Vegan MoFo - Halloween

I loved Rowan's scrunched up face in this one. This was taken at our playgroup's Halloween party. Rowan had a grand time. It was WAY too hot for him to wear his costume so he happily sported his alien shirt, gobbled up sweets, and climbed trees.
Here the kids are on the way to Athena's school this morning. They had a costume parade and a party at snack time. I hear the bagels and tofutti were a big hit. One of her teachers even asked me where to buy it.
From behind (cat and dog).
Here is what my kids ate for treats.
And here is what they got in their trick or treat bags. What to do with all of the junk? I'm guessing we'll send it to Chris' work although the garbage dumpster is sounding better and better.


If you have vegan kids, then chances are you may give more thought to the traditional trick or treating than others. Each year, I think way too hard about it and it always ends up working out just fine. I usually tell Athena she can pick out 4 vegan candies from her bag and then we should leave the rest for the Halloween fairy who will bring her a special present. This year she chose a package of dots(same as last year and about the only non organic candy she has ever had) and then I just gave her some of the stuff I had brought (see picture) and she was completely satisfied. It was so easy. Rowan pretty much ate the same stuff as Athena, poor kid ate more sugar today then someone his age should eat in a year!
For dinner, we fed the kids some yummy alphabet pasta with Amy's "Family Marinara" pasta sauce, homemade parma, and some Italian field roast sausages (who has time to cook on Halloween?). The kids gobbled up their dinner, which made me happy since I knew the rest of the evening would be a sugar fest.

Kids enjoying their dinner outside at the picnic table.
Halloween cousins.
"I don't want to be a dog I want to be Superman!" I think Rowan noticed all the super hero boys today because when he saw this costume he was pretty certain that it was better than the dog one. It looked way more comfortable at least as the dog one was a little too small.

Vegan MoFo - Bagels for dinner

I've been feeling crazy today after 2 nights without much sleep and some cranky kids on my hands. As I've mentioned before, Athena has soccer practice on Thursdays and we don't get home until 5:30 (or later when we have last minute Halloween errands), and since I cooked a proper lunch (lemon garlic noodles with broccoli and tempeh), I fed the kids bagels for dinner. I toasted a sesame bagel, threw on some pepper jack rice cheese (yes the vegan one), and spread on some avocado. With sides of peas and grapes, the kids were happy as clams. I scrounged up some leftovers, and now am "sitting" down to a raw burger that Chris made. I have 3 more very busy days, and then I'm hoping to get back to my routine. Tomorrow is going to be crazy! I'm feeling like October wasn't the best month of food for me. I'll try harder next year.

Vegan MoFo Day 21 - Lunch Bunch and canned peaches

Today Athena stayed for "lunch bunch" at her school for the first time. Last year she never wanted to, even though I kept asking, but today she was ready. I didn't take a picture of her lunch, but I packed her a hummus sandwich on sprouted bread, spicy nori strips, 2 mini apples, organic whole wheat crackers, and an organic juice (a rare treat around here). She ate everything but her crusts (no surprise) and one of the apples. It was all packed in a laptop lunchbox and it worked very well. She was in a great mood when I picked her up at 12:45 (didn't want to push it on her first day), I was thrilled. She goes to school 3 days a week (9-noon), and I'm hoping that once a week she'll stay later to give me more time with Rowan and to get some errands done. Plus, next year will be a much longer day so it seems like good practice. Today, Rowan and I were able to walk to Whole Foods to pick up stuff for her school Halloween party. We are bringing bagels with tofutti cream cheese (the yellow one without the hydrogenated oils), and some special Halloween sprinkles (orange sugar sprinkles and chocolate sprinkles). It doesn't sound that good to me, but it made Athena feel like we were bringing more of a treat since she got the idea in her head that we were bringing cupcakes and we are not. Her school has a policy where you have to bring store bought food or make it at the school, but with Rowan in tow, I just can't imagine making 2 dozen cupcakes at her school in a totally non childproofed kitchen. And we only have 1 vegan bakery in town, and it would have probably cost me $30 or $40 to get enough cupcakes for the class which just isn't happening.

So, this leads me to the canned peaches. While at Trader Joes tonight, I saw a new item "organic canned peaches in light syrup" and for some reason I bought them. What am I going to do with them? I've never bought canned peaches before and am not sure why I did it tonight. So please, if you have any ideas, then let me know as I really have no clue.

