Sometimes you just need melty peanut butter.

Have you ever had one of those days where things go wrong all stinkin' day long? Not really, terrible, horrible things, but little things that keep piling up until you decide to just do nothing for the rest of the day. That was yesterday for me. Because of that, this picture shows you what was for supper last night. Kyle made the kids fried egg bagel sandwiches and I sat down, on my own, and ate an everything bagel smothered in melty peanut butter. And you know what? It was delicious and just what I wanted. Now why was yesterday so bad, you ask.... well.. lemme tell you in bullet form...

*I had to drag my kids out of bed for the last day of school. (I know, you're thinking no big deal.. but this should have been an indicator of the day to come.)

*Before school I had to bake cookies for both Avery and Rhianna's classes at school. They had both asked me the night before, but I hadn't had time or energy after our busy evening. I'm quite the cookie baker and have it down to a fine art, so I knew it wouldn't take me long to get it done in the morning. And it didn't. EXCEPT.. apparently, I should not double my Skor Bit cookie recipe because the cookies were a big ol' FAIL! Puffy and thick and practically bread like. So much for my "expert cookie baking abilities"! (I almost wonder if I wasn't awake enough when I made them and miscounted my flour?) So, I tossed two whole batches of cookies. Not only that, but I also ran out of flour, brown sugar, cane sugar AND vanilla. This meant I couldn't make any more cookies until after I visited a grocery store.

*Sometimes, if my kids (mostly the boys - Rhi isn't interested) have finished their morning chores and have some time before the bus comes, I let them play some DS. The rule is that they can't play any games that are unable to shut down in an instant. They know this. For some reason, though, Tiernan decided to play a Pokemon game and enter a battle just as we were about to head off to the bus. And when I called them to go to the bus that morning it wasn't an "oh, we're leaving for the bus in five minutes" call, it was a "we need to go to the bus right freaking now!" call. I told him he didn't have a choice, he had to shut it down right then and he lost it. Completely freaked out yelling and telling me he just couldn't. Okay, no. No, no, no. This just wasn't the morning to pick a fight with me. I had a terrible Mummy moment with absolutely zero patience. The DS is now hidden in the garage and Tiernan was left in tears because he lost everything he did on his game that day. The good news is, we got to the bus in time.... but I was left feeling horrible Mummy guilt for giving the kids a bad start to their last day of the school year.

*After taking Tibbs for a walk, I headed out to get some ingredients for the cookie baking I still had to do. Only... wait a minute, where are my keys? I looked high and low. They were not in any of the places I would ever put them. They were also not in any of the places I wouldn't put them. They just weren't in the house. I retraced my steps from the previous night and was positive I locked them in the van. I had to call Kyle at work to ride his bike home to unlock the van to see if they were in there. Of course he had a super busy day, too. That figures, right? Anyway, he was my hero, as always, and we did indeed find the keys in the van between the two front seats.

*Once I finally get to the store and gather up the ingredients, I go to stand in a very long line up. It seemed like everything was going wrong for the cashier, too. Must have been one of those days for more than just me. As time is ticking, I start to panic. I realize I don't have much time to bake the stinking cookies so I do something I rarely do.... I put the ingredients back and go find some store bought goodies. In this process I clumsily knock down a bunch of Chips Ahoy cookie bags. Sigh.

*By this time I have an incredible migraine. My head is throbbing, and I'm super sensitive to both light and sound. I tried everything, and nothing made it go away until much later in the day when the skies cleared... pretty sure it was air pressure related. Or possibly stress!

*After I made the deliveries to the school I headed home and decided to sit on the couch and do nothing. Except, I can't really do nothing. I figure a couple of loads of laundry can't hurt. What can go wrong with laundry? I marched into the laundry room, put a load in the washer and sat down on the couch. I usually sit with my legs curled off to the side and this was no exception. My calf got itchy so I started rubbing my calf with my foot. I then felt something wet and assumed it was a few drops of water from the washing machine. I kept rubbing my feet and legs together until I realized that something just didn't feel right. I pulled back the blanket I had on me and found that my legs and feet were covered in cat crap. I'm not kidding. Oh, how I wish I was kidding. Alas, no joking around for me. I had smeared a piece of crap that I assume was left out of the litterbox (which is right next to my laundry detergent) and was then stuck to my arch. I know it must have been the arch because there was no sign of it on the floor, at all. It also must have been fresh and warm because I sure didn't feel it. And let me tell you - it wreaked! Oh wow. That was unbelievable. I cried in the shower. I felt so defeated.

