Showing posts with label potatoes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label potatoes. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Mostly Dakota, some food


This weekend, Dakota and I visited my dad, who has about an acre of land. His front porch is approximately the same size as our entire backyard in Baltimore, so Dakota nearly lost her mind when she realized she could run. And run. And run some more. My dad lives on a quiet road, too, so we went for a nice walk!





Passed out with her elephant!

When we came home to Baltimore, we discovered that her new Molly Mutt bed had arrived. Yay! Her bed in my room consisted of two pillows on the floor, but that drove me crazy. I looked into ways to turn old pillows into a dog bed. This was a neat tutorial, but I don't sew. And really didn't foresee my self making the time or developing the interest for this bed, even though I know learning to sew would probably be a really handy skill. So the pillows stayed.

My mom discovered Molly Mutt, a website that sells stuffable dog duvets in a bunch of shapes and patterns. They have sooo many cute prints, it was really hard to pick one. I finally decided on La Vie en Rose because it best matches my room. Yeah, that was the deciding factor... I stuffed it with four or five old pillows and it turned out perfectly! Dakota loves it!

I ordered the medium bed, and when it arrived, I noticed it said it was suitable for dogs up to 50lbs. I didn't notice any weight indications on the website, but Dakota weighs 75 pounds. I was worried it would be too small, but as you can see, it's a perfect size!

Her whole body fits on the bed, she just likes laying half-on, half-off. 
Don't ask, because I don't know.

And so this isn't only about Dakota, here's a recent dish I made. Vegan Dad always posts the most delicious looking foods. I tried his Indian Potatoes and Spinach, and it was SO yummy! I really wanted to add chick peas, and thought about also adding green peas, but didn't. I think I will next time, which would mean the seasoning would need some tweaking, but I think it'd make it even better.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Corn and Potato Chowder






Spring is dragging its feet with its arrival, so I decided to embrace the still chilly weather with another soup. It's no secret that I love both corn and potatoes, so I had to make this corn & potato chowder from Vegan Planet. It was a simple recipe with easy-to-find ingredients. I think the only thing I'd do differently is reserve a little bit of the corn prior to pureeing, or add a little more after pureeing, just to have more kernels in the soup.

An online recipe can be found here!

Monday, February 7, 2011

Quick & Easy Potato Soup






Winter is getting to the point where it's no longer cute. The initial excitement of wearing wool-free sweaters and gloves has worn off; I now curse any time I have to leave the house because of the 10 minutes required to bundle up appropriately. If I get my scarf stuck in my zipper one more time, I'm turning it into a cat toy. The near constant clouds and/or precipitation are nothing short of depressing, and the occasional few hours (or sometimes, if I'm really lucky, entire day) of sunshine feels like Christmas in February. I'm sick of looking at mucky lawns and dirty snow.

In short: winter at this points leaves me with little creativity and energy at the end of a long work day. And the longer winter drags on, the longer each work day feels. I think my students sense my discontent with the current season/weather, and view this as the most opportune time to go crazy.

When I was browsing FFV last week, I came across this recipe and my only choice in the matter was obvious. Quick and easy? Potato soup? Must add to menu for next week. This came together so quickly and so deliciously; it even got the Omni Mommy Seal of Approval and earned a permanent spot in my recipe box.

This recipe was obviously a godsend from the Gods Who Aren't Fans of Winter in February.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Broccoli-Potato Soup with Fresh Herbs


Source: Veganomicon

It's no secret that I love potatoes. In fact, I'd say potatoes are the vegetable equivalent to apples, because they're pretty versatile, and also undeniably comforting and yummy. Broccoli has always been one of my favorite veggies, so this recipe was a no-brainer when I came by it.

My only concern with this soup was, "Is it supposed to be this green?" A Google images search revealed that yes, being this green was reasonable. And really, once you taste the delicious blend of herbs, color becomes a moot point.

Unfortunately, I was unable to find an online recipe for this, so you might just have to suck it up and buy a copy of this book, but I promise it will be money well spent!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

"Grate" Potato Bake



This Christmas, Santa brought a new cookbook for me, hooray! I was super excited about this, because I love her other book. When I was looking through it, this recipe immediately caught my eye because potatoes earn a very high ranking on my list of favorite foods. I thought this paired with steamed broccoli (also a high achiever on my favorite foods list) would be perfect.

Perfect is not how I would describe the outcome, and the fault is mine. Prior to grocery shopping, I made the assumption that we had dill in our otherwise fabulously well stocked spice cabinet. Wrong, and you know what happens when you assume. So, when I realized my mistake while mid-prep and wrist deep in grated potatoes, I decided to just carry on and omit the two teaspoons of dill. The end result was more than a tad bland.

When recipes don't turn out quite like I expect, they end up on one of two lists: 1) Hell No Am I Ever Trying This Again, or 2) I Will Try Again and I WILL Prevail. This one definitely earns a spot on the latter, if for no other reason than my untamable love for potatoes.

In the end, all was well because there ain't nothin' a little ketchup can't fix.