The B's - Bowls, Blueberries, Bread, and BUSYINESS

Long work days (9-10 on average, but this week will be ~13 hours) limit our cooking creativity and cooking time... Our cookbooks, like Veganomicon and Soy of Cooking books are starting to collect dust! Hopefully work will get better and we'll have more time to try some of those good looking recipes! While we are cherishing each minute of relaxation and free time we do have, we've been only cooking quick meals or planning ahead. What kinds of nutritious meals do you all prepare during BUSY times?

Our recent favorite meal has been rice BOWLS - they're versatile and chock full of good veggies. Simple, yet elegant. We've been loving red rice with it! The first rice bowl this week was with edamames, carrots, scallions, mushrooms, bell pepper, garlic, and Bragg's. The next day we enjoyed the rice bowl with an addition of orange sesame dressing, crunchy water chestnuts, and a gold nugget squash (creamy, like a cross between a summer squash and an acorn squash). Just mix all the veggies and goodies you want with rice in a bowl and dig in with a big spoon! :)


More "bowls" ahead, only this is a sweet treat - Coconut Bliss Vanilla Bean ice cream with fresh local peaches and cranberry orange granola!


For breakfast, we soaked extra thick oats overnight with hazelnut nut butter and some milk. Then we added frozen banana slices and fresh local blueberries and heated it for a heart-warming healthy breakfast! The BLUEBERRIES here are to die for; we've been buying 1/2 flats for really cheap and freezing them to stock up for the winter.


It's really convenient and cheaper to bake homemade BREAD/rolls and freeze them for the week. We made wheat rye garlic rolls (some wheat flour, rye flour, garlic, and herbs), which olive oil always goes well with. (By the way, we've been chugging our current olive oil - from Italy! It is to die for.)
Other baked goods we made this weekend were guava jam biscuits and ginger spice biscuits. Our grocery store had all natural, no sugar-added guava jam -it tastes so tropical and delicious on bread, we might as well put some jam in the bread!

We recently enjoyed Fat Free Vegan Kitchen's paprika potatoes with local red potatoes. We added more tomato paste, omitted the saffron, and cut down the oregano. We, of course, drizzled olive oil and nutritional yeast on it. It was good served warm with steamed broccoli, as well as eaten chilled like a potato salad. Thanks Susan!

Lastly, here is a pic of our grocery finds, including the guava jam, red rice, and gold nugget squash. There are two new chocolates we've discovered - mango chili and cacao nibs with nutmeg. They're both sweeter than we like (we like extra dark chocolate), but the nutmeg one reminds us of eggnog spice, and the mango chili has subtle notes of tropical coconut sweetness with some heat.
Hope that your lives aren't as busy as ours....we need your encouragement and energy to get through this upcoming week! We're thankful for Farmer's Markets and a vegan's favorite B's - Blueberries, easy meal Bowls, and Bread.

Best wishes, LK

Mid September Eats

It's already September, and even though we've been cooking up some great eats, we've been very bad bloggers. It's in part because we are still trying to settle in as well as keep up with 8-10 hour work days! We've just been too exhausted. But this weekend we've managed to squeeze in time to blog about our exciting September eats!

Rice Bowls - with baked tofu, yellow bell pepper, broccoli, red onion, sunflower seeds, red rice, and an orange sesame dressing. It was delicious and we love having rice bowls quite frequently.



We made spinach hummus and added red onion and cucumber in a flatbread to make a "panini-style" sandwich. Would be good with agave-mustard dressing!





Using Bob's Red Mill Millet Grits, we made Homemade Millet Cornbread. It was a spontaneous creation, so it may need some work (like reduce the sweetness), but it turned out delicious.

Homemade Millet Cornbread
1/4 cup flax
3/4 cup hemp milk
3/4 cup oat flour (or other flour)
1 cup cooked millet grits
1 cup cornmeal
1 Tb baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup agave
1/4-1/3 cup chopped red bell pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix flax and some milk and let sit. Combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl, except for the bell pepper, then add the flax mixture. Stir until combined, add bell peppers and stir until just blended, then bake in a round pie pan or make muffins in a muffin pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden.


Purple cauliflower - roasted with olive oil, garlic, and nutrional yeast!



