Its been a long time, we shouldn't have left you without a dope beet to step to...

6 years later-better late than never.  I decided to start this blog up again. Lots of things have changed.  I met an awesome man, we had a daughter and she is our world. Now, as a mother I want to give this blog another go and include foods for babies and kids.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Happy Halloween

A little bit of this and little bit of that

This meal was a combination of various things in the refrigerator.  It consisted of leftover pasta and sauce, chopped vegan "soyage", and shredded brussels sprouts.  I realize that photographing food and plating it nicely is a skill and this plate looks like a mess but this is exactly what my plate looked like when I ate it.  I just wanted a no fuss meal.  

Hurricane Sandy

This Hurricane has been predicted to be terrible so preparing is essential.  Having adequate water, food, and first aid supplies is critical.   Yesterday I started preparing food in the event of a power outage. So far I made a lentil and vegetable soup, pasta salad, spinach dip, and a carrot cake.  I just want to make sure I have food that could be eaten without a lot of fuss.  If we lose power I can heat up the soup in a chafing dish with sterno.  I almost forgot to mention that I made peanut butter in the blender and 2 loves of honey oatmeal bread.

I made this in a pressure cooker so it was done in 30 minutes.  I sautéed  onion, celery, garlic and tomato in olive oil then added the dried lentils (washed and picked through),  and vegetable stock.  When the beans are tender add butternut squash, zucchini, potato and carrot.

Since I love to bake and all of the stores in this area were out of bread I just made 2 loves of this bread.  This recipe is from the Kitchen Aid mixer cookbook.

Simple pasta salad with a remoulade dressing green peas, carrots, red bell pepper capers, and dry seasoning

Classic carrot cake

A bag of peanuts in the blender = peanut butter

The storm is getting stronger now  and rain fall is steady

Squinting in the rain. After he handled his business he was running in the rain to get back to the house

Restaurant Spotlight: Noodi Thai Chef

I went to a small Thai restaurant in Media Pennsylvania called Noodi Thai Chef and had a great vegetarian dish called Mee Goreng.  The dish was made with tofu, broccoli, carrots, baby corn and covered in a very tasty brown sauce.   I would definitely order this dish again and recommend this restaurant.  They have a great selection of vegetarian options and are aware of avoiding fish sauce, oyster sauce and eggs in their vegetarian and vegan dishes.  

Rice and Beans with Mustard Greens and Plantain

I love mustard greens and could probably eat an entire pot.  I made this dish because I found some really great looking greens at the local market. I simply sautéed onion and added the washed and chopped mustard greens.  Served with rice and beans this is a great combination.   Plantain on the side really makes this a tasty dish.

Chocolate Cupcakes with chocolate frosting

I used a recipe for cupcakes from The New Best Recipe cookbook which is from the editors of one of my favorite magazines ( Cook's Illustrated).  The recipe is for yellow cupcakes and uses sour cream making a very rich cake.  I decided to frost with store bought chocolate frosting which happens to be vegan and decorate with sprinkles.  I was very happy with the results and I make these cupcake all of the time.