Ciao 2012!

It's almost the end of one year and the beginning of a new one!

Crazy how time goes by so fast.

I thought I would sit down for a few while I'm waiting for a batch of Brutti Ma Buoni(ugly but good) cookies that are baking. I used to love these pre vegan days and I am so excited that I found a way to make them vegan.

A bit of a reflection thinking back at the things good and not so good that have happened this year.

One huge highlight, for me anyways, was eating at The Millennium Restaurant in San Francisco.  It was one of the most delicious meals I've had and spending those few days together away with family were great!

One thing I've worked on this past year was how I deal with stress.  I've realized that stress doesn't do anyone any good so when my husband lost his job I tried to keep as positive as I could and I do believe it helped.  Putting out good thoughts, visions or vibes for good things to happen I believe does work.  This next year I will continue to work on positive thinking and being happy.

I have a good feeling about this coming year. 

Tonight we will be celebrating New Years Eve at home along with another family. 

I hope you all have a very safe and happy New Years!

See you soon! 

Merry Christmas! Homemade gifts

Hi everyone. 

I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas.

Remember to enjoy your time with family and friends because that's what this time of year is truly about. 

Our tree this year.  We always buy a Grand Fir because it smells amazing!!!
 

 

Tamales for Christmas.  Red Chile Seitan, Sweet Potato Black Bean and a Red Chile Tofu(instead of seitain).  The recipes are taken from Viva Vegan.  These are a bit time consuming to make but who wouldn't want a homemade tamale!

Personally I think there is nothing more sweet than homemade gifts made with love and from the heart.  Vegan baked goods are always great to give out not only because most everyone enjoys a great tasty treat but they can also see and taste how delicious vegan goods taste.  These cookies above are Russian Tea Cakes recipe from Manifest Vegan.  These are gluten free but you couldn't tell.

There were a few changes I made to the recipe.  I used flaxseed instead of xanthum gum and pecans instead of almonds.

Caramels. I make these only one time a year because they are time consuming especially the cutting and wrapping part but everyone loves them!

One of my girlfriends made me this delicious granola and put it in this cool vintage mason jar.  I have a love for jars.  Two of my  favorite things!

This paper wreath is made from old music sheets.  Cute right?  Pretty easy to make just takes a little time or a lot of time like it did me because I was watching one of my all time favorite movies Summertime with Katherine Hepburn and Rossano Brazzi.  I've been waiting for that movie to come back on and what a great early Christmas present.  Oh and then Christmas in Connecticut with Barbara Stanwyck was on too! I'm a classic movie junkie. I grew up watching them and I just love how intense the acting is.  Okay I'm losing track but you all have your favorites too right?  You can make these different sizes.  How cute to add a small one to a package.

 

I save wine corks and I'm always looking for things to make using them.  I've made cork coasters that I gave out last year.  This year ornaments! 

Give as a set or adorn on a package.

 

May you all have a safe Christmas Eve and a very Merry Christmas.

 

Peace and light to you all.

 

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Enjoy your time today with your families.

There is a beautiful quote that I would like to share with you.

 

"To all who act on your compassion: may it rebound on you tenfold. To all whose compassion is yet masked by the husk of tradition: may your heart be unhindered and your eyes be unblocked. To all the anonymous victims of our appetites: may your cries be the alarm that wakes us up. Your liberation lies in our awakening."
-Colleen Patrick Goudreau

 

There are so many things I have to be thankful for and one of them is ....

Pass it on.....

Celebrate Thanksgiving with compassion and GF Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

It's that time of year again when our kitchens are smelling of cinnamon, nutmeg and pumpkin!
So comforting and warm these smells are.

Yesterday I made an attempt to make a Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread that I added some chocolate chips to.  The end result was fabulous!

Keaton came home from school and had a piece. He said he didn't know it was gluten free.
I must admit that the texture is really light and moist without the any grainy texture that you can
find a lot with gluten free baked goods due to some of the flours used.

Before I post a recipe I'll need to make this again to fine tune the measurements.

Well Thanksgiving is just next week and some of us are still trying to figure out what we are making.
We are going to my in-laws house so it won't be an all vegan meal.  Maybe one day.
Here is a wonderful video by Colleen Patrick-Gourdreau that talks about celebrating a compassionate Thanksgiving.  She has such a way with words. This is a great video to share with family and friends.


Let's make new traditions...ones that do no harm. With this in mind how about serving up some amazing vegan food to share with our family and friends who aren't vegan. What will you be serving?  I think I may be serving up a mushroom stuffed puff pastry along with Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Arugula or roasted root veggies with a rich sauce.  I might make Pumpkin Cheesecake too.   Some other suggestions are Black Bean Sweet Potato Enchiladas or Roasted Root Enchiladas w/Cashew Cream Sauce(this is my favorite).  The list goes on with Butternut Squash Risotto to
Butternut Squash Lasagna(used non dairy milk instead)which I may save this for Christmas.

