[Vegan MOFO] So Long Vegan MOFO 2013 - Bean Book Giveaway

 

Thank you for joining me for another year of Vegan MOFO. I look forward to the challenge, making new blog friends and finding creativity from posts and my own kitchen. 

As a thank you one lucky US winner will win a copy of Kathy Hester's new The Great Vegan Bean Book. From savory bean dishes like Pumpkin White Bean Chowder (which screams fall!) to the sweet Black Bean Fudgesicles - this book has your bean needs covered! The book is great - most recipes can be used with canned beans if you do not feel like an extra hour of prep. The ingredients are all pretty familiar and easy to find in a regular grocery store.   

To enter for your chance to win please tell me what your favorite bean dish is in the comments below. One winner will be picked on October 4. Please leave a way to contact you with the comment.

[Vegan MOFO] Friday Finds - Jelly Beans

 

A few weeks back Raley's started doing a makeover on their store isles. Mostly rearranging and bringing new products in. Besides an Indian section (with some vegan jarred curries) the natural foods department got some new treats. 

I was looking at the candy section which is right next to the energy bar section now and came across Yum Earth Naturals' Sour Beans. I was skeptical at first - finding vegan jelly beans is no easy task, however they wre vegan so in the cart they went! 

They come in individual snack size portions - which I like! They are sour put not horribly so, they are sweet and the flavors play off each other nicely. Since my first pack I have bought more. I was always sad when Easter came around and I could not find vegan jelly beans but now I have these and I am happy! 

Are you a fan of sour candy? 

[Vegan Mofo] Throwback Thursday - A Packed Lunch

Growing up I almost exclusively ate packed lunches through out elementary school. My mom would make me the best-ever peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a juice box, chips and a cupcake. In the lunch room I went from being a 0 to super cool as kid's fought over my cupcake with their greedy lil hands.
My mom would make my lunch with care, she would make sure the sandwich had the perfect peanut butter to jelly ratio, if I was using a paper sack my name would be perfectly written in my mom's loopy writting on the center and everything felt perfect. If my dad made my sandwich, I would get a glob of peanut butter and jelly on the bottom of a plastic bag with bread jammed in the bag.

Since I have decided to be child free (except trying to be an awesome mom to Mar) my lunch bag duties have fallen onto Matt's lunch. I want to make his 30 minutes in his car special M-F. Packing a lunch for a child and a grown man is not that different when he likes the basics and nothing fancy. Try to get fancy or change things up - then you have a problem.
So Matt's M-F lunch routine is a Tofurky, FYH cheeze and tomato sandwich, a baggie of chips, raisins + sea salted almonds, a Primal Strips jerky a bottle of water. Sometimes I will throw a treat in there or leave a card in his car for him to find. Lately we are on a reusable napkin kick. I am using up my fabric stash to create washable napkins for his lunch and around the house.

Did you get a packed lunch for school or did you eat a hot lunch from the cafeteria? What are you eating for lunch these days?

[Vegan MOFO] Target Tuesday - Get Up And Go

Are you a morning person? Both Matt and I are really not the early morning type people that come alive at 6AM. Monday through Friday, we get up at 7:30, have a routine of bathroom, breakfast, sending Matt off to work and me getting a workout in after a few minutes of the news.

I go for tea and either a bowl of cereal with almond milk or a Luna Fiber bar. Matt has adopted this routine as well.Matt usually get chocolate Zico to replace the tea though. We both like the Simply Balanced Fiery Chai tea.

Not a tea person? How about a cup of fair trade coffee? Target has you covered!They have a varirty of non-dairy milks and organi sugar if you do not take your black.

Need more than an fiber or energy bar? Target has lots of vegan and organic cereals to choose from, from kiddie picks to granola! They also have the best prices after price checking a few stores!

Even if you are like me - not a morning person, hopefully this picks help your mornings a little bit easier!

[Vegan MOFO] Mama Mia Monday - Simple Pasta Sauce

I recently bought the book The Glorious Vegetables of Italy - hoping it would inspire me and add more flair to my Italian dishes. First recipe I tried was the Simple Tomato Sauce - since it was cheap: I had garlic from the farmer's market, canned tomatoes, olive oil (always on hand!) and dried basil (I subbed the fresh for dried since Trader Joe's was my shopping store for the day and they do not have fresh basil ever...)

The sauce is good - a bit plain perhaps. I added a big pinch of nooch on top of the sauce with garlic bread (of course). The sauce calls for two cloves of garlic - I am thinking it needs 4 cloves or more, I did not really notice the garlic flavor. Also besides salt the only other spice/seasoning is basil. Next time it will get a kick of pepper, red pepper flakes and oregano.

