Happy Birthday Merlin kitty! Yummy 4th of July food!

Happy July!  It's Wednesday and things are getting back to normal from 4th.  It's been a bit cooler in the mornings here the last few days but I can't complain, I know that everyone back east is dealing with record breaking temps.  Sorry for all of you that live in those states, try to do your best to keep somewhat cool.  Just think about about those states that deal with 110-120 temps every summer.  My brother lives in Arizona and a few days ago it was around 115 that day.  I'll stick to living here on the central coast of California.

It's our cat Merlin's 15th birthday this month! 

He joined us for dinner one night.

 

I was washing dishes one evening when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye.  Merlin was just sitting up there watching me.  It was really funny!

 

I couldn't leave Cleo out!  This was on the houseboat. 

We grilled pizza's last Saturday night for the first time for my in-laws.  It was also the first time

I've used Daiya(dairy free cheese).  I know... but better late than never.  We usually make cheeseless pizza's but I figured since my father-in-law was here I'd try out the Daiya.  I must say I was very pleasantly surprised!  It is so far the best non-dairy cheese I have ever tasted.  Everyone really liked it too! In the future though, I think we'll stick to cheeseless pizza's, just because I'm not used to having any type of cheese product and putting the cheese on all 3 different types of pizza's were a bit too much for me.  I didn't get a chance to take a pic of all 3 pizza's but this one was a tomato, onion, mushroom, vegan sausage with daiya cheese.  Yum! 

Our favorite black bean burgers with a grilled corn and tomato salsa.  This salsa is so good you can use it to top off tortilla chips!  Just grill up a few corn on the cobs, then cut the corn off the cob.  Chop up a couple of ripe tomatoes, cilantro, scallions/red onion, lime juice, jalepeno(to taste), s & p. 

So my plan for dessert on the 4th was to make berry hand pies but the Pate Brisee was so fragile I only got to making 4 little ones and they were falling apart at that.  Soooo....I opted to use all the berries I had, mix them together and make a Triple Berry Crumble Pie!  The berries were blackberry, blueberries and strawberries.  I mixed in some arrowroot and sugar, then poured into the pie crust.  

For the crumble top I used, flour, brown sugar and Earth Balance.

This doesn't look so great,  but I had wax paper covering the top so it kind of softened the crumble topping.

I must admit this was one very delicious tasting Triple Berry Crumble Pie!  This is the first time I've used strawberries in a baked pie.  It's also the first time I've used a crumble top on a berry pie.   Since I didn't use much sugar with the berries the crumble top sweetened it nicely.

  

Last week I had a visit from 2 of my best friends.  We have been hooked on succulents lately and there is a great place in Los Olivos with amazing arrangements and succulents.  One of my girlfriends made me this cute arrangement from some of her succulents.  When the girls come out we've been exchanging propegated plants and succulents from our cuttings.  It's a nice way to add to our collection of plants and make for nice little gifts.  It's alot of fun too!

This is an arrangement I made using a Corona pail.  I just made some holes in the bottom of the pail, added rock for drainage, filled with cactus/succulent soil mix and then the succulents.  There is some Irish Moss in the middle.  The nice things about succulents are that they grow pretty quickly, easy to care for and don't require much watering.

Upcoming reviews: POM

Flan, White Bean Chili, apricot/coconut logs

We are so close to officially being in summer.  Everywhere there is fruit galore!  All kinds of berries, peaches, apricots, cherries, etc.  Yum! This year the berry vines in our yard are producing so many berries.  Every couple of days I'm picking more ripe ones. The only problem is I pick a big bowl full

wash them and set them on the counter and next thing you know, the bowl will be empty.  Hey I know what you are thinking....but it's Keaton eating them all, I just eat them off the vine as I pick!  hee hee. 

When I lived in Colorado the grocery store we shopped at had these yummy apricot coconut logs that I used to enhale!  I love apricots so I've tried to replicate over the years and recently I've just made some more. 

