My New Toy!!!

When I was handed this incredibly heavy wrapped package on Christmas day, I thought maybe Joey had wrapped up some bricks =) I was thrilled to discover it was a dutch oven!!! I have been wanting one of these forever,now i just have to decide what to prepare first. He also gave me the entire Charmed collection too!! As well as a PSP modified to work with my tremors! It was so nice with it just being us and our kids. I'll have a pic and details on Christmas dinner soon.

I Have To Show Off My Kids

Jungle is still trying to grasp the idea of opening gifts here.



I'm sure he hates me for this, but I couldn't resist.

She wasn't biting him, he was begging and fell on her while I was snapping this pic.

How could Santa not want her as a reindeer?

He really, really posed for this perfectly didn't he?

They are just too cute to not show off!!!

Christmas!!!

Christmas Goodies Galore!!!!!!!!!!! I didn't have the chance t9o snap pics of everything, which included: 2 batches of fudge(vegetarian of course!!), 4 batches of shortbread, 2 batches of ginger bread and sugar cutouts, Oreo truffles, chocolate cake, white/coconut cake, rum cake, chocolate chip cookies, 4 different batches of muffins, and all of this was just for goodie baskets!!!! I also had to prepare snacks and then Christmas dinner. While trying to survive the drama of a pissed-off due to lack of information sister-in-law, overly anxious mother-in-law and cooking in between almost made me insane(or more so than i am already)

Anyway, pictured below is one of my goodie plates with shortbread, fudge, and muffins.

Below that is a tray that Joey put together with celery and pimento cheese and carrots with ranch.

Then the spicy tortilla roll-ups in the Christmas tree platter.

And last is the super moist chocolate cake. I will post a couple of recipes from the above mentioned treats soon!

Almost Ready for Christmas?

Here we have a leaf, which fits perfectly with the bell pepper below, I paid one dollar for the both of them, and I love the fact that they are oven safe!!!!!

Here is a plaque that is adorning my wall in the kitchen, to tie in all the elements of the kitchen(or attempt too).

These are my favorite!!!! Found at the same thrift store at varying times, I love these shrooms!! Perfect for canisters, if I find a few more I would have a complete set!!

With the Christmas season comes lots of planning!! I have to plan a schedule for what to cook when and "all that jazz". I am sure that I will have lots of pics over the next few days, along with dealing with the family drama that comes with family gatherings. Is anyone completely ready for Christmas yet??? Anyhow, I had to show off my newly acquired kitchen accessories.

I Think This Is The Last Of The Thanksgiving Pics!!

Finally the last of Thanksgiving meal pics(I think). The top photo is the finished product, while the bottom is the halfway pic. I decided to play it a little fancier than just a plain chocolate cake with the white butter cream filling, but I find that rich foods no longer appeal to my palate. While it was tasty, after one bite I was calling it quits!! No special recipe, just a devil's food with chocolate and white butter cream icings.

So what all does everyone have planned for Christmas cooking? My list keeps growing!!

A Couple of Sides I Made For Thanksgiving

Still updating from Thanksgiving, and pictured above are the roasted carrots and cranberry sauce. I prefer making my own cranberry sauce over listening to the squish and plunk of the canned version making it's way to the plate. Not that I don't eat the canned stuff on occasion, but for the special days I prefer my own. I used Alton's recipe this year with a few small adjustments. Am I the only person who cannot leave a recipe exactly as it is?

1 pound frozen cranberries

2 cups orange juice (I added some orange extract to give it a little more oomph)

3 cups ginger ale

2 tablespoons maple syrup (Used less)

2 tablespoons light brown sugar (used about a 1/2 cup)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 orange, zested

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a non-reactive saucepan (stainless steel), and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 to 45 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half.
Carefully puree with stick blender or blender until smooth. Check for seasoning and serve in small ramekins.

I Don't Know Why I Waited!!!!

I finally jumped on the Tofurkey band wagon!!!!!!! And I feel like an idiot for not trying them sooner. I purchased some of the Italian flavored sausages and fried them with onions and peppers on a hot dog bun and slathered it with mustard after the photo was taken. I baked some tater tots to go with it, and I was in Heaven!!!!!!!!!! So much nicer than the ones before vegetarianism, I never did enjoy the real ones that much.

So Much To Catch Up On!!!!

A taste of things to come(rather be posted!). Pictured below is my new favorite dessert. Pumpkin bars that I watched Paula Deen create, after I fast forwarded past all of the nasty meat parts. These were indescribably good!! I tweaked it just slightly, and I know that it will be so easy to veganize. I am planning on trying it very soon. Joey, who despises pumpkin, ate almost half of the batch and has asked me to make It as a two layer cake. Almost eleven years now that I have been trying to encourage more pumpkin in his diet, and finally success!!!



