Old Windows Become Porch Art

I know.. I usually blog about food.  That was not the entire intention of this blog. It's just that I am food obsessed so that kind of took over.  I also wanted to share with you the way we make our house a home!  So here is a project Greg and I have been working on.  We started this last year with a couple of old windows we bought at a flea market, and then when we came upon a couple of windows in the neighborhood lately we were re-inspired and got to work again.

The original idea was to make these into hanging porch pieces to add some color and semi-privacy to our lovely 1920 bungalow porch.  After a year of displaying them in the living room, Greg got them hung on the porch once we finished a couple more!

Here's the basic process we went through, but if you'd like more details there is a great tutorial here.  We were not nearly that careful and perfect, and they still turned out beautiful!

First of all, you need an old window.

Clean it up, wash the panes well. If you are worried about chipped paint that may contain lead, you may consider sealing it before working on it. You don't want to lose that old chipped paint look!  I did not think of this until later, so we will be sealing ours after the fact.  Just makes sure you cover up the window panes.

Next, we Googled "free stained glass patterns".  There are a lot to choose from, but I think we got most of ours from here.  Here is the really cool part. We downloaded a trial of the Rapid Resizer, and put in the dimensions of the area we were working with.  It may stretch your design a bit, so make sure that will not make a difference with your design.  Next, it prints out your design on standard printer paper in the size you need. You just tape it all together and tape it to the other side of your window.

Next, you use the "liquid lead" stained class paint and trace your design, which is already finished in the above picture.  This needs to dry for part of the day before you begin your painting.  I like to leave the white paper behind it during the process so you have a bright background to work on.  Like I said before.. about.com has a much more detailed tutorial.

After following instructions on drying time, your windows are done and you could have something like this!

I will be taking them down to seal up the wood again, so we can keep that chipped paint look and to seal up any old lead paint.

This was a great project to do together, and we spent almost a whole Sunday working on them when we had a break from the heat. Now I just admire them from the air conditioning while looking out!

I Scream You Scream

So Greg and I have been talking about making ice cream at home for at least a year. We buy all of the vegan ice creams and love them, but they get expensive. Also it just seems fun to make it at home!  We don't have an ice cream maker, but my sister does! So... we're babysitting it for awhile.  I had a copy of VegNews magazine that had a bunch of vegan ice cream recipes in it and I can find about 142 other magazines around this house, but not that one!  So, I just Googled vegan ice cream recipes and found this blog with a few to try. I couldn't believe how easy this was!!  Four ingredients and 30 minutes later and we had ice cream!!  I would double the recipe if more than 2 people are going to be eating this ice cream. It was delicious!  Next time I'll try coconut milk, or maybe I'll crumble the Newman-O's into it.  It will be fun to come up with new combinations.  Greg has already suggested peach ice cream since they are in season right now. Mmmmm. 

Chocolate Banana Almond Milk Ice Cream.

Here is the recipe.
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups almond milk
• 2 ripe bananas
• 2 heaping tablespoons chocolate cocoa
• 2 Tbsp sugar

Instructions

1. In a microwaveable bowl or cup whisk 1/2 cup almond milk with the chocolate cocoa and sugar until fully incorporated. Microwave for 40 seconds and then stir.
2. Place bananas plus the remainder of the almond milk into a blender along with the cocoa mixture and puree for about 10 seconds.
3. Place mixture in the ice cream maker and process for 20 minutes or until thick.
4. Serve right away or store in the freezer for later use or to firm up a bit more if desired.

Back on Track

So I started this blog in my adventure of trying to transition from vegetarianism to veganism. I also wanted to answer everyone's questions like "You're vegan? So what CAN you eat?" I wanted to show everyone that my diet is probably more delicious and varied then they could imagine.  All the literature I read makes perfect sense to me, and it's something I feel strongly about, but willpower at family functions, and eating out just goes out the door.  While finishing my last semester of classes at school before student teaching in the fall my stress got the best of me and I ate whatever was around. Including cheese and eggs galore!

Now that I have some more "me" time my plan is to get back on track.  I want my calories to count, and I want to make delicious food all summer. Also, to answer the most common question ever asked. I get my protein and calcium from plants.  It's as simple and easy as that.  I also get plenty of B12, Omega 3s and iron. Thankyouverymuch.

Here's an example. My breakfast this morning.
Molasses, chia seeds and peanut butter in oatmeal with a side of kale and nutritional yeast.


