Field Roast (or: VegFest, Part1)

So we just returned from Seattle's amazing VegFest extravaganza ...and we're dead tired and stuffed to the eyeballs with good and wondrous vegan foods.

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I'll post the entire story tomorrow, but for now, I have to tell you one little anecdote... this TOTALLY made my day. TOTALLY.

We had just walked into the Exhibit Hall and were dealing with the momentary sensory overload of several hundred bright and colorful booths, with 500 different food samples being cooked, eaten, advertised and given away... Wow.

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Then, right in front of us I saw a familiar banner. The FIELD ROAST people. (If you haven't tried their amazing - and vegan - "grain meats" well, you MUST, you absolutely must. Best stuff e-v-e-r!!)

My kids and the friends with us immediately rushed over to their booth for (what else?) free samples! OK, we buy the stuff all the time, you'd think we'd leave some for the poor souls who haven't yet had the privilege of indulging... but oh no... there we were, filling our faces.

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"MMmmm, *snarff*snarff* try the Apple-Sage.. No, the *snorg*snarff* Chipotle is better..."

Flattering. Stuffing our cheeks like chipmunks ...err... sampling all the wondermous sausages (because it's so freakin' GOOD), one of the employees RECOGNIZED my glamorous self and said "You're Tofu Mom! Wait, we have something for you..."

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For me? Wow. Always nice to be recognised with your mouth full, yeah, maybe it's a BIB!...

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At this point, let me say, I'd been harassing the poor Field Roast people on their blog for a few weeks, asking and hoping they'd be at VegFest yet again this year. They couldn't let me down - I mean, I'd told only about 6798789 people that they had to sample Field Roast, even if they tried nothing else the whole day!!

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But, glamorous or not, I was still amazed and surprised they recognised me. So cool!

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Cooler yet, the employee pulled out a Field Roast Tee Shirt. With my "name" on a little sticky on it. (ignore my purse in the background). Look at THAT!

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They'd been saving it there, just for me, with a zillion and twelve other crazy veg people milling around. How very, very SWEET is THAT!?! I was SO excited I may have almost peed my pants.

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My friends teased me about my "celebrity" status, but seriously, that lasted for about thirty seconds...

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The Field Roast peeps though? Made my day. Totally. Lotta love for the Field Roast - YAY!!! Go buy some sausages!!

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(I'd say that even without the tee shirt.) But now I want to stand on a street corner and wave them in the air. And the tee? Well, I WORE it. Duh! Several people asked me if I was an employee. Ha. No. But I have an official (?) shirt, whee. Now I think I'm going to tie-dye it. It's so awesome. Stay tuned.

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Happy Sunday. More VegFest notes tomorrow!!

My Daughter is in Mozambique.

If you've been reading my blog for long, you'll know my older teens usually spend Spring Break on some sort of mission or service trip.

This year is no exception. They definitely have the "travel bug".

My oldest 'Sprout' is with a group of classmates and teachers, in Mozambique, right now for her Spring Break.

They are constructing some buildings and security fences for a clinic near the town of Maputo, I believe.

For whatever reason, Mozambique seems so much FURTHER away than when she's been on previous trips to Ecuador, Peru, etc... (well, yes, I do realize it actually IS further away.)

Fortunately I've recieved a couple newsy e-mails from her and from the group leader, and it sounds like they're having all SORTS of adventures. (The sort that make me old before my time).


Bugs, wild animals, heat stroke, unexpectedly cold weather, flooding, sunburn (yes, my daughter is the burnt offering of the group, I'm so proud), a broken ankle (not her) and police wielding AK-47 rifles searching their bus. *ACK*

"But Mom, we're having so much FUN!"

Here's a few pictures e-mailed from Maputo, Mozambique. Obviously internet communication (or any sort really) is infrequent and limited. Stay tuned though.

If you're the praying sort, keep the group in your prayers.

I'll post a long and picture-filled update when she returns with her stories and three digital-camera memory cards full (so far).

In Which I Whine (Wine) About Easter...

Keep in mind that my children are not vegan.

