Taco Tuesday!

Ironically, I typically rock a theme. You wouldn't know it around here, but if you need a party thrown and have a theme in mind? I'm your girl.  I've done tea party bridal showers.

I've thrown sports themed baby showers.

Beach themed baby showers 

And I have made each and every one of my daughter's five birthdays a wonderland of whatever the theme was to be. 

Our first ever Wooau

The second, a Yo Gabba Wooau!

Third Birthday Requested Butterfly Cake at another Wooau.

For her fourth she wanted a 'Castle Party'. She got one, complete with Royal Family Crest and Hall.

Fifth Birthday Butterfly Fairy Party!

(I apologize as the candies on the cakes are not vegan. My daughter is vegetarian and those items were graciously donated by family to assist in the birthday magic)

 What does that have to do with Taco Tuesday?

You'd think nothing. Except when you're talkin' about themes. I haven't been able to come up with one I'd stick to, but Lazy Smurf's Guide's MoFo theme is, easily, the best thing I've ever heard of. It's a Taco Cleanse. That's right. All tacos, all the time. For a month. Exactly. How could anything that fabulous NOT be the best idea ever? I might not be able to stick to a theme all month, but Taco Tuesday is right up my alley. I think I'll even keep to it after MoFo.

So, in honor of my favorite theme this MoFo season, I will blog (yet again) about my most favorite taco incarnation. I always want Tacos on Tuesday.  Maybe it's from The Top's Tempeh Tacos for 'Taco Tuesday at The Top' that I miss so dearly.  Maybe it's just my lasting love for alleration. Either way, it's Tuesday. So I'm having Tacos. Consider it a one day a week cleanse. For breakfast I threw scrambled tofu in a warm corn tortilla with avocado  and cilantro and red onion. No pic. It was early.  I was starving. Sorry about that. 

For lunch AND for dinner though, I plan on having these beauties, known as THE Tacos 'round here. I once blogged that you could make no substitutions, and while the Jasmine rice that was included takes them to a whole new level, I have stopped making the rice and enjoy them just as much sans the extra carb. I also started dressing the cabbage and letting it sit while I prepped the other things because it's just so much tastier this way! Feel free to decide if your cleanse needs rice or if you would rather have one less pot to clean. 

I whole-heartedly urge you to join in on the taco cleanse, even if it's just for a day. Tacos, they do the body deliciously
good. 

THE Tacos
I eat three of these and call it a delicious meal. One can of beans makes about three meals for me.

corn tortillas
1 tsp coconut oil (or oil of choice)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
cumin, to taste
oregano, to taste
1/2 small sweet onion, slivered
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
salt, to taste
green cabbage, shredded
lime juice
fresh cilantro
Spicy Sauce:
Vegenaise
Sriracha
toasted sesame oil
agave

Prepare Spicy Sauce:
Place Vegenaise in small bowl. I make a large quantity of this sauce and put it in a squeeze bottle to have on hand for future tacos, sushi, anything I feel could use a fancy drizzle of creamy, spicy goodness. It sometimes separates a bit but a quick shake of the bottle should fix that right up. Add small amounts each of Sriracha, toasted sesame oil, and agave, stirring in each and tasting until desired heat, sweetness, and umami flavor is reached. I have never measured these, but would guess that for every cup of Vegenaise I add about a tablespoon or two of Sriracha, and a teaspoon or two of the oil and agave. You do have to use toasted sesame oil or you won't get that rich umami flavor.

cut off a chunk of cabbage and sliver as much as you think you'll need for as many tacos as you plan to make. I like to cut mine so that I have thin ribbons of cabbage. squirt cut cabbage with lime juice, add shopped cilantro and toss, allowing to sit while you make the rest of the items you'll need.

Lime & Cilantro Dressed Green Cabbage

Heat oil over med heat and add onions. stirring occasionally, add salt and garlic, and saute for a few minutes or until onions are soft and start to brown. Add rinsed and drained beans and stir, lowering heat to med lo. Add cumin and oregano to taste, and heat through. remove from heat (or your beans may get all mushy and start to fall apart).

