8 Healthy, Yummy Meals and Snacks

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Well, at least I'm early for the last set of wishes. I actually starting crafting this post on December 1 (maybe that date will even show up at the bottom of this post since it's been in draft mode so long?). My new year's resolution will be to post more - it's just been a little tricky since free time is pretty hard to come by with a busy toddler and another little one on the way! Thank goodness my all-day sickness has waned, allowing me to again be excited to try new recipes.

Chelsea Style Waffles from Vegan Brunch - the first time I made these I just subbed maple syrup since I was too lazy to go to the pantry to find my barley malt. Am I ever glad that one day I did muster up the strength! I love the malted taste. And these always turn out, unless past waffle disasters.

Green Goddess Pizza from VwaV - what took me so long to make this!!! Delicious, but hideously garlicky. I now make Isa's dough recipe in my breadmaker, but use whole wheat flour, and it turns out great.

Chickpea Eggplant Stew from Vcon - I was on a real eggplant kick for a while. This was pretty easy and so yummy. Unfortunately, I can't stomach the thought of eggplant anymore, so I'll have to wait until the end of this pregnancy to try this again.

Creamy Cauliflower Soup from Vegan Lunch Box - love it! Ash gobbles this up. Great way to eat what I find to be a bland veggie.

Heart Healthiest Cookie in the World from VT - I may have the title completely wrong, but geez, it's a long one. They were good, but a little labour intensive. The second time I made these, I tried making them with agave nectar and skipping the whole EB/sugar melting step, but they turned out pretty gross.

Leek and Bean Cassoulet from Vcon - I can't say it was my fave. I like making my own veggie pot pies with chick'n tenders instead. Maybe I found it too beany?

Stewed Tofu with Miso Gravy from VwaV - I served it with mashed sweet potatoes and it was heavenly.

Eggplant Moussaka from Vcon - loved it! But again, will put this one on hold. I found it to be much less labour intensive than the rollatini but with the same great taste. I think I used jarred pasta sauce to avoid extra effort.


I received plenty of new cookbooks for Christmas - Vegan Soul Kitchen, Short Cut Vegan and Vegan Comfort Food, so I'm totally pumped about blogging about them!

Fall Food and New Cookbooks

Summer is over so it's time to get serious in the kitchen again. And I got a new cookbook - Vegan Soul Kitchen by Bryant Terry. EVERYTHING in this book sounds delicious to me and I love how he pairs each item with a soundtrack. So of course I had to try some things out.

Citrus Collards with Raisins Redux from VSK paired with Cumin-Lime Tofu from the VegNews Recipe Club (cumin swapped out with chipotle chili powder). The collards were divine and I will use this method for cooking collards all the time. The tofu was zesty and delicious and since it was baked in the oven it was really easy. I used chipotle because I'm not a big cumin fan.



BBQ Tempeh with Straightforward Coleslaw. I would recommend using only 1/4 cup tamari and 1/2 cup water vs the 3/4 cup tamari as written as the tempeh was salty for me. I suspected it might be and only used 1/2 cup tamari but after tasting it I would dilute further. Other than that the sauce reduced in the pan while baking and gave the tempeh great BBQ flavour. This is a super recipe for introducing someone to tempeh. I boiled the tempeh cake before covering with the sauce and baking. I made a mistake with the coleslaw - I should have used the food processor for shredding the cabbage instead of a knife. Other than that, the dressing was mild yet tasty. It was a perfect compliment to the spicy BBQ sauce.



I really like how Bryant Terry makes his sauces and dressings in the blender. It makes for short work and quick cleanup.

Butternut Squash-Bartlett Pear Soup with Chilled Citrus Broccoli Salad. The squash soup was so smooth with the addition of coconut milk and a touch of sweetness from the pears. It was a perfect fall soup. The dressing was tangy on the broccoli which led to a large portion on my plate, good for getting my calcium and iron.



