Cookbook Review – Oh She Glows by Angela Liddon

It is fair to say that I am a bit of a cookbook junkie. I have a great selection and have been known from time to time to sit down and read them like one would read a novel.
Up until recently I had never heard of Oh She Glows. I heard about it from another blogger, Dairy Free Betty (http://dairyfreebetty.com) as it is one of her favourites. After looking at the Oh She Glows blog I could see why. I immediately ordered the cookbook.
3 days later it arrived on my doorstep.

Angela Liddon, the author, says that she tried to create recipies that even meat eaters would enjoy. I decided to test this out on my meat eating husband.

The first night I made 2 things – Cream of Tomato Soup and the Perfected Chickpea Salad Sandwich.
I started off with the chickpea salad. After going through my fridge and pantry, I realized I had all of the required ingredients on hand. Score one for Oh She Glows! I have to admit, I was not 100% convinced that a chickpea salad sandwich would be tasty. I like chickpeas enough, but in a sandwich? Using a recipe that claims to rival a chicken salad sandwich?
You use pretty much the same ingredients that you would in a chicken salad sandwich (onion, pepper, celery) and you mash the chickpeas to get an almost flakey texture. The hardest part was mashing the chickpeas. I imagine if you had a food processor you could use that, but you would really need to be on the ball so as not to puree the chickpeas.
I threw all the ingredients together in a bowl and mixed it up. It resembled chicken salad, but how would it taste?
Let me tell you, this dish is amazing!! I was blown away. It is so flavourful, it has a great texture and is just so fresh. I served it for dinner with the cream of tomato soup (more on that later) and my hubby devoured it. I don’t think he even chewed it, his sandwich was just gone. He even asked if there was any leftover for his lunch for the following day!

The recipe says it makes enough to serve 3, but unless you really load it on, it makes much more. I gave some to my mom and sister to try, they feel that it is stong enough to stand alone as it’s own dish. My mom even asked if I would make it in the summer to be eaten as part of a salad plate.

To make the cream of tomato soup, the only thing I had to buy was some raw cashews. I sauteed some onions and after soaking my cashews overnight, wazzed them up in the blender with some vegetable stock. I don’t have the high speed VitaMix blender the book recommends, so the broth had a bit of a grainy texture. If I would have taken the time and run it through a mesh strainer I’m sure it would have had more of a creamy texture. The grainy-ness worked out though, because once I blended up the onions and tomatoes it worked to  thicken the soup. It had a bit more of a texture than I normally enjoy, but the flavour was fantastic. My husband downed his bowl of soup and much like the chickpea sandwich, requested it for his lunch the following day.

The next night I made the Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes. I am a fan of potatoes in any form. I also enjoy cauliflower but had never thought of mixing them together. Again, I had all the ingredients to make this. After peeling the potatoescIput them in a pot to boil.  I added the cauliflower and cooked them both through, and mashed them up. They were really good although next time I am going to use my hand mixer to blend them to try and make them fluffier. There was enough left over for dinner the next night so I made potato cakes and fried them in a pan. They cooked nicely  with a crispy crust on them and tasted even better than the previous day. This is a recipe I would make for the sole purpose of having leftovers.

The Portabella Mushroom ‘Steak’ Fajitas were next on the menu. The only items I had to buy for this was the mushrooms and flatbreads. I found that the marinade doesn’t make quite enough to coat all the mushroom slices and I had to make another half batch of it, which was easy.  I sliced the mushrooms and got them in the marinade, and cut up the veggies for the stirfry.

I didn’t have a grill pan like the recipe calls for so after marinating the mushrooms I sauteed them in a pan on the stove. While they were heating I made the stirfry. By the time that was done the mushrooms were cooked. I layered them on a tortilla and served it with some salsa and a side cesar salad.

The filling was really tasty although my husband didn’t care for the texture of the mushrooms, while I wasn’t huge on the corn tortillas I accidentally picked up instead of the flour ones. Overall it is a good recipe, easy to make and as long as you don’t mind mushroom texture and get the right wraps, is really quite yummy.

Tonight I made the Chickpea Masala. I had all the ingredients in my fridge and pantry, so there was no need to do a grocery store run. This is a 2 pot meal that is super easy to make. I sauteed the onions, added the spices, the tomatoes and the chickpeas. All in all it took about 20 minutes to put together and another 10 to simmer through.

