a vegan riot

Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies

2011-01-12T16:08:00.000-08:00

Two baking posts in a row. Crazy considering I don't bake much. The weather was awful yesterday and I started to get cabin fever and knew doing something in my kitchen would take that feeling away. After surveying my baking cabinet I saw that I had everything to make chocolate chip cookies, and everything is better with nuts, so why not throw those in too. I searched the web for a while looking at different cookie recipes and then figured I would just kind of wing it. I was planning on bringing them to work and letting Matt bring some to his co-workers. The worst that could happen was they wouldn't turn out and I would just have to toss them. It wouldn't be the first time our garbage can was full of inedible baked goods. The dozen muffins and pan of bars that I forgot to add sugar to came to mind but I baked on.
I'm actually very happy with the way they came out. I tend to like crunchy cookies over super soft and these were crunchy but a little soft on the inside. They didn't drop as much as I would have liked so I think I will flatten them down more next time before putting them in the oven.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup cane sugar
1/2 cup Sucanat
1/2 cup Earth Balance melted & cooled
1 tsp vanilla
1/2-3/4 cup unsweetened almond mil
1/2-3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips
1/2 cup pecans

-Melt Earth Balance and chill in the fridge until it is no longer warm. It works best if it is at room temperature.
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-In one bowl mix together flour, baking soda, & salt. Stir in chips and pecans.
-In another bowl mix the melted EB and sugars together. When thoroughly mixed add the vanilla ans almond milk add stir everything together.
-Pour the wet mix into the dry adding a little more liquid if needed. This will depend on how many chips & pecans you added.
- Spoon onto un-greased cookie sheets and push each cookie down a bit.
-Bake for 9-11 minutes.
*These cookies will crisp up after they come out of the oven so don't cook them too long or they may be too hard/crunchy for your liking
*One trick I learned was to rotate the cookie sheets every 4 minutes. This seems a bit tedious, but makes a huge difference. If your cooking in an older stove or using more than one rack in your oven, your cookies aren't all cooking at the same time.

I hope you like these as much as we did and feel free to be creative. Once you get confident with getting a good cookie/muffin/bar recipe down the hard part is over. These cookies would taste great with any kind of nuts, fancy chocolate chip flavors, peanut butter or some dried fruit. Happy baking!

In and Out of Season Muffins

2011-01-10T15:57:00.001-08:00

I havent blogged any of my baked goods, because frankly I really don't like sweets. I do love the decorating part that comes with making cupcakes or a cake, but the eating part doesn't excite me at all. I also tend to enjoy cooking because it's more season as you go, instead of putting something in the oven and biting your nails for 20 minutes until it comes out. I have also had quite a few baking mishaps, which have discouraged me a bit, but haven't entirely kept me away from a set of muffin tins or a piping bag.
I call this blog in and out of season muffins because obviously blueberries aren't in season right now and cranberries are. I want people to keep in mind that frozen berries are not a negative thing to use when baking at all. It's best to add the berries straight out of the freezer instead of letting them thaw, and allow a couple of extra minutes of baking time. I have messed around with muffin recipes for a bit and finally got confident enough to write this one down as to not forget. I may forget to add sugar or baking soda the next time I make them, but that is another story all together.

Blueberry Vanilla Almond Muffins
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup orange juice
1/3 cup vegan margarine melted
1 cup blueberries
1 cup raw almond pieces (smash one cup in a a bag with a rolling pin)

- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
-Line muffin trays
-Place dry ingredients (first 4) in a bowl and mix together
-Combine wet ingredients in a bowl and stir together
-Pour wet mix into dry and mix all ingredients together
-Fold in blueberries & almonds
-Fill muffin tins about 1/2-3/4 full, depending on how large you want them
-Bake for 20-24 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the muffin

Cranberry Orange Oat Muffins
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup orange juice
1/3 + 2tbs cup vegan margarine melted
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup cranberries
1 cup rolled oats

- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
-Line muffin trays
-Place dry ingredients (first 4) in a bowl and mix together
-Combine wet ingredients in a bowl and stir together
-Pour wet mix into dry and mix all ingredients together
-Fold in cranberries & oats
-Fill muffin tins about 1/2-3/4 full, depending on how large you want them
-Bake for 20-24 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the muffin

Happy baking...be brave, experiment, and have fun!

Crockpot Seitan Roast

2011-01-07T16:45:00.000-08:00

We got a crockpot for a wedding gift and although I have been using it a lot more this winter, at first I didn't really understand it. I love to cook, so throwing everything in a pot and walking away not only made me nervous, but a little bored when it came to the usual dinner prep/cook time. I had used the crockpot already to cook seitan in a stew with veggies, but I wondered if there was a way to actually make seitan in a slow cooker. After a google search I came across the blog Vegan Planet and realized it had already been done. So I made the roast with the same cooking directions, using my own seitan recipe, and it came out great.

I surrounded the seitan roast with shallots, carrots & red potatoes. I cooked it on low for about 3 hours, then turned it to high for the last hour.

The texture was so perfect on the outside and not at all dried out on the inside. The roast itself didn't have a ton of flavor so I made a brown gravy, seasoning it with worcestershire, soy sauce, a hint of liquid smoke and fresh sage. It brought everything together beautifully. I also roasted asparagus to add a little bit of green to our plate. The seitan not taking on a ton of flavor turned out to be a great thing because I used it for a couple of other dishes that week and it took on completely different flavors magnificently. This may be my new way to make seitan because of it's texture, if I have 4 hours to spare instead of just one.

I know I have talked up Tal Ronnen's book The Conscious Cook before, but seriously every recipe has been out of this world. I made his pine-nut crusted "chicken" and "lobster" Beurre Blanc sauce.

I tend to not be able to follow exact ingredients and/or cooking techniques which is what I did here. Pine nuts are just too expensive so I opted for almonds and used almond milk for the sauce instead of cashew creme. I roasted brussel sprouts and braised kale for our sides.This is a dish I would easily make again and if you don't already have this book, go get it.

White Bean Chili

2011-01-05T16:03:00.000-08:00

This is a chili recipe I have been working on for a while. The fire roasted tomatoes and tomatillo salsa bring everything together nicely. You can add Gardein sliced scallopini or any other chicken substitute you want for added protein.

White Bean Chili
1 bunch green onion diced
1/2 red pepper diced
1/2 green pepper diced
1/2 orange pepper diced
1 jalapeno pepper diced
1 15oz can white beans
1 15oz can fire roasted tomatoes
2/3 cup veggie broth
2/3 cup tomatillo salsa
1 tbs lime juice
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tbs cumin
1 tbs chili powder
1 tsp oregano
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 tbs soy sauce
Salt & Pepper -amount of your choice

-Heat olive oil in a stock pot and saute green onion and garlic with 1 tsp cumin & chili powder until soft.
-Add bell & jalapeno peppers and stir for about 4 minutes, tossing in the soy sauce two minutes after the peppers begin to cook
-Pour in veggie stock, tomatillo salsa, tomatoes, white beans, lime juice and spices. Continue cooking at a low heat for ten minutes.
-Remove from heat and stir in cilantro, reserving a bit for garnish if you like things pretty.

2010-12-17T22:22:00.000-08:00

This blog is just an excuse for me to get back into blogging and show off a few of the many things I have made and with laziness not blogged in Decenber. My excuse should be be shopping in lines full of soccer moms, wrapping gifts and baking holiday goodies,and while part of that is true...I have no excuse for being away this long.

I have been really into quinoa lately and turning it into things most people wouldn't think of. This is my version of quinoa spanish rice.. It turned out great and tasted better the second day after it sat in the fridge.

I finally got around to using the crock pot and made a leftover thanksgiving stew with seitan, potatoes, mushroom gravy, carrots, potatoes & kale that slow cooked for 6 hours and made three days worth of food. It's still hard for me to wrap my brain around a crock pot whenm I like the cooking part...but it did make a delicious stew.

