Keeping it Weird on Wednesday

I ♥ Sabra brand hummus – specifically the roasted garlic variety.  Eventually after eating it for days on end, my hubby kindly asks me to take a long break from it…..he has carefully told me that when we spoon in the bed that the back of my neck smells extremely garlicky.

Keeping it Weird on Wednesday

Our neighbor across the street is in kindergarten.  The other day I came out holding a roll of paper towels and she wanted one.  She started playing with it and told me that the paper towel was a skirt.  Then she said when she takes a bath she pretends the wash cloth is a skirt and she uses soap bubbles to make a top.  She asked if I did that in the bath.  I said no but that sounds like so much fun and she shouldn’t forget to do fun things like that in the bath when she becomes a grown-up.  Seriously, my online adult grown-up peeps, we need to bring the silliness back to bath time.  Forget about soothing music and candles.  Just get use your imagination and get all silly with the soapy suds. I think we need more silliness rather than serious grown-up relaxation stuff in the bath tub and most likely in other areas of our life too!

Product Review: McDougall’s Soups

The people at McDougall were kind enough to send me 3 different soups to try from the McDougall online store:  split pea & barley, black bean, and lentil soups.  Aside from cereal, crackers, canned beans, canned fire roasted tomatoes, soy milk, juice, and a few other standard pantry items, we definitely do not buy prepared “convenience foods.”  We make our own vegetable stock from scratch, make homemade seitan, pasta sauce, cheeze sauce, etc……  So, to be honest, we were skeptical about the McDougall soups.  However, after that first spoonful of split pea & barley soup, we were very impressed and kept spooning the soup into our mouths until we scraped our cups clean!  The flavor was amazing, it has a great smokiness to it (the perfect balance) that reminded me of non-vegan split pea and ham soup.  And admittedly, the McDougall split pea & barley soup tasted better than mine from scratch.  That smokey flavor was pure vegan magic!  Out of the three soups we sampled over a three day period, the split pea & barley soup was our favorite, hands down.  The lentil soup was also very very good.  We were both concerned that the lentils would be mushy but they most definitely were not.  We added just a bit of salt and pepper to taste, and next time, I think I might throw in some diced tomatoes.  The black bean soup was good, but we felt it needed a heavier hand with seasoning so we added pepper, chili powder, hot sauce, and crumbled some tortilla chips in there  – however I’m sure black bean lovers would enjoy it just as it was prepared.

I would definitely buy the McDougall soups for when I’m too lazy busy to make my own vegetable stock and soup, especially in the hot summer months.  McDougall’s uses real ingredients and the soups have a short ingredient list so only the good stuff is going into it and your belly!  The McDougall soups will definitely be added to our grocery list on occasion.

Keeping it Weird on Wednesday

I ♥ to make to-do lists.  The longer the better because long lists give the impression that I’m a busy person with important stuff to do.  Sometimes this is true, sometimes not.  I admit that sometimes I add things to my list that aren’t necessarily a chore or a to-do.  For example, it’s been several years since hubby & I subscribed to tv so we watch “new” shows the next day for free using hulu or the network’s website.  ”Watch Project Runway” is always on my Friday to-do list.

Do any of y’all write down silly things on your  to-do lists that aren’t necessarily chores?

Review: Practically Raw Desserts

disclosure:  I received a review copy from Vegan Heritage Press

The first thing that stands out about Practically Raw Desserts by Amber Shea Crawley is that it is a gorgeous, well-organized cookbook.  There are TONS of food photos.  In fact, I think nearly every recipe has an accompanying photo!  The book is soft cover with high quality glossy pages.  Recipes are 1 per page so  there is no awkward page turning or book handling if you use a cookbook holder while you cook/bake.  The book is well-organized too with an extensive table of contents with every recipe listed in each chapter — and the chapters have such fun names like “A girl walks into a bar” for the bars, brownies, and blondies chapter.

But aside from the obvious you see at first glance, when you sit down with the cookbook and begin to read it, you can tell that Amber really put a lot of thought into this book to make “raw” seem as normal as possible and accessible to anyone, not matter what their diet is.  For example, the majority of the recipes feature tons of variations and substitutes for those of us with food allergies.  Even though this is a raw cookbook, Amber provides instructions on how to dehydrate, bake, freeze, etc… her desserts too.   All these little extras really show that Amber is passionate about raw desserts (and the raw diet in general, she has another cookbook too) and wants to make her recipes approachable and accessible to as many people as possible.

