July’s Veggie Meals

Get ready for an extra long post. I have lots of vegetarian and vegan photos to share.

Vegan Quinoa Bowl

This was one tasty dish. I added in an avocado, and cherry tomatoes from our garden.

Vegan Taco Seasoned Quinoa and Guacamole. This is one versatile vegan staple. You can serve the quinoa in a bowl, in a burrito, in a taco, stuff it in peppers, man it is good.

Vegan Mexican Bowl. I’ve been experimenting with lots of different types of grain bowls. This one was filling, and really delicious.

Vegan Rice and Roasted Veggies

Vegan Sushi Rice Bowl with Wasabi Avocados and Nori Flakes

Vegan Bowtie Pasta and Blistered Cherry Tomatoes. Oh goodness, I really loved this dish.The tomatoes were from the garden, and they were perfect.

Vegan Kimchi Sushi with Edamame. Vegan Sushi is pretty much my very favorite food on the planet. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and snacks too.

Vegetarian Leftovers from the fridge. I love vegetarian cooking. I make big batches, and live off of the leftovers.

Vegan Noodle Bowl. I always double this recipe, and eat the leftover noodles cold.

Vegan Quinoa and Blistered Tomatoes. I had a pretty good crop of cherry tomatoes, and this was a tasty solution for all of those homegrown goods.

Vegan light and cool lunch, because sometimes it is just too hot to cook in Kansas.

Vegetarian Homemade Soup and Crusty Bread

Vegan Nachos

Fresh Watermelon with Kosher Salt, this was lunch and dinner one day for me. Seriously, Summer in Kansas is miserably hot.

Vegan Veggie Bowl. I forgot to make myself lunch one day, so I threw this together in a flash.

Vegetarian Tomato Pie. I tried out a new dish, and I really liked it.

Vegan Pasta with Extra Greens

Vegan veggie goodness.

Vegan Rice Noodle Bowl. This was another “clean out the fridge and use all of the veggies” lunch. I love rice noodles with just about any veggie.

Homemade Take-Out!!! I miss the Tostadas at my favorite restaurant in Missouri. I can make a pretty close vegan version at home though.

August is flying by, and I’ve been sticking to being mostly vegan. It has been a tasty month already.

Aug 9

Baked Goods: The Kitchen Never Closes

This Summer the kitchen has been in full operation twenty-four hours a day. Most days I feel like a short-order cook with all of the different dishes that I’ve got to get made.

I’ve been baking so many breads, cookies, cakes, and pies. I’ve been trying out a few new recipes too.

Dinner Rolls are a staple around our house. I think I make these at least four times a week.

I love baking fresh bread. It makes the best grilled cheese sandwiches.

I made a batch of snacking bread for Thade. That kiddo could eat these for breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, dessert, after dinner snack, and whenever I say it is time to go to sleep and get out of the kitchen, but he thinks it is time for another snack.

I decided it was time to make a Turkey, so that called for a Pumpkin Pie, and a double batch of Dinner Rolls.

I’ve been making icing from scratch, and I found a fantastic recipe for Vanilla Buttercream. It tastes just like wedding cake icing. The kids loved it too.

We’ve had so many tomatoes growing in our little garden, I wanted to try something new with them. I made a Tomato Pie, and it was amazing. Dylan and I practically ate the entire dish all by ourselves.

With school around the corner I hope to have a little more time to bake ahead cookies, snacks, breads, pizza rolls, and other homemade treats. I would love a break from the kitchen for a little bit, but I don’t think that is going to happen any time too soon.

Aug 8

Late Summer Garden

We had a very hot and muggy July, and then a cold front rolled in and flipped August to cooler temps. I have no idea just how long this autumnal like weather is going to last. I’ve been out getting some photos of our late Summer garden.

Now, if I just had time to catch up on the weeding.

Aug 7

July’s Crafts

July seemed to be one of those months where I was constantly behind on something. The dishes were never caught up, the laundry was endless, the cooking never stopped. It seemed like I was constantly doing something, but not getting anywhere. My anxious self can’t stand months like this last one, so thankfully I took some quiet time and headed for the yarn basket.

I finally finished knitting another scarf. I am a pretty slow knitter, but it is really relaxing to keep my hands busy with knitting needles.

Dylan’s blanket is slowly coming along. I haven’t been able to crochet on this project as much as I have wanted to.

I’ve been playing catch-up with the Temperature Blanket. I was doing well, and crocheting a row a day, and then I got behind for about a week. I keep track of the daily temperature in a journal, so it isn’t too tough to catch back up. This is where I could really use a few more hours in the day.

When the kids are playing outside, I bring along a little project to knit on.

I still can’t figure out how Agnes’ blanket is bigger than Dylan’s. I really did start his first. I don’t think that I am going to reach my goal of having these completed by the end of Summer. I am just running behind, and completely out of time.

Porch crafts. I seem to be living on the back porch while the kids are in the pool. Some days it is a little too hot to crochet on the scrappy blanket, but little knitting is just fine.

I have been asking for a craft space for quite a while. I had some craft storage in the utility room, but it is too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter, and surrounded by utility room stuff. I also have projects in my closet upstairs, and there really isn’t room for anything. I made a suggestion to James, and he set me up a little space under the stairs.

The foyer is the perfect spot for crafting. There is plenty of natural light, and room to get out my sewing machine. I haven’t brought down all of the projects just yet, as I am still trying to figure how to organize the new space.