Highlights From the Past Month

I can't believe it's been more than a month since my last post!  Bad bad bad.  But rest assured, I've still been taking plenty of pictures of my daily eats, just not managing to actually sit down and write about them.  Which means I've got plenty to catch up on.  Obviously I've been super busy over the past month with the start of the legislative session, and I pretty much have no hope of catching up by actually writing all the blog posts I should have written all this time.  So instead I'm just going to go with an old fashioned photo dump to get it all out there.  And then maybe I'll get back on a normal blogging schedule soon. 

 

So here ya go ...

 

Pasta packets a la Vegetarian Times Magazine:

 

Mmmm ... peanut butter pie from Chocolate Covered Katie:

Dinner at Pizza CS:

Yep, I made my own cheese ... and it came out green.  I guess I should have mixed the chives in by hand rather than tossing them in the blender with everything else.  But it was still tasty :) 

 

 

Mexican dinners rock ... especially chipotle adobo black beans with fried plantains and vegan sour cream!

Chicken Picatta using the recipe from the back of the Gardein package.  (We've made this a few times ... it's delicious!)  Plus asparagus and roasted potatoes.  Would you guess this is vegan?!

Chocolate cake to live for :)  Yum yum yum. 

Dessert again ...  Vegan cheesecake from Capital City Cheesecake.  Unfortunately, neither of these really tasted like cheesecake and at least one of these beauties made both Josh and I incredibly ill.  Never again, CCC. 

 

And ... Valentine's Day dinner!  I made a super simple beer bread and served vegan black pepper steaks and roasted Brussels sprouts with pomegranate glaze on the side.  Josh wasn't a fan of the black pepper steaks, but he loved everything else.  So much for that secret ingredient - love!  I guess two out of three isn't bad. 

Zoo Lights

So it seems my blogging has been majorly slacking off lately.  Since session started Wednesday, I've been pretty bogged down with other things, and when I actually do have some free time, I don't really ever seem to want to spend it blogging ... Whomp whomp!  I'll have to be more realistic about how often I'll be updating things here, and save my updates for just the best of the best subjects. 

 

While I'll be nixing lots of less-than-super-exciting topics, I wanted to make sure I included this post about the excursion Josh and I made into DC right after Christmas.  Half of what was so great about our little adventure is that we actually took the Metro into DC!  Silly, I know, but since we moved to Silver Spring right next to the Metro we've probably taken it all of about three times.  We really need to get ourselves more oriented to the public transit! 

 

We headed down to the National Zoo to meet up with our friend from college to go see the Zoo Lights!  We saw an ad for the Zoo Lights posted in the elevator of our apartment, and while you might think it's a silly kid thing to do, the lights were actually really great.  Plus they had all sorts of other things going on at the zoo. 

 

In the building that houses the gift shop (which was a fun little side adventure in itself), they had animal-themed Christmas trees - like my favorite, the panda tree.  They also had set up all the entries into the tiger-themed gingerbread house contest.  The entries had already been judged, so we knew who the winners and "honorable mentions" were, but we still went through and judged them all really harshly ourselves.  Basically we decided by the end that we would crush that competition if we enter next year.  And apparently the prize is a behind-the-scenes with the tiger cubs!  (Though this does not mean, as we originally thought, hugging and cuddling baby tigers - boo!) 

 

We also wandered around for a while and checked out a few train displays, including this one which included a really amazing paper animal vista. 

 

Eventually we managed to find our way outside to check out the actual light displays, which included standard lit trees, but also all sorts of animals made from string lights, some of which were even animated!  The whole thing was tons of fun, plus totally free (my favorite kind of activity). 

 

After strolling through the zoo for a while we headed over to Open City for dinner.  They helpfully label everything on their menu, so it's easy to find vegan options.  I ordered the Bohemian Sandwich, which was roasted eggplant, yellow squash, zucchini, red peppers, and grilled onions with vegan chipotle mayo and vegan cheddar on ciabatta bread.  Perhaps not terribly inspired, but in my book you can't go too wrong with a veggie sandwich.  Fun dinner with good friends and a festive evening looking at Christmas lights - all-in-all, a great evening!

Interval Love and Coconut Cream Sauce Fail

Knowing how much I was likely to indulge before, during, and after Christmas I've upped my workout frequency over the past couple of weeks.  Not sure if made much of a difference, but who knows how bad things might have gotten if not, right?!  My favorite workout of the bunch (and one I've done four times now in the last two weeks) is a simple interval treadmill workout.