I am still not done with the bags of organic pasta I got from Costco - good thing we like pasta! Also we scored more loaves of bread for garlic bread there this weekend! I never really had garlic bread growing up, bread from the oven at my grandmas would be olive oil and cheese...Mom would serve pasta with fresh bread from the store. Matt had garlic bread at home.Now we are all about the garlic bread! Garlic bread is now my comforting favorite!

[Vegan MOFO] Throwback Thursday - A Plate Of Chocolate Chip Cookies After School

I know the old adage is apple pie is the American treat. I beg to differ though! I believe it is chocolate chip cookies.While apple pie has it's place in the world, were you ever greeted after school with apple pie? Handed some apple pie to cheer you up? How about a PMS apple pie craving? I doubt it - but I could be wrong, if I am beg my pardon!

Chocolate chip cookies....ahhhh...memories in a circular shape, gooey and delicious! My mom would often bake chocolate chip cookies as a treat. I remember her once making a bunch for my elementary school classroom and the connecting class rooms for my birthday or something (I say something because my birthday falls during the traditional summer break month).
Matt has memories of plates of chocolate chip cookies. As a kid her was allowed a few cookies and as he got older he got to grab more on his way to play practice in high school. Plates of cookies make a crappy school day better!

I have played around with vegan chocolate chip cookie recipes for like seven years now. I had a really awesome recipe that someone gave me that consisted of using olive oil, I accedintly left it behind when I moved - bummer. I have tried many since then. Currently I have been baking with coconut sugar and other alternatives to the white stuff (sugar). I have also been testing out new flours and techniques.

I have been baking a lot of cookies and selling them locally under the name Pastry Paws. All the money goes to help Mar's medical costs. Baking also helps me reduce my stress/anxiety. Matt is my taste tester and Mar is my mascot. It is a great way for me to bring in a bit of extra money to pay the vet, buy Mar his med's and connect with people over vegan treats.

Cookies are love. Do you have cookie memories - chocolate chip or otherwise? Make cookie memories if not! Bake some cookies and share them with your family, your neighbors or even your coworkers. Share the cookie love!

[Vegan MOFO] WWGFE Wednesday - Firey Fieri Chili With Polenta Croutons

Guy cooked up a chorizo and polenta lasagna with a cranberry citrus side salad on Guy's Big Bite. I took some of the same ingredients and ideas and took it for a spin.

I made a soyrizo chili topped with polenta croutons and a cranberry, almond with spinach side salad. I added extra heat to the chili using up my farmer's market pepper stash and hot sauce. I kept the polenta croutons plain - so they could be mushjed up and absorb some of the heat and act like corn bread.
The salad is simple: dried cranberries, slivered almonds, spinach with a balsamic vinaigrette I whipped up super fast. The sweetness and tang go well to balance the fire of the chili.

Fiery Fieri Chili With Polenta Croutons 

[chili]

Olive oil for pan

3 (more or less) chili peppers – play around with heat varieties

½ package of soyrizo

2 cans of black beans drained

1 can of Muir Glen Diced Fire Roasted tomatoes (do not drain)

a few dashes of hot pepper sauce

[Croutons]

1 block of polenta cubed, drizzled with a touch of olive oil and baked at 350 for 20 minutes.

Heat oil in a soup pot, add peppers chopped up (remove seeds if you are afraid of heat), cook for a few minutes, add soyrizo, cook for 3 minutes add the rest of the ingredients, stir and cook covered over medium low heat for 30 minutes.

Place a big scoop of chili in a bowl. Top with a few polenta croutons and eat!

[Vegan MOFO] Mama Mia Monday - Pesto Salad

A few weeks back on a day trip to Sacramento I had an awesome pesto salad for lunch at The Plum. It was creamy, herby, tasty....really good! I thought to recreate it at home.

I wanted to make pesto - get this with a mortar and pestle, real old school. I could not find organic basil in a decent quantity around town, so instead of getting frustrated I moved on to plan B. Plan B consisted of buying Simply Organic's Sweet Basil Pesto, making the sauce following the packages instructions (adding nooch) and then letting it sit in the fridge till dinner time.

I spiral cut a bunch of zucchini, tossed it with some Tuscan kale + olive oil, added cherry tomatoes and the pesto sauce. For a nutty boost I added a nice sprinkle of pine nuts on top.  First off the Tuscan kale I bought from Trader Joe's was really rough and bitter. It just made the salad hard to eat. The pesto sauce was not pesto-y enough...At least we had garlic bread to save the meal! Again - I tried...

