Vegan Mofo VI- Day 30: Cool It Now

I can't believe what is happening back east with this storm. It's impossible to truly understand what is happening by just seeing photos or footage, but it is even more difficult to fathom such things when you don't even know what weather really is or what it can do. We are fortunate to have such lovely sunny skies almost all year round. We get a bit of rain and once in a while we have to stop wearing shorts and put a jacket on, but there's really no need to get bundled up unless you're going to the mountains or trying to look cute in a photo. I hope the worst is over and everyone is getting the help they need to get through this.

It's been in the high 80s over here, so I can't bake anything, but I also don't need to nail all my windows shut, so believe me I am not complaining. There are only a few no-bake sweets I like to make but luckily I had some frozen treats that required even less effort. These are the TJ's version of Tofutti Cuties. I haven't had the originals in a while so I can't really do an accurate comparison but I think they are quite good. The only difference I could tell right away was the these are less melty, if that makes sense. They take longer to melt so I try to remember to take one out and let it rest a bit before biting into it. Maybe you could microwave for a few seconds? TJ's saves the day again. I am crossing my fingers for the TJs version of daiya shreds. Do it!

p.s. Here is a corny joke:

p1: knock knock
p2: who's there?
p1: ice cream soda
p2: ice cream soda who?
p1: ice cream soda people can hear me

Vegan Mofo VI-Day 28: Rockin' Ramen

I don't eat ramen as often as I used to, but every now and then it sounds good to me. It was really warm out today but I still have some of my cold left so a bowl of yummy hot noodles sounded great but using the gross flavor packet did not. Thank goodness for the internet. I found a much better way to make ramen on ieatfood's blog.

The recipe for "Pork-free Ramen Soup" was easy to follow and I already had most of what I needed. I had some soycurls I'd been sleeping on so I decided to add those instead of tofu. I didn't shred them though because I was in a hurry to eat my soup. This turned out great and smelled amazing while the broth was coming to a boil. I put three times the amount of garlic to try and kill any germs I still have. This doesn't take that much longer than making ramen straight from the packet so it's well worth it. Plus you get at least two huge servings, 3 or 4 smaller ones. I ate a big bowl because I was hungry and it was pretty much my lupper.

Vegan Mofo VI-Day 27: Tear Into a LÄRA!

That's my attempt at a "Snap Into A Slim Jim" type of catch phrase. Does it work? Am I even pronouncing LÄRA correctly? Does any of that matter if you devour the bar before you can get a photo of it?

They give out LÄRABARs every year at AIDS Walk. These and the fruit are the snacks I know I can eat for sure so it makes my day. There are chips, crackers and ice creams but those involve label reading and usually dairy. I've bought a few LÄRAs here and there but apart from the walk, I don't usually eat them. They're great but I just like Luna bars a little bit better.

This mini bar (bar bite?) was about to change my mind though. It was so bomb. I'm not the flavor naming police but I would have totally called this fudge brownie instead of chocolate chip cookie dough. I didn't get the cookie dough vibe at all, but because I was enjoying chocolate fudge brownie awesomeness I wasn't going to let the label bother me.This is what you would grab if you were fiending for something sweet and chocolaty but didn't want to bake (and eat) a whole pan of something. I'm not normally one of those people who can have a bite of something and be finished but this one put the brakes on me big time. I will have to see if they sell these in mini size because they would be a great 100 cal. snack to keep the sweet tooth happy without throwing everything else off track.

I had a long day today so no cooking. I cut my left middle finger open yesterday so typing is a pain right now. You wouldn't be able to guess that by how much rambling on I've done though. I really want to end mofo by having a really awesome final four days, but I'm afraid it will just be more rushed quickie posts like this one. Maybe I'll do at least two more substantive ones before closing out this year.

Vegan Mofo VI-Day 26: Grab and Go Joe!

I'm on no sleep today. I was up until early this morning doing last minute cleaning because we had an appraiser coming to the house today and my room wasn't ready for that at all. I had it almost all finished last week, but that was when I started to get sick and then I found out he wasn't coming until this week so I slacked off until about Wednesday night. I wanted to clean for reals and not just shove things under the bed and in the closet, but I did have to do a bit of that before taking a teeny two hour nap.

