Broke-ass Vegan

Oh, hello.

2010-05-11T22:23:00.000-04:00

::Waves hello::

Hey there. Long time no see. I've been so busy these last few months that I haven't had much time to cook or blog. I've had my hands full with school and work. Any recipes that I make are tester recipes or things I've already posted on here.

That will be changing soon though because I graduate from college in 5 days!! I've also been hanging out with people more often lately and trying to make dessert to bring over when I hang out. I make all kinds of desserts so that I can have a little bit and be able to share the rest. This is something I really like because I've been eating much better the past few months and have managed to lose just about 15 pounds. So making and eating a dozen cookies just isn't going to fly with me. Today I made some and ate 2 or 3 and was totally satisfied with that and was glad to see the rest get eaten (even though a bunch of them got burnt!).

So, yes, I will start blogging again! I'll try to put in calorie counts where I can since I try to figure out the calories in everything I eat before I eat it.

Apples!

2009-10-23T15:23:00.001-04:00

Told you there would be more apple posts. I've made three apple crisps already, and last weekend I decided to mix things up a bit and make a pie. I've made the Gingerbread Apple Pie from VwaV before, but I've never eaten it. I had made it for a contest a few years back, so I couldn't try it before I submitted it. It did win an honorable mention, though!

If you're scared of making pies, this one is for you. You don't need to be all fancy and roll out your dough. You just mix the ingredients, smush most of it into the bottom of the pan and crumble the rest on top.

See? It doesn't have to look perfect or anything. I love this pie because it has two different flavors which work so well with each other. If you noticed that in that last picture the pie is on a cookie sheet, you should do the same thing. Mine got really bubbly and spilled all over the sheet. So it was much easier to clean that up than to clean out the whole oven.

This recipe calls for 2 pounds of granny smith apples, and says that it's about 8 apples. I found this WAY off. I used two or three cortlands and it was more than enough. As you can see, it was piled very high. It did cook down a lot though, yet still was high for a pie.

Someone over at SparkPeople was nice enough to post this recipe and get nutrition information. So if you want to know how many calories are in this recipe, then be my guest. I took a peak just now, and they calculated this as 12 slices. Yeah, okay. I got 8 out of this, and ate about 5 or 6 of the slices. No wonder I've gained at least 5 pounds since the beginning of September.

Gingerbread Apple Pie

Ingredients

Crust:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup Earth Balance, softened
1 tablespoon molasses
2 tablespoon cold water

Filling:

2 pounds Granny Smith apples (about 8), peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch ground cloves
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons arrowroot powder or cornstarch

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Make the crust:
Sift together the flour, sugar, spices, salt, and baking powder. Add the margarine one tablespoonful at a time and cut in with a pastry cutter, knife or your fingertips. Drizzle the molasses and water over the dough, mixing with your fingertips until the crumbs of dough begin to cling together. Set aside 1/2 cup of the dough. Gather together the rest of the dough and knead it into a ball. Press it evenly into the bottom and sides of a pie pan and bake for 10 minutes.

Make the filling:
While the crust bakes, combine in a mixing bowl all the filling ingredients except the arrowroot powder (or cornstarch). Sprinkle the arrowroot powder over the apple mixture and mix until the starch is dissolved.

Assemble the pie:
Fill the pie crust with the apple mixture, and crumble the remaining 1/2 cup of dough over the filling. Cover with foil and bake for 20 more minutes. Remove the foil and bake 30 minutes more; the filling should be bubbling and the apples should be tender. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 8 - 12. Nutrition count is for 12 servings.

Testing, Testing

2009-10-08T22:43:00.002-04:00

I've been testing for Isa Chandra Moskowitz's upcoming weight-lossy book, and it's awesome. I passed on testing for Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar because I couldn't justify making and eating dozens of cookies. And let's face it, I would have eaten most of them. I can't share them at school because everyone I know is a nutrition major, and I couldn't share them at work because I work at Jenny Craig. Neither are exactly good places to share junk food.

There are some really delicious recipes being formulated, so definitely pick up this book whenever it comes out. You'll need it after all the cookies you'll make!

Caulipots, along with a Tofurkey sausage

Low Fat Dill Hummus

To tide you over for now, Isa posted a recipe on her blog for Spinach Linguine with Edamame Pesto. I'll post it here for you too if you are too lazy to click the link.

Spinach Linguine With Edamame Pesto
Serves 4

For the edamame pesto:
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup packed basil leaves
Handful (1/4 cup or so) fresh cilantro
14 oz package shelled edamame, thawed
1/2 cup vegetable broth
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
optional: 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

For the pasta:
10 oz spinach linguine or other pasta

1 teaspoon olive oil
Small red onion, in thinly sliced half moons
1/2 lb cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon salt
Extra basil for garnish

Cooking spray

Put on a pot of salted water to boil. Then prepare the pesto:

Place garlic and basil in food processor and pulse a few times to get it chopped up. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until relatively smooth, scraping down the sides with a spatula to make sure you get everything. Add a little more vegetable broth if it seems too stiff. Set aside until ready to use.

Preheat a large pan over medium heat. At this point your pasta water should be ready, so add the linguine.

Saute onion in oil for about 5 minutes. Use a little cooking spray as needed, or a splash of water if you prefer. Mix in mushrooms, garlic, thyme and salt. Cover pot and cook 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

The pasta should be ready now, so drain it.

When the mushrooms have cooked down, add pasta to the pan, along with the pesto. Use a pasta spoon to stir and coat the linguine. Get everything good and mixed and the pesto heated through, about 3 minutes. The pesto should be relatively thick, but if it’s too thick (not spreading out and coating the pasta) add a few tablespoons of water. Taste for salt.

Serve immediately, garnished with a little fresh chopped basil.

Apple Crisp

2009-10-07T13:04:00.002-04:00

Due to my overabundance of apples, I have made two apple crisps within the past week or so. Luckily I have friends who enjoy my baking so I didn't end up eating it all myself. For both batches, I used different kinds of apples. Cortlands are the best kind of apple for baking because they keep their shape very well and don't turn to mush. You can add different kinds with it to mix up the flavor a bit. The first one was a mix of Cortland, Ginger Gold and Honeycrisp. I'm not quite sure what the second one was a mixture of.

The recipe I use is the one from the recipe section over at The PPK.

Apple Crisp

9 x 13 baking dish (preferably glass)

Ingredients
For the filling
4 lbs apples
1/2 cup light brown sugar (I sprinkled only a little bit instead of using this much)
1/2 cup sugar (I also sprinkled only a little of this sugar)
1/2 cup apple juice or water (I used apple cider)
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder or cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon cloves (Skipped these)

For the topping
1 cup quick cooking oats (not instant)
1 cup flour
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup canola oil
3 tablespoon soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F

Peel, core and thinly slice apples. Dissolve the arrowroot in the apple juice or water. Set aside.

Place apples and raisins in the baking dish, add sugars and spices and combine everything well (you may need to use your hands to do this). Pour arrowroot mixture over everything.

To prepare the topping, in a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add oil, soymilk, and vanilla, mix well. Crumble topping over the apples. Bake for 45 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

Muffins!

2009-10-05T22:10:00.002-04:00

I. Love. Muffins. I could eat half a dozen muffins in a day and still want to eat more. (Okay, I may have done it in the past). They are ridiculously easy to make, and there are so many varieties to choose from. I always have all the ingredients on hand to make at least one kind of them.

The other day I decided that I REALLY wanted pumpkin muffins. The ones from Vegan with a Vengeance are really the best pumpkin muffins, hence their name. I grabbed the huge can of pumpkin I had on the top shelf of my cabinet only to discover that I had expired early last year. I didn’t even realize it had been there that long. If it had expired early this year I probably would have used it still, but it was just there for too long.

Despite not having any pumpkin in the house or the will to go to the store to get more (and I only live about 2 minutes – walking – away from a grocery store), I still wanted muffins. I was flipping through the muffin section to figure out what kind I could make with the ingredients I had. I realized I had frozen cherries from Trader Joe’s that I’ve been meaning to use. I also remembered I had some slivered almonds that I had bought for VCon Caesar dressing. So, I ended up making the Cherry Almond muffins. I’ve never made this recipe before, and I’m not sure if I will again. It’s not bad or anything! I’m just not a big fan of nuts in my muffins. I hate banana nut muffins because of the walnuts in them. I thought I had used a lot of cherries for these, but after eating a few of the muffins I noticed that some bites were super cherry-y, while others were all muffin/nut and no cherry. I also didn’t have any of the soy yogurt that it calls for, so I added extra soy milk. I think the yogurt would have helped it to be a lot moister in the end.

Halloweeny

2009-10-02T08:26:00.000-04:00

I love Halloween. It's just such a fun holiday where you don't have to worry about sending cards or making phone calls to distant relatives to keep on their good side. You can dress up as absolutely anything you want to, no matter how ridiculous or offensive. You can have a themed party! One of the main things I want to do when I move out of my parents house is have theme parties.

Jess Sconed is always doing cool theme-y things, and it makes me totally jealous. This weekend is Fakin' Fest, which is a "celebration of vegan bacon and bacon-flavored things." How about Vegan Prom? And a LOST season premiere?

Anyway, enough about Jess, EVEN THOUGH SHE IS THE COOLEST EVER.

If I could throw a Halloween party right now, I would. I can't, however, since I live in a trailer with my parents that can only fit a few people at a time (comfortably) and I have old neighbors and not much extra parking and it's a month from Halloween anyway and no one is even ready for it to be Fall nevermind Halloween which is only one day away from November which means it's going to start snowing pretty soon and we'll get heavy snow at 2 in the afternoon and everyone will leave work early which will cause major traffic jams in the city which means you're not getting home until 5 or 6 anyway so you should have just stayed at work, assholes.

These are just some cool ideas I've come across for parties that I would be into. I would call everything "spooky" whatevers, like Spooky Spice Cake. But I wouldn't tell my boyfriend they were called that because apparently he hates the word spooky! I had no idea until a few days ago, but I will respect his wishes because he respects my wish to never utter the word "panties" in my presence.

Frozen Ice Hands

Using clean, non-powdered and non-latex gloves, fill them with water or the punch you will be serving (can also use a complimentary juice, don’t use an alcoholic mix since it may not freeze properly). Tie them off tightly with an elastic band so no water will leak out.
Lay the gloves on a cookie sheet and freeze. Do this the night before the party. Once frozen solid, cut the glove off and place in the punch bowl.
Make at least two so you have a fresh one to add as the first one melts.

Puke Pumpkins

No matter how many of these I see, I always love them!

