Cooking | Page 5

Friday Roundup: Vest in Progress, Lots of Cooking

What I’m Knitting

Remember the mystery cabled strip from last week? Here’s the big reveal:

I loved the sideways, pick up stitches construction of my Keelback Hat, so I wanted to try a garment this way. I like it so far! The band is sticking out from the stockinette fabric a bit too far for my taste, but blocking will almost certainly solve that. Just the armhole edgings to go, so I should have an FO to show off next week!

What I’m Cooking

I was busy this week! We went to a Talk Like a Pirate Day party on Saturday (so fun! And if you ever want to see a roomful of grown people squeal, bring a one-year-old to a party in full pirate costume). I made potato boats to fit the theme (vegan, of course) and even managed to make up a few sails. They were a hit!

I plowed through three more recipes on the cookbook challenge, too!

Chana Saag over rice (yummy!):

Sushi roll salad (not so yummy… actually, I’m counting this as my first real fail from this cookbook. The hubby and I didn’t really like it, and it was SUPER fiddly to make. Think I’ll just stick with real sushi rolls in the future. But hey, at least it’s pretty…)

And roasted red pepper/tomato soup with sweet potato biscuits. My son LOVED the biscuits—I think they’re his new favorite food.

For my Wednesday dinner-for-a-crowd meal, I made quinoa-stuffed peppers. OMG, these were amazing. Somehow the quinoa, black bean, and corn filling with Mexican spices managed to be almost ground-beef like. I’d make these all the time, but it gets a little expensive with the peppers. I’ll have to keep an eye out for sales!

What I’m Reading

I finished the next two books in the Tiffany Aching series, Wintersmith and I Shall Wear Midnight. They were so good! This series, unlike so many others, gets better and better with each book. I can’t wait to read the new one, the last in the series.

Friday Roundup: Mystery and Tempeh

What I’m Knitting

After finishing the nautical baby sweater (still working on the pattern—and a good name that isn’t already taken!), I wanted to cast on for another baby/child garment. I have enough of this lovely yarn from a local Indiana company (Good for Ewe Yarns) for a vest if I’m frugal with the yarn. After several swatches, I finally hit upon something I like:

This is actually part of the garment itself, not a swatch! You’ll have to guess how this will turn into a vest. I just might spoil it next week, depending on how much progress I make.

What I’m Cooking

The next few recipes up on deck in my cookbook challenge were, again, ones I probably wouldn’t have made without this challenge. First up, blackened tofu (served with cauliflower/potato mash ):

It was really good! I’m not generally a fan of tofu unless it’s chopped up small or doused in savory sauce, but the Cajun spices worked so well here. Definitely making this one again.

The next recipe was Isa’s veganized, healthified version of her childhood favorite, Hamburger Helper. I think I only had it once or twice at friends’ houses, but I have to say, this tempeh helper did sort of remind me of it!

I also made a fabulous Arabian lentil soup from the cookbook this week, but I forgot to get a picture. Gotta get better about that.

What I’m Reading

Due to an unpleasant lack of time to read (grrr…), I’m still working on Wintersmith. But I should be done by the end of the weekend!

Friday Roundup: An FO and Spring Rolls!

What I’m Knitting

I finished all the knitting on the little nautical sweater (mark 2)! Here’s my son testing the fit. This is pre-blocking, so the white stripe won’t pull up as much in the center as it does here.

So I know I’m biased, but how freaking adorable is he???

I’m going to be blocking the sweater this weekend and then whipping the pattern into shape for testing next week. (PSA: If you’d be interested in testing one of the sizes, join my Ravelry group where I post all my tests! You can even sign up to be notified when I have a new test up so you get first dibs.)

What I’m Cooking

Thanks to a dreadful cold that knocked me out for several days, I didn’t get much cooking done this week. I did manage some rice, lentil, and kale soup:

And the second thing I cooked was actually really cool! I made spring rolls for the first time, using rice papers (so weird!), crispy tofu, rice noodles, and veggies:

My setup…

With vegetable fried rice and homemade peanut dipping sauce

What I’m Reading

I just started the third in the Tiffany Aching series, Wintersmith!

