Vegan Thumbprint Cookies

These are awesome cookies. I made them yesterday and they were hit. Best part is that it is so simple. I had to read list and steps twice to ensure I am not missing anything. when I was making them, I thought something is not right...but boy. It is good. so good.

I am always looking for healthier option for snacking and these are definitely something I will keep making.

Review: The Pirate Queen

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review


I finally finished reading The Pirate Queen. I love reading but it took me more than three months to finish this book. It is pretty average book that I had to force myself to finish.
I am surprised by editorial review of the book as expected some critique from editors.

What I did not like?
1. Not much other character development. Main character was inside her head pretty much all the time.
2. Some of feeling from Saphora was hard to believe. You expect certain gravity from a character based on its age and stage.
3. I experienced repetition from writer (She will tell what she already told you 10 pages ago).
4. Write could have left readers to figure out on their own rather than stating obvious.
5. I play this game of ‘Predicted ending’ and ‘surprise ending’.  This book had predicted ending. (No, I will not add more details because it would ruin your “surprise”.)

What someone else may like (I don’t care about these aspect)
1. In the beginning, author has described in detail some aspect of setup but this is not
2. If you like reading ‘High life’ kind of books, you may like some aspect of this story.

What I liked
Setting (where most of the story happens)
Here is my review....

Vegan Options

I like to eat in restaurant but I do not see more than two options on menu and sometimes even that requires 30 minute conversation with chef.

The cost of this is not just inconvenience but social also. I usually skip workplace related meetings that are at restaurant (and farewell and welcome lunches as well).

As Seattle is port city, you cannot escape from seafood (and other side effectsL)

I usually chat with restaurant manager about adding more vegan options but I usually get response as ‘Send mail to corporate’.

I understand my other options as PCC and Wholefood, but what do I do when my co worker who is leaving, likes to eat at specific place and they specialize in sea food?

In order for people to ‘consider’ vegan life, they need to see more options so I have started emailing some chains.

So first one on my list are Panera and Pallino

What do you do in such situations.

Please share your ideas and resources….

Thanks

Mean Girl?

It is funny that I was just thinking about nasty comments form my daughter's classmates....
and saw this this  post on my reader.
My 7 year old girl has to face many situations at school where other girls will say mean things to her. and as mother sometimes I feel I am not to guiding her right. Like yesterday, some girl was teasing her (you are looser and will always be looser because my daughter’s favorite food was favored by only two other kids in class). My response to my daughter was ‘ignore the other girl’.
When I think back, I was that kind girl who did not know how to respond in language so I took shelter with books. I am always looking for advise/input in terms of how to manage this….
Books are fine and I am so grateful to this to a extent when I see my paycheck....
But I wish I could enjoy more of my time at school (and hope my daughter does)

Party Food

I am experimenting more with raw Vegan food now a days so I look for more and more information on web. vegan planet is not technically raw but it does provide much healthier options than I am used to ...

Got vegan drink?

For years, I have been trying to get rid of my habit of black tea with sugar + milk. I live in place where everyone walks around with one nose and one Starbucks cup (Seattle). I can blame my habit on rainy and cloudy days in Seattle but ultimately, I wanted to remove sugar and milk with tea.

Other than trying various types of tea with water only, now I am this spicy drink which takes a little bit preparation but allows me a lot of variation.
Also, you can create this in bulk and it has shelf life of a week

Here is recipe along with variations….


Spices

1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp black mustard seeds
2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp black pepper powder
1 pinch of Asafoetida powder
Few leaves of cilantro
-------
1 tsp oil
3 Roma tomato (make puree in blender)
3 cup water

1 tsp tamarind paste (If you have tamarind block and sock and take out the juice, you would need about 1/3 cup as it will be diluted)

Steps.
1.     Boil tomato puree with water.(Add tomato and water in pot and when it starts boiling, let it simmer for 15 minutes)
2.     Now in smaller pan, heat oil and add all spices (this will roast spices and bring out the flavor)
3.     Add tamarind past/water.
4.     This is ready to consume.

Variations
1.     You can skip all or some of the spices if you find the list overwhelming or you do not like some of the spices.
2.     You can replace tamarind with ½ tsp lemon or lime juice.
3.     You can chop and sauté tomato and then boil it. This will taste better.

I can bake...

After multiple failure, I kept going and going....
I tried yesterday this recipe yesterday. We loved the outcome. I did do some modification though....
I used 1/2 tsp soda instead of 1 tsp. And I used total 1 and 1/2 cup of flour (no almond pieces).