Vampire Fangs in Blood

Just don't use Red Delicious apples, because they are the worse apple ever.

All kinds of fancy drinks

Not too many, though!

Vegan caramel apples

That recipe looks awesome

Plus a million other things that I'm too tired to look for right now.

VeganMoFo is here!

2009-10-01T09:38:00.005-04:00

Today is October 1st, which means it's the first day of VeganMoFo! This is the third year of the mofo.

I've been crazy busy these past few weeks because I've been working my regular job, started school and started an additional job. I LOVE my second job. I work at a family farm that has raspberries, blueberries, peaches, pumpkins and APPLES! I have access to free, freshly picked apples four days a week, and it is the best thing ever. Even if I had to pay for them, all apples, no matter what variety, are only $1.29 per pound. A lot of people complain about it (people complain about everything!), but I was at the grocery store and Honeycrisp apples are over $3.00 per pound. And the ones in the grocery store are shipped from who knows where.

Expect to see many apple posts this month. I have so many apples that I don't have room for them.

VeganMoFo is coming!

2009-09-18T20:44:00.003-04:00

See you in October, forkers!

Check out Kittee's blog to see what VeganMoFo is all about.

So much for blogging more in the summer...

2009-08-14T13:34:00.002-04:00

Well, I pretty much forgot to blog all summer. I've mostly just been throwing together sandwiches and going out to eat. I did manage to cook a little bit the other day, though, so I'll tell you about that. Tempeh bacon is one of my favorite things. I used to recipe from Vegan Brunch, which is just an improved upon version of the one in VwaV. Since I had some tempeh laying around that expired in June, I figured I should eat it.

Cookin'

Ready to eat

Doesn't that just look perfect? I just ate my third one, and I am sadly out of the tempeh. (I had two yesterday and one today).

As I said in a previous post, we grow our own tomatoes. My mom has probably two dozen tomato plants of various sizes in our garden. Unfortunately, this summer has been horrible for growing vegetables. It's one of the top 10 coldest/wettest summers on record here in New England. We've thrown out dozens and dozens of tomatoes because of bottom rot (or whatever it's called). There have been a few good tomatoes, so I managed to put some on these sandwiches. I should be utterly sick of tomatoes at this point, not longing for more fresh ones.

Sausages

2009-06-23T11:00:00.002-04:00

One of my favorite things to make these days is sausage. Whether I use Julie Hanson's recipe which is mostly vital wheat gluten, or Isa's recipe that mixes gluten with mashed beans, I love that it makes so many sausages in the end. I find that I can't eat them all within a few days, so I just throw them into the freezer for another time.

Seeing as though I had about a dozen sausages hanging around, I decided to whip up some mac and cheese using some Creamy Cheddar Teese. I've never used Teese before for mac and cheese, or any other kind of block cheese for that matter. I wasn't really sure what to do, so I just melted the Teese on the stove. I'm used to making a cheesy sauce in the blender and then throwing it in the oven for a half hour to harden up a bit.

It came out less appetizing than I had hoped. I was able to eat most of what was on my plate, but the thought of eating the rest of it grossed me out. Sorry, Teese! I wanted to like you in my mac and cheese, but it's just not happening. I still love your mozzarella, and I'm going to make some pizza on my new-ish pizza stone someday.

All plated up. I also fried up a tomato, but it just didn't come out that great. I can't wait until tomoato season starts so I can eat real tomatoes again. After eating ones fresh from the garden all my life, I can't stomach those terrible ones they sell at the store year-round.

Wow

2009-06-02T12:58:00.002-04:00

I can't believe it's been over two months since I last posted anything. I was very bogged down by schoolwork and worrying about finals, that I could hardly be bothered with making food, taking pictures of said food, and blogging about it afterward.

Isa's Vegan Brunch book just came out, and I got my copy in the mail about a week ago. Not to brag, but my name is in the acknowledgments. I think I tested a good amount of recipes while testing was going on, but when I was flipping through the book I saw the banana flapjacks. Knowing I had bananas that were close to becoming compost, I decided to make them. They looked very promising while they were cooking, but alas they did not come out the way I expected. They seemed to not want to cook fully. It may have just been that the bananas kept it too moist and squishy to become a proper pancake. I did have fun making them, though. After I tried the first few and found that I disliked them, I decided to make a giant pancake with the rest of the batter. I didn't want to pour the batter in the trash incase it leaked, and this way it was just something solid I was throwing away.

Regular size:

Gigantic:

Since I was still in the mood for a breakfasty meal, I decided to make some Fronch Toast. Isa tells us that we should never toast our bread, but rather let it dry out in the oven. Well, I toast. It has always worked for me and has never given me a problem. I also just use regular bread instead of a loaf of italian.

From "Vegan with a Vengeance" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

"Fronch" Toast

1 loaf of Italian of French bread, baguette style
1/2 c soy creamer
1/2 c rice milk or plain soy milk
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 c chickpea flour
Several tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

Slice the bread into 1-inch thick rounds. The bread should be a bit stale, if not you can put in a 350 oven for 3-4 minutes to dry it out. Pour the soy creamer and rice milk into a wide shallow bowl. Mix in the cornstarch and stir until dissolved. Add the chickpea flour and mix until it is mostly absorbed; some lumps are OK. Heat a non-stick skillet over med-high heat. Add enough oil to create a thin layer on the bottom. Soak the bread slices (as many as you can fit in the pan) in the mixture and transfer to the skillet. Cook each side for about 2 minutes; if they are not brown enough, heat for another minute or so on each side. They should be golden brown.

And speaking of eating breakfast, I am currently eating a delicious Egg McVegan, as usual. For some reason I get in the mood to eat them when I blog. Or I get in the mood to blog when I eat them.

Breakfast for dinner

2009-03-30T16:30:00.004-04:00

A week or so ago I decided it was time to make some scrambled tofu (recipe from VwaV). It has literally been a few years since I've made it. I'm not sure why since I absolutely love it! When I ate scrambled eggs as a young kid, they had to be very dry and I would only eat them on toast with ketchup. I'm still the same way. This time though I used english muffins because they are delicious.

Mmm. It was a little harder to eat since the muffins don't easily fold for consumption. Along with the scrambled tofu I made some roasted broccoli. Did you know you can roast frozen vegetables? I didn't. I had bought some frozen broccoli and wasn't really into it as a steamed side vegetable. It was too moist for some reason and just tasted awful.

To roast some frozen vegetables, spray a baking sheet with oil. Toss the vegetables on there and spray them with some more oil. I tossed some garlic in with them as well. Put them in a 400 or so degree oven for 40-45 minutes.

What goes with breakfast for dinner? Tea! My mom gets me the best presents because they are almost always kitchen related. She got me this fantastic tea pot for Christmas this past year.

Yay! Tea!

Teese!

2009-03-23T13:41:00.002-04:00

I finally got on the ball and ordered some Teese vegan cheese. It's really not too expensive as far as vegan cheese goes, it's just the shipping that kills me. For some reason there is nowhere around where I live that sells it. Since I follow Chicago Soy Dairy on twitter I found out they were having a sale at Pangea. It's usually $4.99, but if you follow this link you can get it for 25% off ($3.75). I ordered the Mozzarella, Creamy Cheddar and Nacho. Considering it lasts for up to 6 months if you keep it in the refrigerator and people have had good luck freezing it, I figured I might as well get a few.

I think the sale ends this weekend, so if you've been putting off ordering it for as long as I have you should pick some up!

Buddha Hut

2009-03-12T11:10:00.001-04:00

Looks like Buddha Hut in Worcester got a website! Check it out! They have their menu, hours and directions up there. It looks like they have added some new things, so I'll have to go check it out soon.

The Vegan’s Hundred

2009-02-19T00:02:00.003-05:00

I've been super busy with school, so here's a quick little survey to tide you over until further notice.

The Vegan’s Hundred
The rules:

* Copy this list into your own blog, including these instructions.
* Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
* Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
* Post a comment here once you’ve finished and link your post back to this one.
* Pass it on!

1) Natto

2) Green Smoothie

3) Tofu Scramble

4) Haggis

5) Mangosteen

6) Crème Brûlée

7) Fondue

8) Marmite/Vegemite

9) Borscht

10) Baba Ghanoush

11) Nachos

12) Authentic Soba Noodles

13) PB&J Sandwich

14) Aloo Gobi

15) Taco from a street cart

16) Boba Tea

17) Black Truffle

18) Fruit Wine made from something other than grapes

19) Gyōza

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

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) ‘Jello’ Shots

39) Gumbo

40) Fast Food French Fries

41) Raw Brownies

42) Fresh Garbanzo Beans

43) Dal

44) Homemade Soymilk

45) Wine from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more

46) Stroopwafel

47) Samosa

48) Vegetable Sushi

49) Glazed Donut

50) Seaweed

51) Prickly Pear (cactus fruit)

52) Umeboshi

53) Tofurkey

54) Sheese or Teese

55) Cotton Candy

56) Gnocchi

57) Piña colada

58) Birch Beer

59) Scrapple

60) Carob Chips

61) S’mores

62) Soy Curls

63) Chick Pea Cutlets

64) Curry

65) Durian

66) Homemade sausages

67) Churros, Elephant Ears, or Funnel Cakes

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 Cupcakes

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) Edible Flowers

89) Matzoh Ball Soup

90) White Chocolate

91) Seitan

92) Kimchi

93) Butterscotch Chips (I can walk to the store within 2 minutes to get these!)

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

I think I have eaten a pretty good amount of stuff! You wouldn't be able to tell from reading this blog, however.

Mini Wheats

2009-02-05T09:32:00.002-05:00

I am so bummed! I just found out that Kellogg's Organic Frosted Mini Wheats have been discontinued. I knew I hadn't seen them at the store for awhile, but I thought maybe just the store I regularly go to stopped carrying them. Frosted Mini Wheats were one of my favorite cereals growing up and I stopped eating them years ago because they contain gelatin. The organic ones didn't have gelatin and they tasted awesome. I am now on the hunt for a gelatin-free frosted wheat cereal, but I reckon I won't find much.

I did stumble upon one of their new products though - UNFROSTED Mini Wheats. They appear to be vegan, and you can always add some of your own sweetness to it if you need some.

So sick

2009-02-03T09:57:00.002-05:00

Shorty after my last post, I started my journey into gastrointestinal hell. For the past week I have been so insanely sick. I started feeling nauseous on Wednesday night. Thursday morning I woke up and I couldn't be too far from a bathroom. Friday I was able to go to school somehow. Saturday was bad again and my boyfriend convinced me to go to Urgent Care. I got an IV because I was dehydrated and a shot in my ass to help stop my nausea. I ended up sleeping most of the day and watching Anchorman and The Devil Wears Prada at night since I couldn't really go anywhere. Sunday I managed to go to a friends house to work on a project but the ride over there was awful. Yesterday I skipped school because it was too long of a wait to be near a bathroom again. I did manage to go to work but it was pretty unpleasant.

