My Daddy went to the curb market last week & called me while he was there to see if I wanted anything. Twenty-eight minutes later (that's how long we were on the phone discussing the selection) he had me a basket full of goodies from the "clearance" area! I got eggplant, zucchini, red bell pepper, tomatoes, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, corn & bananas (the latter three were not from the clearance area). One night I made tempura tofu & veggies, very tasty! A couple of nights ago I decided to try my hand at ratatouille, being that I had all the vegetables here & they needed to be eaten. (We made ratatouille nightly in the restaurant that I did my internship, but it was a quick skillet version.) This was a labor of love & well worth every second! I used Julia Child's recipe which I found online (I just added more eggplant & zucchini than called for, I later read she had increased the amounts in another printing of the same recipe-- my measurements are listed below). I wanted to serve it as a main dish, so I also made polenta to go with it (I added Parmesan to mine, but left some plain for Sean). Next time, there will definitely be a next time, I will leave more juices; seeing as I was serving as a main course & over polenta--more juices would have been good soaked into the polenta.

Sean was working, so when he got home I was excited to see what he thought about it; he loved it, he ate 3 bowls full! I saved a little to try the next day, to see how the flavors melded overnight. I had an appointment yesterday morning & didn't get home until well after lunch & was starving. I went to the refrigerator & pulled out the polenta & started searching for the ratatouille. Frantic, I couldn't find it, I went to the sink & to my horror there was a small container with what appeared to be the remnants of my beloved ratatouille in it. I was on the phone; I told my Mother that I would have to call her back, she quickly hung-up, not wanting to hear my wrath. I called to Sean in his office, indeed, he had mindlessly eaten my precious leftover ratatouille while talking on the phone & not thinking of my request for him to leave it alone. What ensued is not printable! I had to go to him later & apologize for being so angry. It had taken me a couple of hours, or longer, to prepare this dish! He was sorry that he had eaten it & all was well...except I had not gotten to taste my day-old ratatouille...that he informed me in the middle of my screaming "was even better today"! Thank you very much!


















Ratatouille

1 lb. eggplant
1 lb. zucchini
1 t. salt
7 T. olive oil, divided
2 c. thinly sliced onion (I used yellow)
2 green bell peppers, thinly sliced into strips
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 lb. firm but ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded & cut into 1/4 in. strips
3 T. minced fresh parsley

Peel eggplant; cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices, then cut into 3-inch-long, 1-inch-wide strips. Cut zucchini into same size strips. Place vegetables in large bowl; sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. Let stand 30 minutes. Drain; dry with paper towels.

Heat 4 tablespoons oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add eggplant and zucchini to skillet; sauté until light golden, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to plate; reserve.

Add 3 tablespoons oil to skillet; heat over medium heat. Add onion and peppers; sauté until just tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in garlic. Season with salt and pepper.

Place tomato strips atop onion-pepper mixture in skillet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover skillet; cook over low heat until tomatoes begin to juice, about 5 minutes. Uncover; baste vegetables in skillet with juices. Boil until juices are almost evaporated, 2 to 3 minutes.

Transfer 1/3 of onion-pepper-tomato mixture to 2 1/2-quart pot; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon parsley. Top with half of eggplant and half of zucchini, then remaining onion-pepper-tomato mixture; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon parsley. Layer remaining eggplant and zucchini over; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon parsley. Cover; simmer over low heat 10 minutes. Uncover; tilt pot and baste with accumulated juices. Increase heat to medium; simmer uncovered, basting several times with pan juices until only 2 to 3 tablespoons juices remain in pot, watching closely to avoid scorching, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cool slightly. Cover; chill. Serve at room temperature or rewarm over medium-low heat before serving

I have very much been enjoying corn lately; in different forms, though. A week or so ago I prepared food for a very casual lunch & had some Mexican cornbread muffins left over. A favorite lunch of mine last week was a fried egg, Mexican cornbread & a tomato; very nice combination of flavors & textures. Today, I reheated a piece of polenta & ate it with a fried egg & tomato--again, delicious! I think I may be onto something!

I realized a couple of days ago that this month is Vegan Month of Food or VeganMoFo; it's basically to bring awareness to veganism & vegan food bloggers commit to blogging about vegan food 5 days a week for the entire month of October. I love the concept & even considered making the commitment. However, I just don't have the time; the Airstream is rolling right along (pun intended!) & is requiring much of my time & energy. I am looking forward to reading so many vegan food posts by so many talented cooks & funny bloggers!

