More Meals with Grandpa

Naturally enough, I've been enjoying cooking meals for my grandpa in the last week or so. I'm still hatching a plan for tomorrow night. Whatever I come up with, I know you'll see it here soon enough! Last week I had a busy day, with a very intense 2 hour yoga class, followed by a 90 minute drive up to San Francisco to drop off some art work for a group exhibit, and then dinne for my sweet Grandpa. I needed something quick and yummy. So, spaghetti to the rescue! Lucky for me, both Musty and my grandpa are crazy about spaghetti, so they're an easy crowd to please. I made up a tomato sauce with some of my friend Jane's special organic, dry farmed tomatoes that she canned up at the end of the season last summer. I threw in some veggies for flavor and nutrients and served it with whole wheat spag. Alongside, a nice green salad with asparagus, and some steamed broc. Yum!

A few nights later, I made a dish that has become a real family favorite "Tempeh Toss." It's from one of Sarah Kramer's books. To be honest, I really don't use those books anymore as I have found the quality of the recipes to be a bit spotty. I guess now that I'm a more experienced cook I'd probably be a better judge of the recipe just from reading it. All that said, however, this is a GREAT and very easy recipe. It is filling, full of neat flavors, packed with nutrition, and comes together in the 15 minutes that it takes me to make a pot of quinoa. And of course, the requisite green salad. And toast! My grandpa loves toast with his meals... and so do I! I don't usually let myself give in, but it's nice to make him some toast every once in a while.

Funny story: Whenever I cook for my grandpa, I always pack him up some leftovers for lunch the next day. We have a family system for him, where we put it in a tupperware, and label it and date it. My grandpa really enjoyed this meal, and when I was labeling it "Tempeh Toss with Quinoa," he said "Is that what we just ate?!" Hee hee. We had a good laugh.

I had a bit more time the other day... so I made this "Thai Pizza" from the Vegan World Fusion Cuisine book. I opted not to use their suggested spelt focaccia recipe though, because it called for 2/3 cup of olive oil... which is more that I can imagine in a loaf of bread. Instead I used the recipe for pizza dough from Peter Berley's Modern Vegetarian Kitchen. This pizza was pretty good, entirely edible. However, Musty and I agreed that the very yummy Thai topping felt a bit incongrous with the pizza crust. I probably will make it again, and just serve it over some rice. It's got very many flavors, all nice together: brocolli, sugar snap peas, red pepper, marinated tofu, peanuts, cilantro, and a delicious coconut-almond butter-lemongrass sauce. Mmm.

And while I had Peter Berley's book open, I made a batch of his delicious Oatmeal cookies. I love this recipe so much. After dinner one night last week, my grandpa happened to mention that his favorite cookie has always been oatmeal raisin. Well, why didn't he say so sooner?? That was all I needed to hear! When I busted these out, he was SO cute "Oh! I LOVE oatmeal cookies!" He had five. Hee hee. I'll try out all the different oatmeal cookie recipes I can find. Any suggestions?

Also, here's another question that I've got for my friends in the blogosphere. I really love cooking, but I often get so wrapped up in it that it becomes a big endeavor. I'd love some suggestions for some seriously quick meals, or cookbooks that have lots of quick (and yet still yummy) meals. Especially with teaching 3 nights a week, and then cooking for my grandpa two other nights... time is becoming ever more valuable. I'd really be grateful for any input!