Needless to say, I have basically been eating toast with earth balance for the past few days. I can't wait until I can eat a real meal again!

2009-01-28T19:48:00.002-05:00

Going along with my previous post...

I opened up a jar of jalapeño peppers tonight that have been sitting in my cabinet for an indeterminate amount of time. I tried to take one out and it was completely mushy. Ew ew ew ew ew. There was no date printed anywhere on the jar either, so I have no idea how long it was sitting there.

Lesson learned: Don't buy something just because its cheap if you don't plan on using it within a few weeks or months.

I also threw out a jar of Sriracha that has been in my fridge for well over a year now. I was sad to see it go, but I never find enough stuff to put it on and also the inside cover was NASTY. It could have been moldy, but honestly I didn't want to examine it too hard.

2009-01-27T10:51:00.001-05:00

Blogger is irritating me today and messing up my post, so what I tried to say originally was that this list obviously isn't all vegan, but it's a good place to start. Personally, I've kept jars of spaghetti sauce for weeks, but I've always been weirded out by using it after too much time has passed.

Food Safety: A Guide to Expiration Dates on Pantry and Refrigerator Foods

The FITNESS Food Safety Chart

Most expiration dates printed on packages are intended primarily for store employees, so they know when to remove a product from the shelf. They don't necessarily indicate how long the food will keep once you've opened it. To find out whether it's safe to slather your sandwich with the last smidge of mayo that's been in your fridge for over a month, consult our guide.

After Opening...	It’s Good For...
pasta sauce	4 days
pickles	1 to 2 weeks
yogurt	1 to 2 weeks
sour cream	1 to 3 weeks
olives	2 weeks
eggs (in shell)	3 to 5 weeks
salsa	1 month
shredded cheese	1 month
butter	1 to 3 months
mayonnaise	2 months
salad dressing	3 months
cooking oil	4 months
jams, jellies	6 months
ketchup	6 months
margarine	6 months
mustard	1 year
maple syrup	1 year

Originally published in FITNESS magazine, May 2006.

Condiments

2009-01-23T16:13:00.002-05:00

Does anyone else eat a ridiculous amount of condiments? I sure do. I have ever since I was little and my dad even made up a song for me called "Condiment Girl".

I don't have too much time to write at the moment, but here are some of the combinations I enjoy. Please note that I don't ALWAYS use these, but I do pretty often.

French fries - french dressing or bbq sauce; ketchup as a last resort

Broccoli - ketchup or mustard

Kale - tahini sauce(from VwaV)

Brussels Sprouts - mustard

Mashed potatoes - gravy or vegenaise/tofu sour cream/vegan ranch

Cauliflower - mustard

Pirogies - bbq sauce

Pizza - balsamic vinaigrette

That's just a short list, but I can't think of what else I eat at the moment!

Pad Thai Review #2

2009-01-07T13:32:00.005-05:00

As you may recall, I was going to do this awesome list of pad thai reviews for you. Well, this is the last in the series (also the second). I was going to review Trader Ming's Pad Thai Noodles & Sauce, but honestly I can't even get the courage to open it up. I had one before and I thought it was NASTY. The sauce is overly sweet, the noodles are weird and there are no vegetables. It's one of these shelf stable microwavable things from Trader Joe's. The last one I tried I had to add some peanut butter in order to make it more palatable, but even then I couldn't finish the whole thing. Plus it says it has 2 servings (yeah, right) at 260 calories each. If it were possible to get through the whole box that is a hefty 520 calories for someone to eat just for noodles and sauce.

Here's another review of this particular Pad Thai. The person reviewing it gave it a relatively good score, but it was mostly because of the box. Read the comments and you'll see how other people feel about it.

I was also going to review my favorite Pad Thai EVER, but the restaurant that made it no longer makes it. It was offered on the menu at The Living Earth (local health food store that had a cute little cafe inside). They recently renovated the whole place and added a brand new restaurant. While the new place is amazing and classy (I'll review that after I try a few more things), I miss their Pad Thai. It was perfect. They used roasted organic vegetables that were different every time. It was enough for two meals, so I always go to enjoy it more than once. I suppose I could try to recreate it, but I am trying to watch my weight a bit.

2008-12-14T20:32:00.002-05:00

I am ready to cook the shit out of some food. I have 3 days left of school for the semester and after that I am going to cook up a storm. I haven't really been eating very well or healthfully lately, so there's really nothing to report here. Hopefully soon I'll be able to entertain you all with delicious food posts.

I miss good food!

Pad Thai Review #1

2008-12-01T23:26:00.003-05:00

You're probably wondering what I had for Thanksgiving this year, huh? Well, I'm not telling you just yet! Trust me, it's nothing special, it's just that I've been meaning to do this for quite some time now.

This is my first Pad Thai review in a series of... a few. This one comes from the lovely freezer section of Trader Joes.

It says "Traditional Thai Style rice noodes in a peanut base sauce with tofu, scallions and carrots."

As you can see, the description is dead on:

There are a few chunks of tofu and some shaved carrot pieces. I really used to like this PT bowl, but I was disappointed the last two times I bought it. There needs more vegetables and sauce. When I heated this up I threw in about a cup of frozen (then cooked) pepper strips and also a tablespoon or so of peanut butter. It's really lacking in the flavor department.

Additionally, this pretty tiny bowl contains 600 calories. Really? For some noodles in sauce? That is pretty much half of the calories I would need in a day, only to be devoured within 5 minutes.

Needless to say, I would buy this again if I was craving Pad Thai really badly and was near a Trader Joes.

2008-11-20T13:57:00.004-05:00

I just came across this awesome article about retail rip-offs you should avoid.

I'm going to paste a few here for your reading pleasure.

Pre-cut fruits and vegetables
Pre-cut fruits and vegetables didn't even exist 10 years ago, but Americans spent more than $600 million on prepared salads alone last year. According to Information Resources, Inc., pre-cut vegetables are the fastest-growing category of produce.

We understand that grabbing pre-cut fruit and vegetables can help cut down on your time in the kitchen, but that small convenience carries a big price. It's safe to say you are paying at least double the cost for pre-cut produce versus buying their whole counterparts. Another negative – you aren't getting all the vitamins you think. Tests have shown that pre-cut vegetables, for example, start losing their vitamin C once they are cut!

Anything at eye level in the grocery store.
Here's a great inside tip that we got from a store manager: You'll pay more for items at eye level on the grocery store shelves.

Products with the highest markups get that prime shelf space because the store gets a share of those fat profits. Less profitable products get high and low shelf space at the supermarket, so that's where you are likely to find the best bargains.

Bottled Water
Did you know that the two biggest brands of bottled water in America --Dasani and Aquafina -- are nothing more than purified tap water? In fact, estimates are that 40% of all bottled water is tap water. At close to $2 a bottle, bought alone, that makes bottled water one of the biggest retail rip-offs.

For the price of one bottle of Evian, a San Franciscan can receive 1,000 gallons of tap water. According to "Message in a Bottle" by Charles Fishman, bottled water can cost 10,000 times more than tap water -- about $10 per gallon for high-end brands. And more than 90% of that cost is in the bottle, lid and label -- NOT producing the water.

If you are concerned that your tap water is not as clean as bottled water, buy a water pitcher with a filter or install a filter on your faucet. Then buy re-usable bottles to fill and take with you when you are on the go.

Produce at organic groceries
The huge boom in buying organic produce has led to a huge boom in prices. You'll pay 30 to 50% more for organic produce -- sometimes more if something is not in season. Now, that may be completely worth it to you, but if you are looking for ways to save, here are a few ideas.

First, shop at your local farmers markets and look for farmers growing organically. They likely won't be charging big markups. Next, consider not buying organic when you are shopping for types of produce that use very little pesticide. The top 10 types of produce with the lowest pesticide levels are (starting with the lowest): onion, avocado, sweet corn (frozen), pineapples, mango, asparagus, sweet peas (frozen), kiwi and bananas.

Non-organic produce at organic groceries
Just because produce is being offered at an organic store, does not mean it's organic! Be sure to check the signs and labels before you buy. Non-organic produce often still carries a hefty mark-up at specialty stores.

You could end up paying 30 to 50% more for the same non-organic apples or tomatoes you could get at your regular grocery store. Buyer beware -- read the labels!

Coffee
Coffee mark-up is insane. And we're not just talking about the fancy "mocha grande latte with soy" kind of coffee. A plain ol' cup of joe can carry an absurd markup.

A plain 16 oz. cup of coffee at Dunkin Donuts costs $1.75. You'll pay at least that for a much smaller cup at most restaurants. Consider that a plain 16 oz. cup at home will cost you about $.55.

We're not telling you not to enjoy that occasional coffee run. But just one cup of coffee a day at home rather than buying it could save you $438 a year.

French fries at restaurants
French fries are a big profit maker for restaurants. A 10 ounce potato makes about 90 french fries (that's about the serving size for large fries at a fast food restaurant). That potato costs about 30 cents, but brings the restaurant about $1.75.

2008-11-13T15:13:00.002-05:00

Two posts in one day? What the heck is going on?

I updated my blog list to this fancy new one. If I missed your blog and you read this, let me know! I'll add you to it.

2008-11-13T14:14:00.000-05:00

Well, it seems as though I've been tagged by that pain in the ass vegan. So I guess this means I have to post 7 weird and/or random things about myself. Since I'm not good at tagging people, I'm not going to.

1. I've had the same pair of ruby earrings in my ears since I was about 7 (I'm 22 now). I almost never take them out, not even to clean them. It's not that gross though because they don't get crusty or anything anymore. I almost wish they did because I'm gross and I like the crust. Also, I used to have about 8 earrings in each ear but a few years back I cut it down to just one.

2. I have an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts and I am seven classes away from having a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition. I have taken at least a semesters worth of classes that don't even count for anything, including microbiology. Awesome.

3. I went skydiving last year and I would rather do that again than go on a roller coaster. I guess to me it's better to keep falling one way than go up and down over and over again.

4. I've met some of my best friends online. I met one friend 11 years ago in a chat room either because both of us liked No Doubt or hated Hanson, I can't remember. He ended up being born the same day and year as me in the same hospital, and lived right down the street. So naturally we became friends. He was also recently on Paris Hilton's My New Bff (NOT Onch, the other boy), so that was cool to watch him on tv.

