Vegan Sweet Potato Pasta Salad

Happy Mother's Day! I hope it was a great day for all you mother's. I know I enjoyed it. Church hosted a Parent/Child Dedication service today. We dedicated our little Aubrey. I think it was more fun for us then her. She was quite upset she couldn't have a donut until after the service. Seriously, when I tell her we are going to church, she puts on this real mischievous grin and says "Donuts?" All that girl thinks about is sweets. Her newest thing is being a princess. The child will place her hands on her hips, flip her hair, and say "Mommy, I'm pretty!" and she is only 2... Huh... 16 is going to be fun.

Well my Mother's day was jam packed. Woke up to breakfast in bed. Got ready for church, after that we took my mother-in-law to lunch at this awesome vegan place! Had a grilled portabello wrap, YUM! Next up, we headed home for a nap. I love my naps! Seriously, Chris probably thinks all I do is snack, watch tv, and nap, but at least I always have dinner on the table. That may be the only reason he lets me stay home.

Now for the good stuff! This one, I made after a long day filled with slacking. I was supposed to get the housework done, but instead I spent 5 hours at my cousin's and let Aubrey play with her little girl. So, needless to say I had to cook something fast to ensure dinner in a timely manner. Get ready to lick your lips, cause this stuff is so good. Honestly, I do recommend it.

Sweet Potato Pasta Salad

1 large sweet potato, large dice

1/2 large onion, diced

2 medium carrots, peeled and diced

4 mushrooms, sliced

1/2 head broccoli, florets and slice stalk

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 zucchini sliced

1/2 yellow squash sliced

1 1/2 cup black beans, cooked (or 1 can drained and rinsed)

1/8 cup olive oil

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp dry mustard

1/2 box quino veggie curls pasta

2 large handfuls fresh spinach

• Preheat oven to 400F. Put sweet potato in a bowl and drizzle olive oil, salt, and pepper. Stir to coat and put on baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, stir half way. Should be fork tender.

• Boil pasta as stated in the directions. Try the quinoa pasta. I get it inexpensively at Sprouts or Whole Foods. After it is boiled, strain.

•  In a saute pan, add onions carrots, and mushrooms. (I don't use oil because onions are full of it which is why I cry like a baby when I chop them) After onions are translucent, add broccoli, squashes, beans, garlic, and 1/4 cup water. Stir often, don't cover. Should cook up and become tender. 

• In another bowl, combine olive oil, vinegar, dry mustard, and salt and pepper to taste. Whisk well. I prefer to put it in a little tupper ware bowl so I can put the lid on and shake it up. I also always make lots because it stays fresh in the fridge a long time. Make sure to taste test. My vinegar to oil ratio preference may be way different than yours.

• I a BIG bowl, combine the veggies, sweet potatoes, and the pasta. Add in the dressing. Half first, then more if needed. Stir in the spinach last. It will wilt a little. Serve warm. Sprinkle some nutritional yeast if you need the "cheese" effect.

Eat as much as you want. There will be leftovers. Serve with wine. I had reisling, but I think sauvignon blanc may be better. The reisling was too sweet.The best part about cooking at home, is that there are no rules. If you don't like a vegetable, then change it. I am not going to hunt you down if you decide asparagus or frozen peas would be better. So experiment and make some good food! That is what it is all about anyways right? Eat, live, and be merry.

Vegan Veggie Enchiladas

Egads!!! So school is out for a whole summer. Finally I can pause and take a breath. For me, having school, being mommy, and keeping the house up is a task. I think if I were more scheduled and organized it might work a little more smoothly. And maybe I'll feel more productive. I hate feeling like all I do is cooking and dishes followed by more cooking and more dishes. You know what I mean?

