Shopping Finds

I don't have a whole foods store so its hard to find certain products around here. But I went shopping Thursday and food some new stuff to try. And some other stuff that I buy from time to time. So I thought I would leave a pic. Nothing to impressive....

Mi Pueblo.. Veggie Fajitas

Tonight we had Vegetarian Fajitas at our local Mexican restaurant. I really like their food and had been craving it for weeks so we desided to go. We ordered one dinner plate which is good size and we still had left overs. They also make their own chips & salsa which I love. I never like salsa... and I am really in love with theirs. The chips and salsa are complimantery and are brought out as soon as you arive. I worked at a place called Speedway Market last year and Mi Pueblo ordered all their veggies fresh from us daily. But my dinner was deffinatly a 1o out of 10 tonight. Sorry no pics I ment to take the camara but I forgot.

Vegan Sugar Cookies from TGoV

The Garden of Vegan..... Sarah Kramer. I have all three of her books but it always seems to be this book I find so many things in. So Sugar Cookies I know easy right. Well when you are use to baking with eggs. Everything isn't that easy. But I am learning. Just to make sure I get this stuff right I check in my cook books to compare what I'm using. In a lot of my recipes not all. Anyways these Vegan Sugar Cookies were very "buttery" and good. I made some small cookies and made one big cookie like the store bought kind. They all turned out really good. I also had a lot of left over frosting in the fridge from VcCtotW. I used the Vanilla w/ peanut butter added and put some on the sugar cookies. That was really yummy too. I think next time I go out I am going to buy some different flavor extracts to make different frosting flavors for the 4th of July. I am thinking about selling cookies in my town. Every year the town has a big celebration, food, singing, fireworks, contests, games for the kids, etc. Who knows. I will post it if I do. But the sugar cookies are awesome...

Kind looks like corn bread but its a big sugar cookie. I did cook it a little to long though. oops...

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies...

I found a really Delicious Vegan cookie. They are so good that I made them 2 days in a row..... I know that's bad...23 yesterday and 30 today. But I have been giving them out too. To my family and to some people at work. They all think vegan food would be nasty so of course I have to give them some. Everyone has loved them. Even my Dad who made faces after finding out they had soy and no eggs. But when he tried them he loved them. So a point for Vegan cooking. Make that a lot of points because the cupcakes, frosting, & cake were a huge success too.

Emes Gel...Not Vegan !!!!! Or Vegetarian!!!!

I have never used it although I have some over at the house just in case I would ever need it. But I can't believe Emes is not getting in any legal trouble for this. It really makes me sick to think a company can list anything they want on a box of food and get away with it. I know I am late finding out about this it. But if anyone wants to see the video go to vegsource.com it is playing there. It is a 12minute long report based on Emes and 2 Vegan marshmallows co. that was using Emes. The one company went under but the other is still up and running and found a substitute for Emes. Everyone needs to speak up to make the Attorney General do their job though.... Thanks

Seitan O Greatness PPK.com

All the ingredients gathered....

All ingredients mixed and formed ready to put in foil and oven.

After 90 mins of baking... It busted through the foil and so if I lay it down it actually looks like a triangle..

Barbecue sauce added... and baked.. The seitan turned out ok. But I don't like the Cinnamon in it and I added smoked Liquid. Next time I am going to change the recipe to make it taste more smoked and no Cinnamon. Probably change a couple other things too. It was good though. Cheaper then buying soy meat at the store..

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes- VccTotW

Cupcakes again. I made the same chocolate cupcakes from VcCtotW. I also used the Vanilla Butter cream frosting recipe with peanut butter added. "J" Love peanut butter frosting. They turned out really good. I also like to add a layer of bananas when I make peanut butter frosting but I didn't have a chance to do it to the cupcakes.





"C" Helped me make the cupcakes.

Here she is eating the left over batter. Since its vegan its all gone to eat raw... "J" & I had some of the batter as well. It is really good. But the cookies are too...

Spice racks & Paint colors..

