Burger Heaven

I know, I know - two posts in one day - try to contain your excitement. I thought I owed you a recipe. Here's what we just ate for dinner, along with homemade sweet potato fries:

Better Burgers
from Vegan Vittles by Jo Stepaniak

1 cup textured vegetable protein granules
1/4 cup quick-cooking rolled oats (not instant)
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon garlic granules
1/2 teaspoon onion granules
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

3/4 cup almost-boiling water
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons soy sauce (I like to use the reduced sodium kind)

1 tablespoon smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes

Place the first eight ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl and toss them together. Pour the hot water into a small mixing bowl or large liquid measuring cup; add ketchup and soy sauce and stir until blended. Pour the liquid into the textured vegetable protein mixture and stir until well combined. Let rest for 5 minutes.

Add the peanut butter and mix until it is well incorporated. Stir in the flour and yeast flakes and mix thoroughly.

Shape the mixture into four flat patties and cook in a skillet sprayed lightly with cooking spray.

Busy Weekend Over (whew!)

Oops, maybe I shouldn't say 'whew' quite yet... this week is pretty crazy too! (more on that soon...) First, here are pictures of some of the lucky jewelry pieces that found loving homes over the weekend at the craft fair I participated in.

The show was mostly slow with short bursts of activity; thankfully one such burst right near the end of the last day provided me with enough sales to feel like the event was worthwhile. Exhausting, but worthwhile.

Eek, Carlos needs a diaper and a nap. I'll post more later.

Busy Weekend Ahead

I'm gearing up for my first craft show of the year coming up this weekend, both Saturday and Sunday. It's the first one I've done since Carlos came home, and I'm not really looking forward to being away from him all day for two days in a row... that will be a first. Wah. But hopefully the show will be fun and I will sell lots of fabulous jewelry to fabulous people. If you're local (Humboldt County, CA), come by and see me at Redwood Acres. The show runs this Saturday from 10:00-5:00 and Sunday from 10:00-4:00. You can print a coupon for 10% off at my website (http://www.mcfarlanddesigns.com/). Here are some pictures of a few of the hundreds of items I'll have for sale:

Is there a support group for parents of gluteally challenged children???

Help! My boy has no butt!!! If we don't put a onesie him, his diaper falls off. It was sunny today and I wanted to try out some shorts... first we tried the 12 month ones (Carlos is 18 months old), but those fell off, so then we tried the 9 month ones, and they still fall off...


I guess he's sporting the gangsta look. Do they make suspenders for little kids???

A little treat for me

I decided to celebrate my 100th Etsy sale (in my BestBeads shop) and my 200th Etsy 'heart' (also BestBeads) by getting a little something just for me.

I found these beauties at http://raescreations.etsy.com - aren't they lovely? Everything in her shop is fabulous, I could have spent a lot more but I showed restraint. Since I make so much jewelry myself, it's very rare for me to buy jewelry from someone else; in fact, I honestly can't remember the last time I did! I guess that says something about how much I like this ring. I can't wait to get it in the mail!!!

And it's been a few days since I've posted a recipe, so here's what we had for dinner tonight. It's based on a recipe on VegWeb.com. Everyone enjoyed it, even the little guy.

Thai Style Tofu with Broccoli and Peanut Sauce

1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/8 teaspoon cayenne (more if you are crazy like that)
1 clove minced garlic
1 tablespoon fresh minced cilantro
1/4 teaspoon ginger powder
dash of red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
a bunch of broccoli, cut into pieces
14 oz. firm or extra-firm tofu, excess water pressed out, cut
into pieces
a little soy sauce
a little olive oil
soba noodles (or rice, whatever you want to serve it on)

Lightly brown the tofu pieces in the olive oil. Sprinkle some soy sauce on the tofu as it cooks. Add the broccoli and a splash of water and cover to steam broccoli a bit, or just continue to stir-fry.

To prepare peanut sauce, combine coconut milk, peanut butter, maple syrup, pepper, garlic, cilantro, ginger, red pepper flakes, and lime juice in a small saucepan. Mix well with over low heat until warm.

Serve broccoli and tofu over noodles or rice, and top with peanut sauce. Yum yum!!!

Red Hot Mamas

I snagged a treasury on Etsy today, and here's what I came up with: http://www.etsy.com/treasury.php?id=1177522496644U5102777 (the link will only work for another two days, so here's a screen shot in case you miss it)...

Here are the links to the items listed:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5797512
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5807856
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5763282
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5240291
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5805665
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5821260
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5774008
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5817352
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5356592
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5821125
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5814936
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5745807

In other (non-Etsy) news, I made InsomniacChef's Garlic Spinach and Chickpea Soup last night. I cheated and just threw all the ingredients in a crock pot, and it was quite good. I think it would have been even better if I'd followed their instructions. Later this week I'm going to try their recipe for Spicy Sweet Potato and Cabbage Curry - I'll let you know how it turns out.

A pretty evening

It was beautiful outside tonight, so we went out and enjoyed it...

You're jealous of my cement garden flamingos, aren't you?

Cupcakes for my little Cupcake

Today was Carlos' 18-month birthday, and we had a little celebration with cupcakes. They were enjoyed heartily.

Of course I have to rave about the cupcakes, which were chocolate/vanilla marble cakes with chocolate frosting. The recipe came from the book, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and I'm not going to post the recipe because truly, for your own good, you just need to buy the book. It will be the best $10.85 you've ever spent, I promise.

I heart being organized

Matt is helping me set up a new workspace for my jewelry and it is SO nice to be organized. I now have all of my beads in neatly labeled drawers, which makes me so very happy. Maybe I will post a picture when it's done so you can be happy too. For now, here are some pictures of beads for you to drool over. Some are on my site now (www.bestbeads.etsy.com), others will be soon.






