Fun With Food, Zines and Cats

Fried open faced tacos inspired by a recipe in the April 2015 Food Network Magazine (The Big Breakfast Issue). Tortillas are fried in Earth Balance, sprinkled with cumin, topped with refried beans and Daiya then covered to melt. Top it off with salsa, soy sour cream and hot sauce. Everything has to be served with Matt's Mamas red rice and lemons from the neighbor as you know!

Post gym stir fry with mixed veggies, extra firm tofu in a red curry paste + soy sauce mix I made up on the spot. Simple stir fry dishes are perfect on gym nights to help with a hungry stomach and a flash to prep. I also find them helpful to use up pantry items sitting around.

A soy iced coffee and Banana Curl Vegan Girl zine. The zine is a must have for those looking for easy and accessible vegan recipes (the best kind!) and a handy FAQ suitable for helping the new vegans & vegan curious out with ingredient replacements. You can also check out Banana Curl on her blog.

A few weeks back we walked into Pet's Mart on adoption day to make a Mar's Memorial Birthday donation. We came across a beast of a fluffy cat and decided to bring him home. We named him Mortis and so far Mady and him are doing well together. So if my zines and blogging have been lagging blame fluffy cats and naps - they go together!

Peanut Butter Dishes, CSA Haul, Cheezey Stuff

If you follow me on Instagram (MissMuffcake) you will have seen these photos. Here are the photos plus added content!

 

Spicy peanut sauce tossed with whole wheat noodles, organic veggies and savory baked tofu. Post gym meal that is easy to put together and helps our body recover. On Tuesday after the gym I usually make us some sort of stir fry dish and have been trying new sauces out the last few rounds. 

Matt said he like mixing peanut butter cups with popcorn at the movie theater so I came up with this popcorn treat. Coconut oil popcorn sprinkled with vegan buttery spread, pink salt, PB2 (powder not mixed with water, just want a light coating) and a drizzle of chocolate syrup. Salty + sweet = yummy! 

At Matt's work every Wednesday an organic farmer comes out and you can buy fruits, veggies, spices and flowers from her. We got the $5 CSA box last week and it was jam packed with cool stuff we have never tried before. My favorite thing from the box was the Thai Bitter Melon. I thought it was an eggplant but once I cut it open I knew it was a melon of sorts. I liked it with a sprinkling of Tajin seasoning and raw, but I know it is popular in soups and stir fries. I did not find it bitter at all, more like a not so sweet cantaloupe. 

Last week was a score of fresh fruits and veggies. We got so many peppers from our neighbor that I pickled two batches - we are already out of one batch - peppers on everything! Yesterday we scored a few plump garden tomatoes! I really want a garden of my own. I think maybe this coming year it will happen, I am very inspired! I do have pomegranates and this will be a big  haul this season!

 

Some of the stuff from my recent Vegan Essentials order. I have tried the crackers before but am curious about the mac & cheeze and will cook it this weekend. I love the crackers with - yup you guessed it: peanut butter! As Matt and I transition away from palm oil products I am not sure how I feel about EB - they seem honest in trying to be conservatives of land and respectful. Other companies just ignore the issue. We have already stopped buying certain products and stopped buying from companies that use palm oil and who do not address the issue.

Sweet & Spicy Stir Fried Noodles

Fast Sunday night dinner...Basically it is a package of baked tofu (Teriyaki flavored), some left over frozen veggies and fresh pineapple with fresh rice noodles. I cooked the veggies with tofu while boiling the water/noodles. I added the noodles to the oan, the pineapple and the sauce. Sauce: a dash of Sriracha, a tablespoon of fresh pineapple juice from the pineapple chunks, a squirt of Braggs and about a teaspoon of rice vinegar. Dump it over the mix and let it heat up and serve. 

Note: The fresh rice noodles from TJ's are hard to work with. They turn into a huge clump once cooked. I tried my hardest to break them up with no luck!

Citrus Stir Fry & White People Tacos

I was hungry for a stir fry the other night and since Matt was not feeling well (due to dehydration) I thought a veggie packed stir fry was in order.

I used Gardein mandarin crispy chick'n (one of the few products in the line I am not allergic to) and a bag of frozen stir fry veggies. The Gardein was $3.99 at Target, which it is usually cheaper, but still beats out the grocery store by about $2. The stir fry veggies were less than $2 a bag. I like buying frozen, because I get a nice mix and the price is cheaper than buying a bunch of produce that the store may not even have. Since the sauce packet the chick'n comes with is not substantial enough I whipped up some more sauce with Braggs, rice vinegar, Sriracha and a fresh squeezed orange. I plated it on organic rice with some toasted sesame seeds (I kinda went crazy with them!) and a easy meal was born. About $7 for two beats take out prices any day!

White People Tacos - what the heck!? So last night after the gym I decided to make tacos. I had chickpeas at home, taco shells, guacamole and salsa...I had to stop by the store to pick up some produce and ran into a bunch of pretty organic kale while buying some lemons (I need to ask my neighbor for more - but she has been so generous I feel bad/greedy). I picked up some lacinato kale and headed home.

I sauteed kale, 1 can of drained and rinsed chickpeas with a bit of olive oil. I squeezed the juice of one super juicy lemon on top, added a big pinch of Mexican spice blend, a pinch of onion powder and a squirt of Sriracha. After tossing,  I let it cook down for about 10 minutes. I stuffed each crispy taco shell with the kale-chickpea mix, guacamole and salsa. Served along with red rice it was totally good.
What makes it White People Tacos? Well, when I asked Matt what he thought he said "they were good, something white people would really like". Matt was not trying to be insulting, he really liked them (I did too!). It was just a departure from my 'trying to be a taco truck' style of cooking! This is a gluten free taco - for those that usually see my tacos loaded with seitan and wheat tortillas.  Everything was cheap/on sale and another good meal for two under or around $10.