End of Summer & Great Vegan Lasagna

So we've come to the end of summer. And I could not be happier about it. I love everything about fall and, more than anything, I am happy to say 'good riddance' to heat and humidity. Especially as the Chicago Marathon approaches - I've got less than 5 weeks left to get ready for it, and would LOVE some cool mornings to get my last long runs in.

Also with the end of summer comes the end of an era. Had you told 16-year old Becky - way back in 1998 - that someday she wouldn't even WANT to own a car, she would have laughed in your face. (Especially since she was the proud driver of a SUPER CLASSY Plymouth Reliant!) But ever since I moved to Boston, I just don't drive very much - beyond moving my car from one side of the street to the other for weekly street cleaning. So I've decided to list the Sonata for sale and say farewell. It was such a high for me when I bought her last year, but now I realize that the money spent on her can be invested other places. We'll just see how long it takes to sell - we're 2 weeks in with very little interest. Oh well, I can be patient. :)

I've got a great recipe to share today, too. A coworker of mine recently sent me a link for her favorite lasagna. I'll include a link to it here, so I give full credit to the original blogger/creator, but I'll also copy and paste below for convenience. I've posted a vegan lasagna recipe years ago, but this one is even better. You won't be disappointed! And I love how this blogger posted nutrition information - this is NOT one of those unhealthy pasta dishes where you need to feel guilty after indulging in a huge piece. Less than 200 calories per serving and it's loaded with veggies!

Easy Vegan Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna

From FatFree Vegan Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tsp. chopped garlic
• 2 tbsp. water
• 2 24-oz jars of spaghetti sauce (or your favorite pasta sauce)
• 9 lasagna noodles (regular lasagna noodles, uncooked)
• Soy Parmesan (optional)
• Sliced black olives (optional)

Filling:

• 10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 lb tofu (firm, reduced-fat recommended–not silken!)
• 1 tsp. salt (optional)
• 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast (adds a cheesy taste)
• 1 1/2 tsp. oregano
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1/2 tsp. rosemary, crushed
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

Instructions

1. Sauté the mushrooms and garlic over medium heat in the 2 tbsp. water until tender; cover between stirring to keep them from drying out. Remove from heat and add the spaghetti sauce.
2. Place the tofu and thawed spinach in the food processor and process briefly. Add the remaining filling ingredients to the processor and blend until smooth. (You may do this without a food processor by using a potato masher on the tofu.)
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
4. Spread half of the sauce in the bottom of a 9×12-inch pan. Place a layer of noodles over the sauce, using three dry noodles and leaving a little space in between them. Spread half of the tofu mixture on the noodles (I drop it by spoonfuls and then spread it). Cover with another layer of 3 noodles and then spread the remaining tofu mixture over them. Top with a final layer of noodles, and pour the remaining sauce over this. Cover the dish tightly with foil, and bake for 30 minutes. Then, remove the foil and bake for another 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with soy Parmesan and sliced black olives if you want. The lasagna will cut better if you allow it to cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Father/Daughter Bonding in Boston. And (More) Cookies.

Earlier this month, I played hostess once again. My dad flew out to Boston for a long weekend. We had been planning this weekend since January. His birthday weekend just happened to coincide with the Twins/Red Sox series at Fenway. And I knew my dad had always wanted to see Fenway with his own two eyes, so I knew it was meant to be!

We really did have a weekend of nonstop fun. He arrived Thursday afternoon, so I picked him from the airport and stopped at a great local Charlestown pub. A burger (veggie for me!) and beer was the perfect fix for a morning of flying. Then we headed to my apartment. Jakers went BONKERS. For only seeing my dad a few times a year, he is obsessed with him. I tried not to take it personally...until Jakers chose him over me at bedtime. But I've since forgiven him. :) After a little down time, we headed over to the North End for some of the finest Italian I've ever tasted!

Jakers goes NUTS when he sees Grandpa! (alright, so this is pic is actually him yawning, but I like it)

Friday morning we were up early and opening presents. Since my gifts included our whale watching and Red Sox tickets, we needed to get these opened up before heading to the harbor for our whale adventure! We had a great morning -- the whales, they were a-leapin'! I was so glad it was such an active day on the water. Then in the evening we headed towards Fenway for a night of excitement. The Twins did not disappoint -- we watched an extra-innings win!

Twins fans at FENWAY!