5. On more than one occasion I have fallen asleep while trying to, ahem, pleasure myself. I then woke up and tried to keep going, only to fall asleep again.

6. I have a hard time focusing on anything. If I'm doing homework and the computer is on, every few minutes I'll go over and check my email and any other website I can think of. I check my email compulsively, about 20 times a day I think. I don't keep track and I really don't want to.

7. My room has been messy for so long. Now that it's finally clean, I do everything I can to keep it that way. I sleep better when my bed is made, especially now that it's getting cold out.

See what I mean? It looks COMPLETELY different now. You can see all of my floor, I have a new desk where I can actually put my laptop on it. The color of my walls makes me super happy whenever I go in there.

2008-11-02T19:25:00.000-05:00

I failed at Vegan Mofo. I didn't post as much as I had wanted to and I never did a big wrap-up post. Ah, well. It has inspired me to keep posting more often though. So fear not my fellow readers, I will start posting more often that I was before Mofo, but not as often as during Mofo.

No go forth and drink some Apple Cider while it's still in season.

And since I'm under the impression that Buttershots Schnapps is vegan, you can add a little bit to your apple cider to make it taste like a caramel apple. (If you see somewhere that shows it's not, let me know!)

2008-10-27T21:43:00.001-04:00

I started typing up a big entry about how heavy I am, and how I shouldn't be because I'm a nutrition major, and that it's hard for me to motivate myself, and blah blah blah.

Instead of that, I'm just going to have to deal with it and start eating healthier. I plan to wake up a few minutes early so I can make a milkshake out of some 8th Continent Light Chocolate Soymilk and frozen bananas and maybe a little peanut butter. I'm going to cut up my Honeycrisp apple so I can munch on it during class instead of Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos from the vending machine EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE DELICIOUS AND VEGAN. I will stop at the grocery store on the way home from school and get salad to eat before work that I will top with beans and reduced calorie dressing. I will probably stop at the store again on the way back from work to pick up something else delicious and healthy.

What are some of your favorite healthy recipes?

2008-10-26T22:28:00.000-04:00

I cleaned out my room, and it seems as though I have some sort of critter sharing my space. I found a mini larabar that I had gotten at last years Veg Food Fest in the corner of my room, as it had fallen off my desk months ago. There was a hole in the corner and the wrapping was in shards surrounding it. The bar itself, however, was largely intact. Apparently little critters don't like vegan energy bars.

At least it wasn't like last time I had a phantom critter. That time, I was looking through my bottom drawer of my bureau and I found about 3 dozen acorns. You should note here that I do not store acorns in my room, nor do any of my other family members.

Personally, I do not like Larabars. I pretty much hate dates and that is the main ingredient of all of them. If I am going to eat a meals worth of calories in one bar, I usually go for Cliff Bars. If I want less calories, I'll eat a Luna Bar. Here are a few of my favorites...

2008-10-23T23:48:00.000-04:00

Today I got vegan treats from Germany! My friend Xina moved there earlier this year. It stinks for all of us here who love her, but I know she's happy in Germany. She sent Stephen a marzipan chocolate bar and some chocolates filled with cognac, I think. I got some Pfeffernüsse cookies and some chocolates filled with coconut. She also sent some little nips of Jägermeister and some other kind of unknown alcohol. I'm excited to try the cookies, but I think they need to be accompanied by a nice cup of coffee. I need to get on the ball and buy some real coffee soon. I have a nice french press that I use on occasion, but most of the time I drink shitty instant coffee. I don't drink coffee too often because it makes my tummy all rumbly, but I do like it once in awhile.

2008-10-21T22:29:00.000-04:00

Oh boy, I've really been slacking on the posts this past week. Since I'm still not eating too healthy, I'll talk about some more snacks!

I took a trip to Whole Foods this weekend and managed to only spend about $30. I had a $5 off coupon for my whole purchase, a free coupon for any Tofutti product, and $1 off of So Delicious.

I got some Tofutti Cuties. I tried the mint chocolate chip for the first time and I really liked it. I've never seen them anywhere else, so I figured I should pick them up. I've never actually had any cuties that I didn't like.

I also got some Purely Decadent bars. I can't find them online to include a picture, but they were vanilla coconut bars, covered in chocolate and crushed almonds. Mmm! I thought these were pretty good. You can definitely taste the coconut, but that's not a bad thing. My only complaint is that they're too small! I'd much rather be eating a Tofutti Marry Me Bar because they are so much bigger and more satisfying.

I ALSO picked up an Endangered Species chocolate bar. This time I got the Dark Chocolate with Deep Forest Mint. I really need to stop buying this one. I always think it's the one with the mint crunchies in it, but it's definitely not. It just has a minty taste to it. I like my chocolate bars with STUFF in them. Next time I should get the dark chocolate with blueberries.

Besides snacks, I did buy some real food. I picked up some soup (for eating), more soup (for making green bean casserole), tempeh and english muffins (which I already ate with Egg McVegans, of course).

Since I want to keep this recipe in a place that I'll never lose it, I should post it here. It's originally from the blog Yeah, That Vegan Shit (link is above). I used this recipe last year and it came out perfect. Can't wait to make it again this year!

INGREDIENTS:

One 16-oz. carton of Imagine brand Creamy Portobello Mushroom Soup

1/8 tsp. black pepper

A tiny bit of flour if it becomes necessary to thicken up the soup

2 pkgs. (9 oz. each) frozen cut green beans, thawed (Or 2 cans (14 1/2 oz. each) cut green beans, drained)

1 1/3 cups French's® Original French Fried Onions

DIRECTIONS
1. Combine soup and pepper in a 1 1/2 qt. baking dish; stir until blended. Stir in beans and 2/3 cup French's French Fried Onions.

2. Cover and bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes or until hot. (Make sure you've thawed the frozen green beans out sufficiently if you're using them--otherwise expect a longer baking time.) Check the casserole and see if the soup's thickened up enough--if not, add a couple teaspoons of flour and mix in. Stir.

3. Sprinkle with remaining 2/3 cup French Fried Onions. Bake 5 minutes or until onions are golden.

Boston Vegetarian Food Festival

2008-10-16T14:07:00.000-04:00

This is my favorite time of year. Do you know why? Because of the Boston Vegetarian Food Festival! It's usually around the end of October/the beginning of November. This year it's Saturday, November 1st. I've gone the past two years and they've been really fun*. There are tons of free samples, you get to meet lots of cool people and you get to bond with your fellow vegetarians.

*Last year kind of sucked, but only for personal reasons. I KNEW my boyfriend was going to break up with me, and he totally did the day after. At least he waited so I could try to enjoy the fest even though I was pretty much crying all day.

Here are the details for you!

Saturday, November 1, 2008
10 AM – 6 PM
Reggie Lewis Athletic Center
1350 Tremont Street, Boston Massachusetts
Free admission - Free food sampling
Free parking - Subway stop across the street

Speaker Schedule:

10:45 AM — Vegan Travel Tips and Q & A with Sarah Kramer
Cookbook Author (of a million books)

11:30 AM — Meat Production's Impact on Climate Change and the Environment
Danille Nierenberg

12:15 — Cooking Demo: Favorite Whole Foods to Energize You Throughout the Day
Jae Steele, RHN (author of Get it Ripe!)

1:30 PM — Understanding the Evidence for a Plant-Based Diet
T. Colin Campbell, PhD (author of The China Study. Holy crap! )

2:30 PM — Rethinking the Way We Treat Animals
Karen Dawn (author of Thanking the Monkey)

3:30 PM — The Latest in Human Nutrition 2008
Michael Greger, MD (author of Bird Flu and Carbophobia)

5 PM — Passionate about Dessert
Hannah Kaminsky (author of My Sweet Vegan; fellow ppker!)

I'm really bummed because I work until 1pm, and then would have to drive for an hour to get there. I'm going to be missing a bunch of people I REALLY want to see, like Jae Steele and T. Colin Campbell. I want to see them especially, because as a Nutrition major, I love listening to people talk about nutrition stuff. I'll DEFINITELY be there in time for Hannah, so I'm happy about that. I'll probably end up buying Get it Ripe and My Sweet Vegan because I've been wanting to get those for awhile. I'll also nerd it up and have them sign them too.

Snacks

2008-10-15T22:17:00.000-04:00

I am getting a little sick of pudding, but thankfully I'm starting to be able to eat more solid food. Last time I got the Kozy Shack Soy Pudding, I only got the chocolate flavor. I got a coupon for $1 off my next purchase of two packs, so I went back and got another chocolate and a vanilla. I can officially say I really super like the chocolate one. The vanilla one, not so much. It's not awful, but I don't enjoy it on its own. When I did eat it, I ate it along with a chocolate one to balance it out. I'm not sure what it is that I don't like about it, so don't let my opinion sway you either way. If you typically like vanilla pudding, you should go out and pick some up. This will encourage Kozy Shack to keep making this, and maybe in the future they'll even make butterscotch? Oh that would be a fabulous addition.

Another product I've been eating the hell out of lately is Sweet Nothings Fat Free Non-Dairy Fudge Bars. Whew, that's a mouth full. After looking these up online, I realized they are put out by Turtle Mountain, which are the same people who make So Delicious ice cream. No wonder these are so good. They are fudgsicles, but super healthy. Check out their Nutrition Facts:

Servings Size 1 bar (75g) Servings Per Container 6

Amount Per Servings

Calories 100 Calories from Fat 0

% Daily Values*

Total Fat 0g	0%

Saturated Fat 0g	0%


Cholesterol 0g	0%

Sodium 5mg	0%

Total Carbohydrate 23g	8%

Dietary Fiber 0g	12%

Sugar 12g


Protein 1g

•	Vitamin A 2%	•	Vitamin C 8%

•	Calcium 0%	•	Iron 0%

INGREDIENTS: FILTERED WATER, MIXED FRUIT CONCENTRATE (PINEAPPLE SYRUP, APPLE, PEAR AND PEACH CONCENTRATES), BROWN RICE SYRUP, PEA STARCH, COCOA (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), CAROB BEAN GUM, GUAR GUM, NATURAL FLAVOR.

These are great if I want something like ice cream. I can eat 1 for 100 calories, or I can eat the whole damn box for 600 calories. Not that I would necessarily go that wild, but if I DID I wouldn't ruin my calorie intake for the day.

Mofo Survey (#2)

2008-10-12T22:25:00.000-04:00

I've had a pretty lousy weekend, so food is the last thing on my mind right now.

1. If you have to choose between locally grown or organic, which do you usually choose?
It depends. I'm not going to choose an organic tomato from California over a local tomato from a town near here.