The recipes in this cookbook are really easy to follow, and the prep time and cook time is accurate. The recipies call for ingredients that can be found in your local grocery store or that you would normally keep in your pantry and fridge. All of the recipies I tested I was able to make in under half an hour and while looking after my newborn, which was pretty impressive. The boom has really nice photos, and the end result of the recipies I made looked similar to that in the photo, minus the food styling. The dishes were flavourful and often made more than the amount the recipe said it would make. They all seem easy to cut in half or to double, and with the exeption of the fajitas, pleased my meat eating husband, with him going back for seconds.
I would reccomend this book to anyone looking to try some different meal ideas.
My hubby gives the recipies 5 spoons out of 5, and I give this book the same. Definitely worth the money paid, I will use this book a lot.

Oh She Glows – The Pre Review

It’s here!! The package on my front step this morning made my day. I was on my way to my mom’s house so I grabbed the box and took it with me, tearing into ot the moment I got through thevdoor. Some girls love shoes, others clothes or jewellery. Not me. I love cookbooks. Well, all books really.
Anyhow, I tore open the box and there it was.

Oh She Glows

Due to being busy with a 5 week old I didn’t have much time to look it over but from what I managed to see, this looks like a cookbook I could sit and read likea novel. It has a little ‘about this book’ section, great pictures, and ingredients that I can find at my grocery store. I live in a small city and it drives me nuts when I see a fantastic recipe that calls for some obscure item that I have to drive to the big city (45 minutes away) to find.

I am hoping to pawn off the baby to my hisband and chef up some yummy eats from the book. I am also going to get my meat eating husband to give me his opinion on them. He’s pretty good about trying my meatless concoctions, so this shouldn’t be any different. There has only been a few times shere he’s asked ‘where’s the meat??’ Hopefully, these will not be one of those times

And Baby Makes Three!

It has already been one month since we brought our baby home from the hospital. After 3 days in the hospital my first thought was ‘Yay! We are home! No nurses or doctors….I am a mom!!’ This was immediately followed by ‘Oh crap. We are home. No nurses or doctors. How are we going to do this?’
I will admit, it has been a struggle. Between feeding and sleeping (or not sleeping) and diapers and carseats, it’s a lot to take in. And everyone has an opinon or advice to share.
One problem we ran into was the baby having a very upset tummy. After a few visits to the doctor he suggested that this might be caused by something I am eating and passing on to her. He has suggested restricting certain things in my diet that night be causing her tummy pain. I told the doctor I was vegetarian, he said that was fine but suggested in addition to meat I also emilinate dairy, chocolate, garlic, onions, coffee and tea. The coffee, tea and chocolate will be the hardest to give up, but if it will make it easier for the baby I will do it. This is also in addition to a low fat diet due to gallstones.
I decided to order a new cookbook from Amazon to give myself something to look forward to and keep me busy during the no fun food period.  I found one called Oh She Glows, written by a lady who writes a vegan food blog (http://www.ohsheglows.com)
I am so excited for this book to come. It looks amazing! Once it comes I plan on trying a few recipies and doing my first real cookbook review. It is supposed to be here early next week, I am hoping I can pursuade my hubby to keep an eye on baby so I can make us a few tasty treats!

Macaroni And Cheese

This recipe is inspired by a former coworker and good friend of mine. She brought a dish of leftover macaroni and cheese for lunch one day, and it looked and smelled amazing. She was kind enough to share her recipe with me, and I have made a few modifications to it.

What You Will Need

8 oz macaroni, cooked and drained. (If you are cooking the pasta ahead of time, rinse it with cold water after it’s cooked to avoid it sticking together)

1/2 an onion, minced
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup of flour
2 1/2 cups of milk
2 cups of grated cheddar cheese
1 can of small cut tomatoes, drained well
1 1/2 Field Roast italian sausage, diced small (optional – my friend used diced ham. I have made this without the sausage and it is still really yummy)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

What You Do:

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Saute the onion until it is soft and kind of see-through. Add the flour and stir into the onion. Cook for 2 minutes stirring constantly to cook out the floury taste.
Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly, until the sauce begins to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese until it has melted. Add your salt and pepper, stir in the drained tomatoes, and heat for 3 minutes on low heat to heat the tomatoes. Give your sauce a taste and season to taste, if needed.
Add the macaroni to the sauce and mix until well coated. Add the Field Roast sausage (if using) and continue mixing.
Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan (I have used an 8 x 8 pan in a pinch, but it’s a bit of a tight squeeze) and bake for 35 – 40 minutes until bubbly.

I like to keep it simple and just serve this with a green salad and some tasty bread – tonight I am trying some bread I bought at the local farmers market called Flaming Fig – Gay bread for the Straight Man from a local bakery.

This reheats really well, and while macaroni and cheese can sometimes be really heavy I find this to be a bit lighter.
When you put it in the pan it may look a bit soupy but the sauce will cook into the pasta.