Saturday morning was the Boston Duck Tour. AWESOME. I hadn't done this yet, but see the ducks all over the city. It was really cool and we learned a lot. It was also a good way to show my dad parts of the city that we wouldn't have otherwise visited. Then, we headed over to Beacon Hill for (drum roll, please) CHEERS! My dad has seen every episode of "Cheers" at least a thousand times. So this was a thrill for him - and I must admit, kinda neat for me, too. :) After ordering both a beer and a bloody mary with his meal, so he could have the souvenir glasses, we headed home for some down time. Then in the evening, we drove up to the north shore and enjoyed a seafood dinner on the water in Gloucester. A perfect end to the perfect weekend.

Making dreams come true :)

I'm really close with my dad, but we can also both be really stubborn and have our issues. So I was happy that we had such a nice time together and didn't have any disagreements. And Jakers & Mabel were delighted to have Grandpa here for a visit.

  VEGAN Boston Cream Pie for the birthday boy!

So, segueing into a recipe, *another* one of my gifts included a tupperware filled with cookies for Dad to take home. I made my Aunt Carlotta's oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. They are SO decadent, and have a secret ingredient that gives them just a little crispy surprise. SO DELICIOUS. I like to keep a stash in my freezer as a sweet treat after dinner.

Carlotta's Chocolate Chip Cookies (with Corn Flakes!)

• 1/2 c margarine (room temp)
• 1/2 c shortening
• 3/4 c vegetable oil
• 1 Tbsp milk (I use almond milk)
• 2 Tbsp vanilla
• Ener-G Egg Replacer, equivalent of 1 egg 
• 1 c brown sugar
• 1 c granulated sugar
• 3 1/2 c flour
• 3 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 bag chocolate chips
• 1 c oatmeal
• 1 c Corn Flakes

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Blend  in sugars. Add in flour, soda and salt, combine. Add in chips, oatmeal and corn flakes and mix. Drop teaspoonfuls on cookie sheet (I prefer a baking stone) and bake at 350-degrees for ~12 minutes. Keep an eye on them - you want them to *just* start browning.

Summer in the City...And Some Stellar PB Cookies!

What a great summer so far!
I hosted my mom from Minnesota and my brother from Los Angeles over 4th of July weekend. We had a great time! We did a lot in one weekend: whale watching (it's my go-to activity these days), day trip to Maine, walked the Freedom Trail, won a night of bar trivia, Cirque du Soleil (TOTEM), and Harpoon Brewery tour just to name some.

 Celebrating our big trivia win in Cambridge! (yes, that's Ryan's happy face.)

Then, the following week, my other brother was in town from DC for work, so we did dinner and drinks and bar trivia (< once I had the taste for winning, I needed more).

And then last weekend, 6 friends from Minnesota and I flew into Chicago to surprise another friend. She had no idea we were coming, and as she appeared at the bar to meet her boyfriend for happy hour after work on Friday, there we were! It was great. :) We had so much fun catching up with one another, enjoying some good drinks and food, and seeing Chicago.

 The whole crew in Chicago, enjoying the Grant Park Music Festival

I'm now looking forward to my dad visiting in a couple of weeks. It's his birthday weekend and the Twins are playing the Red Sox, so we're going to spend some time at Fenway, check out the original Cheer's bar (he's a big fan of the show), and possibly do some exploring of the North Shore. Should be great. :)

I made a batch of my mom's peanut butter cookies when she and my brother were in town, and since I had a few leftover, brought them along to Chicago. This is one of my favorite cookie recipes (do I say that about all of my cookie recipes??). You literally cannot taste any difference between the original recipe and my veganized recipe. Give 'em a try!

Mom's (Vegan) Peanut Butter Cookies

• 1/2 c. shortening
• 1/2 c. margarine
• 1 c. granulated sugar
• 1 c. brown sugar
• Ener-G Egg Replacer = equivalent of 2 eggs
• 1 c. peanut butter
• 2 1/2 c. flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Combine shortening, margarine, sugars, egg replacer, and peanut butter in large bowl and mix well. Blend in the remaining ingredients. Cover (I use wax paper) and chill in fridge for at least 1 hour.
Put a little additional flour on a small plate. Remove dough from fridge and form into balls. Place balls on cookie sheet (I prefer a baking stone) and - using a fork dipped in the flour - press down in a criss-cross pattern. Bake 350-degrees for 10-12 mins. Enjoy!

Simple Vegan Sugar Cookies

I love productive weekends. I love being able to make a big ol' to-do list on Friday and cross everything off by Sunday afternoon. This was one of those weekends. Granted, there was also a lot of downtime in my weekend -- the older I get, the more I appreciate a weekend of staying in. So yesterday involved a lot of napping, reading, and movie/TV watching. Jakers and Mabel LOVED IT. So then today, I kicked it into high gear and got up early, did a long run (15 weeks until the Chicago Marathon!!), and ran errands all morning.

