The Soup and The Dessert (that kept me awake all night)

The Soup: Holiday Soup for the Soul from Oh She Glows.

I liked it, but he* loved it!  Some of his comments:

"Did you notice how good this soup was?" (we ate at different times)

"Something about this soup is really good!"

"What's that really good flavor in this soup?"

"That soup was so good!"

My substitutions: 

1 small yam and 1 stalk of celery in place of zucchini

regular white quinoa for red quinoa

regular yellow onion for sweet onion

It was still wonderful, despite the substitutions. 

*He = my omnivore husband

***

The question of the hour:  why am I still awake (and on the computer) at 1:00am???  I think it was the banana soft serve we ate at 9:30pm.  

What?  Banana soft serve, you say?  What was in it?

1 frozen banana

a dollop of maple syrup (could have been omitted)

a scoop of raw almond butter

a small scoop of cocoa powder (I think this is the culprit and why I'm still awake)

Processed in the food processor until smooth.  Topped with granola.  Served two.

Has this happened to you?

YIKES!

This is what I wake up to almost every morning.  No wonder I hate getting out of bed!

And after a five day weekend, it's even worse.  I just want to cuddle in my warm bed with my cuddly dogs until the cows come home.  I've been sleeping till 10am almost every day!

Okay, here's the game plan.
1.  I clean the whole house tonight so no cleaning in the morning before the preschool kids arrive.
2.  Pick my clothes so I can get dressed without thinking.
3.  Shower tonight so I just need a rinse off in the morning.
4.  Set the coffee pot!
5.  Set the alarm thirty minutes later so I don't resent waking up in the dark.
6.  Prepare some Overnight Oats so I have some breakfast after the coffee soaks in.

Ready...Set...Launch back into work mode!!!

Hiatus!

I am just not up to date on my blogging or blog-reading this week!  Time to catch up!

I saw this on the Kind Life blog today, and I do love Robin Quivers.  That could be due to my annoyance at Howard Stern as she is a nice juxtoposition.

Here is an interview with Robin on Jimmy Kimmel and she's talking about being vegan.  It's a sweet interview.  It was good timing, too, because I was laying in bed thinking of how badly I needed some "bad" food.  Even pizza (with real cheese--ew!) sounded good.  The blogosphere came to the rescue again...I found a delicious recipe that I'm going to make for dinner in The Radioactive Vegan, and I found this video to cheer up my vegan post-Thanksgiving blues.




and part two...



I hope you enjoy it as much as I did : )

Vegan Thanksgiving...to share, or not to share?

Why is all of that Thanksgiving food in to-go containers, you ask??? Read on to find out!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

And I hope you like my new profile picture : ) I did a lot of work editing it in Picnik. I was in my pajamas when I took that picture!

Why my food is in to-go containers: Dinner is at Grandma's, and every thing at Grandma's is made with turkey juice, butter, or straight up meat. Is it more rude to bring just enough vegan food for myself to Grandma's thanksgiving dinner, or is it more rude to bring enough to share? I want to eat, I'm not eating animal products, and I want to be a courteous and conscientous guest. But I'm not sure if I am going to get my way on all three.

Well, the fact is I made my own vegan potatoes, gravy, and stuffing. And they are something to write home about! But since I don't "write home", I'll blog about it. The mashed potatoes with the gravy on top was heaven in my mouth. And the stuffing...well, let's just say I had to bake it uncovered three times to get the top crispy because every time I took it out of the oven, I would pick at all of the crisp parts until there was no crisp to speak of.

Saffron and Spice Mashed Potatoes

6 yellow potatoes, peeled, boiled till soft, and drained

1/2 non dairy milk

1 tablespoon Earth Balance (optional)

a few saffron threads

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

pinch of salt

Heat almond milk (or other non dairy milk) on low and add margarine. Heat through until margarine is melted, or just warm. Turn off heat, add saffron threads. Let them soak for ten minutes. Add mixture plus garam masala and salt to mashed potatoes and mash or process depending on how smooth you want it.

Mushroom Gravy

1/2 onion, diced

1/2 largely diced portabella head (roughly 3/4 cup) or any other mushroom (this was what I had)

1 bullion cube

2 cups broth

1 cup water

pinch of thyme

3 tablespoons nutritional yeast (or to taste)

flour as needed to thicken

Sautee onions and mushroom in oil or earth balance until mushrooms release their liquid. Add thyme, broth, water, bullion, and nutritional yeast. Stir and bring to a boil. Cook over medium high heat for about ten minutes, stirring until bullion cube is completely dissolved. Add flour in small bits at a time and whisk after each addition until the desired thickness is reached. Add salt if needed.