Matt requested biscuits and gravy for our day off, that I made with uptons seitan.

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The finished breakfast.
More to come I promise.....

Vegan Mofo #21 Italian Beef Sandwich... kind of

2010-11-30T17:25:00.000-08:00

This last vegan Mofo blog came from an idea of trying to use up some Gardein beef tips we had lying around. Matt mentioned that we should make an italian beef. I was totally down, but admitted that I had never made an actual Italian beef and I actually confuse that with a French dip sandwich. I said I will make an Italian beef sandwich but just do whatever I want with it and not try to mimic what that sandwich actually is. So I give you my version of a vegan riot's
Italian Beef
1/4 red pepper julienned
1/4 green pepper julienned
8 Gardein Beef tips thawed
2 cloves garlic chopped
3/4 tsp fresh rosemary
1 tbs fresh basil
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp lemon juice
1 tbs California white cooking wine
2 tsp tomato paste + 3 tsp water

-Saute peppers and onion in the pan until tender
-Add beef tips,dried oregano,onion powder and lemon juice
-Keep stirring until tips get browned on all sides
-When tips are sticking to the pan deglaze with white wine
--Mix tomato paste and water in a small bowl and add that mixture to the pan at the end cooking so that it heats and thickens a bit
-Remove from heat and stir in rosemary & basil
-Assemble sandwich

I served it with one of our favorite sides...beans -n- greens

So comes the very end of November. Vegan Mofo was something I had forgotten even existed and for some reason at the ass end of October I jumped on the ppk to look at food porn and was reminded of this. I thought about doing it, talked to Matt, even posted something on facebook, but even then I really wasn't sure I would follow through. I promise Matt heard me talking about it and probably thought I would be done 3-5 posts in. I may have started one or two things in the past without finishing....a few.
I want to thank everyone for all your blog comments. They motivated me and made me want to keep going. I want to thank my friends who messaged me on facebook saying that they were reading and loving it. The people who texted Matt, the co-workers who would randomly tell me they loved last night's post, the mentions of my blog over beers at the bar. THANK YOU! It's hard to do something like this and keep going if you're not really sure anyone is reading or cares one bit about any of it.
I can't end this without thanking Matt who pushed me to keep doing this, gave me great dinner/blog ideas, helped me edit my far too long sentences and poor spelling, and for making me feel great about myself and about something I was doing.
This isn't the end of this blog, just the end of this month. Vegan Mofo was a blast and you haven't seen the end of me....or Noodles

Vegan MoFo #20 Herbed Seuitan Roulade

2010-11-29T17:24:00.000-08:00

Woo Hoo! I did what I said I would, and I still have one day left. I promised myself I would post 20 times in November, and I followed through. I'm not gonna say it didn't take some pushing from Matt on days where I just wanted to relax on the couch after work, and for that I thank him.
This recipe I made for the first time on Thanksgiving two years ago. I have tweaked it quite a bit, and tried different fillings, but I'm pretty positive this is the best version so far. The fresh herbs and kale and mushroom filling I feel were the two things that brought this dish to the level I was hoping for. So below is the recipe and first a step by step photo guide to get you motivated. I also have a step by step to making this without a filling, along with photos in vegan Mofo post #9. So if you are really new to seitan, look there first for pictures to guide you through every single step

Here it is, after mixing the dry and wet mix together and rolling it out flat.

After the filling cools, I lay it on top, leaving a little space around each side, so it sticks together when rolled up.

Wrapped in foil and ready for the oven

Here it is out of the oven. It's best to let it cool a bit before cutting, so the filling sets up.

Dinner time!

Roulade Filling
1/2 - 3/4 bunch of kale de-stemmed and chopped
10 0z baby bellas chopped
1 tbs shallots chopped
5 cloves garlic chopped
1/3 cup veggie broth
1 tbs balsamic vinegar

-Saute garlic and shallots together until translucent
-Add mushrooms and cook until all the liquids are out, then add the balsamic vinegar
-Turn the heat to low, add kale. Stir for about a minute until kale has started to wilt. Then add veggie stock
-Place in a bowl in the fridge & use when it's cooled down

Herbed Seitan
Dry Mix
1 Box Vital Wheat Gluten
1/2 cup Nutritional Yeast
1 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 tbs. thyme
2 tbs. rosemary
3 tbs sage
3 tbs oregano
2 1/2 tbs basil
1 tsp Pepper

Wet Mix
1 1/2 cups Veggie Broth
1 1/2 tbs Granulated Garlic
2 tbs Tomato Paste
4 Drops Liquid Smoke
1 tbs Soy Sauce
1 tbs Balsamic Vinegar
2 tsp Worcestershire

-Preheat oven to 350
-Put dry mix together in a bowl and set aside
-Stir wet mix together until tomato paste isn't clumpy
-Pour wet mix into dry mix
Knead the mix with your hands until its a tough dough
- Roll the seitan out until in between two pieces of wax paper until its flat
-Lay cooled filling on top of gluten
-Roll the gluten up and wrap in foil making sure there aren't any holes
- Cook for one hour and 15 minutes, flipping the loaf every 20 minutes. When you press on it and its no longer soggy but firm, its ready to go

As always thanks for reading. It's a time consuming recipe, but totally worth it in the end. Please don't hesitate if you have any questions/comments. See you mofo's tomorrow for post 21 and the end of vegan mofo.

Vegan MoFo #19 Cauliflower Mashers Recipe

2010-11-28T17:04:00.000-08:00

So here it is, almost the end of November and I'm so close to the 20 posts I told myself I would do for Vegan Mofo. It has been a lot of fun, sometimes tedious and time consuming, but overall a great lesson for me in discipline. It has made me realize how gratifying logging what I cook each day can be, and it has gotten me in the habit of writing recipes, which I have been promising myself I would do forever.
Tonight I'm blogging a recipe that I have been working on perfecting for a long time, and has always been a hit every time I serve it: Cauliflower Mashers. So Amber, Daniel, Marge, and everyone else who has asked for it and my response was 'just throw this in and then this', without any proper measurement, here it is. If there is one recipe I have posted this whole month that I encourage everyone to make, this is it.

Roasted garlic is a key component to this dish, although I add minced garlic to it as well. The two play off each other very nicely.

Here is the cauliflower after boiling in water until fork tender.

These two together blended are just a few ingredients away from a delicious dish.

The finished product with fresh chives on top.

Cauliflower Mashers
1 medium head of cauliflower cut into small pieces
1 bulb garlic
2 tbs minced garlic
1 cup unsweetened soy milk
3/4 cup nutritional yeast

-Cut the top off garlic & drizzle with olive oil and salt & pepper. Wrap in foil and roast at 400 degrees until soft
-In a large pot boil water and when it's boiling throw in cauliflower. Cook cauliflower until you can pierce it easily with a fork. Strain in colander
-Put roasted garlic & cauliflower in a Cuisinart & blend adding soy milk slowly until it's the consistency of mash potatoes
-Return to pot and heat on low temp, stir in nutritional yeast, minced garlic, and your desired amount of salt & pepper.

Ok. Only one more blog to go in order to reach my November goal. That absolutely doesn't mean I'm not blogging anymore. This was just the start. So once this month ends I plan on not only doing food, but also crafting blogs, and of course more Riot pictures/stories. See you tomorrow for the end of my thanksgiving recipes. It will be my herbed seitan roulade, that I honestly think was the best I have ever made. Riot loved her small portion.

See you mofo's then!

