Vegan MoFo VI, Day 6 - Planning my US trip

This is kinda a cop-out post, but Saturday isn't a "required" day, so suck it.  I was actually gonna make food, but I'm super crampy and can't be bothered, so I'm taking the opportunity to instead plan my trip to the US.  What does this have to do with food?  Well, when I say "plan my trip", I really mean "figure out where I'm gonna eat and what I'm gonna bring home".

I'm starting my trip in New York.  I will eventually be in the city, but I'm starting out upstate in Pine Plains with my mom's side of the family for about a day and a half.  At first blush, it doesn't seem promising, but my plan is to get off the bus not in Kingston (which is nearer), but in New Paltz, where I'll be able to hit up Lagusta's Luscious!  And in case you're wondering, yes, I will be buying the vulva chocolates (hopefully to share with PPKers if I can arrange a meet-up when I'm in NYC).  I might try to convince my grandma to have lunch in New Paltz because it'll probably be home eating the rest of the time I'm there.  Pine Plains is pretty far away from, well, everything, and the places that are near-ish don't have many options.

After that I'm in NYC.  I have so many options and only just over a day.  The only thing I'm certain about is going to Dun-Well Doughnuts.  I freaking love donuts.  I have no qualms about eating a full dozen by myself.  There are only 2 vegan donut options here, and they're not exactly amazing (they hit the spot in a pinch, but meh), so having access to proper donuts is exciting.

After NYC, I'm going to DC for about a day.  I can't get Southern food here unless I make it myself, so I fully intend to go to Soul Vegetarian Cafe (their website is a bit crap, so I won't link it).  I will also most definitely go to Sticky Fingers.  Again, hopefully I'll meet up with some PPKers, so I'll leave any other choice up to them.

After DC, it's on to Chicago, and frankly, looking at the menu, I could eat every meal at the Chicago Diner.  I mean, they put umlauts in words to indicate that these are the vegan versions of the things they're offering!  I'm at least going for brunch when I get there and some other meal (because I'm determined to try the Reuben).

Then it's on to Dallas (well, the Dallas area).  Everyone thinks any part of TX outside of Austin is a vegan wasteland, but Dallas and its suburbs have loads of options, including completely vegan restaurants.  And they're not all downtown or in the swanky gentrified areas!

My first food stop will be Spiral Diner and Bakery.  I went to the Ft Worth location a couple of times when I lived in Dallas, but I've never been to the Dallas location.  I also now like vegetables, so it'll be a brand-new experience.  I'll also be eating several meals at Veggie Garden - not just because my friend Joy owns the place, but because I loved the food since before she took over.  Now that it's all vegan, I can't wait to try as many dishes as I can put in my face.  I also have a soft spot for Fadi's - it's an omni restaurant, but the vegan options are great and they have the best forking pita bread on the planet.  Another friend pointed out D'Vegan, which serves Vietnamese food, including pho.  I'm also determined to find some Ethiopian food.

After Thanksgiving, my mom and I will be road-tripping to Nashville to visit my grandpa.  Since we'll have to go through Memphis, this calls for a trip to Imagine Vegan Cafe.  An awesome PPKer makes desserts for them, so if nothing else, I'll go there for that.  But the menu looks pretty impressive, and they do Sunday brunch, so I see us stopping there both ways.

As if that wasn't enough, my brother and I will then be taking a day trip to Austin.  My plan is to start at Biscuits + Groovy (because it's a restaurant that specialises in biscuits and gravy).  Again, there are so many places that I want to try and not nearly enough time.  I really have no idea where to start.  If you look at Jojo's blog, Vegan in Brighton, you can see why this would be such a difficult choice!

When I was looking at hotels in Dallas, I limited my search to those with gyms.  Otherwise my clothes won't fit on my way home.

So, where else should I eat?  What should I absolutely not miss in NYC, DC, Chicago, Dallas, and Austin?

Vegan MoFo VI, Day 5 - British Food Friday

Yay, I stuck to my theme today!

For the first British Food Friday, I made the classic Bakewell tart.  According to Professor Wikipedia, the Bakewell tart hails from Derbyshire and consists of a shortcrust pastry, jam filling, and almond sponge layer.

I've only ever eaten Bakewell tart once - I think it was during the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale this year.  I actually got the train to Glasgow and built a day out around going to a bake sale.  That's what not having a working oven does to a person.  I really, really liked it, but it wasn't quite jammy enough for me.  I swore I would make one myself one day when I had a working oven, but I'd have a massive jam layer.  So, naturally, this was the first thing I thought of for this theme (in fact, I think I decided I wanted to make this and treacle tart and built the theme around that).