 

Total Time: 30 minutes

 

1. Start by jogging at an easy pace for a 5 minute warm up - I use somewhere between 5.0 and 5.2
2. Walk for 1minute (this is basically to make things come out to an even 30 minutes - around 3.0 to 3.5 pace
3. Start intervals of 2 minutes sprinting, 2 minutes walking, 2 minutes sprinting .... through the 24 minute mark (you should finish with a sprint) - a sprint for me is 7.0 to 7.2 pace
4. Walk one more minute to catch your breath
5. Finish with a 5 minute cool-down jog. 

This one always gets me nice and sweaty, and I often feel it in my legs the next day - or maybe that's the leg presses I tend to toss in for good measure?

 

On Christmas Eve Eve (Dec. 23) I decided to whip up something that would feel really fresh and flavorful - pasta primavera!  I'd never actually made this dish before, but I've enjoyed it at restaurants so much I decided it couldn't be that hard to recreate at home.  The best part was that it helped me use up a bunch of veggies that would otherwise have gone bad when we headed off to Josh's parents' house for a few days.  In my veggie mix: grape tomatoes, broccoli, peas, orange pepper, and Swiss chard. 

 

While my usual pasta go-to sauce is cashew cream, I decided to try using plain coconut coffee creamer as a base instead.  I thought it would be an easy substitute for days when I didn't plan ahead enough to soak cashews.  No such luck.  I managed to make the coconut cream work, but the sauce was way too thin and when I tried adding cornstarch to thicken it up it just ended up lumpy.  Luckily I had all those tasty vegetables in there to cover for the less-than-stellar sauce. 

 

I tried the coconut cream sauce again New Year's Eve without any more success.  I tried the coconut cream sauce with baby bella mushrooms and white wine.  It came out pretty bland and uninteresting.  Oh well, I guess it's back to the cashew cream next time ...

Happy New Year and Tofu Quiche

Happy New Year!  I'm not actually a big New Year's person ... I don't really like going out to the big parties, and for some reason it always seems like the one night a year when I don't want to stay up late.  But I did anyway and found out yet another thing I don't like about our new apartment in Silver Spring - you can't see any fire works from the balcony!  In our old place in Baltimore we could see the fireworks at the Inner Harbor, plus at least a couple of other smaller fireworks shows going on around the city.  But even though we're just as high in Silver Spring, no such luck on the view.  We could definitely hear the pop of fireworks, but not a one in sight.  Bummer! 

 

I also don't tend to participate in New Years resolution-making.  I figure if it's worth doing at all, then you should resolve it the moment you think of it and immediately begin to execute (or save for the appropriate time to execute if it's not an immediate kind of thing).  Want to lose weight?  Start today!  Want to get a new job?  Start the hunt now!  So what are my ongoing resolutions that will continue through 2014? 

1. Continue to exercise regularly and eat healthy.
2. Continue to explore fun and tasty vegan recipes - and take every opportunity to share with others!
3. Spend time with Josh and Panda (hopefully doing fun and interesting things ... well, not with Panda probably!)

Meanwhile, I'm still playing major catch up with Christmas-centered and other posts still to come.  I made this tofu quiche a few days before Christmas, but it was so incredibly delicious and surprisingly quiche-like that I had to post about it.  While the recipe called for sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach, I would definitely be excited to try this recipe again with other vegetables.  I'm thinking broccoli, bell peppers, or asparagus! 

 

I followed the recipe almost to the letter, but I decided to add in a not-so-secret ingredient of my own that I picked up from Amazon a while back and had been looking for just such an occasion to use ... black salt!  Black salt has a pungent smell due to a high sulfur content ... less scientifically known as "eggy smell".  And with just a pinch in my tofu quiche, I also got a very distinct "eggy taste".  I was pretty worried about overdoing the flavor, so I really used just a small amount, but I was amazed at how far just a bit went. 

 

The quiche was a bit involved, requiring me to make a crumbly crust in addition to the tofu "egg" and veggie filling.  But the results were more than worth it.  The quiche turned out firm and easy to slice, plus delicious and relatively healthy-seeming.  Hey, tofu's got to be a lot healthier than eggs, right?

