Cakes

I turned 30 this year. It was a big deal for me. I celebrated for an entire month, and I tried to do something nice for myself each day. Here are two of the cakes I had this month. The first I made. It was the yellow cake with chocolate icing from Vegan Comfort Food. It is seriously the best cake ever. Normally, carrot cake (the second cake) is my favorite, but the double layer yellow just blew me and my guests away. The carrot cake was made by my co-op and some of my wonderfully thoughtful coworkers surprised me with it on my birthday. They also decorate my office. They were so thoughtful and made my birthday really wonderful. I'm also lucky because my co-op sells vegan carrot cake by the slice!

Viva Vegan!

Peruvian Seitan and Potato Skewers

This was a very tasty dish even though I forgot the potatoes. I'm not sure how I forgot the potatoes but forgot them I did. I would definitely make this for omnis and will probably break it out at future barbecues this summer to impress.

Home-Style Refried Beans - before cooking down and mashing

I wanted to try a new recipe, but I love this refried bean recipe so much I had to make it again. This is what they look at before starting to cook down.

Home-Style Refried Beans - finished product

The last time I made them I did make them more wet then you see here. I tried this time with less moisture. I have to say I have no preference, and I loved both ways equally.

Puttanesca Scramble - Vegan Brunch

I made the puttanesca scramble from Vegan Brunch Sunday morning. It is becoming my most favorite scramble! I made it following the recipe exactly weeks ago. It is absolutely perfect as is, but I decided this time to throw in some spinach. I also added some avocado to the top.

Here is the recipe, but I cannot recommend Vegan Brunch highly enough. I have yet to make a recipe that didn't blow me away. It is worth buying for the coffee cake recipe if nothing else!

http://theppk.com/blog/puttanesca-scramble/

Tenth Street Vegetarian Bistro Lawrence, KS

http://tenthstreetbistro.com/aboutus.aspx

A vegetarian restaurant opened late 2009 in Lawrence. The first two times I went the menu was pricey and limited. After a few months they revamped and started offering lunch portions. I've been going at least once a week since.

Below is the Hummus Plate. It was good. For my personal tastes I prefer the more creamy texture offered at Aladdin's.



This is the Sweet and Sour Vegan Chicken and Tofu. It was entirely too sweet for my taste. I ended up pushing most of the sauce covered tofu and vegan chicken to the side. I will state that this was absolutely a personal thing. I have friends who have ordered it and loved it. I think my salt taste buds have warred and won against my sweet buds.

A few notes on other things I've ordered:

• Fried Veggie Dumplings - so wonderful! The sauce isn't as good as Encore, but I order these regularly.
• The Fried Eggplant Fingers aren't Vegan. I made the mistake of assuming.
• The Monk Bowl is my second favorite thing. I think I love it mainly because their rice is beyond amazing. I don't know what they do to their fried rice, but their fried rice is so forking awesome.
• Vegan Duck: It's good, but I think the quantity isn't in correlation with the cost. I would order it again but only as a lunch portion.
• Vegan Shrimp and Tofu Fried Rice is really great. It's very simple with no stand out flavors. Because of my love of their rice this was good for me.
• Fried Vegan Fish and Chips - meh. Meh especially for the cost. I ate fish and chips in my non veg days primarily for the breading. These are very light on the breading. If you were looking for a more healthy fish and chips these may be for you. The vegan fish definitely reminded me of a flaky fish.
• Not on the Menu but Kung Pao Vegan Chicken. This is my favorite, favorite thing. This is what I get my omni people to order. It's something that is generally on special and if it isn't they'll make it for you.
  

I am trying to branch out each time I go and order something different. The problem is I love their fried rice so much that it just sucks me in. I'll say I think their Oriental Cuisine section is probably their best mainly because the owners of the restaurant also own the Vietnamese place.

Go, eat and help keep them around!

Thai Kitchen

One of my favorite lunches at work is the Thai Kitchen soup. There are a lot of different flavors, but of those at my coop Green Onion is the only one that states it's vegan. Thai Kitchen is really great about labeling things vegan. The label is generally on the back, bottom left hand corner.

On it's own I'd say it's not enough to keep me full. Rice noodles with some seasonings are not going to last me to my afternoon snack. What I've found that makes the soup super delicious and filling is adding soy sauce and frozen veggies. Here there is frozen broccoli and bean sprouts. I also add soy sauce to the soup. If you watch your sodium this is definitely not for you, but for fellow salt addicts this soup is awesome. I usually top it off with a boat load of sriracha.

Amy's Breakfast Burrito

I love Amy's. I probably eat 4-5 Amy's products each week. While I know it's not the most economical thing to do I can't help myself! I love the ease of the Breakfast Burrito or Tofu Scramble Pocket at breakfast.

What I most like about this Breakfast Burrito is that it's not overwhelming in flavors. I cook it in a toaster oven, and when it is all toasty on the outside I eat every bite with a dousing of Valentina hot sauce.

Amy's Vegan Mac & Cheese

I have a wonderful coop. I go there for all of my elusive vegan needs. However, they have yet to get this new Amy's product ... and believe me I've been keeping my eye out for it. I finally found it at a Dillons, and it was only $3.19!!

It cooks up in only 4-5 minutes, and it is well worth the 500 calories. I found it creamy and delicious!

I won't eat it on a daily basis, but I will definitely keep some stocked in my freezer.

Breakfast - Tofu Scramble

I have a lot of cookbooks. That means I have a lot of recipes for tofu scrambles. Vegan With a Vengeance was one of the first cookbooks I bought, and I loved that tofu scramble so much that I rarely branch off. It's my first tofu scramble love. Most of the scrambles I do now are variations of this scramble. This morning was really just produce about to turn. Green bell, onion, garlic, carrot, cremini mushrooms and frozen/thawed out tofu. The freezing technique is my favorite way to scramble tofu.








My dining companion.

Pizza Night

I waited for over a month to finally get It's Always Sunny ... from my public library. I finally, finally got it this week. I decided it called for a themed night! I drank PBR and ate taco pizza.


My pizza stone with course ground cornmeal.


The pizza dough is from Vegan Table. My favorite pizza dough is from Vegan With a Vengeance. I've decided to try the other pizza dough recipes out there. The only changes to the recipe I made were adding mexican oregano and garlic powder to the dough. The flavor of the dough was wonderful, but I'm not sure it would sway me from my favorite recipe.


My taco pizzas vary. This time I did cremini mushrooms, diced green bell and yellow onion. I then added a local taco seasoning. The pizza goes from bottom to top: refried beans, taco mixture, cilantro (added after cooking) and finally a little chopped avocado on the top.

Viva Vegan!

I was so excited when I got to use my birthday gift card for Viva Vegan! a few weeks ago. Their website said they weren't carrying it in stores, but when I went in they had it! It always pays to check! There is a lot I want to make. The cookbook is full of things I've always wanted to be able to cook! Tamales? check. Churros AND Sopaipillas? check, check! Tortillas? CHECK!

I've already made the red and white seitan multiple times. These recipes have completely removed my seitan fears. I've varied the dough (wetter/more dry) and every time they come out perfectly. I've even converted my mom from tofu to seitan. She is coming up next week to learn to make it.


My first Viva Vegan! meal was Home-Style Refried Beans (my favorite, favorite thing), cilantro-lime rice, pan-grilled vegetables in chile-lime beer, and the chipotle-seitan-and potato tacos, and corn tortillas. Everything was beyond amazing and easy to make. I'm already planning my next meal.


This is the doodle bug waiting patiently for bites.