Vegan MoFo Day 20 - OK dinner

I often cook without recipes and sometimes it just doesn't come out the way I planned. This was one of those nights. It wasn't awful, everyone ate it, but it wasn't what I was going for. I wanted to make some green rice using up some diced up greens, but the flavor was kind of bland in the end. I decided to throw it all in a tortilla and that made everyone happy. I think I was getting carried away with some of my green food successes with the kids, as this one was not a hit. I had to put chipotle hot sauce on mine, and the kids "needed" ketchup. The next day, Chris ate the left over rice with some balsamic vinegar, and that wasn't bad. Anyway, I'm not sure why I posted an unappetizing looking meal tonight, I guess just to show that sometimes we just eat what we've got, nothing special.

Vegan MoFo Day 19 - Halloween Cupcakes

I made the vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting from The Joy of Vegan Baking because...gasp...I can't find my Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World book. I guess it was kind of a good thing because I probably wouldn't have tried these otherwise. They turned out quite well, the frosting is my favorite while the cake is just pretty good. I was really worried because the batter didn't taste too great, and then the recipe said it would make 10-12 and mine made 22! Anyway, I frosted these and Athena put the sprinkles on. As an after thought, I grabbed some skull rings to pose for sugar skulls. Athena and her cousin loved find the rings and licking the frosting off.

I couldn't help myself and had to include these pictures of Rowan thoroughly enjoying his cupcake. That boy really has a sweet tooth!

Vegan MoFo - Day 18 Peak a boo Freezer

I've been really liking this meme where you show everyone the contents of your freezer, and since we went out to dinner and I didn't have any other MoFo ideas, tonight was the perfect night for it.

In the door we have a variety of nuts and seeds including almonds, macadamia nuts, cashews (roasted and raw), pinenuts, pistachios, pepitas, and sunflower seeds.
Top shelf is: chocolate soy ice cream, frozen pasta, frozen pizza, frozen waffles, chia seeds, hemp protein powder, frozen kiwi (any suggestions on what to do with that? we have a bunch and it wasn't very good in smoothies.)
Bottom shelf: frozen peas, frozen corn, the legs of a frozen "boo boo bunny", oat groats, sesame seeds, and some frozen grapes that need to be tossed.

I was feeling like a treat tonight so I whipped up this decadent chocolate shake. Here is what it is made of: chocolate soy ice cream, 2 chocolate chocolate cream sandwich cookies, chocolate hemp milk, and mocha silk. Blend and enjoy. If you don't have a stomach of steel like me, then you better take it easy with this one, even I feel a little sick and it takes a lot to make me feel that way! After I made this and offered Chris to make the same, he went and showed off his will power by having his "dessert" which consisted of bananas and strawberries drizzled with "smoothie oil" (strawberry flavored flax oil). His loss. :)

Vegan MoFo Day 17 - Apple Muffins, Kale chips or "Crispy kale"

This afternoon, Athena and I used up more of our special apples to make a batch of apple muffins. We used the apple/pecan muffin recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking but I left out the pecans because Athena doesn't really like them. This blurry photo gives you an idea of what to expect, cinnamony goodness with chunks of fresh apples. Athena really wanted cupcakes today but we settled on these with the addition of a layer of vegan cream cheese on top for her. She was happy to pretend they were cupcakes and went to bed begging for more, but looking forward to her "cupcake" she can eat for breakfast tomorrow. She said she wants to have 2 of them, but we shall see.
For dinner, I made some kale chips, or crispy kale as we like to call it. Both kids ate it this time. I remember I tried it with them a few months back with little success so I was pretty pleased this time. All you have to do is cut some kale into bite sized pieces, place on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and salt, and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. It really tastes quite good, but you'll have to try it yourself to see what I mean.
With our kale, my weekly batch of lemon garlic pasta with lemon garlic seitan. Sometimes I feel like that recipe alone made the purchase of Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan worth it. And if you are wondering what gave my seitan that lovely brownish green color, it was the spinach that I minced up in the food processor. The kids love it like this and it makes me happy to see them eating green or brown or whatever. This dinner always makes everyone so happy and asking for seconds, or thirds.

Vegan MoFo Day 16 - Not again!!!

