Vegan MoFo: Cookbooks and DIY Christmas Gifts

Good morning!  Let's talk about cookbooks!

My cookbook collection is by no means an exhaustive library of cookbookery, but I definitely use these books a lot, if only to flip through for ideas and awesome photos!

I don't use the Peta's Vegan College Cookbook much, mostly because I find that the recipes rely heavily on pre-packaged and processed ingredients that are generally way out of my budget.  My first cookbook was the Veganomicon and my latest is Nonna's Italian Kitchen - both awesome books.  I find that Vegan with a Vengeance is my go-to book when cooking for omnivores...chocolate chip cookies and pizza dough, anyone?  Eventually it would be nice to get a more general cookbook that discusses techniques more than recipes, a Betty Crocker/Joy of Cooking book or some other encyclopedic volume.

Meanwhile, I've compiled my own little mini cookbook for the holidays that I'll be handing out to family and friends.  I don't have a lot of money at the moment, but I thought it'd be nice to give out something other than candy and baked goods.

I'm hoping to print this on card stock.  I was too lazy to illustrate, so I grabbed some 200-year-old random engravings and photoshopped them to be vaguely holidayish.

Jaunty pirates can be festive too...

Anyway, hope I'm not coming off as too much of a cheapskate, but when you are literally just breaking even each month, it can be pretty stressful to have to think about gifts... even when gift giving is so much fun.  Sigh.

Vegan MoFo: Gyoza!

In an effort to cook more on the weekend and have more easy meals ready for during the busy work week, I made and froze a bunch of vegetable pot stickers or gyoza!

I sauted bean sprouts and mixed veggies (broccoli, bell pepper, beans, carrots) in some mushroom sauce, garlic, and cayenne pepper.  Meanwhile, I defrosted some frozen gyoza wrappers (check the labels on these, sometimes they contain egg).

A tablespoon of filling goes on each wrapper, then simply dampen the edges of the wrapper and fold in half:

After folding over, pleat the edges to seal.

A tray full of gyoza ready to be frozen!  Hoping to have some with soba later this week.

Hey handful of readers - do you have favorite meals that you like to make ahead of time?  I'm a big fan of cooking soups and stews and pizzas for later use, but those get pretty boring after so many repetitions.

Vegan MoFo: Chai White Chocolate

I used this recipe to make my favorite chocolate ever...white chocolate!

I added a bit of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and black pepper for a slightly spiced white chocolate.  It's so sweet ...next time, less sugar... but wow, it's very good and needs to go in some brownies.

Vegan MoFo: Soft Sandwich Bread

I know, I know.  Lots of unhealthy baking lately.  But this is something theoretically more nutritious.

I've mentioned before that my go-to basic bread recipe comes from Dave of Dave's Killer Bread, that amazing Oregonian bakery that makes all things bready and fabulous.

This is a white bread flour and flax loaf - not as healthy as the whole grain loaves that Dave is known for, but it makes fabulous sandwiches and isn't too sweet.

D'aw.

In other news, my favorite shelter cats were adopted this past week!  :o  I'm so happy for them, but also sad that I won't get to hang out with them anymore.  Fortunately I've been making all sorts of new cat buddies and a few are really starting to come around to people.  :3

Vegan MoFo: Farmer's Cookies (Bondkakor)

The Swedes know how to make cookies.  My family has been making these for decades, and they were always my favorite Christmas cookie (even more than my grandma's Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies).  Today, I veganized the recipe (and quartered it, since it makes 60 cookies!).

Om.  Nom.  Nom.

Farmer's Cookies (or Bondkakor)

2 c AP flour
1 t baking soda
1 c Earth Balance
3/4 c sugar
1 T dark corn syrup or molasses
1/3 c finely chopped pecans or walnuts
Sift together flour and baking soda.  Cream butter or margarine and add gradually sugar, cream until light and fluffy.  Blend in molasses, chopped nuts and flour mixture a little at a time.  Mix well.  Shape dough on lightly floured surface into long rolls about 2 inches in diameter.  Wrap in waxed paper; chill in fridge for an hour.  Slice thinly with sharp knife.  Place on cookie sheets - they don't spread much/at all so they can be pretty close together.  Bake at 350 F for 12-15 minutes or until golden yellow.  Makes about 60 cookies.

You can also freeze the dough logs and bake them later, but you will want to let them thaw a little because the frozen dough can be difficult to cut without breaking (I learned this today).

