21 and counting

Hey, it's my 21st post! Not that it is very significant, but I'm just suprised.

Beans and greens seem to be a trend in my kitchen lately. Here is something I call Health on Toast.
I sauteed some garlic in olive oil, added leftover baby limas, simmered them a little, then threw in a handful of chopped parsley. Then, I sauteed some thinly sliced swiss chard. I smeared a piece of cranberry-walnut bread with mustard, then piled the beans and greens on top. Viola. Simple, delicious, and healthy. Your welcome.

For the upcoming Canadian Seal Hunt Protests here in Houston, a couple of us crazy activists got together to make some signs. Here is a finished poster with one of our catchy phrases.

I wanted to make dinner for everyone, so I pulled out my Teany Book and made the classic Indian dish. Green tea-Jasmine rice in the top corner, curried potatoes and peas to the right, and coconut creamed spinach in the bottom left. They were all so delicious, and complimented each other nicely. We were full and happy vegans.

Last but not least, I want to talk about the new love of my life. She is a beautiful, vivacious, loving rescue puppy. A friend found her in a Walmart parking lot in the middle of the night. He took her home, cleaned her up, fed her, and named her Cocoa Sorbet. They came over for a visit and I fell in love. She is hard to capture in a picture, since she is so active (and a little afraid of cameras). She is black, with brown tints and a white patch on her chest. The vet thinks she is a shepherd, and says she is very healthy. Since I am not allowed to have dogs in my apartment, I offered to babysit at any time.
That's it for now. Happy Easter everyone, and I'll see you next time I'm in a free wi-fi area.

Gratins, greens, beets and beans

Sadly, I don’t have the internet at home anymore, so my web surfing time is limited, as well as my blog posting opportunities. If my bills end up being fairly reasonable this month, I will be getting the internet. Until then, I have to work around the library's hours. So here are some things I have created over that past month or so.

After picking up some organic sweet potatoes, and locally grown tomatoes at the co-op, I decided to make the Sweet Potato-Artichoke Gratin from an old issue of Vegetarian Times.

With layers of a tomato, artichoke, white bean spread, and sweet potato, topped with walnuts, I never missed the ooey gooeyness cheesyness of the gratins I have always known. It turned out really good.

On my next trip to the co-op, I picked up some beets that were on sale. For $0.75 a pound, I couldn’t say no. I shreded them and combine them with shredded red potato, zucchini, some herbs and spices, and a little ener-g egg replacer and made potato pancakes. I topped them with a little soy yogurt mixed with green onions.

White beans sauteed with onions, garlic and celery, served over local collard greens. Simple enough, and a super delicious and filling quick meal.

I tried the Esme’s Sauce recipe again. Ever since I made it the first time, I have been wanting to try again with different veggies and a thinner sauce to see if I could get better results. This time it was with some spinach and leftover edamame. I added the lemon juice I forgot last time, and a little extra water. It turned out a little better, but this time is was a little too tangy for me. Next time maybe I will leave out the lemon juice. I definitely recommend it with spinach. At least the picture is good.

I will leave you with some pictures of a cute screech owl. We got to meet the little guy at a Vegetarian Meetup at Baba Yega. We missed the introduction speech, in which they also featured a hawk and another bird. But, the meal was good- we split a vegetarian loaf, and black bean burger. This little guy has such big, beautiful eyes.

Ooey gooey

I have been craving some saucy, gooey pasta dish for a while. I have considered trying to recreate a mac and cheese, but I knew it wasn't quite what I was looking for. When I ran across a recipe from Vegan YumYum for Esme's Sauce, I knew it would be the ticket to satisfaction. I also had all of the ingredients, many of which I have been trying to incorporate in to more of my cooking, such as miso, nutritional yeast, and tahini. I used some brown rice spiral noodles that I have been wanting to try, and used spinach and Brussels sprouts for the greens.

It definitely turned out gooey. I think it was a little more pasty than I would have liked, so I will add some water next time. The Brussels sprouts were an odd accompaniment to the miso and braggs, but they added a nice texture. I topped it with toasted pine nuts and served it millet-flax seed bread, my favorite.

The quality of my pictures hasn't been that great due to the poor lighting in my room. Hopefully that problem will be solved once I get moved in to my new teany tiny efficiency!

What a trip

I have great foodie pics to share from my trip to Austin this weekend. I love going to Austin, and I hope to live there one day. They have so much to offer to vegans, vegetarians, and just all around health and environement concious people. It's Texas' little vegan mecca, and it never fails to surprise me.
Our first stop was the Chocolate Festival. We were suprised to find that the event was being held at the Wizard Academy. We almost weren't able to find the place, since it was hidden by tall trees and winding roads. We knew that what was waiting ahead was sure to be magical..

I had no idea if I could eat any of the confections that the festival had to offer, but the thought of being surrounded by chocolate was intriguing. I decided to be brave and go out on a limb. I was surpised and relieved when the first vendor I stopped at had nothing but wonderful, natural, VEGAN chocolates. The company is called Innocent Chocolates. They are made with organic, mostly raw ingredients, and sweetened with pure agave nectar. The products are available in a few Austin stores, and can be shipped, but not in hot weather. I spent most of my sample tickets at this table, and ended up buying a few bars. There were a couple of other vendors that had some dark chocolate barks I could try, but everything else was made with cream.

Innocent Chocolates working their magic

We tried a new restaurant (new to me anyway) called Cosmic Cafe. It is a mix of Indian, Mediterranean, and Mexican inspired foods. A couple of our friends happened to be in town, so we met up with them for lunch.I got the Buddha's Delight, which had a samosa, dahl, pappadam, rice, nan, and curried spinach and chickpeas. James and I split a Grape flavored Kombucha tea. I have never tried this stuff before, and I was pleasantly suprised. This kind was from a local company. I am not sure if all of the others are as good as this was, but I am willing to try them and find out.
Even after all of the delicious food, we were able to split a slice of vegan Root Beer Float Cake. It sounded way too good to pass up, and it was!
One of our all time favorite places to go when in town is Nu Age Cafe. They have a variety of selections, from dumplings and spring rolls, to BBQ dishes with mashed potatoes and gravy. Their tea selection is long and always pleasantly surprising. My old standby is the Sizzling Soy, with chunks of soy covered in a sweet and smoky BBQ sauce, with a side of mashed sweet potatoes and steamed veggies with rice. I decided to try something new, and was sorry I did. The dish came out burned, and unpleasant. When I told them about it, they offered to take it away and bring me something else, no extra charge. I agreed, and got what I really wanted all along. Even the best places can't be great 100% of the time. James got the Spinach Soy Rolls with mashed potatoes and Portobello gravy. These are not vegan, because the filling has milk powder in it. There are only a couple of items that contain this, and most of them can be made vegan.

Our last stop was for my favorite meal of the day: Brunch. What better place to go for Sunday brunch than Mother's Cafe and Garden? They serve fresh hot vegan pancakes, a different flavor each time, and so many other items to choose from, whatever your palate- sweet, savory, salty, spicy. We split 3 Poppyseed pancakes with a hint of orange, a soysage patty, sauteed tofu, and roasted potatoes. And what better way to start brunch than with a basket of chips and hot salsa? Mmm, brunchalicious

Sadly, our visit had to come to and end. But I was not sad for long because we were on our way to see R.E.N.T! Here are me and my wives after the show, basking in our joyful, after show bliss.

Oscar-palooza

I'm never usually very interested in any of the award shows, and could really care less who has how many Grammys or Oscars. I never usually agree with most of the results anyway. But, when I found out that Ellen DeGeneres was hosting the Oscars this year, I couldn't be more excited to watch them. We are always looking for an excuse to have a party, and what better reason than to celebrate than with an Ellen Hosting the Oscars party? Formal attire was required, but it had to be the funkiest, most godawful thing you could drag out. The food was Mexican themed, and this led to me next cupcake adventure: Mucho Margarita Cupcakes! We also had some vegan tamales, which we get from Whole Foods. They are made here in Houston, completely vegan, and are super delicious. Of course we also had all of the side fixin's- chips and salsa, bean dip, and margaritas and wine.

Mucho yummy!