Teriyaki Sauce

It was another clean out the fridge night, this time with the veggies in the crisper. After a quick rummage through the fridge and a trip to the store, I had enough to make a yummy stirfry. The nice thing about stirfries is that you can use vegggies that have been in the fridge for a while and are beginning to look a lot less than fresh. I even used up a leftover BBQ chicken, putting that aside for my met eating hubby to put in his stirfry. (Once I made the sauce I put a spoonful in a bowl with the chicken to do a kind of cooked marinated chicken. He said it was great!)

What You Will Need:

The veggies of your choice (I used broccoli, cauliflower, 2 peppers, an onion, some baby corn, mushrooms and asparagus)

1 cup of cooked rice or noodles

For The Sauce:

1/4 cup finely diced onion

1 clove of minced garlic

1 tsp minced ginger

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 cup vegetable broth or vegetarian chicken broth

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tsp sriracha (optional – I like my sauce with a bit of spicy to it. You could also use a pinch of dried chilies)

2 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tsp of water

What You Do:

For the sauce, saute the onion in a bit of butter or oil until it is translucent and soft. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 2 minutes. Add the brown sugar, chicken or vegetable broth, hot sauce, rice wine vinegar, and cornstarch & water mix. Simmer over a low heat until the sauce begins to thicken. If you want a thicker sauce, slowly add more cornstarch mixed with water.

For the veggies, blanch the harder ones like cauliflower, broccoli and carrots. Once they have been cooled and drained, saute in a bit of oil until they are cooked through. Add all other veggies and warm through. Put rice and veggies on a plate, and cover with as much sauce as desired.
I like to serve the sauce seperate rather than pour it over the veggies, I find it keeps them crunchier for reheats the next day.
This recipe makes enough to serve 2 large plates, or 4 small ones.

Taco Soup Recipe

Thanksgiving is over. I am so full from the last few days that the idea of sitting down to an actual meal is somewhat overwhelming. Add to that, at 5 1/2 months pregnant the nausea is still hanging around, making the idea of me actually making dinner also overwhelming.
My dinners lately have been things I can take out of the freezer and quickly cook (perogies), things I can put in a pan and quickly cook (grilled cheese), things I can put in a casserole dish and shove in the oven while I go nap (any type of pasta smothered in sauce and topped with cheese), and anything that my husband makes for me (a can of soup).
I decided today that I was going to pull out my slow cooker and try some soup that I can easily reheat during the week. I also wanted to try and clean out some of the things in the fridge that were going to be tossed out if they didn’t get used up soon.
The end result was my version of taco soup (or tortilla soup, since you can add the crunched up taco chips before eating it)

What you will need:

1 can of black beans rinsed and drained (I used part of a leftover can of black beans from quesadilla night a few nights back)
1 can of kidney beans rinsed and drained
1 each green and red pepper diced medium (or small if you want it less chunky)
1 medium onion diced medium (I used leftover peppers and onions from the quesadilla night)
1 regular can of diced tomatoes and its juice
1 can of tomatoes with chilies and its juice
1 can of corn, drained
1 package of taco seasoning
1 package of powdered ranch salad dressing mix (I know, it sounds totally out to lunch, but don’t leave it out. I promise it won’t taste bad)
2 cups of vegetable broth, or McCormack’s vegetarian chicken broth

What you do:
Dump everything into the slow cooker, turn it on low and forget about it for 9 hours. Or, turn it on high and leave it for 6 hours. I try and stir mine every few hours, but if its on low you probably don’t have to. (But it is a good excuse to taste it!)
Make sure not to drain the tomatoes. You don’t have to drain the corn, but I think corn juice is yucky so I drained mine. Once the soup is cooked I pureed about a cup of it in a blender, just to thicken it up, but you don’t have to do this. You can add cheese and sour cream or avocado as a garnish in addition to the crunched up taco chips. All are tasty.

Note: This soup does have a bit of a kick to it. I didn’t realize that before I added a few slices of jalapeno pepper to the pot, and then spent an hour trying to find them and fish them out. If you find it’s too spicy, add 1 tbsp brown sugar and 1 tsp soy sauce to the soup, it will take away some of the spicy. I also added the juice of half a lime.

This makes a pretty big batch of soup, but the nice thing is that you can make it a day in advance, throw the slow cooker dish in the fridge, pull it out the next day, put it back in the slow cooker and turn it on, and your house will smell amazing AND you will have a tasty dinner for when you come home from work!