*You know what I did until my kids got home? NOTHING. This time I really didn't do anything. I left the laundry in the machine and didn't move. I wrote out my next two week menu, watched some TV and puttered about on the computer.

*And then my kids got home. My kids have the best bus driver in the world, and she gave them each a jumbo freezee to celebrate the last day of school. Naturally, both boys were finished eating theirs, but my slow poke daughter still had her melty orange one in her hands when she got home. It was probably over half full. So, we are all talking about our days. Theirs went really well, and I told them about my horrible day. They laughed at my cat crap story and told me I should play some Wii to relax (haha). That's when Rhianna's freezee decided to flip itself over and empty itself all over my lap and my favourite spot on the couch! Yes, really. Orange on everything. My shirt, my capris, my couch. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Tiernan ran and got a towel to clean everything up, and Rhianna ran and got me a new outfit to change into.

*Luckily, aside from some tired, whining kids, the day did not get any worse. Thank goodness. Don't know how much more I could have handled.

Today has been a brand new day and was one million times better than yesterday! The first day of summer holidays was filled with blue skies, trips to two different libraries, a few drives out into the country, and a bit of shopping. It was busy, but also nice. I love having my kids home with me. They truly are the best company I could ask for. They are so smart, so funny and they teach me little things on a daily basis. Rhianna is off at a birthday party sleep over with a friend at her trailer. It's so strange not having her here. I miss her a lot! This is the first time she's slept at a house of someone who wasn't family. It's a big deal! I know her friend's mother is taking really good care of her, and we are looking forward to spending time with them tomorrow at the lake.

Tonight I was on my own for the first time in a very long time. I started the evening out with a walk on the trails with my pupperoo. It's the perfect time of day for it. The air is cooler, the sun lights everything up in this perfect brilliant hue, and the people are all smiling. Tibbs mingled with some dogs and I mingled with some humans. :) The funniest moment was when I took the picture on the left.. I had it on self timer (obviously) and it was flashing and beeping. As we were walking away a guy on a motorized chair comes over in a big panic thinking I was settling off a bomb. Hahahah! Yup, that's me. I look like such a threat. ;)

At one point during our walk, we sat down at this bench in silence, enjoying the view. Tibbs lay down and seemed to taking it all in. The geese with their babies. The boats on the Bay. The breeze in the air. I sure love that doggle of mine. ♥ When we came home I got some stuff ready for our Canada Day adventures and sat down to watch SYTYCD and 16 & Pregnant. All in all, a good evening. No complaints here after my day yesterday! ;)

Pretty.

That is one happy dog!

I will never tire of this view.

Nothing exciting to report for dinner today. We had some mushroom, monterey jack cheese and salsa stuffed quesadillas with a side of steamed broccoli covered in a scrumptious cheese sauce! Who doesn't love broccoli... especially covered in cheese sauce!? Unfortunately I really like it and had two large helpings of it... and now my stomach is paying for it. You know what they say about broccoli.. especially for those of us who are physically unable to burp! Eep!

Cheese Sauce

3 tbsp butter

3 tbsp flour

1/2 tsp salt

heavy sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup grated cheese (tonight I used a combination of monterey and cheddar.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and add the flour, salt and pepper. Stir well to combine. Add the milk and put it back on the heat. Stir continuously for about 5 minutes, until the sauce has thickened. Remove from the heat and add the cheese. Stir until smooth and then serve immediately.

Repeats FTW!

