It's been a long time...

Oh hello. I remember you. Do you remember me?

Yes, it's been a while and I'm sorry about that. Life got a little hectic. Well...a lot hectic.

But that's no excuse. I should have stopped by to say hi. Possibly shared a recipe or two.

So here is a a hearty vegetable soup recipe just for you. I promise that I'll write more. Pinky swear.

<3ty Veggie Soup

1/2 onion, chopped
1  clove garlic, smashed
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 zucchini, chopped
4 cups of water
1 veggie bullion cube
1 tsp of herbs de provence
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 very small bay leaf
1 can of diced tomato with juice
1 can of cannellini beans
3 oz of spinach
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat 2 tsp of olive oil in a pot. Saute onion, garlic, carrots and celery until soft-ish. Toss in the zucchini.Saute for another 2-3 minutes. Add the water, then the bullion cube. Toss in the spices and then the tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. During the last 5 minutes, add the beans and spinach. Cook for the last 5 minutes, add salt and pepper to taste and voilà!

This soup is amazing with a baguette and some shredded parmesan on top. And once you taste this soup, I'm sure you will forgive me. :)

Fall, chilly weather and pumpkins! Oh my!

YESSSSSS!

It's that time again. I will be in blissful pumpkin heaven for the next 3 months!

Not only that, but I will be making TONS of soups. I've been slacking all summer and I need to get back in to the swing of things. I've bought lunch everyday this week. The guys at SweetGreen know me by first name. Not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

Stay tuned for lots of awesome recipes!

Blueberry picking is dangerous work.

One of my favorite things about summer is berry picking. I don't get to do it as often as I would like, but when I do, I go all out. This past weekend, the boyfriend and I went up to Butlers Orchard to pick some yummy berries. (More info on Butler's Pick Your Own here.)

Between the two of us, we left with quite a hull. One pound of blueberries and almost three pounds of blackberries to be exact. Not to mention a horrible insect sting on the back of my knee. The little bastard landed there and when I went to bend down, I smooshed him, and he stung me in retaliation. Word to the wise: WEAR BUG SPRAY and use a bucket or an old coffee can when picking blackberries. We had used our re-usable nylon produce bags and they were squishing the berries. I had to dispose of the evidence. Nom nom nom.

So. Now that I have all these damn berries, what to do?

The blackberries are up for discussion and I could really use some suggestions.

As for the blueberries, behold, the best darn cobbler this side of your mom's house. That's right. I said it. My cobbler is better than your mom's cobbler.

Blueberry Cobbler

What you need:
3 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup orange juice
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup butter (or Earth Balance for the vegans), room temp
1 egg (or egg replacement for the vegans)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
dash of cinnamon or apple pie spice

What you do:
In an 8 inch square baking dish, mix blueberries, 3 tablespoons sugar, and orange juice. Let soak for 30-60 minutes.

In a small bowl, thoroughly mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

In a medium bowl, cream butter and 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Add flour mixture, stirring just until ingredients are combined. Add a tablespoon of flour if the batter is a little runny. Pour over blueberry mixture.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until topping is golden brown and filling is bubbling. Check after 30 minutes and add more time if needed.

Vloppy Joes

That's right. Vloppy Joes. Vegan sloppy joes. Just as awesome as the meaty sloppy joes and equally as sloppy.

You can even switch it up by using either pinto beans or textured soy protein. I started out using the pinto beans. They turned out great!

What you need:
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 large white onion, chopped
4 celery ribs, chopped
4-6 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup tomato sauce
2 Tbps. tomato paste
1/2 C. ketchup
3 tsp. Tabasco sauce
1 tsp vegan worcestershire sauce
1 C. pinto beans or textured soy protein

What you do:
Heat the oil in a large skillet, and saute the onion and celery until soft. Toss in the garlic. Cook a few minutes longer.

Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, ketchup, tobasco and worcestershire. Cook until it bubbles, then turn to low and let cook for about 10-15 minutes. Mix in the pinto beans, or textured soy protein and cook for approximately 5 minutes.

Serve on a whole wheat burger bun and enjoy!

Break Time

Hello all!

I will be taking a break for the next month or so to focus some other activities. Feel free to keep up with me here.

But I wanted to leave you with one last post. It's a really yummy vegan one too!

Fantabulous Oatmeal Cookies

What you need:
1 C. earth balance
1 C. sugar
1 C. brown sugar, packed
2 eggs (or EnerG replacement)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 C. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 C. quick cook oats

What you do:
In a medium bowl, mix earth balance, sugar and brown sugar. Beat in the eggs (or egg replacement) and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Slowly add the dry mixture to the wet mixture. Add the oats and mix thoroughly. Chill for at least 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 375. Scoop out walnut sized balls and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Bake for 8 minutes if using a darker cookie sheet. Allow to cool for approximately 5 minutes before transferring to a plate to cool completely.

Another Lazy Dinner Post.

I'm sick. My annual sinus infection is rearing it's ugly head over my normally productive life. I can't even do yoga. Seriously. I tried last night and fell into an embarrassing coughing fit. Woo woo.

However, since the boyfriend wasn't home to make me a dinner (that I couldn't taste anyway), I had to make something to eat. Toast just wasn't cutting it anymore.

So here is a simple, tasty, sinus clearing dinner that only took about 30 minutes out of my day. :)

Curried Potatoes and Peas

What you need:
3/4 c. bulger
2-3 medium red potatoes
1 tbsp. fresh grated ginger
1-2 tsp. of red curry
1 c. of frozen peas

What you do:
Bring 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil. Add the bulger and cover. Simmer until cooked.

Meanwhile, dice the potatoes and cook over medium-high heat until browned (about 12-13 minutes). Add the ginger and curry. If you don't like the heat, only use 1 tsp., otherwise, use as much as you like. Add the frozen peas, cover, and turn the heat down to low. Cook until the peas are no longer frozen.

In a large bowl, mix together the bulger and the potato mixture. Enjoy!

I poached an egg!

Yeah, that's right. I actually poached an egg. By myself. And the yolk didn't break.

I love poached eggs, however making them can be a tad intimidating. So, after watching many videos and reading every single helpful tip I could possibly find, I finally decided to try it for myself.

First, I brought the water to a rolling boil, then brought it down to a gentle simmer and added 1 tsp. of vinegar to the water. The reason for the vinegar is to help the egg coagulate more quickly while cooking.

*deep breath*

I started stirring the water to give it a whirlpool effect, cracked the egg and dropped it in the pot. Two and a half to three minutes later, I had a poached egg. A really tasty poached egg.

I served the egg over the best veggie hash in the world.

The Best Veggie Hash In The World

What you need:
4 red potatoes
1 med onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
garlic salt to taste
sea salt and pepper to taste
Old Bay to taste
2 medium broccoli crowns (steamed for about 5-6 minutes)
1 1/2 tbsp. Safflower oil

What you do:
Dice and boil potatoes in lightly salted water. While potatoes are cooking, cook the onion and read pepper in the safflower oil in a large skillet. Cook for about 3-4 minutes of until tender. Add the potatoes and the steamed broccoli. Add spices to taste and cook on low heat for about 8-10 minutes or until potatoes are slightly browned.

Make the poached eggs last and serve together in a blissful breakfast combination. Mimosas optional, but highly suggested.

*picture borrowed from whatscookingamerica.net.