Oatmeal (fiber, protein, etc.) with peanut butter (protein) chia seeds (protein, omegas and all kinds of other stuff) and blackstrap molasses (excellent source of iron).  I also had a side of kale which I just microwaved for about 45 seconds, and I sprinkled it with B12 rich nutritional yeast.

I. Love. Kale.




 If you haven't hopped on the kale bandwagon yet... here is what you can find with each serving according to WebMD: One cup of kale contains 36 calories, 5 grams of fiber, and 15% of the daily requirement of calcium and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), 40% of magnesium, 180% of vitamin A, 200% of vitamin C, and 1,020% of vitamin K. It is also a good source of minerals copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus.

I made some oatmeal, walnut, mushroom, kale burgers last night that were the best veggie burger I'd ever had! I ate them all up before remembering to take a picture, so in the meantime here is a link to the recipe! Walnut Mushroom Kale Burgers
The only thing I did differently is I dipped them in whole wheat breadcrumbs after refrigeration and put them on the indoor grill/panini press thing.

It's a Po' Boy!

So, I realize that I post a lot of links to recipes found in Veganomicon, so it may feel as if you never need to buy the book....  This just isn't the case. It is THE best vegetarian cookbook I own.   I don't even care that it sounds as if I need to get a paycheck from the publisher.... You need this book!

So, with that said. Here is another favorite. Chile cornmeal-crusted tofu po' boy. !!  Someone else has done a beautiful job posting the recipe and pictures of their own delicious Po' Boy, so I'll just link you to them.  What can I say... the semester has started, I'm getting lazy.


I made these last night while my poor husband was suffering 102 degree fever.  If you are in a time crunch it would be best to make the slaw ahead.  I had all the time in the world while Greg was sleeping the night away!

Another tip:  The slaw is best for this sandwich if you finely shred it (like a block of cheese). My food processor has a great attachment for that so it's done in about 30 seconds. 

Also, for the Chipotle mayo... if you don't have chipotles or chipotle powder or you just don't want it too spicy you can use plain veganaise.   Pickles are optional! I happen to love them so I can't get enough.

Here is my Po' Boy half devoured....

The Cutest Banana Muffins Ever

So, I got this for Christmas. Thanks Mom and Dad!

It's a mini-cupcake maker.  It makes seven tiny cupcakes at a time without having to use your oven.

It seems strange to use it because I already have a mini-muffin pan for the oven that I can make 24 muffins at once in.  After using it a couple of times now, I've realized what the appeal is.  It's just fun. It's the same appeal as an easy bake oven (for adults).  It's adorable, and it makes an adorable creation. 

It does have another benefit though.  It only takes about 7 minutes to make cupcakes, muffins, cornbread, or whatever else you'd like to put in it.  The first thing I made in it was corn muffins.  What was great is I could make seven tiny corn muffins in a hurry while my soup was cooking for dinner.  I came back to the batter after dinner to make the leftovers to freeze for later.   If it were the oven I would have had to preheat it and bake it for 10-15 minutes.  Not to mention it would heat up the house in the summer.

So this morning I had some old bananas so I tried it out on some lower-fat banana muffins from Veganimicon, my favorite cookbook.


There was an option to make it with chocolate chips and I opted out.  They were cute and delicious.  I plan to freeze about half of them, as we won't eat all of them right away.  Next time I think I will add nuts for a little crunch now and then.

Bishop's Bread-Our Fruitcake

That is exactly how it is written in one of my most prized posessions- A handwritten little cookbook my mama gave me when I moved out at 18. It is full of recipes that are unique to our family.
This post will probably be sentimental, and not a lot about baking techniques. So read on if you like.

I have to preface this recipe with some background.  My entire childhood (and maybe into my late teens) I always heard people bashing fruitcake.  It was always the dreaded gift around the holidays that no one wanted.  I just could never understand this! I always thought-

"What is wrong with fruitcake?  My mama's fruitcake is SO amazing!"

Each and every year of my life I looked forward to so many things at Christmas, but there were a couple of things that definitely meant Christmas was upon us. My mama's Santa's whiskers cookies, and fruitcake.  It wasn't until later that I realized I had been deceived (not purposely) by my mother!
GASP! OUR FRUITCAKE IS NOT FRUITCAKE.
It's real identity is Bishop's Bread, and it's so amazing. It's got some fruitiness to it, but from what I understand is nothing like fruitcake.

