Sunday, August 29, 2010

Stuffed Cherries!

Along with the Three Bean and Cherry Salad, I made a quick dessert.  I made a stuffed cherry of sorts.

Stuffed Cherries

15 cherries
3/4 cup of cherries (finely chopped)
3/4 cup of confectionery sugar
1/4 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons of vegan cream cheese
1 tablespoon of corn starch
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Take all the ingredients other than the 15 cherries an heat on low until the become a liquid.  This should take about 15-20 minutes.  Stir frequently to avoid burning.  The mixture should be a thick dark purple color.  Once the mixture is done, put in the freezer for 15 minutes and it should thicken up pretty well.

In the meantime, take 15 cherries, cut in half and remove the pits.  Once the filling in cool in the freezer, begin to spoon it into the cherry halves and chill for 15 minutes.


It turned out to be a great potluck and there was many great dishes!  I am looking forward to the next.  Once I actually get a dinner table, I may try and host my own!

Saturday, August 28, 2010

National Cherry Day?

Today was apparently National Cherry Day?  I only know this because the vegan meet up group I attend had a cherry themed pot luck.  Jamie was busy with her work at a new art co-op and although it was sad that she was not in attendance, I am very excited and proud of her for being involved!  I think it will be great for her.

Ashley happened to get the afternoon off and accompanied me to the potluck!  She is clever and instead of using cherries, she made a dish using cherry tomatoes!  I thought it was very smart and innovative.  Her bean and avocado stuffed cherry tomatoes were a big hit.



For me, I wasted to bring an entree however, I could not come up with a great cherry based entree.  Eventually i gave up and decided I would simply not follow the theme.  I was still drawing a blank.  I text my great friend Jonny who is a sous chef for a five star restaurant back in Maine, and re made an awesome recommendation.  he said "go seasonal and make a three bean salad".  It was perfect and the more I thought about the ingredients, the more I realized that I could swap some traditional ingredients out and incorporate the cherries!  So here it is, Three Bean and Cherry Salad.

Three Bean and Cherry Salad

15 oz of chic peas
15 oz of kidney beans
1 1/2 cups of green beans
1 1/2 cup of cherries

1/3 cup of oil
1/3 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of fresh basil (chopped)
1/6 cup of red wine vinegar
1/6 cup of apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons of red onion (chopped)
1 tablespoon of rosemary (chopped)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Using a strainer, rinse the chic peas and kidney beans thoroughly.  Meanwhile, chop the ends off the green beans and chop into 1 inch pieces.  Rinse with the chic peas and kidney beans.

In a large bowl, combine the onion, rosemary, and basil.  Theses should all be chopped fairly small.  Avoid large chunks.  Add the rinsed beans and stir well.

In a bowl, combine the sugar, oil, both vinegars, pepper, and salt and mix well.  Pour over the bean mixture and gently fold in.  Avoid smashing the beans, they may be delicate.  Begin the chilling process.

Chop one cup of cherries into several sizes.  Leave some as large has halves and chop others into small slivers.  Once the beans have chilled for about 30 minutes, add the cherries and gently fold into the mixture.  Chill for another hour.



This was not the only dish I made for the pot luck but if I said anything else, I would not have anything to say tomorrow so, wait.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Dinner out!

After a day that began a bit slow it finished strong.  I had a great dinner with Ashley and her good friend Candice.  Ashley made some alfredo pasta with garlic rolls and a caesar salad.  She is really going all out with her ability to cook vegan foods and occasionally, I get the benefits!

I made some peach lemon-aid to go with dinner and a few banana splits to have after.

Peach Lemon-aid

10 lemons
2 peaches
5 cups of water
2 cups of sugar

Cut the lemons in half and juice them.  This is an easy task with a juicer, if not the lemons will need to be squeezed until they release no more juice.   Once the lemon are empty shells, pour the liquid into a blender.  If a juicer was not used, the seeds will need to be filter out.  One way to do this is to pour the juice through a coffee filter or fine vegetable grater to sift the seeds out.  Depending on the size of the lemons, this should yield about 1 cup of juice.

Peel and remove the pit from the two peaches.  Cut into chucks and place in the blender.  Puree the lemons and peaches until smooth and liquid.  Add the sugar and water and puree until the sugar has dissolved, should take about 1 minute.


