Stir Fry, after all~

Today I poked around a wonderful Asian market and found some beautiful snow peas.  They are one of my absolute favorites so I bought three bags.  I ate one bag on the way home, and decided to eat a second for dinner.  This lucky bag was sitting next to a bunch of other delicious veggies and they all got tossed into an iron together.  Simple. Easy. Healthy. CHEAP. And so, so tasty!

There are tons of veggies you can throw in stir fry... a few of my favorites, but DO NOT limit yourself to:
Mushrooms (yuck)
Water Chestnuts
Leeks
Kale
Bok Choy
Daikon
Cabbage
Onion
Peppers
Carrots
Broccoli
Baby Corn (again, yuck)
String Beans
Ginger root
Raw Garlic
Asian Eggplant
aaaaaaaand Snow Peas!

Fun toppings are everywhere but I am partial to toasted black sesame seeds.
Your own sauce can be fun to make or buy, or leave out completely!


Tonight's Featured Veg:
Snow Peas
Carrots
Onions
Daikon
Broccoli
Baby Bells (and one teenie weenie habanero, shhhh)
Raw Garlic (5 cloves, again, shhhh)
Cabbage ( except for not really, I am out of my favorite veg, but it should have been here)

Cut all your veggies into bite sized pieces, rinse and set to drain.  In a nice large skillet or wok, a bit of oil (peanut, olive, sesame), and let it heat up to medium temp.  Throw your veggies in and add 1/2 cup of water and several healthy splashes of either soy sauce or tamari.  Throw is all around and then let it sit until the veggies are just steamed but still vibrant and a bit crunchy.  Pull out all the veggies and place in serving dish, pour liquid from skillet/wok into a bowl and add the following to taste:
A bit more tamari/soy sauce
Chinese Mustard (powder or paste)
A bit of flavored oil (I am out of sesame so I used a tad of black truffle oil, oh baby)
Red Pepper Flakes
Minced Scallions
And there is always the option of making it thicker with corn starch or arrow root if you choose)

Drizzle it on top of the veggies, sprinkle on your toasted sesame seeds and scarf.  Share if you want.

Zucchini Fritters with Sweet Garlic Sauce

This is a kiss-me-not type of dish to make, serve and eat to only close friends and family.  Or you could just go easy on the garlic, but where is the fun in that?
While making this up tonight, I really did not have anything I actually needed to make fritters.... No AP flour, no seltzer water, no variety of veggies.... But what I threw together was actually quite nice and disappeared before I had to share with anyone.  However, I would suggest you use AP flour instead of the corn flour to avoid the slightly dry feeling the insides of these had.

For these fantastic little baggers, you will need:

1 medium zucchini, grated
1/4 cup potato, cooked/cubed (1/2 inch pieces, with skin)
1/2 white onion, thinly sliced
1/6 cup each jalapenos, kalamata olives, roughly chopped
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced  (again, if you don't know these people well, 1 garlic clove will suffice)
*opt* veggie bacon, roughly chopped
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
1 Tbl fresh or dried dill, minced
1/4 tsp lemon zest
3Tbl nutritional yeast
1 cup AP flour, with extra available
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

For the Dressing you'll need:
2Tbl vegan mayo ( i LOVE Vegenaise brand)
1 tsp white dijon
1 Tbl unsweetened milk alternative (I used coconut)
1/2 tsp minced garlic OR 1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp lemon pepper

Garnish:
Fresh Parsley
Fresh Apple  ( DID YOU KNOW, fresh apple helps neutralize the garlic flavor in your mouth?)

