Maple Walnut cupcake from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.
9.02.2008
A celebratory cupcake.
I quit my job on Friday. I am starting grad school TOMORROW!
Maple Walnut cupcake from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.
Maple Walnut cupcake from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.
8.29.2008
a breakfast post
I was just thinking to myself, you know, self, it has been a while since I have written a breakfast post. And then I realized that's totally wrong, since my previous post starts off with me making brunch. And the post before that includes oatmeal. And the post before that is about grits. And the post -- well, you get it.
You may be under the impression that I like breakfast food as much as I like cupcakes*. THIS IS TRUE. But I am not a morning person and getting to work on time is daunting even on the best of mornings, so my weekday breakfast is almost always the same thing: flax/raisin bran cereal with soy yogurt and soymilk, and a banana. I will never take a picture of this breakfast because it is appallingly beige by the time I'm through mushing it all together. WeekdayMorning Vegetalion cannot be bothered with making her food look good. But even WeekdayMorning Vegetalion gets bored with the same thing every day. So sometimes I forgo the banana and try other fruit:
Like Korean Melon! It sorta tastes like honeydew, but a little crisper. And so cute!
Sometimes, to keep with my mushy, beige weekday morning theme, I make oatmeal instead of cereal. You have seen my Coconut Cashew Kiwi oatmeal.
(Look at the time! almost late for work, and yet taking pictures for this blog? that is true devotion, dear readers. I like "dear readers" because it is nearly a palindrome.)
And once in a GREAT while, I branch out and try other cereals or new foods. Like Chia Goodness, a chia seed "cereal" that has buckwheat groats and hemp seeds for extra protein.
Have you all noticed the recent popularity of chia seeds? They are apparently very good for you, but they lodge themselves in one's teeth and also get sorta congealed like flax seeds. Plus all I can think, while I'm eating them, is of the Chia Pet commercial jingle. "Ch-ch-ch-chia!" It is an odd way to start off one's day.
Here's a close-up:
But as you've seen in other entries, I do actually make breakfast food that isn't mushy or weird. WeekEND Morning Vegetalion loves exciting breakfast foods. And my boyfriend is even more obsessed with brunch food. So this last picture is not something I made, but a culinary experiment he made for me.
I couldn't decide whether I wanted french toast or waffles for brunch. He suggested both. We can't have both, I said. He suggested we combine them and make some sort of hybrid French Toast Waffle thing.
It will never work, I said, and left the kitchen to call my mother.
I was wrong!
(For comparison, the French Toast Waffles are on the left (you can see the batter splatter); normal waffles are on the right.)
He made waffles, then dipped them into a french toast batter (I think it was just soymilk and cinnamon? maybe some sugar?) and fried them like French Toast in vegan margarine. I thought they were DELICIOUS; he thought they were too much work. They're definitely something WeekdayMorning Vegetalion could never pull off, but WeekEND Morning Vegetalion looooved them ^_^
* - Speaking of which, there have been blessed few cupcakes on this blog recently, and yet a great many cupcakes in my kitchen and/or belly. I will remedy this soon.
You may be under the impression that I like breakfast food as much as I like cupcakes*. THIS IS TRUE. But I am not a morning person and getting to work on time is daunting even on the best of mornings, so my weekday breakfast is almost always the same thing: flax/raisin bran cereal with soy yogurt and soymilk, and a banana. I will never take a picture of this breakfast because it is appallingly beige by the time I'm through mushing it all together. WeekdayMorning Vegetalion cannot be bothered with making her food look good. But even WeekdayMorning Vegetalion gets bored with the same thing every day. So sometimes I forgo the banana and try other fruit:
Like Korean Melon! It sorta tastes like honeydew, but a little crisper. And so cute!Sometimes, to keep with my mushy, beige weekday morning theme, I make oatmeal instead of cereal. You have seen my Coconut Cashew Kiwi oatmeal.
