Vegan cooking school

Today, I went to a vegan cooking class with my friend, Keena.  She has been a vegan for 10 years like me, so we know a lot but we need some inspiration these days.  We keep cooking the same things over and over and just don't feel like trying anything new unless we know it is going to be good.  So when I found this school, we decided to give it a try.

We had a good time.  We didn't learn much since we are already vegans and know a lot.  The class seemed to be geared toward people who are becoming vegan.  Here is the menu that we got to taste today.

Plant Protein Menu

Olives, Five Fresh Herbs & Chick Pea Salad ~ a native dish to the South of France

Oven Roasted Asparagus with Asian Peanut Sauce

Egyptian Yellow Split Pea Stew

served over rice, wilted spinach and a dollop of creamy yogurt

skinny strips of toasted whole wheat lavash 

Black Bean Veggie Burritos Smothered in Homemade Colorado Green Chile Sauce

The Chickpea salad was good and simple to put together.  I think the kids will like it too.  The asparagus and peanut sauce was FABULOUS and so easy to make.  I can't wait to make it this week.  I just need to pick up some fresh asparagus.  Neither one of us liked the stew but we are going to try to make it at home and make it to our tastes to see if we like it better.  We think we didn't like it because the peas were cooked too al dente for our tastes.

The burritos were pretty good.  I liked the green chili.  

So we will keep an eye on her classes but we don't know if we will return unless it is something we know nothing about.  She was a very kind and generous woman, we just need something different than what she is offering.

I returned home to an empty house since Dad took the kids to Aunt Trish's house to do some house repairs while I was at cooking school.  I did some picking up and then school planning since we go back to school next week.

When the kids returned, Cairn and I headed to the store to get the fixin's for our pizza tonight and our pancakes for tomorrow.  You see there are 6 kids here tonight.  Each kid has a friend spending the night.  I made pizza for dinner, tapioca for dessert and tomorrow morning I am making pancakes with strawberry sauce.  The kids have been watching movies, playing Wii and doing crafts.

 The completed Carousel crafts.

In bed most of the day

Today, I woke up with major back pain that would radiate everywhere.  I could barely move.  I tried laying down by the fire but that didn't help.  I tried to sit in the office and work but that made it worse.  By lunch time I was down for the count and went to bed.  I was able to lay in one position for about 30 minutes before I had to move.  The kids played quietly in the house and Dad worked around the house.

The good thing about being forced to lay still is - I got to do a lot of reading.  I finished a couple books that I was working on.  I read several magazines and tried to work on the computer some but sitting up hurt my back.

I took a bath before bed and Cairn put some Deep Blue on my back - that helped for about 20 minutes and then the pain returned.

I went to bed early again with the kids and hope my back feels better tomorrow.  I have a lot to do.

Cairn woke up with a sore throat so she stayed in her room relaxing and reading too.  I wouldn't let her get in bed with me because it hurt my back whenever the bed moved.

I read Kitchen Counter Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn a recommendation I found on Pinterest. I am working hard on cleaning up our diet even more.  It became quite evident why I need to when we were in NC.

 I got it from the library on Friday and finished reading it today.  WOW, what a book.  I learned so much and I already feel more confident in the kitchen.  I did skip a few chapters because we don't eat meat and I don't prepare any meat but I still learned a lot.

I especially liked learning about knives.  I always pick the smallest knife in the block.  That's not the one I should use.

The most motivating yet most common sense item was buy in smaller portions and use what you have first. Yes, it might be more economical to buy 5 heads of lettuce at one time but if you throw away 3 that have gone bad, you really just threw away money.  I try to go grocery shopping only one time a week because the more I take the kids in the store, the more I seem to spend but I also tend to waste a lot of food because I forget something is in the fridge or I run out of steam by the end of the week.  You know that feeling, you had the menus planned for the week - a new recipe each night but by Friday you are tired for the week and don't want to cook another big meal.  Food goes to waste.  So I am going to try to shop more often and buy fewer things at a time.  I will just have to work out with Dad to leave the kids at home I go to the store alone.  That way I will stick to my list, watch prices and not buy too much.

There were many recipes in the book that made things appear easier then you think.  For example, vinaigrette - it seems like a tough recipe but really it is 2 main ingredients - 3 parts oil, and 1 part acid.

I plan to reread the book and take notes of all the things I want to remember.  A great book, a quick read and you learn so much about something you have to do everyday.