http://autumnbliss.net/index.php/ en autumnappeal@gmail.com Copyright 2008 2008-08-29T23:45:00-05:00 http://autumnbliss.net/index.php/site/portobello_and_black_bean_burgers/ http://autumnbliss.net/index.php/site/portobello_and_black_bean_burgers/#When:23:45:00Z If it wasn’t for Veganomicon, I would be starving. Or living off of frozen veggie burger patties. I’m not sure which is worse. Every recipe I have tried so far has turned out amazing. Not only are the recipes easy to follow they’re full of flavor and surprisingly yummy. Yesterday I decided to try the roasted portobello recipe. I have never had a portobello in my life. To tell you the truth while I was cleaning the portobello I was thinking of a back up meal just in case I didn’t like it. Well, let me tell you… I didn’t need a back up meal. The roasted portobello was delicious. Even Bil loved it and he hates mushrooms. Here is a picture. You can’t really see the portobello because it’s sort of small and the tomato slice is so huge. Can you tell I like tomatoes? All I did was add the portobello, a slice of tomato, some spinach and sliced red onion to a whole wheat roll. I wasn’t sure what to make tonight. Juan actually suggested the black bean burgers, but I told him I wasn’t sure what to put on it. So I took another look at the recipe and saw that there was a cilantro sour cream recipe that was said to go perfectly with the black bean burgers. Juan took me to the market so that I could get a few items and I came home and got started on the cilantro sour cream. It was delicious. I think I put just a little too much cilantro though. But it was still really good. Much better than that Tofutti stuff. Anyway, the black bean burgers also turned out great. I did have a small accident while grating the onion though. The onion slipped and I grated my thumb a little. It cut a kind of deep, but I didn’t bleed to death or anything. It hurt like hell though. I’m wearing one of Ethan’s Spongebob bandaids. At least I got to enjoy a nice meal afterward. Here’s a picture of the black bean burger with cilantro sour cream. My mixer was delivered a few days ago. And my cookbook the following day. I’m going to go play with my mixer now. Ethan is spending the night at my mother-in-law’s house. So I have a little time to try and figure it out. I might make some whole wheat bread or something. And speaking of Ethan… he says the cutest things now. Last week he came running up to me and said “Mommy you a princess!” My heart melted. Then today he comes over to me and says “You my best friend.” and hugged me. He’s just too damn cute. Food, Photos 2008-08-29T23:45:00-05:00 http://autumnbliss.net/index.php/site/my_new_mixer_and_snobby_joes/ http://autumnbliss.net/index.php/site/my_new_mixer_and_snobby_joes/#When:22:47:00Z My birthday is next month. Juan asked me what I wanted and I told him I don’t want or need anything. Then I thought of something that I don’t have and could really use. A mixer. He claimed he wasn’t going to buy me a household appliance for birthday. But I told him I could really use one so he ended up ordering one for me. He also ordered me My Sweet Vegan and also has plans to take me out on my birthday. I can’t wait. I also can’t wait until my mixer and book arrive. Here’s a picture of the mixer… For dinner tonight I made snobby joes. Another awesome recipe from Veganomicon. It was a pretty quick and easy recipe to follow. I only made one change. I didn’t have any maple syrup on hand so I used agave nectar instead. The snobby joes are nothing like the sloppy joes I was used to. They’re better. Bil said it was very good, but claimed it was missing something. When I asked what he said “Cheese.” I’m sorry I asked. Lol. So because his didn’t have cheese he only gave it a nine on a scale from one to ten. I give it a ten. It was delicious. I’m ashamed to admit that shortly after I decided to become a vegetarian I tried to make my own version of sloppy joes. I crumbled some veggie burgers into a pan and added a can of Manwich. Something I’ll never in my life try again. I thought I’d never enjoy a sloppy joe again. And I won’t. Because now I have something better. Snobby joes rock! Food, Photos 2008-08-25T22:47:00-05:00 http://autumnbliss.net/index.php/site/vegan_cookie_recipe/ http://autumnbliss.net/index.php/site/vegan_cookie_recipe/#When:01:39:00Z An old friend of mine back in Rhode Island used to buy these cookies at the supermarket bakery. They’re called egg biscuits. I call it a cookie because it’s sort of sweet like a cookie. When I moved out here I couldn’t fine them anywhere. Maybe it’s just a Rhode Island thing? I’m not sure, but I learned to make them myself and they turned out pretty good. It didn’t taste exactly