UPDATES & EXCITING NEWS!!!

So.. it has been quite awhile since my last post. I had to take a bit of a break due to some health concerns, which of course were presumed to be the result of my vegan diet.. but alas many tests have proved my doctor and concerned family members wrong.

I will be soon be embarking on a great adventure across Europe and promise to journal my experience and post it up on here. Traveling with non-vegans (one unwilling to compromise her meat-eating ways) may prove to be tricky. I'm eager to discover how easy it is to find animal-free food while visiting 9 different countries and will have a full report to share upon my return. I have been accepted into a BA program at Central St Martins in London (UK) for Sept 08 and am quite excited to relocate to that scene.

Other news: I received a bread machine for Christmas and have been making and devouring french loaves like it's going out of style. I've also been making some succulent vegan pizzas with homemade dough. That is all i've pretty much subsisted on lately.

Since moving home to good old Bracebridge in order to save up funds for my $20G tuition and trip, i've had to make several sacrifices in vegan convenience food. We have one health food store, which is pretty incredible for its size, however it is lacking in meltable cheese. I have been sprinkling nutritional yeast and vegan parm on my pizzas and can honestly say it is just as satisfying.

More about pizza... my brother who makes the best pizza I have ever tasted and is unwilling to share his secret... inspired me to add herbs to my crust (oregano, basil and red pepper flakes) and it really makes all the difference. Another of his tricks is using Classico Spicy Red Pepper pasta sauce for his pizza.

Thanksgiving Potluck Dins!

My good friends and I decided to do a potluck thanksgiving this year. We veganized most dishes, aside from scalloped potatoes and cheese sauce, and it was a complete success. I made stuffing, tofurky and cheesecake for the meal.


The vegan plate.......


Mmmm.. strawberry/chocolate blob cheesecake


Tofurky... baked at the wrong temperature

Stuffing

Pasta a la mmm!

I had a chunk of zucchini leftover from this amazing pasta sauce my friend whipped the other night - sadly not quite enough for zucchini bread (one of 3 zucchini recipes I know!). It was time to expand my horizons.

I threw together a zucchini sauce with some veggies over some pasta and was amazed how yummy it was! Sorry for the lack of measurements, I'm always cooking on a whim and only cooking for one. I plan to make this next time I have company!!

INGREDIENTS
• Pasta, cooked (I used brown rice fusilli)
• 5 medium brown mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 tbsp. earth balance
• 1/2 c. canned or fresh diced tomatoes

SAUCE
• 1/4 c. chopped onion
• 2 tbsp. minced garlic
• 1 tsp. olive oil

º heat oil in a frying pan over med-high heat, sauté onions and garlic until slightly browned.
º set aside

• 3/4 - 1 c. zucchini grated or finely chopped
• 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. soy milk
• 1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
• dash of pepper (to taste)
• dash of salt (to taste)

º throw all ingredients in a blender and puree.
º sauté sliced mushroom in earth balance over med-high heat
º throw pasta, zucchini mixture and tomatoes in a saucepan and warm until preferred temperature
º serve on a plate or bowl, top with mushrooms and vegan parm.

Fried No-Egg Sandwich

Oddly enough I was a fried-egg tomato sandwich addict before I developed my egg phobia.
I hadn't considered it a possibility until I came across a recipe for "Egg McVegan" on vegweb. I was a little hesitant because Apple Cider Vinegar stinks so much, but Mmmm... oh so good!!

Anyways here's how I made it.
• Sliced firm tofu, baked in Apple Cider/Oil mixture and sprinkled with Tex Mex and Italian spices
• Mixture of equal amounts of Apple Cider vinegar, olive oil and a dash of salt
• Yves Canadian Bacon, fried
• Melted Tofutti cheese slice
• Tomato and ketchup
• 2 slices of light Rye toast

CauliPot Soup

Another slow day at work led me to many vegan food blogs and recipe sites. I had a ton of cauliflower to use up and wanted a simple healthy meal for dinner (and leftovers for lunch!).

I found this cauliflower soup recipe somewhere on the web, but as usual had to alter the amounts so I wouldn't be eating it for weeks! It takes very little time but tastes a little bland. It would be quite tasty with a cheese sauce mixed in - perhaps some nutritional yeast (?!) Oh well next time!

• 2 c. cauliflower, washed
• 1 med. potato, cubed with skin still on
• 3-4 c. vegetable stock
• 1/4 c. chopped onion
• 1 c. soy milk
• 1-2 tsp. nutmeg
• salt and pepper

º In a pot boil cauliflower and potato in vegetable stock until tender
º Drain about 1 c. vegetable stock and pour the remainder of the pot contents into the blender
º Puree for about 2 seconds, ensuring the consistency is slightly chunky
º Pour back into the pot, add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until ready to eat

Carrot Cake Muffins w/ Cream Cheese Goodness!

I found this recipe for a sugar-free carrot cake online and altered it just a tiny bit, mostly because I despise raisins! I also pulled the icing recipe from "The Garden of Vegan" and made several adjustments. The carrot cake muffins were deliriously moist and just the right amount of sweetness. I found it difficult to remove them from the liners until they had been refrigerated for at least a couple hours.

Carrot Cake
• 1/3 c. OJ
• 2 tbsp. canola oil
• 1 c. maple syrup
• 1/2 c. soymilk
• 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 c. packed grated carrots
• 1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 2 tbsp. chopped (into very tiny bits) walnuts


º Preheat oven 350
º Sift dry ingredients together in a bowl
º Mix wet ingredients together in a different bowl
º Pour bowl contents together until just mixed
º Spoon batter into cupcake liners
º Bake for 20-25 mins until toothpick or other sharp utensil comes out clean


Cream Cheese Icing
• 1 tbsp. earth balance
• 1/2 tub of plain tofutti cream cheese
• 1 c. powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

º Add more powdered sugar to achieve desired consistency

Shroomnach Pennoni

I'm quite curious whether cannelloni or mannicotti noodles exist in Toronto? I went to at least 3 different grocery/rabba type stores and not one had either of those types of noodles.

Anyways today started off with French toast straight off the pages of "How it all.." and how delicious! It reminded me of growing up with my brothers who both loved FT.

Right, back to business. This pennoni was a complete experiment but turned out better than I could have hoped. Hooray for lunch tmw!

• 12-14 pennoni noodles, cooked
• 1/2 28oz can of diced roma tomatoes
• 3/4 can of tomato sauce
• 3 tbsp. vegan parm.

FILLING
• 1/2 pack of firm tofu, crumbled
• 2 large shiitake mushrooms, chopped
• 1/2 c. spinach, chopped
• 3-4 tbsp. nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tbsp. dried basil
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 2 tbsp. olive oil

º Preheat oven to 350
º In a blender of food processor add filling mixture and blend until well mixed
º Evenly spread 1/2 tomato sauce across the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish
º Pack filling into pennoni noodles using a small spoon/end of a chopstick (which is what I used!) and place noodles in the baking dish
º Dump the diced tomatoes on top of the noodles
º Top with the rest of the tomato sauce
º Sprinkle parm over top
º Bake for approx. 40-45 min or until noodles are very tender.