A Very Chile Day

I woke up this saturday morning to find that the temperature must have forgotten the inbetween warm and freezing weather, and went straight for absolutely frigid. I had prepped some granola the night before that was now ready to bake. I love having the oven on when it gets really cold, it feels amazing. On cold nights, soup is almost mandatory. I made this awesome chile with TVP (textured vegetable protein). I also baked some corn bread to have on the side.

Granola
I changed my original recipe because I had the cooking time wrong.

3 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup slivered almonds
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup peanuts
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, or more to taste
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup maple syrup

Combine dry ingredience in a plastic container. Pour the maple syrup on top until everything is lightly saturated. (You can use more if you think you need it, but if you use to much your granola will be a hunk). Cover the container and let it dry in the refrigerator overnight. This allows the flavors to seep in. (If you must have granola you can just cook it now, but the drying overnight really enhances the flavors).

The next day:Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put parchment paper on a cookie sheet and spred the granola out in a single layer. Bake for 20 minutes (depending on the oven). The granola should be completly dry and crunchy when cool. Enjoy with your favorite vegan milk of choice (I like vanilla soy), add it to a trail mix, or just take along plain.

I always change the amount and type of nuts and seeds I use. You can do anything you want, as long is it equals a cup. You could also add raisins after cooking.
















Chile
I found the recipe here: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=12858.0. I think it tasted very good. I have never used TVP before, so it was a good experience. I like the texture the TVP gives it, and the added protein.































Cornbread
This was also a vegweb.com recipe: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=5729.0. It tasted like the real thing! Nice and moist and perfect.

Mi Sopa es MUY Caliente

I always love to create my own original recipes but I decided to venture out and cook a few more things from cookbooks. I think it is a good base for creating my own recipes. I also preordered Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, so if your my friend, you already know what your birthday present is going to be.

Basil Tofu Ricotta


(Vegan With A Vengence pg. 133)































It did not taste like ricotta but was still really good with whole wheat pasta.

Chipotle, Corn, and Black Bean Stew
(pg.60)































This is the second try on this soup. The first time my mom and I split up the ingredients to prepare. One of her jobs was preping the spicy hot chipotle chiles. When I went for my first spoonfull of the soup, my eyes began to water and my mouth was on fire. It turns out, my mom added two CANS of chiles! The recipe called for two chiles (that is about 16 more then we needed) The next go around for this soup producted fantastic results.

I always complain about my camera (example). I have been saving forever for a good DSLR camera. I have settled on the Canon Digital Rebel XT 8MP Digital SLR. I am still searching online for the best price. If anyone has an comments on DSLR cameras please share.

Vegan Ventures; With a Vengence

Pumpkin seed- crusted tofu
(VWaV pg. 155)

*The recipe says to fry these, but I decided to saute them.

Continuing on with my Vegan With a Vengence cookbook(/food bible) theme, I decided to try a tofu dish. I have a theory that if cooked correctly, everyone can find a way to prepare tofu that tastes good to them. Most of the time, people who eat meet like tofu that resembles chicken. This dish looked and had a similar texture to chicken. I served it over quinoa for added protein. Don't be afraid to cook with the other, other white meet.

First Soup of The Season

I love summer. I also love seeing the good in things. That said, the only good thing I could find in the brutle fall and winter months is cooking and baking. I love filling the house with the smell of good food and standing near the hot stove on those freezing winter nights. I love the warm feelings you get eating a big bowl of piping hot soup or stew. With the coming of the chilly weather, I have to be optimistic at that at least I can enjoy my cold weather food.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

This is from Vegan With a Vengence (Isa Chandra; you're my hero!), page 62-63. It was so creamy and perfect. I did not have any onion so I had to use onion powder. I am sure real onion would make it so much better.
















I have never worked with butternut squash before, and this is not what I thought they looked like. I was expecting a gord with a long neck and bulb at the end. The sticker said "butternut squash" and I belive everything I read.
















I have been neglecting this cookbook so I decided to resort back to it. As you can see, I have a very percise system when it comes to ladeling pages. Blank yellow is any food, yellow with a D is dessert, and red is tofu.





















Our throwback food processor is 18 years old. It worked great for processing the soup. I usually use the mini processor that came with the blender, but I needed more room and power. This has a small crack in it and a very small amount of soup was lost, but it still does the job.






























