Monthly Archives: November 2011

Christmas time is buzzing in my skull…

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Yeah, I wish. The only thing buzzing in my skull is all of the work I have to do from now until the end of semester! I swear, even though I was on Thanksgiving “break” since Wednesday, this “break” hasn’t been much of a “break” at all. I mean, I have a long-ass book to finish reading by the middle of next week, prepare a book report AND class discussion about the book, read two journal articles, get going on a research paper on urbanization in Dharavi, a review sheet to fill out for Ethics, a test to study for for Chinese Philosophy…and this week all I did was either cook for Thanksgiving or read! Plus I wrote an essay on Daoism! And I’m still not done with my work yet! AHH! Why can’t semester just be over with already *sigh*

For my own sanity, I took a little bit of a break (for like…an hour) this morning to do some long overdue and rather relaxing baking. Mum had requested before she left for work this morning some cinnamon swirl bread…which I was more than happy to whip together. All I basically did was play around with my sandwich bread recipe. And it turned out really really well:

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

a variation of ‘Sandwich Bread‘

Yields 1 9×5 loaf

Ingrediens:

  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/4 cup warm water
  • 1 packet active or quick rise yeast
  • 1 cup water (or almond milk)
  • 3 cups all purpose flour (or half AP with half White Whole Wheat)
  • 1/4 cup stevia extract in the raw (or raw sugar)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1/4 cup white sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Proof your yeast by mixing the tsp of sugar, 1/4 cup water and yeast, and letting it sit for about 10-20 minutes, until foamy.

In a mixing bowl, add together 1 cup of the flour, 1 cup of water (or almond milk), the 1/4 cup stevia, vanilla and salt. Stir to combine, and then add in another cup of flour. Repeat with the remaining cup of flour, and then transfer to a flat, lightly floured surface. Kneed for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Transfer then to a fairly large (preferably) ceramic or glass bowl sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, cover with a warm, damp cloth and allow the dough to double in size.

Once doubled in size, remove from the bowl, kneed for about 30 seconds, and form the dough into about an 11×7 rectangle. Sprinkle 3 tbs of the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the dough, tucking in the sides, and rolling up as you would a jelly roll. Place in a prepared 9×5 loaf pan, sprinkle over the remaining tablespoon of cinnamon-sugar, cover with a warm cloth, and allow it to double in size once again.

Preheat your oven now to 375F. When preheated, bake your loaf for 25 minutes. Allow to cool completely before slicing.

 While that was baking, I decided to throw together yet another seasonal cookie recipe. Yep…another one of those great-grandmother derived cookies that are all too welcome in these colder months. Check out these sparkly beauties…and each cookie only has around 70 calories! What a bargain! Just don’t eat too many…

Great-Great Grandma Day’s Molasses Crinkles

Yields: A little over 4 dozen

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) vegan margarine
  • 1/3 cup molasses
  • 1/2 tbs ener-g egg replacer mixed with 1 1/2 tbs warm water (or 1 flax egg)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp cloves (**I used 1/4 tsp cloves and 1/8 tsp cardamom powder)
  • white sugar, to roll (1/4 cups does nicely)

Directions: 

Preheat your oven to 350F and line three cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Cream together the brown sugar with the margarine. Then beat in the molasses, “egg,” and vanilla. Add in your dry ingredients (except for the white sugar) and beat together until a stiff, workable dough forms (I recommend adding in the flour in a cup at a time). Roll into 1″ balls, roll in the reserved white sugar, place evenly on the cookie sheets (flattened slightly), and bake for 10 minutes per sheet (ie, do one at a time…). Allow the cookies to cool on the sheets for about 5 minutes before removing.

 Aaaand by the time my third batch finished baking it was lunch time. So I threw this warm salad together since I’ve been on a major cooked greens kick lately. Man it was good…it would benefit from some nuts or chickpeas, IMO, if you want a more substantial salad.

Single Serving Warm Spinach Salad with Delicata Squash and Crasins 

Ingredients:

  • 3 oz cubed delicate squash, boiled until just tender and drained
  • 1 tbs orange marmalade
  • 1 tbs water (or orange juice…)
  • 1/2 packet stevia extract in the raw
  • a pinch of cinnamon
  • a pinch of salt
  • 2 large handfuls of baby spinach
  • about 1/8 tsp each mirin and red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbs crasins

Directions: 

In a small skillet sprayed with nonstick over medium-low heat, add in your cooked squash. In a small bowl, whisk together the marmalade, water, stevia, cinnamon and salt. Add to the squash and stir to coat. Then add in your spinach, and start to wilt it by incorporating it with the squash. Once it has become fairly wilted, after a minute or so, drizzle in your mirin and red wine vinegar. Transfer to whatever dish you’re eating out of, and top with crasins. Munch away.

I’m going to be making a lot of things like this next week. I will be doing homework 24/7. Seriously. Not even exaggerating.