Heat non stick skillet (I use my mostly non-stick cast iron pan) to med hi. Warm corn tortillas a few minutes on each side or until they are warmed through and just start to brown in spots. remove from pan.

Spoon beans onto tortillas.

T, our five year old, LOVES assembling THE tacos

Add a large pile of lime cilantro cabbage. Squirt (or use a baggie with the corner cut off, filled with the spicy sauce) sauce on top. Enjoy!

These tacos are my most favorite. I eat them a couple times a week, most weeks. I have so many taco recipes bookmarked that I've never tried because I crave these and love cabbage. Honestly, I never even know I loved cabbage until these tacos became part of my regular rotation of go-to meals. I hope you love them as much as my family does. Happy Taco Tuesday!

Ta da!  THE Taco Tuesday!

Banana Maple Walnut Chia Pudding

Banana Maple Walnut Chia Pudding

I know I'm totally late to the Chia Seed Party, but I am SO glad I finally got here. The price of these little gems has been the only reason I failed to add them to my basket at the local health food store once I learned of their many delicious uses and praised health benefits. According to WebMD, 

'Chia seeds are an unprocessed, whole-grain food that can be absorbed by the body as seeds (unlike flax seeds . One ounce (about 2 tablespoons) contains 139 calories, 4 grams of protein, 9 grams fat, 12 grams carbohydrates and 11 grams of fiber, plus vitamins and minerals.  

Some claim that they're good for weight loss since they stave off appetite, plumping up in the belly, making one feel full.  I'm more interested in their health benefits aside from that. Chia seeds are full of fiber and Omega-3 Fatty Acids. As someone who suffers from hypertension, anything that helps with heart health is a welcome addition to my daily meals. Omega Fatty Acids promote brain and heart health, helping to maintain healthy cholesterol and blood sugar, and promote healthy digestion. Sounds good to me!

Our eldest kitty, Coda*, not exactly happy to share the counter space.

 My most recent trip to the health food store allowed for a little splurge so I knew just what aisle needed a visit. I opted for the Garden of Life brand as it's Organic and I got the most for my money compared to my other options without having to buy a ton. I wanted to try them out first before committing to a really large quantity. I also like that this brand is certified organic, and carries Vegan, Kosher, Non GMO, and GF and sustainable organic farming support labels.

My original idea, when I heard of the tiny seeds tendency to plump up and create a gelatinous ball around the seed, most like you'd find in a tomato, was to use in salad dressings. Some of my favorite, go-to vegan homemade dressing pack a punch of flavor, but are a bit on the thin side.

Once I got them home, though, I couldn't wait to try them out. I put a tablespoon in some blueberry lemonade and stirred now and then for ten minutes. While they did plump up and give me reason to chew a bit before swallowing (I enjoyed this a lot, actually), the ten minutes was not enough to suspend them as I've seen in many a post about the popular drink, the Lemon Chia Fresca. They did not impart any new flavor that I could distinguish, but I really loved the texture.

Still not having baked my oats for the week, I decided a breakfast pudding would be my next way to enjoy the chia seeds. Wanting a flavor similar to what I eat every morning, I mashed some banana, added almond milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and a pinch of salt, stirred and refrigerated overnight.

Just lookit all those plumped up seeds. Yum!

The results? Amazing, creamy pudding with tiny little pearls of texture that I can only liken to tapioca, which I also love. I ate them with crushed walnuts and a tiny drizzle of pure maple syrup. Loved it. I will say, though, that after eating what should be one serving of this pudding, I wasn't full. I drank a full glass of water and ate a plain piece of whole grain toast. Then I promptly ate the second serving of chia pudding. Yum. Now I'm stuffed. Live and learn! So while I'm about to get in the kitchen to make baked oats for the next eight breakfasts, I will also be mixing up some more of this pudding to eat as a dessert or for a between meals snack. 

