good good things

Birthday Cake

JENNA — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 17:30:06 +0000

Raspberry Blackout Cake w. Ganache-Y Frosting

If you happen to be celebrating a birthday in our family this is most likely the cake I would make for you*. Who doesn’t like chocolate and raspberry together? Crazy people I suppose. I’ll admit that I usually don’t like raspberries at all but when mixed with chocolate cake you can’t go wrong. My sister was the lucky recipient of this cake even though a day before her party she requested a Crepe Cake which wasn’t going to happen on such short notice with 2 kids in the house. The recipe is from Vegan with a Vengeance. You really can’t go wrong with any of Isa’s recipes.

When I was done smoothing out the frosting I had a bit left over and added some star details with a piping bag and tip. The detail and some fresh raspberries, which I picked off (!), made for a beautiful birthday cake!

*On occasion I’ve been known to make a coconut cake for birthdays also.

Review: Let Them Eat Vegan

JENNA — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 15:42:47 +0000

Braised Tempeh in a Lemon, Thyme and Caper Sauce

I received a review copy of Dreena Burton’s newest cookbook Let Them Eat Vegan a few weeks ago. Upon my first quick “flip through” of the book I knew that this was going to be a great cookbook. When I did my official look through of the book, when the kids were in bed, I immediately started bookmarking recipes. A LOT OF RECIPES! It got so bad, in a good way, that I didn’t even know where to start and what to make first. I finally settled on the recipe for Braised Tempeh in a Lemon, Thyme and Caper Sauce. I love love love the combo of lemon, thyme and capers and I wanted to include more Tempeh in our diets for variety so this became the obvious choice to start with. First thing…this recipe alone is worth the price of this book. It was so easy to make. Its a great way to have a fancy type dinner in the middle or your busy work week. I was able to make this while my 10 month old was getting into all sorts of trouble in the kitchen cabinets, then I was able to spend some time at the park with my husband and daughter and then we came home and had this delicious meal! Restaurant style food at home. Its wonderful! I served it with some white rice and sauteed spinach. Three of us loved the recipe: myself, my husband and 10 month old Miles. One of us did not: my daughter Reno..but that was to be expected. Tempeh is something she’s has never eaten before so I cooked her up some Gardein Crispy Tenders and she ate the rice and spinach that accompanied our meal.

Three’s Company Pie

Dessert! This must be one of the easiest pies’s I’ve ever made. It reminded me of my favorite Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Banana Smoothie that I make Reno and I for breakfast sometimes..minus the spinach we add to the drink. Much like my smoothie recipe you blend peanut butter, banana’s, cocoa powder with melted chocolate chips and a few other ingredients, pour it into a pie shell and then bake it. Topped off with slice banana, peanuts and some cocoa powder. Its amazing. I wish I had taken a picture of what the inside of the pie looked like. It was beautiful. Really. I brought the pie over to my Mother in laws for Sunday dessert and it was a hit. I will definitely be making this again.

So I’m basically in love with this book. In my opinion it is Dreena’s best book yet and I can’t wait to cook from it again. I have a lot of recipes that I want to try from it!

Random Eats

JENNA — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 16:31:57 +0000

Reno helping with breakfast

Reno loves helping with food and I believe that is what has made her a somewhat easy kid to feed. She has her weeks where she just wants Pasta w. Earth Balance but she’s open to trying new things and will sometimes eat her veggies first!

Queso

So good. So so so good. I can’t wait to make it again.

Garlic Bread

Earth Balance, garlic, basil, salt, pepper

Valentines Day Cupcakes

I got to be class mom on Valentines Day. These were a lot of fun to make and decorate with Re.

Salad

Seitan, romaine, shoyu dressing. This was a spur of the moment, lets use whats in the fridge type of lunches and it was delicious.

Butternut Coconut Soup (recipe)

JENNA — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 15:36:03 +0000

Butternut-Coconut Soup

I was lucky the other day when Miles decided to grace us with a nap. He’s not like his sister was as a baby who would take two 2 hour naps a day at the same time every day. I’m lucky if his afternoon nap is more than 25 minutes. The other day I could just tell he was going to sleep awhile so I got busy cleaning the kitchen and then messing it up again while cooking a few things. It was nice to cook. I’m still cooking our dinner every night but they have been the same ol’ boring things you’ve seen on this site over and over again. It was just really nice to create and cook something new for a change!

While I was cleaning I noticed a butternut squash that was showing signs that it was needing to be used, very soon, like that day. I thought of roasting it as a side dish or making Kidney Bean and Butternut Veggie Burgers or a few other ideas. I ended up quickly throwing a soup together with it and I’m really happy I did. This soup was so silky, smooth, creamy and delicately spiced with cinnamon. It made a healthy amount that I stored away in the fridge and would heat up a mug of it for lunches and snacks for the next couple of days. The best part of the soup, to me at least, is that Miles LOVED it. The joy I had seeing my 9 month old baby devour this soup I made was wonderful. I froze small portions of the soup to save for him for another week while he enjoyed what I portioned out in the fridge for all of us. Sadly last night we finished off the soup. Luckily I randomly bought another butternut at Whole Foods the morning before which means I’ll be making this soup again for us this weekend!

Butternut-Coconut Soup

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium sized butternut squash
(I peeled the squash then cut it in 1/2 lengthwise, scooped out the seeds and cut each 1/2 in 1/2 again lengthwise. Then sliced them into 1/4 inch slices.)
1 can coconut milk (13.5 fluid ounces)
1 chicken-less boullion cube
6 cups water
1 2 inch cinnamon stick
salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot. Saute the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent, about 3-5 minutes. Add the butternut squash and saute until the butternut starts showing signs of caramelization. Add the coconut milk, bouillion cube, water and cinnamon stick. Bring the soup to a boil and then cover, with lid slightly off to let steam escape. Lower to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally until the squash is soft. Blend in a blender or with and immersion blender which is my favorite way of blending! Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

Testing w. Terry

JENNA — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:08:45 +0000

Chinese Sticky Rice with Seitan Sausage Crumbles

I have been having so much fun testing recipes for Terry Hope Romero’s next cookbook. Everything has been amazing so far. I can’t wait for the book to come out.

My favorite recipe that I’ve tested so far has been the Chinese Sticky Rice with Seitan Sausage Crumbles, which is really 2 recipes in one. I made the Seitan Crumbles one day and the Sticky Rice the next. The Seitan Sausage Crumbles on their own were addicting. I was happy that the Sticky Rice recipe only called for about 1/2 a recipe of the Crumbles because I think I ate about 1/2 a recipe of crumbles before I even started making the rice recipe. I can taste them now while typing this all out. Good thing I’m making the recipe again this weekend at Peter’s request. I think he liked this recipe even more then I did.

Seitan, Almond and Sesame Tagine

Meat and Potatoes, vegan and Moroccan style! This tagine is the perfect winter meal. I wouldn’t mind being stuck in my house all weekend due to a blizzard with a big pot of this tagine waiting to be eaten. It was the perfect combination of savory and sweet that I love in a meal.

Coriander Seitan Cutlets

I made this tester recipe to use in the Tagine above. I love spiced seitan recipes, which is why I use a lot of cumin in my own. The use of coriander in this recipe is perfect. As usual, when these were finished cooking, Reno and I promptly ate one of the cutlets as is. Reno declared them to be “delicious!”.

Again…I can’t wait for this cookbook to be released to the world. Its going to be amazing!