For those of you who are attending uni…how are you dealing with the end of semester? How many pots of coffee have you gone through? (lol) 

I survived Thanksgiving!

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But it wasn’t comfortable or easy by any estimation. My disordered eating mindset made it undoubtedly difficult to actually eat at a dinner with and in front of my family. Last year was kind of a disaster. I ended up not eating much of anything at all, and it was very very stressful. I didn’t want for it to be that way this year. And thank gawd it wasn’t. Sure, I didn’t eat all of the same foods as everyone else, and very few people actually ate what I made. Some people did (and liked it…), which makes me happy enough. Here is what I planned on making…

But here is what I actually made/brought:

  • Muli-Squash Soup
  • Sandwich Bread
  • the rest of my Mama Pea Spelt Loaf
  • “Mashed Potato” Casserole (recipe follows)
  • “Paradise Lost” Casserole (recipe follows)
  • Chicken-y Tofu (oh yeah, I went there. Recipe follows)
  • Impossible Crustless Pumpkin Pie

And mum threw together a pasta salad and her candied sweet potatoes (made vegan). I need to weasel the recipes out of her.

Of course the sandwich bread went over well.

Mum had a slice of this, not sure if anyone else did. They seem to have an aversion to whole wheat…oh well.

These were a hit, even with Gramma’s non-vegan potatoes. This is a variation on my cauli-tatoes…in casserole form.

“Mashed Potato” Casserole

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

  • 6 cups chopped cauliflower
  • 4 cups chopped and peeled potatoes
  • 2 tbs tofutti better n cream cheese
  • 2 tbs almond milk
  • 1 tbs garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1-2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions:

In a large soup pot, boil your cauliflower and potatoes until very tender. Drain and return to the pot.

Preheat your oven to 350F and spray a casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Add in withe the drained vegetables the “cream cheese,” almond milk, garlic, onion, and salt, and whip together with hand beater. Or alternatively, mash with a hand masher until there are only a few, if any lumps left. Transfer to your casserole, top with panko (and perhaps a spritz of nonstick or drizzle of olive oil) and bake for 30 minutes.

 
I had kind of intended to make Candle Cafe’s Paradise Casserole as a sort of “main dish” sort of deal. But I realized a few things…I didn’t have any millet. I didn’t have umeboshi vinegar. I didn’t feel like using sweet potatoes as a topper. So I improvised. Here’s my version:

Paradise Lost Casserole 

Adapted from the Candle Cafe Cookbook 

Yields: 1 8×8 casserole

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup instant polenta (I use Bob’s Red Millc)
  • 1 1/2 cups water (with a pinch of salt)
  • 1 small onion, sliced into thin half moons
  • 1 14oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 tbs braggs liquid aminos
  • 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
  • 1/8 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 cup peeled and chopped kabocha squash
  • 1 cup chopped cauliflower
  • 1/2 tbs braggs liquid aminos
  • 1/2 tsp white miso
  • 1/2 tsp ginger powder
  • 1/8 tsp garlic powder

Direcions:

Preheat your oven to 375F.

In one small saucepan, bring your 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil. Once a boil and been reached, add in the polenta, reduce the heat to low, stirring often until thick. When it has thickened, after about 5 minutes, press with wetted hands into a prepared 8×8 casserole. Set aside.

Start boiling in another small saucepan the squash and cauliflower in enough water to cover.

In a small cast iron skillet over medium heat, sauté your onion until translucent. Add in the beans, braggs, vinegar, and the dash of garlic powder. Cook for about 5 minutes, to warm and soften the beans a bit. Remove from heat and spread over the polenta “crust.”

Now, one your squash and cauliflower have become very tender, drain the water, return the vegetables to the saucepan alone with the braggs, miso, ginger, and garlic. Whip with a handmixer nil no or few lumps remain. Spread this overtop the beans.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Only mum, one of my cousins and I had a slice but oh well. More leftovers for me. I only made half of this recipe because well…that’s how much polenta I had left.

Something else only eaten by me and mum was my tofu. I damned well wanted tofu yesterday, and I didn’t care who did or did not eat it. Was was damn good, and that’s all that matters.

Chicken-ish Baked Tofu for Two

Serves: 2 as a main, 4 as a side

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 block of lite firm tofu, drained and well pressed, sliced into four rectangles
  • 1 tbs braggs liquid aminos
  • 1 tsp maple syrup
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp Frontier brand “chicken” broth powder
  • a dash of black pepper
  • a pinch of dried marjoram, parsley, and basil
  • 1/4 cup of water

Directions:

Mix together all of the liquid ingredients (braggs through the water) and pour into a small casserole along with the four tofu slices. Allow the tofu to marinate, flipping occasionally, for about an hour. In an oven preheated at 350F, bake the tofu in the marinade for 15 minutes. Flip the tofu and bake for another 15. After the second 15 minutes, remove the tofu from the oven, and pan sear in a cast iron skillet sprayed with nonstick cooking spray over medium heat until crispy on both sides.