Bars:

4 eggs

1 2/3 cups granulated sugar

1 cup vegetable oil (I subbed 1/2 applesauce 1/2 canola oil.)

15-ounce can pumpkin

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (1/2 tsp extra)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda
(1 tsp. of vanilla extract)

(I am thinking nuts, and maybe some rum soaked raisins in a future batch)





Icing:8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract



Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.


To make the icing: Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.





This Bean Curd soup has become my favorite cheap take-out meal!! I am trying to duplicate the recipe, it's just water flavored with the vegetables and tofu according to the chef. So tasty with the crispy noodles!!

I have plenty of things to post so keep reading.

No goodies

Hope to have pics and recipes soon. Joey has had a really long week at work and I have been fixing some comfort foods that I have already posted. I will remedy soon though!

WHHHOOOOOOOOOOO THANK GOD!!!!

THANK GOD OBAMA WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All sorts of odds and ends

All sorts of stuff to post since it has been awhile!! It would have been sooner, If we had not gone to the STP concert last week, and all sorts of other things which life surprises you with. Anyhow on to the good stuff!!! Pictured below are my kids, I had to post their Halloween costume pics, because I'm sorry but they are just so damn cute. On top is Percy the naked Pomeranian, I should mention that HE actually enjoyed being in the dress and pranced around like it was a show. Below is bad-ass Jungle Julia, whom is a jack Russel-daschund-feist mix in her Harley jacket. We have been trying to figure out how the gender role reversal occurred. =) Not that I mind!

Now that I am done talking about the kids for the moment, I will move on to the wonderful meal I made this weekend. I picked up some new vegan non-chicken chicken broth, and wanted to try it out before Thanksgiving to make sure it didn't suck. And let me tell you, It DID NOT suck!! My favorite part of Thanksgiving has always been the dressing. I have not been able to duplicate the exact taste of my MIL's (which is the old-fashioned southern recipe that is like tasting Heaven!) until this meal. She taught me this recipe about 4 years

ago and I have been craving it since going veggie. I am definitely going to post this recipe.

Southern Cornbread Dressing

1 Batch of cornbread

5 cups of veg chicken broth

3-4 slices of stale bread

2 eggs or egg substitute

3 1/2 tsp. of Poultry seasoning( I made my own since I don' t keep it in the house.)

2 1/2 tsp. of ground sage

2 tsp. of rubbed sage

3 tsp. of black pepper

Preheat oven 30 400 degrees. Allow the cornbread to cool, then crumble with the bread slices. It really depends on how much bread you like in it. Once the bread is crumbled, grease a 9x13 pan liberally. To the cornbread mixture add all of the seasonings and pour in pan. Mix the egg or substitute in a small bowl and mix well with the cornbread mixture, generously pour the broth over the mixture and mix well. Bake for about 20 -25 minutes till the top is slightly golden. Cool slightly and enjoy! I served mine with some mashed potatoes, sweet peas and pickled beets.

So Joey is experimenting with stir-fry sauces and won't give me the exact recipe, but this was so good I had to show it off. I know it had tamari, ginger, garlic and toasted sesame oil. But that's about it.

And last but not least at all, is a pic of my newest tat!! Promise to have a better pic soon, but I couldn't wait to show it off!! I really wanted a Peace symbol, but being a vampire loving kind of dark personality, I also wanted something to suit me. The really cool thing is that the artist didn't even talk to me more than a minute, I didn't tell him anything other than I wanted a unique Peace symbol and he completely free handed this one!! I have found my regular tat artist I think(at least in this area.)

I will have some new posts shortly! My birthday was last Wednesday(the 22) and I have been having too much fun, not to mention working out more than usual to compensate for the celebrating!! Can't wait to post a pic of my new tat, so it won't be long.

A Few New Pics

So upon cleaning my memory out of my camera I came upon a photo of a wonderful vegan cupcake pic I made and forgot to post. It was the chocolate cupcake recipe from VCTOTW with a buttermilk icing on top. This was so much like a Hostess cupcake, it threw me off!!
I have been busy this week and just did not feel like a lot of cooking and a huge mess to clean up, so I found out that Campbell's has a tasty minestrone with no beef or chicken broth in it. I picked up a can, found a small sourdough loaf, and you can see the results. Sprinkled with a little Italian cheese and I had a tasty meal(though with a lot of leftovers.)