After making Alfredo Stroganoff earlier in the week (which was delicious), I used the leftover alfredo sauce with a dollop of tomato paste and made Pasta with Rose Sauce, something that I haven't had since going vegan. This sauce is simply the best vegan white sauce ever and I'm happy to have an old favourite back in my easy meal repertoire.



I'm so excited about the soon-to-be-released-in-Canada Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. In fact, my wonderful sister and family gifted me a copy for my birthday! I made the Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles from the teaser recipe on the PPK website. I've had WAY too many today, they are that good.



I'm going to have to amp up my running mileage so I can test out the rest of the cookies when the book comes.

Gluten Free for a Week (well, almost...)

This week's menu is courtesy of October's Vegetarian Times. And I guess with it being Celiac Month, many of the recipes are gluten free (GF). Over the past few months I've been trying some GF recipes as an added challenge to just vegan cooking, so it seemed like a fun task to try some of these meals out this week.

I first have to note that I would have modified the order of the recipes presented, but damn blogger is giving me a hard time with copying/pasting and moving pics around...argh...

Pumpkin Parfaits with Oat Crunch - Wow, awesome! The Oat Crunch tastes like Kashi Go Lean Crunch, and with sweetened pumpkin pie filling, this really does satisfy a sweet tooth. I really wish we could eat these at Thanksgiving instead of pumpkin pie. Well, maybe these and a slice of pumpkin pie.

Tasty Tofu Patties - Tasty? Yes. Tofu? Yes. Patties? No - more like crumbles. I have no idea what I did wrong but this stuff just didn't hold together at all. Maybe some chickpea flour would have helped! Ah well. Plus, the recipe said it would make 8 patties - I got to 10 and still had 1/2 the mixture leftover. I'm going to just cook it up like a scramble - way less effort. I served these with my Actually Crispy Sweet Potato Fries...rice flour for these fries this time to stick with the whole GF theme.


Curried Red Lentil Soup - I have about a billion red lentil soup recipes, but something stood out about this one. It was great! And Ashley gobbled it up, so based on that alone, this one is a keeper. I kinda cheated on the whole GF thing, as I served it with multi-grain whole wheat bread.

OK, so this one is the only thing that's not from VT and it's not really GF, but I worry that if I don't blog about it now I'll forget to! Zucchini Spelt Muffins from Vegan Brunch. I don't have much luck with grated carrots or zucchinis in baking, as everything turns out soggy. This was the case with this muffin, sadly. I'm sure it's user error and not the recipe, as Isa is a Recipe Goddess.

Roasted Ratatouille Pizza with Chewy Pizza Dough - OK - the dough. I'm used to 'tough' pizza dough. I thought I'd done something wrong because this gluten-free dough was runnier than my pancake batter. But I followed the instructions to spread the dough with a baggie on my hand and it turned out great. A little soggy, but actually edible. More edible than I thought considering some of the GF stuff I've made has been pretty gross. I don't know if I will make this crust again, but I will definitely roast up the veggies like this for topping future pizzas! I do also have to note that I didn't have that 'heavy' feeling that I normally have after woofing down several slices of pizza. As for the veggies, I would normally cook off some of the liquid on the stovetop, but roasting made the veggies a little chewy and delicious!

Chickpea Croquettes with Greek Salad Topping - I had my doubts about this turning out since the chickpeas were so lumpy compared to the runny batter. But the chickpea flour really did make a crepe-like texture and everything held together perfectly! Great off the griddle and also tasty cold the next day.

Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Popcorn - So tasty! Basically microwave popcorn with melted Earth Balance, Sucanat and cinnamon. Tasted just like the cinnamon toast I made as a kid where I loaded it with margarine, a ton of sugar and cinnamon goodness. So yummy! But very calorie heavy. I ate most of the recipe myself, so I probably had about 10 of the 1/2 cup servings to myself. Honestly, who would be able to eat only a meager 1/2 cup of this stuff?

