The bug turns 1 on Wednesday, but we had her soiree this Saturday. Lots of fun and cuteness ensued. Cleverly, Jacki planned the party with a bug theme, more specifically ladybugs. There was ladybug cake and even ladybug wine!
Mmmmm….cake!
The spread. I took some bread with trio of dips and spreads. Artichoke, vegan herb butter and olive oil w. dipping spice.
After this, I promise no more posts about egg rolls or ravioli. I’m just having fun using the wrappers in different ways! Same ravioli from yesterday’s post, just took the rest that was uncooked and fried it. Like little crab rangoons you get from the chinese restaurant! Dip in marinara. Good party food!
These are huge, about the size of a Post-It note. They turned out more like potstickers than ravioli because the wrappers are so thin and they’re not very sexy, but the taste was all there! They’re stuffed with portobello, scallion, garlic, basil and a bit of soy milk.
Nama is quite vegan friendly with their sushi. What’s not available on the menu, you can certainly request specialty rolls from the chef with no problems. I had a Crispy Veggie Roll and some jerk tofu nigiri. Both were lovely. I also highly recommend the Wasabi Hummus. I was aware you could make hummus 10,000 different ways, but this is the first I had seen or tasted some made with wasabi. Loved it!
I know I just posted eggrolls yesterday, but I kept playing with my wrappers and came up with this! Makes a serving of about 4 rolls.
Thai Curry Rolls
1-2 cups finely shredded cabbage
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil
1 tbsp finely chopped scallion
1 tsp chili paste
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp coconut milk
Here’s the little guy hanging out with some of his uncooked buddies. These are amazing if you like spicy Thai curries like the traditional red or green. If you don’t like it hot, omit the chili paste. All the measurements are approximate….I only use measuring cups when I bake.
Shredded cabbage, scallion, soy, lime juice, ginger, poppy seeds, salt & white pepper. I had them with a dipping sauce made from wasabi powder, soy sauce & honey.
Some friends and I got together Friday night for a very Latin dinner party! Melissa did such a cute job of setting the table and even made place settings with our names! Adorable. We had soft tacos with all the fixins, rice, enchiladas and, of course, margaritas!
The enchiladas were stuffed with Spanish rice and a mix of refried black beans, whole black beans, Tofutti sour cream, cream cheese & Follow Your Heart cheddar/monterey jack. They are rolled in Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted grain tortillas.
Since I’m on a ‘making everything from scratch’ kick, I decided to try my hand at dog biscuits. Fun to make, quick and the dogs love them!! My test subjects were Buster (left) & Kaia (right).
The biscuits are made from chicken & veggie baby food, cream of wheat, oatmeal and nonfat milk powder. Roll into balls and flatten like you would for peanut butter cookies, or you can try your hand at making shapes. The dough can be pretty sticky, so it’s difficult. Bake on a well greased cookie sheet at 350 for about 15 minutes. Cool completely and then store in the fridge in tupperware. Next time I may try to make them more like cookies so I can do fun shapes!
Update: I don’t have specific measurements for the peanut butter dog treats pictured here. If you want to try it, mix a couple small jars of chicken, beef or carrot baby food with cream of wheat and powdered milk. Add to that about 1 1/2 tbsp peanut butter. Mix it together, adding more dry ingredients as needed, until you have a dough stiff enough to roll into large, marble-sized balls. I used a little oatmeal in mine during this thickening process. Place the balls on a well-greased cookie sheet and use a fork to flatten. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.
This is the recipe I used for Elijah’s biscuits from Rover’s Recipes.
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup oatmeal
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 can tuna in oil (undrained)
1/3 cup water
In a food processer, pulse the oatmeal until it becomes a coarse flour. Set aside in a large bowl. Puree the tuna and the water and then add to the rest of the dry ingredients. You can do this in the food processor or by hand-kneading until you have a soft dough (it’s not very soft!). Roll out the dough on a floured surface to about a quarter inch thickness and cut into shapes of your liking. Bake on a lightly greased cookie sheet at 350 for 20-25 mins.
I woke up this morning with a throat too sore to swallow. Stupid sinuses! So it was hot tea for breakfast and my twist on comfort food for lunch. When I was little, mom did the classic soup and a sandwich for her ailing child. Tomato and grilled cheese is my personal favorite combination. Today, it’s Amy’s Tom Kha Phak soup and a pasta salad I put together lastnight from goveg.com. For canned soup, it’s pretty tasty but a little greasy and not spicy enough for my taste. It felt good on the throat and that’s all that matters to me!
Since the bread turned out so wonderful, I’ll finally supply the recipe for anyone who is brave enough to take it on.
6 cups bread flour
1 tsp salt
1/8 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn oil (vegetable works, too)
1 1/2 cup warm water
1 cup starter
Mix into a dough and then turn into an oiled bowl. Pat down and then turn over so both sides are greased. This is what it looks like:
Let rise until the bowl is full! Separate into 3 equal loaves and let rise again until the pans are full. This usually takes about 3-5 hours depending on how warm it is in your casa. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or golden brown! Cool on racks.
Last time I used just regular bread flour but I’m attempting the same recipe with wheat flour this time. We shall see!!
Don’t forget that if you decide not to make bread on the day that you feed your starter; before you put it back in the fridge you have to remove a cup. It keeps the yeast happy.