We went out exploring some of the thrift stores in Memphis and found some really nice stuff!! These were the best of the lot!! I am done with plates now!! But I hope to keep on finding cool retro stuff. I already have a lime green salt and pepper shaker set.
I LOVE, LOVE these little gems!! How can you beat blue shrooms on coffee/tea cups? Plus I love the little B-shaped handles.
I have to touch up this lovely little napkin holder slightly, but how cute is this?

Cheesy Rice Bake

This is one of the best recipes that I have made in a while. I know everybody under the3 sun has a rice casserole recipe, however I have also noticed that most of them also contain some kind of meat or meat product. They don't usually have garlic or flavorings and they have been really dull tasting to me. So I created my own. The one I made today is vegetarian but this could easily be made vegan as well.

Cheesy Rice Bake

3 cups of cooked rice

1 tsp. of extra virgin olive oil

1/2 an onion diced finely

1 1/2 tsp of celery leaf(you can use real celery, Joey cannot digest it so I left it out.)

2 tsp. of garlic(either powder or 1 minced clove)

1 can of vegetarian cream of chicken soup

3/4 cup of milk

1 1/2 cups of cheddar

Pepper to taste

This was so easy, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil till translucent, then add the soup and milk and celery leaf and let simmer. Once simmering lower the heat and add one cup of the cheddar cheese and pepper as desired. Transfer to a 2 quart casserole dish, sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes till golden around the edges. Remove, sprinkle with additional pepper and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.(Unless you want a burnt tongue like I know have.)

Pics of Pumpkin Muffins

Now my mouth is watering again! This is my usual muffin recipe that is posted in an earlier blog. With a couple of additions. I have made this both vegan and vegetarian, and both turned out really tasty and moist. The only things I added are below:

1 can of pumpkin

2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice( I like a little more!!)

1/2 to 1 tsp of Cinnamon(I like extra here too)

add that to the muffin recipe and enjoy!!

Pumpkin Muffin recipe Coming Soon

Alright, I made another batch(I made sure to only make a small batch to retry the recipe) and will be posting the recipe and pics soon!!

(Sorry B!! They were all eaten before I read your comment. Hey, yet another excuse to make some more!)

Is Anyone Else Scatterbrained?

I find myself rather scatterbrained these days, and I don't know why! Okay, maybe I am just like this all the time but I don't like to admit it. Anyhow.



One of my favorite Fall treats has always been pumpkin muffins!! To me it's just not fall without pumpkin goodies in the house. Sadly, I am the only one who enjoys pumpkin in this household. I wish I was really sad about that......lol Just means more goodies for me!


Pumpkin muffins are probably one of my favorite ways to eat pumpkin. So I made a huge batch of them, and I wrote down the recipe-lost it. AND forgot to snap a pic. Hey, wait! What a good excuse to make some more, don't you think? =)

Stir-Fry Yumminess

Upon cleaning the freezer out earlier this week, I discovered some veggies I did not even know I had and created a stir-fry. It has a ginger sauce to it, but I found it rather bland upon eating, so I think I will experiment with a better sauce. It has a nice mound of rice beneath it(yes I know, I prefer brown but Joey won't eat it like I do!! I sneak it in occasionally.) Anyone know of any really good sauces?

Vegetarian Chicken Parmesan

My husband was so happy to hear about the vegetarian diet returning to our household, that he made one of my all-time favorite dishes. While he supported me fully during my stint into veganism, he was extremely exuberant about being able to prepare his cuisine of choice: Italian. While Italian is good anyway you fix it, vegan or non, he prefers loads of unhealthy options when he's cooking. =)

He is an amazing chef any day of the week, but he is a master when it comes to Italian. I will never be able to pry the recipe from him(though I have tried in numerous ways.), so I just conceded and let him keep his secrets so long as he cooks them with some frequency.

It consists of vegetarian chicken patties, cooked to perfection, sauce which he adds all sorts of stuff too, provolone, mozzarella, Parmesan and of course pasta. He layers all of this in his own order and bakes it till we can no longer bear the smell, and a taste of heaven is within my grasp!!

P.S. The cookies below are the Snickerdoodles, and Joey snapped the pic of the chicken parm and apologizes about the picture.

Snickers.....& Doodles!!!

Thanks for the understanding peeps!!

In appreciation for how wonderful several of my neighbors are, I made a huge batch of Snicker doodles to share!! These are such a classic cookie that I have yet to meet a person who does not enjoy them.

One of my neighbors is kind enough to take our garbage to the dumpster(we call her the garbage fairy), and the other older couple who lives across the hall never cease to make us laugh about something. The couple across the hall have medical issues, so I can't bake too many goodies to take to them.


It is just the classic recipe with no new twists.....as of yet! I have pics, but the batteries died in my camera so I will post soon.

