This week's meals

I was on elective this week, meaning I worked 7-5 M-F, and made dinner several nights this week (though was home sick on Wednesday and spent that entire day sleeping). Here are the meals. Crispy gardein chicken burger: I used Gardein's new crispy chicken fillet (which they recommend using with marinara sauce) on a bun with arugala, avocado, green tomatoes, and balsalmic vinagrette: Mark said it was one of the best burgers I have ever made.

THen I made the new Gardein Roast for dinner one night: used their gravy for the roast, and my gravy for the mashed potatoes, plus broccoli but I mixed some sesame seeds, soy sauce, and brown sugar with the broccoli for a different twist to the side.

I had some extra tofu around so used this simple recipe for a tofu burrito: http://happyherbivore.com/recipe/smokey-black-bean-enchiladas/

Lastly, my favorite meal this week was my version of philly cheese steak: I sauteed some mushrooms and peppers in a little oil, then sliced tofurkey's new roast beef slices in to strips and added that to the fry. Placed on a hoagie roll and heated in the over at 450 for 5 minutes with daiya cheese on top. AMAZING and all my creation.

Mexican hot dogs

I had some smart life vegan hot dogs, so I cooked them up and then on top made a mixture of black beans, mild fresh salsa, and chopped mangoes. I loaded the dogs up, put some daiya cheese on top, and put in the over for about 5 minutes at 450. Super tasty. Tater tots and avocado on the side.

And with that blog I think I am all caught up, will have to cook more this week and update as it occurs!

AMAZING sandwich: vegan mac and cheese, BBQ seitan, and carmalized onions

I found this blog with these veganized sandwiches: http://www.namelymarly.com/2011/02/americas-top-10-new-sandwiches-veganized-cheesy-mac-and-rib/ The mac and cheese one was SO amazing, I minaturized it for a wine night and it was a huge hit.

I also used this recipe to make some stuffed mushrooms, with daiya cheddar cheese and vegan smart life bacon on the top: http://theveganmouse.blogspot.com/2012/07/mashed-potato-stuffed-mushrooms.html

corn and pepper pizza

not sure where I found this recipe, but it was quite good: the usual pizza, a layer of pizza sauce, and then corn and peppers in small pizzas sprinkled on top. Then fake cheese. It was really crunchy and sweet, I really liked it.

mushaboom and pasta

when I had some mushrooms around I used this blog recipe to make GREAT bruschetta like dishes, with a simple farafelle pasta on the side: http://www.thehungrybirdie.com/2011/03/mushaboom.html

tofurkey ground beef quesidialla

Now this one I do know was from the tofurky label on the box: it was a new product by tofurky, their ground beef, and I used this recipe on their package to make quesidillas.

best vegan breakfast sandwich ever...

This blog below was one of many listed it's vegan breakfast sandwich as the best ever, but I think they were right. The key: poach (boil) the tofu before frying it. Mark agreed, this sanwich I made based on this recipe tasted like real egg.

http://sinfullynutritious.blogspot.com/2012/03/mcmaria-vegan-breakfast-sandwich.html

vegan sausage lasagna

I had tofurkey italian style sausage in the house, so I decided to make this lasagna. I can't remember where my recipe was, but I think it

was actually a recipe on the back of the Tofurkey box that I used.

Catching up with some vegan meals: BBQ casserolle

most of the vegan meals I have been making lately have been from blogs i have been following, which has been a nice surprise. For this BBQ casserolle I pretty much followed the recipe here: http://www.meettheshannons.net/2011/03/betty-crocker-project-vegan-bbq.html I just didn't have any beer to add to it.

