My Tastiest Creation Yet

I love sweet potatoes. They are a great lunch- I often just pop one in the microwave at work for 9 minutes and eat it plain for lunch. When I went to California, I cooked some sweet poatatoes and cut them up to take with me on the plane. Sweet potato fries are also a delight.

So for brunch today I decided to use up my last sweet potato. I put it in a 400 degree oven and let that baby bake for what seemed like forever. While it was baking, I cooked 2 very tiny onions and 3 cloves of garlic in some leftover sauvignon blanc from Friday night that sadly did not get consumed. I cooked them until they were pretty brown, deglzing the pan with the wine a few times. While I was waiting for the potato to be done, I also made .25cup of whole wheat couscous with a generous amount of dried Italian herbs.

When the sweet potato was done, I (amazingly) scooped out all the potato and mixed with the wined onions/garlic and mashed it up. I also added 1TB Earth Balance Soy Butter to the couscous and let it melt a little bit from the general kitchen heat. I topped the potato with the couscous, applying with a spoon and using my hand to smush it down. I then put it back in the oven to broil and get the top nice and toasty.

It was heavenly! And it looked pretty! The sweet onions/garlic went so well with the caramalized sugars from the sweet potato, and the herbed topping was so good. The best part was getting a little of the couscous, some sweet potato, and the crispy skin. It might have been a smidge better with some salt, but that's not really an option until I go to the grocery later. Simply amazing.

Balsamic Creation

I've been intrigued lately by balsamic vinegar and decided to bite the bullet and purchase some during my last shopping spree. As usual, I had some items to get rid of in my fridge- asparagus, snow peas, and spinach. While I originally thought I'd use the wok to stir fry all the veggies with some balsamic vinegar, I also wanted to make some polenta. I didn't feel like making it and waiting for it to congeal, so thought I'd bake the veggies with polenta on top.

I made three servings of dinner (about 400 calories)- 3 cups snowpeas, 27 stalks of asparagus, and 5 cups of fresh spinach mixed with balsamic vinegar and pepper (the grocery didn't have sea salt, so now I get to go to the organic grocery and probably snag some more Better than Cream Cheese and other goodies). Meanwhile, I sauteed 6 large gloves of garlic in olive oil spray and added 5.25 cups of water when the garlic browned. On the side I mixed 1.5 cups cornmeal (my weird baking mix) with 1.5 cups cold water. Once it boiled, I added the cornmeal and stirred for 10 minutes or so until creamy. I then poured it on top of the veggies and popped it into the 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

So how was it? I'd say average...It needed something else...probably salt. I'd love to add some mushrooms and maybe veggie broth to it.

Chocolate Pudding

I saw this recipe awhile ago and vowed to make chocolate pudding. But it wasn't until this week when it somehow popped into my head. The recipe as written is less than 200 calories for a lot of pudding, but I have some Godiva liqueur bottles my mom gave me for Christmas that I have been trying to get rid of. Now, I'm fairly certain they are not vegan, but I can't just throw them out...

So I made the pudding according to the recipe and added one mini bottle of the liqueur after removing from heat. At first, eating it warm appealed to me. But then I thought about it a little more and I don't think it's ok to eat warm pudding. It needs to be cold. So I scooped half of it into my beautiful ramekin from my brother and his fiance and set it in the freezer to cool just in time for me to go to bed. And I definitely left the other half in the pot and brought the pot into the living room with me where I proceeded to get every last drop of it off the pot and into my watering mouth.

Without the alcohol, the recipe is very bland and definitely needs something (as mentioned in the recipe) to pep it up. And I have an aversion to cornstarch after an unfortunate episode with Turkish Delight (but I think all TD is disappointing...), so I got a little grossed out by the cornstarch. The chocolate and alcohol helped me get over that really quickly though :)

Herbed Onion Beer Bread

I realized that I spend entirely too much time inside cooking. But that's ok.

For dinner I made one of my favorites- roasted Brussels sprouts (add some olive oil and put in a 375-400 degree oven until brown and toasty and sprinkled with the last remaining morsels of salt I could find in my kitchen). I also decided to use up that one bottle of Anchor Porter that's been in my fridge for...about 5 months now. What a better way than making beer bread?