Last night, before I met Mike for dinner, I bought a block of frozen Jus Rol shortcrust pastry.  I figured it would be thawed by the time we got home.  Not so much, but I just defrosted it in the microwave.  But because I'm a genius, I decided that it would be awesome if I made 2 tarts after 10pm and take them in to work when only 13 people were in the office that day.  I mostly made this decision based on the fact that you're meant to use the crusts within 24 hours of defrosting and can't refreeze them.

I decided to make what I always thought was the standard - cherry Bakewell.  I thought cherry Bakewell meant that the jam layer was cherry, but apparently it's just cherry because it has almond icing and a glace cherry on top (what?).  But, whatever, whatever, I still used cherry jam.  That was my first one.  I decided to get a little experimental with my second one, so I made a PBJ Bakewell - raspberry/cherry jam layer (because I had extra cherry jam but not quite enough raspberry) with a Freenut butter cake topping.

For the sponge on the classic, I made a half recipe of the almond cake in Have Your Cake and Vegan Too (which I think I talked about in my first post).  For the jam layer, I used some reduced sugar cherry jam from Sainsbury's that, because it had whole cherries, I blended until smooth (I don't like bits).  I topped it with a simple water glaze (icing sugar mixed with water - I didn't even measure it).  For the PBJ, I made the PB cupcakes in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and I used the last of my seedless raspberry jam mixed with a bit of leftover cherry jam.  I melted some chocolate chips in the microwave with a couple of splashes of soymilk to drizzle over the top of this one.

These weren't quite the hit that the almond mocha cake was, but I think that's partially down to the office being half empty (there were 3 people working away from the office, 5 PT people who don't work Fridays, and 4 who were on holiday).  The people who ate them loved them, though the classic was the clear favourite.  I think people here really just don't do PBJ.  I ended up coming home with a full pan (half of each).  But I think it was a success for the first attempt!

I think I'm gonna try to make something savoury for the next BFF because I think my co-workers are gonna be a bit caked out after too long (especially since I'm taking something in on Monday and another person said he'd bring something on Tuesday).  Also, I think I'm PMSing, because even though these weren't as good as the almond mocha cake, I wanted to cram both of them in my face all day, so I need to personally lay off the cakes too.

So, any ideas for what I can make next week?

Vegan MoFo VI - Day 4 - Restaurant Review - Ann Purna

I don't know if I ever mentioned in MoFos past that, up until recently, in the 4+ years that I've known Mike, we went to one Indian restaurant.  He didn't like it and declared Indian restaurants off limits thereafter.  I spent the next 3ish years almost never eating at Indian restaurants because he didn't want to go to them.

A few months ago, my boss took me and the other admin on our team to dinner at Kushi's (omni place with vegan options).  I decided then that Mike was gonna have to suck it up and learn to like Indian restaurant food (he'd eat curries I made, but they were hardly authentic) because I was tired of limiting our restaurant choices so much.  Since then, he's finally realised that Indian food is awesome, so we've been going to a lot more Indian restaurants.

Tonight, we went to our favourite - Ann Purna.  Ann Purna has been around for a while - I'm not sure how long, but at least since well before I moved here.  The first time I went there, I wasn't too impressed, but I also still didn't like vegetables, so I wasn't the best judge of quality then.  They've since come under new management, but it's still within the same family that owned it originally.  I think they've changed up the menu since my first visit, because I want to eat everything on it.

The first time Mike and I went there, we got the vegan thali.  It was alright - the highlights were the poori (fried bread), the chana batata (chickpeas and potatoes), and the kofti (vegetable dumpling).  But I've always found that thalies are hit and miss since it's up to the discretion of the chef to decide what to put in it, and I'm far too picky to let someone else make my food choices.

We've now been there enough that we've settled into a bit of a routine, as you do (well, I do) - pretty much the only thing we change up are the starters.  I always get the saag aloo (greens and potatoes), Mike always gets the chana dhal (dhal made with split chickpeas), and we usually go for the chana batata as a side.

Tonight we started with the kachori - potatoes and lentils in a thin pastry shell, fried and served with tamarind sauce.  It was the best starter we've had there - a bit of crunch from the pastry, soft potatoes, and mildly spiced lentils, with just the right amount of sweetness from the sauce.

