Don't Get Mad, Get Vegan!

Quinoa Stir Fry

2012-01-12T12:22:00.001-05:00

Chances are, you're no stranger to quinoa if you're vegan or frequent veg blogs, but if you've never tried it, you are missing out on an amazing nutrient packed food that is versatile and super healthy..and tasty!

Quinoa (keen-wah) is an ancient grain that is not a true cereal gran but is used at one. When cooked, the wispy germ separates from the seed. Then its delicate curlicue makes a great contrast to the soft grain. Quinoa is a high-energy food, easy to digest, and is a complete protein, having the highest protein content of any grain (16%!). it has an essential amino acid profile similar to but contains more calcium than milk! It also boasts a balanced source of many other vital nutrients including iron and phosphorus, B Vitamins and Vitamin E. It is easy to prepare and cooks up quickly! (Thank you, Rebecca Wood and The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia for the info. This book is my go-to when I want to know the nutrients, benefits, or lack thereof of any whole food.)

I make a cup of dry quinoa weekly, store in the 'fridge, and use throughout the weekly meals. A lot of people point out that rinsing your quinoa well will ensure ridding it of bitter taste inducing saponins and taking it a step further and toasting it in a dry pan before boiling will give it an even better flavor. All good points, and totally two steps that I almost always skip and STILL remain smitten with the taste and texture of this amazing food! One day I'll toss a handful into a greens-based salad, other days it becomes a salad itself and is a great lunch or side dish. I also blogged about a wonderful quinoa hash here that can be varied easily according to what you have on hand or whatever suits your favorite flavors.

A lot of times, though I prepare it like you see above, as an alternative to rice and a great way to use up produce on hand. This meal was super simple and so satisfying! I just roasted some portabello mushrooms in the oven with olive oil and sea salt, while sauteing onion, garlic, some carrot, and broccoli on the stove top. At the end, I just tossed in a scoop of already cooked quinoa and then the chopped, roasted 'shroom. I whipped up a quick peanut sauce (organic peanut butter thinned with a bit of water, some Sriracha, agave, wheat-free soy sauce, and roasted sesame oil). Super simple, so healthy, gluten-free, soy-free (because not everyone wants to gobble down as much soy as I do weekly ;), and really really delicious!

The Best Chickpea Salad EVER!

2011-08-15T19:39:00.001-05:00

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I wish I could tell you this creation was mine, that it's intense variety of flavors and textures that will wow you were dreamed up by my desire to have a superb chickpea salad recipe to add to my arsenal, but I can't. That desire, though, deserves serious kudos because it DID make me try out Mel's recipe here. I have never tried a recipe of hers I didn't like, but this one really wowed me...chickpeas with lemon pepper and chipotle, oh my! I made it no less than five times in about two weeks and ate it as you see here, on freshly sliced cucumbers (sometimes then topped with a little slice of cherry tomato on that!) or, even better, in a sprouted grain wrap with a bunch of greens and some chopped tomato. It also was fantastic on other raw veggies, my favorite of which was little boats of fresh red bell pepper. I love food that you don't have to turn your oven on but that still satiates you, one batch feeds me for many meals, and this gem of a salad is cooling but full of hot flavors that really sing. So, if you want to break out of the same ol' same ol' chickpea salad recipe, try out this one and send your tastebuds on a mini vacation from the ordinary!

Seitan Wellington...Swellington!

2009-11-02T21:11:00.008-05:00

I was perusing the blogs today when I stumbled upon seitan wrapped in puff pastry on Joni's. I, naturally, immediately purchased the new cookbook that she and Celine put out because I was sure this would be great, as would the other 499 recipes inside.

The only logical next step was to run to the store to pick up the puff pastry and get to making dinner!

I had an idea to just toss together some almost duxelles (i've never actually made beef wellington or duxelles in my life, but the combo sounds heavenly, sans beef, so I sauteed some mushrooms in earth balance with garlic and shallots, and red wine until the wine reduced and everything was brown and smelling wonderful) and throw that on top of the seitan loaf before wrapping it in the pastry. Seitan Wellington!

My puff pastry lattice weaving skills are seriously lacking, but I'm totally blaming this one on the little person who had pretty much had it with my paying dinner all the attention at this point. Thankfully, it goes in the oven for another twenty-five so she and I could spend some serious mommy/daughter time!

I was leary of the setian when it was baking. Baking uncovered in the oven for over half an hour? I was sure it would be too dry. It was a bit dry on the end pieces, but the middle bite of my portion from three cuts in was perfection. I think I may add a bit more liquid next time just to make it a tad more moist, or I may throw it all in a loaf pan and just top with pastry. The presentation won't be as fancy but it may cook more evenly and stay a little moister? I've also toyed with the idea of portioning the seitan dough into a mini loaves pan and topping each with it's own pastry, creating mini, individual serving wellingtons . If I do that I'm sure I'll have to keep an eye on the cooking time to ensure that they don't dry out.
The flavor was really great, and I like the use of whole wheat flour with the gluten flour making it a bit more firm in texture. Speaking of texture, tho...if you compare my pictures to Joni's you'll notice that the two pictures are nothing alike. I was really hoping for mine to be like hers, but it just wasn't. I'm not sure what I could have done wrong or differently. I followed the recipe to a tee. I didn't knead the seitan dough much because the recipe didn't say to. Anyone try this and have similar/dissimilar results?

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Served with some steamed carrots with thyme and my new favorite kale (dino, boiled and then tossed with olive oil, shoyu, and lemon juice).

Either way, I did love this and am not only excited to try it again and maybe tinker with it a little, but also to get their book and try some other amazing vegan recipes!

Seitan Mignon, MoFo!

2009-10-30T20:57:00.005-05:00

Well, if I'm gonna attempt to blog all month for Vegan MoFo and fall short, totally not making my goal of blogging daily, at least I'm going out with a bang!

This is a recipe that I've been drooling over for a while from Tracy's blog. She came out with a cookbook* that I didn't realize she'd put together so, naturally, I bought it immediately (five bucks for a dowload? a STEAL!). Those of you who've frequented her blog may know that she does spectacular things with seitan. This recipe? No exception!

The seitan is boiled in this recipe and the texture is spot on. The au jus is wonderful. My only complaint really has to do with the fact that I've no knowledge of the bouillion she uses (Nutri-Max?) and used the one I have on hand (Better Than Bouillion) in the same ratio, not really knowing if it would make it too salty. It did. It was just this side of edible as is after reducing some of the au jus to spoon on top. I'm thinking that when I make the leftover 'steaks' I can thin the juices out with water and I'm dreaming up a wine based reduction to glaze them with. I'm hoping that will help get rid of some of that salt.

I served this with a quick mashed potato and some dinosaur kale. I have to say that this was the BEST kale I've ever made, hands down. Nothing crazy, totally simple execution. I prepped it(removed stemps and chopped), rinsed it, and boiled it for about twenty minutes. i then squeezed out as much excess water as I could and tossed it with a dressing that was equal parts olive oil, lemon juice, and shoyu. (I made a dressing that was two tablespoons of each ingredient but only used a splash of it in my kale as the portion I cooked was only enough for two people. the rest is in the 'fridge awaiting the next side of kale). I may never eat my kale any other way again. For serious!

Mmmmmm, Kale.

This meal was perfect to end MoFo for me on the eve of Halloween as it was spooky and fun. Spooky in that it eerily mimicked a steak and fun in that it was probably the dreamiest seitan dough I've ever made. I'm looking forward to making this one again and again and just adjusting my broth a bit to get the salt content down.

*I've linked to the post where she offers up this recipe. Make it, you'll be in a hurry to cough up your five bucks for more!

Szechuan Takeout Patties

2009-10-28T08:56:00.007-05:00

I get most inspired by leftovers of meals gone awry or just leftovers in general. Evidence of that is abundant on this blog. just look here, here, here and here. I love to have food left over as it means less work the following day, but either a) I am determined not to waste food just because a recipe or idea didn't pan out or b) I just don't want to eat the same thing again and again.

Last night was a case of the former. The night before we were spent from a long day of play. It was a gorgeous day and we took full advantage taking Taylor to the park. Once home, bath time and nightly chores needed to be taken care of so takeout seemed like a GREAT idea. The Cap'n wanted Chinese, and since I was in the mood for tofu, I ordered the Szechuan tofu and a side of veggie Lo Mein. While the Lo Mein was ok (never enough veggies), the tofu was too soft and the sauce for it was passable, at best. I didn't even touch the white that came with it.

Come dinner time last night my leftovers were glaring at me while I prepared to make a quick dinner and I knew I'd have to use them up or just toss them entirely. Heating them in the microwave and eating them that way was not going to satisfy so I created these instead Szechuan Takeout Patties. Certainly not health food they sure were a big improvement. They were actually very good! Basically, I had some black beans and some steamed carrots from part of Taylor's dinner (that kid eats best in the house, she loves simple, unseasoned fare). I mashed up some black beans and added them to the tofu which I also mashed up, removing it from the sauce. Some of the sauce became part of the patties but I didn't really add more than what came along with each little clump of tofu. I tried to get some of the peas and carrots that were in the sauce incorporated into the patties as well. I next grated some fresh ginger because I love the stuff and had some on hand from the samosas. I heated up the white rice and added almost the full pint of that. Once mixed, it was a rather loose and wet mixture so I made a slurry of Ener G Egg Replacer and water (about the amount you'd use to simulate two eggs) and stirred that in.

Having only a flavored Stir Fry Oil to fry them in, I went with that. I think it's peanut and soy bean oil based with garlic, ginger and chili.

I fried them in little patties until really brown. Maybe a couple minutes each side on med/hi heat.

I won't lie and say that they held together fabulously. They didn't. They had to be ever so gently turned and most of them stayed together, but not all of them. The rice got really brown and crispy (yum!) and the flavor of the Szechuan sauce was just barely there, which was nice. Once they cooled they were even tastier! I served them up over some heated leftover sauce and topped with the carrots (like you see above).

I loved them so much that they didn't stand a chance of lasting very long. It was all I could do not to snack on them after dinner. The leftovers were devoured with breakfast cold, right out of the fridge by Taylor and I.

Another leftover success!

Gardein's Chick'n Scallopini, a Product Review

2009-10-27T14:09:00.006-05:00

I don't know about you, but I'm a sucker for any new product I come across that is vegan and makes whipping up dinner easier. Something to shake things up when I haven't pressed my tofu, don't feel like boiling my tempeh, haven't got the time to make seitan and rice and beans ain't gonna cut it is a nice break from the norm. Because of this, I LOVE Soy Curls, have had love affairs with canned seitan patties, and have shacked up plenty with many, many varieties of veggie 'burgers'.

So when I saw Gardein at Publix I was intrigued. It plainly said it was vegan (score!), and appeared to be a versatile product. Low in fat and carbs was a bonus, even if the sodium content wasn't that low (something I try to look for). For an occasional dinner I figured it was worth trying.

The first variety that caught my eye was the Scallopini. Like thin chicken cutlets with a light seasoning and a simple serving suggestion on the back they looked promising.

I decided to follow their serving suggestion on the package, but I didn't have capers (I thought I did!), so I added a bit of brine from a jar of olives. In retrospect I should have tasted as I went because, as the sauce reduced HELLO SALT! these were almost inedible. Totally my fault. I couldn't really vouch for whether the product was good or a bust until I tried them again.

This time I did my go-to marsala but without the mushrooms. I basically heated them in hot smart balance and added a good amount of marsala wine and lemon juice and let it reduce down until it was thick and sticky. I served the two cutlets over just barely heated zucchini pasta that I had tossed with basil pesto.

Pretty good! Basically, these are like Morning Star Farm's Chik'n Meal Starters, but not in strips, in cutlets. They reminded me so much of them that I was tempted to Google as to whether or not this company had anything to do with MSF. I'm not a huge fan of those to begin with, so it's not a total win, but anything in a rich marsala sauce for me is just fine, so it's not a total loss either. I imagine that the sauce makes it for me with this one. Just make a rich sauce or something with a lot of flavor and the flavor will be great, the texture a little soft but overall pretty good for a quick meal.

I did try the Chick'n strips that were breaded also. I made them for my daughter who, as a toddler, could take 'em or leave 'em but that's basically how she feels about most foods. I, on the other hand, thought they were tasty, but devoid of ketchup or agave mustard they have a flavor not unlike veggie dogs which I find odd as they're supposed to mimic a white meat, not hot dogs.

Again, not great, not bad!

I do have the Beefless Tips in the freezer that I still want to try. I'm thinking they'd also be great as marsala or in a stroganoff. If they're great, I'll likely try another variety, if they're just so-so like Chick'n options that I've tried I'll likely just not buy them again.

Sorry I've totally dropped the ball with Vegan MoFo. I've been swamped bridal showers and weddings, oh my! I am an ordained minister and writing the ceremonies is such a labor of love for me to totally labor intensive. I've spent so many hours at the computer that blogging has not been something I've wanted to do. I also spent a LOT of nights making samosas a la VWaV, three dozen for a bridal shower and then six dozen miniature ones for a wedding last Saturday. SIX DOZEN! They're really fun to make up to about three dozen, I say. ;) They were a hit and I'm really glad I could help round out the happy couple's menu, but whew! I'm glad that's over. I don't have a picture of them (tho I just may take one of the dozen or so that ended up back in my refrigerator), but I do have this...

this is what I snacked on while making them. I threw a couple scoops of the filling in a warmed pita and Mmm Mmm Mmm! was able to keep chuggin along. If you haven't tried these babies yet, get to it! They're incredible!

When Life Gives You Dry Seitan, Make Gravy!

2009-10-14T20:57:00.007-05:00

So, I've posted about how my attempt at Kittee's scrumptious looking steamed seitan log was a bust (literally, that thing busted right through my foil wrap!) in that it was pretty dry. Okay for slicing really thin and using for sandwiches, okay for nibbling on right out of the fridge, but what I wanted was something hearty and seitan-y for dinner. What to do?

I decided to cut some 1/2 inch rounds and place them in mushroom boullion overnight and all day. My hope is that they would just rehydrate a bit and if that didn't work they'd at least be less dry and Hello! Mushroom Flavor! Yum!

Tonight I dipped those cutlets in soy milk laced with a bit of tabasco, then coated with a mixture of panko, almond meal, tapioca starch, nutritional yeast, garlic salt, and black pepper. Naturally, I fried them to a golden brown after that and served them up to myself and the Cap'n over a bed of steamed spinach and a side of roasted cauliflower and yellow squash.

What's that? I said something about gravy?

Oh yes I did! I have a thing for gravy. I'm a firm believe that basically anything can taste better with a healthy dose of creamy, rich, brown, salty gravy. Luckily, vegan gravy is easily the best gravy I've ever had (or made!). I've posted about it before, I'm not really a recipe kind of girl when it comes to gravy, I just get all the necessary ingredients out in this case, olive oil, flour, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, shoyu, salt, Gravy Master, and about two cups of heated soy milk or a mixture of soy milk and boullion broth (tonight I used the mushroom buillion that I had been soaking the seitan in. come to think of it, broth used to boil seitan would be fantastic here).

Basically, it plays out like so, heat sauce pan and add a Tablespoon or so of olive oil. Depending on how much you wanna make, add, while whisking, up to 1/4 c. flour and then add, again with the whisking, about the same amount of nutritional yeast. It will be a crumbly texture, but the flour and yeast should have absorbed all the oil. Add in very small amounts the heated liquid and whisk whisk whisk away any chance of lumps. It should be very hot. If it bubbles when the bit of liquid hits the pan and you're whisking? GOOD! Once all the liquid is incorporated, add spices, shoyu to taste and Gravy Master to taste (a tsp or so?) This stuff makes the color really rich and adds a hint of flavor and is totally vegan!. Whisking often and keeping an eye on it, bring to boiling until it starts to thicken. Depending on how little flour you've used, it may or may not thicken very well. Tonight mine was not doing so so I whisked a few good splashes of cold mushroom boullion with just under a tablespoon of cornstarch and added that to the boiling gravy. It thickened up immediately (whatever, Martha Stwewart! there's no graininess here, nothin' but INSANE YUM in this gravy!) and I achieved the perfect consistency.

This was sooooo good! The seitan was no longer dry, just really firm. I likened it to the days of old when we would eat shake and back pork chops. The breading was crunchy and satisfying and the gravy...oh, the gravy!

I swear, this was the best gravy I've made to date....but I think I always say that. Proof you don't have to have a recipe or be a seasoned chef to whip up a tasty gravy and make an amazing meal of a mishap!
and Mmmmmm, roasted cauliflower! or roasted any veg really, no gravy necessary!

Steamed Gluten Log

2009-10-13T21:25:00.004-05:00

Oh, how I wanted this to work! I have been wanting to steam seitan since Julie Hasson blogged about it here. Not really a fan of the taste of sausage I resisted until I saw Kittee's version here. Look at how plump and juicy that stuff is! Perfection right? Well, mine came out more like this...Dry. It slices well enough and the flavor is great (just enough seasoning to be flavorful but not so much of any one ingredient that it would compete with another in any recipe. very versatile in that way!), but the texture, for me, turned out to be a lot like the Seitan O' Greatness (which I totally had a love affair with, good stuff, just not what I was hoping for texture-wise), only a much larger log. Here are the things I think went wrong with my attempt:

1. the recipe calls for four cups of onion, or two medium sized ones. I had two med-large sweet onions on hand and that's what I used. I diced them fine in the processor and knew they wouldn't measure to be four cups, not even close, two if I was lucky (and I wasn't. sigh), but I didn't really worry about it, just moved on to caramelizing (Mmmmm, at least the house has smelled amazing all day!).

2. once I mixed the wet and dry ingredients, I noticed my dough was super dry and crumbly. It shouldn't just stick together while mixing with a spoon. Adding the last quarter cup of gluten seemed like a really bad idea so I added water until the consistency was better but just adding it and mixing with a spoon wasn't gonna cut it. So, I worked the additional liquid in with my hands and, in the end, felt like the dough was a bit overworked.

2. While I wrapped the seitan up tight and made sure to wrap it in two different directions to make it secure, secure it was not. Somewhere in the last thirty minutes the seitan busted thru and ripped open the foil, leaving it exposed to the steam directly.

So, I used it today for a simple sandwich and Taylor seems to enjoy nibbling on slices of it just fine, but I'm now craving a more moist and juicy variety and I think I'll be boiling some very, very soon.
Until then, I have an idea to revive my dry slabs and will hopefully be sharing the successful outcome in tomorrow's dinner!

oh, and sorry 'bout the lighting in these pics. It's late and apparently the lighting in my kitchen is REALLY yellow. yikes!