Vegan Gimme Lean Stuffing

1 roll of Gimme Lean sausage, cooked and made into pieces like you see on sausage pizza

3 celery stalks, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1 cup portabella or other mushroom, chopped

2 cups of broth

fresh spices, I used fresh sage, rosemary, and thyme

1 package artisan bread stuffing cubes (or make your own)

Saute onions, celery, carrots, and mushrooms in oil or margarine until just tender but not too tender. Add spices halfway through cooking. Place in bowl and stir in bread cubes until coated. Let sit for a few minutes. Add vegetable broth and fold in. Transfer to baking dish, bake covered for thirty minutes, then uncovered for 15 minutes or until crisp on top.

I had to make this pumpkin pie (again) while I was slaving in the kitchen.

And I will bring this cookie mandala to the host and hostess (Grandpa and Grandma) tomorrow:

There were 16 cookies. Now there are 14 : )

Pie and I

One weekend. Two pies.

THIS is a make-up post from last weekend.

***
Last weekend I made this delicious Pumpkin Pie. This weekend, I tried a new recipe from Oh She Glows.

Disclaimers: Contains tofu and brown sugar. (I'm so bad these days! It's the holidays...)

I altered the recipe as follows:
-1/2 cup maple and 1/3 cup brown sugar (rather than 1/4 c maple and 1/2 c sugar)
-added 1 teaspoon of flax just to try and thicken it... hopefully it gelatinizes in the batter itself.
-doubled the pecans (i'm hoping for a whole pecan layer!)
-used a frozen crust (I'm not worthy of being in the food blogosphere! I will perform harikari as soon as this pie is eaten!)

Pie Fail #1: Next time, follow the recipe


But does that not look scrumptious?

Here is her original recipe (I suggest using it!!!).

Vegan Pumpkin Pecan Pie with [frozen, but she makes spelt] Crust

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Prepare pie crust and place on the bottom:
1/2 cup pecans mixed with 1 tablespoon of maple syrup

In a food processor, mix until smooth:
12 oz. silken tofu

Then add:
2 cups pumpkin (but only 1.5 cups comes per can so I used less)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (I used her alternative: 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp clove, and added my own 1/4 tsp allspice)
1 heaping tablespoon cornstarch

Process until smooth, fill the pie crust, and pop it in the oven for 42-47 minutes.

Done.

NEXT!!!


Vegan Pot Pie

This actually turned out great, but I did make a fatal error (see pie fail below) that I would need to remedy before serving this pie to anyone except me and my husband.

In a saucepan or pressure cooker, heat until almost done:

4 cups chopped vegetables

enough broth and water to cover vegetables

The vegetables were basically clean-up food. Whatever I had left in the fridge from the week is what I used. Browned onions, two cloves of garlic, cauliflower, mushrooms, one tiny eggplant, sweet potato, carrots, and celery. I pressure cooked all of them for about ten minutes (I'd do seven next time). The final result was a good texture, despite the combination of vegetables in the cooker.

Once the veggies are done, strain out excess liquid and save. Set veggies aside. You'll use about 3 cups of them once they are cooked. The extra you can pack up and save for another meal.

Place the liquid back into the saucepan or cooker. Cook over medium, and add:
1 heaping tablespoon of brown rice flour (any flour will do)
2 heaping tablespoons of nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon tarragon
salt and black pepper to taste

This will be your gravy. Stir until just mixed, and either whisk or food process (I processed to get the vegetable chunks down to a minimum). Place back into pot, and add:
1/2 cup seitan, rinsed and cut into small pieces (optional)

Bring to boil, and then turn off heat, stirring frequently (even after the heat is off because it wants to create a skin and also stick to the pan).

Get your pie crust ready. I used a frozen one.

Dump the veggies into the gravy and fold them into the gravy so as not to break them up.

Dump this mixture into the pie crust.

I used this recipe to make my top layer.

Bake at 375 for 20 -30 minutes or until the top crust is browned.

Pie Fail #2: Don't Broil the Top Crust, and if you do, wait near the oven and don't go sweep the house and forget that your pie is broiling.

Pie Win: Other than that, it's an awesome pot pie with some awesome gravy.

Recipe Fail: Why did I make this recipe sound so complicated? It was so easy!

***

[Gives self a cheer-up hug] Both pies were eaten in entirety, so the pie fails didn't ruin them completely.

Amazing Oatmeal Cookies

This would be the remainder of the cookies.

Disclaimer: This cookie has brown sugar : ) But just a wee bit.

I got this Oatmeal Cookie recipe from Angela at Oh She Glows. It's a good one, and easy. I just love how in most of my vegan cooking, often the countertop mixer stays in the cupboard while the food processor takes on all functional roles in the recipe. This is true even in this cookie recipe.

I made no adaptations to the recipe since I was making the cookies for my co-worker, who misses our old Brownie Fridays (she grieved when I stopped eating sugar!).

