It's a beautiful day today! Everywhere you look there are orange poppies popping up In our yard, in our neighbors yards, on the side of the roads, on the moutains. They are so pretty! I love the Spring.
One of my favorite flowers is the Sweet Pea.
They are so fragrant. I put some on my nightstand.
As you can see Merlin is enjoying the weather and flowers as well. Although he is laying under the bird feeder!
Cleo and Ace trying to look for trouble.
Peaches! Our one peach tree is loaded with peaches this year. I can't wait until they are ripe.
If you are looking for a yummy hot cereal that's gluten free try Cream of Buckwheat.
This is Keaton's new favorite and I've gone through 3 boxes already within a very short period of time. The brand we are buying is Pocono %100 Organic Cream of Buckwheat. It has a very mellow flavor nothing like the taste of buckwheat flour at all.
This is the buckwheat cooked.
For dessert last night I made some vanilla cupcakes from VCTOW. Made some vanilla pudding. Sliced up some strawberries and melted some chocolate with a bit of non-dairy milk. Then I put it all together to get this!
I sit here typing and thinking at this very moment about all of the animals that are being abused, right this minute! All around this country! Some of us don't realize it's happening, I didn't until a few years ago, and some of us know but turn a blind eye not wanting to know anymore because than they would have to deal with it. By purchasing animal products, meat, dairy and eggs, we are actually saying this abuse is okay. Some of you may think that's extreme to say but if you know what's happening to these animals but still choose to buy the products that come from these animals than you are saying it's okay. I still have tears in my eyes from watching yet another, very disturbing video of a dairy farm in Ohio abusing their cows and calves. You can watch it at Mercy for Animals or click on the video below. Like I said this is graphic.
The people in the video, their behavior is very disturbing and I think if they are acting out on these animals they could act out in a violent way towards human beings. It's terrible to think about the terror and pain these animals are suffering from when they have done nothing wrong, innocent victims. Buying "grass-fed", "free-range" and "organic" animal products doesn't mean that the animals weren't abused, they are still taken to a slaughter house and they can do what they want to these animals while they are there. This has to stop and it can only if we make a choice to change.
There are so many books, cookbooks and info out there to help with making the change to that of a plant based and compassionate diet. If you truly want to stop this kind of abuse you will stop buying animal products. It's that simple.
Now for a lighter tone, how about some GF lemon cupcakes. The recipe I used was the Gluten Freedom Vanilla Cupcakes from VCTOW. The only changes were I used sorghum flour instead corn/almond flour and add some lemon juice and lemon zest. The glaze on top is just organic powdered sugar and lemon juice.
This past weekend went back to our hometown to attend a going away party for some friends, which was a really good time. Since they are big time margarita drinkers I thought it was the perfect time to make the Margarita Cupcakes from VCTOW. These are so freakin good! The cupcake part is a bit like a spongecake and at first I didn't know if I liked it. When they completely cooled and I spread the frosting on them, it all came together. The frosting is limey and tastes like a blended margarita, yum! It also makes alot and is a bit on the thinner side so in the future I will frost the day of the party. Our good friends that we stayed with, the husband Chad is vegetarian, made a big pot of vegan chilli for everyone and added some cinnamon which gave it a different flavor, but it was nice and it worked! It's always kind of fun to change things up sometimes.
This was also my first attempt at the Muhumarra Dip from the Vegan Table and I'm addicted. This also went over very well. I served it with pita triangles and cut up vegetables. In the dip I used GF bread crumbs. The recipe I found was also online so I posted below.
Muhammara (Roasted Red Pepper and Walnut Spread)
By Compassionate Cooks
Colleen Patrick Goudreau
Ingredients
2 to 3 whole roasted red bell peppers (fresh or from a jar)
2/3 cup bread crumbs (see below to make your own)
1 cup walnuts, raw or toasted
4 large whole garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons agave nectar
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more for added spice)
In a blender or food processor, combine the peppers, bread crumbs, walnuts, garlic cloves, salt,
lemon juice, agave nectar, cumin, and red pepper flakes. Puree to a smooth consistency. Scrape
down the sides of your blender/food processor, and make sure all of the ingredients are
thoroughly combined. Season to taste.
Yield: 1 cup
Serving Suggestions and Variations
*Most recipes for Muhammara call for olive oil; I don’t think it’s necessary, but feel free to
drizzle some in while you’re pureeing the rest of the ingredients.
*Serve with pita triangles, fresh bread, crackers, chips, carrots, mushrooms, cucumber, or other
raw veggies.
*Make it the day before serving to allow the flavors to mingle.
Compassionate Cooks Tip
To make your own bread crumbs: Place some bread (stale bread works great) in the oven until it’s
crispy but not really browned – at 300 degrees). Let it cool, then add it to your food processor
until it is reduced to crumbs. Add Italian herbs such as dried oregano, thyme, basil, marjoram,
Happy President's Day to all of you. I hope everyone who has today off is enjoying it. We are having some beautiful weather out here in California. Yesterday on Valentines Day it was 72 and sunny. Ahhhhh the sun!I just had to take a picture of our Cleo!
On Valentine's morning I made breakfast burritos for Keaton and Dave. I had one too! I can't usually eat something like this in the morning, it usually feels to heavy on my stomache but this actually didn't. Even though my son and I couldn't finish one I didn't feel yucky after. The burrito ingredients were: Rice tortilla, pinto beans, scrambled tofu with Soyrizo(I got to tell you the first time my husband had soyrizo he was pretty impressed and said he couldn't tell it was made from soy), potato & onions, avocado and a hot sauce. Another thing about Soyrizo is Keaton's friend who made the decision to go vegetarian, his dad made breakfast for the boys one day and used Soyrizo for the first time and said he really liked it.
I was going to make dinner for Valentine's but Dave didn't want me to have to cook. So we actually were pretty casual this year and we went to the pizza place and ordered a pizza to go. This is a garden pesto pizza no cheese of course. I love that they totally load up the pizza with veggies, unlike some places. I did make a salad to go with and he bought me a nice bottle of red wine.
For dessert I made the gluten free chocolate cupcakes from Jessy(thanks Jessy) at HappyVeganFace . These were real light and moist. The only thing I would change would be the gluten free flour mix. It calls for Bobs Red Mill all purpose mix. I think I would use Pamela's or make my own gluten flour mix up. I'm not a big fan of using garbanzo flour in my baked goods, but since these were chocolate it hid the taste. We all scarfed this down. I made a hole in the middle of the cupcake, poured some caramel sauce into it, drizzled chocolate sauce over that and stuck a cute chocolate heart on top!
Do you say caramel or carmel? I say caramel. A discussion was brought up about a week ago when my in-laws were visiting and we were going back and forth on this. So I did a little research and Caramel is the proper pronunciation for the sweet sugary sauce or candy we eat. Carmel is a place, a town. So there you have it.
Caramel Sauce:
1/2 C. brown sugar
1 T. arrowroot or cornstarch
1/3 C. mimic creme, non-dairy cream or full fat soy milk
2 Tbsp. *Golden Syrup or corn syrup
1 Tbsp. Earth Balance
1 tsp. vanilla
Put all ingredients, except for Earth Balance and vanilla, in a saucepan. Cook on medium heat and stir until mixture becomes bubbly. Cook and stir for a couple minutes more until a bit more thick. Next remove from heat and stir in Earth Balance and vanilla. Serve warm or let cool. This can also be re-heated.
*Golden Syrup- It's made from evaporated sugar can juice. I use Lyle's Golden Syrup because it's the only one in the market that I have found. You can find it by the corn syrup in the market. I don't like to use corn syrup.
