Cookbook Challenge Week 4 - Yellow Rose Recipes

This week's challenge was a fun one. I love Joanna's book and my husband's favorite gravy is her bechamel sauce. I also found the sloppy Joannas rock my little vegan world. On to the recipes!

#1 - Roasted Garlic Mashed PotatoesYum, yum and yum! That's all I have to say. As you will find out in the final recipe, our house is a potato-phile house. Mashed potatoes, oven fries, roasted potatoes...all of the above please! I made these with the caramelized onion variation and it boosted the awesomeness.

#2 - Cajun Spiced Tofu
Now, I absolutely admit to not having onion and garlic powder on hand. I just would rather have the fresh stuff, ya know? The tofu was spicy but bland to me....and I'm pretty sure it's because of the lack of those two spices. I'll just have to acquire some and try it again!

#3 - Twice Baked Stuffed Potatoes
That picture does not do these babies justice. I had to admit to the PPK that this was the first time I'd made baked potatoes. My mom used to make them for us but that's the last time I remember ever having homemade baked potatoes. Well, never again! These were so good I overstuffed myself. Ok, so that's not a hard thing to do, but trust me on the tasty.

This week we're exploring Eat, Drink and Be Vegan by Dreena Burton. I don't have the book but enough recipes are online for me to participate in the challenge. I had checked the book out once before from the library and made some very sad crepes with celestial cream:
I'm pretty sure I was too lazy to mix the cream in the blender and the crepes didn't cook long enough so instead of folding they kinda broke around the bends. Oh well, I'm a pro now, right? RIGHT?

This week is also a fantastic one for me - I finally start school for good! Save for this first quarter in which I pay out of pocket due to my chronic procrastination illness, I'll be a full time student for the first time since high school. I can't word just how excited I am about this. I think my getting laid off was truly a good kick in the rear. I have wanted to get into publishing/editing and I now have the opportunity to do it. Wish me luck dear readers!

Cookbook Challenge Week 3 - Vegan Brunch!

So far, this week's challenge has been a favorite of mine. I tackled omelets and crepes and had yummy Hollandaise, something I haven't had since turning vegan. Isa is a goddess.

#1 - Tofu BennysWhen I was still vegetarian, eggs benedict were one of my favorite-ist dishes. I loved the way the sauce saturated everything. This recipe definitely brought back a lot of happy breakfast memories :-)

#2 - Omelet with Roasted Asparagus and Miso-Tahini SauceIn the book, Isa tells us to search out black salt to give this a more eggy taste. Well, I'm lazy and this was still very good! It was almost like a thick, savory crepe. I thought the sauce was amazing, Jeff thought the asparagus was amazing. Definite win!

#3 - Crepe with Lemon Cashew Cream and Berry Sauce
If you couldn't tell, I made these somewhat late at night....so please excuse the awful photo. These were actually pretty easy and oh-so-rich. Probably not the best choice for dinner but then again, I'll eat cake for breakfast. I used blackberries that I picked that morning at my mom's house and I think the sauce will be a definite staple from here on out.

This week we're reviewing Yellow Rose Recipes by Joanna Vaught. I love this book; she makes it so easy to make filling and delicious food that really hits the spot. I'm actually doing 4 recipes this time around, I had such a hard time deciding!

Cookbook Challenge Week 2 - Vegan With A Vengeance

Well, another week of the cookbook challenge is down. This week was dedicated to the classic Vegan with A Vengeance, which I will admit to not cooking out of nearly enough. The pancake recipe in that book is seriously the best damn pancake recipe in the freakin' world. On to my foods:

#1 & #2 - Green Thai Curry with Mango Summer Rolls
Yeah, I was lazy and combined two in one night. But I started late in the week and gosh darn it, the recipe recommends serving the two together! After my magical curry experience at Root Table, I wasn't blown away by this. Jeffrey loved it, but my damn bias got in the way of full enjoyment. I put rice in the rolls and I'll bet rice noodles would have been the way to go...but otherwise they were very fresh and complimented the rich curry very well.

#3 - Peach Cobbler
I must confess: the only baked goods I've made with fruit have been muffins and scones. I picked this one to take advantage of the fresh peaches in abundance right now, and brought it to a BBQ. I think the crust could have been a tad bit sweeter (then again, I'm a sugar addict) but the peaches were perfect. It got rave reviews at the BBQ - which is always a good thing!

This week we're delving into Vegan Brunch...making the third book in a row for Isa! Check back in next week for omelet-y goodness!

Cookbook Challenge Week 1 - Tackling Veganomicon

I know, I know. I'm late to posting. Whatever.

On the always lovely PPK, a challenge was presented. Voters choose a list of cookbooks that are most common in the community and each week choose 3 untested recipes. Of course, Veganomicon was the top of the class. Here are my 3 choices:
#1 - Eggplant-Potato Moussaka.


My husband does not like eggplant. Regardless, he will try it each and every time I make it in hopes of liking it. This particular recipe surprised both of us! He didn't mind the eggplant and I just loved the pine nut cream. YUM.

#2 - Red Lentil & Cauliflower (or broccoli!) Curry


This was a very filling, healthy and flavorful dish. My husband loved it. I'm weird about beans and lentils being mushy, but also impressed. I forgot to halve the recipe so there's a massive amount of leftovers in the freezer, just waiting for cool weather and warm sweaters.