Los Angeles vacation

So even though my last post was about how insanely busy I have been, which is true, I must admit Mark and I took our first vacation in over 1.5 years last week. So I shouldn't complain. I had a great time. We went to LA and stayed at the apartment of our friends Ryan and Witt, and had an amazing time. The first day we were pretty tired from traveling and just relaxed/wandered around. For dinner we had vegan chinese food (I had a great fake duck dish). The first full day out we went to the Hollywood Mountain, saw the observatory and sign there. We then stopped by the Hollywood Blvd stars and Chinese theater, which was ok.The next day we went to the Simon Norton museum in Pasedena, which ended up being my favorite museum in LA. For dinner we went to Hugo's which had amazing vegan options, I got a vegan burger with mushrooms, daiya cheese, and BBQ sauce- AMAZING. Monday we went to Venice Beach and walked around and up to the pier which was beautiful. We also stopped at this Ale House restaurant for lunch where i Had a TATA- tempeh, arugala, tomato and avocado sandwich, super tasty. That night we went to an indian restaurant for dinner which was delish. On Tuesday I drove to Tusten with Mark for a pseudo-interview at a hospital, which was ok. Then we drove further south to Temecula Valley and stopped at two different wineries for wine tasting. We stopped at Mount Palomar, which was not that great, and then Weins, which had SUPERB wine but over my price tag. We then went to an italian restaurant in the valley for dinner before driving back, which was super fun. On Wednesday we went to the Getty, then drove out to Malibu Beach for the afternoon, wandering up and down the beach of a state park (and I saw dolphins!). That evening we came back in to LA and for dinner went to a sushi restaurant with witt and ryan, and they had SUPER cheap happy hour sapporo. Lastly on Thursday we went to the LACMA in the morning, stopping by the Tar Pits next door, and then to the zoo for a power zoo experiences since it was only 1.5 hours til close, with Witt. Then we caught the red eye back to Boston and crashed on Friday since our flight left 930p LA time and arrived friday morning in Boston at 530am.

sorry I have been away....my b-b-busy life

it's been a while since I have posted, sorry!!! Super busy. I am still cooking a decent amount, and running but not as much as I would like. But probably stretching myself a little to thin at work: 1. It is credentials time, which means I have to make up 4 acceptable multiple choice questions to submit to the exam committee, complete a packet, and send in $1500 to take an exam in September, which I pray I will pass but historically the pass rate is about 40%. 2. I am currently working on 3 papers as a primary author, and 2 as a secondary author, so I might have stretched myself to thin there. None of them are requirements, just stuff I wanted to get done since I like research. 3. Oh yeah, that exam I mentioned in number 1, I am studying for it, like mad, and so scared, overwhelmed, etc. There is so much I need to know for it. 4. I have officially started job hunting, which is super stressful. Not to mention, our schedule officially changes on January first since the residency has been shrunk from 9 residents to 6, which means that I work more hours then prior, and have less days off, and on a regular basis am forced to swithc from days to nights to days, or nights to days to nights all right in a row, which is going to be great for my sleep schedule. It also makes it SO tough to schedule traveling and interviews with hospitals I am applying for positions at. The ones I am most looking forward to are one in Philly in January and hopefully visiting 2-3 hospitals in San Fran area in February. 5. It's the holidays, which means friends and family want to visit, which is fine, but stressful when I am trying to manage all of the above. So that is my excuse for being MIA for a little, but I will try to bring the blog up to date today.

Why I think Romney is out of touch and lost the debate...

