Back from Alabammy!

Hey, everybody! I had a great visit with my sister and her family in Alabama. My nephews are 10- and 7-year-old very busy boys, and completely delightful. My sister and I shopped and cooked and spent a good deal of time going through and organizing her recipes, and gathering recipes for our family cookbook.

Some dinners we made that I didn’t take a picture of and are among my favorites were cabbage and mushrooms, everything stirfry, and Three Sisters Stew. My sister enjoyed them as much as I did. The Three Sisters Stew is from 150 Vegan Favorites and I have a picture I took two years ago to show you. It is made with pumpkin, corn, and beans and this particular recipe is really delicious.



We also tried to make my grandma’s yeasted dinner rolls. Grandma didn’t use a recipe, she just made them, and they were killer. Not vegan (they have egg), but killer. We didn’t get it quite right. They literally took all day to make and my sister says she will never attempt them again. I really want to try to make them without the egg and at a lower oven temp.

We did make my Beer Bread, which was a huge hit! Thank you to Claudia who left me a comment that her family enjoyed this bread too. Here’s the picture from the last post.

We made 2 test recipes from Urban Vegan’s forthcoming cookbook. Chickpea Chili Burgers – excellent!

And Zucchini Bread, which was the best I’ve ever had. My sister said so too. (Don’t worry Dynise, I didn’t give her the recipes!) It doesn’t look real pretty due to a mistake on my part, but boy is it delicious.

We came across a recipe my mom had given my sister for Five Minute Chocolate Cake. She had never made it, so I said if we could make a vegan version, I was willing to try it. You mix up the batter in a big mug. I called it Cup o’ Cake.

You bake it in the microwave for 3 minutes.

Let it cool, then spoon it out.

We both said we hoped it wasn’t very good because chocolate cake ready in 5 minutes is dangerous. Thankfully, it tasted like microwave cake. Now it will cure a chocolate craving, especially if you put some good frosting on it. You know you want to try it too, so here’s the recipe:

Five Minute Chocolate Cake
Serves 2

4 T. flour
4 T. sugar
2 T. cocoa powder
1 flax egg
3 T. nondairy milk
3 T. oil
dash vanilla
dash chocolate extract (optional)
1 T. mini chocolate chips (optional, but recommended)

Add dry ingredients to a large mug and mix well. Stir in remaining ingredients. Place mug on plate and microwave 3 minutes or until cake stops rising. Let cool. Eat!


I was able to bring back a few ingredients I haven’t seen in Austin. Oh, our governor was on my plane from Dallas to Austin!

Yay! And these....

Gave them to Chase. And....

This is roasted minced garlic and I am completely addicted. I cook with them, and sprinkle them on top of my salads and steamed veggies - yum, yum, yum!

One other fun thing that happened while I was gone. Chase’s car kicked it before Christmas, so before I left for Alabama we ordered him a scooter! He got it while I was away and came by to show it to me last night. My camera was about out of batteries, but here’s a shot of him on it. He is so happy!

I’m trying to catch up on all of your posts as fast as I can!