Let The Sunshine In....

2009-10-13T10:19:00.005-05:00

I have posted about these before (and can I just say, WOW! do I miss the time I once had for creating such elaborate meals and blogging away about them without a care!), but they're one of my favorite things to eat when I have no time to cook so why not throw them into the Vegan MoFo mix?!
Sunshine Burgers!

Sure, these babies taste something like the hippie-created varieties of old did, but I think what I love about these most is that they don't try to be something they're not. They don't attempt to mimic 'real' burgers or resemble meat in any way. They taste exactly like the list of ingredients: sunflower seeds, brown rice, carrots, and herbs. Heck yeah! All good things in my book. I will say that if you don't love sunflower seeds, the Original variety is not for you, as it's the dominant flavor, for sure. I've yet to try the other flavors, Garden Herb, Southwest or BBQ so I can't attest to their yumminess, but this one is a staple for me (and the first 'processed', prepared food that Taylor ever had. She LOVES them, too!). What I also love about these burgers is that they heat up easily on the stove top with no oil necessary, not even a spray!

I like these best on some earthy whole grain bread with sprouts, avocado, tomato and Veganaise. But I liked this one just fine last night on some oat bread with Veganaise, organic ketchup, and diced pickle. This and some Cascadian Farms Spud Puppies and I had plenty of time to chase down Taylor for bed time!

Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut...

2009-10-11T22:20:00.006-05:00

or at least just like making dinner with some.

What a weekend! Friday was a whirl of flower arrangements and ceremony writing, Saturday a beautiful wedding and time with family, today was a day of catching up at home, and with dinner came the realization that I have already failed my Vegan MoFo pledge to post every day of October.

Nuts! So why not make dinner with some of my favorites? Tired and fairly uninspired actually led to an easy and scrumptious meal, Almond Meal Crusted Tofu over zucchini pasta and shredded carrot with peanut sauce. SO tasty!

I didn't have the time or energy to drain, soak in something flavorful, and redrain the tofu. No matter, I like a good tasting tofu just as it is anyway. To add a little som'n som'n I mixed the almond meal with tapioca starch and then a fair number of shakes of Five Spice Powder and some salt. I cut the tofu into triangles and dipped into soy milk before coating then in a hot, oiled pan to brown.

Meanwhile, zucchini was sliced in the Saladacco and carrots (I only had baby carrots in the house and shredding them on the cheese grater was a lot easier than trying to get their teeny goodness cut into ribbons with the Saladacco) and plated. I zapped the veggies in the micro for a minute while I whipped together my go-to peanut sauce.

Peanut sauce is an easy mix of peanut butter with water to desired consistency, grate a clove of garlic and about an inch of ginger into that, add a squirt or two of soy sauce and agave to taste. Done!

Quick, easy, and full of flavor. Doesn't get much better than that!

Leftovers, Revived...They're What's For Dinner!

2009-10-07T21:55:00.006-05:00

Ever since making the Southwest Corn Pudding from V'con for the potluck, I've had some leftover ears of corn in the fridge. I'd boiled the few extra ears I had in the fridge and cut it off the cob, not knowing how I'd enjoy it, well, aside from just snacking right out of the container.

I stared at the contents of my refrigerator and was not hopeful. Broccoli, an onion, some more zucchini, the usual condiments, tofu. Nothing sparked my interest to go with the corn. Then I dug in the freezer. I waded thru the frozen fruit, the tempeh, the frozen veggies. I was about to give up and go for a stir fry with a side of corn. Then I found these patties from who knows when! Yay!

They're a southwestern themed patty basically made of rice, flour, gluten, black beans, onion, garlic, green pepper, and Emeril's Southwest Seasoning. I don't even know what it's really called but I know his mug is on the shaker and it has a Southwestern vibe. I remember throwing them together thinking that they'd not be spectacular but would be filling and use up some black beans I had been craving. Like most of my throw together patties I'm sure I baked them for about twenty minutes then quickly fried, i mean, sauteed them for about five per side. Turns out they were super tasty, but I'd totally forgotten there were a couple stashed in the freezer after I'd had my fill of them. (I tend to do that, love something and then eat it til I can eat it no longer). Out of the freezer they did great with a quick spray of olive oil a pan and five minutes per side to reheat. The corn also went in the pan the whole time getting nice and brown on the edges.

I wish I could share a formal recipe with you, maybe even more for my sake as that way there would BE a formal recipe, but alas there is not. There is just the above picture of two little glorious patties on a bed of and topped with pan seared corn and a bit of plain soy yogurt and some FYH cheese. I tried to get the cheese to melt by shredding and putting in the hot pan then scooping it onto the patties and it was almost successful, but just almost. The complete meal, however? Awesome!

Zucchini Rawsta

2009-10-06T22:03:00.001-05:00

This summer I dropped sixteen pounds. I think I owe part of it not just to cutting the crazy binging on sweets but also to replacing many pasta dishes with one of my most favorite stand-ins, Zucchini rawsta (and ok, yeah...running every day for 30-40 minutes surely played a large part!). Seriously, I ate TONS of it, still do! Never gets old to me. I've enjoyed it with pesto, tofu alfredo, as a bed on which to top lentils, and other simple dishes. Tonight, however, I enjoyed it simply with a quick tomato sauce.

For a while, I was using a vegetable peeler, and wasting a LOT of zuke since I wasn't peeling the innermost part of the veggie that houses the tiny seeds. Then I braved my garage (black widows, anyone?!) and dug out of the countless bins we've stored there since moving to this house one of my most favorite kitchen tools, the Saladacco Spiral Slicer!

Love this thing. I've only really ever used it for zucchini and carrots, so $24 bucks may seem steep to some, but I've honestly used it SO many times in the few years I've owned it (especially when I'm cooking for others, so fast!) that it seems justified. Plus it's fun and requires no electricity!

I've linked to Amazon for anyone who's interested, but laughed when I read reviews. People have less than great things to say about my beloved kitchen tool, but I'm still really happy with it. It's never given me any problems. I quickly slice the zukes (or whatever) so that I have long pieces that fit in the Saladacco, it locks just fine for me, spin out my veggie, and snack on the 1/4 inch disc that's always left over when it's done spiraling. When making for a large group, I just saved the multiple little discs of 'wasted' zucchini for a salad or snack the next day.

That said, feast your eyes on the benefits of owning that little number...

Topped with a little nutritional yeast (ok, a lot)...

then some super easy homemade red sauce* and a generous sprinkling of hemp seed!

*I was going to link to an entry where I'd recounted my own version of easy red sauce, but I found that it doesn't exist. No real recipe, but I typically make it when I see tomatoes lying around that I fear will go bad if I'm not inspired to eat salads. It goes something like this...

Toss tomatoes in boiling water until skin puckers. Remove and slide skin off of the fruit. Chop. Heat olive oil in sauce pot and add a few minced cloves of garlic. When just browning, add tomatoes. Here I only had two medium tomatoes on hand so I added a can of no salt added tomatoes (didn't drain 'em) to my sauce pot. This made enough sauce for two people (or...me tonight...and me again tomorrow some time!). Add a bit of tomato paste to get the consistency you want (tho it will thicken up nicely as it simmers, the longer it simmers the tomato paste helps it from being so watery) and a pinch or two of sea salt, some onion powder, oregano, and a healthy pinch of sugar. If you have fresh basil, it's wonderful at the end. And obviously, you can add onion or any veggie you like at the beginning, but I prefer a quick, unadorned variety of tomato sauce. Allow to simmer for as long as possible. The longer the better. I threw this together in a flash at lunch time and it was perfect by dinner. So yeah, that's not a real recipe, but it's pretty forgiving and so fresh enjoyed over the zucchini.

Here's to hoping I figure out what to post for Vegan MoFo in the coming days. I have a wedding to officiate on Saturday for a family member and their rehearsal dinner being hosted at my house this Friday! Sadly, I'm just providing the place to have the shower and they'll be having a BBQ. I won't even be contributing any vegan fare for the event as I also have a beautiful friend's bridal shower to contribute to for Sunday. THAT I'll certainly blog about, but I'll be tempted to try and keep up with the toddler and all the events and Smart Dog it for the meals ahead but for your sake let's hope I don't!

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can......

;)

So Simple, So Good!

2009-10-05T20:05:00.003-05:00

More Vegan Caesar (seriously, I've started calling this My Caesar Salad is Better Than Your Caesar Salad), and I have a feeling it will be accompanying many a meal in the coming months.
This time, there was no time for pressing or crusting tofu, but a twice baked potato proved easy and really hit the spot. I baked the potato, cut it in half, scooped out the middle and added about a teaspoon of Smart Balance, a healthy dose of nutritional yeast, about a tablespoon of plain soy yogurt (who needs Tofutti?), garlic salt, fresh black pepper, and steamed broccoli I already had on hand. I stuffed that back into half the potato that it came from (the other half is in tact and will be part of lunch tomorrow!) and broiled it for a few minutes until the top was nice and golden.

Not exactly the stellar, fancy dinner one would typically be excited to blog about, but ya know what? It was SO GOOD. And simple, and cheap, and gluten free, and vegan, and could be thrown together easily while a silly toddler is at one's feet demanding to be held, played with, danced with, and basically just causing a typical 17 month old end of the day ruckus. To me? THAT's something I can sink my teeth into!

Southwest Corn Pudding

2009-10-04T21:04:00.003-05:00

In deciding to participate in Vegan Month of Food III, I was at a loss as to what theme I'd base my thirty-one posts on. I figured 'what a vegan eats every day for a month' was pretty much all I could muster up. Turns out, each post thus far (all three, woohoo!) have pretty much been meals that cling to the end of Summer. "But it's October!" you're thinking. I know, but here in the Sunshine State, we let Summer linger.

That said, what better way to embrace the last warm, sunny days of summer than a dish that revolves around corn? Sweet, golden, crunchy corn. I've heard so many good things about Veganomicon's Southwest Corn Pudding that I knew that I'd be bringing that to the Pot Luck Kickball Birthday Party in the Park that we attended earlier tonight.

Um...in a word? WOW! This stuff is so flavorful and moist, no...velvety...and crunchy but soft, not overwhelmingly southwestern flavored but just enough bite and hint of cilantro to match perfectly with the sweetness of summer corn. yum!

Since this was for a potluck and the original recipe is made in an 8x8 pan, I doubled the recipe and made mine in a 9x13 pan instead*. The only changes that I made were that I limited the hot peppers. In my trip to the grocery store I was met in the produce section by one very lonely jalapeno on the shelves. I opted to use that and one Serrano pepper and left out the cayenne. I would have liked the jalapenos if I could have gotten them and would have used three to capture the flavor, but I like the barely there kick that one Serrano lent to the dish.

Also, there were tons of kids in attendance and I like that it wasn't hot enough to torture their taste buds or their tummies. It was a hit! I only had enough left to take a pic or two for the blog!

No matter where you live or what season you feel like you're enjoying, I highly recommend swiping up any bright, beautiful ears of corn you can find and enjoying this colorful, tasty dish soon!

*I sauteed the corn and red pepper in my giant iron skillet pan and had my heart set on baking it and serving it in that as well, but I think I'll have a post in the future about the woes of trying to work with a less than perfectly seasoned iron pan and how to fix that. Also, carrying that puppy plus blanket, toys, and toddler in tow across a couple sports fields to get to our destination would have been more than I could swing!

Oh, I should also mention that a ppk'er had a great idea for making this dish for a pot luck setting by way of portioning it out in muffin pans and cooking that way to create individual servings. As I'd never made it before, I wasn't sure if it was really going to be more like a bread or a pudding and I didn't want to overcook it and have it be dry. As it turns out, it cooks up like a perfectly moist, soft bready pudding so I think it'd have been fine either way!

Almond Crusted Tofu over Vegan Caesar

2009-10-03T21:28:00.006-05:00

Who needs croutons?

Not me! I've been salivating over this dinner for a couple days. I have had a bag of almond meal/flour in the refrigerator for a while now and wasn't sure how I was going to use it. So many people are afraid to make tofu or claim that they just don't know how to make it taste good....but it's SO very easy!

Case in point.....

Bought firm, light tofu. Drained in dishtowel in refrigerator for over a day while totally forgetting that it's in there in need of making. Remember it's ready for the flavoring and whip together two cups of veggie stock with a splash of Shoyu. Cut tofu into steaks, then squares, then placed in air-tight container, pouring stock over them and let sit for a couple hours. Made Caesar dressing a la Bunnyfoot:

2 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 Tablespoon vegannaise

dash of vegetarian Worcestershire sauce

a few sprinkles of kelp powder

1/3 c. olive oil (not extra virgin, in my opinion, a mild blend is best here)

press garlic or grate with microplaner (my favorite method), add remaining seven ingredients. while whisking, add oil. you can add water if you want to thin, but, more importantly, feel free to doubt or even triple this recipe if you'll want to keep the remainder in the 'fridge...and you will!

drained tofu on paper towels while heating grapeseed oil in pan over med-high heat. Dipped tofu in soy milk then a mixture of about one cup almond meal/flour and 1/8-1/4 cup tapioca starch. place in hot oil and fried for a few minutes per side til golden brown.

chopped, rinsed, and dried romaine lettuce and put in large bowl. add generous dusting of nutritional yeast, generous helping of hemp seed, and about four chopped sun dried tomatoes. tossed with maybe half the dressing (only you know how much you like on your Caesar!).

Added tofu to top and YES! total dinner success. I whole-heartedly urge anyone who loved Caesar salads of old to try this. Sure, I'm a huge fan of my own version you can find here, but I'm really loving the addition of tofu and the ease of components in this one.

Seriously, go wow some nonvegan naysayers with a Caesar dressing that will knock their socks off. You can thank me later!

Day Two, I Was Afraid This Would Happen!

2009-10-02T23:02:00.003-05:00

I like to think of myself as someone who embraces whole foods and fills my day with healthy options. Some days, though, are like today where they're filled more with things like soy yogurt, fruit, and coffee for breakfast, leftover Soy Curl Casserole for lunch and something super fast and totally processed for dinner. Tonight it was a matter of firing up the grill and throwing a couple Lightlife Smart Dogs Veggie Protein Links on it.

I've tried my share of veg hot dogs and these are, by far, the best to me. I don't particularly like hot dogs to begin with (nitrites, sodium, fat, and animal parts aside). But sometimes, a little quick stroll down childhood memory lane works in a pinch.I just threw them in some whole wheat store bought buns and, much like I enjoyed them as a kid, topped with mustard only. Before bed I snacked on some more fruit and called it a day.
Not exactly blog-worthy. I will say, however, that if you do like veg hot dogs, this brand is great because they're fat free, low calorie, not too bad in the sodium department, and tastes eerily like the real thing. On the grill, the texture is a wee bit soft but a lot closer than some of the other dogs out there.

I'm planning on something simple but MUCH more exciting (and less processed!) for dinner tomorrow. Here's to hoping day number three gets me back on track!

Vegan MoFo Begins Again!

2009-10-01T16:11:00.006-05:00

And this time? I'm gonna join in! I never had in previous years as I didn't trust that I would actually blog every day, and this year seems like a silly time to try since I'm usually running after Taylor and only eating the simplest of things, but hey! Who says food has to be fancy or complicated to be vegan or GREAT?!

So why not celebrate this month and just get real about what a vegan eats, both when they're feeling creative and adventurous or just eating to eat?

The impetus for this change of heart? Behold, Grilled Pineapple.

Mmmm hmmm, it's even better than it looks. I had thrown together a soy curl based mock chicken casserole (will post a recipe when I get the 'cream' of mushroom just right) and was at a loss as to what to serve with it. After scoping out the produce in the 'fridge and my husband's suggestion that we open up the house and eat semi al fresco (our dining room opens up via french doors to the patio), I deemed asparagus and pineapple were in the most danger of going bad if we didn't get to eating them soon.

Enjoying this amazing Florida fall-ish weather where it's sunny but not crazy hot all day and then cool in the mornings and evening made grilling the ideal option for both items.

I tossed the asparagus in olive oil and organic garlic salt (thanks mom, this stuff is SO good!) with a little cracked black pepper.

The pineapple I just sliced and dusted with a bit of brown sugar. That's all, so easy!

Both were grilled until just charred and perfect sides to our meal!

I love how simple something like grilling pineapple is and yet it makes your taste buds sing! It's as sweet as candy but still plump and juicy and tastes like summer in every bite. Yum!

Game on, Vegan MoFo!

Spinach 'Shroom Sauce

2009-09-20T21:20:00.004-05:00

You know those nights where you can't decide what to make for dinner even though you just went grocery shopping because you failed to 'meal plan'? You peruse your haul and the ingredients just swim before you...spinach...mushrooms...sundried tomatoes... Spinach sauce? you wonder. Is there such a thing? Should I attempt to make one if there's not?

No? Just me? Well, after this little scenario in the kitchen tonight, I thumbed thru Vegan Fusion World Cuisine for some inspiration (such a beautiful, beautiful cookbook) and sure enough, spinach mushroom sauce awaited me!

Luckily, a great friend had come over to catch up and help whip up dinner (it totally helps to have two sets of hands when there's a toddler on the loose!). Hi Joey! Together we chopped, stirred and tweaked what started out a great recipe and ended up an amazing dinner, Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Spinach Mushroom Sauce (with sundried tomatoes, saffron, roasted cauliflower and garlic, and hempseed).

Basically, we followed the original recipe with these changes:

no shiitakes in the house, so button mushrooms were used

we added more spinach...because we wanted to

we added garlic....because hello! garlic!

we added a healthy dose of nutritional yeast. not too much, but 1 teaspoon? why bother?

we may or may not have used shoyu as the recipe called for. Joey?

we added a bit of cornstarch because it wouldn't thicken without it, really

plated it with roasted cauliflower and more garlic (such a great last min idea, perfect combo)

some chopped sundried tomatoes and a bit of hempseed topped off the dish

It was really tasty. I honestly would love to try it with some earthy shiitakes. The cauliflower added some saltiness, the tomatoes a bit of tart flavor, and the hempseed added that amazing crunchy thang that only hempseed can add.

Basically? I loved it. Can ya tell? Can't wait to make it again (and the leftover sauce is gonna be amazing on top of some zucchini rasta tomorrow. yum!

oh, and thanks again to Joey (the Great) for whipping out his iPhone and snapping a photo when my camera informed me that yes, the battery was indeed dead.

