I’m 29 now!!! :)
My birthday breakfast was FABulous!! I had leftover scrambled tofu with a frozen bagel (Agnes’ very very homemade bagels) topped with almond butter and jelly. I don’t normally eat this much food in the morning, but it was so lovely and delicious. It was the perfect start to my special day…..especially because…look at the cute card Eric left out for me. The wrapped present underneath it was a dark chocolate bar. Yum!
Upon arriving at school, my friend (and co-worker) Kristi had a Starbucks treat for me…a green tea soy latte. I had never had that drink before, but it was delish! It sounds a little odd, but I will definitely get it again. Another co-worker and friend, Pam, called a little impromtu party during our morning planning time. She had made vegan brownies!! She had gone to the special effort of going online to find the recipe, printing it off, shopping at Whole Foods, and then making them for me. She even brought them in on her special birthday plate. We all enjoyed an early morning sugar rush! Thanks Pam SO much! I really am still breathless at the thoughtfulness.
The day just kept getting better…Eric came up to school for lunch. He made us salads at the Whole Foods salad bar. It was the perfect lunch after consuming a big breakfast, a latte, and a brownie.
Lunch didn’t end there though. Eric had made cupcakes for my entire class!! From Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, he made Pineapple Right-Side-Up Cupcakes. He even brought 29 candles, which he lit (breaking every fire code rule at my school…that’s ok though…we didn’t set off any alarms…thank goodness). The kids loved it and him of course. I had one parent tell me the next day that her daughter came home saying, “Mrs. V’s amazing husband came to school today, and he REALLY likes her.” haha The mom was amused, and said she told her that yes, that’s how husbands are suppose to be. heehee It was very sweet indeed! He made them the night before after I had gone to bed. In the morning, he hid them in the fridge. You can see the “no peeking” sign below. 
The one minor bummer of my birthday was that it was Meet the Teacher Night at my school, so I had to go back to work and speak for 30 minutes in front of about 40 parents. It’s not that it’s that bad, but I do get nervous. It ended up going great, and the parents were so sweet. When I phoned Eric on my way home, I was happy he had planned something at home for dinner. I was ready to relax!! This is the cute table he had set up on our patio. He’s so wonderful!!! He had made us wee salads, and gotten my favorite pizza from Campisi’s. It was a thin-crust pizza with red sauce, pineapple, tomatoes, onion, jalapenos, and garlic. It hit the spot FOR SURE! We also celebrated with a bottle of Iron Horse sparkling wine that we brought back from Sonoma.
I just have to share this with you. Eric’s birthday was at the beginning of August, and I blogged about what I made him. So for my birthday, Eric decided (since we said we were making each other things this year) to make me a ribbon of treats as well. It has homemade coupons on it. My favorite one being “off dinner duty for a week”. I do love to cook, but that will be a fun week!! It also has a couple of gift cards, like to Genghis Grill. Yum! Isn’t it cute?! He even painted the top wooden plate that says “Happy 29th Birthday Tara”.
That was a recap of my totally spoiled, special day. Thanks to everyone who called and made it that way! It was the perfect birthday filled with wonderful memories. I will hold on to this for a long time.
Din Din with my hubby
Although I haven’t been as extravagant with my dinners lately (trying to just get through the first few weeks of school when it’s so hectic), I did manage this past week to try a new recipe and get some pretty decent meals on the table. See what you think… 
This night we had Barbecue Sunshine Burgers (my favorite veggie burgers ever!!!!). I put the burgers on sprouted grain burger buns by Food for Life, Ezekiel 4:9. The buns were spread with Nasoya sandwich spread (vegan mayo) and yellow mustard, and then layered with lettuce, sprouts, grape tomatoes, avocado, and fresh black pepper. I made baked beans (1/2 of the recipe) to go along with it. There were even some beans left over which I happily took to school the next day for lunch and made bean and tofu tacos on corn tortillas. My class was looking at my lunch very oddly that day. For most, it was the first time they had ever seen tofu!
I’ve spoken of this baked bean recipe a bunch and posted several pictures, so I think it’s about time I posted the recipe. I think Mary McDougall will be ok with it. It is the best!! Seriously, it’s easy and you’ll just love them. Eric begs me to make them all the time.
Baked Beans
by Mary McDougall
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Servings: 6-8
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
4 15 ounce cans great northern beans
2 15 ounch cans mixed beans (see hints below)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup molasses
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup vegan Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Dash liquid smoke (optional)
Drain beans and place in a large bowl. Place the onion, garlic, and water in a small saucepan and cook until softened and water has evaporated. Add to beans. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Transfer to a covered casserole dish. Bake covered for 1 hour, then remove cover and bake an additional 15 minutes.
Hints: Mixed beans are sometimes called chili beans. They are usually a variety of kidney, pinto, and black beans. Or use your own variation of canned beans in this recipe, 6 cans total. These are always a favorite at potlucks. They may also be cooked on the stovetop for 1 hour or in a slow cooker for about 4 hours.
A favorite of mine….angel hair spaghetti. This time I made it topped with Amy’s low sodium marinara sauce, fresh bok choy, and pineapple chunks. A side salad always makes a nice accompaniment to pasta.
Baked Tofu Loaf (p. 199) from The McDougall Quick& Easy Cookbook by John and Mary McDougall. I forgot to take a picture of my predinner plate, but there were plenty of leftovers, so you can see what I had for lunch the next day. I made mashed potatoes (which ended up being a mixture of two red potatoes and one sweet potato). I had never made it this way before, but the sweet potato gave the mashed potatoes a lovely flavor. I’ll definitely do this again. I mashed them with soymilk and fresh black pepper. That’s all! Frozen organic green beans steamed in the microwave in a bag rounded out our meal. Oh and for gravy…you can see a wee serving in the pink container. It was Tofurkey’s mushroom and “giblet” gravy, bought in the freezer section at Whole Foods. I would have actually prefered to make my own gravy because I haven’t ever made vegan gravy, but I needed something quicker. Tofu loaf was awesome though. Eric still doesn’t know it was made with tofu (although he will know now after reading this). He is a tofuphobic who loves seiten and tempeh. He always says it’s the texture of the tofu that gets him. I made sure to really crumble the tofu up in the loaf, so as to hide it from him. When he asked me what it was made of while we we’re eating, I named off the ingredients and for the tofu I said “soy meat substitute”. So that wasn’t a total lie! haha He even said at the end of dinner that he would want this to be a repeat!
Amy’s Roasted Vegetable Pizza (found in the freezer section). I’ve had this many times, but it was Eric’s first. We also had fresh okra and onions that I sauteed in a pan with olive oil and water and a side salad.
Natsumi is a new gelato, frozen yogurt, and sorbet shop that opened near our home. On a recent hot Texas afternoon (which I know is like every afternoon lately), Eric and I stopped by and indulged. We got three flavors: mixed berry, guava, and tropical fruit punch. We both agreed our favorite was the guava. The tropical fruit punch came in a very close second. If you’re in Dallas, you should definitely check out Natsumi! It’s probably the best sorbet I’ve had.