Banana Maple Walnut Chia Pudding
serves 2

2 overripe bananas, mashed
1 c. unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use Almond)
3 T chia seeds
1 good pinch cinnamon
1 good pinch of nutmeg (I microplane whole nutmeg nuts)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
walnuts, crushed, for topping
1-2 tsp maple syrup, for drizzling

In a medium to large bowl, thoroughly mash bananas to a paste. There will be some smallish lumps. That's ok. Whisk in almond milk, chia seeds, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and pinch of salt. Cover, and refrigerate overnight (or at least 8-12 hours). When ready to serve, divide into two smaller bowls and top with walnuts, drizzle with maple syrup.

I love that the flavor is reminiscent of banana nut muffins without filling myself full of some sort of bread. I can imagine the texture may not be pleasing to everyone, so I would recommend blending the whole pudding until smooth if things like Tapioca are not appealing to you.

*Coda is our eldest of our five remaining kitties. Just before the Cap'n and I were married in '97 we moved back to FL from the frigid Northeast. Cooped up in a tiny apartment with our first kitty rescue, Table, we both were working full time at whatever jobs we could get. One day while working at a balloon and party store, the Cap'n called me and said, 'You have to come get our new cat'. 'What? What's wrong with Tabes?', I asked, fearing he'd gotten out of the apartment and was hurt or had been lost. 'Just come, it's not Table' was the only reply I got. I left work early and drove over to his job which was situated next to an emergency vet clinic. Inside, in a large dog cage, was the tiniest black kitten with the biggest ears and bluest eyes I'd ever seen. She was purring so hard it made her whole body vibrate. I was told that as a four to five week old black kitten, if no one adopted her she would likely end up euthanized as fall in a college town is a bad place to be an orphaned infant feline. I had no carrier but scooped her into my arms and drove home with her curled up and shaking on my chest. At one stop light, just as it turned red, something spooked our poor girl and she raced down my body and under the break peddle. Unable to stop in the usual way I let off the gas and pulled the emergency break. I am happy to report that the car stopped, the kitty was safe, and my transmission didn't take a nosedive for being so mistreated. whew!  As a kitten, she loved to play hide and seek. she would jump out at us, rearing up on her hind legs, front paws up in the air like only tiny kittens can do, from any corner or dark spot she could crawl into, and we'd know it was 'game on'. We would hide and she would slink around looking for us. She knew where the mousies were kept and learned to open the drawer for herself. Funny, I never could get her to learn to clean up. :)  Since, sweet Coda/Codabear/CoCo has been through knee surgeries for a wayward patella, IBS (she's a very skittish soul), lots of moves, and more new furry family members and foster siblings than she ever wanted. She gets her own room and the run of the house when other cats are safely tucked away to spare her any extra anxiety. She loves only the Cap'n, me, and our daughter and basically wants nothing to do with anyone who isn't about to feed her. She's so very sweet to us though and lets us hold her like a baby and nuzzles me up under my chin, drooling and pointing those pretty doe eyes my way. She lives on lots of wet cat food, love, and the desire to outlive any other feline who has the audacity to reside here, and I feel so lucky that this tiny little beauty has been a member of our family for so long. 

Cold-Brewed Coffee

I love my coffee in the morning. Always have. I have tried to 'quit' coffee many times, feeling like it was wreaking havoc on my stomach. I'd drink green tea for a few weeks and then I'd smell that delicious coffee aroma somewhere and I'd be off the wagon. Again.

I had a friend once tell me that cold-brewed coffee was where it was at. I kind of half listened to him explain how great it was, smoother, better, and then he lost me when he brought up some fancy apparatus I should have. It wasn't crazy expensive, but I had just replaced my old coffee maker and I wasn't about to spend a penny on any new kitchen gadget. I'd just make my cup of joe small and convince myself my tummy troubles were just mine to deal with.