It's always nice to have a taste tester... June

First, if you are using the veggie bacon, chop it up, and crisp it in a skillet with a spot of olive oil.  Pull off heat once crispy.  Meanwhile, grate the zucchini and put aside, mince the garlic, put aside, slice the onion and place in the now empty skillet (iron if possible) with a tsp olive oil and turn on medium/low heat.  When they are almost soft, throw in the garlic.  In a large bowl, dump the zukes, chopped olives and peppers, dill, paprika, salt/pepper, vinegar, lemon zest and veggie bacon.  Mix together and add onions/garlic once they are soft.  Mix it all together and start adding the flour, 1 Tbl at a time.  When you can form lose patties, add in the nutritional yeast and mix.  If they hold together well, there is no need to add more flour.  If they are still a bit lose, add a tad bit more flour, just until you can form a patty.

In your already bacon/onion seasoned skillet, give yourself a nice coating of olive oil and turn the heat to just above medium.  Wait until the oil jumps with water drops and start forming your patties.  I made 6, rather thick, patties, but you could aim for 8 thinner ones if you care to... or really any number of any thickness you want.  Always play with your food!

Place the patties in the hot oil and let them brown on each side until golden, about 4-5 minutes.  If you have a nifty grill skillet like I do, you can have it heating up on another burner and place the golden brown patties on there to get some 'delicious' grill marks!

While these are browning, you can be making your dressing by simply mixing all the ingredients together and setting aside.  You can also slice your apple and wash the parsley!

When the fritters are done, grill marked and hot, eat them with all the other stuff I mentioned.  They keep pretty well too, so if you can't finish them all an once, refrigerate them and eat cold with unsweetened catsup or sear on each side and serve again with your sweet garlic sauce!  Make a lot of extra and freeze it pre-patty and thaw later!

Unexpected Hiatus

Well,  Hi!

2012 offered an unexpectedly long hiatus from my beloved blogging, but I am ready and armed with new recipes, a new camera and a pent up need to share them!  I am happy to announce too, that along with a lot of other changes, 2012 brought along new people and new traditions... including FOODIE NIGHT!  So I met some friends who love food as much as I do.  They are by no means veggie, but all food, prepared with love and good ingredients is a wonderful experience.  It used to be four... but now it has turned into a monthly event of which upwards of 15 chef friends gather at my home and utilize my two kitchens, fire pit and grill and we cook away.  So much love, fun, friends and FOOD.  This just one blessing that last year brought to me, rough as it was.  We make a theme, plan the event, connect with the menu and impatiently await the designated night.  This is the first large group I have been able to co-host and the excitement is multi-leveled.
This Friday will be our Tapas Night!  We are all making different dishes, spanning the Hispanic countries.  Those guests who do not cook will be our 'mixologists' and making themed drinks!  I will have pictures of the feast, our friends and the instructional posts to my dishes as usual.

I am really happy, humbled and excited to start blogging about my food passions again.  I hope you will all join me again and explore new foods as I explore this new chapter in my life!

Here is an image of half the Mediterranean Feast for Four, one of our very first Foodie Nights... All vegan, all delicious! Recipes from this evening will be posted!

Blueberry & Walnut Salad

I need to figure a way to get this photo off of my smart phone, but that can wait for now. This salad is so satisfying that I had to trow it up here. It covers all the main food groups and leaves you satisfied and delighted. I have all the these ingredients in bulk in my work refrigerator and literally grab a plate and fork and eat until my heart is content. I love that about a good diet. You can eat like a fat kid and never worry about counting calories etc. Enjoy lunch!

Keep on hand:
Greens (of your choosing)
Carton of fresh Blueberries
Bag of Raw Walnuts
Organic Apple Cider Vinegar
Cold Pressed Walnut Oil
Black Pepper

Grab a ludicrous amount of greens, top with as much fruit and nuts as your plate can manage, drizzle with oil and vinegar, sprinkle with some pepper to taste. Scarf and repeat until full. Then take a fat kid nap. Best lunch ever!

