Doggie sitting

My parents went away for the week, so I am taking care of their Jack Russell Terrier, Jackie. Aren't they creative with names? We call her Miss Jackie O or the Jackie Monster (like the cookie monster) I usually call her a little monkey. She was so excited when she got here, that she ran around the house in circles chewing on her hamburger squeaky toy the whole time. I have her until Thursday and Penny is less than thrilled. She is ok with her, but she isn't thrilled with someone else getting my attention. When i came home from the gym, I found poop on the floor. I think she was being spiteful. They get along, but I think Penny just puts up with her... We had to put the cat's food on the coffee table, up off the floor, so Jackie wouldn't eat it. She is like a vacuum cleaner...
















They were very lucky. They adopted her from their local humane society. I don't believe in buying pure breeds, I believe in rescue agencies and adoption from humane societies. So many of my coworkers have purebred dogs that have problems, whether they are discipline or medical. My principal actaully had a puppy die on him, from a breeder. I can't believe someone gave her up. She is not your typical jack russell. She is fairly laid back, loves to snuggle in your lap and takes long naps during the day. She is good with the cats, although they don't like her. She is so little, like the size of a cat.












Here they are in the yard together...

Penny

Now that the rain has stopped, it has cooled off a bit. Finally you can be outside without melting... Here's Penny in the garden, obviously more amused by something other than me... You know, in her old age, she is far more difficult to take a picture of. Kinda like a grumpy old lady :) I know I'm her mommy- but how cute is she????

Berry Oat Squares

Since it is so beautiful out, I figured I might as well bake. You would think the pouring rain would help break the humidity, but no such luck. I have tons of fresh blueberries and 1 container of raspberries to use. I was inspired by Jody from VegChic, so I opened La Dolce Vegan from Sarah Kramer (I think this is her best book) and made these babies. I doubled the recipe, because I had a lot of blueberries and her recipes are small.

I have made her apple walnut pudding and her pb and choc bars are fantastic, but I find they don't need as much sugar. They use rice krispies and are so yummy. The biggest surprise from the book, her Punk-kin Pasta. Uses pumpkin puree and veggie broth and is so savory. It calls for veggie sausage- so I made the tempeh recipe from VwaV- also fantastic as a topping on pizza. I make it with bow tie pasta.

The only thing I did differently was rather than use rasp jam, I took the fresh raspberries, microwaved them for 35 seconds and mashed them with some agave nectar. They came out really good. This is a yummy recipe. I still have another package of blueberries left and I think I am going to make pancakes for breakfast tommorrow. Here is a close up:













I pulled out my Candle Cafe Cookbook, which was a birthday gift last year from my friend Kris, right before we went there for dinner that night! We are one day apart and have been celebrating our birthdays together for many years. I also pulled out Dreena's the Everyday Vegan to make some things from these 2 books. I really want to try some of Dreena's vinagrettes since everyone raves about them.

Leftovers

Last night I had a date at this great restaurant in Cornwall on the Hudson. I have been going to Painter's Tavern for many years, even having my parties there when I got my BS and my MS degrees. Painters showcases local artists, painters, photographers and installation artists.

Although, I wasn't too interested in my date, I did have a free fabulous meal :) This is all of my leftovers, with some organic corn. Painters has always been extremely veggie friendly- they make lots of dishes, including veggie chili and will serve a big vegetarian nacho platter with it that is awesome. I ordered a dragon bowl with tofu. They grill the tofu- I requested it well done- I don't like my tofu mushy unless it is meant to be- like miso soup. It has broccoli, carrots and snow peas, noodles and a peanut sauce with chopped nuts on top- YUM! My last food photo was a little tough to see since it was on a stoneware plate. This is a calla lily plate- my fav flower. My everyday china is packed in the attic since I'm at my brother's house.

It is humid and gross outside, we keep the a/c on 24/7 lately. Penny doesn't like to be outside too long, so not many walks. I have still been going to the gym 6 days a week- go me!

Breakfast for dinner

I saw this on Chris' Eat Air and Jess' Get Sconed blogs. I had all the right veggies and some red potatoes from the organic market. I made the tofu scramble fromVwaV with broccoli added to it. The seasonings make this taste awesome. I made this in a cast iron pan. I sauteed sliced potatoes in olive oil with thyme, rosemary, garlic, s & p, spring onions and parsley. That is whole wheat toast with earth balance on the side and organic ketchup. I may have this for breakfast tommorrow too, it was so good.

I've been busy

So I wanted to make a black bean dip Harmonia posted on Veggin Out- the veg board for women. I noticed it took lemon juice. I had one fresh lemon left and figured if I was going to use it, I might as well use the zest, too. So instead of just making a simple dip with the food processor, out came the vital wheat gluten, and my microplane and I made seitan from VwaV again, too. It tastes so good! Here it is simmering. Notice the cool spoonrest? I got that in Sorrento from a ceramic artist. It says Capri on it and he painted one of the rock formations that I was able to see on a boat tour when I went to the Isle of Capri. It is an amazing place with tropical blue water.

The seitan is going to be part of dinner later, with my organic veggies from yesterday... I just slice it up and saute with a little olive oil in a cast iron pan until crisp. I find it is so flavorful from the seasonings it doesn't need anything.