This turned out wonderful as a nice summer drink for a hot southern day.  It was very refreshing and the peaches were subtle enough to allow the lemons to sour through.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Pre-cation

The week before vacation seems so uneventful.  To an extent, it does not even matter what happens, it is all just a waiting game until that last minute of work and that first taste of freedom.  One week from today will be those moments for me.  I am already on my pre-cation.


The garden seems to be coming alive, the kitties are adjusting well, and one player foods have been all over my kitchen.  I hope that after I return from vacation, I will have the motivation to get more cooking done.

A few weeks ago, I saw a sight that reminded me of my childhood of entrepreneurship and even those stories of the past.  Some things will never change.

lemon-aid  $0.50 per cup

Sunday, August 22, 2010

The cupcake guy?

I am not really the cupcake guy.  Let me clarify.  If you put a (vegan) cupcake in front of me I will be all over it.  I am a huge fan of cupcakes, or any cakes for that matter.  However, I can not make cupcakes very effectively.  It is a sad state of affairs, I am a snack goon that can not bake.


That is not entirely true, I have a few solid baked goods that I can make and are quite good, any of my cheesecakes would be a good example.  I have also stumbled on a few great cake and cookie recipes in my struggle with the oven treats.  It is just not my forte'.

I have worked far to many hours in the last several days.  I have actually logged more than 32 hours in the last 3 days at work and some how I managed to both squeeze in a closing and give my good friend Myrna a much needed driving lesson now that she has attained her permit.  The long hours does not allow me to go to bed until about 4am each day.

Last night, after work I got caught up in a cooking contest show about cupcakes.  Today, I decided to dive in.  I will not be left out of the baking world.  I made some ginger coconut filled cupcakes with coconut cream cheese icing.  I am going to put a bit more effort into making the icing thicker on this cupcake before I post a recipe.  The taste was spot on though.  I cheated a bit and used the Golden Vanilla Cupcake recipe but I did make the filling and the icing on my own.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Closed!

The gardening has been frustrating.  The rabbits did some significant damage early in the season and now we are in a drought.  The beets are about to end the growing season and are looking fairly small.  The okra and pepper plants look great but are not producing much.  I have gotten 2 very underdeveloped bell peppers and i picked my second okra.  I am not sure what I should do with a single okra every couple of weeks.  Not many recipes that call for a single okra!


The good news is, that I finally closed on a house that I had been working on for about six months.  It felt good and it was a friend of mine that bought the house.  He is very happy with the purchase and it makes me feel good to know that I helped him buy his first home.  Despite the challenges of getting the property to closing, it is clear to me that this is what I want to be doing.  Now I just need to find some more clients or I can get out of my jobby job.

The grand Canyon trip with my mum and brother is only about 10 days away!  This should be a fun adventure.  I honestly can not recall a time when we had a family vacation.  This may be a first.  My mum and I have taken some fun trip and many day trips but I think this will be the first time that we have added a sibling of mine.

Oh, and I made some pasta for lunch the other day.  It was with some leftover seitan, garden fresh basil, and mushrooms!  Yum!


Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Wild rice with portabello mushrooms and leeks

Wild rice can be a fragile and delicate dish.  It is much different than many other rices in that is take far more to cook and can get very mushy very easily.  Generally, rice is a 2:1 ratio of water to rice.  Wild rice is not.  Typically, you want to use 1/3 cup of rice with 1 & 1/3 cup of water.  Unlike other rice, you will often need to strain excess water off so that the rice stays tender and does not end up mushy.

This afternoon I made a nice rice dish and wanted to break it down a bit to show off this amazing aromatic and earthy rice. 


Wild Rice with Portabello Mushrooms and Leeks

the rice

1/3 cup of wild rice (rinsed)

1  1/3 cup of vegetable broth
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt

In a pot, bring all ingredients to a boil, covered.  Allow to boil for 35 minutes.  Strain off remaining water.  Some of the rice kernels will be split apart mush many should still be tender.


the mushrooms

1 leek
2 large cloves of garlic (chopped)

2 1/2 cups of cubed portabello mushrooms (cubed)

1/2 cup of onion (sliced)

1 tablespoon of oil
1 teaspoon of jalapeno peppers (chopped)

1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
1 teaspoon of salt


Heat the oil on low.  Add the onion, garlic, jalapeno, and salt.  Cook until onion is tender and translucent.  This should take about 5 minutes.  During this time, slice the leek into 1/2 inch rings and rinse very well.


Once the onion is tender, add the cubed mushrooms and black pepper.  Stir well and allow to cook for 5-8 minutes.  Then add the leeks and stir well.  Cook for 20 minutes on low heat.  The leeks will cook down as will the mushrooms.


Add the 1 cup of wild rice and stir well.  Cook for 10 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.






This was a nice earthy dish full of flavor on a hot summer afternoon.  The mushrooms and leeks are both subtle and earth and compliment the wild rice very well.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Relaxing days

I am coming up on a few much needed days off.  I do not have any concrete plans but I do think that i twill be nice.  I hope to get something nice done in the kitchen.  My recipe posts have been few and far between recently.

I have had a nice week with whitewater rafting, dinners, a movie, and on Saturday, Ashley and I went to see a baseball game.  It was the Atlanta Braves vs The L.A. Dodgers.  The Vegan Mouse will be happy to know that the Dodgers won.  I do not follow baseball but we had great seats right on the field.  It was a fun time and we even found a concession stand that had vegan hot dogs!


Being on the move much of the time recently, I have eaten too many quick foods.  It has been to hot to do a lot of cooking but I have throw together some sauces for the quick foods I have been eating as well as a few other fun foods.


Mint Cookie Almond Milk Shake


Seitan Roast with a Shittake Glaze

I won!

Recently, I won the Pay it Forward contest at one of my favorite blogs.  Allotment to Kitchen.  It is a Scottish cooking and gardening blog.  She is very easy to read and has had some awful hardships with her allotment.  I have been an avid reader for over a year now and was excited to win her Pay it Forward.


Given that the package was coming from Scotland, I figured it would take awhile to get to me.  I was wrong.  She may have flown here herself it was so fast!  I was excited to see a package stuffed into my mailbox and this was filled with awesome Scottish items.

There was some great teas from that side of the pond.  There were several oat treats like sweet chilli crackers and sunflower pumpkin seed oatcakes.  There was also a very cool tea towel with some traditional Scottish recipes!  I am very excited to make a few of these vegan style.  There was also a spurtle for stirring porridge and an awesome card for me!

This made my day!  Thank you so much to Mangocheeks and the Allotment to Kitchen blog.  If you have not seen her blog yet, check it out!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Basic Seitan how to...

In my recipes, I use seitan often.  It is something I enjoy cooking with as it versatile and easy to use.  There exist some store bought brands but to be honest, I never like seitan until I started eating it homemade.  If you have used the store brands and did not like them, you should try to make it yourself before you dismiss it.

Recently, I noticed that despite many recipes using seitan, I do not actually walk anyone through the process of making it.  It appears at a glace to be a taxing process, however, it is actually very simple and low maintnace.

There are many variations, including many just on my blog such as, Seitan Steaks and Seitan Chicken Fingers.  This is just a simple and basic recipe for everyday use or use in recipes like Spicy Seitan or in a stir-fry with a Mongolian Sweet Sauce.

If you have additional questions, please see the Seitan Tips post and feel free to ask. 

Basic Seitan (how to)

the broth

10 cups of vegatable broth
2/3 cup of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of liquid smoke
1 teaspoon of hot sauce

Bring all ingredients to a boil in a large pot.



the seitan

1 cup of vital wheat gluten
slightly less than 1 cup of the broth
2 teaspoons of garlic
1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon of parsley
1 teaspoon of ground black pepper

In a large mixing bowl, add all dry ingredients and mix well.  Once the broth is hot dd the less than 1 cup and immediately fold into the gluten until you have a wet dough.  The dough should be brown in color, moist to the touch, and slightly sticky.


Cover the work station in a very think layer of flour and kneed the seitan mixture several times over the next 10 minutes. Allow the dough a few minutes each time to settle and rise a bit.  Cut into desired pieces and return to "the broth" water.  Boil for 40-45 minutes.  While boiling, they will expand so make sure the pot being used has enough space.


