Cookbook Giveaways Galore!

Just a quickie post to share two great giveaways with you, both of them featuring two of my very favourite vegan cookbooks.  I was lucky enough to be a recipe tester for  both of these books, so believe me when I tell you they Rock with a capital R.

Be sure to head over to visit Diet, Dessert and Dogs where my friend Ricki is giving away a copy of Celine Steen and Joni Marie Newman’s 500 Vegan Recipes.  This is the perfect “go-to” vegan cookbook that covers everything from breakfast to dinner, plus desserts and snacks. Love this book. For reals.

Speaking of my friend Ricki, you can win a copy of her vegan dessert cookbook Sweet Freedom by visiting Sally’s blog.   This is no ordinary vegan dessert book people, Sweet Freedom proposes sweet treats for everyone, including those with food sensitivities.

The Fishbowl’s Vegan Menu Plan…

(This photo has nothing to do with anything. I just hate blogging without pictures, so here’s a terrible photo of the delicious chesnut crème I devoured last week.)

I’ve never been much for weekly meal planning. Even less for sharing said meal plan with the entire world. Until now…

Food shopping for me has always been more about what was available, what looked fresh and what my budget would allow. Blessed with a dynamic outdoor market 3 times per week allows me to keep fresh vegetables and fruits on hand, and usually provides the inspiration for the week’s meals.

Another deciding factor is whether I’m recipe testing for anyone. Thanks to Ricki, Kittee, Celine and Joni, I often don’t have to spend much time creating new and different meals : they do the work for me. Thanks, ladies.

I don’t know why, but I didn’t really understand the utility of sharing a weekly meal plan with the public at large. I’m always a bit afraid of commitment, and always wonder if people really follow through with their plans. What if you change your mind? Or better yet, what if your sweetheart surprises you with vegan sushi (hint, hint Monsieur Fish!)?

This week, however, is different.

Here is what I think we’ll be eating. This might change. I’m not signing a contract or anything. It’s just that I’ve come to realize the utility of sharing my meal plan. So often when people decide to go vegan they think it means re-inventing the wheel. The most common question all vegan are asked is “What do you eat?”, as if the idea of taking animal products from your diet meant the end of delicious meals. By publishing what we’ll be eating chez nous*, I may help someone plan some healthy vegan goodness chez eux*.

Monday : Coconut Red Bean Quinoa from Swell, the lovely little food zine from A-K, aka Swell Vegan. Additions : onion and peas, and maybe some greens.

Tuesday : Cholent from Veganomicon. I’ve never had it or made it, and I feel like I’m missing out on something.

Wednesday : It’s Saint Patrick’s Day! Because I love any and all holidays we’ll be celebrating with Irish Soda Bread from The Joy of Vegan Baking and Colcannon from 500 Vegan Recipes. Yum!

Thursday : Hopefully leftovers.

Friday : Lentil Tart with Tahini Crust served with Ginger & Sesame infused Carrot & Cucumber Salad, both from 500 Vegan Recipes.

Saturday : Homemade vegan pizzas! I’m thinking White Pizzas from 500 Vegan Recipes, but will probably get all punk rock and add sautéed eggplant, pine nuts and who knows what else.

Sunday : Brunch will be the Fluffy, Fruited Pancakes from Sweet Freedom. Love them. I’m thinking a mushroom quiche for dinner, but that may change. Some sort of savory tart I think. EDITED TO ADD: Afternoon goûter or snack brought to me by Kittee – woot!

Ta – da! There you go, the Fish Family’s eats for this week.  Until next time, bon appétit everyone!

(I was inspired this week by Libby of The Allergic Kid and Krys of Two Vegan Boys – thanks ladies!)

*our place, their place

Feeling down? Treat Yourself To Pancake-Love! Sweet Freedom Saturdays

Sometimes life can throw you some sneaky punches, making you feel a bit melancholy. No matter your worries, often you just need to step back and take stock of the simple pleasures that make life so delicious. Hanging out in your jammies, building forts with blankets and pillows, eating pancakes and alliteration.

Yes, alliteration.

