Archives for October 2016

This Week’s Eats

10.20.2016 by veggieTOT // Leave a Comment

Last week, something awesome happened. The co-op we belong to had a Facebook giveaway and I was one of the winners. The prize was two big bags full of local foods. It was like Christmas, my birthday, and Thanksgiving (because: food) all rolled into one glorious day.

I can’t really put into words how much I love Willy Street Co-op. If I could wrap my arms around it and give it a hug, I would. We do nearly all of our grocery shopping there and I just love what they do for the community, I love their selection of produce, I love that they support local food makers, and I really freaking love their brownies. It’s one of the things that makes me happy to live where we do.

ANYWAY. Since we had two bags full of unexpected groceries, I decided to skip shopping for the week and use what I had gotten and what I already had on hand to make our meals instead. Which was fun! Here’s what we had:

Apple French Toast Bake from King Arthur Flour
We had a baguette from Batch Bakehouse and lots of apples to use, and since French toast is always a winner with Little Pea, I thought I’d give this recipe a try. I enjoyed it because it wasn’t cloyingly sweet and the apples got tender in the oven without becoming mushy.
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Banapple Bread

10.14.2016 by veggieTOT // 2 Comments

It’s been a crazy few weeks full of teething toddlers, illness, and more teething. OH MAN, the teething. When I was pregnant, I used to have weird dreams about Little Pea being born with a full set of adult teeth and I’d wake up feeling creeped out, but now I’m kind of wishing that had actually happened. Would it be unsettling? YES. Would it be worth it? YES.

Back to the topic at hand: Banapple Bread. I have a vegan banana bread template that I make when we have overripe bananas on hand, with different tweaks and add-ins—usually blueberries or chocolate chips, sometimes chai spices. I’ve never made it with apples, but since we’ve got a crisper drawer full of them from apple picking, I thought I’d put them to use in our favorite banana bread. And it was good!
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Crispy Parmesan Polenta Fries

10.11.2016 by veggieTOT // Leave a Comment

Polenta is one of my pantry staples. If it’s not a staple in your kitchen, let me persuade you: it’s super easy to make when you buy the quick-cooking variety and it’s kid-friendly too. I swear! It has a flavor that’s pretty hard to object to and the fact that you can add cheese to it makes it a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. And there are so many ways to use it: serve it creamy in a bowl topped with veggies, layer it in a casserole with a sauce and cheese, let it set and cut it into slabs, or slice it into fries and bake them until they’re golden brown and crispy.

Yes! Fries! Let’s talk about fries. This requires a little advanced prep, but you can take advantage of polenta’s versatility and make double the amount of polenta for dinner one night; pour half of it into a baking dish to set for later and eat the other half in bowls as a creamy porridge that night. The next day, you’ll cut the polenta into fries and bake them.
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