(Look at the time! almost late for work, and yet taking pictures for this blog? that is true devotion, dear readers. I like "dear readers" because it is nearly a palindrome.)And once in a GREAT while, I branch out and try other cereals or new foods. Like Chia Goodness, a chia seed "cereal" that has buckwheat groats and hemp seeds for extra protein.
Have you all noticed the recent popularity of chia seeds? They are apparently very good for you, but they lodge themselves in one's teeth and also get sorta congealed like flax seeds. Plus all I can think, while I'm eating them, is of the Chia Pet commercial jingle. "Ch-ch-ch-chia!" It is an odd way to start off one's day.Here's a close-up:
But as you've seen in other entries, I do actually make breakfast food that isn't mushy or weird. WeekEND Morning Vegetalion loves exciting breakfast foods. And my boyfriend is even more obsessed with brunch food. So this last picture is not something I made, but a culinary experiment he made for me.
I couldn't decide whether I wanted french toast or waffles for brunch. He suggested both. We can't have both, I said. He suggested we combine them and make some sort of hybrid French Toast Waffle thing.
It will never work, I said, and left the kitchen to call my mother.
I was wrong!
(For comparison, the French Toast Waffles are on the left (you can see the batter splatter); normal waffles are on the right.)He made waffles, then dipped them into a french toast batter (I think it was just soymilk and cinnamon? maybe some sugar?) and fried them like French Toast in vegan margarine. I thought they were DELICIOUS; he thought they were too much work. They're definitely something WeekdayMorning Vegetalion could never pull off, but WeekEND Morning Vegetalion looooved them ^_^
* - Speaking of which, there have been blessed few cupcakes on this blog recently, and yet a great many cupcakes in my kitchen and/or belly. I will remedy this soon.
8.14.2008
fixing failures
I had a crepe failure a couple weekends ago. I thought I'd just whip some up for brunch, but my trusty crepe recipe (the really simple one from the voluptuous vegan) failed me. I think it was just too thick. Anyway the crepes were thick and clung to the pan like two-year-olds with separation anxiety.
A rather awful picture of me scraping rather awful crepes from the pan.
Ultimately I would've just given up and stormed off to pout in a corner, hungry, had my boyfriend not recommended adding some more flour and some baking powder and calling them pancakes. He fixed brunch!
Bu I still needed reminders of times I didn't fail at crepes! Fortunately I had these pictures saved from a little while ago to fix my mood...
Crepes with a sweet red-wine-and-pear filling, made just like my dried fruit compote, only with canned pears and raisins. Topped with soy yogurt!
Savory Collard crepes! Finely chopped collareds, sauteed in olive oil with pumpkin seeds, mushrooms and a lot of salt. Topped with tofutti sour cream and an olive.
And sticking with my "fixing failures" theme: a recipe! I tried veganizing and de-alcoholing (since we didn't have any) a Chocolate Kahlua Pie recipe. The recipe called for straight milk, not cream, so I thought I'd be okay, but the soymilk didn't thicken enough and it ended up being chocolate soup in a pie crust instead of a thick pudding. I'd even added used some of my vast stores of mimiccreme in place of some of the soymilk! but no. It was not even goopy, just liquid.. After refrigerating it a while and realizing it would not resemble anything cream-pie-esque, I stuck the whole thing in the freezer. And later that night, I discovered it was not a failure!
Fudgesicle Pie
1/3 Cups cocoa powder
1 C sugar (or 3/4 C agave nectar, but decrease the milk by 1/3)
1/4 tsp salt
2 3/4 Cups non-dairy milk
3 TBsp coffee (I used instant dissolved in water)
2 TBsp margarine
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp chocolate extract (optional)
1 pie crust (graham cracker's good, especially if your mom has a natural food store and gives you 3 because the are past date)
In a saucepan, combine cocoa, sugar, cornstarch, salt. Stir in milk over medium heat. (If using agave, add it here instead of in the beginning). Continue to stir until the mixture boils. Reduce heat down to low, add coffee. Stir 1 minute more. Add margarine and extract(s), then pour into the pie crust. Freeze overnight, or 4-6 hours.
