Cabin Fever = Too Much Cooking

Last week I was sick and missed work Thursday and Friday. Saturday we had four inches of rain. Sunday we got the arctic blast. Monday I went to work, but the roof had collapsed in 2 places from all the rain and we had to go home. Tuesday it sleeted and snowed (really!) and the entire city shut down. I finally got to the office today at noon. While stuck at home, I went through all my cookbooks, cleaned, and cooked to stay warm and busy. Here's what it looked like from my front porch yesterday afternoon. Yes, this is all it takes to bring Austin to its knees.

I don't remember when I cooked all this stuff, so I'll just put up the pics and briefly comment.

These are mini tofu puffs I found at the asian market. They come in a big bag and are terribly cute.

All I knew about them is they need to simmer in something to take on flavor, so I put them in potato soup. They tasted very similar to dumplings, but definitely had a deep fried flavor.

I also got a package of kung pao "chicken" from the asian market. I made a stirfry, but this stuff looked and felt so much like real chicken it freaked me out. The flavor was great, but see how it looks exactly like shredded chicken? I keep adding veggies to this stirfry and telling myself it's not really chicken, but I don't think I'll ever be able to finish it.

Pumpkin lentil soup and salad lunch.

Peasant's meal of my crockpot pinto beans with brown texmati rice and shredded Brussels sprouts.

Broccoli with hemp seeds.

Roasted cauliflower.

Raw fruit dessert - bananas, cherries, and raw chocolate.

Three Sisters Stew (plus edamame) over texmati rice.

In going through all my cookbooks I rediscovered some great books, including a bread book that had a recipe for quinoa bread. I love this bread! It baked up beautifully. It's light in texture and the quinoa got crispy like nuts or seeds would.

Maybe tonight for dinner I can lay out a buffet of leftover soup, bread, sprouts, cauliflower, beans, rice, and stew, but not kung pao chicken!

Best Chik'n and Dumplings & Best Detox-Friendly Muffins

The weather people are predicting a major ice event beginning later today and lasting until Tuesday noon, so we had Sunday dinner last night. These chik'n and dumplings were really easy to make, yet incredibly delicious. I'm sure Chase would have risked bodily injury to drive over and eat it, so I'm glad we made it last night.

Seitan is the last thing a gluten intolerant person should eat and that's why I've never attempted to make it. But I needed "chik'n" and decided to give it a try. Taking a tip from Cafe Cyan, I made the chicken style seitan from Real Food Daily. It was incredibly easy to make, just like Crystal & Ryan said, and so good. Here it is right out of the oven.




This is four pounds of seitan. I cut it into fourths and put 3/4 of it in the freezer. Chase cut the remaining one pound into small strips and stirfried it briefly before we put it in the pot.

Taking another tip from Crystal & Ryan, I made biscuits from La Dolce Vegan to use for the dumplings. I have never actually baked the biscuits BEFORE plopping them in the broth as dumplings, and I must say, it makes for a much less doughy dumpling and I definitely prefer this method. The biscuits were just huge! I hated to cut them up.

My simple recipe was to chop an onion and saute it in a little oil. Add 2 cups broth and 1/4 cup flour and let it thicken. Add 6 more cups broth and a bag of frozen mixed veggies, plus about a cup of frozen edamame and seasonings. Bring that to a boil, then add in the seitan and biscuits and simmer about 20 minutes. We all decided that we didn't even need the seitan. Veggies and dumplings would have been just as good.

Here is our huge pot of dumplings, simmering away on the stove.

We all know good ingredients make good food. I really think the reason a lot of my food tastes so good, at least to suit our tastes, are these two items:

Okay, I don't put these on my broccoli, but I do sprinkle them on almost all of my skillet dishes and soups and casseroles. I'm almost out of this broth and I'm always fearful that the next time I go to the asian market, they'll tell me they don't carry it anymore.

You don't really need anything more than broccoli as a side dish to chik'n and dumplings, but I decided to use my remaining yuba sheet and fill it with mashed sweet potatoes and black beans. They were quick and easy to roll up, and I just brushed the top with a little olive oil and garlic powder.

Ready to bake....

All done.

I've decided I don't really like yuba as a wrapper. I would rather have rice paper. Anyway, here's our table. I guess the broccoli wasn't done yet.