I added 2 cups whole wheat flour, 1 cup white flour, lots of Italian dried spices (basil, oregano, marjoram, thyme, and rosemary), 1/3 large onion chopped/minced, a touch of sugar, and a touch of baking powder. I put it in the bread pan and baked on 375 for about 50 or 55 minutes. When I first took it out of the oven after 45 minutes, I got scared it wasn't done in the middle since I made that mistake once, so I let it go a little bit longer.

After waiting an agonizing 10 mintues for it to cool on the rack, I cut it into thirds. One third is about 450 calories, and since I did a lot of hiking today with the dog, I felt it was worth it. I topped 2 slices with some Earth Balance Soy Butter and dipped the other two in olive oil, only because I was watching something on food on TV today and they mentioned that you eat less if you eat bread with olive oil than with butter. And olive oil is amazing.

The last time I made this bread, I forgot the herbs, salt, sugar, and onion. Oops. But I ate it anyway. This time, I forgot to add some salt, partly because I have none. This time it came out much better. I wish I'd added more onions, but it's probably sufficient for more people. I also could use more herbs, but again, it's probably about right for most. There is a fantastic crust on the top and bottom of the bread. It's really easy to make and quite tasty.

Now I just need to put it away before I eat the entire loaf...

Wannabe Pizza

I wanted to make another amazing pizza, but I didn't want all the calories. So I improvised. I made some polenta, let it congeal, then cut it into 9 squares. Baked on 400 for 30-40 minutes until brown. Meanwhile, in the blender I added 1 cup dark red kidney beans, lots of Italian spices, a touch of water, a TB or so of tomato paste, and blended until smooth. I added 1/3 large onion I'd just sauteed at the end.

Once the polenta squares were done, I smothered on my bean sauce and topped each pizza with a pepperoni. Not as good as the real pizza, but a nice little meal. Might be a good appetizer dish. A little Better Than Cream Cheese might have been nice, as well as some red pepper flakes. But I ran out of the former and just totally forgot the latter. *Sigh*

Shepherd's Pie...sort of

I needed to use up a few things in the fridge, one item being cauliflower. Since I'm now obsessed with "mashed cauliflower," I thought I'd have to incorporate that into a meal somehow. Well, when I think of mashed potatoes, I think of Shepherd's Pie, even though I've only had it once. In undergrad, the ex made one with a meatloaf type of bottom, corn, and mashed potatoes on top. So that's what I think of when I think of Shepherd's Pie. However, I wasn't 100% sure that my definition of SP was acccurate, so I wikipedia'd it and apparently the version I had is the American version, the real version being some sort of meat and veggies in gravy with mashed potatoes on top. This is where I began.

This meal was a real multi-tasker, especially since I had 2 loads of laundry going downstairs, too. I started with about .8 cups of lentils (400 calories) since the bag was empty. Once those were boiling, I got out the frying pan, sprayed it with olive oil cooking spray, and added one giant onion. On yet another burner, I steamed 1/2 med-large head of cauliflower (100 cal.). Meanwhile I got 2/3cup whole grain couscous going on the side.

When the onion started to brown, I added garlic. Then I thought it might burn so I deglazed (my new favorite thing) the pan with some white wine...twice. Fine.

I put about half the onions/garlic in the blender with the cauliflower, salt and pepper, a splash of soy milk, and some dried rosemary (which I love).

To the rest of the onions/garlic I added some red wine vinegar. Then I quasi drained the lentils to get most of the water out and added them to the pan and added the couscous. I used couscous because, first and foremost, I needed more grains for the day and that was an easy way to sneak them in. I also used them to give it a little more volume.

So, once all that was mixed with a little salt, I mushed it down into a round Pyrex pie dish, topped with steamed Brussels sprouts, and covered in a nice, creamy layer of mashed cauliflower. Popped that baby in a 350 degree oven while I took the dog out (15 minutes?) and then cranked up the broiler to get the top a little brown.

It came out beautifully! Each layer on its own tasted amazing, and together it tasted even better! I have 3 giant servings (400 calories each), which means lunch tomorrow and maybe one slice for the freezer. The laundry, however, wasn't as much fun since the dryer door somehow opened so my clothes probably sat there for 30 minutes not actually drying.

Next time I'll use less couscous, add a lot mushrooms, use some type of broth, and make an entire head of cauliflower.

