Cooking Our Way Vegan

Mid-afternoon snack!

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 13:36:45 -0500

Mid-afternoon snack!

So I’m trying to eat a little cleaner this week and cut...

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 12:57:03 -0500

So I’m trying to eat a little cleaner this week and cut out starch/gluten for some cleansing. This means eating a great deal more of earth-tasting food - like kale!

To my husband’s great delight, I busted out the rice cooker last night (for the second time since buying it several months ago) to steam some veggies. It was easy peasy! Put the kale in the steamer part, filled the bottom with water, added some olive oil, balsamic and sea salt, and voila! Kale that was mildly digestible(can you tell I can only somewhat tolerate kale). Anyway, I topped that with a Don Lee Farms veggie patty (you can find at Costco, delish). I cooked that in a nonstick pan with a couple of spritzes of olive oil from the Misto.

The Misto is my new favorite thing because it gives me the option of creating a nonstick spray out of whatever oil I want (olive, peanut, grapeseed, oh my!), plus the added bonus of not using the fake, processed stuff. You know who you are - product that rhymes with Sam!

Anyway, with all that said - a satisfactory meal with minimal hands on time. Perfect for a Sunday.

Farmer's Market Dinner

Sat, 13 Aug 2011 20:16:20 -0500

So today I went to the farmer’s market and picked up a variety of goodies:

A Crapload of Basil - Only $2.00!!

Roma Tomatoes - Yummm

Spinach, Basil & Garlic Linguini - I spent more on this than I care to admit

With all my new goodies, I decided to make a linguini with pesto, topped with tomatoes. I had some walnuts and some good olive oil to use, and with enough basil to last me until New Years. I went to work.

The Pesto

The only thing I wish I had to include was garlic, but I had some Garlic and Wine seasoning from Melting Pot that sufficed (though I’ll still get garlic for the next round). I also probably used a bit too much olive oil, but that’s usually never really a problem.

The Finished Product

I basically scarfed this down in less than 5 minutes. I have to say, I’m pretty proud of myself. I think it’s the first time I cooked without a recipe since I memorized the directions to preparing Easy Mac when I was in college.

Long time no blog! I’ve been traveling like a nomad, but...

Sat, 13 Aug 2011 09:31:00 -0500

Long time no blog! I’ve been traveling like a nomad, but I’m back and here to present my Saturday morning protein smoothie! This recipe was inspired by my absolute new favorite blogger Fitnessista. I seriously want to print every one of her posts and make a little book to keep referencing. Fitnessista also recommended my new glass straws, which are perfect for smoothies. I have to say, I’m getting pretty good at the smoothie thing, and I love that it’s a quick and easy way to get most of my servings of fruit for the day (not a fan of eating them whole, it’s a texture thing). Now, all I need is a Vitamix and I’ll be good to go!

Now, onto the recipe!

Frozen organic mixed berries (mostly blueberries with some strawberries) - Yay fruit!
Half a banana - For the potassium and texture
Almond milk - Unsweetened w/ vanilla is the way to go
Almond butter - Spoonful for taste and protein
Flaxseed - Gotta get those omega 3s!
Mesquite powder - This is a new discovery that I learned about from the Fitnessista. Mesquite is a plant typically found in the Southwest and in its ground form has a nutty flavor. It’s high in fiber and has good quantities of calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc.
Protein powder - Self explanatory! I’ve been using PaleoMeal-DF, but want to try Sun Warrior, once I finish the tub.
Cacao powder - I think I was a bit conservative here and need to add a ton more next time.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Vegan Apple Chunk Banana Bread You guys!! Ari baked. Talk about...

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 20:52:37 -0500

Vegan Apple Chunk Banana Bread

You guys!! Ari baked. Talk about role reversal! Though I read the recipe to him and instructed him on mixing strategies and adjusting baking time based on our lack of correctly sized loaf pan, it appears that he did a good job.

I snagged this recipe from FitSugar and the prep time was literally 10 minutes, with 40 or so minutes of baking time (would be more if we had the correct sized pan).

We’ll let you know how it turns out!

This morning’s smoothie contained a lot of chocolate-y...

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 09:52:41 -0500

This morning’s smoothie contained a lot of chocolate-y goodness and included:

Frozen raspberries
Fresh blueberries
Unsweetened chocolate almond milk
Half a banana
Tablespoon flaxseed
Vega Shake & Go Smoothie (Choc-A-Lot)

One thing I probably should have included was a teaspoon of peanut butter to thicken it up more, but oh well!

Jelly Donut Cupcakes!

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 09:50:44 -0500

Last Sunday during our marathon cooking session, we (or I) also found time to make a dessert recipe to support the Veganomicon challenge. We landed on the Jelly Donut Cupcakes since we had the majority of the ingredients in house already.

The batter was really easy to make. The picture below is after I put the batter in the cupcake pans.

And it was almost gone after that because I couldn’t stop eating it. Hey - no eggs - no sicky - no problem!

