Valley Forge, Zucchini Cakes, and More!

Hi everyone! On Sunday, I met up with a friend for a social distance hangout/picnic in Valley Forge National Historical Park. We found a shady spot above Valley Creek and settled in to have some snacks and catch up…

I tried these baked graham bites that Zach had gotten for me at Wegmans, and they were pretty good! 

I also made more zucchini cakes this week, of course! This one with whole wheat flour, peanut butter powder, frozen mixed berries, and walnuts… 

And this one that I made yesterday, which I think was my favorite version so far. If I remember the measurements correctly, I used 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1/3 cup peanut butter powder, 1 tsp baking soda, ½ tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup applesauce, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 cups zucchini, and 1 cup frozen mixed berries, baking the cake for 55 minutes. 

My packed lunch this week was a burrito with rice, black beans, Cajun seasoning, and guacamole… 

I had the last of the rice, beans, and guacamole in a bowl with blue corn tortilla chips for lunch yesterday… 

Here are some recent harvests… 

A bunny hanging out in the backyard… 

And finally, Rogue and her cute floofy belly... 

Peace. :)

Kale Mac & Cheese, Baked Beans & Rice, More Trail Photos

Hi everyone! For dinner on Wednesday, I wanted to make this mac & cheese again but I was out of green chiles, so I used kale instead, and it was lovely!

Served with Aldi vegan meatballs.

And I made “baked” beans and rice last night. I cooked 1 cup rice in 2 cups water; when the rice was almost done, I added 1 can (drained and rinsed) navy beans, 1/3 cup brown sugar, plus a bit less than ¼ cup ketchup and a couple squirts of mustard. This was really good and I’m looking forward to the rest of the leftovers! 

Prior to being folded up into a burrito.

Here are some more pictures from along the Schuylkill River Trail…

And this morning I did a daisy sketch (requested by Hillary)… 

Here is Rogue being a cute little cuddler… 

Peace. :)

More Good Food and Kitties!

Hi everyone! For breakfast last Saturday I made myself the pumpkin oatmeal from Food for Dissertating, and it was so good! 

And then for lunch we went to the Great American Pub (Phoenixville), where I got the garden vegetable quesadilla from the vegan section of the menu, and that was delicious as well! 

I found some goodies on sale at Giant this week – I grabbed the Kite Hill strawberry (good) and blueberry (OK) yogurts. My favorite yogurt brand is still So Delicious, but it was fun to try something new! I haven’t gotten to try the Morningstar Farms cheezeburgers yet, but I’m looking forward to it!

And here’s my favorite version of green bean casserole so far (makes four servings), which I made this week: Cook 1 cup rice in 4 cups mushroom soup, stir in 1 cup TVP near the end and remove from heat, letting sit for about 10 min. Then add in 1 cup of a mix of green beans and yellow wax beans (I prepared mine from the garden the day before by cutting them up, boiling them for about 30 min, and then running them under cold water). Top each serving with ¼ cup of crispy onions. 

And now for the kitties! Here’s a sketch I did this week of a sleepy kitty…

I caught Leela sticking her tongue out for a second and managed to get a picture; she says that’s what she thinks of her medicine, hehe! But it does seem to be helping – her mouth still bothers her now and then, but she is eating much better!

And Cringer says, “If I fits, I sits...” 

Peace. :)

Spicy Eggplant

Hi everyone! This week I made another attempt at the spicy eggplant recipe. It’s better, but still not quite there; I think now it needs a bit more spice. I might experiment more with this recipe in the future, but I’ll share the most recent recipe today because this version is still pretty good… 

Spicy Eggplant

Ingredients:
1 eggplant, sliced and cut into quarters
2 medium bell peppers, diced
1 small onion, diced
½ T canola oil
1 tsp minced garlic
½ tsp red pepper flakes
¼ tsp ginger
1 T soy sauce
2 T hoisin sauce
2 tsp sriracha

Directions:
Boil the eggplant pieces until softened, drain and set aside. Saute the peppers and onion with the canola oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, and ginger for five minutes. Add the eggplant. Cover and simmer for ten minutes, stirring every now and then. Add the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and sriracha and simmer for five minutes. Serve with rice.

Here are some of my sketches this week…

eggplant (original photo)

kale (original photo)

lettuce (original photo)

onion (original photo)

parsnip (original photo)

And here is Cringer, snug in a box…

P.S. Today is the last day to sign up for Vegan MoFo!

Peace. :)

Cherry Lemonade Popsicles

Hi everyone! This week I made cherry lemonade popsicles, and they turned out great! 

Ingredients:
2 cups cherries (pitted & diced)
½ cup sugar
½ cup lemon juice
½ cup water

Directions:
Bring ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan, then switch to low-medium heat, stirring every now and then for ~10 minutes. Turn off heat, cover, and wait until cooled before pouring into popsicle molds to freeze.

I also made the tofu bacon (another marinated tofu) from Vegan Vittles and used some in a bagel BLT; it was pretty good! 

After Leela fell asleep on the bed, Daisy settled in nearby...

I did some more sketches, some with text, some without. Here are several of them…

dandelion (original photo)

aloe (original photo)

aster (original photo)

geranium (original photo)

columbine (original photo)

Peace. :)

Barley Miso Soup (with Seitan and Celery)

Hi everyone! I threw together a soup this week; it turned out OK but could definitely be improved upon (more spice in the seitan for one thing). Here’s what I did… 

Barley Miso Soup (with Seitan and Celery)

Ingredients:
2 cups water
¼ cup barley
1 tablespoon miso paste
¼ cup vital wheat gluten
¼ cup water
dash smoked paprika
dash pepper
2 stalks celery, diced

Directions:
As you bring the water (2 cups), barley, and miso to a boil in a saucepan, combine the vital wheat gluten, water (¼ cup), paprika, and pepper to make the seitan; knead for 5 min and then separate into small pieces and add to the soup, along with the celery. Cover and simmer for about 1 hr, stirring occasionally.

The leftovers the next day were better :)

Here’s Cringer hiding under my bookshelf; I think she must have gotten scared by the vacuum cleaner; she usually claims sanctuary in the kitchen when I’m vacuuming, so I was surprised to find her here when I was done. 

And here’s Daisy, who decided to join Leela in the sunshine. That’s about as close as Leela let her get, haha! 

Peace. :)