Today I Cooked. ALL Day!

Literally.  All I did was take care of my little people and cook.

I know.  I am supposed to be taking it easy.  But when you aren't allowed to have dairy (remember Elle's reaction to it in the breast milk), you can't just grab a cheese stick or a bowl of cereal and call it a meal.  I actually have to make stuff now.  Because of Elle's reaction to dairy (and I think soy), I'm having to make a huge dietary change and that also means more kitchen time.

And it's working out well due to my new obsession with a certain cookbook.

Here it is: 

Our Best Bites, by Kate Jones and Sara Wells.  I made Tony's birthday cake out of this book and it was goooooooooooood!  And my cake looked just like the cake in the picture!  I'm always so thrilled when that happens.  Aren't you?  **happy face**

(the cake before candles and cutting.  my first time making ganache.  good stuff.)

(and here it is after the celebration.  i admit to having a piece with ice cream.  but it wasn't even remotely worth the sad baby i had to rock and comfort later on in the wee hours of the next morning.)

So - almost everything I made today was from their cookbook and blog. 

I made hummus, pita chips, non-dairy sour cream (not from Our Best Bites),

(source.  the link is for the roasted red pepper hummus recipe found on their blog.  i'll bet it's as good as the plain stuff I made.)

Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette,

(source.)

French Bread Buns,

(source.  these were good.  they did take a long time to rise, but the taste was worth having to have the forethought to start earlier when dinner isn't really on the radar.)

Black Bean Soup,

(source.  not as exciting as i had hoped.  maybe because i couldn't put cheese in it.  i did put non-dairy sour cream, which tastes just like real sour cream, in it and that was good.  of all the recipes i tried today, this is the one i liked least.)

and a Galette.

(source. this was right up my alley.  it's supposed to look rustic and rustic comes easily to me.  i cheated and used canned pie cherries because it was super fast and easy.  yum.  and i also used earth balance spread instead of butter, even though the recipe specifically says not to, and it tasted great.  hahahaha!)

So, not exactly a laid back day but it still felt good and right.  The house is a mess, but my kids are happy and so is mah belly!