Valentine's Day Dairy-free, Sugar-free Tea Party

    We had our first Valentine's Day Tea Party today. I broke out my 100+ year old china  from Germany, a wedding gift from my adopted Grandmother. The girls enjoyed drinking tea for the first time out of their little plastic tea cups and tea pot. I wanted the food to be as traditional English tea as possible, but kept it all vegan and sugar free! Love that. Still, I forgot how rich tea food is! Glad we had early tea so they could get all that sugar high out by nap time.

Note the clean shinny beautiful faces. Soon to be covered with chocolate.

I get a big girl plate. These shortbread cookies were to die for!

The Menu:

*  Raspberry Scones from Babycakes NYC Cookbook (Agave Sweetened)

*  Gluten-Free Lemon Poppy Seed Teacake from Babycakes NYC Cookbook (Agave Sweetened)

*  Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies from The Kind Diet (Sweetened with Maple Syrup)

*  Cucumber Finger Sandwiches with Chive Butter

*  Olive Cream Cheese Spread Watercress Finger Sandwiches

*  Farmers Market Sliced Strawberries

*  Chamomile Tea for the girls

*  Tazo Calm Tea for me

Substitutes: For the cream cheese replacement I used "This is not a tub of cream cheese" from Trader Joe's. Veganise to replace the Mayo and Earth Balance Butter to replace the butter. 

Favorites: I was in love with the cream cheese and watercress sandwich. I just followed the recipe (posted above) and topped with a bunch of watercress. SO GOOD. I think I will make this for myself on a regular basis. The shortbread cookies stole our hearts. I've tired to make these a couple other times and they didn't come out quite right. Today I actually followed the recipe very carefully. I took one bite and was transported. We all fell in love. Now I get what the whole short bread infatuation is about. So delicious. 

Special girl time with my crazy girls. They were excited about life. Monique always has some whack move going on. 

Thérèse was a little liberal in her tea pouring. Monique taking a sip. So cute!

Tea was followed with a dance party. Monique got in this position and danced around the whole room like this. It's what she does. 

Dinner! This was one of the best pizzas I've made. The dough was perfect and the sauce sweet. I've been working to perfect the potato pizza for a while now. Potatoes are a great alternative to cheese and vegan cheese. I paper thinly slice them and let them hang out in olive oil for a while. Once I get this recipe just the way I like it, I will share it. For now, it is still in the works. 

We served this with steamed very dark leafy green veggies called broccoli greens? Never heard of it. Got it at the farmers market and the girls like it! Love it when dinner is easy!

Tea party was fun. We will be having another one Easter Morning! Can't wait! For now, I'm keeping out one of my pretty cups for my quiet time Mama moments. 

Hope you all had a lovely St. Valentine's Day! 

My Favorite Plant Based Sandwich

I'm sorry I haven't posted anything in a week! Daniel went back to work last week and the girls and I enjoyed having different company over every day. It's great to have a new baby so you have an excuse to have people over. Daniel picked up laundry duty when I went back to school, so this week I did laundry for the first time in eleven months! I don't know why people complain about laundry so much. It's so darn exciting. 

Being home alone with the girls is slightly challenging. The biggest challenge has been finding time to eat, let alone cook my food. Since I'm so anti-processed food, I realized I needed to make up a few meals to have on hand so I could have instant healthy food. Tuesday my in-laws took the girls for the day so I could do visit with my old friend, laundry, and make some food to have in the fridge. I made:

* Hummus

* Swiss chard pot stickers (only up to the folding part so when we were ready to eat, I just fried them up and they tasted fresh)

* Vegan Paella (from Paltrow's My Father's Daughter. I love this dish!)

I made something else, but I'm sleep deprived. So parts of my brain sleep during the day since it can't sleep at night. 