I was going to take a nap around 1 or 2, but we went to my sister's new house to get the locks changed out and leave them a little gift. Her boyfriend and his friends were moving things in and the locksmith was still working so my mom started sweeping the patio. I couldn't be a bum, so I got to work on the shelf paper my sister wanted out. The first few drawers were easy but after that it was a lot tougher. That paper was more stubborn than me. I was wiping it down with some product to help remove sticky stuff so I decided to just wipe down a bunch of shelves, let it sink in and then go back to effortlessly removing the paper. It was a good plan until I swiped my hand across a random shard of glass and cut my fingertip open. At first I thought I had poked it on a nail but it was bleeding way too much for that. After I got it under control I looked again and found the piece of glass. I worked a little more after that but couldn't get as much done without being afraid of ripping my cut open again while tugging at the paper. I put in about 2-3 hours work so I can't feel too bad about not finishing something I didn't even know I was going to begin.

My mom wanted to get some flowers and a few items for the empty fridge so I said to go to TJ's to get cinnamon rolls. While we were there I had her buy me some sushi for an easy no dishes/utensils lunch (every thing's still in boxes) and she let me get some kale chips too. I almost didn't see them but I found one bag hiding and quickly grabbed it. There were lots of other tasty treats like sammich wraps I would have loved to try but they all seemed like they would taste better warm and I had to have something I could open and eat without any fuss. Yay for TJ's coming to the rescue again. They are the unofficial mvp of my mofo this year. Thanks for letting me get away with some lazy shortcuts Joe!

Vegan Mofo VI-Day 24: Poppin' Fresh (Vegan) Dough!

When I found out there were refrigerated, ready-to-bake cinnamon rolls at TJ's I just had to get them! I didn't have a lot of money when I stopped in, but my sister offered to buy me something so I let her buy these while I took care of the more reasonable purchases. I'm not even sure how much they were since the price card was missing but I'm guessing they're under $4. Does it really matter though? These are cinnamon rolls you can have in about 20 minutes, anytime!

I really want to make my own cinnamon rolls from scratch, but I admit I am still a little intimidated by the process. TJ's is not helping me to get over it by making it much to easy for me to have yummy cinnamon rolls with very little effort. You are meant to get five rolls, but I had trouble separating mine and left it at four. They come with an icing packet too so you can have all sorts of fun decorating them as nicely or as quickly as possible depending on how soon you want to gobble them up. It would be great to just keep a few tubes stashed in your fridge for the wintery months in case you have surprise visitors or you just feel like pigging out but are in a hurry to to do so. As much as I love making my own treats from scratch, every now and then it's great to take a shortcut.

Vegan Mofo V Day 26: On the Go!

Today was my volunteer day in my niece's class. The teacher put me to work on the paper cutter. I don't mind doing it, but I get way too nervous about lining everything up correctly so I know it takes me way longer than anyone else. After the first half hour or so I get comfortable, but I know I could get a lot more done if I didn't obsess over small details. Some sheets just had to be cut in half so that was easy.The loose leaf pages had the tops and sides cut off so I had to figure out the size of those. After I did that, it went much more smoothly. I messed up when I was putting the booklets together but didn't notice until I was almost done and only had 4 of the 6 pages I needed to make the last one. I started flipping through the completed ones to find the mistake but didn't have time to fnishe before the bell rang. I told the teacher but she didn't seem to mind, yay! I know it's volunteering but I still want to do my best. I'll be more careful next time.

After school we came home and did some tidying up and had snacks before it was time to take my niece to taekwondo. I usually don't like tagging along because the studio gets crowded and stinky and it just eats up a lot of the day when you figure in the drive up, back and class time. But we need to be supportive and also some of my fave places to eat are nearby so we usually grab food before or after class. Today it was before, so that put me in a better mood to sit through it, and I brought books and magazines to keep busy (Educating Esme and the new issues of VegNews and Real Simple).

We had tofu for dinner, one of my favorite things. Simple food is my favorite food. The less fussy the better. I just want to get down and eat something yummy with the people I love. The more holes in the wall, the better (sometimes). Plus it is always nice when I don't have to cook or clean!

Vegan Mofo V Day 25: What I Ate- The Fiber Edition

Not pictured: Del Taco and cookie

I can't believe how fast this month is going by, but more than that, how easily I have fallen off track. However, I am determined to see this through and make all 31 days of posting, even if some are much better than others. Today was my interview at the library so I took forever getting ready for that and when I got home, I didn't want to do a darn thing. I think it went well but I've been wrong before. On to the eating!

I had my daily banana before taking Penny to the park. Then when I got home I had some Cracklin' Oat Bran with Original Almond Breeze. Yum! COB is one of my favorite cereals from back in the day but I haven't had it in a while because it's pricey for a small box. Plus, I usually cook a huge pan of scramble or something else to eat in the mornings, so I am not much of a cereal person these days. I will probably start up with oatmeal again when it gets colder. I had a few bites of a luna bar before we left since I was starting to get hongray but I didn't want to eat too much and feel gross during my interview. My cycle arrived just in time for that, so I haven't been feeling as specatacular as I'd like.