Fell In Love With a Salad

2009-08-11T21:41:00.002-05:00

Arugula and Mushroom Salad with Hempseed and Liquid Gold Dressing

I know I've blogged this one before (recipe included in the last post), but it bears repeating (I totally couldn't help myself with that title!).

IIt's so incredibly hot lately, all I want is fruit or salad. My all-time easy, healthy, super delicious go-to salad dressing is non other than the Liquid Gold recipe from Becoming Vegan. Just two tablespoons of this golden goodness supplies one with all of the omega's and B vitamins one needs in a day! and did I mention how delicious it is? It's base is Flax Oil, which personally I find to be pretty unpalatable, but in this dressing it shines. Matched with a half a cup of Nutritional Yeast, Tamari, lemon, and cumin it's just the best thing ever.

I really think it's perfect tossed like you see it above with some baby Arugula, hempseed, and some thinly sliced 'shrooms. I've made it with roasted portabellos before and loved that too but when you just can't be bothered to cook anything, raw is ideal. I actually love this salad so much that I eat it regularly and can't bring myself to change the ingredients or stray from this combination. I think that tossing in some dried cranberries might lend an interesting and contrasting sweetness though.

I will say that, when I first tried it, I was unsure of the cumin. I think I may have even left it out or at least gone super light on it. Since, I've learned that, for me, it's perfection just as intended and now crave the distinct flavor regularly.

Hope you're all enjoying summer's end!

Vegan Fusion

2009-08-09T21:44:00.003-05:00

When my amazing friend Joey (Hi, Joey!) came by to hang with me on what would have otherwise been a rather dull Saturday night, he came not only bearing great conversation and a fabulous bottle of vino, but also showed up with some super fresh, super tasty mango salsa.

I was so excited to showcase it somehow at dinner for the Cap'n and myself the following night. First my mind went immediately to the obvious, something with a Latin flare. I even put together a rub for some Soy Curls as they soaked and thought that would be what we would eat. Then I thought about it a bit more...I wasn't really in the mood for anything Latin or Southwestern, and I tried to think of what else would compliment fresh mango, peppers, onion, beans and a touch of cilantro....hmmmmmm, what to do?

One of my favorite simple throw together meals is Celine's Coconut Basil Curry with Soy Curls. You've seen that here before. I thought, 'Hey! Thai cuisine goes just fine with those ingredients, right?!' RIGHT!

I rehydrated the soy curls in some boiling water and veggie bouillon. When I made the coconut milk based sauce, I went easier on the curry than I usually do and a bit lighter on the agave I usually use. I wanted subtle. I squeezed out the excess water from the plumped Soy Curls and let them sit in the sauce for a few hours before meal time. When it was time to throw dinner together, I gently squeezed the SC's before they hit the hot pan (oiled lightly with grapeseed oil) and heated them on med hi heat until they started to brown nicely. Meanwhile, I whisked a touch of corn starch into the remaining sauce. Once the 'Curls were browned to my liking, I added the sauce and let it simmer until it started to thicken, mixed it all a bit and then took it off the heat and covered it.

Then I gave little miss smileypants a bath.

Once she was all ready for bed but still more interested in playing with the remotes and learning to climb up on top of the coffee table, I plated it up....first the saucy soy curls, next a serving of Basmati Rice (I won't lie, I totally went the Uncle Ben's in a bag nuked route there), then a couple tablespoons of salsa).

Success! The flavors really did compliment one another. The salsa was light and refreshing and the curry was mild but creamy. The Cap'n says that (you know, for when day when I get to open up my dream vegan cafe) this one goes on the menu. ;)

Vegan Rosewater Almond Shortbread

2009-08-03T09:22:00.013-05:00

I recently helped throw a bridal shower for my husband's cousin. She wanted a tea party, and I wanted to bake something that would lend itself to the elegant, pretty set up that we'd created.

Imagine Billie Holiday singing in the background, the summer sun filtering thru the trees and the windows, and a group of lovely women adorned in their tea party best (hats and all!) sitting down for tea, laughter, and a celebration of love. What better than a sophisticated and delicate cookie to dunk in their tea? (i also bagged a couple up for each guest and they took home their tea cup and saucer and a little flowering tea ball as a favor)
After searching the web a bit I found Celine's Rosewater Sables at Have Cake, Will Travel. Everything I've ever tried of Celine's has been a total hit so I knew this was the recipe for me. The only changes I made were to add a couple drops of almond extract (I love almond) and then create a simple icing with more almond and rosewater and a touch of red food coloring to make it pink.

Total success...so much that I may have enjoyed any extra cookies that were lying around before I ever got a chance to bring them to our friends and neighbors. oops! surely that won't help get the baby weight off but hey, I'm half way to goal and these cookies were not only delicate, slightly soft, and beautiful...they were SO YUMMY, too!

Thanks, Celine!

Tea and mimosas, anyone?

The guests in attendance were not vegan or even veg so the food spread isn't something you'd want a gander at, but the cookies were a hit!!

Raw Kale? Yes, Please!

2009-08-03T08:57:00.004-05:00

These are not words I've ever uttered, but I'm shouting 'em now. Oh, yeah...hi! Remember me? With a very active 14 month walking, babbling little one around, I rarely have time to do much other than feed, play with,and chase her. I hardly ever get to peruse the blogs, but I'm so glad I did recently and stumbled upon this yummy gem!

Vegan YumYum posted a salad much like this one as a BLT salad. She used smoky tempeh fak'n (which is fantastic, btw), but the night I made the above version (and after trying it once, I've had this salad no less than four times!) I only had tofu in the 'fridge so I went for a smoky miso tofu instead.

As I said, raw kale has never been my thing. I've tried so hard to embrace it, but it's never been all that palatable to me. I'll boil it a bit and freeze small ice cube portions and toss it in smoothies (and hallelujah for that since Taylor is in that phase where fruit rules and smoothies are often the only way I can sneak some veggies into her day). I'll occasionally boil it an enjoy it quite well with some garlicky black eyed peas or throw in a soup, but that's the extent of my kale love, typically.

But thanks to this idea and a tip from a commenter on VYY's thread, I'm HOOKED!

Basically, the original called for using Dinosaur/Lacinato Blue, raw kale and spinach, smoky tempeh fak'n, and cooking grape tomatoes in the hot oil from heating the fak'n and a homemade simple Veganaise based dressing. truly perfection just as she intended.

But while my taste buds do prefer the tempeh, I'm currently on a pretty low carb diet (thank you baby weight and high blood pressure issues!) to get down to my prepregnancy weight. (hence the never blogging because most of my quick meals are bo-ring!). So I find marinating some tofu and baking it are a nice alternative. I based my smoky miso tempeh loosely on VYY's version as I didn't really measure anything, just used her ingredients and I subbed smoked paprika for the Liquid Smoke as I didn't have any (gasp! must add that to the grocery list!)

Also, to cut on fat and because I LOVE fresh tomatoes at summer's end, I don't cook them...I just chop some plum tomatoes or a big Ugly tomato and toss it in at the end.

As for how to make the kale perfect, follow the commenter's tip (here's VYY's original recipe) and wash your kale, dry it, cut it from the stem, and cut into thin slivers. Make your dressing and toss with the kale. using your hands, massage it into the kale leaves....then cover and refrigerate. I found that preparing the kale the night before or even just in the morning and leaving it to sit in the 'fridge all day was perfect!). Before serving, cook up your protein of choice, cut up your spinach and tomato and toss with your now wilted, chilled and pliable kale. the texture is really great. the flavor sings. honestly, I don't know how you'll NOT end up eating this salad a couple times a week and wonder how you ever turned your nose up at raw kale all that time! I need to thin the dressing out a bit myself to hopefully ease up on the fat content but still offer the kale a fat and an acid to help break it down.

now if you'll excuse me, I have a crazy little girl who needs to play with her momma.
hopefully, I'll stumble upon something else new and wonderful and be able to blog about it again before oh, i don't know, another million months roll on by!

much love to all, hope you're enjoying the tail end of your summer!

Tofu Breakfast Sandwich

2009-04-09T21:54:00.005-05:00

Psst....hey you. C'mere. Closer, wipe that sleep out of your eyes. Smell that? Mmmmmm.... That's the smell of vegan breakfast heaven. Don't be shy, pull up a seat and dig in!Ok, so it won't be that easy. You'll actually have to prep these babies a day ahead to let them marinade, but I promise they're worth the wait. The pics of them made with whole grain rolls and organic sweet clover sprouts (yum!) are on the other camera, but even just on whole wheat bread with Veganaise, organic avocado and some salt and pepper were just super yummy and a perfect way to start the day!

New York Deli Style Tofu Breakfast Sandwiches (courtesy of VegWeb)
For the marinade:
1 1/2 tablespoon vinegar (any kind but Balsamic)
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard (or less, if using ground mustard powder)
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/2 tablespoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder dash each of salt, pepper, onion powder
1 sandwich-sized slab of extra-firm tofu*

*the VegWeb recipe calls for frozen then drained tofu. I tried this originally as it's what I had and was looking for a recipe specifically calling for frozen/drained tofu. Today I had it with tofu that had never been frozen and I gotta say...I liked that MUCH better. I think the trick is to press it for at least thirty min to get out a lot of the moisture.

Press one block of Extra Firm Tofu well, slice into slabs whichever way you prefer to make sandwiches with. Place in marinade for at least 24 hours, turning once or twice, if you think of it. Heat skillet on Med heat and coat with either cooking spray or a little bit of oil (I use Grapeseed). Brown both sides (I even press the slabs into extra nutritional yeast, because I'm crazy like that). Serve on lightly toasted bread of choice with fixins you love!

I found that simplest is most yummy, just some Veganaise, fresh avocado and sprouts on a whole grain roll was my favorite. Oh, I also tried this over roasted herbed potatoes, topped with sprouts, with Veg'con cheeze sauce drizzed on top. I must admit, THAT was pretty perfect.

Have fun with it. It's a great way to turn peeps on to tofu as it isn't overpoweringly flavored, and allows the tofu to be tofu and really sing just as it is, texture and all.

In other news, just when I thought that my morning couldn't get better than feasting on the above sandwich, I got a welcome surprise on my blog....a comment from a local legend and all-around amazing human being, Tempeh Jose!

I realize you're not all familiar with who the heck it is I'm referring to. Check him out at www.tempehshop.com. He's the local tempeh guru in my neck o' the woods and I'm hoping to test some of his newest creation. I've consumed more than my weight in his existing tempeh and it is such great stuff! It truly won me over when I was just eh about that particular soy product. He supplies the local grocer and tastiest restaurants in town. Such a cool member of our community.
I'm inspired to get some of his tempeh and get back in the kitchen and share it with you here!

Until then, you know I'm gonna do it......here's Taylor, by morning light.

Seitan Roast Revisited, in a Marsala Reduction!

2009-03-09T21:24:00.003-05:00

I never did blog about Thanksgiving last year. A shame, really, as I'd made for my family this Crock Pot Seitan Roast. Aside from nearly killing my brother* with it, it was a huge hit!

The recipe makes quite a large roast so I froze half of it and just remembered I had it in the freezer last week so I thawed it and have been enjoying the easiest, most delicious dish I've made up in a looooong time.

See, I love seitan, but it's hard to find the right recipe or the right flavor or texture. While I'd made this particular roast before and enjoyed it, it didn't really sing. I figured it just needed the right sauce or accompaniments.

Enter the thawed roast on a night when I was exhausted, didn't have much in the house save some staples and a ridiculous hunger for some comfort food.

Seitan Roast in a Marsala Reduction Over Mashed Cauliflower was born.
It's not really a recipe...but here's how it goes.

Heat about a tablespoon of Smart Balance in hot pan. Slice seitan to the thickness of your liking (I prefer very thin slivers and lots of 'em, but the Cap'n requested thicker pieces tonight so we went that route. still good!) and brown on each side. Ladle in a few tablespoons of the roast's juices (from the bag or container you're keeping your seitan in) into the pan, add a few glugs of marsala cooking wine and a few splashes of lemon juice. This is all on med heat until it bubbles and begins to thicken. Then reduce the heat to med lo and let it all reduce, turning the seitan periodically.

As for the cauliflower**, I just chop up a head, steam it, smash it, add a little Smart Balance, a splash or two of soy milk, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and mix with a fork until fluffy. Serve the seitan over a cloud of this and a side of your favorite green veggie.

You could make a gravy, but you don't even need it.

*the roast calls for vegan oyster sauce made with shitake mushrooms. my little brother is allergic to mushrooms and I had him try it, totally forgetting about the mushrooms in the mix. he woke up the morning after thxgiving with a throat near swollen clothes. I foolishly asked him, what the heck did you eat?! oops!

**I've seen some recipes for mashed cauliflower that call for using corn starch and a cooking method of cooking that requires entirely too many steps. it may not help the carb quotient, but I tend to think of making mashed cauliflower whenever I have one or two of those little potatoes all lonely in the bag. They seem to help achieve a fluffy, less watery texture.

Tofu in the Mists

2009-02-09T15:51:00.007-05:00

I don't know why, but I really dig this first shot of my otherwise boring breakfast. So misty, so mysterious... when the steam subsides you see it's just another tofu scramble. Tofu, onion, garlic, broccoli, and some Lite Life Tempeh Fak'in. A slight sprinkling of shoyu, a generous helping of nutritional yeast, a little thyme, a lot of smoked paprika. Boring, sure, but some pretty great stuff all the same.

and what kind of post would this be without a little Taylor? no post from me, to be sure! Here she is this fine morning with that face that says she's on her way to 'up to no good' and fast!

Happy Monday!

Fatfree Vegan Just Made My Morning!

2009-02-08T15:12:00.005-05:00

It's that time of year again, where I stock up on my six pound (yes, six POUND) bucket 'o nutritional yeast from Vegan Essentials. Ever since this lovely stuff arrived in all it's flakey, golden glory, I've been salivating thinking of the things I've been craving to make with it. What I woke up and *thought* I'd be treating myself to was a vegan omelette a la FFV, but alas, I had no tofu. Knowing that Susan would surely have something I that would inspire me I headed over to Fat Free Vegan and this caught my eye, her Golden Potato and Tempeh Casserole.
I halved the recipe and only used one really large Russet potato. I also found, at the last minute, that I had no miso in the house (which was sadly ironic as I had it in my hand at the store the other day thinking, 'wait. i have a ton of miso at home, right?' wrong!)

In the end, this was a-MA-zing as it was. I can only imagine that the addition of miso would make it heavenly. I otherwise kept to the recipe, minus swapping a couple shakes of my shoyu bottle in place of my absent miso. I also used store bought LiteLife Tempeh Fak'n as I had some in the 'fridge that needed using up. The only Spanish paprika I have is smoked so I used that and it just intensified the smokey flavor. Oh, and I omitted the optional vegan parm dusting at the end. Guess I didn't follow the recipe exactly much, eh?

This was the best brunch (with the addition of a quick smoothie while it baked made of a banana, some frozen raspberries, frozen mango, and some plain soy milk, yum!) I've had in ages! I can't wait to make the full recipe again some time soon. The sauce really gets thick and creamy and cheezy and crusts up on top and along the sides like good cheese sauces of old.

Thank you, Susan! For adding to the vegan repertoire, another morning meal success!

If you're not a fan of smokey things (I never used to be) I'd bet that Isa's tempeh fauxsage crumbles from VWaV would make a phenomenal sub and, actually, I'm gonna try that variation next.

I'm not able to cook up a lot of elaborate things in the morning as Taylor is all about a.m. play time, but her Aunt gifted her a little walker (i know, i know, they're awful contraptions that only negligent and horrible parents would use these days...spare me*) and we happily roar and giggle in the kitchen some mornings as she chases the dog around and tries in vain to open cabinets. it allows me to cook a hot meal in the morning on occasion and allows her to run around free instead of flapping her arms in a tizzy until we walk her incessantly around by the hands since this kid thinks crawling is for babies* and will be walking on her own in no time!

*i, and a whole generation of now able-bodied folks grew up with walkers and developed just fine. my daughter is never left unattended and is thrilled by her newfound 'freedom'.

*i am also aware how important the act of crawling can be in development and we try multiple times daily to win T over to the art of crawling, but she is the master of her own everything and she's not having it. so stubborn. i have NO idea where she gets that from ;)

V'Con Pumpkin Cake & a Little Morning Magic

2009-01-26T22:57:00.000-05:00

I haven't baked anything in quite a while, but I'm so glad that when the opportunity presented itself, I chose to bake this, Veganomicon's Pumpkin (Funny, I keep typing 'P-u-n-k-i-n'. Coincidence?) Cake with Pecan Streusel Topping. Although, in my case, it quickly turned into Walnut Streusel as that was all I had.

Regardless, this stuff is GOOD. Nay, GREAT! It's pumpkin-y, light, not overly sweet, but just enough to satisfy a craving. The topping is just a light scattering of extra yummy, crunchy goodness. Did I mention how moist it is? It's super moist. Another Veganomicon instant favorite. I haven't even shared any with anyone yet. This could be dangerous!

Just look at that topping!
And so moist yet not dense, very light and cakey in texture. What? Cakey is a word, right?

As for the magical aspect of this post, I just wanted to take a moment and give props to my Magic Bullet. Since our move, I'd had it on the counter but not used it. Silly me, because with this handy gadget (thank you, wonderful SIL for gifting to to me a couple years ago!), one can wake up, stumble groggily to the kitchen, toss in five basic ingredients and magically a tasty, healthy breakfast is born!This one was a yummy blend of just frozen organic raspberries, one organic banana, a tablespoon of organic raw almond butter, a few tablespoons of hemp seed, and enough plain soy milk to blend it all together.

I really want to get into making a more green smoothie in the mornings, but I'm a bit daunted by the amount of greens required to go into them. It seems as though everyone I see on the blogs includes around five cups of a green. Seriously? How do ya keep that kind of quantity on hand? and how ever would i fit that into my trusty Bullet?

Now, Why Didn't I Think of This One Sooner?!

2009-01-20T08:22:00.004-05:00

Lemon Herb Soy Curls!It's no big secret 'round here that I'm in love with Dreena Burton's Lemon Herb Tofu from 'Vive le Vegan!'. What's not to love? It's easy, can be eaten, hot, cold, on it's own, in a sandwich, in a salad, as a salad, and is basically a flavor party in your mouth.

