Tuesday, January 30, 2007

My New Hero! Part 2 Eggplant Parmagiano Stew


Well tonight we had Eggplant Parmagiano Stew from the Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook. Very Tasty. I would make sure we had some baguette next time to sop up the broth next time we have it. I also used Louisiana style hot sauce instead of the cayenne that the recipe called for. We garnished it with my Vegan Topping, which can I say tastes amazingly like dried parmesan cheese. It's delicious! Mark accompanied his stew with leftover pizza from last night. I had a brainstorm while making the pizza & decided to add some sausage topping as well. I had some Yves Ground round with I sauteed with red wine, Italian seasoning and garlic powder (if I had some tomato paste I would have used a little as well). I was wonderful. It looks like sausage will be a new topping for our homemade pizzas!

Monday, January 29, 2007

My New Hero!

Joanne Stepaniak is my new hero. I got the Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook a couple of weeks ago. It is the most amazing book ever. So far I have made 2 awesome cheez spreads. This week we're having her Eggplant Parmagiano Stew. I am very excited about that...more will follow with my review of the recipe. I was so nervous when I gave up dairy about cheese. Not the sitting around eating cheese straight. But for the few times that I would use cheese it was essential to the recipe. So far the Follow Your Heart vegan cheeses & my new cookbook have really helped me to be less nervous about giving up cheese, because I don't have to give up pizza, etc. I just have to find a new way to make it. If you have the cookbook...I wholeheartedly recommend the Gee Whiz Spread and the Crock Cheez, they're delicious on some nice organic Crispy Wheats for a quick snack.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Yummy Enchilada Pie & Guacamole! Ole!

Sorry, no picture today. We were tired & hungry by the time I served dinner last night. It's hard to remember to take a picture when you've worked all day, come home & cooked up dinner & just want to get off your feet. ICK! Too bad we're not independently wealthy & unable to just hang out all the time rescuing dogs. Anyhoot...for dinner last night I made enchilada pie (I was feeling to lazy to roll up each enchilada) with Ive's ground round, black beans, kalamata olives, and vegan Monterey Jack cheese. They were very tasty. I served it with a green salad that had lots of cabbage in it...I love love love cabbage, poor Mark he is pretty lukewarm about cabbage. I also made my world famous guacamole as the dressing for our veggies. Lots of green onions, cilantro, yucky winter tomatoes, and pickled peppers. Dinner was very delicious & I am looking forward to my leftovers for lunch today.
No fancy dinner planned for tonight as I am working until 7:30 & Mark will be bowling ;-)
But tomorrow...homemade pizza. Does anyone have a good pizza sauce recipe? I use the Muir Glen pizza sauce which is delicious, but it is the only thing on my pizza that isn't homemade & I was thinking that perhaps it was time to start making my own.
Have a great Wednesday Hump day...remember it's all downhill after today.

Monday, January 15, 2007

Clarence


Boy...what can I say about Clarence. What can't I say? He is the reason that Mark & I changed our lives so much. He was found stuck in some bramble bushes as a puppy by a co-worker. We took him in, having just moved into our house. He is (we think) a shepherd akita mix. He is very dominant, very pack orientated & very food motivated. We had never had a dog outside of our parents dogs growing up. We did everything wrong with him. He was terrorizing us. I couldn't handle him by myself & was afraid of him because he was bigger than any dog I had contact with previously. We took him to obedience, which actually ended up being obedience for us, not the dog. (Not to get on my soapbox, but just like a child, when a dog it bad...look to the parents). The 3 of us worked so hard to be a family. Clarence wanted to be with us, he just wasn't sure if we could take care of him. We had to prove ourselves to him. Because of him, we started to examine our morals, our ideas. It wasn't ok for me to use my Pantene shampoo, because what made Clarence different from any other animal? It wasn't right for me to eat meat...who were we to say that we were better than those chickens I ate? He's also the reason we keep rescuing dogs.

That aside, Clarence is the best person I know. He's fair, dedicated, smart, loving, and a little cranky, which keeps him from being perfect & boring. He also has horrible leash aggression. But he is his mom's little man!

Pearl


Pearl came to us in August 2002 from Skagit Humane Society. We got her a few months after Clarence. When Pearl was a puppy she was so submissive and scared. She spent most of her time hiding under the couch. Pearl & I attended obedience classes together & they really helped her to come out of her shell. Now she is definitely the Queen of the house. She sleeps on me, sits on me, follows me around & bosses me around. She charms everyone who comes to our house. She is also the most mischievous person I have ever met. She lies to us all the time. But we love her. She should really have her own website & show...she's a diva!