Autumn Vegetable Tagine (no pic - no idea how I forgot to snap one) - I have a pressure cooker since I use it to save time on a meal, but with having to bring it to high pressure three separate times while making this recipe, I didn't find it to be all that helpful. The flavour of this dish was kinda blah and while it wasn't horrible, it really wasn't worth the effort. I also felt a little deceived since a glance at the photo in the mag showed all ingredients, including the couscous (in my case, quinoa) mixed into the pressure cooker. Of course, this made me think it was a one-pot meal. In reality, the grain is cooked separately, adding a little more effort than I originally thought.

The upcoming week's menus are more simple, as I'm trying a few reliable faves since Ashley got stuck with a nasty stomach bug and needs to eat up! I think there are a few sneaky dips that I might be able to blog about though.

Vegan Brunch!

Wow, this cookbook has been out for what seems like eons now, and I'm just getting around to writing up my first review.

I have to say, the muffin recipes in this book are awesome. I'm a total muffin girl though. I tend to just throw a bunch of ingredients together and toss it in the pan. Muffins are such a tasty little snack that is so portable. I seem to make them every 3 days and freeze my concoctions so they stay nice and moist.

So far I've made Blueberry Ginger Spelt Muffins - I really am developing a taste for candied ginger. I know I took a pic, but with us now using two digital cameras (both with awful macro settings) I can't seem to find where it's been downloaded. Ah well, there is a pic in the book! I've also made the Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. Yum! I made mine with whole wheat flour, hence the slightly brownish tone. I'm surprised I made these, since I'm still scarred from when I was a Loblaws bakery clerk in my teens. I had to walk around the store and distribute samples of poppy seed muffins to customers as they perused the aisles. I would head back to the bakery to refill my cart, then head out again. Since I wasn't paying attention to who I had asked, I would often offer my muffins to those I had just served minutes before. They would smile and let me know that they had already sampled them, but they didn't need to say a word. Wedged between their teeth, there were poppy seeds galore. Here these people were going to go about their day chatting it up with whoever and I was responsible for their potential embarrassment. I was actually more grossed out though. Since then, I have always been leery of poppy seeds, but considering I now often leave the house with clothes covered in spit up or God knows what else, I have no qualms about eating them and don't even check my teeth in the mirror before heading out.

Again, no pic (I'm sure because the muffins don't last long enough to take a shot) - Bakery-Style Berry Muffins. Delish! Just like Mmmuffins - or whatever that chain of food court muffins shops were called. I try not to let a giant frozen strawberry from my fruit mix get into the dough, since it makes for a soggy muffin - or an excuse to eat that one up right away! I tried adding a little oats for added health, but it just dried them out. I'll stick to the recipe! Another yummy one - Cranberry Orange Nut Muffins - super tangy! I used dried cranberries though for extra sweetness - and also because I'm too lazy to find and chop fresh ones.

On a night that I was alone with the little one, I decided to make not one but two new recipes! I loved how quick the Basic Scrambled Tofu and Perfect Pancakes came together. Sadly, the little one wasn't interested in eating them - not because they weren't tasty, but probably because she had like 6 teeth coming in at the same time. More for me!

Treats for Kyle

Nothing says I love you like a bad leftover cake stored in the freezer, topped with leftover icing and chocolate mousse from making cuppies for a recent b-day party.

But I did well for Kyle's b-day. We started off with homemade Pumpkin Cinnamon Buns from MrsBadMouth's zine. I used canned pumpkin since we were all out of home-roasted and despite the brighter orange colour (almost neon!), I think canned pumpkin is waaayyy easier. Why have I been wasting so much time roasting my own? It's always too runny!

That night, I served up his other b-day request, for a cake that was like a Canadian Maple donut from the other major coffee shop in Canada. So here it is, based on an old Veggie Life recipe:

M"eh"ple Cream Cake

Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white potato, baked, with flesh scooped out
2 tablespoons Earth Balance
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1 cup soymilk

Filling
1/4 cup raw cashews
3/4 cup cold water
3 ounces firm silken tofu (in asceptic package)
1/2 cup sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Glaze
1 tablespoon Earth Balance

1 tablespoon maple extract
2 1/2 cups icing sugar
2 tablespoons boiling water, or more as needed

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray and line two 8 inch round pan with parchment paper on the bottom.