I have tons and tons of spices and a small kitchen. So cabinet space and no space to hang a traditional rack. So a few months ago I bought some wood at Lowe's and my "J" hang it up for me. Very simple & it used up some formerly unusable wall space. I love it.. Thank you "J"!!!!! Very Very Much... now he needs to expand it some more though. I haven't figured out how I want him to do that yet. But I am working on it.
O yeah and if you look a little to the right you will see color samples... I'm not sure which one to use yet and they have been there for like 6 months...lol...

Yves Veggie Ham Sami...

Nothing really baked or anything that takes more then 5 min to cook. So we have a veggie ham sandwich.











Morningstar Bacon (BLT), No mayo, just mustard...













Boca Burger & fries...








My meal skills have been out of whack lately.. I have been lazy since I have been working.. Bad Bad Bad. Isn't it..?

Happy Fathers Day- VcCtotW

"C" and I made our Daddy a fathers day cake today. She helped me make the cake its self. I measured and she dumped it in the bowl. She really loves to help in the kitchen. She was even really clean about it today. Although I made a few messes. I used the basic chocolate cup cake recipe from VcCtotW and doubled it. I also used the Butter cream recipe from the same book. The chocolate & vanilla versions. I even used what I had left over from last night. So good for me.. No wasting all that frosting. I love these frosting recipes they turn out perfect every time. I know frosting isn't that hard to make but every time I tried the other recipes I had found they always turned out wrong. So I am so glad to have found a basic frosting recipe that works in so many different ways. "C" had to have the "XO" put on the cake for her daddy. That was the first thing that came out of her mouth when I told her we were going to make a cake for him. Well I hope her likes it. HAPPY FATHERS DAY DADDY and ALL THE OTHER FATHERS OUT THERE....!

Eggplant Parmesan

Wells Kinda.. I forgot the "Parmesan cheese". Oops. This is the first time I have ever had eggplant and it really isn't bad. It was actually pretty tasty. I will make it differently next time though. It was kinda mushy. I bought pre breaded eggplant at the store yesterday. I couldn't wait to try it so I made this. I put some pasta sauce and "mozzarella cheese" in it baked it for 35 minutes covered, 5 uncovered, and voila.... It wasn't what I was expecting. The texture was the thing I wasn't thrilled with. So next time I think I will pan fry it and then just put a little sauce on top with a thin lawyer of cheese."J" was really impressed and had 2 helpings. I finished mine 1 and was satisfied. I will defiantly try it again. 1 day I might even buy a fresh eggplant.. who knows... ?

Home made pretzels.. well kinda (V)

I love going in the mall and being freshly made pretzels except well 1 they have eggs on them and 2 you really don't know exactly whats in the dough that your eating. I know call me paranoid. But at least at home I know whats in them and what there nutritional values are. This is the first time I took this short cut to make them using frozen dough. I made 3 pretzels that were actually shaped like pretzels. The rest were pretzel rods. When they were done I used some smart "butter" and some course salt. They turned out really good. "J" Put some powdered cheese on them. (So much for his being vegan.) But they did turn out really good.

1 thawed bread dough white or wheat
cut into pieces and role out.
Put in boiling water till they float.
Dry on a little on a paper towel.
Put in the oven 350 till cooked through.
Let cool add toppings..

Mocha Cupcakes from VcCtotW (V)

I tried my first recipe out of this book today. Mocha Cupcakes with chocolate/ lightly mocha flavored "butter cream" icing. I have been missing out. They were awesome. I made one recipe of the cupcakes and it made 11. (There are only 2 left) :) and I made 1 full butter cream recipe. Next time I will cut the Butter cream recipe in half because it was way to much and I hate wasting stuff. So it is now in my fridge and I don't know what to do with it. It is not good for me to make cup cakes when I am watching what I eat because I like cupcakes. I am sad to say that I had 2 and the best cupcakes ever today. I had one when it was still warm and 1 after it cooled. They were a lot better after they cooled and I could taste the subtle mocha flavor. When they were warm I really couldn't taste the mocha. I might add just a little more next time. "J" thought they they turned out really good. He doesn't like coffee and was hesitant at first but he had 2 as well. (So the must have been pretty good). He was complaining because he wanted some more and he is trying to watch what he eats too so. O well.. I will watch it... I will watch every last crumb go in my mouth and by savoured like there is no tomorrow.. Like I said they were awesome.

