An Ice Cream recipe and ramblings from the weekend

Well, I made it through another weekend. Weekends just seem to wear me out! And we didn't even really do that much.
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Friday after school, son had violin lessons then we went over to girl scouts where daughter's troop was having a dinner (chili and hot dogs--oh goody. I had an apple brought from home) and then walking over to the Christmas lights parade. We thought the troop had a float, but nooooo, they were walking the parade route giving out fliers about girl scout cookies. The leader's girl took off (after being told by her mom "you don't need to follow me") with my daughter in tow. So I walked after them--there was no way, I was letting her out of my sight in the dark in a crowd when the leader wasn't watching them. So anyway, I froze my patootie off.
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Then, I was hungry (and apparently so was hubby) so hubby suggested we get some dinner somewhere. Can't even remember where we went, so it must not have been too memorable.
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Saturday, we did get to sleep in for a while. Then the kids did karate their demonstration at the Festival of Trees (Son did the Bo Kata and daughter did a self-defense demonstration of her against 3 attackers). After that was the Karate Christmas luncheon at the China Buffet. Daughter was promoted to Brown Belt (she was so excited that she caught up with her brother) and son got his Bo pin.
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Then we did some errands, went home and had a quick snack and went to see the community college music department preform Handel's Messiah. I really like that, but I don't think hubby did.
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Sunday, we took a drive out in the desert. Hubby was looking for a deer, but not too hard. We took the puppy with us. We took a few walks and looked at a cave, and then went to Wal-Mart and came home.
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Exciting weekend, huh?
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Last night I got the hankering for ice cream so I made some. It was my own throw together but it was really good. I thought so anyway. Hubby complained about the texture of the nut based vanilla ice cream so this time I used soy milk as the base. He complained this time about the coconut texture--I just can't please him. I would guess he would be pleased it either had been made with a quart of heavy whipping cream--YUCK.
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Anyway, here's the recipe--notice the exact measurements.
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Put the following in the Vita-Mix:
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around 3/4 cup of dates
a couple of handfuls of shredded coconut
approximately 2 tsp vanilla
enough soy milk to come up to the 3 cup mark on the blender container
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blend it all until smooth. Taste and see if you like it. Add anything else if you want to. Pour into your ice-cream maker and crank until it's done.
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Easy. By the way, my ice-cream maker is way cool. I got it at a yard sale and it is one that has an outer insulated plastic shell, an inner metal container with some type of liquid in between the inner and outer walls, a paddle beater, a lid, and a handle. You keep the inner container in the freezer until you have the ice cream mix made. Then you put the inner container into the outer container, pour in the mix, set the beater in, put the lid and handle on, and then start turning the handle. It take about 15 minutes (you don't have to be turning constantly, just every couple of minutes) and you have a soft-serve type ice cream. If you want it harder, then you let it get to that stage, take the beater out, replace the lid and cover it with a towel for another 15 minutes.
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This morning was the pits. Just before he left for work, hubby stepped in dog crap in the yard and made a trail through the house--front door; through the living room, dining room, and kitchen; back through the dining room and living room; into daughter's room; and back to the living room before I noticed it. I was so MAD! I had so many dog crap spots to clean up! And he was all like "it was an accident, I didn't know I had stepped in it." I have the kids trained to check their shoes but, for some odd reason, the adult male can't seem to remember to check his. He was all put out that I got mad at him when it was an "accident" but I know he would have been mad at the kids had they done it. (If he hadn't been almost late for work, I would have made him clean it up. As it was, I wasn't going to live with it all day so I cleaned.) I would have just liked a stupid, sincere "I'm sorry" instead of excuses--"it was an accident", "I didn't know I had stepped in it"--and an attitude because I was upset.
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I grew up with the mantra--You are responsible for your actions whether you intend them or not. I have taught it to my kids. For some reason, hubby thinks it doesn't apply to him.
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After I got the kids off to school, I took Little Girl in--she got spayed, micro chipped, and a tooth pulled today. The vet said she came through everything fine. I'm supposed to call here in a while to check and see if she is ready to come home today or will need to stay the night. (I don't think I'd be ready to come home the same day as I had all that done.)
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I also had a dentist appointment today. Look Ma, no cavities!
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I don't have a clue as to what we're having for dinner tonight. I had a cabbage, apple, date, and almond smoothie for breakfast; leftover veggies (from a veggie pasta last night), a piece of bread, and some homemade hummus for lunch; a tiny bit of left over ice cream from last night for a snack; and will have an apple for another snack while I'm waiting to pick up the kids from school.
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Whew! That's a rambling post. Oh well.
Ciao for now.

