The Vegan Christmas Cookie Adventure Vol. 1

This year I am making 4 different types of cookies for Christmas.  Monday I began my adventure by making "Minono's" (Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar) They are a veganized version of Pepperidge Farm's Milano Cookies.

They turned out beautifully, but I will have to wait till Xmas eve to find out how delicious they are!

Ethan's Belated Birthday Brunch

On December 12, my nephew Ethan turned 10.  My whole family got together to celebrate but I couldn't be there because I was stuck in bed with, what felt like, the worst cold of my life!  On Sunday I made Ethan a Birthday Breakfast Brunch to make up for missing his actual Birthday.

I made Waffles, Roasted Onions and Potatoes, and Gimme Lean "sausage".  

It was nice to sit down for brunch with Ethan, Olivia, Kipp and Cassie.  Even though Ethan didn't like the vegan waffles, everyone else did!  It didn't matter too much to Ethan that the brunch wasn't his favorite because he LOVED the birthday gift I gave him.  I bought him $20.00 worth of Trident Layers gum.  Who knew a bag full of gum would go over so well?

Once Again, Bale Saves the Day!

Last week I had an all day observation in Summit, IL where lunch was catered.  I knew it was going to be a boxed lunch and I was pretty sure the vegan lunch that I requested would be awful.  Turns out I was right!  The whole time I suffered through that awful lunch all I could think about was eating something more delicious.  Once our observation was over I had to go pick up Sarah so that her, Dalila, Courtney Olson, and I could meet up to work on a group presentation we had due the next day.  Before we could get any work done I knew I had to go get something real to eat.  Sarah and I decided on my favorite sandwich spot in Chicago, Bale (5016 N. Broadway).

Bale is a Vietnamese- French Sandwich Cafe.  They have many different sandwich choices for the omnivore and a couple choices for the vegetarian and vegan.  That afternoon I got my favorite out of the two vegetarian sandwiches that they offer, The Veggie Avocado with out cheese or mayo (fried tofu, fresh avocado, house pickle daikon, and carrot, lettuce, tomato, olive, vinegar, jalapeno, red onion, cilantro, soy sauce and salt and pepper).  

We brought our delicious sandwiches back to my place and I slapped some veganaise on it when I got home to make it even more delicious!   I was so hungry that I almost forgot to snap a picture of it!  If you haven't eaten at Bale, go give it a chance.  I'm pretty certain that you won't leave disappointed!

Grad School Quick Meals Vol. 2

Last week when I was shopping at HarvesTime, my favorite little neighborhood market, they had some amazing looking tomatoes. I could not pass up the opportunity for a delicious tomato in the dead of winter!  I like to keep at least one tomato around because when things get super busy I forget to eat, or  really what happens is, I forget to give myself enough time to cook.  A tomato sandwich is usually my quick fix in a time like that.  For those of you that have never had a tomato sandwich it is literally just a thinly sliced tomato, toasted sprouted bread, Veganaise, salt and pepper.  In a time crunch, it is my favorite hunger solution!

Grad School Quick Meals Vol. 1

Tempeh Cashew Noodles

The last two weeks of school have been intense.  With the papers, observations, exams and presentations that I have had due, there has been very little time for cooking.  With my minimal time that I have in my kitchen I have been on the outlook for quick, delicious and nutritious meals.  I found this recipe on www.vegweb.com.  

It only took about 30 minutes to make from beginning to end and was incredibly delicious! 

What you need:

For the stir fry-

8 oz. tempeh, cubed

1 onion chopped

1 zucchini sliced

1 package udon noodles

1 cup frozen peas

olive oil for stir frying

For the sauce-

1 Cup cashews

3 cloves of garlic

4 Tbsp soy sauce

3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil

1 Tbsp garlic chili paste

What you do:

Cook noodles according to package.

Stir fry the onion, tempeh and zucchini until onion is beginning to brown.  Add the peas when vegetables are almost cooked and heat through. 

While the vegetables are cooking, prepare the sauce.  Add all ingredients to the food processor and blend until smooth. (Should be a thick paste.)

When the noodles are cooked drain and add to the hot pan along with the sauce.  Mix together until combined.  Add water in small amounts to help combined everything evenly.

This meal was super simple and incredibly tasty!  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Winter Comfort Foods Vol. 1

When it's 20 degrees outside, no only do I crave warm toasty foods I also tend to get nostalgic.  My nostalgia always revolves around food...   When I was a kid, my Mom and I used to eat Campbell's Tomato Soup,  grilled cheese and watch Little House on the Prairie together.  This was one of my favorite things to do.
So, I HAD to recreate this favorite childhood meal without the high fructose corn syrup that is in Campbell's Soup and minus the cheese and butter that was in the grilled cheese...

 For the grilled cheese, I used Daiya cheese, Earth Balance for the butter and Trader Joes Sprouted bread.  If you haven't tried Daiya yet, go buy some!  It is the most amazing vegan cheese ever made!  It melts and is stretchy like real cheese. The tomato soup I made with the help of a simple recipe that I found on www.vegweb.com with some modifications.  Here is my version of my childhood favorite.

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

2 cups almond milk
1 tablespoon cornstarch or flour
¼  teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon oregano
salt and pepper, to taste

Whisk all the ingredients together and bring to a boil. Turn heat down and let simmer whisking the entire time until it reaches the consistency you desire.

A Retrospective Telling of Thanksgiving

I am just now getting around to posting about Thanksgiving... It was hands down the most vegan friendly Thanksgiving I have been a part of!  I prepared Tempeh Sausage Puff Pastry, Carmalized Onion Butternut Roast with Chestnuts, Sweet Potatoes and a Gingerbread Apple Pie, but there were plenty of other foods for me to eat as well.

This is everything I needed to make the Tempeh Sausage Puff Pastry (Vegan Brunch)

Although the recipe didn't ask me to steam the tempeh I decided to anyhow.  In my opinion tempeh not only becomes less bitter when you steam it, but it also soaks up more flavor when you marinate it.

 This is my steamed, cooled, crumbled, and marinating tempeh...

Next I sauteed onions and red peppers...

Then I added garlic and spices and sauteed some more...

Then I drained the marinated tempeh and added it to the vegetables and spices...

Once it was brown and kinda crispy looking, I knew it was done and ready to be put on the puff pastry...

After cooking them in the oven, I had a finished product!

For the Caramelized Onion Butternut Roast with Chestnuts, I had to roast my own chestnuts...  That was probably my favorite part!

 For dessert I made a Gingerbread Apple Pie (Vegan with A Vengeance)

This was my first attempt at baking a pie, but honestly was the best pie I have ever eaten in my life!  Can't wait to make this again for X-Mas!!!

Teresa made Roasted Brussel Sprouts and they were completely vegan and amazing!

Ceil made this tofu dish and it was hands down my favorite part of Thanksgiving.  The tofu was perfectly chewy and the veggies were cooked and seasoned to perfection. Yummy!

This was my first Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce in the shape of a can.  My Mom decided to skip that kind since it is filled with High Fructose Corn Syrup and she bought the all natural kind from Trader Joes.  T.J., Heather, and I were initially disappointed in my Mother's lack of tradition, but I ended up LOVING the natural cranberries even more!

Dinner was great and dessert was even better!

Every year we pose for my parents Holiday Card on Thanksgiving.  It was a somewhat difficult task this year.  We just could not pull it together and everyone kept joking around.  It was however a lot of fun!

I couldn't help but make the last picture of a piece of the pie I made.... I was SO delicious!