Avery was super pumped that my cousin Derek, his wife Marion, and my parents came out to watch one of his outdoor soccer matches. He was pretty disappointed that his team lost, but he had some great plays, and I'm very proud of him. He starts at a British style soccer (okay, football!) camp next week, so we're trying to convince them all to come to next week's game, too. It'll be neat to see if Avery has any changes in his playing after having a couple of days of 9-4 camp! Hopefully he's not too exhausted from having played all day in this heat to partake in the evening match... eeep. Before we headed out for the game, we had dinner at our place. No photos taken of the food because it was all repeats. We had black bean slider burgers, alfredo fries (but this time with a variety of new potatoes instead of fingerling), and leftover coleslaw from last night. For dessert we just had some Skor bit cookies (without the chocolate chips) that I baked last night. Simple, but delicious. :)

(ppsssttt... Marion! I wrote this entry just for you so you didn't have to go searching for these recipes. ;))

Tomorrow is the very last day of school for my kids. Next year means grade 7 for Avery, grade 5 for Tiernan and grade 3 for Rhianna. Our babies are growing up so fast, and making us so proud - you should have seen their report cards! Summer fun, here we come!

You wish you had a "meatball" sub!

Tonight's dinner was delightful comfort food that tasted so stinkin' good. I've been seeing a lot of meatball subs on different cooking shows lately, and it's been making me want some. I figured why not? We can have meatball subs, too. :) So, tonight I threw together a marinara sauce and did just that with some frozen veggie "meatballs". I served it with some coleslaw (made with purple cabbage this time) and it was devoured by all.

Meatball Subs

4 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped finely

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

2 tsp dried oregano

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

6 oz can tomato paste

1/2 cup white wine

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 package frozen veggie "meatballs"

mozzarella cheese

hoagie buns

Heat the oil in a skillet and add the onion. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the parsley, and garlic and cook another minute. Add the oregano, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, white wine, salt, pepper, and brown sugar. Mix well. Simmer, covered for 15 minutes. Add the frozen "meatballs" and cook for another 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oven to broil. Open the hoagie buns up on a pan with the insides facing up. Add some sliced mozzarella cheese on the top half of the bun. Broil until the buns are starting to become toasted and the cheese has melted. Remove from the oven, and add some meatballs and marinara sauce inside.

Enjoy!

A few of my recipes from the past couple of weeks.

As promised earlier, a post with food in it! I didn't take many pictures from our dinners, but here are the ones that I did take.


There's no real recipe for this one, but I had a picture, so I thought I would share. :) I made this pasta sauce, but added a can of chickpeas to the pot. I cooked up the pasta of choice, mixed it together with the sauce, and covered it with a blanket of mozzarella cheese. Then I cooked it until the cheese began to brown a bit. This is Kyle's favourite.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These are the muffins I make for Summer Solstice every year. The white of the cake symbolizes the light of the long days and the chocolate chips symbolize the little bits of dark night that are sneaking in ever so slowly. The kids just love them. I got the recipe from the book Circle Round: Raising Children in Goddess Traditions. I get many of our Pagan ideas from that book. I think it's my favourite book of all time.

Summer Solstice Muffins

1/2 cup butter, softened in the summer sun

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

pinch of salt

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup milk

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat the eggs in, one at a time. Add the vanilla. Mix the flour, salt and baking powder together, making sure to mix well. Add half of the flour mixture, and half of the milk. Mix well. Add the remaining flour and milk and continue to mix well. Add the chocolate chips.

Bake in cupcake cups for 25 minutes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These? They were sinful! We had them for Date Night In this week and we both ate too many. These are not exactly low in fat and calories, but so so so so good. YUM. I got them from my Vegetarian 3 in 1, but altered them a tad bit.

Creamy Mushroom Cups

2 tbsp butter

6 oz cremini mushrooms, chopped

1/4 tsp salt

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp dry sherry

1/4 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

6 frozen filo party shells

chopped fresh parsley

Cook the filo according to package directions.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the mushrooms and salt and cook for 3-5 minutes until tender. Add the garlic and cook another 30 seconds. Add the sherry and stir to blend. Stir in the whipping cream, and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened a bit. Add the parmesan cheese, stir and cook until melted.

