Wedding Anniversary

This post will be very short but SWEET because today marks our Wedding Anniversary! My husband and I have been married for 13 years. We've been through good days and bad days together, the best thing of all is that we still love each other so much... more and more!!!

In the old days, we didn't have digital camera so I took this photo from our wedding photo album.

Tonight, we went to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner and I had Grilled Vegetable Salad, it was really delicious! I was too busy playing with the kids so I didn't pay much attention to my food but I remembered that I kept saying to my husband: "this salad is SO good, honey". Highly recommended!!!

I can't tell you enough how excited I am about my 50th Post Giveaway . I am now thinking of adding more gifts but I can't tell you just yet. Please stay tuned until next time!!!

My 50th Post Giveaway!

It seemed that it took forever for me to reach my 50th post! I cheated a little bit last night by posting my Christmas tree just to get to this exciting announcement!

I would like to give away brand new copies of these two cookbooks:

Vegetable Soups from Deborah Madison's Kitchen

Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison's Kitchen

All you have to do to win my 50th post giveaway is:

1) Create an easy vegetarian dish of your own choice and name it starting with "Easy Veggie......".

2) Post the recipe and photo(s) of your "Easy Veggie Dish" on your blog between December 27, 2009 and January 10, 2010.

3) Leave a comment on this post to let me know that you will participate in this giveaway = the first chance to win.

4) Give me a link to your "Easy Veggie Dish" post on this post = the second chance to win.

5) This giveaway is open to any food blogger around the world. Only one recipe per person, please!

6) The two winners will be announced on January 15, 2010.

Wishing you all the best of luck!!!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

My Weekend!

Yesterday was a very busy day for me but it was full of fun and yummy food!!! I went to Magpie's Christmas Party for breakfast at 8 a.m. Everyone brought something to share so there were a lot of food, Mmmm!!! There were Potato Frittata, Spinach & Nuts Salad, Fruit Salad, Scones, Soy Sausages, Chocolate Cake and Cookies. My camera wasn't working well so I don't have many good photos to share but I got a good shot of my plate to show you.


I was too busy to cook this time so I grabbed a couple bags of "TJ's Powerhouse Salad Kit" which is a complete salad with spinach, walnuts, dried edamame, dried blueberries and a blueberry cherry vinaigrette. It was a big hit at the party, so healthy and dee-li-cious!!!

I got "Two Thumbs up" from Pam, the manager and her daughter, Tessa!

In the evening, I went to see beautiful fireworks in Manhattan Beach with my family. Our friends who hosted the party live on the Strand which is just a couple blocks from the Manhattan Beach Pier. They served fantastic food and drinks prepared by a professional chef and a bartender. Everything was perfectly tasty, YUM! This was the only good photo of fireworks I got. I'm so sad that most of my photos that I took from both parties were blurry. I hope Santa will bring me a new camera this coming Christmas!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Soup Time And Giveaway Winner!

I've been working a LOT for the past few weeks. I LOVE working so much and love it more than anything but I am always looking forward to spending my Sundays and Mondays off by doing nothing but lounging around the house and finding something yummy to fill my tummy:)

It was raining so hard this morning. I was very cold and hungry when I came back home from my dentist. After checking my fridge, I came up with this rice soup.

Tofu & Kale Rice Soup

I started by boiling a pot of water and added about 2 cups of cooked rice. When it was boiling, I added chopped kale,diced celery and tofu, seasoned with soy sauce (or salt) and pepper. I put a half teaspoon of Marmite to add the nice brown color to the soup. Served in a bowl and sprinkled with Nutritional Yeast,...YUM! After giving a stir, it will look like the photo below, Mmmm!!! So tasty and comforting!!!



Last week, I made a huge pot of Vegetable Stock again. I was so proud of myself that I planned ahead for dinner to feed my lovely family when I've been busy working 5 days in a row so I can come home and cook easy veggie soup for them.

