Quick Dinner

This is what happens when you blog during dinner-making time instead of making dinner. I’m really glad I had these things on hand, otherwise it could have gotten ugly around here.

These are my favorite veggie burgers (Dr. Praeger’s California style) on my favorite hamburger buns (Food for Life Sprouted Wheat Burger Buns), Almond Cheese (very good, but I found out after I had already eaten it that it’s not vegan because it contains casein, a milk protein–going to try making my own very soon), and salad. Too lazy to clean more lettuce, I just grabbed a small handful out of the bag of salad I made yesterday and put it in there–hence the red and yellow bell peppers on my burger.

The other thing you see is Trader Joe’s soycutash, a simple mix of frozen edamame, corn, and red bell peppers. I just heat it up, toss it with a little Earth Balance Butter Spread and some salt & pepper, serve. Deeeeeeeelish!

Note to self: Always keep these items in stock. ALWAYS.

Finally Stir-Fry

Blogging about a veggie stir-fry is kind of cheating, I think. Everyone knows how to make stir-fry, right? It’s not difficult, just takes a little bit of prep work. Slicing and chopping and mincing, oh my!

Well, I’m doing it anyway, cause I ate it and it’s vegan and I have to put something on this blog every once in awhile.

And really, there may be a couple of people who are like me and need a recipe for the stir-fry sauce, and a how-to. But probably not. But here it is anyway.

Pre-step one: Start your noodles or rice early enough so that as soon as your stir-fry is done it can be served. This comes together very quickly, and you want to serve it hot, right when it’s done.

Step one: Chop all of the veggies you want in your stir-fry. I decided on onion (not an option, you just have to choose which kind of onion you want. I had yellow that needed using up), broccoli, cabbage (napa for me), red yellow and orange bell pepper, kale (can use spinach instead or in addition to, but you should have a dark green veggie in there somewhere), cauliflower, carrots, celery, green and yellow squash, and mushrooms. Mmmm, mushrooms…

Step two: Heat your pan, then heat the oil over medium heat until nice and hot.

Step three: Add your onion and cook until soft.

Step four: Turn heat up to medium-high, then add the veggies that take longest to cook.

This would be your broccoli, cabbage, carrots, celery, cauliflower, bell pepper, and in this case, kale. If I were using spinach I would throw that in last, because it cooks very quickly.

So pretty!

Step…next: Stir everything together, bringing up your onions from the bottom, so that everything is coated with the oil. Cook for a few minutes (five to seven or so. You want them to become bright, and begin to soften), stirring them every couple of minutes.

Add your quicker-cooking veggies and do the same thing you did with the other ones.

Once they are tender, but not all the way cooked through, add your stir-fry sauce and stir to coat all veggies.

Before we move on, can we just take a moment to appreciate the total lack of photography skills involved in this shot? Honestly. This calls into question whether or not I actually know how to use a camera. It was late and I was tired, not to mention hungry, but is there really any excuse for something this bad? I say no.
Moving on, then…

Mmmm, shiny, saucy, tender-crisp veggies.

Finally, stir-fry:

I served this over hot, short-grain brown rice. The reason you don’t see it is because after this picture was taken I sauteed some Trader Joe’s “Chickenless Chicken Strips”, coated them in the rest of the stir-fry sauce, and tossed it all together. The reason you don’t see that picture is because I wouldn’t recommend you doing that unless you like the taste of super gross fake meat. Just trust me and eat it straight up veggie over rice or noodles.

Here is the stir-fry sauce I used, adapted from The Moosewood Cookbook:

Basic Stir-Fry Sauce:
¼ c soy sauce
1¼ c water
1½ T ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 t sesame oil
1 T sugar
1 T plus 1t cider vinegar
2T dry sherry or mirin (I didn’t have this so I skipped it and it was still amazing)
3 T cornstarch

Stir together all ingredients except for the corn starch in a 2 to 4 cup measuring cup . Put the cornstarch in a bowl and add the liquid ingredients, whisking it together as you pour. Add to veggies when ready, stir till thickened and coating all veggies.

I hope you love this. One last point–do have a large wok or big pan if you’re going to be making this for 4 or more people. I have a small, silly really, non-stick pan, so I had to do it in batches. Please, people, don’t be like me.

Ever.

Stir-Fry Teaser

I know I said that the next entry was going to be the vegan graham cracker crumbs, but I lied.

I didn’t mean to, but I just haven’t gotten around to making them yet. Instead I had to feed my family.

So, coming up next, a Veggie Stir-Fry.