Fill the filo pastry with the mushroom mixture. Sprinkle the top with some chopped fresh parsley and serve immediately.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Slow cooked curried veggies are pretty regular in this house during the busy days. It needs a full day to sit and cook, and I love it for that. The vegetables tend to lose their bright colours in the slow cooker, but it's still delicious. I usually serve over a bed of basmati rice and a side of Naan bread.

Slow Cooker Curried Veggies

3 carrots, sliced

1/2 green or red bell pepper, chopped

2 zucchinis, chopped

a couple of handfuls of green beans, trimmed and halved

1 cup frozen peas

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 can diced tomatoes

1 1/2 cups vegetable stock

1 can coconut milk, well mixed

3 tbsp curry powder

Put the veggies, chickpeas and canned tomatoes into the crockpot.

Combine the stock, coconut milk and curry powder until well mixed. Add it to the crockpot and stir it up.

Cover and cook for 10 hours on low.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This was my first time making this pasta from Vegetarian 3 in 1 (altered a little). It was a huge hit in our house, though I would have liked a bit more punch to it. I served it with a simple cucumber salad and Harvest Herb Bread (recipe to follow).

Pasta with Spinach and Ricotta

12 oz box of tri colour fusili pasta

1 tbsp olive oil

10 oz baby spinach

5 cloves garlic, minced

300g ricotta cheese

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 cup cooking water from the pasta

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Cook the pasta according to package details.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet (I used a wok). Add the spinach and garlic and cook about 5 minutes until the spinach has wilted. Stir in the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese and water. Stir to combine. Season with the salt and pepper.

Add the cooked pasta to the skillet and stir to combine. Serve immediately.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I made this bread from How it all Vegan, but then I de-veganized it by using regular old cow's milk. I also changed it a bit (surprise!). It was crazy yummy. Nohing like fresh (quick) bread.

Harvest Herb Bread

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp marjoram

1/4 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp thyme

egg replacer to equal 1 egg

2 tbsp sugar

4 tbsp vegetable oil

3/4 cup milk with 1 tsp vinegar added

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix together all of the dry ingredients while the milk and vinegar sit to sour. Add the oil and milk and mix until "just mixed". Pour it into a lightly oiled loaf pan.

Bake for 20-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know I missed more than that, but it's a start. Trying to get back to my normally scheduled blogging now. ;)

We're alive and well!

I have been such a terrible blogger! June is typically a whirlwind, and this year is no different. It's been all wonderful though, so I'm not complaining.

So what exactly have we been up to? Well...

There has been canoeing on the Bay of Quinte!

There have been cousins visiting from Northern Ireland!

There was Dance Recital day for my two youngest kiddos.

There have been long walks along the trails and on the docks at the marina to drool over the boats.

There was Summer Solstice and all of the traditions it brings us!

And there was lots of crazy family antics!

This was only to name some of the fun. There was also a few different birthday parties, Father's Day, some soccer games for the biggest boy, watching of So You Think You Can Dance & SYTYCDCanada and more stops at playgrounds. This makes me even more excited for the adventures that await us this summer! Only three more days of school left. It's hard to believe.

Yes, we have also been eating delicious food. I admit to quite a few repeat dinners - ones that are pretty easy to throw together, along with some BBQs at my parents' house. I have made a few blog worthy items and I plan on writing a new entry tonight to include those. For now, I'm going to do some dishes and then maybe head out for a bike ride since it's not raining (yet!). They've been promising rain all week, but so far we haven't had much at all.

Enjoy the last few drops of your weekend, friends!

This week is brought to you by the food: Rice!

This is a big week for my little dancers! Recital is this coming Sunday, so we spent Monday and Tuesday in Stirling for dress rehearsals. I took many photos and videos since there are no cameras allowed at recital itself. The kids are all amazing, and it was great for my two to get the opportunity to watch the other (and mostly older) kids do their numbers. If you're interested in any of the videos I took, they're up on my youtube channel.