Friday Roundup: Uh oh…

What I’m Knitting

So I was pretty happy with the progress I made on the nautical-themed toddler sweater this week… until I took a good look at my WIP after binding off the cuff on the first sleeve.

It looks cute, but also out of proportion to me—that’s a long sleeve for such a short body! I went pattern diving on Ravelry last night and came up with every number imaginable for toddler sweater body and sleeve lengths. There’s clearly no standard. So what I’m planning to do is try it on my son when he wakes up from his nap and adjust accordingly. I’m thinking I’ll need to add some rows to the body (which will work out okay since I think I’d like more blue before the ribbing anyway).

This is one of those times when I’m soooo happy I knit this sweater top down!

What I’m Cooking

Still going strong on my cookbook challenge, but I only managed two recipes from it this week. First, a spicy blue potato and corn salad. Something I’d never make normally (blue potatoes were not exactly on my regular shopping list), but it was really good! I also used canned chipotles for the spicy part—another first!

The second one from the cookbook was a vegetable korma. It called for garam masala, which I couldn’t find pre-made at my grocery store, so I made my own with cumin, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, coriander, and a few other spices. Indian food purists would scoff, I’m sure, but I thought it was pretty good!

I liked the korma, but I’m a little spoiled by full-fat curries, so it did feel like it was lacking something. Next time I make it, I think I’ll use full-fat coconut milk instead of light.

I went off cookbook for my Wednesday meal for a crowd. Sometimes I absolutely crave comfort food, so I tried a new-to-me green chile mac and “cheese” recipe from Minimalist Baker. It was amazing (maybe because I’ve been eating all this low-fat stuff, haha). I served it up with some simple roasted broccoli and some toasted crumbled tortilla chips on top for crunch:

What I’m Reading

I’m well into my friend’s manuscript and loving it so far! It’s fun to read things well ahead of publication, but it’s tough when you want to share it with everyone you know and can’t….

Friday Roundup: Birthday Edition

What I’m Knitting:

I still need to block the colorwork mitt from last week, but I started another project! Remember the little nautical sweater that I blogged about last month? I was really unhappy with the way the topmost white stripe on the body was pulling up, and there were a few other things I didn’t like about it, like the way the bottom flared out a bit and the bordering-on-too-tight neck opening.

Here’s the pic—see what I mean?

So when I heard Knit Picks had a new easy-care yarn out, I figured I could kill two birds with one stone—try out the yarn and reknit the sample with some changes. I’m through the yoke and rolling along on the stripes for the body:

It’s the same general concept, as you can see, but there will be some other changes (more stripes on the sleeves, for one). Hopefully I’ll have some decent progress to show off next week.

What I’m Cooking

My birthday was this week, and a good friend had a birthday a few days later. I made a dinner of shepherd’s pie (with lentils standing in for the meat) for our little party and baked a chocolate cake for afterwards! It was delicious. I actually think vegan cakes taste better. You don’t get that eggy taste, and they’re not so rich that you can’t finish a piece. Even the omni guests said it was one of the better cakes they’d had.

We were low on birthday candles, so there’s one for each of us!

I’m still working on my Appetite for Reduction cookbook challenge! This week, the recipes on deck were fusilli with roasted veggies:

Lentil soup with lots of veggies (so good!):

And two things I never would have made without this challenge, shaved Brussels sprouts and oven-baked onion rings! The onion rings in particular were an experience, what with the battering and breading. But they were really good! Not greasy like fried ones, just crunchy and salty. I’ll definitely be making them again. We had them with some pre-marinated tofu:

What I’m Reading:

Although I managed to get a decent amount of cooking and knitting in this week, my reading time suffered. So I’m still working on A Hat Full of Sky, although I’m hurrying to get through so I can read a writer friend’s manuscript!

Friday Roundup: Why You Should Block Colorwork, and Challenge Accepted!

What I’m Knitting

The second colorwork mitt is alllmost done—just the thumb ribbing and weaving in ends to go!

