Vegan Brunch

A few dishes I've made from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's

VEGAN BRUNCH:

Curried Cauliflower Frittata

the tofu, grated carrot, and spices mixture

I changed the direction of this frittata by skipping the curry and using other spices. My kids will eat a lot of spicy things but pass if they think it's too spicy. And I don't have time to risk making a multi-step (also this one was actually really quick and easy) recipe if they're not going to eat it, too.

the cauliflower, sauteed in a tablespoon of oil with minced garlic

After putting it all together and baking it, the frittata came out well-formed and delicious. We loved having a new way to eat cauliflower, which is one of my kids' collective favorite vegetables. And it's always nice to have a way to eat veggies at breakfast.

Old-Fashioned Chelsea Waffles

Another winner. This waffle recipe includes cornmeal along with flour.

I added my own Sugar-Free Raspberry Sauce. We were practically lapping this stuff up. I mixed frozen organic raspberries, water, a little organic cornstarch and lemon juice plus a bit of all-fruit spread.

Mom's Morning Casserole

The Bottom Potato Layer

So...I took a bit of a detour on the next layer. I have a "cooking with tempeh" aversion right now. I do like to eat tempeh, but I never like to cook with it myself. The "moldy" spots freak me out; I can't handle looking at them. I always end up wasting half of the package by cutting them off.

Early in my pregnancy, I didn't really have morning sickness, but I did gag and dry heave whenever something was unappealing to me (really dumb things like a glass that didn't get completely clean in the dishwasher or a gray spot on a baked french fry). I had a spell with tempeh, and I haven't been able to cook with it since (although I can eat it if someone else prepares it, which is weird). Sorry for the long explanation and mention of dry heaving in my food blog...all of that to say: that's why I used black beans instead of tempeh in this recipe. I also used carrots instead of bell pepper for the sake of my middle child.

End Result

Here's what it would have looked like with tempeh and peppers.

This was a great meal: filling and satisfying. We all loved it. The black beans were delicious, but I always love beans with tofu scramble. I'm sure the tempeh would make this a different kind of wonderful dish. Maybe I'll try it next with seitan.

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Speaking of great cookbooks, Friday night is the deadline for entering my Appetite for Reduction giveaway.

And, as always, go here for others' Vegan Month of Food posts.

Giveaway Winner Announced & What I Ate Monday

Thank you so much for participating in my giveaway! It was really fun. What wasn't fun was drawing a number. I have no idea why, but I felt nervous inside; I wanted everyone to win.

I'm a little lame that way.

It's the same reason I annoy my husband terribly when I watch Illinois basketball with him on t.v. After 12 years of marriage, I have arrived at a place of sharing this interest with him. And I am genuinely happy with him when his team wins. I always feel bad for the other team, though. Which drives him crazy.

Sooo...the winner, chosen by Random Number Generator was...#1: "MaudPryor" over at Food Feud.

Stay tuned because I'm actually having another giveaway sometime in the next week! You'll get a chance to win a gift from CSN Stores. They are generously offering a $40 gift certificate to one of you.

Now - what I ate on Monday:

French Toast for breakfast (very quickly made just by dipping my bread in almond milk, nutritional yeast, and cinnamon) with raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, bananas, and walnuts. And more cinnamon sprinkled on top...I'm trying to up my cinnamon intake.

Lunch: a Food for Life gluten-free tortilla with melted Daiya, tomato sauce, lettuce, grated yellow squash, sprouts, and Upton's Naturals seitan crumbles.

I very rarely have oatmeal for supper, even though my husband does that frequently. I wanted to enter Chocolate Covered Katie's giveaway, though, which requires a post about making a Breakfast Sundae. (Hopefully, a Breakfast Sundae for supper counts. I actually had this same thing - minus the chocolate and add apples instead of bananas - for breakfast this morning.) Of course, when I do eat oatmeal for supper, I think, "This is so delicious. Why don't I always eat oatmeal for supper?"

For my Breakfast Sundae, I used steel cut oats topped with slivered almonds, a little squirt of agave nectar, a sprinkling of chocolate chips, and "Peaches and Cream."

I experimented by pureeing some silken tofu with 2 fresh peaches. I wish I could have made it thicker. I was at my mom's house, though, and my resources were limited.

