Vegan MoFo Day Twelve: Tempeh Patties

After reading Bianca's post from last week, I had to give these a try. I wasn't in a recipe following mood, so I decided to skip the instructions in Vegan Brunch - a book which I totally adore - and just decided to wing it.

I steamed some potatoes and tempeh, mashed them together and added (not enough) spice. They were okay, but I think I should have followed some sort of recipe, because I would have liked them to be a bit more tasty...they were just a little bland. But they have loads of potential and I want to play with this combo. Yah for Tempeh.

Vegan MoFo Day Eleven: Pumpkin Hummus and Pumpkin Pasta

It has been a very pumpkinny 24 hours. But, since I don't have my canned pumpkin to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving with a proper pumpkin pie, I thought I would substitute with some other pumpkin-goodness.


What we came up with was a Pumpkin and Walnut Pasta Sauce for our whole wheat penne, which, to be fair, was the brain child of both of us, but the elbow greese of Mr. VeganCowGirl. I on the other hand take full responsibility for the Pumpkin Hummus I made on a whim today for lunch. It was yummy-nummy and oh my gosh so easy!


I just added some roasted pumpkin slices to my already made hummus and I had an instant pumpkin hummus that worked great on top of a multi-grain bagel. And for the record - it is remarkably difficult to get a good shot of pumpkin pasta!

Vegan MoFo Day Ten: Curried Pan Fried Squash

One of the best things about the Fall is the bevy of Squash (yes, I think Squash deserves Proper Noun status). They are everywhere right now! We have seen them in various colours, sizes, shapes and flavours! I love it!

One of my favourite ways to eat Squash is by pan frying it. Ok, so not the healthiest, or most low-fat way to eat your Squash, but you have to be naughty once and a while (and you will of course notice the bed of spinach underneath). For this particular treat (which I made during our internet down time) I went with curry spices, but you can do just about any combo of spiceygoodness with your fried Squash.

Num Num!

1/2 butternut squash - cut into chunks after the laborious work of peeling it
1/2 yellow onion - diced
2 tbsp of oil (I used olive oil)
curry spices

This isn't hard to prepare at all. Heat your skillet, add your oil, spices and onions. Let the onions turn transluscent before adding your squash. Add your squash and any water you need to keep things cooking, without sticking. I like to let mine get nice and crispy before serving. You could of course do this whole thing in the oven....but it doesn't taste quite the same. I served this with some Seaseme Flavoured Spinach and a Pumpkin Patty.

Vegan MoFo: Day Nine - Let's Get Nakd

I am sure I have waxed lovingly enough about LaraBars for you to appreciate a smidgen of my obsession? And perhaps you are aware of the lack o' Lara out here in the antique streets of Brussels? Well, I have managed to find a replacement....sorry Lara. Kevin and I head out to StoneManor a couple of times per month to stock up on things like Puffed Wheat, Baked Beans and Bagels. StoneManor is a 'British Store' that is stocked full of things that are hard (read: impossible) to find in Brussels. I try to be good and not fall for the chickpeas that are in English packaging....we can get chickpeas here, but there are some good finds in this bursting at the seams shop. Enter - Nakd Bars, which are made by Natural Balance Foods. My fav so far is the CocoLoco bar, which isn't pictured (since I gobbled it up on the car ride home), but I also really like the way that they have their 'regular sized' bars and then these little 'nibble' sized bars - perfect for a quick snack, without having to eat a whole big bar (because who could only eat half?)

I also grabbed some of their Trek bars this time - which are higher in protien and also super vegan. I had one for lunch today and it was FANTASTIC. Loved it, and I love their attitude: cute, fun and healthy. I love their openly vegany ways and I get a geeky kick out of their packaging and design. Aodhan thought the wrapping was pretty well done too! Watch out Lara...you got some competition.

VeganMofo: Day Eight

Mmmm. There are some super delicious meals being prepared for VeganMoFo! So glad I am back online.

Kevin was about ready to pitch some dying bananas last night, when I saved them from the bin. This act of banana-charity meant that I had to get the led out today and make something with them or I would be inviting a Fruit Fly Convention. I searched through a couple of books and found an oldie but a goodie and made the Banana Coconut Cookies from How It All Vegan. How can you go wrong with oats, bananas, and coconut? You can't! These squishy little suckers are great!

