Chickpea Shepherd's Pie and Brownies

I work even more hours this week. I even worked Monday 8pm to 5am. So I am extremely exhausted already from all the work, and still have 3 more days left. Though, I am moving this weekend, so that is adding to my work level. Tons of stuff I got to have ready for the truck. But Im not moving everything this weekend, just the big stuff. I just feel so bad since my mom is doing a lot of the packing and did all the painting I was supposed to do today. I kept telling her no, but she insisted.

Now onto the good stuff...FOOD, of course.

Monday before I left for work, I made another one of Vegan Dad's recipes. Like I said I adore his dishes because they are quick, easy, and yummy. This one was Cheesy Chickpea Shepherd's Pie. It doesn't look too pretty in the picture, but it was delicious. The longest bit was cooking the potatoes. I used Yukon Gold and cleaned the skins well so I could keep them on. The mashed potatoes made up the top and bottom, but in between was peas, corn, and an eggplant-chickpea cheesy mixture. Using milk and nutritional yeast. That bit was so good it could have been just eaten on its own or as a side. I'll definitely be making this one again. Im eating the leftovers at work. It looks to me that the recipe makes about 5 servings for one person. Since it was so quick, itd be great to cook once school starts and have a ton of already prepared meals. Delish.

Then yeseterday was my grandmother's birthday. But she wasnt feeling well, the poor dear. She is hitting the high 80's, so most days are slower. But she is still kicking and for the most part good an healthy. Even though she said she didn't want to go out, we still came over to check-up on her (she is the most stubborn lady in the world, even a blood infection didn't make her call the doctor). She turned out to just have a cold and so did my grandad, so we just opened presents at their house. We got her a digital photo-frame, my mom will be putting on photos of all the grandkids and then the one great grandbaby. After the photos are on, I think she will really like it. They were planning on getting hot dogs, I was thinking Id go home and get mine, when I remembered I cannot find any buns of any kind that are vegan. NONE! A whole aisle at two different markets, none. Im going to have to head out to Whole Foods, urgh. So instead got my chickpea shepherd's pie. I was extremely crabby yesterday. The overnight at work the night before was hell. We outsourced people to do our inventory, so I was just there to double count and help them out if they couldnt find a SKU number. We had to double count 25% of the store, but everybody kept telling us different ways to determine the 25%, so I got yelled at because the guy running it told me to do it different than one of my managers. Then they never gave us our paid breaks or a full lunch, we got half a lunch. So 9 hours in the middle of the night practically...so nobody really got on my case the past couple for being lazy and cranky, since I have reason. But I did cheer up once I got the chance to take a ride in my uncle's Cobra. Its apparently a really expensive car (150,000 and up) but his he made himself, like a kit. It's crazy to think he made it. It apparently can go up to 200mph, but he doesnt know how fast he has gotten his. It makes a load of noise and gets loads of attention. The seatbelt is a harness! It was just crazy, but a fun time. I couldnt imagine driving it often, but he loves it. My mom sat outside waiting for us to get back, she told me later. "I bet your blog friends dont have a Cobra," I just laughed cause she knew already that those photos would go up on my blog, oh dear.

I had a bit of a headache afterwards, but I was so giggly and what not that I was a bit happier. I worked again today til 11. I was going to go out with my friends to the open-mic at a coffee house, but I was too tired. I decided to make brownies. I used the recipe I found here. But we did not have any sugar, so I used agave nectar. I cut the agave to a hearty 1/3 cup. They baked extremely well, it was the first time I used applesauce as a replacer. I was a bit skeptical, but they look and taste like brownies. I think they are a bit too chocolately sweet for me though, next time Ill use only 1/4 cup of chocolate chips, and less nectar. But the more it cools down the easier it is to eat, so we shall see. Im very pleased with how they turned out, it took a whole 10 mins to make, so I sat and typed this up while they baked.

Tomorrow I feel like making either mexican or chinese food. Im off, so Ill definitely be cooking. So we shall see what I decide.