Yum:

Crinkle cookies are on of those things that we really only make around the holidays so that makes them extra special   This year, I tried the recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar and they came out super awesome!  The only change I made to the recipe was that I subbed some Ener-G for the flax seeds because we never have flax around.  We even shared some with the neighbors ’cause we’re sweet like that

-Kala

Professional cookie decorators we are not:

They may look like we made them with our feet but they sure are yummy!  They’re also really fun to make, baking and decorating gingerbread men is one of my favorite Christmas activities   We always use this awesome recipe from the ppk, love it, and we make at least 2 batches a season because they’re so good! 

-Kala

I think sushi just might be my favorite thing to have for lunch, especially when it’s homemade:

Plus it’s so fun to make even if we don’t make the most gorgeous rolls in the world

-Kala

AMAZING:

These beauties are the Magical Coconut Cookie Bars from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.  There are about five million cookies I want to try from that book, but these are the first and they are so good!  I’m not sure what I want to try next but if Shane has anything to say about it, I think it’ll be the Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows.  So do any of you guys have this book?  What have you made out of it?

-Kala

Aaaaaaand, we’re back!  And we have cookies

I made these babies last night, they’re oatmeal almond cookies,  a slight twist on my standard oatmeal cookies.  We didn’t have quite enough canola oil so I added in just a bit of olive oil and hoped that it wouldn’t be gross.  It was quite a yummy sub actually!  I also added a ton of slivered almonds and forgot to add in the cinnamon and nutmeg.  So they really taste like completely different cookies, but in a very good way

-Kala

Sometimes basic is good and you can’t get much more simple and basic than good old chocolate chip cookies.  I made these last night using this recipe from the PPK blog and they came out pretty yummy, definitely not the best cookies I’ve ever had, but not too shabby.  The only change I made to the recipe was that I swapped corn starch for the tapioca flour.  I’d make these again for sure if I had a craving for some plain choco chip cookies! 

-Kala

First of all, Happy October!  October is by far my favorite month and I can’t wait to shove my face full of all the sweet goodness that Autumn has to offer   Ok, on to the cookies:

Last night while watching a couple of really bad horror movies (Sleepaway Camp 2 and Night of the Demons), Shane and I made Swedish Thumbprint Cookies.  I had a weird desire for thumbprint cookies and this recipe from Veg Bitch was absolutely perfect, very simple and the only thing we had to buy was the jam!  We used both strawberry and blueberry preserves and I even rolled some of them in some chopped peanuts, yum! 

 -Kala

Last night’s dinner was all about delicious starchy comfort food.  I was planning to make bbq tempeh but I had a strong potato craving to feed!  So I poked around online for a good Potatoes Au Gratin recipe and found this one, we had all the ingredients and it didn’t look as high fat as other recipes so I went for it.  I’ll definitely be making this one again, it was super easy to make and really delicious.  The only changes I made were that I added broccoli because we had some and used some Old Bay for the seasoning salt that was called for.  So if you’re in a potato mood, try this recipe out, it’s awesome!  Edited to add that I baked this in the oven instead of the microwave like the recipe calls for – I baked it for about an hour at 400, covering it with foil for the last 15-20 minutes. 

-Kala

Way back in 2007 Kala and I entered the Vegetarian Times magazine reader recipe contest.  My entry was a Thai Chik’N Pizza, oh and it won 3rd place.  Wednesday night we revisited the recipe as we do from time to time.  I stuck fairly close to the published recipe only substituting some ketchup (2 tsp) and a little lemon juice (1/2 tsp) for the tamarind paste and instead of Morning Star Farms Chik’N strips we  used our beloved mock duck, because well mock duck is just tastier. The results were super tasty, and maybe better than the original.

–Shane

Photos by Kala

I can’t say enough about the awesome that is Vegan Yum Yum by Laura Ulm.  The latest recipe we tried was the vegetable fried rice with tofu.  Fried rice is one of those things I can’t get enough of and this is an amazing recipe, tasty and easy to make.  There are a wide array of veggies involved: zucchini, mushrooms, bell peppers, broccoli,  spinach, snow peas, and carrots along with tofu and sesame seeds (we used black sesame) and a very simple yet tasty sauce.

Really everyone should just go out and get the book, we are seriously going to break the  spine with the amount of use we have gotten out of it in just 14 days. It just might be the best cookbook out this year.

–Shane     Photos by Kala