The key to these was the raspberry jam in the center. Too much and the batter does cover the top - too little and the whole purpose is defeated.

So let’s see how we did, shall we?

Not bad! Clearly I was a bit eager with the jam in some cupcakes, but many had the desired effect of almost completely covering it.

Taste was good. Didn’t make my mouth water or anything, but I’m not a big jelly donut person. Overall, a satisfying treat for a Sunday.

Sweet Potato-Pear Tzimmes with Pecans and Raisins Last night,...

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 09:11:12 -0500

Sweet Potato-Pear Tzimmes with Pecans and Raisins

Last night, Ari made the above titled dish in a continued effort to make me be in love with having a teacher with summers off as a spouse. I’m loving this meal. Being the most reformed of Jews who grew up on shrimp and cottage cheese, I’m unaware of such Jewish delicacies as “tzimmes,” “cholent,” “challah” (okay I lied about that last one).

I was pretty happy about this meal. And my gluten-free comrades can enjoy this one too! Normally I’m not a sweet potato nor pear person, but warm these bad boys up together and call me a convert. It could have been the maple syrup added, along with the raisins and pecans. I mean anything that sugary and fattening has got to be tasty. Right? Of course right!

Midsummer Corn Chowder with Basil, Tomato and Fennel So last...

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:34:43 -0500

Midsummer Corn Chowder with Basil, Tomato and Fennel

So last night, as the title suggests, we made Midsummer Corn Chowder with Basil, Tomato and Fennel from Veganomicon. If the title seems like a mouthful, that’s because the dish was. Both to make and eat. Preparing this took about 2 hours, since you had to meticulously cook each ingredient before adding the next, then letting the whole thing simmer for 45 minutes and THEN adding the tomatoes and basil to simmer for ANOTHER 10 minutes. Good thing we didn’t have much going on yesterday.

It was really good, like… REALLY good. But for something titled corn chowder, I would have expected it to taste more “corny” and less “tomato/basily” not that tomato/basily is bad, but just was unexpected in this case. If we had used their recipe for “Corn Stock” as opposed to being lazy and using vegetable stock/water, then maybe we would have thought differently. But seriously, adding another two hours onto the meal prep time just wasn’t what we had in mind.

Will we make this again? Probably, but most likely when we’re bored and not because we’re craving it.

Blueberry Herbal Tea - I can already taste the antioxidant...

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 13:43:59 -0500

Blueberry Herbal Tea - I can already taste the antioxidant goodness.

DC Trip - Cafe Green!

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 08:31:00 -0500

Last night I met up with my sister-in-law at Cafe Green, the more souped up “restaurant-y” version of Java Green - the veggie lunch place I’ve started to frequent during my many (MANY) DC trips. I’ve been wanting to eat there for a while, but it was a tad outside walking distance from the hotel I usually stay at while in DC. With the hours I typically work when I’m in DC, I’m always too lazy to make it up. Since my usual digs were sold out, I scored a spot that happened to be near Cafe Green. Finally! After all this time.

First things first. It’s always lovely to be able to go to a restaurant where I can order everything and anything off the menu. Though I’ve cheated a bit with dairy recently (damn you Ari and your bagel and cream cheese!), I’m still 90% vegan and on my way to making a more permanent change. That being said, onto the review:

Mac and Cheese

As expected, I was skeptical of anything vegan that says “cheese.” While daiya cheese has been decent, any mac and cheese version I’ve thought tasted just strange. I was actually pleasantly surprised with Cafe Green’s take on it. It was creamy without the strange taste. The closest thing I’ve had that resembles cheese in both taste and texture. The pasta was cooked perfectly and the scallions added a good kick.

Lemony Sauteed Kale

Kale is one of those greens that I eat occasionally, because apparently it’s awesome for you and has important things like iron, calcium, fiber, etc., but I’m not in love with the taste. It’s a little bitter and I feel like I have to chew it for five minutes. The Lemony Sauteed Kale at least got rid of that issue, and as much as I like lemon, it was a little overpowering here.

Cornbread

You can tell the light changed and it was now dark when this photo was taken because it’s so blurry. That’s because it took literally 45 minutes for this to come out (the service was painfully slow there, my biggest complaint). Anyway, this was something that the first bite was “eh” but as you keep at it, and add a crap of Earth Balance to it, you are pretty sure it’s tasty. It actually tasted like it had Matzo Meal in it - which who knows, maybe it did. Wasn’t the best thing in the world, but it hit the spot.

Overall

I’d go back just because I barely made a dent in the menu and I’m curious what else they got. Overall it was a mixed bag. I’ll go again, but will make sure that I have a good year to eat because I was definitely there for 2.5 hours (which was fine because I had great company!), but if alone would have been irritating.

This morning I made a delicious smoothie for breakfast...

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 07:59:00 -0500

This morning I made a delicious smoothie for breakfast consisting of the following:

Frozen berries (mostly raspberries and blueberries)
Half a banana - Almond milk
Teaspoon of ground flaxseed
Spoonful of peanut butter
Scoop of PaleoMeal-DF dairy free berry vanilla protein powder

Still working on making the consistency just right, but am getting there!