Then one day it happened. I was pouring my morning coffee and realized I had everything I needed to try this cold-brewed coffee that was suddenly all over Pinterest. I assembled my tools, mixed the grounds with water, covered, and went to bed. In the morning I was shocked to find that my friend was so right. It was smooth, all the coffee flavor I loved without the bitter aftertaste. An hour later I didn't feel like I'd had rocks in my oatmeal now rumbling in my stomach or acid trying to work its way back up. Coffee, when heated, becomes more acidic. This is why it was always bothering my stomach. Now my coffee never even gets to room temperature so it's not a problem.

Since then I have brewed my coffee cold.  Every time. Every five days I mix up a pot and enjoy it every morning, a happier coffee connoisseur. You can, too! Here's how I brew mine.

What you'll need:

A large pot from your existing coffee maker (unless I'm the only one left on Earth who never switched to the Keurig style maker, then you'll need a pitcher that holds at least ten cups of water. I prefer glass.)
coffee, ground
funnel
2 coffee filters (I had just bought a bajillion of the cone style for my coffee maker and haven't used them up yet)
1 small, fine wire mesh strainer (optional, but it takes some of the load off the filters ensuring they won't tear)
Second large glass container (I used an old washed out magnum wine bottle for a while then scored a large glass carafe at the grocery store for $5)

Method:

Everyone likes their coffee at different strengths so while this ratio of water to coffee works for me, you may want more or less coffee in your mix. What you're doing is making a coffee concentrate that you will dilute with water so even if you make it my way and it's too strong, you can add more water. Alternately, if it's too weak for your liking, you can use more concentrate, less water. 

Fill coffee pot to 10 cups with cold, filtered water. I have a water cooler with its own filter so we fill it from our tap but get delicious cold or hot filtered water on demand. I can link to what we have at the end of this post. It has changed my life as the water here isn't so great, and I refuse to buy water. Add 1 1/3 c. of ground coffee. Stir well to ensure all coffee grounds are soaked. I use a fork. Cover. I have covered with saran wrap in the past but have just started tossing a a clean dish towel over the pot. Leave on the counter for at least 12 hours. On the morning of my last serving of coffee, I mix mine up and put in the refrigerator at night to be filtered the following morning. Place funnel in collection container, be it carafe or old wine bottle or any other glass bottle or jug or pitcher that will hold the amount you've made. Line funnel with two paper filters. Lay strainer over filters. Pour brewed coffee into strainer until it's reached the top of the funnel. Allow to filter into receptacle. Repeat until coffee pot is empty. Fill 12-18 oz glass half way with coffee concentrate. Add creamer and/or sweetener of choice, if that's your thing. Fill glass with remaining cold, filtered water. Stir, and enjoy! I use a 16 oz glass, fill halfway with concentrate, add 1 Tablespoon of Silk French Vanilla Creamer, then fill the glass with cold, filtered water. Having super cold water means I get my mix just right without having to use ice cubes that might dilute it, but one could easily mix the concentrate with the desired proportion of water and freeze cubes to add to their coffee.

Even my tea loving husband says this is the best coffee he's ever had. It really does taste smoother and milder but maintains that coffee flavor we coffee drinkers are after.

Have you tried cold-brewing? Do you use a Cold Brewing apparatus, a French Press, or something else entirely? 

Here's the water cooler filter I mentioned. We fill it up with a pitcher throughout the day from our tap and enjoy hot/cold delicious filtered water all day. I opt for the mineral rock cartridge option because it makes my crappy city water taste like the mineral-rich water we're used to from a well. You do have to keep up with it, periodically scrubbing the ceramic filter and remembering to change the filters out as needed. I did the math, though, and not only is it more convenient than remembering to pick up water, no weird plastic jugs to lug to and from the store, but it also is cheaper than any of the water suppliers we have available to us. The plastic is BPA free. The cooler was a house warming gift from my folks. Best. Gift. Ever. 