Had a Bell Pepper with Tofu and Walnuts recipe in our recipe book, and we are so glad we finally made it. The filling you could make into a casserole with broccoli and more tofu and mushrooms. We changed the recipe slightly - for the filling we used Bob's Red Mill Grains and Nuts Hot Cereal (instead of rice), added crumbled tofu, chopped mushrooms, onion, Braggs, curry powder, black pepper, garlic, oregano, and celery seed. Served with nutritional yeast.



One of our favorite cuisines is Thai - and this Thai Coconut Stir Fry was so elegant and full of flavor. Another recipe in our recipe stash, and we don't know where we got it from, but we will definetely make this again.

The dish had coconut milk, garlic, snap peas, mushrooms, bell pepper, bok choy, crushed red pepper, lime and lemon zest and juice, onion, some spinach, and soy sauce. We served with long grain brown rice. Love that it was saucy to serve over the rice. Next time we'll try it with broccoli and chinese cabbage!


Finally after many months, we made pizza again! Homemade pizza crust, with local fresh tomatoes, eggplant, bell pepper, onion, and basil, and with lots of garlic and olive oil. This pizza crust is a keeper - soft but chewy, just great flavor and texture.
LK's Homemade Pizza Crust

1 1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 pack dry active yeast
1 Tb olive oil
3/4 tsp salt
2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup hard white wheat flour
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
fresh rosemary leaves, chopped

Add all ingredients according to your bread machine's directions. Set on dough cycle. When done with dough cycle, flattened into a pizza crust. Place stone in oven to preheat, then add crust to stone and bake at 500 degrees F for only 5 min. Can freeze crusts for easy pizza dinners for the week. To finish the pizza, add toppings, then bake at 425 degrees F for 8-15 min.


Finally, this morning we enjoyed warm tasty Carrot Trail Mix Muffins. We adapted this recipe quite a lot, so here is our version.
LK's Carrot Trail Mix Muffins

1 1/2 Tb ground flaxseed
1/3 cup pineapple juice
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/4 cup date pieces
2 Tb sunflower seeds
1/2 cup + 1 Tb pineapple, crushed
1 Tb safflower oil
3 Tb agave
1/2 tsp coconut extract (or just vanilla)
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup carrots, finely grated

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine pineapple juice and flax in a small bowl and set aside. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl and wet ingredients in another bowl. Stir in flax mixture to wet ingredients, then add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Bake in a mini muffin pan for 15-20 minutes (check for doneness and golden color). Sprinkle cinnamon on top. Makes 12 mini muffins.


We especially like the pineapple as a sweetener. Sunflower seeds added a nice crunch, but we may try walnuts next time. Other ideas: apple butter and currant muffins and pumpkin pineapple muffins.


We are praying for all you Texans who may be affected by Hurricane Ike. We hope you are all safe and well.

God bless, LK

Cooking Minimally

Lot's of good finds at the Farmer's Market and the local natural food store, but a challenge to cook this past week. Why? Because the darn movers haven't shown up yet - and all of our kitchen appliances and utensils are packed away. We do have a minimal amount of cooking essentials, which include one large skillet, one cutting board, cookie sheet, some knives, two wooden spoons, and small plastic plates and spoons. We are cooking only on the stove or in the oven (that includes reheating), and we do dishes constantly at every meal.

Hungry for oatmeal but without a pot or a microwave? It IS possible with a shallow skillet pan! Want Italian but have no pasta pot or strainer? Again, the shallow skillet pan works! We've discovered that the skillet pan is very multipurpose and handy!


Grains and Nuts Bob's Red Mill Hot Cereal - with bananas, dried cranberries, flaxmeal, cinnamon, agave, and a dash of almond milk. Ate breakfast this morning outside in the crisp air on our porch!






















Organic Tomato & Grilled Zucchini Spaghetti Sauce - with sauteed onions, garlic, yellow crookneck squash, drizzled with olive oil, and sprinkled with basil and oregano. Pasta shells were excellent (Delallo Organic Whole Wheat Shells) despite the minimal cooking technique in a skillet!

