My Imaginary Chef

I had the loooongest day ever today, with being at work after a long weekend, then going to my Body Pump class until 7pm. While in class, I realized that I was starving. I then remembered that I had prepared and assembled everything in my slow cooker! My Crockpot is like my imaginary chef - I just love coming home to a cooked dinner! From Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker, I made the Half Day Ratatouille. I threw in a pound of cubed tofu to the eggplant-onion-canned tomatoes-red pepper-zucchini-garlic-pesto combo, and it was so yummy on brown rice. You're supposed to cook it on Low for 4 hours, but I had it on Low for 8, then on Keep Warm for eons until I finally got home. So, I should rename it the Looooongest Day Ratatouille.

I also enjoyed leftover dessert (to completely nullify my workout). On Monday, Kyle and I had made Apple Crumble from my only non-veggie standard cookbook, the New Cookbook. Obviously, I subbed in Sucanat and Earth Balance for the brown sugar and butter to give it the vegan touch:

My mom would be so proud that I made a 'normal' recipe. However, with just a few more batches of Brooklyn vs. Boston Cream Cupcakes from VCTOTW, I'm pretty sure I would have her kicking Betty Crocker to the curb for good! They're just that yummy.

Crisis Not-Quite Averted

Last week, an e-mail went around at work asking for volunteers to bake goods for the United Way Bake Sale. Remembering how complimentary my co-worker Derek was about my Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies, I had visions of Experimental Farm employees raving over vegan goodies. I eagerly responded that I would supply 2 dozen cookies. Worried that I would forget, I left reminders all over the house that on Tuesday night, I would bake a whole batch of Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies to take on Wednesday for the sale early on Thursday morning. How hard could it be? I had already made the recipe and it turned out great (see earlier post). By the Law of Sarah, I should have known that this endeavor would not be achieved without a major headache.

On Monday night, I thought how I’d better check that I had all of the ingredients. By late that night, I was too tired and convinced myself that I was well-equipped. My god, I had been cooking/baking all weekend, so I would have noticed if I was missing any critical ingredients. Nevertheless, I told myself that I would check before work. Needless to say, I was running very late this morning, and on my way to work, I even had to turn around and drive back to grab my purse that I had inadvertently left in my front hall before leaving. Cookie ingredients? Never gave it a thought. At work, I wondered if I had all of the ingredients, and knew that I was making a stop at a store next to the grocery store tonight. I told myself that I would do a mental check while I was there, so that I could easily stop and pick up anything I might have been missing.

So, after doing all of the other stuff around the house that I needed to do, I decided to get into my PJs and make some cookies at 9:42. I open the cupboard, and sure enough, I only have 1/3 cup of oats. Since these were "Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies", I thought that this was a critical ingredient. I thought about running to the grocery store, but in my attire, scratched that idea. I then decided I would halve the recipe. Forget the two dozen, the charity will have to be happy with one. However, with the amount of oats I had on hand, I would have to quarter the recipe. Instead, I went through my freezer, and found a ground oat/hemp seed concoction that I had saved from another recipe. I dumped that in and hoped for the best. I rushed to get the cookies on the sheet, then did a taste test. Good idea, since I forgot to add the freakin’ sugar! I tried to mix as best as I could, but one can only hope for the best. I added extra chocolate chips to make up for how disastrous this could be.

Needless to say, I won’t do vegan food any justice at the bake sale. I might be able to salvage a dozen if I’m lucky, but it’s not looking good. I'm probably going to have to re-attempt tomorrow night at some point as they are greasy looking, flat and too crispy :(




Fortunately, my Crockpot Homestyle Applesauce from the Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker cookbook turned out great. I had just finished telling some people in the lunchroom that I was vegan and that that meant no meat, no eggs and no dairy. Not even 10 seconds later, one of the eager listeners asked if I was eating pork n’ beans (my applesauce). I wasn’t offended, since there are a few folks that work for the government that aren’t the *swiftest* characters, so I didn’t take it personally and instead just relished in my apple pork-free treat.

C is for Cookie...

And this one is good enough for me! On Thursday, I had baked some Best Pumpkin Muffins (from VwaV - see Tracy's post) for my beau, Kyle, to take to his work, and had 1 cup of thawed pureed pumpkin left in the fridge. I thought I could just make another batch of muffins from my fave cookbook, but I remember seeing “Pumpkin” splashed across a few other recipes in the book. Sure enough, a recipe for Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies caught my eye. At first, I was skeptical because A) I only make one kind of oatmeal cookie that everyone raves over (I’ll post my delectable recipe soon), and B) Pumpkin in a cookie? Although the recipe called for all purpose flour and raisins, I made an executive decision to substitute whole wheat flour and chocolate chips (Kyle wants them in EVERYTHING). I am known as the Queen of Substitution, and I had to put my personalized mark on the recipe. I tried the cookies today at work, and they were awesome…the spice was a perfect complement to the crisp fall air. I had also brought an extra two cookies to share with my co-worker Derek, a self-admitted cookie freak, in order to solicit his opinion. Derek seemed thrilled with the treat, noted the spiced taste, and told me that I could bring in Kyle’s share for him to eat. I doubt that that would go over well with Kyle, although it might actually make me popular at work.

As Tracy mentioned, VwaV rawks. That being said, for fear of turning this blog into an Isa-worshipping site, I thought I’d talk about a recipe from one of my other favourite cookbook authors. I made this delectable All-Day Minestrone Soup from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson. It was delish, and probably one of the easiest Crockpot recipes I have ever made (I know Crockpots are supposed to be effortless, but I find a lot of recipes involve browning/cooking many of the ingredients in advance, thus making it seem like I’m still having to tend to the meal). I used Eden’s organic Alphabet noodles, which brought me back to eating Alphagetti as a kid :) For my more mature tastebuds, I mixed in some homemade pesto at the end, as the recipe suggested, and it really gave it a lot of flavour. I’m glad this recipe called for chickpeas, as I seem to hate every other bean out there.

The one thing I absolutely love about the Crockpot is coming home after a long day at work in the bureaucracy-filled public service, opening the door, and smelling dinner cooking. I actually forget that I turned it on it the morning, so I get excited at the realization that I don’t have to cook! I then sort of pretend that someone has made me dinner and it’s just waiting to be served! The reality is that I live alone, and I don’t expect anyone to come to my house and make me dinner anytime soon :(

PS - Tracy...you need to get the Wearever Muffin Tin...it makes clean-up a breeze. Ditch the muffin papers and go commando...