Wonton Wednesday - First Edition

The other day I was taking a much needed break from life by perusing Pinterest when I came across one of the cutest things I have ever seen - mini taco salads made with wonton wrappers. I immediately knew that I wanted, no NEEDED, to make these and so sent poor Seth out on a wonton wrapper run (try saying that one 10 times fast). Loving to make tacos as often as I do, we already had all of the other ingredients we needed to make up these lovely little things and voila - 16 miniature taco salads ready to be eaten in 2-4 bites! And let me tell you, these were just as cute and delicious as I imagined they would be. Check them out for yourself:

These were super easy to make. All you need are a package of wonton wrappers, a can of refried beans, and any other taco toppings you would like. I used shredded lettuce, a mix of cheddar and mozzarella Daiya cheese, chopped up tomatoes mixed with canned corn, salsa, and sour cream that I mixed with taco seasoning.

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly spray your muffin tins with nonstick spray and push the wonton wrappers into the cups. Finish by lightly spraying the tops again.

Bake in the oven for about 7 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and let cool.

Assemble the tacos by placing shredded lettuce in the bottom of the cup. Top with refried beans, the tomato/corn mixture, the sour cream mixture, salsa, and finish with shredded cheese. Little bites of heaven.

Here's a closeup of one in all its glory:

While I was super excited and happy with how these turned out, using only 16 wrappers for these babies means I now have A LOT left. Searching on Pinterest again I realized just how versatile wonton wrappers are...and thus began Wonton Wednesday!

Each Wednesday I'll post one or two new things I've done with my wonton wrappers...that is until I run out of ideas or the wonton wrappers are gone, whichever comes first!

So here's another one for you - mini wonton breakfast bites!

I woke up on Saturday morning with a serious craving for an egg mcmuffin. Obviously since I no longer eat cheese or eggs or bacon for that matter, I had to improvise. I decided to use the omelette recipe on The PPK and made up a delicious little morning treat that Seth and I gobbled up. But since the recipe makes enough for about 4 omelettes we had leftovers - enter my idea for mini breakfast bites!

I only had enough omelette mix for about 6 so I preheated the oven to 350, lightly sprayed my muffin tins, and sprinkled on a thin layer of vegan cheese.

Bake these in the oven for about 5 minutes, or just until the cheese has melted and the wontons have a slightly brown hue (you're going to bake these again, so don't worry about them being done yet).

While these were baking I fried up a couple of slices of Lightlife's Smart Bacon.

When cooled, crumble the slices up and add them to your omelette mixture.

Fill the wontons up about halfway with the egg/bacon mixture. You don't want to fill them too high or the egg won't set before the wontons burn (I found this out the hard way).

Bake for another 12 - 15 minutes. Make sure you watch these so the wontons don't burn. You want the egg to set enough so that a toothpick will come out clean.

Drizzle with ketchup and enjoy!

Stay tuned next week for another episode of Wonton Wednesday!

The Ups and Downs of Writing

So I haven't mentioned this yet, but my sister and I are writing a book. It's a long and painful process that started two summers ago when my sister randomly had an idea for a book about fairies. Yes, you read that right, fairies. And for some reason writing a book about fairies seemed like the greatest idea ever known to man and we immediately and passionately started scribbling away at pages upon pages and hoping that one day we'd be able to piece them together into something vaguely coherent and interesting. The book was going to be done by the fall, then the winter, then the next summer, then the next fall... Queue an insane amount of wedding planning on my end and a new baby on hers and needless to say the book is still not done.

As anyone who has attempted to write a book, or really anyone who has started a project that can't be completed in one quick afternoon, can testify to, there are a lot of obstacles in the process. It seems to be a never ending loop of moments of extreme motivation (I like to call these the "We can totally finish the book in the next month if we just write and edit every day" moments, also known as the "Moments of Improbable Optimism") and those where you can't even stand to look at the pages yet alone pick up a pen to work on them (I call these the "Most Frequently Occurring Moments"). And to make matters worse, all the while, throughout this up and down, "I can do it", "I can't do it," never-ending saga, is an underlying feeling of guilt every time you even consider spending a minute doing anything other than working on the book.

And so, like any respectable underachieving slacker, you find numerous other things to occupy your time instead in the hope that avoidance will somehow result in spontaneous motivation.

For instance, creating a craft storage cubby area:

Or reorganizing all of the books on your bookshelf by color:

and all of the movies:

Or making an earring holder out of yarn:

Until you reach a point where you realize that if you don't work on the book more months will inevitably pass and the possibility of EVER completing the freaking thing will fly out the window as quickly as the idea first popped into your head.

But of course that's easier said than done. So in my final attempt at procrastination, I decided to make something that might actually help me become motivated to write again.

So, for your viewing pleasure, and inspired by a pinterest post by my lovely friend over at Make It Sing here it is:

In case you can't read it it says:

Write
Some letters make a word
Write
Some words make a sentence
Write
Some sentences make a page
Write
Some pages make a chapter
Write
Some chapters make a book

...and in its new home on my desk with Bobblehead Seth:

Potluck and A Moment of Silence

...and the Halloween themed potluck dinner finally arrived this past Friday and it was everything I had always dreamed it would be! Ok, well to be honest, it was a bit of a stressful event considering I happen to be the biggest overachiever and spent the entire week planning all of the genius Halloween themed finger foods I could make - but hopefully my craziness paid off!