Curry for Dinner and Christmas Ramblings

We had a curry for dinner. I got the recipe off of vegcooking.com (it was the eggplant and cauliflower curry but I substituted a pumpkin type squash for those two ingredients). It came out pretty good, but I like my regular curry better. (This is so fun--snapping pictures of my cooking with my phone and sending them to my computer and uploading them to my blog. Yeah, I know, I'm weird.)
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Last night we took son shopping for his sister's Christmas gift while she was at Girl Scouts. He wanted to get her an easy bake oven. Well, that's like her number one item on her list and I'm pretty sure Santa has his elves making it for her (ahem, ahem). So I had to put on a show saying that he is not getting her an easy bake oven because it gets hot and I don't want her to burn herself. Hubby said I did a good job of it. And I made son promise not to tell his sister what I said--so it won't hurt her feelings and make her think I don't believe she could do it. He ended up getting her a metal detector made for kids. I can't help but wonder if he really thinks she'll like it or if he thinks he'd like it.
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Sis picked out a bionicle for her brother. Hubby took her shopping while son and I were at his ortho appointment and doctor's appointment on Tuesday. With him you can't go wrong getting him Lego's.
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I want a new food processor and a dehydrator for Christmas. The food processor I have is a really small attachment to a really old (not very good) stand mixer). I want a bigger one that I don't have to put together so much and will work better than what I have now. I have been looking at different stores and there is one on sale now at Target. I thought hubby and kids were going to get me that, but son told me that they had already gotten me something (I hope I started hinting long enough ago that it's something I want--I have to love whatever they get me but I am so tight that I really hate them spending money on me if it's not something I really want or need.) I'm not really looking for a dehydrator, for now I just use my oven on a really low temperature.
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Hubby is torn between a spotlight they have at Wal-Mart and a tool kit they have at Costco. I keep telling him he needs to decide so I can take the kids shopping and steer them right.
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And by the way, speaking of ovens (two paragraphs up), yesterday afternoon I made some Seitan (the round thing beside the curry is a slice of it.) I took a recipe I got off of the Post Punk Kitchen website and changed the seasonings to how I wanted it. It came out really good, but it's a baked recipe instead of a boiled or steamed one (I love that--it's easier for me to put it in the oven and leave it alone rather than having to keep a pot on the stove). Well anyway, I either made it too wet or didn't wrap it up tight enough or something because it expanded out the ends of it's foil wrap and then there was liquid from it that ended up all over the bottom of my oven. I had to clean my oven. (It wasn't a whole lot, just a bit, but I don't like my oven all gross.) Next time I'll bake it in a pan with sides, just in case.
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Well, that's all for now. The dog is sleeping; the cat is sleeping; I wish I were sleeping, too.
Ciao for now.

Red Pepper Hummus and some frustrations

I just got done with lunch. (that's it up above) I wanted something good, so I had hummus, thin sliced diakon radish, and a piece of "winter wheat" bread. It was really good and quite filling. I ate earlier than usual so I hope I'm not starving by this afternoon.
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Red Pepper Hummus:

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1 red bell pepper

1/8 of an onion (approximately)

1 clove garlic

1 heaping tablespoon tahini

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 can drained chickpeas (save the liquid)

Salt to taste

chickpea liquid to get it to the right consistency

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put everything in the Vita-Mix except the salt and liquid. Blend it using the tamper to get everything down and adding enough liquid to get to the right consistency. Taste and add salt if needed. Note--don't add the salt until after you add the liquid you need. The liquid off the chickpeas is sometimes salty enough that you don't need to add any more.

