I spent the entire weekend at my parents house because my brother was in town. We made a bunch of good food and apple pie was the first of many.

To make apple pie, simply peel the skin off of the fruit and cut into strips. Use as many apples as you like, I say the more the better!! When all the apple strips are in a bowl together sprinkle some sugar, cinnamon and flour on top. Put the apples into a store bought pie crust and use another pie crust to put on top. Form the two crusts together, sprinkle some more cinnamon on top and cut some slices in the dough. Cook in a 350 degree oven for about 30-45 minutes or until the top browns. The longer you cook it the softer the apples will be.

Loren went to a meet up tonight so I ate dinner alone. I wanted to make something that was easy for him to heat up and eat when he gets home. Pizza was the perfect solution!

Todays pizza started with a whole wheat pre-cooked thin crust pizza. To it I added some sauce, white onion, faux meatballs (cut in slices), spinach and cherry tomatoes. I covered it with Veggie Shreds mozzerella cheese.

Delicious!

I was bored and decided to make some potato salad.

I cut up two potatoes, boiled them, and ever so slightly mashed them with my hand masher. I added vegan mayo, yellow mustard, sea salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, diced pickles, red onion and banana peppers, and finally some horseradish.

Usually when I make potato salad, I use red potatoes and put chopped onion, green pepper, chopped celery and some seasonings.  HOWEVER, the best part about potato salad is that there are no rules! You can put whatever you want in it. Each time you make it, put different ingredients in it and soon you’ll be able to perfect your own signature potato salad!

My Mexican influenced salad is a refreshing dish, perfect for those days when you feel a little sluggish.

I start with some romaine lettuce and to it, I add sliced white mushrooms, red onion, sliced carrot, diced green pepper, drained and rinsed black beans, drained and rinsed corn, Veggie Shreds cheese, cherry tomatoes and avocado. For the dressing, all it takes is the juice of half a lime per salad.

I also made some spicy roasted red pepper hummus and ate it with mini whole wheat pita.

Delicious!

“Free Style Dinner” is what Loren and I like to call it when we make what each of us want and then split it. He toasted an english muffin and covered each side with peanut butter, preservative free jelly, Tofutti’s cream cheese, banana and cinnamon sprinkles.

I toasted an english muffin and made some egg whites and Morningstar bacon strips. I put some spinach down, then the bacon, the egg and finally a piece of veggie cheese.

For our side dish I drained and rinsed a can of black beans and put them in a pot with some tap water. I seasoned the beans with cumin and cayenne pepper. After plating, I sprinkled some more cumin and cayenne on top, diced avocado, lime juice and some veggie shreds cheese. I have never been so happy with a side dish in all of my life! I could eat it every day.

Hooray!! I LOVE my ice cream maker! Thanks to Mario for the Cook’s Warehouse hookup! Tonight I created a little concoction of my own.

I used the chocolate ice cream recipe from my Veganomicon cook book. Instead of using plain soy milk I used chocolate soy milk. I also melted some chocolate chips in the microwave for the chocolate. Cool it before you add it to the ice cream maker.

To make this dinner you will need:

1 package tempeh
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 bundle asparagas
Mushrooms
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Ponzu

1 artichoke
1 1 inch slice of lemon
2 bay leaves
1 clove garlic

Cut veggies and tempeh to desired sizes and shapes. Sauté the peppers and asparagas in evoo for about 3 minutes (season with salt and pepper) on medium heat and then add the tempeh and ponzu. Give it a good mix, turn the temperatre up to medium high to cook off the excess ponzu. After about 5 minutes add the mushrooms.

Mushrooms retain a lot of water already so you never want to wash them directly under the sink. Wet a paper towel and wipe any dirt you may find on them. Most mushrooms these days are grown in a controlled atmosphere so the fancier mushrooms you get at the store won’t have a lot of dirt on them…regular old whole white mushrooms probably will.

For our side dish, I boiled an artichoke in about 3 inches if water. In the water I put a slice of lemon, 2 bay leaves and 1 clove of garlic. I cooked it, covered, for about 40 minutes.

Before you cook an artichoke, cut the tips off all the leaves and then take about 1/4 of an inch off of the top to create a flat surface. Trim the stem appropriately. Some people use a steamer tray but I find just placing the artichoke in the water works just fine. Plus the button in the middle of my steamer makes for an awkward cook.

Tonight we had a classic dinner: chick’n nuggets, mashed potatoes and a mix of fresh broccoli and sugar snap peas. It’s just so darn pretty on a plate together!

The potatoes were basic russet potatoes chopped and boiled for 10 minutes in a covered pot. I hand mashed them with some plain soy milk and organic vegan butter. I added Ms. Dash garlic and herbs seasoning, cumin, cayenne and sea salt.

Whenever you cook your vegetables you should steam them or cook them in water. Never put your veggies in the microwave – it robs them of almost 90% of the nutrients! I cooked my broccoli and peas in a pot with water to just cover them. I put a teaspoon of organic vegan butter on top, cover and cook on high heat 3 minutes and turn to low heat and cook another 3 minutes. Once theyre done, drain and season with sea salt.

I’ll be honest, I need to go grocery shopping; tonights dinner was more of a cabinet raid than a planned meal. I found Spanish rice, black beans, a can of crushed tomatoes and some corn. I mixed the rice according to the box’s instructions and added the can of tomatoes (water and all) as well as the beans and corn (I drained and rinsed the beans and corn before adding). All of my ingredients were organic and low sodium. Be mindful of the sodium levels in canned food- in most cases there is always an organic low sodium version.

Once plated I mixed in some Veggie Shreds cheddar cheese, organic green salsa, Tofutti’s sour cream and some organic chips (crumbled).  No picture is necessary–it wasnt a very photo friendly dish.

This post isnt about food. Its about the best thing ever called, Dr. Horrible.  Everyone needs to watch it because its, like I already said, the best thing ever.  There’s singing, jokes, Neil Patrick Harris, special effects and its only about 43 minutes long so watch it! Thank you to Schmarty who enlightened me in the ways of Horribleness.
Dr. Horribles Sing Along Blog