A Freezer Full of Nothing

As you know, we are getting ready to move. So I have been trying to eat down my pantry and freezer, which are still both chock-full. How can they both be full and still there is nothing I want to eat? It's not like I buy food I don't like. I was hoping to save some money on groceries these last few weeks, but still I find myself shopping often. Well, partly because of summer fruit, and partly because I have been entertaining a lot, getting in those last visits with family and friends. And partly because none of us eat the same things. I guess my stockpile consists mostly of stuff that I like, which I tend not to make because then I still have to feed the rest of the crew and I am too lazy to cook just for myself. Sadly, then, we all miss out on the good stuff.



Anyway, here are a few of the things I've thrown together lately.









The quintessential New York breakfast of bagel, cream cheese and lox, veganized with Tofutti cream cheese and roasted red peppers. I must get in as many bagels as I can. No offense, midwesterners, but you just don't have the real thing there.





Peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate ganache, from VCTOTW. Yummy, but again, the bottoms are so greasy, as they have been with other cupcakes I've made from this book. Has anyone else experienced this? Maybe it is my canola oil, or something. I must try and refrigerate it - I remember reading that it gets semi-solid under refrigeration - sort of like hydrogenated shortening.






Cauliflower salad with creamy cilantro dressing, from Moosewood Daily Specials. I added the pickled red onions for an extra special touch.






Lemon Cornmeal Blueberry muffins. Wish I could remember what book I got these from. Shows you how befuddled my mind is lately with all this move stuff.






Key lime coconut cupcakes with lime glaze. I got these off some vegan website, before I started writing down where the recipes I copy came from. I brought these to a friend who just got back from Key West, so she could extend her vacation in her mind.





Greek potatoes from Veganomican. Yummy goodness, but not as good as my old recipe (but much easier).

Favorite chickenish baked tofu. Again.

Hain brown gray from a package. Didn't like this. It tasted like those Red Ox beef boullion cubes from my childhood, which I'm sure most of you have never heard of!

This is the Natural Stone Bridge near Lake George, NY. We went on our last vacation there, and we had not visited these caves in previous years. The girls loved the part about crystals and gems. They were kind of intimidated by the river. But I loved it - I was happy to finally do something outdoorsy on a visit to the Adirondacks. I will miss it greatly when we move. I bought two authentic Adirondack chairs to soothe myself. I have been lusting after them for years - so odd looking and yet so unexpectedly comfortable.

Here we are in front of the river.

Cute girls in giant Adirondack chair.

On our last afternoon there, we had lunch at an outdoor restaurant overlooking the beautiful lake. Not much to eat in Lake George for veggies, but they had a veggie burger that was actually listed as vegan on the menu (I would not have thought they knew that term up there). It was good, too - handmade with actual veggies and no yucky chewy TVP. And with perfect fries. A nice finish to a mediocre food week!

Well, the packers come on Monday. We are driving to Chicago when they are done. It's a two day drive, and then we have to wait for the moving truck to arrive the following week. So I will see you all when we get settled!

Happy Birthday to Me

Today is my birthday, so I get to do fun stuff like post on my blog!


Here is a yummy soup from Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special. This book is all about soups and salads from the famous restaurant. I would love to visit there someday - kind of like the vegatarian Mecca. The soup is Algerian Tomato Soup with Vermicelli. I was reading cookbooks and was attracted to this recipe by the unusual spice combination - coriander, cumin, curry powder, cinnamon, orange peel, and of course, onions and garlic. It was delicious and quick and easy, too.

This is Bryanna's cheddary spread from her website. It is very good, especially on Alvarado Street sprouted rye! I think the tahini flavor was a little strong - maybe I would go with cashew butter next time. It has silken tofu - I haven't used this in a while, and was pleasantly surprised at how very creamy it made the dip.

I have a gingerbread candle on my counter now - you are supposed to have good smells in your house when trying to sell it. So I have been craving gingerbread.This recipe for Giant Ginger Cookies was one my aunt made for me as a child. One of the few non-chocolate desserts I loved! Of course the orginal wasn't vegan, but here it is in a form we can all enjoy. As delicious as the original!

Giant Ginger Cookies

2 t ground flax seeds

1/4 c water

2 c all purpose flour

1/2 t salt

1 t ground cloves

1 t ground ginger

1 t cinnamon

3 t baking soda

6 tablespoons Earth Balance

6 tablespoons canola oil

1 c granulated sugar

1/4 c light molasses

extra granulated sugar for the cookie tops

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix ground flax seeds and water. Set aside until gelatinous (1/2 hour).

Sift flour with salt, cloves, ginger, cinnamon & soda.

Whip EB and canola oil until light and fluffy. Add sugar. Blend in flax mixture and molasses, then dry mixture, until well blended.

