Springtime

Been craving seitan. Health food store by my house was closed today, so hopefully they will have wheat gluten when I stop by tomorrow. Also, saw a sale on organic canned beans that I am going to hit up tomorrow. Sometimes I'm too lazy to soak and cook beans. (Dumb, I know.) I've been eating a lot of pre-made foods at home, veggie burgers mostly, and sandwiches so I need to quit being a bum and cook more often. I should plan my meals in advance more often.

Also, my work finally admitted they've been paying me too little. When they cut me a check for the difference, I'm hoping to do some shopping and take the kitties to the vet. After that, I'll either save it or do some work on my car maybe... With the increase on each check, I plan to be able to buy more organic foods and be more adventurous in my cooking. I'm no longer in debt to Visa from the move!! So woo-hoo!!

I'm still alive...

I haven't updated in forever.

Recently, I made some red beans and rice. Soooooooo effin' delicious. No photo because I scarfed it down in two sittings. An entire pound of red beans and one batch of rice. Yum yum. I soaked the beans overnight and cooked them the next day in the crock pot. When I came home from work, I cut up some onion, green bell pepper, celery, and garlic. I sauteed those in some olive oil. I transferred the beans to a big pot on the stove with the heat up high, because I wanted to reduce the amount of liquid. Once some of the liquid evaporated, I added the sauteed veggies and a ton of cajun seasoning. I was super happy to find Tony Cachere's at the store. {I like to add it on my fries, yum yum.}

Yesterday, I made tofu burritos. I pressed the tofu and marinaded it in a store-bought garlic and herb marinade. It was a little too strong for my taste, so I am glad I had rice and black beans to balance out the flavors. I will probably cook up the rest of the tofu tomorrow or the next day.

Tonight, I'm making some seitan. I split the recipe in half. I mixed taco seasonings into one half. Ashley used her homemade seitan crumbles to make crumbles for tacos. I decided to season the seitan itself so it would be easier to make tacos. Just heat and go. Lol. I know, I'm a bum sometimes. Hope it's tasty.

Other than that... The cats are doing great, my research is finally focused on my own project (not a group project), and my classes are boring. Anyways, I'm going to go clean the house and write in my personal blog.

It's Been A Minute . . . .

I've been pretty busy. Between work and socializing, I've been cooking easy foods. Chili, soup, salads, tacos, etc.

I made some bread in my bread machine. I turned it on and left it, instead of waiting for the machine to mix it and then let it rise so I can bake it on my own. I made it because I was craving a grilled tofutti "cheese" sandwich and I didn't have any white bread. I ended up cutting the slices too thick for the tofutti grilled cheese. It was good to nibble on for a few days.





I also made stuffed shells using the recipe from Vegan with a Vengenance. Sooooo freakin' delicious. Super easy and tasty. The first serving I was able to taste the nutritional yeast and I thought it was a little weird. But when I ate the leftovers, it wasn't as strong. I'd definitely make it again! When I get paid on Friday, I will get some more tofu.


Stuffed:


Cooked:



In other news, I've started reading A Thousand Splendid Suns. It's written by Khaled Hosseini, best known for writing The Kite Runner. I'm not done with it yet. But it is getting interesting... Also, the Twilight movie comes out in like 2 weeks. I can't freakin' wait to finally see the movie!

Cha-ching!

I made a bomb curry! It was still not as spicy as my old roomie's recipe, but I really enjoyed it. I am learning to improvise with ingredients. I did some more spices for the curries and other dishes, so I hope to branch out in my seasonings.

I also made a King Cake! Holla!! I'm so freakin' proud of my VEGAN king cake! I got the recipe from kitteekake ... I used a tablespoon of cinnamon apple sauce instead of ener-g egg replacer. I remember using that to make brownies my first year of college and they were nasty. That stuff tastes like chalk, so I remember reading on the post-punk kitchen forums about using applesauce. So let me just say, it is delicious. I could add more cinnamon in the future. I couldn't find sprinkles so I colored the frosting. I also used a bean for the baby, because I wasn't comfortable with baking a plastic baby inside of the cake.What I've got right now is awesome, but I could stand a little more sweetness. Without any further delay, here it is:




Also, I found a store that sells Tofutti near my new house. I bought the pizza and it was delicious. I think you should check it out if you're craving cheese pizza and don't want to eat dairy or cook. Lol.




I bought some Tofutti sliced "cheddar" so I can make grilled cheese at some point. I bought the Amy's mac and soy cheese, it was tasty but apparently it has a milk protein in it. Why?!

Ok... Now this week, I'm going to eat that scrumptious king cake, make red beans and rice, and enjoy some seitan (it's been a couple weeks since I last made it)...

Oh yeah, I watched the Oscars last night. I wanted to see Robert Pattinson. I missed his red carpet walk because my friend called me. I missed him presenting because my sister called me. Ugh. Thank God for YouTube, I watched all his red carpet interviews and his presenting today. What a hottie! Plus, he's a great musician. I rock out to his music when I'm stuck working at the lab bench for a long time.

I'm Finally 23!

Woot!

