Vegan Mac and Cheese

I found this recipe on Oh She Glows and the picture made my mouth water. I love, love, love mac and cheese. I kept thinking of this all day and ended up stopping at Whole Foods for some nutritional yeast and plain Almond Breeze.

I followed the recipe exactly and added some frozen broccoli and cauliflower. Overall, it was great! I can't say it tasted like mac and cheese and so I think I was slightly disappointed. However, when I got over that, I realized it was really good. Creamy, comforting, and satisfying. Perfect for creamy pasta cravings!

In the garden

So, I finally have picked my first harvest of summer 2009. Things tend to be a little slower up here in New England, but between the rain the whole month of June and the below average temps, this summer has not made my garden happy. We finally have a week of nice high temps. Now if only the slugs would go away and the tomato worms would leave my poor tomatoes alone, I will be happy.

First harvest: two zucchini, one cucumber.


A sign of things to come...

Jalapeno Peppers!


Cucumbers - there are actually three in this pic. Can you find them all? Hint: one is more round than long!


Tomatoes - they are struggling so much!


More Zucchini


Summer Squash


In addition to the living things in my garden, there are also various living things around the garden.

There was the frog on my porch screen...


The Robin who decided the best place for her nest was on our hose:


And most disturbing of all...the bat who likes to sleep hanging onto our air conditioning unit. Gross.


I will leave you with my pride and joy. Every summer I buy a couple hibiscus plants despite the fact that I know they will only last one summer. I love these flowers and I feel like it brings a touch of the tropics to our pool deck. Gorgeous. These are different though, they almost a ruffled. Not sure if I bought a different variety, but I still love them!


Happy Harvesting!

Snickerdoodle Muffins

I knew I would not be able to stay away from baking too long! My son loves snickerdoodle cookies and I happened to be scrolling through some blogs when he spotted these muffins from across the room! I was on Culinary Concoction by Peabody and they did look amazing.

My kids love to have "special breakfasts" on the weekends and this usually involves my husband and I staying in bed while they climb on the counters to get dishes, set the table and put out various boxes of cereal, bread for toast, etc. They also include fruit and yogurt. I told my son that I would make him a special breakfast with the snickerdoodle muffins.

I did alter the recipe slightly, but they came out great. And most importantly, my son loved his Special Breakfast!




Snickerdoodle Muffins

1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup olive oil - the recipe called for 2 sticks of butter
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
¾ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp cream of tarter
¾ tsp freshly grated nutmeg - I omitted this
1 and ¼ cup plain non-fat yogurt - the recipe called for sour cream
2 and ¼ cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cinnamon chips - I added these becuase I found some in the pantry!

1 cup sugar and 2 TBSP cinnamon mixed together for rolling

1.Cream the butter and sugar until soft about 3 to 5 minutes. Add in the vanilla. Add in the eggs one at a time and mix until each is incorporated.
2.In a separate, mix together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder and cream of tarter.
3.Add the flour mixture and the sour cream alternately to the egg-butter mixture in the additions. Start with the flour and end with the flour. Scrape the bowl occasionally.
4. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out muffin batter one at a time and drop into a shallow bowl filled with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Roll the muffin around in the mixture until it is covered completely in cinnamon sugar.. Place muffin into a greased muffin tin.. Depending on the size of your tins, you should get about 12 to 14 muffins. Bake them for approx. 20-22 minutes in a 350F oven or until they are golden brown.




Thanks Peabody, your muffins were a huge hit!

Green Goddess Salad

I have been eating a lot of salads lately and decided to try a new take on Green Goddess Dressing. I based my version on the Cooking Light recipe from May 2006. I have made this recipe in the past and it is great, but why not add more good for you stuff?

I tossed a little with some greens, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, and a little feta. It was super tasty and my daughter loved the "sauce". I apologize for the ugly pic. I was lazy and took the picture in the same bowl I mixed the salad.

You can find the original recipe here. My version is below.




Green Goddess Dressing
1/2 cup plain fat-free yogurt
1 avocado
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon of white chia seeds

Blend all in a food processor until smooth. I added a little water to thin it.