Vegan Mofo # 18 Stuffing Recipe & A Leftover Idea

2010-11-27T15:48:00.000-08:00

As promised here is recipe two from our Thanksgiving feast: Stuffing. It's the one thing that everyone always seems to make way too much of, and although stuffing is delicious, it can be kind of boring after eating it a couple nights in a row. Below I have included a sandwich idea for using up leftover stuffing. Matt used to order something similar at a bar and grill in our neighborhood, so I did my own spin on it

For the stuffing, fresh herbs are absolutely key. I almost had a mini meltdown when Whole Foods and Jewel were out of thyme, until Matt found a small array of herbs in Jewel's organic section. Here is my mix of sage, rosemary, thyme, and oregano.

Most people buy breadcrumbs but I'm pretty picky about what bread I use. I just toast the slices in the oven and cut them into small cubes.

I prepped all the veggies for every dish ahead of time. When logging recipes it's so much easier just to have everything in front of you and ready for the pan.

This is the stuffing out of the oven.

Thanksgiving Stuffing
10 pieces bread of your choice toasted and chopped into cubes
3 cups chopped mushrooms
2 cups carrots chopped
1 cup celery chopped
1/2 cup shallots chopped
3 green onions chopped
6 cloves garlic chopped
2 cups veggie broth
2 1/2 tbs soy sauce
1 1/2 tbs thyme
1/2 tbs oregano
2 1/2 tsp sage
1 1/2 tsp rosemary

- Saute shallots, green onions, and garlic till translucent
-Add carrots & celery w/ 1 tbs of soy sauce and cook till almost tender
- Add mushrooms and the rest of the soy sauce, continue stirring
-When mushrooms are done remove from heat and add bread cubes, herbs and veggie broth
-Fold everything together until bread is soft and moist
-If not serving immediately put in a 8x8 casserole dish, cover with foil and cook for 30-35 minutes. If you want a crispy top remove foil for the last 5-10 minutes

Thanksgiving Leftover Sandwich

Unfortunately my camera died so I was only able to get a crummy picture of this sandwich. The sandwich Matt used to order was turkey with cranberry relish and homemade stuffing served on white bread with mayo. This was years ago but he has mentioned that it was one of his favorites. I decided the roulade I made didn't really mimic turkey so I bought Cranberry & Stuffing Tofurky Deli Slices, substituted the mayo with a thin layer of the cauliflower mashers I'd prepared to give the sandwich a creamy spread, and added a good helping of stuffing. He really liked it and the only thing I would change was I would have made a cranberry spread to go with it.

I also can't finish this blog without dorking out about how much I love our Christmas tree. We put it up yesterday, and for a lady who always thought anything Christmas related was stupid this tree has changed my mind about the whole holiday

Vegan Mofo #17 Holiday Gravy Recipe

2010-11-26T16:11:00.001-08:00

So as I promised, I will now start handing out the thanksgiving recipes. Tonight I'm doing my low-fat, simple, gluten-free, and delicious mushroom gravy. The gravy can be a mix of any mushroom combination that you want. I went with white button & baby bellas. The key is to keep de-glazing the pan as you cook the 'shrooms and too keep stirring so they don't get overcooked.

It's a pretty easy recipe to tackle, especially if you don't have to trip over this crazy dog who's just waiting for SOMETHING to drop the whole time you are cooking.

Here they are before going into the Cuisinart.

The finished product, with fresh thyme on top.

Mushroom Gravy

6 cups of chopped mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1/2 cup chopped red onion
5 cloves chopped garlic
1 sprig of thyme
5 Tbs soy sauce---I use low sodium
1/2 veggie broth
1 1/3 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 Tbs. minced garlic

-Saute shallots, red onion & garlic until translucent adding the thyme a few minutes into the saute
-Add mushrooms and 1 tbs of soy sauce, continue cooking till mushrooms are ready and use 2 more 2tbs of soy sauce to de-glaze the pan and keep stirring the entire time
-When mushrooms are done place in Cuisinart with remaining soy sauce and minced garlic
- Start blending and slowly add veggie broth and soy milk until the gravy is the right consistency
-Transfer back to stove and reheat...top with fresh thyme & enjoy
- I never add measurements for salt & pepper to recipes, because i think every cook has their own idea of how much of those two should go in each dish. That being said for this dish i add A LOT of my rainbow ground peppercorn blend.
Tonight I'm going to use the leftovers to make a Thanksgiving panini ,then putting up our Christmas tree. We bought a 7 foot purple tree today that I can't wait to decorate! Pictures coming soon.

Vegan MoFo #16 thanksgiving...well said

2010-11-25T18:27:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving dinner. It always consists of stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, and either ham or turkey, right? No. Not always. This is Matt speaking/typing and this is my third vegan Thanksgiving dinner.

I won't lie, I have fond memories of past years Thanksgiving dinners. The turkey, which was the constant staple of the meal was always good. Albeit sometimes dry, but always seasoned well, with the flavor being just there. My mother knows her way around the kitchen, and all of her sides were often excellent as well.

With that being said, do I miss eating turkey or ham for Thanksgiving dinner? No. Below will be posts of what Ranise has made for dinner the past three years I've shared in the festivities with her, with certain modifications, as she is a woman who is constantly searching for ways to evolve in the kitchen, and no matter how fondly I look back at my mother's meal that she prepared for us all, its flavor pales in comparison to the feast Ranise has prepared for she and I, and no offense mom, but no fucking bird had to give its life so us humans could enjoy a good dinner and for that I am thankful...

Above is our Thanksgiving dinner spread. Like Matt said, I have made the same thing every year but this year besides just cooking, I forced myself to write down every recipe. For the next few days I will be blogging each recipe, and showing some creative ways to use up leftovers, instead of just eating the same thing for dinner 4 days in a row.

I made a traditional stuffing with mushrooms and fresh herbs.

These are my somewhat famous cauliflower mashers. I used roasted garlic and fresh chives. I have been promising to write this recipe down forever so now those who have eaten them, and begged me to make them can do it themselves at home.

I also made a mushroom gravy. I'm not a huge fan of cooking with roux's, so this is a healthy version of a mushroom gravy.

The main course was an herbed seitan roulade with a mushroom and kale filling. I used a ton of rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano & basil. This is probably the best roulade I have made and I'm happy that I now have the recipe to add to my book.

I mentioned above that I don't like using roux's, but one thing I haven't brought up before is my style of vegan cooking. I'm a vegan for no other reason than my love for animals. I don't do it to be thin and I think that people who choose this diet for that reason are quick to jump to the next diet, because it's not done for a reason backed by passion. That being said I have revamped a lot of recipes in the past few years and really focused on cooking with minimal fat and unnecessary calories. It's challenging but fun and I like to think that I'm giving myself and my husband the healthiest options possible.

I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving. I had a blast cooking and although writing the recipes was time consuming, I'm really happy I followed through. I also had this little monster at my feet the whole time, and although she is cute, she got in the way THE WHOLE TIME!

That is a garlic peel on her nose that she found while snooping around on the floor. It states that yes, I'm not the cleanest in the kitchen and she is a huge pig! Thanks for reading and see you tonight for recipe 1.

P.S. This blog took forever to do. Is anyone else having problems with the upload picture function on blogger???

Vegan MoFo # 15 Tortilla Pizza

2010-11-24T16:17:00.000-08:00

With today being the busiest day I have had all year at work, I decided on something super easy for dinner. I will also be working really early and cooking all day after work so I wanted something quick so I had enough Matt & Riot couch time before bed.

This is the pizza, on two tortillas to make the crust a little bit thicker and sturdier. I topped it with baby portabellas, uptons sausage, Daiya cheese, and the key ingredient: minced garlic.

Here it is out of the oven.

Ready for dinner on our super cute cheetah china.

So although this post is small, the next two days will be full of thanksgiving dishes, and some recipes of a few things that people have been asking me for for a very long time: Roasted garlic cauliflower mashers & seitan roulade will be making an appearance, among others. Roll up your sleeves and put on your aprons, 'cause tomorrow will be an epic day in the kitchen for many of us.

