MoFo Fail

I was gonna do a post today about cleaning out my cupboards and seeing what exactly is in there. I even took the 'before' photos. But then I had to go out, and I decided, since I needed to go to the store, I'd take a long bus ride, get some reading done, and go to the Sainsbury's out by IKEA. It was after 4 by the time I got home, and by the time I made my snack and watched CSI, it was nearly 7, and there was no natural light left. So, I'm gonna put off that project until tomorrow. In the meantime, I give you the VeganMoFo survey!

1. Favorite non-dairy milk?
Alpro soya for the B-vitamins, Oatly Oat Milk for the taste (organic only - the fortified varieties have D3 (not vegan!), which makes me sad because their chocolate milk was the best)

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?
English muffins (to see if I can start making them myself instead of buying 3 packs a week), cinnamon rolls, sourdough (I dunno, I didn't really think about this one and haven't really planned much)

3. Topping of choice for popcorn?
nooch and Spike

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?
The only thing I can remember is the pumpkin muffins and carob chai cake that failed because of my dodgy oven. Sad times. I still haven't tried that cake again. Maybe I should do that this month.

5. Favorite pickled item?
DO NOT WANT - I don't think I like anything pickled.

6. How do you organize your recipes?
My own? I used to have a Word document, but my hard drive died and I lost it. :(

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?
I would love to compost, but we live in a flat and have nowhere to take it, and we don't have a disposal, so, unfortunately, trash.

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods…what would they be (don’t worry about how you’ll cook them)?
tofu, pre-mixed scramble spice, nooch - I can always eat tofu scramble.

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?
Big Southern breakfasts at Gramma and Grandpa's house (not vegan!)

10. Favorite vegan ice cream?
In the US - cookies & cream or mint chocolate chip, here - Swedish Glace vanilla

11. Most loved kitchen appliance?
I love kitchen appliances. My top four are my hand mixer (29th b-day present from Mike), my waffle maker/grill/sammich maker, my hand blender/food processor, and my cast iron skillet combo (if that counts as an appliance).

12. Spice/herb you would die without?
cumin

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?
In my actual possession, probably Vegetarian Celebrations by Nava Atlas (my mom brought it over), though I probably still have some (not vegan) cookbooks in TX.

14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?
Seedless raspberry

15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?
cupcakes

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?
That would be like choosing between my children. But, if I must...seitan.

17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?
I love to cook, but I guess breakfast, because it's somehow more acceptable to have breakfast for dinner than dinner for breakfast.

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?
Hopefully nothing, since the counter top is only about an inch above it.

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.
Only one item currently fits in my freezer, and that is a bag of chopped celery. The only time I ever had the foresight to prep and freeze a vegetable that I knew I wouldn't use before it went off.

20. What’s on your grocery list?
Whatever we like at the Farmers' Market, since I just went to the Big Box today.

21. Favorite grocery store?
If we're talking Big Box, it has to be Sainsbury's, since they're so good at labeling their vegan stuff and seem to have a really good selection. After reading Not on the Label, I'm trying to buy less from the Big Boxes.

22. Name a recipe you’d love to veganize, but haven’t yet.
Gramma's Mexican fudge

23. Food blog you read the most (besides Isa’s because I know you check it everyday). Or maybe the top 3?
I just started getting in to food blogs, but The Great Vegan Conspiracy is a really good one.

24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate?
Right now, probably Ritter Sport Peppermint, since it's the one I have to really control myself to not buy every time I see it.

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?
We don't really do extravagant food purchases, though we'll be going to lunch in Glasgow next week, and that'll probably be more than we usually pay for lunch.

26. Ingredients you are scared to work with?
Fruit other than apples, just because I don't usually like fruit other than apples (unless it's in the form of seedless raspberry jam).

I'm gonna go make dinner!

Cookbook challenge - Yellow Rose Recipes

As promised, I'm gonna catch up with the Yellow Rose Recipes cookbook challenge that happened a couple of weeks ago.

First off, a bonus Vegan Brunch recipe - Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes


These were so amazingly good. Just a bit spicy, not too dry, and the remoulade really brought the flavours together. Mike wasn't as pleased, so I ate the rest the next day!

