What Have I Been Up To?

Well, let’s see. I’ve taken up running for starters. I’ve just completed week 2 (and a half) of this schedule from Runner’s world magazine. Yes, for now I am on the treadmill but with the keeping track of time the way they want me to it’s just easier. . . .plus my running costumes are essentially pajamas and I don’t want to go outside like that. However, I don’t want to buy “real” workout clothes until I can actually determine that I’m sticking with this. That will be my 8 week reward. For now, though, every day I sweat my butt of (mostly because it’s hot and I’m indoors) I wish it were only this easy:

Also, Mr. Crow and I had a bit of an adventure. I requested to leave early from work on Wednesday and, generous as they are, they gave me the whole day off. Then, because I got the whole day, Mr. Crow also asked to be let out early and HE got the whole day too! So, with two days off in a row on our hands we decided to take a trip up to the Canton/Massillon area to visit family and friends HOORAY!

Here’s me, ready to go!

We saw Our good friends Mr. & Mrs. K and Mr P. was there too! What a cool surprise!Then, on Thursday morning we went to visit my mom and she took us to a great new bakery up in that area where I ate the most upscale PB&J I’ve ever eaten: cashew butter and fig jam. It was billed with Gruyere cheese but I got it with out, obvs.

For dinner The Ks and we went to Vegeterranean. No more words. Just pictures:

The shine still hasn’t worn off of this experience. Outside of being able to order ANYTHING off the menu that sounded good (and it all sounds good) the very best thing about going here was that I could eat dessert that i didn’t have to slave over. Even vege-friendly restaurants NEVER have vegan desserts. The video evidence that had me stating I would do a flip (and inevitably show my underwear) if all the deserts were vegan was lost in a mysterious fashion so I’m just going to abstain and mention again that I was really excited.

Then it was Friday. We bought a batard at Hazel and brought it over to share with Mr. and Mrs. M. We brought over olive oil and Italian seasoning and Mrs. M. soaked some sundried tomatoes in olive oil. mmmmmmm. I also brought some “cheese” I made form raw cashews. I made it pesto flavored and it was generally liked by all but Mr. M. I think I added too much water, though and it was more like cream cheese than chevre. It wasn’t much to look at but it tasted good on crackers. Here we are! Look how cool:

This brings us to last Saturday’s Pick-up:

With the cabbage, carrots, and sweet peppers, we made a stir fry with tofu, onion, and peanut sauce:

Other things that made it to the table this week were:

Not much to say about simple spaghetti and meatballs except that this was us using our homemade sauce.

These are some GREAT enchiladas. I don’t know if they’re like “real” enchiladas but I’d strongly suggest making them when you want a fast and delicious dinner with a nice spicy kick.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 pound gardein “chicken”
• Salt and pepper
• 2 teaspoons cumin powder
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon taco spice blend
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 can refried beans
• 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
• 4 canned chipotle chiles in adobo, seeded and minced
• 10 8”tortillas
• 1 can enchilada sauce
• Shredded Daiya

Directions

Coat large saute pan with oil. Season gardein with salt and pepper. Brown gardein over medium heat, allow 7 minutes each side or until no longer pink. Sprinkle gardein with cumin, garlic powder and taco spices before turning. Remove gardein to a platter, allow to cool.

Saute onion and garlic in the same pan until tender. Add corn and chiles. Stir well to combine Add beans and saute 1 minute.

Pull gardein apart by hand into shredded strips. Add shredded gardein to saute pan, combine with vegetables.

Microwave tortillas on high for 30 seconds. This softens them and makes them more pliable. Coat the bottom of a 13 by 9-inch pan with enchilada sauce. Spoon gardein mixture evenly into each tortilla. Fold over filling, place enchiladas in a pan with seam side down. Top with remaining enchilada sauce and Daiya.

Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated 350 degree F oven until cheese melts. Garnish with sour cream before serving.

Yeay Recipe!

So this brings us to yesterday’s pick-up:

I always thought my favorite way to have watermelon was blasted into “juice” in the blender but I added a splash of lime juice yesterday and my eyes have been opened. Do it. And, supposedly, if you’re in a party mood, you can add some vodka.

Aaand, I got a new cookbook called Vegan Soul Kitchen. I had some tempeh in the fridge and a baby cabbage left so I made this:

This is tempeh “ribs” with carrot-cayenne coleslaw on cibatta. it was delicious. More to come from this book soon. There’s a Creole grits recipe that I’m dying to try.

And finally, some goofy stuff: