Tempeh Helper

Tonight for dinner I made Tempeh Helper from the PPK blog. I'd seen it a long time ago but finally decided that tonight was the night to make it. I made a few substitutions as one often does, listed here:

-used fresh minced garlic in place of granulated garlic I didn't have
-probably didn't use enough broth powder in the tempeh helper part cause I didn't have a lot left
-used veg broth instead of broth powder and water in the cheesey sauce part
-used tri-color alphabet pasta instead of small shells (all TJ's had that was small)

Despite the minor changes, it turned out good. Now that I'm thinking about it, I totally forgot the frozen peas. I even bought them, but I got so excited about eating it that I forgot.

Here's a picture of it on the stove:



















And here it is in my bowl ready to eat:


















Make it!

Adzuki-Palooza

So I acquired a large amount of dry beans/lentils and I just finished up using all the chickpeas in various dishes. Now onto ... adzuki beans! The only thing I've ever eaten adzuki beans in is daifuku, and then I found another recipe for a Chinese style sweet bun using the same sweet bean paste ... and it meant I didn't have to go to the store for anything, so I made these instead.

Recipe here: http://veganexplosion.com/sweet-buns

I had mixed results. First I started off by burning the beans in the pot, but I was luckily able to save most of them. Making the paste was fine, but the dough threw me off. I realize it was probably because I used WWF instead of AP flour but it was all I had and I am lazy. The dough was DRY. I added some extra water so that I could actually work with it, but it was still really tricky. What I don't really understand is how I ended up with such a large dough to filling ratio. I divided the dough into 12 parts, put a tablespoon of filling in each, and well, you can see the result. There is actually a little more in there than it looks like, there is more behind the swirly parts of dough. I also burned the bottoms of all the buns a little, but not badly. They are pretty good I guess, but I wouldn't make them again without the promise of there being less dough. It just got so huge when I let it rise and then again while I steamed them. =\

Lots of updates!

So yeah I know nobody even reads this but I have been snapping photos of stuff and I just haven't uploaded them yet. I can't really remember the chronological order but here is some stuff:

Corn Muffins!



Complete with frothy soy milk. I made these when I realized, "Holy shit! I haven't had corn muffins in forever" and "What am I going to do with that bag of cornmeal I only really bought to make pizza?". Good results. Great warm with some Earth Balance.

Next up we have...



Some bullshit I pulled out of my ass when I ran low on food. I think this was udon noodles, vegetable broth, and a ripped up sheet of nori. It was mighty tasty though.

And tonight I made Thai Green Curry with Summer Rolls-both from VWAV. The curry got eaten before I could snap a photo but I made a lovely presentation. All I am left with is this crappy photo:




The transparency of the rice paper wraps reminds me of those fish with no skin pigmentation. Heheh. They taste good though and I am glad to have 3 left to munch on later.

Pumpkin Choc Muffin

Courtesy of: Vegan Lunch Box

Only I obviously used chocolate chips instead of carob chips because well ... I tried to like carob chips and they are just plain gross.

Potluck!!

I decided today that I'm the best person to invite to a potluck, and the worst person to go to one. The reasons being, I love to cook and share my food, but usually once I get to a potluck (and by usually I mean I've been to 3) there is no other food I can eat besides my own, so it's more like making dinner and eating it at someone else's house.

My first potluck was a few months ago at my lovely bellydance teacher's house. It wasn't so much of a potluck technically but a wine and food pairing party, so it was sort of a potluck but fancier. I think I ate some crackers, plus my own food. I made stuffed mushrooms and had extra stuffing I didn't know what to do with so I wrapped it in phyllo dough and baked it. I thought it was delicious. The mushrooms were mostly eaten up but I think I ate all the phyllo dough wraps on my own.

My second potluck was just a few weeks ago at my friend Bethuny's house. Hers was a twist on a regular potluck and she made it so everyone brought breakfast foods. I made these crepes with baked apples with lots of cinnamon and sugar on them, and I also cut up a ton of strawberries and sprinkled sugar on them. By the end of the night all the crepes were gone and I had leftover fruit which I didn't really mind. The only other thing I ate was a piece of tempeh bacon, and then I proceeded to get drunk off screwdrivers.

