Butternut Squash Soup, Guac Off, & Moosewood

I have a few things to share with you today.  Starting with this blender recipe!  This made a HUGE batch and measurements are approx because I continuously added things as I went.

2 pounds Butternut Squash

2 (or more) C Almond Milk

1/2 t Old Bay Seasoning

1 T Wildtree Garlic Galore (or Minced Garlic)

About 1/2 Onion

Nutmeg & Cinnamon to taste

Black Pepper & Pink Himalayan Sea Salt to taste

2 T Vegan Bouillion

6 Mini Red and/or Orange Bell Peppers

Optional addition for my leftovers: 1 T Wildtree Garden Vegetable Blend Seasoning

Our local Humane Society operates a separate Thrift Boutique where all the proceeds go back to the animals and today was their Holiday Open House.  They have some really neat stuff there and the inventory always changes.  The prices are extremely low, too!  I found this small book for just 49 cents and couldn't resist!  It's not a vegetarian book but it did have a lot of vegan/vegetarian recipes in there and some of them that weren't veg recipes sure did give me some ideas for ones I could easily tweak.

Today I stopped by a fellow league members house and she gave me this Moosewood Book.  She was so sweet!  She's been a League of Women Voters member for over 55 years!!!  That makes her a lifetime member!  I was so thrilled because I remember borrowing this book from libraries more than once in the past but didn't YET have it in my collection.  I have other Moosewood Cookbooks - maybe about 6 - but didn't have this one before today.  I can't wait to re-read it!!

Vegan MoFo ~ Cookbooks!

Okay...this is going to be a pretty crazy post.  Vegan and Raw Vegan Cookbooks are just like better than potato chips...you can't have just one!  Therefore I will be doing a post featuring several of my favorites!  But please keep in mind there are MANY MORE and you can view them on my GoodReads Feed and Profile.  If you are on GoodReads PLEASE add me!  I'm looking for more veg friends on there!!!!  So...here goes!  4 books you may or may not have guessed I adore!  Vive Le Vegan by Dreena Burton I have LOVED since it came out!  It contains one of my most favorite recipes of all time in it which is the Hummus Quinoa Casserole!  Another one I would guard with my life is The Vegan Zombie Cookbook!  I met these guys more than once and they are AWESOME and so are their recipes!  I also like pretty much anything Philip McCluskey comes out with.  The possible 'dark horse' of the bunch may very well be "How We All Went Raw."  It's more like a binder but the recipes and ideas are pretty awesome.  Perfect example of 'don't judge a book by its cover.'

Above I mentioned Dreena Burton.  I pretty much like every book I have seen her come out with - like I stated about Philip McCluskey, too!  A few other Cookbook Gurus I can't get enough of are Matthew Kenney and Ani Phyo.  They are both wonderful!

Other Cookbook Authors I enjoy and wish I had more from include: Zsu Dever, Judita Wignall, Mimi Kirk, Jennifer Cornbleet, Robin Robertson, Terry Hope Romero, Tal Ronnen, and Bryant Terry.  I know there are many more but that is just off the top of my head.  I do have some of the books that some of these people have done but have noticed even more books that they are behind that I either don't have and WANT or haven't gotten my hands on as of yet OR didn't even know existed!

I LOVE how the vegan and raw vegan cookbook world is exploding!

But who could forget some of the best of all time...some of the ones that have really taken the vegan world and mainstream world and media by storm?  Like The China Study, Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, Engine 2 Diet, and Forks Over Knives and their companion cookbooks!?  I MUST mention them!  And many of other doctors books like Dr. Neal Barnard and Dr. John McDougall.

And a WHOLE COLLECTIVE of books from Moosewood...which go back decades!

Now there are more celebrities who are throwing this vegan hat in the ring such as Alicia Silverstone and Mayim Bialik and I admire what they are both doing quite a bit!

There are just too many vegan cookbooks and so little time.  Tell me which ones you like, want, or wonder about!

Asparagus & Snow Pea Salad

Yesterday I had a fun trip around Warren and Chautauqua Counties in search of some great local produce!  Two of the items I found were these beauties!  The Asparagus is from The Hatch Patch and the Organic Snow Peas are from Aber's Acres.

Tonight I made a 'snack' or a 'taste test' of this and the rest I will be taking for my lunch tomorrow.

I'm rather excited about the way my 'sauce' or 'dressing' turned out!  I must say!  I started with a recipe from one of many Moosewood Cookbooks I have but tweaked it.

The sauce is made up of roughly 2 to 3 Tablespoons of Peanut 'Butter', 2 Tablespoons of Braggs Liquid Aminos, 1 to 2 Tablespoons of Seasame Oil, 3 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice, and 2 to 3 Tablespoons of Agave Nectar or Natural Honey.  I blended all of this into my Magic Bullet and drizzled over top of my salad.  I'm not a Blanching-Pro but it's the method I attempted with the 'greens'.  It kept them a vibrant green in color but also kept them crunchy!