Remove from the water.  If storing the seitan, make sure you put some type of liquid with it to avoid drying out.  Bar-B-Que sauce, a few spoonfuls of "the broth" or another marinade with work.  It should bee in an airtight container for over a week.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Kitties update

The kitties have been inside for slightly more than a week now.  The four of them have been a handful and often require more attention than I can offer.  I have occasionally enlisted both Ashley and Jamie for their help.  I am thankful that they are such great people and love kitties.

Within the first few days, the black cat and calico cat were sitting in my lap and crawling all over me.  They seem to think I am a jungle gym.  It is fun and make me feel happy to think that they like me.  However, the two tabbies, one of which is the runt, are very skeptical of the humans.  Understandably.  Typically, the two tabbies hide and even hiss at me.  I sit patiently and wait, for days.



Today we had a break through!  The runt, whom I call Nugget, sat in my lap for about 30 minutes.  This little kitties is so tiny but so cute.  Of course, as soon as it climbed out of my lap, the bugger turned and hissed at me for good measure.  Baby steps.

The larger tabby has yet to feel safe around me.  I hope they just need more time and I made a good choice in bringing them into the house.



The other night, I was walking around the front yard around dusk when I saw a small coyote in the neighbors yard.  When it saw me, it ran into the woods and disappeared.  My first thought was about the kitties.  I wonder what would have happened if they were still outside.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Ashley had a birthday!

After two days of birthday fun with Ashley, I am home from a dinner at Green Sprout and nursing some bad sunburns on my knees.

Yesterday was spend about 2 hours north of Atlanta getting in some rafting.  Ashley had never been and we intended to go on our recent vacation to Virginia and Kentucky.  We did not find a place with a class high enough to bother but I noticed this place in north Georgia and South Carolina that fit the bill perfectly.  I was close enough to make a day trip out of it as well.


Class IV / V white water on a wild and scenic river was amazing.We went over numerous large drops, some as high a 10 feet!  With South Carolina on the left side of the river and Georgia on the right we saw many of the scenes from the film Deliverance and a great waterfall on the South Carolina side.


This was such a great time and it was a total of 5 hours on the water.  The only downfall, we both got badly sunburned.  Yuck.


I think she had a fun birthday and she got several vegan cookbooks to add to her collection.  She has been vegan now for almost a month!  It is a great accomplishment for her and I could not be happier with her choices recently.  She deserved a great birthday.

Happy Birthday Ashley!

Monday, August 9, 2010

Not mine but for me.

The weekend was spent largely getting things done.  Planning the Grand Canyon trip, spending long hours with the kitties, working (of course), and still trying to make a fun plan for Ashley's Birthday which is Wed.  This has left the kitchen a bit neglected.  However, both Ashley and I had Sat night off and I convinced her to make some nachos.  She has been making vegan nachos for a few months now and I have yet to be able to get my hands on them.  Saturday was the big day!

My kitchen, Ashley's recipe.  Yum.



This should be a fun week and I hope to also add a closing date for property I have been working on for far to long.  Vacation in 3 weeks!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Ratatouille

A late night at work lead to an early morning out of bed.  After spending some time with the kitties and dealing with the water company, Ashley stopped by to make lunch before we both had to go to work.

It was a great two part lunch.  One part Ashley, one part me.  She used my Chicpea Chicken Salad recipe to make us a couple sandwiches.  I made a Ratatouille.    I have never made it before and I was shocked at how easy it was.  I took a new spin on the dish, while still using nice summer vegetables, I roasted them and cooked the entire dish in the oven.  It turned out great!




Ratatouille

8 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1 large yellow summer squash (cubed)
1 large zucchini (cubed)
1 large carrot (sliced)
1 small eggplant (cubed)
1/2 onion (sliced)
15 oz of fire roasted diced tomatoes
8 oz of tomato sauce
1/3 cup of fresh oregano (chopped)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1/2 tablespoon of black pepper
1 teaspoon of liquid smoke
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon of sugar


Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large baking dish, add the oil, garlic, and onion and cook for 5 minutes while the other items are being prepared.  Once the oil is hot and the vegetables are cut, add the carrot, squash, zucchini, eggplant (i used white eggplant), tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, 1/2 of the total oregano, sugar, salt, and pepper.  Mix well and roast for 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven, add the liquid smoke, hot sauce, and the remaining oregano.  Mix well and roast for another 10 minutes.