This is what I made with the hummus throughout the week. This sandwich is perfect for us. Daniel runs and swims almost every day, and often bikes to work, so he needs lots of protein and most importantly fat. I'm nursing a giant (she gained a pound and a half her first two weeks. holy cow) so clearly I am working harder than Daniel and need the fats even more than he does. Remember, being on a plant based diet the biggest challenge is getting enough fat, not protein! But these fats will keep you slender.

This sandwich is very near and dear to my heart. It was one of the first vegan meals I ever ate as a teenager. A local health food restaurant made this and I loved how delicious and satisfying it was. It's refreshing for summer and has lots of natural fats your body and brain need. Here is my rendition. 

Summer Veg Sandwich

Ingredients:

2 slices of bread (I use Ezekiel, but you can use something lighter)

2-3 Tbsp. hummus

1-2 tsp. sunflower seeds

1 Tbsp. Veganaise

1/2 ripe avocado, sliced

4 slices tomatoes

1 c. loosely packed alfalfa sprouts(these guys get a bad rep. Lay off the hateful talk, they are awesome!)

1/2 cucumber, peeled and grated

1) Spread hummus over one slice of bread. Sprinkle with sunflower seeds. 

2) Spread Veganise over other slice of toast and layer avocado evenly over it.

3) Put tomato slices over avocado, then top with cucumber and alfalfa sprouts. Close with the slice of bread with hummus. 

Serves 1

Hmmmmm....so good! I love the sweet and nutty taste this sandwich has. 

It was nice to have food made so I could hang out with these people. 

I will be making more meals ahead of time and more quick meals too. I'll be sharing! 

I want to thank all of you for welcoming my baby and giving me such a warm welcome back into the blogging world. To those who have written me, sorry I haven't gotten a chance to write all of you a personal email back. You are much appreciated and thought of! 

By the way, I would like to discourage you all from buying soft tofu. We got soft tofu instead of firm tofu this week and the texture is even less exciting than laundry. 

Oh, That Crazy Vegan Panini!

Anything called Chickpea, Apple and Beet anything

should not taste good.

When I saw this recipe in Vegetarian Times

I immediately made a sour face at it.

But when skimming the next issue,

I saw a Letter to the Editor stating how great this panini was

and I couldn't pass it up.

I had to try this outrageous panini to see just how crazy this person was.

Seriously, how could anyone think this actually tasted good?

Looks good, right?

Let me tell you something strange,

it is good.

Yeah.

And I do want to make this again.

Great, now I've joined that crazy weirdo

who liked this bizzar combo of a panini. 

First of all, I don't have a panini maker.

I used lightly greased pan

and put a smaller pan with two cans 

on top of the sandwich.

I felt so ghetto.

But it worked!

I used a purple beet, my regular Ezekiel bread 

and I didn't have sprouts or tarragon 

so my panini had to live without them. 

It survived, and it was still fantastic!

This was actually a memorable lunch. 

Any excuse to eat more beets works for me!

I used to not want to eat them when I was little.

My mom told me that beets add color to your cheeks

and vanity was the only way I was able to stomach them. 

Purple vegetables are becoming more and more popular

as we are realizing how important they are.

Eat your purples everyone! 

                  Chickpea, Beet, and Apple Panini

• 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas, or 1 15-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 3 Tbs. vegan mayonnaise
• 1 Tbs. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh tarragon
• 8 slices sesame semolina bread (8 oz.)
• 1 medium golden beet, peeled and sliced
• 1 Granny smith apple, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup broccoli or radish sprouts    
• 4 Tbs. prepared black olive tapenade

DIRECTIONS

1. Pulse chickpeas, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and tarragon in food processor until chunky.

2. Spread chickpea mixture on 4 bread slices. Top with beet and apple slices, and sprouts. Spread remaining 4 bread slices with tapenade; close sandwiches.

3. Spray panini with cooking spray. Coat skillet or grill pan with cooking spray; heat over medium heat. Place panini in pan; weight with smaller-diameter saucepan weighted with 2 cans. Cook 3 minutes. Flip, replace weight, and cook 2 minutes. (Or cook 4 minutes in panini maker.) 