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Now my frustration. Last night we went to the grocery store and tossed out over a hundred dollars. This morning my hubby tells me that he has a Christmas lunch at work and he forgot to get the stuff to make the 'fruit & cookie dessert' that he wanted to bring. He him-haws around saying he wonders if he has enough time to go to the ATM and then to the store before work so he could put it together at work. So I finally told him that I'd go to the store after I drop the kids at school and come home, make the dessert, and take it out to him.

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Now here's where my frustrations lie! 1-he would have to take my card to hit the ATM so he'd have my card all day. 2-there's no money in my account because I hadn't gotten my check into it yet. YOU CAN'T JUST "GET MONEY" OUT OF THE ATM BECAUSE YOU WANT IT . THERE HAS TO BE MONEY IN THE ACCOUNT! 3-I end up having to make the stupid dessert that I don't even want to eat (it has buttermilk, whip cream, and chocolate covered cookies in it).

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Well I did it. I have to save his backside sometimes because I have been known to have a stupid attack myself. And when I do, he saves my behind. Turn-about-fair-play, I guess.

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The pup is getting spayed on Monday. Poor Little Girl.

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Son got his spacers put it for his braces yesterday. And then he lost 2 of them overnight. The gal at the ortho office said that it wasn't a big deal; that if they came out while he was sleeping, then his teeth probably aren't jammed too closely together so it won't matter much. We are just supposed to go in next Tuesday and get them replaced so maybe they will have one day to work before he gets his braces on Wednesday. My guess is that if those fell out over night, the new ones will, too.

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Well, back to work.

Ciao for now.

Tofu (cheater's) Lo Mien

For dinner last night, I made a Tofu (cheater's) Lo Mien. It was really good. hubby and kids picked out the tofu and ate mostly the noodles, but still, it went over well. Here's the recipe:
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Tofu (Cheater's) Lo Mien
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1 package extra firm tofu
Olive Oil
2 small zucchini
1 small onion
1 yellow bell pepper
4 cloves of garlic (or less if you don't like it as much as I do)
2 stalks of celery
2 packages of Oriental flavor Ramen noodles (I don't know if the other flavors are vegan)
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Drain and cube the tofu. Chop your veggies into bite size chunks. Heat the olive oil in a big fry pan then put the tofu and veggies in and saute them for just a couple of minutes.
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Put water on to boil per the package directions for the noodles.
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Sprinkle the flavoring packets onto your veggies and continue to saute.
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Cook the noodles per package directions (sans the seasonings which are already on the veggies).
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When the noodles are done, drain them and toss in with the veggies. Dish up and serve with chopsticks (to make it seem like authentic Lo Mien even though it's not).
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That's all there was to it. And it was really good. Sorry the picture doesn't do it justice.
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We are getting into full swing for the holiday season. The kids are doing a karate demonstration at the Festival of Trees on Saturday, daughter has a school Christmas program tomorrow night (she can't decide if she would rather do that or go to girl scouts--I don't mind if she skips it because I'm kind of mad at the music teacher. She isn't doing anything with the kids in my son's grade! They go to the same school and have the same music teacher, but she is leaving one grade out of the Christmas program!), we are going to go see Handel's Messiah, piano recital is coming up, violin recital is coming up, work parties are coming up, etc.
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It just feels like we spend this whole month running around!
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Oh well, I'm going to get back to work now.
Ciao for now.

Tuesday

That's a picture of our Little Girl. While I work hard, she sleeps. I got up and went to the bathroom and on my way back I saw her so had to get out my phone and take this picture. Oh, the dog's life is a good one. (She looks a little skinny the way she is laying, but honest, she's not.)