Seeing as Ari is a teacher who expands young minds through...

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 08:32:42 -0500

Seeing as Ari is a teacher who expands young minds through physical activity, he has the summer off to do such things as spend hours on his bike and cook me dinner. And cook me dinner he did. Back on the challenge, we (or he) made our first Veganomicon recipes in weeks. And seeing the amount of food it yielded, we will be eating it for weeks as well.

Sweet Basil Pesto Tapenade

This is awesome and we will be no doubt making this for our next party. It contained such wonderful things as walnuts, olive oil, basil, MAPLE SYRUP, olive oil, lemon zest. Combine that with the lovely garlic bread from Wheatsville (SIDE NOTE: This isn’t your traditional buttery garlic bread that is definitely not vegan. This is basically a baguette with HUGE cloves of garlic embedded. It’s glorious). It was a bit sweet, but that can be modified the next time around. Love.

Seitanic Red and White Bean Jambalaya

We all know that our first stab at seitan was underwhelming, but this dish converted us. It was a thick, meaty and fulfilling stew that we can stash away and use to sustain us for weeks in case the aliens land in our yard.

Obviously a very fulfilling meal. Having a househusband in the summer is awesome.

Solo dinner night #3! Tomato soup w/ vegan pepperjack grilled...

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 19:44:48 -0500

Solo dinner night #3! Tomato soup w/ vegan pepperjack grilled cheese. Tomorrow maybe we’ll avoid the fake cheese.

" but aren’t we all proud I cooked dinner all by myself. It’s whole wheat linguine with cilantro onion olive oil, basil and cherry tomatoes. Ari is out of town until next Monday night so I’m to fend for myself. My goal is to actually cook myself a meal every day. Do we think I can do it?"

Yes we are all very impressed!
Hesh ( the father-in-law)

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 19:11:16 -0500

Thanks Hesh. I’m so glad to make you all proud :).

I cooked again! Veggie burger with rice cheese. Though it...

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 19:10:19 -0500

I cooked again! Veggie burger with rice cheese. Though it didn’t melt that well, it was actually tastier than I thought it would be. The veggie burgers from Costco are always a good staple.

Trying Kombucha one more time. Picked up the grape flavor at...

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 14:35:48 -0500

Trying Kombucha one more time. Picked up the grape flavor at Wheatsville Co-op last night. Third time’s a charm!

Not from Veganomicon, but aren’t we all proud I cooked...

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 19:43:56 -0500

Not from Veganomicon, but aren’t we all proud I cooked dinner all by myself. It’s whole wheat linguine with cilantro onion olive oil, basil and cherry tomatoes. Ari is out of town until next Monday night so I’m to fend for myself. My goal is to actually cook myself a meal every day. Do we think I can do it?

Imagine Potato Leek Soup. Not exactly cooking vegan, but delish...

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 11:54:04 -0500

Imagine Potato Leek Soup. Not exactly cooking vegan, but delish nonetheless.

Dear Coach's wife, Sarah,
Harrison and Austen think this blog is awesome, as is Coach's impressive farmer's tan (as can be viewed accompanied by the self same smile presented at the 5th grade graduation in the post from the 1st of April).
<3

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 18:03:06 -0500

Haha, thanks guys! I’m glad you enjoy. Coach’s farmer’s tan is now a trademark and will be there forever.

Enjoy your summer!

Cooking Our Way Vegan

Mid-afternoon snack!

So I’m trying to eat a little cleaner this week and cut...

Farmer's Market Dinner

Long time no blog! I’ve been traveling like a nomad, but...

Vegan Apple Chunk Banana Bread You guys!! Ari baked. Talk about...

This morning’s smoothie contained a lot of chocolate-y...

Jelly Donut Cupcakes!

Sweet Potato-Pear Tzimmes with Pecans and Raisins Last night,...

Midsummer Corn Chowder with Basil, Tomato and Fennel So last...

Blueberry Herbal Tea - I can already taste the antioxidant...

DC Trip - Cafe Green!

This morning I made a delicious smoothie for breakfast...

Seeing as Ari is a teacher who expands young minds through...

Solo dinner night #3! Tomato soup w/ vegan pepperjack grilled...

I cooked again! Veggie burger with rice cheese. Though it...

Trying Kombucha one more time. Picked up the grape flavor at...

Not from Veganomicon, but aren’t we all proud I cooked...

Imagine Potato Leek Soup. Not exactly cooking vegan, but delish...

Dear Coach's wife, Sarah, Harrison and Austen think this blog is awesome, as is Coach's impressive farmer's tan (as can be viewed accompanied by the self same smile presented at the 5th grade graduation in the post from the 1st of April). <3

Dear Coach's wife, Sarah,
Harrison and Austen think this blog is awesome, as is Coach's impressive farmer's tan (as can be viewed accompanied by the self same smile presented at the 5th grade graduation in the post from the 1st of April).
<3