After the interview, I was ready to chow down and I knew my grandma would be too. She was at home watching my niece while I was at the library. Yay Grandma! It didn't occur to me until last night, that we could have put a pot of beans on and they would have been ready when I got home. Mmmmmmm. So instead, we did the third or fourth best thing and went to Del Taco. I don't go there as often as I used to, but I have been known to eat two 1/2 lb. bean burritos with green sauce and a fair amount of fries. I cut back to one burrito and fries or two burritos and no fries, but today I went for it. Of course they were not nearly as delicious as fresh frijoles de la olla, but they still hit the spot.

I did not feel like cooking at all, but I had to feed my niece dinner so I shortcutted again with some pancake mix. It was the Bob's Red Mill High Fiber Pancake Mix. I found it at Big Lots a few months ago and grabbed two just in case I ended up liking it. They were pretty good but definitely tasted healthy and fiber-y. I would probably add bananas or berries next time to break it up a bit, but my niece said "mmmmmmm" on the first bite, so I kept my comments to myself. If the kid likes it, we're good. I had a few myself before it was time to walk the dog again. I'm tempted to eat some leftover scallion pancakes but I know they will taste better as a snack tomorrow.

Okay, I ate a chocolate chip cookie when I went to grab stuff for the photo. They were right by the cereal!

Vegan Mofo V Day 23- Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eater

This was my wiped out weekend. It took me forever to get a grocery list together. I'm not kidding, it was at least an hour of flipping though books and binders trying to decide what to make this week. I'm still not even sure what's going on, but there should be some tasty things in the near future.My original intention was to get a lot of cooking done tomorrow since I have an interview on Tuesday. I don't want to risk not being prepared for that by having too much going on in the kitchen (I don't even want to look at my resumé!). Of course now, I'm past my bedtime for that goal, so we'll see how tomorrow goes. I predict caffeine will have an appearance.

I baked from scratch all day yesterday so today I thought it was time to take a shortcut. When I was at the store today I saw the Betty Crocker Pumpkin Spice cookie mix that Celeste from Growing Up Veg used a few weeks ago. I grabbed two packages and tossed them into my cart. I wasn't sure when I would make them but I knew it would be soon. I haven't made anything with pumpkin and we're almost through with October.

My mom asked me to mix and bake the brownie mix she bought, so since the oven was already on, I thought I'd bake some vegan cookies to cancel out the omni brownies. I'm glad I did since the brownies did not turn out well, they made a lovely consolation price. I do feel bad that her treats didn't work out, but I warned her I have never had much success with brownies. I have not tried the ones from VCIYCJ yet, so hopefully that will be the end of my brownie failures. I had no luck finding milk-free bittersweet baking chocolate for the pumpkin pie brownies, I'm wondering whether unsweetened will do. I'll have to consult the ppk.

taco salad tuesday

Even though I'm vegan, I do not eat salads often. I know I will not become a raw foodist on account of I like most of my food just shy of burned. I'll occasionally get salads when I am out but making them at home almost never happens. If I'm going to chop and prep a bunch of stuff I'd just as soon cook.

But there are some days when I don't want to cook, like when my sister works late or my niece is at her dad's. Or when I have not done a proper grocery run and I have to get a bit more creative, which I don't always feel like doing if it's only for one person. That's why I usually overcook so on days like these I can just have leftovers.

We had tacos a few days ago so I used the leftover taco mix to make a taco salad. I had salad mix and some extra sweet peppers in the bin. I added some cannelini beans to try and imitate the salad at The Press. I wish I had saved some onion from making Snobby Joe's earlier, but it was still good without it. I didn't think I would eat the small plate I fixed for myself, but I made light work of it. When I went back for seconds I decided to layer everything in a bowl for easier scoopage. Last minute lazy leftovers are a good idea sometimes.

15 Minute Meal-take that Ray Ray!

The breakroom at my sister's job has tons of "family" magazines and for the past few months she has been bringing home tear sheets of things we should try. I am working on a binder of printed/copied/torn out recipes but they don't always make it to the binder right away, sometimes they are shoved in cookbooks or who knows where else. She has been wanting me to make this gross-good recipe for a long time but I misplaced the recipe until a few weeks ago. It was hiding in the front of Veganomicon with some other homeless recipes.