2. In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt together.
3. In a separate large bowl, cream potato and Earth Balance. Add the sugar and beat until fully blended and mix is fluffy.
4. Add the vanilla and lemon extracts to the sugar mix and continue to beat.
5. Slowly add soy milk, beating until fully blended. Then add flour mixture, 1 cup at a time, and beat until batter is smooth.
6. Pour into pans and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool on a rack for at least 1 hour.

7. To make filling, in a blender, grind cashews with 1/4 cup water until smooth, about 1 minute. Add remaining water, washing down sides of blender while doing so and then blend on high for 2 minutes. Add tofu, sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Blend on high until mixture is completely smooth.
8. Pour mixture into a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly. Continue cooking and stirring until mixture is very thick, about 2 minutes.
9. Remove from heat then stir in oil and vanilla. Allow to cool, stir occasionally. At room temperature, cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour.

10. To make glaze, stir together maple extract and Earth Balance, then add in icing sugar. Add 1 tablespoon at a time of boiling water until glaze is thick but still pourable.

11. To assemble cake, place one layer on serving surface, dump out filling in centre, then place other cake layer on top, gently pressing down, ensuring filling stays about 1/2 from the edge. Pour on a little glaze to test the consistency, allowing some to fall down the sides. If glaze is too liquidy, add a little icing sugar until right consistency is achieved, then try to pour on cake again.

Now I had doubled the filling since I love it so much and thought I could put it to good use. And I did! I made Boston Cream Cuppies using the same cake recipe, but using Isa's chocolate ganache topping from VCTOTW.

With still even more filling left over in my pastry bag, I decided to pipe it onto some tofu chocolate mousse that was hanging around in the fridge! I even had a little ganache leftover that I did a little decorative touch.

So with all of these sweets, Kyle suggested that we cut down a little. Probably a good idea. Despite our dessert strike, I did negotiate making Dream Bars from Skinny B*tch in the Kitch since they sound so heavenly. I hope to make those this week to cheer us up from our dessert drought!

Soup n' Such

So much to blog about, but truly, so little time...


As Tracy mentioned in her post, it's gotten so cold that soup is an ideal meal. I pulled out Nava Atlas' Vegetarian Soups for All Seasons and made a Creamy Golden Potato Squash Soup. It was so silky and smooth! One thing this recipe made me realize is to not use the crumbled bay leaves that came with my spice set - there's a reason why recipes always say to remove the whole bay leaf before serving (obviously not possible with the bits I have)...those things do not soften up and result in little irritating pieces with every bite.



Another delicious soup was courtesy of one of Sarah Kramer's books - Auntie Bonnie's Black Bean Soup. Delicious! The addition of vinegar was genius! It offered the perfect amount of tang! I was also impressed with how easy it was to put this together.



And still on the whole fall theme...time for pumpkin scones! Some pie pumpkins grew on their own in our garden thanks to our compost pile (I guess some of last year`s pie pumpkins' seeds germinated!), so I roasted them up and made Pumpkin Scones!



Fall also means Thanksgiving. I'm so late in posting my feast, and the pic is of my plate of leftovers! I'm terrible! But I was more concerned with eating my meal than taking a pic of it while the little girl was happy! I made Dreena Burton's Rosemary Tofu Balls into cutlets (I thought they were too spicy but everyone seemed to like them!), and served them with maple-ginger winter squash, mashed potatoes, stuffing and veggies.



And finally, it was little Ash's baptism. We had a big shindig at my mom's after the ceremony, which initially had me a little stressed since I wanted to make lots of food (including a dessert) but would have no time. I decided to outsource the dessert and proceeded to try and find somewhere that could make some kind of vegan cake. I searched on the web for places in Ottawa, but had no luck - one bakery told me they could do vegan, but to expect it to taste 'dry and bland' (what???) and to make a small cake for the few vegans at the party and do a non-vegan cake for everyone else. I knew there had to be a better option out there! Thank goodness one of the moms in my mom's group sent me a link to Lil' Cakes. They were able to do all sorts of vegan cupcakes for me!


