Weekend Roundup

I still keep forgetting to get batteries for my camera...sorry. I was a cooking fool this weekend! I've been on a real "saving" kick lately (as in leftovers) so I made a lot of food this weekend that could be enjoyed throughout the week. On Saturday I made the VwaV Spanakopita - these were good! In retrospect, I wish I had put a bit more salt/lemon in the filling but we only ate half of the filling, so I will doctor up the leftovers for the next batch. Also on Saturday I made the banana "ice cream" that Dreena from Vive le Vegan was writing about lately. This was SO yummy...I felt bad eating two banana's worth, but then I reminded myself it is just fruit - so the more the better! I also made some of the Buttery Lemon Cutout cookies from VwaV for a party Saturday night. The cookies tasted good, but I could not get them to work as cutout cookies. I'm not sure how well the cookies went over at the party - as it was decidedly non-vegan...but my husband liked them quite a bit.
On Sunday I made a big batch of seitan. Half I cooked up in a veggie broth/soy sauce mixture and the other half I cooked in a fake chicken broth. With that half I then proceeded to cut in cutlets, dredge in flour/paprika/salt/pepper and fry up. YUMMY! I got this idea from Chris at EatAir and it was so good. We topped it off with some homemade french fries and it was comfort food to the extreme.

This makes sense...

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Sprout!

I've been remiss in my blogging duties - and my camera has run out of batteries. So no (of my own) pics here for awhile. But that does not mean I have not been cooking. On Saturday Micah and I made a somewhat bastardized version of the Green Curry Tofu from VwaV. I'll admit, I was way too lazy to make my own chili paste...so I bought some. It turned out ok - not great - but a good first attempt at a homemade curry. Does not taste like it came from a Thai restaurant, but then again it's probably much healthier.
On Sunday I made Lemon Poppyseed Shortbread from How it all Vegan. At least I think that's where it came from as I copied it down while I was at Borders looking at books. Soon I will have more vegan cookbooks, I promise.
Lastly, and the namesake of this blog, I began sprouting this weekend. I had always wanted to try it and when I saw a "kit" (really a mason jar with different screens) for only $4, I had to try it. I started my first batch of mung bean sprouts on Sunday and almost all the beans have pretty long sprouts by now. I'll most likely harvest them tomorrow - now if I could only think of what to do with them besides the standard sandwich idea. Hopefully I'll have pictures to show of my fledgling sprouts soon.

Cookies and Gravy

It's been a pretty slow week, I must admit. With a slowdown at work and Oscar keeping me up at night with his wonderful Siamese meow...I have been feeling kind of blah. I'm happy the weekend is here...I hope to do a whole lot of nothing, except maybe cooking, exercising and reading (I guess that's something).
I've been a bad blogger. I've made two good vegan recipe's over the past couple of days and not said a word about them. On Tuesday night I made the VwaV peanut butter cookies. These things were tasty! I put half the dough in the freezer (which I dethawed and cooked last night when the hubby had the munchies). I think the cookies are best after they have cooled completely - then they are at their chewiest. And they have protein - what could be better?
I have night class on Thursday nights but I knew I'd want a home cooked meal when I came home, so on Wednesday night I made the VwaV Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy and mashed potatoes. Micah re-heated the whole thing when I got home late last night and it was very nice. The gravy seems more like a meal in itself than a gravy (it's very hearty and filling) - but it is something I most definitely make again.
Why, you might ask, do all my recipe's thus far come from VwaV? Well...I don't have any other Vegan cookbooks and the recipe's are so darn good. I've heard a rumor that I might get another vegan cookbook for my upcoming wedding anniversary...so maybe then I'll have something else to write about. Have a good weekend!

The Ballad of Oscar Doodle

I'm a cat lover. That's putting it mildly. I have four cats - each with their own unique story of how they came to find me. But for today I think I will share the story of my 3rd cat, Oscar, as it is the most interesting.
Micah and I found Oscar in August 2004 under a rent house we were renovating. We had seen a white, flame point Siamese kitty hanging around, but he never came up to us. One day I managed to lure him into the house with food - as it was apparent he was starving to death. After a few days of trust building, we brought Oscar home to our house to live. Since we already had two indoor kitties, we gave Oscar the garage (w/ a kitty door to outside) to live in. All was good for awhile, Oscar was putting on weight and becoming more trusting. About a month later he got sick - really sick. As it turns out, Oscar has F-HIV (Feline AIDS). Working with a great vet, we managed to get Oscar back to good health even though his life would probably not be as long as other kitties. Also, we could not think of bringing him inside because of the risk of him transmitting the AIDS to the other kitties.
You would think that would be enough for a poor 3 year old boy, right? No. Last May someone SHOT Oscar on our front porch. He was shot through the shoulder with a big pellet gun. Once again, our vet came to the rescue (he teaches surgery at the local vet school). Basically, our choices were to put Oscar to sleep, amputate the leg or try to pin it all back together. We chose to try and pin it. Now, 3 months later, Oscar is doing well. Against all odds, his AIDS has not flared up and he walks with only a little limp. We have decided to bring him inside though, as he is now quite a little investment on our part! We got the inside kitties vaccinated (not foolproof) against the F-HIV and try to keep them from biting each other. So far, we have been pretty successful. Oscar has definitely blossomed as an indoor kitty - it has put on weight and become very handsome. However, I do think he has a fair amount of trauma from all he has been through...as he often cries all night and has a bit of separation anxiety.
The moral of the story - love your kitties all you can...and hope that some asshole does not shoot them.

Why Can't Every Weekend Last 3 Days?

Today was back to work after a nice relaxing holiday weekend. Because of our school/work situation we really could not go "away" for the weekend and I'm so glad we didn't. For the first time in what seems like decades (ok - at least 6 weeks) it was cool over the weekend. Micah and I took the opportunity to take several long walks as well as make multiple trips to the gym...which in turn made me want to cook yummy things that I could indulge in.
On Saturday we made pancakes from the VwaV recipe - we had been using an old Betty crockery recipe but the VwaV one rocks so much more - the pancakes are fluffy, light and have a great hint of cinnamon.
Sunday we made our second official batch of seitan- and I'm still amazed at how easy it is to make the stuff (and how expensive it is to buy!). To celebrate I made Seitan Portobello Stroganoff from VwaV for the first time. I know that I'm probably preaching to the choir on this one - but oh my GOD this is good. I don't even really like mushrooms all that much...but damn. And it seemed to be even better the next day. I'll try to post a picture here soon.
Lastly, Micah made Ginger and Pear Waffles from VwaV on Monday morning. Like the Lemon Corn Waffles from VwaV that we have made before, we have trouble with the batter in our waffle iron. It is a Belgian waffle maker and I think it is just too deep for the batter. BUT - if you ever find yourself in this position - it also makes a pretty good pancake batter.
Besides all the exercising and cooking - I spent a good deal of time reading The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons. This is the sequel to Hyperion which was a Nebula winner in the early 1990's (1992, I think). These two books are wonderful - and I hope to do a review when I finish the set.