All food and no action.

I think my life is at a strange point when talking about the blog upkeep.  There are so many things that I want to do with this blog but am not tech savvy enough to even know where to begin.

• I would really like to add a blogroll on the side so that readers could see blogs I follow.
• I would like to tie in a way to contact me for Real Estate purposes.
• I would like to find a away to drum up more followers.
• I am still thinking hard about changing the name of the blog.

It seems like I have take many food pictures to share but there has not been much going on in my day-to-day life so I do not blog.  I feel like I am sharing picture of food I ate a week or more ago.  I guess there is no harm in that.

I thought I would share a few picture with the blog world and attempt to "catch up".  One is a nice summer salad.  I had some leftover soy strips so I fried them yup and tossed them on.

I made a stir fry about a week ago.  Stir fry is one of my favorite dishes.  I really like to pack the veggies in!

I have also still been making smoothies nearly every day.  In fact, I made one recently and poured it into my new mushroom cup!  Jamie got it for me, they are super cool.

A confession...

The other day I got a little motivation and wanted to hike Stone Mountain.  I left the house with my camera in tow, ready to climb the mountain.  I rode into the park only to get completely lost and unable to find the trail head for the mountain hike.  I drove around for about 30 minutes before getting annoyed and driving back home, defeated.  I did spot a few mid-day deer though.

Once home, I had to cheer myself up after such an event.  Cake should do it!  I used my chocolate cake recipe to make one of the best cakes I have whipped up.  Nothing cheers me up like cake.

This weeks lunches were back to bakes pasta.  I just had it a week or so ago but it was so easy and perfect that I had to go another round.  It was so good and so gooey!  Perfect for lunch at the jobby job.

Amicalola Falls

After the apple orchard, we followed the tradition of last year and headed town the road to Amicalola State Park.  After a short hike through a well beaten path, the trail takes a new turn.  A staircase of 175 steps begins.  It is quite a climb but well worth it once you see the falls at the top.  Last year, Kaleigh was half asleep and was not old enough to walk the entire distance.  This year, not only did she climb to the top on her own but she even had the energy to climb out on the rocks with me and play in the smaller falls.

It was a great end to the day.  Ashley and I wore her out so much that Kaleigh slept the whole way back to Atlanta.  It was a full day and resulted in a large sack of apples at my house, I have no idea what I will do with them all.

Apple Jubilee 2011

As a child, one of the highlights of the late summer early autumn season was the afternoon my mum and I would go to the apple orchard.  It made great memories for my mum and I.  We road on hay wagons, ate apples we should have been picking and always left with a gallon of cider and maple candy.

The apple orchard in the south are a little different but have their own brand of greatness for a mother and child.  I was lucky enough to accompany Ashley and Kaleigh to the orchard for the second straight year.  It was a great day and Ashley and I were constantly amazed at how much she had grown in a year.

This year Kaliegh was even big enough this year to pick her own apples.

As a lunch, we split some ribbon french fries.  These are always a treat at the orchard, as they also grow their own potatoes.  I just wish they made some vegan pie for us!

Baked Shells for Work

My work food has been much improved recently.  I have been trying to break out of the sandwich mold to get some other items.  Next month will be exactly 1 year since I went "out" on my lunch at work.  I figure this has saved me hundreds of dollars.  Maybe I will actually run the numbers for it sometime.

Last week was a hit.  I had some let over mock meats from a burrito, as well as some vegan cheese, so I decided to make some baked shells!  It was actually really good.  The vegan cheese made it really creamy.  It was certainly one of the best work meals I have had in awhile.

Forcing the issue

I have to admit, I am forcing the issue of autumn here.  It is still in the upper 80's and humid in Atlanta but I am over it.  I want the autumn to come.  Not only am I planning another foliage trip but I am eating the typical autumn foods.

Locally, I found a super sale!  I got three large sweet potatoes for only one dollar.  Thrilled, I snapped them up thinking it was another autumn food I have been craving.  In my opinion, autumn is the best time of the year for foods.  Heavy, roasted, laced with garlic and herbs.  So good.

I took these discounted sweet potatoes and cubed them up like home fries.  I wanted it simple, after all, it was still too hot to labor long in the kitchen.  I doused them with some salt and cinnamon and tossed them in the oven.  They were fantastic.  I ate them for a couple of days and they made perfect work food.  Good find.

For my bedtime snack it was some store acquired pie topped with some store acquired almond ice cream.  Simple, yet yummy.

Brussel Sprouts!

The grocery stores in Atlanta seems to be selling a lot of my favorite autumn vegetables.  Brussel Sprouts are at the top of that list.  Ashley and I spotted them on sale and grabbed a bag.

We first opted to just make a simple roast.  I used my Roasted Brussel Sprout recipe that I have had for years.  It is a simple idea but still one of my favorites.

A few days later, I made the obligatory "cook all the veggies before they go bad" dish.  I tossed the remaining brussel sprouts, garlic, potatoes, zucchini, summer squash, and even a block of tofu.

A new bread and more burritos

I have not been posting many recipies lately.  I would like to say that I am saving them all up for veganmofo but it is not true.  I have just been a little busy and trying to perfect dishes to share.

My most recent experiement is a new blueberry bread.  It has some uniqinees thay I will drop on the blog world at a later date.  (Maybe these cliff hangers will help my dwindling blog-hits?)  I will however, share a quick photo.

I have also been making burritos often.  I think that it is my autumn craving for hearty foods coupled with the heat of the lingering Atlanta summer.  I really want something heavy but my body rejects not only the food but the time it takes to cook it.  Burritos are the prefect solution.  Hearty, quick, easy.

Mango has been finding its way into many of my burritos.  It really adds a nice sweetness, much like corn, but jucier.  It is a massive hit at my house and I would encourage anyone to try it.

The Mainers Whoopie

In Maine, everything was a whoopie pie.  It was rare to go into a local sandwich or coffee shop and not have some homemade whoopie pie available.  There were stores dedicated solely to selling whoppie pies.  They seemed to be popping up faster than wild blueberries.

I was fairly intrigued.  It seemed that there was almost a lack of creativity to the phenomenon.  All I never saw were the standard chocolate whoopies and the occasional vanilla or peanut butter whoopies.  While I am sure there are specialty places that offer a wider variety, I did not see them.  Maine has never really been know for its variety.

All of these whoopies got me thinking outside the box.  I have already done chocolate chip whoppies, and red velvet whoopies, and a few other variations.  I am determined to get back to my Maine roots and stir the pot a bit.

Introducing, Snickerdoodle Whoopie Pies:

(recipe to come soon)

The Spinach Pasta

Ashley and I made a great dish with the spinach pasta that we picked up at the farmers market.  We roasted some vegetables with tofu and I made a cheese sauce with cashew cream and nutritional yeast.  It was kind of somewhere between a mac and cheese and a pasta salad.  It came out fantastic.

The noodles were so flavorful and the dish as a whole was great.  We made enough for each of us to take some to work the following day.  I also had some left over hummus from Ashley's birthday celebration, and took it to work in a pita.