Sunday, February 17, 2013

Fluky Food and Fun

I am super frustrated with my technical gadgets lately so I've been avoiding the computer. I can't get my photos to load to my Mac from my Samsung phone...they don't talk well together...and trying to fix that has screwed up accessing pictures from my camera. Instead of spending time in the attic trying to fix all this, I avoid the computer and live my life. I did have bunch of pictures I don't believe I've shared so here ya go.
 Chickpea Noodle Soup (I roughly follow the recipe in Veganomicon) with whole wheat pasta and a bit of za'atar.
 Homemade pasta sauce with vegan chorizo. Sorry I don't remember the brand. We still prefer making tempeh sausage or using lentils if we need more umph to our sauce. I've been enjoying Jovial jarred organic tomatoes, but we can't wait for the growing season to start so we can use fresh from our garden tomatoes.
 We also tried the chorizo for a breakfast scramble with roasted sweet potatoes (white and orange flesh sweet potatoes), chickpeas, etc.  I served the chorizo scramble with whole wheat toast walnut butter and fruit spread, noochy grits and hot sauce.
We definitely preferred the chorizo this way, but still the kids like my homemade tempeh sausage better.
 Tomato Beet Soup...I've been making my tomato soup with roasted beets this winter and I will never go back. It adds depth, nutrition, and a bright fun color to tomato soup. My tomato soup is never the same twice, but it usually includes: red onions, tomatoes, beets, chickpeas, garlic, sundried tomatoes, sweet potatoes, nutritional yeast, and spices. This time I served it with whole wheat toast with a bit of Earth Balance and za'atar.
 Even in the winter the kids sometimes prefer a lunch of mainly raw foods. The homemade hummus has artichokes (my favorite thing to add to hummus lately), bananas with fresh ground peanut butter from Common Ground Co-op (I love grinding our peanut butter at the store now...we haven't been able to do this since we left Maryland), carrot sticks, orange slices, and thawed frozen strawberries.
 The theme of meals lately has been using leftovers. The kids are super busy with plays, gymnastics, homeschooling group, music lessons, etc. and when we are all on the go leftovers rule. This breakfast was thrown together from rice, chickpeas, garlicky kale, veggies, and a little bit of Daiya havarti cheese and hot sauce. So many of these type of meals lately and they truly are the best.
 Our homeschooling group put on a "mock trial" and we invited family and friends to attend a potluck and be part of the trial audience. It was a wonderful way for all the kids from my five year old to my teen to learn how the judicial system works while having fun. I made the Apple Strudel from Vegan Yum Yum.
 I also made my version of Quick Pinto-Potato Empanadas from Quick-Fix Vegan. I haven't made these for a while, but they are so easy to throw together and a nice finger food.
 I used black beans and sweet potatoes instead of pinto and white potatoes.
 Parker was a witness in the mock trial. The tooth fairy was on trial and Parker was James J. J. Jingleheimer who was testifying for the defense. He was a young studious boy who had recently lost his first tooth and was happy with the tooth fairy's job.
 All the kids were involved in some way. Dema and Josie were part of the jury. It was educational for all of us, the kids put a lot of work into it, and definitely had a blast.
 More whole wheat pasta with Rising Moon butternut squash ravioli mixed in and homemade sauce topped with nooch and walnuts.
 Another staple lately has been tofu scrambles with lots of veggies and garlicky noochy grits.
 Rob is awesome at making paella and using up veggies for a delicious comforting meal.
For Thanksgiving we had our new traditional Indian food, but the day after was all garlicky kale, country fried tofu, mashed potatoes and gravy.

Wish me luck that my computer woes will disappear on there own or that my sweet husband will take some time to freeze in the attic fixing it. Either way, I'll be around more...pictures or no.