VeganMoFo Day 30: Tofu, taters, green beans

Hello! Happy friday! Coming into the home stretch with VeganMoFo! I've done pretty good too, for being a crazy-busy-lady this month. A meal that I make a lot, especially when I have lots of other things to do, is this one. I'll saute some onions and marinade/brown some tofu and then pair it up from whatever veggies I have from my CSA. In this case, I had some lovely potatoes and green beans. I like to keep it simple.

Making my Iron Chef Challenge tonight and it's gonna be yummy! Also, I don't have a Halloween Costume yet! Gotta put something together tonight.

VeganMofo Day 29: Nachoooos!

That's right, giant plate of nachos. It looks like there are meatwads in my illustration, but that was meant to be salsa. Lots of chips, guac, refried beans (I used Annie's), this awesome roasted chipolte salsa, arugula (for some semblance of health), and some leftover Follow Your Heart cheese I had. Oh hey, and that FYH cheese actually melted a little, bonus! It was super yum.

VeganMoFo Day 28: Mac 'n Cheese

I love mac and cheese, but I don't make it very often. It's a "treat," if you will. I usually just throw some nooch + soy milk + earth balance + salt/pepper over pasta and call it a night, but I do have a recipe that I like to make if I have more time on my hand. I found this recipe on the internet, I think the PPK, but I can't remember whose it is (sorry and thank you if it is yours!), and I changed it a little.

White sauce:
1/4 cup Earth Balance
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups soy milk

Directions:
Combine EB, flour, and salt in a sauce pan over low heat. When it starts to bubble, gradually add soy milk. Cook until bubbling.

Yellow sauce:
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 TBS cornstarch
1 tsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
spices: I used garlic (or garlic powder), onion powder, lots of pepper, maybe some hungarian paprika

Directions:
Mix together well and add into white sauce. Cook until thick and bubbly. Watch carefully, as it will thicken quickly!
Pour over pasta and I usually bake it for 20-30 minutes so it gets that yummy crust on the top, but it's good like this too.

I threw in some broccoli before I baked it to give it that healthy look.

Nom nom.

VeganMoFo Day 27-Daring Bakers Challenge: Macarons

So, I decided to start doing the Daring Bakers challenges, and spent all last month ANXIOUSLY awaiting my first challenge (released at the beginning of this month). Lo and behold, my first challenge was the infamous french macaron. You know, the cookie consisting mostly of meringue? I know! Just my luck, for my very first challenge! This almost seemed like maybe I was just getting in a little over my head, but then I buckled down, reminded myself that it is a challenge, and got to work. I had 3 failures before this mildly successful result (successful in that it didn't result in a big goopy mess all over my baking pans). I tried using this recipe for vegan meringue twice, in slightly different ways, and both resulted in a sugary mass spread to all corners of the pan. Ugh! For the third time, I tried just using the egg replacer mix, for one egg, and the result was slightly better looking, but still not a cookie of any sorts. For my final try, I wish I could give you an exact recipe, but I was desperate at this point and just started mixing things in. I started with one flax seed egg, and mixed in some xanthan gum, baking powder, soy protein isolate, along with the sugars and almond meal. I could immediately tell the difference in the batter, and to my great relief, they held their shape after baking and I could actually get them off the pan in one piece and fill with some chocolate ganache. Hoorah! And they actually taste good! Now, I have never had a macaron in my life, so I don't really have a basis for comparison, but they were yummy!


The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

VeganMoFo Day 26-Quesadillas

I've been on a major quesadilla kick this past week. They're quick, easy, and super-yum. Mine are filled with this awesome roasted chipolte salsa, Follow Your Heart Cheddar, some mixed braising greens, and some homemade guac, on a sprouted tortilla.

Happy Monday!

VeganMoFo Day 25-Iron Chef Challenge #4: Pumpkin and Carrot

The final Iron Chef challenge for VeganMoFo is Pumpkin and Carrots!

Same as last week: Basic rules are just to make sure and use both ingredients, but anything goes after that! Sweet, savory, whatever floats your boat. This is just for fun, so no winners or anything, just a friendly challenge. Post your results here by 7pm (eastern time) next sunday, and I'll highlight some on my blog, along with the next challenge info.

Hmm...now what to make...

VeganMoFo Day 25-Iron Chef Challenge #3 Results: Apples + PB!

This week's challenge was apples with peanut butter. Hello childhood snackage and delicious fall combo. I don't know about you guys, but I'm up to my ears in apples, so I'll prolly be making a few of these this week. Let the challenge begin!

The Republic of Bunny whipped up an Apple Peanut Butter Dessert Chimichanga for this week's challenge. Holy smokes! Chimichangas always make me say that. Giant wrap of deliciousness!


Tami, from Vegan Appetite, made the most mouth-watering Apple Peanut Butter Fritters. Perfect fall festival food!



Veg-in-Training went for some breakfast decadence with her Apple Cinnamon Scones with a Peanut Butter Glaze. Just look at that glaze!


Megan, from Down Home Vegan, made the ultimate comfort pie with her Honeycrisp Apple Crisp. Apple crisps are the best, and I can only imagine PB as a bonus for the taste buds.



Laura, from Peace by Pastries, made a Local Apple Pie with a Peanut Butter Shortbread Crust and Peanut Streusel Topping. Look for it soon on her blog!

Geeky White Girl made some Apple Peanut Butter Brownies that will be posted on her blog tomorrow! Holy drool!


I wanted cookies in bar form, so that's the route I went. A little on the crumbly side, but Nik and I inhaled them in a day, so I must have done something right.

