pasta and a squirrel stalker

I am the queen of buying vast quantities of vegetables and then completely forgetting about them until it’s too late. Jim always gets on me about it, but I go into it with the best of intentions.

I noticed tonight that I had some broccoli on it’s way out, along side some snow pea pods that were probably heading the same direction. With the addition of some slices of carrot, a pasta primavera type dish seemed in the making.

I sauteed some garlic and then whisked in some flour, soy milk and nutritional yeast to make a creamy sauce, which we had over the veggies, some chickpeas and whole wheat fettucini. So good and it gave me hope for spring.

We were also greeted today by a squirrel friend who is a little too comfortable with humans and cats. She was upset when we ran out of squirrel treats in the backyard and let her presence be known by jumping up on the air conditioning unit and tapping on the window. She was completely unfazed by Bindhi, and in turn Bindhi wasn’t too impressed with her. I don’t mind the interaction, but I know that not everyone is charmed by squirrelly visitors and we have some cantankerous, old neighbors.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

A Berry Good Breakfast

Wow, I am the queen of cheezy post titles. I think that one took me over the edge.

I wanted to take a moment to highlight one of the holiday gifts I received. I think you can appreciate it.

My brother-in-law and his wife had a whole squirrel-themed box for me. It was filled with delicious organic walnuts, a squirrel nutcracker (naturally) and another choice item that has become a traffic-stopper at my cube at work.

Yes folks, squirrel underpants! You can’t quite tell by the picture, but it’s a 2D squirrel cutout with real cloth squirrel-sized underpants. I love it! My backyard is like a squirrel nudist colony, so these would probably be appreciated by some of the other neighboorhood critters.

This morning was Sunday breakfast day. Well, obvoiusly it is Sunday and we ate breakfast. But Sunday breakfast is an event for us because it’s usually the only weekend day we are both home. Before I start in on homework or baking and Jim hibernates in the office to work on his latest multimedia project we have Sunday morning to talk, spin some vinyl and enjoy a good meal together.

I love maple flavored things. Maple extract is my friend, I love maple butter on waffles with veggie sausage stuffed in the middle, I like maple syrup in things, but I do not like maple syrup on pancakes. I have never been a syrup girl. I usually just heat up some frozen fruit, blend it in my handichop and eat that instead, but this morning I wanted something different. At first I thought of making a lemon sauce, but thought it might be too pronounced and wanted something creamy instead.

I love berries and cream, so a Blueberries & Cream Sauce over our blueberry pancakes was in order. It takes a lot to get a food reaction out of Jim and it almost always involves peanut butter. He enjoys his food, but doesn’t revel in eating quite the same way I do. Imagine my surprise when he took a bite and with his eyes rolling in the back of his head said, “You have to put this in the book!” Well, okay!

Blueberry pancakes with Blueberries & Cream Sauce

Along with our pancakes, we enjoyed the tempeh and white bean sausage patties from VWaV. I haven’t made these things in over a year! I think I put them off because there are a couple of prep steps, like simmering the tempeh, that require more time than I like to put into breakfast. I made a double batch so we can whip them up during the week.

The cream sauce was so simple and delicious, I want you all to give it a try sooner than later. My sauce was made with almond milk, so it’s a little translucent but still very creamy. If you want it to look really opaque and thick I recommend using regular soy milk or soy creamer.

Blueberries and Cream Sauce
Makes 1 1/2 cups

1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp. plus 1 teas cornstarch
1 cup milk of choice (the higher the fat content, the thicker it will be)
1/2 teas. good quality vanilla
1/2 cup frozen blueberries, thawed and drained

In a small saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch until well combined. Whisk in milk and cook over medium-high heat to a boil, while whisking. Lower to a simmer, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens, about 5-7 minutes. Add vanilla and cook for one more minute. Remove from heat and pour sauce into a bowl. Let chill in fridge or freezer for 10-15 minutes or until it is a bit more set, but still warm. Add blueberries and lightly mix to combine. Do not overmix blueberries or sauce will look blueish/grey. Serve warm or cold over pancakes or waffles.

Resolution update: Worked out 3 times this week, but otherwise I did poorly. The “likes” just keep on comin’ and I only ate chocolate once. Once! It’s sad, really. I must persevere!

i’m back in the saddle again

I’m not afraid to admit that I love Aerosmith. How can you not?

Hello there! I hope that 2008 is ending on a high note for all of you.

At the end of 2007, I decided to take a break from blogging to focus on some other things in my life that needed some focused attention, namely work and going back to school. All throughout the year, though, I lurked on everyone’s blogs, keeping tabs on the latest and greatest vegan creations on the internet. As the year has continued, though, I have really missed blogging. Many moments presented themselves when I thought, “Oh! I want to blog about this!” So I decided that I will.

Squirrel’s Vegan Kitchen is still up as an archive, but this is my new site. We all get to times when we need to let go of things and move on, and it’s that time for me and the squirrel. But don’t think the squirrel love is gone.

Mama Squirrel

I also have some exciting news to share with you all, but that will come soon. You can figure it out yourself if you explore the new site a little bit, but I don’t want to shamelessly self-promote tonight. I want to talk about food.

Ginger Spiced Dark Chocolate Chunk cookies and Snickerdoodles, waiting for Santa.

I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday or if nothing else enjoying the time off work. 🙂 See you again soon!