eats update

Green smoothie of frozen strawberries, a banana, romaine leaves, a handful of blueberries, and just enough water to make it blend properly. Alright, but not sweet enough.

Lovely green smoothie (really?) of frozen strawberries, a big heart of romaine, a huge chunk of fresh pineapple and the remaining juice in the container, and a little plain soymilk. It tasted great; however, the romaine used in it was of a pale variety, which I think means it has less nutrients (boo). Pretty, though.

Not pictured:

• Tempeh bacon from Vegan Vittles; I baked it in the oven. I thought is was too salty, but my sister and bf liked it.
• Baked tofu with another marinade from Vegan Vittles. It had balsamic vinegar, ketchup, garlic, and olive oil in it. The final product had a subtle flavor that I think would be really delish in sandwiches. My friend Kate said it tasted like straight-up fish– ew. Not to me.
• Cheezy crackers for my youngest brother’s birthday.

dinner tonight

Baked sesame-ginger tofu, with the creamy sesame rice that I mentioned at the bottom of this post and a salad.

So it’s day two of my previously mentioned health kick, and how’s it been going? Great! :]

I soaked the tofu overnight in this marinade from Vegan Vittles, and it roooooocked:

2 T. soy sauce
1 1/2 T. maple syrup
1 T. rice vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
1 T. fresh ginger, grated or minced
1 T. toasted sesame oil
2 pressed cloves of garlic

(*I tagged this post as gluten-free, even though the soy sauce in the marinade has some wheat in it. But that’s pretty minimal gluten presence. However, you can find wheat-free soy sauce if you want the meal to be truly gf.)

cooking actual food + “best” oatmeal cookies

In my house, we call savory, main-course dishes “real food” (and the other category consists basically of desserts), and I made some real food last night. I had over at my house my boyfriend plus two of my really good friends Jordan and Dree, who happen to be dating. And since the four of us are awesome friends and have all known each other for quite a while, it was like the coolest funnest double date EVER. If one member of our party was talking to another, it doesn’t matter who it was, the two remaining people could easily have a conversation with each other. No awkward moments here.

We were all hangin’ at my house, and everybody was hungry, and cooking seemed like a good idea. For the past couple of days I had in my head the makings of cooking a nice meal from scratch (I end up a lot of times just snacking around or eating canned beans with boil-in-a-bag rice). But I’m so glad that me and my dear friends got to cook together. A meal that you make from scratch seems a lot more satisfying in your belly after you eat than just just eating some steamed broccoli and beans. While it takes a long time to prepare, you really enjoy what you’re eating because you know how hard you worked on it.

Crispy crunchy stuffed tofu (this stuff rocks, if you don’t want to make the filling, just slice tofu, marinate it, and use the breading and baking technique), simple roasted brussel sprouts, and some brown rice, with a generous helping of Veganomicon nutritional yeast (cheezy) sauce. The cheeze sauce was soooo good, and everything on that plate later got smothered with it. Like I said, this from-scratch meal was really hearty and satisfying and makes me wish that I had a kitchen of my own in Knoxville. 😦

And now for cookies:

This blog claimed to have the recipe for the “best chewy oatmeal raisin cookies ever.” Having all the ingredients with me, I could not refuse. The verdict? They are pretty amazing and taste a lot like the ones my mom used to make, only quite a bit healthier.

1 c. flour (spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off)
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 T. margarine (like Earth Balance), at room temperature
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. (packed) light brown sugar
1 T. finely ground flaxseed mixed with 3 T. hot water
1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
1 t. vanilla extract
1 1/3 c. rolled oats (not instant)
1/2 c. raisins

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and set the rack on the lower and upper thirds of the oven. Grease two baking sheets or line with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and granulated sugar until smooth. Mix in the brown sugar, then the flax slurry, applesauce, and vanilla.
Stir in the dry ingredients, then the oats and raisins.
Drop the batter by rounded tablespoons 2-inches apart on the baking sheets and use a fork to gently flatten the dough.
Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they “look dull on the surface but are moist and soft”. Rotate baking sheets during baking for even heating.

Don’t overbake ’em! I got it just right, and they were perfect fresh out of the oven, with crispy outsides and soft insides.

crispy crunchy stuffed tofu

Mmmmm, I’ve been wanting to make this for so long. I put it on my “Recipes To Make” list, but I didn’t get around to it for a couple of months, so I just had to eye the pictures longingly. But the day finally came a couple of days ago when I had most of the ingredients at hand to whip this stuff up. Me and my best friend Kate assembled them up together, and it was way fun. The procedures and ingredients list are kind of long, so I’ll leave it up to you to go to the site if you’re interested. You should check it out!

There are two filling options for stuffing the tofu, and I chose the spinach-pea one. But instead of using cumin I used curry powder (I’m kind of tired of cumin right now), and I subbed parsley for cilantro, since Kate doesn’t like cilantro. The flavor was totally amazing! There was a lot of fillinf left over, which I ate with a spoon. When pureed, it comes out pretty thick, not watery at all, and I think it would make a good side dish all by itself. After I write this, I’m going to go and use it as a filling for some cornbread. Here’s the recipe I used:

1 1/2 c. frozen chopped spinach
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 t. curry powder
1 t. salt-free seasoning, such as Mrs. Dash
1 1/2 c. frozen peas
1/4 c. parsley, chopped
cayenne, to taste

In a non-stick skillet, steam the spinach with a little water until it’s cooked through. Set aside.
Clean out the skillet and heat it over medium. Add non-stick cooking spray and saute the onions and garlic until just browned. Add the salt, curry, seasoning, and peas, and cook until the peas are defrosted and most of the liquid has evaporated. (This mixture should be given some time to simmer so that the flavors can meld, so if need be, add a little water.)
Transfer all this too a food processor, and process until mostly smooth. Stir in te parsley by hand, and add a little cayenne pepper.