It was really cold and rainy yesterday, and I'm still trying to cut back on sweets. For dessert I wanted something warm, so I put four chopped apples in my mini crockpot along with a mixture of apple cider, peanut butter, oats, and a little brown sugar to thicken the juices, and let it cook on low about 5 hours.

I served it with a little coconut and peanuts on top. You could substitute almonds for the peanuts, but I just love peanut butter, esp. on apples, and this was yummy! We ate it in front of the fire.

I went a little freaky yesterday in anticipation of our "ice event" and wanted to make sure Chase and I didn't run out of food in case we can't get out for a couple of days. I also baked bread and made a huge bunch of pinto beans in the crockpot. I was running out of room in the kitchen so I moved them into the dining room. I have bread rising in the bread maker and a makeshift table for the beans.

We had 4 inches of cold rain yesterday, and it was not an ideal day for baking. When the bread was through rising, I just tossed it in the pan and into the oven. It tasted great, but looks a little weird.

Here's the giant crock of steaming beans.

Now for the muffins! I don't always eat breakfast, but if I do I eat at the office and need something quick and portable. I had been trying to recall a muffin recipe that I absolutely love, made with oat bran and no flour. Well I found it and veganized it and OMG they are as wonderful as I had remembered. No flour, no sugar, no oil, and only 100 calories. I think they are awesome, like eating a bowl of oatmeal.

They have a bit of a different texture, obviously, but they're still a muffin. Barely sweet and very satisfying. I hope you'll try them, even if you're not detoxing. Oh, and if they are not actually detox friendly, please advise.

Oat Bran Muffins:

Heat oven to 350 degrees and coat bottoms only of muffin cups with cooking spray.

2-1/2 cups oat bran (I get mine from the bulk bin, but Quaker makes it)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1-1/2 cup "buttermilk"

1/3 cup agave nectar

1 egg replacer

1 - 2 teaspoons vanilla (I used 2)

1 - 2 teaspoons cinnamon (I used 2)

Put dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix. Add in all wet ingredients and stir just until combined. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 14 to 15 minutes, until tester comes out clean. After baking, let sit 5 minutes before removing from cups to cool completely. Refrigerate leftovers after 24 hours.

Enjoy your Sunday! If you don't hear from me soon, it's because I'm frozen......

Vive Casserole, etc.

Cedar fever has a death grip on me, which I'm told I must endure for another 2 weeks. They say if you live in Austin long enough, the cedar pollen will eventually get to you. Sneezing, coughing, sore throat, fever... I'm so sick of being sick.

Now that that's out of the way, here's what's been cooking the past week. I had a huge batch of chickpeas to use, so I decided to make Sweet Curry Chickpea Casserole from Dreena's book Vive le Vegan. I don't like sweet dinners or celery, so I substituted green peppers for the celery, and mushrooms for the apples. I made mine pretty spicy with lots of curry paste, and I didn't really enjoy it until I mixed in my jasmine rice with it one night, and left over cornbread another night. Then it was fantastic! And it made a ton. I have eaten it 3 nights for dinner, once for a snack, and gave away a bunch to Chase, who also thought it was superb with the rice.




Monday night I opened the fridge and those radishes, which were double wrapped, were stinking up my whole fridge and freezer! So I chopped up an onion, green pepper, and a few leftover mushrooms, threw in the radishes, and stirfried it. They smelled much better and were quite tasty.

The first night I made jasmine rice, I also made some miso mushrooms and broccoli to have with it. I went a little miso crazy for a while.

Another night I decided that mung bean sprouts were going to be my new "diet" pasta. Yes, it looks and tastes like a stirfry, but I actually made a veggie tomato sauce, then added in the sprouts and let it simmer a LONG time. They never did soften up or lose their sprout taste. My tastebuds were confused. I'll still eat it, but you can't call it pasta. Oh, well.....

I went to Whole Foods Saturday morning and picked up a few veggies from the salad bar to put over my salad for lunch, which I did as soon as I got home. They were so good. I got all kinds of marinated veggies, roasted edamame, and a little tabouli. Now I've got to try my own roasted edamame.