Except…wait. Tonight all I was able to accomplish was the prep.

Chopping veggies is long work, y’all!

I had neighbors to visit!

And they had WINE!

What was I supposed to do, hmm?

I had a husband who was willing to take care of feeding the kids, which left me with ladies who wanted to chat, and a dinner that could be prepped and left for later!

So that’s just what I did.

And what you get is this pretty photo of some of my most favorite things in the world: chopped, fresh veggies. Ready and willing to be made into perfectly cooked food. Which will come…tomorrow.

Or something…

My Garden, Part Two

Here are some pictures and details about my initial planting. I’ve added a few more things since then, but that will be in Part Three…

Honeydew! Yum…

I’m inordinately excited about growing my own corn. Not sure why. It just seems so…rural!

Red, yellow, and green bell peppers. I’ve since spaced them out better, and lost a couple.

Tomatoes: Plum, grape, pear…how funny, I never noticed that they are all fruit-named. Oh and also Beefsteak and Celebrities.

More corn! Plus Japanese eggplant, purple bell pepper, and a jalapeno.

Artichokes (2), a pickling and a regular cucumber. Also planted are seeds for carrots, watermelons and pumpkins.

Strawberries! They’re much prettier these days…

Italian parsley, thyme, and oregano

Rosemary, mmm…I could wear it as a perfume…

Genovese basil. I’ve since planted seeds all around it. Can’t wait for pesto (vegan, of course)!

Forgot about this one! A very sweet friend of mine gave me these trellises (plus two more), so that I can grow pole beans! Here you can see how I spaced out my peppers better, so that I could plant the green bean seeds along the trellis. The few seeds planted by the center one didn’t take very well, so I’m thinking of pulling the couple that did and planting the long bean seeds I bought. Ever seen those? They’re incredible!

Wow, this post has really brought to mind a couple of amazing things. First off, I’ve planted a LOT more, not just a few more, since these were taken, and secondly, holy moly am I a terrible photographer. I mean sheesh, take a few minutes for composition! I’ll try harder next time.

But before that, I’m going to post a recipe. I’ve been wanting to make Alicia’s Peanut Butter Cups from The Kind Diet, but I’m having a heck of a time finding truly vegan graham crackers. Do you know how difficult it is to find graham crackers made without honey? I haven’t been able to. So I’m going to make my own, and share the recipe with you. See you then!

My Garden, Part One

I’m not what you’d call a “gardener”. I wouldn’t even say I have a green thumb. I have no houseplants, and the flowers that grow in my front yard were planted and are tended by my wonderful husband. What I do know is that I can plant and grow veggies without much skill and talent, which is right up my alley.

I started growing food about four years ago. The first spring I planted, it was one lone tomato plant in a pot. It resulted in about four tomatoes for my kitchen, as my six-year-old-at-the-time daughter would go “play outside” and pick and eat every ripe tomato directly off the plant. Starting the next year I planted a cherry tomato just for her, and an additional tomato plant for me. Success!

Last year I got really ambitious and asked my husband to build me a raised planter, so that I could try my hand at growing other vegetables. More success! In fact, a bit too much. I over planted, and much of what I planted failed to thrive because it didn’t get enough sun, since it was shaded by the bigger, taller plants.

This year I went even bigger. The main reason being that this vegan lifestyle is expensive! I go so far over my grocery budget every week that I have zero spending money, and that’s no fun. I’d like to mix in a pedicure now and then, and who knows–maybe someday get to take a vacation! Anyway, growing the produce we eat the most of (and subsequently spend the most money on) will allow me to temper my spending at the grocery store; hopefully enough to start making a difference.

I had Tommy make the super deep planter into two not so deep planters, plus I dug up this strip of land–25′ long by 2.5′ wide–that runs along the back of my garage and beyond. It was half grass, half weedy dirt, and took me the better part of a Saturday to pull and till by hand. But it was worth it!

This is the planter he built me last year.

And after separating them

Long strip of land before

Long strip of land after

So that’s the beginning! The next garden post will be my initial planting. Then I’ll show you what everything looks like now–it’s amazing how quickly everything grows! (Also amazing is that anything grows at all, seeing as how little I actually know about gardening, and how chaotically I plant everything.)

Banana Nut Muffins

I don’t know about you, but the first thing I think of when I have slightly overripe bananas is banana nut muffins. Maybe you think more along the lines of bread, but since I bend toward all things cupcake related, I go muffin.

