Summer's Over, MoFo Begins!

First of all, I can't believe it's time for Vegan MoFo again! If that doesn't kick me back into blogging on this site, nothing will. It's been a crazy-busy summer, what with two vacations and what-not, but now I'm back from my most recent foray to Key West and ready to dig back in, get back to work, and make it happen.

Second, I've got a new focus. As a co-author of many diet books, I feel compelled to perhaps at lesat consider practicing what I preach with a bit more rigor (i.e., Do I really need to make cookies again? Do I really need to eat that many Twizzlers while watching Project Runway? Do I really need the entire avocado AND the crumbled corn chips on top of my chili? I mean seriously...)

Third, about the yoga...I've had to take the whole summer off from asana because of a knee injury that is finally seeming almost better. I can almost do Uttanasa again, and for anybody who knows me, you know that's big because pre-knee-issue, I could practically rest my forearms on the darned floor. I have hypermobility syndrome which sounds really cool if you want to do lotus pose while in headstand, but is not really cool at all when you suffer one injury after another because you are too flexible and your muscles can't compensate and you have to stop doing asana altogether! Therefore, my new yoga focus is strength, strength, strength. Build it!

This third point dovetails nicely with the second point, since losing weight is of course easier on taxed tendons and lax ligaments. These both circle back nicely, like a lovely dhanurasana, to Vegan Mofo, where I will be blogging much more regularly about both these issues--with all the focus on the food, of course, as is required for MoFo. (Maybe November can be MoYo.)

In preparation for my renewed rigor on all counts, here are some pics of what I've been eating this summer, when I wasn't gallivanting around Key West or lazing about on Topsail Island or hailing the pool bar servers at the Don Cesar in Saint Pete. Oh what the heck, I'll share some of those pics, too.

Kiddos and me in the sea (Topsail Island, NC)

The gorgeous Don Cesar in St. Pete Beach

Uncle John and I on the St. Pete Pier

This is the car we rented to explore Florida. I think Ben took more pictures of the car than anything else.

Breakfast by the pool.

Hummus wrap on Duval Street at the Lazy Dog.

I swear he was posing.

One of the Hemingway House cats--he didn't feel like showing us whether he had six toes or not.

This guy owns the street.

We won a bottle of wine at the AIDS benefit raffle at the Green Parrot!

Roasted farmer's market vegetable platter with cranberry almond tabbouleh and ponzu-glazed tofu at Seasons 52 in Tampa, on our last night in Florida.

Good-bye Key West!

And with all that, I bid good-bye to summer and welcome fall with open arms. Let's do this thing!

Fast Food

I love to cook, but if I am to be totally, brutally honest (and diligent about practicing the yoga principle of satya), I have to admit that I don't usually spend very much time or energy in the kitchen.  Sure, I'll go on the occasional cooking binge on a weekend without much on the schedule, but when I'm struck with that kind of non-negotiable belly hunger that absolutely will not wait for fussy preparations, I eat whatever I can make the fastest.

It occurred to me today, when in the throes of exactly this situation, that some people might want the occasional inspirational idea for really quick meals that are actually nutritious and plant-based, and also look pretty.  Because really, aren't aesthetics at least 30% of the satisfaction?  

Of course, the first order of business is to have plenty of basic ingredients on hand.  That means a pretty constant supply of fresh fruits and vegetables, good bread, and in my case at least, brown mustard.  Add some extra firm tofu and you can make lunch really fast.  Here's what I had today--and I actually have some variation of this for lunch pretty often:

This involved frying two slices of extra firm tofu in a teaspoon of sesame oil, drizzling them as they cooked with a teaspoon of soy sauce, then sprinkling with hot pepper flakes, sesame seeds, and a little bit of Spike seasoning before flipping.  This took about 5 minutes.  Put the tofu on a toasted bun (toast bun while frying), top with mustard, lettuce, tomato slices, add some blueberries/strawberries and a handful of pretzels on the side, and take it back to your desk where you are still trying to finish up that chapter.  Wait, am I projecting again?  In any case, this took all of 8 minutes. And it's pretty.

Chili Dogs

When I was young, chili dogs were my favorite food.  I didn't even have to think about it when someone asked me the question.  On my birthday, my parents used to take me to King's, a restaurant that served foot-long chili dogs.  Heaven!  (That restaurant is now a Perkins.  They do not have chili dogs--let alone veg chili dogs.)