Vegan MoFo # 14 My Birthday Dinner

2010-11-23T17:12:00.001-08:00

My Birthday was Thursday, so I took a few days off from blogging. I wanted to blog now about the fun I had on Thursday. First I got this awesome tattoo from the very talented Jennifer Trok. She works at Speakeasy Custom Tattoo in Chicago, which was absolutely the most comfortable shop I have ever been to. She is a really great girl just to hang out with, so besides leaving with a new piece of art work, I got to hang out and chat with a friend for a few hours. She also uses vegan ink and is a great Mom to her dog Zero. I would suggest to anyone to go get a tattoo from her.

We then walked to to dinner, first stopping to get Riot a box of dog treats from Doggy Style. They have a lot of vegan dog treats and a homemade cookie bar. According to the kid working, the new gingerbread flavor is really good. I didn't try them, but Riot likes them.

We went to Handlebar for my birthday. We started by sharing the split pea soup. I loved it but didn't remember that I was supposed to be taking pictures until there was only a spoonful left.

Matt got the bbq seitan sandwich with a side of collard greens, which he loved.

We shared a side of seitan sausage. Handlebar uses Uptons Seitan, which you can also buy in the Midwest. They sell a few styles of seitan sausage, and have also started selling pre-made wraps and sandwiches. I have never purchased anything from them that hasn't been great and it's always nice to support a local vegan business.

I got (surprise, surprise) the side salad with vegan ranch dressing. I'm not sure what they put in their ranch, but it's the best I have ever had.

I then had it topped with baked tofu (surprise, surprise).

That's it for now. I did take a few days off, but I promise I'll be back with more tomorrow. Good night now.

Vegan MoFO # 13 Matt's Lunch

2010-11-17T17:50:00.000-08:00

Since I cooked so much last night, tonight was leftovers. I decided to post a little blog about the lunch I make for Matt and what goes in it.

This is his lunch bag from the company Sugar Booger. They sell kids stuff, but there lunch bags are for kids and adults of all ages. I bought it at our favorite store, not only in Chicago, but anywhere. It's called Rudy's Roundup and it's advertised as a modern day general store. If I had to do a write up for the store it would say..The store you could go and find a gift for ANYONE, while shopping there you would spend equal amount of money on yourself. Also included would be that it's dog friendly, owned by one of the sweetest/coolest girls I have met in Chicago and they choose a different animal group to donate to each month. They will donate 25 cents toward the group for any customer who doesn't use a bag when checking out. They were also so generous with donations for the fundraiser I threw for the animal rescue group I help with, and on top of that came and bid on a bunch of silent auction stuff. Did I mention I LOVE this store....Ok back to lunch

Breakfast consists of one Odawalla bar in rotating strawberry/pomegranate, superfood, or berries go mega flavors

one orange juice, preferably this brand and the more pulp the better, but in the little guy's we can only find pulp-free

2 emergency packets, he is cool with most flavors but I have been told to never again get Acai Berry. "It smells like piss," were his exact words.

one sliced apple

one sandwich on whole wheat, right now he is big on the Yves turkey flavor

One Yummy Earth lollipop. I buy the assorted bag so he gets a new flavor everyday.

I usually try to put a special treat in his lunch, strawberry Mamba, which we've found out are vegan

I always write him a funny note in the morning and slip it in his lunch before I leave. I found this in his backpack and thought I could use it as an example. I love making comics, with me, Riot, and my crazy morning hair making an appearance.

That's it for now. I'll be back tomorrow and please feel free to comment. It really makes my day...

Vegan MoFo # 12 Breaded Seitan Parmesan & Seitan Meatballs

2010-11-16T17:18:00.000-08:00

My husband doesn't cook at all. He loves food movies, cooking shows, & will even flip through my cooking magazines. Besides the occasional grilling, he doesn't and has stated he has no desire to cook. That's completely ok with me since I love to cook and would maybe even get a little pissed if he figured out how to make something better than me. It also means I don't ever have to wash dishes, which is our deal: I cook, he does the dishes and seeing as I hate doing the dishes I feel like I won there anyway.
That being said Matt is awesome in one category of cooking, and that is meal planning. I will sometimes call him with absolutely no idea what to make and he will spew off a few ingredients or ideas for things that sound ok to him. Always asking me if I think that would be good or if it would work. I can't think of a time he has been wrong, and it's actually very exciting to have someone come up with stuff I wouldn't think of. This meal was entirely his idea. It's a take on one of his old favorites, chicken parmesan. He wanted me to try to make it with seitan instead of a chicken substitute.It's served exactly how he used to get it when he ordered it in a restaurant when he was a kid. The only difference is that he wanted spaghetti and seitan meatballs to accompany his parm instead of just spaghetti. So here is my cooking experiment for the night:

I used my usual method for cooking seitan (posted in a previous blog) but rolled the pieces of seitan into balls and wrapped them individually in foil. I added fresh basil & rosemary & some dried oregano & fennel to the dry mix.

This is the first ball, out of the oven & cut open

Meatballs

I breaded the seitan with homemade breading that I had in the cupboard, added fresh herbs to the mix and baked at 350 for about 30 minutes flipping halfway through

After it came out of the oven I topped it with sauce & Daiya cheese and let it melt in the broiler

Spaghetti & Meatballs

Everything plated and ready for dinner

Now I know I have mentioned that my dog's nicknamed Noodles. I call her noodles so often she responds to it. She seriously wont leave the kitchen when any kind of pasta is being made. Vegan & italian, just like her mom. So I couldn't post this blog without these two pictures.

Thanks Mom!
That's it for now. I have a movie to go watch with Mr. meal planner and Mrs. noodles.

Vegan Mofo # 11 Mini Pizza's & A Restaurant Review

2010-11-15T15:36:00.000-08:00

This is just a simple dinner of mini pizzas I made on ciabatta bread with marinara and Daiya cheese. The bowl contains soy boy tofu ravioli, which Matt really loves. This is not a culinary masterpiece, but sometimes convenience is necessary and still delicious.

Since my dinner post was so small I wanted to take this opportunity to review a new vegan friendly place in Chicago, Bricks on the Run

They have a restaurant called Bricks, that I assume because it is so popular they opened Bricks on the Run. It's a take and bake pizza joint & they deliver. They make sure you know it's take and bake when you call because I assume they have gotten quite a few complaints. I imagine a house full of drunk guys during Sunday afternoon football ordering a pizza and being super pissed that they have to cook it when it gets there.
Their vegan pizza comes with Daiya cheese and you get your choice of 3 veggies for toppings. We were just excited to get a vegan pizza delivered to the house we didn't really think about it being all that good. The pizza is actually awesome. It's a thin whole wheat crust, a great sauce and the key is to get roasted garlic as one of your toppings. It's actually not expensive, plus they send out mailer coupons and you can print coupons online. For my birthday we got 2 large vegan pizzas with a half off coupon for under 30 dollars, one with mushroom, roasted red pepper, and tomatoes, the other with spinach, mushroom, and the above mentioned roasted garlic. I then sprinkled Upton's seitan sausage on half of each pizza. Yes, I could make a pizza this good and probably better at home, but to finally have the convenience of making a phone call and having a vegan pizza at my doorstep in 20 minutes(even if it's not cooked) is really nice

Vegan MoFo # 10 Teriaki Seitan Kabobs

2010-11-12T18:39:00.000-08:00

My Parents got Matt a really nice grill for his 30th birthday. We started getting really into grilling last summer when we used to grill on our fire escape on the third floor of the old building we lived in. We did some pretty amazing stuff but it's time consuming and uncomfortable to try to make a great meal using a grill like this. It's just so small that it's hard to grill a decent amount of food and Matt was constantly crouching down and it felt uncomfortable.

