Pumpkin Squares

Here in Brussels, Fall has begun to make her appearance. Last night, while cleaning up from a yummy dinner (Sweet Potato fries, Tofu Cubes and Corn on the Cob), Kevin, Aodhan and I watched a storm soak our back garden. Personally, I have always loved the chillier days of Fall, and welcome them and their soup-squash-stew-casserole-promises.

To match the weather I made some little pumpkin squares. Using my last can of sacred pumpkin (almost impossible to find here in Brussels), I made this really healthy treat, which allowed me to sneak in some important walnuts (EFA's for Aodhan's ever-growing brain), and some hemp seeds for me. I will be making this improv dish over and over again - a great snack!

Pumpkin Squares

Crust:
2 cups of walnuts
1 cup of pecans
2 tbsp of crushed hemp seeds
3/4 cup of oats
1/2 cup of flour (I used 85% whole meal)
1/2 cup of oil (you could omit the oil/flour/oats and make a 100% raw crust by adding some soaked dates and chilling the crust rather then baking it)

Filling:
1 can of pumpkin (ok, I didn't use a FULL can, I had skimmed a bit off the top for my oatmeal in the morning)
1/2 of maple syrup
1/4 of agave syrup
1/2 cup of arrowroot powder
3/4 of almond milk

I made the crust first - adding all the nutty ingredients in the food processor and pulsing for about 30 seconds. I added my oil, flour and oats and pulsed for a further 30 seconds. I pressed this into the bottom of a 10 inch brownie tin and popped it into the oven for 15 minutes, while I made the filling.

The filling wasd dead easy. I washed out the food processor (god, I really want a kitchen aid) and added the arrowroot and milk first, giving it a minute to mix together. I then simply added the remaining ingredients and pulsed for 45 seconds. I added the filling to the baked crust and slammed the whole thing in the 375 degree oven for 40 minutes.

This treat is NOT super sweet by any account...so if you are wanting something a little more sugary then up your maple or agave syrups in the recipe, or add a little maple syrup to the top when serving. Yum Yum.

In non-food related news, Aodhan turned 12 weeks yesterday. I can't believe 12 weeks has floated by since he was born. Kevin and I were commenting the other day that we just can't imagine our lives without him in it. He is rapidly losing all signs of newborn 'ness' and seems to develop new skills everyday.

He is smiling like mad, talking (with lots of goos, ahhhs and ohhhs), holds his head like a champ, does fine stuff during tummy time, bats his toys, tries so hard to lift his shoulders and head as if to sit up, and kicks like crazy when he is lying down. He has already had (still does a touch) a first cold, thanks to his daddy going back to the germ factory of school, and seems to be dealing better with his reflux.

I am a lucky mummy and actually sleep more now then I ever did in my pre-mummy days (when I was asleep by about 10 and up at around 5). Now, I fall asleep around 9 - 9 30 and Aodhan doesn't really wake up until about 9 30 the next day. There are about 3 night feeds, but bed sharing and breast feeding mean that I don't really do much waking in order to accomodate Aodhan's chilled out needs. He is amazing. I just can't get enough of him. I have even been able to start back at the gym, and am retraining my body to run my first post-baby race on October 11th (a BreastCancer run). I am loving mummyhood! Oh, and for any other vegan women out there who are thinking about pregnancy and their lifestyle, check out The Mother. My article on Vegan Pregancy is in their September/October issue.

Speaking of mummies....I am so excited to be flying home for Christmas to see my mommy! We weren't going to fly, but we decided that Aodhan's first Christmas should be spent with family and friends. I can't wait to get home and see my family and celebrate all the great things that have happened this year - Aodhan, my brother's wedding, my mom's new job, my sister's general awesomeness!



Have a Happy Vegan day everyone!

Wrap it UP!

I have been wrap crazy lately. I am a little worried that Kevin is going to come home and find Eliot and Sylvia wrapped up in some cloth-version of a tortilla shell. I want to blame all of the wonderful women bloggers out there who tempt me everyday with their yummy mexicanish yummy food (ummm Jen!!! and Katy!!!)