So, new things in my life.... We went completely vegan 24 days ago. Cold turkey, errr celery??? (Because we don't eat turkey haha!) I have attempted being vegetarian on multiple occasions  but never had enough umph! to make it. However, I have a feeling this will stick. I will post more on our transition to veganism later... or will I?? Also, Aubrey is all signed up for swim classes. She has been doing gymnastics for a few months and finally loves it. She even knows the building whenever we drive past. She says "Nastice" Lol Close girlfriend.

Ohhhhh, and my little point and shoot camera was left out by my dear hubby last October. It hailed that night. All of the pictures after that came out blurry and the video no longer worked. So for mother's day this year, I got a new camera! Its a fancy-shmancy SLR with all the bells and whistles. Oh here's a pic!

And that is my "I'm sexy and I know it look!" I have gapped teeth at the front which look fine in person, but I'm incredibly self-conscious about in pictures (same thing about the backs of my knees, sole reason I won't buy shorts except for when I'm working out), so I usually either cheese it up big time or smirk because I think I'm too cool. So feel free to crack a joke about my ridiculous face. But the camera is sweet! And it totally makes up for the stupid face.

So Aubrey is getting big. She is 2 and 4 months. Says full sentences like "Mommy you no fit" which hurts when she is talking about an entire park. Also, she knows all the animal noises I can think of. She even tells jokes. Here's one:

Aubrey: Say knock knock.

Me: Knock Knock!

Aubrey: Says who?

Me: Cow

Aubrey: Mooooooo

She can do this for all the animals, and gets frusterated if I miss a few. She can also sing along to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" "Wheels On The Bus" and "Love is Strange" I know it is from Dirty Dancing but it was all I could think of when she was a baby and she still requests it every single night and sings it loud and proud to her baby dolls. 

On another note, I came up with a "recipe." Really what happened was I made tacos. I had so much left over that we ate them for lunch twice and dinner once and were getting sick of them. So, I made enchiladas. They were so good I almost slapped myself. Chris actually said "Mmmm make these again?" And I said "I'mma eat these every day!" So without further ado!

Andie’s Vegan Veggie Enchiladas

·         3 cups water

·         2 cups brown rice

·         1 onion, diced

·         8 oz sliced mushrooms

·         2 large carrots, diced

·         4 garlic cloves, minced

·         1 small zucchini, diced

·         1 small summer squash, diced

·         1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

·         2 Tbsp chili powder

·         1 tsp cumin

·         1 tsp basil

·         1 Tbsp brown rice miso stirred into a small amount of water

·         10 tortillas, I like whole wheat

·         1 Tbsp vegan butter

·         1 can green enchilada sauce, I like Hatch mild from Whole Foods in a yellow can

·         ½ cup shredded soy cheese (optional)

·         ¼ cup ground cashews

1. Put water and rice in a pot and bring to a boil. Turn down to medium heat and cover, let simmer for 20 mins. After 20 minutes, turn off heat, leave covered and let sit at least another 10 minutes, I just leave it until I’m ready for it. 

2. In a hot skillet, add your onions, mushrooms, and carrots. I don’t use any oil because onions will make plenty and you will deglaze the pan later. Saute until onions are transparent.

3. Add garlic, zucchini, squash, beans,  ½ cup water, chili powder, cumin, and basil. Let simmer until squash is tender, about 5-7 minutes. After you remove from heat stir in miso.

* So I stopped here and made these into tacos because it will make a lot. We did tortillas with rice, veggies, added some fresh lettuce, diced tomatoes, and avocados with a side salad. Then we used the leftovers for our enchilada filling.

4. Preheat oven to 375 F. Smear butter on glass 13x9 dish. 

5. Roll the tortillas with a line of rice, veggie mix, and a sprinkle of soy cheese. Then lay them in the pan seam side down and smush’em close. Do this until the pan is full. We got 10 but it depends on what size tortillas you use and how full you fill em.

6. Once your tortillas are all rolled, pour enchilada sauce on top. Sprinkle with soy cheese and ground cashews. Pop it in the oven for 15-20 minutes until cashews are lightly browned and the smell is more then you can bear! 