Now, why have food without fashion? I admit that I am not in ANY way a fashionista - quite the oppisite in fact. Thrift stores, t-shirts with owls on them, black converse and back packs are the name of my fashion game. Boring maybe, but I have just never had the fashion 'sense' that some people do, and have accepted my geeksheek apparel. I do however see shoes as an essential part of any outfit, something to be considered whether we are talking business suit or jammies (fuzzy slippers anyone?). Don't get me wrong, I only own one pair of heels and I bought them five years ago to wear to a friend's wedding. I am a flat footer for sure. I just don't go in for buying shoes that are supposed to push my rump up for some dude's benefit while simultaneously breaking every bone in my feet. But, I do like a good runner (saucony), a good mary jane (earth-vegan) and I love my vegan Berkinstocks. However, I have been looking high and low for a wicked vegan clog - previously because with teaching you are on your giffers all day, and now...with being a mom, I am still on my feet all day. The ones I found previously - online of course - were either not really clogs, or too ugly to consider purcashing. But then I stumbled on Sanita - The Danish Design shoe folks, and low and behold...they had Sarah. A vegan clog. I loved her from first sight, but the price tag was a little much. Luckily, I have Kevin here to tell me that I need to spend a little money on something other then organic produce once and a while. So, yah, I have my vegan clogs and I vegan-love-em'. They are fabricy goodness on the outside and nice and sturdy on the inside. I highly recommend these babies if you are a floor pounding vegan!

Vegan MoFo: Day Seven

Damn internet company! We were without any internet connection since last Thursday - so glad to be back online.

VeganMoFo Day Seven was a quick and nummy redo of my regular bean burrito. I substituted the tragically difficult to find black bean with chickpeas and white beans. They were fantastic!!! Boring photo, but great taste. I look forward to reading all Mofoing that has been going on while I was stuck without a signal!

Vegan MoFo: Day One

One of my old vegan favourites: Ratatouille. I just love this basic meal. Always so nourishing and comforting. I made this last night for dinner, and enjoyed it even more for a quick lunch today.


Hope everyone is yummying-it-up for VeganMoFo?

And for Aodhan's fans, here is a shot of him in a rare pose: in his Bugaboo. Truth be told, this rather expensive purchase is NEVER used. At least not right now. He gets worn EVERYWHERE. I admit to my addiction for baby carriers...A Moby just came in the mail the other day! So, the stroller isn't on Aodhan's list of places he likes to hang. But, we did get out for a spin the other day, and he seemed to tolerate it well enough. Please note the vegan baby shoes and my Matt and Nat wallet peeking out the side! Accessories are key. And, can I just say: My baby is awesome!


Sorry for the less then stellar picture quality....charging the batteries for our Nikon.

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!

Blueberry Waffles

Who loves waffles? I do, I do!

Aodhan had an early morning visitor, and I had to use Vegan Brunch waffles to wake Kevin from the depths of Saturday morning sleep. It worked like a charm!!!

This is a fast post, but I promised a totally cool mom, who I ran into while visiting Kevin at work yesterday, that I would get back on the blog-horse. So, here I am.

These waffles were fantastic and I recommend to anyone who doesn't yet have Vegan Brunch to get out there and grab it. Everything I have made from it has turned out amazingly yummy. I used the Old Fashioned Waffle recipe and added about 2 cups of fresh Belgian Blueberries. The recipe made enough to store in the fridge for some breakie tomorrow. Yum Yum!

Love Those Larabars

In addition to the great meals being cooked by Kevin, like last night's seitan-stuffed zucchini with fava beans, and my slap-dash rice dishes, I have also been indulging in a food that has new meaning for me.

Larabars were my best friend when I was burning up the treadmills. They were the perfect post-workout snack for me, and I loved their rawness and their easy transport. I was super sad when I moved to Belgium and realized that although many health shops sold another bar I occassionaly ate (osaki), no one seemed to carry Larabars. I was elated during a trip to my in-laws local Sainsbury's in England, when I spied a good stock of Larabars....so I have to cross the Channel to get them, but, hey! they are worth it.

