Soups on!

It is still soup season in our neck of the woods. My cream of tomato soup and a tuna free sandwich from Vegan Planet. The kids loved this version of a no tuna sandwich! This recipe called for half a cup of blanched almonds that gave it a bit of a crunch that my honey loved. Okay, so it probably wouldn't fool anybody but, it did freakishly remind me of my high school days. I had my first babe in high school, and well, making lunch before school as I tried to get us both out the door was often not a goal I met. Luckily, my best friend's mom would pack her two sandwiches a day, and she was very willing to share. Often one would be a tuna sandwich and that would be the one I got. I hadn't thought about that in years. Funny how certain foods can invoke long-lost memories. I really wish I had written down this recipe! A "somewhat" cream of potato soup. I say somewhat because all I had was rice milk in the cupboard and, as you may very well know, it is not exactly creamy. Those are little bits of fake bacon on top w/ a dollop of vegan sour cream. I happen to LOVE this soup. The little ones not so much. I had the nerve not to puree the onion, garlic, carrots and celery for a change and that just didn't go over - AGAIN! Isn't there some magical number of times kids have to be exposed to food before they start to like it? From the ever popular Don't Eat of the Sidewalk blog the Tempeh Wingz. I truly can't get enough of these! If you haven't tried them yet, you really should! I happen to like tempeh a lot. I just haven't found any way to prepare it that my family likes too. Okay, so the kids don't gobble these up like I do, but they tried it and liked it. On the side are some spicy yam fries. The kids love these and it is a way easier and healthy alternative than the gooey brown sugar and butter method.

Spicy yam fries.
Pre heat oven @ 425
Coat yams in a couple of table spoons olive oil in a bag (I use an old bread bag)
In another bag add seasonings
add1 tbl flour
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp salt
add yams and shake to coat
Bake for 30- 40 min.

Ohh baby, left overs are so good on a bun w/ all the fixings! Go make it now!

A non food post..

But, a post none the less, eh?

I have every intention of coming back to the blog world real soon.. I do miss all of my blog buddies dearly!

I thought I would share this video of my sons dance performance last week it was for a celebration for Elizabeth Peratrovich Day. I copied some info about her below.

He is the fidgety one in the front - the one who runs in the beginning of the video after his solo and costume change.


Elizabeth Peratrovich: Speaking out for civil rights
By FATHER MICHAEL OLEKSA FOR THE JUNEAU EMPIRE

In 1945 in Alaska, citizens could address the state Senate. The public was allowed to speak from the gallery, and Native civil rights activists Roy and Elizabeth Peratrovich were in attendance daily during the floor debate.

From the official Senate Record:

Sen. Frank Whaley: " I am also against the Equal Rights bill. I personally would prefer not to have to sit next to these Natives in a theater. Why, they smell bad. . . ."

Sen. O.D. Cochran: " I am personally assailed by Senator Whaley's remarks. I stand in support of the Equal Rights Bill. Discrimination does exist. . . ."

r Sen. Allen Shattuck: " This legislation is wrong. Rather than being brought together, the races should be kept further apart. Who are these people, barely out of savagery, who want to associate with us whites, with 5,000 years of recorded civilization behind us?"

Elizabeth Peratrovich: " I would not have expected that I, who am barely out of savagery, would have to remind the gentlemen with 5,000 years of recorded civilization behind them of our Bill of Rights. When my husband and I came to Juneau and sought a home in a nice neighborhood where our children could play happily with our neighbor's children, we found such a house and arranged to lease it. When the owners learned that we were Indians, they said no. Would we be compelled to live in the slums?"

(There was a silence in the hall.)

Sen. Shattuck: " Will this law eliminate discrimination?"

Elizabeth Peratrovich: " Do your laws against larceny, rape and murder prevent those crimes? No law will eliminate crimes, but at least you, as legislators, can assert to the world that you recognize the evil of the present situation and speak of your intent to help us overcome discrimination. There are three kinds of persons who practice discrimination: First, the politician who wants to maintain an inferior minority group so that he can always promise them something; second, the " Mr. and Mrs. Jones" who aren't quite sure of their social position, and who are nice to you on one occasion and can't see you on others, depending on whom they are with; and third, the great superman, who believes in the superiority of the white race. This super race attitude is wrong and forces our fine Native people to be associated with less than desirable circumstances."