[Vegan MOFO] Friday Finds - Costco Is Where It's At!

I have had a Costco membership for a few years now. We get gas there every week and once in awhile go in to see if anything is new. Well, last month that changed and we are going weekly to see the new loot they get in since launching an organic section.
It started with loaves of par baked rosemary bread,  really good baked up cheezey garlic bread style and grabbing a case of Blue Diamond unsweetened vanilla almond milk. It blossomed into buying more almond milk, vegan cookbooks, price checking Mar's meds, baking supplies: like ridiculously cheap organic agave nectar and last weekends holy grail - a case of Justin's dark chocolate peanut butter cups.

 

These are Matt's favorite candy bar! So when I saw them I directed Matt's attention to them and in the cart they went! I like them a lot to! I like that the big box contains individually wrapped cups for lunchbox packing and conscious snacking.

So check out Costco! I know Costco carries different products at different locations. However, you never know what you will find. I know I want to go shopping there tomorrow!

[Vegan MOFO] Target Tuesday - Coco-Peanut Sauce With Tofu

 

Target carries vegan basics like tofu, rice, beans, frozen veggies, non-dairy milks, seasonings/spices and meat alternatives. Throwing a meal together can be a snap if you just step outside the box and look around.

When buying a new vegan cookbook or looking at blogs online I am often disappointed if the recipes call for special hard to find ingredients that have me order them online or try to locate them in a specialty market that I may not have in town. So when I come across a recipe that I can make from simple to find ingredients I bookmark it and get to work on dreaming up a meal around it.

The Garlic Broccoli with Coco-Peanut Sauce from Plant Based on a Budget is a meal that is easy to put together from the aisles of Target, affordable and easy to make. Bonus it is super yummy!

The only things I changed from the recipe was using organic maple syrup instead of brown sugar, garlic powder for garlic (no fresh garlic at Target), I added a squeeze of Sriracha and I added some extra firm tofu triangles to the mix. Bagged broccoli again came into play and I used basmati rice. This meal is something I will make again. Creamy peanuty taste with a hint of kick (I might add more Sriracha next time), afordable and a thumbs up from Matt. 

[Vegan MOFO] Throwback Thursday - Mama's Banana Nut Bread

Banana Bread Is Love

Growing  up my mom would often bake during the holiday season. She even baked things like cookies for the class for special occasions (back when parents were allowed to send in homemade treats). Everyone who tries her banana-nut bread falls in love with it, even those on the fence about banana-nut bread. So now she makes it vegan - she even says it tastes better vegan. I request it for the holiday season and for my birthday. I do not know her recipe - I just want to have her make it, it is a comfort food treat that screams 'love from mom'...

I have been playing around with sugar free baking lately, mainly so I can share treats with my diabetic neighbors. After buying the Forks Over Knives cookbook at Costco I tried the Better Than Mom's Banana Bread, well it is not better than my mom's but it is good. I have been playing around with the recipe, different spices and flours...

Sugar free takes on classics is not as scary as it may sound, people often equate sugar free, oil free and vegan as bland. Not so! Sweet treats are a cinch if you keep things like maple syrup and agave around. I am really into spelt flour lately, maybe it is a gateway to other flours! Do you bake sugar free? How about oil free? What is your favorite flour? I want to know!

[Veagan MOFO] WWGFE Wednesday - Bacon Salad

If there was a way to log TV time, my charts would say that I watch 90% Food Network and Cooking Channel shows. I am kind of addicted to watching shows that are mostly stuff I will not eat. However the shows I watch give me inspiration to cook my own versions of what I see.

One cook/TV host that comes through each time with ideas for our meals is Guy Fieri.Whether he is at a 'funky joint' or cooking at home I am drawn to his food. Often when I need a meal idea I ask myself What Would Guy Fieri Eat?

 

In Guy's latest book he has a chapter dedicated to pork and in previous books he has had a lot of pork recipes and even a disturbing photo of dead pigs...Bacon seems to be the hold-strong trend lately so I thought my first WWFE would be something bacon related. 

I created a tofu bacon slab salad. I know that tempeh is the go to protein source for vegan bacon fun but I wanted to create a thicker cut and I am a tofu gal! I took strips of super firm high protein tofu and marinated them in liquid smoke (which he explained in a show he used to not use because he thought it was cheating or something), maple/agave syrup, cayenne powder, garlic, Himalayan pink salt and pepper. After about 30 minutes, I heated up some oil in a frying pan, fried each slab till it was brown.