Last night I wanted easy, flavorful, and was craving Soy Curls. What I love about Soy Curls is that I can basically take any recipe that calls for any protein and replace it with them and viola! Instant yum with very little fuss and tons of flavor.

So basically, here I just rehydrated some Soy Curls, tossed them in the recipes marinade, and baked just as the recipe called for. Meanwhile, I cooked up some Ezekiel pasta (Have you had this yet? soooo good. Firm and nutty and extremely good for you, packed with fiber and protein, this is a new favorite pasta of mine) and tossed some frozen organic peas into the pot to cook along with it.

Once drained, I tossed the pasta and peas with a little bit of Earth Balance and topped with the Lemon Herb Soy Curls. Very satisfying and extremely flavorful.

I admit that Ezekiel pasta didn't win me over from the start. While I love the bread, I wasn't sure that I was really enjoying the pasta as it is firmer and a bit courser than a whole wheat variety. But, just as I learned with whole wheat pasta, if you let it cook just a tad more than the box calls for, you get a much better result. Not mushy, just a bit more tender and less starchy tasting. Now? I love the stuff!

And it's certainly a good thing to love as it offers a flourless variety of pasta that is organic and a complete protein!

The Return of the Taco Salad

2009-01-17T23:56:00.003-05:00

Once upon a time, I had a ton of weight to lose. I saw a nutritionist, changed my diet, exercised every day, and basically LIVED on taco salads. What's not to like? They can be varied so you don't get sick of 'em, they're easy, and they taste scrumptious.

Since I got pregnant, I've been stuffing myself when I get the chance. First, it was because I was 'eating for two', then it was the breastfeeding. That stuff makes ya ravenous! Now? She's eating just fine and the other, sadly, ended months ago. Time to shed those last twenty pounds! Bring on the Taco Salad!
The great thing about being vegan and eating a taco salad is you don't get caught up in drowning them in things like cheese and sour cream. Normally, I love to, instead, drown mine in a chipotle dressing that blows Moe's outta the water, but it's Vegannaise based and not the best bet every time when trying to whittle the waistline, so I was looking for a way to nix it. (I'll be sure to dig it up and share it with you soon, though, because it is SUCH a treat when I'm making them for others and don't run the risk of having a full carafe of dressing to use up on my own that I just have to share it!)

You can go the route of beans or crumbles or, you can do like I did with this one, and saute some tempeh. The flavor of chili powder, cumin, tamari, and a dash of chipotle is such that I never even boil or steam the tempeh. Never notice the bitterness in this dish. I heat up a touch of oil and brown the crumbled tempeh. Add some spices, water, brown some more. Sprinkle in some tamari, soy sauce, or shoyu, and let it get all brown and yummy before taking off the heat.

In place of the dressing (I promise, it's amazing but you won't miss it if you do this), I just chop up a juicy, red tomato. Add some red wine vinegar, oregano, & pinches of sugar and salt to taste and toss. Let that sit while you put together the rest. I like to chop up some lettuce and toss it with some chopped cilantro. Place that either on a plate or in a tortilla shell bowl (you know, if you've been good all day and can eat up the extra calories that way). Top with the tempeh and marinated tomatoes. Green or red onions are good here as well (I didn't have any). Avocado is even better (none of that on hand either). this is where I HIGHLY recommend Dreena's avocado cream. super yum. As I said, I was sans avocado, so that was a luxury I didn't have and I admit, I had to use up some Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream on mine. I know, this is not the healthiest option, but here's a trick. Place one Tablespoon in a plastic or pastry bag. If you're using plastic, seal and cut a tiny hole in the corner. Decorate your salad with the 'sour cream' in such a way that is pretty, spreads it out evenly, but delivers only half the recommended serving size! So good.

I'm not a fan of any vegan cheeses so I never top with that, but you could certainly add that addition if you're so inclined. And seriously, the avocado cream...the cashew one....oh yeah, it's fantastic. The best part? If you're preparing this for one? You'll certainly have left over ingredients to toss together in a snap the next day either in another salad or a wrap. Oh, and if you were to leave out the shell, scoop up the bites with baked tortilla chips for a lower fat meal!

From the Cook Who Never Cooks These Days

2009-01-11T20:44:00.005-05:00

Seriously, I don't know how you vegan momma's do it out there, with all the amazing culinary prowess! Me? I've been living on things like oatmeal, cereal, Amy's foods, salads, tofurkey outa sandwiches, and other pre-packaged easy fixes.

I so miss my time in the kitchen! But tonight was a nice little peek thru the window into what lies ahead. I WILL make time for more cooking. I can't promise anything all that involved any time soon, but I was reminded of just how perfect simple vegan cooking can be.

Enter the perfect easy stir fryMy only regret is that I did not make a pot of brown rice but instead threw a bag of Uncle Ben's plain brown rice in the microwave. Eh, whatever, it's the rest that made this so great.
All I did was toss some (cubed very small and well drained) tofu in some heated olive oil (I usually would use grapeseed but Olive's what we have on hand right now) until it started to brown. Then, Grit style, I sprinkled with Shoyu and a light dusting of nutritional yeast. After that browned a few minutes I added broccoli florets and cooked until the broccoli let go of that earthy, nutty aroma you get when you saute it on the dry side. A tad more shoyu, a bit more n.y. a couple times over until just flavored but not overly so.
I removed that from the heat and placed it in a serving bowl.
Next, I put a couple tablespoons of Smart Balance in that hot pan and tossed in a package of sliced portabellos (this is all organic produce) and sprinkled them with some garlic powder. The heat went up a tad so that the mushrooms would brown and not steam and I let them do just that for about five minutes. they went on top of the tofu and broccoli and OH MAN was dinner good tonight!
So simple, so tasty, so healthy....so GOOD!

in other news, how cute is Taylor experiencing tofu for the very first time?she loved playing with it but doesn't like putting anything that's supposed to go in her mouth in her mouth just yet. that's ok. that's what mommies have immersion blenders for, right? ;)

Remember Me? How 'bout some Mock Crab Cakes?

2008-12-18T13:19:00.000-05:00

Ok, so it's not much of a segway from my last post ions ago to this one, but it's pretty much how I feel these days, longing to cook something fun and blog about it but totally too frantic to get anything done that is blogworthy.

While I wish I could say that these babies were made with the amazing okara that came from a yummy batch of soy milk from my swanky new Soya Bella, I can only say that they were pretty great with just run of the mill store-bought tofu (and I've yet to make anything particularly 'yummy' with my Soya Bella...yet!). These are basically carrot, onion, celery, parsley, Vegannaise, bread crumbs, tofu, kelp powder, and Old Bay seasoning, coated with panko, fried, then baked for about fifteen minutes. I topped 'em with a very unoriginal blend of Vegannaise, organic ketchup and some horseradish which really made them sing. Served 'em up with a side of broiled nutritional yeasty (i cannot ever bring myself to say 'nooch-' anything) cauliflower and grape tomatoes and feasted on a fine vegan dinner. I think the only change I'd make next time is to use more of a binder like flax meal and water to help them to stick together and not be so delicate.

Not too shabby for a gal with a seven month old, six felines, one really bad but totally lovable 85 lbs of yellow lab silliness to corral and a bum neck. (yep, this post was inspired by me in a cervical collar all hopped up on steroids and muscle relaxers. good times.) luckily, the felines are adjusting pretty nicely to their new space so they don't cause much trouble,the dog is happy to mope in the kitchen just waiting for crumbs...and the seven month old? you just put her jumparoo wherever you need to get something done and viola! you have about thirty minutes of total baby euphoria. go!we're totally loving it living at home in a fairy tale neighborhood, a house that feels made just for us, and in a town we have always been in love with. we're surrounded by friends, family, and a like-minded community full of fun stuff to do. now, if i could just get the mounds of belongings from out of the garage into our living space i might know where half of my kitchen stuff is....but who has time what with all this fun we're having!

thanks for all your comments all of the time. I can't say that i'll be back regularly just yet, but i'm certainly making my way!

we're moving!

2008-08-20T10:35:00.004-05:00

Well, after a year of trying to sell our home in this almost nonexistent market, we finally did it, and managed to find our dream house back home for a price we can afford. Now, once all the paperwork is done and both houses close, we'll be on our way!

So, what with all of that, a recent three day stay in the hospital due to a raging kidney infection, this crazy tropical storm bringing all kinds of weather (though I should probably thank the universe for sparing both our locations thus far from anything truly damaging. may that hold true thru the end of it!), and three feral kittens who recently showed up at our doorstep (literally) that I'm trying to foster then find homes for (even though the Cap'n keeps calling one of them Seven, as in the seventh stray cat we take in. sigh), I think this blog may be on a bit of a hiatus. We hope to be fully moved by the end of September, so I'm thinking I'll make it back to the blogosphere by Halloween, for sure, complete with scary vegan treats and cute baby costume. Until then I hope I even find a moment to check out all of your blogs and if not, I know I'll have a ton of catching up to do!

For now, here's Taylor. Lately, she's been trying to talk like crazy and I've taught her to roar like a lion. too cute.
Thanks to everyone who always still checks in even though it's been a long while since I shared anything edible. It's nice to know you're all still there!

A Quick Hello

2008-07-28T18:26:00.013-05:00

I have something really fun to share with everyone mid August. My sister is having a baby, and I've volunteered to supply the cake for the shower. She's gluten intolerant, so this will be a fun challenge for me. I can't give anything away just yet, but I'm thinking it will be worth the wait. I've got all kinds of ideas to help celebrate my nephew and my beautiful sister. Can't wait to share!

I also have a couple other fun food things to blog about once I find the cord for my camera that has mysteriously vanished. til then you know I'm gonna brag and show you these.....

litte miss smiley pants
we play this game in the morning to see who wakes up first

I let her think it's her and she gets a kick out of that

pondering the universe....or poo...it's really hard to tell
sweet Taylor, she's an exceptional listener

i just love this one

and after you've had your say.....
she has plenty to say back!
being so cute is exhausting!
just when we think it's not possible, little Taylor wows us daily with how interested in her world she is. she's a smiley, funny baby, and we're having the time of our lives. sure, it's the sleep-deprived, do we get to shower today?, we may never eat a meal together again, how did the house get this dirty time, but the time of our lives, all the same. <3

I'm still here...I'm just not HERE.

2008-06-06T17:54:00.002-05:00

What they say is true...when you have a newborn, you have time for little else. sleep? eating? who needs 'em? The littlest vegan is currently napping snugly on my person in one of those ingenius baby riders. As she is now four weeks old and a whopping 8 lbs, 8oz she can use it and we're both reeeeally happy about that, especially since she's coming down with a cold, is all congested, and spent all last night and today really ticked off at the world. poor baby.

sadly, I barely get to enjoy a full meal, much less come up with time or energy to whip anything blogworthy, but I wanted to thank everyone for stopping by and sending the love. it's certainly felt and appreciated. I'm on the mend and still battling the blood pressure, but we're getting there.

i'd love to brag with a ton of recent pics, but they're all on the Cap'n's computer so I'll just leave you this one of little Taylor Louise and my Grandma Louise (her namesake) when T was just a few days old. Gma has Alzheimers and seeing these two together was beautiful and bittersweet.

and here's one from a couple weekends ago. swaddlers are GENIUS, i tell you. love 'em!

i'm hoping to have some time to cruise everyone else's blogs soon....but it may take a couple more months, if ya know what i mean.

much love to you all!

She's Here!!!!!!!

2008-05-12T14:54:00.002-05:00

On May 7th, the Cap'n and I strolled into my OB's office for our 39 week appt anxiously awaiting news of when we could expect our daughter to arrive. My bp, however, was thru the roof and seven hours later I was having an emergency(ish) c-section followed by a five day stint in the hospital trying to get my bp back to something normal. We're home now and I'm battling a chest cold while healing from the c-section (i don't wish this on anyone, wow), but little Taylor is thriving and perfect and the most content little baby. She weighed in at 6lbs, 8oz and measured 18 1/4 inches.

I know I'll be back to share many more pictures of perfection and likely the grueling story of her arrival (because there's little therapy better than pouring your guts out on the internet :), but for now we're just trying to settle in and find a way for me to heal and get past the worst of this cough.

We are so ecstatic to have her here. I am totally smitten and inspired every time I look at her and feel so very blessed to be surrounded by the most amazing, loving and supporting family.

So much love to you all, I'll be back soon!

Satiating the Cookie Monster

2008-04-21T08:38:00.000-05:00

I realize that I never posted this one, so while I'm away I figured I should share!

That sugar craving that I mentioned a few posts back? I'm trying with all my might to beat it down with these... Almond butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. They're super sweet (what with the cup of sugar and half cup of chocolate chips they call for) but also reeeeally tasty and almost good for you as they contain almond butter, only whole wheat flour, and walnuts too!

I know I've posted about them before, I think I got the recipe from VegWeb, but they're so amazingly tasty that showing them off again is totally necessary. This batch (I believe because I flattened them down a bit before baking when before I just spooned without touching them) came out a little less chewy, with more crunch and almost as if the sugar content caused a crunchy sweet glaze on the bottom.
Either way they're utterly delicious and a healthier way (sort of) to get your sugar fix on. I suppose you could dabble with lowering the amount of sugar you add, but I wouldn't dare. ;)

In other news, only 23 days to go! It's nice being with family and friends, but this living in limbo can be quite anxiety causing. We still haven't had any bites on our house but I'm hoping the next 23 days will prove fortuitous in that regard. I'd actually love nothing more than caring for a newborn WHILE house hunting and moving. Yep, we want to move back here THAT badly. hehe.

I've been enjoying simple meals or nights out at our favorite restaurants (for in Gainesville, there are many) so I've nothing new and exciting to share food-wise. In the meantime, I give you me, in all my pregnant glory, chilling out in my husband's aunt's salt water pool. Nothing makes a pregnant woman happier than spending an hour or two weightless in the sun. sigh. thanks for all the well wishes, can't wait to share the news with you when Taylor decides to arrive!

Baby Hiatus

2008-04-04T07:40:00.023-05:00

Well, we've decided to get me up closer to Gainesville where I can go into labor without worrying about a long commute to the hospital, possibly when I'm home alone. We're using these next six weeks to also get out of our house to make it easier for our realtor to show....so I likely won't be blogging much. Instead I'll be reconnecting with family and friends and enjoying the town we can't wait to go home to while scattering our brood around. We're so fortunate to have friends and family to help us take care of our seven furry kids while away. (you try showing a house with six inside alpha kitties and one 85 lb. dopey lab!). I'll be spending my days waddling around town checking up on my kids here and there and taking advantage of everything Gville has to offer while we await Taylor's arrival.

Speaking of Taylor, I figure it's high time I share some of my jungle themed shower pics and the few shots of her (almost done) nursery. I say almost done, because I decided last night that the last remaining touches (the mounding of a corner bookshelf, the hanging of a couple wall items for decoration) could just wait until we know whether or not this is truly where her nursery will be! Here's to hoping we have a whole new house to decorate before she comes home!

Anyway....the shower! (how perfect is this banner?)

(a few of the girls)

It was truly amazing. As the hostess, (Goddess Marlo, thrower of all great parties)

and my dear friend of over a decade, is the MOST amazing thrower of parties (we met running a party store in college, fitting, no?) has been a vegetarian pretty much twice the time I've known her, the food was stellar. Not everything was vegan, but I told her not to worry about that as I was to be the only vegan in attendance and she was the only veg. Needless to say, there was no shortage of yummy fare for me, and everyone else enjoyed all the other vegetarian eats.

While I don't have pictures of everything, the vegan items to sample were: Regular Hummus with fresh peppers for dipping, sun dried tomato hummus with pita, avocado white bean dip (sooo good!), Jamaican jerk patties (spicy! but amazing!) with a fruit salsa and a coconut cream to quell the heat, tempeh salad finger sandwiches, a plate of assorted olives and marinated mushrooms, and super yummy rice paper wraps with tofu and veggies with a spicy peanut sauce.

for everyone else, on the veg end of things, there were mini pizzas, both veggie and faux pepperoni, and THE most beautiful sun dried tomato savory cheesecake you've EVER seen. I can't wait to veganize this one with a little Tofutti!

As refreshments our amazing host took recycled beer bottles (the large kind with the fancy ceramic contraption tops) and filled them with assorted herbal teas and put them all in a beautiful ice bucket, each bottle emblazoned with a hand-made label with the type of tea, a cute jungle animal, and 'Taylor's Teas'. I so wish we had a pic as this may have been my most favorite little idea. The Ginger Hibiscus (aka Hippie Kool-Aide) is my MOST favorite concoction on earth. for serious. There was also no shortage of champagne and sparkling grape juice.

But what you really wanna see? dessert! and what would a jungle themed baby shower be without a MONKEY CAKE! the cake itself was banana walnut, and insanely good.

but why stop there when you can have LION CUPCAKES! sure, the eyes are m&m's but I ate mine blind. ;) the cuteness is matched only by the creativity and love with these babies.

with the food out of the way, check out these decorations! knowing me all too well, the hostess made sure to decorate with almost entirely items that i could reuse in the nursery. she hand-made jungle-like garlands (the ones already made up in the store just weren't 'jungle-y' enough. hehe), hung up a couple blow up monkeys, had printed the most amazingly beautiful banner (that we plan to hang above Taylor's crib), and scattered the world's cutest rubber 'duckie' safari/jungle animals everywhere. Oh, and let's not forget the favors....jungle print favor boxes full of assorted sweets!

we ate, we drank, we laughed, and I opened a mountain of presents for my little girl.

but my favorite part of the day, aside from chowing down on monkey cake...sooooo good! were the activities. the first one we did was to guess the baby items in the paper bags. this was nice as they were all little nursery/bath/baby things that I now don't have to buy! The next activity was a really cool game where there were animals listed in one column and the appropriate names for their young in the other. the key was to match as many as possible. this one i won! (and my inner wildlife rehabilitator was totally validated :). but the most beautiful activity of all was the making of the birthing necklace. There was a large container of all sorts of beads and every guest was asked to take a moment during the shower and pick out two that spoke to them. Once we were all assembled in one place, they went around the room, stringing up the beads and offering with each one a wish for Taylor and one for me. Many people picked three beads so that they could offer a wish for daddy, too. aaawwww! needless to say I cried the whole time. it was touching beyond words to be in a room surrounded with so much love for this child. I feel so lucky to have so many amazing people in my life and cannot wait for Taylor to meet them! Thank you, Mom, for coming down and helping me to celebrate the next little girl in our loooong line of boys in the family. Thank you to everyone able to attend for making it a perfect day. Thank you to those who couldn't make it for being there in spirit and sending love across the miles. And thank you, thank you, thank you to Marlo for throwing such an amazing celebration (and thank you Robbie for busting your butt to make it happen!) You all are the best!

whew! I'm not used to writing such a novel for a blog post! without further ado, check out the jungle theme nursery that inspired the shower's theme. my friends know me ALL too well. if it's got wild animals on it? i'm so down! I'm thinking that, with this room? Little Taylor will be no different. hehe. the only things not yet up are the bookshelf, the banner from the shower that will hang above her crib, and the crib bumper, which I'm actually planning to hang on the wall. I really don't see the necessity of having it in the crib (and have even read that it's not recommended they're used in that way any longer), and it actually fits perfectly with one panel above her name when you walk in the room, and the rest of it wrapping around to hang all down the wall above her dresser. too cute!