So when my Dad showed up one Saturday and went into our back yard and surprised Matt by setting up his birthday present, we were pretty excited. The idea of being able to grill in an upright position and not having to balance plates on fire exit stairs was a foreign concept. We both freaked when we saw this and vowed to grill unless the weather was awful.

I'm not going to pretend that we fought through terrible November Chicago weather while making dinner, seeing as the high was 60 today. We did, however, make a delicious meal from the seitan I made yesterday. Dinner tonight was teriyaki seitan skewers with pineapple & peppers & ginger garlic grilled green beans.

skewers ready for the grill

all set up for basting

beans in grill skillet

greens & kabobs on one grill at the same time...high class

almost done

Finished product...the char on the pineapple is so good. Taking an equal bite of the seitan, peppers, & pineapple all at once was perfect!

Grilled ginger garlic green beans, with grill marks but still a crunch.

The part of grilling that I love the most is that we get to cook dinner together. I may do all the prep but Matt gets to execute everything. The hanging out in the back yard with Matt & Riot means more to me than the food. Matt and I talk, I flip through books/magazines, Riot smells everything and chases the occasional backyard rat. It's the idea that dinner becomes a little adventure for us, and at the end, we get to eat.
So you may not find me standing next to that grill when there are snowflakes falling and my toes are freezing, but until that happens, we will use it as much as we can.

That's it for the week. Have a great weekend, and we'll see you Monday!

Vegan Mofo #9 Seitan My Way

2010-11-11T17:42:00.000-08:00

Being vegan for as long as I have, I have been forced to eat numerous plates of spongy, dry, or flavorless seitan. I have also tried numerous cooking methods, some of which worked out alright, and some that produced dishes that made me feel like I was eating a chewy, flavorless mess. Both boiling and cooking in broth never deemed the right consistency for me. After utilizing a sausage recipe on the ppk forum and loving it, I started thinking about what would happen if I did that method to a whole loaf of seitan. The results made for something that I could slice super thin for sandwiches, slice into chunks for skewers and stews, and crumbled pretty well in a food processor. I wasn't sure if I should blog this seeing as many of you probably make seitan pretty often, but then I thought about the people at work who ask me about the blobs of "seitan" we serve and are blown away that it could actually be good. I guess there are people out there who don't have a lot of guidance and this may help.So here is my play by play of me making seitan today and a recipe to follow.

I needed some seitan making music... I chose The Dirtys, who were from Port Huron, MI. My husband introduced them to me. Their only album, titled "You Should Be Sinnin'" was released on Germany's Crypt Records sometime in the late 90's and is one of my favorite CD's/records to listen to while I'm cooking as they played a great upbeat blend of fast aggressive freak-out rock & roll at an almost hardcore tempo. They are pretty much motivation for anything, not a band anymore but you should still check them out.http://www.myspace.com/thedirtysrock

dry mix

dry & wet mix

mix the two together

kneading

kneaded

on sprayed foil

ready for the oven

one hour later

please...I'm starving over here

Evidence of Matt picking at it when I wasn't looking. Between the dog and the husband at least half will get eaten before it gets into the fridge.

sliced

Seitan My Way
Dry Mix
1 Box Vital Wheat Gluten
1/2 cup Nutritional Yeast
1 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp Pepper

Wet Mix
1 1/2 cups Veggie Broth
1 tbs Granulated Garlic
1 tbs Tomato Paste
4 Drops Liquid Smoke
1 tbs Soy Sauce
2 tsp Worcestershire

-Preheat oven to 350
-Put dry mix together in a bowl and set aside
-Stir wet mix together until tomato paste isn't clumpy
-Pour wet mix into dry mix
Knead the mix with your hands until its a tough dough
- Form the loaf into a shape like the picture above (square shape?)
-Spray a piece of foil with a olive oil spray to prevent sticking and wrap the seitan really tight
- Cook for one hour and 15 minutes, flipping the loaf every 20 minutes. When you press on it and its no longer soggy but firm, its ready to go

Vegan MoFo #8 Tofu Sloppy Joes

2010-11-10T07:29:00.000-08:00

Everyone has their own take and recipe for the sloppy joe. At work it's even called the sloppy Jim, based on a lovable guy who doesn't keep a very clean work space. This is one of my husbands favorite sandwiches. It's one of the first things I made for him when we started dating. The recipe has evolved quite a bit since then and instead of using tvp, I now use tofu. I can still hear the annoying song my younger sister would sing when my mom made these for us, every time I cook them.

Tofu Sloppy Joes
1/2 Block Extra Firm Tofu
1/4 Red Onion Diced
1/2 Green Pepper Diced
1/2 Rep Pepper Diced
4 Garlic Cloves
1/2 Can Tomato Paste
4 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tbs Chili Powder
2 tsp Smoked Paprika
2 tsp Sweetner of your choice
1 tbs Soy Sauce
Vegetable Broth

-Crumble tofu in a bowl and add tomato paste and stir until it's thoroughly mixed
-Saute onion & garlic till translucent
-Add peppers to the pan and add the soy sauce and saute till peppers are tender
-Add tofu/tomato paste mixture and cook on low heat and continue stirring so it doesn't stick to the pan
-Add remaining ingredients except veggie broth
-I use the broth at the end to give the mixture it's sloppiness. So that's your call as to how runny or firm you want the sandwich.

Now go make up your own sloppy joe song and get cooking!

Vegan MoFO #7 Two Sides No Dinner

2010-11-09T16:44:00.000-08:00

So I'm sure everyone blogging this whole time has had a ton of leftovers in their refrigerators. We have too, so tonight we did leftovers and ate some sides I made a few days ago. The first one comes from a desire to use up leftover veggies & garbanzo beans I had. I love this recipe because you can really use whatever veggies you have lying around and because it's so versatile and can be a side dish for a number of entrees

Roasted Vegetable CousCous

1 Carrot diced
1/2 Zucchini diced
1/2 Squash diced
1/4 Red Pepper diced
2 Green Onions
3/4 can Garbanzo Beans
1 cup Israeli Couscous
4 Garlic Cloves
4 tsp Lemon Juice
4 tbs Olive Oil

-Preheat oven to 425
-Place all vegetables excepts green onion & garlic in a baking dish. Drizzle olive oil over then, season with salt & pepper and roast for about 20 minutes
-Bring pot of salted water to a rapid boil and throw in couscous
-When couscous is tender, strain and cool
-Saute green onion & garlic
-Combine roasted vegetables, couscous, garbanzos, and lemon juice
-This dish is usually better after it sits in the fridge for a while

This next dish came to me simply because I had a can of white beans in front of me and time to spare while the seitan patties I had in the oven were cooking. It really just came to me as a white bean/garbanzo bean dip and I wasn't sure where I was going with it but when it was done, I was really pleased. It has no oil in it so its super low in fat, but delicious.

White Bean Carrot Dip

1 cup White Beans
1/2 cup Garbanzo Beans
1 Carrot shredded
1 1/2 tbs Nutritional Yeast
1 1/2 tbs Lemon Juice
1 tbs Fresh Basil
1 tsp Oregano
2 tsp Garlic

-Place everything in a food processor and blend until smooth

Thanks for reading. I have the next two days off so expect some great things to come.

Vegan Mofo#6 Pizza Burger

2010-11-08T15:41:00.000-08:00

Whenever Matt and I have a day off together we like to go on a little adventure to a different neighborhood. We both really like going to Wrigleyville/Boystown. There is a Reckless Records, a store that fills my shoe obsession, a cool bar with nice outdoor seating and has an indoor that is decorated to look like a older home's library. The last few times we have gone to the neighborhood, we have ended up at the Chicago Diner.

Years ago I really couldn't understand why anyone liked this place. My food was always pretty bland and I couldn't understand why it was always packed. We started giving it a second chance a little over a year ago. I began to appreciate their constantly changing menu, their specials, and the fact that they now serve a sugar free black cherry soda that turns out to be a perfect mixer to their Organic Rain Vodka. The last time we went they had their patio still open and re-vamped to be heated. We were the only ones out there and it made for a really cute romantic dinner. Matt usually just tells me to pick something for him since I know what he likes and I chose the pizza burger, which was one of their specials.

