Not too long ago, my pal at I Eat Trees wrote about her own little man not feeling well so she found a great bubble bath by California Baby to soothe him. I was excited to find a shampoo and bodywash by the same company to bathe our boy for the first time (and more since then!), too.

Hooray for cruelty free baby products!

As you can see, he sure enjoyed getting all sudsy!

Ooooo yes, this shampoo is wonderful on my hair!

It was a nice, gentle bodywash that left him smelling good (that might have just been his natural new baby scent, though) and his skin nice and soft.

Do you have a favorite baby product that you would recommend this new momma?

Behold the very easy to make and quite delish Tamale Bake!

Soooo good. Seriously.

Tamale Bake

Ingredients (the Vegan Meow Mix version)

2 18 oz. tubes pre-cooked polenta, each tube sliced into 9 rounds

2 Tbsp olive oil

3 zucchini squash, sliced

1 (12 oz.) package Soy Chorizo

1 15 oz. can black beans, drained

1 15 oz. can pinto beans, drained

1/2 TJ’s Enchilada Sauce

1 cup Daiya Cheddar Cheese

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat and oil skillet. Saute zucchini until soft (about 5 minutes). Add chorizo, stir, and remove from heat. Lightly oil a 9 x 13 inch baking pan (or use an 8 x 8 if making a half batch). Place the polenta on the bottom, overlapping as necessary. Sprinkle half each of the chorizo mixture, beans, enchilada sauce, and cheese. Repeat with the second layer. Cover and bake for 45 minutes until the cheese is melted and casserole is piping hot. Sprinkle cilantro evenly on top.

Meow.

One of the best things about Trader Joe’s products is that so many of them are cruelty free and happily display the bunny that let’s us know. We’ve been using the Oatmeal Exfoliant for months. HUGE bar of soap that smell GREAT and costs about half of what those fancy schmancy soaps cost.

Smell good goodies!

The other three are new items that we picked up just last week. Again, all cruelty free and saving us some $$. The Trader Joe’s Spa facial cleanser is awesome. It smells good and gets all nice and soapy-foamy with just a dab. I love bubbles tickling my face. Next is the Moisturizing Shaving Foam. Kit Kat has been on the look out for one like this for months. Another smells great product that is gentle on the skin and doesn’t leave him rubbing ice all over his neck due to razor burn. Hooray for keeping the ice in the freezer! Lastly, is the Air Therapy room spray. So this isn’t actually a TJ’s brand product but they sell it and we love it. One sprays fills a room and lasts forever. GREAT stuff!

On the food end of Trader Joe’s, I picked this cook book up last night:

Yes! Dinner's Done!

I’m most excited that all the ingredients in the recipes can be found at TJ’s. No making a separate stops to get all the items needed for one dish. Not all the recipes in the book are veggie, but most of the recipes give great suggestions on how to easily make them that way in a snap. Again, hooray! I’m sure to be trying LOTS of these recipes soon. Stay tuned.

Meow.

Soup's on!

There have been times we’ve done green beans or pinto beans, too! We realized we wanted it to be a little more “soupy” so we’ve begun to add diced tomatoes (with liquid) to make it that way. The seasoning packets can be any taco seasoning that’s your favorite. If you happen to find a ranch packet that’s vegan (they do exist!), you can sub that out for one of the seasoning packets.

Taco Soup

3-4 cans beans of your choice

1 can tomato sauce

1 can corn

1 can diced tomatoes

2 cups water

1 package of taco seasoning

1 package of ranch seasoning (or 2 of taco)

Drain beans in large colander. Put in large pot. Add all other ingredients, stirring to mix well. Simmer about 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Yep, that’s it!

Warms the tummy.

Serve with corn chips, Tofutti sour cream, avocados, or a vegan cheese of your choice such as Daiya.

Meow.

With said little person on the way, both the hubby and I are definitely looking to have a good variety of easy to make meals at the ready. Something tells me that we won’t have quite as much time to be whipping up elaborate things, but simple can be fabulous, right?

Last night we made a yummy spicy peanut bake. Three ingredients, 25 minutes, and on the way to yum.

This is all you need:

One, two, three and you're ready!

We’ve tried some of the other Taste of Thai seasonings but this one is by far our favorite. It’s sweet and spicy all at once and just has a great flavor. We make things easier by going ahead and buying the seitan already made and in nice little strips. Remember, we want easy! As for the rice, throw a cup in the rice cooker and you are on the way to perfect rice. (What did I do before my little rice cooker?!)

So you just put the seitan in a glass pan, coat it with the mix, cook just a few more minutes than recommended on the back of the packet for chicken and you are ready to go in no time at all.

Sweet and spicy!

So good. So easy. So filling.