Like these Fluffy Fruited Flapjacks.

Ok, they’re actually Fluffy Fruited Pancakes, but I think Fluffy Fruited Flapjacks sounds much more Fun (get it, another “F”).

These really were amazingly fluffy – like crazy fluffy. But in a good way. Today we rocked them up with some banana goodness, but any fruit would make them smashingly good. I’m just sure of it. We also go to enjoy some real, authentic Canadian Maple Syrup hand delivered with love by our friend Kimianak. You really can taste the “special delivery” difference. Trust me.

I think my Sweet Freedom Saturday posts will grow more infrequent as I continue reveling in the summer sun and enjoy being outside and not being in the kitchen as much as possible, but I’m sure they’ll be a few SF posts between now and September!

Have you made anything yummy from Sweet Freedom this week ? Stay tuned for future Saturday installments of “Sweet Freedom Saturdays”. We’ve also got a Sweet Freedom Flickr Group – come join us! Other Sweet Freedom Saturday deliciousness here in the Fishbowl : Cocao Nibbles, Mrs. K’s Date Cake, Raw Apricot Bars, Tomato Spice Cake, Carrot Snack Cake, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, Gingered Apple Muffins, Spiced Pumpkin Millet Pudding.

More Raw Delights (and a recipe!) for Sweet Freedom Saturday

This week’s recipe is a favourite of mine : Cocoa Nibbles! These raw bars rival any over-priced, mass-produced bars you can find in your local supermarket or health food store and are quick and easy to make.

I admit to using carob powder in lieu of cocoa powder, just because. The recipe provides some great add-in ideas, keeping this recipe fresh and different depending on your mood (and what you have on hand). This time around I added cinnamon and ground Vanilla Rooibos Tea. Rooibos or Red Tea is just full of anti-oxidants, and I love the vanilla flavour it adds. I often add a teaspoon of rooibos to my smoothies or raw bars…that’s just the kind of girl I am.

I’m not the best bar-shaper, mostly because I don’t really care about their visual aesthetic. I just want them to be delicious. After I roll them out into a log-shape and chill, I cut them up, and set them on a piece of foil. You can use the foil to push them into a square or bar shape, and your fingers stay clean!

You don’t have to individually wrap these, but I like to have them as on-the-go snacks. Don’t they look so “Lost In Space”esque?

Ready for the best part? You can make these, even if you don’t have Sweet Freedom yet! Visit Diet, Dessert and Dogs for the Cocoa Nibbles recipe!

Have you made anything yummy from Sweet Freedom this week ? Stay tuned next Saturday for another installment of “Sweet Freedom Saturdays”. We’ve also got a brand new Sweet Freedom Flickr Group – come join us! Other Sweet Freedom Saturday deliciousness here in the Fishbowl : Mrs. K’s Date Cake, Raw Apricot Bars, Tomato Spice Cake, Carrot Snack Cake, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, Gingered Apple Muffins, Spiced Pumpkin Millet Pudding.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled W.I.P. Wednesday…

…to bring you a very special announcement!

Two very groovy ladies have won themselves a copy of Sweet Freedom :

CrazyVeganMom has won a hard copy, and MadCap Cupcake has won a PDF. Please send me a little email (fishbowlmusings at gmail dot com) to claim your prize.

Thanks so much to everyone who participated – I wish I could give you all a copy of this book, because I really do think it’s the bee’s knees. I’d also like to thank author (and friend!) Ricki Heller for generously donating the books for this giveaway!

Your regularly scheduled W.I.P. Post will be up before the day is done! Thank you.

Mrs. K, Monsieur Fish Loves You! Sweet Freedom Saturday

You still have time to get in on the big Sweet Freedom giveaway! Just leave a comment here before midnight Paris time for your chance! The two lucky winners will be announced on Wednesday, July 1st, in honor of Canada Day.

This is Mrs. K’s Date Cake. Monsieur Fish also announced to me that this is his favourite thing ever that I’ve ever made. Ever. Monsieur F is a gourmand, and while he often says he just love this or that, this is indeed the first time I’ve ever seen him so passionate about a dessert.