We baked the lighter colored ones for exactly ten minutes (the recipe suggests not going over ten minutes), but they weren't done in the middle (my oven isn't the greatest) so we did the next batch for 12 minutes, which made them slightly overdone. Next time, it will be an 11 minute bake time. Even though the underdone ones don't seem cooked in the middle, they take on a nice soft and moist texture once they cool completely. They are way better underdone than overdone!

Things I love about this recipe:

-They are beautiful and smell delicious

-They are easy

-Everyone loved them

-They have lots of walnuts but no walnut chunks

Easy Dinner Menu

You know it's basketball season when the ottoman becomes our kitchen table!

*

I appreciate the small successes in the kitchen. My un-savvy culinary ways create many a mishap, and completion of a good dish is noteworthy.

Which is why I'm sharing this meal. It is simple--very basic, here--but some small touches brought it out of the usual mediocrity. So I had to share. Plus, I haven't been blogging much this week so I'm feeling a bit of pressure to get something out on the table.

And as I write, I'm sitting in bliss, with my beautiful snoring Dexter laying beside me on the bed with his head on Tristan's pillow. I can almost feel my heart pumping out the love. And he is my Australian Cattle Dog.

Leftovers because I'm too hungry to wait for my dinner plate to say cheese before eating. Shown here: Leftovers in my Pyrex-leftover-for-lunch dish that I love, my new cutting board that I want to marry, and my new rolling pin that I want to take behind the high school and get pregnant (30 Rock, anyone?). Read on to find out why I love my new tools!

A Better-than-going-out-and-much-healthier-too Dinner

Simple, Easy, Hardy, and Some Raw Veggies

Okay, so those of you who know my blog will see that I cheated in many ways in this meal. But that might start to happen more as I try to fatten up my husband and also as I have lazy days : ) The thing I like about this meal is that for my husband, I served it with salsa, and for myself, I served it with mango pickle (and Indian accent). So it was versatile in that it could cross cultural boundaries.

Beans

Canned refried pinto beans, vegetarian, Whole Foods brand

Place one can of beans into a saucepan, add:

1/4 cup of water

a handful of nutritional yeast (I have big hands)

a small dab (1/8 teaspoon?) bullion (or salt).

Stir well over medium-high heat. When it starts to bubble, turn it to low and add:

1/8 teaspoon garam masala

(weird, right? but it turned out sooo good with a subtle hint of something else good).

Brown Basmati Rice

I cooked this in our pressure cooker...only my second time using the cooker. It scares me! But I'm getting brave because I like having brown rice ready in twenty minutes. After it was cooked, I added some chaunk with canola oil, one bay leaf, 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds, and a red chile chopped in three pieces (so it could easily be removed). I took it off the heat as soon as I added the spices so as not to disturb the healthy qualities more than necessary. It made a difference in the rice, too, and because there is fenu greek, our body odor will smell like maple syrup tomorrow : )

Tortillas

I made wheat chapatis (that link also links to the original source of the recipe, although I've gotten my groove with these now so I have my "system"). It was really, really nice to have our own homemade tortillas rather than store bought wraps and such. I can't say mine are much healtheir, but they also have a more traditional feel that I appreciate. I used my new cutting board to knead and roll out dough and my new french rolling pin. If you ever plan to make your own tortillas, the french rolling pin is the easiest I've ever used (I've only used our regular American style ones with the handles and the traditional Indian skinny ones). It makes a huge difference! At some point I will post my full recipe but right now it includes a partial amount of white flour so I want to try to replace that with something first.

Sides and Garnish

Chopped raw spinach

Chopped campari tomatoes

Sliced avocado

Garnish with chopped cilatro

Salsa for him (we used Costco's organic salsa and it's pretty good)

Mango Pickle for me (very spicy but I'm used to it now)

My favorite cereal

It's been a few days since my last post (seeing as I'm not on the Vegan MoFo list, I didn't feel too compelled!). I've been wanting to share my most favoritest cereal with you:

Dorset Cereals

Simply delicious muesli

It's as sweet as you'd like it to be, and for me, trying to be refined-sugar-free, I drink it with unsweetened soy milk and I add a few more dates (hey, I'm still a sugar addict!). It even has brasil nuts in it, which I love because I so rarely get those in my diet.

***

Almond Milk FAIL

I've been drinking the Whole Foods 365 brand almond milk in the original flavor and for some reason I thought it was unsweetend. Well, I checked the label the other day, and lo and behold, there is evaporated cane juice in it. No wonder I like it so much! I like my homemade almond milk better than their unsweetened soy, which tastes like actual beans, so I'll probably start making my own almond milk again, fiber and all : )

The Healthiest Pumpkin Pie I Ever Did See

I had to try out my new pressure cooker yesterday, so I pressure cooked a butternut squash (only took five minutes!). After lots of searching for the "perfect" pumpkin pie recipe, one without refined sugar or too many weird ingredients, I found this one.