Meow.

Yummy!

While a lot of parts of the country are already cooling down and autumn has made itself very apparent, not so here in New Mexico. On a day like today where it’s still in the 90s, it’s great to have a cool ice cream treat like this one.

Chomp!

The chocolate on this cone has a great taste and the ice cream is just perfect. I think my only complaint is that the cone wasn’t as crunchy as I would like (and in some cases, outright soft and chewy instead) but overall, if you are looking for a something reminiscent of a “nutty buddy” this is close enough to do the trick.

What’s your favorite frozen treat?

I can’t lie, I actually had never made them myself so, in hindsight, I would probably do a few things differently but, nonetheless, the experience was a good one. Well, it was good AFTER we managed to open the can of chickpeas. (I had forgotten we had given our can opener back to its original owner. D’oh!). Did that stop me? No way! I wanted my cutlets and I wanted them bad.

A can opener was purchased the next day.

The work paid off though because tasty chickpea cutlets were the end result. I think next time I’ll try pan frying them, but baking them was a great way to go, too. Served Midwest style with potatoes and corn!

Looks like Bob Evans, no?

I like to top mine with A1 sauce but that’s just because I like the tangy taste. Down the road I’d also like to top these with a white gravy. Me thinks that could be tops.

Lessons learned here:

1. If you don’t have the Veganomicon, this recipe is worth the price of admission alone.
2. Never, ever be without a can opener.
3. Vegan food is yummy (but we already knew that). 

Meow.

While I was taking pictures of the box at home, Mawell decided the picture would be much better with him in it (of course).

"Hand me a slice, ma, and make mine with extra tuna."

So let me first say that this pizza did deliver on what I was hoping it would: it is indeed a cheap (but yummy) tasting frozen pizza. It will by no means take the place of the homemade pies we can make on our own. This is a nice, fast, lazy solution to a pizza craving, late night snacking, and after the bar sort of food. Having said that, it’s pretty good for what it is. The cheese does indeed melt (thank you, Daiya!) and the Tofurky is a nice pepperoni taste. My complaints, though, would be that there wasn’t enough cheese and that there was too much pepperoni (and it seemed to dry out a bit in cooking). Make no mistake, though, I’ll definitely keep on of these on hand to nosh when I just don’t feel like getting out the pizza stone.

It's not delivery, it's Tofurky.

Oh, and while I say cheap, let me make a note that at $8.99, this doesn’t equal cheap at checkout. They have 2 other varieties including a cheese only and also an italian sausage and fire roasted veggie version. I think in the future I’ll just buy cheese so I can throw on my own toppings. Overall, would I do this again? Oh yes.

Meow.

Smooth, creamy, and tasty. Mmmmmm.

Meow.

Yummy!

It’s been quite some time since I’ve had Hamburger Helper (and Kit Kat has never had it in his life), but I do know that this version contained far less ingredients than what’s listed on the side of the store bought box! I followed the recipe for the most part but below is exactly what I did and what brands I used to make this yummy dish.

Healthier Hamburger Helper

1 pound elbow macaroni, cooked and drained
1 package burger-style crumbles (I used Smart Ground Mexican Style)
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 cup soy milk (I used Tempt hemp milk)
1 cup vegan cheddar shreds (I used Daiya Cheddar)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon of hot sauce

Cook the macaroni, drain and set aside.

In a saute pan over medium heat, mix together veggie burger crumbles, tomato sauce, hot sauce and spices.  Add “milk” and “cheese”, stirring until smooth.

Mix in macaroni and cook until just thickened.

The only change I think I’ll make next time around is to add even more cheese. I actually doubled what the recipe called for initially but I like cheesy so I think I could go for at least a 1/2 cup more. And I might add some nutritional yeast, you know, just for kicks. Outside of that, it was pretty gosh darn good and Kit Kat said he would definitely do it again. I told him that was good because it’s what’s for lunch tomorrow since this recipe made a TON. hee hee

The fact it made a ton is good though because when this pregnant gal gets hungry it’s bottom of my stomach hungry. I want food and I want it NOW. There have been times at work where I swear I was going to chew my arm off waiting for the lunch hour to arrive.

Also, I have no idea if pregnant women crave ice cream and pickles because I craved those both before the little Dot took over my body so it’s hard to say. Still, I present to you the yummy dessert that was our Sunday night sundae.

Where's the cherry?

This sundae totally hit the spot. It’s made with Tempt Vanilla Bean ice cream, bananas, strawberries, chocolate sauce, Let’s Do Confetti Sprinkelz and topped with Soyatoo vegan whipped cream. Completely delish.

Did any of you vegan moms have particular cravings? And what did you make to meet those urges? Please do share!

Meow.