Family birthdays

Both my mom and step-father have their birthdays in September, a few days apart form each other. So for the sake of simplicity, we have one supper to celebrate all three events, hosted by me. The weather and leaves being so beautiful, I decided to carry the autumn theme inside as well, and my sister and I worked together to create an autumnal feast for our parents.

 

My sister worked hard on the decorations while I took care of the food. I printed out a menu and she basically did the rest, down to making little individual place cards. It was quite charming and I just loved working in tandem with her, usually were so busy in our respective lives our interactions seem to be like a gust in the wind, strong but unexpected and quickly over. It was really nice to be able to work with her towards a common goal as simple as making supper for our folks.

 

For the menu, this is what I made: Roasted butternut squash/apple/sweet potato soup, roast beef with garlic/peppercorn crust, mashed potatoes/carrots, and steamed vegetables. For desert I made a carrot/apple/raisin cake with a caramel rhum sauce topped with slivered almonds and thin apple slices. Im going to share the soup recipe, it is the easiest thing to do ever, gluten/dairy free, and paleo approved.

 

I roasted a medium butternut squash, three medium sweet potato and two onions at 350 for 1.5 hours. To do so simply cut the squash and taters in half and lay face down on a pan that has a couple of teaspoons of e.v.o.o. criss crossed on it. I added the onions 45 mns before done time. The squash and potatoes are done when you can stick a fork easily in them without any force. Let cool, then scrape into a blender with a cup of vegetable broth. Blend until smooth.

 

I added the puree into veggie stock, maybe 1.5-2ltrs of it, as well as 1 cup of applesauce I made. It was too liquidy so I cooked it down until it was the desired thickness. Added some cinnamon and powdered ginger (Im sorry I didn't measure).

 

Then right before serving, I grated some nutmeg on the top. It was very fragrant and delicious, and perfectly autumnal.

dairy-free peach & vanilla ice cream

JUST DO IT!

In a blender mix one bar coconut cream, five peaches, 2/3 c brown sugar, 1 tbsp vanilla extract, and enough water to bring it up to 1.5L (standard capacity). Blend on liquify for 3-5 minutes (it will seem excessive but it helps get the coconut meat in the bar as smooth as possible).

Churn in an ice cream maker.

Pour right into popsicle moulds (spoon it in, it's too thick for a funnel) and little serving jars (I used 125mL and 250mL). Freeze. Let the very hard ice cream clinging to the walls of the drum sit and soften for a little while - this will be your snack in an hour or so.

Enjoy.

a welcome lunch for Sam

The spread.

Bacon-wrapped asparagus...

Cashew-based vegan boursin (from this book) on rice crackers

A close-up. It was delicious, though more like a pate than boursin.

Cashew-based cheesecake, from the same book! I didn't make it vegan; I fermented the cashew paste with dairy yogurt (you just need a little), and I used eggs to bake the cake, because the real aim was being as dairy-free as possible for Sam (who doesn't tolerate dairy well) and eggs are more readily available than agar-agar! Probably cheaper, too.

It was wicked good! The crust was hazlenut and prune with vanilla.

The topping was cranberry, banana, and a bit of sugar, cooked and poured over the baked cake. SO GOOD!

Okay, admittedly, we started lunch at 3 PM, because our morning errands didn't commence briskly at 9 AM as I had foolishly hoped, but you know, it was a good meal, and we didn't faint away while we waited for it, so, whateva whateva!

Welcome, Sam!!

lately in the kitchen...

Making rejuvelac! It's so cute, it's started to bubble just like tibicos! I'm making it as step one to...

Making nut-based cheese! Julia lent me this book when she last came over; I was so fascinated I started soaking my rice right then and there. A product that combined sprouting, fermentation, cheese-like products and cruelty-free alternatives? Yes please!

My brother got me a little GF recipe book for Christmas, and despite its reliance on xanthan and guar gum (which, as I've mentioned here before, I boycott), it has some nice recipes. Banana, date & walnut bread is a favourite; with all the banana in it, the bread holds nicely, not like other GF breads, which tend toward crumbliness.

I'm still really into waffles. These were made with white rice flour and flax seeds and coconut oil (we ran out of butter). I really want to switch to using only brown rice flour, but it's so hard to find! I should check Aubut... Maybe it can be ordered.

Presently in the oven: cabbage "noodles"; sliced wedges with leftover canned tomatoes (the juice was mostly used for braising meatballs last night), salt, pepper, powdered garlic, parsley and oregano, with bacon fat (you could use olive oil as well obviously). I am not sure what protein I'll use, I might ask Tony to pick up some chicken. We ordered a half pig from Rheintal about a month ago, so we're very porky lately. We only eat other meat when our parents cook it for us, basically. We love pork but it is a bit... repetetive. Maybe when we're really wealthy and have six kids we can get a second freezer and buy a half cow and half pig AT THE SAME TIME! Oh, the luxury of variety! Anyway so I feel a little bit bad about contemplating getting non-pastured meat, but I guess I figure... it's all a work in progress.

I don't have pictures for these, but we've been buying milk from Les Fermes Groleau, a dairy company that pastures the cows during the summer, and let me tell you, the milk is incomparable to what you buy at most stores, organic or not. It is really a taste sensation. I have been buying it from A Votre Sante, which is far-ish for us, so we get a few at a time, pour them into mason jars and freeze them (though as I write this, it occurs to me that I may be enoying a phantom memory of Groleau products at Au Branche d'Olivier, which is much, much closer - I'll have to check!). Because it's pricier I've been more mindful of my consumption, trying to use a lot less, but we still go through it FAST because Ambrose is drinking milk like never before - it's that good!

