Summer tomato & fennel soup with fried green tomaotoes

This has been a long post coming...my big brother graduated his masters in fine arts a few months ago, and I promised him I would make a dish dedicated to him, with his favorite vegetable. FENNEL!!

My brother is 2 years older than me...and has always been a HUGE part of my life. My family traveled around quiet a bit and because of this we were always friends for each other. I miss him. He has yet to meet my littlest one, hopefully this winter.

big brother little sister

So this dish is dedicated to him, Congratulations A!!
I am so very proud of you, and think your work is amazing. I wanted to make this dish for you to eat, but alas you live SO far away, hopefully you will want to make it for you and C :)

I used the tomatoes I grew this summer, nothing short of spectacular! I couldn't wait to pull them off the plant, we were moving and it was going to be a big pain to move the plants (they were in pots). So I plucked them and had about a dozen sitting on my windowsill.  I only had about 4 that were ripe, so the next best thing would be fried green tomatoes..in a soup? Sure can!

At first I was thinking a cold soup...summer and all. I just feel that you don't get the same flavor of tomatoey goodness, unless simmered on the stove. I didn't want to simmer all the vegetables so I roasted the fennel in the oven. If you wanted to you could chill it...it would be great that way too.

Summer Tomato & Fennel Soup

2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion- diced
1 garlic clove- sliced
2 stalks of celery- diced
4 ripe tomatoes- chopped
1 tsp paprika
2 cups water
1 head of fennel- separated, oiled and roasted until soft
sea salt & freshly ground pepper
pinch of sugar

In a medium pot heat oil. Add onions and garlic. Saute until soft
Add celery and tomatoes. Saute until soft, add the paprika, and saute until absorbed.
Add water
bring to a boil. Let simmer for 15 minutes.
Add fennel.
Blend in batches. Season to taste.

Fried Green Tomatoes

4 green tomatoes

2 tbsp ground flax seed- mixed with 6 tbsp boiling water
1/4 cup unsweetened soy milk

1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried dill weed

In a small bowl combine flax mixture with milk
In another small bowl combine dry ingredients.
Dip tomatoes in wet
Dredge in dry
Heat pan with about 1 inch of sunflower oil, and fry until golden on both sides.

The oil in the picture is basil oil...
Blanch 1/2 cup basil leafs in boiling water for 30 seconds.
Blend with sunflower oil, strain.

Summer tomato & fennel soup with fried green tomaotoes

A few pics of our new home & Parma Giveaway!

the kitchen

I feel sorta bad that I haven't been posting any recipes...but I will soon, promise. For now our home is my focus and I thought I would share a few pictures. This is the kitchen...I really want to get it renovated, but for now it is good (ARGH! except the oven doesn't work properly!!) I really love all the natural light though :)

view from kitchen

One of the best parts about this home, it's only a quick walk to the beach. This is our view from the front of the house. I love waking up to the sparkles on the water.

front window

  little ones space

O.K. that's all I got so far...the rest of the house is messy with boxes and art I have not put up yet. So far I have been super happy here, I suspect it will get better in the winter, because we have a wood stove in the living room!! What could be better on a snowy day then curling up on the couch and warming your toes by a fire!

Alright it is time for another giveaway!The good people at  Eat in the raw sent me some PARMA vegan Parmesan to sample and give one of my lucky blog readers a chance to try some too! The kids and I tried some last night I made vegan macaroni and cheese and steamed veggies. I liked it sprinkled on the cauliflower.

The ingredients are Raw organic walnuts, red star nutritional yeast, Celtic sea salt & LOVE! (love is an actual ingredient listed!) The nutritional yeast that they use is Red Star Vegetarian Support Formula. It is the highest quality nutritional yeast available. It contains good quality protein and B vitamins, including B12, a vitamin we vegans are constantly on the lookout for! 

The possibilities are endless with Parma!! So how do you get your hands on some of this...just leave a comment on what you would love to sprinkle this on. Don't forget to visit there site and read about the company!

