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Follow me on Twitter @singerinkitchen and tweet about the giveaway ” Win a Sunbeam hand mixer and some Naturally Nora baking mixes here: http://bit.ly/9AoklK “
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Blog about this giveaway on YOUR blog and post a link back here letting me know you did.
- Seitan
- Soy
- Shitake Mushroom
- 2 Hickory Smoked Soy Jerky
- 2 Texas BBQ Soy Jerky
- 2 Shitake Mushroom Jerky
Sunbeam hand mixer and Naturally Nora product GIVEAWAY
May 11th, 2010Hello to all! It has been a torrential day and definitely a day to stay indoors. I switched from working from two different places to get WiFi and it has been a mad house since it was not the sunny day it was yesterday. No problems.
It does not help that it makes me miss my sister like crazy. I find that when my family comes for a visit I have a hard time getting back into the emotional groove. Even though my sister and I are 4 years apart, we have a tight relationship. I find that I meet people who are not very close even to a sibling with a 4 year difference. Not so with my sister. We have been longing to sit together and have a heart to heart conversation, even though my grandmother was in our company. We managed to take a break to Starbucks, bought our favorite drinks, a soy matcha latte for my sister and a grande Americano for me with a little soy milk.
If I could get more of these sessions with my sister, I would relish them! For the mean time, I tuck in my heart and wait till I see her in July. DO you have someone you are close to and really miss?
Last night, I had a last minute opportunity to join a new group I heard through a friend on Twitter, called the West Michigan Bloggers, so I was happy to find out I was going to a blogger meet-up! I only knew Megan, through our Blogger Bake Sale, but I got to meat 8 other women who keep up blogs with different subjects. It was a networking seesion, where most of the ladies shared what types of plug-ins they like for their blogs and what brings more readers to their website. Who would not want to learn about that?
We also enjoyed some good eats as well. I was not able to take any pictures but imagine a nice plate of hummus with homemade flatbread and a glass of Malbec. It was a perfect dinner! We took a picture at the end of the evening. Thanks ladies!
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
So, seeing that I am going to be out of town this week again, I will not have too many recipe posts but I leave you with some giveaways! Yes. It has been a while but if you have not seen my recent post on a small giveaway of Primal Vegan Jerky, go check it out! NOW! 🙂 What is the next giveaway?
How about a nice hand mixer?? I know someone out there could use this lovely black Sunbeam hand mixer.
“Sunbeam Heritage Series 6 Speed 250 Watts Hand Mixer – Black – 2561
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Here are the details:
This Sunbeam hand mixer not only looks great, it’ll help you whip up your favorite recipes in no time. With its 250-watt motor, this powerful little mixer is up to almost any beating or mixing job. Its attractive retro styling also makes this one appliance that you won’t hide in the cupboard.”
DO you still want it? How about I throw in some Naturally Nora products? Now I know I have vegan and non-vegan readers, but just to let you know that not all her products are vegan. Her brownie mixes and cake mixes can be made vegan using egg-replacer and oil, but her frosting mixes have egg whites. FYI!
Here is what I would be adding to the Hand Mixer set:
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Spaghetti with Meaty Marinara
May 10th, 2010Hello friends! It has been a while and I hope you have not fallen out of my loop! I have been entertaining family for 6 days! That is a long time, but when I have not seen my sister and grandma since December, it called for a little downtime with them. I was really happy to have them come and visit. My grandmother was really looking forward seeing the tulips and a good thing she came when she did. Michigan has been having crazy spring weather! We have ben having warm days, torrential rains, and windy cold days, all in the past week and a half. Sounds crazy, right? Yep! The tulips are officially done with and withered.
Last year, we arrived in Holland, Michigan a week after Tulip Time with many tulips wtill smiling up at us, but not so this year. Is it not amazing how it the weather changes each year?? We had a great time performing our Tulip Time shows with the Holland Chorale, meeting people from Texas to Pennsylvania! If you visited my Wordless Saturday post, you will notice I posted some pictures of the parade we attended after a nice morning shower suprised the towns people.
Did I mention that I did not get to cook that much these past 6 days? I cooked for family and with friends we were staying with, but meals were eaten in order to have energy for the days activity. I even lost another 2 pounds! How about that? It was probably because we enjoyed the outdoors a lot!
After getting twos of great weather, we headed back home to East Lansing and dealt with rainy and cold showers. We survived though. I enjoyed entertaining. Do you enjoy entertaining, or is it stressful? I enjoy it if it is family, like my mom or sister, but I am still trying to get a handle on not trying to please people too too much, when friends or extended family visit. I understand it is a work in progress.
Even though we enjoyed some good restaurants in the area, I was able to cook a nice spaghetti dinner for my family. It had been a while since I made my own spaghetti sauce so I decided to make it for my family. I used ground beef for my folks, (requested by husband) and I made mine using Boca soy crumbles.
It had actually been my second time making it with the crumbles but my first using my own sauce.It was a great success! My husband did taste it after I finished the vegan version, and he thought it was pleasant. He has told me that when it came to Spaghetti and Meatballs or meat sauce that he really preferred me using real meat so I respected his request. He was a happy man.