The other tidbit is that my sugar bag is quite low, and we've continued to cut down on high glycemic index items. I keep kicking around draft lists of occasions that justify sugar and enjoying the fantasy of really just not eating sugar regularly. Fancy that! It's terribly radical! During Lent we just had sugar on Sundays, and kept with that for a good while, and have started phasing even that out, though I don't keep it strictly to Sundays. We've gotten used to it. I only remember how radical it is when we visit family. EVERYTHING has sugar! Golly, they get that you don't want dessert, but there's sugar in the yogurt, in the ketchup, in the meat, in the crackers, in the soup, seriously in all packaged products ever, it seems. And gluten-free prepackaged stuff is certainly not exempt, so aside from having the funny gums and starch "flours" up the wazoo there's usually loads of sugar in there, too. It's very kind of relatives to buy these things for us, but quite unecessary. (Mary's crackers, I should say, have no sugar, hooray!) Anyway... we are getting low on sugar... and I am thinking I'll just buy small amounts on an as-need basis. Radical!!

Simple Vegan Lunch

because I really am trying...that day eating meat patties at Amy's was just weakness ;)

-Grilled tofu marinated overnight in marinade of : juice of 1 lime, paprika, tamari, olive oil, 2 crushed garlic cloves

-sauteed grated sweet potato and sweet onion, raw grated carrot, raw baby kale, topped with 3 tbsp of dragon sauce (you can make your own! It's basically just nutritional yeast, oil, garlic, onion, etc)

YUM!

a treat and some mishmash

I gave up cane sugar and honey as the fasting part of my Lenten discipline, and it's been good, but boy I miss chocolate. Last night I COULD NOT TAKE IT ANYMORE and I made this - now, Tony said it was cheating, and maybe he's right in a way, but it has no cane sugar or honey, as per my commitment, and it's only been once outside of Sundays that I've indulged in any kind of gray area food, and it was with very deep gratitude, and well, it was so good, I have no regrets. Plus I feel like the extra effort that goes into concocting one's own chocolate bar, by the sweat of one's brow, also trains the spiritual muscles, no? Okay, so I didn't resist the chocolate urge, ultimately, but neither did I crumble and impulsively buy a corn-syrup-filled, wastefully-packaged garbage imitation chocolate bar: I took the time to make a wholesome version. I made it last night and let it set in the fridge until today, further delaying my gratification. Experiencing the true labour cost of the process of making yummy things we normally buy ready-made is good for the moral-spiritual muscles in the same way that choosing to exercise those muscles through the abstinence of those yummy things, good in themselves, is, I think... right?

So without further ado...

Get a small small dish (you could use silicone muffin cups for a very small batch). Put in a handful or two of toasted nuts  to cover the bottom, with a density that is pleasing to you in a chocolate bar (I used soaked & dried almonds a la WAPF/phytic acid protocols). In a microwavable mug, heat coconut oil - the quantity should be about half the volume of your dish minus the nuts. Once melted, mix in an equal quantity-ish of cocoa powder. Stir gently (otherwise the cocoa powder will all float into the air) until well-combined. Now pour in just a nice dollop of date syrup and a pinch of salt and stir to combine. Pour the chocolate mixture over the nuts. Let set in the fridge - how long it takes depends on how large your dish is. Simple! You could stir in some mint extract, or some shredded coconut, some dried fruit, oh! the possibilities are endless!

In general food news... lately I've been into...

Fenugreek and fennel tea
Cajun spice mix, on everything
So much yogurt and kefir
Popcorn
Trying to eat through freezer stuff (we have plans to buy a half animal in the spring, so we want to fit all our present freezer stuff in just the upstairs freezer)
Trying to figure out what to do with creamed coconut (at least half the google search results are "I bought this stuff at the store, what does one do with it??") - I've been using bits of it in the place of coconut milk in curry, which eliminates the BPA concerns with coconut milk in cans, so that's nice, plus it's cheap!
Coffee flavouring dessert instead of filling my cup (I love the taste of coffee but I find its effects a little harsh when I drink it)

Also, I have a lentil cracker 2.0 post in the making! Stay tuned! ;)

Finally, do note that SPRING IS THIS MONTH! So ladies, take pictures and send them to me and we'll maybe vote on what to use for the spring layout via email! If nobody ends up having time, I'll use one I have saved from last year, but I think some fresh material could be fun!

Happy weekending!

"thrive pie"

The crust of this "pizza" is made from whole buckwheat, carrot, and sunflower seeds all mixed up in a food processor. Surprisingly yummy. and the rest is vegan.
A delicious meal that we ate at our friends Nicole and Lena's house. Recipe for the crust can be found in Whole Foods To Thrive, by Brendan Brazier.

Baked Vegan French Toast

I dont own a non-stick frying pan. Mostly because I think heating a plastic-chemicaly teflon surface and then making food on it just sounds like a sure fire way to poison yourself slowly. Its cast-iron for me, with metal utensils, and a generous amount of oil. However when I went to make vegan french toast the other night it was terrible, the pieces burnt and stuck, and fell apart in a soggy gross way, all on top of taking forever!
Solution: baking!

Worked out great! I preheated the oven to 400 F and baked each side for 10 minutes. Gave it a little broil at the end, mostly because I like things burnt.

I've been using a loose version of Dreena Burtin's recipe in Vive le Vegan!

In the bullet (hand blender or other mixer would work too):

1tbsp flax

blend til flour-y, then add:

1/2 cup nondairy milk
3 tbsp silken (soft) tofu
cinnamon
nutmeg
salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp oil (canola, coconut...)

blend again, then pour into a flat dish and soak pieces of bread on both sides until all liquid is absorbed. (makes about 6 slices). Place in the oven on an oiled cookie sheet.

Fry up some apple slices too. Its great.