We then had what we always have, served with pulao rice and a poori to split between the two of us (though I totally could've eaten one by myself).  They make the absolute best saag aloo in Edinburgh.  OK, so only one other place has a vegan saag aloo, and it's good, but Ann Purna's is better.  Though we get two chickpea dishes, they're prepared in such a way that it doesn't feel like you're eating chickpeas twice.  The chana batata is a bit tomato-y, while the dhal is creamy.

The only vegan dessert they have is basically mango puree.  But that's OK, because we usually leave full and with leftovers.  That's the only thing my other favourite Indian restaurant, Kalpna, has over Ann Purna - Kalpna has a vegan dessert that isn't just pureed fruit.

I would absolutely recommend Ann Purna.  The food is wonderful, the prices are reasonable (and they're doing 20% off Mon-Thu this winter), and the staff are incredibly friendly and helpful.  If you find yourself hungry in Edinburgh, check them out.

Vegan MoFo VI - Product Review - Alpro/Provamel Puddin' Cups

I was gonna do the Blue Plate Special from Vegan Diner tonight, but I dicked around too long and finally decided that I didn't feel like making the waffles because it takes about 10 minutes per set of waffles.  So I ended up eating another burrito (mmm...burrito) and decided to do a product review.

I'll say right now that I don't get free stuff from companies.  I bought all of these at some point (apart from the one a friend gave me) and I'm reviewing them because I feel like it, not because I'm compelled to.  But hey, if Alpro (or any other vegan company) wants to hook me up, I won't say no.

So, I'm not entirely clear on this, but I think* Provamel and Alpro are essentially the same company, but Provamel only makes organic stuff, whereas Alpro mostly does non-organic but with a few organic things.  Basically, they have about the same products give or take a few, but the Alpro stuff tends to be fortified (and, at least for the vanilla soy milks, sweeter).  Alpro is sold in big box grocery stores, but Provamel is only sold in health food shops.

Both brands just call these things desserts, but if we were in the US, we'd be talking puddin' cups.  Different countries have different varieties on offer.  In the UK, Alpro offers vanilla, caramel, dark chocolate, and "smooth" chocolate (which I guess is meant to be like milk chocolate), while Provamel offers vanilla, chocolate, caramel and "moka" (according to their website - the package I have says cappuccino).  But other countries might have other things - I know for sure that Belgium gets Alpro speculoos puddin' cups, the lucky bastards.

The good stuff.

So how are they?  Well, I'll admit two things:  a) I've never tried the vanilla of either brand as far as I can recall, and 2) I can never remember which of the chocolate varieties I like.  That said, I quite like the Alpro caramel, though I prefer it mixed with chocolate.  The Provamel moka/cappuccino is good on its own (though I don't know where they get off calling it moka, which implies chocolate, when there's no chocolate in it).  And I think I like one of the Alpro chocolates, but I'm too cheap to buy both to figure it out because then I'll have a package of stuff I don't like (though I'm sure Mike would eat them).  Of course, the standout winner is the speculoos stuff, but I've only had that once (well, one package of 4) because, like I said, it's only available in Belgium.

They're also kinda diet friendly, if you're looking for that kind of thing.  My bff, who isn't even veg, loves the dark chocolate for a dessert, not only because it's tasty, but because it usually fits within her calorie budget.  (I can also confirm that the Alpro Light Chocolate Soya Milk works well if you need a hot chocolate fix but don't want to consume 500 calories in one cup.)

I'd definitely recommend giving these a try.  They're usually pretty tasty, not too bad for calories, and almost always on sale somewhere (at least the Alpro ones are - usually 2 for £2.50 at Sainsbury's and/or Tesco).

*Thanks for clearing that up, Professor Wikipedia!  Also, they're from Belgium, which is why the Belgians get all the good stuff first.

Vegan MoFo VI, Day 2 - Cookbook Challenge - Vegan Diner

Over on the PPK, we're doing what seems to be the annual Cookbook Challenge.  The point of this (if you've forgotten from the last 3 years) is that we vote on cookbooks from which to cook, then cook from them - 3 recipes each for the week that cookbook is chosen - posting the results in the dedicated thread.

As I mentioned yesterday, this week's book is Vegan Diner by Julie Hasson.  I hate to say it, but for some reason, though many of the recipes struck my fancy (because Lard knows I love diner food), I've hardly made anything from this book.

Tonight I made the Smoky Potato Scramble, because brinner is the best meal of the day.  The only mods I made were to slightly decrease the oil and slightly increase the nooch.  I'm super particular about my scramble, so I'm always pretty reluctant to try new ones.  And this one didn't have any cumin, so.

