My Fridge Runneth Over

One of the ways I dish  up a quick lunch is to use leftovers, and this weekend produced quite a generous quantity! I took the lead in cooking for my birthday party on Sunday. I made a curry coconut lentil stew, and a cashew cream cake. Both were vegan and both were delicious! The hostess sent us home with a rice noodle dish normally made with a fish sauce and featuring pork and chicken, but  she made it with green  beans and tofu for me. Another friend served a up a curried carrot and cabbage dish, that was accidentally vegan. So for today's lunch I used up the last of the lentils along with a salad and warm flat bread.  The nice thing about doing a lot of cooking on the weekend is the rest of the week is a snap. I really won't have to make lunch or dinner until tomorrow night. Unfortunately  I do not have any pictures of the cream cake, because it got eaten up too fast!

Happy Eating
Kim

What kind of sandwhich is that?

Lunches were hard for me, because I was so used to meat and cheese sandwiches or cheese sandwiches when I became vegetarian. When I did a vegan challenge last year I ate nothing but Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches or salad for lunch for a whole month. Don't get me wrong I love a good salad and PBJ is a classic, but both can get pretty boring after awhile. Then I discovered the hitherto lowly garbanzo bean, and its amazing versatility. I had long known that garbanzo beans, otherwise known as chickpeas, could be used to make humus, falafel, and and three bean salad, but I hadn't given them much thought beyond that. Until I was introduced to chickpea salad.
I have seen it on other blogs as faux-tuna, or un-tuna, but refuse to call it that because I think it does chickpea salad an injustice. For one thing no cruelty to tuna and for another no nasty fish breath, the kind that makes you never want to open your mouth to speak again-- gone.
So here is my take on chick pea salad, it only takes about twenty minute to make, less if a small child isn't stealing chickpeas out of the bowl:

1 15oz can of chickpeas rinsed and drained.
2-4 Tbs veganaise or cocktail sauce
1Tbs spicy brown mustard
1/4 cup dill relish
1 celery stalk finely chopped
1 tsp cilantro (optional)_
1-2 tsp of Old Bay seasoning

Mash up chickpeas leaving a few pieces intact, it should be chunky not smooth like hummus
Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until well blended. Tadah! You're done! Can be eaten on bread, crackers, lettuce or straight out of the bowl!

Happy Eating
Kim

Oatmeal - Because I am Bert of Bert and Ernie

Ahh! Oatmeal, after yesterday's sugar rush I felt more than ready to get back to basics. I resorted to my old standby: quick cooking rolled oats. Two minutes in the microwave, add some almond milk and brown sugar and Voila-- the breakfast of champions (or of an overly tired mom whose kid doesn't like cold cereal very much).

Truly, with the exception of toast and cold cereal, there is no easier breakfast item to veganize.
As much as I like the convenience of quick cooking rolled oats, I even like them cold, but my family thinks that is just wrong, about five years ago I fell in love with steel cut or Irish oatmeal. In the wintertime it is hearty and filling and has a nutty flavor rolled oats just can not compete with. However the little suckers take around thirty to forty minutes to cook. I simply do not have that kind of time in the mornings unless I get up super early. Crock-pot oatmeal to the rescue! This is brilliant, I say brilliant! Put the desired amount of oats in a crock-pot, add enough non-dairy milk or water to cover, set the crock-pot on low overnight and wake up in the morning to the comforting smell of cooked oatmeal perfection. One word of advice: Do not put raisins, or dried cranberries, or any other dried fruit in until the next morning. The liquid re-hydrates them so they like little alien egg pods, and nobody wants to eat alien egg pods!

Kim

P.S. Next week will be vegan lunches -- which was the hardest category for me.
P.P.S. Last night I started on Nana's scarf 162 chains! Whew! And for those of you who are wondering: No, I have not finished the stress sock. Arrgh!

Breakfast Interrupted

This vegan MoFo breakfast post will be brought to you by my birthday. I was going to post about oatmeal and wax lyrical about steel cut versus quick-cooking rolled oats, but then I realized I had something more exciting to write about: cake! That's right, I made my very first vegan birthday cake for myself with the Bumper's help. I wanted chocolate, but the Bumper wanted strawberry so I figured I would give the cake she wants for her birthday a trial run. I used this recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie: (http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2013/06/12/healthy-cake-recipe/).

