Back To School

Today, in less than an hour, I have to go back to school. These past two weeks have gone by way, way too fast. Oh well, before I know it I'll be in California!



A few nights ago I made the Tomato-Olive Rice Bake from The Everyday Vegan. I left out the olives because I hate olives and the soy parmesan. It was tasty, but it was too watery and the top didn't brown, even after cooking it longer than it said to. Afterwards, I looked at the recipe and realized that I was supposed to drained the can of tomatoes it called for. Oh well. The next day we had leftovers, and when we reheated it, it wasn't watery anymore. This is definately one of those recipes that taste better the next day.



Last night, I made the Sweet and Simple Grain Pilaf from The Everyday Vegan. This was so easy to make! The recipe itself was flavorful, with lots of spices and sweet raisins. I used millet as the grain. I have never tried millet before. It was okay, but I prefer quinoa. I didn't really like the texture of the millet, it was kind of thick and sticky. But it only takes 20 minutes to cook, less time than brown rice.

Today is my brother's 20th birthday. I can't believe it! Now I'm the only teenager left in the family! Unfortunately, I'm not making him a vegan cake. He wouldn't touch it!

Quinoa and Wild Rice, Black Beans and Rice

A few nights ago, I made Simple Quinoa and Wild Rice Pilaf from The Vegetarian Family Cookbook. However, I made quite a few adjustments. I omitted the bouillion cube, margarine and scallions and instead added a chopped zucchini, a can of pinto beans that needed to be used up, and some cumin(one of my favorite spices), dried rosemary and thyme. Very simple, yet delicious.

Then, I made a Black Beans and Rice recipe I invented. I was great! Here it is topped with some storebought salsa.



And here is the recipe:

Cherry's Black Beans and Rice

Ingredients:

2 cups dry black beans
1 strip kombu
enough water to cook black beans

1 cup long grain brown rice
2 zucchini, chopped
1 ear corn, cut of the cob
2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. chipotle powder
1/2 tsp. paprika

Soak the black beans overnight. Then, in the morning, place the water, black beans and kombu in a crockpot and cook on high for 2 hours. Then, turn to low and continue cooking until the beans are done and the kombu has disintegrated. Or, you can cook it on low all day if you're not going to be home to watch it.

Drain the water from the beans into a glass measuring cup and set the beans in a bowl. Add enough water to the drained bean liquid to make 2.5 cups of liquid. Pour this into a pot, add rice, bring to a boil, and cook for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, chop the zucchini and cut the corn off the cob. After the rice has cooked for 15 minutes, add the corn, zucchini and seasonings and continue cooking until rice is done, about 15-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. When rice is done, add the beans, mix well, and cook for 5 more minutes.

Spanish Rice and Carob Fudge Cake

On Friday night, I made Spanish Rice with Fresh Cilantro from Mother Nature's Garden by Florence Bienenfeld, and Sauteed Green Beans with Mushrooms from VwaV. One of my mom's coworkers brought vegetables from his garden to work to share, so my mom took some of his green beans. I didn't know what to do with them, so we decided to make the green beans and mushrooms because we also had some mushrooms. I just left out the wine and used more vegetable broth. Both dishes were pretty good.




On Friday I also baked this Carob Fudge Cake from the All Creatures website. Oh my god... this cake is so delicious! It tastes like it is so bad for you! But guess what? It's not! It has no refined sugar, oil or white flour! It's sweetened with bananas and dates, and the only fat comes from the peanut butter in the frosting. The only bad thing about it is that it's very hard to stop eating it! I finished it this morning. Fortunately I didn't eat the whole thing myself! I had help from my parents, who thoughly enjoyed it. If you make it, only make half of the frosting though. I only had about 3/4 cup of carob powder, so I only made half the frosting, and there was plenty of frosting. I'm glad I didn't make the full amount because that would have been way too much! I didn't get a picture of the inside of the cake after it was cut because my camera suddenly stopped working correctly, but there's a picture on the All Creatures website.

