Sometime after taking this picture I wrote a short mental love note from me to broccoli.  Then I tenderly washed all five heads of the stuff and we devoured it in less than two days.  We ate some raw, we ate some barely cooked, we curried some, we put some in a nice pasta dish.  And then we wished for more.

We’ve been doing the same with zucchini.  We have four zucchini plants growing in the garden and we’ve managed (so far) to keep up with the supply.  In all we’ve given away four of our zukes to some squash crazy friends.  The rest we’ve stuffed, fried, baked, shredded into bread and muffins, slow cooked in lasagna, and we’re contemplating soups and pancakes.

What’s on the menu tonight?  Black bean and summer squash enchiladas.

Happy Father’s Day!

So, let me just rant a little here.  Our little monster is sick.  He’s been sick for going on 2 months now.  Not constantly sick.  No, that might suck more.  He’s been sick, then not sick, then kinda sick, then maybe sick but we can’t quite tell, then cutting molars, then just cranky because he’s so used to being sick that when he’s not the attention just isn’t what he hopes it would be.  Seriously.  Croup, molar!, ear infection after ear infection, 2 molars!, head cold, ear infection, pink eye, ear infection, molar!, ear infection from hell…It goes on.  Now, the doctor has told me a couple of things: 1. His ears are weird and 2. Ear infections frequently follow new molars.  Great.  I don’t believe him.  Or rather, I do believe him but I think he’s making excuses. Cheeks is allergic to two large classes of antibiotic, the two they most commonly use to treat ear infection as it turns out, Penicillins and Cephalosporins.  The other drugs they use are less effective at actually getting rid of the bacteria, but since Cheeks can’t take the stronger antibiotics he has to take the less effective antibiotics.  I’m pretty sure his ear infections have all just been the same infection laying low during treatment then flaring up later.  We go back to the doctor today to find out what to do about this little conundrum, but in the meantime, the poor kid suffers and no one gets any sleep.

At home there’s war.  There is feverish washing of everything washable, dusting, cleaning, filter replacing, allergen hunting, we’re taking perfumes out of the house, he’s got an appointment with an allergist, and we’re looking for a new pediatrician.  As if that weren’t enough, little Cheeks has been limited to one bath a week…Like the hillbilly baby he is…To keep his ears dry.  I drag him outside, bundled up against the cold, hoping a little sun and fresh air will help, only to listen to him cry for 15 minutes while I try to convince him that we’re having fun.  I am always one day away from pulling him out of music, day care, library time, birthday parties, and the slew of other “social engagements” that keep us sane.  I have no idea what’s causing all of this so I’m just executing a blitzkrieg on all the possible culprits hoping that I’ll take care of the problem while I’m at it.

Almost everything that Cody and I had going has come to a stand still, including the changes that we were making to this blog.  I wanted to have it done by now, but it’s likely going to be a while.  So, if it seems like I can’t possibly be so crazy as to post another “recipe” for something that no one really cares to make or cook, think again.  Someday I might have the time and energy to write down all the little things that I’d like to tell you all, but for now…Comfort food.  With everything else that’s going on it seems that dinner time is the one thing each day that remains the same.  One of us manages to make it into the kitchen each evening to throw together a meal, this is one of those recipes that makes a decent meal all by itself when we can’t find the energy to make more than one dish.

Vegetable Pot Pie

filling ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 1/2 russet potato, peeled and diced
• 1 small celery stalk, diced (I hate celery and leave this out)
• 1/4 cup carrots, peeled and diced
• 1/2 cup peas (frozen is fine)
• 1/4 cup zucchini, diced
• 1 pound firm tofu (you can leave this out, but double the potato)
• 1/2 cup white wine or veggie broth
• 1 cup non-dairy milk
• 2 Tbsp. Earth Balance “butter”
• 2 Tbsp. unbleached white flour
• 1 Tbsp. fresh or dried tarragon
• 1 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped (can use dried, but it’s not as good!)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 rosemary sprig or 1 tsp. dried rosemary
• 1 thyme sprig or 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 – 1 Tbsp. salt
• 1/2 – 1 Tbsp. pepper