I had asked my mom to bring me a couple of bars a few weeks ago when they made their transatlantic trip to visit Aodhan, but I wasn't expecting a WHOLE BOX! That's right! My mom and dad pulled 20 or so Larabars out of their suitcase - I couldn't have been more thankful. They were the perfect food for a new veganmama, who need both the energy and the easy eating styles of all Larabars. I had actually never had this flavour before: BananaBread. Oh! They are just so good and they really do taste exactly like my mom's banana bread. Num Num!

I am nearing the end of the stock and already feel myself getting a little weepy over the idea that I will have to wait another while before I can get my personal Larabar stock over here in Larabar free Brussels.....

If you have some time on your hands write Lara a little email and tell her she needs to get some more stockists over here in Europe....even if only for the expat crowd.....

shhhh he's sleeping....

I have a few precious seconds. These seconds are usually stored up and used for bathroom breaks or, on a really good day, to take a shower. But, today, I decided to skip the shower and give a super quick update:

I have made ONE meal in the last 19 days...one meal. This is what comes from Attachment Parenting and on-demand breastfeeding, in other words - I live on the sofa with a little vegan baby in my arms. Kevin is great and has been a cookery whiz. No starving going on here.

What was my one meal you ask? I managed, through the ingenuity of 'rice in a bag' (Never would I have considered such a thing) I made myself some Rice Pudding. It was super nummy, but since I used long grain rice, which doesn't produce that nice gummy and goopy consistency of short grain, it was more like Rice-Non-Pudding or Breakfast Rice as I renamed it later in the day (after also having it as Lunch Rice and After-Dinner-Snack-Rice).

Super simple -

3 cups of rice: cooked
2 cups of almond milk - more if you are going for the pudding
2 tsp of cinnamon
1 cup of raisins

warm through and enjoy! I had mine with a banana....the first time that is. :)

Hope everyone is well and enjoying their summer?

and, of course, a gratuitous picture of the cutest vegan in the world!

He's Here....

I am taking advantage of this two seconds of unexpected double handed time to announce the birth of our son! Weighing in at 7 lbs and strutting 52 cms worth of uber cute vegan-goodness, he is about the cutest little thing I have ever seen.

He arrived, in a very unplanned and unexpected (but safe) way, on Monday the 22nd. We are home from the hospital now, surrounded by family, friends and all the good wishes a new little vegan could hope for.

Just wanted to let everyone know that all is well and say thank you for all your support during my pregnancy. I promise to share lots of good one-hand friendly recipes in the next little while.

Stealing Posts?! Not Cool.......

Thanks to some uber good blog sleuthing by one of my fellow bloggers, it has come to my attention that the person who writes: duckducksoup.com, is stealing my blog posts and inserting them as their own - without any attempt to link or ping back to me.

It isn't just me, this person is also taking the writings and recipes of other bloggers and blatantly claiming it as their own.

Yucky.

Here is the website if you want to check out to see if your stuff is there, I have tried to alert those whose posts I have noticed.

Lots of love,
The REAL VeganCowGirl

Savory Apricot Muffins

Yesterday saw me waiting around the house, not wanting to head to far out...it was my due date. VeganBaby wasn't too interested in joining us on his dad's birthday. I got down to work and came up with a new recipe: Savory Apricot Muffins. I decided that with all of this time off (I know it will get a little busier once VeganBaby shows up), and encouraged by super crafty vegan mom's, like Darlene at Natural Violet , that I could start crafting my own bread, muffins and cake recipes from scratch - pushing myself beyond the cooking creations I feel much more comfortable with.

So, I ended up taking some very fresh apricots, and some cornmeal and going to town. What I turned out was this little batch of muffins that I think go wonderfully with hummus, guacamole or homemade salsa. I have never had too much of a sweet tooth, eschewing even the most decadent of candies as a young lassie, but I quite like the idea of combining a mild fruity flavour with the deeper and savory flavours of cornmeal and cinnamon. I am going to hold off sharing the recipe, since I want to try and make them a couple more times....not sure if they are perfect yet.


I did of course try one! I multi-tasked and spread half of the muffin with (sadly) store bought hummus, and the other half I covered with an organic tomato chutney. But I think they would have also been great with the other part of my lunch (though I did decide to stick with just the one muffin), which was reheated Pumpkin Soup, which I made for dinner on Tuesday.