1. Taxes and student loans. I’ll admit, I am a resident, still training to be a specialist in my field (and by the way you don’t HAVE to do that as a veterinarian, I chose to do it to make myself a more competitive and intelligent vet). So at this point in my career I make about $30,000. I don’t think about taxes much. I am probably one of the 47% ROmney doesn't give a shit about. However, I do have $180,000 in student loans, and that is just from vet school. So student loans are important to me, and taxes will be some day. With regards to student loans, the Obama administration has done a lot to make paying back your loans easier. I personally have ZERO debt from my undergraduate education thanks to grants and scholarships (some from the government), and even though I have $180K from vet school in student loan debt, I had $32K covered by grants as well. Last night Romney said he would continue funding Pell grants and increase student loan availability, which is the OPPOSITE of what he has said on the campaign trail before tonight’s debate according to multiple fact checking websites. Additionally, when the audience member asked about student loans and jobs, it seemed to become a spin off on taxes, so the candidates talked a lot about taxes. Romney continued to say that he would make it easier for the middle class by “making it so they have no taxes on capital gains and savings”. I am sorry, but 95% of the people I know are in the middle class, and only about 5% of them have capital gains or significant savings. This to me was an example of Romney being out of touch with reality again- these statements again and again about helping the middle class seem like a way to help the top 2% of America. When I get a job next year and hopefully start making 4-6 times my resident salary, it will be weird to pay taxes for the first time since I normally get some sort of tax return, but depending on the party in office I will be happy to do it to pay for things like Obamacare that are going to help make this country’s healthcare system better; and if I do ever get capital gains or savings I will feel like I have successfully climbed the social ladder to the upper class, and will not in any way be upset about paying taxes on them. Additionally, my boyfriend is socially liberal like me, but he tends to be fiscally conservative. From time to time he will agree with republicans on various policy recommendations for the deficit, taxes, etc. However, knowing he is fiscally conservative and seeing him agree again and again with the Obama administration that the Romney campaign needs to show us some hard evidence that this 5 point plan and plan for tax cuts with lowering the deficit at the same time will happen. It just doesn’t work. There is not math that he can figure out that will make it happen, so obviously he is lying. It means if he were in office all these promises he is making, some of them will have to break, and since he is so dedicated to the super wealthy I bet it will be those of us in the middle class that have our promises broken to us. 2. Gun control- towards the end of the debate an audience member asked about the policies of the parties on assault weapons. As my boyfriend the history major likes to explain to people, the second amendment is misunderstood by people. It was originally set up as a way to have a national guard in times where people would need to take up their arms and defend the country from threats. However, in the last century the NRA has made it out to be this distorted law where people think that any civilian should be allowed to own a gun and protect themselves if needed. Guns=violence in my book, the more gun control laws, the less likely guns get in the hands of someone who doesn’t know how to properly use them, which means less accidents or stupid acts of violence fueled by road rage like instincts occur. I have three friends who were either at Virginia Tech or had a close friend/classmate killed in that mass shooting when it occurred, and ALL of them are pro-gun control, especially on assault weapons. Having weapons more readily available for quacks is just not smart. And even people who seem like reasonable civilians, when not trained, can have accidents. Just last month I read an article about a man who shot someone climbing in to the window of his living room at 3am in self protection. Turns out it was his 16 year old son who had snuck out with friends and was returned, trying not to get caught. I used to sneak in and out of the house when I was a kid to hang out with my neighbors watching movies until 3am…glad I lived in a family that didn’t think they needed guns. 3. Gas prices- At first the question from the audience was frustrating, since both candidates didn’t directly answer the question- but in general the feeling was that Romney wants to open up more drilling in this country, use the artic national wildlife refuge for drilling, and let big oil get what they want to ensure that gas prices are lowered. Here are my thoughts- the price of oil is about supply and demand, right? So if Romney has his way the oil companies in this country will get a laxity on the regulations controlling them, meaning they can produce more oil- that means supply goes up and prices go down- however…is that helpful for the big oil companies? If the oil companies have their way, it benefits them more to have high gas prices, so giving them less regulations might mean they have an easier time manipulating prices or manipulating supply in their favor- which is what they were doing according to Obama- multiple oil companies had areas available to drill but weren’t drilling on purpose, to DRIVE GAS PRICES UP. Now this is an issue where I am actually disappointed in Obama. I am very pro-environment, and in order to be bi-partisan I think Obama has been to lax with regulations on the oil and gas companies- I actually think we need MORE regulations, or our earth is going to be destroyed. We just had one of the most DEVASTATING OIL SPILLS EVER in the Gulf a couple years ago- do you think that was from too many regulations? Not only did it decimate wildlife and natural lands, it destroyed the economy of the south because their tourist industry was wiped out- again another example of helping out big business (oil and gas) and it hurting those in the middle class. I will cry on the day they open up the artic national wildlife refuge to drilling- it is one of the more precious and last large areas of natural environments in this country; when we do you can be sure it will probably only be a decade or so before polar bears are extinct, since they are already struggling against global warming. And so now I come to Obama’s argument- sure, we need more domestic oil and gas production here, but we need to regulate, and we need to spend a large chunk of energy resources looking in to alternative energy options- again to my supply and demand, if people have more energy efficient options that we invest in, demand for gas and oil goes DOWN, and the price therefore goes down as well. 4. Terrorism- I thought Obama was the better man on this discussion on the attacks in Libya that killed 4 Americans including a diplomat- he did not push blame anywhere, he said his government should be held accountable, but there are always going to be acts like this when you are president. And I was happy that the moderator called Romney out on lying about Obama- you were fact checked again Romney! And Obama had a long list of things he set out to do as president that he has accomplished on this front (Bin Laden is dead, the wars in the middle east are coming to an end).... 5. WOMEN- although I have very strong feelings about the environment, education, and gay marriage, this is what sealed Romney’s fate for me in this debate. When asked about the pay gap seen by women (which I have blogged about before http://crunchyvegan.blogspot.com/2012/09/a-womans-rights-blog.html ) he first started talking about how when he was elected governor he went and found “binders full of women” to be on his cabinet. I know this was meant to make him sound like a guy who wanted women to succeed, but what it came out like was that he wanted women around him, like women are trophies to look for, but men do the real work. And then he went on to talk about how he wants women to get equal pay, but he understands they will also need more flexible hours to get home and make dinner for the family- you backward, sexist pig. This is what did it for me. You never would have had my vote before, but now you have lost a lot of women’s votes. I will be a working professional and probably the bread winner when I get out there with a job after my residency, and my whole family as well as most of my friends come from families where women are the bread winner in the family. How dare you talk about women being the one who needs flexible hours to get home to make dinner just cause your wife is a stay at home mom. This was so morally offensive, I don’t know how any woman could listen to this and think it was ok. And by the way- Romney said 580,000 women have lost jobs with Obama as president- factcheck.org actually said the figure was 90,000. He lied, again. 6. Gay marriage- So I was actually sad that no one actually addressed this at the town hall debate. This is a major issue for me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRN9Y5Nvdqk That will show you Romney’s view. And Obama is the first president ever to come out in support of gay marriage. A lot of my friends are gay. This past weekend I went to one of the most loving, amazing, heartfelt weddings I have EVER been to. During the toast the father of one groom talked about how this couple had been through more than most married couples already and that their compassion and caring for one another makes them better people every day. This was a wedding between two gay men, two men I care about deeply. I can’t believe ANYONE could claim that they don’t have as much of a right to marriage then me or anyone else. I hope during my lifetime this changes, because it is so backwards that gay marriage is not accepted. Everyone regardless if they are homosexual or heterosexual should be given that right. So that’s my thoughts on the debate.