I sometimes get comments about how even my colorwork is on my FOs… to which I always respond, “Nope, it’s just blocking.” Here’s an illustration of what I mean: the unblocked mitt next to the blocked one (they are, of course, the exact same stitch count, needle size, etc.).

I think the difference is even more obvious on the reverse side:

So anyway, there’s my PSA for the day: block your colorwork!

What I’m Cooking

Remember I said I was considering cooking every single recipe in my new Appetite for Reduction cookbook in order? Well, I accepted my own challenge and started in on it this week! I’m aiming for 2-3 recipes a week, since most of them make enough for leftovers for another meal the next day.

I’ve already cooked several things I wouldn’t have otherwise, and they were all delicious! I missed getting a picture of the baked falafel, which was a bit time-consuming, but amazing. I love falafel, but it’s usually fried in oil—not exactly health food. The baked ones came out moist and delicious. Next time I’ll double the recipe.

Here’s what I did manage to photograph. First, a quinoa-chickpea dinner salad with homemade balsamic dressing. We don’t usually eat dinner salads (hence the need for reduction, ahem), but this one was really filling and just enough with a few pieces of crusty bread. This was my first time making my own salad dressing—it was yummy!

Next up is a chickpea piccata, served over spinach and what Isa (the cookbook author) calls “caulipots”: a steamed potatoes/cauliflower mix mashed with a little olive oil. The whole thing was amazing! We gobbled it up and didn’t have any leftovers that day.

And finally, another dinner salad, this one from another cookbook (we had leftover quinoa that I wanted to use up, so I went looking for a recipe). This is a mock Caesar with homemade dressing and tempeh “croutons.” Another winner (especially the croutons! I usually find tempeh pretty bitter, but this method of cooking them was great).

Stay tuned for next week’s challenge recipes!

What I’m Reading

I finished The Wee Free Men and started in on book #2 in the series, A Hat Full of Sky. I love these books so much!

Friday Roundup: New Recipes and Half a Mitt

What I’m Knitting

The colorwork mitt is chugging along! Gone are the days when I could have finished something like this in a few days of knitting, sigh, but at least I’m nearly done with the thumb gusset now:

I’m using my Knit Picks Harmony interchangeables to work the Magic Loop technique for these mitts. Normally I prefer DPNs for hand stuff, but getting the colorwork floats the right tension at the edges of all those needles is a nightmare. The cord on these needles is so flexible that they’re really nice for Magic Loop.

What I’m Cooking

Lots of stuff from the new cookbook I got (Appetite for Reduction). I love this cookbook so much that I’m actually contemplating working my way through the entire thing, Julia & Julia style. My husband’s on board—it’ll mean we try a bunch of new-to-us ingredients and tastes, so it should be fun!

This is a low-fat wine sauce over pasta, with (delicious) vegan eggplant “bacon” on top:

And these are sweet potato biscuits, a clever recipe that replaces nearly all of the butter/shortening usually found in biscuits with mashed sweet potato:

They were perfect with this kale, quinoa, potato, and white bean stew:

And last but not least, this AMAZING tortilla soup. Holy cow, was this yummy.

I did have a little mishap with this one. It called for a couple of jalapeños, which I’ve cooked with before without any problems. But somehow I got some of the juice underneath a couple of my fingernails… and they were on FIRE for the whole rest of the day. I cut the nails short, scrubbed them with an old toothbrush, soaked them in soapy water, used rubbing alcohol—nothing helped. It finally wore off on its own overnight, but yikes. Think I’ll wear some gloves next time I cut hot peppers.

What I’m Reading

I just finished a re-read of one of my favorite books, by my favorite author: The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett. The last book in the series is coming out in a few months (very bittersweet for me, because the author passed away a few months ago and this is the last new book of his I’ll ever read). I decided to re-read the previous four books before the new one.

Friday Roundup: Hey, a Finished Object!

What I’m Knitting:

It’s been a while since I’ve had an FO ready to show off for FO Friday!

Here’s my nautical baby pullover (actual name forthcoming, obviously…):

The specs:

Pattern: My own. I started the pattern writing and am aiming to release this one at the beginning of the fall knitting season—hopefully early to mid September.

