Tuesday, January 6, 2009

UNCLE EDDIES VEGAN COOKIES

Okay my wonderful vegetarian/vegan family! WHEW! I have to write about this......I want you to run not walk but run to your nearest health food store such as Whole Foods and pick up a bag or two (maybe even three) of "Uncle Eddie's" vegan cookies.
They are amazing. I can not even begin to describe to you how wonderful they are. I tried the chocolate chip with walnuts and the oatmeal chocolate chip. I know that there has to be a law somewhere against how good they are. I guess I wasn't the only one addicted to these cookies, my hubby and my children devoured my remaining cookies as I went to change clothes after coming home from work. I turned the back of the bag around to see what mystical spell Uncle Eddie had put on us. The cookies are loaded with all natural, all organic ingredients. As they say on the back of the bag "a labour of pure love"! I say to Uncle Eddie, I am so glad that you love me! If you....no, when you try them I would love to hear back from you on what you think. Uncle Eddie...........WELCOME to my family!
**If your area does not carry Uncle Eddie's Vegan Cookies, You can visit their website at www.vegancookies.com.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

SQUASH SOUP WITH SCALLIONS

Hello my Vegetarian/Vegan family!
It is the new year 2009 and with it not promises but realities of excitement, success, and prosperity. This I know will happen for all of you as well as myself.

Since it is still winter (and I know it's cold outside for many of you), I am so happy to share with you this INCREDIBLE soup that I heard about. I actually found this soup from a great website called Vegan Street http://www.veganstreet.com. I know you wont believe this but I had never had squash before. I didn't know what it tasted like nor did I know how to prepare it. So be it that I am on this amazing way of living I decided to give this soup a try. I can be adventurous when I want to be. LOL! I took the recipe and got started in the kitchen to create this creation of inner warmth. The smell alone brought with it memories of my mom and grand mom cooking homemade items in the kitchen. This was going to be good I told myself. My husband even commented on the magnetic aroma that this soup brought forth. It was almost like he couldn't wait to taste it either (which was the case).

Awesome Hubby (AH) waiting to try the squash soup after he followed the smell of it downstairs. Our two year old took the picture (that is why it looks like that).




When it was finished cooking, my hubby and I sat and looked at each other to see who would try this comfort food first. We both tried it at the same time. Can I just say.....OH MY GOODNESS!! This soup was wonderful.




I wanted to snuggle in a warm blanket in front of a fireplace and eat this soup continuously. Needless to say this will remain a staple in my repertoire. Here is the recipe. I dare you to try it. As a matter of fact, invite me over and we can enjoy it together! ;-)



SQUASH SOUP WITH SCALLIONS


1 lb. butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped into 1-inch chunks

1/4 cup mirin or dry sherry

1 Tbsp. tamari

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. fresh ginger, minced

1/2 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms

3 cups vegetable stock

4 scallions, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

In a medium soup kettle, combine the squash, mirin, tamari, garlic, ginger, mushrooms, and stock. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the squash is cooked through, about 5 - 7 minutes. Add the salt, pepper and scallions and serve hot. Serves four. This soup calls for 1 tsp. dried hot red pepper flakes in the original recipe. I did try it this way the first time but it was a little too much for my children and my grandmother so I made a second batch without the heat. Fabulous!

** Side note. I added a little change in the recipe to give it a little personal touch. I took about 1 1/2 cup of the soup and a cup of almond milk and pureed it until smooth. I then added it back into the soup to give it a thicker consistency.

Friday, January 2, 2009

A "GREEN" VEGAN RESTAURANT EXPERIENCE



I had been avoiding eating out as much as possible while being vegan. I did it first of all to make sure that I knew what I was putting into my body and second, because I consider my self a pretty good cook. There was no need to go out to McDonald's when I had Chef Nettrea at home. LOL! That was great until I heard of a vegan restaurant here in Phoenix Arizona. It's name foretold all I needed to entice me to check out its fare. "Green" new American vegetarian is what it is called and I wanted to see just how "green" I could get.





Monica who works at "Green"! She was awesome! (Thanks Monica)




When I first walked through the door I was greeted with what seemed like a familiar warmth. Everyone was friendly which made me want to stick around and stay awhile even if I didn't order anything. I took one of my good friends, Michelle with me. She is not a vegan/vegetarian but she knows good food when she tastes it. So I brought another expert in food with me to revel in the experience. We were greeted by one the nicest young ladies I have come across in a long time. Her smile instantly told me that I was about to enjoy myself. Her name is Monica and she was very down to earth and was patient while waiting on us to decide what we wanted to eat.





Michelle Enjoying the meal!

We FINALLY ordered the vegan crab puffs, orreciette pasta (pasta with vegan meatballs, you can also get it with mock chicken), The secret barbecue chicken sandwich with their espresso barbecue sauce with vegan mayo, thyme fries, green tea, and their AMAZING oatmeal cookies for dessert. Michelle and I had thought we went to vegan heaven. Everything was perfect. I am telling you if you are ever in phoenix or if you live here, take some time to enjoy "Green"!


"Green" New American Restaurant was incredible!

You can visit their website: http://www.greenvegetarian.com

Their address is: 2240 N. Scottsdale Rd. #8
Tempe, Arizona 85281
Phone: 480-941-9003