Refreshing Iced Tea

Home made iced tea is super easy and quick, so perfect for our "Quick and Easy" vegan.

I like to make my own blend and thought you might enjoy it too.

4 green tea bags ( I use decaffeinated)
1 earl grey tea bag

Steep in a couple of cups of hot water for about 30 minutes.

Add agave syrup to taste. I use about 1 tablespoon, but you may like it sweeter.

Juice of 1/2 a lemon, try to use fresh lemon it makes such a difference.

Sprig of fresh mint

I make my tea in a 2 quart mason jar. Take the tea bags out after allowing tea to steep for thirty minutes.

Add rest of ingredients and place in mason jar, add water to fill and put in fridge to cool. Serve with lots of ice.

It looks so pretty and tastes good too!

Will last for several days to a week in the refrigerator

Easy Sloppy Joe Dinner

We a have our family staying with us from England and it can be a challenge to make a dinner that good for the vegan and non vegans at the table.
This is easy to make and can be made several days in advance, so it's great when you've been out sight seeing all day. Come home, heat it up and serve with a fresh green salad. Perfecto!

It has a lot of ingredients, but is so simple.

Sloppy Joe recipe
1 tablsp olive oil
1 small onion
a little vegetable broth, approx 1/4 cup ( more for thinning joes if needed)
2 medium stalks of celery
1/4 cabbage
3 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
4 generous tblsp tomato paste
1/4 tsp white pepper
Salt to taste
1 tblsp oregano
1 tsp powdered onion
1 tsp powdered garlic
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 cup ketchup ( I use organic from whole foods)
1 tblsp grey poupon
2 tsp ume plum vinegar ( rice vinegar if you don't have ume)
5 drops liquid smoke
2 cans organic pinto beans drained and rinsed
6 oz vegan ground beef
3 oz vegan chorizo
1 tsp agave syrup
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tblsp drained capers


Finely chop onion, celery, garlic and cabbage, saute in olive oil for a few minutes, add a little vegetable broth and bay leaves, cook on low with lid on, until veggies are soft. Add tomato paste, white pepper,  oregano, powdered onion and garlic. liquid smoke and grey poupon. Cook for approx 5 minutes to meld flavors. Add ground beef and chorizo and pinto beans. Mix well and cook for another 5 minutes.
Add vinegar, soy sauce and salt to taste. Cool and refrigerate for several hours (great to cook one or two days in advance) Add capers, take out bay leaves and adjust seasoning if needed, Serve warm on toasted, buttered(vegan butter of course) buns. It's great with a green salad or coleslaw.

Easy one dish recipe

Good for all ages and vegan and meat eaters alike  

Healthy, savory and filling. 

Summer Fruits

Summer is in full swing and our fruit trees have had a great crop this season. The fruit is ripe and ready to eat.
We've eaten so many plums and apricots we have mouth sores, still doesn't stop us eating more. What is it about homegrown fruit that makes you masochistic.

We had to make preserves this year because we had such a bounty. This is onetime I use white sugar, granted it's organic, but still.....

Does anyone out there have a great preserve recipe that doesn't have sugar. Something with agave or even better, just the fruit?
I haven't found anything that works yet, so please let me know if you have.

Our grapes are coming along nicely and if the wasps don't suck them all dry, that will be are next treat.

I tried making grape jelly a couple of years ago, but it just wouldn't set. Once again if anyone has a great grape jelly recipe, I'd love to hear from you.

The recipe I use for my preserves is yummy, but obviously not the healthiest with all that sugar, but if you want to try it.

51/2 LBS of apricots or plums pit and slice into halves (I like the preserves to have big pieces of fruit in it) To the apricot jam I add one peeled apple, chopped into little pieces. The pectin from the apple helps the preserves to set better. I've never needed to to do that with the plums.
31/4 LBS organic sugar
2 cups of water

Bring the fruit, apple included if using it, sugar, water, to a boil with lid on, then take off lid, turn flame down to low and cook until thickened ( I usually cook until the fruit, sugar and water has reduced to about half) Keep stirring so it doesn't stick. You can test to see if it's thick enough by taking a little on a spoon, let it cool and see how thick the preserves are.
Prepare jars by sterilizing them with boiling water. I then turn them upside down on a cooling rack to dry them off.
When ready, pour into jars, put lids on while still warm, lids will pop to seal as it cools.
I got about 12 4 oz jars of jam from one recipe

The taste of fresh homegrown fruit preserves is always better.

I usually make a couple of batches of each kind of preserve. It's enough for us and to give some away to friends and family.

Fresh bread and jam, simply delicious, can't wait.

I also use the jam in desserts throughout the year. 

We have about 7 grape vines, some red, some green, all delicious

These grapes will turn red and are usually sweet and crispy, just the way we like them.

The Avocados will be ready around October, November

We have the sweetest cherry tomatoes this year. 

We have to cover the tomatoes, or they would cook on the vine in the summer heat

Yum!

Our grapes are planted on the road to Gary's woodworking shop and my soap and lotion Kitchen

Eating vegan when away on a trip

So here we are in Albuquerque. Our friend George is a costume designer and is here on location, doing a movie with Johnny Depp, Morgan Freeman, Paul Bettany and Rebecca Hall called Transcendence.  We came in for the 4th July weekend to hang with him and go to Santa Fe.
It's often a bit of a challenge to eat vegan when away, so we were very happy when everything on this trip went SO perfectly, including our culinary experiences.

"WOW ALERT"
The highlight was "Loving Vegan" a vegan sushi and bento box restaurant, on Coors Blvd.
Tel# 505-890-1555.
Owned by Cathy Punya, who has several other restaurants in the area as well as a restaurant in Laguna Beach, Ca. This is her first all vegan sushi restaurant.
The two people managing the restaurant and preparing all the food were Surapan Phonsukha and Khemjira Jongkolsapaporn the most delightful and talented twosome.
We ordered the Monkey balls (I know) - mushrooms stuffed with vegan spicy tuna, deep fried with a sauce. They were so light and delicious we thought we'd died and gone to heaven.
The New Mexico roll was a tempura Chile with avocado and cucumber, absolutely awesome and a avocado roll so fresh and light it melted in your mouth.
We then indulged in dessert, coconut ice cream and a vegan, gluten free chocolate cup cake.
If you live in the area or are visiting you HAVE to check out this INCREDIBLE place.
Also ranked #1 vegan sushi restaurant by Peta

Gary doesn't like mushrooms and tofu isn't always his favorite, but these were so incredible, he couldn't resist

You'll have to try them to understand how awesome these are.

Beautiful presentation and most delicious

Decadent

The sweetest twosome

Here are a few other photos of our trip and other taste delights.

I'm always a happy girl when I can have some pool time.

George had rented a really nice condo while on location. We got to enjoy all the cool amenities.
We had the pool all to ourselves on Wednesday. 

Always an easy poolside snack, guacamole and chips.

Having breakfast each morning with fresh peaches right off the tree. Yum!

Delicious vegetable soft tacos with grilled veggies and of course a Margarita at La Fonda in Santa Fe

I was very excited when i saw Cauliflower Steak on a menu at a restaurant in Santa Fe. The sauces and extras were delicious, but the steak was just slightly cooked cauliflower. I think I can do better. It's going to be a mission of mine to make a really great cauliflower steak. Stay tuned and I'll let you know how it goes.