I’m alive!

Okay so I handed in that crazy comprehensive examination I was talking about. Whew. I still have to have an oral defense, but at least the written part is done.

Moving on to more delicious matters…I realized I had a giant backlog of photos on my camera. Some of which are from Halloween which seems like eons ago. Anyhoo, check out these Mummy Dogs we made for Halloween…they’re veggie dogs wrapped in crescent dough with little mustard eyes:

I also made cupcakes with different designs…the only picture I have is of this cute vampire…the design came from the Wilton website:

Here’s a brunch I made one day…scrambled tofu, roast potatoes, and tempeh bacon. Nothing too special, I just like the picture.

I have some updates from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar which I will post later on this week…everything I’ve made out of there so far has been very, very yummy!

Hiatus

You may have noticed not much has been going on around here these days. I am trying frantically to finish up my comprehensive examinations for my Ph.D….the due date is December 3rd so for better or worse, I should have more free time after that date. Unfortunately this blog is going to be on hiatus until then. See you soon!

vegan mofo is here!

October is time for vegan mofo, or vegan month of food! If you would like more information you can go to vegan mofo HQ. Basically vegan bloggers try to post every weekday…resulting in a heck of a lot of vegan food blog posts. My goal this year is to do 20 posts, which I hit last year. I’ve been a neglectful blogger lately (darn dissertation keeps getting in the way…) so I really need this kick in the pants.

As I posted about before, the PPK has been holding a cookbook challenge. Each week a different cookbook is selected and we try to make at least 3 recipes from that book. Last week was Eat, Drink & Be Vegan. I did do 3 recipes from this book…but I just never got around to blogging about them. Well, no time like the present!

First up, garlicky broccoli, corn, and bean burritos! I never, ever would have thought of combining such an eclectic array of ingredients into the bean mixture. I was a little hesitant as the combination sounded so bizarre to me, but I followed the recipe anyway. I’m glad I did. It’s tangy from the balsamic, but the curry taste still comes through. Yum. Not the prettiest thing ever, but you get the idea.

Next up I made the lentil veggie chimichangas. I enjoyed the filling…I did spice it up a bit to suit my tastes, but other than that I pretty much followed the recipe.

Not pictured are the chickpea sensation patties. These were okay, but I probably wouldn’t make them again. I much prefer the chickpea cutlets from Veganomicon. While the ED&BV version is gluten free, which is a plus, the consistency just didn’t do it for me.

I’ve had ED&BV for awhile now but I rarely cook any of the recipes…they’re not really my style. I enjoyed trying things I probably never would have, and it’s motivated me to try more Dreena recipes in the future.

As a total aside, I’m bummed that it’s getting darker and more difficult to take decent pictures of my supper.

just to let you know….

I’m now officially married! The wedding was as close to perfect as I can possibly imagine it being. We’re off on our honeymoon in 2 days so you probably won’t be seeing many updates here. When I get back I can finally start cooking (and blogging) again!

A day in the life…

I haven’t been posting much. And there’s a reason for that….other than sloth. My “diet” (for lack of a better word) has been going great! I’ve been following Eat to Live and I feel fantastic! In a nutshell, the plan basically involves eating tons of vegetables (cooked and raw) along with fruit and beans/legumes. Grains, starchy veggies, and tofu are consumed in moderation. No added fat or salt. The salt thing is hard for me and I’m not always 100% compliant on that. Oh well. So basically my day looks like this:

A green smoothie for breakfast. Which looks disgusting but tastes amazing! I’m sad that it took me so long to try a green smoothie…I feel so full of energy after I drink one. My favourite combo so far is spinach with banana and mixed berries that I buy frozen.

Lunch and supper both start off with a giant salad:

I make sure I eat beans/legumes with each meal so that I stay full. Such as the black bean vegetable soup from Veganomicon (without the oil):

Or curried lentil soup from Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian…which coincidentally broke my cheap, old immersion blender. But the blender was on its last legs anyway. I don’t blame the soup.

Yes, both of those soups are photographed in my very own vegan bowl I got for Christmas from my Mom. It’s awesome…I swear it makes soup taste better.

Anyhoo, I’ve been eating other things as well, but none of it photographs particularly well. I’ve also been very busy (as I will be until April). I’ve started collecting data for my dissertation and that takes up most of my time. So I imagine these next few months will be more boring than usual at this blog, but oh well.

If you would like more information on the Eat to Live program, I would suggest you check out this page from fatfreevegan which also has a collection of recipes.

Vegan MoFo begins…

Well this year I signed up for Vegan MoFo..or Vegan Month of Food if you will. Which means that every weekday in October I should be blogging about food. Well, I signed up for this BEFORE my computer had to go to the computer hospital..it’s still there by the way, so my internet activity isn’t nearly as frequent. Anyhoo, I shall try my best. Even though I have no computer to upload my photos to, nevermind photoshop. But where there’s a will, there’s a way, right?

broccoli & rice casserole and smothered tofu ”steak”

Last night for dinner I made the cheezy broccoli rice casserole from the Ultimate Uncheese cookbook. I’ve had this cookbook for awhile now, but I’ve hardly tried any of the recipes. I’m not sure why. I have made the gooey grilled cheese and it was just as delicious as everyone said it was. I tried the colby block uncheese, but it ended up weirding me out like store bought vegan cheese. I think the trick with me and vegan cheese is to NEVER EVER eat it while cold. But my curiosity always gets the better of me.

Anyhoo, on to the casserole. It was pretty good. I did add pepper to it, as well as a few other herbs. I checked on it after only 45 minutes, and it was overdone. Not terribly so, but it was a wee bit dry because of it. And the rice did NOT want to come off my casserole dish later when we were doing dishes. But even so, it was tasty and we both liked it. It reminded me of one of those Lipton Side Kicks thingies I used to eat back in my vegetarian/undergraduate days.

I hate that it’s dark now at dinner time. Stupid approaching winter. I need to find a better place to take pictures rather than use my stove’s overhead light which clearly doesn’t work that well.

To go with the casserole I made smothered tofu steak and onions. I added mushrooms to my sauce as well. Next time I think I would change up the sauce ingredients. I found the taste of vinegar way too strong. The bf really liked it though. It’s a neat idea and something I would definitely play around with again.

Tomorrow I am leaving town, AGAIN. This time for a wedding. But I swear when I get back I’m not budging until Christmas.