Cheating...

So I have been totally cheating on my vegan diet while visiting my mom and brother in St. Louis (I am marinating jerk chicken as we speak) and let me tell you, I feel like CRAP. Crap that has been dipped in crud then rolled over a waterfall in a barrel. Okay, maybe that's a bit extreme, but I definitely don't feel good.

Big Girls' Room Preview

In all honestly, the big girls' room has been finished for weeks now, but because they are "big" girls, it is quite difficult to get a picture of a clean room. So I figured I would share the one picture I have of their little writing/work table. I really will share more pictures as soon as I can get the room clean for more than 30 seconds because it really is cute.

My favorite part of this little area is the turquoise typewriter. It's in perfect condition (they occasionally type little notes for me). I spruced up the cork board with a stencil of Shingai Shoniwa of the Noisettes (the girls favorite band right now). The red drop leaf table was mentioned in one of my very first blog posts, here.

The Kids' Garden

We had our first attempt at a garden last spring and the girls could not wait to start their garden again as soon as the weather warmed up. This year their garden contains potatoes, onions, carrots, lettuce and tomatoes. We planted spinach, but I don't think it gets enough sun, so the plants sprouted and then stopped growing. Last year, we got a good amount of basil and rosemary, but just a few tomatoes. Hopefully we will have a more bountiful harvest this year. The girls love being able to eat food that they've grown.

Oh yeah, we also accidentally "planted" some black beans. Bijou and Zion were playing with a big bowl of dried back beans in the backyard and dumped a bunch in a pot of dirt. A few weeks later, we had a pot of little bean plants.

A Quick and Easy Kid's Gift

A friend of mine has a son who turned six over the weekend and she decided to throw him a little impromptu party at the playground. I, having had four daughters, have absolutely no idea what to get a six year old boy for his birthday. So, I figured I could probably whip something up on the fly before the party. Here's what I came up with.

It was super simple (and free) to make. I just used a Sharpie pen to draw the heads, noses and mouths onto white card stock. I laminated them with some clear contact paper that I had in the craft room. I also cut some mustaches from black craft foam. Then I stuck some magnets (the kind with adhesive on them) to the back of each facial feature (notice the big googly eyes, too). And Voila! Funny face refrigerator magnets! Just tape to head to the fridge and make as many silly faces as you want. Apparently he (and his brothers) are having a grand time making silly faces at home.

Vegan Eating: Week 2

So this is the post where I am supposed to share my menu for the week, but I have yet to create said menu. I did go to the grocery store today and will be forced to create a menu for the week based on what I bought today. Instead of sharing the menu that I failed to create, I will share my shopping list. That way I will still feel like I got to share.

Vegan Shopping List (week 2)

carrots

lettuce

broccoli

eggplant

zucchini

red, yellow, orange peppers

avocado

Brussels sprouts

white, shitaki, portabello (How DO you spell this?) mushrooms

tofu

apples

tangerines

bananas

strawberries

whole wheat tortillas

applesauce (no sugar added)

raisins

triscuits

graham crackers

canned tomatoes

black beans

chic peas

olive oil

sugar (raw)

orange juice

soy, rice, almond milk

cereal

pistachios

walnuts

brown rice

We already had some staples here in the house, so this plus the stuff we already have is what I have to work with this week.

While I am discussing food, I should share that I did cheat on my vegan diet during the week. BUT, in my defense, I was celebrating my fifth anniversary with my hubs in Memphis. We went to our absolute FAVORITE restaurant, Flight. This place makes me want to be access to large amounts of money on a regular basis so that we can eat there more than once a year! I should explain that a "flight" is three small (they're not that small actually) portions of dishes grouped together and paired with three small glasses of wine (I am not a wine drinker so i usually forgo this). This year, for starters I had the seafood flight, which consisted of a portion of tempura Caribbean lobster, two ginormous shrimp with mango/ginger salsa, and four lump crab fritters. YUM! My entree was a flight I created myself. They have the most insanely delicious duck, so I had dick confit over a "hash" of butternut squash and duck. I also had quail stuffed with shrimp and grits, and Maine lobster over shrimp risotto. We were SO stuffed, but I had to get dessert (so we took it to go). I had a mini chocolate cake, vanilla bean creme brulee, and cheesecake with vanilla syrup soak strawberries. I swear, I have never been so happy to eat numerous members of the animal kingdom. I should admit that my stomach was not as happy about the onslaught of meat, cream and sugar as my taste buds were. But if I had to cheat, I am glad that I cheated there. I'll be dreaming of our sixth anniversary dinner for the next year.

