Long Weekend Fun - Cooking, Baking & Reading

Long weekends are meant to sleep in, catch up on stuff and relax. I did that plus some tea sipping, reading, baking and cooking.

Since Chipotle introduced sofritas I go once a week! I love a nice salad with sofritas, black beans, fresh salsa and guac! Also our mall just opened a Teavana - so I had to get my blueberry tea fix! Matt got my free Izzy at Chipotle - I love text coupons!

We were supposed to BBQ on Sunday but after inspecting our grill and with the wind kicking in we decided not to. After buying ingredients for potato salad, I was craving it! I was sent a copy of Grills Gone Vegan by Tamasin Noyes to review and was looking forward to grilling but I did make the Tangy Dijon Sauce and served it warm over potatoes for a warm potato salad - soooo good! I served it with pan fried BBQ tofu, garlic cheeze bread and watermelon. Good!

Monday we slept in a little too much. After having breakfast at lunch time and trying to get my routine in order (yoga, tea, house work, lunch) I decided to make cookies with a jar of Speculoos spread Matt bought for me at Target. I am still adjusting the recipe - the cookies work well with tea though!

Dinner was a generic East-Feast. I made date-raisin chutney from the first Candle Cafe cookbook (I made some subs, like cinnamon for ginger because the two stores I went to had no ginger to be found). I served it over simple stove top yellow rice, so tasty - comfort food! I made the Mediterranean tofu marinade from Vegan Eats World by Terry Hope Romero (subbing apple cider vinegar for white wine, and pan steaming the tofu instead of baking it). Also from the book I made Roasted Broccoli with Sage and loved it! I want more of it now!

Since Saturday I have been wrapped up in Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. If you like young adult books go get it now! It is really good, I have to force myself to put it down and do things like feed Mar, wash laundry and shower! I have more books in the YA genre that I picked up from the library to go through...First some tea though!

Simply Spiced Potato Salad

[Simply Spiced Potato Salad]

4 medium red potatoes - washed & chopped into irregular chunks
1/4 cup Vegenaise (or fave vegan mayo)
1 tablespoon of mustard
2 teaspoons of Mohhini Vegetable Blend spices (I get this at the farmer's market)
1 teaspoon of chili powder

Boil enough water to cover potatoes a large stock pot. Once water is boiling, add potatoes and let cook for 10 minutes. Drain water from potatoes and let them stand at for about 30 minutes to cool down. In the same pot with the potatoes (to save on dish washing time) mix Vegenaise, mustard and spices into the potatoes till they are coated. Let potato salad chill in a container with a tight lid in the fridge for a few hours. You can also eat it warm - Matt likes it this way!


Lately I have been making this dish for lunch for Matt and I even brought it to a potluck over the weekend. I bought these little plastic containers at the store that are great for a nice serving of hearty potato salad. I make it the night before and just throw everything together in the morning in his lunch bag.
I know most potato salads contain things like onions and olives...Matt does not like these things. He was not even sure about Vegenaise - but both him and Mar like it! Feel free to add anything you fancy. The spice mixture from the farmer's market punches up the color beautifully and makes it smell wonderful. The spice mixture is almost incence like on it's own - very nicely fragrant! I would check out the site and order some!

Yay - Package of Delights

Kala over at Vegancraftastic and I arranged to do a June swap. She sent her package to me a few days ago and I received it yesterday. I got lots of awesome goodies! Here are some pictures. Sorry about the low lighting in the living room - it was 100+ degrees outside - no way was I going out to burn!



I have the vegan rib cage print in pink framed in my office, I am actually going to put this one in the kitchen! Chocolate coins - I am saving one to leave at the cemetery for my sister - she loved these! Green goddess seasoning, soda pop candy, purse sized nutty chocolate spread - yes! Also look at the awesome buttons I will be rockin' from her Etsy shop!


Primal Strip - my boyfriend asked if we could pick up some of these when we are in Sacramento this week - he was like 'mmmmMMMMmmmm', tea biscuits - yummy on their own - but spread a bit of Speculoos spread on them and you just take them to a new level! Tea, spices and more yummy spread round it all out in this photo!


Paper Source paper craft stuff: awesome because I am learning how to lino block carve and really want some cool papers to try out! Strawberry stuff for my collection: new purse pen and a wee lil spatula!!!

Thank you Kala - you rocked my day! I hope when you get back from your vacation my box brings a smile on your face!