I liked it, though! It was so good I had another bowl. This time I smothered it with Peaches and Cream and used almonds, strawberries, and chocolate chips. Oh, how I love chocolate chips that are just a little soft from being warm but firm enough to bite into. :)

Speaking of giveaways...I was so excited that I won Vegan Backpacker's Secret Society of Vegans t-shirt giveaway! Thank you, Vegan Backpacker and Vx!

Other things going on right now (but not much longer!):

Cereal Giveaway at Une Vie Saine

One Lucky Duck giveaway at Clean Eats in the Dirty South

$50 Gift Certificate to CSN at Opera Singer in the Kitchen

Mission: Impossible Pies e-book at All About...(vegan) food!

Blackened Tofu, It's Good to Have You Back

When I got married and moved to Little Rock, I had only been a vegan for a few years. And those were poor-in-college years. I survived on cold cereal, spaghetti with jar sauce, and Subway Sandwiches. I barely knew what tofu was, and I had to use that soymilk powder mixed with water in a mason jar for my mini-fridge.

That's me, my junior year of college...notice how it looks like Brad is looking at me?

Did anyone else feel like they fell in love with him while watching Legends of the Fall?

The year that I ate in the cafeteria, my favorite night was taco night. I got taco shells filled with lettuce and tomato (maybe I added olives from the salad bar). But they wouldn't let us have more than 2 or 3 at a time. I'd ask, "Can I please have a few more? I'm a vegetarian, and this is all I can eat." No,they made me wait in line again for a few more, which I had to do so that I wouldn't starve from only eating 2 taco shells filled with lettuce and tomato.

Wow, now that I'm thinking about it, I barely recognize this person I'm talking about. When Ryan and I were engaged, we thought we were really BIG TIME when we discovered we could microwave a bag of frozen vegetables and put them on a tortilla with salsa. THAT was a great meal to us.

It was those experiences that probably contributed to my Blackened Tofu obsession. It was so fun to be married/out on our own , and while we didn't have a lot of money (My paycheck was around $400 every two weeks as a private school teacher.), it still felt like a lot to us. And it was OUR money. We didn't have to ask our parents for money anymore.

Most Saturday mornings, we drove over to Whole Foods (It was Wild Oats then.) and stocked up. We went overboard choosing things from the deli and bakery (and lots of other stuff to cook throughout the week). Then we would rent a few movies (We didn't watch a lot of movies in college; we had a lot of catching up to do!), lie in bed all day, and eat out of our plastic deli containers. Awww...the life of newlyweds. We look back on this time with the utmost longing...usually when our kids are all fighting and interrupting us and jumping on the couch.

Just for fun, let's look back at that time...we were so young...sigh...and thin.

This was on our honeymoon at Tupelo, Mississippi...birthplace to Elvis.

Blackened Tofu with my FAVORITE salad:

romaine with caesar dressing from Post Punk Kitchen

Anyway, I always went straight to the deli to get a container full of Blackened Tofu. I've never been the biggest fan of spicy food...but I couldn't get enough of this. I continued getting this for several years...until...they STOPPED making it. (For the record, our Whole Foods could be A LOT more vegan-friendly than they are.) I actually worked at this Whole Foods for about 6 months, and I tried to pull up my vague memory in order to replicate the recipe. I have made this once before, I think, but the other day, I decided to get serious about it.

Blackened Tofu, eaten on my Food for Life gluten free tortilla with greens, sprouts, avocado, and tomatoes

I squeezed the water out of 3 tubs of tofu, then froze it.

After it thawed, I cut it into strips.

I carefully rolled the tofu in enough olive oil to help the spices stick...and then rolled it in the spices. Then I baked it. Maybe 25 minutes at 350? (That part is a little fuzzy; I'll go back and do it again, then edit this.)

I used this seasoning (which is what the used in the deli):

Chef Paul Prudhomme's Blackened Redfish Magic Seasoning Blends

(Salt, Herbs and Spices, Dehydrated Garlic, Paprika and Dehydrated Onion)

Since I did not think my kids could handle the massiveness of this spiciness, I also made them plenty rolled in just olive oil and cornmeal. It was definitely a hit for their little mouths.

Let's talk about how spicy the Blackened Tofu is...it hurts, it's so spicy. Like you have to drink something after you take a bite. Like hurts so good spicy. Again, I'm not a fan of jalapenos - and barely even onions, but I just love these for some reason. Ryan does, too.

It was a bit of a game with the kids - take a bite, yell, "Aaa! It's spicy!" and take a drink. And repeat.