I ran across this recipe from Fatfree Vegan Kitchen and it was love at first sight.

Gluten-free, Refined-sugar-free, Refined-oil-free Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Get original recipe here at Fatfree Vegan Kitchen

There is a nice printable version on her website.

My adaptations:

• Recipe calls for 3/4 c sugar. I used a little less than 1/4 c maple syrup and a little more than 1/4 cup molasses. It probably doesn't make a difference because the calorie content is likely the same, but I have to stick to my rules.
• Recipe calls for any winter squash. I chose butternut.
• My egg replacement was two flax eggs (2 tablespoons ground flax, 5 tablespoons water)
• I used ginger, allspice, cinnamon, and a dash of clove for spices.

Comments:

I didn't get the bottom "crust" layer like she does, likely because my mixture was too wet and the top cooked too fast (the rack was a smidge too high). However, once cooled (completely), it does hold together like "real" pumpkin pie. Next time, I'll put my dish on a lower rack and see if that makes a difference. And, well, it could have been sweeter (see adaptations), but for me, it was just right. I appreciate any sweetness at all with my refined-sugar free ways. I also might make this in a crust just to see if it works.

Would I make it again? Absolutely.

Was that a picture of the very last piece? Take a guess : )

Salad, Hold the Radicchio

Most of my salads are hardly noteworthy. I tend to make "Mega Salads" which are a mish mash of everything. Ali at Vegan Epicurean inspired this one, which I felt was worth sharing. There is radicchio in the photo, but I hand picked it out while I was eating it after I tasted it! I thought it was a type of romaine lettuce! Too spicy for this salad!

The photo is awful...sorry about that!

The salad:

Romaine lettuce

Fennel bulb, thinly sliced

Carrot, thinly sliced

Orange zest

Orange pieces, cut with rind on as Ali noted because it has healthful properties and I've also heard it's great for the stomach.

The dressing:

Hazelnut oil

Balsamic vinegar

Nutritional yeast

Dried fenugreek

Shallot (go easy on the shallot!)

A few of those orange pieces from the salad

Black pepper

My Cuisinart Mini Processor

I have just fallen in love--again--with my mini Cuisinart food processor. It comes out at least once a day, and often I take it right out of the dishwasher to use it again, or just rinse it out knowing I'll be using it again for the next meal. It's a lot less cumbersome than my large processor, making it more handy.

I use it for:

• sauces and dips
• last minute spreads for sandwiches when I'm in a hurry
• small batches of dough
• mincing garlic or ginger
• pureeing vegetables
• mixing up spice mixes before putting them into veggies

Well, this may seem obvious to most because the buttons on the front say "Chop" and "Grind", but I just figured out that I can grind nuts into a nice nutty pulp...almost like nut butter. I bet it will make my sauces a lot smoother than my blender if I use the "grind" feature. A world of opportunities just opened up for this cheap-o who won't invest in a Vita-Mix.

The day I made this discovery, I added these nuts to my oatmeal with some dates, chia seeds, almond milk and cinnamon for a nutty treat!

Bean Tortillas (made out of beans!)

Nom, Nom, Nom.

Oh, ahem, excuse me that was just the sound of me eating a can of beans in the form of a--what?--tortilla!

I have search exhaustively for a good tortilla recipe that is not wheat-based. I finally gave up and have been making traditional chaptis from whole wheat and all-purpose flour. After deciding against making another batch of chapatis (because eating twenty in two days is plenty), this recipe just came to me unexpectedly. I nailed it!

These tortillas have the "feel" of a tortilla, though the consistency is more like a corn tortilla, and are a perfect way to get food from Point A (the plate) to Point B (your mouth). In my case, since hummus seemed like a weird thing to eat on a garbanzo bean tortilla, I opted for mango pickle. I can see eating these with cooked vegetables or anything else...except hummus.

Rice Flour and Garbanzo Bean Tortillas

Method:

In a food processor, process just enough to mix:

1 teaspoon ground flax seed

1/4 cup water

Add:

1 teaspoon chia seeds

Pulse a few times just to mix the chia seeds into the flax mixture. Let this combo sit for about 20 minutes so that the liquid thickens.

After twenty minutes, add:

1/2 cup drained and rinsed garbanzo beans

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

Process until smooth, then add:

1/4 cup rice flour

1/2 teaspoon garam masala (optional)

Process until dough forms, scraping down sides once in between. Place dough into a medium bowl and add:

1/4 cup rice flour

Knead gently until a smooth dough results. Dough should be soft, light, and only slightly sticky. Lightly coat hands in oil and knead dough for another minute or two. Flour a cutting board and rolling pin (I used spelt flour for this), and have a small bowl of flour on the side. Heat a skillet to medium. Form balls from the dough and roll them in flour while they wait for their turn to be rolled flat (for a twist, you can add garam masala to the flour coating to spice it up!). Since the dough is stickier and less dense than traditional tortilla dough, you have to manually turn the flattened dough to form a round shape (as opposed to sliding it around with the rolling pin itself). A lighter weight rolling pin is useful here but not necessary.