I was indifferent about the whole ceremony, but super excited for the five dozen cupcakes that were waiting for us! There was vanilla with buttercream, vanilla with raspberry mousse filling, chocolate with chocolate mousse, pumpkin chocolate chip and gingerbread with lemon buttercream. Best of all, they were absolutely beautiful AND delicious! I think I might need to establish a weekly standing order for cupcakes...

Summery Stuff

From VT's July/August again I made three recipes. The first was Barbecued Tofu and Grilled Corn Salad. Fabulous! I never managed to get grill marks when using my grill pan but it worked great!

Next up was Roasted Vegetables (no photo). Very basic, but I never put veggies under the broiler like this with such good results. I’ll definitely do this again when making pizzas with roasted veggies. Way better than the sogfest I usually end up with cooking marinated veggies in a wok pan.

Finally, my last recipe from VT was for Mango-Teriyaki Tofu with Brown Jasmine Rice. Delicious! I used leftover salad dressing from the revolting salad I made in the last post. Super easy. Again, great grill marks on the tofu from my grill pan, except after I flipped the tofu, I left it on the grill too long/at too high of a temperature since it went beyond grill marks. I scorched the sauce onto the tofu. Kyle was kind enough to pick it off each slice :(

I then made Rainbow Rice from W Network’s He Said, She Said. I really liked watching Mary Jo Eustace and Ken Kostick in the 90’s on What’s for Dinner, so I was happy to see them pair up again. Poor MJ...I would be bitter too if my hubby left me for Tori Spelling of all people. Anyways, she came up with an interesting recipe for peanut butter in a colourful rice dish that I had to try. Sounds like it’s got everything in it but the kitchen sink. I managed to use a few substitutions (including edamame and corn instead of the peas and omitted the bananas since I will never cook with them again) and it was pretty good and very easy. I’d say it’s a comfort food dish and I liked how it had lots of protein too. I wouldn’t say that this would be a recipe that I’d serve at a fancy dinner since it doesn’t look the greatest.

Back to VT Again...

This week's meal plan included a few recipes from the July/August 2008 issue of VT. First, I tried the Thai Basil Curry Vegetables. Not sure if I should have even referenced the ‘Thai’ part, since I left out the Thai green chile paste – it sounded too spicy for this girl and I didn’t feel like buying a bottle for one tablespoon worth just for it to sit in my fridge unused until I throw it out (this is always the case for me for hoisin sauce and taco sauce). Anyways, back to the recipe...it was great! I was pleasantly surprised how quickly it all came together. For added protein, I added some Yves Chick’n Tenders, but I think chickpeas would have been great too (I needed more than the 2g of protein identified in the recipe).

I then made Chinese Broccoli with Black Bean Sauce and Garlic (no photo...ate it too quickly!). Even though I mentioned that I wouldn’t purchase a sauce just for a recipe’s tablespoon-worth, I bought this sauce since I planned on adding more than the 1 ½ tablespoons worth plus I have the intention of using the rest of the sauce with tofu or a stir fry in the future. After making this recipe, I learned that Black Bean Sauce is VERY salty. I poured it into this recipe thinking that my addition of cubed firm tofu would soak it up. I think I drank 10 glasses of water after eating this. The salty leftovers made a nice wrap filling along with some tomatoes (to help dilute the salt!).

Next, I made Fresh Tomato Farfalle – the recipe called for 2 lb of tomatoes, and since Kyle only picked up 2 tomatoes, it was obvious that I had to hit up the grocery store for more to do this recipe up right. I did consider forgetting the ‘Fresh’ part of the recipe and instead using canned diced tomatoes. It would have been WAAAYY easier. It tasted OK, but instead inspired me to create a guacamole-style pasta.

Vile recipe alert...Chilled Tofu Salad with Ginger, Green Onions, Asparagus and Sesame. Well, there are no surprises as to what’s in this salad, but lemme tell you, do not make it. Yes, it was my prettiest pic yet and yes, it looked like something from a fancy restaurant, but it was disgusting. I have no idea what I was thinking eating plain silken tofu. I much prefer it pureed in a sweet dessert.