This next dish is simply one chopped apple that I put in the microwave for 20 seconds, then put some cinnamon and granola on top, and poured in a little vanilla rice milk. What's great about this is that the next day at the office, a friend who needs to lose 100 pounds, has terrible eating habits, and to top it off also has terrible teeth, told me she really missed being able to eat apples. So I told her about microwaving them and she said she would try it. I hope she did. It's sure better than putting a frozen burrito in the microwave and eating it!

Here's a few things I picked up at the asian market. NEVER BUY DRIED LONGAN! I popped one in my mouth. It was rock hard because it was the dirty shell! I was so disgusted I immediately spit it out. If there was a berry in there, it wasn't worth eating. I have not yet tried the kung pao "chicken," and my first bean curd pouch split all the way open. But I'll work with those another day.

When I had the blues last week, I decided a trip to our new IKEA store would make me feel better. I was looking for a wall piece to put on a huge space in my living room. I'm pretty eclectic in that I really like modern things, but I still love my antique things. Here's what I bought. I'm still trying to decide if I like it and accomplished tying together all my colors and my old and new pieces. What do you think?

Bryanna's Miso Soup & Susan's Pineapple Sauce

The first Sunday dinner of 2007 featured two fellow bloggers' recipes. But first I'll start with my farmers market finds.




The cauliflower still has a purple hue to it. I think I posted about this earlier. The last cauliflower I bought was purple only on the inside, which was a nice surprise. I also got some Meyer lemons, broccoli, butternut squash, and some radishes - bear with me, I'm fascinated with these things - a black radish and a watermelon radish. The black radish is white inside and the watermelon radish is bright pink inside.

Peeled....



First slice....



Sliced!

I think they are just beautiful. I made a radish salad with them from a recipe for Crispy Oriental Radishes posted by Jackie. I added a teaspoon of miso to take away some of the spiciness.

I also made the Potato and Mushroom Miso Soup that Bryanna posted last week. I had never thought to put potatoes in miso soup. This soup was fabulously delicious! We almost ate too much to enjoy dinner (yeh, sure!). Here's a picture of a steamy bowl.

We made a stirfry to go with the soup. I took an idea from Susan V's recipe for Tofu and Broccoli with Pineapple Sauce. She called the recipe a work in progress, so I did adapt, but I didn't change the pineapple sauce at all. I baked some tofu and made a separate stirfry of broccoli, onions, seitan, and mung bean sprouts with the pineapple sauce.

I made jasamine rice to go with it - IN MY NEW PRESSURE COOKER!!! It only took 6 minutes. That's faster than a boil-in-the-bag, not to mention 1000 times better.

Here's a shot of dinner and Chase's plate.

No baking tonight. Dessert was what I call Natural Fruit Salad. Here's what's in it: green apple, gala apple, cara cara orange (thanks, Kati!), pomegranite seeds, nectarines, mango, green grapes, cherries - from a can :( , golden raisins, toasted almonds, coconut, crystallized ginger, and just a dash of vanilla. It's so delicious. There is no need to ruin it with sugar in any form!

But just in case it didn't satisfy our collective sweet tooth, I offered sesame candy we picked up at the asian market. It wasn't near as good as what I made before Christmas. It only had seeds on the outside, and the inside was like hard gelatin you could barely get your teeth through.

So I also made Raw Chocolate Gorp, which I had seen at the farmers market. It's made with raw chocolate nibs, goji berries, craisins, and peanuts. This is my new treat. It is heavenly. Another raw chocolate treat I encourage you to try is simply raw nibs, goji berries, and a touch of agave. It's good for you!

It sure is hard getting out of the holiday eating mode. Thanks again to Bryanna and Susan for their healthy and delicious vegan inspirations!

AN UPDATE - Monday a.m.

I woke up this morning to breaking news that 11 blocks of downtown, including my office building, are closed until noon because dozens of dead birds were reported in the area. HazMat teams are trying to determine the cause, but so far have come up with nothing. This closure affects hundreds of businesses, including not only law offices, but banks, local retailers, and restaurants. I have since learned that there are less than one dozen dead birds. I feel both sad and a little scared. Although I know the real concern is for human safety, I think it's pretty cool of my city to react so strongly to this situation.

2nd UPDATE

After a live press conference, I've learned that about 50 birds were found dead within a two block area and poisoning is the suspected cause.

