Farmers Market Goodies

Farmers market is starting to have an abundance of spring veggies and fruits.  Also beautiful flowers!  I can't help myself, I just can't pass up the gerbera daisies, so many colors to choose from!  What are some of the things you can't pass up at the Farmers Market

and more....

Fava beans anyone?  My goal is to try things I've never tried before and the fava bean is one of them.

With all of the recipes I've seen using fava beans I decided to grill them. First I washed, dried and put them in a bowl.  I drizzled some olive oil, coarse salt, pepper, cilantro and a squeeze of lemon.  It doesn't take long to grill them about 6 or 7 minutes, flipping them once as they grill..  What was the verdict on tasting the finished product?  Not bad, not my favorite, but not bad.  They remind me of lima beans, which I don't like and never have, but better.  I don't know if I'll buy them again but I would eat them if someone had them.

Butter Romaine lettuce that looks like a flower when I opened it to drain the water out.  This has such a nice flavor.

Pea shoots and dried garbanzo beans are also finds at the market.

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Chopped up romaine, tomatoes, green onion, bok choy, garbanzos, pea shoots with ginger miso dressing drizzled on top! 

More goodness to come!

Happy Mother's Day!

A happy Mother's Day to all of you mother's out there! 

Keaton is in 7th grade and still making homemade crafts for me.  This saying is too cute!

"Roses are red, Violets are blue, You're the greatest mom ever, And I love your vegan cooking too"

I'm so proud to be a vegan mom!

Dogs, treats and quinoa stuffed peppers

This month of May is starting off beautifully!

 This past weekend was a busy one for us.  My in-laws and grandmother-in-law came up last Thursday and stayed until Sunday.  Friday was grandparents day/Greek Festival at Keaton's school.  Then on Saturday we celebrated my in-laws 45th wedding anniversary.  We took them to see Keaton's guitar teacher's band play  and then had some friends drive up to surprise them and stay over to celebrate with us. They were truly surprised so that worked out perfectly!!!  Then on Sunday we all went to breakfast then everyone went home.  The house was so quiet after that.

Since it was so beautiful out and I didn't want to laze around inside the 3 of us headed up to Cold Springs Tavern to listen to some live music and have a drink.  We ended up meeting a Russian couple along with their son and it ends up the husband is the bass player for a popular Russian band called Mumiy Troll. Of course when we got home we had to look that band up on line.  lol! They were really nice people and love it here in America.

Oh and Cleo turned 8 on May 1st as well.  I don't know how the rope toy got around her neck but she didn't seem to mind it.

Yesterday when I went to pick up Cleo's dog food  I found these cool doggy snacks.

Dehydrated sweet potato.  At least it takes them a few minutes to chew these up instead of one or two crunches then they're gone.

Alter Eco Pacific white and red quinoa.  This is before it was cooked.

I mixed the white quinoa with the red and look how pretty this is.  This is after it was cooked.

A few weeks ago I saw Cheryl Crow on a morning show along with a Chef that she made a cookbook with.  The recipe they showed was one for Quinoa Stuffed Pablano Peppers.

When they are cooked and plated it's so pretty.  What I liked about this recipe is that it's a really light meal do to using quinoa instead of rice.  So it is perfect for Spring or Summer.  This is probably the first time I followed a recipe exactly, well pretty much. lol!  It was kind of on the bland side I think because there is no salt used.  I ended up adding just a bit of salt because I felt it needed it and next time I would adjust the seasonings and kick up the heat.  Oh and I didn't use any type of cheese on top.

  I loved the Romesco Sauce but it needed a bit more heat and a bit of salt as well.  I didn't want the leftover sauce to go to waste so I was using it on everything from wraps to veggie "sushi" rolls.  I'll definitely make this sauce again
 

You can find the recipe for this dish by clicking here.

It's Spring!

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!



Yumminess!

Enjoy your beautiful day. 

Moving forward....

Hi ya'll!   I want to thank all of you for your kind words in regards to the loss of my father, they meant alot to me.   I'll always have some wonderful memories of him to cherish.  This whole experience has reminded me to enjoy every minute with my family/ friends and let them know how much they are appreciated and loved because life can change in an instant. 