Raw Zucchini and Cashew Alfredo

Ok, so although this is not 100% raw, it is the most raw thing I have made other than smoothies, salad or dessert. I was absolutely intrigued by seeing Raw Alfredo recipes on other raw blogs. I love creamy sauces but rarely eat them because of the high fat and calorie content so I knew I had to try this one.

I followed a recipe by Gena over at Choosing Raw. Her website is amazing and I feel like I have learned so much about "alternative" diets. Like food combining? Who knew?!

My father in law brought up some great zucchini and tomatoes so I thought I could dig out the cashews in the back of my closet and set to work. Except, my husband ate them all. Ugh! Now what? I was CRAVING Alfredo! I did a quick google search and found that sometimes macadamia nuts are a good substitution. Luckily I had some in a secret stash!

It was amazing! I made a couple substitutions, additions, but wow. My daughter who was eating Aunt Annie's mac and cheese (with broccoli mixed in for added nutrition) actually wanted mine instead. And my husband came home later that night and loved it. After he ate, I told him what was in it!



Here is my modified version of Gena's recipe.

"Alfredo" Sauce
1 ¼ cup cashews, soaked for a few hours (I just put them under water when I left for work in the morning) I totally did not plan ahead and have time to soak them...
¾ cup water
1 tsp agave
1/3 cup lemon juice
½ tsp sea salt
1 tsp miso Oops, no miso
Couple of basil leaves
Clove of garlic
3 sun dried tomatoes
black pepper

Mix all together in a food processor until smooth. This is where it got a little "un-raw". I used my julienne setting on my mandolin for the zucchini and cut the tomatoes in quarters. I threw the veggies and the sauce in a hot saute pan for a quick stir around the pan to mix. I really like my food hot. So I tried not to cook it or leave it in too long, but just warm it a little. And I topped it off with some grate asiago. Again, not raw but I can't let a good chunk of cheese go to waste. And it makes a pretty picture!

While on Choosing Raw, I also read about Gena's frozen banana ice cream. Basically put frozen bananas in a food processor and mix until smooth and creamy. Topped with a little almond butter...so good. Another dish my family also enjoyed. Too quickly so I was not able to take a picture!

Grape Soda

I know, a lot of juice posts recently, but I am seriosuly loving my juicer. This one was made with black seedless grapes. It took a lot of grapes but they were slightly mushy and I knew I would not eat them so why not make juice?

After juicing the grapes, I added a little soda water and it was like drinking a nice light grape soda. Yum! I did try it with red grapes but it was not as sweet or flavorful.

Getting Adventurous With Juice

So the green juice has become my new fave. I crave it. In fact, if I could bring the juicer to work with me, I would.

My friend told me about it and she called it green lemonade. I have been experimenting with the exact amounts, but it is basically, granny smith apple, lemon, and kale. I add a little stevia just to make it less tart. It tastes just like lemonade and is just as refreshing. Surprisingly, my daughter agreed to try it (it does not hurt that her favorite color is green) and she loves it. What a great way to get kids to eat kale!!!

The next, I am not so sure about...



Gorgeous color! This was beet, apple, and carrots. Maybe I used too much beet for my first try? I will definitely try it again but maybe alter the amounts and work up to it.

Another juice I tried but I did not take a pic was also interesting. It was grapefruit, sweet potato, apple and celery. The grapefruit was totally refreshing. The sweet potato and apple were not very noticeable. But the celery! Wow! Who knew celery had such a strong flavor?! The odd thing was the initial taste was the grapefruit and the aftertaste was all celery. Again, a little odd, but not necessarily bad.

And the experiments continue...

Chocolate Avocado Pudding...Seriously!

I have started seeing this Chocomole all over the blogs and was fascinated. It is only in the past few years that I have started eating guacamole (I was so missing out) and the thought of avocado pudding was so odd! But in my quest to eat healthier and try new things, what a perfect combination to try!

There are many different versions and I stuck to a very simple one. I also wanted it to be quick so the kids did not see what I was using!

My daughter was not a big fan, but she is not really into anything with a pudding consistency. Same goes for my husband. My son and I have been eating a little every night because it is so rich. And I like it sprinkle with some chopped peanuts. So good!

Chocolate Avocado Pudding
2 avocados
1/4 cocoa powder
7-8 dates
chocolate soy milk - I found it needed a little thinning

Blend in a food processor until smooth.