Michael Jackson 1958 - 2009
Posted by Nina on Jun 26, 2009
There are few individuals that are as gifted as Michael Jackson was. He was the Elvis of my generation. He touched everyones life in one way or another.. the mixture of his fans was culturally diverse, you didn’t have to be black or white to appreciate him, his life, or his music. I can remember watching the music videos to Beat It, Thriller, Billie Jean, and all the countless others in the 80’s when I could barely walk.. two music artists touched my life in a big way and shaped who I am as an individual… one of them is Michael Jackson and the other is Madonna. No matter what you thought about his trials, he deserves respect for who he is and what he has done.. this is not a time to persecute him further.
I do hope now that he has passed that he has found the peace that has so long eluded him in life. I hope there is some sort of all loving being that is there waiting for you once you pass on.. it seems such a waste of life for their not to be. I do hope the media leave his poor 3 children alone to grieve their father in their own way.
Michael, I may never have met you, but you shaped so many peoples lives in many ways including my own… and your unlimited love for every body was something the entire world could learn something from. I hope you have found peace. Thank you for sharing your talent and life with us… may God bless you and keep you safe… and now the whole world shall mourn. Goodbye King of Pop.
slippery when wet
Posted by Nina on Jun 17, 2009
You know how you have one cup/dish that is your favorite and you use it quite often if not every day and its become your dish/cup? This little bowl was that for me… it held everything from cereal to ice cream.. I loved the color, the shape, the size.. it was my bowl! It flipped out of my hands while washing dishes and ended up on the floor. I nearly cried when I heard the crash. I loved it that much!
I quickly emailed Jeannette and sent her a photo and begged her to make me its twin. I can’t promise I will never wash this bowl but I can promise it will live a very much protected life! It’s very reassuring to know that Jeannette didn’t seem bothered at all with making duplicates of my broken pottery! Vegan Dish & Vessels & Wares has great customer service!!
Vegan Planet: Ultimate Shepherd’s Pie
Posted by Nina on Jun 8, 2009
I’m often asked “how can you stand to give up meat since it adds so much flavor to food rather than just life on rabbit food?” and the truth is.. I never eat bland, boring food. Vegetarian living is much more than just salads and tofu. You can make every recipe vegetarian if not vegan, you just need to know a few basics and tweak the recipe to taste and viola! you have a fantastic animal friendly recipe.
The newest addition to my home has been Vegan Planet. Words cannot even begin to express how much I love this book. I have now made 4 or 5 recipes and all were absolutely fantastic. I was blown away by how easy, healthy, and amazing these recipes were. I am super calorie/fat conscious and these recipes fall within my dinner guidelines and all were satisfying. I never left the table hungry nor was I starving just an hour or two later. Portions are decently sized, the food is sooooo delicious, and I never made a single thing so far that I wouldn’t serve to a meat eater in fear that they would choke and snub the dish. I’d proudly serve each and every single dish.. in fact, I plan to.
The most recent for me was the Ultimate Shepherd’s Pie. I used my own recipe for the mashed potatoes and added only a single green pepper and then just prepared the recipe as is. AMAZING. My recipe ended up bing 418 calories, 11g of fat, 17g of fiber, and 16g of protein per serving. I was thrilled when I ran to Robin’s website and found that she listed the recipe!! so I can share it with you!
Ultimate Shepherd’s Pie
Since leftover mashed potatoes are often the inspiration for making a Shepherd’s Pie, I thought that the ultimate version should feature filling ingredients that are readily available and easy to use — hence the use of veggie burgers. Simply thaw them long enough so that you can chop them and they work like a charm, adding great taste and texture, enhanced by the ground walnuts. If you prefer, chopped seitan or tempeh may be used instead of the veggie burgers, just be sure to sauté them first in a little olive oil. Use the extra-rich “Mashed Potatoes and Company” on page 204, or your favorite mashed potato recipe.
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2 tablespoons olive oil
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1 large yellow onion, chopped
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1 large carrot, chopped
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4 ounces white mushrooms, chopped
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1 tablespoon tomato paste
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2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
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3/4 cup Basic Vegetable Stock (page 000)
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1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
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1 teaspoon minced fresh marjoram or 1/2 teaspoon dried
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Salt and freshly ground black pepper
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2 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon cold water
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3 vegetarian burgers, thawed and chopped
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1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
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1/4 cup ground walnuts
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3 cups mashed potatoes
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1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and carrot. Cover and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook 3 minutes longer, stirring occasionally.
2. Stir in the tomato paste, tamari, vegetable stock, thyme, marjoram, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the cornstarch mixture and simmer to thicken slightly, about 1 minute.
3. Spoon the filling mixture into a lightly oiled 2-quart baking dish. Stir in the chopped burgers, the peas, and the walnuts. Taste to adjust seasonings.
4. Spread the mashed potatoes over top. Sprinkle with paprika and drizzle with the remaining oil. Bake until hot and bubbly and the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.
Serves 4
If you only own one Vegetarian/Vegan cookbook.. this one should be the one.
Grilled Uncheese Lunch
Posted by Nina on Jun 4, 2009
This was a wonderful lunch! I’ve had the Uncheese book for awhile but I have never made anything from it.. but this sounded too good to be true! It was fantastic! I can’t wait to try more.
Grilled Cheese Sandwich from the Uncheese book & blueberry tea.