Announcement

Upon a very lengthy soul-searching journey, I have come to the conclusion that I will no longer be able to be a part of the Vegan society. My apologies to the lovely Vegans that have read my blog and the wonderful comments that you have all been leaving. I will still be making lots of Vegan recipes as well as vegetarian now. Which I will clearly label as vegan or vegetarian.



I will NEVER return to a life of meat eating. That is one thing I will never, ever encourage in anyone that crosses my path. However, the way that things are right now in my life, I am unable to to get the proper nutrients or grocery supplies needed to make a full Vegan commitment.


I am not one for making excuses, so I won't. There are very good reasons for which I have made my choice, and most people who know me will know why I cannot make a full commitment right now. I have enjoyed veganism and I enjoy challenges, but there are just some things health related(which are personnel to me) which I am unable to change. Which is what I am having to learn.

Coming Soon!!! Changes

I am in the process of changing some things, which I will post soon.

I Like to 'Y'am it Up!

Of course being from the south, I do enjoy my yams/sweet potatoes. I like them baked, broiled, mashed, roasted. Pretty much anyway I can get them. Joey is not enamored of these delicious darlings at all, so I am on my own when I prepare them.

Most people use nasty marshmallows, but I have NEVER liked marshmallows at all. My favorite way is pictured below: Pineapple-baked sweet potatoes. There is really no point in writing the recipe, seeing as it's only the potatoes mashed with brown sugar, pineapple, cinnamon and margarine. But so yummy!!

After all the Chaos

We finally managed to get away from everything for a thrift store break the other day, and as all of my dinner plates have either been chipped, scratched or stained, I am trying to refill the cabinet with pre-owned dishes.

I am sorry, but I am not of the school that all of your dishes must match. I say screw that, and be yourself! So I was delighted to find this blue sunflower(I think...lol) plate that is nice and heavy and is so cute.

Pictured below it is a little dessert plate, which is very familiar to the multicolored flower plate which I posted several weeks ago. Same company just a different design.

Apple Pie

As a child of 3-4 I absolutely adored my Papa's homemade apple pie. To this day I still remember the incredible way his house would smell after a day of baking. And I cannot find a taste to rival his. Not that I honestly think I ever will. But I figured I would try to come as close as possible. I felt like a kid playing with the pie dough, and had so much fun making this.

Now I know it is not a picture perfect pie, especially since I had to pull a Frankenstein on part of the upper crust, but it was still tasty. Though not Papa's!! Pictured is the pie, then below it is the inside. It was just your basic southern apple pie recipe, just with vegan margarine.

Absence Apology

So sorry for the absence, though I really have not had the time to even remember what day it is for the past two weeks now. I have some photos and recipes to post, when I can find my camera....lol My sister-in-law's(who is one of my best friends) father went in the hospital two weeks ago, he had progressed cancer and passed away Sunday a week and a half ago. Her family resides in Greenwood, MS and our little Saturn just would not make the trip so we had to rent a car. As soon as Joey walked in the door with the keys his mom called to tell us she was on the way to her doctor with chest pains. We get ready and are walking out the door to head to Greenwood to tell us that she was being put in the hospital.

This was at 3:00 pm. We flew down to the viewing to support my in-laws, and arrived back at the house at 10:30 pm the same night, Joey called to check on her as soon as we walked in the door. She was panicking and could not calm down, I ended turning around and going to the hospital withe her all night long. Arrived at 11:00 pm and left at 11:00 am. What a night!! They released her that afternoon with the diagnosis been a minor heart attack, but unfortunately the nurse on duty that evening had a horrid cold and passed it to me. She was doing okay until this Monday night when we thought she was having another heart attack but thankfully was just anxiety. I am not bitching, just wanted to explain where I have been. Anyway, I will be posting this week so please check back.

Finally, Successful Lemon Tea Cookies

So after three tries, I finally found found success with the Lemon Tea Cookies. I know you would not believe it with all the chocolate that I bake, but I much prefer citrus desserts over chocolate in the summer. These are a little thicker than a traditional cookie, but still yummy. I think I would also recommend baking a little longer than the recipe says, depending on your oven. Pictured with the cookies is a scone, I did not like the scones, so I will have to keep on baking.