Buns out of the oven

So I had some leftover homemade veg chili I made the other day--really good, with black beans, zucchini chunks, sweet potato, lots of spice--and I had delicious apple sage sausages.  All I needed was the buns, so I whipped up these lovely creatures using half King Arthur's Bread Flour and half whole wheat pastry flour.  They were a bit too big so I had to trim them down for chili dog size, but they were fresh and so delicious.  Even better than I remember!

Mmm...

Working lunch

As I finish up my next book, I am eating lunch at my desk on Saturday.  Bummer!  But that's o.k. because I get to eat two pieces of wholegrain sourdough toast. I topped one with mashed sweet potatoes, black beans, and pink salt.  The other got the almond butter, bananas, and raw cacao nibs treatment.  Another cup of coffee, and I'll finish this thing in no time!

Lenten update:  I am lame.  Last night at Happy Hour, I had a shot of Patron with club soda and a lime.  But just one, and nothing when I went out for dinner later!  I'm not going to throw in the towel, I'm going to consider that a single slip and try not to do it again.  Still no sugar.  Interestingly, I noticed that I wasn't constantly hungry all day yesterday--likely a product of reduced sugar intake.  Note the delicious natural sweetness of my lunch--who needs cane sugar when you can eat like this? 

Curry soup, sushi rolls, and sesame coleslaw

I've been eyeing a recipe in Vegetarian Times for Chickpea and Greens Curry Soup.  Last night I finally made it, leaving off the suggested yogurt garnish.  Basic method:  Saute onions and a lot of spices (curry, cinnamon, turmeric, chili powder, nutmeg), then add chopped greens (I used lacinato kale, the recipe suggests spinach), then add can of chickpeas, 1 chopped tomato, 4 cups veg broth, 1 can coconut milk, and simmer for an hour.  Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro .  It was good but not salty enough for me, so I added a bit of soy sauce towards the end, which made it perfect. 



As that simmered, I made sushi rolls, one flavor with marinated tofu, avocado, and green onions, the other with sweet potatoes and sauteed mushrooms.  Deliciousness.  My teenager devoured most of the sweet potato rolls--he's not very good at sharing.  Finally, chopped red cabbage tossed with chopped scallions, cilantro, sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, a pinch of 5-spice powder, and sesame seeds.  




Lenten update: So far, so good.  No sugar, no alcohol.  We'll see how it goes when I meet a friend for happy hour today and order a club soda with lemon.  Will I be able to handle the inevitable peer pressure?

Deprivation, or Discipline? (On the occasion of Lent.)

No more glasses of this for awhile...

Or any of these...

I'm not Catholic, and yet, I go through this every year:  What to give up for Lent.  I think I'm obsessed with Lent because I am not someone overwhelmed by a sense of personal discipline.  In fact, I'm kind of lax--hedonistic, one might even say.  I'm not good at deprivation.  Lent seems like an opportunity to work on what is arguably a failing.  (Not that arguable, really.)

As is my custom, I had no problem feasting on Original Field Roast Grain Meat Company Apple Sage Sausage, homemade pancakes (from VwaV) with maple syrup, and tofu scramble (freestyle, lots of curry powder) with fresh pico de gallo and avocado cubes and spinach, along with a couple of homemade Hurricanes (orange juice, pineapple juice, lime juice, white rum, spiced rum, amaretto, strawberry syrup, angostura bitters) on Fat Tuesday.  (Sorry, I was festive without a camera.)

But then, I had to face the yearly dilemna:  What to give up.

I'm never very good at this.  I've tried unsuccessfully to give up sugar for 40 days oh...enough times to make me want to bake a batch of cupcakes to forget.  In fact, I don't think I've ever once been able to give up anything for Lent and make it all the way to Easter.  Not a very good track record, I guess, looking back on it.

Sheesh.

Every year, however, my health habits have gotten a little bit better.  That's why, this year, I've decided to try giving cane sugar and alcohol the boot.  For 40 days.  Until Easter.

DEFINITELY no more of these...

I chose cane sugar specifically for two reasons.  One, I eat too much of it.  Two, if I just said "sugar" and could not take occasional refuge in Rice Dream Pies or maple syrup, I would surely fail.  And I'm adding alcohol because I just can't take it like I used to, and I don't think it's doing me any favors.  It won't kill me to give it a 40-day rest.  As I told a friend the other day, I can have a chocolate martini on Easter, right?  It's not like it's forever. 

