Taking the Romantic Out

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Tonight the Hubz and I had a romantic dinner date.

There were no candles.

No low romantic lighting.

There were no table cloths or cloth napkins.

No wine or romantic music.

There was florescent lighting.

There were plastic tables and chairs.

We used paper napkins and sipped from giant bottles of seltzer.

We were serenaded by the humming of washers and dryers.

And we enjoyed one of my favorite meals ever out of plastic containers.

Eggplant Parm

Roasted Cauliflower with Mustard Dressing and Capers

being shy tonight

Learning To Juggle

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Since the holidays I have been keeping busy working on a number of new projects for the blog and my health counseling; this, on top of attempting to have a social life and work my regular job as well. I am happy to say that after this Friday things should get back to their regular pace and I will have a number of really great blog posts coming at you. For now, here is a sneak peak into what I have been working on lately:

Health Counseling

I have been working hard at completing my modules as well as taking time to market myself.  I have contacted a number of businesses about doing nutrition and wellness workshops which I hope will start up in February/March.  I also have been working, rather the Hubz has been working on getting my website for my health counseling business (Health and Wellness with Lindsay) up and running

My health counseling brochure:

Vegan Cookbook Club

I am proud to say that the Vegan Cookbook Club is up and running and we have an number of participants for our first book Veganomicon. The start date for Book #1 is Jaunary 16th so if you are interested in participating please contact me.


Ebook #2

I have been working hard at creating recipes for my second ebook and with the help from my really amazing and dedicated testers it should be released the first week of February; one month ahead of schedule.  There will be 25-30 recipes in this e-book featuring brunch, lunch & dinner recipes for the whole family.

Cook.Vegan.Lover. Survey

I have been spending time (when I have it) to go over the results of the Cook.Vegan.Lover. Survey in preparation to write a blog post discussing the results and the improvements that you will see on Cook.Vegan.Lover.  You will not be seeing any huge changes but rather I will be attempting to improve what is already here.  I really appreciate the open and honest feedback from all of you because it helps me to be a better blogger.

It’s Burning Up In Here

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This afternoon was spent menu planning for the next few weeks.  I know you are probably thinking weeks??? is she crazy?! Yes I am a little crazy but that’s besides the point.  Next week is the kick of of my Vegan Cookbook Club which means I will be trying out recipes from Veganomicon, our first book.  I also am still working on recipes for my upcoming e-book, the blog and a third e-book so I had major menu planning that needed to be done.

Benefits of menu planning:

  • Savings- By planning meals ahead of time you can save money because you are less apt to do spontaneous dining out.  Also when you plan ahead you can make a list of what you need and can avoid making spontaneous purchases.
  • Healthier- When you eat at home you can have control over your portion sizes, amount of salt and fat and  you know the quality of your ingredients.

On the menu tonight was Bangers & Mash with a caramelized onion gravy…..however Bangers & Mash turned into Mash.

Then it happened-I went to remove the sheet pan from the oven that had my vegan sausages and my oven mitt betrayed me causing me to drop the pan into the oven spilling everything into the bottom of my oven leaving me with a few carrots and three burned fingers.

I ran immediately to a sink to run my hands under cold water which helped for a minute but then resulted in me running around the house in search of the first aid kit for sting relief napkins.

The Hubz took over the kitchen and replaces the sausage with a 1/2 a veggie burger each. Crisis averted. Now I sit on the couch with ice on my fingers. Oh the risks of cooking!

Okay I’ll Let You Sneak A Peak

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Over the past few weeks I have been working hard on creating new recipes for my second e-book. This new e-book will feature a variety of brunch, lunch and dinner recipes.  My testers have been hard at work getting recipes tested and thanks to their dedication I hope to release the e-book the first week of February! Here is a photo sneak peak:

Cookbook Club

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Lately the Hubz and I have been talking about starting our own book club, just the two of us.  We would read the same book and then have a discussion about the book over dinner.  All this talk about a book club got me thinking about how it would be fun to start up a cookbook club.

How it would work

Each month, a new vegan/vegetarian cookbook will be announced via email group and on the blog. Once the book is announced, participants will have one week to get a copy of the cookbook and then one month to read, try new recipes and analyze the cookbook. During the month, participants should feel free to blog/tweet/facebook about their experience with the cookbook.  At the end of the review period, each participant will have one week to right a final review about the cookbook and post it to their blog.  If a participant does not have a blog, they can write their review and it will be featured on Cook.Vegan.Lover. Once all the review posts are up, I will link them from my the new Cookbook Club tab (that will soon be up on Cook.Vegan.Lover.)

When doing your final review of each months cookbook each of us will address the topics in our blog post:

Layout

  • Is the layout clear?
  • Are you able to easily tell the ingredients apart for the instructions and the notes?
  • Are the instructions easy to follow?
  • Are the recipes numbered or is the section labeled?

Aesthetics

  • Does the cookbook feature photos?
  • If yes, is there a photo for every recipe?
  • Do the photos of the recipes look like the actual results?
  • What kind of paper is the book printed on?
  • How is the quality of the photos?

Recipes

  • How many recipes are in the cookbook?
  • What kinds of recipes will you find in this cookbook?
  • Is there a theme to the recipes?
  • Are the recipes complex or simple? would they be good for seasoned cooks and/or beginners?

Ingredients and supplies

  • Are the recipe ingredients easy to find?
  • Are there any items that stand out as being expensive or specialty?
  • Are there particular appliances that will be required such as blenders, juicers, dehydrators, ect?

Information

  • Does this cookbook provide additional useful information?
  • What additional information beyond recipes does this cookbook include? Is it easy to follow?

Other important Information

You need to make the recipes! Yes, to get an accurate representation of the cookbook you need to try out at least 3-5 recipes.  Additionally when you right your review you should make sure to include your experience while cooking the recipe:

  • How did the recipe turn out? How did it taste?
  • Was the recipe easy to follow?

Be honest when discussing the recipes you tried- if you didn’t like it then explain why.

Okay now that you know what this is all about are you interested in participating? If you answered yes then please email me with your 5 vegan/vegetarian cookbook picks to lindsay@cookingforaveganlover.com by January 8, 2011 put “Cookbook Club” in the subject line. I will then tally up the votes for the cookbooks to decide which cookbooks we will be reviewing.  I will email participants as well as post the list to Cook.Vegan.Lover. with the start date, end date and post by date.
*You must participating in the current month book review 1 week prior to the start date. Also you do not have to participate every month.