a Birthday, the Food Fair, and other Tidbits

our whole family went to the Toronto Vegetarian Food Fair yesterday. we had so much fun! we love all the free samples, and we got some other goodies to take home with us too.

here's some stuff i've been cooking up lately.


Veganomicon's Samosa Stuffed Baked Potatoes.... the yummiest thing i've eaten in a long time! soooo good, and even my GF hubby can eat them! they taste great reheated the next day too. i paired them with a very simple spinach salad.


as a part of my daughter Ellia's 5th bday, we made these Vanilla Cupcake Cones from EDBV. i made just 11, but i think next time i would make just 9 or 10 to get them to be a little fuller on top. good, and cute!


a closer up look at one of the cupcake cones


and here's her real bday cake.. EDBV's Chocolate Sin-amon Cake, shaped into a strawberry.. as per Ellia's instructions! i think hubby did a great job with the decorating.


i've been eating alot of this lately... baby spinach salad with marinated beans... a bit of balsamic, red wine vinegar, GARLIC, and olive oil. yum!

Forays into Gluten Free-ness

for reasons that i don't have time to explain, we've recently dived into the world of Gluten Freedom, part time at least. here are some of the results.


red lentil curry, a recipe from the local university's veg student association. very spicy! we took it camping with us, yum!


Roasted Beet Salad.. with spinach, red onions, roasted beets and a balsamic garlic dressing. the next time i made it, i marinated the beans in the dressing, and it was even more spectacular. i love how simple foods come together and taste so great.


this is from the book below.. gluten free "Nut Cutlets".. i made these with a friend the first time, and we made the curry version and a red lentil curry sauce to go with them... so good! (even better than isa's chickpea cutlets!!), and i made them on my own, using the italian version, and served them with pasta and extra sauce.. so good! (don't mind my GF pasta, it was left overs, and doesn't look so great!). these cutlets have onion, celery, hazelnuts, cashews and brazil nuts, cooked quinoa flakes, spices. they keep well both cooked and uncooked, in the fridge or freezer.


my friend alice (she's GF these days too) gave me this cookbook. it's not vegan.. not even veg, but has a vegetarian section, and alot of the recipes are veg friendly or easily convertable.


from a different GF cookbook, Chocolate Banana Muffins. my kids LOVE these!


from yet another GF cookbook, Tahini Cookies. made with raisins and oats (GF oats)


from the GF cookbook pictured, Chocolate Pecan Cookies. i really enjoyed these, and they didn't crumble!!


not all GF, but camping food.. Bean Salad w/baby spinach, corn on the cob and veg dog w/ dill pickle relish. i love camping!

Yellow Rose Recipes

my honey surprised me a few weeks ago by buying me Yellow Rose Recipes.. imagine my delight when i opened up my mail on that day! i've only had the book for a short time, but i'm already loving it! So far, i've made the Raisin Bran Muffins and the Very Berry Muffins, the Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Lemon Tahini Dressing, Vegan Parmesan, Braised Cauliflower, Soft Oatmeal Cookies and the Gluten Free Choc. Chip Bars. i already have my eye on a bunch more, most notably, the Green-wa (just missing one ingredient!!!). i don't have pictures of everything, my camera crapped out on me for a while, but is working again now!



this is the Roasted Red Pepper Hummus. it was so good! it was a very simple recipe, with just a tad of curry powder and cumin in it. Ellia and I gobbled the whole batch down, leaving none for the boys. sorry, boys!


Braised Cauliflower. another simple recipe. we usually just steam our cauliflower, but this recipe cooks it up in some veg stock, and the results are delish, and doesn't take any longer than our usual way of doing things.


Very Berry Muffins. i had some fresh strawberries to use in these muffins, but they got eaten by 2 certain little vegan children around here.... so i subbed in frozen blueberries. these muffins really rose well! i used half white flour and half whole wheat pastry flour. next time, i'll try it with all whole wheat.


this morning, i woke up and baked up a batch of these Raisin Bran Muffins (we're big muffin eaters around here, can you tell?). the only sub i did was use hemp seeds instead of whole flax seeds. i like flax, but feel that they need to be ground in order to get the nutritional value out of them. since i didn't know how that would effect the recipe (ground flax often being used as an egg sub), i just used hemp seeds instead. very good!


this was my kids' favourite recipe so far... Vegan Parmesan. they have been putting it on soups, noodles, salads, toasted pitas,... just about everything! i like it too, it has a bit of garlic in it, which makes it different than other vegan parms out there.

don't have a pic of the Lemon Tahini Dressing, but i really enjoyed it on top of my spinach salads last week.. it has a nice tang to it. the kids weren't so hot on it, but that's okay..more for me!

