'Shrooms And Broken Bits ...

Happy Saturday, Gnawers!  I hope you have had a fun filled relaxing kind of day.  I got some much needed sleep and went to the beach for a bit this morning.  It has always been my haven ... the place where I feel most at peace.  I can't even tell you how amazing it has been to be back where I am close enough to get there whenever I want.  My little slice o' heaven.

I spent the afternoon cleaning my house before my parents stopped by for a quick visit.  In my haste to get the kitchen cleaned up, I dropped my favorite yellow mixing bowl.  It was my grandma's before she gave the set to my mom (there is a smaller green bowl and a small blue one too).  My sisters and I grew up making brownies and mac 'n cheese in that bowl.  Its bright yellow color reminded me of sunshine and happy days.  I felt it slipping out of my fingers and watched in slow motion as it crashed to the floor.  It landed on my foot and shattered into a hundred pieces.  I think I would have cried, but I was distracted by the pain in my toe.  I am pretty sure the bowl broke one of my toes in two places.  I swept up the broken glass, sad and angry at myself for being so careless.  I know it seems silly, but losing that bowl felt like losing a little piece of my childhood and another piece of my grandmother.  I do not like change and I do not like loss.  I reminded myself that accidents happen and that that yellow bowl had a lot of good years.  I also reminded myself that I am lucky to have the other two bowls in the set and that I can find a replica of the yellow bowl at one of several different thrift stores.  More than that, I reminded myself that a bowl is just a bowl, and that the love and memories associated with it can never be broken.  My toe, however, hurts like a mo' fo'!  It has gotten darker and more swollen as the day has turned to night.  My poor mama has broken all of her toes so many times that we joke about it in our family.  I may have lost the yellow bowl, but I have definitely inherited the beauty of my mom's broken toes!  See, there is a plus side to everything!

So, I have mentioned that I have been a bit down and stressed out this week.  Many girls respond to weeks like this by binging on shoes, bags, drinks, clothes... or whatever.  Me?  Not so much.  No, no ... I have a much nerdier way to deal ... I binge on books.  Geek alert!  I can't help it.  I went to my local bookstore and spent several hours deciding which beauties to add to my collection.  Almost 100 bucks later, I was feeling much better.  :)

I am especially excited about Veganomicon.  It has been recommended by so many people and it touted to be the vegan Bible.  I will be trying plenty of recipes from my new stash and sharing them with you as I go!!!  :)

I had so many leftovers that I really did not need to cook tonight.  Still, I wanted to cook a little something so that I could share with you all!  I decided to make a little appetizer to go with my glass of wine.  I went with a recipe for Stuffed Mushrooms that I got from the Clean Green Simple website.  I added a lot of extra garlic and red pepper flakes.  It was too much.  I should have stuck with the original recipe (which is what is posted below).  I also wish I would have used a red bell pepper instead of green just to add more color and pizzazz.  Otherwise, these mushrooms were good.  I would make them again following the recipe more closely and using the red bell pepper instead!

Stuffed Mushrooms (Vegan, Gluten-Free, and Soy-Free)


Ingredients:

• approximately 40 baby bella mushrooms (or 10-15 medium portobello mushrooms)
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 cups raw organic baby spinach
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt 
• 1 large red bell pepper, diced. divided

Preparation Instructions:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.  Wash mushrooms and remove stems carefully to create a pocket for the filling.  Place mushrooms on baking sheet and brush with balsamic vinegar.  

3.  Add spinach, walnuts, garlic, onion, olive oil, garlic salt, and half of the red bell pepper to VitaMix or food processor.  Blend well until smooth.

4.  Add filling to each of the mushrooms.

5.  Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until mushrooms have softened and released their moisture.

6.  Remove from oven and use tongs or spatula to transfer the mushrooms to a serving dish.

7.  Top with the remaining red bell pepper (the more finely diced, the better).

8.  Serve and enjoy!!!

I do love stuffed mushrooms.  I am looking forward to trying different variations, vegan style!  Well gnawers, that is all I have for tonight.  Off to watch SNL and head to bed.  What have you been cooking this weekend?  I would love to hear how your journeys are going!  We are all in the together ... every step of the way.  Until next time ... take care of you!!!