Mmmm, yummy. And speaking of yummy, here's what we had for breakfast this morning:

Vegan Blueberry Pancakes

1-1/4 unbleached white flour (or a mix of white and whole wheat pastry flour)
2 tablespoons unrefined sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
egg replacer equivalent to 1 egg (I use Ener-G egg replacer powder)
1-1/3 cup soymilk
3 tablespoons canola oil
blueberries

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a small bowl or large measuring cup, prepare the egg replacer, then add soymilk and canola oil and blend thoroughly. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until lumps are gone. Pour into pan and place blueberries on top of each pancake. Cook, flip, cook, and eat.

Fluff

I noticed this thing is getting a little text-heavy, so here's a picture of a duck with an afro.

Quack.

Beading Frenzy!

WOW! I sold so much today on Etsy! Probably more in a single day than in any previous entire week. And the odd thing is, I don't have any idea why. Ah, the mysteries of retail selling. It was fun though! Yay me! Yay people who bought my stuff!!! Okay, no more exclamation points.

My grandparents came over for dinner tonight and I cooked biscuits and gravy. It was good, except I totally burned the second batch of biscuits, which was oh so very sad. Here's the recipe, which I adapted from a recipe on VegWeb.com.

Vegan Southern Biscuits & Gravy

2-3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 medium onion, chopped
One 9-ounce package Gardenburger breakfast sausage patties (or other vegan brand), thawed and chopped
3 tablespoons unbleached white flour
3 cups plain vegan soymilk (Silk is my favorite brand)
salt and pepper to taste

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion and saute for a few minutes. Add chopped breakfast sausage and cook until slightly browned and heated through. Set aside skillet.

In a large saucepan, make a roux (I know, fancy schmancy) by mixing 3 tablespoons of flour with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil to make a heavy paste. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat for a few minutes, then slowly add soymilk to the mixture, stirring with a whisk to prevent lumps from forming. Simmer, stirring often, until mixture just begins to thicken. Add sausage mixture and stir a bit longer. Add salt and pepper to taste (you may find that it needs more than you expect).

You can use any biscuit recipe you like, or if you're lazy, buy some of the premade ones (are any of those vegan? I don't know), but if you really want a super yummy meal, make these:

Sweet Potato Biscuits

2 cups unbleached white flour (I wish they were as good with whole wheat flour but they're not. sorry.)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon unrefined sugar
5 tablespoons cold vegan margarine
1 cup cooked, mashed sweet potatoes (I use just a little less than one full 14-oz. can)
1/3 cup soymilk

Mix the first four ingredients in a large bowl. Add the margarine and use a pastry cutter to mix until the chunks are smallish. In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix mashed sweet potatoes and soymilk, then add to flour mixture. Mix just until combined (do not overmix) and turn onto a floured surface. Knead just a few times and flatten the dough to 3/4" thick. Cut into circles and bake on a greased cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. mmmmmmmmmm...............

Carroty Goodness

For breakfast today, my favorite vegan muffins, adapted from a recipe on VegWeb.com by lovetoburn:

Carrot Muffins

1-1/2 cups whole spelt flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
1/4 cup oat bran
1/4 cup ground flaxseeds
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup applesauce
1/4 cup soymilk
1 egg substitute (I use EnerG Egg Replacer), prepared
3-4 carrots, grated
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

You know the drill... mix the dry ingredients, mix the wet ingredients (including carrots and walnuts), then mix dry into wet. Do not overmix. Spray muffin pan with cooking spray and fill to the rim with batter. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the muffins comes out clean.

Better make it quick...

...because Law & Order SVU is starting momentarily and I don't want to miss any of the heinous sex crimes. I just wanted to end your painful anticipation - I know you have been waiting on pins and needles to see some of my brand new beads, plus my two (yep, I'm a glutton) new purses... quick pictures and then I'm off:

a sneak peek at some of my new beads... there are lots more,

being added slowly but surely to my bead shop at www.bestbeads.etsy.com.

Thank you, Abby! You rock! www.whitepaintandribbons.etsy.com

And another great find from www.TexasBeauties.etsy.com!

Now if anyone hears me talking about buying another purse, please restrain me. Really.

Nighty night.

Eek! I'm here.

Here goes... my very own blog. How embarassing. Hopefully I will share some cool stuff (maybe some lame stuff too) and not bore you all too much.

First, some pics of the boy, taken on a recent trip to San Francisco (so much fun!):

Exciting news of the day... I got a big shipment of beads today from my supplier in India, and wow, are they ever fabulous!!! I am so excited to get them photographed and up on my Etsy site (www.BestBeads.etsy.com). Plus I get to play with the beads myself! Mmm, pure beady goodness. Unfortunately I won't be able to play with my new treasures much tomorrow, but come Wednesday, it's going to be a beadapalooza.

Also in today's mail, a super-terrifically-fabulous little purse/tote bag that I got from Abby at www.whitepaintandribbons.etsy.com - happy day! I can not even describe the deliciousness of this little purse, so I will have to take some pictures and post them soon. You will be jealous.

And a recipe. I'm going to keep this one super easy so you won't be intimidated by my mad kitchen skillz.

Beer Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
3 Tbsp. organic sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 can beer (12 oz.)

Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl, sift together dry ingredients, then mix in beer. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick spray or grease with canola oil. Pour mix into pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then finish cooling on rack.

It's really yummy, you've gotta try it! Trust me.

Please don't be put off by the multiple abrupt subject changes... you'll get used to it.