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Son is home sick today. He got up not feeling well and then had dry heaves so I kept him home. He puked a couple of times and then went back to bed--he's been asleep now for 3 hours. I guess he needs it.

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Last night I made a wonderful Mango smoothie. Here's the recipe (it made 3 servings):

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2 carrots

3 small hands full of almonds

3 cups (approx) of mango cubes (mine were frozen)

6 dates

enough water to make it all blend nice.

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I blended it in the vita-mix and it was super yummy. So yummy, in fact, that I made a single serve size for my breakfast today.

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I think I have a current new favorite lunch--zucchini pasta with tomato sauce. I made that again for lunch today.

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I also tried another bread--it was the same as my whole wheat quick bread but I didn't have any wheat so I blended up some oatmeal, quinoa, and walnuts in my vita-mix and used that instead of the wheat flour. It was really good but really crumbly so I put it in a bowl with soy milk and used it as a cereal. So my lunch was that cereal and the zucchini with tomato sauce.

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Work has been a bit slow today and I don't mind at all. I got my list together so tomorrow I can get started on some stuff to help with year-end (hopefully advance preparation will make it go smoothly).

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When we were at Ikea in Salt Lake, I got a pack of containers (Rubbermaid-type). 17 containers for $4.99 or something. So a little while ago, I cleaned out my dry goods cupboard and put the stuff from the bulk section of the grocery store in containers and labeled them. It looks so nice not to have all of those plastic bags! I hated it when I'd get the gluten out and snag the bag and have a gluten trail from the cupboard to the counter.

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Well son just got up. And I just got an e-mail from work so I guess I'm done. Ciao for now.

Weekend out of Town

I'm Back!

We spent the weekend in Salt Lake City. We did a little shopping, a lot of eating, and some visiting, but mostly it was just to get away.

Saturday, we ate lunch at Sage's Cafe. It's this little vegan cafe over by Trolley Square. It won a Veg News award in 06. I was really excited to go there--the first time I've ever been to an actual "vegan" restaurant. I had a raw Pad Thai--it was sooooooo good. The dressing on it was just wonderful. Hubby ordered coffee with cream to drink--I reminded him that they didn't have dairy so he said that soy was OK for creamer. For lunch he had a portabella stroganoff-type stuff which was really good, too (but I liked mine better). Daughter ordered milk and was upset when reminded that they didn't have dairy. She settled for soy chocolate milk--she complained that it still tasted like soy milk, but she drank it. Both kids had french toast which they devoured. The meal was a little pricier than I would normally do, but once in a while it would be fine.

I really wish they had something like that here...........

We also went to Smith & Edwards, which is like a surplus everything store. I have been looking for a spiral slicer ever since I saw it on a web video about making zucchini pasta. They had one there for 19.95. I grabbed it. Later, we were at a kitchen store in the Gateway mall and they had the identical one for 29.95. I was feeling pretty good.

We went to Ikea as well. I love that store! We actually got out of there for less than $10 this time. We usually find things we just have to have.

We also went swimming in the hotel pool. I love to swim, but it seems that the only time I ever go is when we are out of town.

Had lunch with my sister and her friend on Sunday at Thaifoon. that was good. Went to Bed Bath and Beyond (amazingly enough, I had never been to one before). And then we came home.

Anyway, it was a good weekend. Better for just having gotten away.

Today, for lunch, I used the spiral slicer to make zucchini pasta and just put plain old tomato sauce on it. It was great! (I also had a piece of wheat bread with almond butter.) The thing is a bit of a pain to clean, but not too awfully bad.

Well, I ought to go get back to work so I can get everything done before I go get kiddos from school. Cuz after that, hubby will be getting home and we are going to be going over to a friend's new shop so hubby can do the plumbing to the tub. Little Girl also has her last puppy class tonight and kids have piano. Whew! OK now, I will quit typing this time and get back to work.

Ciao for now.