Happy Birthday Abigail

I made a very involved gift for a friend's daughter who's having a birthday party tomorrow. She's turning 1. I pulled out my never fail Olive doll from Wee Wonderfuls but I decided to use yarn for her hair to change it up. I also made a little skirt out of some lovely fabric I found at the quilt store here in town (pictured above). I made the dress for the doll out of the same fabric since I had a yard of it. Then I decided to either make a bib or a doll quilt with the rest. Of course I settled on the doll quilt. It's so beautiful I really wish I had made one for Ayla. At the last minute I decided to make a bag to put all of it in and appliquéd an 'A' on the front of it. I'm very pleased with how it all turned out. I've promised myself that I'll make something for Ayla next. Well there is a little boy who's also having a birthday in the next week or so. So maybe she'll be after that, we'll see!

I made some seitan kebabs the other night from a recipe I got online from I don't know where. My recipes are all printed out and thrown about haphazardly unfortunately. I slathered on some bbq sauce and threw them on the grill. I paired it with Vegan Dad's famous creamy mac and cheeze recipe except I decided to bake it at the last minute and threw on some Panko bread crumbs on the top.

On the grill...

A few random things

Yesterday I went grocery shopping and got a bag of organic apples for cheap because they were seriously over ripe. They smelled really sweet and so I immediately thought 'apple sauce'. I brought them home cored and peeled them then tossed them in the oven with a sprinkling of cinnamon. When they were done 10 mins later I tossed it all in the food processor and it was done. If you've never had homemade applesauce then you just don't know what you're missing. I didn't have to sweeten it at all because the apples were so ripe. That was the key. And the cinnamon just hit the spot. You could also put ground ginger, nutmeg, all spice, or whatever spice suits your fancy with apples. I tried to take a picture but the lighting in this house is beyond horrible. Not even my wonderful Canon can cope with it and I'm not at the phase where I set up elaborate lighting and mirror schemes for my blog pictures.

I made the mushroom risotto from Everyday Vegan paired with the Seitan Ribz from Fat-Free Vegan and a side of steamed green beans. Very good dinner indeed. And of course I had the applesauce for dessert.

I started getting back into the sewing mood lately as you know. I'm making a gift for a friend's daughter that is turning one next week Sunday so look for that in the next few days. I made a new cover for my ironing board because the old one was badly stained and gross looking. I followed the directions from the U-handbag blog that I stumbled upon yesterday. I also decided to make a cover for my sewing machine while I was at it. I still have to do the one for the Serger when I get another spare moment. I know it's a bit bold in pattern but it was the only fabric I had enough of to make a cover for both the ironing board and the sewing machines. It's actually growing on me every time I look at it.

I'm really itching to make another quilt. I'm thinking another lap quilt. Something that I can use upstairs when I'm snuggling down to a good book on the sofa. I've been eying some of the postage stamp quilts out there in blog land so I think that's where I'm headed. Something no brainer and easy.

A long time coming

First off I have to give a big congrats to the Americans out there for electing their new president Barack Obama. I must say that I'm super thrilled by the outcome and so grateful that I'm able to witness history in the making. I can only imagine what it must be like living south of the border at a time like this. A change has definitely come to America. I can't wait to see what's in store for the next four years.

In an attempt to get back into the sewing room I'm kicking off this holiday season with making newborn hats for a project that Amanda started on her amazing blog soulemama. It's my favorite family oriented blog and I can't get enough of all the great ideas she has and puts out there. This newest idea is nothing short of fabulous. You can check out the details at Mama to Mama.

I'm also thinking long and hard on what I want to get for Ayla and Alex this year. It's going to be a tight year money wise for us and I'd imagine a lot of people out there, so I'm trying to be as frugal and conscious as I can. I definitely must put a handmade spin on it so we'll see. I might even end up doing Etsy this year because I don't think I'll be sewing much. I really don't know what's gotten into me in the sewing department. Maybe I'm just suffering from some kind of burnout.

Yesterday night I made souvlaki for dinner with a homemade vegan tzatziki. I can't remember where I got the recipe. I want to say Vegan Dad but I'm not 100% sure. Anyway, it was Amazing, with a capital A. Especially the tzatziki! This is not the first time I've made it and again it just blew me away. I'm going to try to find out where I got the recipe from and post the link here because you've just got to make this. Even if it's just for dipping purposes because that would work too. I found some Yves veggie skewers at the grocery and decided to try them out in the souvlaki, again this wasn't the first time buying them but they said the taste had 'improved' from the last time I bought them so I decided to give it a try. The first time I bought them they weren't all that good, but this time I have to say they really did improve the flavor and texture. I baked them in the oven this time and they came out perfectly.