I know! Pumpkin Soup and only a few days away from summer? Welcome to Belgium! We have had more then one day of rainy and slightly chilly weather since the calendar officially announced the arrival of 'spring'. But, to be honest, that is one of the things that I like about our current home, as it differs drastically from the unrelenting heat of Toronto. Tuesday had started out damp and rainy, and I thought a little bit of Pumpkin Soup would be the perfect treat. It was super tasty and well worth the roasting time I gave to the pumpkin before cutting it up and adding it to the rest of the soup.

Kevin's birthday was a success! Sadly, I have zero pictures of the cake - which was, in the end, Triple Chocolate, including a nummy layer of chocolate buttercream frosting on both the inside and outside of this cake. I pretty much winged the recipe, making sure to add soy yogurt and managing to avoid sugar (with the exception of the truck load that went into the frosting), opting for Agave Syrup instead. Kevin took the cake to work with him, a tradition in his department, and apparently there was lots of 'ohhhhs and awwwws' over its tastiness - glad they liked it!

He had prezzies in the morning (see robot below) from his VeganCowGirl, and then we joined friends for a pizza dinner after work. Lots of fun!

Rhubarb and Cherry Crumble-Cake and Basil Walnut Pesto Stuffed Eggplant Rollups

There are just so many culinary masters out in blog world! That means that today is another post about the goodies we have had thanks to the inspiration that I get from reading the work of others!

Who loves rhubarb? I do, I do! I remember being a ittybittycowgirl and being taken to my grandfather's house, where I would be let loose in the backgarden while grownups did grownup things in the house (like have coffee). My grandpa's garden always included big, huge rhubarb plants every spring. I was in awe of their bright red to bright green transition - and of course the rumours that they were slightly poisonous if not eaten in the right manner: ohhhh scary plant.

I admit that I never really had much use for rhubarb in prevegan days, before I started experimenting with food and making most of my own goodies. My mom, I don't think, is so big on rhubarb so I think that it remained little more than a culinary mystery to me for years.

Living in Brussels one gets a good window of fresh rhubarb buying off the market stands here, so I like to make the most of it: crumbles, breakfasty oatmeal goodness, and now....thanks to Mihl....a Rhubarb Crumble Cake! Now Mihl is a fantastic baker-supreme, who offers blogland endless recipes that are interesting, usually ethnic in some cool way, and really unique - and they hardly ever need tweaking. My tweaking only came in out of necessity - I had cherries and I wanted to use them up....so I decided to make a Rhubarb and CHERRY Crumble Cake!


Holy rhubarb goddess in the sky! I have never made a crumble-cake before, but they are great because you get the denser cake bottom, with the crispy, flakier crumble top. Divine. It turned out fantastically and I would happily make it all over again - a perfect use for local and seasonal rhubarb goodness. Just follow Mihl's well written instructions, but add a cup of fresh cherries to the rhubarb layer of the cake, and you are in business.

I was also inspired by Liz's inspirations of last week in her Random Post, where she put Nigella (sex goddess of the cooking world for those who aren't acquainted with her *unique* on-air approach to kitchen endeavouring) to the vegan test and made, what looked like, some uber delish eggplant rolls. Yesterday morning, after getting Kevin off to work (trust me, getting him out of bed and coherent enough to drive the car is a chore unto itself), I noticed a huge plant of basil that needed something done to it, so I decided to make a walnut-basil pesto that I figured would be the perfect inside to the eggplant roll-ups. It was! I also stuffed them with sauteed zucchini, red pepper and organic garlic. I served them with a side of whole wheat spaghetti, and let me tell you - I can NOT wait to make these bad boys again. They were fantastic.