I couldn't help myself. I was craving more Snobby Joes tonight. I don't know what it is, but I just didn't want anything else for dinner. Last night I used red lentils to make this dish (which I overcooked and turned into lentil mush), so tonight I used regular brown lentils, plus some red pepper since I finally made it to the store. Wow, I didn't know it could get any better, but tonight's batch was fantastic. I served it with a side of roasted asparagus and topped the joes with lightly steamed spinach. Chris and I are never "into" asparagus, but I was determined to convert us tonight. Apparently roasting is the trick, as we both inhaled these little beauties. The kids were not interested at all in this dinner:( They mostly ate grapes, and I made Athena a bagel with vegan cream cheese. I chopped some spinach really small and stirred it in with the cream cheese and told her she wouldn't even taste it. She looked skeptical, but in the end she agreed that the little bits of spinach were just fine. It made me feel good that she got a little bit of greens in her. What is with these picky vegan kids? They eat 10 times better then I did as a child, so I try not to worry, but sometimes I wish they'd eat more variety. Today Athena asked for bread and a bagel twist for lunch with hummus. I tried to explain to her that that was like having bread and bread for lunch and that she would have to choose either bread or the twist. She really didn't like that, but eventually settled on her twist. She finished it and then wanted another twist to which I replied, "you can eat some strawberries and blueberries". But NO, she did not want strawberries and blueberries, she wanted another twist. She was out of luck, although she did score some crackers from her Dad. I think that child would live off of bread products alone if she could. Anyway, I'm rambling, I promise not to make Snobby Joes tomorrow. Chris is polishing off the leftovers with some chips right now. He usually eats a second dinner once the kids are in bed while I fill up on dessert.

Vegan MoFo Day 15 - Snobby Joes

I'd been wanting to make the Snobby Joes from Veganomicon for quite some time. I'm not sure what the hold up was, but alas, they appeared at our dinner table tonight. I couldn't quite follow the recipe because we were out of peppers and only had a red onion, but I added some carrots instead and everything turned out just fine. Chris, Rowan, and I gobbled it up. It was a little spicy for Rowan, but he still loved it. I didn't even attempt to serve this to Athena as she has made it very clear that she does NOT like lentils, or onions for that matter. She got a grilled cheese instead. This would have been the perfect meal if paired with a crisp green salad, but we didn't have any greens so I did the best I could and slapped a few cucumber slices on top. It was a nice addition in my opinion. So, if haven't tried these then go ahead and give them a go. They are veganmomma approved. And now to give you a bit of background on my experience with sloppy joes. Let's just say that growing up we "made it a manwich night" pretty regularly. I never loved them, but I didn't mind them. ew. ew. ew.

Vegan MoFo Day 14 - German Apple Cake

I finally got around to using more of our apples from the apple picking day. I settled on this recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking because it looked really easy and I wanted to whip it up while Rowan was napping. It was a fun one to make with Athena because she got to put all of the sliced apples on top and then sprinkle it with the cinnamon, ginger, and sugar mixture. We brought it to my in laws for dinner tonight (dessert) and everyone loved it. I'd definitely make it again as it is a cinch to make, and pretty tasty. It is light, not too sweet, but still cake like.

I never did make that apple pie and I'm not sure I will. I am leaning towards making apple muffins and apple crisp or cobbler with the rest of our apples. For some reason that just sounds better than pie.

Vegan MoFo Day 13 - sipping chocolate

My friend and I were just trying the Trader Joes sipping chocolate. It was pretty good, needed a little sugar. I miss hot chocolate and am always searching for the right one. Any suggestions?

Vegan MoFo Day 12 - Field Roast

I feel like the last vegan to ever try Field Roast. I had a little trouble finding it when I first heard about it and then just kind of gave up on it. On a recent trip to Whole Foods, I found it just calling my name. I went with the smoked apple sage variety thinking it may be pleasing to the kids (the chipotle one looked good but I thought it'd be too spicy for the kids). I had to make a quick dinner since tonight is soccer practice night so I whipped up a batch of lemon garlic pasta, and then sauteed the field roast in olive oil with some random vegetables (which was all I had). I sprinkled toasted pine nuts and nutritional yeast on top and everyone loved it. The kids went crazy over the field roast, especially Rowan. He wouldn't really eat anything else but just kept begging for more "hot" (we had told him it was a little spicy hot). He kept saying, "Mo, mo, mo, hot, hot, peas, peas" (more, more , more, hot, hot, please, please) It took me a few bites in to get used to the texture, but after that I liked them too.
I'm interested in trying out more of their products, they seemed to be a real crowd pleaser tonight.

