Spicy Lentil Tacos Super Fast (Side of Slaw on The Side)

I was pressed for time (as usual) last night--I needed a quick vegan fix for dinner. When is a taco not a good dinner go-to? I say never. My fave is always the hardshell variety--and my shells ALWAYS break on me!--takes nothing away from the flavor, trust me. On its surface, this vegan dinner is quite simple. On a taste scale, this is a complete collision of amazing Mexican flavor. Cost wise, well, it is a laughable maybe buck fifty per person. There are ton of lentil taco recipes on the web, however, my inspiration for this meal came from a wonderful new cookbook find: Supermarket Vegan by Donna Klein. (I love this cookbook--I have yet to see a recipe that didn't get the "try worthy" nod--so expect more from me from this book.) I guess my "taco love" can be traced back to my Taco Tuesday madness when I slung hash at a local taco joint down south when I was in college. Ah, memories of grime. The scent of cumin wafting through my closet. Those were the days.

Mr. Thyme has been "on the road" quite a bit recently, and for some reason, when he's gone, I seem to find myself in the middle of projects that take all day long to complete. Like planting four trees yesterday. (A post to follow on this maybe tomorrow--after my back heals some.)

So by four in the afternoon, I was sitting here trying to catch a breather when I hear the garage door slam. That's always a HUGE motivator for me--and miraculously, this recipe opened up and I was like, "Welcome home! Guess what we're having tonight?" (I always win points when its vegan pizza after a long trip--I won even more points last night with this recipe--he loved it!)

Vegan Blueberry Crumb Bars (My 30-Day Shred)

What lead me to create my Vegan Blueberry Crumb Bars was a full-page photo of something much like this I came across in one of too-many magazine subscriptions I get. These are amazingly delish! I added some crushed almonds and oats to the crust to take this up a "healthy" notch. I also reduced the sugar amount by adding a bit more extract flavor. You won't miss the sugar because the awesome-ness of the sweet blueberries brings it on for you.

So I clipped a picture out of something like these and sat it on top of my other fifty or so I-should-make-these-recipes pile I have going. I kept the blueberry bar recipe on top--as a daily reminder that I had something begging to be made. That's how I prioritize those clipped recipes before they head into the three-ring binder. It goes from "Eh, I might make this" at the bottom of the heap, to--"OMG, that looks amazing, I MUST make this!" If I get the recipe into the binder, chances are it could be a year or more before an attempt at the recipe is made. Sad but true. (Don't even get me started on how unorganized my Favorites tab is broken out within "Cooking". That's all I have labeled for food: Cooking. Well, I have a Raw link under there too, but see only about six links for this pursuit, should I ever gather up the strength AND kitchen space to want to haul out nearly all my appliances I own--including dehydrator-- to make something "raw" in the first place.)

Vegan Mushroom Cracker Crust Frittata (Welcome to My Lair: Fundraising, Quilt Frenzies And Plant People)

Some of the tastiest food I've made comes from this little Missouri Bed and Breakfast cookbook I nabbed when I was a road warrior. This frittata is unique but simple and oh-so-very yummy! Two pans of work is all it takes. One, to saute the "crust" ingredients: a bit of olive oil, a package of mushrooms sliced, a chopped onion, couple shakes of your favorite herbs, then crumble in some crackers and press into the pie plate.

So your first layer--your sauteed mushrooms and onions with crumbled crackers spread into your pie dish for the crust.

Next, toss in whatever you have in the fridge into a lightly oiled pan--could use the same one the mushrooms were in. In my case, I made a sort of hash from a yellow pepper, one onion chopped, one potato diced and half a head of cabbage sliced thin. Saute until all are soft--beginning with the potato, ending with the cabbage. I grabbed some fresh herbs from the garden and tossed in whatever I felt like. The addition of those herbs took the flavor of this to a whole new level.

What dish called "frittata" would be complete without cheese--vegan cheese, that is. Next comes the godsend: Daiya cheese! I added two layers of this in my creation. One layer of cheese spread over the crust, another layer spread over the top when I baked it. Yum! Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.

And then there was this. . . my lair in its "frenzied" planning, cutting, tossing and re-cutting stage.

Since I'm a newbie to this quilt stuff, I really just went "with the flow" on my second one. This would be donated to my garden club for its silent auction I coordinate. . . which was two days away. TWO!

I thrive in chaos and in time crunches. But it's really best to avoid me at these moments or you may find my demeanor a bit, oh, I don't know. . . MAD!  