Eggplant Rollups
(I need to give these a better name I think)

Pesto
3 cups of basil
1/3 cup of olive oil
2 cups of walnuts

Rolls
1 eggplant
1/2 zucchini
1 red pepper
3 cloves of garlic

I cut the eggplant into strips about 1/2 cm thick, brushed them with olive oil and then grilled them on my grill (which I am sure was imagined for indoor grilling of meats, but this baby is vegan ONLY), until they were cooked, but still had some structure to them.
While they were grilling, I cut the other veg into tiny cubes and sauteed them in a scant amount of olive oil. The pesto was easy: basil, oil, walnuts + cuisinart smart stick = great Basil Walnut Pesto! When I was ready to assemble these little packets of joy I pulled out a casserole dish, lined it with some tomatoes. I spread a teaspoon of the pesto on each slice of eggplant, loaded the end bit up with some of the tasty veg and then got down to rolling. Dead easy. Put them all in the baking dish, covered with more tomato and the bits of veg that were left over and threw it all in the oven for about 30 minutes at 170. Perfect. Seriously - they were great!



Kevin's birthday is tomorrow - that means a cake! Any suggestions? I was thinking something chocolate, something mocha, something with frosting, something that he can gain a few pounds on, something that if the baby comes tomorrow we can share with the midwives and any folks who come by to see the new veganbaby!

VeganCowGirl Goes Dutch!

I found a really, really well done blog a couple of weeks ago. NOW, it isn't of the vegan variety, but the food that Dutch Girl makes is spectacular and the photography is out of this world. I love the little 'recipe card' that is included with each amazing meal she prepares. Kay's food is just too good not to try and coax into the veganny world, so I started out with her Peanut Potatoes.

I changed it up a little bit and added tofu to the baking dish for a one dish-wonder and was pretty happy with it. Though, I wonder if perhaps my green chillies were a little under the weather because they certainly didn't give the dish the spicy kick I was looking for. I also added a few other little things and played with timings a little bit, so find below my version of Kay's wicked recipe!

Nutty Fu and Potatoes

7 charlotte potatoes - peeled and cut into bite size chunks
1 packet of extra firm tofu - I cut these into 2 cm thick triangles
3 cloves of garlic - grated
1 thumb of ginger - grated
1 cm of green chili - seeded and cut into bitty pieces
2 tablespoons of peanut butter
1/3 cup of water + 1 tsp of vegetable stock
sesame seeds - as you like
sesame oil - 1 tbsp
4 green onions - diced

I parboiled the potatoes according to Kay's directions, using the boiling time to whisk up my peanut sauce: the peanut butter, water, veg stock, sesame oil and seeds. After I cut up the tofu and waited for the potatoes to get hot enough to lose a sense of hardness, I added everything minus the green onions to my ceramic dish and gave it a good all over peanut sauce bath.

I baked it for about 1 hour at 350 - a little longer then Kay and was happy with how nicely the sauce crisped up the fu and the potatoes, without drowning them. I ate mine with some avocado. Nummers. I also made VCTOTW's Carrot Cake cuppies, to take to birthday party the next day, but sadly we (as usual) forgot our camera. BUT - Isa and Terry can rest easy because they were snapped up in no time with loads of compliments in their wake.

After the birthday party on Saturday we ventured back home, hoping that the bumpy ride might have some impact on VeganBaby's arrival (no such luck), and decided that the sun and socializing had sapped us of most of our energy. So, we decided to make a quick, but really, really yummy Bean and CousCous Salad. Oh my goodness - it was fantastic. Mostly the work of Kevin, as the sun did more to me then bring out my freckles - it turned me into the marshmallow man from ghostbusters. I needed to have my feet up.....Great Salad Kevin!

I hope everyone had a stellar weekend, and I wish everyone a fantastic week!!

Samosas and Falafel: 1 out of 2 isn't so bad.....

I love samosas, but had never attempted to make them. So, I did last night. They were good. I used a recipe from veg.web, and I think next I might explore a different site or consult one of the billion cookbooks on my shelf - the dough was just a little too heavy for me. The filling was quite good, and I used fresh peas that I had left over from the market, but the dough just didn't seem samosatastic to me.


I also made some baked falafel. I was dying for some nummy falafel goodness, but I wasn't feeling like deep frying them. I opted to give them a good baking along with the samosas. I actually pulled out an oldie, but goodie from the shelf to make these guys. I used Mollie Katzen's recipe from 15th anniversary Moosewood Kitchen to make these, and they were darn good!

Mmmmm. I also made Roasted Asparagus and Potato Soup. This was great! I really wanted to be able to taste the asparagus, so I decided to give it about 40 minutes under the broiler before cutting it into little pieces and adding it to my soup pot. I was really happy with the end result and in my decision to add some tahini.

