Beefy Stew

I've been really into gardein products lately. Last week I used the "chicken" cutlets to make chicken-free Parmesan with pasta, a chik pizza melt sandwich, and I tried the recipe on the back of the package, and they were all very tasty.

This week I'm trying out the beefless tips. First up was a vegan version of my mom's beef stew. My family always broke out the Christmas dishes, decorated the tree, and put up the lights the weekend after Thanksgiving. I'm a sucker for traditions, so I put up my own mini-tree this weekend and some lights on the back porch. When I'm missing my family, vegan-izing Mom's recipes always makes me feel a little closer to home. The beefless tips were the perfect substitute for beef chunks.


Ingredients:
1 package gardein beefless tips
1 Tbsp flour
2 potatoes, cubed
2 carrots, chopped
2 tsp Lawry's season salt
1 tsp onion flakes
pepper to taste
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 can vegetable broth

Boil carrots and potatoes until soft. In another pit, brown the beefless tips in olive oil. Season with season salt, onion flakes, and pepper. Once the tips are nice and brown, add the flour and stir everything around until the tips are completely coated. Slowly add veggie broth, stirring constantly to make a gravy. Add boiled carrots and potatoes. Simmer until thick and bubbly.

gluten-free vegan recipes?

My very sweet boyfriend appears to be allergic to gluten. He's been gluten-free for a couple of weeks now, and his belly has been feeling much better. However, we aren't finding too many places that serve vegan, gluten-free fare (thank heavens for corn tortillas and thai food!), so I see a lot more cooking in my future.

That's a-ok with me, I've been meaning to get back on the cooking at home bandwagon and I love trying new recipes and science experiments in the kitchen. I'm going to stock up on rice flour this weekend. Expect to see a lot more recipes from me on this blog as I attempt to make my vegan favorites gluten-free. And if you have suggestions or tips, send them my way. I picked up a copy of Flying Apron's Gluten-free and Vegan baking book at Powell's yesterday and The Gluten-Free Vegan is in my Amazon cart.

First cooking challenge? What to make and pack for camping for 5 days in Big Sur?

popcorn party

I'm planning a Halloween recap sometime this week, but haven't quite gotten it together yet. My photos are all over the place!

In the meantime, I'll give you my famous vegan popcorn recipe. This is funny because I don't really do anything too special, but I do make popcorn every time I invite people over, and I've had two requests for my "recipe" lately, so here you go.

Step 1. Buy a bag of popcorn from the grocery store. The old fashioned kind. No salt, no butter, no microwave friendly bag, just corn kernels in a bag. While you're there get garlic salt, nutritional yeast (try the bulk foods section), and pepper.

Step 2. Pour enough canola or veggie oil in a pot to cover the bottom. Drop in 3 or 4 kernels. Put the lid on.

Step 3. Turn the heat on high. Wait for the test kernels to pop, shaking things around occasionally.

Step 4. Once they've popped, throw in more kernels, enough to cover the bottom of the pot.

Step 5. Hold the pot 2-3 inches above the burner and keep it moving until all the popcorn has popped (or the lid is falling off, whichever comes first. In my kitchen, I usually lose the lid before every last kernel has popped.)

Step 6. Dump the popcorn into a bowl. Add garlic salt, nutritional yeast, and black pepper to taste. If it's kind of bland on top, stir it around some more, lots of the seasoning will fall straight to the bottom.

Step 7. Eat popcorn. Share with friends. Kitties like it too.

Raspberry parfait recipe

I didn't get around to making freezer jam, but I did make ice cream and a parfait, and since the parafait got the Knox/Cher the Pain/Mrs. Cher the Pain seal of approval, I'll tell you how I made it. It couldn't be easier.

Ingredients:
Raspberry sauce (from Vegan Brunch cookbook- basically 4 cups of berries, some water, a little sugar, and a thickening agent)
cookies or leftover coffee cake (that's what I used)
instant jello pudding (Chocolate Fudge and many other flavors are vegan)
soy milk/creamer
fresh raspberries and chocolate chips for garnish.

First I mixed the instant jello pudding mix according to the directions on the box, but I used 1 cup soy creamer and 1 cup soy milk instead of cow milk. If you omit the creamer, just use 1 1/2 cups of soy milk instead of 2 so your pudding isn't too runny. Chill.