When you serve it, let each piece sit for a minute or two after removing it from the freezer, so it's not too hard. It goes great with berries, especially the berry sauce you had originally made for crepes that failed miserably (see above).
A rather awful picture of me scraping rather awful crepes from the pan.Ultimately I would've just given up and stormed off to pout in a corner, hungry, had my boyfriend not recommended adding some more flour and some baking powder and calling them pancakes. He fixed brunch!
Bu I still needed reminders of times I didn't fail at crepes! Fortunately I had these pictures saved from a little while ago to fix my mood...
Crepes with a sweet red-wine-and-pear filling, made just like my dried fruit compote, only with canned pears and raisins. Topped with soy yogurt!
Savory Collard crepes! Finely chopped collareds, sauteed in olive oil with pumpkin seeds, mushrooms and a lot of salt. Topped with tofutti sour cream and an olive.And sticking with my "fixing failures" theme: a recipe! I tried veganizing and de-alcoholing (since we didn't have any) a Chocolate Kahlua Pie recipe. The recipe called for straight milk, not cream, so I thought I'd be okay, but the soymilk didn't thicken enough and it ended up being chocolate soup in a pie crust instead of a thick pudding. I'd even added used some of my vast stores of mimiccreme in place of some of the soymilk! but no. It was not even goopy, just liquid.. After refrigerating it a while and realizing it would not resemble anything cream-pie-esque, I stuck the whole thing in the freezer. And later that night, I discovered it was not a failure!
Fudgesicle Pie
1/3 Cups cocoa powder
1 C sugar (or 3/4 C agave nectar, but decrease the milk by 1/3)
1/4 tsp salt
2 3/4 Cups non-dairy milk
3 TBsp coffee (I used instant dissolved in water)
2 TBsp margarine
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp chocolate extract (optional)
1 pie crust (graham cracker's good, especially if your mom has a natural food store and gives you 3 because the are past date)
In a saucepan, combine cocoa, sugar, cornstarch, salt. Stir in milk over medium heat. (If using agave, add it here instead of in the beginning). Continue to stir until the mixture boils. Reduce heat down to low, add coffee. Stir 1 minute more. Add margarine and extract(s), then pour into the pie crust. Freeze overnight, or 4-6 hours.
When you serve it, let each piece sit for a minute or two after removing it from the freezer, so it's not too hard. It goes great with berries, especially the berry sauce you had originally made for crepes that failed miserably (see above).
7.20.2008
what to do with 7 quarts of mimiccreme
The title to the post is both a statement and a question. I am out of ideas. It doesn't help that it's near 90 degrees and humid all the time; who wants something heavy like fake cream when you can't move without sweating? So if y'all have any recommendations, let me know!
If you remember, my mother gave me 7 quarts of mimiccreme from her natural food store. It's great stuff - but honestly, 7 quarts of anything is overwhelming. So the last few weeks, I have tried it in a few things.
MimicCreme Use Number 1: Strawberry Shortcake
I added sugar and vanilla, and while it tasted just like the whipped cream my mother used to make, the MimicCreme never thickened, even though I tried whipping it until my arm hurt from holding the mixer for so long.
MimicCreme Use Number 2: Rice Pudding
Made with "Forbidden Rice" and mucho cardamom.
MimicCreme Use Number 3: Bread Pudding
My roommate made this, actually, with some really rich (vegan!) chocolate bread from When Pigs Fly bakery, MimicCreme and rum.
MimicCreme Use Number 4: In Oatmeal
Coconut Cashew Kiwi Oatmeal
Orange-Apricot Oatmeal
MimicCreme Use Number 5: Pouring It Over Things
...like Peach CobbIer! I forget to take pictures of i when I just use it as a topping, though. I still like it best over fruit.
All this and there are still 3 (or 4?!) quarts left! Any ideas?
If you remember, my mother gave me 7 quarts of mimiccreme from her natural food store. It's great stuff - but honestly, 7 quarts of anything is overwhelming. So the last few weeks, I have tried it in a few things.
MimicCreme Use Number 1: Strawberry Shortcake
I added sugar and vanilla, and while it tasted just like the whipped cream my mother used to make, the MimicCreme never thickened, even though I tried whipping it until my arm hurt from holding the mixer for so long.MimicCreme Use Number 2: Rice Pudding
Made with "Forbidden Rice" and mucho cardamom.MimicCreme Use Number 3: Bread Pudding
My roommate made this, actually, with some really rich (vegan!) chocolate bread from When Pigs Fly bakery, MimicCreme and rum.MimicCreme Use Number 4: In Oatmeal
Coconut Cashew Kiwi Oatmeal
Orange-Apricot OatmealMimicCreme Use Number 5: Pouring It Over Things
...like Peach CobbIer! I forget to take pictures of i when I just use it as a topping, though. I still like it best over fruit.All this and there are still 3 (or 4?!) quarts left! Any ideas?
6.19.2008
amazing amaranth OR great grains/grits
Two summers ago I tried my hand at a flower garden. Having successfully not killed any windowsill plants in my life, I figured I was ready to move on to the great outdoors. I grew cosmos, which are hard NOT to grow, marigolds, which are among my favorite flowers, and I grew amaranth.
Amaranth is an annual that is easy to grow and produces pretty red flowers. But amaranth is ALSO a grain! Which is, flowers aside, what this entry is about. I did not eat my amaranth, but I have a soft spot for the stuff ever since.
Amaranth is a very tiny grain: here it is, on the bottom right, compared to millet and brown rice. It is very high in iron and is a good source of calcium, magnesium and zinc. And as it is a whole grain, it's also high in fiber. And delicious! But while amaranth sometimes shows up in the occasional bread, muffin or porridge, it mostly a forgotten grain.
Honestly, usually I just boil then simmer it like rice and eat it plain as a side dish. But it's got a smooth, nutty taste and is just so adorable in the pan that I think it could go far.
So to what sort of recipe does such a tiny specimen lend itself? I asked myself. Having been on a cornmeal kick recently, my first thought was GRITS. (I love grits. Which is weird because I am a new englander at home and at heart) And I felt very original until I googled it and discovered that recipes for amaranth grits are all over the internet. But after looking at a few, I have decided everyone's over-complicating things. So I will not be deterred by how many other people thought of this first.
Amaranth Grits
1 TBsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 Cups water
1 cup Amaranth
1/4 tsp salt
In a medium-sized pan, saute the onion in oil over medium-low heat until slightly translucent. Add water, raise heat to high. Once the water boils, stir in amaranth, turn heat to low and cover. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is absorbed. The mixture will be (for lack of a less disgusting word) porridgy.
Serve in a side bowl, or diner-style: plopped right on the plate so it all runs into everything else. Top with a pat of (fake) butter. I had mine with spinach, corn and olives, but this would be great with breakfasty-type foods (pancakes, waffles, fake sausage/bacon) or with a more traditional dinner-type meal (imagine it as a replacement for mashed potatoes)
oh-so-runny and unattractive, but good lord. A delicious, healthy spin on comfort food.
And because I can't help but post adorable food moments, I was chopping up swiss chard stems to toss into a stir-fry the other night, and the pieces of one particular stem caught my eye:
CHARD STARS! They were so cute I almost didn't want to eat them.
(I did.)
Amaranth is an annual that is easy to grow and produces pretty red flowers. But amaranth is ALSO a grain! Which is, flowers aside, what this entry is about. I did not eat my amaranth, but I have a soft spot for the stuff ever since.
Amaranth is a very tiny grain: here it is, on the bottom right, compared to millet and brown rice. It is very high in iron and is a good source of calcium, magnesium and zinc. And as it is a whole grain, it's also high in fiber. And delicious! But while amaranth sometimes shows up in the occasional bread, muffin or porridge, it mostly a forgotten grain.
Honestly, usually I just boil then simmer it like rice and eat it plain as a side dish. But it's got a smooth, nutty taste and is just so adorable in the pan that I think it could go far.So to what sort of recipe does such a tiny specimen lend itself? I asked myself. Having been on a cornmeal kick recently, my first thought was GRITS. (I love grits. Which is weird because I am a new englander at home and at heart) And I felt very original until I googled it and discovered that recipes for amaranth grits are all over the internet. But after looking at a few, I have decided everyone's over-complicating things. So I will not be deterred by how many other people thought of this first.
Amaranth Grits
1 TBsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 Cups water
1 cup Amaranth
1/4 tsp salt
In a medium-sized pan, saute the onion in oil over medium-low heat until slightly translucent. Add water, raise heat to high. Once the water boils, stir in amaranth, turn heat to low and cover. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is absorbed. The mixture will be (for lack of a less disgusting word) porridgy.
Serve in a side bowl, or diner-style: plopped right on the plate so it all runs into everything else. Top with a pat of (fake) butter. I had mine with spinach, corn and olives, but this would be great with breakfasty-type foods (pancakes, waffles, fake sausage/bacon) or with a more traditional dinner-type meal (imagine it as a replacement for mashed potatoes)
oh-so-runny and unattractive, but good lord. A delicious, healthy spin on comfort food.And because I can't help but post adorable food moments, I was chopping up swiss chard stems to toss into a stir-fry the other night, and the pieces of one particular stem caught my eye:
CHARD STARS! They were so cute I almost didn't want to eat them.(I did.)
6.12.2008
heidi swanson = the new rachael ray?
alternatively titled, someone else I love to hate.
As some of you may remember, I dislike Rachael Ray and everything she stands for (ie, dunkin donuts). AND YET she has some great recipes that I can't resist making/veganizing.
Rachael Ray has been replaced in my life, with Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks. For those of you too lazy to click on the link, 101 Cookbooks is a vegetarian food blog whose conceit is that the creator, Heidi Swanson, has 101 cookbooks and realized one day she had to start cooking from them before she could allow herself to accumulate more. Heidi Swanson posts gorgeous pictures with cute little stories and fairly healthy recipes.
Other than her loose definition of being a vegetarian (oh, you had soup made from chicken but wouldn't eat beef cheeks? that's okay then), I have no reason to hate Heidi Swanson. And yet every time gmail links to one of her recipes above my inbox, I groan. Stupid Heidi Swanson and her soothing white and beige blog and her so-pretty-they're-practically-pornographic pictures of food. I refused to try any of her recipes for months.
But then! I got home late one night to find a note from my roommate: she had made a tofu scramble, I could help myself if I was hungry. So I did. It was THE GREATEST TOFU SCRAMBLE I HAVE EVER HAD. I'm not exaggerating. The next day I told my roommate how amazing it had been... and she told me where she got the recipe.
I still irrationally dislike Heidi Swanson. But yeah, okay, now I sometimes check out her blog. And dangit, I pretty much always like the recipes.
Broccoli Pesto from 101Cookbooks.com
For the first time in a while, I too, have been turning to my cookbooks. Here are some of the results:
Smores Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies and Chocolate Chip Cookies, from Vegan with a Vengeance and Vive le Vegan, respectively.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie, from pamela's blog - but slightly healthier, I swear! I halfed the amount of chocolate chips and sugar, and instead put in a little extra tofu and some cocoa powder, and if you look closely, you'll see I used sliced bananas instead of a cookie crust:
I mean, it's practically health food, right?
And finally, Paradise Casserole from the Candle Cafe cookbook.
When I had this at the Candle Cafe, there were waaaaay more sweet potatoes on top. The recipe called for 4. Next time, I say at least 6! I made it for my mother when I was back in upstate NY. ALSO in upstate NY, I got to meet and enjoy delicious vegan milkshakes with bazu of where's the revolution?!
As some of you may remember, I dislike Rachael Ray and everything she stands for (ie, dunkin donuts). AND YET she has some great recipes that I can't resist making/veganizing.
Rachael Ray has been replaced in my life, with Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks. For those of you too lazy to click on the link, 101 Cookbooks is a vegetarian food blog whose conceit is that the creator, Heidi Swanson, has 101 cookbooks and realized one day she had to start cooking from them before she could allow herself to accumulate more. Heidi Swanson posts gorgeous pictures with cute little stories and fairly healthy recipes.
Other than her loose definition of being a vegetarian (oh, you had soup made from chicken but wouldn't eat beef cheeks? that's okay then), I have no reason to hate Heidi Swanson. And yet every time gmail links to one of her recipes above my inbox, I groan. Stupid Heidi Swanson and her soothing white and beige blog and her so-pretty-they're-practically-pornographic pictures of food. I refused to try any of her recipes for months.
But then! I got home late one night to find a note from my roommate: she had made a tofu scramble, I could help myself if I was hungry. So I did. It was THE GREATEST TOFU SCRAMBLE I HAVE EVER HAD. I'm not exaggerating. The next day I told my roommate how amazing it had been... and she told me where she got the recipe.
I still irrationally dislike Heidi Swanson. But yeah, okay, now I sometimes check out her blog. And dangit, I pretty much always like the recipes.
Broccoli Pesto from 101Cookbooks.comFor the first time in a while, I too, have been turning to my cookbooks. Here are some of the results:
Smores Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies and Chocolate Chip Cookies, from Vegan with a Vengeance and Vive le Vegan, respectively.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie, from pamela's blog - but slightly healthier, I swear! I halfed the amount of chocolate chips and sugar, and instead put in a little extra tofu and some cocoa powder, and if you look closely, you'll see I used sliced bananas instead of a cookie crust:
I mean, it's practically health food, right?And finally, Paradise Casserole from the Candle Cafe cookbook.
When I had this at the Candle Cafe, there were waaaaay more sweet potatoes on top. The recipe called for 4. Next time, I say at least 6! I made it for my mother when I was back in upstate NY. ALSO in upstate NY, I got to meet and enjoy delicious vegan milkshakes with bazu of where's the revolution?!
6.02.2008
upstate NY trip = chicken updates
I visited the homestead in upstate NY for a week (and got to meet the lovely bazu in the process!), and two exciting things came of it:
1.) The chicks who were all little and skittish and fit in the palm of my hand the last time I visited my family (april) are now pullets and no longer fit comfortably in the stocktank that has previously been their home. Sooo we introduced them to the big green world! And introduced them to my family's old, street-smart chickens. They don't really get along yet, though.
Chickens in the stocktank. You are about to be free, little chickens!
Turns out they did not like being free. They clung together and were not keen on the idea of leaving our driveway, as grass is scary. But after we moved their feed out onto the grass, they acclimated pretty quickly.
The old chickens also clung together. They were a little weirded out by the new chickens and clucked offendedly.
2.) My mother sent me back to boston with 7 - I kid you not - 7 quarts of unsweetened mimiccreme (she offered me 9 - ! - of the sweetened but I declined) that just went past date at her store. So expect many ideas of what to do with vegan cream.
This is how I like it best. So far.
1.) The chicks who were all little and skittish and fit in the palm of my hand the last time I visited my family (april) are now pullets and no longer fit comfortably in the stocktank that has previously been their home. Sooo we introduced them to the big green world! And introduced them to my family's old, street-smart chickens. They don't really get along yet, though.
Chickens in the stocktank. You are about to be free, little chickens!
Turns out they did not like being free. They clung together and were not keen on the idea of leaving our driveway, as grass is scary. But after we moved their feed out onto the grass, they acclimated pretty quickly.
The old chickens also clung together. They were a little weirded out by the new chickens and clucked offendedly.2.) My mother sent me back to boston with 7 - I kid you not - 7 quarts of unsweetened mimiccreme (she offered me 9 - ! - of the sweetened but I declined) that just went past date at her store. So expect many ideas of what to do with vegan cream.
This is how I like it best. So far.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)