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

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!

I'm Salivating

Hello all. It's me again, with no recipes to share, no pictures of the cookies, cookie bars, and bread that I have been baking, and no delicious cooking to show off. Oh well, I do have this nice round belly.

Really this is the only "cooking" I have to be proud of as of late. Dinner around here has been the usual fair - pastas, salads, sandwiches, and Matt's sweet potato saute. Instead of cooking, my favorite things to do lately are bake, organize and get rid of stuff, then eat said baked goods. Here are two recipe's that I have been making. The first for some delicious homemade bread that I made into rolls and also a loaf. Second, is these super easy chocolate chip cookie bars. I usually half this recipe and have been using coconut extract instead of vanilla, as well as coconut oil in lieu of margarine. This recipe has become a favorite because I can just press the batter into a pan and bake instead of plopping individual cookies on a baking sheet, therefore getting the cookie fix that much faster.

If I do get the urge to be adventurous in the kitchen again, here are a few recipes that I would love to try.

Chilled Double Chocolate torte from Oh She Glows

Deep Dish Cookie Pie from Chocolate Covered Katie

Raw Cacao Kale Crunch from YumUniverse

Any of these chocolate recipes from this post

(notice a theme - mmm chocolate!)

Focaccia from Veggie num num

Strawberry Watermelon Lemonade from Rawmazing

Fattoush Salad with Za'atar from My New Roots

Salt and Vinegar Potato Salad from Miskabelly

Vegan Stove top Style Macaroni and Cheese from BitterSweet

Noodle Salad with Peanut Mmm Sauce from Peas and Thank You

Zucchini Sticks from VeganWiz

And because I really can't resist dreaming about desserts

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Dough Balls from Peas and Thank You

White Chocolate, Raspberry, and Sage Tart from Manifest Vegan

Also one to veganize

Push Pops from One Charming Party

I'm sure I wont post again for a bit, but hopefully you still enjoy these sporadic postings. Have a happy Fourth of July!

It's Been a Long Time

It's been a long time since I have posted. It's been a long time since I even thought about creating a recipe. It's been a long time since I have really cooked, although I have made time for some baked goods. All in all I've been absent for 3 months and here is why. Matt and I have got a little bun in the oven. A little bun that was sucking the drive out of my life for a while. I am going to be 15 weeks on Saturday, and am thrilled to be in the 2nd trimester and feeling great for the most part. Perhaps I will start cooking again. I'm not making any promises, but since I am not just laying on the couch for most of the day, I'm going to try another go at this little blog.

14 weeks!

One exciting food happening of last week was donuts. Oh yes! I read about these little gems and convinced Matt that it would be a shame not to order them. They are from Larsen Bakery in Wisconsin and were shipped to us by Vegan Essentials. We ordered the sampler pack which included 3 bavarian cream donuts, 3 raspberry filled donuts, and 3 ring donuts. They also sent a tub each of chocolate and vanilla icing. My favorite donut as a child was jelly filled, so it was pretty amazing eating one of those again. Matt loves bavarian cream, and these fit the bill. They were delicious and I would recommend them if you ever want to splurge on your budget, and your sugar intake.

While I do not have a recipe for you today, I thought I would add some link love. I am finally able to start enjoying food blogs again instead of avoiding them, so here are a few recipes that I have bookmarked for future use.

Chocolate Mint Bites from The Bee's Knees Kitchen

Iced Lemonade from Cheeky Kitchen

(made this the other week. Amazing!)

Beet Chips from Rawmazing

Cucumber Avocado Boats from Kristen's Raw

(Just might have to make these tonight. I have been loving cucumbers lately.)

Mocha Ice Cream Sandwiches from Manifest Vegan

Asparagus Potato Salad from Oh She Glows

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?

I'm Salivating

This week has been a simple one as far as meals go, and unfortunately has resulted in a couple frozen Amy's dinners. I guess you will have that sometimes, and it isn't that bad for you compared to other frozen food (that's what I tell myself). Regardless I have been compensating with green smoothies and fresh salads, as well as that healthy millet and amaranth porridge seen above.