chinese chicken salad and vegan fake chicken egg rolls

Well this one was QUITE an experiment, and the picture does NOT do it justice. I found thin rice paper for eff rolls/spring rolls at shaws this week that were vegan; I wanted to try to make something with them but wanted a side dish to go with it, so I made a vegan fake chicken chinese salad. Then to make the rolls, I wanted there to be meat in them, but wasn't sure what combo; I had mangoes in the house, what I did was choppped the mangoes up in to tiny pieces, made some white rice, and fried up some gardein mandarin flavored fake chicken. For each roll I put some rice, mangoes, and gardein mandarin chicken, then rolled it up like a burrito. Mark was horribly skeptical when he saw them, which I can't blame him, the rolls were translucent and looked gross, but he admitted they were DELICIOUS! We are totally going to make them again, but to make them even more unhealthy will have to fry them in my fryalator I haven;t used yet. For the chinese chicken salad: Fry a package of TJs fake chicken strips in a small amount of peanut oil. In a large serving bowl mix 1 package romaine lettuce, 1 package shredded purple cabbage, 1 package shredded carrots, 1/4 cup cilantro, 1 package shaved almonds, and 2 TBsp sesame seeds. In a small bowl whick together 3 TBsp vinegar, 3 TBsp sugar, 1 TBsp rice wine, 1 TBsp soy sauce, 1 tsp garlic, 1 tsp ginger, and 2 TBsp peanut oil. In the large bowl mix together the salad with the dressing and the chicken strips. The salad was ok, but not great, and the rolls were SO good they made the salad seem crummy, but it was ok.

another version of vegan fried rice

Not sure why I tried this version of vegan fried rice, I think cause i had brown rice in the house I wanted to use, but it was super tasty, probably really unhealthy though, packed with calories I am sure. In 1 TBSp peanut oil fried some sliced up tofu or fake chicken, for this recipe I used trader joe's fake chicken strips. Once browned remove from oil. Cook the rice as usual while you are doing this. A 3 TBsp peanut oil to wok and fry some chopped white onion in it until translucent. Once translucent add 1 TBsp ginger and 4 TBsp garlic; then add 2 cups brocolli, 3 red bell peppers chopped in to small pieces (I had one red, yello, and orange bell pepper), 2 cups shitake mushrooms, 1 package of shredded carrots, 1/2 cup frozen peas to the wok. Cook through. Then add the fake chicken and rice to the wok. Mix well and stir in 6 TBsp soy sauce, 2 TBsp rice wine, 1 TBsp mirin, and some pepper to taste. Then enjoy! I definitely loved it!

