First Bon Fire with Vegan S'mores

We finally broke in the fire pit in our back yard this year. It has only taken us 3 years, but in our defense we've had a baby to take care of each summer or been pregnant since living at our current home. The kids had themselves a blast. They particularly loved the vegan s'mores. Evelyn liked hers as a sandwich and Elliott ate each ingredient singularly in true 3 year picky fashion. Most importantly, they followed directions and stayed away from the fire and no one got hurt. We're planning on another one for Labor Day weekend. Hopefully the weather cooperates.

The Seven Year Itch

2010 marks the year my hubby and I have been together a decade! Seven of those years we have been married. In honor of our anniversary, I thought I'd post a quick link to the article about it, which was published in VegNews way back when.

http://swenconn.powweb.com/wedding6.html

We had a vegan wedding, which is detailed in the article above. It is hard to believe it has already been seven years, yet here we are now. Just thinking about the food and cake from that night, makes my mouth begins to water. It has turned into my "seven year itch" to re-create the food from that night.

Roasted Kale Chips

Think your kids won't eat greens, think again. We've cooked these up a few times, and the kids consistently ask for seconds and even thirds. Part of the reason I think they go over so well is all in the name. For some reason, simply calling them "chips" was enough to get our kids excited. It probably didn't hurt to see and hear us gushing over how tasty there were the first time we made them.

My friend first posted about making these on Facebook and they sounded so delicious we had to try it out. It is unbelievably easy to make and can be used for other types of greens. We've also made baby spinach chips that were great too.

Roasted Kale Chips
1 bunch of kale
1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
salt to taste

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash kale well and remove center rib. Tear into small pieces. Toss in bowl with oil and salt. Spread out kale evenly on large cookie sheet. Roast in oven until it starts to brown on the edges and is crunchy (about 6-8 minutes).

Fresh from the Yard

This summer is the first we've been able to start thinking about gardening. We planted some raspberry and blueberry bushes, and we're so excited to see how much we were able to harvest in the first year. It was a great opportunity to teach the kids about where food come from and learn some basic plant biology. Here are some of the blueberries we picked.

The kids loved to pick and sample them. We also started a garden this summer, and hope it will help to foster an appreciation for the work required to grow food. Maybe it will help the kids to venture out and become fans of other types of vegetables they have shied away from in the past. It did work with some crookneck squash we grew. Elliott was so excited to pick it and normally wouldn't eat that (he prefers butternut squash), but he specifically asked from some on his plate. Still working on fresh greens. So far all they'll eat is kale and spinach chips.

End of the Sabbatical

Sorry for disappearing for so long. It had been a busy summer, and we've had a continuous string of things happen. It started with our 1 year old in a cast two weeks, a death in the family, a visit to Children's ER, and then two weeks of high fevers. It seems we have a break for now, and I'm hoping it lasts.
I've missed sharing some things, so I'll spend this week catching up on our summer shenanigans. We celebrated our son's 3rd birthday in June and here is a picture of him enjoying the cake we made for him.

Last year he had a digger cake, and this year he was still very much into construction machines. He wanted a construction site cake. We were able re-use decorations from last year it worked out well. Here is a closer picture of the cake.

It was a combination of two types of cake. One side is marble with vanilla frosting in between, and the second half is white chocolate cake with raspberry filling.

Lentil Pistachio Patties

This recipe is adapted from one listed on Veg Family. It is a pretty big hit at our house with the kids. Elliott even likes to eat them on their own. Since they are so popular, we've yet to get a picture of them. Here is the recipe:

Lentil Pistachio Patties
1/2 cup shelled natural pistachios
1 medium carrot or 1/2  cup baby carrots
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
2-1/4 cups cooked green lentils (about 1 cup dry)
2 small ripe avocados
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon tamari soy sauce
1/2 - 1 cup of flour
1/3 cup whole rolled oats (not instant)

In food processor, process pistachios until finely chopped. Add the carrot, onion, garlic, and cooked lentils, and mix until you have a fairly smooth puree. Add the remaining ingredients and process to combine well. Add flour until mixture thickens where it sticks to a spoon without falling off on its own (1/2 cup to 1 cup flour).
Meanwhile, heat a nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Scoop about 1/2 cup of the mixture per patty into the pan and flatten slightly. Cook on each side until deep golden brown. Gently remove to a platter or place in hamburger buns with desired toppings. Makes about a dozen patties.

Easter Jelly Bean Pizza Cookie

Okay, I am a little behind in this post, but with two little kids it is hard to keep up sometimes. Now enough with the excuses. When I posted on facebook that I was eating a jelly bean pizza, a few people thought I may be pregnant. After emphatically stating that wasn't the case, I explained it was a pre-Easter treat I'd made for the kids. All I did to make it was whip up some sugar cookie dough, shape it into a large "crust," frost it with vanilla frosting (see below), and then sprinkle with jelly beans. I used the kind from Pangea, which is the traditional flavored jelly beans I remember from my childhood.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

1cup margarine (I use Earth Balance Buttery Sticks)
3 - 4 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. vanilla
4-6 Tbsp. soy milk, almond, rice or hemp work well too (vanilla is best)

Cream margarine, half of the sugar, and vanilla together. Add the rest of the powdered sugar and soy milk slowly alternating between the two and mixing between additions. You can vary the amount of soy milk or powdered sugar to obtain the best consistency for frosting.

Since the jelly bean pizza was a pre-cursor to Easter, I made a bunny cake for the big day. It was just enough to feed our family and guests with only a couple pieces left over. Perfect! I made it last year, and posted directions on how to make it prior to Easter. It is a simple box mix and purchased pre-made icing (Cherrybrook Kitchen vanilla icing and Betty Crocker gluten free yellow cake mix). Below is this year's version with less scary eyes (my hubby said last year's looked like he was deceased). He is blunt with his opinions, but I appreciate the honesty. Not too vegan to have a "dead" bunny cake. The eyes were more friendly this year, because I agreed with his observation.