like the egg biscuits, but I came pretty damn close. I used to make them whenever Juan’s family had a party or get together. When I became a vegetarian I stopped making them because I wasn’t sure if I could veganize it or not. Yesterday I decided to try it out. I used lite silken tofu in place of the eggs and soy milk in place of milk. It tasted exactly like the ones I made with egg and milk. Bil says they actually taste better. I brought them to Juan’s cousin’s party yesterday and everyone loved them. They couldn’t believe I made it without eggs and milk. To tell you the truth neither could I. I was expecting something to go wrong. Well, here’s the recipe and a few pictures. I really don’t know what to call them now. I mean I can’t exactly call it an egg biscuit anymore. I’ll have to think of a name. Cookies - 4 cups flour - 3/4 cup silken tofu - 1 cup sugar - 3/4 cup oil - 1/2 cup soy milk - 2 tablespoons lemon extract - 3 teaspoons baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon baking soda - 1 teaspoon salt Icing - confectioners sugar - soy milk - a few drops of vanilla - colored sprinkles Directions 1) Blend the silken tofu in a blender or food processor until smooth. Add the lemon extract and blend a bit more. Then add the sugar and oil and blend until smooth. 2) Gather the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the tofu mixture to the dry ingredients and mix together adding the soy milk slowly so that mixing becomes easier. At this point you can start to knead the dough until it’s no longer sticky. Add a little more flour if you need to. Just don’t over do it. 3) Lightly roll the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape into little balls. Place on an ungreased non-stick cookie sheet. Bake at 375° for about 12 minutes. The bottoms should be lightly browned when done. Be careful not to over cook. They burn quickly. I suggest taking them out after 10-12 minutes and checking the bottoms of the cookies. 4) For the icing: Mix the sugar, vanilla and a little soy milk in a small mixing bowl. Don’t add too much milk. You want a nice thick icing so that it sticks to the cookies better. 5) After the cookies have cooled, dip the tops into the icing and place on some parchment paper and quickly sprinkle with colored sprinkles. If the icing hardens you won’t be able to add the sprinkles. If you try out the recipe let me know what you think. Food, Photos 2008-08-25T01:39:00-05:00 http://autumnbliss.net/index.php/site/mmm_cookies/ http://autumnbliss.net/index.php/site/mmm_cookies/#When:00:24:00Z The other day I made whole wheat spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce. It was my second time making homemade tomato sauce. I promised a photo next time around… so here you go. I made a few changes though. I added two tablespoons of tomato paste, a little more salt and less garlic. It was much better. Today I baked some coconut chocolate chip cookies. I got the recipe from La Dolce Vegan. They were very good and the recipe was easy to follow. However, these also turned out a little greasy. I wonder if I can substitute the vegan margarine for something else. Tonight I made chickpea cutlets for dinner. I got the recipe from Veganomicon. I’ve had this book for a while now and held off on making these because it kind of intimidated me. I somehow just knew I would mess up and end up with something inedible. Well, I was right… sort of. I messed up on the first batch. While I was cooking the chickpeas I decided to get the rest of the ingredients together in a large bowl. Just before I was about to add the water to the mix I somehow knew that I should wait, but ended up putting the water in anyway. Sure enough once the chickpeas were done and I tried mixing them in with the rest of the ingredients… well… it just wasn’t happening. It’s a good thing I cooked a large can of chickpeas. The second time around I added the water last and everything turned out great. I was able to mix it and make some pretty good cutlets. It was my first time using vital wheat gluten too. When I went into Whole Foods to look for it, I didn’t even know what to look for. I assumed it would be in the baking aisle, but wasn’t sure what exactly I was looking for. Juan actually spotted it. I was kind of lost. Lol. You learn something new every day. Anyway, the chickpea cutlets were amazing. Everyone loved them. Including Juan and Ethan. Juan suggested I double the recipe next time around. He must have really liked it. I also prepared a box of Near East Couscous to go with the cutlets. You know… even though that stuff is listed on this website, I still get freaked out by the ‘natural flavors’ listed in the ingredients. And I swear I could smell chicken as it was