Let me know if you make em and how you like em! What favorite foods are traditionally meat you would like to see veganized?

Valentines Outfit

This year I participated in my mommy group's valentine's party. I actually don't know many of the women in the group, and honestly, I am pretty darn shy. So I go and talk to no one, or just the one or two I do know. So it was nice having an ice breaker. I made Aubrey's valentine getup and it gave me something to talk about with the other moms.

The outfit was pretty simple to make! I used a long sleeved onesie (Koala Baby), two pieces each of two ribbons, one is a black sheer with white dots and the other is a red ribbon with white hears. Then I cut a heart out of a zebra faux fur fabric I had leftover from halloween. I sewed the ribbons to the onesie and then the heart around the border. Simple!

For the tutu I cut 10 inch strips of tulle in red and black. I used this tutorial for the how to! Everyone at the party loved her outfit except Aubrey! Lol! Before we left she had taken the tutu off and refused to put it back on. I made the tutu while watching tv at night, because it is kind of mindless. Oh and my color combo was 2 reds and one black. I made the knots very tight so the skirt would be very full. I used 3 yards of red tulle and 2 yards of the black, so it really was alot of fabric.

Did you make anything for Valentine's day this year?

Turkey Pumpkin

Now is the best time to get pumpkins! The grocery stores still have plenty, and they are selling em super cheap! I got mine for 19 cents a pound, it totalled less than a dollar! Awesome!!

Wanting to make a craft for thanksgiving and try to capture a moment in time I decided to go ahead and do a handprint turkey. I used mine, Aubrey's and Daddys hand prints for the feathers. Just trace your hands on colored paper. We did 5 or 6 of each color of each hand. Then you tape them to the pumpkin. I used tape so the pumpkin won't mold from pricking it. I did smallest hands in front and biggest hands in back. Turned out totally sweet! Makes for a wonderful centerpiece and at the end of the season I can take the handprints and put them in the scrapbook. Then when Aubrey gets older I can say "here is how big you hand was when you were only tiny." Have fun with it and enjoy the holidays.

Gobble Gobble

Turkey Day Jumper

Thanksgiving is on its way! I am so looking forward to it this year. I was hoping I could host Thanksgiving feast at my house (since it is the first thanksgiving of many here), but my mother-in-law was pretty insistent on it being there. Oh well! There is always next year. I am making the turkey though, so if anyone knows a to die for recipe, let me know, I have never made a turkey before.

In celebration of the season and what thanksgiving means to me, I made Aubrey a corduroy jumper.  I then created an applique and used my sewing machine only. I was pretty impressed with myself. So much so, that I am contemplating a tutorial on how to do it. However, that would entail making another jumper since I didn't photograph anything while doing this one. Next time, I will make the turkey smaller and have several ruffles at the bottom. Here is the pattern I used. All I did differently, was make my own applique on the front. I also only did two ruffles because of how big the turkey is and I did a top stitch around the hem.

Apparently it is too warm a day though for the turtleneck and jumper. As soon as Aubrey came inside, she started peeling her clothes off saying "hot, hot, off, pees" Speaking of talking, Aubrey is saying alot these days. My favorite thing she says is "Hans thup!" which is Hands up but with the cutest little lisp ever!! She can also open and close doors now as well as climb anything and everything. My how they grow too fast.

Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa

I love fall. Really, I do! The weather becomes bearable, the leaves turn colors. It is acceptable to lay around in comfy sweaters with a hot mug of cocoa. However, awesome all of those things are, I have one thing I love BEST about fall: Pumpkins! I love me some pumpkin everything. You can make almost anything with pumpkins; soup, bread, pie, ravioli, and my favorite, Pumpkin Cocoa! Yum! Coffee-Mate has this liquid creamer that is Pumpkin Spice, absolutely amazing stuff. So I decided I would whip up some pumpkin spice hot cocoa just for you (and mostly me)! This is super creamy, definitely chocolaty and  pumpkin-y to boot!


Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar (I sometimes do part brown and part white)
1/3 cup water
3 1/2 cups milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup - 1/2 cup Pumpkin Spice Creamer (I add 1/4 and slowly add more if I taste it needs more)

Bring your water to a simmer, it should be steamy but not rolling. Add your sugar, cocoa, and a pinch of salt. Turn the heat off the water and add your milk. Stir it constantly to make sure it doesn't scorch.Add your creamer and vanilla. Stir! Divide into 4 mugs, top with cool whip and dust with cinnamon. It is delicious.

Aubrey and E in their "Bug and Hisses" shirts made by BE Cute Boutique! These girls are seriously the sweetest girls ever! E loved holding Aubs hand, and Aubs kept saying E's name. And she says it with her tongue out, and that makes it hilarious!

I hope everyone is enjoying their fall! Eat lots of pumpkin and enjoy your family.

Andie

An explanation and Halloween Treats

I believe I owe my readers (all 11 of you) an explanation. I haven't posted in 2 months, I apologize. My life has been super hectic. I am a full-time student (15 hours this semester) and filling my free time with much gardening.

So onto something crafty, you hope? Well, nothing spectacular but I did make a couple Boo Bags for the neighbors. You can't really tell here, but in the bag on the left, those are Halloween (orange) oreos that I drew jack-o-lantern faces on with melted chocolate. And the bag on the right is "Worms in dirt" which is crushed oreos (no icing) and gummy worms. They were all too easy, but the boy next door is only 2 and he is simply precious. There is an orange car, and then a few boxes of stickers too.

We also made a pumpkin for our front porch!  I had a lot of fun doing it, and I got the idea to put flowers in it from our local nursery. I originally planned doing an M and leaves (which is on the back, ha!) but it was looking a little to crafty and not very crisp. Honestly, if you decide to make one, put a heavy rock in the bottom because it keeps blowing over and the flowers get squashed each time. Live and learn!

My dear sister is having another boy tomorrow! I am so excited to meet him! Christopher Quinton, but we'll call him Quinton since my step-mom and husband are both Chris'. After her first boy was 6 months, she gave everything to a friend in need, and now that she's due, the whole fam is trying to play catch up, again :) I have been making outfits and today I put this boppy slipcover together. While it turned out well, I learned alot! First off, whewn the directions say to get an 18 inch zipper, do it! ha! Mine is only 12 inch and it was like trying to stuff my size 10 booty into my pals size 6 jeans! Lol! Also, one side is 1 inch longer than the other, so take the time to measure before you start cutting. Finally don't close your 2 yr olds bedroom door hoping the fact that she can't open the door will hold her in. Actually, she now knows how to open the door. Note to self: Pick up tall baby gates.

Her is the back, I thought a soft flannel would be good for winter months to help keep him warm while he's nursing. Here is the tutorial I used. Does anyone else LOVE Grosgrain? I know I do! Only thing I would tweak is to give myself a little more seam allowance. She says top trace the pillow and add an inch, Next time I'll do 1/4 inch more because I didn't have alot of room for my seam allowance and it was super tight.

Finally here is my first zipper ever! I have been fond of buttons but now that I see how easy zippers can be, I'll start working them in! Like I said, don't skimp on zipper size. It was very difficult to get the pillow in because of the curvature. I am thinking next up I will be making some uber cute ones for the holidays. A big fat santa boppy cover maybe, or some reindeer???

Finally, I have decided to try out the CG method. It is a method of caring for curly hair.Here is my hair now, super frizzy, undefined, dull, and dry.

I am using Giovanni Smooth as Silk Conditioner and Direct Leave In. I hope to post every other week on the progress, but my calendar is often pretty crowded these days.

I am looking forward to the cool weather (stil in the mid 80s but Thursday is supposed to be soup weather finally). Hope to enjoy some pumpkin and other festive flavors!

Andie