Spring Things

It appears that despite a yummy week of food, it was all mostly leftovers that I blogged about last week! Thank goodness for the freezer and stockpiling meals for busy nights!

Anyway, I did manage to make some fresh goodies this weekend. These Coconut Candies from Veg News magazine, are all completely raw and also completely delicious. I made them for my monthly Veg Group meeting, and there wasn't a crumb or shred of coconut left! Just dried fruit and nuts and unsweetened coconut, and they really do taste like a sinful treat! Four stars, as always ****!

Alongside those, I served these Carob-Almond Truffles from the same Veg News issue. This picture isn't as pretty - I think I over-did the carob. It does tend to soak in to the fruit/nut mixture overnight.
Still, a big hit! Three and a half stars ***1/2.







Tonight, I promised to drop off some vegan treats for a fellowship event, so these Snickerdoodles from Vegetarian Times magazine were whipped up with little work! If you have never heard of this cookie, it's basically a sugar-"butter" cookie, rolled in cinnamon and sugar. Delightful and perfect every time, this recipe never fails, although I usually find that the recipe only produces about half the number of cookies that it claims to make. And I don't think I'm making them too big! They are really cute, little cookies! As always, four stars ****!

Of course, my mind was elsewhere this week, as not only did I forget to take a picture of the other cookie I made for this event (Walnut-Carob-Cranberry Clusters, from ED&BV), but I also forgot to take a pic of the Cooking Light Tropical Muffins w/ Coconut-Macadamia Topping. The clusters came out looking like clusters when I was looking for cookies, which may have been my fault, but to be honest, I also expected them to taste a little sweeter - more like a chocolate chip cookie. I love carob and I love cranberries (and there was coconut in them, too - yum!) but I was really disappointed in these. I think I would add more sweetener and flatten them out a little. They were nutty and crunchy and since I only had one bite (I'm still trying to stay low-or-no-sugar!) maybe they were better than I thought. At any rate, the ED&BV clusters were OK, maybe a two star rating ** out of four.

The muffins, on the other hand, were fabulous! Moist, sweet and just perfect. However, I did have to not only veganize them, but, surprisingly enough, make them more healthy! They had oil, refined sugar and sweetened coconut in them! I took out the egg (used Ener-G-Egg replacer), used agave nectar instead of the brown sugar (also better for you), used whole wheat pastry flour, unsweetened coconut, and left the topping off altogether. I felt pretty proud, making a Cooking Light recipe not just vegan, but healthy! Four stars ****
After a week of Black Bean and Banana Empanadas (from the freezer - made these last week) and Raunchy Red Lentil Soup (also made last week - both are amazing!), I was ready for something more spring-like this weekend. Hubby and I settled on this Tempeh Asparagus Stir-Fry from a Vegetarian Times 2007 issue (not 1907, as it currently says at this link - ha, ha!). I made it a couple of years ago, and the tempeh was just as moist and flavorful as I remembered! Even my husband remarked on how tasty it was. The veggies and the broth, however, could have used more spice. Three stars ***.
And that's it for the week! I made a really quick (but huge!) salad tonight, topped with fresh tofu and a Mango-Coconut jarred sauce I found on sale a while back. It was all I wanted after a day in the sun! We finally installed our rain barrel, and I put in lots of flowers.

Here are some crocuses, which came in several weeks ago...




And here are my favorite hyacinths, drooping because the blooms are so heavy! A lone purple tulip keeps the newly planted yellow marigolds company.









And it seems that pink and yellow are my garden colors for the year! These are my first hydrangeas ever (hope they last!) and hopefully my daffodils and pink tulips will also take to the rather damp clay soil. Ran into lots and lots of worms (like, 20 per shovel scoop!), so cross your fingers for a good planting season to come!