Cornmeal dusted tofu: 10 thumbs up

Blackened tofu: 4 adult thumbs up

Artichoke Pie

I had a pretty good weekend. I took the kids out for a fun day in Little Rock on Saturday, which ended with grocery shopping at Whole Foods. I actually made a menu list this time, which I'm posting on the fridge. I'm getting serious, y'all, about getting out of my cooking rut. My 10 year old son and my 3 year old daughter helped me clean out the fridge today so I'm all organized and ready to go. Fortunately, I have this amazingly huge island counter, and I've decided to quit trying to put all of my fruits and veggies AWAY. I just need to leave them out (well, besides the greens and berries and things that need to go in) in plain sight, where I'm reminded to use them.

I got the idea for Artichoke Pie from 125 Best Vegan Recipes, a book I enjoy by Maxine Effenson Chuck & Beth Gurney. Since I am really bad at following directions (and following the norm and rules, in general, in life), and I didn't want to make it as spicy as the recipe sounded (for my kids' sake), here is my adapted Artichoke Pie recipe:

I chopped half of an onion and let it heat up in a pan for a few minutes with a few drops of olive oil. I sprinkled enough oregano and garlic powder (because I forgot to buy fresh garlic) to lightly cover the top, stirred it up, and set it aside.

I cut up 2 cups of artichoke hearts. (I used half that were plain in a can and half that were marinated in a jar...because I didn't know which would be better.) I could have gotten away with only using 1 cup because I had extra. I stirred this into the onion mixture.

I precooked a Wholly Wholesome Organic Whole Wheat Pie Shell and set it aside. (I had removed the crust from the aluminum pie plate and put it in my glass plate...because the whole aluminum thing is a big question mark for me.)

Then, in my BlendTec I combined:

1 12 oz. box of extra firm silken tofu

1 Rapunzel vegan vegetable bouillon cube

a dash of salt

I poured half of the tofu mixture into the bottom of the pie shell. I covered it with the artichoke mixture, enough where I thought it left just enough room for another layer of the tofu cream.

I poured the remaining tofu mixture on top.

I baked it for about 40 minutes...I was a little unsure about this. I never know with tofu pies/quiche, etc. You can't do the "stick the toothpick" test because it only firms up as it cools. So maybe I didn't need to cook it so long; maybe 30-35 minutes would have been sufficient.

Dash wanted to help cook so I let him tear up bits of fresh parsley on top after it slightly cooled.

Verdict: 8 thumbs up.

(2 thumbs down...My 5 year old wasn't crazy about it. He's my pickiest eater. He ate it because he wanted dessert, but he says he does not like artichokes.)

I thought it was DELICIOUS. I'll definitely make this one again sometime.

Family Dish Veganized

My parents have a dish they always used to make.

This dish was literally my worst nightmare.

I'm sorry that I even have to type the name of it: "Hamburger, Egg, and Cheese."

I mean, seriously; could there be anything worse to me?

I decided to veganize it. This is essentially what "Hamburger, Egg, and Cheese" looked like.

(But this is my version, which turned out delicious.)

I cooked up some Upton's Naturals seitan in a skillet. I think I used the Traditional flavor for this dish. There is also Chorizo-Style and Italian Sausage-Style. Upton's is one of my favorite new products I've tried. I really like the spicier flavors on pizza.

I added silken tofu into the skillet and scrambled it up with my wooden spoon. I tossed in plenty of Daiya, which melted into its usual, scrumptious self. The next time I made it, I used the Italian-Sausage flavor (and added frozen spinach to make myself feel a little healthier while eating it).

New Blendtec and I Love Seaweed

Here is my new blender. I have wanted one for a long time. I really wanted a Vitamix, but they are so expensive. We finally decided we really do need one. We have a nice, expensive Kitchen Aid mixer; it just makes more sense for our eating habits to spend more on a emulsifying whole foods blender. It was between the Vitamix, Blendtec, and HealthMaster. We went with the Blendtec, based on price and blog reviews. (2-Life.com seemed to be the best deal at the time; they offer specials and discounts, and, so far, they have had excellent customer service.)

The kids (and I) love that you can see through the (BPA-free) containers (and I got 2, which is so great). They also love the digital screen that counts down the time remaining and shuts off when it is finished. I ran into one of my friends at Whole Foods this week, and I was telling her about my blender. Dash whispered to me, "Tell her it turns off by itself." Here is our first smoothie we made - grapes, carrots, oranges, swiss chard, purple kale, apples, frozen cherries, and water.