We decided that since we were dressed up and looking gorgeous, and celebrating, we would take a picture and leave a space in the middle for Ellen. We are going to send it to her and ask her to photoshop herself in so that she will be celebrating with us. As you can tell, we were really enjoying the wine and margaritas.

Faabulous!

I have been feeling a little under the weather recently. I don't know if it is lack of sleep, or if the colds that have been traveling around are catching up to me. I take pride in the fact that since going vegan I have not been sick once, which means this is the first winter I have successfully avoided the flu. I have just been taking it easy, and eating comforting foods. The most comforting thing of all has been the Purely Decadent Turtle Trails ice cream. I hope I feel better and have a burst of energy in the morning so I can start jogging again.

Make ups and confessions

So, to make up for the lack of (homemade) food posts, this post will be pretty much focused toward food. The pictures don't look that pretty, because the lighting in my place is pretty bad. But, I can guarantee you that the food tasted great. That's just how it goes sometimes, isn't it? Well, here we go.

With all kinds of leftovers in my fridge, and a few odd dried goods hanging out, taking up room in my one shelf pantry, I decided to make some Shepherds Pie. I have never made a true shepherds pie before, and never a vegan one, so I didn't have an exact recipe to follow. Figuring that making a Shepherds Pie pretty much involves just throwing random stuff together in a pot, then putting potatoes on top was the extent of it, that's what I did. So, I took my wilting carrots, 1/2 an onion, and a few stray mushrooms and sauteed them in olive oil with some herbs de Provence, mustard seeds and minced garlic. I added some cornstarch to thicken it up for a gravy-like consistency. Then I threw in some lentils and vegetable stock and let it simmer a little while. After thinly slicing my red potatoes, I poured the lentil/vegetable mixture into a casserole dish and layed then potato slices on top. I topped it off with paprika and stuck in in the oven and let it bake until the house smelled delicious.


For dinner, I served it with some Amaranth-studded kale. I love smelling up the house, because my roommates come in and tell me what a great cook I am, even though they have never tasted my food. One of these days I will have everyone for dinner.

For quite a while, I have been craving rice pudding, specifically with chocolate. After reading through the Teany Book, which I picked up at Half Price, I got a great idea for a yummy pudding, which it's leftover components could be used for dinner the next night. So, I made a Jasmine tea rice, with some forbidden rice. This involves simply boiling jasmine tea leaves in water, straining, and then pouring the rice in and cooking as normal. It imparts a lovely flavor, and would be much better in a more delicate rice, but I just love forbidden rice. If you have never tried it, I highly recommend searching it out. After the rice was done, I combined some coconut milk, Sucanat, 1 chopped date, and cinnamon, then put the rice in and let it boil. After it sat for a little while and absorbed the liquid, I dished some up, and then put a nice big square of dark chocolate in the middle.

The chocolate melted really nicely and gave the dish a perfect creamyness, along with the coconut milk. It is really filling, what with all the rice, so if your like me and you can't help but going back for another "taste", then you will end up going to bed with a really full tummy. For that, I think it will make a great breakfast, since I am working on giving up oatmeal.

That's about the only food I have worth talking about right now. I made a quick curry tonight with some leftover Chick'n strips, frozen veggies, coconut milk and curry powder. It wasn't very blog worthy, taste or picture wise. I think it lacked too many spices, such as coriander and mustard seeds. So, I will not speak of it and get the failure out of my head..until tomorrow night when I eat it for dinner. Oh yeah, I do want to talk about something that never fails me, that I could eat absolutely every day. It is my favorite snack and it so simple. It takes the deliciousness of apples and peanut butter one step further, and makes it irresistible. All I do is mix the peanut butter with some soy yogurt, and sometimes some cinnamon and agave nectar, then slice the apples up and have it all with a nice piece of dark chocolate. I would choose this over cake any day.
And now, a confession. I have started jogging. It is something I have been wanting to do for some time now, but have never actually started. I always thought it wasn't for me, and I would constantly find some excuse, like "I don't have good shoes, and I'm too poor to buy any", "I don't want to injure my knees", or "Houston weather is not predictable enough to make a habit out of it". I threw all of these excuses out of the window after I broke down and paid a whopping $50 for some good shoes, and went on my first jog. It was so exhilarating, and I knew I wanted to keep it up. So, it's my second week and I am enjoying it. I am trying to work up to 3 times a week, alternating between walking and running. I went this morning, and I was able to run a whole minute straight without feeling like my heart was going to pop out of my chest. I am hopping to continue with it, and eventually work my way up to be able to participate in the marathon in January. I would only do the half marathon, which is 13 miles, but that would be a great accomplishment for me. So, wish me luck!