Bananas have been going so quickly around here, though, that this is the first time since going vegan that I’ve found myself with an abundance of brown bananas on hand, and in need of  good new recipe. At first I thought I’d just use my old stand-by recipe, replacing the half-pound of butter with Earth Balance margarine, but as the biggest part of the drastic change in my diet is for health reasons, it seemed counterproductive to just stick with what I know.

Luckily it didn’t take me long to find the perfect recipe. I knew I wanted whole wheat flour and flax seed meal, and Google must have read my mind because it led me almost directly to this recipe, by Sarah at Happy Foody. (That link goes to her new blog, but the posted recipe is from here, her old blog.)

These muffins were even better than my former favorite! The only thing missing was the strong buttery flavor. However, also missing were the buttery greasy fingers, which is a pretty ok exchange in my book. They are rich and moist, perfectly banana-ey, and the combination of whole wheat flour and flax seed meal gives them great nutritional value.

One more note, and then I’ll post the recipe. The changes I made were to use whole wheat pastry flour in place of the whole wheat flour, and grapeseed oil rather than the olive oil, simply because I was out of wheat flour and olive oil. I’m interested in trying the recipe with the olive oil, but I think the next time I make them I’ll eliminate the oil all together and use applesauce, to make them even more healthful.

Delightful Banana Nut Muffins
(adapted from Sarah at Happy Foody)

1 1/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup dry sweetener (I used evaporated cane sugar)
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
½ t salt
¾ cup ground flaxseed
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
2 bananas, mashed
1/3 cup grape seed or olive oil
1 t vanilla extract
2/3 cup soy, rice, or almond milk (I used soy)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sweetener, baking powder, baking soda, salt, flax, and walnuts. In a small bowl, combine the bananas, oil, vanilla and soy milk. Pour the liquid ingredients with the dry and mix together gently until “just mixed”. Spoon into a lightly oiled muffin pan and bake for 15-20 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

Before and After: Kale Chips!

I love the difference between how food looks before and after it’s cooked, so for some of the things I post here it will be highlighting that.

This is a fun one–Kale Chips!

I first read about Kale Chips on a food blog a couple of years ago, I think it was Kath Eats Real Food. I had never seen kale used for anything but a fancier-than-parsley garnish, and I wasn’t quite ready to start trying it then. But it always stuck with me, and finally, when I realized I needed to start getting way more dark leafy greens into my diet, I looked this up and tried them.

Granted, cooking the kale this way is probably the last way you want to if you’re choosing it for health reasons. There are tons of delicious ways of sauteeing and steaming it that would be better for you. But this is such a great snack that I had to share it with you right away.

Before – Kale (isn’t it beautiful?):

After – Kale Chips!

Please keep in mind that some of these are a teeny tiny bit overcooked. Some of them will be brown, but you want them just a light brown, with most of the curly parts of the kale still green.

Here’s what you do:

Buy yourself a bunch or two of curly green kale. I got mine at the farmer’s market for .99 for a huge bunch. Preheat your oven to 375, and while it’s warming up, wash it well, and drain and pat it dry. Tear off biggish bite sized pieces from the hard stem and put them on a rimmed cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil (or spray the leaves, if you have one of those fancy shmancy olive oil sprayers like my friend Kimmy does. I gotta get me one of those, cuz it’s perfect for this), and some  fine sea salt. Really any salt will do, this is just what I prefer.

Also, if you aren’t eating vegan and you want a real treat, try sprinkling some real Parmesan on those bad boys.You can also fool around with different hard cheeses, and spices or seasonings. I like them super simple.

Put them in your preheated oven for about 15 minutes, checking the last few to see if they’re crisp to the touch. You don’t want them soft, cause then they’ll be weird-chewy and not like chips at all.

Eat! Enjoy! Fall in love! These taste remarkably like potato chips. I’m not sure how that is…maybe because I don’t eat potato chips and have forgotten what they actually taste like? Whatever the reason, they are a wonderful, healthful snack that my kids ask for every day.

I hope you love them as much as we do.

Gone Vegan, BRB. (Part Two)

That “today” was a Sunday, and when I had decided to quit eating meat, dairy, and any other animal products, I had already dropped three little cups of cream in the coffee I shared with my husband at church. oops.

I read the remainder of the book that morning. That afternoon I found myself at Sprouts, finding replacements for all of my non-vegan condiments, as well as some new, very strange ones. I planned a menu for the week, and busted my grocery budget in that one trip. Again…oops. I hadn’t thought much about the other food I’d have had to buy for the other people in my house. I knew they weren’t going to hop on board with me so quickly…and they didn’t.