Last Tuesday night, I made this fantastic soup by using my vegetable stock, added some veggies (spinach, celery and baby carrots), cooked pasta and a can of cannellini beans. It took less than 20 minutes to prepare the soup (It would have been only 15 minutes if I didn't cut my finger when I was cutting the carrots plus Dr. Dad and Dr. Nathan were panicky trying to stop the bleeding, Ouch!!!).

Crock-Pot Experiment

I thought I had such a brilliant idea!!! Last Thursday morning, I filled my crock-pot with veggie stock, baby carrots, diced celery, potato chunks and cooked chickpeas. I told my husband to add frozen corn about half an hour before serving and don't have to wait for me because I had to work late. I left home with pride:)

I got back home almost 7 pm and the soup was still in the crock-pot. Nobody touched or ate it! I was so upset and asked why they didn't eat the dinner. My husband said the potatoes weren't cooked. I said "WHAT?" and later on, I realized that I forgot to turn on my crock-pot...Ooups!!! My poor boys didn't get to eat dinner until 8 pm that night, it was still yummy though:)

Lastly, I am so excited to announce that I am the WINNER of Roses r Red Blog's Giveaway ! Thank you so very much, Rose! I hope you all are happy for me for being so lucky:) By the way, I'm planning to have a big Giveaway for my upcoming 50th Post. So please stay tuned, until next time!

Chickpea and Kale Soup

Time flies! November will pass by in a couple of hours, and I am so ready to welcome my favorite month of December! It's the busiest time of the year for work and it's time for SOUP! I've been in the mood for soup and my whole family really enjoyed this tasty chickpea soup for last night's supper, so I thought I should share it with you all.

This is my bowl of chickpea and kale soup topped with saltine crackers, Mmmm!

This is Nathan's bowl, chickpea and sweet corn soup, he asked for "MORE, please"!

My husband asked for spinach instead of kale and he went to the stove for seconds, YUM!

Chickpea and Kale Soup

Adapted from "Vegetable Soups from Deborah Madison's Kitchen"

by Deborah Madison

Ingredients for the chickpeas:

2 cups chickpeas, soaks

2 carrots, peeled (the recipe called for 1 carrot)

1 head of garlic, sliced crosswise in half

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried parsley (the recipe called for handful of parsley sprigs, tied together with string)

Ingredients for the seasonings:

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

4-5 tablespoons olive oil

2 onions, finely diced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Pinch of dried thyme

3 garlic cloves, minced

Big bunch of kale (the recipe called for spinach)

Method:

1. Put chickpeas in a pot with the rest of the ingredients and 3 quarts water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover, and simmer until the chickpeas are tender. Season with a teaspoon of salt and set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a second soup pot. Add the onions, oregano, thyme, and salt. Cook over medium-low heat until softened, occasionally giving them a stir. Add the garlic toward the end.

3. Using a strainer, lift the cooked chickpeas into the pot with the onions and discard the rest of the aromatics. Strain the liquid and add 6 cups in the soup pot, setting the rest aside for the moment. Add another teaspoon of salt, then cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Puree the chickpeas and return them to the pot. If the soup seems too thick, thin it with any remaining liquid. Taste for salt and season with pepper.

4. Wilt the kale in a skillet in the water clinging to its leaves, then chop and add to the chickpeas. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, then serve with your favorite crackers. Enjoy!

Have a wonderful week, everyone!

Beautiful Blogger Award!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful day and enjoy your Thanksgiving meals with your loved ones. I'm not cooking anything today as I've been very exhausted from working a lot lately. So I will be dining out tonight with my little family and enjoy relaxing evening together!