It's only going to feel like it.

Not even any of these...sigh...

So here is my pep talk to myself:

"I can do it!  Go Hungry Yogi!  You don't need no stinkin' sugar.  And the next time you cook something good, take a darned picture!"

Merry Vegan Christmas!

My boys on Christmas, plus girlfriend Hailey

Christmas snow!

It's been a crazy year.  So crazy, we've had nobody over.  We've had no holiday gatherings at our house in something like 3 years?  We've always politely suggested that we "meet at *your* house."  Because our house was what we euphemistically like to call "in flux."  I was working like a maniac and Ben was doing about seventy-five projects at once, and, well...you know how it goes (or maybe you don't, but if that's the case, then let's meet at *your* house).

However, my poor mom, who hates to cook, and whom we abandoned on Thanksgiving to visit Ben's parents, really needs a break.  Therefore, I finally agreed we would have Christmas Day dinner at our house.

So, never mind my sprained ankle, stress level, and work load I am ignoring this week for the sake of my own sanity.  It's Christmas, which means it's a time for family, love, sparkly gifts, and especially cooking.  Here is the menu I'm planning:

Tofurken from here (because doesn't that just look so cool?)
Garlic mashed potatoes (no recipe, winging it)
Roasted blue-and-sweet potatoes with onions and mushrooms (no recipe, winging it)
Isa's punk rock chickpea gravy (from VWAV)
Dinner rolls with Earth Balance (purchased)
Peas (just plain and roly-poly, the way the kids like them)
Big Christmas Salad (with red peppers, hearts of palm, artichoke hearts, all that good stuff--free form)
Jamaican rice and peas (by which they mean beans--a recipe we got from a girl named Nana in Jamaica--she says it's the best)
Cranberry sauce (homemade because really, it's so easy, I don't get the canned thing--no recipe, winging it)
Gooseberry pie (with the berries from my dad's gooseberry bush, waiting patiently in the freezer--no recipe, winging it)
Red velvet cake with pink frosting (special-ordered from Fair Grounds coffeehouse, my fave vegan bakery)

Do you think that will be enough food? (Full disclosure: We also got a local organic ham so my dad doesn't swoon from a perceived lack of sustenance, and I'm working on him to take his first baby step from supermarket meat to locally-produced-on-small-family-farm meat, but the ham doesn't get to come to the table.  I know.).

I will report back with photos once cooking has commenced.   For now, I'm off to finish my shopping and then do some yoga so I can calm down enough to have a steady hand in the kitchen tomorrow and the next day.  Peace on earth and happy merry to all!

UPDATE:  Pictures!  Also, I was lucky enough to win one of the handmade cookbooks from Vegan Eats and Treats, so added the Panforte from that to my Christmas menu.

Grace, the cockatiel, is helping me choose a recipe.

Panforte ready to bake

Finished Panforte from Vegan Eats & Treats homemade cookbook, "Inter-Galactic Vegan Delights"

Rolling out the dough for Tofurken

Adding the sausages

Adding the cashew cheese layer

Rolling it up

Getting ready to steam it

Steaming...

Finished Tofurken--yum!

Preparing the gooseberry pie

Ready to bake

Cranberry sauce

Blue white sweet potatoes, ready to roast

New Refrigerator!

For about six months now, we've been limping along with a refrigerator that needs to be completely emptied about once every ten days, turned off for 24 hours, then restarted.  This is due to some fancy-schmancy broken part that would cost nearly half the price of a new refrigerator to replace.  Finally, after one too many trips down the stairs and out to the garage (aka beer) refrigerator with armfuls of food, I decided enough was enough.  We were going to have to suck it up and buy a new one.

So, after much research and a series of fortunate mishaps for which Sears and LG were variously to "blame," we are getting this new refrigerator, at a drastically reduced price.   It's a long story, but suffice it to say, I am a happy customer.

However, upon measuring last night, we realized that our cabinets above our old refrigerator are too low.  At some point, we plan to rip them all out anyway, so Ben took the circular saw and just cut off the bottom of the cabinets.  Why not?  I never liked those cabinets. 

Now, we've got a space all ready.  They will come and haul away the old one and install the new one.  Supposedly.  I remain skeptical, as it all seems too good to be true. 