Apple Jacks and a Sneak Preview!

2008-03-27T11:48:00.006-05:00

There's no denying that Spring has sprung. The birds are plentiful (we even spotted a downey woodpecker in our front oak yesterday!), the trees are that amazing vibrant green again, there was even a hare nibbling at the weeds near my bedroom window this morning! It's pretty much heaven on Earth here in Florida lately. But we have been having some unseasonably cool mornings. Yesterday being one of them, I wanted something hot for breakfast and a tofu scramble just wouldn't do. Enter Vegan Vittles' Apple Jacks. This recipe is literally only five ingredients and whips up lickety split. I opted for no raisins in mine and just went with apple alone. I only had a fuji apple rather than the granny smith it called for so I knew mine would be sweet enough as is. But that didn't stop me from sprinkling mine with powdered sugar and a healthy drizzle of maple syrup. Oh, and walnuts, I love walnuts all over breakfasts such as these.

They're amazingly crisp on the outside while light and fluffy on the inside. I can see me making these again and again. This morning the leftovers did pretty well warmed up in the oven, but this time I wised up. I threw on the nuts and sprinkled on the powdered sugar but served them up to myself with a side of maple syrup so I could really enjoy that outer crunch all the way thru to the end. brilliant!

I should probably apologize for not blogging too much lately. Seems one fun new side effect of pregnancy for me is carpal tunnel! yay! typing really isn't so horrible but grasping anything can be excruciating....so I'm cooking fun stuff in the kitchen less often than I'd like. I'm also not sleeping well due to having painful claw-like appendages for hands throughout the night so I pretty much spend less time at the computer or in the kitchen. But I do have baby shower pics to share and even the amazing V'con Pumpkin Ziti I contributed to Easter dinner (assuming I snap a pic before I devour the rest of it!), so I'll try to get on it soon and share.

Until then....the one thing I have been spending time on? The nursery! Taylor's room is sooo close to being completed. I just need the Cap'n to get up on the ladder for me and get a few big things hung. Her room is jungle themed, so the sneak preview is this pic of what you first see when you open the door. Too cute! More to come soon! (hopefully before she gets here, that's only seven weeks away!)thanks to Aunt Nicole for the killer name plaque and Aunt Marlo for the amazing jungle garlands that decorated the shower and now her room!

Isa's Done it Again

2008-03-12T00:03:00.001-05:00

Give that girl a mango and look out! I've always been in love with VWaV's Curried Mango Tempeh Salad and look forward to it every summer when mangoes are at their peak. So imagine my surprise when beautiful just the right amount of soft mangoes were 10 for $1 at the grocery store recently. With no tempeh in the house (gasp!) what was I to do? I cracked open Veganomicon and there was another mango masterpiece, Mango Quinoa Black Bean Salad (or some such thing, I've honestly no recollection of what her proper name for it is, and I'm entirely too lazy and too pregnant to get up, walk back across the house, and go find out ;).

Quinoa, as you know, is not only a protein powerhouse, but cooks up in no time. Chop up a mango, a pepper (I had orange while the recipe calls for red), some green onions, black beans, cilantro, and a few dressing-y ingredients and viola! A bowl of delicious, healthy, refreshing goodness is born! This will be great to whip up in the summer for family gatherings, but the last couple of days I've just been dishing up a bowl and calling it lunch!

Vegan Alfredo....the Real Deal

2008-03-09T22:00:00.004-05:00

For quite some time now I've merrily lurked the ppk forums. Truth be told, I spend a LOT of time there, reading, drooling, laughing my asparagus off, but I never jump in. why? because I can never seem to get an avatar pic to load, I'm not all that fond of the username I gave myself, and I'm far too lazy to participate in the food porn there which, to me, is really the best way to introduce yourself. hehe. So lurk away I do.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway, in my perusing the boards tonight I stumbled upon Lachesis's (of the Seitan O' Greatness recipe fame) recipe for a vegan Alfredo that she promised was as good, if not better, than the original dairy-laden version. I admit I was skeptical. For one, most vegan Alfredo's don't make that claim, they just try to replace the beloved sauce with something equally rich, creamy, and flavorful but never going for that particular taste. Also, this sauce is tofu based and contained no nutritional yeast (which just seemed odd to me in this kind of recipe). I'm typically wary of tofu-based sauces. Don't get me wrong, I loooove me some tofu, and I suppose the only 'sauces' I've tried with tofu as a base have really only been salad dressings....and I loathed each of those. Since those were never cooked and this one is I figured, 'why not?!'

Ladies and Gentlemen? This was everything the amazing Lachesis promised....and so simple to make! Her original version was actually an Alfredo Stroganoff concoction with marinated mushrooms and suggested addition of chik'n strips. I wanted to really put the 'cream' sauce to the test so I just made mine and poured it over whole grain pasta and broccoli.
The best part (aside from how YUMMY this was!) was that, with the help of my trusty hand blender, I only used two pots for this meal. I put all the ingredients for the Alfredo Sauce in one pot, whirred it to a creamy smoothness, and heated it up while I cooked the pasta, adding the broccoli for the last three minutes. Ta da! Best darn Alfredo I've had in AGES.

I should probably add here that I enjoyed the helping you see above just as you see it. Then I bastardized it in my usual way by getting a second helping and dousing it with a generous amount of nutritional yeast. I highly recommend trying this one out as is in her recipe sans n.y., but if you're a n.y. NUT like me (I seriously cannot get enough of this stuff), it will only get even better with that addition. What can I say? I'm a cheezy kinda gal.

Edited to add:
(for her entire original recipe, follow the link above and just scroll down to it)

Lachesis' Amazing Alfredo Sauce
1/2c Earth Balance (or a little more is fine, to taste)
2 cups soymilk (unsweetened is best)
1 package Extra firm tofu (Mori-nu.. the kind in the tetra pack, appr 12 ounces)
1-2 tbsp white cooking wine
2 tbsp onion powder
2-3 tsp garlic powder
1-2 tsp sea salt
1-2 tsp black pepper (to taste)
pinch of nutmeg
3-4 tbsp arrowroot or cornstarch powder (more or less, as needed.. it should be creamy and the margarine should not separate) + a little cold soy milk just to dissolve

Mix all ingredients in either in a food processor or already in saucepan with hand blender. Heat over med lo heat until hot, stirring often. whisk in arrowroot/cornstarch mixture and heat until just bubbling. do not let boil. Sauce should be thicker by now. Serve and enjoy!

The Lazy Vegan

2008-03-07T10:36:00.011-05:00

That's me these days. Even with my camera battery charged (yay!) I am just not so inspired to spend too much time in the kitchen. I waited for the 'surge of energy' to hit me in the second trimester, but it never did. Now I'm in the third and MAN! am I tired! not to mention that my hands have been so darn achey lately.

I take that back....some days I actually wake up with what I think is energy and whip together a breakfast such as this one, Susan's Crustless Quiches (my favorite variation to date is onion and broccoli), some easy basic biscuits a la La Dolce Vegan (all those years of trying to make biscuits and failing not realizing that the drop method into muffin tins is the ONLY way for me!, and some fresh fruit...lately it's been mango. Good stuff.
But then I eat...and sit for a minute...and POOF! that burst of energy has been spent and it's all i can do to get the chores I need done throughout the day.

So I was totally pleasantly surprised to find these little gems at the health food store at my last visit.
They're great right out of the container, cold but even better if I toss them into a hot pan and just let them brown a bit. No seasoning, no dipping sauce required. They're healthy (sodium's a bit high), vegan, and perfect just the way they are.
I had purchased a Szechuan variety as well, but the Thai were my favorite.

So I've spent quite a few days with these babies as lunch, cereals for breakfast, fruits and nuts as snacks throughout the day, and eeeeeeeeeeasy dinners of rice and whatever. Usually some brown rice, beans, seasonings, avocado, and tomatoes in a whole wheat wrap....almost daily. Nothing really to write home much less blog about.

The Cap'n's been gone a lot too so when I'm just cooking for me lately I'm even less inspired.

Then I had a night recently where comfort food was in order. So I dragged my ever expanding self to the kitchen and whipped up some simple fried tofu, smashed red potatoes (with the skins on, yeah!) with herbed gravy, and sauteed spinach.It came together faster than I thought it would and was so very worth the effort. Just what I needed!

I still have a few mangoes left and have been wanting to try a new recipe so hopefully you'll see that here soon....along with Julie Hasson's fauxsage seitan (i've so been craving seitan lately!) and I seriously doubt, fatigue or not, I can stave off the sugar cravings for too much longer so I'm thinking something sweet and sinful should be blogged in the very near future.

hope you all are well! I'm beginning to think that the awful stiffness/aching i'm experiencing in my hands may be pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel. fun! only ten more weeks to go!

YRR Spice Cake

2008-02-22T23:58:00.003-05:00

Oh, how I hate posting delicious new recipes without pretty pictures!

Tonight I wanted something sweet, but was too tired to put forth too much effort and wanted it to be simple from ingredients I knew I had on hand.

Enter Joanna's amazing Spice Cake from Yellow Rose Recipes (with cream cheeze frosting, of course). It whips up super fast, cooks up in a flash (tho, i admit, I had to bake mine for an additional 10 minutes to get it firm in the middle...then it was perfect!), and tastes light while still rich with flavor (and i even went with the water variation instead of adding chai tea, for the obvious reason). Made in an 8x8 pan, it serves up nine perfectly portioned pieces of yum. I loved it.

I do admit that the frosting is a bit more cream-cheezy than I like. Maybe next time I'll back off the Tofutti Cream Cheeze a bit and just add more powdered sugar? Even a simple glaze would be great on this one. Honestly? I'd eat this light and fluffy cake all on its own!

While I don't have a picture of it's delectable-ness...feast your eyes on this belly! 28 weeks...and to think NOW is when I'm gonna start getting huge! This is the part where being five feet tall means baby makes her own room to grow! ;)

All Is Well and A Recipeless Recipe!

2008-02-20T23:47:00.002-05:00

Thank you all for your best wishes on the baby front. The doctor's visit today was all good news. Glucose test? Passed! Amnio fluid? No big deal! Baby and Momma? Doin just fine! Yay! So now I can just relax and enjoy the rest of this ride. Only three more months to go!!!!

I'm embarrassed to admit just how much time this pregnant vegan has spent in front of the tube and out of the kitchen of late. In my lounging, I found that a certain Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup commercial seems to frequent the airwaves waaaaaay too often. Totally turned off by the idea of cream of mushroom soup and chicken in a casserole, I found that, in spite of this fact, a very, very good idea was born.

And here it is (granted, I had some vegan 'cream' of mushroom soup in the freezer so you'd have to sub whatever soup you saw fit. a broccoli or asparagus type would be good, i'm thinking).

This ain't no recipe but it sure is YUMMY! (i apologize, the battery charger for my camera is still missing, and I'm too stubborn to go buy a new one when I know good and well that thing is in this house somewhere!).

Preheat oven to 375 (i think i started mine at 400 then dropped it down to 375)
Rehydrate one bag o' soy curls either in warm water or broth, your choice.
Heat 1 Tbs Earth Balance in large skillet over medium heat.
Add one cup of brown rice and saute until it becomes opaque.
Add one diced sweet onion and about four cloves of minced garlic, saute for two min or so.
In a bowl, whisk together about two cups of soup with a cup of soy milk, a cup and a half of water, and a heaping 1/3 cup of nutritional yeast.
Add that to the skillet along with the drained soy curls.
Bring contents in skillet to a boil.
Stir in a bag of spinach, chopped, remove from heat.
cover skillet with lid (or foil if yours has no lid) and place in oven for one hour.

go do something relaxing.
remove from oven when it's all done and allow it to sit, uncovered for about five minutes.
(this is where, if one is so inclined, you could top it with some FYH cheese.)
dish it up with more nutritional yeast and some cracked black pepper.

I should note here that, before this meal, I'd never dreamed of cooking rice this way. I was certain that, after an hour, my rice would not be cooked and the whole meal would be a bust. I was soooooo wrong!

Oh yeah, we're eating this yummy goodness for days!
serves a ton!

Here She Is......

2008-02-19T10:24:00.003-05:00

Little Taylor Louise! Isn't she amazing? I still can't believe how surreal this whole experience is, even when staring at her perfect little face.

During the u/s yesterday, the sonographer found that I seem to have an amount of amniotic fluid that is on the higher end. As I did the glucose tolerance test yesterday, I should know tomorrow if it is due to gestational diabetes. Taylor's stomach was full, though, so we were told that that is a great sign, that she is swallowing effectively and that a problem with her development in that area is not the reason for elevated amniotic fluid levels. I'm trying with all my might not to investigate further on the internet and just let the doc tell me what's up tomorrow. I did do a home blood sugar test this morning upon waking up and found it to be a bit high. Lucky for me, there's a dietician in the family so if that is the problem, I should be able to manage it just fine. Expect for me to get a battery charger and lay off the baked goods, only blogging the healthiest of meals for myself and my little love.

Overall, the results were normal, with this kid weighing in at a whopping 2lbs 9oz and falling within the 82nd percentile. I'll be sure to keep you posted and, hopefully, get my butt in gear and back to blogging more vegan fare....with pictures! (tho, i can't promise they'll be anywhere near as spectacular as what you've gazed upon up above ;)

Woe is Me!

2008-02-17T14:38:00.002-05:00

I've been doing a little cooking lately, trying a few new recipes, but I've managed to totally misplace the battery charger for my camera....which, of course, had a dead battery from the moment that the first new thing came out of the oven. go figure!

Not to fear, tho. I'm on a mission to find that darn thing! and fast!

So, let's see. The things I've made lately that I didn't get to blog about:

From Veganomicon:
Chewy Chocolate Raspberry Cookies
- wow! wow! wow! these are incredible! the raspberry flavor is more in the aftertaste, they're certainly more chocolatey than anything else (granted, I used mostly dark, dutch processed cocoa as that's what we had), but texture is soooooooooo amazing. totally a little crispy on the outside and chewy once you bite into them. LOVE them! I'd love to follow Veggie Girl's lead and try them with orange maramalade next time. For me, chocolate raspberry and chocolate orange flavor combinations are equally divine!

Hot Sauce Glazed Tempeh
- i reeeeally liked how the marinade truly dispelled that bitter tempeh taste that is so hard to eliminate from store-bought tempeh. Mine didn't look nearly as rosy in color as some of the other versions that i've seen on people's blogs. I did broil mine as I do not currently own a grill plan. either way, this stuff is super yum! I had it the first night dipped in my Blue Sheese Dressing with a side of steamed broccoli and....

Messy Rice
-Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, Messy Rice is good. i don't know about you, but i'm a huge fan of cardamom. I love the flavor this lended to the rice. I think that pairing this rice with Julie Hasson's new seitan sausage recipe would be really good, but I haven't tried that fauxsage yet.

I did make a wrap of the leftover tempeh, crumbled in a pan in a touch of olive oil. once it browned i added some leftover messy rice, then added the steamed broccoli i still had and sauteed it all together. I sinfully grated some FYH mozerella to bind it all together and threw it in a garden herb wrap for a super delicious wrap for lunch today. Man, i love leftovers!

from My Sweet Vegan

Graham Fig Scones
- i've been wanting to try something from this cookbook but just couldn't decide. a quick glance in my pantry to see what i had caused me to try my hand at these. They are truly unique in texture and flavor. very hearty....i adore the figs in them. my only complaint is totally my fault. nearing the end of the dough preparation, I noticed that my plain soy creamer was no longer any good. i did have some hazelnut soy creamer and used that. what doesn't taste better with hazelnut? i always say! but i think it lent too much a sweetness to these otherwise perfectly flavored scones. they were still especially scrumptious, but i think they're likely even more so when prepared as directed. I served mine up to myself for breakfast with a side of fresh sliced strawberries. what a great way to start the day!

this is the part where i know i cooked up a couple more new things, but without the back log of pics to guide me, i can't remember what they were! i blame the little one brewing. seems all my brain cells truly are working on getting her ready to be here in a few months! ;)

speaking of....tomorrow we're having the 3D ultrasound done!!!!!!! you can bet i'll be posting the pics of that that they give us as soon as i can! we cannot WAIT to lay eyes on our little girl!

til then!

Hot, Hot, Hot!

2008-02-06T17:43:00.000-05:00

It's a really good thing I thought to throw together this cooooool salad plate for the Cap'n and I to share before my first at-home venture into making panang curry at home. The easy peanut sauce (natural peanut butter, agave, water, red pepper flakes, ginger) over cucumbers, tomato, chickpeas, and carrots was light, tasty, refreshing, and did wonders to cool down our palates after enjoying this dinner.

Panang Curry Soy Curls with Snap Peas, & Yellow Bell Pepper over Jasmine Basmati Rice.

I was so excited to find a Panang Curry online that didn't contain shrimp paste. Immersed in my glee, I read the directions on the can of paste and just went with it, not tasting to see just how much heat we'd be dealing with. Just look at all those little flecks of HOT in that sauce! I loved it, but it would have been even better just a bit more mild. Next time I'll definitely use just half the paste, cut it down with coconut milk and save the rest for another great curry night!

Basically, I just rehydrated the soy curls, then browned them in some peanut oil. I removed them and briefly sauteed the peas and the pepper until the peas were a vibrant green, but still crisp and removed them from the heat.
According to the directions, the paste was sauteed in a little oil then half a can of coconut milk was added. The curls and the veggies were added, that simmered for couple minutes before adding the remaining coconut milk was stirred in. The only change I made was to add agave which I thought added a subtle sweetness that really brought out the curry flavor over the heat.

Tofu Scramble (They Never Get Old!)