Vegan MoFo Day 11 - Tortillas

So how many packages of tortillas do you go through each week? My family is tortilla crazy lately and I can't keep up. I'd love to make my own, but honestly with 2 busy small people under age 5 around, I really like to keep things simple. I *wish* I were one of those moms who could calmly bake such things with her little angel helpers in the kitchen with her, all the while passing down these great traditions to my children, but unfortunately that just isn't what happens when I try to cook with my kids. Athena is getting better, but for awhile I don't know why I even tried because it wasn't enjoyable for either of us. I was too controlling, and she was too free spirited. I had rules like "don't stir fast" and she was like "who cares that it flies out of the bowl, this is fun!". So yeah, back to tortillas. We've been going through about 3 packages a week lately. That is insane. I feel like we eat burritos at least a couple of time per week because we all love them, and I can use different fillings depending on what we have in the house. They are just so versatile. Sometimes I'll turn them into enchiladas, or bake them to make them crispy. Tonight we had rice, beans, rice cheese for the kids, salsa for the grown ups, and oven roasted broccoli and corn. I've never roasted broccoli in the oven until tonight and boy have I been missing out. It was so tasty. Rowan wouldn't eat it, and Athena only ate it in order to get a few chips (I know you aren't supposed to do that but heck that is about the only vegetable she has eaten the past 2 days). Chris and I didn't mind as we polished off the entire tray of it. I drizzled olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and maple syrup on it while it cooked at about 400 degrees.

Vegan MoFo Day 10 - Applesauce

Granny Smith applesauce. Chris and I liked it, but the kids did not. I guess it was a little tart. It tasted really good warm.
Random dinner. Make quinoa (loosely following the teriyaki quinoa recipe from Eat Drink and Be Vegan) Then use up whatever you have in the fridge (it was zucchini, red onion, chile peppers, spinach, and potatoes. Cook it up nice and crispy in a frying pan or wok, add a can of black beans. Roll up ingredients in a tortilla with some salsa and call it a "burrito".

VeganMoFo Day 9 - I'm Vegan and I Breastfeed

I'm going out on a limb here tonight, but I'm tired and I haven't uploaded the photos from tonight's dinner and my homemade applesauce...so I just wanted to share the most stupid question I've ever been asked, more than once. People have asked me if my babies are vegan, and then after I say yes are like, "oh, except for breastmilk". It is one of the most irritating conversations I have to have. Breastmilk is made for human babies, while cows milk is made for baby cows. That is the main reason I don't feed my kids "dairy" products. It just makes sense. Plus, as a vegan, I am constantly trying to minimize my impact on the earth, and here again breastfeeding just makes sense. I promise to be back with some regularly scheduled food posts soon, but I just kept thinking about this and needed to vent, and hey, it is how I feed my vegan babies.

Bowling

We went bowling Friday afternoon with Chris' work. It was Athena's first time bowling and she really liked it. She had a bumper lane with all of the kids, and was able to roll her ball by herself and knock down some pins. I think she scored a 41 but she could care less about that. She even got to wear bowling shoes. I got to bowl a game too which was pretty fun. I used to love bowling when I was 10, and then again in college when they'd have those $1 nights. Rowan was a little freaked out by the bowling alley. He wanted to play, but then would cry when we rolled his ball down the lane, maybe worried he wouldn't get it back? It was a lot of stimulation. By the end, he didn't seem to mind, but I bowled the 1st half of the afternoon with him on my hip. Now who can say they've ever done that?!
Who knows when we'll ever do this again, but it sure was fun!

Vegan MoFo - Day 8 Cheater's fried rice

Chris had to make a quick dinner last night since we got back from soccer practice and were tired and hungry. Enter, trader joes frozen fried rice. Chris fried up a block of tofu with chopped red pepper, zucchini, onion, and spinach, some tamari and rice vinegar, then add the frozen rice and PRESTO dinner was ready. It is quick, delicious, and pretty nutritious too. We ate it all up although that is nothing out of the ordinary in our household. Why is fried rice so good? Wait, please don't tell me, it probably has something to do with that fried bit.

And just for fun, H\here are some of the apples we picked yesterday.