 

Plus one tofu quiche made for six generous slices - enough for three meals for Josh and I.  And the leftovers were just as good as the first slice.  Probably one of the few times Josh didn't grumble at eating leftovers ...

 

I can't wait to make this again.  It would make a great addition to a big brunch meal, and I really think any non-vegan would still love it.  (And I plan to test that theory very soon!) 

In Search of the Perfect Vegan Pancake

Happy very belated Christmas!  Hope you had a wonderful holiday and didn't go too overboard with the treats.  I took quite the blogging vacation over the holidays, so there's plenty to catch up on. 

 

Leading up to Christmas I worked really hard to find a good vegan pancake recipe, because Josh's family has a Christmas day pancake breakfast tradition.  While Josh's dad said he would make two separate batches of pancakes, I was really hoping to find a vegan pancake that everyone could enjoy so he wouldn't have to do double duty.  While I knew I could make delicious banana nut pancakes or chocolate chip pancakes, I knew Josh's dad wouldn't want to make anything but a "normal" pancake, so I search high and low on the Internets for a recipe that wouldn't have too many odd ingredients and would taste delicious. 

 

My first go around was to make this recipe for Snickerdoodle pancakes.  I tried it first without the cinnamon (thinking even that was too "odd" for a standard pancake), and they were quite good, but when I tried adding the cinnamon in they were amazing!  Josh, my handy pancake tester, loved them too.  They were so good we could have gobbled them up without even adding any syrup. 

 

And that's probably because the recipe called for sugar.  That's right, I managed to read and follow the recipe without noticing that Katie added "you can use much less [sugar] if you’re planning to top with syrup".  So I decided I really needed to make another batch sans sugar to be sure before sending it off to Josh's father to seek his approval.  I followed the recipe again, but subbed out vanilla almond milk for plain and nixed both the sugar and the cinnamon.  The results weren't quite as stellar as the original (hey, less sugar ... what do you expect?) but with syrup they were definitely good enough to seek the approval of a non-vegan.  They were still light and fluffy without too strong of a baking soda flavor - which usually seems to be the culprit in less-than-tasty vegan pancakes.  After my lengthy pancake testing, I finally decided to send the recipe off with my vanilla almond milk and no sugar modifications, but add back in half the cinnamon for that extra something special. 

 

I sent the recipe off to Josh's father and fully expected a delighted crowd on Christmas morning.  But alas, the fear of a vegan recipe was too much for him.  He made two batches of pancakes on the big day - one for Josh and I, and the "normal" version for the rest.  Which was probably for the best, because for some reason the vegan pancakes turned out pretty badly.  They were definitely low on the cinnamon, but that wasn't the culprit.  Maybe they weren't cooked long enough on either side?  Or maybe my non-stick pan was a better method of cooking them than the sticky pan filled with oil?  (That's my personal guess.)  Of course I ate every bite, but I'm glad everyone else wasn't subjected to them.  That definitely would have turned them off of vegan pancakes forever.  Instead, I can hold out hope that they may still enjoy them in the future.  In the meantime, I've found my own perfect pancake recipe and squirreled it away in my Paprika app for safekeeping.  While I don't eat pancakes often, I definitely know what recipe I'll follow the next time the mood strikes. 

Earning Treats Through Healthy Dinners

Knowing Christmas was coming, Josh and I have been trying to focus on eating relatively healthy dinners to save up credit for all the sweets.  Though it's a lot of work, all these dinners were delicious, nutritious, and most made enough leftovers for lunch the next day. 

 

This Italian potatoes and white beans with vegan sausage was probably my favorite of the meals. 

 

But Mexican pasta was definitely a close second.  I used salsa mixed with cashew cream for a dressing over spring salad mix, avocado, black beans, corn, tomatoes, and fried onions.  Yum!

 

One night we had one of our regular staples - tofu, broccoli, and edamame with Thai peanut sauce.  While I usually serve this dish with rice or bean threads, and nixed the filler for a healthier meal. 

 

The last of our healthy meals wasn't perhaps really all that healthy at all, but it certainly was delicious!  I roasted Brussels sprouts, then mixed them with sautéed veggie Italian sausage and cashew cream sauce.  Not perhaps the most gourmet of dishes, but it was warm and comforting - the perfect winter meal!  And Brussels sprouts are healthy, right? :) 

Overrun By Christmas Sweets!

Happy Christmas Eve!