I've received this "Beautiful Blogger Award" from Roses r Red Blog a few weeks ago. Thank you so much, Rose for thinking of me and being such a lovely blogger friend since we met each other on this amazing blog sphere. I always enjoy reading both of your beautiful blogs and appreciate your precious time stopping by my blog to leave such positive and caring thoughts:)

I would like to pass this award onto all of YOU on My Blog List because YOU all have such beautiful blogs and I love YOU all! Please feel free to copy this award and post it on your blogs. Enjoy:)

Easy Veggie Fried Rice and Green Curry

I've been working on a Thai food menu for my dear friend, Dee Dee who loves Thai food but has never cooked or tried Thai homemade dishes before. I let her borrow my Thai cookbooks last week and she bookmarked several recipes that she is interested in trying. I'm planning on inviting her and her lovely family for a dinner one Sunday. I don't have a complete menu yet but I'll definitely make these 2 dishes which I've experimented with for many times.

Easy Veggie Fried Rice

My son, Nathan who loves my fried rice so much has requested this dish because he wanted his friend, Kaevan (Dee Dee's son) to try it. I hope my vegan friends would understand why I used eggs in this dish. I've just become a vegetarian for less than a year because of health reasons. I'm intolerant of dairy products so I try to avoid them as much as I can. I still include eggs in my diet but I didn't eat eggs during my Vegan Food Experiment. I started to eat them again last week and I feel perfectly fine.




This is how I cook my fried rice:

1) Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add minced garlic, stir until golden brown.

2) Add 2 eggs, stir and cook for few minutes, add cooked rice, soy sauce, vegetarian oyster sauce, and a couple drops of agave syrup (secret ingredient), keep stirring.

3) Add frozen mixed vegetables, stir to mix all the ingredients together about 2 minutes and lower the heat. Cover for 5 minutes and stirring gently about 2-3 minutes more.


I've been fascinated with any kind of rice dish. I grew up eating rice all my life, I truly believe that I can't live without it. So here are some wonderful recipes that I've found and can't wait to experiment with. Hope you'll enjoy them as much as I do:

- Ginger Rice with Sesame Seeds from Authentic Food Delights Blog

- Ghee Rice from Kothiyavunu Blog

- Microwave Coconut Milk Vegetable Rice from Kothiyavunu Blog

- Sesame Fried Rice from Simply Life Blog

- Vegetable Fried Rice from Collaborative Curry Blog

- Thai Fried Rice from Vegan Dad Blog

- Tomato Onigiri Italian Style from Vegan Epicurean Blog

- Jira Rice from Mitten Machen Blog

- Green Pea Pulao Rice from Maine Food and Lifestyle Blog

- Rice Recipes from My Home Cooking Blog

- Indian Inspired Cabbage and Peas from Vegan Epicurean Blog

- Brinjal Rice from Padhu's Kitchen Blog

- Simple Vegetable Rice from Padhu's Kitchen Blog

- Mango Rice from Vazhayila Blog

- Coconut Rice from Vazhayila Blog

Note: Please send me your link if you have posted any rice dishes, I'd love to add yours to my collection. Thank you in advance:)

Easy Veggie Green Curry

I've made green curry to eat with rice or noodles countless times and I usually follow the method provided on the curry paste package. I'm not a kind of person who considers making curry paste from scratch, I hope you know why??? This time, I had green beans, green peas, baby spinach and bell peppers but I will add tofu when I cook for Dee Dee. Oh! by the way, you can find more photos of my other green curry from here



That's all for today, I'm still working on other dishes and hope I would be able to share them with you very soon. Thank you so very much for stopping by my blog and leaving such wonderful comments. I always appreciate your time, I'll visit your blogs as soon as possible.



Have a lovely week, everyone:)

Easy Veggie Noodle Soup

Cool nights have arrived, we really enjoyed our veggie noodle soups for dinner 2 nights in a row. We loved it so much and it's so perfect for this kind of weather!




Would you like to know what my secret ingredient is? Yes, it's because of this "Marmite", Kmouse encouraged me to buy when we went shopping at Cost Plus. This is the first time I've heard about this awesome ingredient which helps transform my veggie stock into a great-looking broth and makes the taste of my soup incredibly delicious!!!



I'm so proud to tell you that this was the first time I made my own vegetable stock. In the past, I always used store-bought veggie broth or stock. I used the recipe from "Vegetable Soups from Deborah Madison's Kitchen" which is truly amazing. I can't wait to try so many great soup recipes from this book!



I made it my easy veggie way:

Ingredients:
8 cups water
1 large onion, cut into chunks
2 large carrots,chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 large daikon, chopped (not an ingredient from the book)
1 cup chopped shitake mushroom (not an ingredient from the book)
6 garlic cloves, smashed
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon sea salt

Method:
Put all the ingredients in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer slowly at least 30 minutes, partially covered, then strain it.

The recipe also called for 1 bunch of scallions and 8 parsley sprigs with stems but I skipped them. I'll add these 2 ingredients when I make it again next time!

This time I used buckwheat Japanese noodles, I served cooked noodles with this super delicious veggie stock (including its veggie chunks). Oh, and I dropped a teaspoonful of miso paste in the soup bowl before serving, Mmmmm!!!!

In And Out Eats!

I cooked a few yummy dishes and ate out a couple of times last week. I actually photographed too many pictures of my food and I got confused which one I wanted to share. Have you ever got confused with your photos? If not, I would love to ask for your kind advice... please, please, please!!!

Baked Acorn Squash with Apples, Cranberries and Walnuts

Inspired by Baked Acorn Squash filled with Apples and Walnuts from Vegan Epicurean Blog and Acorn Squash with Cranberry Apple from The Ordinary Vegetarian Blog . This was the first time I've ever attempted to try cooking "A Fancy Meal". My usual home cooking meals are just some stir-fried with rice or pasta with store-bought sauce or easy sushi rolls. Reading so many amazing food blogs since the New Year has improved my taste of cooking a lot, hasn't it??? Hahaha!!!



I followed the method of cooking from Vegan Epicurean and added dried cranberries and brown sugar just like The Ordinary Vegetarian did. Please visit these two fantastic blogs for the recipes and let me know which version you like or what you come up with. I would love to hear from you:)

Pad Thai Noodle

We ordered take-out from our usual Thai Restaurant last Sunday night. I had Vegan Pad Thai Noodle with Fried Tofu. It was the first time I've tried Pad Thai noodle with no eggs and no fish sauce. The noodles were a little bit too dry for me but it was pretty tasty. I'm still not sure which way I like better, I think I like them both:)

Dine-Out at Veggie Grill

I finally went to The Veggie Grill in El Segundo with my dear cousin Kmouse to celebrate her birthday last Wednesday night. I had Chipotle BBQ Sandwich (above photo), it comes with shredded veggie-steak, marinated in tangy BBQ sauce, with chipotle ranch, caramelized onion, lettuce and tomato, Mmmm.... Mmmm.... absolutely delicious = highly recommended by me and Kmouse.

Kmouse had the above Chop-Chop Chef Salad which has chopped romaine, tempeh, veggie-steak, chillin' chickin, green onion, roasted corn salsa with a chipotle ranch dressing. I didn't get to try it but Kmouse said it was so nutty and yummy! Oh, and we also ordered Sweetheart Fries (Scrumptious sweet potato fries, seasoned and served with chipotle ranch) and Chocolate Pudding to share, YUM!!!


Before saying goodbye, I would like to spread the news of "The 50th Post Giveaway" at the lovely Roses r Red Blog. The deadline is November 29th so you have plenty of time to enter to win. Good Luck, Everyone!!!

Miso Sesame Salad Dressing

I haven't cooked anything much lately. Just some regular dishes that I've already posted so I don't want you to get bored with my food. But I think I would share this photo and recipe of Miso Sesame Salad Dressing with you because I really enjoyed it for lunch at work 3 days in a row. It was so quick and easy to prepare and soooo good that you could eat up within no time, YUM!!!