Another bonus - Feesh Fingers from the blog The Great Vegan Conspiracy


Really tasty! I baked instead of fried, and I probably baked them a little too long because they were a bit too crunchy. I also didn't have any dill, I think, and I didn't bother with the nori, which was a mistake. Next time, I'll add the nori, maybe marinate the tofu for a bit longer, and try to remember the herbs. We ate them with make-shift tartar sauce, which was basically Isa's remoulade minus the chipotle sauce.

My first YRR recipe for the cookbook challenge was Tofu Scramble


Mike and I could both eat tofu scramble every day, but I have my preferences. I have to say, I wasn't terribly impressed with this. It was slightly healthier than my usual scramble (because of the additional veg), but it wasn't all that flavourful. I did, however, like the method. My normal scramble is the Vegan with a Vengeance recipe, usually with about half the tofu but not reducing anything else (and no shrooms because Mike is a hater). But that one takes forever, it seems, so I've since been combining the method and some of the ingredients for the YRR recipe with the flavourings from the VwaV recipe. It's worked so far.

Next up was the Sloppy Joannas


OMG these were amazingly delicious. Mike and I both had seconds. The recipe makes a lot, but we didn't have any leftovers. I really want to make these again soon. The only downside is that, every time I see the name of the recipe, it makes me think of the Michael Jackson song 'Dirty Diana'.

My next YRR recipe was the Chicken-Style Seitan/Mustard Crusted Seitan


Another winner. The seitan itself takes ages to make, mostly because you have to form it into individual cutlets, so it's not nearly as easy as the V'con recipe. However, the results are totally worth it. Mike has since requested these for his lunch sammiches. They're awesome to fry up with some breading, as with the Mustard Crusted Seitan pictured. I loved it, but Mike thought they were too mustardy. I made them again the other night, omitting the mustard for his and using slightly different breading, and we both thought they were wonderful. I would love to do the Beer-Battered Seitan, but I don't usually have beer around, and I'm not too keen on the amount of fat in them. Maybe for a get-together.

I also made the Spiced Applesauce, which by itself isn't great. I think I prefer my applesauce without the 5-spice. It just kinda has a wang to it. However, I later made the Spice Cake


and it was soooo good! The 5-spice isn't noticeable at all. The cream cheese frosting made this cake almost literally irresistible. I made a double recipe in a 9x13" pan (well, it might have been 11x14") on Tuesday, took it to an Ethnology Society meeting on Wednesday afternoon, had some friends over before going out Wednesday evening, and ate the rest of it when I got home that night. We just couldn't stop eating it. I wish I had some right now.

Like I said, I had friends over, so I made the Tamale Pie for dinner that night.


I used the taco salad 'meat' and nacho sauce (minus jalapenos because they're kinda expensive here) topped with the sour cream recipe in the book. Also, I forgot to buy tomato sauce, so I just bunged in two things of chopped tomatoes in their juices. Everyone loved it. LOVED. Except Mike, who doesn't like cooked 'cheese' or sweetcorn in things. But everyone else had seconds. I thought it was delicious and actually didn't mind that Mike didn't like it that much because that meant all the leftovers were for me! Anyway, I want to make this again, but if there are only 2 of us eating it and one person doesn't like it, it seems like a waste of time and effort. Maybe for another dinner party or something.
Breaking it down - Taco salad TVP was a little weird and grainy. If I make it again, I'll either use larger granules or just buy a bag of frozen mince. The sour cream was really good, but a little limey. I might do slightly less lime and slightly more acv next time. Nacho sauce was amazingly delicious. I want some nachos. I kinda wish I'd made the whole recipe (though Mike would've liked it even less, but I suspect it was the polenta part rather than the nacho sauce that he didn't like).

Oh yeah, Mike's birthday happened in there, so here are pictures of his cake, made from the Mint Chocolate Cupcakes recipe in Vegan Cupcakes Take over the World


Yeah, I busted out the heart-shaped cake pan again.



What I did here was halve the cake and do a layer of mint frosting, then a layer of ganache, then put the other half of the cake on top, another layer of mint frosting, and another layer of ganache. I've done this before, and it never disappoints. It didn't last long. This is actually one of the easier and less time-consuming 'fancy' cupcakes in the book, which is even easier made as a cake. I love this cake.

There were actually a couple other things in there, but this post is already really long, so I might save those for another time. I'll probably do my cupboard clean-out tomorrow, with before and after shots, and then figure out what the hell I'm supposed to do with all the stuff I have in there. It would be nice to know what's there.