2008-02-06T12:08:00.000-05:00

If you're like me, you have a half a block of tofu hangin out in the freezer at any given moment. Ya see, I often will make some tofu dish for dinner that I've halved then put the remaining, unused tofu in the freezer for a later date. One of my favorite breakfasts is to remember to take that tofu out of the freezer the night before, give it a good squeeze in the morning, and scramble it up in the easiest way. With this one I heated a little olive oil, added the tofu and got it to lightly brown a bit, then added some tamari, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and turmeric, then sauteed some more. Next goes in a heap of nutritional yeast and a big handful or two of spinach. Saute that until the greens are wilted and viola! Easy, fast and super tasty!

I like scrambles such as these for when I'm low on fresh produce. There are seemingly always greens in the fridge threatening to go south should I forget to use them, and lucky for me, I love me some leafy greens in the am! This, a piece of toast, and some fruit or juice. Does it get any better than that?

My Favorite Staple Meal Of Late

2008-02-02T17:35:00.001-05:00

This meal right here is the reason for my often sparse posts. I make up a huge batch and eat it aaaaaaall the time. Kind of the vegan's answer to hamburger helper in that it's easy, hearty and tastes so good!I make one cup (dried) of brown rice and one cup (dried) lentils. When the rice is spending the last ten minutes off the heat but still covered and the lentils are juuuust about done, I saute a chopped sweet onion with about four cloves of minced garlic, seasoning only with salt, pepper, and paprika. I then chop up a whole bag of spinach and, after the onions have started to caramelize, add that and saute til it's wilted. Once everything is piping hot, I mix it all together in a big bowl with a ton of nutritional yeast and an embarrassingly large amount of shreeded FYH moz. cheeze.

This is my new weakness. I can think of worse things to live on! ;) I know that I should probably forgo the cheeze for a cheeze sauce like the one in V'con or one of the other tasty varieties in the land of all things vegan, but this stuff really hits the spot as is every time.

Banana Heaven

2008-01-30T12:13:00.000-05:00

I don't remember if the folks responsible for Vegan Fusion World Cuisine call this one a custard or pudding, but I know what I call it....Heaven.

For the gajillionth time I was staring at some reeeeally ripe bananas just barely hangin on and smelling up my kitchen, knowing I didn't want any kind of banana bread or cake or muffin. What to do?

I just so happens I had all the makings for a killer dessert, thanks to Vegan Fusion. It's basically a silken tofu based pudding with banana, maple syrup, cardamom, and cinnamon. Half of it is mixed with melted chocolate and then you layer each half in a dessert or parfait dish. It looks in this picture as though there isn't much in the way of the chocolate portion, but don't be fooled! It wasn't that easy to pour in without it pretty much glopping up in the middle. Mmmmmmmmmmm, chocolatey center!!!! The banana layer is smooth and light and has lots of banana flavor. The chocolate layer is rich without being too rich and, once put in the fridge, firms up a bit to give a nice contrast of textures.

Topped with fresh cut strawberries and toasted sweetened coconut and WOW! This stuff is seriously goooooooood! (the recipe calls for some fresh mint as well, but I hadn't any and had to skip that part, but I'm sure it's made even more tasty with that addition!) I'm typically not a huge fan of tofu based desserts, but this one is so full of flavor and creaminess, you get all of the protein soy goodness with none of the sometimes overwhelming tofu chalky taste.

I halved the recipe, which said it made three servings, but my version made four perfectly sized helpings.

Broccoli Bisque

2008-01-26T11:58:00.001-05:00

Ok, so the picture kinda sucks, but this creamy, hearty soup from Vegan Vittles is amazing! It comes together in a flash and is really delicious. The ingredients are super simple (saute onion, garlic, potato, then broccoli then blend in soy milk, seasoning, and almond butter). I added some nutritional yeast and continued to add more steamed broccoli pieces to this one as I enjoyed the leftovers.

This bowl of yum, easily, will become a cool-weather staple around here. I'm a sucker for creamy bisques and, with this one, you don't have to worry about it being fattening as it's the potato that lends the creaminess. It's full of green broccoli goodness and, next time, I think I'll even try adding some cauliflower or carrots....or both!

Vegan Bar Food

2008-01-24T12:22:00.001-05:00

I've been enjoying my entirely too fattening Vegan Blue Cheese Dressing by way of these
Vegan Buffalo Sammiches! Basically, I just rehydrate some Soy Curls (now also found here), lightly coat with flour and saute til golden brown, take off the heat, add some wing sauce, stir, and pile on a wheat bun with lettuce, tomato, and Blue Cheese. I seriously cannot get enough of these.

When a Salad's Not Just a Salad

2008-01-17T21:21:00.000-05:00

Before becoming vegan, I was that girl who, when dining out, would always order blue cheese dressing on her salads. Sure, they'd taunt me with interesting fruity vinaigrettes and other creamy variations but I always went back to the sure-bet goodness I've known and loved since childhood. When I became vegan I knew that it'd be time to give up my favorite,dreamy guilty pleasure and I'd finally be forced to get to know other dressings to wow my taste buds when enjoying a fresh bowl of this...or so I thought. But I'm here to tell you that you can still indulge! I, on a whim, after my brother (aka the blue cheese kid) had been going on and on and on about his culinary quest to come up with the most perfect homemade blue cheese dressing, thought....'hey! why can't I try a vegan version of that?!'. And girls and boys? I totally did with winning results!

Enter the fabulous Sheese, which until now? I didn't love. I actually thought it to be a total waste of money when I opted to try the Cheddar flavor from veganessentials.com. I'd since written off Sheese and hadn't thought about it again. But then I remembered they had a Blue Cheese variety and the reviews were all pointing to 'try this now!' so I splurged. The resulting dressing I came up with is not even close to low fat. In fact, this is something you don't wanna eat all the time. But if you wanna kill a craving? I highly recommend you whip this stuff up and wow all the blue cheese lovers you know by turning your salads like above into this...I mean just look at all that creamy goodness!so, without further ado...

Just As I Remember It But Vegan! Blue Cheeze Dressing
(this will make a ton, so cut it in half if ya like. it's what I did)

8 oz. Sheese Blue Cheese
3/4 c. Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream
1 1/3 c. Vegannaise
1 tsp. vegan Worcestershire (i used a scant tsp. i didn't wanna overpower it or turn it brown)
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
splash of lemon juice
pinch of sugar
soy creamer (you won't need much)
black pepper to taste

crumble up your Sheese and add the rest of the ingredients except creamer. break out the stick blender or put all in a food processor and process til smooth and creamy, adding a splash or two of creamer til you get the consistency you want.

i'm still wanting to try out my little brother's version. His, when made vegan, will certainly be a muuuuuch lighter creation and a LOT less fattening. I know it involves soy creamer, the Sheese, lemon juice, a bit of sugar, basil, olive oil and water to thin it out. Seems simple enough. I'll get back to you on that one, for sure! enjoy!

Green-wa, oh yeah!

2008-01-17T09:09:00.000-05:00

Not every day can one crack open a sleepy eye, the sound of the surf in their ears, and this in their line of vision without even lifting their head off the pillow, step into the shower and start their day with this magnificent view* But ya know what one can do? One can crack open a copy of the genius vegan cookbook Yellow Rose Recipes and create this magnificent dish in a flash and enjoy all the things that are good in the world (or at least the vegan diet!) in this yummy number, Green-wa!
(yeah, my camera died just as I was about to snap a pic....sure, I could wait to have another serving before posting, but why not highlight Joanna's beautiful shot from Yellow Rose Recipes?)

We all know what a powerhouse Quinoa is, but if you're like me, you often run out of interesting ways to serve it that truly tantalize your tastebuds. Look no further, this stuff is incredible, packed with the protein of quinoa and full of green goodness of spinach, peas, and cilantro! I added a touch more salt to mine and think that next time I may even take her suggestion and amp up the curry a little more and use coconut milk for the yogurt. Either way, treat yourself to some Green-wa, it's reeeeeeeeally good!

*Sure the little one's arrival is four and a half months away, but the Cap'n and I decided we'd take advantage of the amazing winter warmth we've been having in Florida and get away for what may be the last time before she joins our crew. We hit our favorite spot just south of St. Augustine Beach and (of course, since she was technically along for the ride on this trip, her name just HAD to be put in the sand before the tide came up to greet her!) spent three glorious days soaking up the coast we love so much. Happy to be home with our furry bunch I got back needing something inspiring in the kitchen for dinner that would make me miss a little less the sound of the surf in my ears while I puttered around the kitchen. This totally did the trick!

Sunshine-y Day

2008-01-10T08:50:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Veganomicon and the 82 degree high we had here yesterday (isn't winter grand?). I've always been one of those peeps who sleeps in more often than not so when you've seen me highlight an amazing breakfast? It's pretty much been more like brunch for me....until now. Seems pregnancy hormones not only have me up throughout the night but have me up bright and early with no hope for catching any extra Z's.

So, yesterday I did what any hungry vegan with some morning time on her hands would, I cracked open Veganomicon and finally made a brunch dish (for breakfast!) that I'd been eyeing, the Tofu Florentine. Mine's served with some herbed potatoes rather than the steak fries as all we had was red potatoes in the pantry.

Having just polished off some of the leftovers this morning I gotta say....this stuff is Sooooooooooo Gooooooood! I love the tanginess of the braising liquid for the tofu and am totally smitten with the nooch sauce. All in all? a perfect meal!So, if you're not fortunate enough to live in the warmer climates through the winter months (I know, I know some people actually even like snow! crazy!), grab your copy of the 'con and warm yourself up with this sunshine on a plate some sleepy weekend morning. You'll be so glad you did!

Vegan Fusion World Cuisine

2008-01-03T00:05:00.001-05:00

Otherwise known as Blossoming Lotus' beautiful contribution to vegan fare...or, one of the few amazing vegan cookbooks I gifted myself this year for Christmas. I'm totally wowed by the presentation of this book, the thoughtful quotes and messages that are strewn about, and the careful, loving way each thing is offered.

Jumping right in, I tried their version of a tofu scramble this morning (I know, I know, way to really get in there and try something new ;)I enjoyed their heavy hand in using turmeric and paprika, but also added a heaping tablespoon of mustard seed to mine when sauteeing the onions and garlic, went heavy on the nutritional yeast (they called for a teaspoon....a teaspoon! please!), and then followed their suggestion and topped mine with crumbled tempeh strips (a quick recipe also from the book, from their cool section in the back of their staff's easy favorites), then made it more my own by garnishing with some Toffutti Better Than Sour Cream, fresh avocado, and a little chopped fresh basil.

This was hearty and yummy (i'm a total sucker for trying everyone else's version of tofu scrambles), and I'm looking forward to enjoying the leftovers in wraps in the coming days.

Wanting more light fare in my diet after the holidays laden with sweets and starches, I threw together a 'what's in the fridge' salad of spring mix greens, cuke, carrots, mushrooms, tomato, chickpeas, and avocado and drenched it in their very light Green Goddess Dressing.
I'm a HUGE fan of making my own dressings and seldom like bottled varieties, but I often whip up a recipe only to be disappointed. This one? no disappointment AT ALL. There's no oil in this recipe (tho it does call for a cup of Vegannaise), but it's sooooo light and the basil and parsley are subtle yet flavorful. I went easy on the salt but also added a bit of agave which, I thought, really enhanced the flavor more to my liking.

I've been thinking of this dressing ever since and am excited to whip up a chickpea salad with it tomorrow for lunch, yum!

Happiest New Year, everyone!
A wish I failed to send out in my last post. I blame the fatigue. Seriously, all those books that tell you that the second trimester is a magical time of renewed energy? They so totally lie ;)
But I can't complain, I've just begun to feel her moving quite frequently. It's a beautiful and amazing thing, and I think it's what's inspired me to get my weary butt back in the kitchen so stay tuned!

Zucchini Pancake Recipe

2007-12-31T08:42:00.001-05:00

Sometimes it's the simplest things that turn into the best meals. After noticing an abundance of zucchini in the fridge, whipping out the electric griddle and mixing these up seemed like the perfect way to start the day!
First one side....then the other...then a decadent smidge of Toffutti Better Than Sour Cream and some fresh black pepper and YUM! So good!

I believe I swiped the following two recipes from Recipezaar, but can't be sure. I found the pancake recipe first, then hunted down a homemade sub for Bisquick, and here ya have 'em!

Bisquick Clone (makes enough for the first batch and refrigerates well for the second and possible third)
1 and 1/8 c. flour
1 T baking powder
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 T canola oil

Mix first four ingredients well, then add oil and cut in until crumbly texture is achieved.

Zucchini Pancakes (makes about eight)
1/2 c. Bisquick Clone
1 c. shredded zucchini
1/4 c. shredded vegan cheese (i like FYH's monteray jack)
2 T. chopped green onion
1 egg replacer (i used enerG egg replacer, but i imagine flax would work well too and taste heartier)
salt and pepper to taste
couple pinches coriander
healthy dash of paprika

oil for the pan/griddle (i used grapeseed oil)

mix together all ingredients. oil hot pan or griddle and drop globs of batter onto it. the mix is reeeally sticky so be ready to get your hands dirty with this one. so worth it! heat about five minutes per side or until golden brown. serve plain or with topping of your choice. we tried these the first time with applesauce and that was yummy too!

Christmas Spoilers Ahead....

2007-12-24T08:22:00.001-05:00

For anyone who knows me personally, you may wanna back away from this blog til after you receive your Christmas gifts from me. Here, let me distract you with a gratuitous belly shot from a week or so ago, then you can leave....

Now, for everyone else.....LOOKIT WHAT I MADE EVERYONE! ;)

Every year I try to come up with something I can make people, partly to save some cash, but mostly because I take so much joy in putting time and energy into a gift to really give them something that's all about giving and less about buying. Last year, as my first year as a full-fledged vegan, it was a home made cookbook of all my favorites that they'd each enjoyed and home made vegan chocolate chip cookies.

this year I wanted something more personal for them so I counted on using this company to make these for me...

Personalized photo calendars. Each person got their own with different pictures and captions for each month, various designs for the calendars for used. This company even allows you to insert all the birthdays, anniversaries, due dates, and other special occasions on any days of the year, including little graphics. The quality is out of this world and they are quite competitively priced. I just knows these will be a hit.

But I couldn't stop there! Almost everyone we know has dogs. I decided that home made dog treats were necessary. I packaged them in glass jars with name tags made from recycled veggie burger, pasta, etc. boxes....just cut out circles and decorated the backsides before attaching to jars with a hole punch and rubber band treatment. I'm also including the recipe on cute little xmas cards I'm printing up as I type this.While there are vegan varieties all over the net, I've never been one to think that my dietary choices are ones to be made for naturally carnivorous canines and felines. Sure, I think it would be amazing if all dog and cat food and treat companies would use more humane practices to truly make an effort to eliminate suffering, but I don't know that I can keep meat from my truly meat lovin babies. You should have seen the total fur frenzy in my kitchen when I was whipping up dozen upon dozen of these puppies! (the cats loved 'em too!) they do include powdered milk and jarred baby food. I used chicken and beef and a chicken/veggie combo for mine, but you could certainly use the same recipe and sub out soy milk powder and only veggie baby food for yours, if you so choose. I'm sure they'd still win over all the canines you know. There's also a great vegan recipe on the ppk for oatmeal peanut butter treats somewhere, but i was going for more lo fat for this one, and hope to try that one soon.

I also plan to make up some kitty treats for our felines and for my mom's but will be making those up the day after xmas when my fam visits. I'll certainly let you know how those turn out, too!

In my usual fashion...once I get started, there's no stopping me....so of course I had to make everyone a little something else.....

Vegan Oreo Truffles! Wow. These are incredible (just sub out tofutti cream cheese for the dairy version and stick to semi-sweet vegan chocolate and vegan white chocolate). So rich and sweet and decadent. Here you see some with semi-sweet coating and white chocolate ribbons and then white choc. coating with semi-sweet ribbons. I boxed up eight per person in cute little xmas tins and they are currently residing in a cooler (my 'fridge just can't take all that Christmas confection craziness!) awaiting being dispersed to family tomorrow and the following day.

Now, finally, I can finally say that I am officially done and can enjoy the rest of my Christmas eve creating some yummy food for dinner tonight and tomorrow. I think tonight I'll be toting along Dreena's Phyllo Broccoli Mushroom Walnut Pie and tomorrow my job is my totally wheat free vegan shiitake gravy.

Hope you all have a safe and happy holiday season. This Christmas day marks the halfway point of my pregnancy! I've just begun to feel little Taylor moving around, you know, when I actually sit down for a moment, and it is the most surreal and amazing experience. Thanks for all of your kind words after my fall. I have recovered mostly but am still nurturing a horrible bruise to the bone in my ankle, it may even be a sprain....but overall I'm doing really well and enjoying food again, even if I'm too busy scarfing it down to take pictures of it and share them here. hehe.

so much love to you all!
Happiest Holidays!

As Promised....

2007-12-12T11:01:00.001-05:00

It's a girl!

Beautiful little Taylor Louise will arrive some time in May. Our 18(ish) week u/s was surreal and amazing and we couldn't be happier. Thanks for all of your concern about my fall (i'm bruised but fine and learned my lesson!) and all of your well wishes about the baby. You are all truly the best bunch of people I've never met! ;)

Be back soon with some foooooood, promise!

For Those of Us Who Like it HOT

2007-12-07T17:48:00.001-05:00

A quick and easy meal of canned seitan patties, crusted with panko (i freaking love these things), herbed roasted potatoes and collard greens can only be made better by the addition of this on your greens. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, love it.

Side note: I took a nasty spill two days ago and aside from a scraped up and swollen shin, a bruised ulna, and nasty knot on one knee, and both my triceps aching like i've been training for some kind of weight lifting championship, both me and the baby are just fine. they did an ultrasound to be sure and I may have a pretty good idea of the baby's gender....but I'm not gonna tell you 'til I get those pretty lil' pictures in my hot lil' hands tomorrow. ;) don'tcha just love a good suspenseful post? hehe

oh...and....Susan had asked about my Superior Caesar Salad Recipe that I'd love to share with anyone who wants it. It's truly a crowd pleaser and those I've made it for happily request it again and again. You can find the recipe for the dressing here, and those sprinkles of kelp powder are three good, long dashes, if ya know what i mean. I love that it's not tofu based and that it tastes remarkably like the real deal. You can thin it out a bit with some water to extend how much you have (you're so gonna wanna have it a couple more times after you try it!)