So passionate in fact that when I left the kitchen for a moment…

There were four more pieces missing! I had to hide the cake! So silly, I know. I’d much rather see him go crazy with this cake, however, than many of the less “healthy” versions out there.

This is indeed a decadent little snack cake, but it’s 100% natural and delicious.

Have you made anything yummy from Sweet Freedom this week ? Stay tuned next Saturday for another installment of “Sweet Freedom Saturdays”. We’ve also got a brand new Sweet Freedom Flickr Group – come join us! Other Sweet Freedom Saturday Deliciousness here in the Fishbowl : Raw Apricot Bars, Tomato Spice Cake, Carrot Snack Cake, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, Gingered Apple Muffins, Spiced Pumpkin Millet Pudding.

How do you celebrate freedom? With a giveaway, of course! Sweet Freedom Saturday

Thank you for the wonderful response! Congratulations to our winners, found here.

Happy Saturday everyone! I just love Saturday, and what can make your Saturday even sweeter? How about some Raw Apricot Bars?

These delicious raw bars will satisfy your sweet tooth in an oh-so-healthy and delicious way. They are a real snap to prepare which I just love, and you can even frost them if you want to with the Coconut Date Frosting recipe – also raw of course! I opted to just give them a light sprinkling of shredded coconut this time around.

I wish I could say they were a big hit with Guppy, but, alas, they were not. She is such a funny bunny; she just loves raw and dried fruits, but she just can’t get her raw treats groove on. Monsieur Fish is the same way – salé raw cuisine is no problémo, but when it’s sucré, he just wrinkles his nose. Whateveah. That means more raw goodness for me! These would be an excellent mid-morning or mid-afternoon sweet snacky treat – portable and easy to stash in your gym bag or purse. Who needs to purchase over-priced raw bars? These are even tastier!

Now, didn’t I say something about a giveaway?

It’s nearly July, and that means three of my favourite freedom-related holidays : July 1st is Canada Day, July 4th is Independence Day, and July 14th is Bastille Day here in France. Wee! While I could debate the idea of freedom, and it’s obvious subjectivity – I won’t. At least not today. Today I’m here to share Sweet Freedom with you! Author Ricki Heller, who blogs at Diet, Dessert and Dogs, has graciously donated two copies of Sweet Freedom, a hard-copy and a PDF, for me to give to YOU!

We’re entering into the “heat” of BBQ season, and you’ll be the hero of the picnic when you arrive with treats that everyone can enjoy!

There are three ways to enter :

• Just leave a comment below to be entered. You can improve your chances of winning by doing one (or both) of the following :
• You can Tweet about the giveaway, linking back to this post. This will score you an additional 3 entries. (Visit Tiny URL if you need to condense.) Just don’t forget to comment with a link to your Tweet so it can be counted!
• Blog about the giveaway, linking back here. 3 more entries are yours! Just don’t forget to comment with a link to your blogpost so it can be counted!

The drawing will be closed next Saturday, and the winners will be announced on Wednesday, July 1st, to celebrate Canada Day in style! Bonne chance à tous!

Have you made anything yummy from Sweet Freedom this week ? Stay tuned next Saturday for another installment of “Sweet Freedom Saturdays”. We’ve also got a brand new Sweet Freedom Flickr Group – come join us! Other Sweet Freedom Saturday Deliciousness here in the Fishbowl : Tomato Spice Cake, Carrot Snack Cake, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, Gingered Apple Muffins, Spiced Pumpkin Millet Pudding.

.

Sweet Freedom Saturday : Tomato Spice Cake

I’m so excited to have my real, live, tangible copy of Sweet Freedom! I’d been working from the PDF, which is great, but it’s nothing like being able to flip through the pages of a real book!

This week’s installment of SFS features the Tomato Spice Cake, which is just lovely!

Ricki shares that this cake is a fresh spin on one of her Mother’s classic cakes. I remember when I was little the “tomato soup” cakes being rather popular at bake sales and socials. I also remember asking one of the women at the school tea why there was tomato soup in her cake, why didn’t she just use tomatoes? She told me I was impertinent. Hump.