Adding the other half of the oregano works well to give it a strong flavor.  The sugar cuts some of the acidity out of the tomato.

Although hot and oven cooked, this was still a great summer dish.  Tasting like a bit of grilled smokey summer and the light vegetables that are associated with the summer months.  It was the perfect vegetable heavy dish for an afternoon lunch.



Ashley's sandwiches were fantastic.  It is not the first time she has taken one of my recipes and let me try them.  It came out just had I had planned.  It is such a nice feeling to see that people enjoy your food enough to make it themselves.  Just like my fellow blogger Jessy did!  Thank you!  It feels great.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Happy 101 Award

The Spooky Vegan issued me an award.  These awards can be a lot of fun and this one is unique.  I get to list 10 things that make me happy.  It is the Happy 101 Award!  Without further ado and in no particular order, the list!



1.) Days off from my jobby job.
2.) Being outside.
3.) Tato and all the other non-human animals in my life.
4.) The few people in my life that are close to me.
5.) Looking at houses.
6.) Blogging.
7.) Photography.
8.) Basketball.
9.) Traveling.
10.) COOKING!

Now for 10 blogs that I enjoy.  I did this recently with the sunshine award but I will do it again and mix it up a bit.

1.) Bittersweet (of course I have to include this amazing blog.  One of my favorites)
2.) Could it be...SEITAN? (great blog with some great recipes)
3.) Dandelion (great photos, great posts and great comments!)
4.) The Kuntrageous Vegan (i recently started reading this but it is great with awesome pictures)
5.) Dreamin' It Vegan (fun ideas and some great wildlife pictures recently)
6.) Eating Appalachia (used to be cupcake punk, same great blogger)
7.) Nuestra Cena-Vegan American & Latin Cuisine (Millie is great, enough said)
8.) Seitan is my Motor (always filled with inspiration)
9.) Two Vegan Boys Weblog (sometimes I feel like a part of the family)
10.) Vegan Mouse (last but not least, she is wonderful)

Friday, August 6, 2010

Match meat and pictures

At recent trip to Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe, I picked up some Match Meats.  I have eaten them before when Laura (of Abracapocus) has brought them to the potlucks but I have never used them.  She is the match meat queen.  I am an novice

I made some not-mashed potatoes to accompany the breaded chicken patties that I topped with the leftover chipolte sauce (does anyone want this chopolte sauce recipe?) from the wraps the other night.  It was pretty good but began to fall apart toward the end.



I also got my hair cut (shaved actually) and got the cable back on track.  I miss watching my summer league basketball games.

There is also a nice assemblage of pictures growing on my dinning room wall.  It is coming along nice.  I pick up tacky frames at thrift stores and paint them white.  It has been a lot of fun and it gives me something to do with all the pictures I take.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

The summers second version of "The Descision"

It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees.  ~ Emiliano Zapata


 Back in 1996, i got a shirt from a local punk vendor in Pennsylvania.  It was a bright red shirt with the above quote on the back.  The punk kids joked that I wore this shirt everyday for 3 years.  That may not be far from the truth.  I still have the shirt but rarely wear it.  The shirt has become a relic, the words of the back of the shirt are with me everyday.

The kitties has experienced the outdoors, they have tasted the freedom and independence that I only find on vacation.  I am jealous and I never want to be responsible for taking that from them.  This situation has made me think a lot about why I am vegan.  Ironically, much of the advice that I can not believe I am hearing, is coming from the vegan community.  The "pet" mentality is rampant everywhere it seems.

After some long research and deliberation, I have come to some temporary conclusions.  Tonight, with the assistance of Ashley, I will attempt to catch all the kitties.  I will bring them inside to spend a few weeks with me.  I feel extremely uncomfortable with forcing this on them but I do not see another reasonable option and all options include me forcing my will on them in some way.  Once they seem comfortable with me and are a few weeks older and wiser, I will let them back outside.

If they opt to stay, they will be welcome and if they leave, that is their option.  They will know that they can be safe with me and there will be no need to fear me and I will not be afraid of them.  If they want to come inside at times, they are welcome.  They will not be indoors cats with me.  I will not force that on them.