Since Mother Nature didn't get my memo that winter is over, it's yet another soup evening for me. I opted for split peas and cauliflower, which I often cook up with a little curry powder. This time I decided to be different.

I added .75cups green split peas and one large onion to some boiling water and cooked until the split peas softened up some. Meanwhile, in an effort to dirty every single dish in my kitchen (which I do often), I also cooked up .5cups quinoa and simultaneously blended 2 chipotles (canned in adobo sauce, my favorite...I freeze the leftovers), 2 TB Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, and some of my mint from my freezer. This made a very, very tasty sauce.

When I was done with the sauce I put 3/4 of the split peas/onion in the blender until smooth. I then readded to the pan and put 1/2 large head of cauliflower in the pot with some salt and cumin. I thought about adding turmeric, but got scared and didn't. Now, I had this beautiful vision of a nice, green soup with pretty white cauliflower floating around and a deep red swirl, all on a bed of tasty quinoa. However, I can't seem to ever learn that when you mix red things (peppers, tomatoes, etc) with white things (cream cheese, milk, etc), it turns pink.

And I need to work on my swirling skills...

Overall, I was pleased with the minty taste- not over the top, but you could definitely taste it and it seemed to go well with the spicy chipotle. The cumin also helped town down the heat from the peppers. Next time I'll probably make it with brown basmati rice just for some better texture since the quinoa is a little soft. But I'll be making this one again.

More Soup for Me

Since I woke up with a scratchy throat that morphed into a nice little cough by the evening, I decided I need to make some soup for dinner. Yesterday I received a fantastic present of Brussels sprouts and thought I could make a soup with them. One time I steamed them, threw them in the blender with some veggie broth, and added some pan-fried sprouts for a nice, hearty soup. This time, however, I decided to do something slightly different.

I started off by cooking 3 small onions and 4 cloves of garlic in a little olive oil. Then I added some water and .5 cup of barley. After it cooked about 15 minutes, I added 1 cube of vegan vegetable buillion and some whole Brussels sprouts. I let it cook until the sprouts were done. And it really hit the spot.

I also needed to use up the rest of the firm tofu that was in my fridge. I cut it into 2 inch by 1 inch pieces and then dipped it in some concotion I came up with. I added about .75 cup of pinto beans, a giant squirt of mustard, some leftover canned tomatoes from my pizza, Mexican-style chili powder, and a little olive oil together and blended until smooth. I rolled (dreged?) the tofu in the dip (which would make an excellent dip on it's own) and then rolled it in finely crushed Cheerios. I started crushing the little o's by hand, but that was way too much work, so then I put them in a random paper lunch bag I had, but they broke it, so I resorted to using the bottom of the mustard container to finely crush them. I then baked for 30 minutes or so on 400 and when the tops weren't brown like I wanted, I turned on the broiler until they were nice and crispy.

As always, I forgot any salt or pepper. And I think it would have been better if I'd thought about it in advance and soaked the tofu in my bean mixture for awhile. But, they were neat and I plan to try to make them again, next time with extra firm tofu and a nice long soak. Finally, a new use for Cheerios.

Pizza Party

It's Saturday night, I drank too much and stayed up too late last night, so I decided to stay in and, surprise, cook. And I decided that calories don't count today. Since I bought the soy pepperoni's, I decided I had to make a pizza and it had to be tonight, despite the fact that I lacked most other ingredients. So I began...

I got stuck on the crust because I didn't want something that would take forever to make. I checked out my favorite recipe collection at vegweb.com and came up with this one. I read through the comments and ended up with this (double the original recipe):

1 cup white flour
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
2 TB yeast
2 TB sugar
1 cup lukewarm water
Some cornmeal for extra ooomph (1/2 cup?)

I probably should have put some salt in it, but, hey, I am a little tired from last night's festivities so I forgot. I added the yeast and sugar to the lukewarm water, which I just guessed at the temperature. I let it sit for about 10 minutes until it got nice and foamy and more than doubled in size (which according to the yeast package means it's still active).