Speaking of the Airstream, we received some very positive news last week regarding the location we are trying to get approved to open our all-natural, slow food, organic, mostly vegetarian cafe. As a result, we are working towards obtaining a building permit & finishing out the inside of the 'Stream as quickly as possible. We have set some goals & a timeline & are very excited about all that is happening! It will give me an outlet to cook the food that I am passionate about, healthy food, & also, a kitchen to prep for my personal chef jobs in. Speaking of which, I better head to the kitchen & get busy with some prepping that I need to get done for another job!

Labels: airstream trailer, Julia Child, personal chef, polenta, Ratatouille, vegan blog, vegan food, Vegan Month of Food, VeganMoFo

What good is a blog when you don't blog? Good question. I don't suppose I am one of those people who can do something day after day after day. Take journaling for instance; I think it's a great concept & very therapeutic & can be healing & helpful & insightful. But who has the time for sitting down to write every single day? And what would it say? "Dear Journal, Well, today I woke up & was hungry earlier than usual. Sean didn't seem like he was going to make a move to cook us anything, so I made us some bbq veggie sandwiches. Then I watched TV, since I had appointed today as my veg-out day. Sean & I went to the "ethical" thrift store, where I bought a nice Pampered Chef rubber spatula for a dime (can you believe that deal?!), a pair of pj bottoms & a cute pair of light blue pants. Sean bought more books, of course. Then home we came. I took a 2-hour nap & then woke hungry. I convinced Sean to make me a pita pizza, it was delicious! I ate all of mine & a quarter of his. Then we watched some more TV. Sean went to work, I went for a bike ride & now I am back home & hungry all over again. All in all it was a good day. Good night, Journal." Would that really serve me a purpose later? Oh, I am sure there would be some interesting entries, where I vent & rage on. And I am sure that I really would benefit from it, but I just don't have time.

Exercise, that is another thing. Sean loves to run. He had 2 herniated discs & couldn't run for about 4 or 5 months, but he had surgery in April & is back to running & is actually training for another marathon. Me on the other hand, I hate to exercise. Let me rephrase that, I hate to exercise alone. Before I got married & again when we lived in my parents' rental house, my friend, Donna, lived just down the street & we would walk together in the mornings. That was nice, we talked & caught up on what was going on with each other & the time flew by. However, we only did this the 2 mornings I actually got up early to go to work; the rest of the week, I just found that there was no time. The truth is, I get bored. "Take your iPod", people tell me, "What iPod?", I say. (I actually just had to look up 'iPod' to see how the weird capitalization went...if that tells you anything!). As odd as it sounds, being that I am married to a musician, I am not really into music. Okay, there, I said it! It's not like music would make me any less bored during exercise. I need human interaction. I have attempted to listen to books on cassette while I walk or bike, but I am easily distracted (aka: A.D.D.) & I find myself constantly having to rewind to see what was just said & that slows me down when I am walking & is virtually impossible while riding a bike. I am trying to to start exercising now, though. I can't think of it as a weight-loss tool, I have to think of it as a mental-health tool. It is good for my mind & stress & longevity. But that is just another thing that is hard for me to do every single day.

I only go to my preschool job 2 days a week; I think if I had to go every day, I would get very bored. That is why I love being a personal chef. I don't have a set schedule, I meet different people each time, I am at different houses, I cook different meals. It's great, no monotony.

However, on the flip side of this coin, I am a homebody & don't mind going days (usually over the weekend) without actually leaving the house. That probably seems monotonous. And it is. But I am busy while at home, thus not having time to blog or journal or exercise!

Actually, I have been quite busy with my personal chef business. Plus, I have been working on new recipes for that, too. Not vegan recipes, but yummy recipes, nonetheless. I am sorry I have been absent for over a week. I solemnly promise that I will try to do better.

Labels: bike ride, exercise, Pampered Chef, personal chef, pita pizza, preschool, running, thrift store, vegan blog, vegan food, walking

I love projects! Is it just me? Does it have something to do with one’s personality or birth order or is it genetics? My parents are always working on some sort of project, many of which I think are complete wastes of time…but who am I to judge? My husband, Sean, thinks I am busy, just like my parents. He likes for me to just chill out & hang out with him when I am off from work & he is home. But I feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day after I have completed a project.

