Mop Philosophy Monday

 I can't believe we only have another few days until the Easter weekend, yippee!  You know what this means, here in Canada we might be somewhat close to winter being kind of over.

I spent yesterday afternoon ironing tablecloths after completing, finally, the organization of my linen cupboard.
I prefer to hang tablecloths from hangers rather than store them folded, how about you?

I have a very small amount of Easter theming going on, a few treats in the kitchen and an Easter wreath on the front door.  We definitely need more decorating, the Rascals are all going to be home for Easter and this is cause for celebration.

 My menus this weekend are going to be Easter themed as well and by that I mean CARROTS.  It only makes sense, isn't this what bunnies love to eat?

 MrBP and I cooked up a giant vat of carrot soup for our dinner party on Saturday night.  It was delicious.

Carrot Soup for a Crowd

3 large shallots, chopped
5 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 cup butter (vegan or dairy)
A glass of sparkling wine, or white wine
20 carrots, peeled and chopped
Herbamare Sea Salt and pepper

Saute your shallots and celery in the butter (real butter or Earth Balance vegan butter) until translucent.  You'll want to use your biggest stock pot.  Add the sparkling wine or white wine and let it boil off.   Add your chopped carrots and completely cover with water.  Boil until the carrots are tender and add a teaspoon or so of Herbamare (you'll taste for salt after the puree).
Let cool and blend in batches, I had to blend this soup in four different batches.  You might need to add more water after blending to get the perfect soup consistency.
Pour it all back in your giant stock pot and taste for salt and pepper, season accordingly.
Serves 10.

Dinner party prep.

 I'd like to cook a main course involving carrots for Easter lunch, I'm thinking some sort of carrot loaf with nuts and seeds, and some potatoes on the side.  I'll let you know what sort of recipe I can muster up.
Are you prepping for Easter?  Have you been ironing any tablecloths?  Do you have a busy week to get through?
Happy Monday, I hope it's productive yet calm at the same time.
xoxDani

Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

I remember trying spaghetti squash back in the days when I was on a gluten-free diet and it was just all too depressing:  this was meant to be a substitute for beautiful pasta?
 Now that I'm back into eating real pasta  I thought I'd try spaghetti squash again, and think of it as the healthy vegetable it is, rather than a substitute for something quite different.

This is a great recipe because it's basically a loaded half of a spaghetti squash that requires no cooking besides roasting the squashes themselves.  Considering that this only involves cutting them in half and shoving them in the oven, it really is a no-fuss meal.

 I did brush some olive oil on the tray, and after scooping the seeds out of your spaghetti squash you'll want to sprinkle them with some sea salt.  Then lay them face down on their tray and roast for 45 minutes at 375.
Once you've taken them out of the oven you'll want to carefully turn them over (they'll be hot and steaming as Hades) and gently pull the squash apart into spaghetti-like strings.

I then filled them with raw kale, finely chopped (place this in the centre of the squash, right down in the hollow where you removed the seeds, the heat will wilt the kale a bit) and a very satisfying mixture of julienned sun dried tomatoes and whole walnuts.

I topped this with pitted kalamata olives and a squeeze of lemon juice.

The original recipe came from a digital cookbook of "reset" recipes I bought from Simple Green Smoothies (you can see their website here).

The recipes are part of a seven day "cleanse" type program that is actually quite nice.  I'm not really doing the program (nothing comes between me and my morning coffee) but there are plenty of really terrific smoothie recipes and delicious plant-based dinners.

One recipe I will take away from the collection for sure is one for a "vegan cheeze" topping.  I used it to top this spaghetti squash, and it added some protein as well as flavour.
Basically you get out your food processor, add a cup of raw cashews, a cup of raw almonds, half a cup of nutritional yeast and a teaspoon of large, flaky sea salt (such as Maldon sea salt).  Give that several pulses in your processor until it looks like fine breadcrumbs and voila, a lovely topping for this dish and all sorts of grain dishes, soups and vegetable dishes that would benefit from a sprinkling of "cheeze".
I've got mine stored in a big jar (which you can see above on the left), and I'll keep it in the fridge to be sure it stays fresh.

This dinner was so good I'm going to buy more spaghetti squash today!
Hope your day goes as well as it possibly can,
xoxDani