Stew

Please pardon the low light - I was in a hurry to eat this fine meal!

Date:  12/15/2010
Cook:  Rachel
Menu:  Cabbage and bean stew and roasted corn cornbread

Ms. Rachel was totally tuned into the zeitgeist of hearty, warm winter eating with this yummy meal!  The bean stew was filling and delicious, especially when it had roasted corn cornbread crumbled on top of it! 

Perfect Warm Weather Meal

 Date: 12/13/2010
Cook: Jen C.
Menu: Millet stuffed squash with spicy Tofurky sausage, split pea soup with sweet potatoes

The temperatures are dipping in our part of the world, and Jen whipped up a delightful warming meal.  The sausage added just the right oomph to the millet stuffing, and the split pea soup was marvelous.

Potluck Night and The Veg Edge

So much food that it doesn't even all fit in the picture!

 Date: 12/9/2010
Cooks: Jenna, Jen C., Jen G. and Rachel
Menu: A burrito bar with starring black beans, rice and some fantastic guacamole; a roasted beet, shallot and pecan salad; deluxe macaroni and cheese; zooma zoom zoom butternut rancheros and chocolate chip sunflower seed cookies

Allow me to tell you: Thursday night was a fantastic night if you enjoy good food (which we do).  Instead of doing our three nights of meal group sharing this week, we decided to combine our cooking energy into one night and have a potluck at our friend Jenna's house so that we could all hang out and watch a veg-centric show on The Cooking Channel called The Veg Edge (by the way, check out the amazing looking recipes in the sidebar).  While the show itself had some hits and some misses, the food and the company were both outstanding.  We all ate a TON, and left Jenna's full and happy.  Thank you Jenna, for hostessing!

Forks Over Knives

Instead of mealgrouping it on Monday, a bunch of us attended a pre-release screening of the movie Forks Over Knives (a benefit for Farm Sanctuary). 

We were treated to a Q&A after the movie.  Moderated by Victoria Moran, we had a chance to hear thoughts of folks associated with the movie: filmmaker Brian Wendel, Drs. Matt Lederman and Alona Pulde, Gene Baur and Rip Esselstyn.

The movie and following discussion gave us food for a rich series of conversations that are ongoing.  This is a powerful, hopeful, encouraging, compelling film about the benefits of a plant-based diet.  We hope all of you will get a chance to watch Forks Over Knives when it is released in March.

Lentil Soup is Mental Fruit

Date: 12/2/2010
Cook: Jen G.
Menu: Lentil soup, sweet potato corn bread and blueberry scones

The soup (from The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life) was simple and straightforward.  The bread (from How it All Vegan) is so delicious that I have no idea why I haven't made it in four years (yes) and the scones (from La Dolce Vegan) always make my taste buds happy.  I threw some leftover herbed cashew cream into the bags, as well as a clementine for each mealshare member because I love those little orange bursts of deliciousness!

Road Trip to Rachel's!

Date: 12/1/2010
Cook: Rachel
Menu: Cabbage poriyal and mushroom biryani with toasted cashews; pumpkin chocolate chip muffins

So! We had so much fun eating together the other night that we decided we'd do it again tonight. The two Jens headed over to Rachel's and she had this amazing meal waiting:

  

Cabbage poriyal and the most delicious biryani a girl could dream up!

 

True story: I asked for a spoon so that I could shovel this deliciousness into my maw in the most efficient manner possible

Though we had lofty thoughts of Scrabble, our baser instincts prevailed and we watched TV together for an hour.  With Cuddles.  And Vito Kitty.  The muffins were so tasty, Rachel did this thing where she added chocolate chips and magic.  Again, those who were not with us were sent home big jars of leftovers...lunch for tomorrow!  Thanks, Rachel!

Cuddles cuddled with us while we watched the decidedly non-vegan Top Chef All Stars together.  He is a dog who lives up to his name!