe I have tried from this book has been phenomenal with this soup rating numero uno! I honestly think one could fool dairy eaters with this one. My husband kinda freaked out when he tried it because he thought I had used real cheese! I also used the other summer squash from the box in this soup. Super creamy, rich and cheesy with only 130 calories in a cup. I bet that a dairy version of this soup would have at least triple the calories and fat, not to mention all that cholesterol. This recipe made a ton of soup and I stuck the leftovers in some tupperware to share with friends and the freezer. I can't wait to try this with broccoli. YUM!

Fruit Salad-yummy yummy

The kids were very happy with their lunches today so I thought I would share that too! An orange, apple, and grapes from the box and some strawberries. They also had a whole wheat pita with almond butter and strawberry jam, a vegan chocolate chip cookie from trader joe's, and a cucumber chain with dip. The cucumber is from the produce box and the dip was inspired by a salad my Mom made when I was growing up. Actually I think she still makes it. It is just sour cream, white vinegar, dill weed, and salt mixed together until it tastes good. Add some sliced cukes and you are good to go. My son hates when I put runny dressing in his little dip container so I thickened it up with some veganaise, used tofutti sour cream and the dill and salt. I think it turned out great, they thought it was ranch! Oh well.

I love GREEN!

So the spinach went instantly into a big pot of Caldo Verde soup. Caldo Verde is a Portugese Greens Soup that I have a recipe for from the "Native Foods" cookbook. Thanks Aunt Terrie! Native Foods is one of my favorite vegan restaurants. I have only been to the one in Costa Mesa but there are a couple more in Southern California. Back to the soup, it is scary looking to most people I have tried to share it with but I absolutely LOVE it! It has so many things going for it in my opinion. It is quick, easy, inexpensive, flavorful, full of yummy leafy greens, my kids like it, and is low in fat ! Only a 1/4 cup of olive oil in the whole batch (it makes a lot!) 2 potatoes, onion, garlic, kale, spinach, and salt. Also from the "Native Foods" cookbook is a recipe for ceaser salad dressing which I made to put over the big head of romaine from my box. I made some croutons and parmesan sprinkles from "The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook" I stuck some avocado from the box in the salad too for some added richness. It was a super yummy dinner, the kids even approved it for their lunchboxes!

Third Delivery

I can't believe that I got another box already but last weeks was delivered a few days late, and this weeks was a bit early. Pretty much the same things with the addition of some oranges and a big bag of spinach that I put to use right away so it missed the photo. Any zucchini ideas? Cause I have a ton!

Country Cookin'

So I finally did something with all that squash of mine! I got the recipe from "Cookin' Southern Vegetarian Style". It has the zucchini, summer squash, mystery squash, tomatoes (also from the box), onions, margarine, and breadcrumbs. Come to think of it, there wasn't even any salt and pepper in it but it was so flavorful. I made some couscous to go along with it because it was in the cupboard and I was lazy. It was a nice and light dinner so I made dessert too! From the same cookbook I made Peach Cobbler with my white peaches. It was super easy and good but I think I like the cinnamon/crumb oat type cobbler topping better. This one was more like a sweet cake batter. The white peaches were good but actually I would have preferred a less sweet, more tart yellow peach in this recipe. I also stuck some grapes in the kids lunches. My son said "Those grapes are small but sweet!". All in all, I am happy with today's usage of the produce and have tons of leftovers for lunches tomorrow.

The Second Delivery!

I upgraded to the 4 person box for the extra fruit but I need to make sure I use all of the extra veggies!! At first it didn't seem like too much more until I had to stand on a chair to get it all in one picture together. So there are 4 different kinds of lettuce, red leaf, romaine, and two baby greens. There is a bunch of squash, summer, zucchini, and another of the mystery kind from last week. Beautiful tomatoes, cucumbers, grapefruit, lemons, limes, avocados, red onions, baby carrots, 4 ears of corn (yea I get a whole ear this time!) white peaches, apples and the cutest little green grapes that are super sweet! Wish me luck- I have some cooking to do-

Pluots, Plums, and Lettuce- Oh My!

My internet was down for the past few days so I will play catch up in this post.

I cut up a plum for my daughter's lunch, nothing too exciting but she loved it! My son got the pluot.

I made some Knish from "vegan with a vengeance" and used the lettuces for the salad. MMM they were yummy but turning on that oven was a mistake! It ended up 89 degrees in the house and I gave in a turned the air conditioning on!!

That is it so far! I am going through my cookbooks to see what I can do with all the rest.

BBQ Corn

For dinner last night we bbq'd corn (from the box of produce), some yams with maple cinnamon margarine, and garlic bread. All of the recipes for the bbq items are from Steven Raichlen's fantastic book "How to Grill". Most of the book is meat, poultry, and fish but there is a nice section on veggies with great pictures and instructions. Anyhow, I substituted vegan margarine for butter where needed and omitted the cheese for the bread. I added a bit of nutritional yeast to give it a cheesy flavor but it would still be yummy without it. The Yams were the BEST I have ever had! Fluffy, smoky, and just delicious with the maple cinnamon margarine-WOW! The corn was perfection. I love the way it pops right into your mouth. The veggies were enough for the adults but the kids wanted some vegan bbq riblets from Morningstar Farms. I also made some fried okra and some boiled okra. Both recipes from Cookin' Southern Vegetarian Style by Ann Jackson. I am thinking of upgrading to the larger size box when this month's deliveries are done. We have eaten most of the fruit already and could have used the extra ear of corn last night.

Mystery Squash

The first veggie I used was one of the mystery squash. I made Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Scrambled Tofu from her book "Vegan with a Vengeance". I didn't have any mushrooms so I cubed up one of the squash instead. I also added some Soyrizo and made a yummy breakfast burrito with some refried beans, soy cheese (follow your heart mozzarella is the only one I can stand), salsa, and avocado. My kids didn't feel like a burrito though so they just had toast with their scrambled tofu. Honestly, I couldn't really taste the squash since it was mixed in with so many other ingredients but my kids couldn't either so I guess this was a good way to get some squash down their throats!

The First Delivery

This is my first box of produce from Garden of Eden Organics. I was so excited when I first opened it up and started pulling the fabulous fruits and veggies from it. It seemed neverending! A huge head of red leaf lettuce, a bag of spring salad mix, green onions, the most BEAUTIFUL basil, cilantro,a zucchini, yellow squash, two green squash I don't know the name of yet (anybody?), a big bag of grape tomatoes, pluots, apples, plums, white peaches, red grapes, and a head of garlic. Right off the bat we chopped up a peach, pluot, and apple. My super picky son LOVED the peach and pluot which was a welcome surprise to his normal reaction to new things. I will try to post how I use the rest of my haul throughout the week.