(Applause from the gallery and from the Senate floor.)

The following afternoon's newspaper reported Elizabeth Peratrovich " Climaxed the hearing with a biting condemnation of the " super race' attitude. It was the neatest performance of any witness to yet appear before this session, and there were a few red senatorial ears as she regally left the chamber."

On Feb. 8, 1945, the Senate voted 11-5 in favor of the bill, and Gov. Ernest Gruening signed it into law Feb. 16. It was the first anti-discrimination law in the nation.
Years afterward, Gruening said that without Elizabeth Peratrovich's eloquent testimony the measure would not have passed.

Excerpted from " Haa Kusteeyi: Our Culture: Tlingit Life Stories," edited by Nora Marks Dauenhauer and Richard Dauenhauer. The text above was written by Father Michael Oleksa.

More non foodness... Meet our new hairless kitty Mystic. She is two years old. She came to us the day after Christmas and is a real joy to have around.



I promise to come back and blog.. Thanks for stopping by.

Great Vegan Eats

Hello blog land.. I would love to be a more regular poster.. but, I don't think that will ever happen.. I was downloading my pictures thinking holly cow, I have a lot. Here are some highlights from the past couple of weeks.From Eat, Drink and Be Vegan the polenta casserole. The top pic is the casserole straight out of the oven the bottom is it in all its steamy glory.. Emma and Daddy REALLY liked this one, funny Eli usually devours any thing w/ beans but, he really didn't care for this one. The recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups beans of your choice - I used a can of kidney and some left over black beans. Next, we have an action eating photo.. I had tried the most of the seitan variations in LaDolce Vegan and loved them! This is the first time I have tried the turkey.. darn good eats!

Black bean burgers and roasted butternut squash w/ coriander seeds - both from V-con. I had bought a squash thinking I was going to make it at Thanksgiving but, it never happened. Mind you my kids love the whole maple syrup/brown sugar method of cooking squash. The didn't not like this one. The burgers where a hit though.

Chickpea-quinoa pilaf from V-con.. Darn quick, darn good, chalk full of protein goodness! If you are looking for a good vegan potluck dish this one would do!
Ahh, I had some close ups of the soup but, went with this one. I just love Eli's face in the steam!This is something we eat a lot! Cindy o's "chicken" and rice soup for the soul from La Dolce Vegan. I always throw in whatever frozen veggies we have in the freezer. It is so easy and has a wonderful flavor. What I like most is the little seitan bits cook right in the soup - genius!Pumpkin waffles from Vegan w/a vengeance with some vegan sausage and the most perfect ready to eat pears I do believe I have eaten in my whole life! I have said it before here in Alaska our produce is often not like what you can get else where! So these pears where a real treat! Yes, this was a dinner one night. Little miss Emma had mentioned the pumpkin waffles one day and I flat could not get them off my mind! They really are more of dinner food! They are extremely dense and filling. My take on the sweet potato curry from Vegan family favorites. I added lime leaves, lemon grass, green beans and chick peas served on a bed of brown rice... This is another ol' standby in our house.
Oops how did this get here?
Daddy was out of town and cruising through the store I saw these on sale none the less. VEGAN ORGANIC KIDDIE T.V. dinners. How cool is that? Funny thing was I had to explain to Eli and Emma what T.V. dinners are. No, they didn't get to eat it while watching T.V. but, it was a big hit none the less! I didn't think it was really enough dinner for a 5 and 6 year old so I made a big salad w/ beans. Yup, they gobbled up their dinner and salad before they got the coveted apple crisp. We have come a long way from the hungry man meals or chicken pot pies of my youth. Thank goodness! The sad thing is though I think they were on sale because they were discontinuing them. I rarely look at the convenient frozen food (besides the Amy's cheese less pizza) because so much of it might be vegetarian but contain hidden dairy.

last but, not least..