Optional: Spray a light coat of cooking spray on skillet and top side of tortilla.

Lift tortilla carefully, placing it upside down in one hand and gently flipping it on the griddle so the oiled side is up, if using oil. Cook until bottom is browned, then flip. Again, cook until browned. You can tell when it is cooked through and ready to turn by the edges raising slightly as the dough tightens. They won't brown without oil so look for crispness and a change in overall color to determine done-ness. You may want to wipe away excess flour from the skillet between tortillas as it tends to burn and stick to the new tortillas.

Dough can be wrapped in plastic wrap and saved overnight. Leftover tortillas keep their texture, just save in an airtight container.

Vegan Video Playlist

I was surfing on youtube today and did a search for "vegan".

In case you get bored this weekend, here's my playlist.

Bill Clinton Interview (you've probably seen this one but it was still interesting)

Alicia Silverstone (I'm not a huge fan, but I love how she describes first becoming vegan...I had the same experience. Lightness, an unexplainable feeling of inner lightness and calm.)

Barack Obama (politics of food, and a very politician-y response. Why not legislate food choices? We tax cigarettes...why not junk food? Let that money go into the Medicare system!)

Carl Lewis ("My best performance was when I was eating vegan")

Ellen DeGeneres (talks about animal welfare, Skinny Bitch, the John Robbins book, 'Earthlings'. Noteworthy line: "'Food Inc.' is a Disney movie compared to 'Earthlings'". Makes me want to go watch Earthlings next time I'm up for some hardcore reality.)

Dennis Kucinich (Skip to 4:30, where he talks about the benefits of switching to vegan)

Gladiators were Vegan (Dr. John McDougall)

Ben Ammi (I thought this was a compelling interview--he suggests a direct connection between non-vegan diet and prevalence of cancers and health problems especially in black men. Makes claim for biblical support for veganism by citing Genesis 1:29...not sure I buy it, but I like his logic.)

Neal Barnard MD (long, but really interesting discussion of the addictive natures of foods. 12:00 presents the "why" behind sugars and fats in dairy.)

And a little surprise: Cafe Gratitude's Coconut Soup (I Am Thankful) recipe. I will save a pretty penny next time I happen to have a young coconut laying around.

Peace

*Steph*

Compost Bin

When you generate as much food waste as we do, the tiny worm bin just can't handle the load.

This guy (above) gets filled up in just a few days time.

I found this drill bit thingy, whatever it's called, in the garage to make holes in the garbage can that would become my next compost bin.

Those fancy striped pajama bottoms would indicate that I'm still in my pj's at noon.

I drilled holes on the bottom and on the sides.

When I was done, I also drilled a few large holes intermittently so there would be lots of ventilation.

I added some leaves and the first round of food waste. I didn't drill holes in the lid of the garbage can because when it rains it may spoil the compost.

What will go into the compost bin?

• fruit and vegetable peelings, cores, rinds, etc. (no citrus, onions, or garlic)
• used paper towels
• dry yard waste
• leftover kid snacks and garbage (it's always vegetarian). This will limit our use of plastic garbage bags as they won't have to be changed every day as they are now.

Come next spring, we should have a nice layer of compost to add to the garden.

Granola Bars

These are not sugar free, but they meet my standard of refined-sugar-free.

O-Mega Granola Bars

Adapted from Vegan Dad

Toast 2-3 cups of quick cooking oats in the oven at 350 degrees for 7-9 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix:

1/3 cup canola oil

1/3 cup molasses or mixture or molasses and maple syrup

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup chia seeds

1/4 cup ground flax

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup nuts of choice (I used crushed almonds tha

t I crushed in the food processor)

1/4 cup nuts of choice (I used pecans although I would have preferred walnuts)

dash(es) of cinnamon to taste

1/8 cup sesame seeds

Mixture should be wet enough fully cover the oats and have a moist mixture afterwards.

Mix warm toasted oats to coat in the wet ingredients. Pour into into greased and floured (I used rice flour) 8x8 baking dish (or lined with parchment paper). Press firmly with pastry roller or potato masher. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes (too long and they will be too crispy and crumbly, like mine). Cool completely and cut into bars.

Comments: I thought they may be too sweet for me so I planned to save these to fatten up my husband. However, they aren't overly sweet and would be a wonderful grab-and-go snack.

The best part of this recipe was using my new pastry cutter.

Coming soon...