Yesterday my oldest kitty turned 15 years old. Scooter is the sweetest, most Zen cat you will ever meet. I think back on our 15 years together and I can only think of once when I got annoyed with her - she pulled a cold glass of water down onto a sleeping me! Even then, she wasn't intentionally trying to irritate me. She just wanted a drink. My other two cats will actually try to get in trouble because they want something (typically food). So, my Scootie Wootie is my little Princess. She loves anything pink, she has the strangest hoarse cry unless she's hunting her toy mice, she still plays like a kitten, she's recently deaf, she loves drinking water and she always has to knead the air when you pet her. I couldn't ask for a better cat than my Pumpkin Eater. LOVE her so much.

Scooter had a little stroke last week. She started walking funny, lost balance, leaned into the wall, and looked dazed. I picked her up and she leaned her head over my shoulder and pressed in as hard as she could while breathing very heavily. It broke my heart, but she recovered just fine. She's back to her normal self, so now I will just keep my fingers crossed that she still has lots of life left in her. In the meantime, I enjoy every day I have with her. ♥ We made her a kitty cake last night (soft cat food with some cheese on top) and sang her happy birthday (kind of ironic since she's deaf). It's our little family tradition.

Keeping with the birthday theme, I made all the humans in our family a chocolate zucchini cake to celebrate. Oh yes, I did! I don't even remember where I got this recipe, but I've been making it for years now! It's definitely a family favourite.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup milk with 1 tsp lemon juice added (let it sit for a few minutes)

2 3/4 cup flour

4 tbsp cocoa

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

2 cups grated zucchini

1 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325.

Mix butter, vegetable oil, and sugar together. Add the eggs, vanilla and milk. Combine well. Add the dry ingredients and beat until smooth. Stir in zucchini.

Grease a 9x13 pan. Pour in the batter. Top with mini chocolate chips.

Bake for 45-50 minutes.

Let it cool completely before icing. (I make a margarine, icing sugar, milk, cocoa powder icing that I've been making for as long as I can remember. I even remember making a little bowl of it for myself (or me and a friend) when I was living on my own because I was craving sugar. Haha!... bring back memories, Sarah?!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dinners have been easy, repeats and not always blog worthy this week. They've also been full of rice. I'll share the recipe for the carrot feta risotto (can you tell I love risotto?) because it's not a new one, and you know if you revisit a recipe it's pretty good. The Hawaiian beans I made with them are not blog worthy though. Won't be making them again. They were edible.. but.. no one loved them. Both recipes came from Moosewood Cooks at Home.

Carrot Feta Risotto

5 cups vegetable stock

4 carrots, chopped into semi circles or into matchsticks

1 small onion, diced

1 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 cups arborio rice

1 tbsp chopped fresh dill (you can use 1 tsp dried in a pinch)

juice of 1 lemon

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Bring the stock to a boil in a covered pot. Ease the carrots into the stock and lower the heat to very gently simmer.

In a large saucepan, saute the onions in oil for about 5 minutes until softened. Add the rice, and stir gently to coat in the oil. Add the dill. Ladle 1 cup of carrots and stock into the rice. Stir until the liquid is absorbed. Continue to do so with the remaining stock until it's all absorbed. Remove the rice from the heat, add the feta and lemon juice and stir to combine. Serve immediately.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tonight I made even more rice. This time I made a fried rice with this vegetable stir fry recipe I blogged about before. I had originally planned on making my friend Jill's vegetable spring rolls, but forgot to take the filo pastry out early enough. Instead I'll make them tomorrow for Fun Food Friday - with homemade pizza! Interesting combo, but it'll be delicious, I'm sure. My fried rice really doesn't have a recipe because it's so easy. I heat some toasted sesame oil in a pan and add my mushrooms (about 6 fairly big cremini mushrooms). Once they're cooked I remove the mushrooms and add a bit more sesame oil. I add my already cooked rice (I cook it the morning of so it's nice and cool by the time I need it.. freezing also works) and coat it in oil.. cook for a little bit. Add a bunch of Braggs (or soy sauce) until it looks right. Stir it up, cook for a bit. Add the mushrooms and a couple of handfuls of frozen peas and heat it through. Voila, easy rice!

So much food and laughter and pride.

Hopefully you all had a weekend as fabulous as mine! I'm really sad to see it end.