#3 - Mac Daddy


OH MY GOD. The first vegan mac I ever made was not a happy one. I was disgusted by the smell, the texture....this mac has crushed all of those notions that vegan mac isn't tasty. My omni husband (have I mentioned he's my biggest taste tester and food critic?) isn't a fan of nutritional yeast sauces and loved it, so that should tell you something!!!

This week we're tackling Vegan with a Vengeance. I've already made the Mango Summer Rolls (a huge favorite on the boards) and the Green Thai Curry and am bringing the Peach Cobbler to a BBQ. Stay tuned for a full recap!

My home away from home, Seattle!

This weekend I escaped to Seattle to celebrate a dear friend's birthday and get out of the doldrums. I made up a small list of places I wanted to try, which was a new concept to me as I'm not really used to spoiling myself. The trip was well needed and awesome.

Friday night was the birthday dinner. We met at Root Table, a small hobbit-hole of a restaurant that offers American-Asian fusion cuisine.I had perused their menu beforehand and was delighted to see root vegetable fries. Lucky for me, another guest asked about animal byproducts.....which the fries were guilty of being immersed in. SAD. I decided on the veggie-friendly Golden Gardens Curry.

THE AFTERMATH

I'm really afraid to admit this, but this was my first curry. Growing up, I had a sensitivity to spicy foods and have just grown accustomed to avoiding them. Lately, however, I'm finding myself asking for medium spice on Thai dishes and throwing jalapeno salt into scrambles. Let me tell you, this curry was the gateway drug. It was spicy, but in a yummy way. It was rich, flavorful and amazing. I WANT CURRY ALL THE TIME.

The rest of the night we spent at a friend's house, talking about Burning Man and oohing and awing over a homemade water cooler. At 1:30am the group decided to trek to Beth's Cafe. Definitely not vegan friendly, but the atmosphere more than made up for it. I went for an English muffin with jam and we played telephone pictionary until 3am.

The next morning (ok, whatever it was noon) I provided the pancake recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance and made believers out of my already veggie friendly friends. A couple took down the recipe and I jumped up and down in excitement. Three of us went to Discovery Park, this mammoth space that borders the Sound and boasts a serpent mound, a learning center AND a lighthouse. Munching on the pesticide free berries in the park, we hiked all these tiny trails and saw some spectacular views. Of course this made us very, VERY hungry.

Dinner following such an excursion had to be what is now my favorite pizza place, Pizza Pi Vegan Pizzeria. My friends used to live just up the street from this place but we never visited. We had breadsticks with melted Teese and four dipping sauces and the Field Roast Favorite, also covered in Teese.

Now, I have been meticulous in avoiding processed food stuffs, but Teese is amazing. It didn't just slide off when you picked it up, like I've found FYH Vegan Gourmet to do.

Sunday morning I spent my last hour in Seattle munching on a vegan banana muffin and the best coffee I've ever had in Seattle at Cloud City Coffee. My soy mocha wasn't sweet and milky, it was grownup; and the muffin was the perfect fuel for the drive ahead. I also found their drip to be slightly bitter, which I LOVE.
Stay tuned for the PPK Cookbook Challenge results!!!

Struggles with a bright spot.

It's been 2 months since I've posted. Whoa. I started this blog to keep my writing skills fresh, and then I abandon it. I'm sorry blog!

So, obviously, one of my struggles is updating this thing. Another is my weight. While in Europe, we walked and walked and walked and walked some more. I swear I lost ten pounds. We get back to the States....and I lose my job and put on a ton of poundage. Not out of stress, dear reader, out of boredom. So I joined Weight Watchers.

Thing is, I can't cut much out. Sure, there's beer and french fries, but that's about it. I eat so well, far better than the first go around in Weight Watchers 5 years ago, and it's all homemade. We just can't afford to eat out of boxes anymore. In the past 7 weeks, I've lost a total of 2.6 pounds. Sure, it's better than gaining, BUT COME ON. So yes, I'm really cutting out the beer this time, maybe one a week instead of 3 or 4; and yes, I'm cutting out the fries, promise.

I'm going to Seattle this weekend, to visit dear friends and explore vegan options. Back when my buddies were going to U-Dub, I would visit monthly out of boredom. But I've only visited once while vegan and didn't really get a chance to explore what's available to me. I promise a full post, with pictures, when I get back.

Gettin' Schooled

I have been unemployed for a little over 2 weeks now.

Some have been telling me "ah geez, that sucks!" but really, it doesn't. Eventually, unemployment will kick in (as soon as they get their crap together and just pay me already) and this is the first time in ten years I haven't worked a full time gig. I have a once-a-week paper route but it's like, 2 hours and super easy.

I've decided to take this opportunity to do something with myself and to go to school for what I love.: editing. Something about marking up mistakes in documents makes a ripple of excitement run through my spine. At this point, I don't care if it's a book publisher, a magazine, a newspaper or some small-town flyers, I just want to make them look right. This is the first time I've ever really had the chance to go to school for more than a couple of classes (like I said, I've always had a full time job!) and I'm really excited.

My dear, dear husband supports and encourages this decision and my heart swells even more for him. It's been particularly tough for us this year - he's not having a busy year and we scraped up what we could for our honeymoon to Europe. Yes, this means we have no savings. Yes, that sucks. Lucky for us I am a neurotic food hoarder and we have rice and pasta to last us for years. I've been making large meals and freezing portions - just last week we had an awesome homemade pizza with pesto sauce and lots of veggies entirely from the freezer!

So, my dear four readers, any suggestions, encouragement and warnings are welcome. I'm 26 and so ready to get on with my life.