You can see the steam coming off the soup. So good!

Jalapeño Madness

Yesterday, I was craving somthing spicy. When it comes to foods I am a huge fan of heat, so I wanted to use the jalapeño pepper I had in the refrigerator. I realized I had a ripe mango on the counter which reminded me of an amazing recipe. I went to my friend Paige's house and her mom made us mango salsa. It was fantastic! I did not know the exact amount so I just used the basic idea.





Mango Salsa

(Recipe compliments of Paige's mom)

1 mango; cubed
1/4 cup medium white onion; chopped
1/2 of a jalapeño pepper; finley chopped*
1/2 cup tomatoe; cubed
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix. Serve with chips.

*Caution: wear gloves when chopping the jalapeño peppers, especially if you wear contacts. It is hard to get the juices of your hands, even if you wash them very well. You can use more or less jalapeño, depending on how much heat you want. You can also omit it all together.



I put the salsa inside toasted whole pita bread because I did not have any chips.

Dinner: Salad and Homework

I realize I set the table wrong (fork on the left, napkin on the right) but a place setting does not usually include a chem binder either.

This was a simple salad with tomatoes and lots of chickpeas. I also had an apple and some chai tea.

I am still here!

I am relaxing with my first two days of school out of the way. But with a full load of classes, I am stressed. (This semester, I have Chem Honors, Drawing (for 1 quarter then intermediate ceramics for another quarter), Biology Honors, US history AP, and Spanish 3. Next semester, I have English 2 Honors, Algerbra 2 Honors, Gym (yay!), and history and spanish three go all year. When I am feeling stressed, I bake. So I decided to break out the trusty brownie recipe.





Brownies

2 cups flour (I use whole wheat)
1 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup baking cocoa
1/2 cup oil (I use canola oil)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup vegan chocolate (recemended but not required)

Boil water and 1/2 cup of the flour over low heat, stirring constantly, until it reaches the consistency of a thin gluey paste. Remove from heat and let cool completely.

Mix vegan sugarand brown sugar, salt, vanilla, cocoa and oil. Then add the flour-water mixture. Mix well. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour, baking powder and the chocolate chips, if you choose to add those.

Spread mixture into a greased 11 x 7 pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, or until a knife can be inserted and come out clean.

Store in the fridge for longer brownie life.

Grilled Veggies and Couscous: What An Amazing Combination

I grilled up some fresh famrers market squash, pattypan squash, and zucchini. Then I added them to couscous which I cooked with tyme. Very simple.

I am going back to school tomorrow so I will probably be posting a lot less often. I will still try to post somthing a least once a week but I can not make any promises until I know how hard my course load will be. Thanks to everyone who reads my blog and for everyones great comments.

Disaster

It looks so pretty...

But tasted like crap!!!

I bought bad apples but I did not taste them first! Then I changed the ingredients because I was missing a lot of stuff. I will work on this recipe and post again with the new, better tasting, version. It should have been an apple crisp with a nut crust. I did not have apple juice so I used apple sauce, not a smart move. It was not sweet enough at all. Oh well, I wil learn from my mistakes and keep on trying.

Tagged

I was tagged by Midwest Vegan to be a part of the Traveler's Lunchbox project to find out the top five thing people should eat before they die. My job is to pick the top five things I have eaten and think everyone would eat.

My Top Five

Peanut Butter- This ground up legume goes with everything. I love it on whole wheat bread, paired with sweet grape jelly, or licked off my fingers after dipping them in the jar.

Vanilla Silk Soy Milk- I could not live without my soy milk. I have it on my cereal every morning for breakfast. It also helps me feel normal, insted of the weird vegan, when I go to Starbucks with friends and have the freedom to order my favorite soy mocha or a soy chai latte.

Vegan Brownies- This was the first vegan desesrt recipe I ever attempted to make. They are chocolaty goodness of yummy gooey magic, and a dark chocolate lovers dream!

Pink Lady Apples- Oh my gosh, these apples are so tasty and sweet! They are never mealy, even when out of season. I found these at my health food store and always stock up on them.

Tofu- This could be the greatest food on earth. The preperation possibilities are endless. "Broiled tofu, sauted tofu, stir fried tofu, tofu on the barbie..."