sun dried tomato pasta

I also had some sun dried tomatoes in the house the other day that I needed to use so tried this quick and easy recipe. Cook 1 package of spaghetti as usual. For the pesto blenderize 2 TBsp garlic, 1/2 cup packed and shredded fresh basil leaves, 1 jar oil soaked sun dried tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, 6 TBsp water, 4 TBsp walnuts, 1 TBsp nutrional yeast, and 1 TBsp red pepper flakes. Once the pesto is made and pasta is done mix the two together. It was ok, but a little spicy for me (and I am normally a medium lean towards hot spicey person) so next time I might back off on the red pepper flakes if I make it again.

side dish potato salad

The side dish potato salad I made for the meal in the last post was a really good salad recipe so thought i would put it here: Asparagus and Potato Salad Roasted Potatoes: 8-10 small potatoes chopped and doused in olive oil (I had a mixture of purple, red, and yellow potatoes); roast at 425 for 30 minutes. Asparagus: chop up one bunch of asparagus in to small pieces and douse in olive oil, then sautee for a couple minutes on medium heat in oil. Dressing: Whisk together 1Tbsp olive oil, 1/4c lemon juice, 1 TBsp lemon pepper, 2 TBsp garlic, 1 tsp maple syrup, 2 TBsp dijon mustard, 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast, 1 tsp pepper, chopped up chives and 1 TBsp water. Mix all the ingredients together; it is good warm or cold; I had it both ways.

fake hot dog and baked bean casserole

I had bought these mini fake hot dogs from May Wah vegetarian so decided to make a baked bean and fake hot dog casserole. The casserole was good, but the best part was the beans, the hot dogs were a little gross; will use smart dogs cut in to small pieces in the future if I ever make it again. The recipe involved mixing together the fake hot dogs as well as 1.5TBsp margarine, 1 tsp allspice, 1 16oz can of vegetarian baked beans, 1/3 c. ketchup, 1/3 c. brown sugar, and 1/2 a package of Daiya cheddar cheese. Mixed all together and baked at 350 for 30 minutes.

As you can see, I served some corn on the side, as well as potato salad, making it a good summer meal.

The gender gap/inequality...

I have heard some stuff on NPR this past year and more recently read some articles on the gendedr gap, and inequal opportunities for women, and I will admit I was skeptical at first but the stuff I have read and heard this year convinced me otherwise, now if only I could convince my boyfriend...so I am posting all the articles/news stories I have heard here as a plea for all people, men and wommen, to read and understand that there is a GENDER GAP and it is not because women get pregnant, or don't have a work ethic. http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/unofficial-prognosis/2012/09/23/study-shows-gender-bias-in-science-is-real-heres-why-it-matters/ http://www.sharayurkiewicz.com/2011/02/dont-rule-out-sexism-so-quickly.html http://www.thehastingscenter.org/Bioethicsforum/Post.aspx?id=5255&blogid=140 http://www.npr.org/2012/07/12/156664337/stereotype-threat-why-women-quit-science-jobs http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1983185,00.html

another creative veggie burger

So like I mentioned in a previous blog, Mark asked that I spice up my veggie burgers and I have been enjoying doing that. I sauteed some spinach and mushrooms in a small amount of olive oil for this one, cooked the burgers, the layered on the veggies and a layer of cheese, baked in the oven for 5 minutes to melt the cheese first.

another vegan (Mexican) pizza

This vegan pizza was also delicious...another thin layer of sauce, and then I topped it with black beans, chopped up avocadoes, chopped tomatoes, and fake chicken. Then the fake cheese on top of that.

steps to a vegan pizza

I have been having lots of fun lately with vegan pizzas, and this is one of my new favorite throw it together pizzas: First I put a thin layer of pizza sauce over the pizza dough. Then I chopped up lots of fresh spinach and put a layer of that. Then I had some sun dried tomatoes as well as vegan bacon that I chopped up and sprinkled over the pizza. Then I put on the cheese. The one on the right is with real cheese for Mark, one on the left is mine with Daiya fake cheese.

summer setain

Also found this recipe from Post Punk Kitchen: http://www.theppk.com/2012/06/summer-seitan-saute-with-cilantro-lime/ Made it with some replacements- I used one package shitake and one package protobello mushrooms. I didn't use any jalapeno and served it over rice.

pine nut and chicken pasta

I had some pine nuts around the house so decided to make a pasta dish with them, found this easy recipe and threw it together in 20 minutes! http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/04/hasty-tasty-pasta-with-broccoli-olives.html

When I'm done....