A few pics of our new home & Parma Giveaway!

Busy as a bee

Well I am sad to say that I forgot my camera for the catering gig :( I realized once I was already half way there...I wanted to turn around, but I didn't want to be late. DOH'. I think it went great, everyone seemed to love the food. It was a fun experience and I hope to do some more in the future. The wedding was beautiful and it took place on my friends family property, seaside of course!

I have been crazy busy...I have painted, packed, moved, cleaned and unpacked a four bedroom home on my own! I feel exhausted, but the end is almost near. It is SO much better to move out in one day apposed to taking one month!  We haven't had the best of dinners lately but I did manage to make this yummy summer tomato and zucchini linguine with fresh basil, accompanied with a vegan cheese toast :)

I think this has been the best summer in record (or at least a very long time) for Nova Scotia. I have spent quite a lot of time at the beach, when I am feeling stressed out I pack up the kids and walk down the street. Last night I went for a dip in the sea. It was so warm.

What do you do to get unstressed?

Busy as a bee

Farmers Market

I managed to make my way this morning to the Hubbard's Farmers Market with the little one. I am pretty pressed for time with moving, also I am catering a wedding brunch on Monday. It's my first catering gig so I am a little nervous. For me this is what the market is all about....

 

Yum Yum

Good morning run

Sunshine in the garden

Hubbard's Garden

The loot

Farmers Market

Little things....

It's been 15 years coming and finally we have moved in to our new home! I still have a lot of stuff to do, but we slept here for the past 3 nights.  I haven't had a chance to make any real food, all the pots, pans and dishes are in boxes, but slowly I am I am unpacking and have a feeling of happiness in my heart.

One of the many reasons why I fell in love with this place....laundry line. I know it seems so simple but sunshine dried laundry just smells SO good.

My friend Marysol from She Eats Bears has nominated me for an award "the versatile blogger" and it probably couldn't of come at a better moment, considering I have no meals to post about...thanks buddy! I think I am suppose to say 7 things about myself, and then pass on the award to 7 other blogs that I love.
So here goes...

1.  I really want to learn how to make fondant cakes...vegan styles

2.  The most used kitchen gadget in my home is the toaster :)

3. We have a chameleon named Marley. I was at the pet store getting dog food or something and I seen these little baby green chameleons in a tank. So cute & tiny and emerald green. When I came home I told J about them and he went over with our daughter to go check'm out...next thing I knew we were the proud owners of a gentle dragon.

4. One day I would like to learn how to sail.

5. I like fried foods very much...I don't eat much of it, but I do love a plate of veggie tempura with a sweet dipping sauce, or a good batch of french fries with lots of ketchup.... MMMMM

6. When I was in culinary school I won a chance to attend a culinary competition because I made the best Pâte à choux in the class. The director of the school was a douche and brought me into his office and said I wouldn't be able to do it. Something about me not conforming to the kitchen hierarchy and having my own ideas about food pissed him off. LAME! (they lost the competition)


7. I know I have said it before but its sooo good....BREAKFAST FOR DINNER!!


O.K. enough about me...I want to know a bit more about these bloggers....

1. Crooked Moon Mama
2. Bonzai Aphrodite
3. Little things are big
4. The Gluttonous Vegan
5. seitan is my motor
6. The Clean Eating Mama
7. Vegan Thyme

Little things....

Moving along.....

I have been consumed with painting, packing and moving this last week, which really sucks because I have not had time to take photos of the food I have been making or for that matter making anything that is blog worthy.

Moving isn't fun, I really hate packing and realizing that I can live without everything I own. ( except the dishes my daughter & me hand painted when she was 5, my most treasured possession).
We had a grunge sale today, and had 10 customers! 10!! Yes, that's all folks. I guess that is what happens when you live on a gravel road up a huge hill in a very unpopulated place. We made a whole whopping ten dollars! haha.