While the pudding is chilling, crumble up the cookies or coffee cake in the bottom of a glass bowl and press it so it kind of sticks together a little, like a crust. If you feel fancy, you could use individual cups or glasses, but I had to transport this concoction to a BBQ, so I used a bowl. Pour the raspberry sauce on top. Layer pudding on top of the raspberry sauce. Garnish with raspberries, cookie/cake crumbs, and chocolate chips (Ghiradelli semi-sweet are vegan as are Fred Myer's generic and organic brands). YUM!

so very tired

Dad kicked into marathon mode last night as his 7am flight crept closer and closer. He was still up and sawing away at closet doors when my alarm clock went off at 5am. The fruits of all that labor are amazing. We now have-
a guest room:

a music room:

a laundry room:

doors:

and even a couple of closets!:

I wish we'd gotten more time to hang out, but I really, really appreciate all the work he did. As a totally inadequate thank you, I made him a little pocket sized blueberry pie to eat on the plane.

I just mixed 1 cup frozen blueberries with 2 Tbsp corn starch, a squirt of lemon juice, 1/2 cup sugar, and a pinch of salt. Then I pressed pie crust into cupcake tins, topped it with the blueberry mixture, crumbled more pie crust on top and baked at 425 for 20 minutes.

Goodbye dad! Thank you!! We'll miss you!!

2 recipes in 2 days

Another recipe already? Usually I go weeks without posting a recipe, but I can't stop thinking about peanut butter balls and feel compelled to share.

B and I have been on a waffle kick since he got me a Belgian waffle maker for my birthday. It doesn't seem like the most romantic gift, but I really really wanted a waffle maker after I went to Jace Gace and figured out you can pretty much top a waffle with ANYTHING YOU WANT, and it will be delicious.

Last night, I was curled up in bed, half asleep, when B busted in proclaiming that he has just created the most delicious waffle ever made. He topped a warm waffle with creamy peanut butter, powdered sugar, and maple syrup. He gave me a bite, which I accepted in my sleepy state, and I had to admit it was pretty darn good. I did wake up with my pillowcase stuck to my cheek and smelling of syrup this morning, but I think maybe it was worth it. Personally, I'm not sure it's as good as the Primanti Brothers' waffle, but it was good.

It actually gave me flashbacks to first grade when my teacher, Mrs. Daniels taught us how to make peanut butter balls at school.
We mixed 1 cup of peanut butter with several cups of powdered sugar until it formed a dough. Then we put more powdered sugar on a plate and used our germy little hands to roll the dough into balls. Refrigerate them until the set up, and they're done!

I've seen fancier recipes for peanut butter balls on the internet, people apparently add rice krispies or powdered milk and dip them in chocolate and honey, but I prefer the simple first grade version. They remind me of reading Ramona Quimby, memorizing poems to recite in front of the class, and playing with Cabbage Patch Kids in the driveway. Only now I'd wash my hands before rolling them up into little balls.

Oh! What if you made the balls, and then put them on top of a traditional waffle with margarine and syrup so that they'd get all melty on the bottom, but still be cool and firm on top? Now that might make a good waffle...

cupcakes vs. muffins

Is the frosting the only real difference?

Last night I made banana muffins. I always use a veganized version of my mom's recipe, and they're really easy. The nicest part is that if I have the bananas on hand, I usually have all of the other ingredients in the cupboard, and I can use up bananas that are about to go bad.

3 bananas- the riper, the better
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup applesauce or the egg replacer equivalent of 1 egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil or melted margarine
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups flour

Mush the bananas with a fork. Add sugar, applesauce (or egg replacer), and vegetable oil. Stir it up. Mix in dry ingredients. Fill muffin tins 3/4 of the way full. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

Last night I added chocolate chips and walnuts, which raises the muffins vs. cupcakes question. Are they still healthy, wholesome, virtuous muffins when they're this sweet and chocolatey? Or do they slip into the cupcake category? I don't really think they can be cupcakes without some sort of frosting or topping...

Speaking of cupcakes, wouldn't you love to store your freshly baked muffins in this cute cookie jar? It's so adorable!!! And definitely a cupcake.