Personally, I developed an adult allergy to peanuts + all tree nuts so I thought it was super duper awesome that Amber has a recipe to make sunflower!  Yup, it’s a flour made from sunflower seeds that can be substituted for any nut-based flour.  And nope, it does not have to be made in a Vitamix!

Recipes on my to-make list that don’t call for any specialty ingredients include  chocolate chunk cookies, chewy oatmeal raisin cookies, and devil’s food cupcakes.  Of course there are so many more, but these were a few that stood out to me right away!

CONS:

Although Amber’s cookbook is user-friendly with lots of tips and approachable recipes, some ingredients may be hard to find and/or expensive.  The only ingredient that Amber said cannot be substituted is coconut flour.  I saw coconut flour at my natural foods store, I forget the brand and size of the bag, but it was at least $12 so I just kept walking on by.

There are some recipes that do contain lots of nuts that just can’t be replaced with sunflower seeds or another seed.  So for those of us with peanut + treenut allergies can’t make these recipes.

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I would recommend this raw dessert cookbook to anyone who is curious about the raw diet.  Amber’s introduction is written so well and in such friendly tone of voice.  She explains what each ingredient is and its health benefits.

So have any of y’all made any of Amber’s recipes?  What did you think?

Review: The Allergy-Free Cook Bakes Cakes and Cookies

disclosure:  I received a review copy from the Book Publishing Company.  The review is my own opinion.

The Allergy-Free Cook Bakes Cakes and Cookies by Laurie Sadowski is number two in what I’m sure we all hope is a long series of cookbooks featuring gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and soy-free treats.  The first 23 pages of the book are devoted to discussing gluten sensitivities, allergies, gluten-free ingredients, and tips for success.  Laurie has such a wonderful writing style that you really feel like you are just sitting down in her kitchen having a fun, informative conversation about gluten-free baking.  Laurie provides the 411 on gluten-free ingredients such as flours and starches and the ever mysterious but essential xanthan gum.

But even after the introduction, Laurie wants to make sure you are set up to have 100% gluten-free baking success.  At the beginning of each chapter she gives you tips.  And I’m don’t mean just a handful of tips presented in really big font to fill the page.  Nope, for the cake chapter alone, Laurie gives you five full pages of tips so you will turn out awesome yummy gluten-free cakes that are sure to impress your GF and non-GF friends and family.  And after the cake chapter, Laurie does not run out of tips, she has lots of tip pages for the cupcake and mini cakes; cookies; and bars, squares, and biscotti chapters.

I have not been able to bake any of the recipes in the book myself.  I am vegan but not gluten-free so I don’t have the ingredients on hand.  The natural grocery store in my town does not keep gluten-free flours in their bulk bins, most likely to avoid cross-contamination issues.  It was too pricey for me to buy a bag of Bob’s Red Mill xanthan gum + a couple of other GF flours.  However, that has not prevented me from drooling over the recipes!  There is no list of recipes in the table of contents or on each chapter page, but this is a special cookbook and the absence of either of these organizational features can be forgiven.  Have you ever  thought of getting crafty with your cookbooks and making your own recipe lists?!  Laurie’s book is definitely worth the effort!  There are so many amazing recipes that you’ll want to keep track of!  For example:  simple blackberry buttermilk cake, Armenian nutmeg cake, orange-pineapple cupcakes, french toast cupcakes (GENIUS!  YES YES YES!!!!), two-bite chocolate-covered cherry cupcakes (frosted cupcakes coated in chocolate?!  Yes please!), molten lava mini cakes with raspberry sauce, mint-brownie icebox cookies, cream-filled maple leaf cookies, and billionaire’s shortbread.

You can find Laurie online here.  Do any of y’all have this book or her other book about vegan GF bread baking?

Cookbook Challenge Weeks 4 & 5 – Vegan Diner

As I mentioned before, there will be lots more food photos to come in the following months as I am participating in a cookbook challenge on the PPK that runs from March 25 – July 7!  Each “week” is actually 14 days.  You can go here to see the line-up of cookbooks we will be cooking out of.  Between Monday, April 15 – Sunday, April 28 I will be cooking out of the Vegan Diner cookbook — you can follow along here and see what other PPK members are making too!

I have no idea where our hot spring days went, I even wore shorts on a few occasions over the past couple of weeks.   But now it’s chilly in the mornings – I wore my hoodie, gator neck warmer, and ear warmer headband this morning when walking the dog!  So although it is April, I felt some fall-time pancakes were in order.  I made the pumpkin spice pancakes on page 39, they are so good!  Admittedly, I have made them before.  The recipe does not disappoint, they are so good, my hubby really likes them a lot!

