Bee hive

UPDATE!! THE BEES ARE GONE!!!! 5 DAYS!

See that mound of brown in the tree? Well those are bees. The other day we saw many bees flying around our tree and noticed this. We called the "Bee Control" and the lady said if they are in a tree 95 percent of the time they won't stay there so give the 4 or 5 days to leave. Today is day 3!
We can't mow the lawn, we have to watch to dog. I love bees but it would be nice if they could move on to somewhere safer. We'll see.

Angel hair pasta with roasted asparagus, tomatoes and pesto

First off this picture is a bit dark, when I used the flash it was too bright. Oh well!
Everyone wanted pasta tonight and we didn't want anything too heavy and I had a bunch of asparagus and basil. Since it's still cooling down at night this dish was perfect. It smells so wonderful as the veggies are roasting in the oven. The idea behind this recipe comes from Karina at Gluten Free Goddess. Again just tweaked it a bit and added pesto to it.

I cooked 3/4 pack of angel hair pasta according to directions. Meanwhile in the oven I roasted some chopped Roma tomatoes, garlic, capers, olive oil, basil, oregano and just a bit of jalepeno for a kick and a bit of balsamic in 400 oven until done.
Then I made a basil pesto. Once everything is done stir it all in a nice pasta bowl. Drizzle a bit more of balsamic syrup and a couple sprinkles of red pepper flakes. Serve with a nice caesar or salad of choice and garlic bread.

Corned Seitan and Cabbage

For St. Patty's day my mother-in-law used to make my son Corned beef and cabbage in his pre-vegan days. So his first year as a vegan I found a vegan recipe for it and it was just okay. This years recipe is a keeper! I've never eaten it before so I didn't know what it really was supposed to taste like, but I was given the thumbs up on this one.
I used the "Vegan Corned beef" recipe from
Vegan Dad, but added some fennel and a bit of molasses to it. This recipe is so good, my son said it tastes so much better than last years recipe.
Then I used Susan's recipe at Fatfree Kitchen for the rest of the recipe. I boiled some potatoes and added it to it at the end.

Animal Care Foundation in Solvang, CA

Recently in our local paper I read about an animal rescue just 5 minutes from us! Never knew about this until reading about it. It's called Hacienda O'Holland Animal Care. They take in animals that are unwanted or abused. With the costs of everything going up, this animal rescue is going to have a "white elephant" sale to raise money to help with vet. care, food, etc. and you can also visit with the animals, it's this Saturday, March 14th from 8:30 a.m. - 3:00p.m. Now I know most of you reading this don't even live around here but just so you know you can donate anytime. I haven't had a chance to go check it out as of yet but I definitely will be. Check out the website to read more about it http://haciendaoholland.org/homepage.html. Also I will try to write more about it after my visit.

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!

Stir fried brown rice and veggies

If you don't have a lot of time or just don't really feel like cooking but don't want to eat out. Or if your budget is tight, like us, this dish is easy & quick to make, tastes good and you can use whatever veggies that you like or have around.
I made a pot of brown rice. 7 oz. extra firm tofu cut into chunks, I tossed them in some soy, put them in my cast iron skillet and threw them under the broil for a few just to get a bit firmer and slightly brown. Next in a Medium cast iron pan(you can use whatever pan you like) I heated just a small amount of canola oil. I then added 1/2 a yellow onion cooked until soft. The following vegetable took less time to cook, it's nice to keep them somewhat crisp. Once the onion was done I added a large carrot, red bell pepper, 2 cloves fresh garlic and cooked for about 3 minutes. Then added zucchini and peas just until cooked. Next threw in some chopped scallions and turned off heat. The sauce was a mixture of soy sauce, hoison, fresh ginger, brown rice vinegar & a little sesame oil. You can add more hoison or a bit of agave to sweeten up more.
Once veggies are done I add the tofu to the pan, sauce and the rice. Stir to combine. To plate I put a couple of scoops in a bowl, add more scallion to top, a few sprinkles of seaweed gomasio, and a drizzle of sesame oil. Yummy!

Pecan & Chocolate Chip Biscotti

I love, love, love, biscotti! It's light and crunchy. I love the crunch. It's just a thing I have.

So I took the recipe from V'CON and altered it slightly. I used spelt flour, used 1/2 cup sugar instead of 3/4 cup(I usually use less sugar than is asked for, I think when you start cutting back on eating sugary treats your tastebuds change)I only used vanilla extract and used rice flour instead of arrowroot powder. Oh I used pecans and chocolate chips too, my favorite combo. The cute little mug that is pictured, my friend made that for me.