In addition to making some run of the mill bean wrap-ups - nothing post worthy, I made a most wonderful fresh wrap last week, with some super duper lemon and rosemary potatoes from Vcon. It was amazing; super fresh, the mango stole my heart, and the avocado made me melt. Excellent combo - can't recommend it enough. I almost felt that I was in my favourite restaurant in Toronto munching on a lunch time Fresh veg wrap.


A couple of nights ago I made a baked rotini dish. Super simple - spinach, basil, pepper, tomato sauce and a yellow pepper. K was quite happy with it, and I admit to gobbling it up like a starved animal. I took the left over whole wheat noodles for lunch the next day - but I dressed them up in different clothes, turning them into an olive oil and lemon juice pasta salad (which, given my recent hunger, I ate at 10 am instead of 12).


Wednesday night was Kim's birthday, and I had it catered in a most unvegan kind of way (she adores the cheesy Italian variety of fare), but I did manage to squeeze in a bean and pepper salad.

Last night I was home all alone while Kevin performed one of his many talents to an audience of holiday time concert goers. Without my Cello player around I served myself up a bowl of super yummy soba noodle soup. I threw in some broccoli, edamame and fresh ginger. Perfect!


We are off to Budapest this weekend to visit some friends. Looking forward to it.

Oh! And Kevin bought me a new advent calendar. It is excellent - with little wooden drawers that I can pull open. The first of December was a morning filled with exhilaration...and inside my little drawer...a raw Brussel Sprout. Silly boy! There was another little treat though...some dark covered figs!! Yum Yum.


In other news - I have made a new blog. It is my new Vegan Mommy blog. I was feeling pains of sadness that VeganCowGirl was going to be taken over by my ever changing reality. And, damn it, I don't want that. I don't want to have that part of myself slip away. I need to maintain an identity that isn't just mommy, mommy, mommy. But, I also wanted to write about being pregnant, and being a vegan mom...so I made a new blog. I will share the address soon, soon, soon. And if you are at all interested, that is where you can head for pictures and updates on our little mango - who, at her check up this week, was doing just fine!

Yummy Yummy in My Expanding Tummy

We took the kittens back to the vets last night to have their little stitches taken out (well, Eliot had her stitches taken out by the vet, Sylvia, in her infinite craziness, decided to take her's out on her own). They were rewarded with their favourite treats and some wacky cat nip. After the vet and some wretched Brussels' traffic, we headed home for dinner. We had goodies in for Italian (I just bought some really greenish looking spelt and spirilina pasta), and Thai - and we went for the Thai.

Now any long time readers will know that I don't toot my own horn when it comes to my cooking. I am just not the kind of lady. Especially not when I see the likes of River, Shellyfish, Celeste and other vegan bloggers who are consistently crafting beautiful and interesting food. BUT....last night's curry was the dish to end all dishes. So if you only ever try one of the the vegancowgirl's recipes...this is it!

I am not sure if it is some newly developed baby growing super power, or if it was the never-before-used Lime Leaves, but the curry was so tasty I wanted to cry (and lick the bowl) - I actually did both...but the tears were from an episode of Little Mosque on the Prairie.

All other ingredients were pretty generic Thai curry ingredients (though I did serve the curry on a bed of Japanese Soba noodles), so I am pretty sure it was the fresh and authentic tasting Lime Leaves that did the trick. Yum Yum!

Lick The Bowl Curry and Soba Noodles

200ml organic coconut milk
200ml tomato puree
2 tsp olive oil
5 spring onions - diced
1 big thumb of ginger - diced
1 slab of extra firm tofu - diced
2 sweet potatoes - sliced
1 aubergine - sliced and diced
1 handful of frozen Lime Leaves - I picked these up from our Asian grocery shop
your every day average thai curry paste (I used red)

1 packet of organic soba noodles.

In other news...(how did I manage to not blurt this out at the top of the post?) It's a Girl!!!! Is it selfish (or maybe weird) to be excited about the idea of making a mini feminist inside by belly right now? Well, too bad!