2. Favorite way to prepare potatoes:
Pirogies!

3. Do you press your tofu before preparing/cooking it (if you eat soy)?
Yep. Since I usually use it in things like Egg McVegans or Buffalo Tofu, I like to get out as much water as possible before putting it into hot oil.

4. Name your favorite recipe that is a tradition in your family:
Poutine râpée. My grandmother and grandfather used to make this a lot when I was younger. It's not the fries covered in cheese curds, but rather a snowball shaped potato thing. We always served it with butter and salt. MMM.

5. Any food allergies?
Not that I'm aware of. I did see to have some weird things going on after I ate that pesto a few weeks ago, but I'm not sure if the basil had anything to do with it.

6. When you want to go to a fancy dinner, where do you go?
Grasshopper or Nancy Chang.

7. When you have a cold, what do you crave?
Wonton soup.

8. What kind of water do you drink? (Filtered, spring, tap, etc.)
Filtered tap water.

9. Name a flavor of soda you'd love to see:
Anything I like is already out there.

10. If the recipes you ate as a child were compiled into a cookbook, what would the title be?
Scrambled Hamburger and Kraft Mac n Cheese: Two recipes to delight you every other day of the week!

11. If you were allowed to grow one food that can't grow in your climate, what would it be?
Mangoes.

12. Favorite type of mushroom?
Ugh. I can only stand mushrooms once in a while, so I can't answer this one.

13. Most frustrating part of your kitchen?
There is no room to do anything. The only space I have to prepare things on is the kitchen table, which is always at least half-covered with my mom's junk.

14. Last food you burned?
When I made Tofurkey last week, a bunch of onions fell out of the dish onto the bottom of the oven.

15. Usual response to a veg*n's favorite question, "But where do you get your protein?":
Um...protein is in almost everything...

16. If you were baking your own birthday cake today, what flavor would it be?
Chocolate

17. Favorite brand of chocolate chips?
I usually just get the Price Chopper brand of semi-sweet chips.

18. You have $200 of your tax return reserved for Williams Sonoma- What do you buy?
A heavy duty food processor

19. Do you plan your menus in advance? Any tips to share?
Not at all. I'm awful at that, though I hope to one day get better. I think it would be easier if I lived on my own and not with my parents.

20. You have 3 minutes before you have to leave the house and you're starving- What do you eat?
I don't. I'll just drink some water or juice and have a rumbly tummy all day.

21. If Martha Stewart, Paula Deen, and Rachel Ray got into a fight, who would win?
Probably Martha. She did spend time in jail. I'm sure she learned a few things.

22. If you eat oatmeal, what do you add to it before serving?
Soy milk.

23. If you got to travel to one country and learn all the traditional dishes there, where would you go (ignore commitments in your current place of residence)?
India.

24. Favorite late night snack?
Chips and salsa.

25. Favorite springtime food?
Fiddlehead ferns. I wish they were around longer.

26. Favorite food-related magazine?
Veg News? It has some food-related stuff in it.

27. Which do you prefer: shoyu, tamari, conventional soy sauce, or Bragg's Aminos?
Conventional soy sauce is what I typically have on hand.

28. What vegetable or fruit do you dislike the most?
Eggplant. Everything about it disgusts me.

29. Name a holiday food you look forward to all year long:
I've been meaning to veganize my mom's sweet potato pie recipe. I should get on that this year finally.

30. If you could convert anyone to veganism with your magic wand, who would you convert?
Oprah. That woman has entirely too much power. I know she "went vegan" for a month, but it was more like a cleanse.

Mofo Survey

2008-10-11T19:51:00.000-04:00

1. Favorite non-dairy milk?
I usually just get a small container of plain Price Chopper brand soy milk. If I have a lot of cooking to do, I'll get a half gallon.

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?
Egg McVegans, pizza on my new pizza stone, pad thai

3. Topping of choice for popcorn?
Hmm...I haven't had popcorn in a pretty long time.

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?
I can't remember making anything that tasted too foul, but one time I made crepes. Before I was able to cook them, I dropped the bowl of batter on the floor and it all went down into the heater vent.

5. Favorite pickled item?
Dill pickles! I also enjoy pickled beets.

6. How do you organize your recipes?
I have the top shelf of my bookshelf in my room filled with cookbooks and zines, then I have a few in the kitchen, and I also have a 3-ring-binder with printed out recipes in it. It's all very unorganized and I tend to reprint recipes because I can never find what I'm looking for.

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?
I try to compost at much as possible. We have a compost bin in the backyard for our garden.

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods...what would they be (don't worry about how you'll cook them)?
Ribz, pad thai, pizza

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?
My mom making her homemade mac and cheese. She would always add diced tomatoes to it at the end, and now I almost always do that when I make my own version.

10. Favorite vegan ice cream?
Tofutti Marry Me Bars. Whoamigod.

11. Most loved kitchen appliance?
My blender.

12. Spice/herb you would die without?
Garlic/onion powder

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?
Probably the Vegetarian Times cookbook, though I've never made anything out of it.

14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?
Blackberry

15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?
Pasta

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?
I choose not to choose one. I think I use tofu the most, then tempeh, then seitan, but I love them all.

17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?
Dinner.

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?
My crappy food processor, random recipes, hazelnuts that I need to use eventually, other really random stuff

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.
Banana slices, mixed berries, lots and lots of peas.

20. What's on your grocery list?
Fruits and vegetables, english muffins, pasta sauce

21. Favorite grocery store?
I like Price Chopper because it is so close to me and has vegan butterscotch chips (and I get gas discounts there), Shaws has a good "natural foods" section, Trader Joes has some good cheap stuff, and Whole Foods has so much variety. I also like Price Rite because it's so effing cheap.

22. Name a recipe you'd love to veganize, but haven't yet.
Shit meat! My stepmom used to make this stuff, and my dad can't pronounce it so he always calls it shit meat. It was so good. I have the recipe waiting for me to try it someday. I'll probably use seitan when I do it.

23. Food blog you read the most (besides Isa's because I know you check it everyday). Or maybe the top 3?
Get Sconed! Vegan Feast. Kittee's blog.

24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate?
I love those dark chocolate truffle bars from Trader Joes.

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?
I haven't bought anything lately except pudding.

Future cooking

2008-10-10T15:14:00.000-04:00

I'm still not in the mood for chewing, though boy am I hungry. Since there's no way I'll be able to cook and eat real food for at least the next few days, I decided today was a good day to talk about recipes I would like to try eventually. I've been on livejournal since I was 13. I've gone through a few journals, but the one I'm on now I started saving recipes in my memories since 2004. It was through VeganCooking that I found Isa's recipe for Raspberry Blackout Cake. It was my go-to cake for a long time. When I opened up VwaV for the first time, I was so surprised to see this recipe in there! Then I made the connection and have had a girl crush ever since.

Future cooking endeavors!
Cream of Broccoli Soup
Lattice Top Apple Pie
Meatloaf
Roasted Garlic Dressing
Peanut Butter Eggs
Beef Stroganoff
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Naan
Inari
Seitan Philly Cheese Steak
Traditional Tasting Tofurkey
Meatloaf (2)
Melty Cheese
Chocolate Martini
Chana Masala
Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce
Roasted Garlic Potato Leek Soup
Beef Stew
Swedish Meatballs
Jalepeno Poppers

2008-10-09T21:37:00.000-04:00

Well, today I got 3 wisdom teeth taken out. It was such a weird thing. I got there, sat in the chair, and got strapped to all sorts of things. The oral surgeon was impressed that I didn't even flinch when they put the needle in my arm. She said that so many people come in who have tattoos and then get freaked out by the needles. True, they are different types of needles, but I have never had a problem with getting blood taken or any of that stuff. So after a few minutes, I guess I passed out. They didn't have me count down which seems to be a common thing people do (at least on television). I just remember waking up and getting in a wheelchair and being brought to a little bed to lay down in for awhile.

So, as you can imagine, it's relatively hard to eat. I prepared myself yesterday by buying the new Kozy Shack Soy Pudding. I got it in chocolate, but they also have vanilla. I've heard of it around the internet, but I finally found some at Shaws. I tried it on Wednesday night, and I thought it tasted a little weird. Kind of a chalky taste. BUT today I ate the other 3 that were in the package and I really liked them. I'm not sure if it has to do with the fact that I just sort of sucked it down because that was the easiest thing to do. Since I got a coupon for this pudding after I checked out last night, I'm gonna buy some more. Needless to say, I am super grateful that I found a relatively popular brand of pre-made soy pudding. Sure, there is ZenSoy pudding, but I can only get that at Whole Foods, which is 45 minutes away, or at Living Earth, which is currently going through tons of renovations. I also definitely wasn't in the mood to make my own from scratch.

I also made pancakes today for dinner. I was able to eat 3 or 4 small ones, and I have a few left over for breakfast tomorrow. I also had a can of Progresso soup that was delicious!

I'm on some pretty powerful painkillers right now, so I think I'll end this now before I start babbling too much.

Misfits Cake

2008-10-08T11:03:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago my boyfriend turned 21. For this special occasion, I decided to make him a cake that he would really like. Apparently he's not much of a cake person, but that wasn't about to stop me from making one. He loves the misfits, so I thought it would be fitting to incorporate that somehow. I'll be honest: I totally copied this idea from someone else. I can't remember who it was, otherwise I would give them credit.

I made the yellow cake from VCTOW. I found that one recipe of cupcakes = one cake pan. So I doubled the recipe so it would be a double layer cake. I added WAY too much turmeric though, and while it was cooking it looked red, and when it came out of the oven it was brownish. Then I covered it with chocolate frosting and chocolate ganache. The white was leftover frosting from my moms birthday. It was just store bought canned frosting that happened to be vegan. I printed out a picture of the skull and just freehanded the design. It was pretty easy since the design doesn't have crisp lines or anything.

Also, I baked this for as long as it said to bake the cupcakes and it came out perfect. You might find that you need to cook longer.

2008-10-06T22:15:00.000-04:00

I haven't blogged all weekend because I've been wicked sick. I did cook a good amount, though. On Friday night I made a Tofurkey roast with mashed potatoes, kale and roasted veggies. Well, they aren't really roasted. You see, on the Tofurkey website, they have a recipe for a glaze that consists of 1/8 cup orange juice, 1/8 cup soy sauce and some brown sugar. What I do is use 1 cup of juice and 1 cup of soy sauce. I pour it all over the roast and the veggies, and when they are done cooking they are so tender and sweet. And the leftover liquid is so good poured over the whole plate. This time I used carrots, onions and celery. It was such a good meal. I can't wait until it gets closer to Thanksgiving when Tofurkey goes on sale at Whole Foods. I'll have to pick up a few.