Needles to say, it’s been a fun, weird few weeks.

Fun because I’ve discovered that tofu is something you just need to get used to the texture of, because it’s flavor is neutral. It takes on the flavor of whatever sauces or seasonings you put it in. Seitan (pronounced say-tan, emphasis on the ‘tan’) is not only a great meat replacement (chewy, meaty texture), but is something I can make in my own kitchen with an ingredient I’ve already kept on hand for years (vital wheat gluten). Tempeh–still not entirely sure what that is–is delicious. I get to eat as much brown rice as I want, without worrying that I’m eating too many carbs. And surprisingly, so many things are vegan friendly already! Although most commercial foods to use a ton of sugar and salt, as well as high fructose corn syrup. Which, if I’m doing this for my health, why wouldn’t I replace those things with more healthful ones? The vegetables I’ve never been very interested in trying have turned out to be amazing–wait till I share Kale Chips with you, OMG!–and the farmer’s market is my new favorite place to be, next to Sandals.

The “weird” is I guess less weird than inconvenient. Although my daughter liked the idea and tried to hang with me for the first week, she decided she just wasn’t ready to give up cheese. My older son doesn’t eat at home much but he tries everything I give him, and my younger son isn’t having any of it. It took a little longer for my husband , but he’s on board now, and that makes me happy. My aunt is staying with me for a few weeks, and she’s as passionate about the food as I am. Win! All of this to say that most of us are eating different breakfasts, I’m making the kids they’re typical lunches, and some nights I’m making two different dinners.  Not all nights, though, because most of the vegan food I’m making is so great, the kids don’t even realize what’s missing.

I’m feeling lighter, healthier, much more energized, and cleaner from the inside out. I won’t go into detail about the best part of this diet, except to say that I’ve suffered certain digestive issues my whole life, and they are GONE. I’m no longer worrying about what I eat and how it will affect my weight, but I do get on the scale once a week and have discovered that I’ve lost a little over four pounds in five weeks. And that’s without going to the gym for two of those weeks.

Now, to share my struggles. I’m not sure what to do about my little baking business. I don’t want to give it up! I’m going to offer some vegan options for cakes, cookies and cupcakes, but I also want to keep making and providing the cute and yummy goodies that I have for the past few years. I’ve already begun using more animal-friendly ingredients like certified organic & cage free eggs, evaporated cane sugar, organic milk, etc…but is that enough? I’m not sure. I don’t want to stop, but do I have to, in order to not be considered a hypocrite? This is my biggest struggle right now. I don’t call myself a Vegan. Not yet. I’m not ready to give away my leather jacket just yet. I’m not willing to stop wearing the leather sandals I just bought, the week before I read the book. I’m thawing, and going to cook, the turkey that’s been in my freezer since November, before it goes bad, and use it to feed my family. I tell people that I don’t eat animal products, and right now, if I’m going to be honest, I think that’s as far as I’m willing to go.

So there you have it. This blog that I’ve neglected so long will now reflect my new way of eating. (I’m still never not hungry!) I don’t have any expectations of how it will proceed or progress, but I’m excited about the possibilities. I’m also excited about sharing some really great (and understandably weird-seeming) recipes with you!

I hope you’ll follow along.

–Brandi

Gone Vegan, BRB. (Part One)

I know good food.

I know what good food tastes like, and I know a little bit about how to make it. And I love making it. (Sure, I never went very far with this blog, but that’s mostly because of my busy schedule and hectic lifestyle. We’ll see how it goes this time.)  And hey–I’m fifty pounds overweight! If that doesn’t prove I know how to eat, what does??

With that, you’ll have to trust me when I tell you that I’ve decided to change my lifestyle with regard to food, and I’ve found a way to do it without sacrificing flavor. Even more exciting (to me), is that this way of eating has opened up an entirely new world of food, recipes, and cooking techniques.

I’ve gone Vegan.

Before you think I’ve gone new age hippie on you (not that you would, but I would probably think that about you if you told me you went vegan), let me tell you how this came about.

About five weeks ago, a good friend of mine (my SABFF, actually), dropped by for a little while with her sweet little girl. While my daughter played mommy to hers, we chatted about what’s new. Her job, my messy house, our husbands, our kids, her going vegan…wait, what?

