Vegan MoFo Day 29: Stuffing tofu, breakfast goodies, and general playing catch-up

Hey all, sorry I’ve missed posting for the past few days. School has been a killer this week…it was just non-stop work. I really ought to be doing work right now, but I’m affording myself a little bit of a break this weekend. I still have a little Hindi to finish, a chapter in a book to read (thankfully it’s short…), discussion questions, studying/practicing Hindi (that’s a given…), and studying for ethics…ugh. Too much to do, with too little time.

I was at least able to cook a little during small breaks on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, I was in a major mood for tofu. I have an abnormal love for tofu. I very much enjoy eating it lightly pressed and uncooked. Probably not everyone is like this, but well…I am. So if you don’t like the taste or texture of lightly cooked, unseasoned tofu the next recipe is not, and I repeat NOT for you. But if you’re adventurous, this will not disappoint…

Eat me!

Stuffed Tofu Surprise (for tofu lovers only)

 

Serves: 1 major tofu lover

 

Ingredients:

 

• 1/4 block pressed lite firm tofu (I use Nasoya)
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree (canned or homemade
• 1-3 tsp tofutti cream cheese (depending on how much you want a cheesecake-y taste)**
• 3 packets stevia extract in the raw
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger

 

Directions:

 

This is only for tofu lovers because well…the tofu is pretty much unflavoured other than the stuffing.

 

Preheat your oven to 350F.

 

As best you can, scoop out the middle of your tofu block (I did this from the side that would allow the deepest amount of filling).

Put the scooped out tofu in a food processor along with your pumpkin, tofutti (or cashew butter), sweetener, and spices. Puree.

Then stuff the puree into the pocket that you created in the tofu. Spread the remaining puree on the top and sides of your tofu block (and then draw a face on it with one of those Wilton brand icing tubes if you have no life, like me...).

Bake for about 15 minutes, basically just to warm the tofu cube, and enjoy, you tofu loving fiend!

I came up with this one day while walking to campus. I’ll tell you, some weird stuff and ideas come about when you don’t talk to people all day long. You start talking to your tofu instead…scary.

For those of you who would like to eat something a little more well…normal, then this recipe is for you. It’s good for breakfast, lunch, snack or dinner. Dessert um…no so much.

Spinach, Squash and, ‘Shroom Hash

 

Serves 1

 

Ingredients:

 

• 2-3 oz cubed kabocha squash
• 2-3 oz rough chopped oyster mushrooms
• 1-1 1/2 tbs braggs liquid aminos
• 1/2 tbs each: garlic powder, onion powder
• 1 large handful of baby spinach

 

Directions:

 

Boil your squash in a saucepan until just tender and pierceable with a fork. Drain in a strainer and set aside.

 

In a smallish cast iron skillet, spray some nonstick cooking spray and cook your mushrooms over medium heat. After cooking them for a minute or so, add in your braggs, and onion and garlic powder. Stir together and cook for about another 4 or so minutes. Add in your handful of spinach, mix everything together to incorporate the spinach into your mushrooms, and cook until the spinach is wilted. Add in your cooked squash, stir, remove from heat, transfer to a bowl and munch!

 

Variation: Try adding some tofu or tempeh instead of, or just before the mushrooms. Beans would also be a nice addition, if you’re looking to up your protein or fiber intake. Also, try experimenting with different greens. 

And for those of you who want something both breakfast-y and dessert-y then THIS is for you. It is so good, I feel totally and utterly guilty for eating one

Sweet Surprise Cinnamon Roll

Yields: 16 smallish rolls, or 12 larger rolls

Adapted from Healthy Whole Wheat Cinnamon Buns by Side of Sneakers

Ingredients:

Carrot Puree:

• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 2 packets of stevia extract in the raw
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Rolls:

• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 packet quick rise yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup quick oats
• 1/4 cup carrot puree
• 1/4 cup stevia extract in the raw (or white sugar)
• 1 tbs baking powder
• a pinch of salt

Filling:

• Remaining carrot puree (a little over 1/4 cup)
• 2 tbs brown sugar
• 1/4 cup stevia extract in the raw (or white sugar)
• 1 tbs cinnamon

Icing:

• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1 tbs tofutti better n’ cream cheese
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Boil your carrots until they are very very tender. Transfer to a food processor along with the stevia, cinnamon, and vanilla, Puree until there’s pretty much no more lumps left. Set aside.

In a measuring cup that can hold 2 cups of liquid, warm up your milk in the microwave for a minute. Then pour in your packet of yeast, tsp of sugar, stir and allow it to bloom. That should take around 10 to 15 minutes. The longer your let it bloom, the more bubbly and puffy it’ll get. One bloomed, add into a mixing bowl along with 1 cup of flour, the oats, puree, stevia (or sugar), baking powder, and salt. Mix. Add in another cup of flour and mix again. Repeat with the remaining cup and then transfer to a floured surface and kneed for 10 minutes, adding flour as needed. Lightly re-flour your surface, and roll out your dough into a roughly 12×8 inch rectangle.

In a smallish bowl, mix together your filling ingredients and spread evenly on your dough rectangle. Then, roll up as you would a jelly roll cake.

Spray an 11×7 inch pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Slice your “roll” into 12 to 16 rolls, arranging them cut side down in the pan.

Now preheat your oven to 350F and let your rolls raise while the oven preheats. Once heated, bake for 20 minutes.

Now you have two choiced…allow them to cool before icing, or ice right away. Just mix the icing ingredients together until there are no lumps, drizzle over the rolls, and enjoy!

And why “Sweet Surprise,” you ask? Because of the carrots! I wish I had some whole wheat flour to use in this recipe, alas I did not. Having them be whole wheat would make me feel marginally less guilty about eating one. It’s kind of awful…I feel like that the food I’m eating is total junk and that I should be eating a lot more healthfully than I am. I feel like it’s completely irrational for me to be eating something like a cinnamon roll. *sigh* but that’s just me…I wish I had a rational attitude towards consuming food