Cabbage Pasta

My new favorite quick fix for lunch when there seems to be nothing around is Cabbage Pasta. This was inspired by Urban Vegan's Quickie Halushki. Since fall, we've had an abundance of cabbage in our house from our CSA, and it is still incredibly cheap at the co-op. Plus, cabbage and pasta are two of my fave foods. This is perfect.

Ingredients:
1 cup pasta (penne, as pictured, isn't great for this. Choose something thinner like macaroni or noodles)
1 quarter of a cabbage, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper
couple dashes of tamari
couple dashes of Srircha sauce (optional)

Cook pasta in boiling water for 8-10 minuets. Saute cabbage with salt and pepper to taste in olive oil until soft. Add garlic until fragrant (30 seconds). Add tamari and Srircha. Stuff your face.

That's Why We Don't Eat Animals

I recently began my search for a simple, clear children's book about vegetarianism. I wanted something more than a story about an unrealistic, cartoon animal, as well as a story that touched on the environment and American factory farms (the main reason why we are strict vegetarians). I was really happy to find That's Why We Don't Eat Animals by Ruby Roth.

My three-year-old found the pictures to be very interesting, but he wasn't completely enthralled by the story...I think he may be a tad young to fully understand it. I hope to buy it and have it as our main vegetarian book, so the children can read it when they've got questions as to why we don't eat meat. It's hasn't been an issue yet, and I feel fortunate to live somewhere where my children's eating habits will barely shock a soul. However, they're still going to be different, and I hope to have many resources to help them figure it out.

I personally enjoyed the story, because it made me think more about the animals and how they were made to live. I often just get caught up on ethics of the American factory farms and how it's so hard on our world. Being reminded that we are all "earthlings" really resounded with me, and why it's difficult for me to eat animals and why I never will again.

On my list of many things I want to do this year, writing a reflective essay about raising a vegetarian family is one of them...let's see if it happens.

PS - Another fun find has been the final track on Alphabutt: Sunbeams and Some Beans by Kimya Dawson. It's a simple story about the injustice of our current food system. Again, it's not all gloom and doom, but just an honest story with some hopeful steps of how you can make a difference.

Vanilla Crunch Granola

I have shared other favorite Cathe Olson recipes in the past, and alas I fell upon another on the internet I have come to love! Vanilla Crunch Granola is a great quick, crunchy (love the steel cut oats) breakfast that is slightly sweet but not filled with tons of sugar like many store-bought granolas. This is incredibly easy and fast to make. Everyone in our family loves it! I follow her directions exactly; however, I do use golden raisins and think about throwing in some chopped dried apple next time.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we have!

Feeding The Whole Family

One of my hobbies is to constantly check out cookbooks at the library. I feel the urge to buy a new cookbook at least everything six months (cookbook budget is unfortunately quite limited.) I am thankful for living in a city so large that it has an enormous cookbook selection and is willing to purchase most every book I ask them too. Yea for libraries!!!

Feeding The Whole Family by Cynthia Lair is so wonderful to me that it is a definite "buy" by my standards. It is a fantastic resource on wholesome family eating, and I believe the recipes are easy for the less-advanced or least-interested cooks. Yet, the tastes have proven to be great for those more-advanced and very-interested tastebuds.

I cook and bake our family meals strictly vegan, and this book has a wide variety of recipes to accommodate. There are recipes that call for meat, but there are very few. The recipes that include dairy seem easy to translate into vegan.

Recipes we've come to love: French Lentil and Potato Stew, Split Pea Soup with Fresh Peas and Potatoes (minus the ham bone), and Pumpkin Pecan Muffins (vegan style).

Here are some of her recipes published on mothering.com and also included in the book, as well as an article she wrote:

Winter Fruit Compote with Nut Cream
Becky's Braised Greens
In The Kitchen with Baby
Summer Fruit Ambrosia with Vanilla Nut Cream
Golden Mushroom Basil Soup
Luscious Beet Green Salad

Sweet Potato Maafe

This recipe was delivered to my door last fall in a co-op newsletter. I made it once last year and received a so-so reaction. It took me a year to try it again, and this year it was LOVED. Not sure what made the difference, but it is very well-liked by me, my husband, and our one-year old. The three-year old was still a bit luke-warm. This is a easy one-pot meal that can take under an hour. I enjoy serving it with basmati rice - a treat in our usual brown rice home.

My alterations - I used potatoes rather than turnips, because I just received a mother-load of potatoes and no turnips from our CSA Thanksgiving box. I also omitted the cayenne pepper. I get nervous the babe will get the hot-spot and be mortified. I just put red pepper flakes on the table for individuals to add heat. I also did not use tomato paste, because what I had on-hand had turned moldy!

Just click here, and enjoy!

Pumpkin-Chocolate-Chip Squares a la Erin

While reading SouleMama one day I came upon this Pumpkin-Chocolate-Chip Square recipe she referred to to celebrate autumn. I was thrilled, because it was yet a new "pumpkin" recipe for me (quotations, because a pumpkin recipe in my home usually means some random winter squash). I took some liberties to make the recipe vegan and to accomodate what ingredients I had on hand. They turned out magnificent - super yummy.

Follow the directions just as stated on Martha's website, but here are my alterations:

- No pumpkin pie spice. Used cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves, as listed in the heading.

- No butter. Used 1/2 cup Earth Balance (way AWESOME - better than butter) and 1/2 cup sunflower oil (or canola oil).

- No egg. Used 1/3 cup applesauce. GREAT egg replacer for cakes and breads - especially with pumpkin recipes.

- No canned pumpkin puree. Used 1 cup roasted squashed.

- Used 1 and a 1/2 cup non-dairy chocolate chips. Don't be scared. There are AMAZING non-dairy chocolate chips. I get mine at Mississippi Market in the bulk section. Can't remember exact name - but it's obvious. I'll try to update after my next trip.

Enjoy!

Jalapeno Hummus

Hummus is a much-loved food in our home...mostly adored by my husband. I do my best to have it on-hand as much as possible, because it is one of his snack standards. Our three-year-old Finn has also become quite the fan. This recipe was inspired by Minneapolis' outstanding bakery and deli Holy Land which has an incredibly, creamy jalapeno hummus. Although I LOVE Holy Land, it's hard for me to spend money on hummus every week when it's so cheap AND easy to make at home.

The picture above is my jalapeno hummus as a condiment to a mighty trio of Indian foods we love. Lentil Puree (Dahl) over brown rice (I add spinach before pureeing) from Cathe Olson's Feeding the Healthy Vegetarian Family; Indian Turnips from the wonderful Driftless Organics; and, jeera alu from Mothering magazine's January-February 2009 issue. We love eating it with this type of meal but also devour it with carrots, crackers, pretzels, and bagels as a snack.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups cooked garbanzo beans
3 garlic cloves
2 Tablespoons tahini
3/4 teaspoon salt
juice of 1/2 a lemon
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup water (use more or less for your desire consistency)
2-3 jalapenos, sliced with seeds

Place garlic cloves in food processor. Run until minced. Add beans, tahini, salt, lemon, and olive oil. Run processor. Add water through tube while processing other ingredients. Run until smooth.

Remove 1/4 to 1/2 cup for a non-spicy batch for the kids. Then place jalapenos in processor. Run until well chopped and combined. The number of jalapenos you add depends on your taste and the spiciness of the peppers. I often add one pepper at a time and then taste.