Saturday was a bit of a blur. That was the day I really started to get sick. I remember I worked, ate at the vegetarian Indian restaurant in Shrewsbury (Udupi), and went to bed early.

Then Sunday morning I made Fronch Toast (from VwaV) and a pot of blooming tea in my french press. I got this tea from someone in a swap over on the ppk. I also had two cups of orange juice. So basically I was lounging around and peeing all day. Then at night my boyfriend and I drove down to New Haven, CT to see Jenny Lewis.

I hope to get back on track with cooking and eating. I have a feeling it won't get back to normal until next week since on Thursday I'm getting 4 of my wisdom teeth out. I guess I can always make a post about smoothies and pudding.

Hot sauce glazed tempeh

2008-10-03T11:01:00.000-04:00

Tempeh. A fermented soybean cake. How anyone figured out that this would be delicious, I may never know. Thankfully someone did, though. I really like tempeh. I find it super easy to prepare since it just comes in a block that you don’t have to drain or press or anything. Some recipes do require boiling it first, but that takes just a few minutes. Draining tofu can take way too long, especially if you are hungry right at that moment. I tend to do that way too often. I’ll wait until the very last minute to cook, and by that time I’m ravenous.

Lately on the ppk we have been trying to make use of our cookbooks. This week’s book is Veganomicon. I’ve made a good amount of recipes since I was a tester (my name is in the back! I’m so special!). I’ve made the smoky grilled tempeh a million times, but for some reason I never tried the hot sauce glazed tempeh. I decided it was time to buckle down and just do it. I had tempeh in my fridge that expired a few months ago. But really, how can tempeh expire if it’s already basically just moldy soybeans? Since tempeh comes very well packaged, sitting between 2 or 3 layers of tight plastic, there wasn’t any problem with it when I opened it. I also finally had a use for some wine that I had taken from my brothers apartment when he moved. I didn’t want to drink it, but I wanted to use it for some kind of recipe. This one uses a half cup, though I did add extra just so it would cover all of it. The tempeh I’ve been using lately is the Soy Boy brand. It’s usually the cheapest one at Whole Foods so I always grab a few. For some reason, this brand is super thick. I find that the outside and the edges marinate pretty well, but the middle never does. I think from now on if I keep using this brand that I will cut it into smaller pieces so everything can marinate well.

Hot Sauce Glazed Tempeh
By Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Ingredients
8 ounce package of tempeh

1/2 cup wine (whatever kind you've got on hand, just nothing sweet, or use vegetable broth and a touch of wine vinegar)
1/4 cup hot sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (juice from 1 lemon)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions
Bring a pot of water to boil.

Whisk all marinade ingredients together in a bowl large enough to fit the tempeh slices.

Cut the tempeh in half widthwise then cut each of those squares diagonally to form 4 large triangles. When the water is boiling, add the tempeh, lower the heat and steam for 10 minutes.

Use tongs to remove the tempeh and then immediately place them in the marinade bowl for 1 hour, flipping them every now again to cover with the marinade.

Preheat a greased grill pan over medium high heat. To grease it, brush lightly with olive oil or if you have a spray bottle of olive oil, that works, too. (Get a spray bottle of olive oil already!)

Grill each side for 5 minutes. When the second side is almost done, spoon some of the marinade over the tempeh and let cook for 30 more seconds.

Alternative broiling instructions:
Preheat the oven broiler. Place tempeh in a rimmed pan (I like to use my cast iron pan for such purposes). Spoon some of the marinade over it and broil for 5 minutes. Flip it and spoon some more marinade over it and cook for another 5 minutes. When the second side is almost done, spoon some of the marinade over the tempeh and let cook for 30 more seconds.

Pesto

2008-10-02T11:46:00.000-04:00

Whoa, it's already day 2! I'm used to posting once every few weeks, not every day, so this is going to take some getting used to.

This spring, I convinced my mom to grow some basil for me. She does all the gardening in the house, so it didn’t seem like it would be a big deal for her to add that to her repertoire. Thankfully she went along with it. So this pot of basil has been growing on the back porch all summer, and I finally got around to using it. I plucked off about 3 cups of it to make some pesto. I kind of followed a few different recipes because I tend to not have everything in one particular recipe. I think it turned out pretty good, except afterwards I felt kind of sick. Then I felt better until I ate some more, and then I felt a little sick again. I think I either added too much olive oil, or I’m not good at digesting basil. I think I’m going to have to make it again sometime with less oil to see if that was the culprit or not.

-3 cups of basil
-1/2 cup or less of olive oil
-Handful of pine nuts plus some raw sunflower seeds (that’s just what I had). Probably about a half cup or so
-garlic! I have that jarred minced garlic, so I put in about three scoops
-course salt
- 1/3 to ½ cup nutritional yeast

So what I did was put the basil, nuts, garlic and salt in the food processor and mixed it up. Then I slowly added the olive oil. Then I added the nutritional yeast and mixed it all together. My food processor is awful though, so I kept having to stop it and scrape down the sides.

There are so many pesto recipes out there that you don’t really need to stick to one. I think next time I might try some arugula pesto to see how that is.

Basil straight from the garden.

All together in my crappy food processor.

VeganMoFo day 1: Isa Is So Pretty

2008-10-01T22:35:00.000-04:00

VeganMoFo starts today! Shoot! I completely forgot until I read my friends list over on livejournal. Thank goodness for syndicated vegan journals.

Just like most other college kids, I don't have a whole lot of time. I work and go to school almost every day, and if I ever have some spare time I'm usually napping. I can usually find time to cook on Thursdays since I have the whole day off from everything. Since tomorrow is Thursday, I think I'm going to try to make something awesome. I was making the Cheezy sauce from VCon tonight for some nachos, and I glanced over and saw the Dill Tahini Sauce. I think I'm going to have to make that because I love tahini sauce, and I love dill.

Since I am busy, my boyfriend and I go out to eat pretty often. There are a lot of options for veg-friendly food around Worcester. There are two all vegan restaurants, and a good handful of veg-friendly ones. The restaurant we go to most for special occasions is Nancy Chang. My family and I go there for birthdays, graduations, visits from other family members and all other sorts of reasons.

Nancy Chang is great because they offer vegetarian chicken and shrimp. It does cost $1.50 extra and you get less food than the omni version, but I don't care because it's so good. Personally, I've never tried the shrimp because it sort of weirds me out. I love to get the Orange Chicken and a dish of Broccoli with Garlic Sauce.

The menu has a V next to any dish that is vegetarian, which makes it easy to pick out things to eat. It's not always fun going through every dish and noticing that they all contain some weird animal.

2008-09-16T23:34:00.001-04:00

Well, it looks like VeganMoFo is coming up quickly. For those of you not in the know, it's a month-long project where people write about food.

Isa says it better than me, so just listen to her. "The idea is to write as much as you can for the month of October about vegan food. The blog entries can be about anything food related - your love of tongs, your top secret tofu pressing techniques, the first time your mom cooked vegan for you, vegan options in Timbuktu - you get the idea."

So, I'm gonna try to update this blog as much as I can throughout October. Here's hoping I stick to it!

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over My Kitchen

2008-08-15T11:27:00.000-04:00

I made 4 dozen cupcakes for my brothers wedding this past weekend. I ate about a dozen, a few people had some, my mom dropped about half of them after the reception, and the rest got stale.

Nekkid

2 dozen vanilla, 2 dozen chocolate

Half vanilla and chocolate with vanilla frosting, ,half vanilla and chocolate with chocolate frosting

2008-07-15T23:00:00.000-04:00

I. LOVE. QUINOA.

Today I threw together a bunch of slop, and it was delicious.

I cooked 1 cup of quinoa in 2 cups of water using my rice cooker. In the meantime, I heated together a can of black beans and a can of collard greens on the stove. I added them together with the quinoa and proceeded to eat 3 bowls of it. Oh yeah, and I added a generous amount of cholula. I don't think I'll ever eat rice and beans. From now on, it's quinoa and beans.

No picture because it looked disgusting.

Pancakes

2008-07-07T17:51:00.000-04:00

Pancakes for one are always depressing
because having breakfast with you was such fun
Pancakes for one are no fun

Anytime I eat pancakes, I think of that song (Pancakes for One by Of Montreal). Sometimes I just want something sweet and easy for dinner, so usually it's pancakes.

The recipe is so easy and takes no skill whatsoever.

2 cups bisquick
1 cup soy milk (or whatever kind of milk you prefer)
(I also add flax, but it's not necessary)

Mix together, heat on pan like you do for any pancakes.

Bisquick is totally vegan, incase you didn't know. The directions on the box say to add an egg, but I think that is only there so people feel like they are doing a lot more work than is really required. Or maybe because people might not believe that they could make pancakes without eggs? I have no idea.

In the background, I have a smoothie/shake made from frozen bananas, soy milk and chocolate syrup. And behind that is our very messy kitchen table. I swear, it's not my mess!

Middle Eastern dinner night

2008-06-25T16:34:00.000-04:00

The other night I decided to just go for it and make a bunch of Middle Eastern food. I had chickpeas, quinoa and plain soy yogurt in the fridge and came up with the perfect idea: Quinoa Tabouli, falafel and tzatziki sauce. It was great because I only had to run to the store for tomatoes, a cucumber, pita bread and some salad mix. And the store is only 2 minutes walking, or 30 seconds driving.

Quinoa Tabouli

I found a recipe online as a guideline, and it came out pretty boss. I'm pretty sure I added way more quinoa than I was supposed to, but it's still good.

2 cups cooked quinoa
1-2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt (or to taste)
1 cup fresh chopped parsley and/or mint leaves (more of less to taste)
1 cucumber, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
freshly ground pepper (to taste)

1. Mix quinoa and parsley/mint together
2. Add rest of vegetables
3. Add lemon juice and olive oil, stir adjust to taste
4. Season with salt and pepper, to taste

Falafel (from Vegan with a Vengeance)

I don't have the recipe right now, but I'm sure you could probably find it on google. I baked it instead of frying it and it came out so good. I don't understand why so many people have a problem when making this recipe.

Tzatziki Sauce

This was seriously so delicious. I've never made it before, but thought it would be a nice change from having Tahini sauce (since I was out of tahini).

1 cup plain soy yogurt
1/2 cucumber, peeled and cut into little chunks
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 of a lemon, juiced (I just put in some and hoped for the best)
dill
minced garlic (however much you want, I use a lot)
salt & pepper to taste

1. Mix it all together and let it sit in the fridge for awhile to let the flavors "mingle". Serve it on falafel or salad or whatever! It's really good.