My cousin, Kim gave me this recipe a while ago and I've been really enjoying it and have made it countless times. I usually eyeball each ingredient and place it all in a small glass jar with lid and shake vigorously. Here is her recipe:

Miso Sesame Dressing:

3 tablespoons sesame oil

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons miso paste

1 teaspoon sugar or agave syrup

pinch of garlic powder

sesame seeds

Whisk everything together until smooth.

I just need a bag of Baby Arugula Blend, shredded carrots, diced apples (sometimes I used diced avocado), dried cranberries and/or diced dates, and walnuts. I hope you will love this tasty salad dressing as much as I do.



Have a wonderful week, everyone!

Blog Awards!

It has been such a great honor that my humble blog has received 3 wonderful awards during the past few weeks. I hope you know how difficult it is to decide who I should pass each award onto and I will try my very best!


The first award is... "One Lovely Blog Award", comes from Gina at Simply Life Blog ,thank you so much, Gina! I've really enjoyed reading her lovely blog since I found her. She has shared simple recipes with such beautiful photos of her delicious looking meals. She also talks about daily life in general and asks questions at the end of each post that are fascinating!



I will pass this award onto 10 other deserving bloggers! I am aware that some of you have already received this award but I still want to recognize you because you definitely deserved it!

The award goes to...

1. Roses r Red
2. Rosie Sue's Closet
3. The Vegan Mouse
4. Ginger is the New Pink
5. Gluten Free Gidget
6. Vegan Epicurean
7. Heathen and Vegan
8. Allotment 2 Kitchen
9. Life of a Vegan Kid
10. Feeding Little Vegans

The next one is "Kreativ Blogger Award". I want to say thank you to Sangeetha at Kothiyavunu Blog for bestowing this fantastic award on me. Sangeetha has a great passion for cooking Indian cuisine and she loves to experiment with new recipes. She has shared truly amazing recipes with great photos, that I can't wait to try them all. It has been such a short time since I found her blog but I feel like I've known her for the longest time!


Rules of the award:

1.You must thank the person who has given you the award.
2.Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3.Link to the person who has nominated you for the award.
4.Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5.Nominate 7 other Kreativ Bloggers.
6.Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7.Leave a comment in the nominated blogs to let them know they have been nominated.

Here are 7 things about myself that people might find interesting which I mostly copied from Sangeetha because we are twins, ha ha!!

1. I am very friendly and at the same time very sensitive.
2. I give respect to everyone who deserves it and dislike arrogant and selfish people.
3. I love shopping but it takes very long time to decide what I want.
4. I love cooking (but not cleaning), gardening, listening to music and watching Nick Jr and Disney Channel.
5. My family is my best gift so I love to spend every moment with them. (Sangeetha made me cry when she said "I miss my dad a lot, why GOD called him so early" because I miss my dad too, he passed away 8 years ago and I wasn't there to say good bye to him!
6. The scariest thing in the world for me is snakes and maybe losing loved ones.
7. I love travelling. I'm so scared to travel alone but I still did it so many times.

And the award goes to:

1. Bitter Sweet
2. The Vegan Mouse
3. Mitten Machen
4. Ordinary Vegetarian
5. Vegan Epicurean
6. The Voracious Vegan
7. Collaborative Curry


Last but not least, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Alicia at Vegan Epicurean for bestowing this thoughtful award on me. I am absolulely impressed with her amazing blog which is full of helpful information and inspiration. I love her attention to details in every post. The best thing of all is that she responds to every single comment that she receives. I LOVE to go back to her blog to find out what her responses are.


Here are the rules of this award:

This award is bestowed on to blogs that are exceedingly charming.

These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends.They are not interested in self-aggrandizement.

Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated.

Please give more attention to these writers.

Deliver this award to six bloggers who must choose six more and include this cleverly written text into the body of their award.

I will pass this award to some of my bloggy friends that I find exceedingly charming...


The award goes to....