Bowled over

Another trip to the farmers markets this weekend produced some good finds. We got there a little later than expected and most of the vendors were beginning to pack up their goods, but that always means nice sales. So, I picked up some greens 4 for $1. Two bunches of kale and 2 bunches of some other green I have never used will hold me over for the week. At the Midtown market Houston Food Bank had a table to distrubute literature on voluteer opportunities as well as a new event coming up called Empty Bowls 2007.

People from all over have donated bowls on behalf of Houston Food Banks effort to help feed the hungry. With a $25 donation, you receive one of the bowls filled with soup when you attend the event. I was very disappointed that I would be out of town the weekend of the event (in San Antonio to see R.E.N.T!) so the volunteer at the table allowed me to make my donation in advance and I got to take one of the bowls home with me

I didn't have many to chose from but this was my favorite. Isn't it gorgeous?

We also got to see some beautiful baby goats at the Bayou City Market. The local goat farm which they came from was trying to get fosters and donations to help take care of them. Although they sold products such as soap made from the milk of the goats, they seemed to take very good care of them. Regardless, I couldn't bring myself to give them money, since I do not agree with using, producing, or selling items that come from animals. I thought the kids were mighty cute anyway. This one was bundled up nice and cozy in a lawn chair, allowing everyone to pet him


No food for this post. I had a great meal for Valentines Day that my friend made for us, but it was so good that I didn't take the time to take pictures. The three course meal included Tomato-Artichoke soup from Artfully Vegan. The recipe was one that the author used to make when he worked for Mother's Cafe in Austin, Tx- one of my favorite places to eat when I am there. He also made a vegan Leek Quiche from this months Vegetarian Times, it was nice and savory and I really like the leek and sun-dried tomato combination. Then, for dessert we had a Chocolate Cake with peanut butter cups and chocolate icing. Since I am trying to cut out gluten from my diet to see if some of the problems I am having are linked to gluten intolerance, he made it from rice flour for me. It was a little gritty and crumbly, but with all of the chocolate and peanut butter we hardly noticed. I hope everyone else had a great V-Day!

Down by the bayou

My weekend was well spent having a blast in New Orleans. A friend and I have been wanting to visit ever since the hurricane to spend some money and help boost the economy, so for her brithday that's what we did. We had a great time drinking, and eating, and partying, and did I mention drinking? I urge you to get your booty movin' down South. Although this hardly covers half of it (I forgot to get a picture of our hot pink B&B), here are a couple of photos to entice you

Street performers are the best (and cheapest) entertainment. They all have a great, unique sound. This is a band that was playing on a park bench in Jackson Square.

This is one of the best bowls of beans and rice I have had. Truely authentic Louisiana flavor. We got it from a place called the Gumbo Shop. They have a large variety of gumbo, and other traditional Louisiana fare to choose from. This was the only vegetarian option they offered, but it was all I needed.

We decided to go the weekend before the big Mardi Gras, so it wasn't too crowded. Luckily, we were there for a parade that is growing in popularity, the Barkus Parade. It is a parade just for dogs, which people bring from all over. The King and Queen of the parade feature two rescue dogs, and all of the proceeds go to worthy animal welfare groups. The bottom picture is our favorite pick.

Shake that sweet stuff, baby!

Although New Orleans has been through devistating times, they still have a great spirit and hospitality that can't be beat. The rebuilding process is still occuring, and will probably be for some time now, and things may never quite be the same as they once were. But, through the changes, they have emerged as still one of the coolest and most fun cities to have a good time in.