Getting closer and closer to finishing the residency (one more year!!!) and fantasizing about what I will do when I am done. Pretty certain I will be moving, not likely to get a job in Boston which is sad since Boston is such a nice area, but it will be fun to move. I will probably have to work swing shifts or weekends, or both, but here are some things I would like to do when I have more time off and a more set schedule (and hopefully reasonable, since i am scheduled a minimum of 60 hours a week now and frequently am there late working longer hours than that). 1. Run 40+ miles a week and train for one marathon a year (more if I can handle it). 2. Have every other weekend off- Mark has put up with my shit schedule for over 4 years by the time I finish, I can work some weekends, but hope to have 50% off with him a year. 3. Pay off my 200K in student loans within 10 years. 4. Go on at least one international vacation a year. 5. Join a volleyball league. 6. Join a gym and actually interval and cross train (i always say I want to and never do it, and I know it will make me a better runner). 7. Publish at least one research paper every other year. (If I land a job in academia my goal will be 1-2 a year). 8. Be able to afford buying xmas and bday presents for all my family. 9. Get a second dog (ideally a basset hound from basset rescue). 10. Cook at least one new recipe a week (I already do this most weeks so should be easy to continue).

thai packet of spices

Last dish, this was a simple one...My co-worker had bought me some pre-packaged spice concoctions...this was a thai one. I had some leftover tofu I chopped up and some broccoli, basically fried those together with the spice packet, then added a peanut sauce to it that was based in coconut milk. Served over rice with TJs thai dumplings on the side, it was a little spicier then expected but the coconut milk based peanut sauce helped even it out.

Thank you meettheshannons.com

I have been trying a lot of recipes from meettheshannons recently and LOVE them. Here are some of my experiments... 1. I have some Tofurky Italian Sausage and used their pasta recipe to make this DELICIOUS dish. http://www.meettheshannons.net/2011/08/pasta-in-fresh-basil-green-sauce.html The main thing that I changed was I did not have avocados, so used 1 cup peas instead of 1/4 and scratched the avocados. I was also very liberal with kale and spinach.

THen I used their cherry cola BBQ recipe to make this summer dish: with some May Wah Veggie fake drumsticks, corn, and a quinoa pre-made salad from whole foods it was very summery. I will have to find more things to use the leftover BBQ sauce for... http://www.meettheshannons.net/2011/06/betty-crocker-project-cherry-cola-bbq.html

Lastly, they use a lot of tater tots in their recipes, so this was my own recipe but modified from theirs. It was a tater tot salad since i had leftover tater tots. Basically there was a layer of spinach and romaine, then then tater tots, then some shredded fake beef fried up with some taco seasoning, some olives, tomatoes, avocados, and fake cheese. The dressy made this tasty but unhealthy dish even more fatty, I used this vegan ranch dressing recipe with some BBQ sauce added: http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2009/04/vegan-ranch-dressing-and-dip.html

lots of meals to catch up with...starting with pad thai

One of my co-workers had pad thai the other day, which looked so good...so I searched for a vegan substitute online and found this tasty pad thai dish without the eggs! I used tofu this time around, but will probably use fake shrimp from may wah vegetarian if I try it again. http://​livinginthekitchenwithpuppi​es.blogspot.com/2010/12/​vegan-pad-thai.html And when it came time to make the sauce I realized I didn't have the ingredients, so I improvised and I used 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 TBsp red curry paste, 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup lemon juice, 1 TBsp ground ginger, and 1 tsp basil whisked together. I also did not add thai chili to the main dish, otherwise this was the recipe!