And as further warning, if you're violently opposed to the celebration of a Christian holiday rich in culture, tradition, pagan ritual and symbolism.... well, my dear reader, today's blog may be a bit much. Otherwise, consider yourself warned, and enjoy.

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Now, it so happens that our church operates a food bank, and every Easter season they ask for volunteers to purchase and dye eggs to go in, and decorate, the Easter Dinner food baskets they distribute to less fortunate families. Our family adopted this as an Easter tradition years ago when the girls were too small to even care about bunnies and chocolates, so it's what we do...

Now right here, many of you will insert the argument that I could supply a vegan substitute like plastic eggs, cookies or those Styrofoam craft eggs. And I certainly could.

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However this is not only a family tradition, but a community service opportunity my kids voluntarily offer to help with; and I'm not going to temper that enthusiasm - they save up their pennies to purchase eggs and dye, and look forward to our egg-dying adventures each year. Plus, the food bank specifically asks for 'real' eggs so who am I to argue. It's the one time every year I'm willing to forgo a vegan kitchen. ..

To my kids' credit, they make sure to buy "cruelty-free" eggs, (which certainly aren't the perfect solution, but hopefully the lesser of many evils involving the poultry business which I won't go into today).

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I will tell you, we're all just as happy we don't have to eat the eggs. Even though they're not vegan, my kids have never liked eggs and I used to always feel bad when Easter rolled around and they wanted to dye eggs that would just languish away in my fridge. This year even the dog made a gagging sound when we tried to offer him one of the cracked failures......

I have to admit, I love the spring colors and the whole simple science of watching a perfectly white egg turn brilliant purple. My 8-year-old discovered the "magic crayon", which, if you've never dyed eggs, is simply a white crayon that writes invisibly on the egg, but resists the dye, magically creating a message when the eggs come out of the dye.

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I know, pretty basic, but so exciting if you're 8-years-old!

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She had a great time creating "secret" messages that appeared on the eggs - mostly about her older siblings and their boyfriends. "Sissy loves Mario" or "Jordan hearts Sissy".

Yeah, I'm not sure how amused they were.

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Then she proudly showed ME the eggs she had thoughtfully created for ME!

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Hmmmm... I'm thinking maybe we won't send those along to the church Easter event.

'Tis true though, it took me several glasses to get through the evening! And wine is Biblical, right? I think so.

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At any rate, a fun time was had by all, the eggs are distributed, my kitchen is once again vegan and the mess is cleaned up.

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I'll leave you with a picture of some of the very pretty and all-vegan Easter goodies I got for my older daughters; they claim to be too old for Easter treats, but I heard no complaints Sunday.

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The box is full of vegan chocolate-hazelnut truffles from Rose City Chocolates, they are heavenly!! (The youngest wanted HOTWHEEL cars in her basket so that's what she got! Easier to find, less sugar and and cheaper too!)

No matter how you choose to celebrate, here's hoping each of you had a great weekend and spent time with your family and those you love.

Barbie's Back!

Shameless
self-promotion
here:




BARBIE IS BACK.
"Back from WHERE" you say? Was she ever gone?


My daughter's blog "Adventures of Veggie Barbie and Carnivore Ken" is back up and running after some computer difficulties, a lost camera and lots of homework getting in the way.

Barbie (and Ken) have lots of new veggie adventures planned, never fear.

Tune in over there when you're bored with my blog. She'd love it.

Asparagus, Asparagus, How I Love Thee...

I LOVE Spring! (I mentioned that already, didn't I?)

One of the reasons I love it? Beautiful, local asparagus is cheap, cheap, cheap right now so I'm taking advantage of the availability of one of my favorite vegetables... and since it's GREEN, I thought it'd be a nice St. Patrick's Day subject. (Sorry, I can't get any more creative than that.)

First though, some fun with vegetables:
AN ASPARAGUS QUIZ

1.) Where was asparagus first grown?
2.) What do asparagus, onions, garlic, leeks, shallots, chives, and yucca have in common?
3.) What famous king had gardeners grow asparagus in greenhouses so he could eat asparagus year round?
4.) What state grows most of the asparagus in the United States? 5.) Ancient Greeks and Romans believed asparagus had what medicinal qualities?
6.) What kind of climate is best for asparagus?
7.) What are the two main varieties of asparagus?
8.) What civilization cultivated asparagus as an offering to the gods?
9.) In what section of this country was asparagus first grown?
10.) The word "asparagus" is derived from what language? What does it mean in that language?
11.) Does asparagus have aphrodisiac qualities?

