'Shrooms!
I took about a dozen shiitake mushrooms off the log in the kitchen this afternoon, and cut them into thin strips. I then went outside and cut a huge handful of purple basil. Then I peeled lots of garlic cloves.
I wound up with a wonderful mushroom centered meal. I'm serving the concoction over bow-tie noodles and I'm having trouble waiting for Mary to get home. The house smells absolutely wonderful!
I think I've already got my $$$ worth out of the purchase of the spawn for the mushrooms. Wow. If I had to buy all those mushrooms at retail prices, I think it would break me.
It's a shame there isn't anything for vegetarians to eat! (light sarcasm)
Anyhow, enjoy your dinner...
Showing posts with label vegan food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vegan food. Show all posts
Monday, October 27, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
Chocolate-Chocolate Chunk Muffins!
Muffins.
Simple and frugal creations, able to be grabbed from the kitchen by the kids, my wife and me. All love them, and they come in individual serving size. I love the silicone baking pans that I've been using to bake them. The muffins come right out of the little cups, and they are much easier to clean than the old metal pans. (I use the metal pans to hold the silicone pans, and they insulate them perfectly, so that my muffin bottoms don't get scorched.) And with the silicone, they don't stick to the inside, so no oil is needed either.
Anyway, how wholesome is home-made, goodness? Better than "grandma" used to make? No, but great anyway. Home ground whole-wheat flour, rolled oats, a little bit of raw sugar, some baking powder, chocolate chunks, cocoa powder, dash of salt, ground flax seeds, apple sauce, vanilla, and some water to make it into a batter. Spoon into cups, bake for 28 minutes, and perfection! Yummy VEGAN, low-fat muffins that nobody would guess were vegan, or low fat. Absolutely delectable. Oh, and no added flavor enhancers!
I sometimes make these "dessert" muffins to take to pot-luck lunches. Mainly because so many people love chocolate, they always go over well.
I think I use about $2 worth of ingredients, and come out with 24 muffins. Can't beat the price of home made.
Simple and frugal creations, able to be grabbed from the kitchen by the kids, my wife and me. All love them, and they come in individual serving size. I love the silicone baking pans that I've been using to bake them. The muffins come right out of the little cups, and they are much easier to clean than the old metal pans. (I use the metal pans to hold the silicone pans, and they insulate them perfectly, so that my muffin bottoms don't get scorched.) And with the silicone, they don't stick to the inside, so no oil is needed either.
Anyway, how wholesome is home-made, goodness? Better than "grandma" used to make? No, but great anyway. Home ground whole-wheat flour, rolled oats, a little bit of raw sugar, some baking powder, chocolate chunks, cocoa powder, dash of salt, ground flax seeds, apple sauce, vanilla, and some water to make it into a batter. Spoon into cups, bake for 28 minutes, and perfection! Yummy VEGAN, low-fat muffins that nobody would guess were vegan, or low fat. Absolutely delectable. Oh, and no added flavor enhancers!
I sometimes make these "dessert" muffins to take to pot-luck lunches. Mainly because so many people love chocolate, they always go over well.
I think I use about $2 worth of ingredients, and come out with 24 muffins. Can't beat the price of home made.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Weekend Wrundown
Pardon the horrible title but I thought it was a bit cute.
Anyway, Mary and I had a slow-ish weekend. She is grading exam papers from her class, and studying for her own exams. I've been knocking about, doing the small odd jobs and little things around the house that needed doing.
Mary had a few of her coworkers ask her about being vegan and sweets. They are under the impression that Mary can't eat sweets, because nobody in the whole world knows how to make things without eggs, milk, and butter. WRONG! Mary asked me to make some of my vegan brownies to "show off" a bit. I did that, and I made a double batch of vegan fudge to go with her also. If they don't like the brownies (I'm sure they will though) they will LOVE the fudge.
I'll hear back on the treats tomorrow.
Laundry was done. Dishes washed. Kitchen tidied up. Firewood brought in. Kindling chopped. Groceries purchased. Carrots chopped into sticks. Bell peppers hacked into bite sized pieces. Hummus made. Soup for dinner last night - Mary wanted something with mushrooms and onions, so I whipped up a delicious soup for us. Dinner tonight was Spicy Mongolian Noodles.
For dessert, we enjoyed half of a freshly picked Florida orange.
Overall, a very relaxing weekend.
Anyway, Mary and I had a slow-ish weekend. She is grading exam papers from her class, and studying for her own exams. I've been knocking about, doing the small odd jobs and little things around the house that needed doing.
Mary had a few of her coworkers ask her about being vegan and sweets. They are under the impression that Mary can't eat sweets, because nobody in the whole world knows how to make things without eggs, milk, and butter. WRONG! Mary asked me to make some of my vegan brownies to "show off" a bit. I did that, and I made a double batch of vegan fudge to go with her also. If they don't like the brownies (I'm sure they will though) they will LOVE the fudge.
I'll hear back on the treats tomorrow.
Laundry was done. Dishes washed. Kitchen tidied up. Firewood brought in. Kindling chopped. Groceries purchased. Carrots chopped into sticks. Bell peppers hacked into bite sized pieces. Hummus made. Soup for dinner last night - Mary wanted something with mushrooms and onions, so I whipped up a delicious soup for us. Dinner tonight was Spicy Mongolian Noodles.
For dessert, we enjoyed half of a freshly picked Florida orange.
