It's been a long time!

To my loyal readers,

Sorry I haven't been updating my blog :)

The truth is that I've been very lazy lol. My husband is still in Washington, and I haven't been cooking as much as I thought I would be.

I visited him in Washington a couple of weeks ago and it was great! We went to Sticky Fingers (a world famous vegan bakery in Washington, DC) and it was sooooooooo yummy! We had 6 different kinds of cupcakes. They were not cheap wow, they were selling them for $2.50 each, it was worth it, but expensive. And we had some sticky buns, DELICIOUS! We had them for breakfast on vday day :)

Here are some pics:



The highlight of the weekend was a visit to a farm sanctuary called Popular Springs. It was the first time visiting a sanctuary, and getting so close to farm animals! These animals were soo beautiful, friendly and CLEAN contrary to what a lot people think. My favorite were the pigs :) They were adorable, and they LOVED getting their bellies rubbed. Spending time there reminded me again why I'm vegan. It was really touching to be have an experience like that.

Tofu-spinach ricotta lasagna

Andy has been gone for a week now and I've been cooking all my favorite things! (My favorite things happen to be the things Andy likes the least)

A couple of nights ago I decided to embark on a lasagna adventure.  It was my first time making and it took me about 2 hours.  It wasn't complicated at all, just a lot of different steps and ingredients.

The recipe was from Veganomicon.  It was seriously the BEST lasagna I have EVER had.. 

I made the mariana sauce from scratch, and the highlight of this dish was the cashew tofu ricotta filling.  It was soo good that I was eating the filling on its own :) It was sooo rich and creamy, just like ricotta!!

It was such a satisfying and filling meal.

Andy took the camera with him to Washington, so I'm afraid I won't be able to post pictures for the next little while :(

It's been a while..

I haven't posted anything for a while because I've been lazy and busy at the same time. I ate a lot of great food over the holidays (I didn't have to do any cooking during the holidays, it was nice to have a break). Sorry I didn't really take any pictures!

But now I'm back in the swing of things. I hosted a vegan potluck at my house a few weeks ago and it was a huge success. Sorry didn't really take any pictures lol. I promise to take more pictures in the future. My husband is leaving in two weeks, and I will have A LOT of spare time on my hands :)

Here are few pictures of things I made in the last month or so.
Enjoy!

Chickpea cutlets with roasted vegetables:

Polenta pizza (it actually looks MUCH better than it tasted -we didn't spread the polenta enough and it didn't cook properly in the middle):

Adzuki and pear soup:

Curried udon noodle stir-fry:

Bulgar pilaf with apricots and chili:

I am having a going away party for Andy / potluck party this Saturday. Stay tuned!

K

Granola bars

Today I decided to make some homemade granola bars!

These yummy bars consist of the following:

dried apricots
shredded coconut
slivered almonds
chocolate chips
dried apples
oatmeal
flour, earth balance, brown sugar, baking soda/powder and salt

and voila!

Banana bread

Banana bread is one of my favorite things to bake because it's super easy and yummy! In fact my mom always asks me to bake her some banana bread for xmas lol.

The recipe is from a Canadian Living cookbook, and I veganized it by using soy milk and oil instead of milk and butter.

The key is to use bananas that are the perfect ripeness! I often freeze my bananas when I see they are getting brown.

I also add walnuts to give it an extra touch.

I LOVE eating this warm, and I really enjoy spreading some earth balance on it. yummmmmm


I will be doing a lot more xmas baking in the next coming week. Instead of buying gifts for my family and friends, I bake and make crafts for them :) The challenge of making the goodies ahead of time is NOT eating them lol.

Stay tuned for some yummy vegan xmas goodies!

If anyone has a good vegan gingerbread cookie recipe please let me know! I tried a recipe last year, but it didn't turn out too great. The dough was very hard to work with.

K

Lentils with squash and kale

This is one of my favorite dishes, but my husband isn't too crazy about kale so he's not a big fan of the dish. The recipe is from a newspaper, from a few years ago. It is really easy to make. If you want the recipe just let me know.

It contains the following ingredients:
couscous, kale, tomatoes, butternut squash, lentils, and spices.

Tofu pineapple strir-fry

I hadn't made a stir-fry for a while, so I thought it was time!

I marinated my tofu in homemade terrayaki sauce and pineapples for about 2 days (the longer the better)


Then I added some mushrooms, peppers, onions, and rice stick noodles. I also added some rice vinegar and a put of hoisin sauce. OH and I also added some toasted cashews.