Vegan MoFo starts today!

I know I haven't updated in forever, and this will just be a quick one to remind everyone that VEGAN MOFO STARTS TODAY!! As you can see, I'm very excited.

Tomorrow (well, technically today, but after I sleep) will be a catch-up post for the Yellow Rose Recipes cookbook challenge. I didn't blog about any of those recipes at all, and I ended up making quite a few (over 2 weeks, since I didn't have the book for last week's challenge). The cookbook challenge will continue through October, and I have (or have access to) 3 more books (though not next week's), so that'll continue to be a feature.

I'm hoping to do a couple of projects this month. On top of trying to find uses for the 7 varieties of beans and 8 varieties of flour in my cupboard (that may or may not be an exaggeration), I also hope to try my hand at sushi, English muffins, cinnamon rolls, and bagels. I might also take another stab at sourdough bread! Also, I have a ton of cooking/baking equipment that, let's face it, rarely sees the light of day, so I'm gonna go through that stuff and find a use for it (at least once).

Plus, my favourite holiday is in October, which means...cooking for the Samhain ceilidh! It's a lot of work, but I really loved doing it last year. Hopefully I'll be more on the ball this year and be able to do more ahead of time.

Anyway, I'm ready for bed, so I'll conclude this post with my five favourite shops and why they are so.
1) Real Foods - Probably the only store that's meat-free, it's really easy to find loads of vegan treats. It's the only place in the city where you can buy tempeh, and they often have vegan chocolate cake!
2) Jordan Valley Whole Foods - A great little shop on Nicholson Street, they have quite a lot of the same staples as Real Foods (like nutritional yeast, aka nooch). They also have great pasties, most of which are vegan, and chocolate quinoa bars (kinda like a cross between a dry rice crispy treat and a chocolate flapjack).
3) Edinburgh Farmers' Market - The best place to get reasonably priced organic veg, Cairn O' Mohr wines, and Belhaven Fruit Farm sorbet.
4) The Engine Shed - To be honest, I don't shop here often, and I usually try to catch them at the Farmers' Market. But they sell Gypsy Creams, an awesome sammich cookie, as well as some delicious dips, varieties of tofu, and tofu cottage cheese. Nom.
5) Scotmid/Co-op - Vegan donuts. That is all. Actually, though they tend to be more expensive and have a pretty small selection of vegan foods compared to, say, Sainsbury's, they at least have the courtesy to label the own-brand items that are vegan, unlike, say, Tesco. But yeah, the donuts - not quite as good as an American donut, but good when you get the urge and don't feel like making them yourself. Because, seriously, have you ever made donuts? It takes forever, you end up with a shit ton of used (and pretty much useless) oil left over, and then you have to eat them before they go stale. And you want to, but it's probably a bad idea.

Cookbook challenge, week 3, days 4-7 - Vegan Brunch

I haven't been making a lot from VB, which is why I haven't blogged in a while. I'm doing a catch-up today, though I can't really remember what I made on which nights, to be honest. I mean, there was at least one night when we had cereal for dinner, and last night, I'm ashamed to say, we actually had donuts and coffee cake for dinner. I had every intention of making decent food, but Mike ended up not being particularly hungry after eating 3 donuts and a piece of coffee cake. Anyway, I digress. I'll go in order.

At some point this week, I made Spinach and Millet Polenta with Sun-dried Tomato Pesto:


This one is actually a hold-over from last week's challenge, Vegan with a Vengeance. I had intended on making it last Sunday with spinach I got from the Farmers' Market, but I didn't get around to it because it is a bit time consuming. The spinach was on the brink, so I decided to make the polenta before I ended up having wasted the money (although I think we got a deal on the spinach because it was the end of the day and they were trying to get rid of everything).

I baked the polenta to avoid the extra fat from pan-frying, and I used ground almonds for the pesto since I had a big bag of ground almonds and a small bag of slivered almonds (and no whole almonds). I served it with roasted asparagus.

I can't believe I waited so long to try this recipe. I think I was scared off by the pesto, since I can't have regular pesto (allergic to pine nuts), or maybe the sun-dried tomatoes, or maybe even the amount of time it takes to make. Either way, I'm so glad I finally made this. It is freaking amazing. The pesto was a perfect complement to the polenta. It was so delicious that I actually turned the oven back on to make seconds. I will definitely make this again (though probably in stages and well in advance so I can just throw everything together, because it took ages).