1. Kmouse at The Vegan Mouse, Kim is my dearest cousin who introduced the blogworld to me and she has inspired me so much after I started reading her blog. Without her, this Easy Veggie Blog wouldn't have been here. Thank you for your inspiration and encouragement, Kim!

2. Rose at Roses r Red, you're always there for me to make me feel comfortable with my new way of eating. Your kind words make me feel like I've known you for such a long time. Thank you for sharing beautiful photos of your veggie creations and pretty things. I always adore your lovely blogs (both of them).

3. Mary at Mitten Machen, I love your writing style which make me feel like I'm reading a famous food magazine and I've always learned something new from your creative blog. Thank you for stopping by my blog as often as good old friends do.

4. Diann at Eat'n Veg'n Vegan Food & Recipes , I've always loved your blog because I know for sure that I will always find healthy and delicious recipes there. I was so impressed with your quick response when I asked you if I could use your recipe. I really appreciate your time.

5. Lauren at Ginger is the New Pink I feel wonderful every time I visit your nice blog, I love reading about your healthy diet, your garden and the lovely times you share with your husband and Ginger. Thank you so much for being such a great blogger friend for quite a while.


6. Mangocheeks at Allotment 2 kitchen My new wonderful blogger friend who grows her own beautiful organic veggies. She shares garden tips and great recipes. She always responds to every comment I leave which makes me feel welcome and want to go back to visit her again.



Thank you all again for your encouragement and support. I always appreciate every single comment from each of you, short or long; they always make my day:)

Tempeh Wrap!

November is finally here and I have to say that I didn't really want October to end!! I have enjoyed experimenting with vegan food and learned so much from other vegan bloggers. It was so fascinating and inspiring to get to learn about other people's lifestyles. To be honest with you, I can't tell you just yet if I feel any better after one whole month of a vegan diet. From the bottom of my heart, I just keep telling myself: "Let's keep experimenting, it's such a wonderful thing to do".

Tempeh Wrap

This was my very quick and easy dinner from last night. If you've read my blog for a while, you should know by now that I always use what I have in my kitchen and I don't usually use too many ingredients!

I cooked tempeh strips 2 minutes a side in a pan with hot oil and set them aside. Using the same pan, sauteed chopped kale with minced garlic, set aside. Clean the pan and put flour tortillas in with low heat, put store-bought vegetarian baked beans on top of the tortillas, about 2 tablespoons. Add cooked tempeh and kale, roll up like a wrap and cut in half just like the photo above. It was super chewy and yummy!!!

What a clumsy day!!!

I didn't plan to post about green smoothie today but this morning, my smoothie needed attention and I spilled it all over my newspaper.

Later on, I dropped my measuring cup, the broken glass scattered all over the kitchen floor.

I am not only an "Easy Veggie", I am also an "Easy Clumsy"! Ha ha ha!!!

Hope you don't have a clumsy day like me!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

A quick post without food tonight, I just wanted to wish you all a very Happy Halloween with lots of tricks and treats!!! We usually don't send Halloween cards to anyone but my son always receives cards from these special relatives and his best friend.

This BOO came from his grandpa!

This cutie was from his best friend, Aksel!

Another Boo came from Auntie Donna!

Red Ninja, Nathan and Evil Jester, Jacob went trick-or-treating!

BOO!!!

Sushi Night!

Just photos, no talking tonight (not much, actually)!!! I got home around 6 pm, I mixed rice vinegar with cooked Calrose rice that my husband prepared for me and ran upstairs to check my email. Then I started rolling my sushi dinner and served my family with imitation crab rolls at 6:30 pm. Ten minutes later, I served myself with these super yummy Tempeh/carrot rolls, dipped in wasabi and soy sauce, YUM!!!

Tempeh/Carrot Rolls

Spicy Seaweed Salad Rolls

Avocado Rolls

I used leftover sushi rice from Friday night to make avocado rolls for lunch last Monday, Mmmmm!!!

That's all for tonight folks!