Brownies!

Yummy brownies adapted from the recipe here:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Vegan-Brownies/Detail.aspx?prop31=1

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or so. Yum yum! I think this is going to be my staple brownie recipe! I also threw some chopped pecans in mine.

Vegan MoFo: stroganoff, shoping, shampoo, and the salad bar.

I dyed my hair last night. I used the same color (medium brown) and brand my friend uses, because her hair looks awesome. Mine came out really really dark though. I kind of hated it at first. But the last time I dyed my hair brown, it faded over time, plus I don't want my hair to fall out, so I figured I'd wait awhile and see how I do with the new look. This morning I still hated it, so I washed it three times in the shower. It didn't lighten it that much. But in some lights I kind of like it now. It's pretty much the closest dye is going to come to my natural color...I think, anyway; I haven't had a full head of my natural hair color in a while. And there's a reason for that--I still can't tell if it looks good on me. It's just kind of bleh. Shit, now I'll have to develop a personality or something. LOL. I can't tell if D hates it and is just being nice, or if he just doesn't like that I "keep changing just about everything possible". He doesn't get the concept of winterizing.

So today I woke up feeling a little shitty. Which for me, usually means pre-really-shitty. Sore throat, achy body, tired as hell, that kind of mess. None the less, I took the aforementioned shower, got my ass (and my kid's) ready, and ventured out to find a Halloween costume for him. He wanted to be a dinosaur--a green dinosaur. And Wal-Mart, Target, the Halloween store they put up next to the mall, Old Navy, the OTHER Wal-Mart near us--nobody had a dinosaur costume. I mean come on, that is not a really far-fetched thing to dress up as, is it? Anyway, we took a break for lunch (my real reason for making a trip out) that I had been planning, to meet up with my friend Laura. She is vegetarian too (not vegan tho). We met at Ruby Tuesday, which has few vegetarian menu items, and no vegan ones, except for the most amazing salad bar I've ever been to. I mean, spinach, 3 kinds of lettuce mixes, tomatoes, beets, dried cranberries, edemame, chick peas, mushrooms, just on and on. I had two plates and I was stuffed. It was delicious.

After lunch, at Laura's suggestion, I took the cranky and exhausted kid to Meijer...and lo and behold, they had exactly one dinosaur costume. And it was green. And one size too big, but at this point, who cares. More room for layers underneath. Its cold here! I made it extra cool by putting felt "claws" on the arm and leg openings that will extend over his hands. Yay, I'm so excited! Then we went back to Old Navy to return some of the green clothes I bought (I was going to make a costume, which would've been even cooler, but that would have ended up costing twice or 3 times as much!!), and then to Wal Mart where I got a bandana, a sash, and a plastic sword...I'm going to be a pirate. What would've been really cute is a parrot costume--this is the last year he'll be small enough I could get away with this--dress him as a parrot and me as a pirate and set him on my shoulders! But parrot is even harder to find than green dinosaur, and it wasn't what the boy wanted.

He's been sleeping a lot lately. He won't take his nap til 4 in the afternoon, and then he just doesn't get up til morning. (Yesterday & today). Maybe he was starting to feel like I was and he's sleeping it off. I'm about to go do the same thing.

But first let me blog about this stroganoff I made. I was craving some good, hearty comfort food, and I knew D would appreciate that too. I basically used the recipe off the Peta website (http://www.vegcooking.com/veganMenus-13.asp), but I made my own sauce because I can never find vegan mushroom gravy.
1 lb cooked pasta (I used whole wheat rotini)
I sliced & sauteed some Tempeh, rather than using beef style crumbles, then took that out to add to the sauce at the end. Sauce recipe later.

Vegan MoFo: Sublicious!