How I Get Through My Day

Yummy Treats:

Quick Mini Cinnabuns

If you have not made a vegan dessert yet,

go to your store and buy vegan butter, almond milk

and make these Mini Cinnabuns!

I've made these before and they are so good!

The best part is they are fast.

So you can have your craving and bam!

Thirty minutes later you can be indulging. 

So good, so easy, incredibly yummy, win, win, win.

Free Day at Children's Discovery Museum

When we went to San Francisco,

I really wanted to visit the Bay Area Discovery Museum.

My daughter had never been to a children's museum

and I knew we'd be in town for their free day.

The museum has a free day every first Wednesday. Score!

We got there early, and it really wasn't too packed.

The girls had so much fun!

They had a Curious George exhibit

which my daughter loved.

All the activities were super fun and interactive.

I can't wait to go back when my ten month old 

is able to run around and play as well.

She's going to be my crazy one!

She loved playing with what she could and watching the other kids.

The museum had this fantastic view! 

Love it!

Lunch:

On our trip, we tried to make our own food 

as much as possible to save money.

We did it so much, I thought I'd never be able to look 

at another sandwich again without feeling sick.

But we still wanted to make our own food.

So Daniel's aunt suggested we make tortas.

Tortas are a Mexican sandwich. 

And while it's still a sandwich, 

I could totally eat it and enjoy it 

because it's totally different from a typical American sandwich.

Tortas are made out of  Bolillos, 

which is like crusty french bread.

Daniel's aunt bought us rice and beans 

from a Mexican market near her home.

They were so delicious!!

We made our tortas out of the rice, beans, 

and we added avocado.

It was so good! The rice and beans had so much flavor 

and the avocado added the perfect creaminess.

A nice change of pace.

Thérèse after the children's museum.

I couldn't believe how much she was eating!

That place really made her hungry...

and just a little tired.

She woke up chewing.

Apparently she fell asleep with a bit in her mouth.

Alone Time

Family vacation equals zero alone time and lots of exhaustion.

Taking three deep, long breaths has really helped me refuel and relax.
I only make it to three deep breaths,
because by the end of breath number three,
someone is calling my name.

Deep breathing, you save me every time.

My Absolute Favorite Sandwich

Pre-Vegan I ate lots of tuna salad sandwiches with lots of mayo.

Yum! I thought those days were over. 

Thankfully, I've found a replacement that is free 

of mercury, cholesterol and that fishy taste. 

This is my go-to sandwich for traveling, play dates, 

park, beach, lunch at home, you name it. 

I love this sandwich!

It is supposed to mimic tuna salad sandwich 

but Melissa of So Help Me Lord

said it tasted like chicken salad sandwich. 

Either way, it's good!

You can make believe it is whatever you want it to be.

She loved it and requested the recipe.

Here it is!

- 1 can chickpeas

- 1 whole chopped scallion

- 1 tablespoon pickled relish

- 1/4 cup vegenaise
(I like lots of vegenaise)

- sprinkle of salt

Feel free to add or omit ingredients to your liking! 

1) Smash chickpeas with the back of your fork. 

2) Mix in other ingredients.

3) Spread on your favorite bread and top with lettuce.

Done!

If you are making large quantities you could put it in a food processor. 

When I make it just for myself, I don't see a point dirtying more dishes, 

so I smash and chop everything myself. 

This sandwich is quick and so yummy!

Beans are what I call the "Skinny Protein"

because unlike meat, they don't contain fat 

and are loaded with fiber so they go right through you. 

And chickpeas are great beans because they have 

150 milligrams of calcium per serving! 

That's 32 milligrams more than whole milk!

Right on Chickpeas! 

Tonight we had Gardein Crispy Tenders 

dipped in spicy BBQ sauce with steamed greens.

I love this stuff! 

Tastes just like the real deal!

Where are those Gardein creators? 

I need to give them a hug.