Garden Rotini and Chickpea Salad

Yesterday, I actually sat down and planned out a week of menu ideas. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to hit the grocery store until today. Still, here is my first vegan dish. I thought it was very tasty! Jeff enjoyed it, too, but I didn't realize that he doesn't care much for pasta salads. Oh well, more for me! :-)

Ingredients:

• 8 oz rotini
• 1 (15-oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 medium carrot, shredded
• 1 celery rib, chopped
• 1/2 roma tomato, diced
• 2 radishes, cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 1 cucumber, diced
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• Annie's Natural Goddess dressing

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook rotini according to package. Drain well and rinse with cool water. Transfer to a large bowl.

2.  While pasta is cooking, prep vegetables. Add all the vegetables to the cooked pasta. Drizzle with 1/3 to 1/2 bottle of dressing  and toss gently to combine.

*Recipe adapted from Garden Rotini and Chickpea Salad with Inner Goddess Dressing. Vegan on the Cheap. pg. 85.

challenge accepted!

I have accepted my sisters challenge!! I am even starting out with a meatless side dish just for her!!!! I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and LOVE the difference mayonnaise changes the taste of scalloped potatoes! I did tweak it just a little...one cannot conform too much I say!!! So here is scalloped potatoes and onions! YUMMY!!!

Ingredients

• 5 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• Paprika
• 1 cup shredded cheese

Directions
In a greased 2-1/2-qt. baking dish, layer potatoes and onion. In a saucepan, melt the butter; stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add broth, mayonnaise, salt and pepper; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thick and bubbly. Pour over potatoes. Sprinkle with paprika. Cover and bake at 325 degrees F for 2 hours or until tender. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!! Not only was excellent it uses basic pantry ingredients and is relatively cheap too!!!!!

Off Track

Since leaving MN, we've gotten way off track with our eating. A few months prior to leaving, we made the choice to become Vegan/Vegetarian - if not always, at least primarily. There are many reasons behind this choice. I'm not going to get into them right now.

Right now, I'm just going to share with you my excitement at the future.

Like I mentioned before, since leaving MN we haven't been very good about living this new lifestyle. We've even *gasp* gotten into the habit of choosing convenience (i.e. McDonald's) over healthy.

This needs to STOP!

Over the past couple days, I've searched online for Vegan or Vegetarian dining options and resources in the Vegas area. That got me excited, but I knew it wasn't enough. We can't afford to eat out every meal.

So, where does a Vegan newbie go? Amazon.

I found a couple cookbooks that, I hope, will help me learn to be a better Vegan. I'm so excited for these two titles to arrive.

In the meantime, I also purchased a few Kindle cookbooks (for free!) to help me get started.

I can't wait to get back in the kitchen and try some new recipes, expand my taste palate, and share my new adventures with all of you.

Note: If you're not into Vegan eating, do not worry. While I'll be primarily posting Vegan or Vegetarian recipes, I'm sure my sister will continue to post her favorites recipes here.

Going Green

I love playing outside and the many activities that I can do right in my backyard (so to speak).

You can definitely say that I've gotten on the going green bandwagon, so when I hear about companies that are making sustainability a priority, I get excited.

Now, wines are going green, too? Excellent!

Personally, I'm not a big wine drinker, but here's a cool graphic demonstrating just how wineries can be green.

It looks like they're making some progress.

If you're a wine drinker, why not try a greener wine next time you shop.

Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sometimes, it takes me FOREVER to put a post together. Here's a recipe for some cookies I made for my last day student teaching. Yes, I made muffins for the morning classes and cookies for the afternoon. :D The kids were all pretty modest about eating my treats (only taking one each!), so there were lots leftover. Jeff and I both really enjoyed these cookies. Hope you do, too!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup shortening
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2T cornstarch + 6T water (or 2 eggs)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
2. In large bowl, beat shortening, sugar, cornstarch+water, and vanilla until light and fluffy.
3. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

3 Kinds of Muffins

Because of the way the schedule was at my host school for student teaching, I really had two last days. I wanted to bring in some treats to each of the classes that I taught. Since I taught an 8:30am class both of my final days, I thought muffins would be perfect!

Since we're working on clearing out our cupboards in preparation for our big move, I wanted to use some of the flour that's been around for nigh on to too long.

Here are the three different kinds of muffins I made: Rye Raisin, Fruit, Chocolate Chip, and Rye Raisin/Craisin. They were all so good!!

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup rye flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 T baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 T cornstarch + 3 T water (or 1 egg)
• 3/4 cup vanilla almond milk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Raisin Rye Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rye flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 cup raisins (or 1/2 cup raisins + 1/2 cup dried cranberries)

Fruit Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 c butter, melted
• 1 T cornstarch + 3 T water (or 1 egg)
• 3/4 c almond milk
• 1 (15-oz) can lite fruit cocktail, well drained

Directions (for all 3 varieties):
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or shortening.
2. Mix dry ingredients in large bowl, mixing well.
3. Whisk wet ingredients together. Add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Stir in chocolate chips, raisins, or fruit cocktail - depending on the desired muffin variety.
4. Fill greased muffin tin 2/3 full. Bake at 400°F according to chart below.

Muffin Variety	Baking Time
Chocolate Chip	18-20 min
Raisin Rye	15-20 min
Fruit	about 25 min

Moving Sale

**I know this post isn't related at all to cooking or the kitchen, but we're really trying to get the word out about our moving sale.**

Visit Our 20 Day Apartment Sale!

At:  http://ourjunkyourtreasures.blogspot.com/

To explain, we are selling everything we own,

so we can travel around in our van.

We will be posting items on Craigslist,

but you can see everything at once on

our yard sale blog, and on May 24th and 26th

we will be having actual yard sales at:

2057 Laurel Ave, St Paul MN 55104

Everything is being sold at cheap prices,

and every price is negotiable (obo).

What doesn't sell will be donated to charity.


Here is a small sampling:

Decoration = Prices vary

4 Shelf pantry cabinet = $10

Abstract painting on stretched canvas 48" x 24" = $40

Locking hasp = $3

Running belt with water bottle = $10

Life jacket = $10

Work lights = $10

Shop broom = $15

Captain's chairs and back bench seat from Dodge van = 

Best offer

See Post

Ergonomic highly adjustable office chair = $250

Office chair = $10

Bookcase = $40

Telescope = $150

There's plenty more to see, and more posts are coming.

Come take a look:

http://ourjunkyourtreasures.blogspot.com