I'll give you the answers at the end of this post. No prizes, just pride in the knowledge that you know so much about asparagus!

OK, on to the good stuff...
Our favorite method is simply lay the spears on a cookie sheet, drizzling some olive oil over, a sprinkle of sea salt (try a "fancy" salt here like Hawaiian red salt or smoked sea salt... :swoon:!!) and then oven roast until done. Heaven. And SO easy.

Next up, Asparagus with Pasta. They were MADE to go together.
Here's a super-easy one I made the other night, all measurements are approximate:

Asparagus and Rigatoni

4 servings rigatoni, cooked and drained
3 Tbsp olive oil
About a pound of asparagus, nice thin stalks, washed and cut to the same length as the pasta
1 teaspoon lemon juice - FRESH squeezed
fresh grated lemon zest - just a pinch
pinch of red pepper flakes
About a handful of sun-dried tomatoes OR kalamata olives OR roasted red peppers (or a bit of all three), diced
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
toasted nuts like pecans, hazelnuts or pinenuts

It works out well if you start the asparagus cooking at the same time as adding the pasta to the boiling water.
Heat the oil over med-high heat and add asparagus and red pepper flakes. Saute for 5 minutes, until asparagus just begins to brown a bit. Turn the heat down to low and add sun-dried tomatoes, the lemon juice and zest, and the garlic. Once the garlic begins to brown, remove from heat. Toss with pasta and divide between two bowls. Top with toasted nuts and enjoy.

And here's basically a simpler version of the same thing made with linguine instead. And we skipped the sundried tomatoes. Just asparagus, garlic, lemon, red pepper flakes and pasta... I think you can see a theme here.

Eat up. Asparagus is very low in calories and sodium, but offers a a good deal of potassium, Vit. A, folic acid, B vitamins, copper and zinc. It's also one of the best vegetable sources for Vitamin E.

And I didn't forget the quiz answers:
1.) No one knows for sure. We do know it existed in the Mediterranean area in ancient times.
2.) They are all in the lily family.
3.) Louis XIV of France
4.) California (with WASHINGTON a close second, just thought I'd add that).
5.) Helped to prevent bee stings and relieve toothaches.
6.) One where the ground freezes in winter to a depth of two inches or more.
7.) Green and white.
8.) Egyptian.
9.) New England
10.) Greek word meaning "sprout" or "shoot."
11.) Hahaha... All through history asparagus has been trumpeted as an aphrodisiac. A 16th century Arabian love manual gave an asparagus recipe to create a stimulant for amorous desires. In 18th Century France Madame Pompadour had her asparagus concoction for sexual vigor. In his book Food, contemporary writer Waverley Root devotes a section to the sex life of the asparagus.
(Source: Wikipedia; Vegetarians in Paradise; Washington Asparagus Commission)

Spring Flowers and Matzoh-Veggie Soup!

It's finally spring!

We need to celebrate!

Dress up in all our pretty bright Easter-colored clothes ("Oh Mom, do we HAVE to?") and enjoy bouquets of local tulips (this particular one from my sisters) and do some spring-ish sort of cooking.




Here are a couple items I made over the weekend.

I'm not Jewish, and I don't know where I originally learned to cook these things, but my kids love my Matzoh-Ball soup. Well, OK, they love the soup I used to make which traditionally needs eggs to make nice fluffy matzoh-balls.

I've really struggled with veganizing the recipe and still getting the matzoh-balls to turn out anything CLOSE to the "original" but I think we're pretty close here finally. (Of course, even more traditionally those matzoh-balls are cooked in chicken-broth, but obviously THAT part is easy enough to veganize).