Soft Oatmeal Cookies was the first recipe we made from the book... as an end of school treat for Ellia's class. they were enjoyed by all of the JK's (and of course, i ate a few too! yum!)

i made the Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Bars with my friend Alice in mind. she is gluten free these days, and since we often cook together, i have been trying my hand at gluten free-ness. these bars were good, and made a big pan full too! they taste exactly like Chocolate Chip cookies, but in bar form.


and i haven't bragged about my sweetie, Athena, in a while, so here i gush... er, here i go :) she's not quite 8 months yet, still has no teeth (!!), is on the verge of crawling, has tried a few solids but isn't that interested yet (her fave being banana), and learned how to pull up on our couch at 7 months... crazy baby!!! anyways, she's my little love!

See, When I Don't Post for a Month, You Get a Whole Mash of Things. Good, No?

what can i say? i have a newborn, a diabetic, and am wrapping up the kids school year. forgive my spelling, i have a bad case of baby brain these days.


TEVs Lemon Curry Vinegairette .. nice and tangy, mildly spicy, nice change from my usual dressing. thumbs up.


dreena's Mac Oh-Geez. she begged, i made. what can i say, i think she hypnotized me to do her bidding in a previous life. that said, very yummy... i added a touch more salt to the sauce, and next time i would use way less bread crumbs, but i would definately make it again.


ReFresh's Curried Chickpea Filling, used for the Kathmandu Wraps... so hearty and yummy, especially made into the wrap.


EDBV's Basic White Cake and Creamy Vanilla Frosting, with a raspberry pudding (my own creation) centre, all for hubby's 30th bday. the frosting was more work than usual, but worth it


the whole cake, with raspberries and toasted almonds up top


EDBV's Maple Pecan Sticky Blondies. oh so good! maple is one of my favourite flavours in a dessert, and it goes well here. maple candied pecans, white chocolate and dark chocolate chips on top, soft batter... mmmmm.


a lunch box, since we haven't done one lately. vegan vanilla yogurt with frozen blueberries on top, crackers, cucumbers, steamed cauliflower, grapes, vegan "roast beef" slices, strawberry applesauce tube and fruit to go tucked in on the side. kaeden just loves veggie slices, even though they are processed, i let him have 'em.


EDBV's Savoury French Lentils. i made this on a chilly day when i just wanted something warm and comforting... it hit the spot. i loves me some lentils, that's for sure. i forget what all spices are in there, but they work together well.


Vegetarian Soup for All Season's greek inspired soup.. man, i forget the name, but it has a lemony broth, orzo pasta, spinach, leeks, red peppers and some other things. yum! another rainy day meal.


not homemade, but i finally hit on the best vegan spring rolls in town... most places stick shrimp or oyster sauce into thier spring rolls (oh so wrong!), but these proved to be completely vegan, and completely delish! comes with two dipping sauce, i have no idea what they are.. the pinkish one looks like it has dairy, so i didn't eat it, and i think the other is cilantro something or another, so i, of course, avoided it like the plague. had some plum sauce to dip instead. SO good, spring rolls are one of my favourite take out food items.

Soup and Salads

i haven't been cooking much lately (well, not much new stuff). we've been busy, and i've just been craving plain, simple food. lots of raw veggies, simple spinach salads, that kind of thing... here are a few of the more interesting things i've made.


Quinoa Salad. i started off wanting to make a very simple quinoa salad, and as i went on, i found that i basically made Vive's Quinoa Spring Salad without even realizing it, LOL. except i added soaked currants and some yellow peppers too. so funny how i cook like Dreena, even unintentionally :)


since my bday party was not on my actual bday, i saved one layer of my cake (i baked 4 layers, and only used 3 at my party), and cut it in half, made a simple chocolate frosting and added in some fresh strawberries for my birthday proper dessert. you can see the coconut in the cake layer.. mmmm!


Refresh's Bean Florentine Soup. so filling! it's got 4 or 5 different beans in it, veggies and just at the end, you wilt in some fresh spinach. some lovely spices, including a healthy amount of white pepper, give this soup a great flavour. will definatley make again.


Vcon's Lentil Salad. made this for a friend's BBQ. made with french lentils, shredded carrot and shredded radish, red peppers, red onions and a simple balsamic vinegar dressing. if i recall correctly, it gave a range of measurements (something like 2 to 4 tbsp) for the oil, and i used the max amount (i don't like to skip on the oil around omni's), but when i make it again, i'll use the lesser amount. i was very pleased with this salad, it kind of looks boring, very brown, but tasted great.


a few new herbs to add to my garden... basil, purple basil, oregano and "chocolate peppermint", which sounds interesting and smells great!