Farmer's Market Finds and Cupcakes

This weekend, we decided to make the (now much shorter) trip to the farmer's markets in and around Houston. Our original destination was Midtown Farmers Market, but from there we went to Central City Co-op and the Bayou City Farmers Market.
I didn't get much because I had ordered a share from Central City the past Wednesday, but I was pleased with my finds
I couldn't pass up this beautiful bottle of First Blush vinegar, infused with strawberry, orange, hibiscus, vanilla, and almond flavors. I have made it into a simple salad dressing so far, and I can't wait to do more with it. They have so many other flavors, and for $5 a bottle, I will have to try more. I also picked up 1/2# of kumquats, and a few blood oranges, all locally grown! Woohoo!

Not only was this weekend Superbowl Sunday, it was Prince-playing-halftime-Superbowl Sunday. It was also a friends room warming party since she moved in to another friends spare room. So, we all got together to watch Prince, party, and-what else-eat! I made another delicious batch of cupcakes from VCTOTW. It was a hard decision, but I chose the Mint Chocolate Cupcakes with Mint Icing and Chocolate Ganache, topped with a couple chocolate "beans". I made sure to take a picture this time.

Can't you just taste the deliciousness?

Tea time

I'm sitting at one of my favorite tea houses in Houston- Te House of Tea. Since my wireless isn't working, I'm taking this time to update and catch up. I had to share an amazing tea I am trying. They call it Russian Imperial. It is a black tea, with scents of rose, which is served with jam that you mix in with the tea in a cute little glass. Delicious!
The last two weeks have kept me occupied with the wonders and woes of moving. It is my first time living on my own. Working my first full time job, at a stake house no less (ironic, I know), has been a little trying. But, one must pay the bills. I have been living on salads for lunch, often convincing the chefs to whip me up some assorted veggie with no butter/cheese/bacon topping. Once I get settled in I will start cooking again. But, for now I rely on quick fixes, take out, and travelling to my friends house to use his well-stocked kitchengalore. This past weekend we had a much needed beer and pizza party. Since visiting Brussels and trying Kriek (black cherry beer) I fell in love and have been dreaming of having more. To my delight, Spec's carrys not only Kriek, but also Peche (peach), Frambosse (raspberry), and another brand of Strawberry. We felt obligated to test them.Kriek is still my favorite, but Frambosse is a close second

Along with the beer we made two kinds of homemade pizza. One was a favorite we discovered a few months ago on a whim- tapenade, tomato sauce, dollops of tofu-basil ricotta, sauteed mushrooms and onions, and extra basil. The other was a total experiment- tofu-spinach mixture, topped with garlic roasted cauliflower, edamame, and drizzled with lemon chutney.The first was definately our favorite, but the cauliflower-edamame was an interesting mix, and the lemon chutney gave it a nice kick. It was great together on a spinach salad the next day. And one can never go wrong with basil-tofu ricotta.

I hope to get back to cooking soon. But, until then it is take out from the vegan chinese restaurant down the street. Oh yeah, did I mention I live smack in the middle of Chinatown? It's awesome!

Schlurp!

The cold weather is sticking around this week, so I needed to make something warming and nourishing. With some inspiration from 28 Cooks, I whiped up some of this Warming Ginger Noodle Soup

I added my own touch to it with some broccoli florets (I still had some left over, even after that big batch of soup), and used thicker rice noodles. The broth has a red tint because I made my own and added grated beet. It gave it a really earthy flavor. I had leftovers tonight and added some miso paste, which gave it an extra kick. Definately a workout to eat with chopsticks. I recommend a big soup spoon if you want to dig right in.

I have kept myself confined to my house the last few days, not wanting to retreat from my warm blanket. But, today I went on a journey, with food in mind. Inspired by a new recipe from Vegetarian Times, I decided to use my leftover beet greens to make Guadalajaran Swiss Chard Quesadillas.


I prepared the beet greens following the recipe for swiss chard, but was missing the Montery Jack called for to complete the quesadilla. I went on a search at my local health food stores, knowing that FYH makes a Montery style cheese. I thought I had seen one of them carry a type of FYH before. Sadly, I was wrong and all they had was the American style Rice Cheese (blech). So, back home I went. I was determined to make the quesadillas, so I subbed the cheese for my favorite tahini-mustard sauce that I love on greens, only made it thicker and stickier. It worked pretty well, and made for a beautiful quesadilla.