Ha ha. So 4 stores and the bank (and $180) later, I got home and chilled for a bit. Then D got home (he's listening to Rush Limbaugh now...yeah...) and he was uber hungry, so what did I make with my (mostly) healthy haul? Subs! I had a hankering for some of those yummy oven baked subs my momma used to make. I put turkey & cheese on D's, just cheese on my son's; and then I piled all of them up with mushrooms, onions, cucumbers, pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, guac and Italian dressing (on mine; ranch on the boys'). That turkey stank. I could barely touch it. I am over meat forever. But I'm not gonna lie, I missed real cheddar a little. I'll get over that too, I'm sure. When I ate my sub, it was phenomenal. I am so happy now...I'll probably make these every day til I run out of sub buns!!! Mmmm new favorite thing of the moment!!

Vegan MoFo--"roll me a fat one!"

So for lunch I was gonna puss out and do spaghetti for like the 1000th time in my life, but I had this really ripe, huge, perfect avocado; along with a bunch of other veggies I needed to use; and those inspired these beauties. Fajita-style enchiladas! Cheeseless Mexican, anyone?

I cooked some brown rice with an onion, some thyme, garlic, salt, pepper, and a bay leaf. Yum! Then I sauteed 2 smallish zucchini, 3 small onions, and 1 1/2 green bell peppers. I seasoned it with cumin, coriander, paprika, garlic, salt, pepper, a bit of oregano...I think that was all...

I diced some tomatoes & opened up a can of whoop ass...er, I mean, black beans. Then I layered the zucchini mixture, tomatoes, and beans into a whole wheat flour tortilla (use any tortillas, but check the ingredients & make sure they're vegan). Roll it up, place it in a lightly greased baking pan, and repeat until you run out of tortillas or fill up the pan. Mine turned out a little light on the beans, so next time I will use two cans & put more in each enchilada. Cover with mild green enchilada sauce (or whatever yummy vegan sauce you want to top them with). Bake til the rice gets done.

Then, I made the guacamole. Everyone has a favorite guac recipe, but I used verde salsa, tomatoes, green onions, vinegar, a little tabasco, paprika, cumin, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to my mashed avocado. It wasn't super duper thick, but the flavor was incredible. I was going to serve it with tortilla chips, but I put it on my enchilada and even kept sneaking bites right from the bowl. YUM!

You could also top with Tofutti's sour cream knockoff, and I would have, but I'm saving mine for this fake stroganoff thing. I'm sure you could also use vegan cheese or vegan ground beef, but D has a thing against "weird fake stuff", so I kept it simple (and amazing).

*takes a bow*

Shepherd's Pie, as promised.

Oh my God. This is one of those recipes that doesn't try to fool you, but you still can't believe it's vegan, to the point that you almost feel guilty eating it! I got it from vegcooking.com, but modified the hell out of it to the point that it became my own. Sorry that when I cook, I don't measure out a lot of stuff. I just eyeball it and it comes out awesome.

Scrub a bunch of potatoes, cut them into manageable pieces (about 2 inch squares or so is fine) and boil them in water until they are really soft.

In a large skillet, saute some veggies. Traditional shepherd's pie uses peas, but D hates peas, and this meal was geared toward him, so I left them out. I used (in this order): carrots, onions, green beans, corn, zucchini, and garlic. Feel free to add or subtract when you make this. The Peta recipe called for a ground beef substitute, but D is not a fan of fake-outs, so I left that out and just used veggies.

In my saucier, I saute an onion & some garlic, and then make a good amount of roux with the onions in it (using flour and vegan margarine, about 1/4 cup each). Then I add red wine and vegetable broth (more broth than wine) until it's a gravy consistency, and throw in some mushrooms and a few tablespoons of soy sauce.

Toss the veggies with the gravy. Dump them all into a large baking pan, or use 2 or 3 pie pans so you can have leftovers! Drain the potatoes, throw in some vegan margarine, a little vegetable broth or soy milk, vegan sour cream if desired, salt, pepper, and garlic; chives or parsley optional. Mash with a fork. You can use a mixer, but you don't need to. You want a thicker mashed potato consistency. Spread your mashed potatoes over the veggie mixture. Bake until the potatoes are lightly browned on top; about 350 for 30 minutes or so.