 
And the pie. The pie is well loved. I didn’t have any at the dinner, but later on during the day when mum brought the remaining two slices home. Um yea. Over half of my pie amongst all of the desserts was eaten. That makes me feel all warm and fuzzley inside.
I need to get the recipe for the sweet potatoes from mum…
So sure. This is what I brought to eat, but did I eat all of this at dinner? Most certainly not. I did make certain that I stayed within my “calorie limit.” Bad I know. But I did have an enjoyable plate with some of this things I made. Here is what I ate in full yesterday. Starting with breakfast. Because I think it is important to eat breakfast, especially on a day like Thanksgiving. Who wants to be ravenous by dinnertime? Anywho…here’s my eats.
My usual mixture of mushrooms and squash in the morning. With a nice hot cuppa french roast coffee.
Tahh dahhh! Here’s my Thanksgiving dinner plate. Because dinner is at 1:00 pm at my granny’s. So it was lunch. My normal number of lunch calories. I had a half a cup of soup, a slice of chicken-y tofu, and I also smuggled in some cooked kale and squash (bwahaha!). Oh and coffee. Gotta have my coffee.
Dinner was my usual hash. Actually, the rest of my day was pretty standard…
Had two puddings (didn’t photograph the pumpkin mousse. Oops.)
But I did try a slice of pie! Mmm. Love it. I also had a piece of un-photographed casserole (oops again). And MAN was it good. It’s been a while since I’ve even had the “real” millet version of it. Good stuff.
And I had squash and kale. Because I can’t go a day without.
And an unpictured bowl of steamed broccoli.
So that’s how I made it though Thanksgiving! I kind of cheated a little. Treated it like a “normal” day for food intake. I did push myself a little by adding in different foods into my daily meal plan, as well as eating with my family, not making a spectacle of myself. It was fairly enjoyable.
Now the question remains…does anyone have leftovers? Have any plans for them yet?

Thanks to Jenn over at Peas and Crayons for this special holiday blog party! <3

Wellness Weekend Recipe

Just two days away…[Surviving Thanksgiving in a Non-Vegan World]

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…are you ready for…The Feast?

Yeah, me neither. I have some conceivable idea of what I’m making, but I’m not 100% sure. Heck, I can hardly choose what I’m going to eat over the course of a normal day, much less a holiday (I hate increasing calories…anyways…I won’t ramble on about that right now…)

So I thought I might offer some tips for those of you who are like me and are going to a Thanksgiving dinner where the vast majority [read - all but two] of the people are omnivores.

First off, I know you want to show off your wicked awesome tofurky or seitan roulade making skills. I know I do. But omnivores are so often opposed to anything that is even relatively “weird” and “vegan” looking. If you want to bring a main dish that you can consume, try something that it outright vegetable based. Try, perhaps, a casserole with beans or lentils as a protein. Who can oppose to eating a bean? Or maybe a “meatloaf” made of beans. Or even go off the beaten path and try a lasagna. Everyone loves lasagna. The point is…avoid the meat analogs, mmkay? Here are some of my suggestions:

Or perhaps (like me) you are at your happiest with side dishes. Honestly, I never even used to like the turkey. I was all about the mashed potatoes. And side dishes are almost always easily and omni-approvedly vegan already or veganizable. I mean, potatoes? Used vegan margarine or “cream cheese” or sour “cream.” Squash? Vegan already. Roasted vegetables? Vegan already. Mac and cheese (for those of you who consume the yellow stuff on Thanksgiving)? Use a bechamel and melt in cheddar daiya. Not much could be easier. Here are some of my favourite side dishes/recipes that would work as a side:

And how about those soups and salads that just don’t quite fit with the “sides?” I recommend:

And the bread basket needs some veggie love, too! Quite often you are presented with a. roll that have been smothered in butter or made with butter, or b. a quick bread that has eggs in in. And butter. So here’s some of my favourite recipes:

Or perhaps you want to make a loaf of bread, but not white bread? Well, I personally suggest Mama Pea’s Spelt Sandwich Bread if you’re keen on spelt flour. I made it last night and it was fantastic. It didn’t end up yielding two loaves as the recipe suggests and it didn’t raise all that much (could just me my yeast or general impatience rushing the recipe) but it was nutty, delicious, and damn filling!

Not keen on spelt? Just don’t have it? Whip together my new recipe for a basic whole wheat bread (sorry Gluten Free-ers. Nothing for you as of yet)

Whole Wheat Bread

Yields: 1 9×5 loaf

Ingredients:

  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 1 packet (around 2 1/4 tsp) instant yeast (either active or quick rise)
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (plus additional if necessary)
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 2 tbs vital wheat gluten
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tbs blackstrap molasses
  • 1/2 tbs vegan margarine (optional)

Directions:

First you need to activate your yeast (and yes, I do this even with my quick rise yeast because I have had times when it just plain wasn’t active. It’s always best to check before your start making your loaf). To do so, in a glass bowl (a cereal bowl works nicely) mix together your sugar, warm water, and yeast together and allow the yeast to bloom. This takes around 10-15 minutes. I usually wait 20, until it almost blooms over the bowl.