Green Health Bar

Vegan Project Update

It's been a while since I've posted an update on The Vegan Project. I guess Tristan has been vegan (or at least extremely vegetarian) for almost two months. His original intention was to do it for two weeks and then get his cholesterol checked. He never did the cholesterol test, so he didn't change his diet back.

He finally went to the doctor today and was told that before he checks his cholesterol he needs to start exercising more (odd because I think of him as a very regular exerciser). And get this--the doctor told him he needs to eat dairy and gain weight! Hello? So gain weight at the expense of what? If anything I'd say beef up with eggs, then you only have to eat one a week to make a difference (my dog and I gained five pounds--each--in a week just eating a half a hard-boiled egg for a few days that week).

So he is now 149 pounds at 5'11". That is pretty skinny. I noticed it and if he wasn't such a healthy guy I would have been concerned. It's better than being overweight, though.

My opinion is that instead of eating cheese, he should load up on more healthy carbs. But I'm not the boss of him and he'll decide what works for him. Whether it's the healthiest choice long term or not is not for me to say. He's a big boy and he'll make his own decisions.

All this just for me : )

This whole ensemble took about 1.5 hours from start to finish, including the time to cook the mung dal and the brown rice. That's pretty good, considering those are easily 40 minutes a pop. Now I am to the point that I enjoy cooking so much (again! I'm back to my old self!) and trying new recipes that I cook even if I'm just cooking for myself.

Click links for recipes, and I added my comments and adaptations underneath. It's a given that if it says they used ghee (clarified butter), then I used margarine or canola oil. Before I became vegan, I would eat this type of meal with some yogurt on the side or in the dal. I was a dairy addict! I'm so grateful that my transition to veganism doesn't leave me wanting dairy products. I'm very satisfied with what I get in my diet.

Moong Dal with Spinach

Didn't pressure cook, but cooked mung beans first and then added other stuff at the very end and just simmered for about ten more minutes. I also added curry leaves to chaunk (this gave it a super delicious aroma and flavor).

Aloo Tamatar Sabzi with Kasturi Methi (a.k.a. Potaoes and Cauliflower with Spicy Tomato and Dried Fenugreek Leaves)

Replaced tomatoes with tomato paste and it worked great. I added the cauliflower because I had a craving, but the recipe only calls for tomatoes. I just added cauliflower in addition to the potatoes rather than substituting and the intensity of spiciness was just fine.

Brown Rice

After the rice was done, I heated some oil and roasted cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and fennel seeds, and added it to the rice (right on top) and mixed it in a little bit. The rice I got is not very good so this made it taste better.

Whole Wheat Chapatis

These were great. I used a food processor. Add water veeerrry slowly and give it a few seconds between each addition of water to give it a chance to clump together. When the dough clumps, take it out of the processor, add a teeny bit of oil, and then knead on a cutting board. Set aside for 20 minutes before rolling into chapatis. I didn't put ghee on afterward. They were fine dry. Great, actually.

Ultra Rich Vegan Chocolate Shake

After yesterday's delicious meal and knowing what great potential lies dormant in my kitchen, I am raising my standards a bit : )

My next contribution to the vegan blogosphere:

Ultra Rich Vegan Chocolate Shake

1 cup unsweetened almond or soy milk

3-4 ice cubes

1 banana

2 dates, pitted

2-4 tablespoons raw cacao powder (to taste)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon chia seeds (wouldn't be my recipe if it didn't have redundant nutritional elements--but it also thickens it)

Blend everything until the dates are shredded to bits. Taste and adjust if necessary.

Comments: Now, granted, I haven't had a "real" milkshake in ages, but for vegan stuff this shake hit home. This was my entire lunch and I don't feel guilty about it. I could have added some spirulina or steamed spinach to add some nutrition and I don't think it would have impacted the flavor too much. Next time I might use only half a banana and a little nut butter, or only nut butter. It was pretty banana-y.

Kidney Bean Soup and Asparagus w/Hollandaise

This is a delicious, aromatic, hardy meal. The soup is inspired by my meditation getaway last Saturday atGreen Gulch Farms in San Francisco. It was lovely, and lunch was a simple kidney bean stew with bread baked fresh on site. This recipe is my attempt to replicate the stew, but I must say I think it turned out better and was even easier to digest. I'm so proud of myself [pats own back].

Steamed Asparagus with Hollandaise: recipe can be found here at Vegetarian Times. This was so good I was dipping bread in the hollandaise sauce later.

Kidney Bean Soup

Makes four servings

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 yellow onion

2 chopped zucchinis

4 cloves of garlic, minced

black pepper to taste

salt to taste

2 cans of kidney beans, rinsed and drained

4-5 cups of vegetable broth

2 heaping tablespoons of tomato paste

1/4 teaspoon thyme

4 bay leaves (depending on how strong they are...I used two fresh and two dried)

1/4-1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

Method:

This can be cooked on the stovetop, but I used a crockpot on high for roughly six hours then turned it to low for a couple more hours.