Then comes the final okay from the QC (quilt critique) department. It must be road tested, walked and shedded upon for it to really meet its final approval. Then, we go to the next phase, sewing the pieces together. (By the way, this is just a design I sort of fell into after deciding that it really doesn't matter one iota what sort of "blocks" you create as long as I am happy with it--that's what counts.) Therefore, do not fear the quilt blocks. 

After several mini-meltdowns. . . completion. (I love the colors in this quilt! Happy colors--called it the: Hello Daisy! Not Your Grandma's Quilt.)

Pretty, oh-so-pretty.

My first quilt--with the backing showing on my border trim, also known as the "binding". I am under this thing every night! I love it!

My people interaction cup runneth over. I am now in mandatory, self-prescribed seclusion. Yesterday was my garden club's yearly fundraiser--its second. Never mind that it was 95 degrees with a heat index of 105 and humidity levels so high that even stepping outside for a brief break left me soaked from head to toe in my own body gland fluids.

Warm Spinach Salad Tacos And Homemade Flour Tortillas (My Eat to Live Quandary)

I had a hankering for a warm spinach salad. I was lucky enough to stumble upon a Rick Bayless espisode on PBS Create (I LOVE this channel!) and watched him take a very simple approach to this yummy favorite and add chorizo in place of bacon (he is just brilliant, is he not?). Well, I just so happened to have some "past-the-expiration-date" vegan chorizo links in the fridge begging to be used. (Personally, why expiration dates on vegan foods--really, why?) Anywho--this really rocked and you should run home and make it tonight! But I insist you make your own tortillas or else bad food karma may occur!

Why had I never made homemade flour tortillas before?

There is no excuse to not make your own tortillas, NO excuse! They are simple and add a "grubby" elegance and flavor that made my kitchen feel like a little cantina!

So simple, again--a recipe from Rick Bayless. Watching him make his own flour tortillas is enough to make any man or woman yearn for some of this Mexican yum!

Mmmmm.

I don't spend an inordinate amount of time in front of the TV. In fact, I can barely sit still enough to make it through a movie. But being in the kitchen around five in the evening wondering what to make, I usually will turn on PBS Create (because that is when the old school cooking shows are on) vs. Food Network and an episode of Paula Deen y'all. (And I have checked out the new Cooking Channel and so far, love that I can watch re-runs of shows I missed when we did not have Food Channel--like Nigella Express!)  

Nine times out of ten, while watching these shows, I will be met with an amazing idea for a vegan substitution. Enter this salad! I am not trying to be a cop out with this recipe here--but it is so utterly simple and Rick has broken it down so well, I am like--just go to his website: Rickbayless.com and search for his "warm spinach salad" and take off with it giving it your own spin. While you are there, be sure to pull down the recipe for "flour tortillas"--they made the meal, honestly!

Vegan Strawberry Cake with Yummy Pink Buttercream Frosting (The Cake Reckoning!)

This was one of those "cake lust" moments that could not be defeated by a first round failure--I'm no quitter. Oh, there would be cake alright, and it would be strawberry as I had originally craved it: two-layers, plenty of yummy frosting and filled with fresh fruit. My troubles with my cake dud yesterday seemed to have something to do with the addition of whole wheat pastry flour. I was going for a bit "healthier" version what with my Eat to Live plan and all. Well, scratch that--no cake worth its salt should be made healthy--unless its the carrot cake--maybe then playing around with some wheat additions would be tolerable. But not this one. 

The Vegan Strawberry Cake That Wasn't And Other Pink-ness

I was heading down with corn for the deer tonight and looked up to see these incredible blooms. I ran back inside for my camera because I just knew some of you out there would want to share in this moment with me--well, besides the moquitoes that were picking my blood veins dry! Over the course of this 90-plus degree hot day, my tree was now flush with blossoms! Just like that. I don't think its ever had this many blooms. I imagine we are having this pink spash partly owing to the fact that I've allowed this "rather invasive" tree to mature on a hill directly below my very amended square-foot-garden--i.e., this sucker is getting all the goods I have in one fell swoop.

My roses are doing amazingly well this year, too. I planted garlic directly next to them. I have yet to see a Japanese Beetle dare set foot here. Hmmm. Could it be my companion planting research finally paid off?

And then this. . . so I am just in for a quick post this evening. (I am an early to bed gal--beauty sleep is mandatory and critical at my Almost Fifty age). I'm sad tonight. I wanted to have my fruit with dinner per the Eat to Live plan: "fruit with each meal", so I made a vegan strawberry cake. I think strawberry cake qualifies as a "fruit with dinner".