I swear I'm going to keep this one shiny-sparkling-clean, oh mighty refrigerator gods!  I swear it!

In the meantime, I let the camera battery die so wasn't able to take pictures of what I've been cooking all week, but this included:

-A vegan butternut squash cheesecake, based on this Vegetarian Times pumpkin cheesecake recipe, but subbing puree I made from butternut squash I had from my CSA and using some homemade cranberry sauce in place of the candied cranberries.  Easy and so good, seriously, you should try it.  My kids had no idea it contained tofu.  Even my son's very picky girlfriend ate an entire piece, and she usually won't eat anything.
-Butternut squash soup with coconut milk, to use up my leftovers.
-Tofu breakfast burritos
-Follow Your Heart quesadillas (used their "monterey jack" cheese) with green salsa and Amy's chili (my "fast food")
-A failed attempt at Essene bread. A friend has enlightened me to my errors so I'll re-do that and post it later. 
-Probably a lot of other food I can't remember, since I eat a lot.

Now, my camera is charging and I am waiting with baited breath for my new friend, Ms. Fridge. She's stainless steel.  With four doors.  French doors.  And separate drawers for fresh fruits, crisp veggies, and various tofu-related products.  And two freezers.  And a wine drawer.  And a really tall ice maker, so I can fit the whole pitcher in there.  And...and...and..  Oh, I'm sure the reality of our relationship will soon bring my reverie to a screeching halt, but until she arrives, just let me have my fantasies. 

Hells Yeah Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

Emmett...you will spoil your dinner!

Now that Thanksgiving is over, and Christmas is next, and I'm sitting here at my desk looking out the window at actual SNOW, I have a hankering for cookies.  Peanut butter cookies.  My 12 year old son Emmett gave me the idea the other day, when he said, "Mom, will you make peanut butter cookies?" 

Hells yeah.

So I looked around and found these, on the Hell Yeah It's Vegan website.   Thanks Claryn!  I don't know you, but I like you already. 


First, I prepared my mise en place. Because I'm fancy like that.  The only thing I did differently from the recipe was to use some light coconut milk I happened to have leftover, instead of the soy milk. 

I mixed it up in my KitchenAid stand mixer (LOVE), formed the dough into balls, and then on a whim, rolled each dough ball in Florida Crystals before putting on the cookie sheet and making the old-school fork marks.  (Because it's the secret code for peanut butter cookies.)  I admit to eating some of the dough--but if I hadn't, it would have made more than two dozen cookies, and I only have two cookie sheets.  And two dozen peanut butter cookies should be enough for anyone.

Here they are, ready to put in the oven:

And here they are, all baked and delicious.  Chewy, soft in the middle, as promised.  I even baked them a little longer than stated, and they were still perfectly textured.  As you can see, between oven and plate, I now have far fewer than two dozen remaining.  Because we are all naughty cookie-snatching dinner spoilers.  All of us!

Salad, Sally, Snow, and Soup

Wow.  I mean, wow.  The Mofo postings overwhelm me.  How the heck do people have time to cook and photograph and write every day like that?  I'm impressed.  I'm also now officially obsessed with this blog.  But I digress.

We hit the road, literally going over the river and through the woods to "grandmother"s" house (BF's mom), where Thanksgiving was definitely not vegan but had many delicious elements, like this:

My main course

and this (Angus was just so exhausted waiting for his food!):

Wake up, Angus--dinner is almost ready and you should really be helping!

and of course, "Grandma" in the kitchen.

Ann at the stove

It was also Sally's birthday.  She's 12.  We made her a little turkey cake.

Happy Birthday Miss Dog!

So, while there was turkey on the table and I could only drool and dream about the amazing vegan creations I saw on Mofo this week (Tofurken, I have my eye on you for next year...or Christmas!), I had plenty of good salad and corn and sweet potatoes and I ravished the relish tray--and we had serious happy-family time, unplugged from computers and blackberries and televisions.

Now we are home, and it's snowing!  In fact, I believe it's the first snow of the season.  That means soup weather, so I'm cooking up delicata squash, kale, and green chilies in mushroom broth, for pureeing:

Soup-to-be

I plan to sip it from a big mug.  With a side of toast.  Topped with pumpkin butter.  Because it may not be winter yet, but it feels like winter, so who am I to behave otherwise?