The salad was organic greens, organic cherry tomatoes, rustic seasoned croutons, tofu-bacon slabs with my habanero ranch dressing on top (Guy is a fan of hot sauce). I added a side of cheezey garlic bread and it was all good! Maybe it is still to healthy to appear on a dive menu but the pigs will thank ya - not to mention your heart!

[Vegan Mofo Day 2] Target Tuesday - Spicy Mandarin Orange Stir Fry

I love shopping at Target, I probably could go everyday - ask Matt. We have two in town and both are super similar but have a few different things that the other does not. Like one location has a phat supply of vegan cereal, the other carries more vegan beauty products...See why I have to go more than once a week?

My goal with Target Tuesday is to create a meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert) with ingredients one can find at this mega chain store. Most of us have a Target in town but not everyone has a Whole Foods (raises hand!). Target has gotten super good over the last year stocking things like almond milk, sauces, meatless-meat products and supplies. Also a lot of the time Target has really awesome prices on things. Next time you are picking up kitty litter and cotton rounds check out the food! You will be happy!

Now on to the meal!

                                                         Spicy Mandarin Orange Stir Fry

! package of Gardein Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick'n
1 package of broccoli florets defrosted
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 teaspoon of rice vinegar
1/2 tablespoon (or more) of Sriracha
a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds (optional)
basmati rice (cooked according to package - I usually make a bunch of rice for Matt and I)
oil for for cooking

Heat a bit of oil in a pan (enough to lightly coat it) on medium heat. Toss in chick'n and toss every few minutes. In a small bowl with hot water defrost sauce packet that comes with the chick'n. At this point add the broccoli to the frying pan. Dump the defrosted sauce into the pan with the soy sauce, rice vinegar and Sriracha - toss to coat everything. Let it cook for a few minutes and serve it over rice topped with toasted sesame seeds!

This is often a go to meal for us after we get home from the gym on Tuesday. The carbs in the rice fills me up, the protein in the Gardein makes my body happy! This is one of the only Gardein product I am not allergic to and I enjoy it. Target always has the best price on Gardein - even at full price it is cheaper than the store. Buying frozen broccoli is another money save. When buying a head of fresh broccoli in the store, you are paying buy weight. Unless you are going to use the stock part of the celery for a soup stock or a herbivore companion pet it goes to waste. Buying a bag of frozen broccoli you are buying the florets - no prep and no waste! basmati rice is not the best price at Target - only because I buy it in bulk at the store but they carry it and it is my fave rice variety! You can use your fave rice or even some rice noodles!

[Vegan MOFO Day 1] Mama Mia Monday - Zucchini Pasta

Family fact: My Grandma Cookies (that is what we called her due to her cookie jar) made my grandpa pasta everyday. Everyday it was some sort of pasta dish - I assume she switched it up. When we were over there I remember my grandma bringing a plate or bowl of pasta to my grandpa at the table.

Pasta holds a special place in my heart. First thing - I am a Sicilian girl - I love pasta, I have organs made of noodles, marinara blood and olive oil for life fluid in my brain! My mom - busy working mom would make pasta for us, not the way grandma did but using jar sauce, ground meat and a loaf of bakery bread...In high school when I went vegetarian she started making me my own little pot of sauce so I could eat it meat free. Sometimes there would be a salad on the side - with ranch dressing. I find the idea of ranch + tomato based Italian sauces so tasty when others think it is gross. Whatever! I made pasta for Matt and I about 2 years into our relationship, I bought quinoa pasta and made olive oil chocolate chip cookies for dessert. That night I discovered I am deathly allergic to quinoa and what a good guy Matt is, when he spent the night cleaning up my barf from the bedroom to the bathroom.

I do buy jars of sauces, doctor up loaves of bread from the store with a garlic-nooch-olive oil spread and do not eat pasta every day....BUT I make my own noodles - kind of...

Enter the spiralizer. After finding out Matt can tolerate zucchini this summer (it is green after all) I went zucchini crazy! My mom gave me an Amazon gift card for my birthday and I read reviews and watched videos and decided on getting the GEFU Spirelli Spiral Cutter. I liked the size, the design and the ease of it.

I wanted to get my zucchini pasta on in full force but knowing Matt I knew he would not dig that. So I have been doing 1/2 whole wheat pasta noodles and 1/2 spiralized zucchini. After draining the cooked pasta, I toss in the spiral zucchini and toss in the marinara sauce, so everything is at the same temperature.This is a good way to get greens into your pasta, cut down on wheat and/or try something new. People often think pasta dishes have to be heavy - you can lighten things up this way and still have all the great classic taste!