I wouldn't know. I've never had real fruitcake.

So here we go. This is my cookbook recipe written by my mama.  The following are the changes I made to it including egg replacer and such.  One thing I can't change is the maraschino cherries.  There is nothing else in the world that equals the weirdness of maraschino cherries, so don't try. It's probably the only thing I buy that has that much food coloring and high fructose corn syrup... but... this is a once a year thing people.

First of all. When preparing these ingredients, you have to know a secret. You have to cut the maraschino cherries with kitchen scissors. I tried chopping them once and the chunks were not right. I don't really know why this is how it is, but... it is.  My mama did it this way, and when I tried it differently, it was not right, and that is all I know. So if your fingers aren't stained when you are done, you did something wrong.

Second of all.  We always used the packaged dates that are already cut and all sugary. You can find them on the same aisle as raisins.  Now that I cook all the time I often have weird things like whole Medjool Dates.  They are giant dates that are naturally extremely sweet. So I just cut those up (with my trusty kitchen scissors).

Also, to keep with the theme of this blog I replaced the eggs with egg replacer.  The following is my updated recipe.

One more thing! This recipe is the BEST with pecans, but they are very expensive right now, so walnuts were a great replacement!

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

4 1/2 tsp Ener-g egg replacer + 6Tb water (equivalent of 3 eggs)
1 1/2 c sifted flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
6 oz vegan chocolate chips
2 Cups chopped pecans (or walnuts)
1 Cup chopped Medjool dates
1 Cup chopped Maraschino cherries

Grease and flour loaf pan. Line with waxed paper or parchment paper (if you have the patience).
Combine egg replacer with water, and beat until foamy.
Combine egg replacer mixture with sugar and beat well.
In a seperate bowl combine flour, salt, and baking powder.
Add dry ingredients, including flour mixture, chocolate chips, pecans, dates, and maraschino cherries to wet ingredients. Mix well. 

It will be a big thick sticky mess.

Press into three small loaf pans.
Bake for 1 1/4 hours- 1 1/2 hours.
Remove from pan.
Cool completely on wire rack.

These freeze well wrapped in seran wrap after completely cooling.

Farmer's Market Spaghetti

So... I finally got around to using those homegrown tomatoes the other day that Greg acquired from the farmer's market.  I wanted to make one last spaghetti sauce with fresh tomatoes before the summer bounty is over!

I made this up as I went along, but I wrote everything down, because it was SO delicious.  I froze the batches I made, and we thawed one and had it over whole wheat spaghetti tonight with a salad.  I was too excited to take pictures of our delicious feast! 

I cooked my spaghetti sauce in the crockpot all day, but this would be even better if you could simmer it on the stove for an afternoon to reduce the water a little.

Warning: this simply will not work with store bought tomatoes.  They have no flavor.  If you want to make spaghetti sauce with canned tomatoes see this post.

Spaghetti Sauce:

Ingredients
20ish  medium homegrown tomatoes
small amount of olive oil
1 small-medium yellow onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
8 oz mushrooms, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried basil 1/4 cup red wine

• Get some water boiling on the stove.
• Prepare your tomatoes:
• Mark an X with a knife through the skin on the bottom of each tomato
• In batches of about four, blanch the tomatoes for a couple of minutes in the boiling water
• Once cool enough to handle, peel the tomatoes with your fingers. If the skin does not come off easily, you did not blanch them long enough
• Dice tomatoes, and remove excess liquid and seeds (don't worry about doing this perfectly, I just let the extra run off of my cutting board into the sink..  a few seeds won't be a big deal)
• Meanwhile you could start the onions, red pepper, mushrooms, and garlic:
• Saute onions over medium with a small amount of olive oil until they start to sweat a little.
• Add the red pepper and mushrooms and saute until softened (about 7 minutes), not browned
• Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute more. Remove from heat.
• At this point you can add all of the ingredients to the crockpot and cook it on low for 5-7 hours. If you are cooking it on the stove: combine all ingredients, and bring to a light boil, then turn the heat down and let it simmer.  You could simmer this for a little as 30 minutes, but a couple of hours on very low would be perfect. 20 minutes before you are done cooking, add 1/4 cup of red wine.
• Transfer about half of the mixture to a blender and blend until the big chunks are gone. Return to pot.
• Serve over spaghetti, spaghetti squash, or any other favorite!