Simple dinner

Tonight I took one of the chunks of seitan I made over the weekend (the other is in the freezer) and made a recipe from The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook of seitan with mushrooms in a brandy reduction sauce. The recipe says to cut the stems off the mushrooms, but I use my handy dandy mushroom slicer and slice them instead. When I got my slicer, I paid a little extra for the slicer that is has a small container, so when I slice the mushrooms, they go into this little cup. The recipe took about 15 minutes to prepare from start to finish, so if you're hungry and have some seitan in the fridge, check the recipe out. I also had leftover pasta and asparagus, so I zapped those in the micro and layered the seitan on top of the pasta. Yum!

I totally forgot to mention--silly me--that I made some fabu desserts over the weekend. First I made Double Chocolate Almond Explosion Cookies from Vive Le Vegan! and while they are very tasty, I'm kicking myself for not having toasted the almonds per the recipe instructions. But I am lazy, and my kitchen is tiny, so whatcha want? Here they are:


I also made Fruity Fruit bars from La Dolce Vegan! with frozen pineapple and raspberries. Basically with this recipe, you use three cups of frozen fruit and mix and match to your little heart's content. I took the picture before I cut it into bars and I will say that they are a little tricky to eat--I need a plate and a fork because they fall apart--but they are totally delicious! I also think with the rolled oats in them, they have almost a breakfast bar sensibility. And bad girl that I am, I did indeed have some for breakfast this morning.


I am so looking forward to this weekend--three-day weekend. On Saturday, I'm hosting a restaurant visit at Sunflower Vegetarian Restaurant in Vienna, Virginia. As restuarant visit coordinator for the local vegetarian society, every month I visit a different restaurant to show the veg options in the area and let non-veg places know that there is a demand for cruelty-free dining. I do fairly well at picking vegetarian restaurants, but there's just not enough in the area without getting boring. And one place that isn't vegetarian but veg-friendly is thrilled to death to have us, but unless a place is totally veg, I won't go there every year. Still, I have to give a shout out to Flat Top Grill.

On Sunday, I have to take my little furbaby to the vet for her annual visit and triannual rabies shot. I was surprised to hear that the clinic is open Sundays, but that makes my life easier. It's one of the few times I ever take a cab because getting to the clinic would be a pain on public transit. I have taken my cat in her carrier on the bus before, but it's just easiest to put my life into the hands of one of D.C.'s loony cabdrivers. She'll be mad at me for a few hours, but then decide her need for pats carries more weight than her irritation at getting shots.