Grilled Pineapple

I will get some pictures up here as soon as I can, but the Fam ate them all before I got any shots! I am not really sure why I thought this would be a good idea, but it turned out to be fantastic! I create dishes mainly on wanting to combine different wholesome, compassionate foods to make delectable and satisfying dishes. I use my sniffer to start off my experiments and combine things based off of all the senses. However, I didn't use any of those things on this dish... I would like to claim genius for lack of any other approachable terms. Oh NO! But try this and you will say OH YES... if you say anything at all. My family all groaned in a borderline inappropriate manner. GOAAAAAAALLLLL!


You will need:
Demerara sugar (natural brown sugar)**
Ground Cinnamon
1 frash pineapple

Cut the top and bottom from the pineapple and cut lengthwise down the middle and core out the tough center strip. Leave the pineapple on the rind and slice into 3/4" slabs. mix the sugar and cinnamon on a plate and press each side of the pineapple into the mixture. Either put it on your grill or use your griddle but wither way get those sexy grill lines on there and that fantastic 'caramelization'! Heating the fresh pineapple really brings out the 'apple' in there and combining that with the cinnamon and sugar and the the exotic flavor unique to pineapple is so delicious.
**I use Demerara sugar because it is less refined and I enjoy the flavor, but any sugar will work OR you could leave the sugar out and go with just the cinnamon and get a more earthy flavor and less calories. 6= half a dozen....

Blueberry & Banana Bars

It is cold, and I have fresh blueberries and lots of oats. That was all the inspiration I needed to make up this recipe. I was not too sure on the amounts of ingredients but this worked out perfectly, I am so proud of myself that I actually wrote it all down! These can be eaten next to vanilla 'ice cream' as dessert or as a breakfast. Hearty, hot and creamy and really really good for you. Lets bake!

You will need:

Filling~
~1/2 pint fresh blueberries
~1 large banana, cut into chunks
~1/4 cup agave syrup
~splash of vanilla
~3 Tbl corn starch
~2 Tbl soy milk, or other milk sub.
~1/3 cup pineapple juice concentrate

Dough:
~1 1/2 cup steel cut oats, quick cook
~1 1/2 cup oats, quick cook
~1 1/2 tsp baking powder
~1/2 cinnamon
~1 cup chunky applesauce
~6 Tbl Agave
~6 Tbl soy milk or water
~1 tsp vanilla extract
~2 Tbl cornstarch or tapioca flour
~scant 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
~3 Tbl flax seeds (opt)

Preheat the oven to 375d. Start with the filling and in a little sauce pan pour in the berries, agave, and juice. Bring to a medium heat. Our goal is to get the liquids heated and mixed and to keep the berries whole. So stirring gently, add in on Tbl. cornstarch at a time and keep stirring until all three are in. It will thicken quickly so do NOT let it burn and remove form heat immediately after it thickens. Now is the time to add in the vanilla, soy milk and bananas and stir until mixed, again keeping it gentle for the berries. Set aside.

For the other, grab an 8x8' baking dish and grease... I use Crisco. In a bowl, dump in all your ingredients and mix thoroughly. Spoon out half and spread out evenly in the baking dish. Pour over the filling and scrape out as much of the 'gel' as you can. Then spoon over the last half of the filling. Bake for 25 minutes. Will be brown and a little crunchy on top. Let cool for ten minutes or more so it will hold it's shape and not burn your little mouth! Enjoy!

A Simple Stir Fry

As with most dishes on this blog, you can use whatever veggies you have in your fridge. I happen to have on hand (in this stupid Missouri blizzard) a bunch of Chinese veggies and a random hunk of extra firm tofu I needed to use up. Easy dinner answer; stir-fry.

To make this version, you will need:
~1/2 cup green cabbage, bite size
~large stalk of celery, coarsely chopped
~1/4 small white onion, bite size
~1/4 cup water chestnuts
~small hand full, cashews

~grape seed oil
~soy sauce
~1 hot chili
~ground mustard

~random hunk, extra firm tofu, thick slabs

Heat up the oil on medium/high and add veggies, and let sautee. Add soy sauce and seasonings to taste, and add in nuts. Take your slices of tofu and scrape aside the veggies, throw on a tofu slab, cover with veggies and repeat until all the tofu is on the bottom and covered with veggies. Let sear until browned and flip. Remove from heat and EAT!