cooking. Needless to say I worked myself up so much that I didn’t eat the couscous. Next time I’ll make potato wedges instead of the couscous. Food, Photos 2008-08-22T00:24:00-05:00 http://autumnbliss.net/index.php/site/purely_decadent_coconut_milk/ http://autumnbliss.net/index.php/site/purely_decadent_coconut_milk/#When:14:54:01Z A few days ago I saw an online ad for Purely Decadent Coconut Milk ice cream. The first word that came to mind was YUM!. If you didn’t already know… I love coconut. I didn’t even know that it was possible to make ice cream from coconut milk. Well, the next day Juan took me to Whole Foods so that I could get one and try it out. Their website has a small list of the five flavors they make. I really wanted to try the coconut, but Whole Foods only had the chocolate and vanilla bean in stock. Hopefully they order some of the other flavors. I really want to try them. As you can tell from the photo above, I ended up getting the chocolate. It was so good. It was a little too sweet, but not too bad. It was creamy, chocolatey and coconutty. And the next time I want some ice cream I’ll definitely buy the Purely Decadent Coconut Milk ice cream. I’ve tried quite a few of the soy based ice creams. I thought some were good, but not good enough for me to buy again. I’m glad I have a few ice cream options now.  Too bad summer is almost over though. Just my luck. Lol. By the way, the whipped cream and chocolate sauce in the photo above are both vegan. I ended up giving that mini sundae to Bil. I just wanted to dress it up for the photo. I personally like my ice cream as is without all of the fixings. Food, Photos 2008-08-17T14:54:01-05:00 http://autumnbliss.net/index.php/site/the_beans_that_got_away/ http://autumnbliss.net/index.php/site/the_beans_that_got_away/#When:14:45:00Z Last night I planned on making taco salad for dinner. I even baked the corn tortillas into cute little bowls. Well, while I was smashing the beans in the pan the spatula broke (cheap spatula) and then for some reason I jumped back taking the pan of beans with me. The pan fell on the floor and beans flew everywhere. I screamed for Juan because some of the beans stuck to my skin and clothes and it freaked me out. Juan cleaned the mess for me. I was pretty upset. I really wanted taco salad. Well, lucky for us I was boiling some tomatoes for tomato sauce which I was going to refrigerate for today. We ended up eating pasta with the tomato sauce last night instead. Some good did come from it all though. My first attempt at homemade tomato sauce was a success. It was so much easier than I thought it would be. Juan loved it. I loved it. I’ll definitely make more. I need to make a few changes though. I need to ease up on the garlic. I get too happy with that stuff. Maybe next time I’ll even roast it. I also want to use fresh basil next time. I did have an herb garden with some delicious smelling basil, but all of my herbs died. I suck at being a vegetarian. I swear. Maybe I need ‘how to grow an herb garden for idiots’ or something. Anyway, Juan said it could use more salt. So I guess I’ll add a tiny bit more salt too. After those changes I should have a perfect tomato sauce. I would have taken a picture, but with the way my luck was going I was afraid something would happen to Jack (my camera). Next time I’ll definitely take a picture and post it. Can you guess what I’m having for dinner tonight? Lol. This time my mother-in-law will cook the beans. I’m about to go for a jog with Juan. I ate a cupcake yesterday and I’m feeling kind of guilty today. Heh. Food, Random 2008-08-16T14:45:00-05:00 http://autumnbliss.net/index.php/site/cinnamon_rolls/ http://autumnbliss.net/index.php/site/cinnamon_rolls/#When:04:22:00Z Today while looking through The Joy Of Vegan Baking, the cinnamon rolls called to me. I pretty much had everything the recipe called for on hand so I figured why not give it a try. I remember skimming the book when I first got it and seeing this recipe and thinking “Yea, I almost have the time for that.” It actually wasn’t that bad. It took a while because I had to let the dough rise, but aside from that it didn’t take long at all. The finished product looked, smelled and tasted delicious. I gave one to Bil to try and he suddenly had this big grin on his face and seemed amazed that it tasted so good. He’s not really big on baked goods. Usually the response I get from him when I ask “So… how is it?” is “Eh.” This time he was like “Oh my God!” Now that’s the reaction I was going for. I can’t wait until Juan comes home from work so he can try one. Food, Photos 2008-08-13T04:22:00-05:00 http://autumnbliss.net/index.php/site/my_husband_is_amazing/ http://autumnbliss.net/index.php/site/my_husband_is_amazing/#When:22:13:00Z