Mr. Jones And Me ... Make Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus

If you haven't guessed from my cheesy blog title, my 90s music marathon continues. I was still humming Live songs yesterday morning so I created a Live-inspired Pandora station to listen to at work. I couldn't believe how good it was. I was hearing old Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots, and one of my all-time favorites - Counting Crows. August and Everything After was another one of those albums I listened to over and over and over and over...

I saw them in concert once too - in the late 90s. We actually got to go backstage and meet them thanks to my good friend Nikki's outgoing (and now famous soap star) cousin, Adrienne Frantz. I still remember awkwardly mumbling something to Adam Duritz about being his biggest fan and that was about all I could get out. I was so starstruck!

Anyhow, as soon as I got home from work last night, I dug up that old CD and put it on while I tried out a few new hummus recipes.

Old Tunes, New Veggie - Good Times!

This morning on my way to hot yoga I heard "All Over You" by the band Live. Not familiar with that song? Not surprised since I'm the only Live fan I know. But it's really good! The whole album is awesome! I used to listen to the "Throwing Copper" tape while cruising around in my Hyundai Excel in the late 90s. Good times!

As soon as I got home from work tonight, I busted out the CD and put it on while I danced around the kitchen, singing my head off and making dinner. Pat thinks I'm insane, but I had a blast.

My First Vegan Holiday - Easter Eats

I'm not gonna lie - it took a lot of work, but I survived my first vegan holiday! I even managed to stuff myself silly - like usual.

We had a beautiful brunch at my Aunt Rosie's house and I was excited to serve up my vegan dishes next to the brown sugar bacon and eggy french toast casserole. As planned, I made a millet salad and a tofu scramble. I also made my first batch of vegan cupcakes!

I had started off really prepared, but after some procrastinating and an unexpectedly long church service I was left baking last night until 1:30 a.m. and up at 7 this morning to finish.

Mill What? 'Blackeyes Beans?' Prickly Huh?

Easter brunch has always been one of my favorite meals. My whole extended family gets together for a feast. There's always a ham, some kind of yummy egg dish, a scrumptious french toast casserole (that I look forward to all year) and lots of desserts. There are also some veggies dishes, salads, and don't forget the mimosas! But it's the non-vegan dishes that are on my mind as I think about how this meal is going to go down this year.

It's only been about two and a half months since I decided to cut out meat and dairy and I want to give it a fair shot before I start sneaking bites of ham or justifying cake just because it's shaped like a bunny and my mom's been making it for as long as I can remember.

So, I've decided to bring a few vegan dishes to show my family how delicious a vegan diet can be (and to make sure there is something there I can eat!) I'm thinking of making a tofu scramble and some kind of grain and veggie salad (inspired by this one). A dessert would be fun too, but we'll see if I have time for all of that.

I'm confident I can whip up the tofu scramble pretty easily, but wanted to do a little experimenting on the salad. So, today I made a millet and black eyed peas salad with basil and prickly pears. It sounds totally weird, but it turned out really delicious!

Delicious, Guilt-Free Desserts

To me, the best things in life include dessert! I have to have it almost every night. And it has to be good.

When I was just watching calories, I always made sure to have lots of low-cal treats on hand - things like Skinny Cow ice cream bars or Weight Watchers cakes. I figured they were better than the full fat versions, but I knew they were still full of sugar and empty calories.

With the new vegan diet, I've been trying my hardest to do it in the healthiest way possible. To me that means less sugar and processed food. And though I haven't managed to cut all the store bought vegan treats (like Tofutti Cuties and Newman's Own sandwich cookies), I've been trying to keep them to a minimum.

So, I was super excited to learn about a new healthy dessert to add to my repertoire - vegan soft serve. I learned about it here.  I was a little skeptical, but it's amazing! It has the exact texture of soft serve ice cream. And you can top it with any of your favorite ice cream toppings to make it taste even more like the real thing.

Eating Out's Getting More Pho-n!

I haven't had the best luck eating out since I went vegan. Most restaurants don't have a single vegan option. Sometimes there is one thing that I can order with substitutions.

Even things you think would be safe are suspect. Veggie burgers with cheese in the patty and salad dressings with egg whipped in "to hold it together." Really? Whisk faster... :)

It's been okay because I have so many veggies to use from the CSA and I've been cooking so much that I can't really justify going out to eat much anyway.

But sometimes it's nice to let someone else do the cooking and cleaning for a change! So I'm especially grateful when I find a restaurant with a delicious vegan meal.

A Tale of Two Stir Frys

Last night I made stir fry and it was really disappointing. I think I may have burnt the garlic and used too many greens. It was bitter and mushy and just plain yucky.

So, I don't know what possessed me to make stir fry again tonight...except for maybe a chance for redemption? And maybe the fact that it was pretty warm and I didn't want to turn on the oven. And maybe it had something to do with wanting to use up some more of the veggies in my fridge... Ok - I had lots of reasons.