Shape dough into 1 1/2" balls. Dip in sugar. Place 3" apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten with fingers and sprinkle tops with more sugar.

Bake 8-10 minutes. Let stand a minute before removing from sheets.

Makes 18-20.

Have a happy and safe 4th!

Pasta Fagioli - No Chopping Required

This was a tasty, fast meal for a busy night that required almost zero effort (unless you consider opening cans effort).

1 can tomatoes with celery, onion, and garlic (not Italian style)
1 can cannelini (white kidney beans)
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1 t Italian seasoning
2 t vegetable broth powder
1 bay leaf
3/4 c small pasta shells
water to cover by about 2 inches
1 t nooch
4 c baby spinach

Dump tomatoes through water into the pot and bring to a boil - reduec heat and cook until pasta is cooked (the water amount is an estimate - you need enough to cook the pasta). Stir in nooch and spinach and cook a few minutes more, until spinach is wilted.

Tofu Failure and Kitchen Gadget

Isn't this fresh tofu from my local Asian store gorgeous?











I liked the idea of braising the tofu in a Thai-style coconut sauce, with basil, tomatoes, and scallions. I started out by sauteeing red onions, garlic and ginger in coconut oil. Good start, but then unfortunately I ruined it by adding too much stuff. First mistake was adding soy sauce. That is just wrong - much too strong. Should have just added salt. Then I put the tomatoes in too soon and overcooked them to mush. The kicker was when I added Thai Kitchen's Tom Yum soup seasoning. This was lurking in my fridge for who knows how long. I took a big sip of the sauce - blech, fish. I read the label after the fact and saw the shrimp on the list. What a waste of some beautiful tofu.









Favorite kitchen gadget - my immersion blender. I have long used this to puree soups without the mess of going back and forth between blender and pot. Then Vegetarian Times ran an article about gadgets that talked about using the attachments to make a mini-blender. It is perfect for when the regular blender is too big - chopping small amounts of garlic and onion, and making small amounts of sauces. I love sauces of all kinds, but to make them just for myself seems such a bother. But not with the mini blender! I used it to make this extremely simple sauce of roasted red pepper (one large piece from the jar), 1 T olive oil, 1 T mayo, salt & pepper.





The sauce was used for this Spicy Grilled Tempeh and Zucchini from Kathy Freston's 21 day cleanse. Waaaaaaaay too salty - I think the recipe called for 1 T in addition to the 1/4 of tamari. I even cut it back to 1 t, but it was still too salty. However, it was strongly flavored with chipotle, which is a good way to tame the tempeh. They also suggested an interesting slicing technique - slice on the diagonal, so the slices are wider. This worked a lot better than trying to slice the tempeh into thin pieces through the middle.

I love the soups from Dr. McDougall, and the hot and sour is my favorite. It is sort of smoky, I guess from the shiitakes. All the soups are relatively low in sodium (compared to mainstream prepared soups), and yet they taste really good. And of course, they are all vegan, and some are gluten free. Just add boiling water!

Happy Father's day to all the dads!

Goulash

When I was growing up, it was very unusual to have food originating in countries outside the US. Probably the most exotic thing we ate was spaghetti and meatballs! And that was a rare treat - pasta (or macaroni, as it was called) was certainly not a several night a week event.

We would occasionally have Hungarian goulash, and I always loved it. As I recall, it was made with ground beef, although I the recipes I checked for veganizing used cubed meat. I have never used vegetarian "crumbles" - it's one of those things I will buy occasionally and then throw out without using because I really hate meat substitutes. I saw a package on sale and decided to give it one more try. I am really glad I did! I don't know if it was the seasoning I used, but it had none of that yucky soy aftertaste that many imitation products have. And the recipe couldn't be easier for a busy day! It was quite delicious.

Hungarian Goulash

1 large red onion, cut in wedges
oil
1/2 package crumbles
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 T mild paprika
1 T soy sauce
1/2 T worcestershire sauce
salt
water to stew consistancy

Saute onion wedges until wilting and starting to brown. Add everything else and simmer for a while to blend flavors.

The salad in the background has Annie's Roasted Red Pepper Vinagrette, which is a dead ringer for the delicious dressing at my local pizza place.




The salad on the left has "real" ranch dressing, while the salad on the right has the vegan ranch from "The Grit Cookbook." I didn't love it, but maybe because I used lowfat mayo for the base instead of full fat Veganaise.




A big ole platter of "chiken fried" tofu. How I love this stuff, especially with gravy!




These are coffee chocolate chip muffins from Isa's new brunch book. I made these for my daughter's class (she was student of the week), so I left out the coffee. I should have added something to compensate, for they were a little flat. Maybe cinnamon? I love the chocolate-cinnamon combo.