I started the weekend out right with my first Fishbowl Friday! I headed over to Boston Pizza with a bunch of my lovely AMS ladies for a Killer Koolaid fishbowl (the red one is mine!). The night was completely filled with laughter... so much so that my cheeks were in pain for hours after I left. There was much chatting about life - often ending up with our topic of the week - boobies, haha. No, I'm not kidding. :) I'm waiting and ready for the next Fishbowl Friday.

Saturday morning started with a Ballet dance exam for Rhianna - her first one! She was feeling pretty nervous that morning saying she had a sick tummy and a headache. My poor girl. She practiced a few times at home, and then felt much more confident and ready. Coming out of the exam she seemed confident and proud of herself, and that was really all I could ask for. Later that afternoon she also had her first Jazz exam, and felt much less nervous going in. We have since found out her marks, and she got the highest mark she could get for her Ballet exam... I am, once again, so proud of my girl!!! She did very well in her Jazz exam, too, but that one isn't graded at this age. It's a pass or fail, and she passed. You go, my Starshine! I can't wait to read all of the comments the examiner left for Rhianna!

This weekend was also full of playdates for the kids. Between exams, all three kids headed over to the house of their friends'. Kyle and I took Tibbs for a walk around the marina, and down the North Shore Trails. It was really nice to have some time to chat about life and our future without little voices interrupting every few minutes with a new conversation. We were even surprised to see that Tibbs jumped into the Bay! He hated the water last year, so we have hope that this year he's going to come swimming with us at Bon Echo. *fingers crossed* After we got home I headed straight to bed with a terrible pressure headache that wasn't relieved until it started thunder storming. No wonder I love the rain so much!

Today Tiernan headed over to another friend's house, while Avery passed a playdate up because he wanted to be with his family. Awww. ♥ We took another walk by Quinte Bay to show the kids all the houseboats that we drool over, and once again, Tibbs went into the water! Shocking. It was such a gorgeous walk - breezy (but not cold), warm (but not hot) and the sky was blue with beautiful puffy white clouds. When we got home the four of us played some Settlers of Catan to pass time until Tiernan got home (at which point Tibbs ran around in circles with excitement that his whole family was together again - he is such a family dog!). That was the second time Kyle and I played Catan this weekend. We also played last night for Date Night In, and followed it up with a couple of episodes of Being Erica. We've been hooked since the show first came out, but we often don't have the time to watch it when it's on.

And onto the other important stuff - food! We ate lots of good food the past two days that I can share with you. Saturday I made an easy dinner from the Moosewood Simple Suppers cookbook - Vegetarian Reuben sandwiches with the roasted garlic potatoes I wrote about in this entry. Date Night's snack was a five layer dip that I got from The Garden of Vegan and de-veganized. Haha. Tonight's dinner was Kung Pao noodles from Rebar and some dry fry tofu marinaded in barbeque sauce from The Garden of Vegan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vegetarian Reuben

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tbsp ketchup

2 tsp white vinegar

pinch of salt

black pepper to taste

pinch of sugar

8oz package of coleslaw mix

8 thin slices of pumpernickel or rye bread, toasted

4 tomatoes, thinly sliced

8 oz thinly sliced swiss cheese

Mix together the mayo, ketchup, vinegar, salt, pepper and sugar in a medium sized bowl. Add the coleslaw mix and mix well.

Place some of the coleslaw on eat slice of toasted bread. Top with the sliced tomatoes and the slices swiss cheese.

Broil in the oven for a few minutes until the cheese is nicely melted. Serve open faced.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Five Layer Dip

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small red bell pepper, chopped

1 1/2 cups refried beans (I made my own since most canned refried beans include lard)

3/4 cup salsa

3/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated

Saute the onion and garlic in oil, in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the onions are translucent. Add the red pepper, and saute another minute. Add the beans and mix well. Cook for 5 minutes.