My 30th Birthday Bash

no, i'm not quite 30 yet (6 more days!), but i had an early birthday party on the weekend. it was an afternoon affair, so no "meal", just a bunch of snacks and dessert!

my menu included:

Punch (gingerale and cranberry juice)
veggies with Hummus (Vive) and Baba Ganouj (store bought)
Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Peaches (based off Vcon)
Bean Salad with Red Wine Vinegar and Citrus (a Moosewood book)
Best Bruchetta (TEV)
White Bean and Walnut Bruchetta (EDBV)

Coconut Cake with Coconut Dream Frosting (EDBV) and Toasted Coconut and Chocolate Truffles (EDBV)
Gluten Freedom Chocolate Cupcakes and Golden Vanilla Cupcakes (both VCTOW) topped with Fresh Berries and Icing Drizzle
Fresh Fruit



Triple Layer Coconut Dream Cake with Toasted Coconut and (hand rolled!) Chocolate Truffles. i loved it all.. not too sweet, but everyone enjoyed it! i thought the frosting tasted like some yummy coconut pudding.


Chocolate and Vanilla Cupcakes with Berries. these were mostly for all the kids who attended (hey, i do home daycare, so of course my friends' kids were welcome!), i wasn't sure if they would all like coconut cake. but i saw a bunch of adults eating these as well. and good thing i made them, as the cake went fast, and there were only a few cupcakes leftover in the end.


a view of the table

Food from The Past Month or So

hold on tight, there's a wack of stuff here!


EDBV's You Got Peanut Butter in My Chocolate Cookies. so freaking good. seriously. even the kids liked them, and they say they don't like peanut butter. hubby was happy as well.


Veganomicon's Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango. or sort of! i thought for sure that i had black beans, but couldn't find any, so i used adzuki beans. i don't care for mango, so i used a juicy nectarine. and no cilantro for me, so i just left it out. i really liked this salad, i think it's going on my birthday menu (i turn 30 in just a few weeks! i'm throwing a big vegan bday party!)


Veganomicon's Cauliflower Pot Pie with Biscuit crust. was supposed to have black olives in the crust, but i don't like olives, so i left them out. that was the only sub i made. i was so-so on this one. hubby loved it, ellia loved it, and kaeden didn't at all. the sauce was wayyyyy too thick, i ended up adding a cup more soymilk to it. would add more s+p to the sauce as well.


Veganomicon's Black Bean Burgers. good. not awesome, but decent. i now have a stash in my freezer. need to add more galic, s+p.


Curried Quinoa Salad. from Real Food Daily. i used half regular quinoa and half black quinoa. has roasted almonds, red peppers and celery in it. it was ok, but i liked the quinoa salad above better.


EDBV's Rawesome Nut Dip. loved it! ate it raw with veggies, and in a small lasagna.


EDBV's Chocolate Sin-amon Cake with Chocolate Hazelnut Frosting. really, really good. i dusted the top with icing sugar and cinnamon. mmmmm, cake! luckily, i gave over half of it away to unsuspecting omni's, and they loved it too. not a one of them noticed the tofu.


a slice o' cake.


ellia's face, after TWO bites of cake. chocolate all the way up to her eyebrows. it's a skill, apparently.


got my hands on some Sheese. been waiting to try it for quite some time. as you can see, it's very cheese like! much more firm that FYR. i got both medium cheddar and mozzarella flavours. don't think i can sit down and eat a chunk of either one, but i think they would taste good in a lasagna or other dish. not sure if i would go out of my way to buy it again. the kids prefer FYH.


had Sheese on mini-pita pizzas. was disappointed that it didn't melt very much. next time i'll try shredding it smaller and lowering the heat.


Vegetarian Soups for All Season's Vegetable Masala Stew. or at least, that's what i think it was called. packed full of veggies, very warm and comforting. yum! next time, i'll leave out the carrots. i don't really care for boiled carrot chunks much. or maybe i'll just chop them up finer. we'll see.


TEV's or Vive's or some Dreena book.. Simple Sauteed Kale. with shallots, very simple indeed! loved it. i'm starting to turn into a real big kale fan. never though i'd say that.


roasted tomatoes with garlic and herbs.. used for the pasta below.


Dreena's Roasted Tomato Pasta creation. something she blogged about a week or so ago. roasted tomatoes, garlic, herbs, white beans and parsley. lovely! simple! delish!


i finally found french lentils! i've been looking for them all over, i have so many recipes that call for them. i made Veganomicon's French Lentil Soup with Tarragon and Thyme (and forgot to take a picture), and it was SO good!