your brown skin shining in the sun..

So the baby shower was this past weekend and it was really nice and I made for it again, the chocolate peanut butter rice krispie treats because they really are so amazing. I also made the Deli Style Macaroni Salad from Veganomicon.. I didn't get a chance to take a picture.. and I'm not gonna lie, it wasn't the best thing I've had. I used to really like macaroni salad before my vegan days. For some reason though, using veganaise really just puts me off. I'm not sure why.. I eat it when restaurants use it and it's fine.. but I think just using it throws me.. weird. Same with tofutti cream cheese and sour cream.. I think just the fake dairy products in general don't go well with me haha.


For dinner a couple nights ago I made the Hot Sauce Glazed Tempeh and Messy Rice from Veganomicon.





The messy rice was really really delicious and I'd definitely make it again. The tempeh.. was just okay. I am a huge fan of tempeh, I usually prefer it over tofu and seitan. The glaze didn't really get to where I was expecting it to. Perhaps I didn't let it marinate long enough? Although I did it for the hour and I flipped them as well.. So I'm not sure where I went wrong on that one. hmm..
I really want to make the barbecue one from the book as well but hopefully that one will come out better? hmm...

is it possible for the world to look this way forever?

So I haven't really been making much lately up until yesterday. No reason really..just haven't been motivated I suppose.

Anyway, yesterday I made.. well I guess I can't really say i made it.. but I prepared a Tabouli Salad which was so delicious. I got it from the health food store and it's a brand called Fantastic Foods. Basically all I did was add olive oil, tomatoes and cucumbers to it. But hey, it was still delicious and quick! I've also made the falafel from that brand.. and they also came out really good. I think next I want to try the Tofu Scramble..I still have yet to even make one on my own..





Also I really wanted to make something for dessert..and with me, you can never go wrong with a recipe that has peanut butter and chocolate in it. it's by far my fave combo. So I made the Peanut Butter Chocolate Rice Kripsy Treats... which I found on a bunch of blogs but finally made myself. The result? Sooooo delicious! Just what I was going for :)





Chocolate and Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Bars:
In a small saucepan over medium heat, mix together 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of corn syrup until hot and bubbly. Remove from heat and add 1 cup of peanut butter and mix well. In a very large bowl, add 6 cups of rice crispy cereal and 2 cups of chocolate chips(i used giradelli semisweet..my fave). Add the peanut butter mix and stir well so it's all coated. Pour into a 9x13 pan and flatten out. Let cool for an hour before cutting and serving.

So my best friend's baby shower is this saturday..and everyone is supposed to bring a dish. After making those rice krispies, I'm pretty much sold on making more and bringing those.. I think I might also make the pineapple black bean quinoa salad I made a while ago as well.. It was quick and sooo delicious so I think it'll be perfect for it. We'll see.. I'm excited to go this weekend though.. It's so much fun picking out cute baby stuff for her! :)

sh sh shake it

ive been having a hard time sleeping lately and i dont know why..i dont work until 12 today so i can sleep until 10:30..but for some reason i just can't :( it's not good because then later, i'm exhausted..and that's never fun...
so my weekend was nice..i worked a lot but on father's day i made a cake from the ovelove.com.. the chili chocolate cake. it came out really good..the cake part was better than the cake from the mint chocolate cake, i think. the icing though didnt really get the consistancy I was after until being in the fridge the next day. but it was still good the first day..just gooey :)







Also for father's day we got him an espresso machine, which he really liked..thus the espresso cup in the backround. It's pretty strong,but I really enjoyed it.

Earlier in the week I made the Pineapple Cashew Quinoa Stirfry from Veganomicon.. It came out awesome! I especially loved the toasted cashews in it..it gave it a great nutty crunch to it..yum. :)





The recipe for it calls for the quinoa to be cooked in pineapple juice though, which I must admit, I liked it better by itself when I cooked it in the vegetable bouillon.. but in the recipe you couldn't really tell so it as still quite good.