Meanwhile, in the 10 crazy minutes (because I didn't plan anything until after I got started on the dough) while I waited for the yeast, I sauteed 3 small onions and 3 cloves of garlic in some olive oil (.5 TB?) until transparent, then added half a giant can of diced tomatoes. I generally don't like canned tomatoes, but they were all I had so I went with it. I let it simmer for a few minutes and then scooped out half of it into a bowl. To the pan I added a bunch of dried spices: marjoram, basil, oregano, rosemary, parsley, and red pepper flakes. I then threw in some herbed vinegar and some white wine just because I felt a little fancy. To the bowl I added Trader Joe's Chipotle Salsa and "Mexican Style" chili powder which is chili powder with cumin in it. I then threw the bowl in the microwave with about a cup of frozen corn in a separate cup for about 3 minutes.

I mixed the flour and yeast mixture until it formed a dough, then spread it out on a regular ungreased baking sheet. Stuck that in a 425 degree oven for 5 minutes, then took out and topped. To one half, I added the Italian spiced tomatoes, Better Than Cream Cheese, and slices of my soy pepperoni. To the other half, I added the Mexican spiced tomatoes and piled high the corn and some pinto beans. As an afterthought, I added some Better Than Cream Cheese to cool off the chipotle salsa. I baked it for another 15-20 minutes until the edges of the crust got dark.

I was obnoxiously careful not to let the flavors of the pizza mingle. I went to extreme efforts to ensure my Mexican pizza would not touch or taint my pepperoni pizza. That alone probably took me 20 minutes as I cut into them.

The Mexican pizza was ok but needed something else. I didn't think Cheerios would work, though, so I just went with what I had. The pepperoni pizza hit the spot. It was 100 times better than I was anticipating and the Better Than Cream Cheese melted nicely (though I had to spread it around using the pepperoni's) and gave it a great flavor.

I ate half of each pizza and now feel like I might explode. But it was so worth it. I can't wait to make the pepperoni pizza again. And it was beautiful. I swear I'm getting batteries tomorrow for my camera.

More Mint

I'm a little obsessed with the mint now that I know I didn't exactly ruin it in the freezer. This morning for breakfast I decided to go with something crazy, mostly because I forgot to buy oatmeal last week. So I threw a frozen banana (when they start to get old I just throw them in the freezer, peel and all), frozen fresh but now dried mint, postum, unsweetened cocoa, and a splash of soy milk in the blender. But it came out too watery so I added a few cubes of ice. I poured it into a bowl and topped with a cup of cheerios. I've been dying to use cheerios in something other than cereal. I was too hungry to take the time to crush the cheerios like I wanted.

By now, you should have realized that I essentially made ice cream for breakfast. I love being a grown up.

I'm Quitting My Job

If I didn't love fighting cancer so much, I'd quit. Because I enjoy sitting around my apartment cooking all day just as much. I didn't have to be at work today so I did my favorite thing in the world. And wore my awesome "Vegan Cowgirl" t-shirt while doing it! (Thanks jennilicious!)

For breakfast I cooked 1/4 barley (100 calories) and added 1 TB peanut butter (100 calories), .5TB unsweened cocoa (10 calories) , and a splash of 8th continent light vanilla soy milk (20 calories). It was a tasty breakfast, although I sort of felt like a 5 year old. This might be a new weekend staple, probably with a mushy banana added to it.

Lunch was even more fun. I decided I had to have mashed cauliflower and it had to look just like mashed potatoes. So I steamed a head of cauliflower (I once read that cooking veggies in water destroys a lot of the good stuff in them, but steaming is ok) and simultaneously cooked 2 very tiny onions (40 calories) and 4 cloves of garlic (20 calories) in 1 TB of Earth Balance margarine (100 calories). When the cauliflower was done, I added it and 1/2 the onion/garlic to the blender with a splash of unsweetened soy milk (30 calories) and blended until it was nice and creamy. If you were looking at it (if I would buy new batteries or a new camera), you'd think it was mashed potatoes. I also threw in some salt and pepper. I added the rest of the onion/garlic mixture to them so there's be a few lumps.

I swear I couldn't tell it was cauliflower. And I love cauliflower...I generally roast it in some olive oil and add some red pepper flakes, or lately I've been putting it in my lentils with some curry. Sometimes I just eat it plain steamed. Anyway, this dish was amazing. For people who claim they don't like veggies, they've just never had them cooked the right way, and this is a great way to do it. I cannot wait to have leftovers for dinner. Yum!