We were anticipating a tasty "fajita" meal with Tofurkey's Spicy Veggie tempeh that we bought at Whole Foods. Sauteed onions and purple bell pepper, avocado, and spicy Muir Glen Garlic Cilantro salsa tasted good; too bad we DISLIKED the tempeh! It tasted like bad cheese, and we never were cheese fans in the first place. We ended up only having a veggie fajita on these whole wheat flatbreads. We also had Jalapeno Hummus Tortilla Chips, made with stone ground corn.





At the local food store this week, we bought:


Vegetas' Jalapeno Hummus Tortilla chips (great crunch and whole grain nutty flavor, just not spicy or baked)
Lakewood Pure Mango Juice (our favorite brand of juices - fresh pressed instead of from concentrate)
Drew's Sesame Orange Dressing
Real Foods Multigrain Corn Thins (a thin rice cake with popcorn)
Bob's Red Mill Millet Grits
Bob's Red Mill Grains and Nuts
Santa Cruz Organic Apple Cherry Sauce
Artisana Raw Pecan Butter (which we absolutely love! Great with rice cakes, banana, in desserts, in smoothies, in cookies.)
purple cauliflower!


With our local "Canadian Harmony" variety of juicy peaches, we made a simple quick-n-easy Peach Crisp:
No-Fuss Peach Crisp
Homemade Granola
1 cup oats
~ 4 Tb agave, enough to coat all the oats
a pinch of sea salt
lots of cinnamon
sunflower seeds

Lay out oats on a cookie sheet, then add agave and mix thoroughly to coat. Mix in a little salt and lots of cinnamon. Spread out evenly over the sheet, then sprinkle sunflower seeds to your liking. Bake at 325F, checking/stirring frequently, until aromatic and lightly browned. Let cool to harden.

Warmed Peaches
4 large juicy ripe peaches, chopped

Put in a skillet and cook at med-heat until warmed and syrupy. Then serve with granola on top for a simple and healthy treat. Could also serve it with yogurt for a parfait.


Sometimes the simplest things are life's sweet pleasures. Kudos to the skillet and those green Preserve plastic plates!

Oregon Food Haven

We made it to Oregon and now we never want to go back to Texas. The drive was long, 10 hours each day, with minimal fast food vegan food available, but the scenery was beautiful. New Mexico, Utah, and the Colombia River that flows between the Oregon and Washington borders were all breathtaking. Our movers with all of our furniture won't arrive till next week :( but we've been keeping busy touring the area, attending Farmer's Markets, and shopping at wonderful grocery stores like McMinnville's local Harvest Fresh and Portland's Whole Foods.

The community here is really wonderful - friendly, focused on recycling, and supports local farmers. On Thursdays our town has its farmer's market. So many vendors, most of them organic farmers!
We purchased wild spinach, Gravenstein apples, baby broccoli, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, potatoes, and plump blueberries. All of the produce was unbelievably tasty and fresh! We also bought rosemary and lavender plants for our windowsill.














A few days later we drove up to Hillsboro to check out their farmer's market. This time we purchased 1/2 flat of berries to freeze for the winter. The blackberries and blueberries aren't tart, but extremely sweet and juicy! The peach we got was just perfect, better than any Texas peach. We also got a 1 1/2 foot long yellow crookneck squash for only 50 cents, along with some green beans, radishes, and cucumbers.

One day we drove into Portland, about 1 hour away, and stopped at Blossoming Lotus for breakfast. We tried the Banana Greens smoothie with berries and hemp milk - very healthy and refreshing for the start of the day. We also bought an Everything muffin, with coconut, carrots, raisins, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds, and other goodies. It was really good and hearty! We took home a Blueberry Lemon scone for later eats. The buckwheat granola we ordered was way too much - enough to serve 4 people, and needed a lot more sugar and milk; nothing special.

After Blossoming Lotus, we walked down the street to shop at Whole Foods. We bought a ton of new products that we've never tried!












Laura's Wholesome Junk Food - brownie bites
These were very good - fudgy-chocolaty with a slight fruity/date flavor! A tad sweet, though. Perfect size for a small treat! Other flavors we want to try include Lemon Vanilla, Gingersnap, Banana, and Fudge.

Delallo Organic Whole Wheat Pasta Shells * Update - great flavor and bite. Good with spaghetti and will use it in tofu creamy pasta salad.