Roasted Asparagus and Potato Soup

9 asparagus stems (are they stems or shoots?)
5 charlotte potatoes
3 leeks (end bits only)
3 tbsp of tahini
5 cups of water

Broil your asparagus (you could also throw the potatoes in there too!), for about 45 minutes. Cut them into about 2 cm pieces. Quarter your washed potatoes, and dice your leeks. Add all ingredients to your pot, bring to boil and then let simmer.

It turned the most funky green colour! It was a great lunch the day after as well.

Pie, Beans, Sushi and Lunch...a bit of everything really!

Ok, maternity leave should have a hand book with it. Actually, you should get a whole package that includes some kind of dial so you can turn down your energy stores. All I have been hearing for the last two days (via facebook) is that I need to slow down, calm down, sleep, rest, relax....ummm...not really possible for me. Have never been able to really rest for much more then a few chapters of a book. I do wish, a little bit, that I could stop or at least slow down, but I guess I will when I need to. In the mean time......my kitchen is a state of a non-stop cook-off!

I have loads, but will try to keep the post small and just share the goodies.



Sunday night I made a rather simple, but really satisfying Tuscan Bean dish with Roastie Rosemary Potatoes. Perfect combo.

Mmmmm. Monday's Lunch was also quite yummy. I had a multi-grain bagel with avocado, yellow peppers and raw zuchi. I made a little fresh sweet pea and zuchi salad to go along with it - with a little sesame oil on top. Just look at those fresh peas? One thing I really heart about Brussels is the bevy of fresh local produce that is available throughout the week at various open air markets.


And then yesterday I used my date syrup to replace sugar in a Rhubarb, Ginger and Strawberry Pie that I just had to make. I saw the Rhubarb sitting there all local-like and fresh in my kitchen windowsill, and I knew it wasn't destined for ANOTHER crumble. So, I got down to it and made a couple of pie shells with whole wheat all purpose flour (since I was out of w.w pastry flour). The innards of the pie were inspired a wee bit from this 2006 post on Vegan-licious. But then, as usual, I just started winging it. Enter the date syrup. I couldn't live with chucking the required amount of brown and white sugar into the pie, so I went with the date syrup that A.K. inspired me to whip up on Friday. I used this naturally sweet syrup to sweeten and lengthen the flavours of the rhubarb and ginger.

I also made Brown Rice Sushi. I know I have posted a gratuitous amount about sushi, but this seems worthy of another mention since I managed to find brown sushi rice here in Brussels. The texture was much chewier and a touch heavier then when I have used the 'regular' white sushi rice, but it was super nummy and I felt less nasty after ingesting more then a couple of rolls.

Rhubarb, Ginger and Strawberry Pie

(For Dena)

Pie Crust
3 cups of whole wheat pastry flour (or all purpose if need be)
3/4 cup of vegan margarine (or you can substitute this for oil)
6 tablespoons of water (or more if you find you need it)
Extra flour for your rolling pin and counter top

Pie Innards
6 big stalks of rhubarb (cut into bit size)
1 bunch of strawberries (about 8 biggies, or 20 little guys)
1 thumb of ginger
1 lemon (you need the rind and the juicy inside)
2 tsp of cinnamon
2 tsp of cloves
2 tsp of nutmeg
3 tbsp of cornstarch
1 cup of date syrup

I cut the fruit up, added the lemon rind and the lemon juice. I grated my fresh ginger into the fruit and let it sit while I made the pie crust. For the crust I simply added the flour to a big bowl, cut the margarine into the flour, and then made two balls - one slightly larger then the other. I floured my rolling pin and counter, and did the best I could to make a circle out of each ball. I stuck the first in the bottom of a silicon pie dish, which I immediately sat on top of a cookie sheet (I knew this pie was going to be squelchy). And the second I added once I had the filling in my bowl.

To complete the filling I added the date syrup, gave it all a good mix, and then I added the remaining ingredients. The cornstarch got to work super quick thickening the filling! Who doesn't love chemistry?

I baked the pie at 350 for 55 minutes and Kevin dove right in after dinner - thumbs up all around.