The finished product tasted kind of like a giant pancake, not overly sweet, but very yummy. The frosting was where I got into trouble. I wanted to use the coconut milk frosting that Katie suggested, but the cream did not rise to the top. In desperation I used the recipe on the back of the confectioners sugar box and veganized it. I used Earth Balance brand vegan buttery spread, and used the coconut milk. I threw in the strawberry slurry I made and mixed it all together. The frosting was a hit. The Bumper loved it and so did Nana. I thought it a little too sweet so I will be playing around with it a bit more.

Here is what I did:
1/4 cup of vegan margarine
2 cups of powdered sugar
3Tbs coconut milk
4 frozen strawberries
1tsp vanilla
1Tbs powdered sugar.

First blend frozen strawberries, vanilla and the Tablespoon of powdered sugar.
In a seperate bowl beat together at low speed the powdered sugar, margerine, and coconut milk.
Pour in the strawberry mixture and beat again until peaks begin to form. Refrigerate for 1 hour then frost your cake.

Happy Eating
Kim

p.s. Sorry about the picture quality, but three year old's and frosted cake in the same room do not last long!

Something New

Today was just as hot as yesterday and by the time we got back from Taiji class, neither the Bumper, nor Nana, nor I felt like eating anything warm, but since we had had smoothies the day before none of us were particularly enthused by that prospect. So the Bumper and Nana ate cold cereal and I had chia pudding for the first time.

Blog-land has been abuzz with chia recipes so I thought I would give it a whirl. I found a simple recipe :http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2014/03/30/chia-pudding/ from Chocolate Covered Katie (http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/). Last night I followed the instructions for soaking the seeds and this morning before class I checked on it. It was watery and the some of the seeds had stuck to the bottom. I gave the mixture a quick stir before going to the gym, and when I got back it had reached pudding like consistency.

 I used agave for my sugar and added nutmeg and cinnamon. Eagerly I gave it a taste. It was... different. I am not honestly sure I liked the taste, or the consistency. The Bumper liked the seeds raw, and she also liked them in pudding format.  I put the pudding in a blender and I liked the consistency better (plus the seeds did not get stuck in my teeth).

Overall I am glad I tried the chia pudding, and I think I will make it again for a treat using the chocolate version, but it will not be a breakfast staple for me.

P.S. Note to self: do not put the bananas in the blender with the pudding. The pudding tastes better with the bananas on top.

Kim

Keep it Cool

Ready to Go!

When the weather outside is hot and humid, like it has been the past few days as summer sends its last salvo, even the thought of cooking a hot hearty breakfast makes my stomach turn. Smoothies to the rescue. I like that smoothies are fast and easy, and with the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables this time of year the possibilities are endless. This morning I made the Bumper's favorite smoothie: Banana-Blueberry . The smoothie is super easy to make and you can't taste the Kale -- which is a bonus when you are trying to get a suddenly picky toddler to eat her leafy greens!

1-2 cups of Kale  (2-4 large leaves washed and stems removed)
1/2 cup non-dairy milk of choice -- I used Vanilla Almond Milk
1Tbs Almond Butter
1Tbs Ground Flax
1 -2 Bananas
2 Cups Frozen Blueberries

The Smoothie tastes way better than it looks

Put everything into the blender and blend until smooth. I like my smoothies on the thick side so I tend to use less milk. Enjoy!

Kim


P.S. Tomorrow I will be casting on the chain for Nana's scarf.
P.P. S What vegan smoothie do you like?

The Bumper liked it!

Meatless Monday and the Start of Vegan Month of Food

I don't really have a theme for Vegan Month of Food, but I will be focusing on one meal per week, the meals will be quick, easy and with as little processed food as I can manage  so there won't be many veggie burger, Tofurky, or cheese substitute type recipes). When I first tried to go vegan a few years ago I thought being vegan was far less healthy than being vegetarian, and that vegans ate nothing but soy burgers and fake cheese.  I have learned otherwise and this month I hope to share what I have learned. This week is Vegan Breakfasts, then I will feature Vegan Lunches, then Suppers, and lastly, my favorite, Vegan Desserts. Happy Eating!

Today for breakfast is Cream of Wheat-okay not terribly exciting, but yes it is vegan. When I was growing up my mom would always make it with milk and egg added in. These days I use plain soy or almond milk and omit the egg. Today I chose banana and blueberries as toppings. It only takes about ten to fifteen minutes to prepare and the Bumper loves it.

Kim

P.S. All is quiet on the sock front.