Yarn: Universal Uptown Worsted in Royal Blue (2 skeins) and Cream (1 skein). I liked the yarn a lot! For 100% acrylic, it was very non-squeaky and soft. I’ll probably use it again for super-easy-care baby gifts.

Notes: This was a fun, relaxing knit. It’s top down, all in one piece, so the only thing that was complicated at all was the short rows on the shawl collar (which, frankly, were a good thing after all that stockinette). I was aiming for a 1-2 year old size and was worried that it came out a little small, but I tried it on my son (1 yr) and it fits him well with a little room to grow. Perfect! Now the weather just has to cooperate for outside pictures.

What I’m Cooking:

Not something I made from scratch, but something I ate several times this week: I just discovered this new and amazing product:

That is dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free mac and cheese! And it’s delicious. I throw in some frozen peas and broccoli to up the veggie quotient and it’s a fabulous quick lunch or dinner. Plus my son loves it—bonus!

I did manage to make some yummy tofu Pad Thai, which I always crave in hot weather for some reason:

And these excellent maple-syrup-sweetened, vegan banana oat muffins:

My son adores these as well, which is great because I’m always loathe to give him the sugary store-bought ones.

What I’m Reading:

I just finished The Dream Thieves (soooo good!) and am currently on the hunt for another MG/YA book to read. I think I’m going to take a break from intense and read something fun and quick before I tackle the third Raven Boys book.

Friday Roundup: A Finished Object and a Helper

What I’m Knitting:

I finished the knitting on the nautical pullover. I’m mostly happy with it. It fits my son with a little room to spare, so that should be perfect for a fall photoshoot. I’m not altogether pleased with the way the topmost white stripe is pulled up by the collar, but I’m hoping a good blocking should even that out. Blocking will commence tonight or tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Here it is in all its unblocked, lumpy glory (see my helper underneath the table?):

I also knit up a very large, intricately cabled swatch this week. It’s for a design submission to a yarn company, so I can’t show a full pic, but here’s a teaser. I love the way cables look in heathered wool:

What I’m Cooking:

Some old standbys this week. We were still playing catchup from our trip, so I didn’t have a whole lot of time to cook. My favorite lentil, kale, quinoa stew made an appearance. The MVPs of this stew are my time-saving helpers, pre-chopped garlic:

And veggie broth bouillon cubes, so I always have broth on hand:

And again, I had a little helper keeping me company:

What I’m Reading:

Back to the second Raven Boys book, The Dream Thieves! (I just got a notification that it’s overdue from the library. Oops. To renewals I go!)

Friday Roundup: I’m Back!

What I’m Knitting

I missed posting last week while on vacation, but I’m back home as of a few days ago and settling back into the routine! Thanks to a road trip from the Seattle area to Sacramento, CA, I managed to finish most of a little nautical-themed pullover idea I’ve had brewing for a while:

I would have finished the whole thing, but I only brought one ball of the blue yarn, thinking I’d never get through that much with the little one to worry about. Oh well, now that I’m back, hopefully I can get it wrapped up this week. It just needs the second sleeve and the shawl collar, so not too bad.

We stopped in another lovely little yarn shop on our travels and I managed to score another couple of great skeins…but our suitcases were overfull, so I had to have those shipped. Hopefully I’ll have them by next week!

What I’m Cooking:

I actually cooked quite a bit in Sacramento, but I forgot to get pics (and it was mostly my old standbys that I’ve shown a few times here already, anyway). My son’s favorite food right now is my vegan broccoli “cheddar” soup, so I whipped up a big batch of that for his first birthday party last week. It was a hit!

Now that I’m home, we’re about to go on an epic grocery shopping trip and much cooking will commence. I always feel like I need to detox after a vacation—anyone else feel that way too?

What I’m Reading:

My husband and I have been fans of Allie Brosh’s Hyperbole and a Half blog for years, so I had to get him this book version for his birthday. I got to read it when he was done. It’s just as funny as the blog! I was reading it on the plane with my son sleeping on my lap, trying not to laugh too much and wake him up.