Roasted Spaghetti Squash Dinner

This dinner is a culmination of a favorite way to prepare spaghetti squash, a new-found way to quickly prepare a light and bright tasting tomato sauce, and seitan borne of a few different recipes, yielding results so simple and delicious that my picky five year old helped make, tried without prompting, and loved every bite!

I have made spaghetti squash a number of ways. I used to just pierce and bake the whole thing, but now I opt for squashes that are smaller so that they're a bit easier to cut. With a managable size, they're easy enough to cut in half with a sharp knife, scoop out the seeds and innards, and roast with garlic which really does add a wonderful flavor to the squash. I like how the squash strands on the cut end brown and caramelize a bit this way. 

Roasted Spaghetti Squash

1 small to med size spaghetti squash, halved and cleaned
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
olive oil
sea salt

Preheat oven to 375. Place about a tsp or so of olive oil in hand and rub all over cut side of squash. Repeat for second half. (You could use a small bowl and a brush, but that's two more dishes I'd rather not do). Top each half's cavity with garlic (I like to use the oil on my hands to coat the garlic as well as I'm putting it on the squash). Salt each half to taste. Bake in oven for 50 minutes to an hour or until strands of squash pull away easily with a fork. You want the squash pliable, but not mushy. It's ideal that it has some firm texture but is not crunchy. Remove from oven and allow to cool while you make sauce and seitan. Do not turn off oven.

Quick and Light Tomato Sauce

 As I am half Italian, I grew up believing a good pot of red sauce had to sit all day to taste good. Not true! This recipe, adapted from 101 Cookbooks' Five Minute Tomato Sauce, has a bit of a kick, is made light and fresh tasting with the addition of the zest of one lemon, and takes but a few minutes to prepare! I cut down on the oil and the red pepper as to suit my tastes and added half of a large sweet onion because I really love the soft bite of some sweet onion in my tomato sauces. 

1 tablespoon olive oil 
1 small or half of one med. to large. sweet onion
3 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 - 1 tsp sea salt
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (I have also used canned, peeled, whole tomatoes and just zap with my immersion blender when that's all the grocer has in the brand I am looking for).
zest of one lemon

Open your can of tomatoes. In medium size saucepan, heat 1 olive oil over med high heat. Add onion and saute for a few minutes until it starts to soften and brown a tiny bit. Add garlic, salt, and pepper flakes and, stirring constantly, saute for about 30 seconds. You want to smell garlic but not brown or burn it. Add tomatoes and heat until bubbling. Turn off heat.  If you want a smoother sauce, use immersion blender to produce desired consistency. Stir in lemon zest. No, really. It's that easy. Heidi is a genius.

Simple Sausage Style Seitan

I took a method from VegWeb and used the spices from Julie Hasson's Seitan Cutlet recipe in Vegan Diner and created my new go-to way to make seitan on the fast and easy. I love the texture of this. It's almost crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, not rubbery at all. This recipe could be spiced any way you want to create a flavor that best compliments your dish of choice. I thought the sausage flavor would go well with the squash and tomato sauce. It turned out to be a great combo! My five year old (who is not a fan of trying new things) gobbled up a few pieces with ketchup.

dry ingredients:
1 cup vital wheat gluten (I only use Bob's Red Mill)
2 tablespoons chickpea flour
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp each garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, and oregano
1/2 tsp fennel seed

wet ingredients:
1/2 cup water (add a T at a time extra if your dough seems a bit dry. I like my dough to be wet but not soggy and ended up using about 2T water beyond the 1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons shoyu
1 tablespoon olive oil

In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients and mix evenly with a whisk. In a smaller bowl (I use a glass, two cup measuring cup) whisk together wet ingredients. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir gently until combined. Knead for a few minutes or until seitan dough is thoroughly mixed and there are no dry, floury parts. You don't need to knead this much at all and you want the dough wet but not soaking wet. 
Shape into a log shape and, with a sharp knife, cut into strips/chunks that are about 1/2 -  1 inch thick. I got 16 strips. Flatten and stretch them out just a bit so that they are no more than 1/2 and inch in thickness. Place on parchment or prepared baking sheet (I use a generic Silpat-like mat. I cannot recommend them enough as you don't need oil to make them non-stick and I no longer have to remember to stock my kitchen with parchment!). I sprayed the tops lightly with olive oil spray, but am not sure that was really necessary and won't do it the next time I make it and will report back. Bake for 10 minutes. Flip seitan pieces and bake for another 4-5 minutes or until desired firmness. We liked that ours were pretty soft but not mushy inside. 