Moving forward...we've added an addition to our family for the time being. 



Ace dog and Keaton

 When my sister said she was moving back to CA. and couldn't take her dog, I offered to take him.  I just didn't want to see another dog taken to a shelter.  The problem here is that I didn't really discuss this with Dave and on top of it when Ace was brought to us I found out he wasn't neutered or updated on his shots.  Uhhhhhhhh what was my sister thinking!  Anyways with these unforseen costs I looked around to find a place that would help with costs for neutering a pitbull and found one.  It's called DAWG and they will even update his shots.  So we are on the list and waiting for the call when we can take him in.

 He is the sweetest dog!  He instantly fit right in with Cleo and Merlin kitty.   He is a love bug, friendly and very submissive.  He loves everyone.  He's actually been so good for our dog Cleo, who is almost 8yrs old, she's getting alot more exercise now.  He wins the hearts of all upon meeting him. Can we keep him when all is said and done?  I hope so.  Dave still wasn't planning on the addition so we will see but he does dig the dog and getting attached to him as well.  If all else we want the best life for him in a happy loving home.  I'll keep you posted.




Cleo and Ace

 Where's the food?  Here's my favorite snack below

Kale Chips Cheezy style

I've posted these before and you can find the recipe here.  This time I only used
1/2 C. soaked cashews
3 T. tahini
3 T. lemon juice or more for a thinner sauce
1 Tomato
1 red bell pepper
dash of salt
Blend together in food processor.  Pour onto kale leaves.   Lay kale leaves on a baking sheet put into an oven at 200 with the door left open for about 4 hours.  I turn the baking sheet half way through and also flip the kale leaves over as well.

In loving memory...

Unexpected things happen everyday and there is just no preparing for it.

In loving memory of my dad, John-1937-2011, who unexpectedly but peacefully passed away during his afternoon nap.

He was one of the most selfless, kind, giving and loving people I knew.  He loved people, was very social and he loved animals too.

 So many memories.  Breakfast was his favorite meal and the waitresses at the coffee shop loved him.  I remember as a kid going to breakfast with him and the employees would say "Hi John!" then he would go help himself to coffee. I remember when he worked graveyard hours and in the morning when we'd wake up for school there would be cat food in the garage for the stray cats( my mom never did dig that scene.)  Our love of animals came from our dad.  I remember one time he ran into a fast food restaurant and bought a meal for a homeless man, I'm sure there were many more he did the same for.  There have been people my mom never knew about just calling or showing up at the house with stories about how kind my dad was and how much they enoyed the many conversations and/or visits my dad had with them.  After all of these years my mom is just finding out how truly wonderful and caring my dad really was.

There are so many more memories I have, just to much to share.

I will miss him always.

GF Double Chocolate Chip Fudge Brownies

Happy March to you all!  So I didn't post much last month.  Hey it was a short month. lol!  Really though I got a stomache flu and intestinal something that just got me down.  Yesterday was actually the first day I was able to eat somewhat of a full meal.  Anyways I haven't really been on the computer much.  I'm back now!

It's been so cold here on the California Central Coast/Valley, we are just  not used to it being in the 50's day after day.  Burrrrrrr!

It snowed up on our mountain a week ago so we took a  drive up to enjoy for a bit.  We brought Cleo for her first snow trip.  She loved it! 

I love my camera!

Of course Cleo found water.

This tree just looks cool.

Drive back down the mountain.



GF Double Chocolate Chip Fudge Brownies



My first attempt at making  GF brownies and the result...amazing!!!  They are so so good.  I think I may even go to the extreme and say "perfect".  Seriously that's how yummy these are.  They are a bit crispy-crunchy on the corners and fudgy inside, just the way I like my brownies.  Right now I'm not going to share the recipe because I didn't write it down..hmmm my bad.  I'm pretty sure I have the measurements right in  my  head but I'm going to make these one more time to be sure.  I may even have a giveaway for these.  I'll keep you posted.

Stay warm!