Yes, that is a little bit of grease on the paper. Swedish recipes aren't light but they are delicious and hearty and make the house smell fantastic.

So what favorite childhood family recipes have you adapted to be vegan?

Vegan MoFo: Fat Free Gingerbread Biscotti

I recently purchased my first bottle of molasses (mo lasses!)...  and the grocery store was sampling some cheapo gingerbread men.  We are also running low on margarine, oil, shortening, and pretty much every fat but peanut butter.  I went searching for a good recipe and found Susan's fat free gingerbread biscotti recipe!

Hell yeah!  I followed the recipe (adding a bit of pepper and salt) despite cautions from the comment section that the recipe was difficult or impossible to get right.  Hey, what can I say, my oven is magical.  These turned out wonderfully!

I love biscotti all lined up and ready to go in for another baking!  Perhaps it's their resemblance to my other fondness (toast).

These could stand for more spices, but I really don't mind the lack of fat in these at all.  I've dunked them in my coffee, and they held up wonderfully.  When I make them again, I'd probably add some icing or maybe half-dipped in chocolate - or maybe add some dried cranberries.

I've been testing cookie recipes looking for some very tasty that will hold up to mailing.  These aren't quite yet what I want but perhaps with the addition of chocolate or glazing they'll be just right.  But in the meantime, it's time for some more coffee or maybe a strong cup of black tea... and a half dozen of these. :P

Vegan MoFo: Fronch Toast

The whining bit: I'm really struggling to photograph using the camera in my smart phone.  It isn't spectacular, and I run out of space quickly so that I have to keep deleting shots.  It's also been very dark by the time I get home to make food, so my dim kitchen lighting isn't helping.

I'm savin' up for a camera, but the Americorps wages don't really permit much in the way of that, and I'd rather save my money for Christmas gifts!

On to the food...

I have never had vegan French toast, but the recent purchase of a big wok made the boy think of crepes, French toast, and all the good things that can be made in woks.  I pulled out the fabled Isa "Fronch toast" recipe and went at it...

But crap, I didn't have chickpea flour.  I used soy flour instead.  I think this was one of the things that would ultimately lead to my downfall.

The toast, it is Frenched.

The toast, it is flipped.

The toast, it is plated.

But the toast... was bland.  The texture was nearly right, but dang.  Needed salt.  Needed a more proteiny flavor.  Maybe a fattier nondairy milk would have been better.  But it needed lots of jam.  Boy agreed.  Crap.  I had high hopes.  Maybe it was the lack of chickpea flour.  Argh.

Vegan MoFo: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Phone camera photos still.  Someday, I will reinvest in a new camera.

I felt like making cookies last night - the Vegan with a Vengeance chocolate chip cookies with a few modifications that I think make these cookies even more awesome, namely:

- Used half shortening instead of all margarine 

- Used peanut butter instead of the remaining margarine... <_<  thus leaving no margarine at all

- Used about 1/2 c turbinado sugar in place of just normal ol' sugar... the big sugar crystals stay crunchy and amazing on top and melt a bit on the bottom...zomg.

The cookies were crisp and decadent.  I sent them off with the boy - he didn't get home until 3 so not sure how they went down.  But I ate three of them last night so I guess they weren't that bad ...

He asked me to save the monster one he made.

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Vegan MoFo: Bootses

It was raining a couple weeks ago, and I rediscovered that wet shoe feeling.  I usually wear cheap flip flops or a pair of very not-waterproof canvas vans.  It was also my birthday, so I had a little extra cash to spend on a pair of boots!  

I'm usually inclined to go for the "so cheap not made of animals" route and get something crappy and uncomfortable ...but this time I looked at places like mooshoes to get an idea about what brands to investigate.  The thing I dislike about mooshoes is that they often don't have my size - or maybe they just sell out quickly.  I found boots in my size at Zappos.  And they're rad!

They're Hanuku boots by Blowfish!

The other side.  They're slouchy zippy buckly boots with a purple interior.  Very comfy.  I did have to size up to an 11 though...the reviews all said to size up, and they were right.  

Of course, now it's 90 degrees and I'm back to sandals...but I'm prepared!

You know what is great in hot weather?  This.

I eat this stuff like crazy.  I'll have to figure out how to make it.  Pickled ginger is not just for sushi... it's for...everything.  Ahhhhhh.

In other news, a rhinovirus has got me sniffly and unwell, so I can't do my usual Friday evening volunteering at the animal shelter :(  I miss the cats but I don't want to infect the other volunteers and staff.  So time for a nap, bis spaeter.