Overall, a very relaxing weekend.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Long weekend
One of the joys of life is living it. Taking the time to just settle in, pick up a good book and enjoy. This is what I've done today. Keeping it simple.
This week has also been a time of rest, relaxation and healing. Recharging mental batteries so to speak.
Mary and I had a quiet Thanksgiving day. She spent the day curled up reading, and I made several delicious vegan dishes. I made dressing balls, mashed potatoes and gravy, baked sweet potatoes with pineapple and cloves and just a hint of brown sugar, green bean casserole, butternut squash, acorn squash, and vegan brownies for dessert. Ok, so some of those things weren't around for the original Thanksgiving meal, but it was plenty to fill our plates (and our bellies.) And no, I didn't miss the fake turkey this year. It simply wasn't needed. We ate well, and were satisfied. And we are still eating the leftovers!
I got my stitches out yesterday, and the doctor said I was a very fast healer. Yeah! That really comes in handy for someone who has fast and powerful reflexes like mine!
I built Kit T Kat a cat tree on Friday. It has 4 levels, and is carpeted in a dark green to go with our current furniture color scheme. It also has sisal rope wound around 2 of the legs for Kit to scratch her nails on. There was some wood that wasn't covered by the carpeting, so Mary and I glued (and tacked) some of the rope down in those spots to cover the wood. Very nice effect. You can just see the top of the cat tree in the lower left-hand side of the picture.
Today I built 4 Cat-shelves, and covered them in carpet also. I hung 3 of them on the wall using banister mounting hardware. The fourth will get mounted later. I found the idea on the internet. The trouble is, our cat hasn't figured out how cool these things are yet. Give her time. I may make enough of these shelves for the cat to get all around the living room. They are pretty easy to make. Our house is on it's way to being extremely cat accessible! (Mary has been having good fun watching me work to build things for the cat... Laughs and says that I amuse her. Whatever could she mean? Me!?! Amusing? Bah!)
Mary said I may get another kitten to play on the cat toys and be a playmate for Kit. I'm not sure about that one... I may get another kitty for Kit to play with in the spring. If so, it will be a cat, not a kitten. Preferably a cat that is at the shelter and needs adopting. I'm not sure I want to deal with the kitten stage of training.
The best thing about these projects is that I built them out of scrap wood, and only had to find the carpet, rope, and banister hangers to make them. I also used screws and staples I had on hand. So I really saved money. Frugality rocks. I checked the prices of the cat trees online, and found ones comparable to the one I built selling for over $150 US. Wow. And the cat shelves? $34 US a piece online. I love being handy with tools.
Here is a picture of the house sign that I built several weeks ago, and finally uploaded so that I could post the picture. Ok, so this picture was in the camera with these others... but anyway, here it is.
You can click on the images for a larger closeup of these photos.
This week has also been a time of rest, relaxation and healing. Recharging mental batteries so to speak.
Mary and I had a quiet Thanksgiving day. She spent the day curled up reading, and I made several delicious vegan dishes. I made dressing balls, mashed potatoes and gravy, baked sweet potatoes with pineapple and cloves and just a hint of brown sugar, green bean casserole, butternut squash, acorn squash, and vegan brownies for dessert. Ok, so some of those things weren't around for the original Thanksgiving meal, but it was plenty to fill our plates (and our bellies.) And no, I didn't miss the fake turkey this year. It simply wasn't needed. We ate well, and were satisfied. And we are still eating the leftovers!
I got my stitches out yesterday, and the doctor said I was a very fast healer. Yeah! That really comes in handy for someone who has fast and powerful reflexes like mine!
I built Kit T Kat a cat tree on Friday. It has 4 levels, and is carpeted in a dark green to go with our current furniture color scheme. It also has sisal rope wound around 2 of the legs for Kit to scratch her nails on. There was some wood that wasn't covered by the carpeting, so Mary and I glued (and tacked) some of the rope down in those spots to cover the wood. Very nice effect. You can just see the top of the cat tree in the lower left-hand side of the picture.
Today I built 4 Cat-shelves, and covered them in carpet also. I hung 3 of them on the wall using banister mounting hardware. The fourth will get mounted later. I found the idea on the internet. The trouble is, our cat hasn't figured out how cool these things are yet. Give her time. I may make enough of these shelves for the cat to get all around the living room. They are pretty easy to make. Our house is on it's way to being extremely cat accessible! (Mary has been having good fun watching me work to build things for the cat... Laughs and says that I amuse her. Whatever could she mean? Me!?! Amusing? Bah!)Mary said I may get another kitten to play on the cat toys and be a playmate for Kit. I'm not sure about that one... I may get another kitty for Kit to play with in the spring. If so, it will be a cat, not a kitten. Preferably a cat that is at the shelter and needs adopting. I'm not sure I want to deal with the kitten stage of training.
The best thing about these projects is that I built them out of scrap wood, and only had to find the carpet, rope, and banister hangers to make them. I also used screws and staples I had on hand. So I really saved money. Frugality rocks. I checked the prices of the cat trees online, and found ones comparable to the one I built selling for over $150 US. Wow. And the cat shelves? $34 US a piece online. I love being handy with tools.
Here is a picture of the house sign that I built several weeks ago, and finally uploaded so that I could post the picture. Ok, so this picture was in the camera with these others... but anyway, here it is.
You can click on the images for a larger closeup of these photos.
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