He absolutely loved it. Being always ready for a cooking challenge I inspected the texture & flavor & decided it wouldn't be long before he would be eating a better pizza burger at home.

Pizza Burger
For the Seitan Patties:
1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp fennel
1 tbs fresh basil
1/2 tbs fresh rosemary
1/2 tbs fresh oregano
1/4 cup white beans
1 tbs tomato paste
2 cloves roasted garlic
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth

-Preheat oven to 375
-Combine all dry ingredients(first 6) in a bowl with salt & pepper and mix
-In a food processor combine white beans, tomato paste, and roasted garlic. Pulse until it is a smooth mixture adding a little veggie broth if you need to
-Put that mixture into your bowl of dry ingredients and add 1 cup of veggie broth to the mixture
-Knead the mixture for a couple of minutes until its a tough feeling dough
Cut the dough into 3 or 4 equal portions(depending on how big you want your patties) then form into patty shapes
-Put 1 1/2 cups veggie stock into the bottom of a baking dish with the patties on top and cover the dish with foil.
-Cook for 30 minutes, then flip the patties and cook for another 20 minutes uncovered.
-You can either use the patties as is or saute in a pan with olive oil for a crispier patty.
-Top with warm marinara & cheese( we used Daiya) and place in the broiler till cheese is melted

And now for my exciting weekend news:
I know this isn't food related but there is absolutely no way I couldn't blog about this. I have always wanted a painting of Riot done. While in Memphis in September for Goner Fest we ran into our friend Ben Lyon, who drew our wedding invitations and I mentioned to him that I would love for him to do a painting of Riot. I didn't know that Matt and Ben had been talking about this since then. Ben's sister was driving through Chicago Saturday night and dropped it off. Matt told me he had to run outside to drop off his band's rent money for their practice space. He really couldn't hide it anywhere in our house so he just gave it to me right then. I freaked out and was practically in tears. Ben is a great artist and you can check out most of his art here http://www.myspace.com/69917582/photos

That's it for tonight. I'll be back tomorrow. See you then!

Vegan Mofo #5 Chicken Chipotle Tortilla Soup

2010-11-05T16:14:00.000-07:00

I'm usually pretty good about having dinner planned early in the day. So much so that my husband has called me crazy for calling him at 8:30 in the morning to spew off a list of dinner options for him to pick from. My excuse though, is I'm Italian and was brought up to always be thinking about food.
We are both on the broke side right now, so I wanted to make something that didn't require spending a lot or better yet, any money at all. After looking through our kitchen at what we had, I came up with a chicken tortilla soup. It turned out amazing. I reminded myself that sometimes the best recipes are created when you are forced to just use what you have. Here is a step by step of the process with a recipe to follow.

red pepper, garlic, green onion, and carrots

green onion and garlic cooking sauteing in olive oil with chili powder, cumin & smoked paprika

red peppers & carrots tossed in and sauteing

half a bag of trader joe's chicken-less strips ready to go in the pot along with the book I log recipes in

chicken and veggies all together

a random can of fire roasted tomatoes with chipotle peppers went in as well as a half a can of leftover black beans

whole wheat tortilla cut into strips

final product

Chicken Chipotle Tortilla Soup
4 garlic cloves
3 green onions + 1 for garnish
1/2 red pepper
1 carrot
1/2-1 bag trader joe's chicken-less strips chopped
1 can Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted Petite Diced Tomatoes With Chipotle Peppers
1/2 can black beans
1 1/3 cup veggie broth
3 tsp cumin
2 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp lime juice
1 tortilla

-Preheat oven to 325
-Saute garlic & green onion with one tsp of cumin, chili powder & smoked paprika
-When translucent add red peppers & carrots & continue to stir till tender
-Add chicken-less strips and a splash of lime and cook until chicken is browned on all sides
-Turn heat down and stir in the tomatoes,vegetable broth,black beans,the remaining spices & lime juice
- Let simmer on stove while making baked tortilla chips
- Slice tortilla into strips with a pizza cutter and sprinkle with salt and pepper and place on a cookie sheet
- Bake for 4 minutes then flip. They cook pretty quick so keep your eye on them
- Crush half and fold into hot soup and use the rest for garnish & dipping

Next time you MoFo's are broke, remember, there is always something you can throw together.

Vegan Mofo #4 Our Halloween Night

2010-11-04T17:03:00.000-07:00

So obviously Halloween wasn't tonight but I did take a bunch of pictures knowing I would eventually blog about it. Matt and I are definitely not huge Halloween people. Neither one of us likes to dress up and we didn't really want to go to any parties or any bars. Instead, we decided to rent a few scary movies and carve pumpkins.

Riot is confused as to what the hell we are doing.

I used a huge serated knife which probably wasn't the best idea considering how many times I almost cut my fingers off.

Matt was already done with his pumpkin when I wasn't even half way done with mine.

Show off

As you can see neither of us have much artistic ability, but we had a lot of fun, which is the entire point, right? Right. I thought mine was going to look a lot cooler than it turned out.

Matt had mentioned to me that he loved roasting pumpkin seeds when he was a kid. His mom apparently used to roast them for him and his dad and it had been probably 20 years since he'd had them last. I had never done them before, but a quick google search told me to rinse the seeds, then throw them in a pot of boiling water.

Rinsed and ready for water

I wasn't entirely sure what to put on them so I just did sea salt, pepper, garlic, & soy sauce. They turned out to be so good and so addictive we finished them off in just a couple days and we munched on them during our scary movies that night instead of popcorn. I actually wish Riot would have carved a pumpkin with us so we could have eaten her seeds too as she did try eating up all of ours a number of times.

That's that. I know it's not much, but it was so much fun and even though so simple the seeds were great. That's it for now. See you tomorrow with an actual recipe, MoFo's.

Vegan MoFo #3 Handlebars vegan breakfast burrito

2010-11-03T15:06:00.000-07:00

My husband and I's favorite restaurant in Chicago is Handlebar. The outdoor seating is amazing. They have a full bar and it's a bicycle themed friendly restaurant/bar.

In all honesty the food has never blown me away, although their specials are often excellent and creative, but it's consistently good food and the wait staff is great. When it comes to going out to eat, it's not always the food but more of an excuse to have a place to go and enjoy a date night with my husband.I would suggest it to any vegan or vegetarian in Chicago or to someone visiting.
It rarely happens that we can get up and get ourselves together to make it to brunch. When we do, one of matt's favorite things to order is the breakfast burrito. I decided to duplicate it at home. Their burrito is seitan sausage, potatoes, avocado,cilantro & spinach.I omitted avocado & added peppers and tofu.

I didn't write down the recipe as I cooked but here is what I did.
-Roast 1 diced red potato with olive oil, cumin & paprika at 425 for about 20 minutes
-Saute 2 cloves of garlic then add 1/2 of a diced red pepper.
-Add 1/2 block of crumbled tofu with 2 tsps of cumin, chili powder, 1 tbs of nutritional yeast and a generous squirt of lime juice.
-Add a half of a bag of Upton's seitan Sausage to the skillet
-Turn the heat off and fold in a small handful of spinach along with the roasted potatoes

I realize this recipe is pretty vague but if you know your way around a kitchen like most of you do you can adapt this and it will turn out great. Till tomorrow, have a nice MoFo night

Vegan MoFo #2 Matt's 30th Birthday in Michigan

2010-11-02T17:37:00.000-07:00

For Matt's 30th Birthday we stayed at his parents trailer in a little camping community in Michigan. It was one of the best trips we have ever taken and Riot was able to come along as well. Had I been blogging the whole time I would have made this a highlight blog so I thought I would share all the fun and food with you now.
One reason we went to Michigan was for ArtPrize. It's the second year that Grand Rapids has had an art festival where they plug art into galleries and have installation pieces all over the city. It was so cool to walk around Grand Rapids on such a nice warm day and see a bunch of amazing art. Here are a few of my favorites

A wood sculpture, 13 feet in diameter,titled "A Matter Of Time" which explores man's relationship to the earth.