"I will not force myself or domestic life on them for longer than I feel is necessary."  This statement is that wreaking of species dominance, which is a major reason why veganism is important to me.  However, as feral cats, they can not live under my house.  It is a danger to everyone.  Even as babies, the runt bit me last night and broke the skin.



I feel that I am choosing what is best for another sentient being and it makes me sick.  I also realize that they can not stay undisturbed forever and this seems like the least intrusive option.  I hope they agree.

Life is life  -- whether in a cat, or dog or man.  There is no difference there between a cat or a man.  The idea of difference is a human conception for man's own advantage.  ~  Sri Aurobindo

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

More about the kitties!

The other day, I spent about an hour and a half sitting in my crawl space with the kitties.  I wanted to give them the option of being people friendly.  Eventually, they all took turns coming out to meet me.  I really like these kitties and part of me hopes they choose to live here.  Just not under my house.

I have a few major concerns about the kitties.  For one, they can not live under my house as feral cats.  That is not an option.  It is not safe and I do not want them going to the bathroom under my kitchen.  Another issue is the socialization and domestication.  I do not feel very good about forcing a wild animal into domestication.  It is not my place. Do I take them out to the woods and let them go?  If I do, is that not me making a choice for them as well?  It is a dilemma and I have some searching to do.

Well, in my not feeling great mode, I had a very light dinner the other night.  It was like I was a health vegan or something.  Walnuts, Peanuts, Cashews, and Cranberries.  It was really good and I may begin packing this to for work as well.  It felt a bit more like a mid-day snack though.  Oh well, it was good.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Not Mashed and the kitties!

I have not been feeling great the last couple of days.  I am not sure what it is but I am confident that it is nothing serious.  I have been just taking in easy in hopes to get better.

I am still undecided about the new kitties.  It seems like everyone has an opinion and I can not make everyone happy.  For the short term, I am fine with letting them living in my crawl space.  I will need to make a choice sometime soon though, for their sakes and mine.



Meanwhile...

I stumbled on a nice little food creation recently.  Not-mashed potatoes.  It is very similar to my creamy mashed potato recipe with a few minor changes to keep it a good constancy.  These came out great, they were light due to only being boiled but the sauce was strong and flavorful.


Not-Mashed Potatoes

3 small red potatoes (cubed)
2 cups of water
2 tablespoon of vegan margarine
1 1/2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
3/4 tablespoon of dill weed
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of paprika
1/2 teaspoon of celery seed

In a pot, add the water and cubed potatoes.  I leave the skin on as it has a nice flavor and contains most of the nutrients.  Bring to a simmer and let cook for about 20 mins or until the potatoes are tender.  Be careful not to over cook, the peels should still be attached.  Strain set aside.

In the now empty pot, add all remaining ingredients.  The margarine should begin to melt with the heat of the pot.  Carefully pour the potato cubes over the margarine sauce.  Cover and toss until the sauce has an even coating over the potatoes and all the margarine has melted.

Fantastic!

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Mango Ice Cream and a Satruday Off

I had Saturday off.  For the first time in a long while, I was able to attend the Vegan Lunch Group Meetup.  It was at Harmony this month.  Jamie and I attended and it seemed like there were a lot of new people compared to the last time we were able to attend.  We ate out lunch and we fairly anti-social.  Oh well,  I guess we were just in that type of mood.  Next month is a pot luck so hopefully, we will be in better spirits socially for the next one.

That afternoon, Ashley and I had plans to go see a movie.   Neither of us felt up to it so we just went window shopping and made some dinner.  We made some burritos with beans, rice, soy chicken, avocado and a chipolte sour cream sauce that I made.  I may share that recipe but not right now.  The sandwiches were very good but the highlight of the meal was dessert.



I had a few mangoes laying around and we made ice cream!  Ashley had some C02 chargers and she made some coconut lime whipped cream while I assembled the mango ice cream.  This ice cream was fantastic and the texture was perfect.


Mango Ice Cream

2 large mangoes (peeled and pitted)
15 oz of high fat coconut milk
1 cup of sugar
1 tablespoon of lime juice (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a blender.  The mangoes make take several minutes to puree and the mixture should be thick.  Then follow the instructions on your ice cream maker.


This made enough for 4 servings of ice cream and we had about 5 servings of burritos, which was nice because Ashley was able to take some to work with her Sunday!