Vegan MoFo Day 7 - Apples

I took the kids apple picking at a little organic orchard in our local mountain town. My mother in law came along too and it was nice to have an extra set of hands to help out. It took about 1 hour and 20 minutes to get there, and the kids were great. The kids had a lot of fun running through the orchard, picking apples, eating apples, romping through the dirt, and then they got to help make fresh apple cider! We picked 4 different kinds of apples: arkansas black, red delicious, granny smith, and a mystery variety (the trees were planted by previous owners so they aren't sure what it is). The kids liked the red delicious and mystery apples best, while I enjoyed the granny smith and arkansas black. Now I have 5+ pounds of organic freshly picked apples to play with. Some of them are tiny as the kids really like "baby" apples, so those will just be for snacking, but I am planning to make a pie. Chris loves apple pie. I like it a bit, but prefer cakes and cookies over pie. I am in the mood for it though so I'm giving myself a weekend project of apple pies, and while I am at it, I think I'll make some lemon bars with all of those lemons I still have. The kids are really into cinnamon apple sauce, so I'll probably have to make a little of that too. The best part of the trip for me (other than seeing their smiling faces throughout the day) was that they both fell asleep on the way home. I was pretty tired myself by the time we got home AFTER an hour of soccer practice. Wow, long day.


Athena turning the wheel of the cider press, I'll leave out the part about where I squished Rowan's finger in the wheel when trying to help him have a turn.
Brother and sister under the apple tree.
Apple boy. He was really loving it today, "in his element".

Vegan MoFo - Day 6

My husband emailed this to me today. Granted, I haven't eaten at a CPK in over 5 years, but it is good to know what options are out there if ever in a pinch. It is so hard to get menu lists like this so I was kind of excited. I wish all restaurants broke it down in this way.

Well then, later in the afternoon my brother, sister in law, and their 2 munchkins surprised me out at our pool so we had a little pool party (Chris joined us right at the end) (and it wasn't a total surprise as they were invited, but didn't sound like they'd make it). The girls are such fish right now, and the boys mostly run around the pool, constantly making me nervous and having a blast. They love the "hot pool" though. Oh, whoops, I almost forgot, this is supposed to be about food. So yeah, we all got good and hungry in the pool (did I mention it was in the 90's again!!!) and it was definitely too hot to cook so we decided to try out a pizza chain called zpizza. My brother asked me if it had any vegan items and I was sure they did since we'd received a coupon in the mail last week, which made me check out their website. I hadn't heard much about them, but they do have vegan options. We got the "berkeley veggie" pizza without the pesto (read somewhere it had cheese in it). I meant to order it with marinara, but there was a mixup so it was sauceless. Not bad even without sauce (I got some marinara on the side), but I think it would have been really good with the sauce and all. We also got a cheeseless one since my nephew is sensitive to soy and it was tasty with roasted red peppers, kalamata olives, and crimini mushrooms. We try and make our own pizza most of the time, but tonight was worth it. My brother leaves for a 2 week business trip to India on Friday, so it was nice to spend some time with him and feed us all something that suited all of our preferences.

And while I'm on the subject of food, last night we celebrated at Sipz Cafe for my Father in laws birthday. It was as good as ever. We just love that place. My kids love the baby avocado rolls, and the bbq chicken bowl. It is the best bbq "chicken" I've had. I love that I can get a Vietnamese iced coffee, or chai, or boba tea, and not have to worry about getting it made right. I love the chargrilled veggie salad and the thai fried rice right now, but I go through phases. I used to order the chicken with basil everytime. The banana cake with coconut cream is the best dessert. The chocolate and carrot cakes used to be really good, and then got kind of drier. I'm not sure why they changed their recipe, but it still isn't too bad, just not my favorite cake. Alright, enough of my food ramblings. Have a good night. And if you haven't watched this video yet on Prop 2, then please do. I loved it.

Vegan MoFo Day 5

No, we didn't eat Rowan for lunch today, although he does sometimes look very edible as you can see from the photos. I was just uploading photos and thought these from yesterday needed to be blogged about. I was reading tofu mom's post and thinking about my kids, what they eat, and their health. Rowan is 19 months old now, and eats all sorts of things. Here is what he ate yesterday while sporting his "Herbivore" shirt.