Vegetable Sushi

For the last past few months I have had this wild urge to try vegetable sushi. Specifically already made. So I had been checking the fresh food section of Giant Eagle every weekend when I drove to Mo Town and last week end I finally found one left. They have a sushi chef come in every morning and make it fresh so. I picked up the last veggie tray they had. ( I know its a bad idea to try anything that comes on a tray, Right). But I had to. I paid $5.09 for this try of I think 12. I was so excited the first thing I did when "J" and I jumped in the car was pulled it out and put a whole piece in my mouth. I started chewing and let me tell you.. I was not the good experience I was looking for. Half way down Granville shopping centers hill I was spitting veggie sushi out my window so I didn't throw up.. I have always had a bad gag reflex when it comes to food specially new foods. But lately I have been doing a lot better. But this sushi was.. I won't say awful.. Just very different. and I will explain further. I have never had an avocado. I know sounds stupid. I gets better. I just found out tonight that the veggie sushi had avocado in them. So that was the over whelming sweet taste I was getting. The other no no.. was the seaweed. I know all sushi is wrapped in it. But I wasn't expecting it to poke me when I at it. I think that was the thing that actually triggered the gag. I had to stop and get an icee at Sheetz to get the taste out of my mouth. Any ways. My first Veggie Sushi Experience was not a good one to say the least. Don't worry I will not go on and on boring you any more about sushi anyways. This will not end the veggie sushi experiment though. Next time I will work on making my own tough.

What did turn out good Last Night? Rice Mix

I know rice is so easy you can mix it with anything and it will turn out great. I was tired of looking for something healthy to eat last night. So I took some of "J"s plain rice and fried it with:
Soy Sauce
Veggie Broth
Tomato paste
Can of Mixed veggies
Some left over black eyed peas
Garlic powder
Onion Powder
Salt & pepper
I think that is all.. It is really hard to say. Everything that I found laying around got dumped in.
But It turned out good. I had 2 flour tortilla shells and filled them with rice. Not as much as the pictured showed. I took some back out and "J" had the rest. He liked it too. So I guess it was a big success.

Tofu: Trial & Error: Fried

Fried Tofu on bread with some salt.
This tofu was dipped in Soy sauce, then flour, then soy, and then flour again. The crust on it was good. Reminded me of fried green tomatoes. But the inside of the tofu was the same old white spongy stuff. Texture is the enemy in the tofu case. I like jerky style tofu. And next time I make it I will leave a picture. And its not bad in pies. But when it has the whole tofu right out of the container thing going on it just won't go down my throat. Gag reflex seems to right on top of things.. :(... But again I tried. I guess it is one of those mind over matter things. Other foods I have gotten over but I don't know about the fried tofu... The flavor wasn't bad though.

Banana "Ice Cream" Vegan

I love this sweet treat in the summer. Vegan, sweet, and yummy. You can add different stuff to it to make it taster. I use chocolate, cinnamin, sugar, sugar free syrup, berries, etc.

This is just one banana. Makes about 1/2 to 3/4 cup. Just put it in the blender or juicer. In a blender you will need a little water or soy milk. not alot or it will turn out runny.

With cocoa powder.

"Dirty" Rice with Boca

This was a quick fix. Very yummy though. A little high in calories when eaten alone. But like I said really yummy.

Green peppers
Red peppers
Onions
Brown rice
Soy sauce
Boca
Salt & Pepper
Garlic powder
Just quickly thrown together to taste.

Spring & Summer

Spring & Summer is here. Most of the days are hot and dry here. But for the last couple days it has been around 70 and rainy.

I been been so so busy lately. Working extra hours at work & doing a little spring cleaning or at least attempting to. I am also trying to eat healthy and not over eat. So cooking has been a chore and has not been happening much. But I am hoping to change that.