The dip is really yummy and so easy to do in the food processor. I used some of the tahini I have left over from the roasted red pepper hummus I made from La Dolce Vegan- that was really good too. It has a nice, creamy texture- I know from the picture it doesn't look yummy, but it is. I dipped Garden of Eatin' organic blue corn chips in it, but pita chips would be good too.

















Here's the ingredients:
15 ounces of Black Beans & liquid for blending
2 cloves of garlic
sea salt to taste
1 teaspoon Cumin Powder
1/4 cup Tahini
1/4 cup lemon or lime juice
1 tablespoon of Parsley

My fav breakfast

When oatmeal gets boring, I make this hot cereal. It is so easy, and while the water is boiling, I add agave nectar, cinn vanilla, molasses, a little sea salt. Then I grind flax seeds and toast some pecans. It only cooks for a minute, then I mix everything in and add raspberries and a little soymilk. YUM! Quick and easy and oat bran is very gentle on my tummy.

Millet and Spinach Polenta

Several days ago I made this recipe from my ultimate fav cookbook, VwaV. I had a tough time cooking the millet. I forgot to mention, I took the millet mixture and put it back on the stove the next day, added more water to it and cooked it until it was mushy. It set up fantastic as polenta in a tupperware dish. I pan friend it tonight for dinner and had it with the sundried tomato pesto. So yummy. I find a few of Isa's recipes I have to cook with more water, for a longer period of time.

Blooming Hill Farm

I used to live 10 minutes away from a wonderful organic farm. I went every Saturday to get produce for the week. Now it is a bit more of a trip, but so worth it. I bought organic grape tomatoes and avocado and remembered how amazing orgainc tastes. So, this afternoon, I went out to the farm, packed my goodies into an insulated bag to keep them cool in my car and then went to the gym. I was going to the gym anyway.

This is a picture of everything I got, and I spent $19.50. The bowl has spring onions, red potatoes and mushrooms. They have a grill and they make the most fantastic grilled veggie sandwiches and salads, homemade dressings, etc. I used to get lunch every Sat there, too. They had samples of griled corn they were passing around and it was fantastic. The bag of red leaf lettuce was gigantic. The bananas were the only thing that didn't come from the farm, obviously. But still organic. Here is the link:

http://www.bloominghillfarm.com/index.html

They sell in Union Square and they also provide organic produce to some of NYC's restaurants like Candle Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Angelica Kitchen and Savoy.

They also have farm nights where they serve a vegetarian meal, which I 'd like to go to. It is kinda expensive, they upped it to $60. But it is good to support local organic farming.

As a time saver, I make salad once and eat it all week long. Rather than buy disgusting bagged salad, I rinse and spin the lettuce and tear it all up, cut cucumber, shred carrots and store this in a tupperware container or a ziplock bag. I add organic tomatoes when I eat it, because I find they don't store well. My tomato plant gave me a beautiful one yesterday. Oh, and I LOVE Annie's goddess dressing- yum!

Just enjoying some time off

This is me when I went to Greece several years back. I probably look about this way now. (back to this weight)

So I got my hair cut and highlighted today, last week it was a cute pedicure. Yay. I so did need to lose those 21 pounds. I never realized how depressed I was with my ex until we split up. I packed on the pounds, lol. I have a long ways to go, but I keep going to the gym everyday. I have always struggled with my weight, so I am glad I am finally doing something about it. I do 2.5-3 miles every day with an incline on the treadmill, plus the circuit and the ellyptical machine. Some days are better than others. I was so glad to find vegan Puma sneakers with all man made materials to work out in.

Dating sucks. Most of the guys I meet pretend to be nice, at first. Or they just want you to "Come over." We all know what that means. It is very depressing. Most of my friends are married or in serious relationships. This is the first summer I will not be going away on vacation. I'd like to take Penny out more, but it has been so hot and humid lately. I took her out one day and she was dragging. My social life is kinda non existent right now, so there isn't much to talk about. I have been reading (Bust is another great magazine) and being domestic. I have a lot of art history work to do, but I have put it off so far.

I made the millet and spinach polenta from VwaV and it didn't come out soft. I kept adding more water and cooking it way longer than Isa said to. However- the sundried tomato pesto that is next to it is AMAZING!!! It tastes like there is parm cheese in it and it's vegan! I also made a stir fry with rice and terriyaki tofu. I freeze my extra firm tofu, thaw andpress, then saute with olive oil in a cast iron pot until crisp. I sprayed the tofu with a little Bragg's aminos before cooking, then I add the sauce when it is crisp. I find even nonveggies will eat and enjoy it this way.

OK- this has been a little long winded. You would think I had been drinking-lol- Sorry TK- haha!

My first week off

I got my classroom all set for summer, and took home lots of Art History stuff to go over for my notes. I spent my first week off being lazy, dating and reading magazines I have had pile up. yay! Can I just say how great VegNews is? Oh, and I go to the gym 6 days a week. I have lost 20 lbs since I left my ex in April, yay!!!

I have been cooking, made a great Ratatouille with steamed brown rice yesterday. Tried out my Cuisinart Griddler and made blueberry pancakes. Then I switched the plates and grilled zucchini with a rosemary lime marinade. I have been going to the local farm market for produce.

Not much else to report for now :)