Lemon Tea Cookies

1/2 cup of vegan margarine or butter

3/4 cups of sugar

1 1/2 tsp. of lemon zest

1 tsp. of baking powder

1/4 tsp. of baking soda

1/4 cup of silken tofu, soft, whizzed with 1/2 tsp. of cornstarch

1/3 cup of soy milk

1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract

1 3/4 cup of AP flour

2 tsp. of lemon juice

1/4 cup of sugar

2 Tbs. of lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar for about 1 minute. Add the next four ingredients and mix well. Add the milk and vanilla and mix, then slowly add the flour about a 1/4 of a cup at a time. Mix well, on a greased cookie sheet, place cookies by teaspoonful about 2 inches apart and bake for 8-10 minutes or til edges are slightly brown. Move to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely. Once the cookies are cooled, mix the remaining sugar and lemon juice together an brush on cookies. The original recipe is from the Better Homes and Garden cookbook with several mods to make it Vegan.


(Above) Yes I have been thrift shopping again. This is the exact identical twin of my favorite plate to eat off of at my Mother-in-Law's house. I love the completely 70's design.
(Above) I found the lovely strawberry plant on this one, and couldn't resist.
(Above) This lovely little dish has a nice pattern to it, but the main reason I purchased it was because I have been needing a little serving dish for small side items.(And I liked it a lot)

My prayers and thoughts are with anyone in the line of hurricane Gustav. God Bless!!!!!!!!!!

Shake Your Bon-Bon

The other day I had made a batch of Golden cupcake from Vctotw, just to find them not that golden or tasty. I hate to waste food, which had me thinking how I could salvage those cupcakes. I don't remember where I saw this from, but I think it was the Barefoot Contessa one afternoon. I made some cake bon-bons. And Damn!!! Where these tasty.

1 batch of screwed up cupcakes

1 1/2 cups of water

1 1/2 cups of sugar

18 oz of semi-sweet chocolate, chopped or I used chips

4 1/2 tbs of earth balance

rum, whiskey, or assorted extracts and nuts

toasted nuts of your choice

lots of time

Crumble the cupcakes up in one large bowl. Mix the sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat till sugar is melted and you have created a simple syrup. Have several smaller bowls, or I just rinsed an reused mine, ready to go. Have one large cookie sheet with parchment paper right beside you. Pour about 1/2 cup of simple syrup in your small bowl(s), add about 1 tsp of your extract/liquors or both. I used lemon extract with rum/Jack Daniels/Chocolate chips. The lemon/rum ones were my favorite, followed by the Jack. Once you have the syrup and flavoring added, add about a cup to a cup and a half of your cake crumbs and mix till cake is almost soggy but holds a ball shape when you form it with your fingers. Place on cookie sheet. Continue with whatever flavors you have chosen till you are out of cake. Place in refrigerator to set. While the cake balls are setting up, melt the earth balance in a medium size saucepan on low-medium heat. Once melted add the chocolate and melt it as well. Pull cake balls out of fridge and using a spoon and fork begin dipping the balls in chocolate and replacing on sheet. Continue this process till all balls are covered, garnish as desired.

The ones I snapped a shot of are rum-lemon balls with lemon zest, Bourbon, chocolate chip with toasted almonds. These are incredibly rich!!! But so good.........
No I didn't make these in the same day! These are lemon tea cookies which I still did not like so I am trying again.

Taco Salad Anyone?

Growing up around the Memphis area, I always was crazy about Pancho's restaurants. My obsession began with the cheese dip and chips and moved on to the famous Pancho's dressing. A tangy and flavorful mix of mustard, olive oil, vinegar and oregano. Sounds so simple yet I have not been able to duplicate the taste though I have tried numerous times. I found that I could still enjoy Pancho's since going vegan, the salsa and dressing are so much better than the cheese dip ever was. We had planned on going to the downtown location, just to discover that it had closed down. We ended up at Huey's which was still good, but just did not conquer the craving. I ended up picking up some of the dressing and making a huge taco salad with beans, lettuce, tomato, onions, black olives, tofutti sour cream, tortilla chips and lots of Pancho's dressing. WOW!!!!!!! Was this good!!!!!!!!!!! Settled my craving and was so yummy!! Now I just have to get some of the salsa and some chips..........................

No More Custard for Awhile

So the first attempt was a failure, but like all good cooks I will persevere!! The texture was almost right it just needs a little less tofu, my oven needs to quit heating up hotter on one side then the other, and I need to use something to add a little of a creamier color to the custard itself. I am thinking of using that little trick that is in Vwav with the turmeric for really golden cupcakes.


I think I might lose my sanity once the farmer's market is over. I loaded up on some goodies, some that are pictured some are not. Sorry about the crap in back, ah, the joys of a tiny kitchen. Pictured are mustard greens, red bell pepper, sweet potatoes, peaches, apples and over on the far left at the bottom is some organic basil and sage.


I also almost shouted for joy at finding some more muscadines!! I love these tiny bits of heaven. I found myself eating a lot of fresh fruit bowls last week, with these beauties fitting in nicely.