Let me also point out that while I am not Jewish, but I do have several friends who are. I was discussing my matzoh-ball-veganization trials and mentioned using tofu. Well, evidently for Ashkenazi members, keeping Kosher at Holidays means no legumes... including tofu. (I've since learned that some rabbis allow tofu for those following vegan and Kosher but I don't really profess to know how all that works exactly.) At any rate, to make things more difficult or maybe just in the interest of a challenge, I decided to try making vegan AND soy-free matzoh-balls! What is wrong with me?

So..... Finally, with a lot of gooey, crumbly trial-and-errors, I think we have a winner. Or maybe at least a fair substitute...

Soy-free, Dairy-free Matzoh Balls

1/2 cup matzoh meal
2 Tbsp potato starch (yes, this is the only thing that works here, I tried other things, don't ask me what else you can substitute, because nothing else worked out for me, but hey - try whatever you want...)
2/3 cup water (minus about 2 tsp.)
1 tsp. oil
pinch (literally JUST a pinch) of baking soda
pinch of onion powder
pinch of salt
pinch of parsley

Mix all the above ingredients together until almost the consistency for rolling into balls.

Like a soft, slightly sticky play-dough, but it can be quite a bit softer, as the dough will absorb liquid as it sits. Add a little more matzoh or liquid if needed for the right texture - and refrigerate for 1/2 hour.

Roll into about 16 small balls and drop into gently boiling vegetable or vegetarian-"chicken" broth or your own choice of homemade broth or any salty, seasoned water.

Turn down heat and simmer gently for 20 minutes.

Remove from water with slotted spoon and bake on an oiled rack (over a cookie sheet) for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees until they start to dry out.

Refrigerate if you're not ready to use.

When ready to use, warm in the oven covered with foil (or in the microwave *gasp*). Add to soup of your choice and serve.

My actual "soup" is nothing fancy - I usually throw a bunch of plain old frozen mixed veggies in some simple vegetarian "chik-flavored" broth and add the matzoh balls. If you leave the matzoh balls in the broth a bit they start to soften which can be good, but too long and they fall apart, but the broth thickens up nicely too. So do whatever you like.

I'll close with a gratuitous food-porn shot of the amazing Garlic Roasted Brussel Sprouts, versions of which have been making the blog rounds lately.

Food Network's Barefoot Contessa makes these in a wonderful way, I was inspired watching her, but I actually used this recipe from Bunnyfoot's blog. Beautiful AND so tasty!!!

I want to swim in this bowl.

So I've been tagged with this little game.
Here's how it works:
I tell you 5 things about myself, then tag 5 other people via their blog. Sounds fun, right??
I was tagged by Michelle over at Tiger The Lion. Here it goes:

1.) I am a serious History buff, my house is filled with shelves of w-a-a-ay too many history books, stories, historical novels and History Channel DVDs.

2.) I am a huge fan of Country Music. (Much to the embarrassment of my teenage offspring).

3.) I am seriously, obsessively in love with the early 90's show "Northern Exposure". I own the entire series on DVD and am watching my way through it for the ... oh... 5th or 6th time. I know every bit of trivia imaginable, can quote far more of the dialogue than I'll admit, I have all the tee-shirts, mugs and so forth - even a cookbook and autographed pictures of my secret heartthrob John Corbett. {{*swoon*}}
I even skipped work a couple times, to stare in star-struck awe as they shot a couple episodes (back in the day...) and since then, have made many a pilgrimage to the little town of Roslyn, WA where the show was filmed, to just be a tourist - OR to attend "Moosefest", the annual gathering of NoEx fans.... (Roslyn's not too far from here, fortunately). Yes, just slightly obsessed...

4.) I just saw the movie trailer and am so psyched!! I can't wait for the next Indiana Jones Movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to come out!

5.) Even though I rarely make reference to it online, I'm a fairly conservative Christian and have been all my life. My church family and my faith are extremely important aspects of my life.

The Rules:
Share 5 facts about yourself.
Tag 5 people.
Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

Creamy Pasta with Asparagus and Mushrooms

Seriously worthless pictures. *kicks camera*.


But I'm posting the recipe because it's totally awesome and I served this Farfalle in Garlic Cream Sauce with Mushrooms and Asparagus to a houseful of omnis this weekend, and it was a huge success.