Baking was *not* on my list this weekend, but Lord knows a girl needs something sweet to snack on. One of my go-to cookie recipes is this super simple sugar cookie recipe that I came across a few years ago. It's one of those recipes that requires totally basic ingredients that I always have on hand. And - bonus - they are SO TASTY! I found it on Mercy for Animals' website - they're an incredible nonprofit that promotes a vegan lifestyle.

I'm going to get back to crossing off my to-do list...and eating a few of these cookies while they're still warm!

Simple Vegan Sugar Cookies

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla
• 1 Tbsp. maple syrup
• Egg replacer equivalent of 1 egg
• Cinnamon and sugar, to coat

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in a separate small bowl (make sure they're blended well). Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Using your hands form the dough into a big ball. (If it sticks together well, then it's the right consistency. If not, add a bit of water and mix it well.) Form the dough into cookie-sized balls and roll them into the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten each ball a little bit. Bake at 375°F degrees for about 7 minutes. Makes about 18 cookies.

Kale: Just as Delicious in Boston

Okay, once again - long time, no blog. But I've been busy getting familiar with my fabulous new city. Well, I guess I'm no longer "new" to Boston, but I'm still seeing and doing new things all the time.

Some of the latest highlights:

• I've taken some trips to upstate NY (Albany) to visit college roomies
• I've taken a drive to New Jersey to see *another* college roomie (Boston is conveniently located!)
• I had a friend from MN visit and we did LOTS of fun touristy things - including, but not limited to: whale watching, walking the Freedom Trail, touring the Sam Adams brewery
• I have finally finished furnishing/decorating my apartment. Could not be happier!

 I am still loving my job, which of course is important, and feel 100% validated in making the move from DC to advance my career.

But what I most want to share is what I did today. I attended a cooking class that was hosted by the Boston Vegetarian Society! The chef was this talented woman named Shayna Ashton, whose family used to own a vegan restaurant in Boston called Country Life. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was great! My friend Jaime and I went together and both really got a lot out of it and met some fun people. Our (all vegan) menu was:

• Onion Dill Dip w/ celery sticks
• Faux Caesar Salad w/ faux parmesean & homemade croutons
• Seaside Potato Chowder
• Hawaiian BBQ w/ homemade seitan
• Tofu Cheesecake w/ Raspeberry Coulis
• Strawberry Lemonade Fizz

I mean, it was INSANELY good. Best ceasar salad I've ever had, the seitan was better store-bought stuff, and you would not believe the texture of that cheesecake. No one would ever know that was vegan! I wish I had taken pictures -- but that just means I'll need to make this at home some time to take some pics for the blog.

In preperation for this evening's event, I ate a really small lunch. But it was a new recipe a coworker shared with me -- and it involves KALE!! :) Definitely something you should try (yes, the name is awkward, but go with it). It results in this delicious kale - without having to cook it down - and a creamy avocado dressing.

Massaged Avocado & Kale

• 1 bunch of kale
• extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt
• 1 avocado
• cherry tomatoes

Wash the kale, and cut out the spines, tearing/cutting into bite-sized pieces and put into a large bowl. Drizzle with EVOO and sprinkle with ~1/2 tsp sea salt. Using your hands (this gets messy!), massage the oil & salt into the kale for a good 5+ minutes, until the kale is tender. Peel/slice the avocado and massage that into the kale in the same way. Slice two handfuls of cherry tomatoes and toss into the kale. Salt to taste.

Just When Everything Seems On Track

We were settling so nicely into life. Job was going well, the apartment was perfect, my social life was in a good place, getting to see the city. Then *BAM*. I come home from dinner & drinks on Thursday night to find Jakers as a whole different dog. He was shaking like a leaf, ears and tail down, staying right on my heels, he didn't want to go out for a walk, he didn't want his treat. He was a different dog than I had left earlier in the day. I was freaked out, but it was 11:30pm and I knew I couldn't do anything until morning. So I lifted him up into bed, he crawled under the covers and seemed to relax. 'Whew! Maybe he was just having an off night.'

We woke up the next morning to the same story. He again didn't want to walk and didn't want to eat. The two things he loves most in life (he's his mother's son). I had a breakdown. I called one of the vets my dog walker had recommended and was able to get a 10:30am appt. I could not control my emotions. I was so scared it was something big. This was such a sudden onset and nothing I'd ever seen before. And I have to accept that he's becoming a little old man - he'll be 10 this year.