In a medium bowl, spread half of the bean mixture on the bottom. Layer it with the salsa, sour cream, remaining bean mixture, and cheese.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BBQ Sauce

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

3 tbsp tomato paste

3 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp molasses

1 tbsp Braggs

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp liquid smoke

1/2 tsp vegetarian worchestershire sauce

In a small saucepan, combine all of the ingredients, and bring to a boil while continuously whisking. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until desired thickness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kung Pao Noodle Sauce

2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp dry sherry

2 tsp sesame oil

1 pod star anise

2 tsp sambal oelek

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup vegetable stock

1 tbsp cornstarch

Combine all of the ingredients, except for the cornstarch, in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover partially and cook for 15 minutes. In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and 1 tbsp water. Add to the sauce and stir to combine. Cook for 5-10 minutes longer until the sauce thickens. Remove the star anise and use the sauce for any of your favourite vegetable in a stir fry.

I turned the oven on!

Who doesn't love a veggie filled, cheese topped, Mexican bean pie? I know, right? I definitely do! I actually turned my oven on today despite the high humidity (unlike yesterday!). I'm not sure I will ever be used to the humidity of Southern Ontario.. it's pretty intense. I could not be more thankful for my air conditioning. Last night we had some crazy thunder storms, including some funnel clouds nearby. It went from bright and sunny to black and gloomy in a nanosecond. The winds were really high, and there are trees are down all over the city. It makes me worry about all those little creatures who have made these trees their home. I can't think about it because it rips my heart out.

I got tonight's recipe from my lovely friend Mary Jo a long while ago. It's delicious!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Black Bean Enchilada Pie

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, diced

1/2 red pepper, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1 medium zucchini, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup frozen corn

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup salsa + extra for the bottom

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp cumin

4 cups cheddar cheese, grated

1 package corn tortillas

Preheat oven to 350.

Saute the onions, peppers, zucchini and garlic in olive oil until soft and fully cooked. Once it's cooked, remove from heat and add the corn, black beans, 1 cup salsa, chili powder and cumin. Stir well to combine.

Spread some salsa in the bottom of an 8x11 inch baking dish. Cover the bottom with corn tortillas. Add half of the bean mixture and spread it over the tortillas. Top with 2 cups of cheddar cheese. Add another layer of tortillas, the other half of the bean mixture, and the last two cups of cheddar cheese.

Cook for 15-25 minutes until it heats through and the cheese melts.

A cheesy beer risotto? Oh yes, indeed!

I made a very interesting risotto from my Moosewood: Simple Suppers cookbook! It's called a rarebit risotto... not a typical risotto, but the beer and cheddar cheese was a really yummy combination. I also dry-fried some tofu and marinated it in a sweet and sour marinade from the same cookbook. They tasted great, but I definitely didn't see it as "sweet and sour". Not my perception of it at any rate. I also baked some savory cheese biscuits that I mentioned before (which I love) and a baby spinach and apple salad with a sweet red wine vinegar dressing from La Dolce Vegan. Not my favourite dressing, but Kyle and Rhianna loved it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rarebit Risotto

1 quart vegetable broth

1 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 cups arborio rice

1 1/2 cups beer (I used a Creemore Springs lager)

3 cups chopped broccoli

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

4 cups loosely packed grated cheddar cheese

heavy sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper

In a saucepan, bring the broth to a boil and then simmer.

In a large, heavy saucepan, heat the oil over med heat. Add the rice and stir to coat in oil. Add the beer, and stir until the beer is absorbed. Once the beer has absorbed start adding the broth a cup at a time, waiting until the liquid is absorbed before adding more.

While the risotto is cooking, steam the broccoli until it is still bright green, but tender. (Just a warning.. if you reheat it like I did, the broccoli will lose some of that bright green colour.) Set aside.

When the last of the broth is absorbed, the rice should be al dente and the risotto moist. Add the mustard and cheese, and stir until combined. Stir in the broccoli and black pepper and serve hot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sweet and Sour Marinade for Tofu (but not to s&s-y!)

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp dark sesame oil

3 tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp fresh ginger root, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tbsp vinegar

1 tbsp maple syrup

Mix it all together!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sweet Red Wine Vinaigrette

3 tbsp apple cider vinegar

3 tbsp red wine vinegar

1/4 tsp paprika

1 tbsp maple syrup

1/4 cup flax oil

1/4 cup olive oil

Mix it all together, and keep it in the fridge with a lid until ready to use.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And just for the cuteness factor....

