What's Been Cookin'

Banana Oat Pancakes topped with strawberries. I make these quite often but wanted to post this pic because I ended up making the oat flour from scratch. It's very simple ... just use regular rolled oats, place it in the food processor and grind. Voila! Homemade oat flour!


Grilling up some veggies. My MIL brought over some green(!) & purple eggplant ... I'm now obsessed. Yum! Yum! These grilled veggies include eggplant, summer squash, zuchinni, butternut squash & onions.


Garlic Sesame Soba Noodles ... I just used regular mushrooms instead of Oyster Mushrooms ... just as tasty I think.


I made these cupcakes for AAH's birthday. They are a white cake with fudge chocolate frosting. ("My Favorite Cupcakes" from The Kind Diet).


Tofu Stir Fry with Soba Noodles. OMG! Sooooo good! I got this recipe from my friend Sarah, who found it in her P90X recipes. It is one of my favorite dishes I've made so far. The recipe only calls for broccoli & onions but I added eggplant (new favorite!), squash & mushrooms. Delicious!


What is a post without an adorable shot of my boy, Joey? Look at that face!


Can I have some more mom?


The new planter box that AAH made for me ... just filled it today with Basil, Cilantro, Parsley & Mint.


Mint.

Mommas

I am on full alert. My madre is coming into town in two days and I want (must/need) to make sure everything is perfect for her. She's been reading my blog and looking at all the pictures of my food and new found love for cooking ... so I hope I live up to her culinary expectations! My mom has done so much for me over the years ... I hope the least I can do is make her a decent meal or two. XOXO mama ~ wo ai ni!


Sicilian Collard Greens (The Kind Diet). I made the Superhero version with shoyu & pumpkin seeds & served it over brown rice.


Baked Plaintains ... topped with cinnamon & a bit of sea salt. So good!


Fried Udon Noodles (The Kind Diet). I added broccoli & mushrooms to the recipe.


Clean, Mean Burritos (The Kind Diet).


Banana Oat Pancakes topped with Red Raspberries. OMG.

Speaking of mommas ... Mother's Day brunch was vegan and delicious! I made spring rolls, my mother-in-law made fruit salad and my sister-in-law brought vegan red velvet cake! It was lovely and not a single animal was harmed for our celebration. Yay!


Spring Rolls & Fruit Salad.


Vegan Red Velvet Cake from Alcove.


Me, my MIL, my SIL and future nephew.

Vegan Treats & Lentil Stew

Last night my husband and I went downtown to attend Art Walk with some friends. It was our first time and I had such a blast! There was a bit of art involved but it was definitely the food that made the event!! The streets were lined with super trendy truck vendors and we all enjoyed some good eats. For those of you questioning if you can splurge on fun foods while vegan ... feast your eyes on this!


Veg Chili Fries (sweet potato) w/ Daiya Cheese.

The consensus on my vegan chili fries was that they were tastier than the regular chili fries. How 'bout them apples? If you are heading to Art Walk in future months, you can get these fries at the Frysmith truck.

Later in the evening we stopped at Babycakes to pick up some vegan treats. I forgot to take pictures of the actual cupcakes, I was too eager to dig in. But trust me, they are to. die. for. My mouth is watering just thinking about them. We picked up a vanilla cupcake (for me), a carrot cake cupcake (for my husband) and a Caramel Coconut Doughnut to share. All vegan. No dairy, eggs or sugar in the entire bakery. Amazing!


Babycakes storefront.


Doesn't get better than this!

Today's eats included:

Brunch: Banana Oat Pancakes & Smart Bacon
Lunch: Quinoa Loaf w/ tofu cream & a pomelo
Dinner: Sweet Potato-Lentil Stew & a big salad
Dessert: Caramel Coconut Doughnut from Babycakes


Banana Oat Pancakes & Smart Bacon


Sweet Potato-Lentil Stew

Sweet Potato-Lentil Stew (from The Kind Diet)

1/4 cup safflower oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 small tomatoes, diced
1 tspn minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 tspns turmeric
1 tspn cumin
1 tspn ground coriander
1/2 tspn ground cinnamon
1/8 tspn cayenne
fine sea salt
2-3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled & cut into 3/4" cubes
7 cups vegetable broth
1 cup brown lentils

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, deep pot. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes or until the onion starts to soften. Stir in the tomatoes & ginger, cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the turmeric, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cayenne, and a small pinch of salt. Cook & stir for 2 minutes, then taste for seasonings, try to use only enough salt to heighten the flavors.

Add the sweet potatoes, broth & lentils. Stir well, and bring to a boil over high heat. When the mixture comes to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 40 mins or until the lentils & sweet potatoes are soft.

Enjoy!