Tonight we had the famous General Tao's tofu from Vegweb. I made it with the deep fried tofu that I found at my grocery instead of frying up my own. Turned out perfectly. This is definitely a general tao recipe worth holding on to. I like trying out different ones though just to see how the flavor changes subtly.

Update: It was Vegan Dad who had posted the tzatziki recipe! Here's the link to the recipe, hope you try it out it's really really good!

:: 29 ::

Tonight was much better in the dinner making department. Ayla was very cooperative (ie. entertaining herself while I got dinner prepared) and so I got more done than I anticipated. Well it doesn't look like much but I had the idea to make something with chick peas tonight and this is what came of it. I was rifling thru my Jamaican cookbook and came across a curry recipe that I knew would go perfect with chick peas and potatoes. I didn't feel for having rice again so I decided to make some roti, which is a type of Indian flat bread for those wondering. I did make curried chick peas some weeks ago and I do remember saying that I would never use another recipe for it because it was that good. But I didn't have any more coriander seeds and that was one of the main ingredients for that curry. So this one that I found made perfect use of the spices I did have while not compromising the taste one bit. Definitely a two thumbs up for this dinner tonight. Especially the roti, I can't believe I made it myself it's so good. I wish I had doubled the recipe instead of halved it!

Hmm, I can't decide which picture I like best so I'll leave both :)

:: 28 ::

I haven't really been feeling up to posting to the blog lately. I guess I'll be kind of glad when Vegan MoFo is over because I hate feeling tied to an obligation. I know it's supposed to be for fun and what not but I still feel that pull like it's something I signed on to do and therefore 'have' to finish if that makes sense. In any case I'll feel a bit more liberated once it's all over and done with. For the last few nights we haven't made anything spectacular. Mostly veggie dogs, salads and leftovers. Not much has been very blog worthy. Tonight I had some cauliflower and broccoli to use up so I found a recipe that used just that. I also happened to have the dried shiitake mushrooms on hand that the recipe called for and I decided to throw in some almonds at the last minute. It turned out pretty good although it's not very photogenic.

I think I'll go make another batch of Isa's pumpkin cookies to cheer me up. I made some this weekend and well needless to say they've all been eaten off.

:: 24 ::

We couldn't decide what to make for dinner tonight (as usual) so I said 'why not have breakfast for dinner?' And that was that. I tried the tofu scramble that Vegan Dad had posted about a few days/weeks ago. It was the best tofu scramble I've ever made. I think I'll be using this recipe from here on out. It uncannily resembles scrambled eggs but that's about as close as it gets. This tastes way better than scrambled eggs ever did. We had it with some veggie breakfast patties, some hash browned potatoes and slices of tomatoes. I also found some great ciabatta buns at the grocery the other day that were vegan (surprisingly). In all it was an excellent breakfast dinner. It's actually kind of good this way because I don't seem to be posting very many breakfast or lunch meals since starting this whole Vegan MoFo thing.

PS. I don't think I've ever made a Vegan Dad recipe that I didn't like. I highly recommend checking out his blog if you're ever in a cooking rut.

:: 23 ::

I realize that my daily posts are becoming dodgy but yesterday we weren't home for dinner so there was no official dinner. I ended up having a bowl of cereal. It's a slippery slope I tell you! But then there's Alex to save us from our unhealthy rut tonight with a truly amazing dinner. Really I can't rave enough about it, it was just fantastic! Unfortunately it was a 'freestyle' as we like to call it and so there's no recipe. As you can tell he's not very on the ball on handing out recipes. I must really squeeze this one out of him because I don't want it lost to the recesses of his mind because it must be made again. I forgot what he said he was trying to accomplish with this meal, but it's basically broccoli and an amazingly marinated tofu all stir fried together. We had this over some steamed jasmine rice. Parfait!

And did I mention he took the picture this time? Lookin' real good.

When the cat's away the mice will play and Vegan MoFo #21

First up my dinner tonight for Vegan MoFo. I can't believe 21 days have already shot by! Before I show dinner, I must confess that this is a poor way to be showing anyone how vegans eat on a regular basis. I mean I can clearly remember us having fries maybe 3 days ago for dinner (ok maybe 5 but still). So there's no excuse for us to have them again.