My boy and his baby. ♥

My girl and her baby. ♥

Have I ever mentioned that I have the best kids in the world? I really do.

Nature, lentil loaves and pasta salad.

I've really been enjoying this month so far, and I feel as if the rest of the month will be just as fulfilling. There have been long walks with Tibbs, photo days at the dance studio, bike rides to the dance studio, bike rides to the North Shore Trails, sunshine, friends, family, wildlife, laughter and love. I couldn't ask for more!

I took a long bike ride this morning after getting the kids off to school. I headed down to the trails as far as the marina. I climbed off my bike and sat on one of the benches for a while, gazing out at the water and dreaming of owning one of the incredible houseboats that were docked there. The bay was very peaceful; barely any ripples. I spoke to a man who was fishing off the end of the boardwalk and had many stories of the abundance of fish he caught on the weekend.

I saw so many beautiful creatures on my adventures this morning. There were ducks guarding their nest. There was a blue heron soaring above the water with the most amazing wing span. There was a family of swans bathing themselves near the rocks in the middle of the Bay of Quinte. There were snapping turtles sunning themselves on logs. There were red winged black birds and robins flying out in front of my bike every few minutes.

The one thing that always has me marveling down by the water is just how happy everyone seems. The smiles are easy and I couldn't even count how many times I heard "good morning!" today. People go down to the trails for different reasons. Some go to sit on a bench and reflect, some go to rollerblade or bike, some run or walk their dogs or their kids. Being by the water definitely lifts your spirits. You can't help but feel so blessed in life. I live in such a beautiful place.

I have a couple of recipes to share from the past couple of days. No meals to share from the weekend, though. Fun Food Friday was a repeat dinner that we love - paninis! Saturday after photo day, we headed out to a birthday party for Tiernan's best friend. This friend of Tiernan's lives in the most serene location, wow! We had a great time there, and enjoyed some veggie dogs and a great vegetable spread. On Sunday we watched a two hour episode of 'So You Think You Can Dance' that we had downloaded from the previous Wednesday, and ate a pasta salad and a big bowl of popcorn! I love popcorn dinners. Yesterday I made a curried lentil loaf from the Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook (which I got from my lovely friend, Jill, for my birthday years ago) that was OMG SO GOOD, but... really not terribly loaf like. More like slop. Haha! I looked up some reviews online and apparently I'm not the only one with this issue. I think when I make it again (and I will! It's so crazy tasty!) I'll cook it in a more shallow dish and crisp it up more. With the loaf I made some quesadillas and some sliced cucumber with a splash of apple cider vinegar.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pasta Salad

2 cups small noodles

3 cups broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces

1 cup medium cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes

1 cup monterey jack cheese, cut into small cubes

1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tsp mustard

4 tsp liquid honey

1 tsp garlic powder

3 tsp soy sauce

Cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain and place in a large bowl.

Add the broccoli, cheddar cheese, monterey jack cheese and mushrooms. Stir to combine.

Mix the red wine vinegar, mustard, honey, garlic powder and soy sauce together and pour over the pasta salad. Mix well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Curried Lentil Loaf/Slop

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 large carrot, grated

1 medium sized yellow onion, grated

1 large potato, peeled and grated

1 small red bell pepper, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 ripe plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped finely

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp curry powder

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

salt, to taste

2 cups cooked lentils, drained and mashed

2 tbsp creamy natural peanut butter

1/4 - 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the carrot, onion, potato, red pepper and garlic. Cover and cook, stirring a few times until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, curry powder, cayenne pepper and salt. Stir to combine well. Cook, covered, for another 10 minutes until the veggies are soft. Remove from heat. Add the lentils.

In a food processor, combine the peanut butter with 1 cup of the lentil mixture until smooth. Put it back in with the rest of the lentil/vegetable mixture. Add the bread crumbs, and combine well. Transfer to a lightly oiled 9x5 loaf pan.

Bake until firm - about 30-40 minutes. Let it sit at least 15 minutes before slicing.