RFD cookbook & Kobie gnaws on dead trees

I'm done trying out recipes from the Real Food Daily Cookbook and they were all fantastic, so I bought the book. If you haven't tried any recipes from this book yet, just do it. Either via the library or Amazon's "look inside" feature. If you try some recipes, I'm sure you'll love them and buy the book. And these recipes are simple and fast.

Asparagus and Cilantro soup. Really good. Save some uncooked asparagus to throw into the pot each day when you heat it up so you can have 2 different textures. mmmm.... green logs of asparagus swimming in a tasty asparagus swamp.

Salisbury Seitan and Golden Gravy. I can't wait to have this again. I put in way less oil than called for in the gravy and it was still really great.

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This was taken early in May. Once every week or so, we make up a platter of summer fruits and mow through them. This one had pineapple, apple, pear, kiwi (sour), strawberries, banana and mango.

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One of Kobie's many reasons to go into the cat cage is so he can celebrate his pica. This is one of the fallen trees that we tied up to the posts in the cat cage. Kobie thinks it's almost as tasty as the dirt he eats. Kobie mostly spits out the bark. I've also seen Tubs chewing at the bark and spitting it out really violently - like how did this get in my mouth, ugh!

Vegan Meetup Picnic -- Furry 5k -- Andy's bday

The Seattle Vegan Meetup group (meetup.com) is having a potluck picnic on Saturday, June 6th. I went to the 4th of July picnic last year and it was fun. There was also a LOT of delicious vegan food. I hope I see you Seattle peeps there.

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The Furry 5k is on Sunday, June 7th. It raises money for the Help the Animals Fund, which provides veterinary care and supplies for sick, injured or abused orphaned shelter animals.

I'll be taking the walking option w/ Kobie, Andy, some friends and possibly a new foster dog. Kobie loves to hang out and eat sandwiches, which is what we'll be doing after the walk.

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Andy's bday was this month. I decided to make him a bday feast. 4 items doesn't make a feast, but I was tired all the same.

I made miso soup (no pic) using this stock recipe (dashi). It was the easiest stock I've ever made. Just boil up some kombu and dried shitake mushrooms, then strain.

I asked Andy if he wanted green tea, he said "can't we have orange soda"? About 1/2 way through the meal, I asked him why he wasn't drinking his "tea". Apparently, he confused the orange soda (in the teapot)for green tea because natural soda is not nuclear orange.


I made the chinese dumpling recipe that I got in a class I took at PCC. It worked out well because it called for rehydrated shitake mushrooms, so I used the ones from the dashi I had made. They were perfection. I cheated and used a gyoza press.

3 kinds of Sushi. (V'con Elephant Roll: avocado & chopped peanuts), (teriyaki tofu/green onion/red pepper/cilantro), (avocado)

Tomato Soup Cake with lemon glaze & zezt. The recipe is from Passions, a truly bizarre soap that was cancelled. It is a spice cake.

Campbell's tomato soup is accidentally vegan. I replaced the butter w/ Earth Balance, eggs with Ener'G egg replacer, milk with a soy/rice milk blend. I typically tone down the amount of certain spices, but I followed the recipe on the spices. The batter should be sort of thick, but not so thick that it is hard to smooth in the pan. I always add more soy milk. The batter looks really nasty, but when it's baked, it looks and tastes really good.

Lemon glaze = powdered sugar, lemon juice, soy milk, vanilla. You just add stuff until it's the right consistency. Start with powdered sugar, then slowly add/mix lemon juice. I add soy milk when it starts to taste too lemony, but is still too thick. When I'm happy w/ the consistency, I add in about 1 tsp of vanilla. You have to taste it a lot. As you can see from the picture, I always make a huge mess with this stuff.
In honor of Andy's bday, Peepa practiced yoga pose #2329B aka Downward Facing Tummy Lick. Yes, he is cleaning his stomach.