Vegetarian and Pregnant

I am just coming up to the second trimester of my pregnancy. This is when (according to my doctor) I will begin to feel more energetic and far less barfy. I hope this is true because for the last 3 months I’ve done nothing but feel sick, and want to sleep.
The first month after learning I was expecting, I decided I was going to prepare a bunch of food to keep in the fridge for lunches and dinners. Pleased at how organized (and grown up!) I felt, I wrote out my meal plans.
My first project was a quiche. I love quiche! Unfortunately, after having the first slice of it I couldn’t eat anymore. I think it was the texture.
My second project was vegetarian hamburger soup. I fared a little better with this, but after about 4 days my tummy revolted against this as well.
I tried quesadillas, but those were also on the list of things not to be had.
By far the worst was when I tried to do a salad plate for dinner. I bought potato salad, coleslaw, pasta salad and greek salad from a local deli. I cut up some cheese and put out some pickles. I rolled up some ham slices for my meat eating husband. I even made devilled eggs! Dinner time came and I pulled everything out and had a small salad plate, and couldn’t eat a thing. I tried a bite of egg and dramatically passed it to my husband, saying ‘I just can’t do it….’
Up until now I have been surviving on Quaker Crispy Minis, toast, a few raw veggies and dip, one apple a day, and whatever I can eat for dinner.
I really hope the next few weeks bring an end to the nausea. I love food far too much to do this for the next 6 months!

Stuffed Omelette

Dinner this evening was a stuffed vegetarian omelette.

You will need:

1/4 cup onion chopped

1/2 cup of green/orange/red pepper dices

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half

1 vegetarian sausage diced up. I used Field Roast italian style

2 small potatoes cooked and diced. This is great if you have leftovers from the night before

A handful of spinach

*all of these ingredients are interchangeable if you don’t like them. For meat fans you can use real sausage or bacon or ham. The only mandatory ingredient is the eggs

Heat up a pan, add some olive oil, margerine or butter. Saute your onions and peppers until they are soft. Add the tomatoes, sausage, potatoes and spinach and continue cooking until everything is heated through and the spinach is wilting, about 8 minutes

Pour the eggs (which you have whisked up in thier bowl) over the warm veg, and let cook for about 10 minutes until the bottom of the omelette begins to firm up.
Once the bottom is firm you can either put a cover on the pan to cook the top through (I use a pizza pan!) or put your pan under the broiler for 7 – 10 minutes.

You really don’t need much with this, maybe some toast or a green salad.

Black Bean Brownies

I know, I know. It sounds wierd. Black beans and brownies usually don’t go together.
My nutritionist gave me this recipe and she assured me they were really yummy, but I still had my doubts. Regardless, I decided to make them anyhow. She was right. They are delicious!!!!!
You will need:
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
3 eggs
4 tbsp cocoa
3 tbsp oil
A pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup of sugar

Wazz everything in the blender until smooth. Pour into an oil 8 x 8 Pan. Stir in a handful of chocolate chips or nuts and bake at 3:50 for 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool completely and then cut into squares.

Living La Vegan Loca

Sarah Kramer is my idol. When I grow up I want to be like her. Not in a creepy way though.
The first time I went into her store it was just a tiny little store off Market Square in Victoria. It has since grown in size and has moved to a bigger location in Market Square. Anyhow, the first time I went in I had expected to go in, get the lipbalm I had read about on her Facebook page (pineapple candycane) and head out. I hadn’t counted on her actually being there. I mean, she’s far too busy writing cookbooks and such to run the store, right? Nope. There she was.
I was somewhat starstruck. I mean, it’s not everyday you get to meet a local celebrity. What do you say??
‘I love your books. I have La Dolce Vegan and use it all the time.’ She thanked me and said that was one of her favourites too because the recipies were so incredibly easy. While I was shmoozing my way through the store I began flipping through her other books she had on display (all of which she will sign for you at the time of purchase) and I realized that all of them are like that. The recipies are easy to follow and more importantly, call for normal ingredients. I instantly wanted to buy them all, but sadly my budget wouldn’t allow for it.
I picked up my lip balm and ended up splurging on a fun pair of cat eye shaped sunglasses too.
The thing that made my purchases special was Sarah herself. She is such a kind and compassionate person. I truly felt special to be in her store. She’s so easy to talk to, extremely passionate about being vegan and valuing the lives of animals, she’s just so…..real. I get so excited when I am planning a trip to Victoria. A stop at Sarah’s Place is a must. Even my meat eating husband thinks it’s quite a cool shop.
If you haven’t been there I highly reccomend it. If you can’t make it in person, check out her online store and blog.
http://www.blog.govegan.net/