I'm Salivating

Lately all we have been doing is waiting on the baby. My due date was last Saturday, so now I am at 41 weeks. I really don't mind that much and am not miserably pregnant. She is just giving us a little more time to get ready, Christmas shop, and go on a couple more dates. Thanks, baby girl!

As an added bonus to this post, here is a little robot we bought her. That little creature brings on major warm fuzzy feelings whenever I look at her. It's just so cute!

Not much recipe creating has been going on, so here are a few links that I have been eyeing. Hopefully you will want to try some of them. Tell me how it goes, so far I haven't taken the time to make them. I did however make some Pumpkin Banana Bread tonight. Can't wait to have a slice!

Some healthy dishes to try....

Apple Dressed Lentils with New Potatoes and Crunchy Salad from Veggie num.num

Peppered Lentils with Kale and Butternut Squash from YumUniverse

Kale Saag Soup from Bittersweet

Chili Garlic Pumpkin Hummus from Manifest Vegan

Some sweet treats....

Pretzel Donuts from V.K.Rees Photography

Vegan Puppy Chow from Veggie Kids

Black Bean Chocolate Chili Cherry Cookies from My New Roots

Cranberry Red Velvet Cupcakes from The Mommy Bowl

I have learned that......

Experimenting with scones, leads to delightful raspberry chocolate results.

Shepherds pie is quite comforting.

Making Chocolate Pumpkin Butter is amazingly easy and is incredibly decadent

when spread on hot biscuits. Please try this recipe!

Rutabaga fries are a new favorite. Peel and chop into your desired fry size, toss with olive

oil and savory spices. Bake until soft and a little crispy.

Pumpkin chocolate chip bread and a pumpkin spice latte is the perfect

afternoon snack.

5 years

5 years ago, Matt and I got married. Not on this date though, as our anniversary was on Friday. This year we didn't go all out on our celebration, but instead had an enjoyable meal at home. We feasted on Coconut Curry Butternut Squash soup in bread bowls from Panera Bread, and later that evening enjoyed some pumpkin pudding and shortbread cookies.

The soup was made from butternut squash and onions, coated in spices and roasted. Then I blended it up with coconut milk and let it simmer on the stove with some vegetable broth. So tasty and so good with that sourdough bread.

Here is a belly picture from Friday. I was 37 weeks, now I am at 38 weeks. Can't believe that I only have a few weeks left until baby day or whenever she decides to make her appearance. Matt and I's next year together is going to definitely be an adventure learning how to be parents.

Lunch Time

Lunch has become a very important part of my day as of late. It takes a little time to prepare and it has to be ready by 12:30 or I wont be in the best of moods. So usually around 11:45 I am thinking about lunch. For me lunch is always a salad and something else. Here are some lunches that I have been enjoying.

Lunch # 1 - Salad with a mushroom kale panini.

To make this delicious sandwich, saute the kale and mushrooms in water. Drain the water and stir in a couple spoonfuls of Daiya Mozzarella style cheese. Let the cheese melt a bit in the saute pan and mix in a bit of seasoning (I took a picture of the seasoning I used so you could get an idea of the spices used). Spread some earth balance on two slices of sprouted grain bread and then place the mushroom kale filling between the slices and grill in a George Foreman grill or in a skillet.

Here is the spice blend I used, but really any savory spices would pair nicely with this sandwich.

Lunch #2- Eggplant bacon lettuce and tomato sandwich with a chickpea salad and greens.

Toast the bread, spread on some veganaise, top with lettuce, tomato, and eggplant bacon. To make the eggplant bacon, slice fresh eggplant thinly or with a mandolin, marinate the slices in olive oil, apple cider vinegar, red pepper flakes, and some maple syrup, then dehydrate until crisp. You could probably make the "bacon" in the oven as well, but I haven't experimented with that yet.

Lunch # 3- Salad and mashed turnips.

This is my new favorite salad - arugula and cucumbers with a creamy balsamic dressing, topped with eggplant bacon crumbles and pumpkin seeds. To make the dressing, stir together some veganaise, balsamic vinegar, and a tiny splash of water.

We have been getting turnips with our CSA for a couple weeks and this has been my preferred way to eat them. Boil until soft, mash them up, and top with a little earth balance, salt, and pepper.

Lunch #4- Salad and spaghetti squash and swiss chard.

For this dish, cook the spaghetti squash in the oven (takes about an hour at 350 degrees F) and mix the cooked squash noodles with some sauteed swiss chard. Stir in some Earth Balance or olive oil and top with salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast.

