So There Bryan! Olé!

.
.
.

.


.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
My VIP pass still hasn't come. Well Bryan, actions speak louder than words. I'm not going to be sitting around waiting for you. I've been busy cooking instead.

Chocolate always helps. Dreena's Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies are great therapy.





















I had some bananas that I had bought specifically to bake with. They'd sat around for a week and were nice and ripe. I used them to make Banana-Date-Walnut Muffins from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen, but minus the dates. I just wanted the nuts. You can find the recipe here.

One night for a snack, we had nachos.














.

.

.

.

On the side we had salsa and I made some guacamole to go with it because what are nachos without the guac?

Some argue that tomatoes aren't to be added, but we like a little bit of tomato in ours. I don't know why I don't make this more often. It's a snap to make and takes all of 5 minutes max. We gobble it up and practically lick the bowl clean.

Continuing a bit on the Mexican theme - I was watching Barefoot Contessa (which I love by the way), and she made Tequila Lime Chicken that I knew I could make using Quorn.

It turned out delicious! There was a little bit of a bite to it from the jalapeno peppers and the flavours were divine. To go along with it I made some rice & beans.

I highly doubt this is very authentic, but it was tasty. I had some cooked rice, added kidney beans, some sauteed celery & onions along with some canned chilies, tomato sauce, chili powder & some spices. Then I baked it in the oven so the flavours could meld together.

On the side, another serving of Lemon-Broiled Green Beans from ED&BV. To drink, we kept with the Mexican flavour and had margaritas. I took a picture, but it didn't turn out that great, so you can use your imagination.

For dessert, I went to the Barefoot Contessa again and made Blueberry Crumb Cake. I didn't make the recipe vegan, I just made it as given, but it would be so easy to veganize.

As luck would have it, organic blueberries were on sale! Who would have thought. In February? The cake had a bit of lemon flavour and I loved how the blueberries sunk to the bottom. The crumb topping was a bit crunchy & delicious. Boy, was I full. I didn't even care about a VIP pass anymore.

I want to leave you with a picture of Simon. That dog is a constant source of laughs for us. We have a closet in the kitchen that is conveniently lined with shelves. I keep Simon's food and treats in there. And he knows it. Sometimes, he feels like having a treat and to let us know, he will stand and stare at the door. He just stands there. I don't know if he's trying to use the powers of his doggie mind to open the door or what. Sometimes, he's feeling lazy, so he does this.

David Gilmour & Tofu Balls

I mean nothing rude by that. hehehe

The very first time I heard Pink Floyd I was probably 10 years old. (that was 1974 - yikes!) A neighbour's older brother had The Dark Side of the Moon album and we put it on to have a listen. From that moment on I was hooked. I freakin' love this band! The Wall was huge when I was in high school and Adam Bentley (remember him) and I went to see the movie in the theatre. (I told this to a young girl that I worked with years ago and she said "Wow! You're old." Yea. Thanks) The movie was so weird - I loved it! Of course the music was amazing. Anyhow, as with a lot of bands, infighting, disagreements, etc. broke them up and no one thought they would ever perform together again. Low and behold, Live 8 happened and it was just too big an issue for the guys not to put aside the crap and do something for those less fortunate. It was awesome to see Pink Floyd together again.

One can only hope that a miracle will happen and they will tour again and yours truly will be getting some tickets. Did you know that the album, The Dark Side of the Moon, spent 741 weeks in Billboard's Top 100? That's 14 years in the charts! I still listen to it, on average, once a week. It never gets old.

I stumbled across this article at Treehugger. It's from 2006, but interesting nonetheless. Not only is David Gilmour one of the best guitarists in the world, he's also a humanitarian & an environmentalist. He sold his home in London and dontated the $3.6 million to help the homeless & his website has a section which is geared to environmental issues called 'The Important Stuff'. You can check it out here. Also, the leading UK charity for the homeless, Crisis, held an auction on Ebay and David donated over a dozen autographed posters for the cause. Some pulled in over 250 pounds! What a guy!

David Gilmour in the '70's (hubba hubba)

And David Gimour now. Still making great music & still a nice looking guy - With a big heart. If you get a chance to check out his latest album and/or DVD, you won't be disaapointed.

Onto food - This is one of the best recipes from La Dolce Vegan.

Start with crumbled tofu.....

Add some secret ingredients. Smoosh (that's the technical term) it all together. Make balls.....

Fry them up nice and brown.......