Mac n Cheese, and beets

2008-06-23T20:07:00.000-04:00

I made this the other day and it was delicious. It's my go-to mac n cheese recipe.

1 1/2 cups soy milk
1 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 cups nutritional yeast
1 tbl paprika
1 tbl garlic powder
1 tsp salt (it says 1 tbl, but I never noticed until now. That would be way too much)
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup margarine
1 tbl mustard

noodles

1. Boil/drain pasta
2. Add all the ingredients for the cheese sauce into a blender
3. Put the pasta in a casserole dish and cover it with the sauce
4. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes covered, then 10 uncovered

I added some turnip greens since I have a ton, but I usually add a can of diced tomatoes.

Price Rite - Holy Crap!

2008-06-12T14:55:00.000-04:00

I just got back from my first venture to Price Rite. I had heard that the prices there were wicked good, but I just hadn't had the chance to get out there. I bought 21 items, and my bill came to $21.70.

Canned:
Vegetarian Baked Beans - 2 @ .99 each
Turnip Greens - .49
Sliced Beets - .49
Huge can of Whole Tomatoes - .89
Chopped Kale - .49
Collard Greens - .49
Mustard Greens - .49
French Cut Green Beans - .39

Fresh:
16oz Romaine Hearts - 1.69
Macintosh Apples, 3lb - 2.69
Mangoes - 2 @ .69 each
Cantaloupe - 2.49
1lb Strawberries - 2.49
5lb Potatoes - 1.89

Packaged:
Graham Pie Crusts - 2 @ .89 each

Etc:
3 Cards (2 graduations and 1 fathers day) - .50 each

Sausages

2008-06-11T16:12:00.001-04:00

Well, I didn't make it to the Peace Abbey to see Gene, even though I really wanted to. I made the decision to hang out in a lake during the heat wave we were having instead of on a hot farm.

I haven't really been cooking lately, but I have been eating these sausages I made recently.

Julie from Everyday Dish made up this recipe, and it rules so hard. To see how she did it, check out her blog.

If you don't want to check it out for some crazy reason, here is the recipe.

Spicy Italian Vegetarian Sausages
Makes 8 links

2 1/4 cups vital wheat gluten
1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1/4 cup chickpea flour
2 tbsp Bills Best Chik’Nish Seasoning (if using another brand which is salty, or saltier than Bill’s Best, you’ll want to greatly reduce the amount you use)
2 tbsp granulated onion
1 to 2 tbsp fennel seed, optional
2 tsp coarsely ground pepper, preferably freshly ground
2 tsp ground paprika
1 tsp dried chili flakes, optional
1 tsp ground smoked paprika
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground allspice
2 1/4 cups cool water*
6 to 8 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp soy sauce

1. In a large bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients. Whisk together the water, garlic, olive oil and soy sauce and using a fork, gently stir into the dry ingredients. Stir just until ingredients are mixed. If dough mixture is too dry, you can add another tablespoon of water or as needed.
2. Scoop 1/2 cup dough mixture at a time and shape into logs. Place logs on piece of aluminum foil and roll up, twisting ends. Place sausages in steamer and steam for 30 minutes. Once sausages have cooled, remove from foil and refrigerate until ready to eat. After cooling, the sausages may feel a bit dry on the outside. Don’t worry, as they will soften and firm up considerably after chilling.

Variation: You can shape the dough into little patties instead of links. If you don’t want to use aluminum foil, you can wrap the links in damp muslin or tea towel and tie ends with cotton twine.

BVS Peace Abbey Event - Sunday, June 8

2008-06-06T12:43:00.000-04:00

I am beyond excited for this weekend. Today (Friday) my man is taking me out to Grasshopper for dinner, which is the best vegan Chinese restaurant ever. Well, at least in Boston. Then tomorrow we're going to Six Flags New England to hang out in the water park all day. AAA membership = cheaper tickets ($27). Then on Sunday is the Boston Vegetarian Society Peace Abbey Event! It's going to be an awesome potluck, gonna hang out with new people (maybe, I get shy) and GENE BAUR IS SPEAKING! He is the president and cofounder of Farm Sanctuary. I have big plans to go volunteer there after I get out of school for good.

If you're around the area and might be interested in going, here's the info:

SUNDAY, JUNE 8, 2008, AT 1 P.M. (Rain or shine)

BVS' annual event at the PEACE ABBEY in Sherborn is a highlight event of our year. Soak in the beauty and "good vibes" of this unique place, meet the animals in the small sanctuary for rescued farm animals, stroll the grounds and view the Pacifist Memorial and Gandhi statue, the magnificent Emily the Sacred Cow Animal Rights Memorial, and explore the Abbey and its artifacts from around the world.

ALL WELCOME! This is a family-friendly event, and we encourage you to bring your friends and family, **especially non-vegetarians**. We would love them to hear Gene Baur's presentation. We'll have plenty of room!

1 P.M. VEGAN POTLUCK

Share delicious vegan cuisine. Bring a favorite dish to share that is free of meat, poultry, fish, dairy, eggs, and honey. Dishes should be ready to serve, and please include serving implements (labeled with your name). A card with ingredients/recipe helps those with food allergies. A dish serving 8-10 per person is suggested.

3 P.M. SPEAKER PRESENTATION

We'll use the church next to the Peace Abbey for the speaker program. It seats 350, so we'll have plenty of seats! Bring friends!

Program - "Changing Hearts and Minds about Animals and Food"

Gene Baur, President and Cofounder of Farm Sanctuary, grew up in Hollywood and worked in television, film and commercials. Today, he campaigns to raise awareness about the negative consequences of
industrialized factory farming and our cheap food system. He has a master’s degree in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University. His new book hit the Los Angeles Times Best Seller List!

His documentation of conditions at farms, stockyards, and slaughterhouses have aired around the globe. He has testified in court and before legislatures, and has initiated groundbreaking legal enforcement and legislative action to prevent factory farming abuses. He played a significant role in passing the first U.S. laws to prohibit cruel farming systems, and his work has been covered in most major national media. Farm Sanctuary is the country's leading farm animal advocacy organization.

Gene's new book, "Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds about Animals and Food," has gotten terrific reviews and will be available for signing and purchase. $25 hard cover, cash or checks only.

"This book is the most authentic account of the real lives of farm animals, by the St. Francis of our time. There is nobody else in America who could tell the truth about farm animals from such a deep perspective, and at the same time make your heart soar."
—Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author of When Elephants Weep and The Pig Who
Sang to the Moon

ABOUT THE PEACE ABBEY:

The Peace Abbey is a center which encourages non-violence, peacemaking, social justice, and compassionate living. Peace and justice advocates from around the world have come here, including Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama. It was home, until her death four years ago, to Emily the Cow, who gained worldwide celebrity years ago with her dramatic slaughterhouse escape, and became spokescow for veg living.

The Peace Abbey
Two North Main Street
Sherborn, MA (next to Natick)
Where Route 27 and Route 16 overlap

Event is free with your potluck offering; donation requested for the Peace Abbey.

Roasted Carrots

2008-06-02T15:38:00.000-04:00

I've had tons of carrots just sitting and hanging out in my refrigerator for weeks now. I decided that roasting them could be the way to go to get rid of them/put them in my belly. I've never tried this recipe before, but it's only on the Food Network website for a limited time so I might as well put it up here before it's lost forever.

Roasted Carrots

12 carrots
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons minced fresh dill or parsley

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

If the carrots are thick, cut them in half lengthwise; if not, leave whole. Slice the carrots diagonally in 1 1/2-inch-thick slices. (The carrots will shrink while cooking so make the slices big.) Toss them in a bowl with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Transfer to a sheet pan in 1 layer and roast in the oven for 20 minutes, until browned and tender.

Toss the carrots with minced dill or parsley, season to taste, and serve.

Of course, I didn't read the directions carefully, and already put the dill onto the carrots before I started cooking them. Oh well. We'll see how it turns out!

EDIT: Yum!

I served these along with Egg McVegans, of course.

2008-05-31T00:57:00.000-04:00

I wish I was eating this right now:

I found a bunch of cans of this at Duffys (which is now defunct) and it was seriously so good. Of course I had to add salt, pepper and some nooch to it to really make it awesome. It was totally cheap when I bought it, but now that I really want some I can only find it for $3 a can. Yeah right! That's not cheap! I could buy a package of english muffins and some tofu for less than that, and eat 6 egg mcvegans. Boy I wish I was eating those too.

Fiddleheads

2008-05-19T21:59:00.000-04:00

It is sort of JUST hitting me that I am pretty broke. I have a job (per diem) at a hospital, but I haven't been called in for a few weeks. The pay is great, but the hours obviously suck. So for the past few weeks, I have been spending more money than I've been making ($0 per week).

Even so, that didn't stop me from going to the casino this weekend and losing $50.

I also spent some money making one of the best meals I've had in quite some time. I picked up some fiddlehead greens the other day because I happened to find some. These are only available for about 3 weeks out of the year in May. I would say they are about $8/pound, so I bought a package that was less than half a pound.

I can't seem to find the exact recipe I used, but then again I didn't even follow it exactly.

-Cut the brown tips off of the fiddleheads.
-Rinse them all really good
-Steam them for 8 or so minutes
-Then sauté some minced garlic in earth balance or olive oil
-Throw in some salt and pepper, a pinch of sugar and some soy sauce (I think...I'll double check later)
-After that's been cooking for a few minutes, toss in the steamed fiddleheads and cook for a few more minutes

I put these all on the Fettuccine Alfreda from Vegan with a Vengeance. I don't have the recipe to share with you, but I'm sure it's out there somewhere on the internet. (EDIT: I found it!)

Not cheap, considering I had to use pine nuts and fiddleheads, but wicked good.

Testing!

2008-05-14T13:54:00.000-04:00

So I'm testing some recipes for the upcoming book The Crack of Noon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (i.e. I'm better than you). Just kidding about being better than you. Probably half the people on my links list are testers as well.

Anyway, I try to choose the recipes that I already have all the ingredients to so I don't have to run out to the store. This morning I decided to make coffee cake. If you have never had it, it's a bit dry and crumbly, and contains no coffee whatsoever.

I obviously can't give you this recipe, but I can give you a picture!

I think tomorrow I'm going to make some peanut butter waffles. I'll probably bring most of the coffee cake over to my good friend D.C.'s house to trade him for some dumpstered Odwalla.

Fruit Stands

2008-04-20T20:59:00.000-04:00

Living in Massachusetts kind of sucks when it comes to buying produce. We have some farmer's markets, but most don't open until May and only stay open for a few months. I try not to buy too much produce from regular grocery stores. I like to go to a fruit and vegetable stand that is only a few miles down the road. They are open year-round and sell a lot of seasonal food. I guess it's semi-seasonal. I know I tried to get asparagus there once and they weren't carrying it, so I went to the store and bought some for way too much money.