My third potluck was just a few hours ago! I made Macaroni Hates Cheees and chocolate cupcake from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (between you and me, I had a friend email me the recipe cause I'm still too broke to buy it) with peanut butter frosting. I was eating spoonfulls of the mac and cheese while the cupcakes were baking, though I showed up a little late and most people had eaten a lot and I have a LOT left. I don't really mind though cause I liked it a lot, but people kinda scoffed at my cupcakes cause they were VEGAN. My friend ate one though and told everyone how good it was and then other people stepped up to the plate. I still have some which I am happy about so I guess it's okay.


I feel like my potluck expectations are too high. In a perfect world, all my food would be eaten up and I would have a smorgishborg of delicious vegan food to choose from. I have thought about hosting a vegan potluck at my house but I really don't know a lot of vegans and most non-vegans suck at cooking vegan food. My mom is sort of getting the hang of it now (can we say homemade sweet potato ravioli!! Love you mom!) but really, most omnis don't get it and frankly I'd be worried that people would put in things not knowing that they're not vegan and then I'd eat it. Bleh. I also barely have enough friends to have a get together, let alone a vegan potluck. Someday I will have vegan friends, someday!!!

100 Foods

Copied from this blog!!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:
1) Copy this list into your own blog, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Post a comment here once you’ve finished and link your post back to this one.
5) Pass it on!
I accepted so here is mine:

1. Natto
2. Green Smoothie
3. Tofu Scramble
4. Haggis
5. Mangosteen
6. Creme brulee
7. Fondue
8. Marmite/Vegemite
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Nachos
12. Authentic soba noodles (well ok, I'm not sure HOW authentic they were, but I love soba noodles)
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi (I think, Indian food confuses me)
15. Taco from a street cart
16. Boba Tea
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Gyoza
20. Vanilla ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Ceviche
24. Rice and beans
25. Knish
26. Raw scotch bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Caviar
29. Baklava
30. Pate
31. Wasabi peas (and they were gross. I like peas, I like wasabi...but not wasabi peas)
32. Chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Mango lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Mulled cider
37. Scones with buttery spread and jam
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Fast food french fries
41. Raw Brownies
42. Fresh Garbanzo Beans
43. Dahl
44. Homemade Soymilk
45. Wine from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Stroopwafle
47. Samosas
48. Vegetable Sushi
49. Glazed doughnut
50. Seaweed
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi - no but I really want to try it!
53. Tofurkey
54. Sheese
55. Cotton candy
56. Gnocchi
57. Piña colada
58. Birch beer
59. Scrapple
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Soy curls
63. Chickpea cutlets
64. Curry
65. Durian
66. Homemade Sausages
67. Churros, elephant ears, or funnel cake
68. Smoked tofu
69. Fried plantain
70. Mochi
71. Gazpacho
72. Warm chocolate chip cookies
73. Absinthe
74. Corn on the cob
75. Whipped cream, straight from the can
76. Pomegranate
77. Fauxstess Cupcake
78. Mashed potatoes with gravy
79. Jerky
80. Croissants
81. French onion soup
82. Savory crepes
83. Tings
84. A meal at Candle 79
85. Moussaka
86. Sprouted grains or seeds
87. Macaroni and “cheese”
88. Flowers
89. Matzoh ball soup
90. White chocolate
91. Seitan
92. Kimchi
93. Butterscotch chips
94. Yellow watermelon
95. Chili with chocolate
96. Bagel and Tofutti
97. Potato milk

98. Polenta

99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Raw cookie dough

Chocolate Cupcakes!

So I have less than a week to finish my cupcake inspired project for my Computers for Fashion class. I was sketching out some ideas and looking at lots of photos of cupcakes when I decided it was high time to make my own. I regret not owning Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, but someday I will buy it, I swear. For now I just google until I find something that doesn't sound like it'd suck. I only made 6 because I knew I'd be eating them on my own and the thought of having 12 cupcakes in the kitchen spelled out certain death. Maybe it's the PMS, maybe it's the project, but I had to have cupcakes today.