It is a Campbell's "make in minutes" recipe which is listed as 20 minutes, but you can probably do it in 10 if you use veg crumbles instead of ground beef, which you should :). I took longer since I just started throwing things in the skillet and thought I could cut through all six tortillas with the pizza cutter, maybe next time. It's 1 lb. "beef", 1 can tomato soup (+water if you use condensed), 1/2 cup salsa, 6 flour tortillas (6") cut into 1" pieces and 1/2 cup shredded cheese.I used Yves Meatless Ground, Pace Picante "Medium", and a store-brand tomato soup instead of the Campbell's condensed. I was surprised to find a milk-free version at the mainstream market since nearly all of the ones at health food store contained milk. There was one from Imagine that did not but I only needed a single can and not a quart. I was not going to add any soy cheese but at the last minute I tore up two tofutti singles and tossed them into the pan. I seasoned it up a bit and of course, added some nooch.

It was a lot tastier than I thought it would be and was just enough for we three to have for dinner. I think I will double it next time so we have leftovers for lunch, or in case we have another setting at the table. There is also an option to add sour cream so I might do that next time as it was unexpectedly spicy. My niece's usual "get of out eating" card is that something is spicy, but she kept on saying how un-spicy it was so my sister and kept our mouths shut. She is rarely the first one to back a new recipe so it always makes me happy when she likes something I make, even more so if it is a quickie. I love to take forever in the kitchen but during the week when we're all working, it's not as likely to happen. I need to get more one-pot recipes in rotation, will have to make Isa's Tempeh helper soon.

p.s. I ate last night's soup for breakfast this morning and it got a "hell yeah" on the first bite. I am in love with the celery pesto, who knew?!

I am a lazy mofo

Work has been really stressful lately with so many of our customers trying to close homes by the end of the year. It is great to be so busy, but the past few weeks are definitely starting to wear me down. We have a tradition of watching a horror movie and eating pizza or some other "fun" dinner on Friday nights in October. Tonight we are watching "Beetlejuice" since my niece is not yet the diehard horror fanatic we had hoped she would be. We had hot dogs and Road's End mac and chreese. The laziness continues with cookies from EatPastry. We had the "Chocoholic Chunk" a few weeks ago so tonight we are trying "Chocolate Chunk". The first time we made them we used the toaster oven since it was still too warm out to turn on the oven-oven. Since we already had the oven on tonight, we are going big. I haven't tasted them yet, but it is tough to hold out when the whole house smells like cookies, even if they are refrigerated and not entirely homemade.

I am all for getting down and making food from scratch but since I don't always have the time, it is good to know that there is an expanding array of convenience food offerings for we vegans. Even though I may have some fridge cookies now and then I know I will make up my kitchen time at some point with some homemade food love, especially when Isa and Terry's cookie book comes out (must pre-order!).

toaster oven tuesday (vegan mofo day 14)

we had two gentlemen join us for dinner tonight via nate's meatball's and newman's own marinara sauce. can you smell the laziness? the most "work" i did was to mince onion and garlic and chop the bellpepper. then i sauteed the onions for a good while before adding in the onion and then the peppers. the "meat"balls went in a few minutes before the sauce in which they simmered until just perfect. i sliced open the baguettes and lined the bottoms with tofutti mozarella, spooned on some sauciness and topped with more mozarella. after a minute or two in the toaster oven, dinner was ready. we had salads to go along with it so it wasn't a complete sham. slacking tasted pretty good tonight.

i'm not sure what to make tomorrow, most likely a soup/stew or chili since i requested celery and carrots i had better use them or else. as lazy as tonight's dinner was i'm not completely sure i'll ever be down with the quickness of the pdq vegetarian cookbook. i know i take forever with prep but that's because i enjoy cooking and don't like to rush. i can pick up the pace when the occasion calls for it. i can't knock it yet since i haven't tried it, but so far it seems like it is too darn quick, for example, frozen chopped onion and refrigerated minced garlic. i'm going to give it a chance though because if/when i have a different schedule which does not allow as much time between getting off work and getting dinner on the table, it might be just what i need.

next week i start another great adventure to do with one of my favorite mofo's, my puppy "penny". i've not been the best dogmother the past few months so i owe it to both of us, but especially her, to regain control of the situation. our vet recommended a trainer and i observed one of his group classes today. we can start officially in the new group next monday but are welcome to drop in on any of the other sessions for more practice. a few of the dogs were more stubborn than she is and more than a few of the owners less assertive than i am. from where i stood i felt confident that i could/would do a better job than those people, but we'll find out soon enough for sure. the best owner/handler of the bunch was a ten year old girl with a dog that probably weighed as much as she did. awesome.