But there you have it, Alex felt like making burgers for dinner tonight and well everyone knows nothing goes better with a burger than fries. This time we didn't even have the green salad to balance it out. Yikes! But it was oh so delicious all the same. Alex even commented that it might have been the best burger he's ever had. Maybe we'll have better luck tomorrow in the health department.

We put onions and mushrooms that are lightly fried on them. Ever since discovering this one little thing we've never had a burger that didn't taste perfect. It's that 'je ne sais quoi' (I don't know what) flavor it imparts.

And now onto the best part of this post. So while I go to work in the daytime, Alex is left at home to care for our darling daughter, Ayla. But what do we have here, stashed on my camera?

Yes, that's right, Ayla playing Rock Band drums. And from her highchair no less! These pictures seriously had me cracking up. So the 'mice' were in full play mode while the 'cat' was indeed away. ;)

:: 20 ::

I should mention here that Alex and I love Asian food. You'll usually find at least two or three times a week we're eating something Asian related. So it should come as no surprise that we had another stir-fry type dish for dinner tonight.

His favorite, Singapore noodles, made with soy sauce and curry powder. It's also usually served with bbq pork and what ever kinds of veggies you want to throw in. Obviously we're not into the killing of any innocent pigs so we subbed in some fried tofu. It's really been a clean out the fridge kind of week around here so the pickings are getting really slim. I can tell you all from now that I have no idea what I'll come up with tomorrow night. Tonight was challenging enough for me as it is! I have to say signing up for this Vegan MoFo has got me worried about pulling crap out of the kitchen when I'm feeling so lazy. I really need to start thinking more about kitchen appliances. ;)

:: 18 ::

Somehow the day ran away with me yesterday and I didn't get around to posting. In any case we had leftovers so there wasn't much to blog about. I guess I could have talked about my favorite kitchen appliance (which is my hand blender by the way) but I got home late from work and wasn't really up to it.

Tonight, I wanted something fast and requiring very little effort on my part, so I tried to make the Chickpea and Quinoa Pilaf from Vcon, except I didn't have any more quinoa! I had already started chopping up stuff by the time I realized this so I had to improvise. I have a lot of brown rice in this house in many various forms so I decided to use up some of that. It turned out brilliantly! The only thing is I wasn't too sure how much water to put. I usually use my rice cooker to make rice and so doing it on the stove always gets me a little stumped. In the end the water didn't all evaporate and I'm not certain it was supposed to because this is my first time making pilaf. I'm sure if there are any leftovers it will be a perfect consistency tomorrow. I had a salad with it afterwards which is not pictured. I'll definitely make this again, I love the taste of coriander seeds and cumin together, yum!

:: 16 ::

Tonight was Alex's night to prepare dinner again. This time he was craving a sandwich similar to the one I made us a few weeks ago.He's been craving one for a couple of weeks now but we don't get that Tofurky sandwich meat here. We decided to try it with the Yves veggie ham instead. It worked out wonderfully and tasted just as great as the last time. This time I forgot to buy some more cucumber so I subbed in some chopped green onions for the crunch factor instead. We paired it with a mixed greens salad drizzled with a simple dijon vinaigrette I whipped up and some homemade fries. A very nice end to a pretty busy day. Sorry that the sandwich picture isn't clearer. I was just too hungry to be fussing around with the camera.

I've had a request for the recipe for the Sheperd's pie we had for dinner yesterday. I'll have to ask Alex and post about it next time.

::14 ::

Tonight was a rushed night. Interestingly enough we didn't have much left overs from Thanksgiving dinner. I've never been one to love leftovers so I usually make just enough for one or two meals. Sometimes if there is a lot of leftovers I find myself being the only one eating it or I freeze it then forget about it and end up throwing it out with my annual freezer cleaning binges. Well maybe it's not annual but whenever the mood strikes me. And speaking of freezers, I've been tagged by Bex from How to Feed a Vegan to show what's in my vegan freezer. I actually have two freezers a deep freeze and the smaller fridge one. I'll have to get to that post tomorrow as it's pretty late and I'm not up to rummaging in two freezers at the moment. So instead, I'll give you tonight's hurried dinner.