Scrape cooled squash onto plate and top with seitan pieces and tomato sauce. I like to sprinkle a healthy dusting of raw hemp seeds on top of mine as the entire meal is otherwise very low in fat, and I like the little crunch you get from the flavorful hemp seeds. Blending some nuts with nutritional yeast and some garlic and salt makes a good Parmesan stand in as well.

Japanese Takeout

When life gives you a 14 hour long migraine with so much to do in a day that you don't even eat anything after your tofu nomelet but an apple and a spoonful of peanut butter? Make your husband pick up Vegan Friendly Japanese Takeout before bed. Or, at least ask him very nicely in a whispered voice and a cold pack attached to your head.

I had other plans for today's post, but yesterday was a fog of errands, a mountain paperwork, and a throbbing of brain. 

Food = Medicine

This cheap dinner from the Japanese Teppanyaki place up the street really hit the spot and allowed me to go to bed tired, aching, but fed. Grilled ('grilled' after first coating with cornstarch is not grilled, but I'm not picky) tofu with a slightly sweet teriyaki sauce (that I should have asked them to put on the side as I'm sure Florida Crystals were not the sweetener. good news is that the soft tofu inside slid right out of the coating and tasted just fine naked as all good tofu will. yum), and a tempura veggie (tempura'd broccoli and sweet potato and avocado, oh my!) roll (with my own homemade spicy sauce: Vegenaise, toasted sesame oil, agave, and Sriracha, that I always have on hand) were just what the doctor ordered...and the amazing, sweet, accommodating beloved delivered. I love when we take visiting friends and family there. Omnis love a good Japanese 'Steakhouse' and I love that there are lots of vegan options like edamame, udon noodles, vegan friendly miso, salads, creative veggie rolls, and that they make my tofu and veggies on a part of the grill far away from and before the meat entrees of the other patrons. My kid gets a kick out of that onion volcano every time so it's a win all around. Their takeout is fast and inexpensive and moments from home. Felt pretty grateful for that last night, despite the sauce hiccup. Maybe the chef had a migraine, too. :)

Over the weekend I'll be working on a post about hair care and my vegan journey into getting my unruly mop shiny and happy without sulfates, silicones or non-vegan products! Have a great weekend!

For now, here's a kitty pic. Because when you have no recipe, wow them with kittehs. 

Maximilian! * If I can't find a running shoe or a hair tie
 I know it's likely been dragged under the bed by my snuggle buddy, Max.  It's great to be so loved. 

*Max was one of six kittens dropped off in a box with a towel over it at the refuge 

(Back to Nature, just outside of Orlando) where I used to work. I lifted the towel and a tiny, five week old ball of scruff and attitude came flying at me, clawing and meowing and sticking to me like Velcro. Very scratchy, hungry Velcro. Some of the volunteers and I sat around during our lunch break feeding them and pondering their fate and when a coworker of mine and I stepped up saying we would each adopt one, every single other person decided they would too. All kitties found loving homes that day. He is one of my two 'Bithlo Kitties' and was always the kid I thought I'd never have. He's about 12 now and still full of just as much fire as the day we met, but reserves all his snuggling for his human momma. He will scratch your face off if you (not me, but you hehe) try and pet him south of mid-back but will be your best bud if you scratch under his chin. He will come whenever I call and bless me when I sneeze, even when it wakes him from a deep kitty slumber. Love my Max!