I am not a pack rat  nick-nack person, but it feels like I acquire things that have no meaning and no purpose in my life. Its good to purge, it makes me feel lighter. Like the weight of my belongings is dragging me down.
We have never stayed in one place for very long, and because of that I seem to let things go very easy. (probably because it won't fit in the car)


Love and happiness is all that I need.

 my love & happiness

Moving along.....

Traveling to Fredericton

 running in the hallway hotel

We went to Fredericton, New Brunswick for a couple of days. J was on business and asked if we wanted to tag along.  I can never turn down an opportunity to stay in a hotel & swim in the pool :).

We have had a guest in our home the last couple of weeks, Ocean is pet sitting a bunny "Hopscotch". She didn't want to leave it  alone, so she asked if she could stay home by herself.  I thought about it, she is a good kid, so I said yes. We planned out an easy menu for her to make meals. I was a little worried, she would be scared at night but she slept in our bed and had a buffy-a-thon.  When we came home the laundry was all done and the house was clean!

Fredericton was a great little city. When I say little,  there is about 50,000 people and that is the capital city of New Brunswick! It's a super clean city, the houses are huge ( at least in the downtown district). The first day it rained so me and the little one stayed at the hotel, swam in the pool, ate lunch in the hotel, watched cartoons in bed, and managed to go for a walk around town once the rain stopped. There is a  bunch of cute stores there. I went into a used book store and poured over all the cookbooks.

There is not very many options for eating out vegan style here, so of course I happy cowed it. We went for dinner to a place called Caribbean Flavas. We both had a curry dish and the smoothie of the day, overall the meal was tasty.

The next day I took the little one to Wilmot park, it was a beautiful day and there was a wading pool! Since she is at that stage where  "I try" everything, meaning "don't hold my hand, I want to do it by myself". I thought it would be a great place to take her. She loved it!

I  managed to check out the Beaver Brook Art Gallery. I love visiting different cities, I always make time to go and see the galleries. It was on the small side but there was a few pieces that caught my eye. It was great cause the little one had fallen asleep, pooped from the pool, which gave me the chance to take my time and wander around.

We are back home and  moving day approaches. I feel a excited but a little overwhelmed with everything that needs to get done.  BREATHE

Traveling to Fredericton

Nobody's birthday.....cake

I felt like eating cake today! 

Which is what explains this.

We had it after dinner,

It was really good.

Nobody's birthday.....cake

Garlicky Green Beans with Gomasio

What would summer be without fresh green beans and garlic? I got these delicious morsels from the vegetable garden stand at the end of the elderly couples driveway, for 2 bucks! A huge bag. I also got fresh onions, cucumbers, and a big zucchini. I pass by it every morning, so I think I get the best pickins :)

I am still waiting for my beans to get bigger. I know that I have mentioned that I don't really have a green thumb...maybe its just for certain things. My orchid that I got for my birthday, loves me and has bloomed several times. Perhaps its a watering thing, because I never water it, I can be neglectful when it comes to taking care of plants :(  My beans are also thriving, which surprised me because after they sprouted it seemed like they were being attacked by bugs (lots of holes in the leaves). So I sorta gave up on my veggie garden. I was out there looking at it feeling very depressed, after all the hard work I put into digging the grass up and my dad helping me put up the fence, seeing nothing growing but weeds. Until I seen a little red flower, and a small vine crawling up the teepee I made. I thought to myself....could I actually get some veggies?

 Here is a picture of my green bean teepee!

For now I am relying on the veggie stand for my green beans, but when I pick my own I will be SO HAPPY!

Garlicky green beans with gomasio

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp sesame oil

1/4 cup onion-minced

5 cloves garlic- minced

2 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar

3 tbsp gomasio

sea salt

freshly ground pepper

In a cast iron pan- heat oil add onions and garlic, saute on medium/low heat until golden

Add beans and saute until soft 4-5 minutes

Add vinegar- saute until beans are desired tenderness.

sprinkle with gomasio, salt and pepper

Gomasio is toasted sesame seeds, ground up with sea salt.

