Vegan Mofo IV Week Two: Hail Seitan

I tried making seitan a few years ago and it didn't work.I kept buying more vital wheat gluten in hopes of trying again, but I never did until yesterday. I was still nervous as to what would happen, but I knew if I just took my time and followed the directions it should be fine. I made the Simple Seitan from Veganomicon since it's the bible, and it claimed to be easier than the VWAV recipe.

After I got it all kneaded and threw it in the pot, I did the dishes, relaxed and hoped for the best. Then I took the dog for a walk while it cooled down. I wasn't sure what recipe I would use it for so I didn't cut it up, just stored it in the broth until I made up my mind. Later on, I flipped through cookbooks to find something to make with my new masterpiece. I chose the Breaded Seitan Nuggets from Table for Two,  knowing I would be short on time this morning and I could feed them to my niece for lunch tomorrow.

The nuggets turned out great. I ate more than the one or two I thought I would test before putting them away for another day. I tried them with barbecue sauce and ketchup, and it pains me to say this, but they tasted so much better with ketchup. My niece tried a few after school and  rated them 7 out of 10. She is a tough judge.

Now that I'm not afraid of seitan, I want to try more recipes, like the Almost All American Seitan Pot Pie. I would have done it today, but I was already making Tempeh-Oatmeal Meatloaf. We'll save some heartiness for the weeks to come.

go granny go (vegan mofo day 13)

two firsts for me today, which should be embarassing, but better late than never i think.

our backyard was a wreck this afternoon due to ridiculous winds made even more ridiculous by irresponsible neighbors not cleaning up their party decorations. there were balloons and other trash strewn in my yard when i got home. i'm pretty sure i wasn't able to recover all of the balloons and the dogs may have ate some while i was at work, will know tomorrow for sure. anyhow, i vigorously raked the yard for the first time ever. we don't have much in the way of seasons but we do get some strong winds and the fires that go along with them. normally i wouldn't care for the backyard to get a bit messy since no one will see it, etc. now that i have a crazy goat dog who will eat anything and everything, i'm way more conscious of keeping the yard clean and safe.

the other milestone was my first batch of non-bisquick pancakes. i did pull it out and make the whole wheat apple pancakes from table for two (used granny smith). i don't know why i never braved the world beyond bisquick. it's about the same amount of measuring and mixing but i feel a lot better not totally relying on the box mix. no pictures since i did get a late start and had to quickly serve the hungry child. they should turn out prettier next time, also will add more cinammon and possibly the raisins. i haven't made pancakes in a long time due to my poor lefthanded flipping "skills" but since these were on the thicker side it was slightly easier. believe you me, i shall dust if off and try these again.

our menu plan for the week is a bit lacking. tomorrow we're having meatball subs and thursday night soyrizo, not as inspired as last week, not sure if it is mofo fatigue or being overwhelmed by so much good stuff to try and make. wednesday is my "free" night so maybe i will make up for at least one of those lazy/boring days. yesterday i ordered my slingshot for next year and a few cookzines as well, c'mon priority mail!

gonzo for garbanzos (vegan mofo day 12)

i finally made the "italian beans and bows" from table for two, delicious, nutricious and super easy to make. what normally slows me down is prep/chopping, but since this recipe called for canned beans and tomato paste, i only really had to measure out the dry ingredients while the pasta cooked. i was powerful hungry after getting back from grocery shopping and almost ate a frozen meal, but i'm glad i put in the 20-30 minutes and ate this instead. i served a small plate and quickly went back for a bit more. i packed the rest for lunches, mine for tomorrow and my niece's for tuesday. i'm in charge of her dinner tomorrow and i'm thinking of making the whole wheat apple pancakes, but we'll see how it goes. i can never really plan too much for monday.

in other news, i finally made up my bed properly, new clean sheets and not one, but two blankets. it's been sheet city for some time now so it's great to finally need blankets, and slippers. pretty soon it will be time to bring the dogs in at night, not sure how penny will fit in my room now that the bed takes most of it up, but we'll find a way.

get yer rayaya's out (vegan mofo day 8)

this was my second time making rayaya's tofu cutlets from table for two. for all my love of fried foods, i kind of suck at frying, go figure. these turned out better than last time, when i think i used too much oil and didn't coat the pieces well enough. third time will be a charm i guess, but i do prefer the crispy tofu sticks on the opposite page. it's still a bit too hot to use the oven, hopefully we get a break soon.

since someone was wonderful enough to recall the copy of bless me ultima i had checked out, i stopped by the library after work to return it. i was a bit peeved since i had barely started it, but then realized with all of the mo-foolery i would probably not read it in the next three weeks even if i had been able to renew it. i'll pick up another copy when my cookbook hold harvest comes in and hopefully that is soon. i did get caramelo, the vegetarian family cookbook, and williams-sonoma thanksgiving entertaining, woo!

after that, i decided to do a few laps around the "regular" supermarket and i saw this. they had blueberry, plain and strawberry banana, which are only half of the flavors (raspberry, vanilla, passionate mango). i almost got the blueberry one, but it was almost three dollars for one teeny yogurt so i put it back. hopefully i find it again in another store for less because it sounded really good. i'm probably late to the game as usual, but at least i got there.