Persimmon Loaf

I received a couple bags of persimmons from my boss and also from my sweet neighbor. My neighbor's kids picked them at a friend's farm- so cute!

So I had to let them get uber-ripe and I started to get impatient! But the first batch finally ripened up and I made this beautiful persimmon bread. I got the recipe from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen and it was so easy, moist, delicious, and a crowd pleaser. I got several, "You can't even tell it's vegan" comments. I was like,  "yeah, because vegan food is awesome!" ;)

I slathered each piece with Earth Balance, but it was good plain too.

The next batch of persimmons is ready and I'm going to make persimmon soup! Should be interesting!

BBQ Tempeh & Roasted Veggies!

MMMMMMMM- I adapted this recipe from Vegan Express to fit what I had on hand.

I took 1/2 of an 8oz block of regular flavor tempeh and sliced it into inch long strips. I sliced a green bell pepper that had turned red (from my friend's garden), a little jalapeno (from the same garden), a handful of tiny yukon taters, and a big chunk of zucchini (also from said garden). I mixed it all up with some BBQ sauce and roasted it for about 30 minutes. Isn't summer produce the best? I don't think I can handle a garden myself- but I sure love indulging in the fruits (or veggies) of my friends' labors!

I ate it with the Fruitful Slaw for dinner and for lunch the next day. I cannot say it enough- I love tempeh! Maybe I should be the Tempeh Lush??

You may have noticed that I mention Vegan Express A LOT. That's because I use it A LOT. It has a ton of recipes that all use beautiful fresh produce and take less than 30 minutes from start to finish. In fact, this recipe isn't even supposed to take 30 minutes to roast- but I bumped the time up because I added potatoes that aren't included in the original recipe. I highly recommend Vegan Express to anyone that likes to cook, but also likes to get the goods on the table with little to no fuss. Another cool thing about this book is that every recipe has "menu suggestions" for sides, salads, etc. that are either also in the book or simple add ons, like a hot cooked grain, fresh veggie platter, simple salad, what have you. I ALWAYS feel healthier after eating a Vegan Express meal. :)

Potluck Wrap Up

This week we had a "Good Luck Garden Pot Luck" at work- on 7/7 (the luck part) and the garden part is because everyone had lots of fresh veggies from various back yard gardens and such.

This was a vegan dream potluck- and not because I work with a bunch of vegans (I don't), but because I work with a bunch of health-conscious sorts who are creative and fun! (I do! We are a Marketing Dept. after all)

Nearly everything offered was vegan so I didn't feel left out. I made the aforementioned blueberry muffins. There was a cucumber/jicama salad in rice wine vinegar served over freshly steamed rice (and I mean FRESHLY! Hector brought a little rice cooker and made it at his desk! So cute!), zucchini/red onion/tomato salad, steamed brocolli and other veggies over brown rice, and homemade tabouli. YUM! The only things I didn't eat were some traditional zucchini bread (dang it looked amazing!), a cold cucumber/avocado soup that looked and smelled divine but was made with chicken stock (WHY??), and brownie sundaes that were not even remotely hard to pass up even though the brownies were made in a special pan that makes individual brownie cups specifically to hold a scoop of ice cream! Too cute! I ate half of a Sweet & Sara PB S'more and was all good!

Most everyone in my office knows of my recent dietary switch. I haven't made a big deal because I want it to be taken seriously and I don't want anyone to think it is my diet du jour (I've been know to try every diet under the sun- but this isn't a diet because I'm not doing it to lose weight- although that'd be a nice bonus!)

More Muffins!

I think I've probably mentioned my love affair with blueberry muffins. I made some from scratch- again using the Skinny Bitch in the Kitch basic fruit/nut muffin recipe. I made them with local berries for our Garden Potluck at work. A hit, of course! ;) I used more than one cup of fruit- I used more like 1.5 to 1.75 cups, plus I dropped a few berries on top of some of the muffins that looked like they needed more. This is the easiest recipe ever! I mean, muffins aren't rocket science, but this recipe is like baking in your sleep!

PS- Happy Birthday to my older sister! ;)

zucchini raisin muffins!

These muffins from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch turned out quite good. They are moist with a nice crusty top. I made the basic fruit and nut muffin recipe adapted for the zucchini/raisin variety- which omits the nuts and adds some cinnamon and ginger. I used golden raisins because I love them so much! I'm happy to report that the zucchini was local and organic- being that it came from my friend/boss's back yard garden. The raisins are local too because I live in the middle of California raisin land! Remember the California Raisins???

OOH Yeah, I heard it through the grapevine...

Here's a close up of the muffins. I highly recommend them!

As I mentioned yesterday, I will be eating these for breakfast all week spread with almond butter. I also got some gorgeous California-grown blueberries that I'm eating with a sliced banana to complete my meal. mmmmmmm (AND coffee made in my tiny french press at my desk with Silk Creamer- original flava)

The muffins were such a hit in fact that I'm baking another dozen as I type this but with the aforementioned fresh blueberries! We're having a garden potluck tomorrow at work, so these will be my contribution!