Play Pool!

What a way to spend a Sunday morning!

Following the directions from the Hello, Cupcake! cookbook, I turned plain vanilla cupcakes into these pool balls. Fun to make and fun to serve.

Weekend Cooking: Lentil Seitan Sloppy Joes

Although we're trying, weekly Vegetarian Night (should I call it Meatless Monday?) has not become a tradition. I've experimented with several tofu, bean, and pasta recipes, but my husband prefers a more traditional dinner. This week, we finally hit on a winner.

Margaret got Kim Barnouin's Skinny Bitch: Ultimate Everyday Cookbook for Christmas and immediately requested the Lentil Seitan Sloppy Joes. Huh, seitan? What is it and how do you pronounce it? After learning seitan is actually wheat gluten, I dragged my feet another month before discovering it readily available at the local Wegmans. The real surprise came when my husband declared them better than "regular" sloppy joes.

LENTIL SEITAN SLOPPY JOES
(from Skinny Bitch)

1 1/2 cups (360ml) water
1/2 cup (170g) dried lentils, rinsed
1 Tablespoon safflower oil
1/3 cup (55g) minced onion
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 cup (85g) seitan, finely chopped
1 (6 ounce/170g) can tomato paste
1 Tablespoon dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 Tablespoons tamari
1/4 cup (60ml) ketchup
6 whole wheat burger buns
1 avocado, sliced
pickles, sliced for garnish

In a medium saucepan, heat the water over high heat. Once the water is boiling, add the lentils. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until tender, about 30 minutes.  In a separate saute pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat and saute the onion, bell pepper, and carrot until tender, about 10 minutes.  Add in the seitan.  Add the tomato paste to a blender or the work bowl of a food processor and puree.

In a medium bowl, mix together the tomato puree, mustard, vinegar, tamari, and ketchup. Then add the tomato mixture to the pan of vegetables. Combine thoroughly. Drain the lentils, but save the cooking liquid in case it's needed. Add the lentils to the pan of vegetables and simmer 5 minutes. If the mixture seems dry, add some of the cooking liquid.

Toast the burger buns. Serve the mixture on the toasted buns with  avocado slices and sliced pickles.

This is my March submission for The Foodie Challenge: Whip Up Something New.  Elise is collecting links for this month's recipes.

Weekend Cooking, hosted at Beth Fish Reads, is open to anyone with a food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button, head over to Beth Fish Reads, and link up anytime over the weekend.

Fun Cookie Cutters

Give a sick loved one a fruit basket? Nah.

How about a plate full of mini fruit-shaped sugar cookies?

There we go.

Weekend Cooking: Easy and Decadent No-Knead Wheat Bread

After returning from Denmark, I've been craving freshly baked bread. I knew I'd be able to find a healthy and easy recipe on vegweb.com. Sure enough, after searching through the bread category, I discovered this recipe for Easy and Decadent No-Knead Wheat Bread.

This bread has a harder crust, but the inside is soft. The only thing I would change is the sugar. It calls for 1/3 cup of sugar, but I think I'll try 1/4 next time.

With only six ingredients and no kneading required, this is a great go-to recipe. And it's vegan!

Weekend Cooking, hosted at Beth Fish Reads, is open to anyone with a food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button, head over to Beth Fish Reads, and link up anytime over the weekend.

Danish Food

During February break, I embarked on a journey to Denmark with my school as part of a cultural exchange program. Seventeen American students were placed with Danish hosts, all of whom attend the same academy. Most students stayed at their host family's home, but a few boys crashed at the academy with their hosts (who are boarders).

The entire week was absolutely incredible: the people, the food, the architecture, everything. I'll tell you, I'm falling in love with Europe! My host family was so kind, and the Danish students were so much fun. My week in Denmark was one of the best weeks, if not the best week, of my life.

Above are various desserts from my time in Denmark. I enjoyed all of them in Copenhagen, except for the one in the first picture, which I had in the town where I stayed. I split the buttery scone, the lemon-coconut cupcake, and the apple pastry with my best friend during our free time in the city. The chocolate and the dessert in the first picture were all mine. Hey, when in Denmark!

Like Germany, the bread there was delicious. Greatly inspired, I've been baking quite a bit of bread since I've returned. That said, bread recipes are on the way!