I Only THOUGHT It Was Cold Before...

Now it is 9 degrees outside and let me tell you, THAT is cold!! Luckily, I have all sorts of fabulous knitware to keep me warm. All that's missing is the perfect, well-fitting sweater :-) (I'll keep trying for that one!)

I made the "Raw Parmesan Cheese" from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Cooking by Beverly Lynn Bennett and Ray Sammartano. It is so delicious! Fair warning: it doesn't taste anything like parmesan cheese. (This is a good thing in my book!) It's just a yummy topping for Italian food or salad or soup or pizza or whatever. It tastes vaguely cheese-ish, due to the nutritional yeast, so you must like nutritional yeast if you make it. It's a sprinkle-on kind of topping, not something you melt. Okay, enough already! Here is the recipe; try it if you dare:

Raw Parmesan Cheese

3/4 C whole raw almonds
3 Tbs raw sesame seeds
3/4 C nutritional yeast flakes
pinch sea salt

Process almonds and sesame seeds in the food processor for 1-2 minutes, until finely ground.
Add nutritional yeast flakes and salt; process for 1 more minute.
(That's it.)
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.

I just read another book that I really enjoyed. It's called The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted by Elizabeth Berg. It's a collection of short stories, about women, and about things they do or revelations they have as they mature. The stories are really great, rather poignant, but not sad. Just... so true. It's a quick read; take a look.

Okay, I have 2 questions for you. First: what is your favorite vegetarian/vegan cookbook, and why? Second: what is your "go to" meal? What is that one thing you make to eat when you are really hungry but don't have anything prepared or planned or maybe not much food in the house? What do you fall back on eating in times of desperation? OR, what is that one meal you love so much that you secretly eat it all the time??

I'll tell you a few things I "go to" in my times of need. First, for general purposes, I almost always have some cooked grains in the fridge, usually brown rice, but sometimes white rice or rice leftover from Chinese take out. Sometimes it's quinoa. Or couscous. Then I steam or microwave some frozen vegetables (always have a huge bag of stir fry veggies from Costco in the freezer.) Veggies go on top of grains, then I might add some peanut sauce, some tahini dressing, or just tamari and gomasio. That's my main emergency meal. A close second, because I love it, is a can of Rotel tomatoes, a can of drained black beans, and a half of a cake of tofu, diced. Mix these 3 things, warm it up, serve it over grains or baked potatoes or even by itself. Excellent.

I am just jumping around here, aren't I? Knitting some fingerless mitts and finishing the socks (both holiday gifts). Enjoying staying warm by the fire. Hope you are all feeling warm and delicious, too.