I think beautiful vegan cupcakes are in my future....

Sweetness

It's a cold and rainy day, so what better way to spend it than in blogger land? I have been spending the majority of my meal time recently cleaning out and using up most of my parishable food beacause I am moving and I don't want to have to worry about it en route to my new house. I also have had alot of sweets lying around from the holidays. Just when I thought I had taken care of most of them, I got an awesome belated birthday gift basket from my cousin in New York. The gift basket is from Pangea, and it is full of all kinds of "confections with a conscience".

Here is a closeup of the gift basket. Very pretty. Closeup shot of all the treats (clockwise from top): Vegan Marshmallows, dark chocolate w/almonds,
dark chocolate w/pecans and raisins,
chocolate peanut butter cups, chocolate beans,
White Chocolate Rice Crunch, jelly beans, vegan donuts

Before the rain and cold even came, I was in a soup and bread mood. At a recent trip to the farmers market, I picked up a large bag of broccoli and cauliflower florets. After eating steamed and sauteed florets for about a week, I was starting to get a little bored and decided to finish it off in a thick, hearty soup with a recipe from Vegweb- Cream of Broccoli Soup.
I would change a couple of things, such as one less carrot, and more nutritional yeast. Also, I stirred in 1Tb of tahini in the end. I also served it over quinoa the next day, which made it like a hearty stew. The Mission Fig and Kalamata Olive tapenade on the bread was probably my favorite part of the meal.

I woke up one morning craving baked goods. After one of my late night blog reading binges I came across this recipe from Webly on Fuled By Popcorn. So, I decided to drag my ass out of bed and bake this easy sounding recipe. Easy it was, and very versitle. Throw ingredients into a blender, and then mix it all together, and voila! I ended up using white grape juice, raisins, walnuts, and put strawberry-rhubarb jam on top of the muffins. Then, I took the other half, added some more flour, a titch of baking soda, and some hemp seeds and baked it into a bread. Both were pretty yummy. I enjoyed the muffins best. Very moist, especially with the jam on top. Oh yeah, and with the bread is a glass of fresh apple, mixed berry, grapefruit juice which I made with out new Juiceman Jr. I can't get enough of fresh juice.

I started teaching myself to knit from the book Stitch 'N' Bitch. It is one of the easiest books to follow, and really fun to read. After one week, I am confident in my ability to knit a few rows and make a swatch. The problem I am faced with now is purling, and- more importantly- binding off. So, after proudly coming to the end of my first swatch, I became frustrated when trying to learn to bind off and then seeing it unravel before my eyes. I'm not giving up yet.

New Years What?

Another year has come and gone, and with that also came another birthday and lots of good times. My birthday is New Years Eve, so that ensures that I will always have a party, whether I want to or not. I started early this year and got treated to a great lunch on Friday at my favorite restaurant in Houston- Tafia. I like to go to this restaurant whenever I can because everything about it is amazing. The owner, Monica Pope, has such a great vision and is helping to make fundamental change to Houston. Her motto is to "eat where your food lives", so everything in her restaurant (from the water, to the food, to the wine, and even the furniture) comes from Texas. Each time we go it is a totally new and wonderful experience. Sadly, I was so excited by my 3 course prix fixe that I forgot to take pictures.

New Years Eve I had my birthday lunch at Freebirds and saw Dreamgirls. In between all of that, I went to Barnes and Noble and spent my giftcard. I am now the proud owner of Nellie McKay's new CD- Pretty Little Head, as well as Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I'm ready for some cupcake bakin'! Later that night we headed to Galveston for a drag show. It was a drag.Making some mo' ney
Hanging out with our good friend Liza

Blurry pictures mean we had more fun

Then we went back to my place and dug in to the Red Velvet cake(from the new issue of VegNews) Candy made me. My favorite part was the hot pink frosting.

Since we didn't have candles, we marked it with a "K" instead.

Dig in!