Spaghetti with Meaty Marinara
serves 2
2 cups cooked spaghetti, al dente
1 cup Boca soy crumbles
1 Tbsp olive oil
2/3 cup onions, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tsp Italian seasonings
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp agave nectar
6 ounce can tomato sauce
12 ounce can crushed tomatoes
In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil on medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook for 5 minutes. Add soy crumbles and cook for another 10 minutes.
Add tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes and the rest of the seasonings. Cook for 20 minutes on medium low heat for flavors to meld.
Cook spaghetti according to directions on package and cook until al dente. Drain pasta.
Combine sauce and spaghetti and enjoy. Sprinkle with some PARMA cheese and have a big salad!
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Primal Meatless Vegan Jerky REVIEW and GIVEAWAY
May 10th, 2010
The lovely people at Primal were nice enough to send me a great sample to try. I had started seeing these at my local health store, but had not tried them yet. Even though I was not the type of girl to be into jerky, I thought these would be great to have on a road trip or when I was busy between rehearsals or even away from home.
Thanks Primal! These came in super handy and were very delicious! A girl has got to have her protein and I got it through this delicious product. They supply the jerky in 3 forms:
Does this sound appealing? At first it might not, but to me it was intriguing. Since being a vegan, I had yet to try seitan in different recipes so I did not really know what the falvor was going to be like. I am going to go right out and say it. I REALLY LIKED the Seitan Mesquite Lime Jerky.
This jerky came in so handy during one of my rehearsals because I had not had time to pack up a lunch so I took some leftover salad and this jerky and boy, did I enjoy it! It is a little messy, but it was not that tough to eat like normal non-vegan jerky. I even cut it in several pieces and added it to my salad. YUM!
What about the Teriyaki flavor and the Thai Peanut flavor? They were equally as delicious!! I am very much looking forward buying more of this product and taking it on trips or long rehearsals in the future.
OK so how about the Soy and Mushroom Based Jerky? They were a bit tougher and not my favorite. The soy based jerky comes in BBQ flavor and Hickory Smoked flavor, but I really could not get into them.
The flavor was not my favorite but that was my opinion. I hear that other people enjoy it. Maybe because I really really was just wanting more of the seitan based jerky. I am biased already!
The Mushroom-based jerky also proved to be a little too tough for my liking but if you are a true jerky lover, this might just be your kind of thing.
Now if you want to try the soy-based and mushroom-based jerky I have 6 of them to give away.
Please leave me a comment letting me know which is your favorite emergency snack and I will randomly pic a winner to receive:
Here is your chance to try this great product and to give your OWN opinion. Winner to be announced on Monday, May 17th, on my anniversary.
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Wordless Saturday
May 8th, 2010
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Match “Chicken” Piccata with Basmati Rice
May 4th, 2010 |
| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
We have been busy with rehearsals and performances for the annual Tulip Time IN Holland, Michigan. The weather has been super fantastic and who can complain of waking up seeing the calm lake at your window?
I have really never been a bird watcher but when you see a bird feeder attracting birds you have never seen before you can’t help getting excited. Here were some of the pictures I captured yesterday.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
I think the finch was looking right at me when I took this picture. Ahhh, nature. Thank you God!
Ryan and I went to a concert Sunday night and got a chance to listen to the Calvin College Alumni perform in a great cathedral, St. Adelbert’s. I tried to capture some exterior pictures but the interior was hard to do.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
My sister and my grandmother come in from Texas today and I am so excited! My grandmother has been looking forward visiting me and getting to see tulips in this area. SO EXCITED! I am looking forward making a Teriyaki Salmon, Roasted Broccoli, and Rice for their meal tonight since I will be cooking for 5 people. I will be having leftover vegan lasagna. How about that?
Last week I finally used my last package of Match vegan chicken to make a new dish, chicken piccata. This is one of my favorites, because it is tart and savory and who gets to have capers? Yum. I was happy with the results and even though the Match chicken is not my favorite (it does not taste like chicken, but I enjoy it) since it has more of a crab meat texture. I still used it and was happy with the final flavors and dish.
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| From An Opera Singer in the Kitchen |
Match “Chicken” Piccata
serves 2
1 cup ground Match ground vegan chicken
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
1/2 cup onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp Earth Balance vegan butter
1/3 cup semi-dry white wine
1/2 cup vegan broth
2 Tbsp capers, drained
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp +1/4 cup flour
Heat a non-stick skillet on medium heat and add a tablespoon of Earth Balance.
In a small bowl, mix the vegan chicken, parlsey, onions, and garlic and form into 2 patties. Dip in 1/4 cup flour until evenly coated and place on heated skillet.
Cook for 5-10 minutes until lightly browned on both sides. Remove from pan.
At the same temperature, add the remaining tablespoon of Earth Balance and keep the browned bits from pan. Dissolve the 1 tablespoon of flour until well blended. Add the lemon juice, wine,salt, sugar, broth, and boil until it thickens.
Last thing to add is the capers. Place a chicken patty on each plate and drizzle with the sauce and serve with rice and veggies.