$49
by fruitflypie

It sure beats the resused, gnarly old plastic ziplock I'm using now!

the perfect tofurky day

Vixen and I worked diligently on our mini-pumpkin turkeys while we watched the parade and the learned about all the new boy bands lip-synching from the floats.

Of course, I couldn't resist the glittery version of foam core at the craft store, so our turkeys were a little sparklier than the originals.

We started by gluing pom poms onto the pumpkins (and some little orange curry squashes Johnny grew in the back yard.

We couldn't get the tail feathers to stick, so we used a knife to carve little holes in the pumpkins and then inserted match sticks to help support the feathers.

Here you can see the rear view of a finished turkey.

We opted for pretty traditional turkeys for our first round, but we got more creative as the mimosas flowed. Vixen made a punk rock turkey and I made a drag queen. We also made a Lucy (Vixen's cat) and a Tonka (Johnny's dog) after we ran out of pom poms. Here's the whole family.

Our centerpieces were pretty fabulous, but Johnny's cooking really stole the show. We had a curried squash bisque as an appetizer, tofurky baked with parsnips, carrots, and potatoes, homemade stuffing, yams, roasted brussel sprouts, Silk Nog, mashed potatoes, and my favorite- cranberry sauce from scratch. Vixen and I contributed apple and pumpkin pies for dessert.

The cranberry sauce was so incredibly easy to make.
He put whole cranberries in a pot with orange juice, water, ginger, and 2 tablespoons of sugar, brought the whole thing to a boil, and then let it simmer, until the cranberries POPPED! When they popped they gave the mix a jelly like consistency. Amazing.

Hope you and yours had a Happy Thanksgiving too!!

Johnny Applesauce

One of my favorite breakfasts this fall has been this very simple, very yummy applesauce "recipe" that I got from Vixen's sweetie, Johnny. Johnny didn't have an actual recipe because it is just that easy to make, so Vixen made him write down what he does. It's worked like a charm. Here's what you do:

Peel and chop apples (as many as you want)
Put apples in a pot with about a cup of water
Add some cinnamon
Bring the water to a boil
Turn the heat down and simmer until the apples get soft

I like mine with big apple chunks, but I suppose you could cook it down to mush if you wanted. I like to eat it warm with a cup of coffee. Thanks Johnny!

On Thanksgiving I'm having vegan Thanksgiving dinner at Johnny's and Vixen and I are going to watch the parade and make Thanksgiving themed crafts. I'm still researching possible craft projects if you have any suggestions. I'm bringing the mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie.

vegan coffee ice cream recipe

B was craving ice cream earlier this week, and I managed to convince him that making vegan ice cream at home was tastier, faster, and cheaper than walking to 7-11 (and vegan-er!). I promised we could make any flavor he wanted. And then he wanted...coffee. The trouble was every coffee flavored recipe I've made from coffee cupcakes to mocha chip muffins has suggested using instant coffee to get the right flavor, and we were out. So we improvised. And it worked!

3 cups soy creamer (or 1 cup creamer, 2 cups soy milk)
1/2 cup sugar
8 Tablespoons of coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla

Put the coffee in a french press. It's best if you use coarse ground coffee, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. Heat the creamer in the microwave or in a pan until it is steaming hot, almost boiling. Pour into french press, try not to spill, it's hot! Let it sit for 5 minutes. Pour the coffee flavored creamer into a bowl, mix in vanilla and sugar. Pour into ice cream maker, turn it on, and wait 25 minutes. Eat.

If we were more patient, and I wasn't trying to beat the clock to prove it was faster to make ice cream than walk to buy it, I would have steeped the creamer and coffee a little longer for a stronger coffee flavor and I would have put the creamer/sugar/vanilla mix in the fridge or freezer so that it would firm up faster in the ice cream maker. But this experiment totally worked, and there is no ice cream left in the freezer to prove it. Bonus discovery- if we'd left the mixture in the ice cream maker for 10 minutes less, it would have been the consistency of a frappaccino. Vegan frappaccinos coming soon!

My crazy boyfriend

I just realized I never posted a photo of B in his straight-jacket. Here he is.

Yep, he's nuts, but I love him anyway.