Perhaps this post will give you some good lunch ideas, or perhaps you will just think I eat crazy stuff. Regardless, I enjoyed all of these lunches immensely!

Kitchen Happenings

I haven't been up to much recipe creating lately, but I have been up to a lot of eating. Here are a few things that have been made in my kitchen over the last month.

First apple pie of the season.

A lovely fall dinner to cheer a bad day.

Bananas and pumpkin pie spice on my oatmeal.

"Cheezy" Chard on toast from the cookbook Vegan Yum Yum.

I also have been obsessed with a chocolate chip cookie. So much so that I made them twice this week. They are quick and easy and made with items you most likely have in your cabinet and if not could be easily substituted. Maple syrup and molasses add such a richness to this cookie, so they are perfect for dunking in coffee or hot chocolate on a cool day. So when you are in need of an amazing vegan cookie, look no further. Added bonus, they are such a soft cookie and stay soft after cooling - yum!

Here is the link. Note: the only thing I changed about this recipe is to add about a tablespoon of rice milk to the batter after you have mixed it all up. I found that there wasn't enough liquid in the recipe for my batter to not be crumbly. Only add a splash though, it just needs a little bit. The recipe on the link does address this issue and she suggests more maple syrup, but rice milk works beautifully as well.

Healthy Smoothie

Before I was pregnant, I would have a daily green smoothie. I still keep up those, but now I most often have another smoothie at some point during the day. Sometimes it's a more decadent peanut butter banana, and other times it is a chia seed and berry smoothie. Most often I go for a chia seed one for it's added nutritional benefits. Chia seeds are a complete protein and contain essential omega 3's. Oh so good for baby.

To make this smoothie, soak 1 Tablespoon of chia seeds in a bit over 1/4 cup of water for 10 minutes. Stir them a couple times during the soaking process just to get all the seeds immersed and to avoid clumping. Like flax seeds, chia seeds get thick and gel like when soaked in a liquid.

After your soak time, combine a handful of strawberries and a handful of frozen mango. Really any fruit will do in this smoothie. Frozen berries are great for a quick and deliciously cold smoothie. Toss in the soaked seeds and water as well.

Add one cup of orange juice and blend until smooth.

So good!

Here is a belly picture to leave you with. This is at 30 weeks. I hit 31 weeks today. Only 9 weeks left. I can't believe it!

Cheezy Garlic Bread and some Link Love

Last week I had some dill from our CSA that was sitting around in my refrigerator for way to long. In an effort to not let it go bad, I sought after a yeasted dill bread recipe but came up with only those involving items that I did not have at my disposal. So I turned to a basic French bread recipe and Just mixed the fresh dill into the dough. Delicious. Note that you can make the recipe vegan by rubbing olive oil over the bread instead of egg whites before putting it in the oven. I sprinkled on a little salt before baking as well.

The first night we ate one loaf with roasted butternut squash and green beans. I started reminiscing about cheesy garlic bread which I have not touched in years. Not even a vegan version. So the next night came and on the table with our pasta was this amazing garlic bread.

Cheezy Garlic Bread

1 loaf of dill french bread or just french bread

Earth Balance Buttery Spread or margarine

Garlic powder

Daiya Mozzarella style vegan cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Slice the bread in half through the middle.

Spread on the earth balance to your liking. Season with garlic powder to your liking.

Sprinkle on Daiya Cheese as desired. Bake in the oven until the bread is a bit

crispy and the cheese has become melty. Enjoy!

If you are looking for a meal of pasta and garlic bread that is a little less carb heavy, use zucchini noodles. Take a zucchini and make "pasta" strips using a vegetable peeler. You can peel off the skin or leave it on depending on what you like. Top with heated tomato sauce.

Now for some amazing food from other blogs.

Banana Brownies from The Mommy Bowl (these are nut, grain, and sugar free)

Coffee Spiked Chocolate Carmel Bars from Satisfy My Sweet Tooth (I must veganize this

recipe soon!)

Black and Blueberry Sandwich Cookies from BitterSweet

Five Minute No Bake Sunflower Oat Bars from Choosing Raw

Peanut Butter Chocolate Crispy Bars from Happy Healthy Life

And some Non-desserts

Lentil, Kale, and Sweet Potato Empanadas from YumUniverse

Stuffed Mushroom Phyllo Roll from Oh She Glows (the kale salad looks awesome too)

Indian Inspired Aloo Gobi Wraps from Choosing Raw

Are there any recipes you have been drooling over lately? Please share!