Tofu marinara

This dish was quite great and will probably be hard to repeat. For the side I just cooked up some wheat pasta in some marinara sauce. Then for the tofu part: First fry up one chopped white onion and one package of baby bella mushrooms. They were then set aside. Then one block of firm tofu was sliced in to 5 1-inch slabs. 1/4 cup of bread crumbs was mixed with a packet of Italian seasoning (which Anya got me as a gift). The tofu slabs were then coated in the bread crumbg-seasoning mixture. They were then fried in the olive oil that was leftover from the mushrooms. After the tofu was fried on one slide it was flipped over and when on the other side the mushrooms were then poured over the top of the tofu, and then marinara was placed on top of that, and lastly with some daiya mozzarella. This was then covered with the lid of the pan and cooked for another 5 miuntes. Hopefully I can find some good Italian seasoning as before so I can make it again sometime.

vegan burgers

It's been a busy couple weeks, here are to recent veggie burger dishes I have made: This one was a double cheeseburger I made from the recipe on Meet The Shannon's, and it was DELICIOUS: This was my own creation, a TJ's brand veggie masala burger fried in Target's mango curry sauce on a bun with tomatoes and avocados, and sweet potato fries with the curry sauce as well.

Delicious Asian dishes

So the night beore surgery I made some excellent dishes. The appetizer was spicy Thai corn fritters. Ingredients: - 1 bag thawed frozen corn - 1 TBsp curry paste - 1/2 package falafel mix - 3 TBsp- Ener-G egg -2 TBsp water - 2 TBsp garlic, minced - 1/4 cup cilantro - 4 TBsp oil -3 TBsp hoisin sauce Basically I mixed all of it up together and then on a greased pan placed 1/4 cup full dollops of the mixture on the baking pan. It was then baked at 400 for 15 minutes. For a sauce for these fritters I whisked together 1/2 cup white vinegar, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp crushed red chili, 4 tsp minced garlic, and 2 TBsp soy sauce. The sauce was a little more liquidy then I expected to I poured it on top of the fritters rather then dipped the fritter in them, and they absorbed it nicely. The main course: vegan chow mein recipe adjusted from Vegan Dad's blog: Ingredients: 2 packaged Japanese curly noodles (ramen like) 1 package romaine lettuce 1 package fresh edamame beans 1 can baby corn 1 can water chestnuts 4 TBsp minced garlic 2 TBsp ginger Olive oil 1/4 cup sesame oil 1/2 cup soy sauce 1 package dried shitake mushrooms 1 package dried oyster mushrooms Soak the mushrooms in water for 30 minutes when you start to cook. Bring a pot of water to boil and place the noodles in that for 3 minutes, then remove and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 450 for 8 minutes. I made the mistake of just taking the noddles still shaped like a block and putting them on the pan. Next time I recommend breaking them up before baking, as after they are baked it is a little harder to break them up. In a wok place some oil and cook the garlic and ginger for 2 minutes. Then add the romaine lettuce and cook until wilted down. Then add the edamame, baby corn, chestnuts, and mushrooms. Cook for another couple minutes. THen add the noodles and toss for another couple minutes. Lastly, add the sesame oil and soy sauce and toss for another 4-5 minutes. Enjoy!

tofu scramble

Made a yummy tofu scramble from the fat free vegan kitchen recipe this week: http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2012/02/simple-scrambled-tofu-and-kale-with-sweet-potato-fries.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FatfreeVeganBlog+%28Fatfree+Vegan+Blog%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

I literally made the recipe identical to the one on the other blog. It was very healthy and refreshing.

A new experiment: Fake fish dish

I tried out the fake fish fillet from May Wah this week...it was quite interesting.
Basically I sliced this slab of fake meat fish into fillets and then this was the recipe I used:
First I mixed up a creole seasoning in a bowl, which was 2.5 TBsp paprika, 2 TBsp salt, 2 TBsp garlic powder, 1 TBsp onion, 1 TBsp lemon pepper, 1 TBsp cayenne, 1 TBsp oregano, and 1 TBsp thyme.
Then I took the fake fish slices and coated them on either side with this seasoning.
Then with a little olive oil I fried the fake fish in a pan. Once the fake fish were browned on each side I placed them in a baking dish a sprinkled some crust on top of them. The crust was a mix of one cup bread crumbs, 1 cup ginger, 2 TBsp ground orange peel, and 2 TBsp lemon essence. I then baked them in the over at 400 for 10 minutes.
Once they were removed from the oven I put them on the plate on top of some ginger sauce. THe ginger sauce was the only part that turned out wrong, it seemed to think and liquidy.
But this is what the ginger sauce was made of:
Brought to a boil in a sauce pot was 1 cup soy cause, 2/3 cup agave nectar, 2 TBsp brown sugar, 2 TBsp ginger, 4 TBso garlic, 1/2 cup orange juice, and 1 pound margarine. This was whisked once at a boil and then removed from heat.
So I drizzled the sauce on the plate and placed a fillet of fake fish on top of it.
For the side dish- I took some arugala, then poured some more ginger sauce on it, and then on top of that placed some finely diced peppers and mushrooms that I had cooked in margarine first. I actually cooked some couscous too and mixed the margarine slathered veggies with that and placed that on top of the arugala.

