Fall Treats Plus Mac & Cheese

Hi everyone! So, one of my favorite fall treats this year is a vanilla So Delicious yogurt to which I add allspice, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg, making it into a pumpkin spice yogurt!

I also placed a little Vegan Essentials order to get some Halloween goodies; these are Sjaak's white chocolate skull pops and chocolate bites; the orange ones are orange-flavored, the black are peanut butter...

I also got these new-to-me items to try...

This pumpkin spice cookie that I got with my last Kimberton Whole Foods grocery order was really good...

And a friend picked up a chocolate cookie sandwich for me from Crust Vegan Bakery; it was delicious!

And finally, some mac & cheese (using Miyoko's cheddar slices) with some chick'n tenders (the chick'n tenders were just OK, so I doubt I'll get them again)...

Some pictures from my outdoor walk with friends...

And Daisy's face as she realizes that with the weather getting cooler, being a pillow for her sister is going to be her life now...

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. :)

Elementary, My Dear Vegan: Coffee, Yogurt, Assorted Fruits

Hi everyone! Today’s “Elementary, My Dear Vegan” is also from S1E10 (“The Leviathan”), and it’s the first time Holmes brings Watson breakfast in bed. (One of the best and funniest things about Elementary is all the different methods that Holmes uses to wake up Watson, who is definitely not a morning person. Since he rarely sleeps, Holmes is almost always the first one awake and ready to go, especially when they have a case. Every now and then, Watson gets the opportunity to wake Holmes, but this was not one of those times.)

Holmes: Good morning. Coffee, yogurt, assorted fruits. (sets tray down on Watson’s bed)
Watson: (tiredly, still lying down) Thanks.
Holmes: Seven minutes for you to eat. Twenty-three minutes for you to shower and get dressed.

For breakfast this morning, I made coffee (for Zach, since I don’t drink coffee, haha!) and had some vanilla So Delicious yogurt with a mix of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries (plus a couple leftover crepes from yesterday, but those aren’t pictured).

Compare a still Rogue… 

To a Rogue in motion…

Peace. :)

New Foods in June, July, and August

Hello everyone, and happy September! It feels so weird to not have Vegan MoFo (Vegan Month of Food) going on now, but have no fear, it's scheduled for November this year! Of course, that means it's the same month as NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), but my first time doing both events was back in November 2010; I survived that trial by fire during my junior year of college, so I know I can definitely manage it now!

Onto the main event: I tried lots of new foods in June, July, and August, and first up are the Field Roast frankfurters; they were good chopped up & mixed in with Daiya's mac & cheese.

I tried Amy's Indian Vegetable Korma when it was on sale; I liked the dal & rice the best.

Next up are some goodies from Vegan Treats: the cinnamon sugar pretzel donut and the double chocolate chip brownie. The donut is one of my favorites from Vegan Treats, and the brownie was good, but so, so chocolate-y, I couldn't eat it all at once!

The Tofurky slow roasted chick'n (sesame garlic) was another one I got on sale; I had it over brown rice, carrots, & broccoli. It was good, not my favorite by Tofurky, but still good!

Next up are the muffin pan mini omelets from Isa Does It; they were so cute and tasty! I had them with toast buttered with Earth Balance, as well as shiitake bacon, hash browns, Lightlife bacon, and Field Roast's appple maple breakfast sausage (another new item I tried; they were OK).

I had coupons for Ben & Jerry's vegan ice creams, so I tried the chunky monkey first. I really liked it, though the walnut chunks were gigantic; I would have preferred them to be chopped up more.

Next, I made the fresh fruit (strawberry) lemonade pops. Way too sweet for me, so I will have to cut down on the sugar next time, but these popsicles were great because there was no blending required!

Then I made a cheesy BLT, toasted in the pan with Field Roast Chao cheese (creamy original), Lightlife bacon, lettuce, and tomato.

Now we're on to the food at Ocean City, not really new but still fun! My sister Alena & I cooked while we were there, making Gardein chick'n fingers, Daiya mac & cheese, and corn one night, and spaghetti, Gardein meatballs, and oven-roasted snow peas from my garden the next night!

I tried the So Delicious ice cream sandwiches because Zach's coconut milk had a coupon on it for another So Delicious product. These were good, but the Tofutti ones are still my favorite. Plus, it was kinda awkward -- one of them was missing the top sandwich layer, haha!

I've made the veganized orange chick'n from Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Food before, but this time I had it with steamed snow peas from my garden and sliced garden cucumber as well, so it was extra delicious!

I found some vegan yogurts on sale; the Daiya strawberry was good, but I really loved the So Delicious strawberry!

I made another recipe from VegNews: the mint chocolate chip sundae, using some of my own fresh mint! (I left out the spirulina.)

This sandwich was a fun & super simple one: a cheese & pepperoni panini, served with chips & sliced garden cucumber!

I've been trying several of these fruit spreads, and I think the apricot one is my new favorite for peanut butter & jelly sandwiches.

I tried another new recipe, this time for pizza dough, and it turned out great, so much so that I've already made it again! Topped with spaghetti sauce, shredded Follow Your Heart mozzarella, and Tofurky pepperoni.

Here's another of the vegan Ben & Jerry's, the chocolate fudge brownie. Pretty good, very chocolate-y. I liked the chunky monkey better, though, but I think that's just because I tend to prefer a vanilla base to a chocolate base.

And last but not least, another VegNews recipe, this time for fudge popsicles. I misread it as 3 bananas instead of 3 cups bananas, but it worked out well regardless!

Overall, my favorite summertime treat has probably been popsicles since they're so fun to make & it's definitely something I'm going to miss as the weather gets cooler!

Time to check in with the kitties! First up, we have Cringer and Daisy on the stairs. They have this really bad habit of sprawling out on the stairs (it started with Cringer, and then of course Daisy had to copy her). In this picture, they only just got settled in and haven't sprawled out yet, but the two of them seriously turn the stairs into an obstacle course.

Next we have Leela, hanging out in the bookcase in the cat room...

And finally we have Buttons, who apparently loves this fan with all her heart...

Peace. :)