VT - June!

So I’m back to making some meal plans again – thank goodness! I’ve been looking at some of the time-friendly recipes from issues of VT. I first tried some recipes from the June 2008 issue. I tried the Spring Orzo Salad and was totally delighted. It was easy! I did make some substitutions, of course. For added protein, I used edamame instead of the frozen peas. Delish!

I then made the Golden Bowl, which was essentially a stir fry. I was surprised that this was voted as one of the favourite reader recipes from some veg restaurant, but whatever. I found it quite bland (which certainly says something, as I don’t like anything remotely spicy!).

The best recipe from this issue was the vegan Mac and Cheese. I was seeking some comfort food, and oh my god, I found it! Now, I do have to say that it doesn’t taste like mac n’ cheese, which is why I like it. I never liked the taste of cheese so I don’t often seek out anything trying to mimic the taste. But something was telling me to try this recipe. Am I ever glad I did! It was so easy, the sauce was mild, and the leftovers were even good! I made it gluten free by using brown rice pasta too.

Finally, I wanted to offer a little public service announcement. They look nice, but do not make the Roasted Bananas. Two weeks later, I still want to mini-vomit. See, I thought that I would have these delicious crispy bananas in a caramel sauce. Instead, despite following the recipe to a “T” (OK, close to a “T”, I used cinnamon instead of allspice), I ended up with soggy, stringy bananas in a sickeningly sweet sauce. I didn’t help that Kyle split the results between the two of us when the recipe was to serve EIGHT! Regardless, one little banana half was enough to know that this was not good. Ugh...

Sunshine and Mud

Luckily, there are a few days of forecast sun on the horizon, bringing hope that spring and green grass aren't far behind. Right now, our lawn consists of dead grass, mud and little mountains of bunny poop.

I've been making really simple and mundane meals lately, but here are a couple of new things. Leek and Bean Cassoulet from Vcon. It was actually really tasty as I wasn't expecting too much. Princess liked it.



I tried Tofu Marsala from What the Hell does a Vegan Eat Anyway. Mmmm, divine. I didn't have the right kinda wine and my cooking in general would probably make a gourmet cringe, but it was tasty.



Our meals have consisted of a lot of salads. I think fresh greens, beans and veggies are so photogenic. If you haven't tried the dressings in Vcon yet, check them out. I highly recommend Spicy Citrus Vinagrette.



Finally we marked Tay's 17th with Jelly Donut Cupcakes. A few of them looked a little x-rated, hopefully this one is PG enough to post.

Another Vegan Feast!

Tracy and my mom held a get-together in my honour, and we came together as a great team when it came to making tasty vegan treats!

First, mom supplied cut up veggies for snacking with a vegan soy sour cream-based dip.


She also prepared mini veggie and vegan soy cream cheese tortilla roll-ups, that were gobbled up.


Tracy made yummy sushi in different varieties that included avocado, sweet potato/mushroom and spicy tempeh. Soooo good! One of my non-vegan friends commented that she found it strange that I could eat sushi despite it tasting so 'fishy'...I told her that maybe it was fish that tasted 'seaweedy' instead!


Tracy also made what I call 'tofu bags'...I know there's a proper name for these but I can't remember what it is for the life of me. I love how the sticky rice is so sweet and delicious.


Finally, my contribution was mini toasts with Tofu Dill Salad Sandwich Filling with VwaV. I 'disguised' the tofu with tomato slices.


I also made two varieties of cupcakes - Lemon Macadamia (sans macadamias) and Chocolate and Vanilla Marbled cupcakes - both from VCTOTW. I had made the lemon variety already for Tracy's wedding, but the Marbled variety was new to try! Both were tasty, and my new icing tips ensured a pretty presentation. Kyle did note that my attempt at marbling the icing for the marbled cupcakes looked like seagull crap...fortunately it didn't taste like that! Next time I marble icing, I'll use a more decorative tip than just a large-holed one.