Time!

Fact one about me and my life: I am the only vegan in the house! And I'm the chef; one because I have a passion for cooking, and two well I'm the wife...although I have noticed that my husband has taken over the responsibility of cooking the meat most of the time. Maybe because we have been grilling so much, either on the outside gas grill or the Foreman grill..or as he has just mentioned to me, because he fears I may secretly substitute his "rotting carcass" for something real and healthy! But not only do I have to cook for a non-vegan husband, but I have a picky non-vegan toddler I have to cook for too!

(Oh a NOTE: My morals state that I will allow my daughter to make the choice on whether or not she becomes vegan. At this moment, my daughter is primarily a vegetarian. She loves cheese and yogurt, but rarely eats any meat. I think because during the day I make a meal that her and I both can eat and then for dinner, she is served both from my husbands meal as well as mine. She is given lots of choices, but I don't serve her meat that much so she hasn't really grown accustomed to eating it all the time at every meal. Therefore, she doesn't eat it much which is fine with me!!)

So I have to cook a breakfast and lunch for her and I during the week, and then for dinner and on the weekends, I have to cook an all around meal we all can kind of share....IT'S TOUGH..let's just put it that way! But today I had the time to go ahead and fix our meals and take a quick pick of my oh so loved meals. I love photography too so it gave me time to practice.



So for breakfast I fixed a "Rum Soaked Raisins and Brown Sugar" waffle and topped it with "fried" plantain slices that I coated in brown suagr and fried in vegan buttery spread with a splash of Jamaican rum at the end to give it that spiced flavor. For a finish, a sprinkle of finely chopped hazlnuts. Delicious!!! I was trying to figure out how to fix my plantain that was quickly ripening in the pantry. I had seen many recipes for deep or regular frying, but I'm calorie conscious. There were a few baking recipes too, but again in this economy electricity matters and so does my time! So I decided "sauteed" or "fried" sounds easy and simple and it worked, amazingly enough. And the rum gave both good flavor. I love cooking with wine and alcohol. I think it gives great flavor to food and yes, I love drinking in moderation. I love trying new foods and that includes new drinks!

Then lunch. As my daughter and husband chowed down on oven-baked pepperoni pizza I decided I was gonna use the leftover homemade corn salsa we had in the fridge from our "Chipotle Style" meal we had the other night. I cooked some rice and made a delicious Black Bean and Corn Salsa wrap! I heated it on a lightly greased skillet til crispy and lgolden brown and served it up with homemade tofu sour cream! OH was it good!




Then dinner: My husband grilled up a steak and a boca burger for my daughter and I. Then as he chowed down on cheese and bacon baked potato as his side item, I made Hummus Mushroom Mashed Potatoes with a sprinkle of paprika for me (a recipe I got from a Rachel Ray magazine that I, of course, modified to cater to my veganism. Also, instead of Shiitake mushrooms I used sliced baby bellas instead!)and some cheesy mashed potatoes and a veggie salad for my daughter. And of course, I can never eat my boca plain so as it was already seasoned with Montreal Steak Seasoning, I added a spread of hummus and more corn salsa (I'm addicted to it!) Unfortunately, I had to go with the instant potatoes for our mashed potatoes...but minus the lack of real texture that comes with real mashed potatoes..our meal ended up pretty tasty!


I enjoyed my day cooking and taking photos of my food. My family thought me crazy, questioning my actions, as they saw me clicking away trying to get the best light and angles instead of enjoying my creation before it got cold, but hey it's the two biggest things I love to do; cook and photography! What can be better!!??

Oh and P.S. I promise, this will be a once in a blue moon thing...I won't be posting everything I cook....just those that I create or have to share!! So for those who are rolling their eyes saying "When will it end!" I promise it won't always be like this! I'm just excited because it's my very first posting and I took pics!