herb pie crust ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup unbleached white flour
• 1/3 cup safflower oil (I used grapeseed this last time and it worked fine too)
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1 tsp. rosemary
• 1 tsp. thyme
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 325 and grease a 1-quart baking dish or pie pan.
To prepare the filling, heat the olive oil in a large saute pan.  Add the garlic, potatoes, celery, carrots, peas, and zucchini and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.  Add the tofu, wine, milk, “butter”, flour, spices, salt and pepper, and cook slowly over medium-low heat until the veggies are tender (about 20 minutes).  Remove the bay leaf.
To prepare the crust, mix the flours together in a bowl, add the oil, herbs, and salt.  Mix well to form a dough.  Add up to 1/2 cup of the water if the dough is too dry.  Cut the dough in half and roll one half into a 13 inch circle.  Fit the dough into the dish and trim the edges, leaving 1/2 an inch overhang.  Spoon the filling into the bottom crust.  Roll out the second half of the dough into a 12 inch circle and place in on top of the filling.  Trim the edges of the dough to match the bottom crust, pinch them together, and use a knife to make a couple cuts in the crust for venting.

Bake the pie for 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.  Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

This pie is runny the first day but sets up nicely for leftovers!

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We have a few friends out there in the cyberspace who are interested in what our kitchen is like.  I don’t mean what our cabinets look like or what kind of counter top we have, but what we eat and how we shop, store food, and prepare meals.  I’m a little baffled by this since it all seems pretty normal to me, but there have been requests and I am woman for the people.  In response we’ve created this corner of our blog to share some of our methods, recipes, ideas, inspiration, and complete failures (of which there are many).  Each kitchen post will be categorized under “Cook” to make them easy to find if you’re looking for something specific, or easy to browse if you aren’t.

A few points that might head off some confusion:

1. Our kitchen is vegan.  Which means that we eat plants and things that come from plants and that’s about it.  I don’t buy milk, cheese, butter, eggs, or meat.  It’s a choice that we make for health reasons, to avoid putting all the nasty that comes along with animals and their products into our bodies, and not for animal rights or environmental reasons.  So, don’t ask me if we still wear leather.  (we do)

2. When I say “vegan” what I really mean is “mostly vegan”.  Mostly because we still use some non-vegan things, like honey, and occasionally I find that a box of Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies has made it’s way into the cabinet.  But, I love Cheddar Bunnies and the kid would eat nothing but Cheddar Bunnies if he were allowed, so sometimes we compromise.  Our compromises never include meat, however.

3. I generally make our meals from scratch.  There are, of course, exceptions to this too.  While we don’t buy packaged meals I do use some frozen veggies and frozen out of season fruits, as well as canned beans.  We also buy our breads instead of making them, and had you ever seem my attempts at bread making you’d know why.  Cooking the way we do takes time, but it’s worth it.  Our non-traditional diet means that the drive-thru window and the freezer aisle aren’t exactly options for us, but what we lose in convenience we make up for in health.

4. Almost none of the normal products used for cooking are vegan, so there will be an occasional “plug” for a vegan version or option.  These will always be things that I use and like.

5. I’m an obsessive label reader.  Grocery shopping with me takes FOREVER.  Don’t be surprised if you read something about how we all went to the grocery store and Cody and Cheeks had to go to the car for a nap while I was in the cracker aisle.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I think I can continue.

This recipe for spaghetti sauce is the first vegan recipe that made our favorites list.  It’s a combination of my old spaghetti sauce recipe (that had ground beef in it) and one that I found in Quick Fix Vegetarian.  It’s easy, filling, and delicious and we love it with steamed or sauteed veggies and some bread.  I reduce (or eliminate) the red pepper flakes because Cheeks won’t eat it if it’s too spicy, but it’s great even without the kick.

Easy-Pleasy Lentil Spaghetti

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 15oz can lentils, drained and rinsed (or 1 1/2 to 2 cups cooked dried lentils if you don’t like canned lentils)
1 15oz can tomato sauce
1 15 oz can diced tomato or 1 or 2 fresh tomatoes, diced (optional)
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:
Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic, cooking until onion is translucent.  Stir in the lentils, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes, heat through and simmer for up to 1 hour.
While you’re whipping up that simpleness put a pot of water on to boil, add a splash of olive oil, and boil up some spaghetti noodles.  You can mix it all up in a bowl to serve family style or dish it out individually, either way sprinkle some minced parsley on top.  Yum.