a veg life

Two weeks ago, we posted about some of our favorite recipes . I highlighted a few that have become staples around our house. We make the cauliflower bites a lot, ever since Rick deemed them "a 10" the first time we tried them. More often than not, we use BBQ sauce instead of hot sauce, but the recipe is interchangeable. This is another one that comes with instructions , but I typically just go for it and guesstimate. You'll need:  1-2 heads of cauliflower, depending on how hungry you are equal parts water and flour Hot sauce, BBQ sauce, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, meat marinade, etc. Preheat your oven to 425*.  Cut the heads of cauliflower into bit-sized pieces. Usually, one floret works well as one bite.  Combine equal parts flour and water to make a simple batter. I usually start with 2/3 cup of each, but may end up making more. You may want to a bit more flour for a less runny batter.  Dip the cauliflower pieces into the batte...

As many of you know, Peas and Thank You was one of the food blogs that served as an inspiration to me in my early vegetarian and vegan days. Mama Pea was/is raising a veggie family, and her posts were always filled with great ideas and great food. Sadly, shortly after finishing her second cookbook, Mama Pea decided to call it quits. I miss her posts a lot, but we are still enjoying her food! I put together this crock pot soup on Sunday--it's the first time in at least 8 months that we've had it, and I definitely think it will be back on our table very soon! Spicy African Peanut Stew from Mama Pea  ( my comments are in italics ) (I usually double this recipe to fit in my crockpot--that way we have leftovers, too!) 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or 1/2 cup dry garbanzo beans from your bulk section) 1 sweet potato, cubed (about 1 c. total) (I also added butternut squash we had on hand) 1 1/2 t. curry powder 1/2-3/4 t. garam masala (depending on how spicy you like ...

Tonight's post comes from Rick! Enjoy! I wanted to make something so everyone could understand why I answer "salad" as my favorite thing to eat.  I usually get the puzzled look or the laugh out loud moment whenever I mention that a green salad is my favorite thing to eat in the world.  And I understand, people can be terrified of a salad consisting of iceberg lettuce and dried out old veggies.  That actually sounds really boring and not very filling.   Eww ( via ) This one little tip turned any salad I make into a gourmet experience.  I start every salad out by mixing kale with avocado/olive oil/and himalayan pink salt .  I then get my hands dirty and massage all three ingredients into the kale and break it down, braising the kale.  This make the kale so much more edible and flavorful.   Now comes the fun part, add any veggies/spices/fruit/seasonings to you want.  Today was banana pe...

Whenever we have friends who are starting a vegan diet or just dabbling in a plant-based lifestyle, they inevitably ask us for recipes. I always find that to be a tricky question to answer, because so much of the cooking I do is unmeasured and unstructured. When I find a recipe I like, I typically use it as a guide, and end up changing it in some way. One way I have found to organize and share recipes is through Pinterest . I find it so much easier to use than storing things in my email, because a picture of each finished product shows up when I am looking for something specific. The mobile app is perfect to use when at the grocery store, too! Here is a link to my recipes board: Emily's Recipes These are some of our favorites--most I have adapted for our tastes, but some I follow exactly: Mac and Cheese from VegNews BBQ/Buffalo Cauliflower Bites Orange Chicken Cauliflower This recipe is the perfect example of one I have adapted. I started with this NY Times...

Ever since apple season has come around again, I've felt the urge to try my hand making apple butter. After reading a number of recipes that involve using a crock pot (my favorite easy cooking appliance), I knew it would be easy! Here's the recipe I followed, using a mix of Granny Smith, Fuji, and Gala apples.  Crock Pot Apple Butter thanks to Kathryn T for help with this recipe! 16-20 apples, cored and cubed (as many as it takes to fill your crock pot) 1/2 c apple cider  1 tbs cinnamon 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/4 tsp cloves 1/3 c sugar Fill the crockpot with apples and sprinkle spices and sugar on the top. Stir to mix and cover. I set my crock pot to high for about an hour, to get everything started and then switched it to low. Stir every few hours, if you can.  I started my apple butter around 7:45pm and switched the crockpot to low an hour later. I stirred about once an hour until I went to bed. I let the apples cook overnight, and then switched off the slow ...

Restaurant Review: Crossroads Kitchen When Rick and I first read about Crossroads in our LA Magazine , we immediately knew it was on our short list of new restaurants to try. After checking out the menu, we realized it would be the perfect place to celebrate our marriage with a special meal to ourselves. It took a few weeks for us to get there, since we needed to have a reservation on an evening we had free, and Saturday night was the finally the perfect night! Dinner was late, with our reservation scheduled for 8:30. We did not use the restaurant's valet parking and ended up finding a spot in the neighborhood. Even looking through the windows of the restaurant, we were immediately blown away by the decor and beautiful exposed bulb chandeliers throughout the restaurant space. We had to wait a few minutes, but passed the time by celeb watching as Tisha Campell-Martin 's birthday party got underway. You know a restaurant must be good if Don Cheadle is there! Once seated,...

Delicious either way! Sometimes, you just have to bake. There are times where I just get the craving to put something in the oven and try something new! In absence of pumpkin to add to my latest endeavor, I decided I'd try out a potential Thanksgiving breakfast idea. My Aunt Sue and cousins Ryan and Lindsey got us some awesome doughnut pans for the wedding. I've only used them once before, and when I was digging around for a muffin tin, these bad boys where on top. So, I figured, why not give them a try? We bought a few bags of fresh cranberries at Whole Foods around Christmas time last year--at 99 cents a piece, they were a steal! I tossed them in our freezer, and pull them out occasionally. I found a recipe online to use as a base--typically, I enjoy adjusting a changing a recipe to make it more my own, but I try not to mess around too much with baked goods, as there is so much chemistry involved.  Lately I've noticed that the things I bake come out very moist--alm...

A Brand New Recipe! I don't know about you, but I find cooking to be one of the most relaxing things I can do. Chopping, prepping, mixing, and sautéing everything to create a meal is therapeutic and rewarding to me. I had spent the weekend facilitating a leadership workshop for middle school girls and while we had an awesome time, I was totally ready to get home and get into the kitchen. One can only deal with some much One Direction obsession... :)  This is a recipe I created, after having seen a similar idea floating around on facebook. Just in case you haven't noticed, squash season is in full swing. I've made a little mental goal to try and eat some sort of squash at least two times a week while everything is in season. My chili recipe is a great way to incorporate squash into a fall favorite! Three Bean Pumpkin Chili A Barclay Original I like to see ingredients along with steps in a recipe, but I promise to put the full ingredients list at the end of...