Spaghetti Squash Crostini- you heard me.

This idea came to me out of desperation and curiosity. I was invited to a work potluck and we all were asked to chose a dish from another country and bring it. I failed. HAHA. I mean the dish was great, but I have no idea as to where it would 'originate' from, especially because I made it up! Oh well; I was able to scribble something down on the dish's i.d. card and didn't really answer any questions. Thank goodness!

For this, I started out with some bread I made a long time ago, but froze the dough. So all I had to do was let it raise and bake it. Then I sliced it and drizzled it with olive oil and toasted it in the oven. Easy. Standard.

For the topping you will need:

~Black beans
~Roasted red peppers
~s/p
~Roasted onion, equal amount as peppers (find recipe for roasted onions in later post)
( keep separate )

~Spaghetti Squash, cooked and pulled
~Apple cider vinegar
~Italian parsley, fresh
~s/p
~smoked paprika
~Freshly chopped garlic cloves
~Roasted squash seeds, recipe to follow post

As mentioned, I used bread I had made already. This was a much lamer decision than it sounds, I was lazy and didn't feel like driving to the store and really needed the extra space in my freezer! Don't hold it against me! But as those were toasting I prepared the squash and bean paste. So easy.

Beans:
Drain and rinse your beans, put in your peppers and onions and all the other ingredients and smash into a paste... Right? I used my food processor, again, I'm lazy. Once you have it in a 'mushed up' state, set it aside.

Squash:
So the squash is easy to cook. Cut in two, scrape out the seeds and lose fibers and KEEP. Place the squash halves, cut side down, into a glass baking dish. Splash about 1/4' water in the bottom and bake at 400d for a long time... until a knife can go through easily. The best part is that if you under cook it, you can always put it back and cook it some more! When you pull it out you should be able to take a fork and easily scrape away the squash insides. If you are working at it, bake it some more! Pull off as much of the 'spaghetti' as you can and set aside. Let this cool before you add any seasoning.

Once the 'squashetti' is cool, you can start adding in the seasoning. Throw in the vinegar, s/p, paprika and garlic, mix well. Roughly chop the parsley and mix it in as well. And, as with all my cooking, dress this to taste. You are going to be eating it so make sure you are going to like it!

Toasted Seeds:
If you roasted the onions already, hopefully you didn't do dishes yet. The pan would be perfect for roasting your squash seeds. This part gets messy, but is very worth while! Get your hands dirty and start going though the insides of the squash, separating the seeds form the slimy, fibrous innards. You can chuck the slime and rinse the seeds and pat dry with a paper towel. Then toss them onto the pan you roasted the onions on. The olive oil left, flavored with roasted onions, will add so much to the seeds. I always top them with salt, pepper and smoked paprika. And if you know me, you know I always throw in some cayenne pepper for some heat. Toss them though the oil and seasonings so they are all coated and toast them in the oven at 350d until golden brown and crunchy. So good as a snack or to top these crostini!


Now time for the bread! Spread a little bean first, pile on the 'squashetti' and top with the seeds and a little dusting of cayenne. Serve as soon after assembling as possible! Delicious!

A Vegan Dinner, balanced and beautiful

So, I have the salad and tabuli from the two previous posts and with that some beautiful steamed asparagus, toasted bread with sauteed onions and kalamatas on the pit and for a touch of light and sweet, a grapefruit, banana and coconut salad with agave.

The asparagus is pretty easy. Just cut into whatever size you want to serve it and steam it until slightly soft. I like it with a little crunch left, but if you like it dead, dead it. Goes well with some vegan butter and salt. ** A little trick with asparagus; the ends are a little stiff and to get rid of those take a sharp knife and tap the ends and work your way twords the middle. When the knife falls into the asparagus, you know that is where to cut the ends off. Less waste than guessing.












