Recipes are great.

A baby sleeping 11 hours at night is super-fantastic.

Eleven months of patience and love, and finally she's regularly sleeping a long night.  Ahhh.  It may not last long, and certainly won't last forever, so I'm enjoying the bliss now.

I had some no-cheese pizza today.  Apparently the crust was transported on parchment that was sprayed with non-stick spray that has soy in it.  We'll see how tonight goes.

In addition to lots of veg, fruits, and grains, here are some safe* pre-packaged things we've eaten lately:
- Earth Balance No Soy spread (red container)
- Field Roast Celebration Loaf -- it's good on sandwiches or heated as a vegan main dish (frozen)
- Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips
- NuGo Free Dark Chocolate Bars
- Food Should Taste Good Chips (sweet potato, olive, or the works)
- Amy's California Burger (frozen)
- Blue Diamond Almond milk (original or vanilla)

*always read the labels and if you are unsure, call the company to make certain the food is truly MSPI-friendly

Creamy Broccoli Soup

This soup is great.  It could be called Creamy X Soup, where X is sweet potato, butternut squash, carrot, cauliflower or just about any vegetable!

In a large soup pot, heat on medium until onions are translucent: 

2 T olive oil

1 onions, chopped

1 head of celery, chopped

1 garlic clove, smashed

Then add and bring to a boil: 

1 tsp salt

1 head of broccoli, chopped

3 potatoes, cubed

1 bay leaf

4 cups water 

Pinch nutmeg

Pinch smoked paprika

Simmer with the lid on for 15 minutes or until potatoes are soft.  Then, in batches, blend. Pour back into the pot and mix in:

1 cup almond milk

fresh ground pepper to taste

Serves 8.

Mexican Chocolate Cake

The cinnamon and cocoa together make this easy cake taste like mexican chocolate.  This recipe makes a thin 13 x 9 cake, or a thick 8 x 8 one.  Prep time: 5 minutes.  Cook time 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350.  Then, to your baking pan (I like glass/pyrex) add:

1 1/2 cup flour (King Arthur All-Purpose)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup Natural cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Mix well.  Then, add, in this order:
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup warm water
Stir until smooth.

Bake the cake for 30 minutes if large pan (thin cake) or 40 minutes if small pan (thick cake), or until knife comes out clean.


Let it cool and the top will become slightly glazed.  You can top it with frosting or not.  I prefer not.