Peanut Butter Apple Cookie Bars:
Ingredients:
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar (brown sugar would be good here too, but I was out!)
1/2 cup Peanut Butter ( I used natural creamy PB)
1 tsp. Vanilla

1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cup flour
2 tsp corn starch

2 cups diced apples

1. Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease a baking dish (I used an 8"x11.5" one)
2. Cream oil, sugar, PB, and vanilla together until smooth and creamy.
3. Add in Baking powder, salt, flour, and corn starch and stir until well-combined. It will be crumbly.
4. fold in apples
5. spread dough into baking pan and smooth down
6. Bake for 35 minutes (dough was still soft coming out, but crisps up a bit after cooling. )

They're crumbly, but highly addictive!

Hmmm...stay tuned for the last challenge of VeganMoFo!

VeganMoFo Day 24: Fritatta!

It's frittata time! I pulverized some tofu, cashews, nooch, black salt, pepper, a little tamari in the good ol' vitamix, and mixed in some carmelized onions and sauteed mushrooms and peppers. Spread in a baking dish and bake for 30ish minutes, or until slightly browned, at 400F! This was super-creamy and delicious and all things comfort.

Happy saturday folks! I'm off to pick up my CSA, do some freelance work ('cause that's all I do lately...), and then think of something FUN for later on!

VeganMoFo Day 23-Raw Wrap

Sorry for the lapse in blogging the last few days! Sickness, various emergencies (everything's okay now), and an overload of work has kept me away. Stressful situations always makes me turn to raw foods, for maximum energy boost. I got some GIGUNDA collard leaves in my CSA last week, so raw collard rolls were definitely in the mix this week. I made a cashew/lemon juice/garlic/sea salt spread and chocked it full of raw veggies. Delicious!

VeganMoFo Day 20-Breakfast for dinner!

Breakfast for dinner is, like, the best thing ever. Tempeh scramble and some carmelized onions and roasted butternut squash(instead of taters) were on this yummy plate. This is the first time I think I really liked butternut squash. I don't usually peel and cube before roasting though, so I think that made all the difference. Total pain, but worth it! I almost made pancakes for dinner, but I had all of these veggies that needed to be used up. Another night perhaps. Hooray for scrambles!

VeganMoFo Day 19-Lentil Burger and Mizuna Salad

Happy monday! Er, I hope it is, I mean. I had a knackering for a veggie burger the other day, and since I'm totally against boca burgers or their other frozen equivilants (those are NOT veggie burgers!), I make my own. I'm partial to using the VCON recipe for Black Bean burgers and just mixing up which beans I use and changing up the spices. Today I decided on lentil burgers, with a side salad using some of that lovely Mizuna I got in my CSA. And of course there are apples and pears on that salad, since my fridge is overflowing with them.




I have a few new things for my shop, either later on today or tomorrow. I'm finishing up my new holiday cards, some fun ornaments, and a few new prints. Hooray for productive weekends! I know, I know, it's only October, but I need to start applying to holiday craft shows and whatnot, so stock needs to be up. And not to mention all those crazies (i.e. smart people) who have already started their holiday shopping. Go all handmade gifts this year people! xoxo

VeganMoFo: Iron Chef Challenge #3: Apples and Peanut Butter

This week's challenge is Apples and Peanut Butter! Brings you back to grade school lunches or after-school snacks, yeah? Go bigger than that!

Same as last week: Basic rules are just to make sure and use both ingredients, but anything goes after that! Sweet, savory, whatever floats your boat. This is just for fun, so no winners or anything, just a friendly challenge. Post your results here by 7pm (eastern time) next sunday, and I'll highlight some on my blog, along with the next challenge info.

VeganMoFo Day 18-Iron Chef Challenge #2: Lemon and Ginger

This weeks Iron Chef challenge was hard and easy all at the same time, with lemon and ginger as the key ingredients. Easy, because it's lemon + ginger, which already is a total flavor marriage, but hard because it was really hard to narrow it down what to make. Let the wild rumpus start! (sorry, I've been all about Where the Wild Things Are this weekend.)


C, from Cardamom and Cast Iron, was super-ambitious and made TWO entries for this week, Lemon-ginger Muffins and Pomegranate-Lemon-Ginger Syrup. I'm a firm believer in adding fruit to sweets or alcoholic drinks and calling it a healthy, merry day.



Veg-in-Training made a spicy sour soup, that I am coveting big time on this gloomy, feeling-a-cold-coming-on sunday evening. Yum!


Laura, from Peace by Pastries, made the most perfect looking Lemon-ginger scones I've ever seen. Mine are usually blobs (of yum), and not the perfectly sliced triangle beauties here. I saw these earlier this week and it inspired me this morning to make scones and tea. Best breakfast!


Kip, from Messy Vegetarian Cook, shared a cough-curing tea that is totally delicious (I used up the rest of my lemon and ginger and had four cups of it this morning!)


Ohhh, and Joan, from The Geeky White Girl, made Glazed Lemon Drop Cookies with Crystallized Ginger. Um, YUM! Lemon cookies are the best and totally underrated.



I couldn't decide what to make all week, until saturday came and I had a sweet-tooth craving (this always happens right when I should be doing some work or something and I drop it all to make something sweet. Don't mess with my sweet-tooth). I have an underused bundt pan (and bundt pans should never be underused!!), so lemon-ginger bundt cake it was. I doubled the golden vanilla cupcake recipe, from VCTOTW, and added in lemon zest from two lemons and grated ginger from a 2" piece. I put the ginger through my garlic press and just got the yummy juicy bits and not the hairy fiber parts. I winged the icing, using just lemon juice, ginger, and confectioners sugar until it reached a goopy consistancy. Nik inhaled half of this cake after it had been out of the oven for only an hour!




Stay tuned for next week's challenge!
xo