Ummm, roasted beets! They were dressed with Citrus Mint Vinaigrette from Dreena's Vive le Vegan. Mint is a lovely complement for beets.

I am trying to use what's in my pantry and freezer in preparation of moving. So not much exciting cooking going on here. I promise not to post pictures of canned lentil soup!

Big News

Sorry for the long absence. The big news is that we are moving from New York to Chicago! I've been spending all my time painting and cleaning out clutter and trying to make my house look beautiful in order to sell it. And of course all the regular stuff must still be done (laundry, sports, homework, shopping, etc.). It is very hectic and stressful. Plus every time someone comes to look at the house it must be spotless - not an easy feat with three small kids!

With all that crazy stuff and me trying to diet, I have not had much exciting food to share. Mostly we eat stuff that can be made in 5 minutes - for me, that means rice cakes with hummus or peanut butter. Not exactly blog-worthy! I miss bread! Didn't even eat it that much before, but of course you want what you can't have. I'm surprised that I haven't missed sugar all that much - that is my biggest weakness and what I overeat the most. I have lost 7.5 lbs in 3 weeks. This is pretty good, as I'm not that overweight to begin with. I slip up sometimes on the weekend, but am good during the week.

So here are some new products and recipes I have tried.

This white bean hummus is to die for. It really has a lovely basil flavor.

Here it is on rice cakes - isn't it a pretty green? Love the pine nuts, too.

This is a black bean and yam burrito from "The Gluten Free Vegan," by Susan O'Brien. The tortilla is brown rice from Trader Joe's. The filling was good but I can't get used to the brown rice wraps. They taste okay but the texture is wrong. Too rubbery in the microwave and too crisp in the oven (and they got rubbery after being crisp).

"Salad bar salad" with seared tofu. I call it salad bar salad because when I worked in an office, that's what I had for lunch every day. Must include raisins and sunflower seeds! With my favorite dressing of mayo and ketchup.

Trader Joe's low-fat mayo is accidentally vegan.

I've been relying more than usual on prepared foods. This is a black bean and quinoa salad from my health food store. It was really good! I've never had luck with quinoa so I was really pleased with this.

More from the health food store - curried tofu and sushi salad. Lots of big onion wedges in that tofu - yum.

I did not care for these "crackers."

Last time I showed you the brown rice spaghetti that I didn't like. This penne was much, much better. Maybe because I rinsed it? Good thing there is a Trader Joe's in my new town!

Provencial Chickpea Soup from the New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook by Nancy Harmon Jenkins. I love chickpeas so much and this soup had ground fennel, leeks, tomatoes, and orange zest. So delicious.

Well, I am learning a lot about gluten-free cooking. I must say I am glad I don't have celiac disease - I don't think I could do this forever. But it's good to take a break from eating the same stuff all the time, both taste-wise and for the body!

Spring Cleansing

I have been rather over-indulgent in my eating habits for the last few months, and it is catching up to me. SO time to behave for a while and drop a few pounds.

I read Kathy Freston's book (the "Oprah cleanse") and was inspired to try to be not only vegan but gluten free. I have had "digestive issues" all my life, and have been wondering if I am gluten sensitive. It is not as hard as I thought - basically rice, beans, veggies, and fruit. Well, that's what we're supposed to be eating anyway, right? I have dropped 3.5 lbs in 6 days, without restricting amounts. And I have not had any more digestive problems. Now, is it because of gluten, or just because I am eating better generally? I guess I'll find out when I add back the gluten.

Anyway, here are some of the things I have been eating.



These are baked and breaded bananas. The bananas are dipped in a mix of melted EB, lime juice, and cayenne, then dredged in cornflake crumbs mixed with nooch (the orignal recipe had bread crumbs and parmesan cheese - sounds weird but delicious)!

I wanted to make tofu with teriyaki, but teriyaki has wheat (gluten) in it. So I mixed wheat free soy sauce with some of my homemade barbecue sauce, poured it on some tofu and baked it. Served with roasted potatoes and peppers. Yum.

Why am I showing you a boring picure of spaghetti? It is Trader Joe's brown rice spaghetti. I have not tried it before. It tasted like - well, brown rice. It was very starchy, which blocked the flavor of the sauce. And low in protein. This tiny pile had 400 calories! Do any of you gluten free people have a pasta suggestion?

These chips are gluten free and quite delicious! They taste like a cross between papadums and corn chips. Not cheap though, at $2.29 for a tiny bag.

Here is the Carnivore being silly for the girls on his pretend birthday. His real birthday is August 30, which he always hated as a kid because it was back to school time. So he has declared his new birthday to be May 1, because he loves spring so much!

I made these before I started the cleanse. They are butterscotch scones from Vegan Homemade's recipe. My new favorite scone recipe!