Mia



We got Mia in January 2003. She was surrendered (got I hate that word...she didn't have a choice, some assholes decided they didn't want her) because they couldn't potty train her. Mark & I thought no problem, we already had Clarence & Pearl and they were fine. Well we learned a few things. #1 Shihtzu's are very stubborn. #2 Shihtzu's are incredibly hard to potty train (especially if they come from a dirty breeder). #3 Mia is smarter than us. So we learned to live with this little quirk of her's, put in ceramic tile & love our baby gate if we can't keep our eyes on her. She really is a great dog, has a great personality, loves Pearl to death, and loves to tell jokes. She's my baby if you can't tell....;-)

Buster


I just realized that I haven't introduced the Bumpus Hounds.

Here's Buster. He's aprox. 2 1/2 & is some sort of a terrier mix. We adopted him from the Skagit Humane Society in October 2005. He was found in someone's wood shed, so covered in mats he had grass growing in them. He was very skittish at first, but now he thinks he is the Prince of our house. As you can see he desperately needs a hair-cut, but it's so cold this winter that I'm not in love with the idea of taking him & Mia to the groomer yet.

Monday Night Flop


Well tonight I tried to do something a little different. I personally liked it, but Mark hated it. I made homemade vegan spaetzles...those were a hit of course, I mean who doesn't love little dough balls? I also made some seared tempeh & covered the 2 with a white wine sauce ( I also added some lemon juice, garlic, and capers). Mark felt it was too sour. I thought it was tasty, although it could have used more garlic. I also made kale for the 2nd time, sauteing it in balsamic vinegar. I like it. But Mark doesn't like that he has to chew it. I guess we won't be having Kale again. Mark is very weird about vegetables. He has a thing about textures. When I make stews & soups, I usually just puree the veggies in my Cuisinart so that he won't know how many veggies he's eating. Oh well, I get the leftovers...so I'm not complaining. What's on the menu for the rest of the week you ask? Well I'll probably make some enchiladas YUM! and possibly a pizza. Definitely some collard greens since I got some really pretty ones this week at work (the Co-op).
It's been so cold here lately, which I might add is completely un-PNW weather, that I made a huge pot of chili which we ate in about 4 days. But this cold is eating up my energy and making me feel sluggish. Hopefully it will end...but I see snow in the weather forecast again, so we'll see.
Last week I tried brussel sprouts. This was a vegetable that normally I would never even touch, but my friend Beau brought them for Thanksgiving & they were so good I thought I would try making them myself. We researched cooking techniques online. We were told to steam for 7-10 minutes with the bottoms scored. So I scored, put them in a pre-heated steamer...but they were so not done. So we popped them back in, but the rest of dinner was already done (tempeh piccata, gnocchi, and kale ;-) so we started eating & forgot about them. Let me tell you, overcooked or not...those dogs love brussel sprouts. It was funny because normally Clarence is really good at catching food mid-air. But the brussel sprouts just sprung from his mouth & rolled on the floor.
Whoo...that's a lot of information (needed or not) for right now. Ciao.

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

Why my dogs are vegan...

A search on the internet revealed this thougtfully worded blog.

Vegan dogs?...why? WHY would ANYONE turn their dog vegan? I don't want the bullshit "'cause I'm vegan and it's healthier uh-dur!" Well, no, you're diet isn't healthier, but that's another argument, and your dog is a carni (not a carnival folk, but a carnivore). Your dog will think you fail as a master...or whatever the fuck you want to be called. Seriously, all you vegan people are into leaving things as they are. Let the animals live as they like and blah blah blah, and yet you are, in fact, forcing eating habits on a dog! A dog which you shouldn't have as a pet anyway if you're a PETA follower. Yeah, if you follow PETA, you are advised not to keep ANY animal as a pet. 'Cause you know, that makes a shit load of sense doesn't it? Why don't we just let all our dogs and cats free to fend for their own out in a world in which they probably want nothing to do with. Wanna know what will happen to my dogs if I let them free? They'd come back home because I feed them and treat them kindly unlike the shitty outside world. Wanna know what they would do if I turned them vegan? They'd bite my fucking hand off, get outside somehow, and go kill a rabbit or two to get their fill of meat for the day. Know why? 'Cause they are NATURAL CARNIVORES. Though they would eat practically anything, they'd pick meat above all else. Vegan dogs...what a fucking joke.