Place kidney beans, vegetable broth, tomato paste, turmeric, thyme, and bay leaves into crock pot.

Heat oil in skillet on medium. Add chopped onion, saute for just a couple of minutes or until they change color slightly. Turn heat to medium-low. Add zucchini. Stir a bit and add salt, pepper, and garlic. Saute for just a couple of minutes. You don't want everything to cook down, just to mix the flavors a teeny bit. Add this mixture to the crockpot. Cook until desired consistency, removing lid for thicker soup (I removed the lid to the crockpot for about an hour).

Breakfast with nutmilk leftovers and MoFoNoMo

I just don't know what to do with the nut pulp after I make milk with the nuts. My blender is no very powerful, so I know what I'm straining out could very well be useable protein but there are also a lot of nut fibers in there. I'm going to do more research about maybe using them for baking.

Semolina and Almond Pulp Breakfast Cereal

Makes two servings

1 tablespoon earth balance (optional)

1/2 cup strained nut milk stuff (you know the stuff in the cheesecloth when you strain nut milk)

1/4 cup semolina (cream of wheat)

2 tablespoons molasses

pinch of cinnamon (optional)

pinch of cardamom (optional)

dates and raisins

Melt earth balance in frying pan on medium. Add nut pulp and brown for just 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add semolina and stir for another 2-3 minutes. Add date pieces (I used 2 chopped dates) and stir well. Turn heat to medium-low. Add molasses and mix thoroughly, scraping bottom of pan so molasses doesn't stick. Add water and stir well. Add raisins and spices. Cook on medium-low for a few minutes until all water is absorbed.

Vegan MoFoNoMo

I don't know what happened, but I'm not on the list for Vegan MoFo. Looks like I'll have to wait for next year : ) But I sure love blogging so it probably won't affect the frequency of my posts. Maybe no I can also concentrate a little more on my preschool blog which I've been slacking on lately : |

Caio for now!

A quick and easy snack: Spiced Toast and Facon w/Spinach Dip

For a quick, lightly spiced but fun snack that can be packed to go in a hurry...

The spices here can be adapted to suit anyone's taste buds. I happen to be in an Indian mood this week. Shallots, green onion, and dill could be a more authentic spinach dip (maybe with a little Veganaise?) with untoasted bread...yum.

Fake Bacon (get it? "Facon"?) on Toast Squares

Prepare vegan bacon according to package directions

On the same skillet (at medium-high), place toast pieces. While they are browning on one side, lightly coat the other side with all natural cooking spray (or Earth Balance), a light dusting of coriander powder (like, a pinch) and a dusting of salt (again, a pinch). Toast the other side until brown (or if you're like me, until they are dark brown-black). Put bacon on toast.

The Dip

In a small food processor, process:

3 tablespoons hummus

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

5 large spinach leaves, washed and zapped for 20 seconds in the microwave (or lightly steamed)

1 tablespoon pine nuts

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder

1 teaspoon olive oil (optional)

Optional: Top with black sesame seeds

Oh My Yum-ness! Methi Tortilla and Kadhi

Top: Methi Thelpa, Left: Kadhi. Right: Tempeh Curry, Bottom: Cabbage

I visited our local Indian grocer today and was really disappointed not to be able to buy one of my favorite Indian treats--methi thelpa. It's a tortilla-like flatbread with fenugreek leaves and lots of spices. But after reading the label, I should not have been surprised that it contained yogurt and ghee, as so many Indian recipes do. So I went home and did some research, and here's what I came up with. I won't link any particular website because this is a combination of many different sources, as is the Kadhi recipe below. Methi Thelpa is something that is often taken on the go. They are very wholesome, with greens (nutrients!), garbanzo flour (protein!), spices (antioxidants!), and substance.

Kadhi is a Gujrati dish that I must say is another favorite of mine. If you haven't tried it, you can copy my recipe but I suggest using soy yogurt if you like it (I don't, so I used coconut). IMO it's best served with white rice but we eat brown rice nowadays.

Don't mind the shape...my dough was too moist so it was hard to roll a nice circle.

Vegan Methi Thelpa

5 stars from the omnivore (he's so easy these days)

Makes 8

Mix together, first sifting dry ingredients and then adding the remaining (oil, too):

1 cup methi (fenugreek) leaves, dried or fresh or chopped spinach (I used 1/2 cup dried methi and 1/2 cup fresh spinach)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup unbleached white flour

3 tablespoons besan (garbanzo) flour

1 tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon tumeric powder

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

1/2 teaspoon coriander powder

1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder

1/4 teaspoon asafoetida powder

salt to taste

sugar (optional, I did not add any sugar)

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Add just enough water to make into a soft dough, and make a nice ball.