Prepare the Quinoa by combining 1 cup quinoa, 1 cup pineapple juice, 1 cup cold water, and 1/4 teaspoon of soy sauce in a medium sauce pan covered over high heat until boils. Stir a few times and bring the heat to medium low, cover, and cook for 12 to 14 minutes, until liquid has been absorbed and quinoa is fluffy and translucent. Uncover, and let cool. Let refrigerate for about an hour until added to stir fry. For the stir fry, use a large 11 inch nonstick skillet pan. Have 2 sliced scallions, 2 minced garlic cloves, 1 diced red bell pepper, 1 cup cooked edamame, 1/2 cup fresh basil sliced, 2 cups fresh pineapple in small chunks all ready. Place cashews in the dry pan and heat over low heat stirring until lightly toasted. Remove cashews and raise heat to medium, and add 3 tablespoons of peanut oil, the scallions, and the garlic. When garlic starts to sizzle, add pepper. Stir fry for 2 minutes and add edamame. Stir fry for 3 minutes and add basil, stir another minute and add pineapple and quinoa. In measuring cup, mix 3 tablespoons of soy sauce and 3 tablespoons of vegetable stock and pour over stir fry. Stir fry for another 10-14 minutes until quinoa is very hot.

Well off to another day at work! Hopefully a good one! =)

no, nothing takes your place. your emptiness too great to fill.

So I have the next three days off from work and I'm pretty happy about that. I really don't mind working though..i mean yes it's quite tiring and a bit unfair thus far.. but i actually like waitressing. :)
What shall i do with my spare time? The boy is away until sunday..so i've been a bit lonely about that one. i mish him a bit...a lot..
i haven't really been making as many sweets and desserts since i like to make them for him to try..he usually loves all the desserts i make and i like that he can help me eat them, otherwise i'd probably eat them all myself.. har. :)

the mint chocolate cake that i made for the woman at my mom's work came out great! she said everyone loved it..so i was really happy about that. She brought some home too..and i loved it..so definitely a keeper. She even took a picture of it for me to post. :)




The other night for dinner I finalllllly made the chickpea cutlets from Veganomicon. All I hear is how fabulous they are, so I finally got around to making them. And they really are as good as everyone says they are.. I was really impressed with them. I made them with the mustard sauce also in the book, and the two went together perfectly. Although for the sauce, next time I might use just a bit less mustard..it really is extremely mustard-y..if thats a word ;)






Yum, i absolutely love asparagus too. we picked it up from the farmer's market that they have downtown on saturdays in salisbury that i never even knew about until recently.. we also got a really nice tomato plant that seems to be doing great! so far theres been 4 cherry tomatoes that have turned red..but we eat them as they ripen so we haven't really used them in salads or anything yet..oh well they're pretty delish.

off to enjoy my days off and sleeping in hopefully!

and you swear there'll be no bad news..

So the apple peanut butter caramel bars from Vcon are probably one of my favorite desserts..not just to eat but to make as well. It's weird that this is a top for me, since there is no chocolate in it, and i'm quite a fan of chocolate.. i guess the rest of it is so good that i don't even miss the chocolate in my dessert! har.






anyway, i thought that cutting up six apples for it was a bit much, but it actually layered realy well with that many. The peanut butter caramel was what really made it though, it was just sooo delicious. Although a bit difficult to make..and it did not come out like it said in the book.. saying it should slide off in ribbons off the fork.. this was not achieve at all. It was more clumpy than ribbons of caramel, but that definitely did not effect the taste.

My mother asked me to make a cake for someone she worked with since today is her birthday, so I chose the Mint Chocolate Cake recipe from vegrecipes.org
I didn't get a chance to try it yet..so i'm hopeing it came out good! The icing was quite delicious though..and i love a mix of mint and chocolate, so hopefully she does too. :)

Mint Chocolate Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 9x13 baking pan. Mix 2 1/4 cup flour, 4 1/2 T of cocoa powder, 1 1/2 cups sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1 1/2 tsp of baking soda, 1 1/2 T of white vinegar, 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract, and 1 1/2 cups cold water, stirring quickly. Once smooth, pour batter into pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. Let cool and add frosting. Frosting: melt 1 12 oz bag of chocolate chips in a saucepan over low heat, add 1/4 cup of soy milk and 1 T of peppermint extract and stir until smooth, adding more milk if needed.

Hopefully i'll get to try it later on to post back on how it was! :)
oh and tomorrow is my first day actually on my own at work, and making tips! lets hope i bring back lots of money..har.