New Camera!!!

My Christmas gift from Dave and Keaton this year was a Canon EOS!  I was completely surprised and it was so unexpected.  I guess they feel my food pic's aren't up to par. lol!  Anyways it was such a wonderful gift from them.  My in-laws got me a long distance lense.  I'm so so happy!  No more blurred photo's unless I want them to be.

Keaton's friend's mother made us some vegan treats this year.  What a pleasant surprise and very thoughtful they were to make these for us. 

Fudge (this was so good I had way to  much)

This will be my go to recipe for fudge.  I'll have to post the recipe later.

Spiced Pecans

This is a butternut squash lasagna that I had been wanting to make.  The recipe is taken from

 Giada De Laurentis but of course made vegan.  It was really good and really easy to make.  There were supposed to be more layers but there wasn't enough sauce or butternut squash.  Next time I will double those two things.  I didn't have enough basil so I added in some sage.  As for the vegan ingredients I used Earth Balance and daiya mozzerella.  I would make this for company in a heart beat.

I hope everyone has a safe and fun New Years Eve.  We are having some friends over for New Years and I hope the appetizers I have planned turn out. 

Until 2011!

Mofo#13/ Roasted Butternut on Mixed Green Salad

I hope everyone is enjoying their day.  We've been enjoying our warmer day although we have to bundle up at night.

Yesterday evening I was alone for dinner so I roasted up the rest of a butternut squash I had with a bit of fresh sage, olive and sea salt.  I already had a salad made so I just made some good balsamic dressing to go with it. The dressing I found is here.  The only changes I made to it was that I added a few tablespoons of water and used organic cane sugar instead of brown.  This is a really great balsamic dressing. In a pasta bowl I put some lettuce, butternut squash, dried cranberries and pecans.  Then I drizzled the balsamic dressing and fresh ground pepper.  I Sat down with a nice glass of red wine and scrolled through the old movie section of Netflix and found, to my pleasant surprise, Summertime starring Katherine Hepburn and Rossano Brazzi.  What a great way to eat dinner and enjoy a classic movie before the hubby got home.

Tomorrow I'll be back with 2 different biscotti recipes.

It's the time of the season for Pumpkin butter.la la la.... and The Vegan Table

Sprouted wheat bagel smothered with raw almond and pumpkin butter. Ahhhh so so good!

It's that time of year again that you can find Pumpkin butter on the shelves and this one from Trader Joe's is really good along with there awesome raw almond butter. It tastes like dessert but it alot healthier for you minus the sugar in the pumpkin butter. :)

I was able to get a copy of THE VEGAN TABLE cookbook by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau from our library. It's nice to be able to check it out before you buy. It's a lovely book with beautiful photo's and it's based on entertaining. She gives great tips, food and historical lore, and also a page to those non-vegan family members who may feel at a loss as what to feed a family member when they become vegan. I loved how she dedicated the book to the animals by sharing examples on how we can learn from them, this is just one quote from it "May we have the intelligence, loyalty, and affection of the pigs and the inquisitiveness, sensitivity, and playfulness of the turkeys." She then concludes "May we learn from the animals what we need to become better people." I think that says it all.

My first recipe I made from the book was this lovely Butternut Squash Timbale. It looks like alot of work doesn't it? It would be great to serve when company comes over because it looks so pretty. My husband didn't want to eat it because it looked so nice. It actually was very easy to make and it tasted really good. I added some mushrooms to the butternut squash, sauteed up some spinach and drizzled a black current reduction on top.

Chilli

Although the weather is starting to warm up a bit, I think yesterday we were in the 60's, the nights cool way down. We were in the mood for some chilli and cornbread. This particular chilli I've been making for quite a few years now and my husband and son love it! When I first started making this chilli I used to add a meatless ground product to satisfy my husband, then I just gradually added more beans and took out the faux meat product and the end result is he likes it better this way! Every once in a while I will have a guest that eats animal products and hardly any vegetables, so I will make it like the original and they never know that it's a faux meat product until they see me eating it too. hee hee. Also our favorite cornbread recipe is from The Joy of Vegan Baking.

Chilli

Canola or olive oil
1 1/4 C. yellow or white onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 med. - lg. red or orange bell pepper, chopped
1 1/4 C. butternut squash, diced
2 tsp. cocoa powder, unsweetened
1 T. oregano
2 tsp. cumin
2 T. chilli or to your liking
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. -1 tsp. chipotle chilli in adobe sauce
1 1/4 C. water
1 28 oz. can diced tomato(do not drain)
1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed
1 15 oz can cannelini beans, rinsed
1 15 oz can kidney beans, rinsed
cilantro for the top

In a large soup pot, heat oil and add onion, bell pepper and garlic, saute until almost soft. Next add the butternut squash for about 10 minutes, saute until butternut squash starts to soften a bit. Add together the cocoa powder, oregano, cumin, chilli powder, salt and chipotle (the chipotle has alot of heat so adjust accordingly to what you can handle). Stir for about 2 minutes until seasonings are thoroughly mixed in. Next add water & tomato, you will simmer this with the lid closed for about 15 min. stir every so often. Next you will stir in the beans and again simmer with the lid on for about 30 minutes, just to let the flavors cook in. When it is done you can serve with cilantro or any topping of your choice. Enjoy!