Feel free to play around with seasonings--sage, rosemary, and thyme combo; caraway adds an interesting flavor; extra garlic goes nicely; whatever you like.
Enjoy!

Survey

1. What was the most recent tea you drank?
our minty yummy iced Green Tea at work

2. What vegan forms do you post/lurk on? If so, what is your username? Spill!
I'm just getting in to this whole internet vegan thing. So it's here, PPK, whatever blogs I'm following, IDK...lurk is a good word for how i roll.

3. You have to have tofu for dinner, and it has be an Italian dish. What comes to mind first?
This lasagna I just made with tofu in place of the ricotta. The kid and I love it, D won't touch it. Well, he did take a bite. And hated it..

4. How many vegan blogs do you read on an average day?
Too early to have an "average day"...I'm devouring this shit right now.

5. Besides your own, what is the most recent one you’ve read?
Love Like a Vegan

6. If you could hang out with a vegan blogger that you haven’t met, who would it be, and what would you do?

Good question. I don't know though.

7. If you had to base your dinners for a week around one of the holy trilogy – tofu, seitan or tempeh, which would it be?
I'd do tofu, because that's what I'm most familiar with

8. If you had to use one in a fight, which would it be?
tempeh...i have some that I could beat someone to death with

9. Name 3 meals you’d realistically make with that tough protein of choice!
Teryaki stir fry, vegetable stew, and, um...I don't know, some imitation beef tips thing with noodles & mushrooms

10. What’s a recipe in vegan blogland that you’ve been eyeing?
These pumpkin cinnamon rolls from Don't Eat off the Sidewalk

11. Do you own any clothing with vegan messages/brands on them?
I have a t-shirt that I stole from a (omni) guy friend of mine, with a pig on it that says "please don't eat me (I love you)"

12. Have you made your pilgrimage to the ‘vegan mecca’ yet? (Portland, duh)
Not yet.

13. What age did you first go vegan? Did it stick?
I have dabbled with it off and on since age 18...and no it didn't. But it was unofficial anyway. I was vegetarian (ovo/lacto) from age 9 til 14, but my high school didn't have anything good for vegetarians, so that didn't stick either.

14. What is the worst vegan meal you’ve had? Who cooked it?
This salad at work the other day...I tried to get creative with dressing it with vinegar & oil & pepper, and it turned out really bitter and gross

15. What made you decide to blog?
I’m not sure, I was inspired by lots of other great vegan blogs and decided to give it a shot. <-- good answer.

16. What are three of your favorite meals to make?
I made the most amazing shepherd's pie the other day. Even D loved it.

I like to get creative with pastas

Aaand, I like to do this asian stir fry thing with rice and serve it with lettuce leaves to make wraps.

17. What dish would you bring to a vegan Thanksgiving-themed potluck?
I'd either do a big pan of that shepherd's pie (recipe to come soon) OR I'd get gutsy and attempt those pumpkin cinnamon rolls. Mmmm I'm getting excited.

18. Where is your favorite vegan meal at a restaurant? How many times have you ordered it?
I haven't been to a lot of vegan restaurants...I'm obsessed with the salad bar at Ruby Tuesday's; and I have ordered veggie fajita bowls at Chipotle more times than I can count.

19. What do you think the best chain to dine as a vegan is?
Chipotle is easy & awesome. As is Ruby Tuesday. Quizno's is amazing (gotta love the guac), and Subway is just ok.

20. My kitchen needs a………

Hmm...so many things. A wisk. Standing mixer. More damn groceries. Another muffin pan. A really good supply of vegan cookbooks. I feel like I can't live without some of these cookbooks...must...wait...til...Christmas...!

21. This vegetable is not allowed in my kitchen…..!
All veggies welcome...haven't met one yet that I couldn't handle.

22. What’s for dinner tonight?
Spaghetti

23. What’s your favourite cookie cutter?
Ooo! My kitchen needs cookie cutters too!