My reponse to this well thought out debate ;-) was:

Why my dogs are vegan

Actually dogs are omnivores just like people. Now if you're talking cats...they are carnivores. But dogs in the wild tend to forage food more than hunt. Sorry. I have 4 vegan dogs & the reason is because I don't trust the US' meat source to provide a safe and healthy diet for my dogs. I mean if I won't eat it because it's unhealthy for me with all the diseases that factory farmed animals have, why should I feed it to my babies? And I won't give them fish, because feeding fish to anyone you love is practically poisoning them now a days with all the pollutants in our waters. So rant all you want, but there are a lot of reasons that someone would want their dog to be vegan. And dogs are not carnivores.

The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place


I stole the tile of this post from the album by Explosions In the Sky. My point is, with Mia on this planet, it can't be wholly god forsaken
-Mark

Leg, Buster, Foot

Breather

Wuv, sweet wuv

Monday, January 8, 2007

Mark give's his pizza Thumb's Up!


Yummy Pizza!













Today marks the first time I tried the vegan cheese we sell at our local co-op. I made pizzas for us. Mark who has always hated cheese, had a little of the mozzarella on his. His pizza (called the Mark) on the left has roasted eggplant, sun dried tomatoes, green peppers, mixed olives, and onion. My pizza on the right (called an Erin ;-) has roasted eggplant, sun dried tomatoes, capers, and mushrooms. I have to say I was impressed with the vegan cheese. It's not like I would ever eat it cold on a cracker, but melted on my pizza it was very nice. And thanks for the heads up from my friend who told me to make sure my toppings were on top of the cheese so it would melt.

Friday, January 5, 2007

Poor Meal Planning Week

Well my weekend is over & we've all been on a steady diet of veggie burgers, salads, and easy dinners. It always amazes me at the number of people who think heating up a veggie burger, slapping it on a bun & washing some veggies for a salad is "cooking". I grew up with my mother making everything from scratch for dinner most nights. I'm not saying that we do, we both work long weeks, but I do usually try to either make our dinner every night & keep it simple or make a huge pot of something & feed us leftovers for the week. We both believe that processed food is bad. So I have felt guilty, but the holidays have worn us both out. At least I got Mark to voluntarily eat his veggies 2 nights in a row :-)
We have recently discovered the wonders of collard greens. I've had them before & loved them, just never made them. I plan to include them in our meals at least once a week now. A little white vinegar, a little malt vinegar, a little sugar, some browned onion...YUM! that was yesterday. Today we had roasted asparagus, a recipe I got from one of the best cooking sites out there Italianfoodforever.com. Roast asparagus & then drizzle with balsamic right before serving. I also served eggplant. Now for someone who has been a vegetarian for 28 years of his life & a vegan for the last 3...you'd think he would love his veggies. He does not. I personally just love eggplant baked in the oven. He does not. So I used a little egg replacer & breaded them. Of course he loved the eggplant.
Wow...I totally got off my tangent of being a lazy cook. Well besides these tasty veggies, I've served us veggie burgers, salad, and....*gasp* waffle fries.
But I have big hopes for next week...after I've rested with a holiday free weekend.
I'm planning a tempeh picatta with vegan spaetzle and probably some roasted asparagus (i'm an asparagus junky) and maybe some brussel sprouts.
Well night all. I'm off to cuddle with my puppies & veggie hating vegan husband.

Tuesday, January 2, 2007

Monday, January 1, 2007

New Year's Puppies


Well, we feel asleep last night before midnight, but lucky for us, Pearl woke us up just in time to announce the new year as the yahoos in our neighborhood were shooting off fireworks. Thanks Pearl! Don't let her innocent look fool you, she is the most devious dog I have ever met. But we still love her.

We just got our digital camera yesterday & still haven't found out how to get rid of the devil eyes. Sorry.

Vegan New Years!


My husband has been vegan for 3 years & I was up until recently only a vegetarian. This is my first all vegan cocktail party. I really wanted to keep in the spirit of a true canape cocktail theme with our appetizers. We found vegan feta at this market in Vancouver, and it tasted very realistic. I used that to make these Martha Stewart canapes with le puy lentils and roasted red peppers. They are on the blue plate. I also make my own mini tortilla shells and filled them with my guacamole. They were very popular. At the same market we found the feta we found this delicious non soy based vegan pate....we got the curry flavor. It was really good. I'm hoping our Community Co-op can start carrying it. On the green plate we made this yummy cilantro wasabi non dairy sour cream & put it on tamari rice crackers. That was finished with edamame. On on the white plate we made artichoke puffs. All in all we were very happy with our party. Clarence our Akita/Shepherd loved the artichoke puffs we found out...bad dog :-) If anyone is interested in any of the recipes we used, let me know. I'd be happy to share.
My parents very nicely made some vegan spinach dip to share with us and an awesome antipasto salad.