Last week, when I was thinking of what I was going to do with my 6 days off from work, I had decided that one day I would clean out the garage. I wanted to do it yesterday, but Sean wouldn’t have it; yesterday was “our” day, so we hung out. But I clarified to him that Monday would be garage day. I woke up this morning ready to go. However, I got a call about some personal chef work & I had to work up a quote, etc & then got into paying bills & the necessary things that have to be done to keep a household running. I didn’t actually get into the garage until about 2pm. It was an absolute mess! We are such pack rats; I must admit, I am more of a hoarder than Sean. Nevertheless, there was much to be done. After I had been out there for about an hour, here comes Sean with his swim trunks on & no shirt. I assumed he was coming out to help me with the mess & was dressed light to combat the sweltering Florida heat. But, that was not the case, I had come to ride the stationary bike that sits in the midst of the wreck of a garage….while I cleaned! (I suppose he didn’t have any running shorts clean, thus the swim trunks.) As he was riding & I was working, it occurred to me how good I felt cleaning out this awful mess. And I told him as much, trying to make him understand this about me, why it is I love projects. He just looked at me & said “That’s good.”. No epiphany there!

My parents got a new couch & are giving us their old couch, that is why I needed to clean out the garage, that & the fact that you couldn’t even walk through it without having to catapult yourself over bags & boxes. Why you might wonder am I putting the new couch in the garage. Well, it isn’t exactly a new couch. They have had it since I can remember, since the 70’s. Are you starting to get the picture? My mother calls the fabric “FLAME”, if that isn’t the 70’s I don’t know what is. It is a flex-steel couch & has a lifetime warranty--I have heard my mother say this countless times over the years at the prospect of getting a new couch. Just because it has a lifetime warranty doesn’t mean you HAVE to keep it your entire life! Anyhow, we are inheriting this couch. Our couch & 2 matching chairs came from a condo that was being remodeled after Hurricane Ivan did so much damage in Destin. They certainly aren’t the prettiest pieces of furniture, but they aren’t “FLAME”. However, the Boys, actually just one, Boone, has some separation anxiety issues & has chewed holes in every cushion on the couch & both chairs. He is alright as long as he is on his Prozac. (Speaking of drugs, the other one, Hurley, had to be on Xanax for a while! Crazy dogs!) So, our furniture is pretty gross. So the “FLAME” couch is going in the garage until we can find a fabric we like for Sean’s mother to make us slip-covers. All of this to say, I love projects! Is it just me? Or are there others who feel the same as me? I am sad that my 6 day break is over (I only work 2 days a week most of the time, I don’t know what I am complaining about!), because I had more projects planned that I didn’t get to, like bathing the Boys, fertilizing the yard, working on my garden & cleaning out the guest room closet. Oh well, I am sure I will get to those soon….

Since Sean wasn’t exactly helping me clean out the garage, he cooked dinner. He made tofu & refried bean burritos with homemade enchilada sauce & brown rice. They were delicious! I was ravished from working all afternoon & scarfed my food like a wild animal! Plus, there was enough left over for my lunch tomorrow at school.

And as promised, I am attaching a photo of the tofu burgers I made for the 4th. I found the recipe at http://www.johnrussell.name/recipes/burgers.htm It's the one that was the "Judge's Choice". I have made the 3 times now, this last time they turned out the best. I was sure to squeeze lots of the juice from the tofu. Also, I processed the potato & onion for a bit before adding the tofu so it didn’t get too smooth. Don’t make the same mistake I did the first time I made them; I added all the other ingredients & processed. These must be added & mixed by hand. I also cook them longer than the recipe says to, I like for them to be a firmer consistency. I took these to the cookout at my parents’ house & my daddy reheated them on the grill. I didn’t have one, but Sean & his mother both enjoyed them. By-the-way, that is a homegrown tomato in the picture, thus the spots. I can’t complain, I love homegrown tomatoes! Sorry I still haven’t figured out how to do that “thing”, highlight a word & make it link to the website that I want it to go to; Sean is on the phone & won‘t show me now, but promises he will soon.

Well, I am nasty from fighting the dust, dirt, grime, spiders & silverfish all afternoon. I will shower & get a good nights rest for work tomorrow.

Labels: tofu burger, tomatoes, vegan, vegan blog, vegan food, veggie burger

We celebrated the 4th of July on the 5th at my parents' home; they live just a few miles from us. They decided to grill hamburgers & called me to consult on what we would eat. I had spent much of Friday in the kitchen cooking, one of the things I made was a veggie burger of sorts. So I was put in charge of bringing our veggie burgers, whole wheat buns & baked beans. I am sure my mother was not excited at the prospect of me bringing the beans...no bacon in them. She is quite picky & the last time I brought homemade baked beans, her serving went uneaten. This time I was determined to make some beans that tasted like what she was used to. (I must admit, my other recipe is a little different, they are white beans & the sauce isn't very dark. Remember we are from the south & are used to sweet, thick, dark baked beans.)