Vegan MoFo: Tofu Scramble

It was a dark and grainy night:

It's a tofu scramble!

I don't really care if the tofu is cubed or crumbled, but some frozen veggies and a little nooch and ginger and soy sauce goes a long way in being a quick weeknight comfort food.  And healthy, too, which is more than I can say for my so-cheap-it's-vegan toast addiction.

Vegan MoFo: Busy Week and No Camera Means...

Survey time.


I am being lazy, but I really want to keep in the habit of posting, so let me talk about my least favorite subject (ist mich!)



1. What was the most recent tea you drank?
Stash White Christmas ...I used to live right next to the factory outlet and had access to tons of cheap or free sample teas.  I'm really running low, I need to stock up!


2. What vegan forums do you post/lurk on? If so, what is your username? Spill!I'm Dear Linux on the PPK forums, but I'm so lazy and I don't post.  It's not vegan, but I'm known to lurk on SomethingAwful forums too ...in case any of you goony vegans stumble on this.


3. You have to have tofu for dinner, and it has be an Italian dish. What comes to mind first?
Alfredo!  Tofu + margarine + garlic + almond milk blended = amazing?


4. How many vegan blogs do you read on an average day?
5 to 10 a day, but I have almost 50 of you wonderful folks in my reader.


5. Besides your own, what is the most recent one you’ve read?
Alien's Day Out!
What an amazing blog.  Really makes me want to visit SK!


6. If you could hang out with a vegan blogger that you haven’t met, who would it be, and what would you do?
Um um um, I don't know, Bryanna Clark Grogan is a god to me, but I'd probably make an idiot out of myself if I met her.  I make an idiot of myself most times.


7. If you had to base your dinners for a week around one of the holy trilogy – tofu, seitan or tempeh, which would it be?
Seitan.  Tofu is the close second.  Tempeh is rhymes with "meh" to me.  Also, the boy doesn't like it.


8. If you had to use one in a fight, which would it be?
Tofu.  I imagine it would consume my opponent, much like a blancmange.


9. Name 3 meals you’d realistically make with that tough protein of choice!
Stir fry, baked tofu, and uh... curry?  We're not fancy here.


10. What’s a recipe in vegan blogland that you’ve been eyeing?
Pumpkin "Cheese"cake.  There are many recipes.  I'm making it for Thanksgiving, but I might have to do a test version before...


11. Do you own any clothing with vegan messages/brands on them?
I don't advertise, but I mostly have clothing for an office so...


12. Have you made your pilgrimage to the ‘vegan mecca’ yet? (Portland, duh)
I grew up there.  We're moving back to the Pacific Northwest someday :(


13. What age did you first go vegan? Did it stick?
A couple of years ago.  Yes.  Have never intentionally eaten an animal product since.  


14. What is the worst vegan meal you’ve had? Who cooked it?
There have been plenty of crappy tasting meals, but those were mostly cooked by well-intentioned friends or loved ones.  The worst vegan meal experience I've ever had was at Real Foods Daily.  The food was "okay" and the waitress was so rude and mean that I had a panic attack.  Vegan places should be nice places, I don't care if you're in Santa Monica or that So Cal has 'tude.  I'm so tired of the LA aloofness, like we're all too cool for school or something.  Eesh!


15. What made you decide to blog?
I had free time.  Well, that changed.  Haha.  Oh... sigh.  I just love the vegan blogging community and I wanted to be a part of it.  Perhaps it was a naive thing to imagine.  TIME WILL TELL. :P


That's today's self-indulgent and lazy post.  Maybe I'll cook something interesting tonight to post about tomorrow...

Vegan MoFo: Candy

Post-Halloween, and I'm sort of glad that I didn't buy candy for trick-or-treaters this year.  After all, most "normal" candy is either gross or not vegan, and our neighborhood hardly gets any trick-or-treaters.  Maybe it's because we live in an apartment complex, but I think it has more to do with the mass migration of kids from the awesomeness of "real" trick-or-treating to the safety and homogeneity of the Halloween mall events.  Dressing up and going to the mall to trick-or-treat?  What the heck.  I don't really care about the holiday, but I do remember neighbors going all out to make it fun for kids.  The creepy old lady who would pretend to be Peter Rabbit's ancient-practically-zombified old mother?  The dentist dad who gave out candy aaaaand toothbrushes?  Come on.  Awesome.

So candy.  What kinds of candy do you like?

