Rachel- Snow on the Hill

We're enjoying our first and perhaps only snow of the season in Chapel Hill! I don't think I've ever seen campus look so beautiful. Last night, going out with friends and walking across the quad in the dark with snow falling all around you is a beautiful thing indeed. I made plenty of snowed in food last night so if I don't feel like trekking to the dining hall to get more ingredients, I'm set. I did a whole wheat rotelle pasta with tempeh, mushrooms, tomatoes, and olives, finished with plenty of garlic, olive oil, sage, and dried basil. There's something about a delicious comfort food on a day like today, especially when the world is white, the air is cold, and you've got a stack of reading to complete for Monday.
Happy Snowday!

Photos- the view from the balcony of my dorm last night as the flakes were falling.

Rachel- The Best End to a Monday Ever... DESSERT!

Saturday of course I made my Vegan Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles from Vegan Cookies Invade your Cookie Jar. Tonight, these are being paired with Fudge Babies. I saw the recipe on Rabbit Food. (The link to this blog is under the our favorite blogs bar, which should be that way>>>>) I tossed pitted dates, raw cashews, a squirt of agave sweetener, a dash of cinnamon, and dark cocoa in a blender then rolled the mixture up into these adorable little truffles. It's 100% raw, 100% vegan and 110% delicious! And SO easy to make! So tonight is dessert night, cookies, fudge babies and a big glass of rice milk with a dessert hungry friend or two... Happy Monday!

Rachel-Tempeh Take One

Tonight I cooked tempeh for the very first time! I've eaten (and loved) tempeh many times before but tonight was the first night I braved the kitchen and prepared it myself! In a spin on a recipe from the Veganomicon, I pan sautéed it along with plenty of garlic, lemon, raw spinach, tomatoes, and broccoli. I tossed it all together and topped it off with raw avocado chunks. For dessert, I munched on a couple of Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles. This recipe I found on the website for Post Punk Kitchen. Isa Chandra Moskowitz, one of the co-authors of the Veganomicon has this incredible website that goes along with her cable access TV show, Post Punk Kitchen.
Here's the link for Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles, from Isa's book Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar:
http://theppk.com/blog/2009/09/16/mexican-hot-chocolate-snickerdoodles/

Dallas, NC

This has been an off week so to speak, my husband has been home working hard to build the alpaca shelter and so I have been helping! He's not to sure about my nailing capabilities but I try...it rained yesterday so we took a drive to Dallas, NC winding through the rainy backroads of NC and seeing towns such as Stanly, Holly Springs and Mt Pleasant to name a few. (You miss so much when you rush down the major highway) Our destination of Dallas, is where I picked up Darnelle's studio roommate ~ Dallas ~ he's a beautiful English Angora Rabbit from a different line and I can really see the differance in their fibers! Darnelle just loves him & so do I...

Rachel-The End of the First Week Back and Raw Foods

Yesterday, I had my monthly raw foods day! I kicked it off with a chopped banana drizzled with honey and pepitas, and for lunch-some raw cashews and more pepitas with a banana and a Lara bar. Dinner, however, took the raw cake. I made this raw UN stirfry that marinated while I was at the gym. I topped it off with some "cheezy" lemon cashew cream and of course a good helping of nutritional yeast flakes.

Thursday evening, even though that wasn't my raw day, I made a nearly raw smoothie for a dessert after I made a fabulous one-bowl mean consisting of couscous and veggies. The smoothie/shake was meant kind of as a dessert, but it's fairly healthy so I might be making it for breakfasts in the near future... the dark chocolate adds a healthy kick of antioxidants and the cashews thicken the mixture, helping with consistency and adding a layer of sweetness to the shake.

For more info about raw foods, check out this all-raw blog that I love: http://www.choosingraw.com

Here's the recipe for Nearly in the Raw Strawberry Banana Dark Chocolate smoothie, some thing of my own creation!

½ cup raw cashews
¾ cup rice, almond or soymilk
¾ cup frozen organic strawberries
2 squares from your favorite bar of dark chocolate
1 ripe banana

Put everything in your blender and blend until smooth. Sit back, relax and enjoy a healthy indulgence.

I currently have a nice big slab of tofu pressing under The Veganomicon and my women's studies books in preparation for Scrambled tofu in just a few minutes. Making breakfast and having a lazy Saturday morning is one of my favorite things in life. Do something you love today.

Rachel- I am Grateful

For Christmas, I gave my mother a vegan all raw cookbook called I am Grateful.
We've loved reading and learning from this book, and trying out some delicious and healthy recipes, especially the kale salad, this is the book's photo of it!

