[Vegan MOFO] Mama Mia Monday - Dreaming Of A Creamy Pasta Sauce

When I am trying to come up with a meal and nothing is coming to me I reach for one of the "Cooking With Trader Joe's" cookbooks. Cookbooks based around shopping/buying from Trader Joe's. That way - everything is in one store and it helps me get focused at creating a fuss free shopping meal by limiting me to one store. 
I picked orecchiette with creamy tapenade from I Love Trader Joe's Vegetarian Cookbook.
I am one to go for red sauces so I thought a creamy sauce would be a change. I swapped out the orecchiette for penne (I have it on hand) and had most of the other ingredients around (seasoning, almond milk and vegan cream cheese). I picked up the tapenade from Trader Joe's and went to work.
The sauce was not as thick as I would have liked, actually it was watery. I thought it would be a creamy white sauce, even with turning up the heat and letting it simmer longer I still had a watery sauce, I should have added some cornstarch or something thinking back on it. Also the sauce, since it was so watery lacked flavor. The salad with tangy sweet dressing and garlic bread saved it though. Mar did like the pasta - he meowed for more.
Not all dishes are winners. I wanted to try something new, I did and I learned (stick to red sauce!). Plus using up stuff in the pantry is a goal of mine: pasta and vegan cream cheese were on hand. Waste not want not right? Also good garlic bread and a simple salad makes every meal complete or can actually be a meal itself!

[Veagn MOFO] Friday Finds - Vedge Sauce

A few months back while shopping in the bay area Matt and I went to Williams Sonoma - because we are fancy like that. Well, actually I was on the lookout for the sauces that VegNews posted about by Vedge Restaurant. After asking a few people and looking around we found them, I decided on the tamari sesame flavor and Matt plopped down $16 and we were good to go.

A sauce that costs as much as a meal was going to be saved for something special I told myself. Well, 2 weeks ago I forgot BBQ sauce for our weekly night of BBQ soy curls and as I scrambled around to find something to use I came across the sauce. I said why not and gave it a go.

Matt and I both like this sauce - I super really like it. It has a sweetness to it that is not to sweet, just a sweet kick. I taste garlic and giner along with other spices. It goes well with a bit of Sriracha or Middle Easter hot sauce thrown it to kick up the heat.I know $16 (with tax) is a lot for a sauce but I will buy it again. I am using a bit at a time so I can hold off on making it another pricy habit.

[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!

VEGAN MOFO 2013 Baby!!!!

Starting tomorrow I will be MOFOin' it up! Monday through Friday I will be bloggin' it up!

Monday: Mama Mia Monday - Sicilian food that is a twist off my grandma's cooking! I am making things easier and on a small scale - I do not have 8 kids to feed!

Tuesday: Target Tuesday - cooking a complete meal (or dessert) from the aisles of everyone's favorite chain store!

Wednesday: WWGFEW - What Would Guy Ferrari Eat Wednesday food inspired by my fave cooking show personality.

Thursday: Throw Back Thursday - Food memories with a twist. Healthier and my own personal take on stuff.

Friday: Friday Finds: Vegan products and places to eat that you need to check out!

Come back tomorrow. I cannot wait to see what everyone is doing!