If Cupcakes are Wrong, I Don’t Want to be Right
Rain, sun, wind, repeat. Hey Iowa, we know it's sprummall time (spring/summer/fall weather all in one). The seedling/ plant babes are looving it. My water bill is also loving it.
We officially have no room in the original garden for plants or seeds. We put the Brad's atomic grape seedlings and Bumblebee cherries (both tomato varieties) in the ground just before it started to rain the other day (somewhere between Tuesday and Friday… my days are running together if I don't make notes). I'm so excited for those grape tomatoes. They turn a crazy mix of colors when ripe, and the inside is lime green.
The first round of pea shoots have been harvested. They have literally gone on everything I made this week. Breakfast: hummus toast and pea shoots. Lunch: wrap with pea shoots. Supper: pea shoots and whatever else (you get the picture at this point). I love microgreens as much as I love Brad's atomic grape tomatoes. They have a crazy amount of vitamins and healthiness packed into a little inch tall stalk.
Yuum. Yum. Yum. Yum.
Side note: I despised tomatoes pre chemo. Now I love them. Crazy. Broccoli and basil microgreens are ripening as we speak as well.
It’s starting… I may have put sliced radishes on my toast this morning…just saying.
The flowers. Yessss. The flowers. Irises are blooming like crazy and the peony buds are coming on. Good thing Clint and I didn't marry this year. We had peonies in every flower arrangement possible. Soo many peonies. It was awesome.
Peeeooooonnniiiiiiieeessssss
Give it a month, and you'll be spammed with even more flower and veggies pictures. Try to contain your excitement.
Why yes, this is my all time favorite picture. All wedding photo credit to Brian L. Garman.
We celebrated our 5 year anniversary Saturday. It was delightful. We had pizza and cupcakes with friends (social distancing of course). Vegan vanilla cupcakes from Nora Cooks with vegan buttercream and diced strawberries in the center. (Cue recipe links, slickest transition I've had on here).
The link to the buttercream recipe is on the cupcake page. I cut out a little cone in the middle of each cupcake after they cooled, sliced off the excess middle, filled the cavity with diced strawberries and put the top back on. Y'all know I love adding things to pretty much every recipe I follow. It's my thing.
Strawberries make many, many things better. Unless you're allergic.
Now on to less sweet things. Pepper black bean stir fry from It Doesn't Taste like Chicken.
I added asparagus at the same time as the pepper. I also threw in pea shoots and hemp seeds post sauteing. Instead of the fresh stuff, I used dried minced garlic and ground ginger. 1. No ginger root 2. no motivation to mince garlic. Suuuuper easy recipe. Not spicy at all. Just a nice mellow dish. Sauce wasn't overly thick and I didn't double the recipe. Say whaaat!? You're impressed, I know.
Look ma, it’s a chick'n sandwich.
Crispy chicken caesar sandwiches from Rabbit and Wolves. The smells emanating from my oven: heavenly! I doubled the recipe, because I had a feeling someone would eat two and then wouldn't have lunch tomorrow (it was me). I just had a feeling this recipe was going to knock it out of the park. The caesar dressing would have been extra yummy IF I would've had capers….and decent vegan mayo.
I found (strictly in my opinion.. and Clint’s) Hellman's brand of vegan mayo has a chemical taste reminiscent of anything by Walden's Farm- they make 0 calorie stuff laden with chemicals (not good for you at all). Try to find things that are not chemically laden or heavily processed. That being said, I love me a good field roast sausage or beyond burger just like the rest of them, in small amounts few and far between. Anyway, I digress. Hellman's vegan mayo has much to be desired. I prefer veganaise (again, in smaller quantities, few and far between). If you like Hellmann's vegan mayo, you do you, don't let my opinion dictate your life.
Update: Clint was asking about chicken sandwiches for supper. I let him know they were all gone, and he was definitely bummed. 'I like them because they taste like chicken'. You heard it here folks.
https://www.rabbitandwolves.com/vegan-crispy-chicken-caesar-sandwiches/
I give you… vegan sour cream. A little silken tofu (you can't taste it, it gives the sour cream its creaminess), a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Yum. It isn't blended in the picture.
Buffalo chickpea stuffed sweet potatoes from Running on Real Food. Oh my goodness. It's salty and spicy, and sweet and creamy. So many good things going on. Do not skip the vegan sour cream (the sour cream recipe is on the buffalo chickpea recipe page). Yuum, almost like the real thing. I followed the 'perfect' sweet baked potato recipe from Cooks Illustrated for giggles to see how the sweet potatoes would turn out.
https://www.cooksillustrated.com/articles/518-the-best-way-to-bake-a-sweet-potato
See what I mean? Not appealing on the outside… but hoooly smokes! The inside is what counts and this hit the nail on the head.
It is, in fact, one of the best sweet potatoes I've had. The sweet potato innards are creamy and delicious, no overbaked nonsense here. Except for the outside. I charred those suckers. Maybe only 45 minutes in the oven next time.
Look. At. That. Delicious.
I also used my leftover buffalo chickpeas and a drizzle of sour cream on my pizza. No shame in my leftover game.
I casually mentioned this sour cream would be good as a topper for the aforementioned chicken sandwiches. Clint perked up right away and exclaimed I better make them again just to do a taste test. That's how you know a recipe is a winner. Requests the instant a food is gone, to make it again.
Last but not least: French toast from Nora Cooks. It’s easy, it has that slight crisp, and I added strawberry compote from Tomato Blues from last week's post because strawberries can go on almost everything. Also…we had a loaf of sour dough to use up. Perfect excuse.