One salad that I have been going crazy over is this Tahini Avocado Chickpea Salad from

Oh She Glows. I tell you, give this girl an avocado and she creates amazing things.

I made this salad twice this week. I just love the dressing. Sadly I am out of avocados now and my mixed greens. One thing I did add to the recipe was the smoked paprika chickpeas.

All you do is heat up some olive oil in a sauce pan, add some chickpeas (in the amount that you wish), sprinkle in some salt, dust with smoked paprika, and saute until the chickpeas are hot and sizzling. The paprika really melded well with the other flavors in the salad.

Since there hasn't been much recipe creating on my end, here are some links to some really tasty looking dishes. There are a few gluten free recipes as well, so check those out if you are interested.

1. Vegan Lemon Curd on Lemon Poppyseed Muffins from Healthy Happy Life.

2. Spicy Cilantro Crackers from Manifest Vegan (gluten-free recipe).

3. Sunbutter Chocolate bars with Stevia from Sketch-free Vegan Eating.

4. Cocoa Crunch and Cinnamon Toast Crunch from Edible Perspective and

Peas and Thank You. These are both gluten free cereals. Yum! I'm hoping

to get to one of these tomorrow or Friday.

5. Chili Cheesecake in the Raw from A Dash of Compassion. Wow! Can't wait to

tackle this recipe.

Hopefully I will have some recipes up for you soon. I have a couple ideas that

I am excited to try.

Happy end of the week to all.

I'm Salivating

There are so many great recipes and so many incredible blogs. I am constantly bookmarking amazing looking dishes, probably more than I will ever get to try. I do try a lot of them though, and I thought it would be nice to have a regular posting of the deliciousness the Internet has to offer.

First off is this Vegan Flourless Chocolate Cake from Gluten Free Goddess. It was quite impressive. I didn't have the brown sugar the recipe called for when I made this, and I think I missed out on the deep sweet flavor, but regardless it was a great recipe. I was quite impressed with the smooth creamy texture of the cake. Try it sometime, and check out her blog for a better picture of the cake. One that will make you salivate!

Next up is an incredible dish from Angela at Oh She Glows. Her 15 Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta is partially raw (the sauce), and amazing. So amazing that I will be making it again this week. Unfortunately, I did not have any fresh basil and am really hoping to come across some soon. It was delicious without, but I love basil so much that I can imagine how incredible this dish would taste with it. If you get a chance, you must look through her treasure trove of recipes.

This past week we tried a new to us ingredient, canned jackfruit in a brine. While I have had fresh jackfruit (which is a favorite and a rarity), I've never had it canned. I picked up some at an Indian grocery a while back and finally decided to try Chow Vegan's BBQ Pulled Jackfruit Sandwich. The recipe was a simple one with impressive results. Matt really enjoyed it as well. Even though the contents of one can may not seem like much, It could easily

serve 4 - 5 people.

Now for some cookbook love, I made the Smokey Red Bean Chili with Chipotle- Cornbread Dumplings from Vegan on the Cheap. I ended up making it on the stove top, and baking the dumplings in the oven instead of using a crock pot. Both worked out great. It is a deliciously spicy and filling chili.

Finally here are two more gems. Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups from The Kind Diet, and Chocolate-Coconut Truffles from Living Raw Food. I made these for a party and sadly didn't get a picture. These were incredible though. A must try if you get your hands on the books.

And for your viewing pleasure, here are some more recipes I have my eye on.

Easy Coconut Kefir Yogurt from Yum Universe

Glazed Rum Raisin Cupcakes with Walnuts and Orange Chocolate from The Cinnamon Quill

Raw Banana Cream Pie from Manifest Vegan

Kale Garlic Bread from Busy Vegan Mama

Hope you enjoy these and get the chance to try them. What are you salivating over this week?