Chocolate Covered Katie Love

Today I finally threw together some fudge babies following Katie's recipe.  I found a digital scale right before xmas and have loved having it.  I attempted 3 kinds.

First

Cashew Cookie Larabar
These ended up a little too gooey so I rolled them in shredded coconut.

Then I had a little fun and added some almonds to the top.

Next

 Original Fudge Babies

These were also a little gooey but I think my dates were extra juicy.  I think I could have added a few more walnuts.  But they weren't so gooey that I needed to roll them in coconut.

Finally I attempted the original fudge babies sans cocoa powder but with the addition of chocolate chips.  Unfortunately this one did not come together because it was a little wet.  Doesn't mean it wasn't delicious, it just didn't form into bars.

I also spent some of the day looking over Katie's older posts.  So far I want to try Texas Caviar and Sweet and Sour Seitan.  My boyfriend and I went to dinner at Sipz on Wednesday and though I am usually not the biggest fan of the restaurant or of imitation meat, their "chicken" had the most realistic texture ever.  I really want to try to master seitan.  When I was looking up seitan I came across this recipe that I also really want to try.

And in case you haven't heard, Katie is giving away a vita-mix blender.  If you have ever wanted one, I suggest you visit this page.

Thanks!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

This weekend I was perusing the interwebs, looking at random Vegan MoFO, when I came across some Chocolate Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies that someone had made from Veganomicon.  They looked so delicious that, had I not been out of cocoa powder, I would have made them right then and there.  Alas, I had to wait a whole 24 hours to make them!  Let me tell you, these cookies were worth the wait.  After I mixed up the dough, I had decided to make 1/2 of them without nuts for my non nut loving boyfriend.  This was before I had given the dough a taste.  Seriously, I could have eaten the whole thing raw it was so yummy.  In the end, I decided to make only 1/3 without nuts which left the other 2/3 all for me (and to share with a few select people). This is very unusual for me.  Generally I will give up nuts in an effort to compromise or at least take the smaller portion, but these were just too damn good. 

Seriously, if you make these be prepared to have someone to share with.  The recipe makes 3 dozen and I easily find myself eating one or two and then wishing they were healthy enough to eat at least one more.

Nom.

Dinner and a smoothie

Today at the farmer's market I got some brussel sprouts which I thought would be nice for dinner.  I used the recipe for Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Toasted Garlic from Vegan with a Vengeance.  I also threw in some cauliflower to satisfy my other half who is not the biggest fan of the sprouts.  I thought that these along with some nuggets would be a pretty good dinner.  Then I got to thinking that a salad would be nice as well.  I bought tons of lettuce today but not too many things that I wanted to add to a salad.  In the end I decided on a strange to me combination of lettuce, walnuts, raspberries and balsamic vinaigrette.  After I had the salad assembled I kept looking at it and trying to figure out what I could add to it to make it seem more appealing.  I decided to just try it as it was and surprise, surprise, it was delicious! 

After I finished eating this I didn't feel quite full.  I was tempted to smash up some raspberries and eat them with another one of these cinnamon rolls but since I had already had 2 for breakfast I didn't think it was very appropriate.  So I thought.  And I thought.  And I went into the kitchen with the intention of making some sort of a smoothie.  I pulled out some frozen cherries and some soy milk and continued to think.  I tried to figure out what I could include with those two items to make something yummy.  Then it struck me.  I had a little bit of a package of chocolate pudding mix left and so I would make a chocolate, cherry shakey, smoothie, puddingy thing.  I added some arrowroot powder for thickening though I think the pudding mix already had a bit of a thickener in it.

And voila

This was sooo good.  Everything balanced really well.  I had just enough pudding mix left to not overpower the cherry and the soy milk made it so creamy.  It was quite a lot like a milkshake.  I only wish I had enough to make more!