I am off to Dublin tonight with Kim - girl's weekend away. We spent last week in Nice, which was...ok. The conference was great, but the city was actually...not very nice. A little on the sleazy side. And the food was less than impressive. Ah well, you win some, you lose some. I am not going to start complaining about the wonderful travel opportunities I have. We are off to Budapest next weekend - to visit friends. It will be interesting what happens to this vegancowgirl in the land of the goulash (to quote kevin).

I also have to share a picture that Kevin took of me when we traveled to Ypres for Armistice Day.....we pulled over when we saw this pile of carrots on the side of the road. Both Kim and Kevin thought it was a vegan's dream to be atop a bed of carrots. Have they never tasted vegan brownies? Now THAT would be a vegan's dream.

Coconut Date Oval, Pumpkin Bread & Puffies

The week is wrapping up and I can't believe that I haven't found time to post! But I have lots of yummy offerings to say I am sorry. A little something sweet, and a little something savory! We ate lots of good food this week, including pizza, some great granola, sweet potato and bean burritos (thanks kevin) and some great sketti sauce - none of which was captured on film. Rather, I have the goodlets of today!!!

I had planned on baking yesterday afternoon and taking some vegan goodness over to a friend's mexican-soiree, but, alas, following a light lunch and a morning of new duvet shopping, the walnut wasn't so happy, cutting me down at the knees and leaving me a nauseated mess atop the new duvet (and new duvet cover that I just love). Kevin took care of dinner - turning out a pretty good rendition of Lynnie's Sweet Potato and Refried Beans Burritos AND guacamole!

After a nice morning at the market I came home and got straight to work making Fat Free Pumpkin Bread, Coconut and Date Squares and prepping tonight's dinner - Aubergine, Tomato and Chickpea Puffies. Yum Yum. Of course these dishes were all excuses to play with our sexy new kitchen toy....no not a mixer, not a bread machine, not even a waffle iron. We picked up an amazingly wonderful new Nikon D90! Wow. By far the most darling camera I have ever owned. And, I figure by 2010 I might know what to do with it?

Coconut and Date Oval

Crust:
4 cups of oats
2 cups of w.w. flour
2TSP apple sauce
3/4 cup of maple syrup

Innards:
4 cups of dates (pitted)
1 cup of water
1 cup of coconut milk

I boiled the water and added the pitted dates, stirring them a couple of time before leaving them to simmer whilst I cobbled together the crust. I wanted fattie/sugar free date squares, so I decided to go the apple sauce and maple syrup route - which produced a stickier crust, but one that proved to be as crispy post-oven as its' higher calorie cousins. I threw all the crust ingredients together in a bowl, gave them a mix and then pressed half of the lot into a spring form pan (no square pan for me!). The dates were done warming up and squishing down, having soaked up all the water. I added the cup of coconut milk to the date-goo, mixed it in and added the pot full to the top of the crust. I whipped out my trusty purple spatula and lovingly moved my date-goo all about the crust. Once I was happy with the date goodness, I crumbled the remaining crust atop. Having already preheated my oven to 350, I popped the date squares in the oven and turned the timer to 40 minutes.

They are delicious. Seriously...I could eat the whole plate up in one go.

Not one of the Puffies were the same. I decided to be silly and play with my dinner tonight. Since Kevin was out at a late Sunday (!!!!) work meeting, I had free-reign in the kitchen and made a selection of puffies using the (yes, shock, horror) pre-prepared pastry I found yesterday at the shop. Earlier today I had sliced and baked a whole eggplant - so those slices were going in for sure. BUT - I also wanted to get rid of some of the other stuff kicking around the fridge in an attempt to clean out the fridge before heading off to Nice on Tuesday night (yes, the sunshine of Nice awaits me). The Puffies were all super yummy - I was happy with every single little version that I made....and I think Kevin was too - I even made him a cheesy non-vegan version.


Here are a couple of the insides -
- tomato puree, spring onion, green tomatoes, eggplant, and hummus
- black olive tapenade, spring onion, tomatoes, eggplant and chickpeas
-tomato puree, chickpeas, basil, eggplant and tomato

Super yummy!