I made this for Guppy’s Fun Friday after school quatre heures. She made me giggle because when she saw the finished cake sitting on the platter, just waiting for her to come home from school, she looked at me and said, “Mumma, you forgot the frosting!”. My oh my, I supposed I did. We’re not big frosting people here, but I did decide to just whip up a quickie-glaze for her. I must admit, it was yummy.

Quickie Vanilla Glaze (for Tomato Spice Cake)

Powdered Sugar (I didn’t measure this, I just poured some into a bowl, maybe a half a cup?

Apple Juice – A few tablespoons

VanillaExtract – 1.5 teaspoons

I just whisked it together with a fork and spread it over the cake. Guppy approved.

I think this would be a perfect cake for a brunch or for tea in the afternoon. It has a lovely spice cake flavour and a dense crumb making it perfect for dunking. I might even add chocolate chips next time I make this, you know, just to see how it would taste. We loved it (hence the lack of photos, when it goes fast, it’s more difficult to photograph!). I have so many recipes marked in Sweet Freedom, it’s not easy to chose which one will be next!

Have you made anything yummy from Sweet Freedom this week ? Stay tuned next Saturday for another installment of “Sweet Freedom Saturdays”. We’ve also got a brand new Sweet Freedom Flickr Group – come join us! Other Sweet Freedom Saturday Deliciousness here in the Fishbowl : Carrot Snack Cake, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, Spiced Pumpkin Millet Pudding.

Sweet Freedom Saturday : Carrot Snack Cake & A Big Weekend!

Before I get into the Sweet Freedom Goodness, I would like to say thank you to more groovy 60-Day Project participants! Mille Mercis to Bianca of Vegan Crunk, Krys of Two Vegan Boys, Bex of How To Feed A Vegan and Basht of And So She Fell To Earth for the thoughtful gifts you sent to Mamafish! We’ve about reached the end of the project, and I can’t thank you participants enough. There may be one or two gifts still floating around out there, and if I forgot someone, please email me so that I may properly flog myself. I am frantically working on goodies for everyone, so please be patient – I haven’t forgotten you, just trying to get everything made.

Now for the real reason you’re here : Carrot Snack Cake! I like to try to make Guppy’s quatre heures (afternoon snack) on Friday a little special. In part to highlight the weekend, and also because Friday is the day I actually have time to make her an after-school treat!

Knowing that there will be birthday cake (or fruit tart, not sure yet) for Monsieur Fish this evening (Joyeux Anniversaire Mon Amour), and goodies for La Fête des Mères (Mother’s Day) on Sunday, I wanted to keep it reasonable, yet delicious. Reasonably delicious? How about Deliciously reasonable.

I wish I could say I was reasonable, but I wasn’t, and I think I ate an unreasonable amount of this delicious snack cake. I’m also thrilled to report that Guppy loved it. Sadly, my daughter seems to shun any dessert or snack-food that is remotely healthy. This child will not eat raw desserts or cookies because she says they taste blek, which is confusing because she lives on raw fruit…anyway, she gobbled down two slices almost as fast as I did.

Have you made anything yummy from Sweet Freedom this week ? Celine’s got a great review of Sweet Freedom up on her blog if you’d like to check it out. and Diann has some Maple Walnut Cookies to make your mouth water. Stay tuned next Saturday for another installment of “Sweet Freedom Saturdays”.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins : Sweet Freedom Saturdays

My oh my…these are mighty amazing. In fact, these were the best Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins I’ve ever had, or made, ever. For reals. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that they were probably the healthiest, too.

I brought some to work yesterday morning to share with my colleagues, and they disappeared in less than 5 minutes. If you’re looking for some delicious and healthy vegan propaganda to share with your entourage (that doesn’t taste like health food), these muffins are for you!

Have you made anything yummy from Sweet Freedom this week ? Go check out Diann’s Figaros – they are at the top of my list for things to make next! Stay tuned next Saturday for another installment of “Sweet Freedom Saturdays”. We’ve also got a brand new Sweet Freedom Flickr Group – come join us!