This is low-calorie, right?

Hey, so if I used whole wheat penne in the Pumpkin Baked Ziti recipe from Veganomicon that makes it have, like, negative amounts of calories and fat, right? Right? Sigh, I guess not. It makes an ass-ton too, so I’ma need to freeze some of it. It kind of dirties a lot of dishes and takes a while, slightly less then 2 hours from start to face stuffing, but like the Butternut Squash Lasagna, it’s worth it. I even made the bread crumbs for it from a bread I tossed in my bread machine at the end of last week.

Pretty in the pan. 

pumpkin baked ziti

All messed up on my plate.

pumpkin baked ziti on a plate 

Chewy Chocolate Cherry Cookies

chocolate cherry cookiesYou know the Chewy Chocolate Raspberry Cookies in Veganomicon? Well, I only had cherry preserves. And not even enough of that, so I had to add some sour cherry butter to get up to the right amount. Still, these came out perfect. Warm out of the oven, slightly crispy edges and soft on the inside. Mmmmmmmmm.

Vegan Brunch

Okay, yeah, it’s been almost a week since the vegan brunch I had at my house, but finally here are some pictures.  Below we have Chocolate Chip Brownie Waffles from Veganomicon, biscuits & yeast gravy, fruit, Indian spiced greens in the crock pot, and sweet rolls. vegan brunch 1 Here the coffee cake on the far side comes into view.vegan brunch And a better look at those sweet rolls, some “sausages” and hiding in the back, Beer Battered Seitan from Yellow Rose Recipes, Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy from Vegan with a Vengeance and whole grain waffles. vegan brunchOh, and this wasn’t all. We also had sweet potato hash browns, a fruit salad, some potatoes maybe and probably more stuff I’m forgetting. Let’s put it this way, this was the only meal I ate this day. So much yummy food!  And since the “chicken” ‘n waffles didn’t really show up well on the table, here it is as blurry leftovers:chicken and waffles  

Israeli Couscous and Lemony Chickpeas

israeli couscous and lemony chickpeas

I totally forgot to take a picture of this on a plate, so you’ll just have to live with it in a plastic bucket ready to go off to work. On the left is the Israeli Couscous with Pistachios and Apricots from Veganomicon. I’d never made the giant Israeli couscous before. It’s definitely more toothsome. And the flavor of this was wonderful. The Lemony Chickpeas came from this recipe but I probably used about half the olive oil. Also, the chickpeas I used were from a batch I had slowcooked and were extra soft. They ended up basically breaking down in this dish. Not very attractive visually, but they ate up just fine. Also I tossed in about a cup of frozen spinach to green it up a little. I think the flavors were even more intense after it sat overnight. Yummy!

Oh, and completely unrelated but while watching the news I saw why John McCain is done. Or heard I should say. His theme music in Iowa is Europe’s The Final Countdown. ‘Nuff said.

Coconut Lemon Bundt Cake

Seriously, how long did you think I was going to wait before breaking in the bundt pan? Apparently not much more than 24 hours. This is the Coconut Lemon Bundt Cake from Veganomicon. And it’s a very forgiving recipe. I actually ended up being short on sugar and probably subbed about 1/4 cup of brown sugar for some of it. I was also probably short a little bit of lemon zest. And then we have my fun-loving oven that decided to pop up by 100 degrees during the first 20 minutes of baking. I turned it down twice and never was able to get it all the way down to the suggested cooking temperature. No matter. It came out moist on the inside, lightly browned and a little bit crisp on the outside. I suspect the crispiness will go away once it cools which is always what seems to happen. But I love that the crazy oven temps didn’t ruin the cake. And just look at it!

coconut lemon bundt cake from veganomicon