Breakfast: Blueberry Banana Muffin (I used the banana choc. chip muffin recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking but subbed blueberries for choc. chips and cut the sugar down since I was sending one with Athena to school and didn't want her bouncing off the walls. I also added a few scoops of chia seeds just for kicks.)

Snack: Spicy Nori strips, crackers and raisins

Lunch: Bagel with roasted red pepper hummus

Snack: O's, blueberries and strawberries

Dinner: Black bean burritos (whole wheat tortilla, black beans, rice, cream cheese {we were out of our usual cheez substitutes and the kids go crazy over them}) side of peas

To drink, Rowan has mostly water and still nurses when he pleases, usually a couple times per day and a couple more at night.

He is a thriving 19 month old, talking up a storm, happy, healthy and strong. So sock it to you all you non believers. Vegan kids rock!

Vegan MoFo Day 4 (for me) - Lemons

On our weekend trip to SLO, we collected a huge bag of lemons from my Aunt and Uncle's crazy lemon tree. It seems to always have lemons, no matter what time of year we are visiting, and lots of them. Athena loved helping fill up the bag with our freshly picked lemons. So, now we are home and I've already gone through 6 lemons. Now, what to do with the rest? What do you do with lemons when they are in such abundance? Here are my top lemony recipes, feel free to share your own since I may need a few more ideas:
1. Lemon Garlic Pasta from Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan. Don't forget to double the recipe and cook some seitan with it.

2. Lemonade with stevia from Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan.

3. Random raw sandwich filling. Today I used the juice of 3 lemons, a mixture of sunflower seeds, pepitas, and walnuts, 2 celery stalks, 1/3 of a red pepper, flax oil, and coconut oil. Pretty tasty and filling.

4. Hummus, of course. I've been making the hummus from Veganomicon, and I actually thought most hummus was created equal. Wow, I was sure wrong because this stuff turns out better than any standard hummus I've made.

Vegan MoFo Day 3 - So Delicious Coconut Milk Yogurt

This here is my review of the So Delicious Coconut Milk yogurts. I know a lot of people have already reviewed these and it seems everyone either loves them or hates them. We are in the loving category with the exception of the Blueberry flavor (for me, the kids loved them all). I love the vanilla and strawberry banana best. I really hope they start carrying a larger container of it as I hate collecting all of those useless yogurt containers. I can only find so many uses for them. If you haven't tried these, give them a go. They at least give soy free vegans a chance to try out some of those delicious recipes calling for soy yogurt. This is something I plan on experimenting more with in the future.

Vegan MoFo Day 2 - Peanut butter O bars

I bought a box of those "High Fiber O's" from Trader Joes awhile back, and neither my kids nor I were really digging them. I absolutely hate wasting food so I tried to come up with a way to make them more palatable. Thus, the Peanut Butter O Bars were born. I can't really take credit for this recipe at all though as it is a complete rip off from Vive's "Crispi Squares. The only modifications I made were substituting dried cherries for the dried cranberries, and the high fiber O's for the rice crisp cereal. These are so easy to make, I often turn to these squares when I need something quick (although they do need time to cool in the fridge). Everyone loved these, and now I don't have to keep looking at that silly box of cereal. Any old cereal you have sitting around will do, so get out your copy of Vive le Vegan and get cracking!

*also, just wanted to let all me readers know that I'll be away this weekend, so my daily MoFo posts will be delayed. Have a nice weekend.

VeganMoFo Day 1

So, here it is, a whole month of vegan food (veganMoFo). I'll be blogging all month about the kitchen happenings of veganmomma and the family. Today was absolutely way to hot to cook as it was over 90 degrees and I live just 5 minutes from the beach! So yeah, we had take out, but I do have some catching up to do. The other night, I was pressed for dinner ideas (and time), so I whipped up a batch of pancakes for dinner. I tried to make a meal out of them by using whole wheat flour, almond milk, blueberries, and as an after thought, sesame seeds. I use the pancake recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking ever since I discovered how perfect and easy it is. I also noticed a ripe avocado while I was making the cakes, and served up some slices of avo with the pancakes. It sounded like a weird combo to me, but apparently a local vegan restaurant, The Vegan Zone actually has pancakes with avocado on the menu! As you can see by their faces, my kids really gobbled this dinner up! No complaints here.

I also was the proud winner of this veg news prize pack thanks to cafe vegnews. Thanks again VegNews! The cookies are long gone and I'm working on the Rice Dream Chocolate Chai right now.