My Guilty Pleasure - American Idol

I freakin' love this show. My favorite contestant this year is David Cook. Check out this performance from Tuesday's show. They had to pick a song from the year they were born. This blew me away.
Anyone else watching?

So, my work schedule has been a mess. No consistency whatsoever. For a couple of weeks, I kept getting these last minute call-ins. I was buying food, then having to go to work and not being able to use everything up. Stuff would go bad and I'd have to throw it away. Grrr! The call-ins still go on throughout the year, but more so than usual this past month. I've been trying to plan meals based on staples I have in the house.

St. Patrick's Day came and I wanted to make stew. I found this recipe in Robin Robertson's Fresh From The Vegetarian Slow Cooker and had almost all of the ingredients. It's called Almost Irish Stew and the only thing I had to buy a green leafy veg.

Again, trying to get some greens into Jim.

I had just picked this up the day before, so it was nice and fresh and green. The regular Swiss Chard looked like it had seen better days, but the red was really vibrant.

The recipe also called for white wine. I was in the mood for red wine with dinner and didn't want to open a big bottle of white just to use half a cup. OK, the recipe called for 1/4 cup, but who's measuring? I have a few small bottles of wine in the house, just for occasions like this. Don't buy cooking wine!! It's horrible stuff. Use a wine that you would drink.

I used this one for the stew. It's decent enough and it won't break the bank. It comes in little bottles (250 ml) that are under $4.

The stew slow cooked all day in the crock pot. The greens were cooked seperately and then added in about 10 minutes before serving.

The original recipe didn't call for any kind of meat alternative, but did say that chunks of seitan could be substituted for the beans. I didn't have any seitan on hand and frankly, was feeling just too lazy to make any, so I fried up some veggie burgers, cubed them and added them in about half an hour before the stew was done. I used the beans too for an extra protein punch.

I didn't even make any soda bread (feeling lazy, remember?) so I opted for these delicious ciabata buns that we make at the bakery. They are crisp on the outside and dense and chewy on the inside. Perfect for stew.

Since the stew had a "light" broth, I went with a light red wine. I really enjoy Pinot Noir. In Ontario, we don't see a whole lot of wines available from BC for some reason. They have a thriving wine industry, but I don't know where all of those bottles go. Certainly not east. This one, from Gray Monk, comes in through Vintages and I usually try to grab a couple. I've had this bottle for over a year and decided to give it a go. It was delicious! The 2006 offering was recently for sale and again, I bought 2 bottles. Wino Will didn't give it a great review, but I'll let it sit for another year and then try it, which I've always done with these wines anyway.

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Oh, did Jim like the Swiss chard? Better than the kale, but still not a fan. He ended up leaving most of it on his plate, then when he thought I wasn't looking, gave some of it to Simon. Did Simon like the greens? He LOVED them!

Well, Hello There!!

Long time no see. To quote Fiona Apple - I've been a bad, bad girl. I haven't put up a post in over 3 weeks! It's not like I've been loafing around, doing nothing. I've been clocking quite a few hours in at the bakery. I was also busy studying and I wrote the test for LCBO's Product Knowledge Level 2 and am waiting for my results. Right after that, my back had a minor flare-up. I'm doing a lot better now, so I have some food photos to show you.

Before I get to that, I was going through some pictures in my camera and found these that I had completely forgotten about. Since it seems to have ceased snowing, (for now anyway) these show us what we can look forward to very, very soon.

I've mentioned before that I live across the street from Lake Ontario and quite often I will take Simon for a walk along the waterfront. We like to watch the geese.

Simon sometimes barks at them, but most of the time he's not too sure of them, so we watch from a distance. They are beautiful (and protected), but they can be Nasty - with the capital n. I wish I'd had my camera when I came home from work the other day. There was a whole gaggle of them on my front lawn, squawking & pooping everywhere. I guess they decided the neighbour's lawn was better because they sauntered over there. They don't care about traffic either. If they decide they want to cross the street, they just go. They're total jay walkers.

Simon loves to walk this pathway at the park. The trees were given as a gift from our twin city Itabashi, Japan. Right now they're leaf-less and everything is still covered in snow.

He stops to sniff a lot along the way. I figure, it's his walk, let him sniff.

Futher down the walkway, just for our convenience....

These, like the leaves, disappear in the wintertime. I took a picture because the sign on the door just cracked me up.

Go with class? Do they mean 'choose us' or go as in "go"? Either way, I thought this was funny on the door of a plastic port-a-potty. Stinky, port-a-potty. Go....and hold your breath. Peewu! When I think outdoor toilet, I don't think class.

That's not a very good segue to food, so before I move on, I'll fill your thoughts with nice things like puppies.

OK, nasty thoughts gone....onto eats.

I still do occasionally eat free-range eggs and made something I haven't made in years - quiche! This is my take on Quiche Lorraine. I call it Quiche Carrie.

Some Lorraine recipes call for onions, some don't, some call for cheese, some don't, so I'm not quite sure which is authentic, but I like onions & cheese, so I include them. I used veggie bacon of course and since neither Jim or I like Swiss cheese, I used cheddar and a bit of mozzarella that I had in the fridge.

This turned out so well, even I was impressed. We had a salad on the side. I picked this wine:

From Fielding, this is a favorite of ours. It's a Sauvignon Blanc that gets a bit of oak aging & it's very delicious. Alas, this was our last bottle of this vintage. The members club Sample & Shop Weekend is coming up & I'm hoping to see the 2007 offered.

Dessert just topped the entire meal. I made Dreena's Sunny Pineapple Yogurt Cake with Orange Glaze.

I cannot rave enough about this cake. It is out of this world! Jim really, really liked this and told me so after one bite. He usually doesn't comment too much unless I ask for his opinion, so for him to volunteer his thoughts after the first taste speaks volumes.

It's so moist and delicious. It stayed moist for days afterwards which scores big points for this 2 person household. I served vanilla ice cream on the side, along with steamy mugs of hot chocolate.

I wanted to show you my mug. I got a pair of these as a Christmas gift a few years ago. The picture on them is a Jack Russell! It looks almost as cheeky as Simon does.

I trust you all had a Happy St. Patrick's Day. I made an Irish stew of sorts that I will post about it a couple of days. Until then, Happy Easter to all who celebrate. I'm looking forward to the little mini vacation we get this weekend. Too bad Saturday isn't considered a holiday as well. It would make for a super 4-day long weekend. I also see a chocolate & sugar overload in my very near future. Check out this article for all that is bad in the way of Easter candy. Bring on the Easter Creme Eggs! I would say they are my favorites. I ate one while reading the article about how bad they were for me. (I'm not kidding!)

So There Bryan! Olé!

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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.














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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.
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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.