As it turns out, this was really, really good.  It suffered a bit health-wise by having onions as the only veg, but it was super tasty.  It was really easy to make, too, though slightly time-consuming due to having to first boil potatoes (which she does mention you can do the day before).  I think I'd make this again, though I'd maybe add some spinach or something to make it a bit healthier.

I had planned to make the Blue Plate Special - this scramble, cornmeal waffles, and gravy - but I didn't have the patience for it.  But I'm not firmly committed to my project for tomorrow (since we already have a pretty sizable amount of leftovers), so I think I'll make the other components tomorrow.

Do you have Vegan Diner?  What are your favourite recipes?

Vegan MoFo VI, Day 1 - Mike Makes Monday Meals

It's MoFo time again!

Yeah, I've been pretty crap at updating, in that I've posted once this year before today.  But I moved house, and I kinda hate my kitchen (I'll probably use a weekend post to explain why), so I haven't been terribly motivated to cook.  But I'm sucking it up for MoFo.

So, a brief overview of some of my plans - I don't have a particular theme for every day, only because I won't always be able to do the stuff the same day of every week.  But here's what I'm thinking:

Sunday Baking - I checked out Have Your Cake and Vegan Too from the library, so I'm using Sundays to try out the stuff I like the look of.  I'll make it on a Sunday and take it in to work the next day so Mike and I don't have to get through a cake every week.

Mike Makes Monday Meals - I'm going away on holiday for 3 weeks in November, which means Mike will have to fend for himself.  So he'll be making dinner every Monday to learn how to cook a few simple things so that he doesn't eat nothing but biscuits and hummus every day for 3 weeks.

British Food Fridays - There are a few classic British dishes that I'd like to try my hand at, so I'll post about these on a Friday (though I may make them the Thursday night).  So far, the only definite things I'm making are treacle tart and bakewell tart.  My co-workers are gonna get so fat.

Because of how Mike's schedule works, I can't be definite with any other days, partially because one of the things I'm doing is restaurant reviews.  I'll also be doing the Cookbook Challenge that's happening on the PPK.

This post encompasses two of my themes.  Tonight, Mike made the Quick and Hearty Chili from Vegan Diner, which is the current Cookbook Challenge book.

This was a great recipe to start with.  Mike said that he didn't feel like there were any complicated directions and that it was easy to make.  It was also incredibly delicious.

The only subs we made were to double the TVP, add an extra can of beans (so one each of red kidney, pinto, and black beans), leave out the cocoa powder (we didn't have any), and add a couple drops of hickory liquid smoke.  OK, maybe that sounds like a lot of changes, but it wasn't too drastic.  Anyway, it came together really quickly.  We ate it with rice - I had mine bowl-style with some mixed baby leaf salad on the bottom.  It was so, so good.  I would definitely recommend it.

I'm looking forward to making more from this book, and I'm looking forward to the rest of MoFo!

Still hungry

Oh hai!  I haven't blogged since the end of last year, so, just over 6 1/2 months.  Part of it is, as I'm sure you'll realise, laziness.  However, in fairness, I did move house, and the oven in our new(ish) place doesn't work.  So most of the time, I barely feel like cooking, let alone blogging about it.

However, I felt the need to blog about this.

This

...is a single serving of Mornflake Chocolatey Squares cereal*.

Look at that!  You can almost count the number of biscuits in the photo!

I wanted to title this blog post "People at Mornflake are on crack", because clearly there are drugs involved when you think that amount of cereal is gonna be filling for a grown-ass adult (the box is brown and doesn't have any cartoon animals on it, so I'm calling it an adult cereal).  Also, if you were to taste this cereal, you'd know that it's next to impossible to eat that little.  It's so good.  So. Good. The only cereal better than this is Speculoos cereal.

One 30g serving (dry) has about 143 calories.  And I've been eating probably thrice this amount plus milk with every bowl (and I like a lot of milk in my cereal).  I guess at least I'm getting a lot of extra vitamins and iron.  But this solves the mystery of why I've been gaining weight even though I'm working out 5 times a week.

I think I'm gonna go back to oatmeal** in the morning.

*Though not verified with the company, who would probably give me the "traces of milk" line, several thorough readings of the ingredient list assure me this is vegan.

**I recently bought 2 slow cooker cookbooks, and one of them, The Vegan Slow Cooker, has a few oatmeal recipes.  The author, Kathy Hester, has loads on her blog as well.