I bought a bag of frozen veggies, Asian stir fry style, for those nights when you just want to throw something together. Some people buy canned or boxed food I buy frozen veggies, what are you gonna do. I thought about mixing them with tofu but I wasn't feeling in the mood for opening a new pack to use in a 'rushed' meal so I threw in a handful or two of cashews that I also have stashed in my deep freezer. Mixed that up with some rice noodles and a premade sweet chili sauce and you have dinner. I know it's very similar to what I just made a few days ago with the hot and sweet tofu but dang was it ever good. I have to say for freezer veggies I was expecting that they wouldn't be too good, but I was pleasantly surprised. I actually saved some for Alex to have when he gets home later tonight from work but I think these leftovers are calling my name.

:: 13 ::

Yesterday was quite the night for all of us. Ayla was up for more than 12 hours straight with a horrible head cold and painful gas to boot. We finally got her to bed at 3:30am but then she would sleep for 1 hour then wake up for another 15 minutes of intense crying. Let's just say Alex and I were completely tuckered out for the whole day today. However, that didn't stop me from going ahead with our scheduled Thanksgiving day menu. Oh yea, it's Thanksgiving here in Canada. Happy Thanksgiving!

I made the simple seitan from Veganomicon based on the recipe that Isa posted the other day on the PPK (ie. she replaced the nooch for chickpea flour and breaded it with panko for frying). I decided to pair that with some homemade cranberry sauce, baked potatoes (sweet and regular), a mixed greens salad and some baked apples drizzled in maple syrup and a few dashes of soy sauce. I must say that it was an amazing meal to end the day. But the best part came with dessert. I made my first apple pie and it didn't disappoint! I used this recipe from allrecipes.com and a pie crust recipe from a fellow vegan blogger who's blog and name completely escapes me. In any case, this was the best pie I've ever had! The crumb topping was so good that I'm drooling and thinking of another piece as I write this. So anyway, all in all we had a very peaceful and fulfilling day.

One last thing, lately Ayla and I have been going on walks whenever we get the chance. That usually means whenever she climbs the stairs and starts pulling down all the shoes off the rack and trying to open the front door. In any case, the other day we were out for our walk and she tripped and fell on her face, on the sidewalk. I have to say, I must have some bad luck when it comes to watching her. She's constantly falling on her face! I must seem like the world's most negligent mother. Needless to say I think I'll just keep her away from public places till this one clears up...

:: 11 ::

Tonight I wanted to make something that was going to be just as tasty as yesterday's meal. I think I hit the spot with this one. I used the recipe for the Sweet & Hot Tofu that Vegan Dad blogged about a couple of weeks ago. I knew the minute I saw it that I would have to make it. It took me long enough to get around to it. But damn was it ever worth it! If you have not given this recipe a try then you seriously do not know what you are missing. I paired it with those chow mein egg type noodles (without eggs!) and some baby bok choy. I'm giving you 'pot' shots as I didn't take any pictures after it was all dished out.

I also made the Vegan Genoise Cake from Nonna's Italian Kitchen for dessert. I've been looking everywhere for a light sponge type vegan cake recipe not realizing that I've been sitting on one the whole time. I haven't tried it yet but just taking it out of the pan it felt really light and fluffy. I can't wait till it cools enough for me to dig in. I thought about icing it with something but I think I'll just have it plain with some fruit. Yum!

So I'm thinking about heading back into the sewing room to make something, anything. But I'm not sure what. I keep umming and uhhing the whole thing and usually just end up leaving empty handed. I think I might make something for Ayla, that way I'll be starting small while getting myself back in the groove.

I'm also thinking about changing the name of this blog. I didn't realize that after I had created it there was someone out there with the blog name A Crafy Vegan. I hadn't thought of putting 'A' before 'Crafty Vegan' when I was searching out blog names. So stay tuned for that as well.

:: 10 ::

Day 10 of Vegan MoFo. Alex pointed out to me today that MoFo means something entirely different than 'month of food'. Well I don't make the acronyms now do I so I cannot be held responsible for the double entendres. In any case, I was feeling a bit adventurous today and decided to have a little japanese night with miso soup, veggie spring rolls and sushi. It all turned out so wonderfully. As we were eating we remarked that it felt as if we had ordered take out. We'll definitely have to make this again soon. It turned out to be much easier to roll the sushi rolls than I thought it would be. Ayla even enjoyed her share by picking out and eating the veggies in the middle. The rolls have carrots, cucumbers, green onions, tofu and shiitake mushrooms in the middle.