This second piece was 2 horses constructed from recycled materials. If you look close you can even see spatulas being used.
After Art Prize we went to stellas!, a restaurant/bar that we are both so in love with and would be regulars if it was in Chicago. They have an all vegan bar food menu, a full bar, a great jukebox and an arcade filled with games from the 80's and 90's.

I have only eaten there twice and quite honestly 80's and 90's arcade games and a happy hour would have made me go there anyway but the food is great. Matt's dad had a rematch from the last time we went and I will admit he killed me at pinball

We spent the next few days just relaxing at the trailer cooking, reading books, going on golf cart rides, and enjoying being out of the city for a bit.
Most dogs seriously dislike golf cart rides but Riot loves them and probably would have driven the cart herself if she had to. When a dogs ears are flying in the wind and her nose is foamy from all the new country smells...you know she is a happy dog!

We made 3 meals while at the trailer. The first night I made Rosemary Chicken with gardein Scallapini and asparagus which I unfortunately didn't photograph. We also did a seitain roulade and mashed cauliflower on sunday night that turned out great. The absolute highlight turned out to be something Matt and I had joked about veganizing for a long time: Totino's pizza rolls. I couldn't even remember the last time I had had one. I was maybe 15, but I do remember them being delicious. So not only did I veganize them but I made them a little more..well a lot more upscale than a stinking Totinos pizza roll. I used Dayia cheese, Upton's sausage, mushrooms, marinara, and then rolled fresh basil, rosemary,& oregano into a cornmeal/wheat pizza dough. When I finally figured out how thin I needed to roll out the dough the results were amazing. I made big salads with balsamic dressing and tofu to go with the rolls.

I can't wait to go back. Being a city girl I thought I would hate it but I instantly fell in love with the place and seeing Riot happier than she has ever been doesn't hurt. So there is vegan MoFo #2 and for good measure one more happy Riot pic. See you MoFo's tomorrow...

2010-11-01T17:42:00.000-07:00

So it starts. Hopefully this month will get me back into blogging and I will continue it after November ends. I have to say that I'm definitely having a bit of a hard time remembering how to post pictures and setting up my page, but hopefully it will all get easier. I hope in a few days to have a cheetah print background or even have figured out how to tag posts. For now I will just work on the simple things I have figured out which are typing and posting pictures.
Since this is my first MoFo post I'm going to keep it short and just go over some ideas I have for things to post about. This will give you an idea of what to look forward to and will remind me so I don't forget them.

1. I would like to once a week gain inspiration from all the Bon Appetit & Food & Wine magazines an old foodie friend from work gives me. I usually go through a stack at a time and tear out pages that interest me. So I plan on taking a recipe idea and then go from there, using my own techniques to make it something I would eat.

2.My favorite cookbook to date is The Conscious Cook by Tal Ronnen.

It's the only cookbook I have ever taken a recipe from and followed it from top to bottom. That night me and my husband got dressed up and had a fancy dinner. I made the Peppercorn-encrusted Portobello Fillets with Tomato Bearnaise & cauliflower mashers

I would like to have at least one more fancy dinner party for two this month and once again cook straight out of his book.

3.My dog Riot has been vegan for the last 6 years. I think a great post would be to talk about the dog food she eats, the reason for me choosing to feed her a vegan diet and include some dog treat recipes I have come up with. Actually let me just say know i don't think I go an hour without bringing up my dog so be ready for lots of Riot inserts, pictures, and an explanation on why her nickname is noodles. If I could figure out how to record my voice on here you would be also forced to hear the 30+ songs I have made up about her.

4. I'm excited that vegan MoFo will coincide with Thanksgiving. Working in a kitchen I will have to work that day but plan on cooking a huge meal the following day and celebrating thanksgiving then. I will finally record all the recipes that have been floating in my head for years and show the process of the seitan roulade that I have been tweaking for the last few years.

5. Music is HUGE in our house so I'm going to post my current 5 favorite records and try to come up with a recipe to go with each album. This may be a stretch but I think I can do it. I will also be posting what bands I'm listening to on days that I blog about what I cooked for the day.

So what do I hope to accomplish with this blog? In the words of The Little Killers....To have some god damn fun

A lot has happened since my last post

2010-10-28T17:21:00.000-07:00

My last post to this blog was January 2008. I was in such a different place then and so much has changed. Two months after that I met my now husband and on September 12 2009 we got married.
The ceremony was amazing including 2 punk bands plus his band playing and a night full of great friends, great music, vegan food, and the prettiest flower girl I have ever seen.

I worked at a dog daycare/ rescue for 2 years which I loved.
I still work withPuppy Love/Love Cats www.puppylove-lovecats.org/ I'm her facebook admin and try to support Linda and her amazing rescue when ever time allows. Me and two friends held a fundraiser for the dog rescue in April and now hope to make it a annual event.

I got a job back in a kitchen again and although its not my ultimate dream job I have learned a lot and made a couple great friends along the way.
The reason for doing this blog again is because I feel that I finally have the time to do it and a man to back me and motivate me in this process. I have had a rough time in Chicago and after meeting my husband I now feel like I can finally relax. He has taken me to more places than I ever thought I would visit, motivated me more than anyone ever has, and made me believe that this is the first step I need to take if I want to get to where I want to go.
So I start vegan Mofo

eggplant-tofu stacks

2008-01-01T19:56:00.000-08:00

grilled eggplant and grilled tofu stacked in between a tomato basil sauce on a bed of zucchini noodles

thrown together dinner

2007-11-29T18:21:00.001-08:00

spaghetti squash with balsamic marinated tempeh
tomato cream sauce with mushrooms, artichokes & sun dried tomatoes

breaded okara

2007-10-21T16:24:00.000-07:00

Why I decided to fall back in love with this vegetable right at the same time of it being out of season I will never know. This is breaded with nutritional yeast and assorted spices and baked in the oven. I served bbq sauce with it.

2007-10-14T18:05:00.001-07:00

mushroom stroganoff with baked tofu over spaghetti squash

with fake beef strips

Cheesy mushroom stroganoff
1 small red onion
12-15 cremini shrooms (3 cups)
soy sauce
garlic
2 cups veggie broth
1 2/3 cup nooch
2 Tbs dijon mustard
1 Tbs lemon juice
liquid smoke
black pepper
salt

cook down red onion with as much garlic as you like..I'm italian so i never admit to how much garlic i use. When onions are translucent add mushrooms, a splash of soy sauce and a splash of liquid smoke. Saute mushrroms for about 10 minutes.
In a sauce pan combine veggie broth, nooch, mustard, garlic, a dash of liquid smoke and soy sauce, & salt and pepper to taste. Whisk all the ingredients together and turn to a low simmer, letting the sauce thicken. *
* If you want it to thicken without adding so much nooch you could add less nooch and arrowroot powder or flour.
Pour sauce over mushrooms and fold everything together. Use sauce to top noodles and add baked tofu, fake meat, seitan, or tempeh for protein.