Serve with spaghetti and a nice tomato sauce and your husband will say that these are better than any "meat" balls you can buy.

When I make these, I usually do a double or triple batch and freeze the extras for a quick meal. These are also excellent for a meatball sub!

If I know I'm only going to be using them for spaghetti, I'll add some oregano or Italian seasoning to the mix to give it more of an Italian flavour.

Winter Warmer

It keeps snowing. Every few days we seem to get more snow squalls or flurries.

This is around the corner from where I live. This was taken on February 10 when Simon and I were out for a walk.

This is the same street, just on the other side of it, 2 days later as it started snowing again.

This was yesterday. Not the same street, but the one that you can see the sign for in the picture above. I just live down and around the corner. This is one of the few streets that got plowed early on, so we walked that way.
.
.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.
It was nicer today (but they say more snow) and Simon has his coat on, all ready to go for his walk. (One ear forward, one ear back. I wish I could do that.) See the Christmas bells hanging on the doorknob behind Simon? I'm not behind on taking down my decorations. They stay there all the time. When we lived at our old place, we didn't always know when Simon wanted out. If we happened to be somewhere where we couldn't see the door, he would just sit there and wait and sometimes, he just couldn't wait any longer - if ya know what I mean. We hung this ribbon of bells over the doorknob and everytime we took Simon out, we'd jingle the bells. It didn't take long for him to clue in. When he needs out, he rings the bell. When we moved, the bells came with us & still hang on the doorknob. He's learned over time as well, that the more ferocious he is with the ringing, the faster we come. If it's urgent, he really rings those bells!

He loves to play in the snow and dig, dig, dig. Sometimes something down there smells so enticing, he's got his head buried like an ostrich. Eventually, we both get too cold to stay out any longer and head home. What would hit the spot on a wintery day? SOUP!

This is one of my most favorite soups - Sensational Sun-dried Tomato & Chickpea from The Garden of Vegan.


This soup is so thick and rich and full of flavour. YUMMY!! Like the dishes I've showcased lately, this is pretty fast to make, so it's great for a weeknight meal.

I had a couple of Pita Break pitas that I needed to use before they got stale, so I brushed them with olive oil, sprinkled on some oregano, rosemary and a little bit of cracked pepper and warmed them up in the oven.

These particular pitas are thick and soft & with the herbs -delicious! We were all feeling snug and warm. Now....we wait for more snow.

Dreena Strikes Again!

I saw some kale in the grocery store that looked so fresh and bright, I just had to buy it. The price was pretty good too, for this time of year, at $1.79. I don't know what kale costs elsewhere, but around here it's usually around $1.49-$1.99.

Now, Jim isn't a lover of greens. He will eat spinach if it's in a curry or a soup where the flavour is masked by lots of spice. I give him credit though, he will always try it, but he's just not too fond of kale. I remembered a recipe that I had seen in VWAV for Garlicy Kale with Tahini Dressing. Now, garlic, we love, so I thought I would try that and see if I could win Jim over to the "greens" side.

Isa warned in the sauce recipe that it made a lot, so I halved it & still had a lot. It was delicious and complimented the kale wonderfully. Alas, Jim still isn't a fan. He did enjoy the rest of what was on his plate though.

Some brown & wild rice, baby carrots and TA-DA!! another dish from ED&BV. When I first got my book and excitedly browsed through it, I knew I had to make this - Cumin Lime Tofu. I used frozen tofu because I have quite a few bricks frozen and I want to rotate them out. It worked great!

HOLY CRAP!! This is soooo FREAKIN' good I wish I'd doubled the recipe. Like the chimis I made, this took no time to throw together. There was not a lot of fussing with preparation or cooking, yet it tasted like I was slaving in the kitchen. Now, I'm a lover of lime, so pretty much anything lime flavoured has me liking it even before I eat it, but Jim gave this a "two thumbs up" as well. The dish is finished with crushed pumpkin seeds on top which give it a little crunch and pulls it all together with a little something extra.

We were pretty full, so we just finished the meal with a nice dish of rainbow sorbet.

I almost always buy this one. Some sorbets contain milk, which I don't care for. I prefer ones that are just water ice & fruit.

So, my second offering from ED&BV is also a hit and if you haven't tried it yet, it's a must. Dreena strikes again!

Budweiser Donkey

Superbowl is Sunday. I am NOT a football fan, AT ALL, but I am always curious about the big commercials. This is one of my all time favorites.
Back early in the week with more food!