Being the flawed friend that I am, I immediately thought someone from PETA had brainwashed her. But she started talking about this book by the actress Alicia Silverstone, The Kind Diet, and I started listening–really listening–to the things she was saying about our bodies and how they process (or don’t) meat and dairy, and the treatment of animals raised for our food consumption. I’ve always known they aren’t treated well, but if I’m going to be honest, I’ve never wanted to know the details, because then I might care and have to change my lifestyle. And that was super scary.

Lori’s point was that people just don’t know this stuff. They don’t have the information. Most people are like me–they know the information is out there, but they’re too scared to find out more about it, because once you know, you can’t UN-know, and then you are just blatantly ignoring the information–and how will we be judged for that when we die? Ooooh, dang you, Lori! She got me…and I couldn’t stop thinking about the things she said. I obsessed over our conversation for 24 hours*, trying to stop, but not being able to.

*I can say this because I even had a dream that night. Someone left me dozens and dozens of cartons of eggs on my porch. They were gifting them to me for my baking business–so nice! But as I started to pick up the bags they were in, the handles broke, and eggs started breaking and oozing all over my porch. Some had baby chicks in them–horrible, right?!–and I kept thinking “How sad! Not only did someone buy all of these eggs, but now I’m completely wasting them!” I was mortified…and then I woke up.*

The next night I was at another friend’s house. She’s kind of a new friend, one who I didn’t realize was a vegan, and as I looked over at her cookbooks, only one stood out–The Kind Diet, by Alicia Silverstone. Oh, come on. SOMEONE was trying to tell me something…

The next evening our family went out to dinner, then to the bookstore. I asked my Tommy to buy me the book, and because he’d had two beers with dinner and was feeling especially schmoopy toward me, he did.

As difficult of a time I have reading non-fiction books, I was ON IT. I read half the book that night, the rest the next morning. It made sense, I cared about the little animals, and I wanted to feel better! She promised I would feel better.

I was going to give Being a Vegan a try, and I was going to start today.

The Pioneer Woman Rocks!

Yesterday was a big day for me and my friend Kimmy. We met The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond! Her recipes on The Pioneer Woman Cooks are responsible for this cheeseburger around my waist. Well that and my absolute lack of will power. *sigh*

Anyway, Kimmy stalked her site and found out that she was going to stopping in LA for her book signing tour, so we knew that was going to be our chance to meet her and convince her that we should be her BFFs. I’m not sure we were successful in that endeavor, but we did get to take pictures of and with her, and I’m sure Kimmy would agree that she is as lovely and and funny as we expected her to be.

Excited! And dorky!

Could they be any cuter? I’m pretty sure not.

Can you believe she is THIN? I know, me either. I mean COME ON.

So, for the book signing part…here’s how I expected it to go down. She would be sitting at that table you see above, and each person would walk by the front of the table, hand her their book(s), she would sign it and say “Thank you for coming!” and we’d scoot off and squee about how cute she was. But no! She had everyone come over and sit down next to her, and she chatted! For minutes! With everyone! Now, that wasn’t all that much good news when you were 75th in line, as the ladies in front of and behind us were happy to share every five minutes, but I knew that meant that we would also get the minutes sitting with her, and I was super ok fine waiting for my turn.

Also, props to Borders Torrance. They had the whole thing organized very well, but the smartest thing they did was have an employee dedicated to stand in front of the table and take pictures with the camera of whoever was visiting with her. It was great! I, of course, forgot my camera (because, you know, that’s how I roll), but Kimmy had her iphone, so the guy took pictures of both her time with Ree, as well as mine.

I know, I’m adorable. You don’t have to say it. I’m sure I was telling her how fffabulous she is, or how she’s my fffavorite fffood blogger, or that it was fffantastic being able to meet her.

Yet another reason she’s awesome. I told her that in ten minutes of her answering questions, she had completely inspired me to start posting to my food blog again. And she asked me to write down the address so she could visit the site! Here’s where I admit the embarrassing fact that I was actually SHAKING, I was so nervous, and have no idea if she will be able to read what I wrote down.  But she asked. And that was cool.

All of us, wee!
I sure wish I would have thought to crop these pictures before just now.

So that was our visit with The Pioneer Woman. Did I forget anything, Kimmy? OH, I know, I want to say one more thing that doesn’t involve oohing and ahhing over P-Dub. I just wanna give a shout out to Baby E. He was SO GOOD. Three hours we were in that bookstore, standing in one line or another, and he was as patient and sweet as he could be. Even after bonking his head, AND with us having forgotten his snacks in the car. What a trooper!

Thanks, Kimmy and PW, for a super-fun evening. Time to snuggle up with my newest and already favoritest cookbook. The kids can get their own dang breakfast!