Mo! Fo! Let's go!

I love that the first day of Vegan Mofo IV also falls on World Vegan Day. Let's keep the festival of firsts rolling.

Today I made my first recipe from Appetite for Reduction, Quinoa, White Bean and Kale Stew. As a vegan chubster, to say I am eagerly anticipating the release of this book is an understatement. I already pre-ordered my copy, but only noticed a few days ago there were teaser recipes on the ppk. Since I have white beans coming out of my ears and I love soups and stews, I couldn't wait to try this recipe, especially since it was raining when I read it. I bought all my ingredients and then came home to find out the forecast for this week is high 80's to low 90's which only bummed me out for a second since I knew the stew would still be amazing.

This was my first time using parsnips and fennel seed. I've wanted to try a dish with parnsips for about a year now but just haven't for some ridiculous reason. I have extra parsnips, carrots and potatoes left over so I'm thinking a roasted vegetable dish should be happening sometime later in the week. I haven't planned a Thanksgiving menu yet so I'll most likely be trying a recipe or two each week until I get it right. I have a pile of tear-outs and copies of wonderful seasonal recipes and I'm sure there are tons of suggestions from fellow mofo's who always inspire (and sometimes intidimidate) me.

I think my stew came out stewier/starchier than Isa's, but it still looks and tastes delicious. I have an omni friend who is trying to make the transition to veganism so I am definitely going to send some her way. We'll turn them all out eventually, one bite at a time.

big ups to the brits

Last night I went to fresh & easy for the first time. I had heard mixed reviews of the store and I think my own review would come up somewhere in the middle, but I've only been to one location so I can't make a call quite yet. I will say for the moment their tofu price is what grabbed me. Ninety eight cents! Stater's, which is one of the cheaper mainstream markets, is at $1.49 which is ridiculous, until you go to Ralph's and it is about twenty cents more (might even be thirty). I know I am getting older when I am really excited to save fifty cents per brick, but it all adds up.

For a "regular" market they did have a lot of items I would have to make a special trip to a "health" store to buy. Of course they cost about the same as they would at a special store, but it might end up to be a bit cheaper since you are cutting out the extra store trip. We had just finished dinner before walking over so thank goodness I did not go crazy hungry shopping. I got some pre-cut apples (call me lazy!), the all-important tofu, red lentils, quinoa, frozen hash brown patties (lazy again!) and some cupcakes for my mom's. There were lots of beans/grains I wanted to get but since my cupboard is far from empty I know it can wait. I will definitely give them another try, the only bummer is the store nearest to us is closing.

red beans and what?

A few months ago my sister brought home a recipe for Quinoa and Red Bean burritos she found in copy of Parents magazine in the breakroom at her work. Since I have always loved beans and have a new love of quinoa (since it is so amazingly good for you), it was perfect. The only problem was I could not find the "sweet and spicy pepper blend" at Stater's. I knew if I went to Albertson's or Vons it would probably be there but since we're on budgets those stores are not in our weekly grocery runs as much as they used to be. I thought I was saved when I ordered the seasoning from McCormick's directly, but found out a few days later it was on backorder. Foiled again!

I finally went to Albertson's last week and of course they had what I had been looking for all along. I had to dig toward the back since most of the bottles were dated with a May 26 expiration date, but I did find one that is good through November. However since I am so in love with this bean/grain combo, I really doubt it will last me that long.

Once again I am pleased with a simple and quick veg recipe from a "family" magazine. It's a keeper for lazier days when I don't have the time or energy to prep my heart out. I used huge burrito size Romero torts,Stater's red beans, medium Pace picante sauce and follow your heart monterey jack on top. I didn't change anything since it was the first time I made it, but next time I would add a bit more seasoning and maybe make it a bit spicier. It was still hot when I made this so, I opted to do the "baking" in the toaster oven since I was only making two test burritos for myself. If you're not making all 8 at once, you can get away with 2-3 few "toast" cycles in the t/o instead of the regular oven for 12 minutes. It will get just as toasty/melty in way less time.

Photos are from the second batch I made today for lunch, told you they're good! I did give the 12 minute cycle another chance and put them for a few minutes more since I like mine toasty, more like on the edge of burned really. They were even better than the ones I made last night. I need to haul ass to the store and get more quinoa because I know I'll be wanting this again in a week or two.

keen-what?

when i packed my lunch this morning i had mixed feelings about the nearly empty produce bin, proud of having not been wasteful but wanting to fill it up again. i don't normally go to the market in the middle of the week but i picked up a few cookbooks at lunch and decided to try one of them right away. even though i've been saving money by borrowing instead of buying, i still haven't made the best use of the books. i used to at least make some copies or try a few recipes, but lately i had not done more than a few flip throughs.

since it was supposed to rain, i decided to make the quinoa vegetable soup from you won't believe it's not vegan. it was my first time using the bouillon cubes and i had loads of anxiety about not dissolving sufficiently and also that i should have only used one instead of two. i was also concerned that the only seasonings mentioned were salt and pepper. true that you can't go wrong with the classics but a little extra spice never hurt anyone. i won't really know how it turned out until tomorrow but to be safe i eventually added in some bay leaves and the last tablespoon or so from my tube of tomato paste. those things are lifesavers.

p.s. in addition to my soup supplies, i also got a few key ingredients to make french scramble again. i'm hooked. and since i have tempeh and potatoes, the brunch bomb is ready to drop sometime this weekend, if not friday morning.