I must be the very last blogger to post Thanksgiving one week and a couple days late.. hummm... My Beautiful Mom came w/ her Beautiful Mom..(my Granny, my kids Great Granny).. what a joy to have four generations at our table... That is what Thanksgiving is all about.. is it not? Good times were had by all! I hope everyone out there had a great day too! Here is my Thanksgiving plate mostly thanks to the The Real Food Daily cookbook. Wow, it was a lot of work and prep but, worth the effort. I made the corn sage stuffing. Be warned it says it serves eight, I think they meant 8 starving football players because man o live I could not lift that pan w/ one hand if I tried! It was an obscene amount of stuffing. I also made the Mushroom gravy... The best gravy ever! a bit spendy w/ all of the mushrooms but, by far the best gravy I have ever made! And again it makes a BOAT LOAD! I used it for the green bean casserole which was by far the hit of the night! Again a heck of a lot of work(making the gravy and frying two large onions)- no cans of funky onions or salty soup was opened in the process! ohhhh VEGAN GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE.. (makes my mouth water just writing about it!!!) I would say that recipes needs to be doubled to keep everyone happy (everything but the fried onions there seemed to be plenty for the topping). I also made the faux Turkey breasts from the same book. Very good! I don't know if I would make those again though. I really liked last years Tofurky from How it all Vegan.. It was just so easy and the right amount.. Just for me!

Not pictured is my ol' standbytofu pumpkin pie.. from vegweb .. everybody still loves this (I have been making this for years).. This year we had some very omni guest this year who even asked for that recipe.. claiming it is the best pumpkin pie they have ever had!!! I always use extra firm silken tofu and 3 tbs cornstarch... mix everything in the blender and Viola! Easy as pie!
From ED&BV the white bean and Rosemary soup... ummm... I thought the recipe looked very flippen kid friendly but, my kids did not like it! maybe too many fresh herbs? rather then dried? I just don't know, I am sure I will try it again on them both.. . Little Ms. Emma thought it tasted better w/ cheese flakes (nutritional yeast flakes) I thought it was very good and ohhhh so creamy!
ohhh the mac daddy from v-con! (isn't it funny how there have been just waves of the same recipes in the blog world from the same new books?) The kids LOVED this too no end! they had two servings and little Eli BEGGED me to put in his lunch for the next day! Me and honey personally like my cheese sauce a tad better.. Funny thing is there is very little difference. Evidently a difference enough though!... I think next time I will do my sauce w/ the crumbled bit of tofu! that seemed to add a bit of moisture my baked mac and cheese was missing. ..

This was a quickie dinner.. I was shopping at our Safeway and noticed this sauce was half off.. Okay, I never have any vodka laying around and have heard really good things about a vodka pasta sauce... (oh by the way this was one was accidentally vegan). I was very curious. .. and well, normally this bottle of pasta sauce was ten bucks! ahhh ya.. For that price it should be flipping fab huh? even at five bucks it seems to me to quite a stretch! Because, even Safeway has an organic pasta sauce for $ 3 .50... any hoo I bought it.. Eli had a Dr. apt. after school leaving me very little time to come home and make a fab dinner and it seemed like the perfect time to try this over price sauce... verdict? A big fat ehh... Nothing to write home about about! Thank goodness I was not one of the suckers who paid ten flippen dollars for it! I added some silk creamer to it as suggested on the bottle.. but it was still jarred sauce... oh well... evidently I need me some vodka around the house to make my own sauce...!

v-con and ED&BV LOVE! and a very personal sidenote!

I first want to start w/ my very best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! no matter how you choose to celebrate! Over the last couple of weeks here is what I have been cooking from my new cookbooks.....

V-Con leek and bean cassolet w/ biscuits..
Love these biscuits!.. This totally smelled good in the oven!!!

V-con...Chickpea cutlets.. OHH baby.. too bad I made mine a bit too thin then baked the heck out of them.. they ended up being more like crackers... Total operator error.. I will be trying these again!! Sweet potato mash and a garden salad on the side.