For the salad itself (and i never measure) it's just the following:
romaine lettuce
chopped sundried tomatoes (the type packed in oil)
roasted brussel sprouts (a la VWaV)
hemp seeds
nutritional yeast
and topped with some sliced roasted portabellos

quantities are just to taste. I tend to go a bit light on the tomatoes so that they don't overpower, i load up on the brussel sprouts (you will not believe the perfection they lend to a caesar salad!), and go heavy on the hempseeds and generously dust with the NY, then toss it all up with the dressing. I promise you, it's superior to any vegan caesar creation you've had before....if i do say so myself!

Until tomorrow!!!

Eat, Drink, & Be (wheat-free!) Vegan!

2007-12-07T17:21:00.001-05:00

I love Dreena's Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies from Vive! so I knew that I had to try her version using amaranth flour in ED&BV for Thanksgiving so my sister would have something sweet when we were all indulging in pies.
The texture of the flour makes these the teensiest bit grainier, but I found that, once they sit in tupperwear over night? Matters not! They're entirely too tasty to notice!

I know I promised that I'd be back with all I feasted on for Thanksgiving, but it turns out I simply made things I've done before which, while still made for a looong day of cooking in the kitchen, provided me with tried and true recipes that everyone enjoyed. Not only that, but I seem to have lost the pics!!!

I dazzled the otherwise turkey-eating bunch with Native Food's Tempeh Pate and La Dolce Vegan's Easy French Bread with Millennium's Tofu Spread as appetizers, then Vegan'con's Chickpea Patties smothered in my own quick brown gravy and my beloved Superior Ceasar Salad as part of the meal. They made me my own pot of vegan green beans and there potatoes galore. Entirely too much food was enjoyed by all.

I've been cooking pretty easy things lately. While the pregnancy goes swimmingly (literally, it feels as though there's a little fish swimmin around in my belly!), I have suffered from frequent headaches and a ton of ligament pain which keeps me off my feet a lot of days I'd rather be in the kitchen. So, no new stuff to share so much...but I'll see if I can't whip up something blog worthy soon.

I'm in my 18th week now and have my second ultrasound this Tuesday. You know even if the new food is lacking I won't be able to help myself in posting pics of that amazing event! I hope to get some time to visit and comment on everyone else's blogs soon! Seems the holidays and this little one have kept me away from the computer.

Til then!!!!

Turkey Day, Indeed!

2007-11-21T19:19:00.001-05:00

Say hello to Juniper!Inspired by Candi on this eve of giving thanks, I've decided to commemorate each Thanksgiving from now on by Adopting A Turkey from Farm Sanctuary.

I had no sooner read her blog and posted that I think it would be amazing if everyone who did not eat turkey on this day each year took it a step further and supported the care of a deserving bird, when I clicked over to the turkeys to sponsor and Juniper here gazed right into my very core.

I knew it was meant to be when I went back and actually read the quote under Juniper's adorable picture, "Start an evergreen tradition by adopting a turkey instead of eating one.” How cool is that?! My sentiments exactly!

I haven't eaten meat in over ten years, but donating to Farm Sanctuary and helping them to give the animals there the best life possible gives that decision renewed meaning for me. So, thanks Candi, for being such an inspiration...thanks to FS, for all they do to actively make the world a better, more compassionate place....and thanks to Juniper, for giving me that look and clinching the deal.

Happiest Holiday, everyone! I'll be back soon to share in the goods I bring to the family table this year.

MillenniYUM, his and hers

2007-11-17T15:05:00.001-05:00

His...Hers...
For my birthday last year, the Cap'n surprised me with The Artful Vegan after our trip to San Fran. While an amazing and inspiring cookbook, it's chock full of ingredients I've either never heard of or can't get my hands on, and many of the recipes are pretty involved. I did make Seitan Skewers that were divine so I know it's worth the effort....it's just not getting much use just yet in our kitchen.

He also ordered their first cookbook, The Millennium Cookbook, but it took until just last month for it to get to me! It has a bit more of their 'basics' in it and I can see me relying on this cookbook a whole lot more than the other. Knowing I wanted tempeh, I just had to try their tempeh marinade. Knowing, also, that the Cap'n loathes all things tempeh, I decided to improvise. The marinade calls basically for two packs of tempeh. Having only one anyway, I made the whole marinade but dumped in a half bag of soy curls to fill up the rest of my baking dish before putting it in the oven. The recipe calls for cooking the soy in their marinade in the oven for an hour and a half. This was more than ample time to clean up the kitchen, chop some spinach and garlic, whip up some rice, and convince my pregnant self that all the alcohol would cook out in both the marinade (it calls for nonalcoholic red wine but i opted for cooking wine, as that's what we had) AND the marsala sauce I so love and haven't had in ages. I boiled the heck out of it so I'm sure it was okay to consume, right? ;)

The verdict? BEST DAMN MARINADE EVER. Seriously, I opted to thin out the tempeh by slicing it in half to make it two long thin versions of the original block then cutting it in thirds. All the bitterness of typical, store bought tempeh? Gone! (even the Cap'n tasted it and admitted it was the best flavor he'd ever experienced from tempeh!) And the soy curls? Oh. My. Dog. Fantastic. I took them out of the marinade, coated them in cornstarch, and browned in grapeseed oil before topping with the marsala. I should admit that not all of them even made it to his plate as I snatched up a ton and ate them right out of the pan, sans marsala. Soooooo good!

The tempeh, I did the same but with flour rather than cornstarch. I cannot wait to try some of their other ideas. This cookbook was definitely worth the wait, even for this one amazing recipe, and I'm sure it won't be the last I dive into anytime soon.Don't let my five month wait put you off ordering it, tho. I just ordered it for my sister and have already received confirmation that it's on it's way!

And yes, this meal was so tasty, so delicious that each of our plates deserved more than just one pic a piece! Best add the Millennium Cookbook to your Giftmas Wish List!!!! ;)

Po' Boy Goodness

2007-11-14T20:58:00.001-05:00

This was the first recipe I intended to try once I got Veganomicon, but it's taken me til now to get to it.Chile Cornmeal Crusted Tofu Po' Boys....or at least a Po' Boy much inspired by the original recipe. The tofu is made as is called for in V'con, but all my cabbage had since been eaten (mmmmm, coleslaw!) or gone bad since buying it for this recipe, leaving me with an improvised shredded carrot and spinach slaw, all on a store bought vegan hogie bun.

I so meant to heed Isa's cry for pickles on this one but totally forgot about them til I was halfway through my sammich. Ah, well....tomorrow then! The leftovers are plenty and that will make a superb lunch tomorrow!

This is reeeeeeally good, but I think letting the tofu get to warm and not eating super hot makes the flavor stand out much more than it would if you devoured one pipin hot right outta the pan. just sayin. ;)

Perfect Pumpkin Pregnancy Cookies!

2007-11-09T11:09:00.001-05:00

Or, as Isa likes to call them in VWaV, Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies.I'd bought some pumpkin a while back, knowing I wanted to make something but not sure, exactly, what that something would be. A recent discussion with my aunt about where my iron comes from spurred these delicious, chewy cookies.

In consulting Becoming Vegan, I refreshed my memory as to what the best sources of iron are for a vegan. This recipe is loaded with just such sources:

walnuts, 100g = 2.4 mg iron (also high in omega-3's and protein)
blackstrap molasses, 1 Tblsp = 3.6 mg iron (an iron powerhouse!)
raisins, 1/4 cup = .9-1.1 mg iron
oats, 1/2 cup = .8mg iron
even pumpkin has more than most meat sources! 1 cup cooked = 1.4 mg iron
(granted, the myth that meat is the best source for iron is surely not lost on anyone reading this, but i was a little shocked to find that only liver and organ meat (ew!) contain substantially more iron than non-meat sources. things like milk, cheese, chicken, and salmon each contain less than 1mg of iron per serving!)

So there ya have it! Want to put a little more iron in your diet? Make these amazingly good cookies and be sure to eat more than one! Yeah, that shouldn't be a problem ;)

Spicy but not Tempeh from Veganomicon

2007-11-06T12:05:00.001-05:00

Oh wow, if you haven't made this one already, what are you waiting for?!?!
We don't have access to fresh tempeh where we live and the Cap'n is adverse to putting anything remotely resembling packaged tempeh near his mouth so I opted to make this mouth-watering dish with these,trusty Soy Curls! (kinda gross, how like chicken they look, no?) Good thing they taste amazing (and have a great texture) when cooked in a great sauce and this is a fantastic one indeed!

I followed the directions exactly, but did to rehydrated Soy Curls what was called for for tempeh. Oh, and I did back of the red pepper flakes, only adding a teaspoon rather than one and a half because the Cap'n always calls me out for making things too spicy....and...I did sprinkle the top liberally with Nutritional Yeast as I do all pasta dishes, but I didn't mix it in as I like to have it full flavor in a bite here and there but not necessarily flavor the dish throughout. We devoured this and I'm already salivating thinking of my lunch today....leftovers! YUM!

This one is truly a winner and I cannot wait to make it for fellow vegans and omni's alike. The flavor is unmatched, and it's really easy to make. Food aversions be damned, this one will certainly be made again and again!

Next Up, White Bean & Leek Cassoulet!

2007-11-02T22:18:00.001-05:00

My second Vegonomicon venture and TOTAL success...Living in FL, I'm used to hearing about everyone else's fall days inspiring cool weather fare full of autumn vegetable and warm tasty goodness far before I join in the fun. Typically? I actually savor every last hot day we have....but ever since my copy of Veganomicon arrived and I littered it with bookmarks of recipes I'm just dying to try I've been hoping for even a hint of fall to make this dish.

Today I got it. It was sunny and beautiful AND cooler than it's been all year. Sitting out on our porch reading and taking in the breeze got my butt in the kitchen to throw this one together. It's super easy, the biscuits are light and soft and the stew totally satifying, and it's simple enough to let the true flavors of its ingredients shine.
From all the Mmmmmm's heard from both myself and the Captain while enjoying this dish, I'd say Veganomicon must be chock FULL of home runs!

As you can see, my copy of V'con is already warped on a few pages. Good thing this one's hard cover.....my copy of VWaV is so battered and splattered it's a true testament to just how much vegan yummy is found within it's pages.

Chickpea Cutlets

2007-11-01T12:36:00.000-05:00

I had no sooner posted last night about not really having much desire to cook when I was struck with a need to crack open my Veganomicon and whip up a comfort food meal to end all comfort food meals. The Chickpea Cutlets come together in a flash (we opted to bake them, and they were incredible...you know what that means....they'll be even more sensational when fried! ;) I mashed some yukon potatoes, roasted some brussel sprouts with tons of garlic, and threw together my go-to gravy (flour, nutr. yeast, olive oil, soy milk, tamari, gravy masters, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, and pepper. amazing every time!), and served it all with a potato roll, 'cause comfort food is only made better when you throw in extra carbs.

oh, if only blogger had smell-o-vision! Mmmmmmm.... let's hope that between Veganomicon, ED&BV, and the two new cookbooks I currently pre-ordered (Vegan YumYum and Yellow Rose Recipes from Herbivore), I'll be blogging more regularly again in no time!

the White Bean and Leek Cassoulet is already calling my name!

Happy Halloween!!!!

2007-10-31T17:14:00.001-05:00

Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted. Honestly, my daily visit to other blogs has also been slacking what with all the food issues I've had of late.

Even looking at pics of food has been suddenly stricken from the list of Things I Love To Do. Not only have certain foods been less than desireable, the actual act of preparing foods (usually, one of my MOST favorite things to do in the day) has become seriously tiresome. when I have found the energy or desire to cook something I haven't been taking pictures of it, just glad I had something I was willing to choke down. well, there was this...VWaV Fritatta, anyone? I always opt for a sun dried tomato and zucchini version.

and roasted tamari pepitas, those have been a great snack.

oh, and i'm glad I could virtually live on pan-seared oatmeal because as least it's good for me!

otherwise it's fruit, easy veggie patties, and shells 'n chreese with peas galore!

what could be the culprit? I'm sure you're wondering. Well, today, on my most favorite day of the year (i tell ya, i love this day more than giftmas!) we got to take a peek at just what's draining me of my typical time in the kitchen...or should I say who.... Yup, this is our 12 week ultrasound of the little goblin I've been growing. I've been bursting at the seams to say something here but wanted to wait til now to do so. While the nausea is a bit better than it was, I'm finding great comfort in comfort foods that I've made and blogged about numerous times before or convenience foods that go from freezer or box to my oven or stove then my plate.

so much for turning this blog into a whirlwind of amazing healthy vegan pregnancy meals for expectant moms! ;) while I hope that my new copy of Veganomicon (which I've already tagged in a ton of places the recipes I just can't wait to try) will revamp my blog soon, I think I'll be blogging only when the energy (or appetite!) strikes me for a bit. Tho, with chompers like we're seeing on this kid.... there's bound to be a LOT more vegan fare for the blogging in our future! ;)

Until then, have a safe and happy Halloween!

My Kinda Easy Dinner

2007-10-18T22:47:00.000-05:00

A How To:

After a breakfast of Wheatabix (I've only just discovered these, yum!) with dried cranberries, dried blueberries, and soy milk, chop some garlic and saute in olive oil.

Open a 28 oz. can of organic crushed tomatoes and toss them in with that fragrant garlic (mmmm, garlic in the morning).

Add tomato paste, oregano, basil, sea salt, black pepper, and sugar to taste. Allow to simmer on med heat while you clean up the kitchen.

Stir and cover sauce, lower the heat, and go about your business for the day, making a stop over now and then to stir the sauce and appreciate the aroma.

At lunch time, enjoy leftover Spicoli Burgers on a homemade roll with a flax oil and balsamic slurry for dipping.

Some time later in the afternoon, succumb to the dreaming you've been doing from too many trips to the ppk where all the amazing vegan folks are porning their vegan prowess, and make these. oh yeah, they are insanely good! You can find the recipe here. I used spelt flour and MAN, they're magically delicious! oh...don't forget to ice 'em!Eat not one but two of those cinnamon buns and realize that dinner will be later than you'd originally planned. No matter, the sauce just gets better and better as the day wears on.

Finally when the tummy starts growlin and those cinnamon rolls are long digested, toss two pkgs of Boca Crumbles into the sauce, stir, cover, and jack up the heat just a touch. Boil water for pasta (we enjoyed whole wheat angel hair) and toss whatever veggies you have (we had zuke and 'shrooms) under the broiler with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sea salt, pepper, and garlic. Viola! Easy dinner is served and satisfying. So filling, in fact, we're pretty glad we had dessert first! ;)

Dude, Spicoli Burgers Are, Like, Toootally Awesome!

2007-10-16T23:44:00.000-05:00

Yup, got Dreena's newest amazing book, Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan and couldn't wait to try something from it. Her tasty concoctions couldn't come at a better time, what with all the aversions I've had to the same ol' same ol' as of late.

While I wanted to go crazy with baking, I have no maple syrup in the house, so I jumped to something savory for dinner. Spicoli Burgers are easy to whip up, use hemp seed (one of my favorite food items), and taste great! Actually, they've become my new fave burger of all time. They're even better leftover! (I tried leftover ones with a slurry of flax oil and balsamic vinegar as she suggests.....LOVE IT!)

I also was lacking the fresh red pepper for the burgers but omitted them and opted to use jarred ones I had in the pantry to make a fast roasted red pepper mayo (inspired by Veg. Times a few months back). With a side of organic fries this was a really tasty meal. I only wish I'd been a little less excited about it and remembered to roast my green beans to balance out my dinner!

Dude, you guys must, like, totally try these rad burgers, like, immediately!

Mmmmmmmmmuffins!

2007-10-13T13:27:00.001-05:00

Not the healthiest muffins, but soooo good. I'm thinking next time I'll sub out agave for the sugar and use part unbleached flour and part some other flour. Even trade out the oil for applesauce. That oughta do it!

For now, here's what I threw together

Mmmmmm Morning Muffins
makes 12

2 c. unbleached flour
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. Florida Crystals
2 med. bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c. canola oil
3/4 c. soy milk
1 tsp. vinegar
raspberry All Fruit
1/8 c. ground walnuts
1-2 T raw sugar
walnuts (for putting on top)

350 oven.
mix vinegar with soy milk to 'sour'. set aside.
in a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder.
mash bananas well and add vanilla, then add to dry ingredients. now add sugar, oil, and soured milk. stir until just mixed.
line muffin tins with paper cups.
fill each cup with one T batter
gently spoon in about a teaspoon of All Fruit in the center.
top with another heaping T of batter.
combine raw sugar and ground walnuts in small bowl.
sprinkle mixture atop each muffin and place walnut in center.
Bake for 35 min or until knife comes out clean.
remove from tin immediately and allow to cool entirely on rack.
Try to let them cool all the way before digging in. I found that not doing so meant that the liners stuck to the muffin and the All Fruit inside was steamin hot! Best to let cool on a rack entirely before enjoying their yummy goodness.

Crispy Orange Soy Curls

2007-10-11T22:26:00.000-05:00

When nothing else seems palatable? Chinese Food!
Here is Chris's Tangerine Seitan but with a big ol' juicy navel orange and Soy Curls instead of seitan over brown rice. This recipe is soooo easy and fun to trade out tangerine for orange or lemon. Good stuff.

And speaking of good stuff, is there ever a bad time to make Dreena's Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies from Vive to make one feel better? I say nope! I add a 1/2 tsp of almond extract along with the vanilla for a super tasty version. Good thing that the recipe only makes 8-10 or my tummy'd be aching due to overindulgence for sure!

Sorry that pic stinks. That's what happens when you've waited for them to cool enough to eat them and you just can't wait any longer! (and by 'you', I mean me!)

Easy Comfort Foods

2007-10-10T23:39:00.000-05:00

I've been experiencing some serious food aversions lately (more on that.....eventually), which has caused my time in the kitchen to become minimal. I've relied pretty heavily on things you've seen me make countless times....my comfort foods:

Biscuits and Fauxsage Tempeh GravyPizza (Publix pizza dough is vegan and wonderful, thank you ppk'er from FL who reminded me of this for when I'm feeling expecially lazy): marinara sauce, VWaV's tofu basil ricotta, mushrooms, and zucchini.
Road's End Shell's 'n Chreese with a side of my favorite green veggie of late, Roasted Green Beans!
and Pizza Toast with Seitanroni and FYH Mozarella on Millet BreadI've been eating a lot of Fruit and Silk yogurt and the occasional bagel with almond butter and blueberry All Fruit, but that's pretty much it.