I’m so lucky to have such a supportive husband. I’ve only been a vegetarian for six months now. Usually when people find out that my husband isn’t a vegetarian they give me a look and ask me if it’s hard. It’s not hard at all. Our fridge and freezer is sectioned off so that all of his stuff is on the bottom shelf and all of my stuff is on the top shelf. His stuff is usually sealed off in tupperware too just in case. He never makes faces whenever I cook something new. And even though he hates vegetables he still tries the stuff I make just to provide me with some feedback. Whenever I go to Veggie Heaven (a local vegetarian restaurant) he orders a little something for himself as well. He reads labels whenever he’s out and comes home to inform me that this or that is vegan. He’s really that supportive. A few times I got so frustrated and wanted to quit and he wouldn’t let me. At some point I wasn’t getting enough iron and vitamin D. I was so tired and moody. I didn’t feel like myself at all. He took me to the doctor and I got some iron and vitamin D and I’ve felt better ever since. So it’s only natural that he would get upset whenever someone refers to my being a vegetarian as a diet. Quite a few people have asked me how my ‘diet’ is coming along and I always ask “What diet?” Then they respond with “The vegetarian diet.” Then Juan will say “It’s NOT a diet. It’s a lifestyle change.” He tells me all of the time that he’s proud of me for standing up for what I believe in. It always makes me smile. And in case you missed the last entry, on Saturday we walked for about two hours just to go to a vegetarian restaurant that I’ve been wanting to eat at for quite some time. He did that for me. That man is amazing. And I love him more than cupcakes. Now that’s a lot of loving. Ok no more corny entries. Lol. Family, Random 2008-08-11T22:13:00-05:00 http://autumnbliss.net/index.php/site/our_trip_to_nyc/ http://autumnbliss.net/index.php/site/our_trip_to_nyc/#When:03:02:02Z Yesterday Juan took me to New York City. We had so much. The main purpose of our trip was to get something to eat at Candle Cafe. Ever since I saw their online menu I’ve been wanting to go. So we decided to make a day of it. We walked around Times Square. We went to Toys R Us and got a little something for Ethan. We walked to Candle Cafe and I ordered the Tuscan Seitan Parmesan Sandwich with a Limonade. It was delicious! I wonder what kind of soy cheese they use. It was the best I’ve ever had. I’ll definitely be going back. Then we walked through Central Park. And then we headed back home. Juan said we’ll probably start doing that every other weekend. Just the two of us. I could really get used to that. It was so much fun. I took a few pictures, but with my mother-in-law’s camera. I was afraid to take Jack. I didn’t want someone to bump into it or something. So the pictures aren’t really all that great. But you get the idea. Most of the pictures were actually taken inside of Toys R Us. That place was freaking awesome. Food, Photos, Travel 2008-08-11T03:02:02-05:00 http://autumnbliss.net/index.php/site/sweet_avenue/ http://autumnbliss.net/index.php/site/sweet_avenue/#When:13:52:00Z Yesterday while browsing Twitter I found a vegan bake shop. I kind of rolled my eyes assuming the place was 899 miles away or something. Every time I read my veggie magazines and they do a bit on vegetarian restaurants, bake shops etc., they’re never close enough for me to visit. Well, I hit jackpot. Cause not only is this place located in Jersey, but they’re only about 15 minutes away from where I live. That’s right! In your face! I get to enjoy those tasty cupcakes any day of the week. Except for Mondays. But I already have it figured out. I’ll just stock up on Sunday. So far I’ve only tried one cupcake. The chocolate snowball which is in the photo above. It was dangerously good. I think Juan already knows that he’s going to be making lots of trips for me throughout the week. It’s time to dust off my treadmill. Because if I don’t get on that treadmill I will eventually start to look like a cupcake. You really have no idea how happy this makes me. I purchased Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World and tried making the margarita cupcakes, but that didn’t turn out so well. I don’t really know what I did wrong. Maybe too much tequila? Lol. Well, now I can enjoy a cupcake whenever I want. My birthday is coming up next month. I hope Juan buys me cupcakes. Mmm! I mean seriously… who doesn’t like cupcakes? If you’re in the Jersey area or if you’re just visiting… you should totally stop by Sweet Avenue and try that chocolate snowball cupcake. Its heavenly. Food, Photos 2008-08-08T13:52:00-05:00