The ever so crumbly ED & BV chickpea sensation patties w/ popcorn fries. Ohhhh everyone LOVED those fries!! man o man! I had some better photos but, thought this one was cute w/ the book there and all.ohhh MYYY again... The chickpea sensation patties made a mighty fine leftover lunch! especially w/ homemade bread
I made some beefy seitan then added some left over bbq sauce and on the side....ED&BV Lemon garlic pasta... The funny thing about these noodles is little Ms. Emma really didn't care for them.. She begs me to buy lemons so she can suck on them or make "lemon water" regularly.. but, to hers I ended up adding a splash of Old Bay seasoning and then she ate them.. Would I make them again? oh heck yea w/ some Old Bay seasoning and soy creamer (life is always better w/ soy creamer, is it not?)

ON a very serious note....

Last year my Mom was diagnosed w/ breast cancer the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. .. I will never forget that call. I had that night's dinner going... and Thanksgiving dinner going too. I had started the tofu pumpkin pie, I had my wild rice cooking on the stove.. It was about 3:00 pm.. when Mom called. She really couldn't say anything but, it was confirmed it was breast cancer. She hung up and all of the sudden I was completely and utterly paralyzed. I remember calling my hubby.. telling him the news, sobbing.. telling him I had a plan for the night, that I had started prepping this and that...but, I could not seem to remember a bit of it. Stuff was cooking and I could not seem to remember where I was, or what I was doing. Honey came right home to help/ comfort me and reassure me everything was going to be okay. The absolute hardest part was I was 900+ miles away.. That I could not be with her. That was torture! I wanted so desperately for her not to be alone that night (her honey was out of town). I called her BFF and she assured me that she was on her way to stay the night w/ my Mom (YEA! MARYELLEN!). The next day I had my first parent teacher conference w/ my son Eli's then kindergarten teacher. My oldest was in town for the holidays and stayed home w/ the little ones. I only remember braking down in the car on the way .. crying... yelling screaming all the way there.. Once there, I couldn't tell you one thing that the dear teacher said. Later that night my mom arrived for Thanksgiving.. Logically I knew she would be fine, emotionally I couldn't stand the thought of her suffering emotionally.. Why would I tell ya all about this?

-One, my Mom almost skipped her yearly mammogram last year. It was inconvenient, It was time consuming, and she thought like every year they wouldn't find anything anyway. Moral of the story girls - they did find something! SOOO girls go get your mammograms! Please don't put it off...They truly does saves lives!

-Two it leads me to this..

(I hear your collective ahhhhh... isn't it cute?)In honor of my Mom's one year anniversary.... My new tattoo. It is on my wrist, if ya can't tell from the photo. It is kind of hard to see but that is supposed to be a breast cancer pink ribbon behind my MOM tat... I had gone up to Anchorage to celebrate my daughter's 18th birthday. Her idea was to go get tattoos. It became a family affair as my two oldest kids, my bff Kari and I all got tattoos.

-Three, while I was there I got to meet Ms. Dabbleswithapples!( yea me! I have been some what jealous of ya all being able to meet up! in my neck of the woods it just seem to be impossible!), Ms. Monica is just as charismatic as she is so flipping cute! Me, I'm a bit shy and reserved, and meeting new people has never been one of my strong points.. I kinda felt like a nerdy Jr. high boy w/ braces and glasses and a bad hair cut .. at his first dance. I was thrilled to meet her none the less! She is a veggie superstar!

Happy Thanksgiving again.. I look forward to reading all of ya'alls post! I have had quite a time making my vegan thanksgiving thus far! stay tuned .. it should be fabulous!

Coca-coconut chili w/ kinda corny muffins.

Well, I did it! I got my Eat Drink & Be Vegan cookbook! After reading it from cover to cover, I found it a bit difficult to decide what to make first! So much goodness! One of my problems you see my little Eli is allergic to cashews- how sad huh? And well, Honey reacts to raw nuts. Funny thing is those recipes that call for cashews were just calling my name! Drats. Maybe it is time to make a huge pot o spaghetti so the boys could have left overs and Emma and I could enjoy some cashew goodness! I just dread making two dinners, this way everybody is happy..