Oh, and I also decided I needed a couscous dish to go with my mashed cauliflower. So I put in 1/3 cup whole wheat couscous with .25 cup golden raisins (because they didn't have sultanas when I needed them and these were a last minute replacement for another dish awhile ago), some hazelnuts (I wanted walnuts, but I was too lazy to reach farther into the cupboard to find them), and some now dried mint that was once fresh but I stashed into the freezer in it's regular package without protecting it in a fit of panic because I didn't want it to go bad when I used it in the dish I needed the sultanas for, and 1/3 cup hot water. I covered the bowl and 5 minutes later mixed it up and threw it in the fridge. Then I decided it might be too dry and it needed some liquid. For whatever reason I chose unsweeneted soy milk instead of something like olive oil that might have been a better choice. But it came out delicious- a good breakfast dish. Now I can't wait to keep using the mint...

I've Finally Done It

Not only have I conquered my fear of cooking tofu (which resulted from a very failed attempt once in college with jennilicious), but I also successfully baked polenta last night for dinner. It was amazing.

I bought some firm tofu the other day and decided I was finally ready to use it. Since I've had some sort of Indian dish with tofu and spinach, I thought I'd make something similar. So I cubed a half block of tofu (175 calories) and at first attempted to pan fry it in 1/2 TB of olive oil (60 calories), but that didn't work out so well, so I just stir fried it and after a few minutes added 2 cups of frozen chopped spinach (40 calories), about a cup or so of water, and curry powder. I also threw in 2 TB of Toffuti Better Than Cream Chese (60 calories) to make it a little creamier. I let it all simmer until it reduced down a bit- I wanted to eat it on a plate, not in a bowl.

Meanwhile, earlier in the evening I threw together some polenta (200 calories) and let it cool/congeal in the fridge for an hour or so. Then I cut it up with no rhyme or reason, some of the pieces were pretty big, and put it on a greased baking sheet in a 375 degree oven until they were golden brown on top, maybe 45 minutes? Usually I think I take it out too soon...or I do something wrong. But this time it worked out.

I put the polenta pieces on a plate after sampling one of them and topped with the spinach tofu curry mixture. For 530 calories, it was a gigantic meal and quite delicious. I can't wait to make it again. Maybe I'll add some onions, garlic, and mushrooms for some pizazz. Absolutely fantastic.

California Dreamin'

I recently spent 10 days following the Amgen Tour of California (where I met Patrick Demsey- are you tired of seeing this picture yet?) and worried a lot about what I'd be able to eat along the way. Since I was there for business, I never knew where or when my next meal would come, so I tried to plan ahead as much as possible.



It started on the plane when I pulled out some cooked/cubed sweet potato I'd made the night before in my successful attempt to clean out every single edible thing in the fridge. I thought nothing of opening my container and chowing down until my coworker sitting next to me look in bewilderment at me and asked what I was eating. Then we decided, yeah, it's weird to bring sweet potato on a plane. But that doesn't mean it's not smart. It was quite tasty.



My options on the long plane ride were really limited: a chicken ceasar sandwich, a fruit and cheese plate, or a transfat box that contained popular killers like breadsticks and "cheese," chips and salsa, and candy. I had to choose the lesser of all evils and went with the fruit and cheese plate.

On the actual trip, I was fortunate enough to, in the beginning, be able to run for an hour through each city before stopping to get my new favorite food- a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter. As the trip went on, it got a littler harder to find this little delight, but I got by...Being in California was nice, there were a few good places to get tasty food that won't kill you, though I think I overdosed on fish while I was there, since that's the only animal that I ever really eat anymore, and that's typically once a month or so. Looks like I don't need to eat anymore of that for a long, long time.

When I returned from my trip I had to go grocery shopping almost immediately since I'd done a great job of clearing out all food. Luckily I had something I'd made and frozen that I ate for dinner the night I got back.

Usually after a trip I spend a billion dollars at the grocery store. On a regular trip I spend about $20-25 weekly with a random $60-75 to stock on up stuff every month or 6 weeks. After a trip I easily spend $100. This time, however, I barely spent $50. And I splurged.

I decided to branch out and buy some regular tofu (as opposed to silken), some veggie pepperoni, and Toffuti Better Than Cream Cheese. I'll let you know how that goes...