Vegan Mofo 7.1: Busy, Busy Sunday

Farmers’ Market:

As usual we started our day at the farmers’ market. It was nice to arrive and have the sun up for a change. At least this week I didn’t pick up mustard greens thinking it was kale. That was a bit of a surprise last week, LOL. I guess that is what happens when you shop in the dark. ;-)

Today we picked up another mountain of produce. You are shocked right? Today’s haul included: cauliflower, poblanos, sweet potatoes, chanterelle mushrooms, shitake mushrooms, cilantro, dill, parsley, basil, fresh ginger, red cabbage, spicy greens (tatsoi, mizuna, and arugula mix), and other things I have forgotten that are crammed into my refrigerator. Like always you would be lucky to anything into my refrigerator right now. We may have to have a green smoothie or fresh veggie and fruit juice later today just to make some room. ;-)

We overslept this morning so I had to grab clothes quickly, brush my hair and teeth and run out the door. It was very cold this morning and not a good day for flats without socks and bare hands. Hopefully next week I am better prepared. When we got home from the market I felt like a human popsicle but had no one to blame but myself. I think it took me two hours to warm up.

Errands:

For breakfast we had leftover chili from last night since I was frozen and needed to make room in the refrigerator. Next we ran a few errands stopping at the library, Petsmart, and Costco. We picked up some canned cat food since we have two more feline patients scheduled for dental procedures soon. After reading all the labels I ended up picking up Wellness and Blue Buffalo brands. Neca, thanks for the tip on the Wellness brand I might have missed it had you not pointed me in that direction.

Does anyone else go into Costco for 10 things and somehow spend $350 or is it just us? That seems to happen every time we go in. I did pick up some adorable Christmas decorating items though. ;-) I will share those in another post soon probably next week when we aren’t “officially Mofo’ing”. Costco was a zoo today you would have thought they were giving stuff away. We ended up spending far too much time there and didn’t get home until after 1pm. Since we eat with my parents at 3pm arriving home that late was a bit of an issue in terms of prep time. I went with something fairly simple but didn’t have time to measure today. I will explain verbally what I did.

Lunch/Mid day meal with the omnis:

The first thing that had to happen was roasting 2 acorn squash. I cut them in half scooped out the seeds and baked them for an hour cut side down at 350 degrees. They are done when you can easily slide a paring knife through the skin and flesh. Don’t forget to clean the seeds and bake them at the same time.

While the squash was baking I started a simple southern Italian tomato sauce with was flavored with fennel seed, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper flakes, fresh rosemary, garlic and onions. I got this simmering early so it had time to reduce and concentrate.

Next I started a simple fruit and nut filling for the squash halves. I decided given my time constraints it made more sense to make the components separately so neither was over or under cooked. The filling contained diced apple, fresh cranberries, dried apricot, dried pear, walnuts, lemon zest, lemon juice, cardamom, powdered ginger, cinnamon and a touch of stevia.

Thirty minutes before dinner I started quinoa to go under the tomato sauce. At the same time I added fresh green beans and diced cauliflower to the tomato sauce.

To serve, fill the squash halves with the fruit and nut filling. Serve the tomato sauce and veggies over the quinoa and top with sliced almonds. In the end it was a simple meal that cooked mostly on its own while I put away the things we bought today Costco and straighten up. Yes this did take a while to cook but most of the time I wasn’t even in the kitchen so it wasn’t exactly difficult or even time consuming.

My father really enjoyed the stuffed squash and said I could make that again any time. Both father and Dan thought the squash was almost sweet enough to be dessert. Who are these men? My mother was busy watching the Ravens play football so we sent a doggie bag home for her with my father. I did add a touch of unfiltered extra virgin olive oil to my parent’s veggie and tomato sauce topped quinoa. But other than that change their food was the same as ours. I can safely say my father enjoyed his meal and with his usual meat and potatoes diet that always surprises to me.

Signing out:

I am going to relax a little before I clean the kitchen. At the moment I am stuffed so I have no idea what we will be eating later today for dinner. If I make something fun I will be back to let you know what I came up with. Talk to you all again soon.