My Mom kept saying "Would anyone like the VEGAN dish?" as if she really couldn't bring herself to call it Pasta with (rich, decadent) CREAM Sauce, but I'm happy to say, the 'vegan' title didn't scare anyone off.

This is easy, tasty, omni AND vegan-pleasing comfort food at it's best. I still wish the pictures did it's rich, creamy garlicness more justice.


Pasta in Garlic Cream Sauce with Asparagus and Mushrooms

Sauce:
1/2 cup raw cashews (not roasted)
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice (I don't measure, just a good squeeze)
1 cup boiling water
2 cloves garlic (or more to taste)
2 Tbsp. extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup Tofutti Cream Cheeze
1 tsp umeboshi plum vinegar (or rice wine vinegar will be OK)
2 Tb. nutritional yeast (optional)
salt to taste


Soymilk


Pulverize raw cashews in the food processor until very fine powder. Add 1 cup boiling water. (*The BEST way to do this, is to make the sauce while the pasta cooks - scoop out 1 cup of lightly salted pasta-cooking water and use it - the starch from the pasta-cooking water thickens the sauce PERFECTLY!) Add water to cashews and process until smooth... this will take several minutes.


Add the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth and creamy. This will take a while. If it's too thick to process, add soymilk as needed. Taste and add salt or pepper as needed.


Cook enough pasta to go with the sauce. (Different people prefer "less" or "more" sauce depending on their tastes and how creamy they like their casseroles.) Mix sauce with pasta.


While pasta cooks:
Rinse 1 bunch of asparagus, cut the tender parts (not the tough stem ends) into 1 inch pieces.

Cut 10 large button mushrooms in half. Stir fry asparagus and mushrooms in a bit of olive oil until tender but asparagus is still a bit crisp.


Mix vegetables into pasta and sauce. Put pasta and veggies in a baking dish. You can refrigerate at this point until ready to bake.


When you're ready to bake the pasta:

Mix 2 Tbsp. cornstarch with 2 cups soymilk. Mix well with a wire whisk.

Pour over pasta until liquid comes 3/4 up side of dish.
Top with 1/2 cup buttered breadcrumbs.

Cover with foil and bake for 40 min. at 350. Remove foil. If it looks like it's drying out, add more soy milk.

Bake another 15 minutes. If breadcrumbs are not crispy-browned after 15 min. , broil for a few seconds, but watch carefully!


Enjoy, and happy Monday!!

Crockpot (Slowcooker) Cream of Mushroom Soup

Have I mentioned my crock pot lately? Well, yes, I'm a little obsessed with the thing right now; it's been getting an unusual amount of use. Even for as much as I usually use it. We have just been SOOOoooooo busy...

Now, someone informed me that it was not actually a "Crock-pot" but rather a "Slow-cooker"; that crockpot is just a brand name... like Crayola or Band-Aid, but I'm too old for these sorts of sweeping vocabulary changes. I think I'll continue to call it whatever I please.

Crockpot (or Slow-Cooker)
Cream of Mushroom Soup

2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms, whatever kind you prefer
1/2 onion or leek, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp margarine
3 cups vegetable (or vegan mushroom) broth
1/2 cup white wine (optional, just leave it out if you don't cook with wine)
2 tbsp flour
1 cup Tofutti sour cream
1 cup soy milk
salt and pepper to taste

Sautee mushrooms, onion and garlic in the margarine for 3 to 5 minutes, until onions turn soft.
Put the mushrooms, onions and garlic in a crock pot and add the broth.
Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.
Stir the vegan sour cream, the soymilk and flour together until well blended.
Add to crockpot quickly, cover and and cook on high for another 30 minutes, or until soup thickens and bubbles on the edges. Add more salt and pepper to taste if needed.

**The soup really doesn't have a blue-ish tinge. That's the crappy lighting. Sorry.
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I'll close with two pictures of my girls. I LOVE these!
The weather has been sunny and misty and just beautiful between rain showers today. So the girls took their cousin-dog (their Auntie's dog), a beautiful Doberman named Riddick, out for a long walk in the woods. He's such a sweet pup!