AN ADDED BONUS:
vegan shrimp scampi over noodles

dessert of the summer

2007-08-19T23:01:00.001-07:00

grilled pineapple with vanilla soydream and chocolate syrup---granola on top

baked tofu wth nooch basil & balsamic sauce

2007-08-19T22:56:00.001-07:00

I made a basic nutritional yeast sauce but added balsamic vinegar, fresh basil, and tons of garlic. Served over baked tofu

fart party

2007-08-12T10:04:00.001-07:00

if anyone else could describe me being flakey better she would be me click on the picture to read in a better size thru flickr

happy hour--

2007-06-18T23:26:00.000-07:00

-this food is usually greasy gross & offered at a bar..here is the healthy vegan version of the typical slop
onion rings--breaded and baked..but soo good

stuffed shrooms with a spicy TVP mixture

the same mixture stuffed into mini breaded peppers

memorial day

2007-06-18T23:02:00.002-07:00

here is the memorial day spread which proves how behind I am

tofu fries

spinach, artichoke & sun dried tomato dip

veggie tray, dip and crackers

vegan pigs in a blanket

skewers

my secret homemade bbq sauce

after the grill

breaded eggplant

cheesy potato bake..white trash vegan G-Ballz--thanks!

dessert..mini raspberry banana cheescake..thanks Marge

the grumpy chef I'm actually not mad and not sure why I look so pissed

tofu lettuce wraps

2007-04-12T13:52:00.000-07:00

I wanted something really fresh and light for dinner..here is what I came up with

Raw veggies thrown into the cuisinart included red onions, green onions, garlic, celery, cucumber, baby portabello's, zucchini, broccoli, roasted red pepper, sun dried tomatoes, & a lil lemon juice...all chopped up
topped with tofu I threw in the broiler for about 10 minutes after tossing it in a mix of spices

I served it with a balsamic mustard dressing i whipped up

seitan fajitas

2007-04-09T17:41:00.000-07:00

Here is the fajita filling...seitan, peppers, onion, garlic, cilantro & heat!

Here is our meal plated with lettuce, pico de gallo, beans, homemade guacamole & homemade sour cream

breakfast for dinner...

2007-04-08T18:02:00.001-07:00

muffin pan quiches filled with red peppers, mushrooms, and broccoli

Served with tempeh sausage

taco salad with a view

2007-04-08T17:48:00.001-07:00

raw mushrooms, lettuce, onions, sprouts and peppers with leftover TVP taco fillings, salsa, and homemade guacamole. Just threw the tortilla over a glass bowl in the oven for about 10 minutes.

spicy tempeh & spaghetti squash

2007-04-08T17:39:00.001-07:00

This meal started with a squash that kept calling my name. Mostly because although they last a long time..it was on it's way out. I marinated the tempeh with balsamic vinegar and italian spices and steamed it. I made a sweet but spicy roasted red pepper and tomato sauce. with portabello mushrooms, eggplant, & sun dried tomato. It turned out really well considering I just made the recipe up as I went along.

oh panini grill.....I love u so

2007-04-07T18:59:00.001-07:00

I love this panini grill my parents got me. I have been using it almost daily. It grills tofu and other veggies to perfection. My newest fascination is tofu fries. It's just tofu cut super skinny then put on the grill for about 5 minutes, They really remind me of french fries but a lot healthier.

here are 2 sandwiches I have recently made

peppers, tofu, red onion, portabello mushrooms & tomato

Breakfast Sandwich---Grilled Tofu "cheese" slices and Tofurky slices

grilled cheese

2007-04-06T17:54:00.001-07:00

Grilled cheese with fancy criss cross marks accomponied by sliced pickle and chips

mac n cheese

2007-03-14T19:48:00.001-07:00

mac n cheese 2
Originally uploaded by anita riot.

cheesy delicious,VEGAN .... enough said

portabello eggplant sandwich

2007-03-11T23:55:00.000-07:00

Basic sunday or lazy day sandwich
whole wheat bread-portabello mushroom-eggplant-basil-red onion-artichokes-sun dried tomato
I got a panini grill so sandwich city is sure to come

cupcake decorating party

2007-02-25T22:03:00.000-08:00

the choices for toppings were--peanut butter buttercream, chocolate buttercream, chocolate ganache, vanilla frosting, sprinkles, chocolate shavings,raspberry jam, chopped peanuts, banana slices-- the possibilities were endless--

t.v.p. burrito's

2007-02-20T18:47:00.000-08:00

seitan

2007-02-20T17:25:00.000-08:00

It always seems like more work than it is and is always so worth it in the end.
Fresh out of the oven

in strips

sliced

cooked

2007-02-19T19:35:00.000-08:00

soup sandwich n elephant plate day

2007-02-19T19:09:00.000-08:00

when it's snowy and cold i just want to eat soup and put on pajama's even it's 5 pm I know I'm 27 and also an old lady oh well here is the
it's cold and I'm not leaving the house dinner
whole wheat bread, a small dab of horseradish hummus, sprouts, tomatoes, red onion, spinach, tempeh bacon,and tofu

the whole meal 1/2 of the sandwich, cream -o-greens soup in background & a pickle
+ pajama's

seitan bbq wings with bbq and ranch dressing

2007-02-19T18:59:00.000-08:00

perfect bar food for sunday afternoon

shrimp--so real I almost feel guilty

2007-02-19T18:47:00.000-08:00

spicy mustard, cocktail, sweet n sour, and bbq sauces

fancy ice shot

banana muffins n other baking related fun

2007-02-19T18:10:00.000-08:00

Monday is my day off and day to cook or bake whatever I like---I work at a bakery & don't eat baked goods so the only reason I baked before was for my boyfriend--now I just grab something before leaving work--but sometimes I get an itching to decorate--it's not the taste I love but the craftiness of frosting muffins or coming up with weird ways to use up peanut butter butter cream

tower of banana muffins

muffin in hand

decorated

cookie with peanut butter frosting

cookie sandwich

breakfast

2007-01-16T21:22:00.001-08:00

Italian Tofu Scramble with red onion, mushrooms, broccoli, artichokes, & sun dried tomato's Whole wheat bread with hummus

2007-01-15T21:02:00.000-08:00

tempeh bbq wings
made for a bears game snack--quick & delicious

vegan dog treats

2007-01-15T20:53:00.000-08:00

me and my sister do craft shows---one thing we always sell are vegan dog treats..here is our bags for the DIY trunk show

riot approved

leftover stuffing stuffed shrooms

2007-01-15T20:11:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving stuffing stuffed shrooms with mushroom gravy

2007-01-15T20:06:00.000-08:00

thanksgiving ---Late!

2006-12-01T22:09:00.000-08:00

4 hours of cooking and 15 minutes of eating makes you realize how much time this useless holiday takes
From center:
Tofurky with roasted carrots and potatoes, "sausage" n mushroom stuffing, corn on the cob, mashed cawliflower, portabello mushroom gravy notice the smily face inbetween the corn and stuffing

plated

two days of pizza

2006-11-22T22:08:00.000-08:00

So we drove downtown monday to pick up a vegan pizza to-go from karyn's cooked. I usually have mondays off and nick gets home around 3--by the time we place an order and drive there the food is ready to roll-

Tuesday I was still craving pizza so I made this with a spouted grain tortilla for the crust--i cooked tempeh sausage style and also topped it with red, orange, & green peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, red onion, spinach, sun dried tomatoes, and fresh basil---the sauce is a mix of roasted garlic hummus & a lil tomatoe sauce--nooch cheese sauce on top --please click for a better view-healthier and less expensive

my favorite snack

2006-11-21T21:33:00.000-08:00

I'am a grump if I don't have this snack a few times a week-- air popped popcorn with nutritional yeast, seal salt, garlic powder, vegan "butter" spray
Hot Sauce is also required

cauliflower broccoli soup

2006-11-21T21:15:00.000-08:00

i like my soups super thick so it was pointed out to me that this is more like a stew--either way delicious on a cold crappy winter chicago night

falafel bites for the bears game

2006-11-21T20:55:00.001-08:00

These were made before the game and cooked at half time-side of hummus of course.

I'm already planning my bears superbowl game snacks and buying riot a bears jersey for the game. her she is watching the game

2006-11-21T20:52:00.000-08:00