Anyway, I got all of this stuff for about $10. If I had gone to a regular grocery store, I'm sure it would have been more.

Egg McVegans

2008-03-25T00:38:00.000-04:00

I saw a recipe for Egg McVegans a long time ago on VegWeb, but it took me awhile to finally make it. I wish I hadn't waited so long! I tend to have tofu and english muffins on hand. If I only have one or the other, I will purposely go out and buy its partner.

Recipe originally found here: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=5087.0

Egg McVegans
1 package extra firm tofu
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
English muffins
cheeze (optional)
Vegenaise (optional, but highly recommended)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Drain and press as much water out of the tofu as possible. I usually wrap it in paper towels, put it on a cutting board on the sink, and put my moms cast iron pan on top of that. Leave it for awhile and then when you come back it should be all set!

You can get all fancy and cut your tofu into round shapes, but I find that wasteful. If you do it that way, you are left with all these little pieces of tofu. I cut mine into 6 equal parts, which goes perfectly with the 6 english muffins in a pack!

On a rimmed baking sheet, pour the apple cider vinegar, olive oil and salt and mix together. Put the tofu on this mixture and coat both sides. Bake for 10 minutes on one side, then flip and bake for another 10 minutes.

Toast the muffins, coat each side with Vegenaise, put a piece of tofu on top, put some cheeze if you have it, and eat!

Assembled:

Before cooking:

After cooking:

New Vegan Restaurant in Worcester - Buddha Hut

2008-03-19T13:47:00.000-04:00

I went to the grand opening of Buddha Hut in Worcester yesterday. I have been going to Quan Yin for years, so when I heard they were opening up another location I knew I had to go. While there isn't much parking in front of the restaurant, there are a few parking lots right down the street. There is also more street parking up June St. Walking in, the restaurant is beautiful. There are many more tables than at Quan Yin, so it is much more accommodating for larger parties. There are more waitresses, and an adorable little girl who walks around handing out menus and books. The waitress we had was extremely nice and seemed genuinely happy that we chose to dine there.

Few items cost more than $8, except for Peking Duck(half) and Seafood Delight. Appetizers range from $2.50 for a single item to $6.95 for assorted appetizers . I highly recommend the Crab Rangoon ($3.95) and Steamed or Fried Dumplings ($4.95). Also on the menu are Soups, Salads, Noodle Dishes, Rice Specials and Combination Vegetables. There are veggie, tofu, "chicken", "beef", "duck", and "seafood" dishes. Whatever it is you are craving, they are sure to have something for you.

If you live in or around Worcester, please support this all vegan restaurant. Also, don't forget to keep going to Quan Yin!

Buddha Hut
Vegetarian Cuisine

415 Chandler St
Worcester, MA 01602
Tel: (508) 459-0367
Fax: (508) 459-0784

Business Hours:
Sunday: Closed
Monday-Thursday: 11am-9pm
Friday-Saturday: 11am-10pm

2008-03-04T23:16:00.001-05:00

Sometimes, being too cheap doesn't work out in the end. The other day I had to decide on jarred spaghetti sauce. Seeing as though I was at Price Chopper, I decided to buy their brand name sauce since it was the absolute cheapest. What a mistake. This sauce has ruined one too many meals for me. It didn't help that I bought the fat-free one, either. I don't know what was wrong with it, but it was foul. The other day I tried it on some pasta, and ended up trying to mask the taste with nooch, chili flakes, salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. It didn't help much. Today I was desperate for food, so I tried again. This time I sauteed some garlic first, then added the sauce. Nope. Disaster. I hate to waste, but this time I will make an exception.

Maybe the other jar of PC brand sauce will be better? It is some kind of garlic flavor, so maybe it won't be so bad.

Tonight I also tried to make pudding using some Ghirardelli hot cocoa mix. That didn't work out too well either. I've been making this hot cocoa practically every day since it is delicious (hazelnut hot cocoa!) and every time I make it I think about how it looks a lot like pudding when you make it on the stove. I came up with the bright idea of adding some cornstarch. I added it, cooked and stirred for awhile, but it never got as firm as it should get. I poured it into little bowls anyway and threw them in the fridge. Taking them out later, I found that it hadn't solidified any further. It looked like super thick, cold cocoa or extremely runny pudding. It was also entirely too sweet for my adult palate. Really, I can't eat things that are too sweet anymore - I feel like an old lady. I tried a few bites (or licks?) and I just couldn't do it. I put it back in the fridge for some reason. I tried it again later, and it was no better. I gave up and dumped it into the sink.

So instead of anything semi-nutritious or delicious tonight, I had ziti with earth balance, salt and pepper, two expired fruitabu's, and some trail mix with raisins, sunflower seeds, pepitas, almonds and some other crunchy things. I did have hot cocoa for breakfast and leftover pad thai for lunch, so today wasn't too awful.

Chewy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-02-22T23:46:00.000-05:00

If you are like me, you always have staple foods on hand (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, chocolate chips). Yep, cookie ingredients are staples in my house apparently. This recipe is not very complicated. The hardest part might be the flax egg. Maybe. I mean, all you do is throw the flax seeds in a blender.

Whatever you do, DO NOT add more than a cup of chips. I got a bit overzealous tonight with that and it was really hard to form the cookies. The ratio of chips to dough was way off, making it hard to keep it all together. I took as many out as I could and that seemed to help a bit. Also, these are REALLY sweet. I do not add the whole two cups of sugar. That's insane to me. I add 1.5 cups or less.

Originally posted by Isa at http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=111

Chewy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

prep time: 15 minutes | cooking time: 10 minutes per batch | makes 3 dozen

These are brownie-like and chewy. Be careful not to overbake them, they may seem like they aren't done after 10 minutes but they are! See the variations for Chewy Chocolate Cherry Cookies and Chocolate Hazelnut (or almond or walnut or whatever) Cookies at the bottom of the directions.

Equipment:
Baking Sheet, Blender, 2 large bowls, mixing spatula, cookie sheets

Ingredients
3/4 cup canola oil
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon whole flax seeds
1/2 cup soymilk

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips (I used regular chocolate chips and white chocolate chips, the latter found at a kosher deli)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F.

Grind the flax seeds on high in a blender until they become a powder. Add soymilk and blend for another 30 seconds or so. Set aside.

In a large bowl sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

In a seperate large bowl cream together oil and sugar. Add the flax seed/soy milk mixture and mix well. Add the vanilla.

Fold in the dry ingredients in batches. When it starts to get too stiff to mix with a spatula, use your hands until a nice stiff dough forms. Add the chocolate chips and mix with your hands again.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and flatten into a disc that's about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet about an inch apart.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes, then set them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Variations:
For chocolate chocolate chip cherry cookies, replace 1 teaspoon of the vanilla with almond extract, and replace 1/2 the chocolate chips with dried cherries.

For chocolate nut cookies, replace 1 teaspoon of the vanilla with a nut extract (almond, walnut, what have you) and replace the chocolate chips with 1 1/2 cups chopped nuts (hazelnuts, almonds or walnuts all are good).

Vegan Ribz

2008-02-22T19:36:00.000-05:00

While the name of this food sounds absolutely ridiculous, it is totally delicious! I loved ribs when I ate meat, but now the thought of the real thing grosses me out completely. I think the thing I liked most about ribs was the barbecue sauce. I don't think I even really like food, just the condiments I put on them. There is a reason why my father used to call me Condiment Girl.

But I digress.

This is a really cheap recipe, and I tend to always have the ingredients on hand. I also can get a huge bag of potatoes for 2 or 3 bucks, so I'll make mashed potatoes to go with them.

Originally found at www.vegfamily.com

Vegan Barbecue Ribz

Ingredients:

2/3 cup of water
2 Tbl spoons soy margarine
3 Tbl spoons peanut butter
1/2 cup wheat gluten
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup BBQ sauce (more or less)
spices to taste (onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, etc)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat soy margarine and add the peanut butter, mixing it so that it's consistent throughout.

Mix the wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, wheat flower and spices in a dry bowl. Add the water and knead until almost all of the dry powder is absorbed. Do not over-knead. This dough is really sticky.

Form the dough into a flat shape about one-half inch thick. Add one-half of the peanut butter mixture to the top of the flattened dough. Use your fingers to poke the peanut butter mixture deeply into the dough. Do this for about 30 seconds. Turn the dough over and pour the remaining half of the peanut butter mixture onto the dough, again using your fingers to poke into the dough.

Use kitchen scissors to cut strips of dough. Make them as long or as short as you like them. Lay out on a lightly oiled baking pan. Bake for about 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, use a spatula to turn the "ribs" over. Spoon or brush on BBQ sauce and return to the oven.

Bake for another 5 minutes. Remove and turn the ribs over again. Spoon or brush on some more BBQ sauce.

Bake for another 5 minutes. Remove and enjoy your hot, sweet and sticky "ribz!"

Makes enough for four.

Broke-ass Vegan

Oh, hello.

Apples!

IngredientsCrust:1 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour1/2 cup brown sugar1 teaspoon ground ginger1 teaspoon ground cinnamon1/4 teaspoon ground allspice1/2 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon baking powder1/2 cup Earth Balance, softened1 tablespoon molasses2 tablespoon cold water

Filling:

Directions

Testing, Testing

Apple Crisp

Muffins!

Halloweeny

VeganMoFo is here!

VeganMoFo is coming!

So much for blogging more in the summer...

Sausages

Wow

Breakfast for dinner

Teese!

Buddha Hut

The Vegan’s Hundred

Mini Wheats

So sick

The FITNESS Food Safety Chart

Condiments

Pad Thai Review #2

Pad Thai Review #1

Boston Vegetarian Food Festival

Snacks

Mofo Survey (#2)

Mofo Survey

Future cooking

Misfits Cake

Hot sauce glazed tempeh

Pesto

VeganMoFo day 1: Isa Is So Pretty

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over My Kitchen

Pancakes

Middle Eastern dinner night

Mac n Cheese, and beets

Price Rite - Holy Crap!

Sausages

BVS Peace Abbey Event - Sunday, June 8

Roasted Carrots

Fiddleheads

Testing!

Fruit Stands

Egg McVegans

New Vegan Restaurant in Worcester - Buddha Hut

Chewy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Vegan Ribz

Vegan Barbecue Ribz

Ingredients

Crust:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup Earth Balance, softened
1 tablespoon molasses
2 tablespoon cold water