I made East Coast Coffee Cake (jam swirl variation) on Friday:

Oh yeah, I busted out the heart-shaped pan!



I've actually made this before (raspberry jam swirl and chocolate chip layer variations), but I needed to use up some applesauce that's taking up room in the fridge and wanted to make something from VB for which I had all the ingredients on hand. This time I made it with seedless bramble jam I got from the Farmers' Market. It was just as delicious as last time. OK, I lie, nothing is as delicious as chocolate and raspberry. But it was delicious. I love this recipe.

Finally, tonight's dinner was Sesame Tofu Scramble with Greens and Yams:


This was delicious and super easy (if you prepare ahead, which, for once, I did). It has just a few ingredients and takes less than 20 minutes to cook. We both scarfed this stuff. The flavours were really subtle - a bit of saltiness from the soy sauce, just a bit of sweetness from the sweet potato, the slightest hint of heat from the peppers. It felt a bit lighter than regular tofu scramble. It was really nice.

Mike is going out tomorrow, so I'm gonna try to make the Matzoh Brie and Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes at some point.

Cookbook challenge, week 3, days 2 & 3 - Vegan Brunch

I've managed to make quite a few recipes in the past couple of days - two for dinner last night, one for lunch today, some muffins, and tonight's dinner. So, here they are in order of when they were made.

Last night's dinner was Basic Scrambled Tempeh with Roasted Squash:


I used the mystery squash from this post instead of the butternut in the recipe, but I think the results were the same. It was exactly what the recipe said it would be - a bit crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside. I usually roast squash with sweet things (i.e., maple syrup), so this was different, but in a good way. It was a nice accompaniment to the tempeh, which we thought was just alright. It tasted a bit too much like health food. We both liked the dish, though Mike left most of his tempeh and tried to eat my kale. I don't know if I'll make it again, since tempeh is kinda pricey and I like for it all to get eaten.

I had a really long day today (up at 6 AM and out the door before Mike even had to start getting ready for work, which is very unusual), so I decided that I deserved a proper cooked lunch, and I made the Puttanesca Scramble.


I've been wanting to try this for a while, but Mike isn't a fan of olives, so I had to wait for a time that I could make it just for myself. I'm so glad I did. The flavours were really nice, even though I had to sub dried for fresh herbs (I couldn't find fresh) and boxed chopped tomatoes for fresh (because I can't be arsed). It came together really quickly, too. My only complaint is that it didn't seem very filling. I made a half recipe, and I ate the whole shebangabang in about an hour and still didn't feel full. This is the type of dish that's best served with something else.

I also made the Pumpkin Bran Muffins:


I have to say, although these were nice, they just aren't as good as The Best Pumpkin Muffins from VwaV. The bran made them feel very health food-y, which isn't necessarily bad. They're good, but I won't be replacing the VwaV muffins any time soon.

And since I'd opened the jar of pumpkin puree and didn't have room to store it, I made Pumpkin French Toast for dinner:


This was tasty, but the pumpkin flavour wasn't pronounced enough to make me want to use a muffin recipe's worth of the stuff to make this again. The funny thing is that Mike thought it was too pumpkin-y, and that it wasn't spiced enough. However, I should also mention that he thinks it needed pepper. Anyway, I also think the bread should probably have been sliced a little more thinly. I got as close to one inch as possible, but I thought it was a bit too thick. It also left me with some slightly tough crusts. I don't really make french toast that often, but I think I might be a bit boring when it comes to it. I should've made the Fronch Toast in VwaV last week. Oh well.

I only plan on making one more recipe for this cookbook challenge. Or, at least, I had, but I've just realised that today is only Tuesday, and I haven't really planned for meals for the rest of the week. I might have to re-evaluate my plans, preferably to include more veg.

Cookbook challenge, week 3, day 1 - Vegan Brunch

OK, I was really kinda crap with last week's cookbook challenge. I'll try to be better with this week. That said, this week is Vegan Brunch, and there are so many recipes I want to try, I've decided to just do a few this week and then use this book as my VeganMoFo project.

