product review: late july in mid march

not bad for a box cookie. if you're feeling down because the girl scouts don't make a vegan cookie, then buy a box of these. if you can read the fine print, these chocolatey snackie bites are produced without dangerous pesticides, have no trans fats or high fructose corn syrup, and have none of those artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives that make up the rest of the processed food world. if you're counting calories-(which i so don't do) you'll be happy to know three of these are 150 calories, so there's no need to feel guilty.

i give these a single turn table and one microphone.

the 5 minute dinner and a not-so-hot dessert

i'm crunched for time all the time these days. i have been in the kitchen, but if i do one thing another chore gets sacrificed. i'm learning i have a little time here and there to do prep and do most cooking in the morning or on the weekends. blogging? well, you know how that goes. i do it when i can, but during the week my goal is just to get stuff done around the house and get to bed. i know, i've turned into a real lame-o.

whadda ya do with not much time or money? soup. this is the FIVE minute dinner. that's right, you can listen to half of a ramones album and have this dish made. you could take notes, but you'd waste a precious minute or so writing everything down. just commit this to memory:

1 can ro-tel tomatoes with green chiles
1 can tomato soup
1 can water
1 vegan chix pattie
handful of tortilla chips

make the soup with water, not soymilk. add the tomatoes with green chiles. cook the chix pattie in the micro, dice up, and throw it in the soup with the tortilla chips. voila! tortilla soup. top with sour cream, but it is fine as it is.
just look at that. we still have some cold weather so go and make yerself some!
a blurry shot of some cherry crisp i made. mr. jewy thought the cherries were too tart, but i made it with less sugar on purpose. i don't have a recipe--i just threw a bunch of shit together, crossed my fingers, and prayed that it worked. it kind of did, but i knew it could be better. i consoled myself by topping it with soy delicious.

happy belated birthday to me...

my birthday was on the 13th. funny, i don't feel 37. then again, i don't know what anyone is supposed to feel at that age: miserable? sad? angry? how about hungry? yeah, i was hungry that day. so i made myself some chocolate chip cheesecake brownies from vegan cookies invade your cookie jar. note: they were good, a little on the dry side-(what did i do wrong?), and not as cheesecakey tasting as i thought they would. to exercise some portion control, i made them in a muffin pan.
for dinner i made seitanic tacos. i took store bought seitan and seasoned it with ms. dash chipotle flavor, cumin, cinnamon and topped with fresh cilantro, mashed avocado, red pepper slices, and served them on chipotle tortillas. what's that mess of orange goodness in the foreground? crazy carrot jalapeno relish. i know this sounds silly, but i'm trying to find more creative ways to incorporate even more veggies in my diet and not be so horribly reliant on sauces. give it a try, i think you'll like it, and it's a cinch to make:

crazy carrot jalapeno relish

1.5 cups finely chopped carrots
1/2 c. finely chopped onion
2 cloves fresh minced garlic
1-2 pickled jalapenos finely chopped
2t olive oil
1/2 t cumin
1/4 t salt

i used my vidalia chop wizard to finely chop everything. i sauteed the onions, garlic, and jalapenos in a non-stick pan, then added the carrots and just a little bit of water. i covered and simmered until they were fork tender and cooled. is an awesome relish for anything mexican/latino. i used this later to add in some roasted carrot soup and it worked out great! see below:i roasted 4 cups of carrots in the oven with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar. pureed the shit out of them with 2c v-8 juice, 1 c. coconut water, cinnamon and cumin. after pureeing, sat that baby on medium heat and added the leftover relish. topped it with some leftover seitan and added a tiny dollop of soy sour cream. totally decadent.

i didn't do all the cooking that day, btw. i know it sounds backwards to cook for myself on my birthday, but i really enjoy cooking. with my cramped schedule any extra time in the kitchen is a big gift. mr. jewbacca made me the following on my birthday morning for breakfast:
he asked me if i wanted to go out to eat. i said, "no." "well, what do you want then?" he asked.
"i want a plain bagel with pb&j topped with nanners."

and that's just what i got. i'm a lucky woman indeed.