I don't really do a lot of candy any more.  I love white chocolate, but it's hard to come by and sometimes I don't want to have to put a lot of effort into things.

One thing I've recently found is this ginger candy.  I got it in Little Tokyo:

It's a tasty, chewy, very spicy candy.  I like it a lot, but it's more of a palette cleanser than an enjoyable treat.  

I guess I'm not into candy much anymore.  I'd rather eat a cinnamon roll or some trail mix with the odd chocolate chip.

What about you all?  How do you get your vegan candy fix?

Vegan MoFo: Vegetable Seitan Soup

Although the temperature is yet again soaring into the unbearable 90+ zone, Southern California had a chilly stint this past weekend...and it was the perfect time to make no knead bread and a hearty vegetable seitan soup.

First, a starter.

Get it?  It's a bread starter.  I use the good old reliable Alton Brown recipe for this and cook it in a steel pot.  The bread wasn't done until the last remaining sunlight had gone, so the picture of the sponge is all I've got.

Next, the soup.

Vegetable Seitan Soup

1 small brown onion, chopped
1/2 head cauliflower (around 1 lb), chopped
3 large florets of broccoli, chopped
1/2 lb baby carrots or sliced large carrots
3 cups fresh spinach
3 large stalks celery
2 tsp Better than Bouillon No Chicken base or whatever bouillon you like to use
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
dash of ground cloves
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup of medium pasta shells
1/4 lb seitan (I used homemade, but one package of the "beefless strips" from Trader Joe's would work too), chopped into bite size chunks
3 quarts of water...or so

Soup is easy.  Saute the chopped onion in a large soup pan, then add the water, carrots, celery, bouillon, seitan, and spices.  Bring to a boil, then add the pasta shells.  When the pasta is al dente, add the broccoli, cauliflower, and spinach and cook until spinach is wilted.  Drizzle with a little olive oil and serve.

It's barely a recipe, but dang.  This was just perfect for a chilly fall evening.

Also...

The cohabiting omnivore approved.  Not that he's picky or whiny ever. ;)

Vegan MoFo: My first mofoing MoFo

Oh hey.  It's the Vegan Month of Food - a worldwide vegan blogger extravaganza.  Read more about it here.

I'm swamped with work and grad school application essays and soon Thanksgiving... so we'll see how successful this marathon of posting goes.

The first post is going to be lackluster, but hey, the subject is nothing but fabulous: it's baked tofu!

I used Susan's recipe from fatfreevegan but added a touch of sesame oil.  The result was tender, slightly chewy and very savory slices of tofu.  Perfect!  

Pumpkin Bran Muffins and Birthday Weekend

Ahoy!  I still do not have a camera, but I did take some photos this weekend ... And it was the anniversary of my birth or something.  I was feeling kind of low, but it ended up being a decent weekend.  The boy took me to the newly opened zpizza near our house.  Was very tasty, and they didn't skimp on the vegetable toppings the way many pizza places do!

The boy also veered toward tradition and brought home a bunch of roses for me (d'aw).

Purty, but I was so happy just to spend some time with the boy - he was gone the rest of the weekend working like crazy.  Grad student life, eh?  Poor fella.

I was alone the majority of the weekend, so I had plenty of time to experiment with a new recipe: pumpkin bran muffins!  Oh yes...and they are low sugar (not super sweet, but you could increase the sugar for a more traditionally sweet muffin) and low fat.  I just felt like something somewhat healthy after so much greasy pizza.

Pumpkin Bran Muffins

1 c unbleached AP flour
2 c wheat bran
3 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger
3 T brown sugar (increase to 1/2 c if you want these to be sweeter)

Combine all of the above, then add:

1 c pumpkin puree
1 c soy milk
1 T canola oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tsp cornstarch/egg replacer + 1/4 c water, whisked
(chopped walnuts or dried cranberries optional)

Mix until just combined.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  Makes 12 muffins!

So delicious.  I've made three batches of these muffins so far, tweaking and adjusting... they're still a work-in-progress, but mmm!

ALSO!

I received some awesome presents this weekend... they were... kitty kisses!  I started volunteering at Irvine Animal Care, a municipal shelter that is full of cats, rabbits, dogs, and the odd reptile.  Although having a pet is not a commitment my boyfriend and I can make right now, I'm really happy to be able to help animals in need.  And it's so rewarding to work with these animals!  :3  It is easy to become jaded...believe me, I know (especially now that I'm working in the non-profit sector)!  If you have spare time, please give volunteering a try - be it with a shelter, a non-profit, helping humans, helping animals... everything helps.