VeganBaby Update: Still swimming around inside his mommy. Currently 9 days away from expected date of arrival (a.k.a. Kevin's birthday!). I still feel great (minus the continued crampy, crampy, pinchey, ouches). Can't wait!!!! Thanks for all of your supportive and warm comments about the baby - you guys rock! And just because I love you guys so much - here is Kitty Eliott giving you a little bit of kitten love!

Sweet Date and Cashew Bread

Mmmmmmmmm. That's really all I could say on Friday night after this loaf came out of my oven. Mostly because I had my mouth FULL of this really delightful cake. It was everything I wanted in a loaf (bread? cake?)...it came out moist, tasting of the dates, and holding its shape in a most wonderful way. I was inspired by Swell Vegan's Date Syrup of this week, but was reading Celine's website when I was taken oven by the desire to marry the dates and cake...and this is what I got!

Sweet Date and Cashew Bread

1 cup of oat flour
1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of baking soda

1 1/12 cups of dates
1 cup of chopped cashews
3/4 cup of soymilk
1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup of dark vegany sugar
1 tbsp of vanilla
1/3 of vegan margarine

I started the recipe by chopping up the dates, quite tiny-tiny and letting them soak in some hot water, setting them aside. I also started the 'curdling' of the soymilk by adding the vinegar to it and also setting it aside. I took the brown sugar and margarine (I am sure you could use oil here), and set my hand mixer on these two ingredients. I added the soymilk and vanilla, again, giving it a good mix. It was a warm brown colour at this point, and smelled super yummy of vanilla.

I sifted the flours, baking soda and baking powder together, and added the dry to the wet. I drained the dates and added them to the mix, along with the cashews. Giving it one last good mix, I put the whole thing into a loaf pan and stuck it into a pre-heated (350) oven and baked it for 50 minutes.

Super nummy good.

Vegan Mommy Update: Had some false labour this morning. Yikes. I have been experiencing 'practice' contractions for about two months, but, unlike those, these ones HURT. Will keep you updated!

W.I.P. Wednesday and Stegosaurus Sweet Potatoes

Quite early in the day today, my pregnancy related sciatica garnered me S.O.L in the walking department. This was pretty disappointing because I had baked a chocolate graduation cake for my grade sixes, along with some of Isa's kick ass frosting, and had hoped to bring it to them today. Instead of spending some sugar-infused time with my kids I productively spent the afternoon working on my birthing quilt.

This quilt was inspired by Chickpea Studios and is ALMOST done (thought I haven't stuck to the pattern). A girl needs a little maternity leave to finish off her craft projects. (right? or maybe I should spend less time playing fetch with my cats and more time at the sewing machine). Anyway, just putting the border on. Plan to get my batting and back tomorrow (sciatica permitting) and it might just be complete for Aodhan's arrival.

Before the sharpy, sharpy, pokey, pokey started, I did have a chance to make a Rhubarb and Apple Crumble for Kevin. I used the fruit pulp from his morning juice extraction to help fibre-up this desert. I also made tonight's dinner - a clean out the fridge curry. I think I might serve it with whole wheat soba noodles, or maybe brown rice.


Hmmmm, but about those Stegosaurus Sweet Potatoes! I made this meal the other night and I just loved it! Of course you could have made the same rub (using your Cuisinart Smart Stick or other fine kitchen device) and just brushed it over a regular baked potato, but why not make dinosaur food-art when given the chance? It definitely increased the garlic and parsley to potato surface area ratio - and that makes this little member of the herbivore family very happy. We served it as part of our all-veggie dinner: grilled asparagus, grilled peppers, purred roasted aubergine. I added a bit of hummus to my plate, just to make sure that baby-dino gets his protein! A great meal.

Parsley, Garlic and Rosemary Rub

2 handfuls of parsley (I used curly, but you could easily use flat)
5 cloves of garlic (we like it stinky in this house, so you could do less garlic if you like)
Two sprigs of Rosemary
Big splashes of olive oil
Juice from 2 lemons
Pepper to taste

I whirled it all up in my new toy and brushed it over the sliced potatoes (with bottoms still in tact). I then did a very unenvironmentally friendly thing and wrapped them in tin foil. We cooked them on the bbq for about 1 hour.