Happy New Year!

I hope everyone hans a fun/SAFE night tonight!

I've already got plans to head over to Cara's house and not leave until tomorrow. I'll be good haha :)

Food post coming soon!


Teddy

Christmas with the family's

This is the first year that Richard and I have attended each others' holiday events. The whole experience was exciting and it left us both a little exhausted.

Richard's family's Christmas tree

They have two new little ones this year.




Richard's sisters and her new son Landon :)

My family event!

Richards NEW blanket (his favorite color is brown)

Someone had to test the new blanket and Patches was brave enough to do it.

After all of that driving and smiling, we came home and passed out.

Needless to say we're both still recovering a bit. I'm glad this week is another 3 day weekend. Hopefully we'll get some rest this time

Happy Almost New Year!!

Teddy

Vegetarian Christmas

We had a feast over the weekend.

Stuffed tomatoes

John made tofu and veggies in a peanut ginger sauce

Smashed new/red potatoes with rosemary, garlic and leeks.

Fruit strudel from Edwins European Bakery in San Diego

Steamed green beans with sauteed mushrooms.

What did you have for a holiday feast?

Teddy

Happy Holidays!

(our tree- it's not a great shot but it's the onle one I've got)

We're traveling a bit for the holidays and I just wanted to wish everyone the best while we're gone! Today starts the feasting and I'll be sure to take pictures :)

See you soon

Teddy

Xmas Cupcakes

Since today is the last day I'll be visiting with my coworkers until after christmas, I thought it would be fun to bring in some holiday cupcakes.




They're nothing really fancy- just a chocolate cupcake with a buttercream frosting colored green and a red hot on top.

I just hope people like them!

Have a happy FRIDAY! (woohoo)


Teddy

Happy Birthday Richard!!

I deciced on a cookies and cream cake. I let Richard try some of the frosting and he LOVED it. I think it was a good choice.

This was the cake before I decided to jazz it up with some extra cookies.

Tonight we're going out to dinner and opening presents. I hope he has a GREAT bday :)

Teddy

Birthday Cake

Tomorrow is Richard's 24th birthday!




I'm going to make a cake tonight. I was thinking of making him one of the recipe from Vegan Cupcake Take Over The World.

Which one do you think would make the best cake??

Teddy

Mother's Family Veg Night

I know I haven't posted about family veg night in a while but it's still going strong. There's been a lot of take out because it's the holidays and we haven't had much time to cook.
This week we had Mother's Kitchen

Greek salad

Quesadilla with grilled veggies on the inside.

Hope you're having a good weekend!

What are some easy quick recipes you use (I'd like to try some new ones out)?

Teddy

Chai Cupcakes

Richard just took his last final!

How did I celebrate? I made my first batch of 'Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World" cupcakes. I choose the Chai Latte recipe with the buttercream frosting (I added a little nutmeg to it too).

Richard isn't home yet and doesn't know I made him a treat; I can't wait till he gets here! Wish him luck on the test :)


Happy holidays

Teddy

Merry Cat-mas :)

Patches' new favorite place is among the water bottles

Abby likes to cuddle up on our nicely wrapped presents.

It's been a frenzy here. Not only is there holiday shopping to be done but also Richard's birthday is next week AND it's finals. You can bet that next week I'll be making a bunch of cupcakes! Until then, I'll be running around with errands (I didn't get home last night till about 10PM!)

Hope you're all enjoying the holidays :)

What do you think is a festive cupcake to make? I want to give them out with my presents.

Teddy

Peppermint and Cherry Bark

I had a sweet tooth this weekend and I wanted to make a festive treat.
I made Peppermint bark and Cherry bark. This recipe is extremely easy/fool proof. The most difficult part is now munching all of it at once!

Just melt about 1/2 a cup of vegan chocolate on a double boiler.
Crush up 1 candy cane (I used our mortar and pestle but you can put the cane into a plastic bag and mash it with a rolling pin).
Throw in half of the crumbles while the chocolate is still melting.
Pour the melted mixture into a wax paper lined pan
Sprinkle the remaining crushed cane on top.
Let cool in the fridge for about 30-45 mins (if you're in a hurry you can throw it in the freezer)

What is your favorite easy sweet recipe?

Well it is definitely a Monday here! Hope your day is a good one


Teddy

Crustless Curry Quiches

Okay they're not too much curry in it AT all. I just wanted to give a little flavor but it's such a cute name!




I modified my recipe from Susan's blog (which she got from Kaji's Mom) because I didn't have all the ingredients. Here's what I used


olive oil spray
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 yellow onion
1/4 cup frozen spinach

1 12.3-ounce package silken Tofu, drained of water
1/4 cup plain soymilk
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon curry paste


I followed Susan's directions and they turned out well. I am missing the flakey crust a little but the ease of the recipe more than makes up for that.

Any ideas on what other things I can put in these adorable quiches? I'd like to try a potato and leek version next time (maybe?).

Sweets coming up!

Teddy

Beets

A couple of days ago I had a very odd craving- BEETS. This is odd for me because I don't recall ever eating beets as a kid, I think I've had them less than 5 times in my entire life actually.

Needless to say, I went to the market and got beets with their greens still attached.

My creation

I ended up making garlicy beet greens over organic polenta with roasted beets on the side. It satisfied my craving and gave me a pink mouth at the same time!

How do you prepare beets?

Teddy

Mother's Kitchen 2

Richard's dinner



Richard ordered steamed greens with tempeh and udon noodles in a ginger sauce.





Now I wasn't the official consumer of this meal but I stole couple (or five) bites. The sauce is what makes this dish. It was slightly sweet and salty. My next favorite part of this dish was the tempeh. It tasted as if it was soaked in shitake mushroom which fit perfectly with the ginger sauce.

What made this dish over the top for me was that it came with the same salad I ordered on the side AND cornbread. Along with the cornbread was some wonderful blueberry preserves.

Here's the best part of all, I told my parents how much I enjoyed this meal and now they want to go here for a family veg night sometime soon!

You won't be seeing the last of me and Mother's Kitchen


Teddy

Mother's Kitchen

I've only ever been to Mother's Kitchen for breakfast. This was my first dinner experience at this cozy grocery store/restaurant. I'm not exaggerating when I say, every dish I tried was better than I had hoped.




I ordered a dinner salad with my meal. Usually a dinner salad consists of iceberg lettuce and a few strings of carrots. I was pleasantly surprised to see organic greens (NO ICEBERG) and sweet beets with carrots and a homemade vinaigrette.



I ordered the potato tacos with black beans, organic white rice and fresh salsa. First,
the portions were large and being American, the bigger the better (I love those leftovers)!




The potatoes inside the taco were creamy and had a dash of fresh herbs in them. When I order something and it comes with "fresh salsa" I expect the normal bland mush but this salsa had a mild kick to it. The tomatoes tasted fresh and sweet. The bits of cilantro and onion weren't overpowering- basically all the flavors blended together marvelously.

Finally, the rice and beans from this meal. When eating out most black beans order taste overwhelmingly salty (like canned), not the case here. It was apparent that these beans were made from dried beans and I enjoyed that they were slightly al dente. I am not sure what spices they added to flavor the organic rice but I enjoyed them.

It's probably apparent that I thoroughly enjoyed this meal- and I DID.

Just wait, you haven't even heard about Richard's dish :)


Teddy