Separate the ball into 8 small balls, and roll them out, using enough flour to keep them from sticking. Cook on skillet or tali over medium heat, using a tiny bit of oil for each side. Cook until they are brown.

Vegan Kadhi

Makes two servings

Again, this would be better with "real" yogurt (e.g. soy)

Whisk together:

1 cup coconut (or other) yogurt

1 cup water

1 tablespoon besan (garbanzo) flour

Add:

1/2 inch piece ginger, minced

In a separate pan, heat 2 tablespoons oil. Add:

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

When they begin to pop, add:

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 green chile, cut lengthwise

1/2 red chile, cut lengthwise

2 cardamom pods

1/4 teaspoon tumeric

1/8 teaspoon asafetida powder

2-3 curry leaves

Add oil to yogurt and water mixture, stirring in well. Bring to boil, then remove from heat. Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves and just a few drops of lemon juice.

A quote to share and some heavy thinking

Today, for the first time since Day 1 of Vegan Mofo, I am able to jump in to the hundreds of posts paying homage to this event. And can I just say, wow. What a treat to have access to so many vegans. I love you!

I had to share this quote that I stole from this blog. My thoughts exactly!

"Alas, what wickedness to swallow flesh into our own flesh, to fatten our greedy bodies by cramming in other bodies, to have one living creature fed by the death of another! As long as man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of other beings, he will never know health or peace". ~ Pythagoras

I was just telling my husband earlier that I don't think I will ever go back to eating dairy. If I do, I will have to purposely ignore all that I know (kind of like the way I do when I wear leather shoes). I'm trying to totally veganize my life now (shoes, too), and the more I do, the more I realize that consuming dairy, to me, is the same as eating meat. The animals are suffering for my benefit. We can't ask the cows and goats, "Hey, can I steal your milk? How do your boobs feel, all swollen and full all the time? Do you like that?" Can you imagine? I came across this post on Vegan Jains (it's an old one) and s/he links up a slideshow about 3 or 4 paragraphs in about dairy milk production versus almond milk production. Simple but honest and powerful. I sent it to my husband, who has been teetering on veganism and omnivore eating.

These are my thoughts today...I'm really feeling like I need to do more for animals besides not eating them. I can only sign so many online petititions before I come to terms with how little I actually do for animal welfare.

My favorite animals in the whole world:

Tempeh De-virginized and some sides

Welcome to Vegan MoFo Day 4 : ) I'm really enjoying this, especially after a dry blogging spell last week.

Since my blogging is really just to motivate me to eat (and it has been working, I'm very happy to say) and to cook (meaning that not only do I eat, I eat healthy homecooked food), I usually don't feel that I have much to share. I'm not a kitchen goddess like some of my fellow bloggers, but I'm a pretty good copycat. I'm just trying to get by until this whole cooking-meals-and-eating-them thing comes naturally.

My system lately is to figure out what I have in the fridge and look up recipes during the day to figure out what sounds good in the evening. I often find lots of yummy recipes that I can't implement due to lack of ingredients. But it's nice to have literally a world of recipe options to try.

Last night's dinner was a success, receiving omni- and vegan-approval. I have never tried tempeh (it looks disgusting like moldy cheese!) but we tried it tonight for the first time per my husband's request.

The meal:

Tempeh and Mushrooms in Tomato Cashew Curry

Cabbage and Russet Potatoes

Wild Rice

Comments:

Curry: The curry recipe is fabulous, and the more things I try from the Vegan Epicurean blog, the more of her recipes I want to try! There are blogs I follow for recipes, and blogs I follow for inspiration, and blogs I follow for information, and from VE I get all three! I did modify a few things only because of limited ingredients:

-I replaced two cups of tomatoes with tomato paste and water

-I replaced the cardamom powder with whole pods as this is what I tend to see in traditional Indian recipes...and they are fun to chew on at the end of the meal (aids digestion)

-I replaced coriander seeds with a 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder, and the ginger root with powder.

Overall, this dish was amazing. Would be better (for me) with only half a lime juice rather than a whole, and if you have a Vita-Mix (I don't) the cashew creme will come out nice and smooth. Mine looked chunky. Still delicious, though! We both really loved this one.

Cabbage: The cabbage was prepared in a very traditional Indian manner. Roast mustard seeds in oil until they pop. Then add cumin seeds and diced green or red chile. Then add one potato (cut very small) and cook until they are browned. Throw a head of cabbage on top of that, and after about five minutes, add asefotida powder, cumin powder, salt and turmeric. When the cabbage is the consistency that you want, take off heat and add chopped cilantro. It's nice to have a dish without onions and garlic once in a while.

Wild Rice: I soaked the rice for a few hours before cooking, and it had a nice flavor. I also added a few fenugreek seeds to the water because I find any excuse to add spices to whatever I'm making.