Take one house full of Halloween decorations, add several bottles of wine and a large pitcher of homemade butterbeer, mix in a table full of food, and end with 5 lovely ladies and I'd say you have quite the recipe for success.

Enjoy!

Chipotle black bean and pumpkin sliders from Very Vegan Holiday

Spinach dip in a cauldron bread bowl

Candy corn shaped crudite display for dipping

Moldy cheese log made of Sunergia blue cheese and Tofutti cream cheese with black sesame seeds

Black bean and pepper quinoa salad (courtesy of the lovely Meg)

Spooky ghost tortilla chips with "dried bat wing" chips

Mini Halloween shaped cheezy crackers from Have Cake Will Travel

The poor pumpkin wasn't feeling so well and vomited up a heap of guacamole!

Shortbread witches' fingers with almond nails and jam from Chef Chloe and "Just Bitten" red velvet cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

The desserts and butterbeer (butterscotch schnapps and cream soda = heaven in a glass)

And the full spread:

Overall it was an awesome evening and I can't wait for Halloween!!

And now for the serious part of this entry. A tragedy occurred Saturday that I think needs to be brought to light. As a present for my friend's ho-down themed first birthday party for her son I spent hours slaving over the cutest vegetable themed cupcakes (adapted from Hello Cupcake) only to have them destroyed in a monumental accident involving my friend's mother, a cupcake tier, and a lot of broken glass.

And so, in their honor, a moment of silence for our fallen brethren and one last chance to see them in all their glory. Cue Will Ferrell and "Dust in the Wind".

Halloween Lovin' and Pumpkin Rigatoni

Following the theme of things that I love created by the last post, it's time to talk Halloween.

I grew up in a house where Halloween was the be all and end all of holidays - we're talking a Halloween tree (a black spray-painted fake Christmas tree), a 6 foot Frankenstein monster complete with all the appropriate moans and groans, and even a Halloween village. It's been so ingrained in me that the first sign of pumpkins instantly lifts my spirits and the plethora of Yankee Candle Halloween scents sends me into a dizzying spell of bliss.

So it's no surprise that I've decided to continue my family's tradition by buying as much Halloween crap each year as is humanly possible. It's gotten to the point where Seth has decided to limit my spending to "one Halloween item a year, dear" (at least that he knows about). This year he's been particularly generous and I'll admit to buying a lot of the newest Yankee Candle Halloween creations (Have you seen how awesome they are this year? I mean how could I resist!), but he was being rather stingy about when I could put our decorations up and my patience was running out!

Queue the genius idea of a Halloween themed potluck for some of my lovely coworkers - the perfect excuse to have to put up the Halloween decorations earlier than any normal person would ever do AND to get to create fun Halloween themed food! (*stay tuned for a post on the food for this event*)

And thus began the process of taking all of our decorations out of boxes.

I really can't imagine why Seth won't let me get more....

So with pumpkins on the brain, the mood was right to try to veganize a Pumpkin Cream Rigatoni recipe I had seen earlier on pinterest!

**If you don't already know what pinterest is, you need to look into it asap! It's the most addictive website for the crafty and a perfect way to procrastinate any sort of work**

So here it is - adapted from Espresso and Cream

What you will need

8 oz rigatoni pasta
1 tbsp vegan margarine (*I used Earth Balance*)
1/4 cup non dairy milk (*I used unsweetened almond milk to add to the creaminess*)
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp marjoram
1/4 tsp thyme
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (*Unfortunately Seth was sent out to find this and apparently it was "make something with pumpkin" day because 4 stores were sold out. We ended up getting a sugar pumpkin, coring it and scooping out the guts, microwaving that sucker, peeling it, and pureeing it with two burnt fingers in the process. If you can find the canned kind, you are a lucky devil.*)
1 recipe Allison's Gourmet Alfredo
1/4 cup tomato soup
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with chiles, rinsed and drained
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Nutritional yeast (optional)

How to get it done

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package, drain and set aside making sure to keep it warm.

Drain and rinse the tomatoes and set aside.

Whip up one batch of Allison's Alfredo. Set aside and keep warm.

Melt the margarine in a large skillet over medium heat.

Add the non dairy milk, marjoram, thyme, and black pepper and stir until mixed. Continue cooking until the mixture is heated throughout, about 2-3 minutes.

Add in the pumpkin puree and 1/3 cup of Allison's Alfredo sauce, stirring until mixed. (*Feel free to add more or less of the alfredo as you see fit depending on how creamy you want the recipe.*)

Stir in the tomato soup and continue cooking for 2-3 more minutes until all the ingredients are heated through.

 Remove from heat and add the diced tomatoes, stirring just until mixed.

Spoon sauce onto pasta, only adding enough to coat the pasta lightly not smother it!

Serve garnished with freshly cracked black pepper and nutritional yeast to taste. Enjoy!

And because we had some homemade pumpkin puree left, we whipped up some pumpkin walnut bread from Hell Yeah It's Vegan.

And because sometimes I love spoiling Seth, I took one of our freshly picked honeycrisp apples and made an apple topping with margarine, brown sugar, and cinnamon that we put over some So Delicious Purely Decadent vanilla ice cream with a graham cracker crumb sprinkle!

Is it October yet?