There was lots and lots and LOTS of fake blood at Pain's party. Here's the recipe I used:

2 cups corn syrup or maple syrup
1 cup water
2 tablespoons flour, arrowroot, or egg replacer (anything that will thicken it up)
lots of red food coloring (I use gel, it looks less pink)
1 tablespoon cocoa powder (to make it look more realistic)

Bring the water and syrup to a boil. Stir in thickener and cocoa powder, whisk until all the lumps are gone. Add food coloring until you get the desired bloody hue. This blood doesn't spatter well, it's better for oozing down your face and neck and pooling in puddles. And it smells delicious!

What is it...

about the sound of a pop can opening that makes me instantly crave a soda? I tried giving up soda pop once, but it's hopeless. I am a soda junkie. I suppose it's not the worst vice a girl could have.

Besides, I think I deserve a treat and some extra calories. Sunday was my first endurance practice back and while I didn't skate with the big girls, I did keep up with the girls at the second practice. I was not the fastest skater there, but not the slowest either. And no pain after. The PT is working!!!

Today I discovered on Tollhouse's site that August is National Honor the Chocolate Chip month. I can't believe I almost missed it! To celebrate, here are 3 of my favorite vegan chocolate chip recipes:

Vegan Mocha Chip Muffins from Post Punk Kitchen

Vegan Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Vegan Truffles (so rich and chocolately even I can only eat one. Well... Maybe 2.)

Party hardy. I'm off to get a coke.

another vegan recipe

I bought a house in NoPo this summer, and B and The Bus and I all moved in together. I'm learning a lot about boys. It's like going to a drive-thru safari where you can watch the animals in their natural state (not that a drive thru zoo is anything like the jungle or sahara where wild animals should be living, but you see what I'm getting at here).

I am stunned by the things B will eat. Stunned.

I'll admit I'm a little crazy when it comes to condiments. Some even say I have a condiment phobia just because I *really* don't like mustard, mayo, ketchup, relish, or any those other traditional all-American toppings. I think that's taking it a little far. But given my general dislike of all things condiment related, you can imagine my absolute horror when B came home from work the other night and mixed:

cooked spaghetti
garlic
nutritional yeast
margarine
(okay, I'm with him so far, I like the occasional helping of improvised ghetto vegan easy mac, but he lost me at...)
yellow mustard
hot sauce
fresh sage, oregano, dill, and basil all blended together in the food processor

I think there may have been vegenaise thrown in there for good measure, but by that point I had bolted into the living room.

So gross. I couldn't even kiss him good night.

Pain pie

This weekend I invented a new pie in honor of November Pain's upcoming nuptials. It's called Pain Pie.

Pain loves bacon. In fact, she used to be vegan, but bacon was her downfall. So when the idea to make a pie named for Pain first appeared in the dark recesses of my noggin, bacon was an obvious choice for my first ingredient. Thinking of ingredients to pair with bacon in a pie is trickier than it might seem. B polled co-workers, and their collaborative solution was to make a kind of a quiche, something savory with veggies and eggs, but I was determined to make a pie as sweet as Pain. I was playing with the idea of maple and pecans on Friday night when I was floating in Vixen's bro's pool (which was a delightful way to spend a hot and sticky summer night)and Vixen's boy suggested figs- pure genius!

Hot on the trail of the figs Saturday morning, I hit the farmers market and Whole Foods and picked up:
figs, plums (seemed worth a shot!), pears...


and Smart Bacon (I couldn't bear to buy and cook the real deal, so I substituted.)


Then I taste tested.


For the record, I do not recommend combining bacon and plums. Even fake bacon. Yuk. Pears, bacon, and figs- not so bad.


Add some sweetener to the taste test, and, YES! We're good to go. Molasses didn't make the final cut. Sorry molasses.

So here it is, I proudly present:
PAIN PIE

1 pie crust of your choice
4 pears, sliced
4 figs, sliced
5-10 slices of bacon (or in this case Smart Bacon)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cardamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract

Layer the pie crust with bacon. Follow with a layer of figs.


Top with pears. Sprinkle spices, brown sugar, and vanilla and almond extracts over the pears. Drizzle with maple syrup.


Top with pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.


yippee!!

You can see in some of the photos that I made two little mini-pies. Those were for taste testing purposes so I could ensure the final product wasn't totally disgusting before I presented it to Pain. Luckily, it was yummy. B agreed!

Happy almost wedding November Pain!