Better go pee before you read this one......

....cuz this is a loooong one! Let's see, where do we start.....lunch, I guess. I've been wanting to try my hand at homemade pasta for a while, specifically, RAVIOLI, something that I haven't had since going veg*n. I have yet to come across any ravioli that wasn't full of meat or cheese, so I guess making my own was my only option.

I wanted to try and replicate the filling in Chef Boyardee canned ravioli, something I certainly ate my share of as a kid. The filling in that stuff was so soft and so generic it could have been just about anything. I don't doubt that it's made of "mechanically separated" meat, much like hot dogs, bologna, and chicken nuggets. Ever read a description of how they do that? Check out the link...

So I thought about it for a while, and then figured out what I thought I needed to do to make a vegan equivalent. The result? OH MY GOD, this was SO good that I can't not share it with you all. So here goes..

Vegan "Meaty" Ravioli Filling

1/2 small onion, diced fine
1 Tbsp oil
(saute)
Add:
1 cup soy burger crumbles
1 1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp paprika
1 Tbsp beef flavoured bouillon

Simmer gently until onions are soft and most of the water is either absorbed or evaporated. (About 15 mins.) Use potato masher and mash while cooking.

Then make pasta!
I used this recipe for the pasta...worked great. I first tried making the ravioli in circles...

(The dough was a little thin at first, making them see-through, but still tasty) and I also made them in squares......

And here they are with some simple homemade marinara sauce......

These were so friggin' good I wanted to take off my clothes and roll around in them. Seriously. I am going to have to invest in a pasta maker just so I can make ravioli all the time. Next time I make them I'm going to fill them with tofu ricotta. Hmmmm.....

In the afternoon I quickly whipped up a batch of Oatmeal- Coconut Cookies, since my cookie jar was empty and the guilt was percolating in my loins...

Nothing special or earth shattering, just a little sweet somethin' somethin'.

And then there was supper....I make such a mess when I cook....

This supper was an Asian-inspired meal. I took pictures of everything by itself so as not to make it look like a plate of indistinguishable shmutz.

First, a purposely bland microwave rice, made with white long-grain rice, grated carrot, onion, and red bell pepper. (I don't like the flavour of rice to compete with the more spicy main dish.)

Then, a stir-fry made with bean sprouts, peppers, carrots, mushrooms, (woo, mushrooms, take that, kids!), pea pods, mini corn cobs, celery and onion. I also added crispy cubes of fried tofu right before serving.

I also made some seitan "chicken balls", which I served with sweet and sour sauce.

And finally, a mess of Singapore Noodles.

This dish was yet one more attempt to make something with curry powder that the family will like. Verdict: I liked it. The rest of the family despised it. I guess curry is just something that you like or you don't. Me like, they don't. I guess I know what I'm having for lunch at work the next few days.

So once supper was over, I eventually managed to get the kitchen cleaned up again....

Then, I had to go rescue my stupid cat off the verandah roof. Damn cat shimmys up a tree near the front of our house and gets on the roof, but then can't figure out how to shimmy down again. He does this in the summer and meows in my ear outside my bedroom in the middle of the night. Dumb cat. Why the heck do I love him so much anyway?

Finally, one belated birthday gift for the boy that took us a few extra days to order in- a free-standing basketball net. We surprised him with it tonight. Bob came home from work at suppertime and told him he was tired..could he please go out and get his work clothes out of the trunk of the car? When Dan went out to get them we snuck a peek at him out the back window of the house....when he saw the net in the trunk, the look on his face was priceless. He had so damn much fun this evening alone that it almost paid for the cost of the net.

So that was Sunday. Hope yours was great, and we'll see you again tomorrow maybe. Cheers!