fake chicken and mac and cheese

Had a very all American dinner the other night, mutated in to a vegan version...
First I got the May Wah vegan chicken drumsticks and made the recipe from Meettheshannons.com:
http://www.meettheshannons.net/2011/07/betty-crocker-project-tequila-fajita.html

Then I took their Mac and cheese recipe and modified it a little:
Ingredients:
1 package Elbow Macaroni
1/2 Cup Margarine
1/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast Flakes
2 TBsp Braggs
1 TBsp Ground Mustard
2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 tsp Onion Powder
Pinch of Turmeric
1 tsp Liquid Smoke
2 Cups Soy Milk
1 package daiya cheddar
1 package daiya mozzarella

Bread Crumbs
Italian Seasoning
Sesame Seeds

Directions:
Cook the macaroni as directed.

In a saucepan on low heat, melt Margarine, then stir in the yeast, braggs, mustard, tumeric, liquid smoke, worcestershire sauce, and onion powder. Whisk together, and once smooth add the soy milk. Whisk again and turn on high and once add a boil add in the daiya cheese. Stir on medium heat until daiya cheese is melted.

Mix the cheese thoroughly with the cooked and drained macaroni. Pour in to a casserole dish and sprinkle bread crumbs, seasoning, and sesame seeds on top.
Broil in the oven for 2-5 minutes (until the tops of the dish is crisp).

vegan mango fried rice

This was one of my most amazing dishes EVER.
Ingredients:
1 package vegan prawn (I got mine from May Wah Vegetarian on line store)
1 package of sliced mangos
1 can green beans
1 canister of cashews
6 cups cooked jasmine rice
4 chopped tomatoes
4 TBsp garlic
1 chopped red onion
2 TBsp giner
1 TBsp coriander
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3/4 cup soy sauce
1 TBsp basil
1/2 cup lime juice

Directions:
Heat some olive oil in a wok and add the cashews, toast until browned then remove.
Repeat the same with the green beans. Add to bowl with cashews.
Add the onions and garlic to the pain with some more oil and cook until translucent. Then add the ginger, coriander, and red pepper flakes, and toss for 30 seconds.
Add a little bit more oil and add the rice cup by cup, continuously coating.
Add the soy sauce and tomatoe and toss.
In a separate pan fry the fake prawn in oil for a couple minutes, until browned at the edges, then slice in to chunks.
Add the prawn, mangoes, cashews, and beans to the rice rish, continuing to toss. Stir in the lime juice and basil, and cook for another minute.
LOVED IT.
And made it with vegan rangoon- vegan miss was the blog I got this recipe for, using some more fake crab meat from the May Wah Veggie website.

vegan pot pie

This was a new recipe, and I enjoyed it lots.
And I got to use a lot of the frozen food in the freezer, making Mark happy that I am clearing some of that out.
Ingredients:
1 bag frozen corn
1 bag frozen peas
1 bag frozen brocolli
2 packages trader joe's vegan beef strips
6 TBsp cornstarch
water
1 chopped onion
4 peeled and diced white potatoes
Olive oil

Directions:
Put a little olive oil on the bottom of a soup pan. Add the chopped onions and potatoes. Cook on high until browned. Then add the brocolli and enough water to cover the top of the veggies. Cook until boiling then on medium for 10-15 minutes. Then add the corn, peas, and fake beef strips.
Finally, add the corn starch until creamy.
Scoop all this in to a casserole dish (it took two casserole dishes to fit all mine, which is ok since it means I had more leftovers for this week).

For the crust:
Mix 3 cups flour with 1.5 cups crisco, mix together and add water as needed until it is pastry like consistency that you can roll out. Place on top of the veggie dish. Slice some holes in the top.

Cook at 350 for 40 minutes. Enjoy!