I got an iPhone stereo dock, 2 new iPhone cases, a Twilight pajamas set, a Twilight hoodie, and $200 worth of groceries from my mom. My best friend got me a cookie cake and a framed picture of Barack. We had lunch at Cheesecake Factory on Friday. I paid the price for eating dairy, I had an upset tummy for the day. We also went to the fair, where the new weird food was bacon with chocolate dipping sauce. I almost threw up. Literally. I was so grossed out.

I made that white bean and roasted garlic soup. It was yummy. I froze some because the recipe is huge! I will make some homemade bread to go with it next time. I put cayenne pepper powder and jalapenos in it for some kick, plus added in some rice.


My mom bought me some flour and other baking supplies. I got stuff to make oatmeal raisin cookies, which I can't wait to make. But I think this weekend I am going to try making a small king cake, since I won't be in Louisiana for Mardi Gras.

I also made some home fries. Cleaned and sliced up some fresh potatoes, then fried them in a skillet of canola oil. Yum! Jenn's mom made us some for our little BBQ on Saturday. Jenn and her parents had Korean style ribs and steaks, but I just had a vegan burger. The fries were awesome because her mom seasoned them when they were still hot. I don't eat fried food that often, so it was a nice treat.

Let's see... Other than that, I've been tinkering online designing shoes today. I wanted a pair of awesome 80s-esque DC's but my mom wouldn't buy them for me. She said they were ugly. She is not a fan of neon multicolored shoes apparently. But when I looked them up online, they were made of leather. :( I found another neon pair that just says durable upper, instead of leather upper. So I can check that out in a store. But I went on the Nike ID site and the Converse site to start designing some shoes of my own. That way I can use non-leather materials. Gotta save up some money for that, but when I have extra money that would be sweet!

My Birthday Is Almost Here!

In my last entry, I made chili. It wasn't thick enough. So I remade it with more tomato sauce and more spices. It was so good! It was perfect since it was chilly outside again. I scarfed it down before I could even snap a photo. I was hungry and it was tasty. Sorry! I didn't make bread because I'm out of flour. When I was in the store for some tomato sauce, I forgot to get flour. That's what happens when I don't have caffeine.

I have been making simple dishes lately, like pastas and salads. I made a taco style salad, but left out cheese since I'm trying to avoid it. I just don't buy it anymore. I put in a sliced up and seeded jalapeno for some flavor. I also made lentils and used them in sloppy joes (instead of fake meats). It was pretty good, gotta step up the spices next time.

But I saw a recipe for white bean and garlic soup online. Turns out there is a recipe in Vegan with a Vengenance too. So I'm making that tomorrow! I set the beans out to soak tonight, so I can't wait. I looked up Tofutti online since Spencer recommended their sliced "cheese" for grilled cheese sandwiches. I was craving some with the chili but I didn't realize that a store near me sells Tofutti. Whole Foods didn't have it, so I had to get online to find a place. So I will stop there when I get back into town after my birthday, because grilled cheeses are awesome. Good comfort food after a long day.

For my birthday, I am going to lunch with my mom, my best friend, and her older sister. I think her nephew will probably end up coming too. It is going to be fun, I hope I can resist the tempting foods. Jenn and I are going to do some cooking together over the weekend, I want to make vegan chocolate chip cookies from VwaV also. If I can get my mom to buy me a mini donut pan, I want to make the mini donuts from vegan yum yum. I saw a pan with mini bundt moulds a few weeks ago, I would settle for that. Why someone would want to make mini bundt cakes I don't know, but whatever.

So my mom wants to take me to get groceries as a bday gift. I know it sounds lame, but it's sweet. I told her I want gifts that are things I can use, things that I need. So that was what she suggested, but she did say she got me a real present. I'm curious about what it is. I need to get something for Jenn, since her bday was a few weeks ago. I think I'm just going to get her a gift card to Borders or something. I want to order the Twilight DVD for myself. I loved the books and I've seen a million interviews with the stars, so I'm ready to see the movie. I also discovered the amazing music of Robert Pattinson (he plays Edward in the movie and Cedric Diggory in the 4th HP movie).

Something New Saturdays

I've decided to spend my Saturdays doing something new. I went to the farmers' market to get some veggies and I got some organic flours at the grocery store. I made homemade wheat bread! I used the bread machine to mix it and knead it. I should have let it rise more but I was hungry.... It still came out pretty good, but my camera batteries are dead. :( No photo to record this event, but maybe later I can get some batteries.

I also tried to make vegan goldfish crackers from the schmooed food blog, but some of them burnt and those that weren't burnt I thought were icky tasting. I thought it would be a good way to test out nutritional yeast, but I think I'll go without goldfish than eat those again. :/

It's Girl Scout cookie season! Yum! Not vegan, but delicious. My favorite cookies taste different this year for whatever reason.

I got a great deal on dried beans, so I soaked them overnight last night. Today, I am making homemade chili. It has some tomato sauce, black beans, red beans, kidney beans, and white beans. Plus I added in some chili seasoning. Should be good with some rice tonight. Can't wait to see what it tastes like!