Once ready, in a mixing bowl, add in 1 cup of all purpose flour, the yeast mixture, the VWG, salt, molasses and margarine, and mix. Add in the whole wheat flour and mix. Add in the rest of your all purpose, mix until no longer sticky and turn onto a flat surface with the flour that did not mix in with the last addition. Kneed until a smooth, elastic dough forms, after about 10 minutes. Now put your dough ball into a large (preferably glass or ceramic) bowl sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, covered with a warm, damp rag, and allow to rise for about 2 hours, or until doubled in size. After this, punch down, give another good kneed for about a minute, form into a loaf shape, and transfer to a prepared 9×5 (or 8×4) loaf pan. Cover with your re-warmed rag, and once it has risen to the point where the top of the loaf is at the same level of the rim of the pan, preheat your oven to 375F. When your oven has finished preheating, bake your loaf for 25 minutes. Allow it to cool before slicing and spreading with an obnoxious amount of pumpkin puree.

 Onto dessert! Perhaps the easiest thing to serve to an omnivore without complaint. Any pie crust is easily vegan by using vegan friendly shortening or margarine (or oil). And cakes are almost always universally loved, especially the already vegan Wacky Cakes. But try these more um…seasonal treats…

I also suggest, for you pie lovers, Susan’s Impossible Vegan Pumpkin Pie from FFVK, or Isa’s new Pumpkin Cheesecake (without commercial vegan cream cheese!)

Okay, so these are just my suggestions. Like I said before, I’m no totally sure of what I’m taking to the dinner I’m going to at my Granny’s, but this is what I have in mind so far…

Mum is making vegan candied sweet potatoes with Ricemellow and some Dandies. I think she’s making her apple crisp as well…

I’m just anxious about eating in front of people, to be honest. I get so freaked out when I don’t eat my “normal food” that I eat on a daily basis. I have no intention of going over my 800-900 calorie a day limit, which will make it seem odd that I’m not eating much when everyone else is. But I also think (unlike most people) that Thanksgiving is an excuse enough to overindulge. People seriously die from eating too much. Um yeah. Not good. This is a good time to practice moderation. Not restriction (for those like me…). Not overindulgence. Moderation. I need to find the balance and try not to restrict. I had a pretty bad scare the other night (more on that on another post…), so I am making more of a concerted effort to improve upon my physical condition. I need to be thankful for the life and opportunities that I have now. And I have many.

And one more thing…if you have the time and a little cash to spare in your wallet, adopt a turkey this Thanksgiving. I’ll give you a cookie if you do. <3 (I like bribing people…heh heh heh…)

Breakfast food of all varieties

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And apparently at all hours of the day. I pretty much ended up making mostly breakfast food today. For supper I kind of played around with my standard french toast recipe by simply making some stuffed french toast.

“Cream Cheese” and Jam Filled French Toast

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Directions:

Preheat and spray a nonstick skillet. Keep it on medium heat. In a shallow bowl, mix your wet ingredients together. On two slices of bread spread 1 tbs each of the tofutti. On the other two, likewise spread the jam. Make em into two sandwiches. Dip each sandwich in the mixture, pan-fry  in your well-sprayed pan until each side is nice and brown (about 5-8 minutes, but check!). Serve warm with syrup and almonds!

I made some baked apples to go with.

And fyi – I ate none of this. But mum said everything was very good…

Easy Bake Apple(s)

Makes: As many as you want

Ingredients:

  • Apple
  • 1 date (per apple)
  • 1 whole almond
  • 1 tbs brown sugar/raw sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon (per apple)
  • water (for your baking pan)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Core your apple and place in a small baking dish, containing just enough water to cover the very bottom of the apple. Stuff the almond inside of the date, and stuff the date inside of the cored apple. Then stuff the cinnamon-sugar mixture into the apple, and bake for 40-45 minutes or until soft and almost falling apart.

 These would be great for a Thanksgiving dessert as well.
And for those of you who like cookies for breakfast (because I know some people are…I used to be)…
I made some of my standard chocolate chip cookies into cookie bars, and replaced half of the margarine with some peanut butter. And thus…chocolate chocolate chip peanut butter bars. Indulge carefully.

Sips, slices, and what the f*** is in that smoothie?

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Oh you’ll see.

Then you’ll make.

And then you’ll thank me and think “why didn’t I think of that?!”

But more of that later.