Apricot/coconut logs.  These are so easy to make.  In a food processor add in some unsulphered apricots and add about half the amount of shredded coconut.  Process until blended.  Next roll into logs and then roll in coconut.  I keep these in the refridgerator just because it's been warm here. 

  I've recently received a copy of Viva Vegan and flipping through it the first thing I saw that I could make rather quickly and easily was the Vanilla Coconut Flan.  Everything is going to have to wait until I have more time and there are many recipes, tamales, samosas, erapas, the list goes on.  Anyhoo, Keaton loves flan and Dave likes it as well so I couldn't wait to try this recipe out.   I've never been a big fan, but I tell you...this stuff absolutely, amazingly, rocks!!!  I can't wait to make this for company.  No one would know this doesn't have dairy in it. 

White bean chili is the perfect meal for a cool spring/summer evening  topped off with chunks of buttery avocados.  This is one of my favorites chilli's.  This is one of those meals that I do use Yves Meatless Turkey.  I don't like to use those types of products very often.  You could use extra beans or another product in here if you choose to.  I usually cook up my own beans but if you want you can use canned beans instead.  The Chili's I used were a mixture of anaheim and poblano, Keaton can't take alot of heat or I would've kicked up the heat more.  You can control your heat with the amount of Jalepeno's you use as well.  Also, jalepeno's are not created equal so you will find some that are really hot and others real mild. You can also use canned chili's as well.

White Bean Chili

1 1/2 C. yellow onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

4 C. cooked cannelini or other white bean

5 C. No-chicken broth(Imagine Foods) or veggie broth

1 1/2 C. anaheim chillies, poblano mixture, diced

1 jalepeno or less, pick your heat, finely diced (optional)

1 pkg. Yves Meatless Turkey

1 T. dried Oregano

2 Tsp. ground Cumin

1 tsp. ground black pepper

salt to taste

1/2 C. cilantro(optional)

In a large stockpot heat 2 T. of oil and add onion, garlic and chilies. Saute until onions and chilli's are soft.  Next add in the Yves Meatless Turkey, oregano and cumin.  Stir for a couple of minutes until the mixture is warmed through.  Next add the broth and pepper.  Bring to a boil, cover partly with lid, lower heat to a simmer for 1-1/2 hrs.  Stir every once in a while.  Once this is done you can stir in cilantro and add salt to taste.  Top of with avocado or non-dairy sour cream.

If you are making this for company have some hot sauce out and people can add some to their bowls if they like it hot!  You can also have a side of extra jalepeno's as well. 

Now I'm off to get the last bit of errand's and packing done for our houseboat family reunion trip.  If you have never been on a houseboat before, you should at least try it once.  It's the most relaxing vacations you'll ever take.  Just make sure you pick the right famly, friends to join you because you'll be together for a whole week with them! 

Have a great weekend and I'll be back next week!

desserts!!!

I decided to use up the rest of my peaches from our tree and make a peach cobbler. It was delicious!!! It still doesn't compare to my grandmothers. Growing up my grandmother used to make peach cobbler and sometimes she added apricots to it, ahhhhhhhhh, so good!

Here is the birthday cake I made for my mother-in-law last month. She just sent me over the photo, I forgot my camera so I had to use hers. The cake was a vanilla cake, flecked with lemon zest, the filling was a lemon custard with some blackberries and topped with lemon buttercream and mixed berries. The blackberries were from our vine.

Berry Smoothie

You know people are always asking where do you get your protein. I know it's frustrating but to you non-vegans who may read this, this shake has about 18 grams of protein. The banana is also good for calcium absorption. More on the protein issue at a later date.

This berry smoothie I made for my husband before he went to work. We usually have fruit smoothies to start the day out. This one consists of 1 lg. banana, 1 cup frozen mixed berries, 3/4 cup soy milk, 1/4 c. organic cranberry juice, 2 T. flaxseed and 2 T. hemp powder.