I wouldn't exactly call myself a Scrooge, but I'm not normally one who's big on Christmas spirit.  While I definitely love wrapping and gifting presents, I don't have a lot of holiday ritual.  I don't like Christmas songs.  I don't expect a particular Christmas dinner, or want to watch that one movie I just have to watch every year.  But what I do love is treats.  I don't have one go-to Christmas treat in particular - so maybe this isn't a holiday thing at all, but just my general love of treats manifesting in the season's license to indulge?  Either way, I find myself making lots of sweets and goodies this time of year.  And this year was definitely no exception. 

 

My holiday season really kicked off at the beginning of last week with the culmination of my work's Holiday Sharing program.  I have organized the program for six years now, where my office adopts needy families in the area and provides them with gifts, canned and household goods, and raises money to buy them a grocery gift card.  While it's a wonderful program that everyone likes the idea of us participating in, it can be hard to woo actual volunteers to help out.  So my yearly solution is to make sweet treats for the people that come help me sort and deliver everything.  This year I made s'mores treats by using the Rice Krispies Treats recipe, but subbing out vegan marshmallows and Golden Grahams.  Then I stirred in chocolate chips for a messy but delicious final product. 

Fortunately for my waistline, the majority of the S'mores treats got eaten by coworkers and all I returned home with was an empty Tupperware.  But that doesn't mean I haven't been chowing down on plenty of treats myself too.  My favorite Christmas cookie of all is the cashew nougat cookie by Archway, but it's incredibly hard to find.  A few years back we found a Harris Teeter in Baltimore that stocks them, and since then I've made a yearly pilgrimage to stock up.  This year was no different, and I grabbed four boxes.  One went straight into the freezer to enjoy in April, and one has already been devoured.  Two boxes to get me through the New Year :) 

Another little goodie I've been enjoying lately is So Delicious Pumpkin Spice Coconut Milk.  I originally planned to pick up some more Coconut Nog since I liked that so much, but Whole Foods had other plans for me - namely, that they were out of the Nog.  Instead of leaving sad and with nothing, I decided to try out the Pumpkin milk instead.  While I think I still prefer the Nog, this has been a fair substitute.  In fact, I'm enjoying the last glass of it this morning. 

Just a couple days after Holiday Sharing wrapped up at work it came time to make another treat to share with coworkers for our annual holiday office party.  While management supplies the booze, we are encouraged to bring in treats to share.  And since I knew there wouldn't be a lot of vegan offerings on the table, I would have to supply my own. 

Years ago a friend of mine made molasses cookies for Mole Day (Oct. 23) that I loved.  While I've tried and tried to get the recipe out of her, I never have, so I decided to try my luck with the Internets.  I started working with this recipe from Betty Crocker, which I quickly realized was the same recipe that appears on the back of the molasses bottle except for oven temperature, cooking time, and the direction to sprinkle water on the cookies for the cracked effect. 

I decided to split the difference by using Betty's cooking temperature and time (plus I'd already preheated the oven) and sprinkling water on my cookies.  Straight from the oven the cookies were beautiful, chewy, and delicious.  By the next day they were still delicious, but too crisp for my taste.  Fortunately, most everyone else seemed to have no issue with the texture and complimented them.  This was especially fortunate because I ended up with so many cookies that I had plenty to bring to work, save a few for Josh and I to enjoy at home, plus extra batches to share with friends and Josh's family.  Molasses cookies all around!
 

I made what will be this year's final foray into the world of holiday treats last night, though it was the one treat I'd been planning the longest.  Every year Josh's favorite Christmas treat is White Fudge Oreos.  He gets a box mostly to himself, but I manage to sneak a couple for myself.  While Oreos are one of those surprise vegan items, the white fudge coating is decidedly not vegan.  So I decided to recreate my own version using vegan white chocolate chips I ordered from Amazon, plus Double Stuf Oreos - oh, the indulgence!

 

Making my own White Fudge Oreos was surprisingly easy.  Just melt white chocolate chips in a double boiler, coat Oreos, then decorate for extra Christmas festivity (plus to hide imperfections!).  One bag of white chocolate chips gave me enough coating for 16 finished Oreos (plus one taste test, of course) - not a bad haul compared to the 12 you would get from Nabisco's box.  And they tasted just the same to me.  But the most important verdict came from Josh.  He had two last night for dessert and said they were great.  Success!

 

Now to hit the gym ...