Hopefully, I'll get this under control and be back soon with some fun new stuff worth digesting! ;)

The Best Dinners Are the Ones I Make Up

2007-10-02T21:07:00.000-05:00

On the fly with whatever is in the 'fridge.Oven Roasted Herbed Tempeh with Zucchini and Sun Dried Tomato Creme Sauce over Linguine Whew! How's that for a name!

As this was on the fly there's no formal recipe but I'll try to wing it. It could use a little tweaking to be perfect but it's sure damn tasty as is!

For the Tempeh: 350 oven. Cube and steam 8 oz. tempeh. In a bowl, mix 2 heaping tablespoons nutritional yeast, 1/2 tsp. onion powder, 1 tablespoon oregano, 2 tsp. marjoram, 2 tsp. coriander, 1 tsp. sea salt, some cracked black pepper, and enough oil (i used grapeseed) to mix in and create a paste. whisk together. add tempeh and toss. put coated tempeh in oiled baking pan or sheet. cover and bake for ten min. remove foil and roast for another 15-25 min or until desired crispiness.

For Sauce: mix 1 1/2 c. soy milk, 2 T. nutritional yeast, few pinches coarse sea salt, 1 T cornstarch or arrowroot, and about 1/8 c. sun dried tomatoes packed in oil with blender (i used my handheld...and I'll spare you the details about my reaching for salt, the blender standing in the glass measuring cup and me knocking it over and spilling half my sauce EVERYWHERE!).

Cook pasta.

Heat 1 tsp. oil in skillet on med heat, add one chopped zucchini (and whatever you have, i only had zukes) and some sea salt, add about 2 T. sun dried tomatoes and saute until zuke is crisp tender. Add sauce and stir constantly, once it comes to a boil it will thicken. you can then turn to low or remove from heat. Plate your pasta, top with tempeh, and cover in sauce. bon appetit!

Edited to add: this was even better for lunch the next day, just store each component in the fridge separately (tempeh, veggies in sauce, pasta). I'm making it again tonight with more veggies. YUM!

Two More Reasons....

2007-10-01T21:40:00.001-05:00

Celine of Have Cake Will Travel is my culinary heroine....Her Cheezy Quacker Crust is, hands down, the BEST crust imaginable for all savory pies, quiches, whatever savory thing you fancy filling your pie plate with! I didn't use the pastry flour cause I was out, just unbleached flour and opted for the added paprika.

I did make her Broccoli Fakin Quiche....but I messed it up two ways (and thus never took a picture). I used store-bought fake bacon bits (vegan) and I made it two days in advance and let it sit in the fridge before finally cooking it up for Sunday Brunch. The nasty store-bought Fakin Bits bloated over time and overpowered the whole thing with their chemically bacon-ness. Ew. But I think that it's totally something I'll make again either with her suggestions or subbing sun dried tomatoes for the Fakin altogether.

and then there's heaven for my sweet tooth...I was drooling over her Oreo Cookie Cookies when I was struck with genius of my own. Using her 'healthier recipe', I subbed Newman Ginger O's (my absolute favorite) for the Oreos, added about 2 heaping Tablespoons of chopped crystallized ginger, and went with more soy milk than using whiskey. They were a bit more cakey than I like my cookies (think the original version may be what I'm really after?) but they were scrumptious and devoured in record time all the same.

YUM!

Tofu Omelet & Other Success!

2007-09-30T18:48:00.000-05:00

Susan's Omelet for one is amazing. I filled mine with tons of broccoli and mushrooms. I think I need to adjust my heat a little (the inside wasn't as set as I would like but still wonderful, honestly) and I think i need to add something like sun dried tomatoes to mine next time to add a little more saltiness but wow, great job, Susan!

I finally tried the homemade buns that Chris has been whipping up for a while. The recipe always seemed so involved but it's actually quite easy....and the results?

perfection! Now, if I could just top toasting them and eating them with Smart Balance and actually throw a patty on there! (I did make the tempeh pecan burgers the first night but the pictures are awful. the patties are good , but I think I'd back off the Liquid Smoke a little next time as it's a bit overpowering for my palette).

With my new love for all things cashew/nutritional yeast encrusted tofu (just dip in a mix of soy and maple syrup, then crust with cashews, nutr. yeast, salt, and pepper), I decided to try baking them instead of frying them first thing in the morning. The verdict?Still super scrumptious AND better for me!

From our football Sunday, I'd forgot to mention that I'd made, easily, the best potato salad I've ever made to go alongside my Tofurkey Deli Sub.New red potatoes, green onion, celery, salt, pepper, Vegannaise, homemade agave mustard, and dill. That agave mustard really gave it a flavor that sent me right over the edge!

Hadn't made sweet potato fries in forever, but had a huge spud in the pantry just begging to fit the bill. I've never had huge success in my baked fries not being a bit mushy so I tried an online trick of baking them w/ sea salt and black pepper first, coating with a bit of brown sugar, then upping the temp, hoping to caramelize and crisp up the outside a bit.All in all, it wasn't entirely successful, but I'd dusted them with some five spice powder just before chowing down and they were reeeeally tasty if not entirely mush-free. the pic sux but I was in a hurry to devour them ;).

Key Lime Teasecake

2007-09-26T22:00:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time I had an unyielding love of cheesecake...and anything Key Lime Pie...Key Lime Cheesecake? Yes and PLEASE! So, imagine my glee (and total curiosity) when I stumbled upon this recipe in the new Vegan Vittles.
Key Lime Teasecake. No, it's not cheesecake, or even some tofu'd version of the real thing. It's a creamy, tart, thick, but light dessert that is absolutely to DIE for. The second best part? The only sweetener used is maple syrup. The BEST part? Ya ready? It's made from MILLET! I know, right? Who'da thunk it?
This is the second time I've made this dessert, the first time was for a friend's bday bash where it was devoured in record time by veg's and omni's alike. Seriously, peeps forewent an array of traditional party confections to dive into this yummy dish before I could even think about snapping a pic.

This weekend I made it for family football Sunday. We've decided, each Sunday, to prepare foods which best represent the opposing team (we're 'fins fans). I, obviously, provide a vegan option of whatever they're doing. As Sunday we were set to cream the Jets (we didn't....sigh) it was NY deli fare and, of course, cheesecake...or in my case, Vegan Teasecake! Oh yeah, by using oat flour in the crust? this one's totally wheat free ta boot!

I even made a single portion for myself to come home to with the extra filling!
As googling Lemon Teascake will take you straight to a page out of The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook that gives up the recipe (apparently, Joanne Stepaniak was smart enough to tuck this gem into both her best vegan books), I'll spare you the link and post the recipe here!

It's for Lemon Teasecake but how can you not wanna try Key Lime?!

Key Lime Teasecake

Prepare crust of your choice. I chose her Granola Nut Crust.

1/2 c. uncooked millet
2 c. water
1/2 c. raw cashews
1/3 c. key lime juice*
1/3 c. pure maple syrup**
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. lime extract (lemon works fine here, too)

In a med. saucepan with tight fitting lid, bring millet and water to boil. Cover and cook on low heat until water is absorbed and millet is soft, about 50 min. Meanwhile, grind cashews down to fine. Place ground cashews, key lime juice, maple syrup, vanilla, and extract into a bowl and mix with hand blender or blend to smooth in regular blender. Add millet and blend til as creamy as you can get it. Perfectly smooth is what you're going for and immersion blenders do a great job of this. Pour into cooled crust and allow to sit for 30 min at room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent cracking and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours before serving. I like to keep mine in there overnight. Top with fresh fruit of your choice and serve! I like the contrast of slightly sweet kiwi and blueberries with the tartness of the key lime.

Will keep in the 'fridge for about three days. Soooooo good!

*the first time i made this i bought a bag of key limes and juiced them. the second time? i bought a bottle of key lime juice. note to self: they taste exactly the same. don't make more work for yourself!

**I tend to add the 1/3 c. maple syrup to start and then as i'm blending it, add a little more at a time til i get that perfect sweet/tart ratio i want outta my key lime flavor.

Best Setian I've Ever Had, EVER!

2007-09-22T18:49:00.000-05:00

When I first made this meal I was uber excited. Throw together Celine's broccoli pesto. Check. Defrost Kris's garlic rolls from Damn Tasty... and my own homemade red sauce. Check. Nuke a Spaghetti Squash. Check. Dinner was served. It was delicious, filling, but lacked something....Oh! That's right! Protein!

Lucky for me, my latest purchases from veganessentials.com was waiting for me to bust open the box. I'd forgot that I'd thought to try this. Yup, seitan! From a CAN! The reviews from fellow vegans couldn't be that wrong, right? RIGHT!

I love to make my own seitan but find, often that I rely heavily on great recipes to kind of mask that wheat gluteny taste that is always present. This stuff from Cedar Lake has little sodium (for something from a can, anyway), few ingredients, gives for or five servings of protein punch per can, and man oh MAN does it taste good! I just lightly breaded it and browned in some grapeseed oil and I'll be darned if that stuff didn't resemble pork chops of my youth...you know, minus the pork. hehe. I've already placed another order for a couple more cans and one of the lighter, thinner brothed version.

O(mega) Yeah!

2007-09-21T18:12:00.001-05:00

Two things I can't seem to get enough of lately:Big salad of arugula, roasted portobellos, walnuts, avocado, and Becoming Vegan's Liquid Gold Dressing (jump to that recipe now, promise you'll thank me for it!). Seriously, this dressing is not only positively drinkable but, with just two tablespoons, gives you all your omega's and b vitamins for the day!

andLifestream's Hemp Plus or Omega Flax waffles with fresh fruit (this morning it was Flax with peaches!), walnuts, and organic maple syrup.

Easy foods that never disappoint AND are good for you!

What We Ate...

2007-09-18T16:00:00.000-05:00

While visiting my family in Themiddleofnowhere, VA with nothing but a Food Lion and some nutritional yeast in the pantry to sustain us.... Simple tofu salad (extra firm tofu, Vegannaise - I'd left some there on my last trip we got from glorious Whole Foods 'in the city' - carrots, onion, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion flakes, nutritional yeast, and dill) on whole grain bread sandwich. Vegan's best friend, Beans 'n Rice (black beans, can of crushed tomatoes, garlic, onion, chili powder, salt, pepper) over brown rice and a side of steamed broccoli. Perfection! Jess's MacUnCheeze with spinach (this stuff even had my 10 year old nephew raving and you know how ten year old nonvegans love their mac 'n cheese!) with a side of roasted brussel sprouts and some quick tofu (olive oil, brown the tofu, splash some tamari, brown some more, sprinkle generously with NY to coat, toss and cook till just crispy) a huge hit and so very easy! The obligatory Tofu Scramble....this one's a favorite of mine (tofu, onioin, garlic, carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, spinach, turmeric, cumin, coriander, chili powder, salt, pepper, tamari, NY, and fresh basil) with a side of roasted potatoes with rosemary and thyme. And FINALLY my mom has been asking for a lentil loaf for so long she was suggesting I mail her one! So just for her, a super yummy loaf that turned into more of a pile o' yum when it failed to hold it's shape (lentils, brown rice, carrots, mushrooms, onion garlic, tamari, oregano, thyme, NY, salt, pepper, flour) with some easy gravy (flour, olive oil, NY, lentil water, garlic, onion flakes, gravy starter, and tamari). mom couldn't believe no meat flavored this yummy condiment. and of course, more steamed broccoli.

these dishes, a couple pb&j's and a lot of snacking on fruits 'n nuts and this vegan never went hungry all week long!

The Meme Game

2007-09-17T22:49:00.000-05:00

Edited to add: tried to post this while away with no luck...but here ya go. I was welcoming my new little nephew, Hylan Stone. He is perfect in every way, and I miss him already!I am not at my own computer to blog of my food and incorporate pictures. What better time to join in the fun and put up my response to the meme that Vegan Noodle tagged me for?! In this meme, you use the letters of your first or middle name to describe yourself with a word.

I don't use my name here and my middle name, Lee, would be entirely too boring...so I'll use a nickname that my friends and family have been known to call me....

B - Bumbling...as is bumbling fool. I am quite possibly the clumsiest person you've never met. seriously. my dad made me wear my shoes in the house as a kid so I'd stop stubbing my toes on things all the time. i seem to have a knack for walking into things, dropping stuff, tripping over my own feet, it's amazing i don't lose little appendages with all my time in the kitchen. honestly, the only time in my life i felt like I'd conquered my clumsiness was as a wildlife rehabber. when it comes to wranglin wild critters? I've got mad ninja skills...but those cages and enclosures and sharp pet food cans? I've been known to have to spend hours upon hours in the ER for encounters with those inanimate things.

R - Rooted....as in to the earth. I'm a terra firma girl. Ironically, as the Cap'n is jet pilot extraordinaire. I? am a true-blue white-knuckled flier. i hate being sucked thru the air in a heap o' metal and am not all that happy out at sea...tho stick me in my kayak on a river and i never wanna leave. but generally, I'd rather be buried alive than forced to bungee jump.

E - Enigmatic. But this is only if you meet me in person and i happen to be rambling on about one of the many things I am passionate about. this is due, I've no doubt, to the fact that my mouth tries desperately to keep up with my brain causing me to attack your ears with a verbal onslaught at breakneck speeds...so many words per minute it can make your head spin. hehe

E- Empathic. I'm what you call 'a sensitive'. I used to think maybe i teetered on the brink of depression at all times. then i realized that i just choose not to be hardened or desensitized to the bad things in the world that surround us. my heart is broken continuously at the volumes of atrocities all around us...but I truly believe that is by carving away at you with sorrow that one will have the capacity to then fill those spaces with equal joy.

Z - ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz....I sleep late. typically, i won't rise before nine to ten a.m. in my defense? i also don't hit the pillow til maybe two or three in the morning. I'm a night owl, always have been.

Y - (boy, my nickname is quite challenging for this meme!) think I'll go with Yearn. i currently yearn for a LOT of things. i yearn to sell our house. i yearn for family and friends closer by and a sense of community. i yearn to start a garden and a business. i yearn to finally get started on those children's book ideas I've been kicking around for ages. I'm full of great intention and am working on the follow thru.

I'm not gonna tag anyone as I won't be home til after Sunday to check in with everyone's blogs. If you wanna play along, please do! I promise to come back with what I've been whipping up for me and my fam while away. When you're out in the country with nothing but Food Lion to stock your 'fridge you really get in touch with your simplest vegan creations....but at least my grocery bill was cheeeeee-eeeeeeap!

Be back soon!

Attack of Max, the Tofu Snatcher

2007-09-12T17:17:00.000-05:00

Having leftover nutritional yeast/cashew/sea salt leftover from my garlic rolls, I had a brilliant breakfast idea, crusted tofu for breakfast! I just added a bit more nutritional yeast dipped the tofu steaks in a mix of shoyu and maple syrup, pressed into the ny mix, and pan seared it in a bit of grapeseel oil until browned on both sides. viola!Served with a side of fresh peach and blueberries and a slice of the hearbed bread from the other day with a bit of Smart Balance, this was a FABulous breakfast! Even Max thought so...No really, every time I turned away, he was snagging some of my tofu, see?The best part is that, when I'd look at him, he'd just groom away, happily licking the crusty crumbs from his stealthy paws....I look away and, well...see for yourself! This one will also fight you for broccoli....we don't call him Mad Max for nothin!

Another Damn Tasty Meal

2007-09-11T13:52:00.000-05:00

Surprisingly, this is only the second recipe I've tried from Kris's book the Damn Tasty Vegan Baking Guide. Another total success. I made the Garlic Rolls, a yeasty, perfectly tender on the inside, crusty on the outside accompaniment to your favorite meal. Here's one before baking.And here they are after. I followed the suggestion to brush the tops, once cooked, with a bit of melted Smart Balance and dust them with a cashew, NY, sea salt blend. Perfecto!
This same night, I tried my hand at the Horizons Cookbook's basic pan seared tofu recipe. I think I was a tad too heavy handed in applying the spice blend so these were super packed with flavor and will tone it down next time, but the flavor combination was outta this world. We loved it and enjoyed it with some store bought gnocchi (I swear I'm gonna make my own, one of these days!), my homemade red sauce, and a sauted bunch of rappini, or broccoli rabe, with garlic. This was such a satisfying meal. We loved how simple and hearty it was.

Lil o' this...lil o' that

2007-09-10T11:48:00.000-05:00

Those canned rice 'n beans (this one's pinto and brown rice) with a can of black beans added, topped with fresh avocado, a ribbon Tofutti Sour Cream, my Super Salsa (seriously, people, go make this before tomatillos stop making an appearance, I eat some every day!), and a bit of fresh cilantro. My favorite salad of late, arugula, tons of fresh mushrooms, walnuts, and Becoming Vegan's Liquid Gold Dressing.I also tried something new with Vegan Vittles' savory Herbed Whole Wheat Bread. I never seem to have much luck with bread loaf pan breads. I do better with free form breads. This one was no exception, was a bit too dense and uncooked in the middle.No worries, I just sliced it up and baked the slices in the oven a bit longer til they were cooked thru. YUM!

A Year's Worth of Yeast

2007-09-09T20:08:00.001-05:00

Nutritional Yeast, that is.

A year ago last August I decided to forgo the tons of tiny plastic shaker bottles of Nutritional Yeast I was accumulating and opted for a 6 lb. bucket of my most favorite ingredient. Lots of people laughed, wondering how I'd ever use it all or keep it fresh.
As you can see below, using it all? totally not a problem. hehe. As for keeping it fresh, since it's already in a opaque, air-tight bucket, safe from light and moisture...and we store it in the pantry where it's cool and dry...it stays fresh no problem. From veganessentials.com (I love this site) I ordered it for just under $50. Fifty bucks for a year's worth? I was fine with that. Recently, I reordered a five lb. bag from bulkfoods.com, got the same Red Star Nutritional Yeast for just $27.30. Theirs comes in a bag but no worries, I just refilled my bucket!

While I still order all kinds of things from veganessentials.com as much as possible, I'm thrilled to find my most beloved NY for twenty bucks cheaper AND I won't start accumulating 6 lb buckets!

If you, too are a fan of nutritional yeast, always make sure you're buying the Red Star brand as it's the only one (that i know of, anyway) totally fortified with all the B vitamins that make this tasty addition a healthy powerhouse. Want more info? Check out Red Star's website and their Nutritional Yeast division.