Have a wonderful day!

GF Spice Donuts and update

Happy Saturday!  Good news for us.....Dave starts his new job on Monday!!!!  What a relief.  We are pretty lucky he was only out of work for less than 3 weeks.  Being that I'm not working we are very happy! 

 

I was on the lookout for a baked gf vegan donut recipe and found a very tasty one.

Yummy!

 

Look at the cake like texture.
The recipe is found on Epicurious and is a Plain Cake Donut from Babycakes cookbook by Erin McKenna.
Just click on the Plain Cake Donut link above and it will take you to the recipe.  I did make a couple of adjustments.  I don't like using garbanzo flour in my baking so I subbed it out for sorghum flour and added a dash of nutmeg and about 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon to bring more of a fall flavor to the donut.  These taste the best eaten the same day but will keep for at least 2 days in a plastic container or bag. 
Enjoy your weekend!
 



And the winners are?!!!!

It's finally feeling like Autumn!  Yes!

 

This has been a bit of a delayed post being that the giveaway for The Raw Food Diet e-book giveaway, written by Hilary Greenleaf,  ended a couple of weeks ago but there has been a bit of an upset in our lives.   My husband lost his job.  He wasn't the most happy where he was but it's always easier when your the one to say goodbye and have another job ready to go to.  Anyways, we are trying to keep a positive outlook on things.  The love and support we are getting and the people who are looking out for Dave has been wonderful!  He's already had a couple of interviews and we know he will be back to work in no time.  As we are dealing with this and seeing all of the people who have called and are concerned for us I realize something.  With so many people, friends included, that have lost their jobs and are struggling,  these things have brought all of us closer together. Friends and family are what help us pull through these hard times.  That along with the necessity of staying as positive as possible.  I'll keep you posted on the job!

 

Now let's get to the winners of the giveaway.  Congrats to these ladies!!!!

Mandee @ Cupcake Kitteh

LittleMonsttersx14 @ Simple. Easy. Vegetarian.

 

Next up....Vegan Eating in San Francisco!

Gluten Free Lemon Bars/GF Homemade Bread and a Raw Food Diet e-booklet GIVEAWAY!

I just realized how long it's been since my last blog.  Yikes! 

I missed signing up for Vegan MOFO which I really wanted to do to get my butt into blogging more consistently.  My dog Ace is having health issues and I wasn't focused last week because of it. That's when I noticed I just missed the cutoff to sign up. Regarding my Ace dog?  It seems he may have been bitten by a tick from who knows when that has now caused an auto-immune disorder.   His blood platelets were so low when I rushed him into the vet, his mouth and penis were bleeding along with a bunch of bruising that just happened so quickly. He even started bleeding a bit in his eyes. Talk about being FREAKED OUT!!!  He probably will have to be on prednisone for the rest of his life and no more vaccinations for this doggy.  He started having some issues last spring which we treated and then symptoms started coming back so we treated him again in the summer.  Then boom it came back full force this time.  I'll be taking him in for blood work check ups to make sure he continues to make new blood platelets and that the meds are working for him.  This leads me to a question.  Do you know or are you using any type of product to help build your dogs immune system?  I'm thinking if I can help build his immune system up the lower dosage of prednisone he would need.

Shall we move on to some good stuff!

Gluten Free Lemon Bars

I was inspired to make these bars because my son loves lemon bars and the ones he brought back
home from his visit with his grand parents weren't gluten free although they were vegan and amazing!  The lemon filling is taken from Veganomicon and the crust I made up and you can't even tell it was gluten free.  I have to make them one more time and write down the measurements before I can post.

Gluten Free Vegan Sandwich Bread

This is my fifth attempt at making a home made gluten free vegan bread.  The first two times I used a gf bread mix and the other 2 from other recipes online.  They were heavy, rock hard and/or raw inside. This one has turned out all 3 times so it's a keeper and it's really good!  My son was very proud of me for having a success with this.  The recipe is from The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen. 

 

 

As you can see it's makes great toast too!  I left it in a little too long...ooops!

It freezes really well too if you want to make a couple of loaves and freeze one or half of one if you aren't going to eat some everyday. 

 

 

GIVEAWAY!!!

 

The weather is changing and it's starting to get cooler(finally)so you may be wanting to consume warmer foods but it's still good to keep eating those raw foods.  I was contacted by Hilary Greenleaf who is an author, educator and nutritionist to give away 2 Raw Food Diet e-booklets!  This a great introductory booklet to get you started into eating raw foods from kitchen tools, stocking your pantry to easy recipes.  It's easy to read and understand.  To win this fabulous e-book leave a comment below on your favorite raw food/meal by 10/10.

Happy winning!