I had a bit of a long weekend this weekend. My professor is in Montreal at some anthropological convention, so we had no class yesterday. So I came home a day early this weekend…and used the day to:

a. Do a pain in the a** kind-of tricky assignment that is supposed to be group-work, but I have not a single ounce of trust that my assigned parter’s competency to do ANYTHING right so I’m doing everything myself. We I have to write out a 10 minute long dialogue in Hindi with the two (very limited) verb tenses that we have learned. And let me tell you, it’s tough to write in only the habitual and progressive tenses (past and present) I NEED THE FUTURE! AHH! But I finished that so…

b. Plug along with my research paper. And I’m plugging. Slowly. Plugging. Along…….

c. Cook and bake! Yay! The fun part! I made a whole bunch of good stuff yesterday. But first I will share with you a tasty little drink I whipped up Thursday night when I got home and was totally not feeling like eating anything…I call it a “thinnie” because it’s a little thicker than you’re typical drink, but not quite thick enough to be considered a full fledged smoothie.

Mocha Pumpkin Thinnie

Serves 1

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup almond milk
  • 2 tbs pumpkin or butternut squash puree
  • 2 tbs soy yohgurt
  • 1 tsp instant espresso powder
  • 1 tsp chocolate extract or cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla exact
  • a sprinkle of cinnamon
  • 3 packets of stevia extract in the raw or sweetener, to taste

Directions:

Just whisk everything together until there are no lumps, pour into a glass and serve!

Variations:

  • Try it warm! Just microwave until warm. Dur.
  • Make it a smoothie! You could try increasing the amounts of pumpkin and soy yohgurt, or even add 3 oz of tofu to a blender and puree!

On to the next day!

Okay, scenario time: You walk into Starbucks (or your favourite coffee shoppe, for those of you who are opposed to mainstream eateries…). You inhale the delicious smell of fresh ground coffee and the you see it…they have finally started offering those seasonal goodies. For Starbucks this means…gingerbread. Oh yes. What could be more delicious than a nice spicy slice along with your cuppa? Um, yeah, no much. But sadly (or perhaps thankfully, for those of you who are like me and are adverse to eating high calorie food) Starbucks gingerbread is both wicked high in calories/highly processed and not vegan/full of crap. What is a skinny little vegan like me to do? That’s right – make my own and revel in the fact that mine is better than theirs. TAKE THAT STARBUCKS!

Gingerbread

Yields 1 9×5 loaf

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (or White Whole Wheat)
  • 1/2 cup stevia extract in the raw
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • a pinch of salt
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp black cocoa powder (or regular or Dutch processed)
  • 1/2 tsp instant espresso powder (optional)
  • 1/8 tsp allspice
  • 1/8 tsp ground cloves
  • 2 tsp commercial egg replacer mixed with 2 tbs hot water (or egg replacer equal to 1 egg)
  • 1/2 cup almond milk, curdled with 1/2 tbs balsamic vinegar (or lemon juice)
  • 1/4 cup molasses (regular or blackstrap)
  • 2 tbs soy yohgurt (I use Silk Live!)
  • 2 tbs unsweetened applesauce
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

  • Preheat your oven to 350F and spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
  • In a mixing bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients.
  • Add in the wet  ingredients, mix to combine everything together
  • Spread into your loaf pan,
  • Bake for 45 minutes. Allow to cool before slicing.

I enjoyed my slice with lunch. I had a slice of it (1/16 of a loaf) with pumpkin puree, stevia and cinnamon, and raspberry jam. And some yummy soup and kabocha squash. Mmm. Squash.

Aren’t my mugs cute? I love teacups and coffee mugs. Anyone wanna swap some for Christmas? <3 I’d love you forever and send you some cookies.

Anyways. Dinner time. Well, for the family, not for me. They hadn’t had pizza in a while so I made my dad and Rigby a non-vegan pizza (bums) and a vegan white pizza for mum. I’m still not quite up to eating a slice yet :( (btw – check out my bucket list for more of my goals on my way to recovery)

I just ended up having my usual nightly eats of hash, and various types of tofu pudding. And this. I’ve been trying to have more around 900 calories a day, which feels like too much of a jump for me at the moment…I feel really uncomfortable. But I know i have to increase at some point in time (especially with increased exercise), so I decided to whip this together. Solid food would just have felt like too much. And this was filling enough as it is.

Super Thick Pumpkin-Gingerbread Smoothie

Serves 1

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup Multi-Squash Bisque
  • 1 cup water (or almond milk)
  • 2 packets of stevia extract in the raw
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp maple extract
  • 1/2 to 1 slice of Gingerbread (from the recipe above)

Directions:

Put everything into a blender except for the gingerbread and blend. Then tear apart your slice or half-slice, add to the plunder, pulse a few times, pour into a glass and serve! I suggest a spoon for the leftover mushy bits of gingerbread that remain after you suck up all of the liquid. Yummm….

Why on earth did I even think of using a bisque as a base for a smoothie? Weird things all too often come out of my kitchen…

And I leave you with a few questions this morning…do you think that increasing to 900 calories a day sounds like an okay idea…I don’t want to gain too much weight too fast (will this cause weight gain at all?). Aside from my weight paranoia…

What is the strangest thing that you’ve thrown together lately?

And how about that coffee mug swap? Sound like fun?

