mmmm, peanut butter

Since work is slim today, I decided to try out a new recipe for dog biscuits. Reilly's always a willing taste-tester though he's probably not really the best judge since he'll eat just about anything. lol

I used the peanut butter dog treat recipe from Chloe's Kitchen. With only four ingredients (whole wheat flour, water, molasses and peanut butter), it couldn't be quicker or easier. The most time-consuming part is cutting them out.

They are definitely Reilly-approved!

"Stay" only last so long when homemade peanut butter biscuits are involved!

This has quickly become one of my favorite cookbooks and I'm so glad I splurged on it!

meet my new roommate

Annie was born in a humble home - can it get more humble than a reused applesauce jar? No one expected much of Annie. Though she had simple beginnings, but she had high hopes for herself. She knew if she worked hard, she could accomplish great things and be more than just "Applesauce Annie." So, she began to grow and grow, until one day, she was ready to bake her first loaf of bread. No, it wasn't perfect, but it showed promise and hints of the flavor she knew she could someday produce. She was still rather young after all. Annie knew she needed a new home, a larger home where she could grow bigger and live up to her potential.

So Annie got a new home:

and decided to reinvent herself. This was no applesauce jar. This was the home of a lady. Annie decided she would now be called Arianna. She was quite "airy" at this point. =) She now has high hopes for her future, imagining many wonderful loaves of bread, stacks of pancakes, batches of muffins... the possibilities are now endless!

(For those curious or maybe wanting their own Annie, I used the sourdough starter recipe here though there are  of course other ways to start. My Alaskan sourdough cookbook's starter uses thick potato water. It also says to not use a metal spoon, go with wood.)

trying new recipes =P

About a month ago, I used part of an Amazon gift card and bought a new vegan cookbook, Chloe's Kitchen (kindle). I went through and highlighted all the recipes I want to try. Um, yeah, maybe I should have highlighted the few I don't intend to try. heh This is one thing I really prefer about the digital format (other than saving tons of space, of course). I highlight what I want to try, then delete the highlight and add notes after I've tried it. Makes it easy to find recipes quickly. I need to do this with some of my older digital cookbooks.

So, want to know what I've tried?

Doughnuts!

These were ridiculously good, glazed or unglazed. There's nutmeg in the batter - yum!

Teriyaki Sauce

Came together quickly and it's SO good! I'm a huge teriyaki fan so I'm thrilled I can now have it anytime I want. =)

Fettuccine Alfredo

The sauce uses raw cashews ground in the blender with water and a few other ingredients. This really could not have been simpler and it's amazingly good.

Chocolate Walnut Fudge

Minus the walnuts. lol Uses coconut milk and comes out nice and creamy and the perfect fudgey consistency after a chill overnight. Next time, I'll try adding some peppermint extract. Adding ribbons of peanut butter would also be yummy.

The only disappointment so far was the macaroni and cheese.

Her recipe uses nutritional yeast as the base of the cheesy sauce. Yeah, not such a fan apparently. It was okay, but not something I'll be making again. It comes together quickly though so if you like nutritional yeast, give it a try. I've heard many really like it. As for me, I'll be sticking to the mac & cheese recipe from Vegan Comfort Food. Now, what to do with a canister of nutritional yeast...

All in a day's work

I'm now back to one job... and I have to say, this has been an awesome weekend!

The difference between working a 75-hr week and a 40-hr week? Time.

Time to cook:

(vegan mac & cheez from scratch - the ultimate comfort food! cookbook)

Time to bake:

(vegan chocolate mint brownies - YUM! cookbook)

Time to snuggle with my favorite furry kids:

Time to even play with a bit of string:

Yes, my friends, that is a sleeve. =) Okay, half a sleeve. Anyway, awhile back, Virginia posted this sweater on her blog and it quickly made it's way into my queue. This sleeve will become part of this sweater:

(image from the book)

but, of course, in this from my stash:

(much closer to the true color - the sleeve was a quick cell phone shot)

My local library doesn't have the greatest selection, but they seem very open to suggestions... So I suggested these:

(New England Knits and Brave New Knits - Thanks again, Virginia, for the recs on both.)

You're welcome, Crawfordsville knitters. =) It took awhile, but both are now in my hot little hands... and not a penny out of pocket. Although I will happily say, both may make it into my collection after the move as both contain multiple patterns I adore (and I still have credit on my B&N gift card)! Until then, borrowing will do.

That was just day one of my first weekend off in months. Today, it's bean burgers and... I'm open to suggestions. =)

A Real Man

This guy cracks me up!

I made it for lunch today, but with homemade hummus instead of packaged. Yum!

Extra tofu?

Make mousse pie!

