I'm Salivating

Sorry for my absence. It's been a crazy week, and my camera is acting strange and not working very well. Hopefully I can figure out what is up with it soon. So this post is another one showcasing some amazing looking food from other blogs. Unfortunately, there will be no pictures in this one. Sorry. But click on the links and get inspired by some truly

delicious looking food!

Desserts First!

1. Raw Chocolate Ganache from Nature Insider.

2. Chocolate Butter from Giver's Log (I really want to try this one with some Earth Balance).

3. Orange Creamsicle Tarts from The Bees Knees Kitchen.

4. Semla from Cooking Vegan Food Up North.

5. Chocolate Raspberry Fudge Cake from Chocolate Covered Katie.

6. Apple Donuts from The Verdant Life.

7. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard from Oh She Glows.

Ok, ok, enough with the desserts.

1. Red Hot Bruschetta from Healthy. Happy. Life.

2. Raw BBQ Sauce from Yum Universe.

3. Vegan Shepherds Pie with Gravy from Oh She Glows.

4. Peter Rabbit's Smoothie from Lexie's Kitchen.

5. Black Quinoa Corn Muffins from My New Roots.

Hope you find a little kitchen inspiration. Are there any recipes you have been eyeing on other blogs?

Weekend During the Week

We needed a little vacation. Just some time to get away from our normal day to day routine and rest. Spring break was our excuse, so I took a day off of work and we spent a couple nights in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus is one of our favorite getaway spots for a couple reasons. 1. It's close enough to be ok with driving there. 2. It has many vegan options for food. So we go there to eat more or less. Which in my mind is the best part of vacations anyway.

Here are some moments that truly made our mid-week hiatus.

Indian lunch buffet at Banana Leaf. Amazing mostly vegan buffet, incredible appetizers, a delicious special vegan dessert, and best of all a staff so helpful in kind, it was like we were a guest in their home.

Walks on high street and perusing the little specialty shops while sipping delicious chocolate flavored tea.

Super cute shopping bags.

A Pattycake Bakery bag full of goodies to share at Cup O Joe.

Hot tea and a good read. Em, I think you would really like this book if you haven't read it already.

Cashew Cardamom Truffle.

Late night snack of a gluten free German Chocolate Cupcake. I Still don't believe it was

gluten free, it was so good.

Leisurely browsing through cookbooks.

It was a great couple of days. The most we have just relaxed in a long time. My trouble is

that I can't get enough of these times. When is the next trip?

I put off writing this post as it seems so trivial as it happened while the tragic events in Japan were going on. It really put some perspective on treasuring the moments we have. Things happen, for better or worse, in an instant.

Have a good week. May you treasure all those moments.

Lovely Day For a Sandwich

Something about the spring-ish weather and maybe something about this post has got me thinking about sandwiches. I bought some veganaise the other day just because I was craving tomato sandwiches. Sadly tomatoes are not in season and I'm not a fan of grocery store tomatoes either. So today I created this gem, and now my sandwich craving has been filled.

Slice a zucchini into thin strips.

Balsamic marinade. Yum!

Marinate the veggies for an hour.

Coat one side of the bread slices with a little bit of the marinade.

Veganiase, one of my favorite things.

Grill the sandwich for a bit.

Lunch is served!

Marinated Veggie Panini

serves 1

1/4 cup olive oil

1/8 cup balsamic vinegar

5 or 6 thin slices of zucchini

salt and pepper to taste

onion slices (as much as desired)

mixed greens or spinach

Veganaise

2 slices of bread

In a jar with a tight lid, shake together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.

Pour into a shallow dish and lay zucchini slices in the marinade. Add the onion and toss everything to make sure it is fully coated. Marinate for about 1 hour. When you are ready to make your sandwich, remove vegetables from the marinade and lay on a plate so that they can drain a bit. Rub some of the marinade on one side of each bread slice. Turn the bread over and coat the opposite side with veganaise. Top with mixed greens and the zucchini and onions. Put the two halves together and use a George Foreman grill or a hot skillet to grill for a few minutes. Enjoy!

Juice Fest

This week has been a good week. Fifteen pounds of carrots and 2 bags of apples were juiced in the course of 5 days. Call us crazy, or call us addicted. It was great, even more so, because I didn't make any of it until I pushed a couple kale leaves down the shoot.

Matt decided he wanted to juice for lunches instead of his usual bread fest. He said that he felt a lot lighter this week and really liked it. His preferred combination is 1 apple for every 3 very large carrots, along with roughly a teaspoon sized chunk of fresh ginger, and one orange. Double that for a very large glass of juice, minus the ginger or it will get a bit strong.

This was our last helping.

So refreshing!

I added 4 kale leaves to my glass making it an unappetizing muddy color, but it still tasted good.

On a drastically unhealthier note, I was so excited to see these vegan candy bars at the local

co-op.

Matt and I split the candy bar and were immediately on a sugar buzz. I have not had

a candy bar in so long. I can't believe I used to be able to put away a whole one.

But then again I can believe it as this one was amazing. I'm looking forward to trying the other 2 flavors offered.

Hope you all are having an enjoyable weekend!

Gluten Free Scones

Scones are a treat that I bake often. I choose them over muffins or cookies. Matt asks for them every other week. We love them. Lately, I have cut most wheat out of my diet (I have had some soy sauce here and there). So I've been relying on spelt flour for a lot of my baking and have also been trying to incorporate more gluten free recipes.

So, last night when Matt asked me to bake scones, I decided to bake two kinds and try one gluten free. The results were pretty great. I was really impressed. This is the recipe I used, and below is how I adapted it. I am also trying to lower the amount of sugar I eat, so I substituted some ground shredded coconut to replace the sugar bulk. I really liked the result, but you can tell that there are coconut shreds in the scone when you are chewing. If you don't like coconut and are not opposed to the sugar, try it that way.

Low Sugar, Gluten Free, Chocolate Chip Scones

1 cup sweet white sorghum flour

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup tapioca starch

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, ground even finer in a

coffee grinder or food processor

1 Tbs baking powder

few shakes of sea salt

1/2 to 1 teas cinnamon (depending on your preference)

1/3 cup unrefined coconut oil

1 cup of almond milk mixed with 1 teas apple cider vinegar

1 teas vanilla extract

1/4 teas almond extract

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a measuring cup combine milk and apple cider vinegar and let set a couple minutes. Meanwhile, cut in the coconut oil and combine until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Mix in the chocolate chips. Add the vanilla and almond extracts to the milk mixture and pour into the dry mix and combine, adding more milk if needed. The dough should be able to stick together when shaping it in your hands. Shape the dough into a ball and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment. Flatten and shape the dough into a disc about an inch thick. Pour a tiny bit of almond milk on top of the shaped dough and brush it across the surface. Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for about 12 minutes at 450 degrees F.