How Does Your Garden Grow?

We're trying to start an organic garden this year. Hubby is building a wooden container for square foot gardening. We planted some basil, tomato, lettuce seeds a few months ago that are ready for their new home.

Before:

After:

We also bought a small cherry tomato plant and a regular tomato plant at the local nursery a few months ago that are now growing really well. The tomato plant has one red tomato already:

The cherry tomato plant is growing out of control! We've enjoyed picking a batch every weekend. So sweet and delicious!

We added some to an avocado pesto pasta using Chef Chloe's recipe with a side of vegan nuggets.
We thought growing fruits would be fun as well!

This is a dwarf orange tree, still in its container, that has flowered a lot. It's starting to be draped by the cherry tomato.

This dwarf apple tree handled the transplant from container into ground pretty well. We'll have to wait until next season to see how well it fruits.

The Bing cherry tree on the other hand is struggling. The leaves have yellowed and wilted. We're not sure if it's not getting enough sun, getting too much water, or not enough water. Let's see how it fares over the next few weeks. Keeping our fingers crossed and sending loving thoughts its way.

What's growing in your neighborhood?

July Baking Extravaganza

Hallo! How have you been? I've been baking up a storm in the kitchen, trying out new recipes.

UFO Choco Chip Cookies

This is my first attempt at making chocolate chip cookies using the recipe from "Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar." Instead of the white and brown sugar that the recipe called for, which I didn't have, I used 'Sugar in the Raw'. I also missed the fact that it was supposed to make 2 dozen or 16 cookies, which explains how I ended up with 12 jumbo pieces, hence the name "UFO Cookies." I used a mint chocolate chip that I got from Trader Joe's as the centerpiece. The texture of the cookies came out soft, more brownie like than cookie like. Must have been the sugar or the size of the cookie!

The following weekend I was determined to try again so I got the correct type of sugar and made the pieces smaller. It came out crunchy, or at least for the first day! Still not happy with it though but I've had enough chocolate chip cookie for now so I'll wait to try again a while later. :-)


This is the result of my "Saturday Bake Day" where I spent a whole afternoon/evening making what you see above. At the top left is the Chocolate Chip Cookie v.2. Next to it is Lemon Almond Cupcake (adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World Lemon Macadamia Cupcakes - I didn't have macadamia so I used almond). Below that is the typical chocolate cupcake from VCTOW but I added a bit of peppermint extract for a change. (And yeah, my cupcakes don't have frosting because of my disastrous first attempt which discouraged me from ever making it again...and also the fact that it uses so much margarine and shortening!) Lastly is a biscuit recipe from Veganomicon because I had a sudden craving for biscuits. Yum!

And for the pièce de résistance, homemade vegan burger buns!


It's so hard to find vegan burger buns in the stores. We found a brand at Trader Joe's, but we don't go there often. So I was determined to try making my own when I saw a recipe for Burger Buns at Vegweb.com. I used 5 cups of flour and 1.5 tablespoons of yeast. I sprinkled sesame on top so it looked like store bought buns. It came out really well! No more store bought buns for me!

So what's been cooking in your kitchen?

Bath time!

Instead of vacation, I've got a nice long to-do list for this weekend, one of which is:


Guinea pig baths! Here's Belle after a good lather of shampoo. She doesn't fuss much during baths, for which I'm so grateful. Bathing Bert, on the other hand, usually requires the assistance of hubby to hold him down while I lather and rinse. Lately though he's been a really good boy and stands still for mommy. Stress free for all!

Well, almost...

Although he's more patient with his baths now, he still hates them. Once I put him down, he'd run to his wooden hut and bite it furiously to show his unhappiness. Still manages to look like an angel though, doesn't he? :-)

Have a great Memorial Day weekend everyone!

Playtime

At Izzy's request, here's a video of Belle playing in her favorite tube. :-)

Nasi Lemak (Coconut Rice)

Tuesday night is TV night in the Wheeker household, thanks to LOST on ABC and then The Good Wife on CBS. We got home late and I had about half an hour to prepare dinner before the show started. Here's a quickie if you have a rice cooker: Nasi Lemak! Or at least my version of it. :-)

Nasi Lemak, or coconut rice, is a popular dish in Southeast Asia. Traditional dish is served with anchovies and is spicy. Well, we don't take that here! So here's a veganized, non-spicy version.

Coconut Rice
2 cups rice
1 can of coconut milk (or half if you don't like it so creamy)
add additional water to fully cook rice (depends on the type of rice you're using)
1 pandan leaf tied in a knot
2 thin slices of ginger
a dash of salt

Toss all together in rice cooker to cook.

In the meantime, to substitute the anchovies, I baked seitan seasoned with vegetable seasoning for 15 minutes in the toaster oven. To round off the dish, there's the traditional sliced cucumbers and toasted peanuts. NOT traditional is the boiled asparagus tossed in sesame oil. I needed some veggies and that's all I had in the fridge. :-)

Hubby helped me plate the food and I cracked up when I saw his creation:

Yes, it's been a looong day at work!

Lastly, I leave you with an upside down guinea pig:

Don't ask me why!

Belle Vet Visit Part 2

At the beginning of the month, we noticed Belle was doing her mouth gagging thing again. It was exactly two months, just as the vet predicted, since we last brought her in the day after New Year's. We weren't so worried this time since we knew what the problem was, but nonetheless, it's sad to know she has to go through that painful and unpleasant procedure of teeth trimming and anesthesia again. Here she is in her carrier on the way to the vet. I made sure she was nice and comfy for the ordeal with her bed and lots of treats.

She's a plucky little one and recovered quickly but to have to go through this every two months? I feel so bad for the little one! There's gotta be another way...

Here she is giving Bert a kiss. Or rather, "Whatcha eating over here? I want some!"

Happy St. Patrick's Day! The Wheekers will be celebrating with lots of hay as usual! :-)

Recent Kitchen Creations

Hallo my dears! How are you all? Here are some of the things I'm been trying out in the kitchen in the last month:

Samosa with phyllo pastry dough

Curry stir fry noodles

Hubby tried his hand at making roti prata. This one had daiya cheese folded in the middle. Yum!

My first time making a sweet & sour dish: pineapple, bell pepper, onion, seitan.

I bought the "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World" book and tried their two most basic recipes, the top being chocolate and the bottom being vanilla. It was easier than I thought!
I couldn't get the frosting right though (hence no picture of that). It just kept melting away off the cupcake! Need to find out where I went wrong! Any tips?