[Wellness Weekend Post]

WIAW 3

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And so the blog party continues over at Peas and Crayons! And that means it’s time to look at what I ate today. I really apologize…I am such a boring eater, as you may well see. I tend to eat the same thing every day. But that’s part of what keeps me eating. I become comfortable eating a certain food, and I have a hard time changing up what I’m eating after becoming comfortable. Anyways…enough of my rambling. Let’s get to my eats today…

Breakfast was some boiled cubed carni squash with some sauteed oyster mushrooms. And like two sips of coffee. Then I hopped the shuttle over to campus, got a grande Pike Roast from Starbucks and went to class. After class, around 11 am, I walked back to my apartment and got lunch ready.

Lunch was a cup of my Multi-Squash Bisque (made with kabocha instead of butternut squash…which makes it taste even better!!), half of a cup of salad, and the rest of my coffee that I didn’t finish at breakfast. Then I went shopping with mum for a new handy chopper. I broke mine last night. Oops.

When we got back from shopping, I procrastinated doing homework for a little while whilst simultaneously making something “new” so I at least feel like I’ve done something today…

I made individual mini no-meatloaves! More on that in a few…

Around 4 in the afternoon, I decided to whip together a snack which consisted of my usual hash.

Then I did homework for a little while…and then had a no-meatloaf muffin topped with 1/4 cup pumpkin puree before working out on one of the bikes at the gym for 45 minutes.

“Kheema” Individua-loaves 

Yields 12:

Ingredients: 

  • 1 14oz can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 1/2 cups (about 3/4 block) lite firm tofu (I use Nasoya)
  • 1 cup panko bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1/2 cup small-chopped and peeled winter squash (boiled until tender)
  • 1/2 cup frozen peas
  • 3 oz shredded carrot
  • 1/4 cup ketchup
  • 2 tbs braggs liquid aminos
  • 1/2 tsp vegemite or marmite (optional)
  • a squirt of sriracha
  • 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp coriander powder
  • 1/4 cup ketchup, mixed with 1/2 tsp sriracha and 2-3 tbs water
  • Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375F. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Liberally.

Pulse the beans and crumbled tofu in a food processor a few times. Don’t puree them – jus make sure they combine a bit and some of the beans mash up. Transfer this to a bowl. To the bean-tofu mash, add the breadcrumbs, pumpkin puree, boiled squash, peas, carrots, the first 1/4 cup ketchup, the liquid aminos, vegemite and seasonings. Using your hands, mash and smush everything together. Transfer this mixture to your sprayed muffin tins and press in. Spoon overtop the ketchup-sriracha-water mix. Cover with tinfoil and bake for 25 minutes. After the 25 minutes, remove the tinfoil, and bake for another 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool for around 5-10 minutes before removing from the pan.

Then I got back…had some assorted snacks….

And some unpictured broccoli. Because we all know what broccoli looks like. And this adds to a total of 800 calories…I know. Too low, but it’s what I’m comfortable with at this point in time. I had 900 yesterday and feet awful. But I’m to tired to complain. More tomorrow. Maybe.  ;)

Oh and here is what I wore today. In case anyone cares. Everything but the boots are from Target. The boots are from Hot Topic.

 

Scones, Salads, and Storms

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I had a little panic attack this evening. Okay, so maybe I had a pretty big panic attack this evening. Here’s what happened: I was walking back to my apartment from campus like I normally do after classes. I was a little later this afternoon as I always am on Mondays when I do extra Hindi practice at our campus’ Indian restaurant, Bollywood Bistro. Anyways, while I was walking home it started to rain. Normal? Sure. The forecast called for a front to move through. But it started raining – hard. Thankfully, I had reached my apartment when it started getting really steady and hard. Upon arriving at my apartment, I turned on the news and started making my dinner. And what came across the news ticker? A freaking tornado warning! I WAS OUTSIDE WHILE THERE WAS A TORNADO WARNING! I am DEATHLY afraid of tornadoes. I started to have a panic attack – I called my mum panicking, probably almost bawling…it’s scary being alone when there is such a serious weather alert! But thankfully, nothing touched down around my area. Still scary.

Once everything passed over later in the evening, I decided I’d finally get around to making a salad to last me a few days. I whipped together a salad – which incidentally is probably going to be added to my Thanksgiving menu…

Sweet Sprout and Squash Salad

 

Serves: 6-8

 

Ingredients:

 

  • 2 1/2 cups cauliflower, chopped and steamed for 5 minutes
  • 2 cups chopped winter squash, boiled until just tender
  • 2 cups quartered brussels sprouts, steamed for 5 minutes
  • 1/2 cup chopped carrots, steamed for 12 minutes
  • 1/2 cup chopped broccoli, steamed for 5 minutes
  • 1/4 block lite firm tofu, pressed and cubed
  • 2 tbs soy yohgurt
  • 2-3 tbs water
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp cardamom
  • a pinch of salt and sugar

 

Directions:

 

Prepare your vegetables as directed (steamed, boiled and whatnot…) and add to a large mixing bowl. In a small dish, whisk together the soy yohgurt, water, vinegar, and spices. Drizzle this onto the salad, toss, chill and serve!