I found a recipe that claimed to be "The Best Baked Bean Recipe Ever". It sounded promising, so I gave it a shot. I only made a few minor changes (what's new!)...I added a green bell pepper, substituted pinto beans for the kidney beans, 2 T. prepared yellow mustard for the 2 t. dried mustard, used sugar in the raw instead of brown sugar & used mostly BBQ sauce with a little ketchup instead of all ketchup. Okay, maybe that was more than just a few changes, but they were all minor! I must say these beans were delicious! The addition of veggie crumbles really made them feel like real southern "meaty" beans. I am attaching the link below of where I found this recipe. (I haven't quite figured out to make a word highlighted & be able to click on it & it take you straight to a different website & Sean is not here to help me--he is definitely the computer-go-to-guy, along with being the eye behind my photos--thanks so much, Bay!)

http://viewfromthemountain.typepad.com/david_sobotta_weblog/2005/12/the_best_baked_.html

My parents live on the Choctawhatchee Bay, so our cookout took place on the pier yesterday. My brother, his wife & my 2 nephews (5 & 2) were there, along with my mother-in-law & my aunt. They all had regular burgers, Sean & his mother had my veggie burgers, I just had a bun with melted cheese, mayo, lettuce, tomato, pickle & onion. My parents had made potato salad, we my beans & my aunt brought a relish tray for the burgers with some delicious homegrown tomatoes.

Sean had to work last night; he is a jazz pianist/vocalist & plays at local restaurants. Some friends of ours from Pensacola, Florida (about an hour & a half away) stayed with us last night. They are both musicians & had a late gig & didn't want to drive back home. They were telling us about a vegan restaurant in Pensacola that they had just discovered call End of the Line (it is by the railroad tracks). They called us today to say there were eating brunch there & how fabulous it is. They have a regular menu with sandwiches & such, but for Sunday brunch & on Thursday nights they have a set menu. The invited us to drive over Thursday to try it out--we are really excited! We don't have any vegan restaurants here in the Santa Rosa Beach/Destin area.

I think Sean did take some pictures of those veggie burgers, I will post them soon. Oh, I made another batch of the banana muffins. This time I had several bananas on the counter about to go completely bad, they were very soft, so I threw them in. The muffins are so moist & delicious! They taste like banana bread! Some nuts would have been delicious. Speaking of which, I think I will go heat one up right now!

Labels: baked beans, End of the Line Cafe, Fourth of July, vegan blog, vegan food, veggie burger

Today is July 4th & while most people are cooking out with family & friends I have been in the kitchen all morning baking & cooking. My family has decided to cookout tomorrow instead of today. So I decided to take advantage of the time & bake up some of our favorite treats to have on hand. I made bran muffins first & then I moved on to whole wheat waffles. My husband named these waffles this morning--funny name--but an accurate description! I quadruple this recipe, too, just like the muffins. However, it used to take me forever to make that many waffles with my waffle iron that makes 2 waffles at a time. Finally I got the bright idea to borrow my mother's waffle iron, so that I could cook 4 waffles at once. That worked much better & really sped things along. Then a couple of weeks ago I was in New Orleans helping my sister & her family pack up to move to France & she offered me her Cuisinart waffle iron that make 4 beautiful, perfect waffles at a time. Now, I can knock out 8 waffles at once! I can cook 40 waffles in about half an hour!

You are probably wondering who am I feeding with all those waffles. It's just me & Sean, we don't have kids. But I put about half of them in containers & put in the refrigerator & layer the other half with wax paper, wrap in aluminum foil, stick in a freezer bag & freeze them. Then when we want one or two or three, we pop them in the toaster oven & have yummy waffles for breakfast. It's great for the mornings that I have to be at work & Sean eats them throughout the day. I love waffles & pancakes, but I can cook waffles so much quicker than I can pancakes, that I cook them much more often.

Once I finished with the waffles I made veggie burgers so that we will have something to eat at the cookout tomorrow. But I will blog about them later. For now, I think I will go relax in front of the TV & read other blogs about what all the rest of you vegan foodies are doing on the the 4th of July. Enjoy!


Vegan Whole Wheat Waffles

1 1/3 c. whole-wheat flour
1 c. soymilk
2 T. milled flax seed
¼ c. + 2 T. water
¼ c. canola oil
2 T. honey
1 t. vanilla
2 t. baking powder
¾ t. salt

Mix together the milled flax seed & water. Add the soymilk, canola oil, honey & vanilla.

Combine the flour & salt.

Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients & mix well. Sift the baking powder lightly over the mixture & quickly fold in.

Bake according to your waffle maker.

Labels: bran muffins, Cuisinart, vegan blog, vegan food, waffles, whole wheat