We had one of Mike's friends over, so I made the Coffee Chip Muffins:


They both really liked them, though I wasn't all that keen. The coffee flavour was pretty subtle, and I was hoping for a lot more. I also thought they were a bit too chewy and not quite as fluffy as I would've liked. Still, all but two of them are gone (and those only survive because I put them away before Mike could eat them - they're going with him for his lunch tomorrow). I'm beginning to wonder if I'm so tired because I'm crashing from the caffeine. Anyway, I don't know if I'll make these again. Maybe if I'm having a coffee fan over. And I might double the coffee if I do.

Here's where my post gets sad. I wasn't feeling making dinner, but then I looked at the recipe for the Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes and realised I had all the ingredients, and they don't take that long. So I got out my tempeh...and it smelled of fish that's about to go off. It was pretty disgusting. I don't know why it was like that. I didn't even realise tempeh could smell like that, especially since it still looked fine (though it's really hard to tell when tempeh's gone off just by looking). I really wish I'd bought the other package of it when I was at Real Foods.

So, I decided instead to make omelets with burnt broccoli, since we'd bought broccoli at the Farmers' Market yesterday. But when I cut up the broccoli, I kept finding bugs. If it had only been one or two, I would've been OK. But there were several, and I couldn't be sure that I'd gotten them all. I actually felt ill thinking about the possibility that I might end up eating a bug, so we decided that it was better to waste the money than for me to throw up my dinner. We ended up having cheeze omelets, which were still delicious.

Oh, and we finally managed to get to the Farmers' Market when the Engine Shed was there, so we got the delicious Gypsy Cream cookies they sell. These are oatmeal cookies with a coffee buttercream sandwiched between them. Nom! I really need to make these myself. Two packages of two sammich cookies each cost us £3. I'm sure I could make them for cheaper.

Cookbook challenge, week 2, days 3-5 - Vegan with a Vengeance

I've been crap about this week's challenge. Not only have I made far fewer recipes, I've not been posting when I did make something. So, this'll be my catch-up post.

Tuesday I made the Cauliflower-Leek Kugel with Almond-Herb Crust:


I have to say, it was just OK. I mean, we ate most of it (though Mike didn't really finish either night we ate it), and it wasn't bad. I just wasn't all that keen. It might have been the texture or the flavour, too much or too little of one herb or another - I honestly can't put it into words. Also, it was a bit time-consuming to make and required a few ingredients that I never use (what am I gonna do with the rest of that box of matzohs?). It was alright, but I probably won't make it again.

I started making the Raspberry Blackout Cake with Ganache-y Frosting that night. I made the cake layers, but I didn't realise the frosting had to sit for an hour, so I waited until Wednesday to make that part. Then, when I started the frosting (as in, the soy cream was in the pan and the heat was on), I realised that I didn't have enough chocolate. I ended up having to go to 3 stores to finally find some vegan chocolate. Pain in the ass. I finally finished yesterday afternoon:


This was another labour intensive recipe, though part of that was my fault (next time I need to pay attention to the recipe and actually calculate how many grams are in an ounce so I get the right amount of chocolate). And even though I typically prefer a buttercream to a ganache, this cake was delicious. The cake layers were nice and moist, and the ganache set nicely. I love the combination of chocolate and raspberry (in case you couldn't tell from previous posts), and I feel this could've used a bit more raspberry flavour, but I think the only way that could've happened is with raspberry extract or syrup in the cake or ganache. I might make this again, though likely for an event rather than just to have cake, though I might use the cake recipe to use in something similar but buttercream-frosted.

Tonight's dinner was Black-eyed Pea and Quinoa Croquettes with Mushroom Sauce (minus the mushrooms because Mike is a hater) with roasted cauliflower (I bought too much for the kugel and wanted to use it up before it went off):


The whole meal was wonderful. I was worried, based on other people's experiences, that the croquettes would be too crumbly or something. But they held together perfectly, and I didn't find them overly crunchy. The sauce was delicious, though I really wish I could've made it with mushrooms. I served it as suggested, with a heap of quinoa covered in sauce. And, of course, the cauliflower was delicious, but roasted cauliflower always is. I have an assload of sauce left, but I'm sure I won't have any problem finding something to do with it once I've finished off the rest of the croquettes and quinoa. I'm sure I'll make this again, though probably when we have people over, since it's makes too much for just the two of us, and I don't know how the croquettes will hold up after refrigeration.