Whole Food's 365 Organic Oat Bran Flakes * Update - too much sugar coating, a tad too sweet.

Nutiva Shelled Hemp Seeds

Galaxy Granola - Cranberry Orange (although didn't realize it had honey until after we got home) * Update - great flavor, subtle orange, good crunch.

Manitoba Harvest - Hemp Bliss hempmilk
Not that great for cereal milk. Had a vegetable flavor to it? Not sweet either to hide that taste. We will use it up in baked goods and then stick with Living Harvest Hemp Milk.

Heaven Scent Traditional Spice Windmill Cookies
These are Heaven! Spiced like a Christmas cookie. They also have Almond flavor which is very good, too.

Lydia's Organics - Italian Crackers
Unique raw cracker with a nice gentle crunch. Good flavor, especially with bean dip.

Gabriel's Bakery Blue Cornmeal Bread (Portland bakery)
A tad sweet, but good with bean dip or spinach hummus.

Bumble Bar - Hazelnut
Another item that is too sweet (and we thought we had sweet tooths). Overall, though, it is very nutritious, tasty, and has a good chewy crunch.

Whole grain red rice

Scharffen Berger Nibby Chocolate with Cacoa Nibs
Chocolaty with a nice crunch.

Deep Steep Foaming Handwash - Honeydew Spearmint
Perfect handsoap for the kitchen - love the smell!

oatmeal almond soap bar - love almond scents!

So Delicious Coconut Milk Yogurts
Wow, so good. The texture is more uniform/thicker than some soy yogurt products we've tried - slightly like pudding. We tried the Raspberry, Strawberry Banana, and Tropical Mango. The Strawberry Banana is very good - one of our new favorite yogurt flavors. The raspberry wasn't anything exciting, though, compared to Whole Soy's line.

Whole Soy & Co. Soy Yogurts
These soy yogurts are our favorite - especially Blueberry, Strawberry, and Lemon. We also bought at Whole Foods the Strawberry Banana and Mixed Berry flavors.

Lightlife Tempeh - veggie
We have always been a little hesitant with tempeh, but were eager to cook with it again - this tempeh was very tasty with subtle veggie flavor.

Tofurky Tempeh - spicy veggie
Haven't had it yet, but we are eager to put it in a wrap with salsa and guacomole! * Update - it's now in our trash. Was terrible.

King Harvest Spinach Hummus
One of the best hummus we've ever had! Not too garlicy, not lemony, not oily; just right. And an awesome spinach flavor! Healthy too.

Wildwood Tofu Veggie Burger * Update - too oily (had to pat it dry), also tasted like a "chicken" patty that you could get at McDonald's. Wasn't bad but not worth getting again.

Today we had to drive to Beaverton, and we were excited to stop at Trader Joe's; unfortunately, we were very disappointed with the store. It was small, very very hectic and crowded, didn't have much selection, and had very few vegan options (such as soy yogurts).

This is what we ended up buying though (Trader Joe's Brand): High Fiber O's, Orange-Guava Smoothie Drink, Whole Grain Onion Pita Chips, Whole Wheat Lavash Bread, Sprouted Wheat Pappardelle Pasta, and (Dr. Praeger's) Tex Mex Veggie Burgers.
* Update - the High Fiber O's were pretty good and crunchy, Guava smoothie was excellent!, pita chips were very good with a subtle onion flavor and a great crunch, and the lavash bread was good for wraps.


Our first dinner in our new place - Garden Veggie Tempeh with wild spinach, sun dried tomatoes, bell pepper, and garlic. For leftovers we added fresh broccoli! So fresh and nutritous!

Here's a pic across from our apartment complex - hills and farmland/winery.


Looking forward to the next Farmer's Market, and the next, and the next.... so far we love it here in Oregon!

For the People, For the Planet, For the Animals

Being VEGAN that is! Here is a great video that we wanted to share with all of you - now most of you are vegan, but this just reinforces all of the reasons for being vegan. And share this with your omnivore friends and family!

Vegan - A Life Connected

Now we'll be back in a week or so after we've moved to Oregon. And THANK YOU so very much for all your thoughtful words and blessings. We are so grateful for such a wonderful compassionate vegan community.

God Bless, LK