Happy Summer Solstice

Click HERE for a summer solstice morning glory feast :)

Happy Beltane!!!

Click HERE for an oldie but goodie Beltane recipe & post :)

Happy Ostara!

Well, Spring has sprung -- although it snowed for a wee bit today, as if Winter wanted one last hurrah :)

We celebrated the Vernal Equinox as we always do: a dozen trinket-filled plastic eggs are hidden throughout the house, and in order to get the goodies in the 13th egg (a large, wicker egg-shaped container thingy) you must find all 12 of the small colored ones. That and a basket of little toys for each child to open takes up pretty much the whole morning.

For lunch we had eggplant lasagna from my FAVORITE recipe blogger -- her stuff is soooooo good I wouldn't even dream of tweaking it. To go along with it we had a simple salad of spring greens and our traditional crescent rolls (yes, Pillsbury) -- one of which is 3 points. Oh, and they are vegan! Not healthy, mind you, but vegan nonetheless.

It's our tradition to decorate cupcakes instead of coloring eggs. This is my tweaked version of a carrot cupcake recipe found in Isa Chandra Moskowitz's book, "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World". Without frosting they are 2pts ea -- I usually just let the gang go crazy with the different colored frostings & sprinkles while I blissfully nibble on mine naked (the cupcake is naked, that is, not me!)

Orange Carrot Cupcakes

(This recipe is halved to make only 6)

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup grated or shredded carrots

1/8 tsp baking powder

3/8 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp salt

1 TBS grapeseed oil

5 TBS plain or vanilla soy yogurt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

zest of 1/2 orange

Preheat the oven to 350. Line a muffin tin with 6 cupcake papers.

Wisk the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Add the wet ingredients and blend well. Evenly distribute the batter between all 6 cupcakes. Bake for about 23-27 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes, then remove to a rack. Cool completely before frosting/decorating.

Hoppy Spring, have an egg-cellent day!!!!!

Kiss me, I'm Irish!

And that's no blarney, neither :) Yet I confess we don't go all out for St. Patrick's Day. Maybe it's because March 17th falls so close to Ostara, the first day of spring -- a holiday we DO celebrate. Either way, my family and I wear our green, and we eat some sort of Irish inspired foods at our meals.

If you'd like a nice dinner idea, click here -- my Imbolc menu would make a lovely St Pat's feast.

This year we're very busy and so going quite simple -- that means cabbage & onions, along with "tatties in their jackets" (aka baked potatoes with the skins on). I'll roast a few carrots, too, and we'll have our traditional soda bread as always, along with a glass of Guiness, of course :)

Irish Soda Bread

WeightWatchers POINTS: 2

· 4 cups (1 pound) flour (I like whole wheat pastry flour)
· 1 teaspoon baking soda
· 1/4 teaspoon salt
· 1/2 to 3/4 pint of soured soymilk*

Mix dry ingredients together. *Add 1tsp white vinegar to 1 cup of soymilk and set aside for 5 minutes. Mix the soured milk with the rest of the ingredients and stir to form a loose dough. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Form into a round about 2 inches high and make a large X with a sharp knife in top of dough. Bake on a baking sheet misted w/oil at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Makes 1 loaf, 8 servings.

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May the road rise up to meet ye, and the wind be always at your back!

All you need is Love...

...well, and chocolate, of course! But we'll get to that in a minute.

Actually, we don't make a really big deal out of Valentine's Day. (I'd rather honor V-day, but that's a whole 'nother post) Anyway, I've told my DH not to buy me over priced flowers or trinkets anymore. (Yes, his friends do think he's lucky to have me, lol) But seriously, we celebrate our love in many more meaningful ways the other 364 days a year. And for special moments of awareness there's always our wedding anniversary, birthdays, Mother's & Father's day, etc. Oh, and as to greeting cards, well, I'd rather get a love note straight from the heart than some sappy Hallmark creation anyday.

Instead we do a couple little fun things w/the kids. This year we're placing pieces of paper with each family member's name on them into a basket and then choosing one person to make a Valentine for. We're going to sit around the dining table and make the cards together as a family, but it will be a secret which person we're each making our special Valentine for. Since my little one is still a baby, his older sister will also make one for her little brother, whom she adores.

As to edibles and sticking with my 2008 Holiday Menu Challenge, I'm geting creative with cookie cutters! I've got a few in various sizes to choose from. I might cut out veggie burger hearts, maybe some heart shapped polenta slices to float in a bowl of tomato soup...or how about pretty heart shapped slices of beets set upon a bed of greens for a sweet salad? (hmm, I think there's a joke in there about my beeting vegan heart, but I won't go there ;p )

If you're looking for something more creative than cookie cutter cut-outs, go to one of my favorite food blogs and check out what's there for Valentine's Day, some of the recipes are pretty impressive.

I can hear it now...yes, but...what about the chocolate??? Ok, ok, I hear you. I do intend to make some VERY simple dark chocolate hearts with a candy mold I bought at a craft shop. I'll just melt some vegan chocolate chips in the microwave and pour the chocolate into the molds; couldn't be easier. But perhaps the best part is that each heart is only 1/2 tsp of chocolate, so for 2 points I can have 10!!!

Happy Valentine's Day to me :)

Imbolc Menu

For quick access to the recipes:
Cottage Pie (aka Shepherds Pie) – Core (3 Flex pts)
Smokey Cabbage & Onions – Core (0 Flex pts)
Roasted Applesauce (1pt)
Crispy Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies (3pts)

To see the original post introducing the year of holiday menus: click here

Game on!

Here's some game time snack ideas in keeping with my 2008 Holiday Menu Challenge. Ok, so I know the Super Bowl isn't really a holiday, but it is a good reason to celebrate -- especially if your team is playing (Go Giants!)

These are simple, but still a bit of a step up from your routine pizza & chips:

-seasoned roasted chickpeas (roast for approx 1hr @350)
-stuffed potato skins (stuff w/broccoli, melt soy cheese on top)
-guacamole w/pita chips (1 pita = 12 chips for only 1 pt!)
-polenta rounds w/salsa to dip (broil 1/2" thick slices for 10min ea side)

That leaves me with 4pts -- enough for 2 lite beers!

May the best team win!!!

PS: Hey, they DID -- yay Giants!!!!!!!!