Spring Break and Life Happens

Wow~this is the longest I have gone without posting anything since I started my blog. But life happens. My mom had shoulder replacement surgery the end of April. She was home one day and then had a stroke. So it's been 3 1/2 weeks of hospitals, doctors and rehab facilities. She is home now and on the road to recovery. I am so thankful that myself and my two siblings live close by to take care of our sweet mama. Our meals have consisted of hospital cafeteria food; finding relatively healthy choices at fast food joints and not-so healthy choices!; and making quick meals using Gardein products and pasta dishes. I have just now felt like picking up a cookbook and trying some new recipes. I finally restocked my fridge, which was down to the condiments, with lots of veggies and fruit. I also had a birthday during all of this and my dear friend left me this lovely strawberry plant on my front porch. I didn't know what it was and had to ask her!

~ a cute little strawberry! ~ 

Breakfast; well, since each one was only the size of my pinky I did have something else to eat! 

It's already getting some more strawberries. I hope I get a few more before the heat takes over. We skipped right over cool spring weather and headed right into the heat of summer. 

Blueberry Hemp Cinnamon Crunch Muffins

I made these yummy muffins last month and never posted about them. I even bought another bag of hemp seeds to make them again! Lots of luscious blueberries and not too sweet. Vegan Thyme has the recipe on her blog. 

Wheat Berry Minestrone

I used the last of my wheat berries to make this delicious soup. The wheat berries give it lots of chewy, meaty texture. The recipe is on Dr. Grandma's. 

Roasted Rosemary Potatoes 

from Betty Goes Vegan

My hubby brought me a box of freshly harvested red potatoes straight from the field still covered in dirt. This is a quick and easy recipe to use them. I think they could have roasted a little longer to get more brown but they were still tasty.

Chik'n Enchiladas

This last recipe I whipped up the other night using ingredients I had in my pantry and freezer. I cooked up three Gardein Chik'n Scallopini and chopped them into pieces. I rolled them into six corn tortillas with a little Daiya cheddar sprinkled on top. Topped everything with the Frontera Red Chile Enchilada Sauce and covered that with more Daiya cheddar. Baked for 20 minutes at 400 degrees, added a salad and had dinner ready!  

 Really handy to have in the pantry. Read the ingredients on the different flavors; some of them are not vegan. 

Chik'n Enchiladas

I topped the enchiladas with some chopped cilantro and green onions. 

I'm ready to get back in the kitchen and try some new recipes!

Pancakes & Blueberry Sauce

Vegcookbookclub January 2014

~ The Happy Herbivore: Pancakes; Blueberry Sauce

Mmmm! This is the best vegan pancake recipe I've tried so far. After mixing up the ingredients, you let the batter rest for 10 minutes. The baking powder makes it light and fluffy and it makes a wonderful pourable batter. The blueberry sauce is really easy to make using frozen blueberries. It was a little tart so I added some brown rice syrup to give it a little more sweetness. 

Blueberry Banana Bread Pancakes ~ pg. 41

VegCookbookClub August recipes from Betty Goes Vegan by Annie & Dan Shannon:

Nothing like the aroma of banana scented pancakes on the griddle! A late morning breakfast today. I keep overripe bananas in the freezer for recipes like this. The batter was quite thick; you can't pour it onto your griddle. I scooped some out and spread the batter out with the back of a spoon. You don't need much maple syrup as the banana and blueberries give these some natural sweetness. Two of these pancakes and you're ready to start the day. The recipe made about nine pancakes so I froze the rest for easy future breakfasts.

Blueberry Buckle~pg 155

VegCookbookClub February recipes from Color Me Vegan by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau:

Just what I needed to help me get over the flu; a yummy blueberry cake!

PURPLE

Hot from the oven!

The photo doesn't show the vibrant  'purple' color of the blueberries very well. The recipe calls for 1/4 cup orange, apple, or pineapple juice. I used orange and it really highlighted all the yummy flavors in this 'buckle'. 

Peach Blueberry Cobbler~pg. 229

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Another yummy dessert! Easy to make using frozen fruit.

Berry Oat Squares~pg. 214

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

This was a quick and easy dessert to make. Kind of plain tasting. Needs some cinnamon maybe. I used frozen blueberries and blueberry jam.

Day 7 Blueberry Dilip ~page 228

My crust was a little chewy-maybe I cooked it too long?

 I probably won't make this again; I've had better fruit cobblers.

Breakfast! ~with a cold glass of soymilk.

Day 1 Banana Blueberry Muffins-pg. 274

Getting Ready to Bake!

I made it! After doctors' appointments all morning, grocery shopping, and my car breaking down in 110 degree temps. with groceries in the trunk I still found time to make these muffins and supper. Whoo! Hoo! I am allergic to raw bananas but I can eat cooked bananas so I will be indulging in these.

My husband will probably finish off most of them.

Quick Fixins' for Supper

Baked potatoes topped with Amy's Vegan Chili, Daiya Cheddar Style Cheese, red onion and cilantro with a side of frozen mixed veggies.