Product Review – Beanfields Snacks

Full disclosure:  Beanfields Snacks sent me complimentary products to try:  five full size 6 oz. bags and two smaller 1.5 ounce bags.  The review below is my own opinion.

As a vegan, my diet does tend to be a bit healthier than the Standard American Diet since I eat lots of fresh veggies, fruits, grains, beans, etc….  However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t occasional indulge in “unhealthy” snacks like Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos (OMG Vegan!).  However, Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos (and other Dorito flavors too) have ingredient names I can’t even pronounce, and ingredients that probably aren’t even real food.  And that brings me to Beanfields Snacks.  Beanfields Snacks has tons of good stuff going on:  ingredients grown in the USA, non-GMO ingredients, incredibly allergy-friendly ingredients, and ingredient names I can read and know are actual food ingredients!  Hubby & I opened the two smaller 1.5 ounce snack bags to have with our lunch today — the Sea Salt chips and the Pico de Gallo chips.  I liked them both, but hubby felt the Sea Salt chips wasn’t flavorful or zazzy enough.  The Sea Salt flavor is quite nice, it’s light and airy, and quite neutral in flavor which makes it the perfect chip to use with hummus or other dips.  The Pico de  Gallo flavor was really nice too.  Compared to the Sea Salt chip, the Pico de Gallo chip does have a strong bean taste that we both really liked!  For me, the Pico de Gallo chip reminded me of the taco seasoning my mom used to use.

Although we’ve only tried two of the five different flavors that Beanfields Snacks offer, I do recommend these chips!  They are yummy, filling, and made with good-for-you ingredients.  I did a quick search on the Beansfields Snacks site using my zipcode and it seems that I won’t be available to find them locally yet, but anyone can order them online directly from Beansfields Snacks.

Find Beanfield Snacks online at www.beanfieldssnacks.com, www.facebook.com/beanfields, & www.twitter.com/beanfieldssnack

Cookbook Challenge Weeks 4 & 5 – Vegan Diner

As I mentioned before, there will be lots more food photos to come in the following months as I am participating in a cookbook challenge on the PPK that runs from March 25 – July 7!  Each “week” is actually 14 days.  You can go here to see the line-up of cookbooks we will be cooking out of.  Between Monday, April 15 – Sunday, April 28 I will be cooking out of the Vegan Diner cookbook — you can follow along here and see what other PPK members are making too!

This is the creamy tomato dressing from page 164.  This is awesome and so easy to make!  Hubby really liked it too which says A LOT because he is not a huge tomato dressing/tomato sauce kind of guy (unless it’s on pizza or it’s ketchup).  The recipe is a total keeper and just perfect for springtime.  Plus, since the dressing uses sun-dried tomatoes (not the kind packed in oil) this recipe would also be a treat to make in the winter time when you are dreaming of spring……

First recipe made from Grills Gone Vegan

As I mentioned before, there will be lots more food photos to come in the following months as I am participating in a cookbook challenge on the PPK that runs from March 25 – July 7!  Even though between Monday, April 15 – Sunday, April 28 I will/should be cooking out of the Vegan Diner cookbook (you can follow along here) I couldn’t resist trying a new recipe from my new Grills Gone Vegan cookbook!   

Last night, I made the Italian Bean and Orzo Salad (page 129) and the suggested dressing, Roasted Garlic Dressing (page 176) from Grills Gone Vegan.  My hubby is wary of any recipe containing more than 2 types of beans so I left out the black beans and just used garbanzo beans (chickpeas) and the red kidney beans.  I also did not have any celery on hand so I left that out too.   That being said, this recipe still yields a lot of salad even with leaving two ingredients out.  However, sadly, the suggested dressing did not yield enough to really dress and coat the salad to our liking.  But even though hubby & I both like a slightly more “saucy” salad, we still enjoyed the dish last night.  However, tonight, I whipped up another batch of roasted garlic dressing and added just a little bit extra to each of our servings (plenty of extra dressing left).  Tonight, I served the Italian Bean and Orzo Salad over spinach to make it fancy.  It was really super yummy tonight and hubby approved.  The recipe is a keeper.

I’d also like to add that Tami offers guidance on how to use a grill pan, indoor electric grill (like the George Foreman), and skillet for almost all the recipes.  So for this recipe, since my hubby wasn’t home yet to operate the grill for me, I just sautéed the onion and pepper on the stove top.  I did not saute the artichokes, I just cut them up.  Besides all the amazing recipes I still want to try, another great bonus is how flexible the recipes are —  you definitely do not have to have an outdoor grill to make any of the recipes in Grills Gone Vegan.

This is my own opinion.  I bought my own copy of Grills  Gone Vegan.