Kale Chips

Well, those are two words that I never thought I'd put together. And I never thought I would follow those two words with these words "Oh my god, SO delicious and addicting!" So, yeah, the lady clan and I made kale chips this week. I'd seen them mentioned a few times on vegan blogs and had been curious. I guess my curiosity got the better of me. The girls and I could not stop eating them. I'm sure we've consumed at least five bunches of kale this week alone. "How in the heck do you make a kale chip?" you may be asking yourself. Well they're super simple.

One bunch of kale (or two or three depending on how many you want to make)
a little olive oil
a little red wine vinegar
salt, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne (and/or any other seasoning you like)
nutritional yeast (because I love it).

Pull the kale from the stems and break the leaves into 2 - 3 inch pieces. Toss in olive oil and vinegar. Arrange on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast and seasonings of your choice. Bake at 275 degrees for about 30 minutes or until they are crisp.

That's it. Oh, make sure to put them in an airtight container or zip lock back to store them or they'll get chewy. Not that my kids cared, they ate the chewy ones too.

Vegan Eating, Week One

So, I'm a procrastinator. I know it and will admit it freely. Generally I like to be done planning my weekly menu before the week actually starts, but that didn't happen this time. I just finished the menu today and have to go to the store this afternoon or no one will be eating anything! Alright, here's this week's vegan menu (side note, when I refer to milk it will always be either soy, rice or coconut):

Monday: Breakfast - cinnamon oatmeal with fruit (bananas/apples/raisins), Lunch - ramen (noodles with mushrooms and spinach), Dinner - stir fry (peppers, onions, mushrooms, broccoli) over soba noodles

Tuesday: Breakfast - cereal with banana & milk, Lunch - homemade hummus on toast with carrot stick and apples, Dinner - sauteed mushrooms over couscous and oven roasted asparagus.

Wednesday: Breakfast - millet (cooked, then pureed with almonds, milk, nutmeg and cinnamon), Lunch - PB&J with fruit, BBQ tofu with mac-n-cheese (I'll post a recipe for vegan mac and cheese below) and sauteed green beans

Thursday: Breakfast - cereal with banana & milk, Lunch - leftover BBQ and mac, Dinner - mushroom risotto and broccoli

Friday: Breakfast - Fruit Salad (apples, bananas, raisins, coconut, almonds with a peanut butter sauce...I guess I should post the recipe too), PB&J with fruit, Dinner - red lentils (I'm going to try something fancy with that...I'll post the recipe if it turns out tasty) over rice.

Saturday: Breakfast - smoothie (frozen strawberries, frozen banana, frozen peach, milk, OJ and maple syrup or sugar), Lunch - veggie wraps with hummus, Dinner - black bean burgers and roasted potatoes

Sunday: Breakfast - Oatmeal with fruit, Lunch - leftover black bean burgers, Dinner - Pasta with sauce and veggies, salad.

This menu is not super different from our regular menu, just much less cheese melted on things. I am also eliminating soda (which I am ashamed to say that I have a slight addiction to, but in my defense, I really only have one soda a day, two MAX and probably not even every day). Alright, disclaimer over. On to the recipes.

Vegan Mac-n-Cheese (sauce to pour over whole wheat macaroni, makes enough to feed a family of 6 for dinner and lunch the following day. And these are approximations because I rarely measure anything)

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp flour

2 1/2 cups unsweetened milk (I use soy, but it works with rice or coconut too)

1/2 - 1 cup nutritional yeast (depending on your own taste, I like a lot)

1/2 cup vegetable broth

1 tsp turmeric (it makes it nice and yellow)

1 tbsp mustard

1 tbsp basil

1 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp garlic powder (or you can use fresh garlic, minced)

sea salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add flour, stirring constantly for about a minute (you're making a roux - think that's how you spell that). Slowly add milk (whisking constantly) letting the mixture thicken before adding more milk. Add broth. Stir and simmer over medium low heat to thicken slightly. Whisk in all of the seasonings and spices (there's not order to this, just do it). Last, add the nutritional yeast. Whisk everything until it's smooth and creamy. I just pour the sauce over macaroni and serve, but it can be baked in the oven (in the fashion of baked macaroni).

Peanut Butter Sauce for fruit salad (this also works with cashew or almond butter)

1 cup of peanut butter

1 cup of milk

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 cup (or less depending on how sweet you like it) of maple syrup

Put everything in the blend and blend until smooth. You can add more milk if it's too thick. Pour over fruit salad of diced apples (I like Fuji or granny smith), sliced banana, raisins, almonds (or any other nuts) and unsweetened coconut flakes. It's a very filling breakfast