Fast forward to me non-stop crying at the vet's office. He has a back injury. The vet thinks it's probably an inflamed disc. (Fairly common in dogs with a long back.) All of his symptoms were typical of a dog in pain. (my heart--> breaking) What I thought was internal organs shutting down was just Jakers' little body trying to cope with the pain in his back. I've never felt a sense of relief like that in my life -- knowing he was going to be just fine after 2 weeks of rest and some meds.

My little patient, on the mend.

So now I've spent the last 3 days lugging my little sack of potatoes up and down the stairs to go potty and onto/off of the couch. He is already so much better! But we have two weeks of this "bed rest", so I need to stay strict. The last thing on earth I want is for him to re-injure his little back.

I did my best to stay home as much as possible this weekend, not wanting to leave my little patient. That meant I did some baking! :) I recently came across Isa Chandra's (aka vegan recipe goddess') recipe for vegan cornbread. The Post Punk Kitchen blog is very well known in the vegan world. Isa is amazing - she can cook and bake like nobody else, plus she's hilarious and VEGAN! I was able to see her do a demonstration at last year's DC VegFest and it only made me love her more. So I knew this recipe would be a good one. I've been eating slices of this warm cornbread, slathered with margarine, but it would be PERFECT served with chili or stew. I'll copy and paste the recipe below, but you should also check out Isa's blog for her other fabulous recipes!

Vegan Cornbread

• 2 cups cornmeal
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 cups soymilk
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350, line a 9×13 baking pan with parchment paper or spray the bottom lightly with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, wisk together the soymilk and the vinegar and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients (cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt).
Add the oil and maple syrup to the soymilk mixture. Wisk with a wire wisk or a fork until it is foamy and bubbly, about 2 minutes.

Pour the wet ingredient into the dry and mix together using a large wooden spoon or a firm spatula. Pour batter into the prepared baking pan and bake 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Slice into squares and serve warm or store in an airtight container.

Making a Home

I am loving life right now. Things in Boston are going really well! It took some time to get things figured out at work -- I needed to find a good balance of clients, and now that it's figured out, things just feel right. I have never doubted my decision to pick up and move to an unfamiliar city, but I definitely had some bumps along the way as I settled in.

I could not be happier with my apartment. I'm on the second floor of a house that was built in the 1700s. It has the original hardwood floors, original brickwork from where the the wood furnace once sat and I have a back porch where I can feed the birds and enjoy a view of the Bunker Hill Monument, which is just a couple of blocks away. It has so much more character than anyplace I've ever lived before. I love it. Jakers and Mabel also are really happy - they love all the windows and squirrel-watching that allows. :)

I was able to get moved in and unpacked while we were living in corporate housing, so it was nice to be able to get totally settled before actually living here. I tend to move fast - I don't want to live in limbo. So I had everything decorated and feeling like home in the first month. I'm still working on a few things (need to buy a comfy chair and figure out some storage needs), but this feels like such a comfortable home for me and the babes. :)

I've been doing a good amount of baking and cooking, too. I have been baking cookies on the weekends, so I have something sweet through the week (and I like to offer the dog walker something extra, so Jakers gets to be their favorite stop!). Below is a gingersnap recipe that I found and baked today. I used to bake gingersnaps with my Grandma...so while they aren't top of my list of "favorite cookies", they are a sentimental favorite. :) And it's a nice change of pace from my usual oatmeal chocolate chip and peanut butter rut. (Just realized I've never shared my pb cookie recipe on here. That will change soon!)

Vegan Gingersnap Cookies
Courtesy of Food.com (with some tweaks)

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ¼ cup molasses
• ¼ cup soymilk or almond milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Powdered sugar for dusting
  

1. Sift dry ingredients, except sugar, into a bowl and set aside.
2. In a large bowl combine wet ingredients, including sugar, and whisk until blended.
   
3. Stir in the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
4. The dough will be quite sticky and you may need to dampen your hands to work with it. Roll the dough into little balls (about 1 Tablespoon) and flatten out to your liking.
5. The thinner the cookie the crisper it will be - a slightly thicker cookie will yield a crunch on the edges and a slightly chewy interior.
6. Press the coarse sugar onto the tops of the cookies and bake about 8 minutes at 350 on a greased cookie sheet. (I prefer a non-greased baking stone.)'
7. Put on cooling rack and once cooled, dust with powdered sugar.