Post-Holiday Blues

Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post, and for those who wanted recipes, I'll put them at the end of this post. I'll also be sure to tell Chase how much you liked his Falafel-men!

Happy New Year to you all! It's good to be back home, and I guess I'm ready to go back to work tomorrow, but I think I have a good case of the blues. It must be because of a combination of many things:

1. Trying to get rid of sugar cravings and back to healthy eating.
2. Missing two weeks with my trainer.
3. Missing my office buds.
4. Worrying about Chase taking a heavy class load this semester.
5. The general icky weather - cold and rainy.
6. A sinus infection I can't seem to shake.
7. Looking back on the past year and wondering if I've accomplished anything, besides becoming vegan, of course.

I'm sure it will pass. I'm also still a bit travel weary. Chase and my brother have not made the Alabama trip the last 2 Christmases and my folks and I have decided we just made our last one too. We were delayed 3 hours going over. We were delayed 1 hour on the trip home - and we didn't get our luggage until the next day. This happens nearly every trip. This is always upsetting to me because I am a "stick to the plan" type of person.

My sister still likes to eat at McDonald's and when not eating out, cooks mostly from cans, boxes, and pouches. I made my pumpkin lentil soup one night, which me and my mom and sister ate. The nephews ran from it. My dad and brother-in-law watched football and ate chips. I also cooked some greens one night. We found a sparse farmers market, but they did have lots of greens, most of which were 3 feet tall! My mom and I ate those. My sister said she would eat them after I left and she could add chicken broth to them.

My oldest nephew is 8 years old. He already goes deer hunting regularly. When he shot his first deer, his dad processed it, then they threw him a big party and ate his deer. He showed me pictures of him posing with the deer he had killed. It was all I could do to say congratulations. My sister served lasagne made with deer meat the first night we were there. I had salad and broccoli. I also ate too much snacky stuff, like nuts, dried fruit, tortilla chips, and crackers.

But for the most part, I had a wonderful time being with my family. My nephews are so smart and fun and loving and well-behaved and beautiful. Here's a picture of them, and then a picture of my sister.





Now on to more fun things - food! For New Year's Day I fixed a blackeyed salad, of course.




For dinner that night, I had the salad along with barbecue baked tofu, broccoli, and a delicious cornbread from a recipe on recipezaar. I make my barbecue sauce from the recipe on All Creatures. It's Chase's favorite.

Last night I made myself a half-burger on one slice of spelt bread, with a Boca burger, lettuce, an avocado I needed to use, and leftover barbecue sauce. It was yummy. I had it with more blackeyed pea salad.

I found these neat little baking cups in Alabama and made some muffins in them last night. You just put the cups on a parchment lined baking sheet, fill the cups, and bake. You can also bake them in your muffin tin.

I thought the muffins turned out great - look how tall they are! I made them with carob chips, raisins, and almonds.

I'm not sure how much I like cleaning them, though.

Last night I also made a bagful of chickpeas. I will make something from Vive for dinner tonight. There are two or three chickpea casserole recipes that sound pretty good. I can't make the Morrocan Chickpea Patties because I hate fennel!

And finally, answers to recipes questions from my last post:

I used the sugar cookie recipe from Nov/Dec 2006 Veg Times.

The falafel recipe was from about.com Middle Eastern food. It was not a really good recipe. I spiced it up a lot and had to add a lot of liquid.

My bean salad had EVERYTHING in it - black beans, red beans, corn, red bell pepper, green onions, water chestnuts, grape tomatoes, and parsley. I made a dressing of fatfree garlic or italian salad dressing, rice vinegar, agave, and spices.

Texas Trash

4 c. tortilla chips

3 c. Crispix

1 bag microwave plain popcorn, popped

1 can (12 oz.) mixed nuts

1/2 c. corn syrup

1/2 c. margarine

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 T. chili powder

1/4 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. cayenne

Heat oven to 250.

Combine chips, cereal, popcorn, and nuts in a large roasting pan.

Combine corn syrup, margarine, sugar, and spices in a small saucepan; heat to boiling, then pour over cereal mixture. Stir to coat. Bake one hour, stirring every 20 minutes. Cool on waxed paper. Keeps in an airtight container for two weeks.

I hope to get by all of your blogs later tonight. That for sure will make me feel better!