Anyhoo

I thought I would try the Coca-Coconut Chili first w/ the kinda corny muffins. I have tried MANY different chili recipes on the little ones - they just are not chili fans. Emma gave this one a sideways thumb- i.e. not a thumbs up but, not a thumbs down either. Both kids ate their dinner all gone though.. w/a little coaxing. It was good, just a tad different. I didn't add the whole amount of coca powder it called for- maybe it was the brand I used it seemed a bit overpowering. Who ever would have thought to add a can of coconut milk and shredded coconut to chili?

The muffins were awesome! I haven't done much wheat-free cooking and was surprised how good they turned out.

A couple of days later I recycled the chili into a hamburger helper kinda of the dish (dare, I use that term here?). I boiled up some macaroni -drained and in the same pot made some nutritional cheese sauce. I mixed half the sauce w/ the cooked noodles added the chili and topped it off w/ more cheese sauce. Now that was a hit w/ the kids!

Stay tuned for more ED&BV goodness to come! ohh and I got my veganomicon cookbook over the weekend.. If a need me I will be on the couch reading my new cookbooks.

Some of our family’s favorites

Awhile back I had a hankering for some tomato soup. Well, in the name of blogging I tried a new recipe from the 125 Best Vegan Recipes cookbook. All though, it wasn't bad I really should have just made everyone in our house all time favorite cream of tomato soup.

That's okay, we all ate our soup and quesadilla then the next night I recycled the left over soup into a pasta bake.. This went over much better! Topped w/ veganrella and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast flakes..

From my last post I did it again, I made the Lunch box roast beef and like I said I should have done the first time, this time I did make two.. One for honey to grill and one so the kids could take some yummy sandwiches to school. Like Ms. Megan said -it is a time investment to make.

So really making two roast is the way to go!

Well, I have sense learned that if I do make this again it will be only for my family. I am MSG/nitrate/ sulfate sensitive and evidently it was the marmite which is yeast extract sent me off to migraine land. I was clearly in denial hoping it wouldn't get me. The first time we ate it I wanted to believe that my migraine was hormonal but, after eating it again it is confirmed.. It was the seitan pot roast.. bummer because it re ally is good. I was trying to come up w/ some sort of replacement for the marmite, does anyone have any suggestions? I might try using the vegan worcesterchire sauce? or just leave it out and see what happens.

Honey giving the grilled seitan roast beef a thumbs up..

Behold the grilled beauty! We served them hamburger style on buns w/ all the fixins.

Again from the Vegan Lunch Box the triple chocolate cupcakes. I made them as only double chocolate- I left out the icing part. That way one, they travel better and two this recipe makes 24 so I could freeze some of them.

I am not much of a baker unless I have too. And well, the kids were invited to a birthday party, so I had too. This recipe intrigued me because there were no egg substitutes required- no soy yogurt, flax seeds, egg-replacer nothing. There is also nothing nutritionally redeeming about them either.

One thing I learned- I should not try and cook all of the cup cakes at the same time. Evidently my oven has hot spots and some of the cupcakes got a bit too toasty. Very good moist vegan chocolaty goodness!

On one of the days Daddy was out of town I made the kids and my favorite alphabet soup..From the Vegetarian family cookbook. Heck after all that seitan I was ready for some veggies! I was out of the little alphabet noodles and replaced them w/ some animal shaped + spiral rice noodles.. all was well.

After readings SaraJanes post about her Vegan "Chicken" and Dumplings I had had another hankering. After the whole tomato soup thing I didn't try hers (which don't get me wrong looks fantastic! I didn't have the soy cream or even plain soy milk). Our family's favorite comes from the well, the cookbook Vegan Family Favorites (ironic?). It is so easy and so good. This time I added some frozen 'chicken' tofu, onion, garlic, corn and instead of veggie broth I used water w/ no chicken flavored cubes. Perfect! The kids have never had real chicken and dumplings so, when Emma asked what we were having for dinner I told her using my exaggerated quote fingers "chicken" and dumplings to which she replied ohhh you mean dumpling soup Yum!Notice the fine silverware setting? Eli and Emma came up w/ a new game to play this weekend. When they set the table they set all six places when we only need four.. See that way we can play sit anywhere you want night. Evidently we should be wild and crazy once in awhile and not just sit in our normal spots ALL the time!