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Cherry-Almond Muffins, Mint Pesto Rice w/ Fava Beans

Rice & Spice/Vegan With a Vengeance/Extra-Vegan-Za

The muffins are pretty good, not my favorite, from VWaV. I used dried cherries instead of fresh and added teff and oat flours.

The mint pesto rice with fava beans is a repeat, but this time I served it with lemon sesame kale from Extra-Vegan-Za and peas with pearl onions. The kale is going to be a fave way to prepare it from now on! The crispy sesame seeds on top really make a nice texture. Dinner was gluten-free; the muffins are not.

Let's see if I can get this picture to work...I might give up eventually!

...No Pics

I even started a new blog to see if something was wrong with this one, and the new blog's pictures wouldn't upload, either.

Pesto Penne, Lemon-Herb Tofu, Steamed Broccoli

Vive Le Vegan!

My last picture wouldn't upload for the life of me (two days of trying), so I hope this one works.

I am using up more local, organic produce here: the basil. The pesto has basil, hemp nuts, pine nuts, garlic, flax oil, hempseed oil, and extra-virgin olive oil. I used about half water, too, to reduce the fat content, since the sun-dried tomatoes were oil-cured. Brown rice pasta was used.

The Lemon-Basil Tofu is a great recipe from Vive. The flavor combos are delicious, the only problem being that the tofu wasn't quite as firm as I would have liked. That has nothing to do with the recipe, though.

gluten-free

{Note: Okay, none of my pictures are uploading, must be a blogger problem}

Salsa Verde & Other Local Goods

Vegetarian Table: Mexico

Using up some tomatillos, red tomatoes, onions, and bi-color corn! The salsa was from the cookbook listed above and pretty flavorful, but the red tomatoes really took it to new heights!

Has anyone ever heard of the term "chuck," meaning to chuck (de-husk) corn? I can't stop giggling at the term...

gluten-free

{Note: This picture is not uploading...}

Millet Burgers & Oven Fries

Complete Vegetarian Kitchen

Do try these millet burgers! They hold together well, have a great flavor, can be made wheat- or gluten-free, and use on-hand ingredients: millet, carrots, sunflower seeds, flour, and spices. We topped ours with Vegan Gourmet cheddar, lettuce, tomato, onion, avocado, and ketchup drizzled with flax oil. The buns are store-bought spelt (Rudi's Organic). They were a little dry, but I sprayed each side with olive oil and then toasted in the oven. The oven fries are also store-bought organic. Such an easy dinner - just needed some planning for the millet to cook and cool.

wheat-free

Blueberry Rice Squares

Sweetened with merely maple syrup and brown rice syrup, these goodies are a healthy breakfast item. Admittedly, they fall apart more easily than marshmallow rice crispy squares but I like them nonetheless. As stated in the noodles with seitan post, they are fortified with vitamin B-12, calcium, and magnesium.

gluten-free

Noodles with Seitan, Sweet Garlic Bok Choy

Complete Vegetarian Kitchen/Juice for Life

I'm not trying to trick anyone(!), but this is dinner for tomorrow, not tonight. Rich will be away at a very unhealthy event, the state fair, so I wanted to make sure he had some nutritious food to eat.

The noodles with seitan are an easy recipe from Complete, with only a few ingredients: garlic, ginger, scallions, seitan, toasted sesame oil, and the noodles. The meal really comes together with bok choy! I made the garlic dipping sauce from Juice but with less sugar and no hot sauce, trying to copy the Asian style garlicky bok choy you get in restaurants. Everything turned out great. :D

I made some hazelnut milk and blueberry crispy breakfast squares as well; I'll try to get a picture later. Both are fortified with B-12, calcium, and magnesium. MOOOVE over, Special K!

contains wheat

Gnocchi w/ Sage, Rosemary, and Almonds/Brownie Sundae

Cooking Gluten-Free! (for both)(omnivorous)

This was admittedly my first gnocchi experience. I found shaping them and freezing them quite easy. Boiling wasn't bad, either. Then when I was to pan-fry them afterwards with the almonds, garlic, rosemary, parsley, and sage, I got a bit nervous about the little doughs falling apart. They seemed fine; I just didn't toss them around a lot. The garnish is a spicy tomato salad and lemon wedge. VERY tasty dish, indeed!

The brownie - what can I say?!! It was a pretty easy to make. They're supposed to be chewy but I would describe them as creamy on the inside, crispy on the outside. We also had a raspberry syrup sweetened with stevia, Soy Delicious Purely Decadent Vanilla, chopped peanuts, and Soyatoo whipped cream. Yum!

gluten-free

Thai Bean Cakes, Fried Rice, and Peach-Blueberry Compote

Rice & Spice, New Vegetarian Cooking (x2)

I didn't get home until almost 7:00 today, so time was short and I was super hungry. You can tell I took the pictures on top of the washer. ;) I like how the peach blueberry one I chose turned out; it looks like you can reach out and touch the fruit or sneak in a slurp of whipped cream.

The Rice & Spice dish is a repeat, the Thai Fried Rice, only this time I used broccoli as the vegetable, with great results, just as last time. I also added tofu because I think it adds a good texture.

The Thai Bean Cakes are made from cannellini beans, red curry paste, cilantro, green onion, and chickpea flour, served with lime wedges and a roasted red pepper garnish. I liked these cakes. They were pretty easy (the food processor did the work!) and a bit spicy, mellowed by the lime juice.

As for the peach-blueberry dish, how's this for easy: 2 c. blueberries, 4 T. apple juice concentrate, 4 sliced peaches, simmered for 5-10 min.? So good, too! I had been waiting for some organic peaches; these did not disappoint.

Unfortunately, I ate so late that there's no room for exercise tonight before bed. I've been trying to take a day off here and there every 12 days or so anyway. I guess today is best for that.

gluten-free

Molasses Baked Beans, Apricot-Pistachio Quinoa Pilaf

Vive Le Vegan!/New Vegetarian Cuisine

As an appetizer (not pictured), we had buckwheat bread with rosemary-infused olive oil.

The baked beans are from Vive Le Vegan! Sadly, I halved the recipe and I'm wishing I hadn't! I hadn't had baked beans in over 3 years; there were better than I remembered them. Healthy, too.

The quinoa pilaf is from New Vegetarian Cuisine, with apricots, cilantro, and toasted pistachios. It was flavorful, especially with a bite of the beans on the spoon.

The other two items are corn on the cob brushed with an Earth Balance & flax oil mixture and baked zucchini crusted with nutritional yeast.

gluten-free