boy oh boy, it's getting to be stew time of year, isn't it?
i bought some barley a while back. it's not something i normally cook with, but i have always loved it in soups and stews, and what is better than branching out and trying new ingredients?
after i bought it, i was thinking of what to make. i don't know if i've ever actually had "beef barley stew" (if so i'd have been very young, before i became vegetarian) but i googled it, and found a few recipes. of course, i didn't follow any of them, and just ended up doing what i wanted.
matt thinks this stew was a little heavy on the barley. i think it was just right. try it out and see for yourself! you can always substitute more veggies or another grain for some of the barley!
i have been working on christmas presents since late august. i know, i'm kind of nuts...
it's always a challenge to come up with fun christmas ideas for our families. we're all at that point in our lives where we don't really NEED anything... if we need, or even want something very badly, we buy it. (or make it or etc. matt and i are not big consumers...)
so, what do you give as a christmas gift to people who have everything? i always try to make hand-made gifts. it's also important to me that they be practical things that people will actually use.
i can't tell you what i'm making everyone this year until after christmas (i don't want to ruin any surprises!!) but in the spirit of the season, here are some christmas ideas that i've posted in the past, to help inspire you this year!
harem pants!
hoodies!
picture and button magnets!
christmas (or whatever) cards!
feather earrings!
a little bag for makeup of a first aid kit!
cocoa butter body lotion, or extra-moisturizing lotion!
and not tutorials, but my christmas gift posts from last year - part 1, part 2!
happy holidays, friends!
you guys, homemade pastry!!!!!!!1
oh man. i think i have mentioned before that i have always been terrified of pastry. i have no idea why. i throw shit in a bowl and beautiful bread comes out, but pastry has me in the fetal position on the kitchen floor.
i have conquered my fear. i was inspired by this crazy OLD school cook book that i bought at value village in calgary. i mention calgary because the book was published sometime in the mid-80's by the big carrot - i used to shop there all the time when i live in toronto, which is the OPPOSITE SIDE of this giant country. it was crazy and nostalgic and inspiring to find this book.
anyway, it has a vegan pastry recipe in it. it's not perfect, it doesn't make quite enough dough, and ended up a little dry. anyway, i tweaked it, and this is what i came up with.
god, i love hummus SO MUCH. it's one of those things that i almost always have in the house.
it's good for snacking! sandwiches! dipping veggies, nori, crackers... making wraps! sometimes i even eat it straight up, with a spoon.
if you have a food processor (and if you don't, go get one - i'll wait) hummus is super easy to make. it honestly takes about 10 minutes. traditionally, you'd use tahini in hummus... but i'm not a big fan of tahini, and i've never found that it impacts the taste at all, so i don't bother.
for this recipe i used canned roasted red peppers - they were on sale at costco... but you can always roast your own!
i have been reading about overnight oats on food blogs for a while now, but for some reason hadn't tried them until recently.
holy crapoley, they are SO GOOD. they are different than i expected, and better. i feel like they retain their shape better than cooked oats, and they are thick without being gummy or sticky.
one of the reasons i don't eat oats as much as i should is that (to be honest with you guys) i am a really lazy morning person. i work from home, but i set my alarm for half an hour before i work, then lay in bed cuddling my dogs and matt until 15 minutes before i work. at that point all i have time for is to throw some coffee on. with these quick, easy oats, i just throw them in a bowl with some fruit, easy peasy.
this has been my go-to recipe for the last little while. it makes about 1 cup of cereal, which is lots to go with some fruit!
so, do you remember how i said a while ago that i don't like cheesecake? it turns out i may have lied to you. see, the thing i don't like about cheesecake is the cream cheese. i know, i know, that's like the whole POINT of cheesecake.
BUT, i have found something better. it's healthy(er)! it's vegan! it's rich! it's creamy! it's ever so tasty! it's TOFU!!!
honestly, i was skeptical. you can find the inspiration recipe here. sunrise soya is a canadian company, that makes the lovely dessert tofu that i recently raved about. since i love their tofu so much, and i WANT to love cheesecake so badly (but without getting sick, and preferably without all of the morally questionable practices that go into making cheese), i couldn't NOT try it.
i made the crust myself, but you can certainly buy one of those pre-made chocolate or graham cracker crusts. all the recipes i found for graham crusts used sugar, but i just skipped that, and i think it turned out great. i also have to take a moment to tell you that this was literally the FIRST ever time i have made a crumb crust, and it was SO EASY. i was scared, it looks complicated and like you need SKILLS. not so. just try it, friends.
also, like most desserts i like, matt says the cake could use to be sweeter. so i made him some super agave-y strawberry syrup for his to shut him up. i thought it was fabulous. it's like dark chocolate - it's NOT super sweet, but it's rich and filling and honestly i can't eat more than a small slice.
i know this is a really wordy intro, but i have one more important thing to say! if you are interested in such a thing, the filling (uncooked) was amazingly tasty on it's own. it was thick and creamy and like a really nice chocolate mousse, or even icing. and since it's vegan, there are no uncooked eggs or anything to potentially make you sick! if i am ever in need of a mousse or icing recipe, this is what i'm using!
i really love these tarts!
i didn't take pictures of the process because matt had the camera that day, but i promise you it's easy as pie (easy as tarts?) i made these a while back, when the weather was still quite warm. this summer was amazing for peaches, and i was eating them any way i could.
by now you probably know my philosophy on desserts - i love fruit and chocolate and peanut butter and other theoretically desserty things, but i can't handle them to sweet. as per usual, matt said this could use to be sweeter, and as usual i told him to go drizzle it in maple syrup. hahaha. i thought they were perfect!
this recipe makes 5 tarts, which i know is a weird number, but i just wanted them for a few folks after dinner one night, and i didn't want a stack of tarts hanging around for a week after. tarts are one of those things that tends to lose it's charm as moisture sets in. regardless, feel free to double or triple the recipe.
*note* the tart shells i used were vegan - i know not all are, so double check if you care!
i'm calling this basic stir-fry, but don't let that fool you. it's not PLAIN, or BLAND, it's just an easy, simple, quick recipe that is really great to use as a base for many other ideas you may have. add more soy sauce. use different types of broth. throw different spices into the mix, etc.
i made it this time with PC fake chicken breasts (which are not gluten free)... but there are lots of gluten free options - tofu, gluten free TVP, even REAL MEAT (gasp!).
you can also certainly substitute different bases - switch the vermicelli out for rice, wheat or rice noodles, udon, etc.
this recipe makes 2 very large servings (or 1 matt serving and 2 harmony servings ;)