Black Garlic And Roasted Red Pepper Hummus (Eat to Live Lunch Perfection)

My hummus cravings are strong. I have no problems with the garbanzo bean at all. It dresses up nicely, plays well with others and holds its own. This plate represents a nearly perfect Eat to Live lunch. And it was prepared in, what else, my new Vitamix blender (I heart the Vitamixer)! It shares the plate with a lot of cabbage--then a side of fruit. Always with the fruit in the ETL plan. I served my hummus and cabbage in a whole wheat wrap and layered in fresh spinach, two thin slices of avacado and a few thinly sliced carrots. The flavor comes from the hummus all the way.

I added two cloves of black garlic and two cloves of regular garlic. (Black garlic has an amazing flavor--if you can get your hands on some, do so immediately!) Two things Dr. Fuhrman also supports besides the greens--onions and garlic. Good thing, because I don't think my dedictation to this plan would work otherwise.

I wanted to share my "lunch" with you all. This is not a rocket science lunch here. I will say, I am easy to please when it comes to lunch. I am usually pretty hungry by around one--which is when I typically eat my lunch. Sometimes later--before three for sure. With ETL--you are consuming the salad first--rememeber? Well, in the case of my lunch today, I made sure my salad was incorporated within my wrap. Maybe Dr. Fuhrman would not agree with this idea, but I had a hard time wanting to eat a salad before my hummus wrap.  

Peas in The Pod (Day One on The Eat to Live Formula Plus Summer Reading List: Laura Bush)

The pea is one of the most fascinating of all vegetables I grow. One of the tastiest, too. Not many pods even make it into the house--I just snip and eat right out in the yard. Thus, no photo of some yummy pea pod dish this morning. (Maybe later.) I cannot fathom the energy it takes to go from a tiny pea to this goliath vine forever climbing and strethching toward the sun--until the last pod is formed and then suddenly the plant says: enough and vines turn yellow and wither. I love the peas!

You cannot miss this towering square foot of peas. Your eye is drawn in by them towering over everything else. I planted the peas this year next to spinach (behind it) and in front of it--corn and cabbage and brussel sprouts. As the pea vines began to climb, I would train them to not creep over to the side and onto other "ground" items within their growing space. The pea vines are very fragile, so handle with a light touch!

My summer reading list. So far. I am a big reader. I am also a big fan of Laura Bush. (My political leanings may be fodder for another post--not today's).

My new pursuit and interests are taking me down the Eat to Live path as well as dabbling in raw foods while I am at it. I also love a bit of fiction from my library. My summer reading list cup runneth over.

The bellflower--native to Missouri. This grows on a lovely ground cover vine, and then suddenly you have these stems growing up from it--nice and straight--and finally these beautiful flowers form--they are so fun!

While I'm at it, I thought it might be fun to plant blueberries, blackberries and some grapes this spring. We've also just purchased two apple trees, a peach tree and an apricot tree--more on those later.

I finally finished the borders on my quilt! I love it! Now I need to put the backing on. Since this is my first quilt, I am going to need input on the matter of stitching and "finishing" my project. I know it's not rocket science, but I would feel much better with some assistance, so off to my sewing store I go tomorrow! Plus I've enrolled in a beginner sewing class in which we are going to make this super retro, super cute apron. I figure a fresh immersion in "sewing" basics couldn't hurt. (Plus I just had to have this apron--it screamed my name!)

*This is kind of a long post, but we're starting down a new path, it's a new month, etc. Feel free to skip this one. But you might find something interesting. . .maybe.

Where's the vegan food you ask? It'll be back real soon y'all. Lately, I have had my hands FULL with all things "yard". Our outside to-do list never seems to end this time of year. My mowing alone takes me about three hours every four days. Plus I require a full day to recover from the whole sweaty mess--especially in this monster heat we've had. (A wonderful workout in its own right. The other day, I used my pedometer to see how far I walked when I mowed: three miles--of HARD walking!) Plus the heat we're experiencing brings really humid, miserable days with it. It's not for the faint of heart. I like to call this "swamp" living. I keep telling Mr. Thyme I want to retire ABH: anywhere but here--further north--this heat kills me. But then he argues back, "You'll regret it when it's March and there's three feet of snow on the ground and the first day for gardening doesn't happen until May." My reply, "More knitting time for me."