I also did a little bit of baking. While simultaneously deciding to make ‘pumpkin’ theme of the month rather than just theme of the week. I can’t get enough of the stuff! I wonder when I’m going to turn orange…

Pumpkin Scones

 

Yields 8 scones

 

Ingredients:

 

  • 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 cup stevia extract in the raw (or sugar)
  • 1 tbs baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/8 tsp cardamom (or nutmeg or allspice or cloves, if you don’t have cardamom)
  • a pinch of salt
  • 2 tbs pumpkin puree
  • 1/2 cup plus 1-2 tbs almond milk mixed with 2 tbs pumpkin puree

 

Directions:

 

Preheat your oven to 400F.

 

In a mixing bowl combine your dry ingredients. Cut in your pumpkin puree with your fingers. It will be a little bit crumbly (not quite like when you use margarine/shortening, but that relative idea). Once incorporated, mix in your almond milk with a fork. Mix until your batter starts to just come together, and turn onto a flat surface. It is okay if there is some loose flour. Kneed for just a sec and form into a 6 to 7 inch round. Cut into 8 and bake for 12 minutes. Glaze if desired (1/4 cup icing sugar, a capful of vanilla extract, and enough additional liquid to create a thick drizzle)

I feel totally gluttonous. I had two of them. Granted I only consumed 800 calories total today…but still, I feel awful. I  feel like I eat too much junk food :( But all the same, these taste really good. Especially with some raspberry jam.

So what is something that you’re afraid of? 

Do you have calming methods when you’re freaking out?

 

 

Comfort food…a MAJOR diversion from the norm.

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I’m not entirely sure why this happened. I never cook things like this. But yesterday…I actually made American comfort food? Yeah, I know what you’re thinking (“Whaaat?). It’s so odd. I felt all Southern (y’all). The only difference is that what I made is healthy, low cal, and meat free! What I ended up making was a bean loaf, with mashed “potatoes,” alongside homemade bread.

Funny story about the bread. I didn’t actually make it over the weekend. I made it. Friday night. At two-thirty in the morning. Because I had insomnia. Because it is totally normal to bake loaves of bread when you have insomnia. Anyways, by the time I was ready to go at (6) in the morning, it was as if a bunch of little baker elves had been busying around all night…I had fresh bread!

And for the rest of dinner we had some of my garlic whipped potatoes, because Rigby actually eats them. Which aren’t just potatoes at all – thank god for the versatility of cauliflower.

Cauli-Tatoes

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 3 cup peeled and chopped potatoes
  • 3 cups chopped cauliflower
  • 2 tbs tofutti better n’ cream cheese
  • 2 tbs almond milk or 1 tbs soy yohgurt
  • 1 tbs garlic powder (more or less to your taste)
  • salt to taste (I use about 1 tsp)
Directions:
Boil your potatoes and cauliflower until they are very very tender. Drain and transfer back to the cooking pot. Add in the tofutti, “milk” or “yohgurt,” garlic and salt, and whip with a hand mixer until smooth.
And for the “main” was the bean loaf. I must say, I just kind of threw things together with this, and was very much surprised and happy with the result, especially considering I never even liked meatloaf before going veg. This would be a very good main dish for a holiday. There’s nothing “weird” in it for omnivores to complain about.

Bean Loaf

Yields: 1 9×5 loaf

Ingredients:

  • 2 14oz can beans (your choice), drained and rinsed
  • 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
  • 1/2 cup butternut squash or pumpkin puree
  • 1/4 cup ketchup
  • 2 tbs braggs liquid aminos
  • a splash of malt vinegar (optional)
  • 1 1/2 tsp each garlic powder and onion powder
  • 1 tsp dried parsley
  • a few cracks of fresh cracked black pepper
  • 1/4 cup ketchup, mixed with 2 tbs water

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375F.

Pulse the beans in a food processor a few times or mash them with a fork. Don’t puree them – make sure the good majority of the beans are broken up, yet whole. Transfer these to a bowl. To the beans add the breadcrumbs, squash puree, 1/4 cup ketchup, the liquid aminos, and seasonings. Using your hands, mash and smush everything together (for all of you mums out there, this would be fun for the kiddies, probably). Transfer this mixture to a 9×5 loaf pan  sprayed liberally with nonstick cooking spray and press in. Spread overtop the ketchup-water mix. Cover with tinfoil and bake for 25 minutes. After the 25 minutes, remove the tinfoil, reduce the oven’s heat to 350F and bake for another 15 minutes. Allow to cool for around 5 minutes before slicing.

And for dessert I did a twist on your basic pumpkin bar. I made it sugar free, fat free, and with butternut squash rather than pumpkin so that mum could actually eat one.