Pictures from Oregon

I mentioned before that the boy and I went to Oregon in August.

Past Los Angeles, past AV, out into the So Cal farmland, we came upon acres upon acres of feedlots.  I did not take a picture, but the smell was vile.  Boy and I grew up used to less intensive farming.  Tillamook, for all its cheese production, at least does not have dairy cows stacked up against each other the way these Californian factories had.  Cow smell is never this intense where we come from.  Cows don't wade in their own shit.  I can see why many people would not believe in factory farms until they saw them.  And yet, most cheese and meat comes from factory farms like these.  Ugh.  Fucking disgusting.

You can tell we're almost in Oregon.  It's Mt Ashland, fringed in green.

In the Tillamook forest...

My parents' stylish cat:

Her stylish paws...

And for the food content, apple picking!

Dappled red and green gravenstein apples!  We could pick them right off the branch for 85 cents a pound - not bad!  Although tart, they were flavorful.  They made a fantastic pie.

Seitan Bao

Bao are (typically) steamed and (usually) savory pastries.  You find them served with other dim sum treats, or as to-go food from Asian markets.  You can also find them frozen.  My grandparents used to bring packets full of perfect, round teriyaki-filled bao.  They would cut open the ten-times-taped cooler and unearth their gifts from Hawaii: bouquets of orchids from their yard, lau lau, leis, sometimes poi.

I think a lot of vegans try to pretend that they don't remember the meaningful moments they had before they stopped eating animal products (and most vegans aren't lifelong, so they do have memories of "preganity").  It is delusional to think that the family meals and treats from grandpa were shameful and cruel or that "missing" those memories of spending time with family is somehow a betrayal of principle.  I think it is okay to miss those things.  I miss raving about my grandma's ultra-amazing teriyaki.  I miss Christmas cookies.  I miss not having to make everything myself, getting to share.  My family puts a lot of effort and love into their food; I know it hurts them when I reject their slabs of meat - and I know that I can't control what they feel.  I know it offends them when I "veganize" recipes.

I'm not trying to recreate family recipes and memories by making old favorites into vegan versions.  I'm just trying new things.  I want to make things that I can share with my omnivorous family...  I wish they would see that I'm not trying to convert them or threaten them.  It would be nice to have everything normalized someday...   Does anyone else have trouble with their omnivorous families?  What do you do to normalize things with your family?  I hate having them step on eggshells, so to speak :P

Now, a recipe.

Seitan Bao, dough based on this recipe from the LA Times

1.5 t rapid / instant yeast
3/4 c lukewarm water
2 T canola oil
2 T sugar
2 t baking powder
2 T nutritional yeast
3 c flour

Filling
1.5 c chopped or ground seitan (should be finely chopped)
3 T soy sauce
1/2 T agave
1 T sesame oil
1 t garlic salt
1/4 t ground ginger

Soften yeast in the water, then add oil, sugar, and nutritional yeast.  Sift in the baking powder and flour.  Knead until elastic, not sticky, adding extra flour if necessary.  Let rise 30-45 minutes.

While the dough is rising, make the filling: combine the soy sauce, agave, oil, salt, and ginger in a small bowl.  Add the chopped seitan and toss until seitan is coated.

When dough is done rising, punch down and then divide into 12-16 balls.  Knead balls into rounds - these should be about the same diameter as your palm, and the edges should be thicker than the center.  Place seitan in the dough, then wrap and crimp around it.  I don't have the technique down on this yet, but when I do, I'll post with pictures :P  Cut out squares of parchment paper and then put the balls on them.  Let rise for 20 minutes.

Heat up a steamer (or do like I did and use a colander, a pot, and a lid).  After their second rise, place the bao in the steamer (with a bit of space between them as they will puff out a bit).  Steam for 15 minutes.

Enjoy.

Onto Fall after falling behind

A series of events culminated into the neglect of this space.  These events included:

1. Netroots Nation, wherein being a vegan sucked and I learned that even progressives are racist and homophobic as all fuck.

2. A trip home to Oregon, where there wasn't any time to take pictures of things, and where being with family limited my excursions to Portland's amazing vegan fare.

3. Losing the camera at the beach and having to switch to a camera phone.  Pictures of the journey to Oregon, discussion of the disgusting So Cal feed lots, and photos of homemade seitan bao to follow!