The fruit salad could not be easier. One large grapefruit, sectioned and halved. Two very ripe bananas, freshly shaved coconut meat and drizzle with agave to taste... If you like the tartness of the grapefruit and don't need the sweet balance, forgo the agave.... Simple!












For the toast, lay the bread on a baking sheet, drizzle whit olive oil, slat and pepper. A little rosemary if you are feeling feisty and broil with a watchful eye until desired color. I forgot the 'watchful eye' part and toasted my toast too much... Whoopsie. Slice an onion, of whatever kind, and sweat/sautee on low heat in a little olive oil until golden. Olives, however you like 'em. I also add in some banana peppers or sliced peperochinis as well. So delicious.

Great Dinner Salad

This is just pretty.

I used for this salad all of the random odds and ends of stuff form my kitchen. So I have a very small amount of baby spinach, a good amount of beet greens and some baby romaine and arugula. I shredded some purple cabbage and carrots and halved some grape tomatoes. I tossed it with some balsamic vinaigrette and topped it with freshly crushed peppercorns. So good...and SO pretty!

Quinoa Tabuli

I have eaten tabuli my whole life. Usually we would make it with bulgar wheat, but I didn't have enough so I used quinoa as well. It worked out beautifully! Here is a great way to get your whole grain for the day! Not only is this dish versatile, healthy and vegan, it is easy to make and gets better in your refrigerator... make it on the weekend and eat throughout the week!

You will need:
~2 cups quinoa
~ 1 cup bulgar wheat

~fresh cilantro and mint
~1 large lemon
~1 small white onion
~6+ cherry tomatoes
~high quality, extra virgin olive oil
~sea salt/ freshly cracked pepper

First you want to bring to boil your quinoa and bulgar wheat in enough water to cover it by two inches. Keep your eye on this so it doesn't boil over and you can add water if necessary. Cooking these two is very similar to rice; it cooks for a bit and absorbs the liquid when finished. Transfer from the pot into a bowl and stick in the fridge and let cool while you prep the rest.
**One trick for those who are not very confident in cooking these types of grains yet... you can always use the directions on the package and combine the two grains after they have cooked or just use one or the other. The dish will be delicious any way you choose to do it!
While the grain is cooking/ cooling you can be chopping your veggies! I, unfortunately, do NOT like the flavor of raw tomatoes, LAME-O. So, to cheat, I sliced the little guys so thinly that I couldn't focus my taste buds too firmly on them and I was able to choke them down. However, for all you normal people, I would only cut them in half so the flavor is not lost and really adds to the dish. So, half your tomatoes and put in your serving bowl. Finley chop the onion, you can use shallots as well. Then move to the herbs. With these you want to tear them as small as you can and then at the very end chop them until they are pretty fine. The point of tearing is to keep them from going brown like they would if you had used the knife blade. Put all of these and the onion in with the tomatoes and drizzle a good bit of olive oil on top, about a 1.5 Tbls. Sprinkle with the sea salt and crush some pepper and then juice the lemon over and mix it up! When the grain is cool, pour into the serving bowl with all the other ingredients and toss it all. Take a spoon full and add more oil, lemon juice, s/p to taste. Not traditional, but my favorite, I always add in a clove or two of garlic... I think garlic improves EVERYTHING!
Cover and chill for at least two hours or over night and serve chilled with whole wheat or corn tortillas or stuff some warm pita and enjoy!

Random Pop Corn Variation

This is great. I accidentally purchased olive oil infused with hot chilies. This was a pleasant surprise when I drizzled it per usual on my pop corn. Just a few days ago I did something crazy.
I put my spicy olive oil, nutritional yeast, sea salt lemon pepper all on my freshly popped corn... Holy cow. It was so delicious. After posting this I am up the stairs to make some more, no joke. You can try anything on your pop corn. And any variation of this you want. I like getting the really good quality olive oil to drizzle on things I am not going to cook or have already cooked. I hope you try it and enjoy it as much as I do!