I realized as I came out of the dining hall with my take out box full of raw veggies to prepare in my dorm room kitchen tonight that people just don't seem to appreciate food. This realization came to me as I passed hordes of hungry students with mountains of food on their plates and then I passed the depository belt where everyone discards their used plates and silver ware, only to see piles of uneaten food on similar plates.

I am Grateful takes the art of preparing food (and eating!) to a different level. The author talks about being grateful and appreciating everything that you eat, even if you would have prepared it differently or if the meal isn't perfect.

So, next time you're in the kitchen, appreciate what you're doing. Appreciate the vegetables and materials that you're using. Feel the knife in your hand as you chop your garlic. Appreciate that someone took the time to raise or grow what you are preparing and appreciate that energy and time that went into your material's production. Treat the material accordingly, with respect. Appreciate whatever you are eating, something that was prepared for you, probably filled with a lot of love. And next time you eat a fabulous meal, be sure to tell your chef that they're amazing.

On the farm ~ All Cooped Up!

It's suppose to thaw out here in central NC this week and I am so happy! I've been cooped up like my chickens and so I have a long list of things I would like to do ~ one of which is transplant my horseradish plant. I like this plant, ( Darnelle loves the tasty leaves ) the only problem is it's invasive so I keep it contained in a wonderful blue pot. When I do the transplanting I will harvest all the roots and replant a few for next years harvest and try the recipes in the shared post below ~ I think I'll try the red horseradish first as I'm finding I like the added color on my plate ~

Cooking corner: Horseradish sauces

Cooking corner: Horseradish sauces

Rachel- Much Success! First batch ever of vegan cookies!

This has been a very productive evening! Tonight I made my very first batch of vegan cookies. And I learned a lot. I veganized an old recipe that we've had forever, that's been stuck in the pages of the Fannie Farmer Baking Book for as long as I can remember. It was one of the first cookie recipes I ever baked with, and tonight it was the back bone for my Vegan Peanut Butter Almond cookies. These tasty cookies ended up being more of a hodge podge than what the old recipe called for- I put in cinnamon, vanilla, cocoa, almond extract, and lots of Peanut butter for flavoring. I subbed apple sauce for eggs, and olive oil for butter, and the result was just as good as those cookies I made from the same recipe when I was younger.

For more tips on egg and butter replacement:
http://www.theppk.com/veganbaking.html

Rachel- Sumptuous Sushi

Sushi is probably one of my most favorite things to eat. I've been wanting to roll sushi all week, and tonight was the night. So I fired up the rice cooker, pulled out the nori sheets, and sliced my veggies to perfection. In addition to traditional nori rolls, I made several different kinds of rice wraps: cucumber and carrot, kale and carrot, bell pepper and cucumber, and kale with shiitake mushrooms. (One of my favorite combinations is bell pepper with shiitake mushroom in a sheet of nori. The earthiness of the mushroom pairs nicely with the crunchy pepper, and the salty taste of the nori ties the two together.) The nori and rice rolls were stuffed with similar combinations, resulting in a tasty but light spread of healthy tastiness.

Top 5 home sushi making tips: (in no order what so ever)
-Keep everything moist so that your nori sheet won't stick!
-Use a vegetable peeler to slice your veggies, especially carrrots and cukes
-Put your veggies and/or rice in the middle of the nori sheet, leaving about and inch on either side. This makes rolling the sushi a lot easier.
-If using rice, be sure to pack it down firmly on to the nori sheets. I use a spatula dipped in water to mash the rice down.
- Use a serrated knife to slice the sushi, applying even pressure as you slice. This way you get a clean cut and the nori doesn't tear as easily.

In 'urban chickens,' some see golden opportunity :: WRAL.com

In 'urban chickens,' some see golden opportunity :: WRAL.com

We've been having some cold weather, but it didn't stop us from going out to see our Alpacas yesterday! However the cold has stopped us from working on their shelter and I'm getting a little anxious as they are moving in, in April... we are enjoying the saurkraut and will be making some more this week...weaving and spinning our time away during the winter nights and unfortunalty watching our Tarheels lose the basketball game last night!

Rachel- A Love Affair with the Veganomicon

Yesterday, after braving the sale at our local vintage shop, Beggars and Choosers, and after a rather pleasant nap, I had a date with one of my most favorite cook books The Veganomicon. The result was this delicious Bean Balls with linguine. I followed the recipe almost exactly, but had to sub crumbled up saltines for the bread crumbs since we were out and lately my mother hasn't made any bread. I used canned tomatoes to make the marinara sauce, along with plenty of garlic and dried herbs. It was almost as good as the home made Indian feast that I had the night before....