Banana Bread and Stuffed Pattypan Squash

Remember those bananas? Well, yesterday we had a few left (about 10 or so), so I stuck some in the freezer and used the rest for this banana bread because there was no way they were going to make it any longer without fermenting. So, I made the Banana Bread from the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book, using agave nectar for the sugar/honey called for. The result was out of this world! It was so moist and sweet, and had a lovely aroma!




And then for dinner tonight I stuffed the pattypan squash I got at the farmer's market on Saturday. I used Susan's recipe as a guide. However, instead of using her stuffing, I stuffed it with Kieran's Favorite Rice from How it All Vegan, which is a great big, messy but tasty mixture of rice, vegetables, beans, seasonings and tofu, and added in some of the scooped out squash. Here it is with the flesh scooped out and ready for the stuffing:

Now with the stuffing, before baking:

And here it is after baking:


It came out really tasty! I really enjoyed the squash itself, and the filling was great too. Happy Fourth of July everyone!

No, I didn't give up on this blog...

I've just been really busy as well as lazy these last few months. Now there's so much to blog about! I worked really hard this last semester, but it really paid off! I finished the school year with excellent grades in all of my classes and completed my service hour requirements for NHS. In UIL, I made it to district and regional and came so close to making state in Science. At district, I got 5th place in Calculator and 2nd in Science, and at Regional, I got 5th in Science. If I had just got to 3rd place, I could have gone to state! Oh well, next year I will surely go to state! I also took three AP tests. I haven't gotten the scores yet, but I feel pretty confident that I did well, especially in Chemistry.

I have been out of school since May 25th. A few days after school ended, my parents, my oldest brother and I went on a three week long vacation to the Washington/Oregon area. My other brother stayed home with the animals. Not that he minded- he hates vacations! Too much driving! It was great, and I literally have hundreds of pictures, which I will probably post some of tomorrow. We saw Seattle, Portland, Olympic National Park, Orcas Island, and numerous beaches. It was a great vacation, but maybe it was a little too long. By the end we were all getting on each other's nerves.

Then, I came back to Texas. It has been raining and raining and raining ever since I came back! When my dad and I went to volunteer at the humane society today to find out that the dog area had flood with a foot of water last night! At least the rain has kept it much cooler than usual though. The highs have been only in the 80's since we came back, which is very unusual.

Also, guess what else? In April, my parents went vegetarian! They did this in honor of my 17th birthday and have been vegetarian even since! Unfortunately, they are not vegan. I honestly don't think my mother could ever be vegan. She really enjoys chocolate and candy and store-bought baked goods, as well as cheese, and doesn't like soy milk on her cereal. My dad might be able to though. Just have to wait and see...

I've recently bough three vegan cookbooks: Vegan with a Vengence, The Everyday Vegan, and Vegan Lunchbox! I also checked out six cookbooks from the library, so be prepared to see a lot of recipes from cookbooks in the next few weeks. Here are three recipes I have made over the last few days:

First up, Red Curry Vegetable Stir-Fry from Real Vegetarian Thai by Nancie McDermott.





Very good and very spicy. Tofu, green beans, japanese eggplant, basil, red pepper, curry paste. I also added add handful of bean sprouts, though it was not called for in the original recipe. Served with steamed kale.

Next, Auntie Bonnie's Lively Lentil Stew from How it All Vegan! by Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer.



This soup is really delicious. I really like lentil soups, and this one was no exception! I used several handfuls of spinach, rather than the half cup called for, and added in a few green beans we had layng around in the fridge.

And last but not least.... Lentils Rice Balls with Sneaky Momma's Tomato Sauce from Vegan Lunch Box by Jennifer McCann.



These balls came together so well. They were easy to form and held their shape so well. And they were so delicious. The sauce was so flavorful! I used a can of crushed tomatoes instead of the tomato paste and whole canned tomatoes called for. I served the Lentil-rice Balls and Tomato Sauce along with some steamed broccoli for a lovely, delicious meal.

Well, I guess that's all for now. I will post tomorrow with more about the vacation as well as a delicious recipe.