Not quite so easy...

Isn't hummus suppose to be the simplest vegan food out there? I mean, I make a mean guac so I knew I could handle hummus... let us just say that I'll be buying it from the store for a little while longer... maybe I didn't soak the chickpeas long enough... maybe I didn't add enough sesame seeds, maybe any number of things went wrong... I'll finish this batch - maybe...

Snowed Out

Looks like I'll have another day to lay up under the covers and enjoy my soup from yesterday. For the first time since I started working in Gwinnett County - if memory serves - we have a snow day. Of course this means I'll now be in school until May 26th to make up for it but that's okay - better than driving on icy roads!

So, I looked up recipes for yellow split pea soup, but I didn't have a bunch of the ingredients and it was snowing outside so I tossed in whatever I had. In the end the bag of peas, three veg cubes to make the broth, the rest of my bag of stir fry veggies, some corn, some onions, some green peppers, and some potato apple sage sausages seasoned to taste found their way into my Crockpot set on high between 3 and 7 yesterday to make some pretty groovy soup! This is the first time I've made soup from scratch and it's actually come out right! I'm very excited. I think it's all because of the Crockpot... And since there's still snow on the ground, I have the perfect excuse to eat some more for lunch today! Okay, so maybe dinner, too!

French Toast & Hash Browns

Apparently, holidays bring out the chef in me! Actually, I think it's the time off from work. Either way, I managed to work on my cheesecake recipe. I made two cakes instead of one and cooked it for an extra 10 minutes. I'll find out this evening if it worked. Meanwhile, I made another batch of chili that I'll enjoy this evening as well. This morning I experimented with vegan french toast. The recipe called for soft tofu, but I didn't want to open a whole container for four slices of bread so I used a vegan pancake mix instead and it came out great! I made hash browns with sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, and broccoli to go with it. I ate four hours ago and I'm still stuffed! Dinner won't be for awhile. I'm enjoying this process. Cleansing my body with food is helping me cleanse my mind as well. Yes, I'm definitely enjoying this process...

Outcome

I figured I would post the outcome of my Thanksgiving Feast. The Backyard Barbecue Chili was amazing. I thought I'd have leftovers for days, but I'll probably finish it off tomorrow and am already wishing it wasn't too cold for me to go get the ingredients to make more! The Key Lime Cheesecake wasn't perfect. I should have let it cook for longer. It came out almost more like a pudding than a cake, but the flavor... divine. I still love it and will finish the whole thing. Plus, I have the perfect excuse to make another one as soon as it's all gone! I do have to perfect the cooking time after all. I ended up making the Roasted Vegetable Cornucopias on Friday instead of Thursday. Those I got just right. Using crescent rolls instead of puff pastry made the recipe faster and more decadent.

Again, I wish the weather made it possible for me to go out and get some more ingredients, but hopefully I will be well enough soon. There are so many more recipes to try...

Thanksgiving Feast

Well, as usual, I have gone the non-traditional route. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. On Tuesday, I took Vegan Planet to work so that I could plan some fun dishes for today. I figured I'd come up with some nice holiday inspired side dishes. Instead I found myself drawn to the Backyard Barbecue Chili. I immediately thought of adding Annie's BBQ sauce and I knew I had to make the dish on Thanksgiving Day. I went out and bought a red Crock Pot figuring this would be the best way to really get all the flavor out of the dish. I also decided to use vegan chicken strips instead of vegan beef crumbles. Then, I examined the desert section and discovered Key Lime "Cheesecake". Well, it didn't look too hard and I DO miss cheesecake, so I figured I'd give it a whirl even though I'd never made traditional cheesecake before because it looked too hard. It's in the cooling process now (which is apparently the longest part) but just tasting the batter made me a little weak in the knees. I'm expecting it to be quite tasty. I'll also have the roasted vegetable cornucopias I'd planned earlier. Everything else (even the Pumpkin Biscuits and Maple-Pecan French Toast I'd planned on Tuesday) will have to be saved for another moment because I'm too excited about what I'm having to make anything else!