Tag Archives: vegan meatballs

While I should be doing housework…

Personal time, , , , , , , , , , ,

Instead of doing the laundry, I slept in. Instead of exercising, I couch surf. Instead of washing dishes, I dirty more by trying some new recipes.

Well, that’s only because it’s the last week off from classes and I will need to get myself in gear by the end of this week in order to be ready to start teaching again next week!  Actually I need to get myself in gear by this afternoon as I have a huge list of to-do’s for this week in regards to all three of my businesses [ well the three that I can count today – there are more when I break it down!]

What’s on my lists, you ask? Or not – depending on how busy you are with your own lists!

Beadwork done a few years back

TAV Creations has a lovely January wedding on the roster!  Yay!  I don’t always get January weddings but for the past two years I have been blessed with them!  Nice for the alleged “downtime” to not be downtime!  3 bridesmaid dresses plus the wedding gown means I need to get my space cleaned up, vacuumed, and ready for action!

 

Halyma’s Belly Dancing For Fun has a couple of events to prep for next weekend – January 17th brings us to The Bay at Bayshore for the “Beauty @ the Bay Beautiful Skin Event.  This event is all about wellness and beauty in 2009.  There are several components to this event, skin care regime, sun care, health and diet, fitness and well being.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHmbIcEphgo]

 

Then Halyma will be performing later that evening as part of the multi-dancer show: Uncle Louis’ Restaurant Belly dance show/Hafla Still room to book a table and come out I am sure for a fun evening of Lebanese food and dancing!

Halyma at Uncle Louis' - 2002

But before that, my classes resume on January 12th, 13th and 15th at all of my usual haunts, and I am looking forward to getting moving again!  I really do use the classes as my own personal workout time since the rest of my days seem to be involved with sitting and typing or sewing.

And the new baby: Eco-TAV has lots of work waiting for me to do for it as well!  I  will meet with a co-op this week to see about sewing help.  

mmm snackies!

I need to contact a list of stores regarding carrying the products in house – but I need to make more stock first so that i have it on hand when I approach the stores!  I still have a good amount of cotton and some hemp available [hint, hint] !

I also want to/need to do some major tweaking on the website and am looking at setting up my products on an online market place – but I need to get photos and descriptions organized for that before I go much further!

 I am supposed to be working on that lovely wedding, my time can only be split amongst so many projects before workmanship suffers!

That’s an exaggeration of course, workmanship never suffers!  Organization skills and phenomenal talents are my magical powers!  At least that’s the illusion I like to keep up!  and only as long as I schedule in fun time, rest, relaxation and time with hubby!

We won’t even get into the sewing videos, newsletter look update[ not done yet!], DVD3 [ not happening anytime soon, kids] or any of the other creative endeavors that I happily explore when I have a spare moment!

So, now that I have listed off most of what I want to do, I should really check on the soybeans I have cooking on the stove. I am trying a variation on the wontons that my friend S and I made back in December, but a vegan version with soybeans and mushrooms as the filling.
Maybe some other veggie stuff in there too – we’ll see! I was able to get the wrappers at a little chinese store in the market, so I am ready to go once the filling is !  
Hope your own lists for the upcoming year are fun filled and creative!  
Or healthy and beneficial!
Blessed be!
T/H

Minty Bean Balls – a new recipe

Recipes Blog, , , ,

Well, sort of balls...

Along with sewing and dancing, Tracey – my everyday ego – enjoys cooking.  I have been missing that lately with so many other deadlines, shows, sewing projects for clients on the go.  Today, I was able to sleep in, make whole wheat pizza crusts to freeze for easy meals this week, start some 24 hour whole wheat, no-knead bread, and do some groceries.

We have an invite to go to some friends for supper – another luxury at this time of year – and I wanted to bring something light and fun as an appetizer.  Even though I did buy groceries, I had not thought about what I wanted to make or bring. Upon arriving home and scanning the fridge and cupboards, I came up with these.

Based loosely on the concept of falafels – or perhaps simply inspired by falafels, I took the idea and ran healthy with it.

  • 1 can of mixed beans [ included chickpeas, kidney beans, pintos and black beans I think], drained and rinsed.
  • 1/4 cup tahini 
  • 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves [ organic from my back yard]

Dump it all together and use a blender/food processor/hand blender to puree it all together.  Make balls on an oiled cookie sheet, and bake in a 400 degree oven for  about 30 minutes.  If you prefer to fry them – go ahead. I don’t like to add too much extra fat, so I wanted to see how they turn out as a baked product.

Changes I will try next time:

Mine was very soft – as you can see in the picture, they did not hold their shape as balls.  I had to make dropped balls from a spoon. I think I would add more beans or less tahini.  Or possibly add some ground flax seeds or other seeds/nuts.  They would have the consistency of cookie dough, and then can be rolled by hand.

I would suggest that if you have garlic and onion and like them, add some.  I cannot eat these without spending the next day clearing my throat, so I avoid them, but for most people they would find them a standard addition.  Say 1 clove garlic and 1/2 a small onion, both minced and then purees with the rest.

You can always use different fresh herbs too – cilantro, parsley, basil, hmm, whatever works for you.

We will be serving them with some garlic mayonnaise for those who want a dipping sauce tonight, but I have thoughts of these going really well as an alternative to meatballs in many recipes/meals.

If you try this, or create your own variation, I would love to hear!