Home Made Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

If only this picture did it justice...


I can't wait until the weather is actually warm permanently- this will be my first summer with the ice cream maker, and I am going nuts thinking about the possibilities!

Sometimes things are easier than you think...

pictured: baked-goods, back-on-track with the flax, and organic plant food for my bonsai tree stored in a glass jar (this stuff is amazing! have you tried it?!)

Sometimes you don't have time, and other times, you have to make the time. That's how I felt when I recently decided to put my foot down and get to it, already! I'd been imagining for eons how nice it would be to wake up and have freshly baked muffins to have for breakfast, and had a bag of frozen mixed berries (organic to boot) in the freezer for the purpose for what seemed like months. Come to think of it, it had been months! Enough, already, I thought and used to amazing recipe index at the vegetarian times' website to find this recipe. Thing is, once I got started, it was so easy I couldn't help but to think: what took me so long! I added some flax seeds for some extra oomph and nutritive value (an old trick in a new favorite). Up next: becoming a bona-fide morning person...yawn...

A Gooey German Chocolate Cake

For a very special birthday!

This was the first German chocolate cake I had ever made, and I kinda didn't realize I couldn't frost the sides.. I think people usually use chocolate butter cream or something for that.... Whoops!

Anyhoo, it was delicious, I made one mini cake and four cupcakes. The recipe was from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, a book which has never let me down. The basic chocolate and vanilla cake recipes from this book are amazing, and thrill and amazing non-vegan people every time!

Dinner for Two

A recent trip to Toronto allowed me to spend some quality time with one of my favorite people, who not only had me in her home, but also made me an increadable dinner that just happened to be vegan. Not only that, but get this: it is very similar to Lindsey's roasted coliflower with chickpeas! Marissa's version included cous-cous and some very yummy herbs. The best part of this recipe is perhaps her savyness in substituting the recipe's pine nuts with walnuts, which are much more economical and tasted amazing. By far one of the best meals I've had recently, made all the better by the company of a good friend. Thanks, Marissa! You are truly awesome...

Variations on a Theme

I have a crush...on whole wheat spaghetti. It's just chewy enough, filling, and is a really nice complement to tofu's lighter consistency. Bake the tofu or brown it in a skillet, and then add some veggies and some pre-sliced almonds tossed in a little olive oil and salt and pepper for a really easy base that allows for a lot of variation. Here are two quick meals that easy to take on the go.

Roasted Cauliflower, Chickpeas and Olives

When I was visiting home a couple of weeks ago, my Ma and I found this recipe from her latest issue of Cooking Light. It instantly appealing to me, as it contained two of my most favorite things to roast EVER, cauliflower and chickpeas- but I was hesitant that the olives would fit in to the mix. Anyways, olives won me over yet again and the dish was super good (except for a little overly cooked garlic) and I decided to make it again tonight.

When I made it with my Mom we decided the olives and garlic should be added after the chickpeas and cauliflower had a chance to get a head start roasting, which I did tonight. The results were perfect! Cooking Light suggests serving this as a side dish or with other small plates, but I think it's a perfectly fine and filling meal on its own- an added plus is it doesn't result in a lot of dirty dishes :)


Please excuse the blury photo- I don't know what is up with my bad photography lately!