I used only 1/2 cup silken tofu for my lemon bars and since a package is 16 oz, that left me with a whole lot of an open container to use. I wasn't in a smoothie mood so... I pulled out my favorite vegan cookbook of late and searched for recipes calling for silken tofu. Chocolate mousse! Seriously, YUM! I subbed peppermint extract for the vanilla called for and use the chocolate brownie crust recipe from the same cookbook. The crust was only okay. I won't use it again without some serious tweaking, but the idea was good. A simple chocolate graham crust would have worked wonderfully had I doubled the mousse recipe. Next time. =P

Sweet, tart and a little twisted

I finished the bag I'd started in my last post. No finished pics yet though. The bag itself has been done a couple weeks, but I still need to find a strap for it. Just haven't made it to a store that has that sort of thing quite yet.

I also started a scarf.

I'm about halfway done and planning to make a hat and gloves with the same yarn. It'll go well with my chocolate brown wool coat. =)

I also baked just a bit.

A little sweet, a little tart... lemon bars! Haven't had these since I was a kid so when I saw these in The Joy of Vegan Baking, I just had to try 'em out. Seriously, good eats! =)

Chik'n... from scratch! (and a little crochet)

To add to my "comfort food" weekend... I tried the chik'n seitan recipe from Vegan Comfort Food.

How have I not made this before now?! It's so incredibly easy! Just vital wheat gluten, soy flour and some water, then cooked in a broth. I actually breaded and baked these for oven-fried chik'n (recipe from the same cookbook). I'll tweak the seasonings in the breading a bit next time, but it was good as written. Definitely another winner!

I also started something new on the yarny front...

details to follow when it takes more shape. =)

Vegan comfort food

Why, yes... I did get a new cookbook. heh

I broke down and bought a copy of Vegan Comfort Food when I bought The Kind Diet awhile back. Finally tried a couple of the recipes today. I've been craving mac & cheese for awhile but finding a vegan version pre-made (at least in this part of the country) isn't an easy task. I did finally find Amy's new frozen  rice mac & soy cheese at the store. Nice that they're making an effort, but... it still has dairy in it. *sigh* I'd heard good things about the mac & cheeze in Vegan Comfort Food so... I made my own. =)

At first glance, the recipe doesn't sound incredibly cheesy, but amazingly, the macadamia nuts, raw cashews, carrot and potato (plus seasonings, of course) come together and result in a surprisingly good alternative to dairy-based mac & cheese. Definitely a keeper!

The fillet o'tofish from the same book:

Hmm, I think I may need to try this one again with thinner slices of tofu. The directions weren't incredibly clear how I was to cut the block of tofu so mine were a little thick, I think. They're okay I suppose. I was never a huge fish fan before going veg when I was a kid though, so I may just move on. I think the chik'n seitan is up next... =)

(Forgive the crappy photos. I just took quick ones with my cell before lunch. heh)

Red, White and Blue... and exploding cupcakes

Sharing cars in Buffalo meant some extra time spent in the hotel over last weekend. I filled my time with yarny fun. I finished knitting up the wool I had on hand for my messenger bag and started in on some cotton with my crochet hook.

The water bottle is my own design. The star can be found here (I stopped after a few rounds and added a chain across the back for easier use) and the spiral scrubbie here.

On Thursday, I had the opportunity to browse through The Kind Diet while killing time at Barnes & Noble. This is one I've had my eye on awhile but hadn't yet caved to purchasing. I copied down the recipe for Peanut Butter Cups to try out in the meantime. Um... yum!

 

Seriously good stuff! Though they're incredibly rich! I used smooth pb I had on hand and I didn't want the extra cost of nuts, so I ground up a few extra graham cracker squares for on top. Next time, I'll probably opt for mini cupcake size instead. Being one of  chocolate peanut butter's biggest fans, even I thought one at this size was a bit over the top in richness. Whew! Sugar coma, anyone? You've been warned.

Since I was already melting chocolate (vegan chocolate chips from TJ's) anyway, I pulled out my bag of pb filled pretzels (also TJ's) and drizzled them as well. I used to love the choc pb pretzels from Trader Joe's... but they're milk chocolate covered... so now I make my own. =) And I think they're even better. heh Sprinkled a bit of the leftover graham crumbs on top. Delish! 

This morning, I decided to celebrate the red white and blue with a red, white and blue breakfast! The Joy of Vegan Baking has quickly become one of my go-to cookbooks. I used the Blueberry Cobbler recipe, using raspberries from our yard and frozen, organic blueberries and subbed a bit of whole wheat flour for some of the white flour in the biscuit dough. Yeah, it was yummy!

What about the exploding cupcakes, you ask? Okay, they don't really explode... but there is a surprise inside! I do love a dessert with a good surprise inside! My mom's been talking about the chocolate lava cakes you can get at restaurants for awhile now so I decided to give it a go... in a vegan version. Most recipes are heavily egg-based and undercooked to keep that ooey, gooey center. A quick search turned up a few vegan versions online. I settled on one filling that looked particularly simple and viola!