Butternut Squash Cake with Cinnamon “Cream Cheese” Icing

Yields 1 8-9″ round/square, or 11×7 cake

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup stevia (or sugar)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/8 tsp each: ground cloves, ground allspice, salt
  • 1 cup almond milk
  • 1/2 cup butternut squash puree
  • 1 tbs lemon juice
  • 1 tbs vanilla extract
  • (optional) 1/2 tsp maple extract

Icing:

  • 1/2 cup tofutti better n’ cream cheese
  • 1 tbs vegan margarine
  • 3/4-1 cup icing sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350F and prepare your pan of choice with nonstick cooking spray.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together your “dry ingredients.” Add in the wet ingredients, mix to combine, spread evenly into your prepared cake pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until a fork comes out clean.

While the cake is in the oven, in a mixing bowl with a hand mixer, cream together the “cream cheese” and margarine. Then beat in the icing sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla until no lumps remain. Frost the cake when cool.

 

What are you thinking of having as your main course at Thanksgiving this year? Are you having a totally vegan Thanksgiving, or are you going to a “mixed” event?

 

WIAW #2: Pumpkin edition!

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You know what? I kind of like this whole “What I Ate Wednesday” thing brought about by the Peas and Crayons blog. It’s fun. I like to see the different, generally healthy foods that people eat on a daily basis. It kind of gives me hope that I’ll someday be able to stop restricting myself to only 800 calories a day, which at the moment already feels like too many :(
NOTE: I had intended to post this last night…so even though it is no longer Wednesday, this is what I did eat on Wednesday….

Breakfast: I made another variation on my squash bisque the other night and had 1 cup of it for brekkie:

Multi Squash Bisque

Yields: 5 cups

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups buttercup or butternut squash, peeled and cubed
  • 2 cups chopped cauliflower
  • 1 cup delicate, carnival or acorn squash, peeled and cubed
  • 3 cups of water
  • 1 heaping tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 heaping tsp ground ginger
  • 1/8 tsp cardamom powder
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree

Directions:

Boil your chopped vegetables in the water over medium heat until very tender. Then transfer everything to a food processor along with the pumpkin puree, the spices and puree until very smooth. Taste for seasonings, and enjoy.

Lunch: For lunch I had the remainder of my pizza soup, which was a teeny bit over a cup of soup. With coffee, of course.

Upon returning from my afternoon class…I had one of my Shroom Squash and Spinach hashes and 1/2 cup of my new bisque.

Later on I had some pudding and…

A cup of a new curry I made!

Kaddu Ka Curry

Yields: 5 cups

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 cups chopped cauliflower
  • 2 1/2 cups chopped broccoli
  • 2 cups chopped winter squash (your choice – I used carnival)
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 cup water or broth
  • 1 tbs braggs liquid aminos
  • 1/2 tsp tamarind concentrate
  • 1/2 tsp sriracha
  • 1/2 tbs each: garlic powder, onion powde
  • 1 heaping tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp coriander powder
  • 1/8 tsp cardamom powder
  • 1/8 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 block lite firm tofu, cubed (I use NaSoya brand)

Directions:

Add to a large cast iron skillet all of your chopped vegetables. In a measuring cup, whisk together the pumpkin puree with your liquid, the braggs, tamarind concentrate, sriracha, and spices. Add this your your chopped vegetables in the skillet, stir to start getting your veggies coated with the pumpkin mixture, turn on the heat to medium and cover. Once your liquid has started bubbling, stir again, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover again, and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour, stirring occasionally. When your vegetables have become tender and the “gravy” has cooked down, remove from heat, add in your cubed tofu, stir, and serve.

I also had a little later some squash and kale, some unpictured broccoli (2 cups steamed)…

And pumpkin mousse.

Man, I eat WAY too much :( I feel gross now.

So what do you think…or should I say what do you prefer: eating a bunch of lower calories snack-like-meals throughout the day, or 3 main meals? Is what I eat too much?

Sipping on…cereal?

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Yup. It sounds pretty weird, I know. But trust me…in a smoothie…soggy cereal makes a pretty wicked awesome thickener. I was inspired by this tasty looking recipe from Eden Eats Everything. And with my pumpkin theme this week…I made my smoothie a pumpkin smoothie! And it was…delicious.

Thick n’ Quick Pumpkin Smoothie

 

Serves 1

 

Ingredients:

 

 

Directions:

 

Put everything into a tumblr or mason jar and chill in the fridge for about 15 to 30 minutes (to basically get the cereal soggy). Then put everything into a blender and blend until smooth. Or you could blend it for a shorter period of time and have a few soft little chunks of cereal in your smoothie, which is cool too.

Smoothies are such an easy thing to have when you’re too busy to think about preparing food. I had this along with one of my pumpkin stoner sammiches that I posted yesterday. I hope I don’t blimp up from a mass of carbs :p I should so stop buying bread…

What have you had awesome with pumpkin in it lately? Or how about smoothies…blitz up anything tasty?