WW: 2pts!
Baby Quilt
Posted by Nina on Jun 2, 2009
I’ve never bought a quilt kit before this little beauty but now I am sold! The part I hate most about sewing is cutting the fabric and the kits take all of that away! I bought this kit on etsy when I came across it searching for vintage baby fabrics and instantly fell in love. I have been saving it for some special sewing time.. over the memorial day holiday I tripped and sprained my ankle.. It just happened to be my peddle foot! Ugh! It’s finally getting better.. still a lovely shade of chartreuse but I can walk on it.. I figured it was time I got to sewing.. I finished the quilt top in just a couple of hours and now I am waiting for the batting to finish. This will be my first experience stippling a quilt.
Cute Strawberry Bento
Posted by Nina on May 31, 2009
Top: Belgian setian stew with dark beer from Vegan Planet
Bottom: Pasta
Side: Fresh strawberries
Cup: Spices
WW: 13pts.
Chocolate Cake with Black Berry Butter Cream Frosting
Posted by Nina on May 23, 2009
Chocolate Cake Batter
Prep: 20 min. Add an additional 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract if you do not have almond extract.
Yield: Makes about 6 cups
Ingredients
* 2 cups sugar
* 1 cup butter, softened
* 3 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
* 2 cups cake flour
* 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup buttermilk
Preparation
1. Beat sugar and butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until yellow disappears after each addition. Beat in vanilla and almond extracts.
2. Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl; add to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at medium-low speed just until blended after each addition. Beat 1/3 cup hot water into batter just until smooth. (Batter will be thick.) Use immediately.
Blackberry Butter Cream Frosting
Prep: 10 min. If you love lots of frosting, double the recipe. This recipe goes with Basic Layer Cake, Vanilla Cupcakes
Yield: Makes about 2 1/2 cups
Ingredients
* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 1/2 cup fresh blackberries
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 teaspoon lemon zest
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 1 (16-oz.) package plus 1 cup powdered sugar
Preparation
1. Beat first 5 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.
2. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until blended and smooth after each addition.
Note: Be sure to wash and thoroughly dry blackberries before adding to frosting. If you do not want seeds, be sure to puree the blackberries and pour through a small strainer to catch the seeds.
Recipes & Photo from: Southern Living
WIP: Aeolian Shawl
Posted by Nina on May 4, 2009
I-swear with this shawl its 2 steps forward and 3 steps back. Just as I started the transition chart, I found that a stitch and come undone for 4 rows so I have to rip back and repair it before moving on. I also found that all of my beads on the SSK bead portion are tilting sideways.. everyone in the Ravelry group seems to think I am doing them correctly but I don’t think the beads are supposed to be tilted.. so I might experiment on some scrap yarn before moving on… I am just getting beyond frustrated with this shawl. I don’t know what it is.. I NEVER have trouble knitting lace but this time, every time I turn around I find something I need to rip and re-knit! UGH! I am thinking I might put this shawl into time out for a little while and knit something else… but it’s soooooo beautiful I just want to finish it! I think I can fix a lot of these mistakes by knitting only when the husband is at work and there is nothing around to distract me at all. That should give me 6hrs+ of time to knit M-F so … that should be enough… 
Pattern: Aeolian Shawl by Elizabeth Freeman
Needles: Knitpicks Options Circs US US 1½ / 2.5 mm
Yarn: Alpaca with a Twist Fino
Color: Champagne
Beads: Clear Pearl 8/0
On Ravelry @ CherrySprinkle
vegan jello that you can mold!
Posted by Nina on Apr 22, 2009
For a long time I have been looking for a fool proof, great tasting jello recipe that is Vegan. No folks, regular jello is derived from the collagen inside animals bones.. which means it’s neither Vegetarian or Vegan. Well, there are plenty of Vegan jello recipes floating around on the internet but none of them have given me the texture that I was looking for… until now.
Vegan Jello Recipe:
- 2c juice
- 2tsp Agar
Bring 1/2 juice to a boil on stove over medium heat. Add agar as it begins to boil and stir until melted/blended. Remove from heat and add remaining juice and blend well. Transfer to dish or jello mold and chill until firm.
Note: I found the 2/2 equivalent to be a bit too firm for my taste making a very gelaitanized result (think a little thicker than canned cranberry sauce) so next time I intend to use much less agar.
Hoopin’
Posted by Nina on Apr 9, 2009
There is this hooping craze walking around Ravelry these days and I drank the water. Not only did Gleek have one, but frecklegirl, and iSeL Knits too! Then I found a few more friends also had them and.. well.. whats a girl to do, but join the club? I figured it would be a fun way to add some core toning into my schedule and it looked like a whole lot of fun! I am not talking about the hula hooping days of childhood.. oh no, I am talking about the super sexy hoop dance.
I kinda suck at it though… and I mean suck hard. I can do all about 3 rotations before it drops. Today’s best has been about 7-10 rotations before it dropped like a ton of bricks. Sergey tried and he’s a natural.. naturally, there really isn’t anything he can’t do… I am sure that my feet and ankles are going to be a beautiful shade of purple tomorrow… but I am no quitter! I will learn to hoop dance… even if it kills me! With that, I’ll leave you with some images of my pretty hoop I purchased the wildflower limited edition glow in the dark 43″ hoop from hoopnotica.