Marinated Mushroom Pastry

I am really trying to enjoy mushrooms. I try very hard, yet have not required the taste for them. However, my family loves them and I enjoy cooking with them. For this fast and easy dinner, I cubed four large Portobellos and marinated them. I was not at all sure how they were going to turn out, and I certainly was not going to taste test (I know, that is beyond sad)! BUT! My family loved it and cannot wait until I make it again and/or post the directions! So, here they are kids!









You will need:
~Four large Portobello mushrooms, cubed into 1x1" pieces
~Three TBL Balsamic Vinegar
~1.5 TBL Olive Oil
~Three Cloves Garlic, crushed
~2 tsp coarse, sea salt

~Two puff pastries, thawed
~Asiago Cheese, shredded (opt)


Take each mushroom and wipe clean with a dry paper towel or a dry cloth of any kind. Just make sure you get all the dirt off, but do not rinse! Mushrooms get really slimy and start to absorb everything under heavy moisture. We want them to do that, but with the vinegar, not muddy water! I use the whole mushroom, including the stem. It smells the same, so I assume it tastes at least similar, with maybe a texture difference.
Place in a bowl and pour over the vinegar and olive oil and then add the garlic and salt. Mix thoroughly. Let this sit for an hour or two, in the fridge if you have room and stir a couple of times every now and then to mix it up. This is the time to set out your pastry if you are like me and use frozen ones. If you haven't looked into making your own puff pastry, you should! Then head to your local market and buy some frozen, pre-made p.p.
After letting the mushroom marinate, put half of them on one side of the pastry leaving about 1 inch to 1.5 inches for you to grab onto and roll it up. The pastry is actually very durable and can take you pulling it over the mushrooms and stretching it to the other side. Leave the seam at the bottom, against the cookie sheet. Any little buys trying to escape from the end, squish back in and pinch the ends together. Brush the top with olive oil and make a few slices in the top and then sprinkle with your cheese, asiago is the one my family liked, and if it were me eating I would have used a vegan mozzarella! Bake at 350d until golden brown... I think it was about 30 to 35 minutes... Keep both eyes on it after 20 minutes or so.

Enchiladas, Another Spin!

Too bad for all you lookers, I ate these buggers before I made it to my camera! Imagine then, if you will, the best looking enchiladas you can and add some love on top and you have it!

I cannot tell you the depth of my pepperoncini addiction. I eat these every day. And when it came to putting the entire contents of my fridge into these enchiladas, I did not spare them my peppers. You will like.

Grab from the Kitchen:
~ Tortillas, flour and flexible
~Cheese, mozzarella and cheddar, vegan or not
~Black Beans
~Green Peppers
~White Onion
~Pepperoncinis
~Kalamata Olives
~Favorite Enchilada Sauce, I like to make mine
~..... I think that was it...


So. Pile everything in the middle of your tortillas, place your mozzarella on top of the pile, drizzle a little sauce in there, roll it up and place it in your baking dish. Drizzle the rest of the sauce on top, put the cheddar on and bake in the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes at 350d. I always like to get the cheese just browning before I pull it out. I guarantee you will love the combination here and the veggies, being fresh but hot add a great flavor to the enchiladas that is usually missed when the veggies are sauteed first. Oh baby. Yum.

Farfalle Salad

I love Farfalle. I know I am a child for saying that, but for farfalle, I will do anything. These great flavors came to me because of their colors and the idea that I can put anything into a pasta salad. Sorry for the poor photo, the light in my house is not that great after dark and I didn't have time to set up lighting. I guess to get the full affect, you will have to make it yourselves!


