I lust for tortillas, or 'Tostada What?'

I'm on the Eat 2 Live plan. No, I'm not crazy. It's really good for me. yay! Anyway, a girl has needs, which is why I'm in love with this tortilla. Sure, it's more like a flatbread than a tortilla, but MAN is it good!

(I realize that 'good' is relative, so I'll put it to you this way--it's good in an early multi-grain healthy sort of way. It tastes nothing like an actual soft, succulent tortilla.)

So what did I make with these? Only the biggest tostadas ever!



The recipe is simple. I sauteed 4 cloves of minced garlic in a little cooking spray in a big pan. I then added a carton of sliced mushrooms (10oz I think) and a little water just to steam the shrooms and keep things from burning. I then put in a large sliced bell pepper, a can of diced tomatoes (I drained and reserved the juice), a tbsp of chili powder, a can of black beans, some cayenne, some cilantro, about 1/3 of a bag of frozen corn (Super Sweet Organic Corn from Trader Joes--it is the best EVER!) and a couple of dashes of liquid smoke!

I simmer until everything is tender, adding tomato juice leftover if needed. I serve it up on the aforementioned tortilla flatbread 'stuff' over some romaine. I think this would serve 3-4 people with normal appetites, or 2 people with our kind of appetites.

This came out so good we had it two nights in a row. From scrach! There were no left overs either time!

Cookie Swap

So, I made an old family recipe (veganized, of course) for the Veggin Out cookie swap!



Of course you can't see the cookie, I don't want to spoil the surprise for the recipient!

But look at how badass the packaging looks! :)



Hopefully Primary Consumer will dig them as much as I do. Gosh, I love cookies... :)

Samelie

So I was watching 'Amelie' on IFC the other day and it got me to thinking... Who do I know that goes out of their way to bring joy to people they may not even really know and make it a habit?

First thought?




My cute and cuddly furbaby, Sam. He's a retired greyhound and he's been in the family now 3 whole years! He's 5 1/2 years young and absolutely the most wonderful companion ever. Of course, I'm a little biased.



He likes to sleep in new and interesting positions, most of which leave him resembling a cashew, walnut or pecan. Very zen. :) And yes, when people say they are '45 mph couch potatoes'* they really aren't kidding.

[Please Note: The couch potato moniker does not apply when the doorbell rings, people come home/over, and when the leash is jingled. Also there are periods when he feels as though running through the house at your heels is the absolute best way to get a treat. And yes, he always gets his treat.]




Greyhounds ROCK! :)

Inadvertent yogurt

Inadvertent
adj : without intention (especially resulting from heedless action)

So this morning while in my groggy state I was left to devise a breakfast without strawberries again. Since I had the good fortune of having some fresh blueberries I decided to make myself a smoothie to go with my apple slices.

I wanted simple, so I put about half a pint of baby blues into my blender with a cuppa soy.

I blended the 'double hockey sticks' out of it because that blender is dying its slow death and always begs for too much moisture to blend properly.

I poured it into a cup and had a sip. Not bad. I bring it out so I could watch the news and let it sit for a minute while I found the channel with the best coverage of the morning headline (read: London terrorists!). I munch on my apple and grab my smoothie and take a sip. I cannot sip! It has gotten very thick. Really thick. Yogurty thick!

I grabbed a spoon and dug in. Sure, it doesn't have any of the beneficial bacteria of real yogurt or any other of the benefits of yogurt, but it had the consistency.

In my book, sometimes that's all you need. Besides, blueberry yogurt was always one of my favorite things.

Cindy Lou Vindaloo...

One of my greatest loves in all of this world is Indian food. I will love it to my dying day, and I will go on record as calling it some of the most insane comfort foods out there. My big problem with Indian food? Let's see, there's ghee, there's cream, there's oil...there are my pants over in the corner that don't fit anymore.

So my inner Brini Maxwell says, "Make your own Indian food" (and also adds the "Why didn't you think of that" aside with the twinkle sound)...

Problem. Any Indian or Indian-esque dish I make tastes exactly the same. No, really. Chana Masala tastes like Cauliflower Curry tastes like Daal and all of the above mentioned could have masqueraded as my dinner last night, Vindaloo Vegetables from fatfreevegan.com.

It can't be the recipes, I really don't think there's some sort of conspiracy to keep wonderful Indian food out of my kitchen. I totally need help!

Of course there's no picture of the food. I wish there were. Actually, not so much. I don't want to show my lack of success.