Vegan chocolate lava cupcakes! I used the Chocolate Cake recipe from the vegan baking cookbook above and the filling from here. Fill the cups about halfway with batter, place a dollop of filling in the center and cover with more batter. They're maybe more pudding-like than lava-like, but they're yummy and the thicker filling definitely makes eating them easier. No mess! Being on a pb/choc kick this weekend, I made half the cupcakes with a hit of pb... in the form of a teensy peanut butter cookie (yep, recipe from the same cookbook). I'd seen this done in another cookbook at B&N. You fill the cupcake liner about 3/4 full and place a small ball of cookie dough in the center and bake - I flattened my mini pb cookie dough balls with a fork first. These rock when warm out of the oven! You could easily use whatever cake/cookie dough combo you prefer. =)

Pepperminty!

Yum! Perfect with a little scoop of Trader Joe's organic chocolate soy ice cream. =) I used the peppermint patty version of this recipe. I didn't have enough peppermint extract so I ground up a couple of candy canes found in the cabinet. Did the trick quite nicely. Might have to try the eggs next Easter...

Tomorrow, I'll post pics of my sewing project from today. =)

Chocolate and Crochet

No, not chocolate-covered crochet!

My latest finished crochet item:

I decided I wanted to use up some of the partial skeins I have sitting around. I don't know why, but the partials kind of bug me Cotton is always so handy but I wasn't in the mood to make another wash/dish cloth so I went with more of a mitt design, intended to be a face mitt. I started with about a 2" chain and worked hdc in the round until I was nearly out (which nicely coincided with how long I wanted it to be - love when that happens!), adding a loop in the last row so it can be hung to dry. The stitch results in a little texture for a good scrub, but no too rough. =) 

And my latest baking project:

One word: YUM! My sister got me this cookbook for Christmas... or my birthday... can't remember which since I got them at the same time. heh (The other was a knitting book!) Anyhoo, I tried out the chocolate brownie recipe last night and was pleasantly surprised! Unlike the last batch I made, this one doesn't use any oil. =) They came out a bit cake-ier, but still dense and yummy. I mixed up a half batch (should have quartered it) of chocolate mint frosting to top them off. Mmmmm, I think I have a new favorite!

We're finally starting to get some Spring weather too! Yay!

The little guy's on solo walks for awhile though. Poor Mugsy has a tender back - x-rays show severe spondylosis and a compressed disc resulting in him walking like a drunken sailor right now - and is on dog-bed rest for a month. Yep, that means no stairs so... guess who's getting a good workout half a dozen times a day? Thank goodness he's only 37-lbs and not a full-size lab!

Chocolate-y Love

Happy Valentine's Day all! Since I was heading back on the road today, I decided to whip up a couple of recipes to bring along. I pulled out my recently-aquired copy of Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar and flipped through until something caught my eye. It didn't take long...

First up... Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies:

Yum! I added a couple of handfuls of vegan chocolate chips. Next time, I'll probably cut back on the oil and sub with some applesauce. These are a little on the crunchy side for my preference, but yummy all the same. Would be great with a scoop of vegan ice cream!

I also had to try the Deluxe Cocoa Brownies:

It's always hard finding a good vegan brownie recipe, but these are pretty darn good! They're not too cake-y and not too gooey so they hold together well. Added a handful of choc chips to these as well. Wow, they're rich, but yum! Just cut 'em small. =)

How could I forget

our quest to try a good veggie restaurant in Portland?! Trying to be prepared, I went to VegPortland.com and printed a list of veg-friendly restaurants, nicely organized by region, and off we went, planning to pick a restaurant depending on where we were when lunchtime rolled around. We first decided to try the Blue Moose Cafe since it sounded like it had a wide enough variety to please me as well as the omnivores I was dining with. We got there only to discover it was closed up and apparently being remodeled into a different restaurant. Dang. So then, we picked a pizza place, Dove Vivi, and discovered they didn't open until 4p - it was Sunday... and only 1-2p. Running out of nearby options, we decided to check out LaurelThirst Public House since it said they served breakfast 9-3 daily. It had to be open! It was! One of the three of us voiced reservations about going in - it's next to a tattoo shop. She referred to it as a "biker bar." heh Okay, it was super dark inside and the staff was a bit, well, odd... and not so good at math... but the food was great! I got the vegan breakfast burrito. It came with these yummy potatoes and was easily enough for two meals. That and a drink for under $10! I left happy... even if it was so dark in there I could barely read the menu... =)

Current State of My Knitting

The perfect excuse to stay in and knit:

That, and I've been sick the past few days. =( I have a few projects to keep me occupied in the a/c...

Those are the three currently in the works. I finished the bottom and the sleeves last night so now my 1st sweater is ready for me to pick up the stitches for the button bands - so close to being finished! I'm on the 2nd sock of my 3rd pair for the year. And I've started the 1st block of my 25-block afghan. =) It's all in the numbers. haha

I headed to Trader Joe's for groceries yesterday (and to avoid the unbearable heat). Wandered around a bit more than usual and discovered a few (new to me) items!

Mmm, mango and peach! (and contains no gelatin) =) Love me some mango! I came out with my usual salsa - mango/papaya - and some frozen fruit bars - mango, of course! Then, I found the perfect-sized bag of small potatoes... in red, gold and BLUE.

Num! Great with the (vegan) Indian fare I picked up there as well. Gotta love a store with so many vegan/organic/whole food choices! =)