Baby Update:

We had the first ultrasound on Friday. Wow. I wasn't ready for the uber-strong emotions that hit me the second the doctor fired up the screen that faced me. But there in front of my eyes was our little baby in all its tiny tiny glory. I was dying to hear the heart beat and I didn't have to wait long because the doctor cranked up the volume and for the first time I heard the sound of my littlest vegan. The baby entertained us for a good long while - moving around, kicking its little legs and turned around. Kevin and I both were a bit of a soggy, teary mess when we left the hospital. And of course we scanned and emailed the ultrasound photos to both Canada and the U.K. We want the grandparents, aunties and uncles to be involved as much as they can be - even if they are a plane ride away. Thanks so much to all the great comments, info and support. I love it!

Introducing...the Littlest Vegan

It has been ages since I wrote...and I am sorry. But my life has been turned upside down in the last month and we only now feel like this is VeganCowGirl-ready news.

Introducing.....the Littlest Vegan!!!!!!!!

Being responsible adults, Kevin and I weren't quite ready for the positive pregnancy test that we found ourselves staring at in the company of a friend! (that's how much I didn't think I was pregnant, but wanting to put a colleague's comments about my insomnia and nightsweats to rest, I took the test).

We knew that we wanted to have a little tribe of geeky, music loving, stripey sweater wearing, world travelling vegan kids - but we were thinking that there would be a few more mother's days with cards made from the paws of Sylvia and Eliot before we got around to the job of having to pick a midwife, come up with a birth plan and try to estimate the reality of having a home birth in our apartment herein Brussels. But.....this is it. We are in the zone and have managed to transfer ourselves from the all-encompassing thoughts of "oh my god, we are having a baby" to "yahhhhh we are having a baby".

I have already taken a few verbal shots (from family members no less) on my choice to be a vegan mom-to-be and subsequently raise vegan children. But, I couldn't really care less, I know I have done the research, I know I am healthy, I know that I get enough folic acid, iron, vitamin B12 and I know that our baby is as well. My midwife supports me 100%, and Kevin is behind me all of the way.

I admit to have been knocked down by all of the nausea, stomach upset and fatigue the last month has thrown at me. I also admit to developing an obsession with peanut butter and toast, but I am ok with that. The last few days have been toilet-hugging-free, so I think I might be out of the yuckiest bit (webbed fetus fingers crossed) of the morning/all-day-long sickness.

Needless to say we have had to bump up the wedding, from April to February 14th (come on, you didn't think I would miss a day to be fancy and uber-pretty, just because I have a little bit of a tummy???).

My mom has become the ultimate grandbaby-crazy woman. You mention the word baby and she loses her mind. Good. She deserves to be this excited, and I am glad that my body can do something that seems to be making so many people happy (despite the horrors it is raining down on me over the next 6 months or so).

Today was the first day that I really felt myself - was able to get to the market, clean the house, and I even made soup! I used a Rodrigo Squash (i had never seen this variety before) and some potatoes as the base. I enjoyed ever moment of making this soup. I have missed the chopping, peeling and guesstimation that is my time in the kitchen.

I welcome any/all comments from vegan parents/moms to be. I believe in the power of sharing personal stories more than all the books written on any subject - so if you have anything you want to share, tell, whisper, scream - send it my way. I will be more than honoured to add your experiences to my growing understanding of this total life change.

I also have to add - (shout out to the world) a huge thank you to the most amazing partner a woman could ask for! Kevin has been wonderful. Right from the first moment when he put his arms around me and whispered "you are going to be a great mom" to the endless glasses of juice he has gotten me. He has picked up the slack around the house on the days where I have just about enough energy to tie my shoes. I love this daddy-to-be more than I ever thought possible. Mwahhh!

Here is my dead simple squash soup from tonight:

She's Having A Baby Squash Soup

1 Roderigo squash - peeled and cubed
4 cups of water (or more depending on how thick/watery you want it)
spices - I used: turmeric, cumin, pepper and chili flakes
I cooked the squash in the water for about 1 hour and then blitzed it. The smooth, creamy soup was the perfect receptor for the spices.

1 baguette from your favourite dog man at the market
1 tsp of olive oil
1 clove of garlic
I smashed the garlic and oil together and spread it all over the fresh bread before popping it under the grill for 5 minutes.
The bread was a perfect side kick to this mildly spicy and all-the-way tasty soup.