Garlicky Green Beans with Gomasio

Blueberry Banana Crumb Muffins

 

I have had a bunch of bananas sitting in my fridge for the last few days and they were looking very sad :(  I like to freeze bananas that don't look so appetizing anymore. I take them out and put them in a bowl on the counter to defrost. There is a yuck factor to them, super slimy, but the flavor in baked goods is AWESOME!  I had every intention of using them that day (which was 3 days ago). So in the fridge they went waiting to be used in something yummy. 

What could be yummier then fresh baked muffins in the morning? Bananas have there own sweetness, especially when they are at there peak of ripeness, so I cut down on the sugar. I think I could of left the sugar out.

 

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup organic cane sugar

1/4 tsp sea salt

3 ripe bananas

1 cup almond milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil + 1 tbsp

1 tsp vinegar

1 cup blueberries

Topping

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup oats

3 tbsp organic sugar

3 tbsp earth balance

Preheat oven to 350

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl

Mix wet ingredients in medium bowl

Pour wet into dry. Mix well.

Fold in blueberries

Spoon into greased muffin tin, crumble topping over and bake for 30 minutes

Blueberry Banana Crumb Muffins

Drum roll...pleazzze

We pulled names from a hat this morning (old fashion styles)...and the winners of the Organic Acai Powder are....

Indonesia-Eats

Tasty Tracks

Andrea

Shana

The french

Please email me your address!

Thanks to everyone who left a comment.

P.S. I am having another giveaway really soon

Drum roll...pleazzze

Neat & Potatoes

Its no surprise that people love their neat & potatoes...this is just a different version of it.

For the neat part, I soaked about 2 cups worth of kidney beans and cooked them up until they were really soft.

The secret behind the fluffiest mash potatoes is a ricer. I found mine at the thrift store. Its pretty cool, heavy duty and red. Its probably one of the most overlooked pieces that you can have in your kitchen. A masher just doesn't give you the same consistency. If you like the no-lumps in your potatoes, invest in one ( or find one :)

We have a friend staying with us...who is also a vegan. Which is nice because it means I don't have to cook around him so to speak. Its always hard to cater to non-vegans.haha

My mom said to me this afternoon...that is hard to go out to restaurants with "me" because I can't eat anything. Which got me thinking, about meat and potato people. Why does everything most people eat revolve around meat? When there is so many other tastier, healthier, greener options out there?
I ate meat...back in the day, but honestly I have never felt better (becoming vegan) in my life.....

Neat Balls

2 cups cooked kidney beans (really, really soft)
1 onion- minced
1 tbsp ground sage
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
1 tbsp tamari
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 cup oats


Mash everything together in a large bowl.
Form into balls and bake at 400 on a greased cookie sheet
for 25-30 minutes

Neat & Potatoes

More of my favorite places and quick cinnamon oatmeal...camping styles

We went camping for the last few days....It was amazing! If you live in Nova Scotia there are many provincial parks that offer great camping, our favorite is Risser Beach. If you ever have the chance, you should visit there. When its sunny out the beaches are beautiful.  This is just some of the beauty we seen....
 

  Rissers Beach

our camp

 

 Luna

Early morning

Carters beach

I know that oatmeal is not for everyone...but my littlest one LOVES it! Its pretty simple to make and because this is my food blog/diary , I thought I would share it :) 

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup organic quick oats

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3 tbsp raisins (optional)

maple syrup ( a must!!:)

non-dairy milk

bring the pot of water to a boil, add oats,cinnamon,and raisins.

Cook for 3-4 minutes. Stirring until thickens

Spoon into a bowl and pour on the maple and milk!!

Good to the last drop

Don't forget to enter my Acai powder Giveaway!

More of my favorite places and quick cinnamon oatmeal...camping styles