Honestly, I had started getting a little nervous after I ordered it, wondering if it was a silly purchase and whether it would be any better than my other blender. But it's AMAZING how quickly and easily it grounds up everything. It came with a fat recipe book, too.

These drinks make me really full, which is great because then I don't want to eat anything else. I lost half of a pound this week. Which isn't amazing, but it made me happy. Now I'm just a pound away from another tens place - I'm 1_1 lbs.

Lately I've also been loving...wait for it...seaweed. Sea vegetables are really good for you. (But I think it's important to try to stick with organic not only because of pesticides but heavy metals.) I think this one was Arame. It just has to be hydrated, and I thought it tasted great in my salad.

I put some in my tofu scrambler, which is on a bed of lettuce. I really liked it.

Vegan Brunch

During the weekend of New Year's Eve, we did a little Missouri-Illinois tour to visit with a lot of family and friends. We headed up to St. Louis to spend New Year's Eve night with my sister and her family. For some strange reason, I didn't end up with any pictures of them. I'll have to make up for it with photos of the luxurious vegan brunch she served us - which included fruit and berries, yogurt, Chicago Diner muffins,

yummy smoothies,

and breakfast casserole, which we have renamed Cary Casserole.

Here is the recipe; it was delicious. I've never had anything like it; it's definitely a repeat-er.

Larabar "Blizzards" & Tortilla Picante

This post is in honor of my brilliant husband.

I can't even tell you how smart and creative I think he is. (supportive, unselfish...etc.) First of all, I think he's a genius, when it comes to his job (and all things technological). I could never do what he does; my brain just does not work that way.

Then, besides that, he is an elementary teacher at heart, and I feel like I'm married to this little computer of ideas. And if I have an idea, I talk it over with him, and he perfects it. He learns how something works, and he can tell you all about it five years later. He always lets the kids go with him to do errands, even though it would be much simpler if he went on his own. He gathers the kids around him at night for a nightly devotion and prayer.

Those are just a few things I love about him. I know he's going to roll his eyes at all of this because he knows he's not perfect, and I'm not saying he's perfect.

He can be impossible at moments, let's be honest. :)

Then, besides all of that...he makes me healthier, too. I could so easily be a "junk-food" vegetarian because that's sort of what my natural palate leans toward...but besides the fact I choose to do better on my own, he encourages all of us to eat more vegetables, etc. He tells ME that I need to start preparing more raw food again because he really felt good when I was doing that. He stopped eating meat (around 7 years ago) as a (huge) gesture to me, but along the way, he has developed his own feelings about the subject.

I love that he is sensitive and compassionate about the same things I care about. We argued when we were engaged about whether or not we would take our future kids to McDonald's. Now, when I'm not even in the room, I sometimes catch him talking to the kids about why we don't eat animals. And I see him with Dash, talking gently about why it's important to be kind to the little snail or rolly-polly or whatever he is holding. All of that warms my heart tremendously. I realize how much I lucked out in the husband-picking department. He's about as perfect for me, as I imagine they come.

He is always concocting these great ideas for meals. The other day, when he was driving home, he told me he was thinking about blending icecream with Larabars. So this weekend, that is what we did with some vanilla Soy Delicious. Here is our version of a Concrete or Blizzard.
We made different flavors. First, Cherry Pie. Then Banana Bread flavor mixed with Chocolate Coconut. And finally, Apple Pie. The ingredients of a Larabar are dates, nuts, and then whatever extra flavor is added, like bananas or cocoa powder and coconut.
I pinched the Larabars into pieces for the food processor, then blended them a little before adding the icecream, then blending it some more.

Here is another dish that Ryan created...about 11 years ago.

I was working 3 jobs at the time, and when I came home late, he had supper ready for me.

He did that a lot.

He named this dish Tortilla Picante, and we still enjoy it often today. First, you cut corn tortillas into strips, and cook them with olive oil in a skillet. They will get crispy. Put them aside. In a large pan, add chopped avocados, mashed silken tofu, olives, garlic, salt and plenty of salsa. (We always used Picante Sauce back then before I stopped eating it, which is how it got its name, of course.) Then, add the corn tortilla chips back in, until they are chewy.