You will need:

~Farfalle, cooked, rinsed in cold water and set aside
~Asparagus, steamed, chopped, set aside
~Grape or Cherry Tomatoes, cut in halves
~Red Bell Peppers, chopped
~Small White Onion, finely chopped

~Balsamic vinegar, get a good one!
~Extra Virgin Olive Oil, again, a good one!
~Sea Salt
~Fresh Basil and Italian Parsley

There is no trick to how you do this, honestly. I like to keep the farfalle warm as well as the asparagus and then put the oil, herbs and onion in. This will allow for the flavors to marry each other while the dish cools. As they are getting hitched, prepare your other veggies and toss them in. Add the Balsamic and then salt and toss one last time. Cover and cool. It is extra tasty if you let it settle into the married life for a few hours in the fridge before eating!

This is somewhat of an uninspiring post with a very uninspiring picture, but I urge you to try this recipe! It is so yummy!

Stuffed Dates~ Oh yeah....

My mom made these when I was a kid and I am sad to say that I didn't partake in them too often because I thought dates were weird and looked like... ummm, gross. In these last several years, I have found myself craving all these dishes that we had prepared for us as kids, even those I did not like. It is weird how that happens.

My mother's birthday was near the beginning of the month and as a surprise, I made a Mediterranean style dinner for her and the dates were included. Making them with my grandmother, her mother, was a real treat. She told me that the recipe came from a roomie from her college days and that her mother would always send these in a shoe box for them to enjoy. It is so neat how all of these recipes travel through different people and changing times. I am now making that faster by putting this great recipe on the internet for all to see. I hope it will start a chain reaction that will bring people closer and generate feelings of family, tradition and home.

You will need:

~Dates, pit them yourself for the tastiest ones!
~Peanut butter
~Powdered sugar or superfine sugar of any kind


Simplest recipe ever. Put your dates, fill in the cavity with peanut butter and roll the whole thing around in a bow of the sugar. Eat.

I like mixing in cinnamon or cloves or other spices with the peanut butter. Pick and choose your favorite spice combo and stick with it. These are a great treat to gift because they do not spoil easily nor lose their shape or what not. They look rustic and homemade while keeping an elegant feeling coming from their origin. A plus is that they are pretty healthy too! Enjoy!

Let's Play Catch Up!

Hello everyone!
It has been a while but I have been doing a lot of cooking during my internet absence!
I have some great new recipes to add and some others that I am perfecting and a whole lot of photography to go through! During this season there are several great reasons I call it my favorite.

Firstly, all of the summer veggies are going on sale at the farmer's market and I have eaten all of the fresh recipes I can handle so it is time to do some canning! Pickling, preserving, baking to freeze, stock making, etc.

Secondly, this season makes me want to do nothing but build a ridiculous and unnecessarily large fire and bake.

Thirdly, I love oranges and here they come!

I am going to touch pretty heavily on all of these and have some, if I dare say so, spectacular recipes to go with.


I have missed you guys! So here we go with what I have been doing!

PS The flowers here are called Nasturtiums. They are not only hearty, beautiful and easily grown, they are also really delicious! They have a nice peppery flavor and are slightly spicy too!

Keeping up with some of my favorite people~

Dr. T. Colin Campbell, the author of The China Study, has a great website called the T. Colin Campbell Foundation full of a lot of great information. Another of my favorite websites, VegSource, had a great article by Dr. Campbell about diet. Thought you may want to check it out!

Oh Man, She has Soy Milk!

I found a new brand of soy milk in my local grocery yesterday. I picked some up and I can tell you it is the best I have ever tasted! It costs the same as the others, I think even cheaper, but it was DELICIOUS!

It is from 8th Continent. Please don't laugh at me if you have heard of it. I am stuck in Bumpkin Town and this is new here! So don't rain on my parade! Here is a link to their website, I highly recommend it!

My Vegan BB-Q

I cook a lot. Der. Most of the time I cook for my family and close friends and we all LOVE to BB-Q. This time my family and I were at our house at the Lake of the Ozarks and we had one such meal. Check out some pictures, recipes to follow!