Saturday Ladies Brunch

Sometimes it is nice to get a little fancy and today me and a friend decided to have a little brunch picnic in the backyard. What is fancier than steamed artichokes? Nothing! Artichokes can sometimes be a bitch to prepare but it is worth it. We served these with melted lemon butter and herbed tarragon dip. All vegan!

Fancy Olives Too!

A gal can't get by on artichokes alone so we made a nice Israeli couscous salad and hummus with fresh flat breads. Yes, they are tortillas but that doesn't sound fancy enough so today they are called flat bread.

Fancy Lady Salad
1 1/2 C Couscous
3    Tbs Olive oil
2    C Water
2    Tbs Lemon juice
3/4 C seeded and diced Cucumber
1/2 C seeded and diced Tomato
2   Tbs Capers
1   Bunch of chopped fresh Basil
2   Tbs Bunch chopped fresh Mint
Salt to taste

Directions
Heat 1 Tbs of oil and the couscous in pot and toast for a bit. Add the water, bring to a boil and let cook for around 10-12 minutes. Check the couscous like you would pasta. When to the desired consistency drain and let cool. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix. EAT!

Breakfast Sliders

Happy Friday! I woke up this morning with a hankerin' for breakfast sandwiches or in this case sliders.  I used this sausage recipe from this great blog, Chez Cayenne. The biscuits are from the last little bit of my vegan bisquik, which is why they turned out so tiny. I like tiny food though so it worked for me. I pressed and baked some tofu with a marinade of nooch, apple cider vinegar, tamari and some tahini. I didn't measure the ingredients for the tofu egg (sometimes you accidentally create something awesome by experimenting with different ingredient combos). After everything is baked off just throw it all together and slap on some hot sauce!

And that is Sammy Jo in the background. She isn't supposed to be on the table but she really likes getting her picture taken.
See ya tomorrow!

Beginnings and Endings (thirsty thursday)

Happy almost the weekend day a.k.a. Thursday! I am right on schedule now and it feels good. I started today with a bad-ass breakfast smoothie that consisted of fresh orange juice, vegan protein powder, coconut milk and frozen nanners. So delish!

So Artsy!

I had some early morning interviews today so I needed a breakfast that would travel well and this smoothie solves that problem. On a side note, I wish someone would make a travel drink carrier for the car. I could potentially leave the house with up to 4 beverages (smoothie, coffee, water, etc.) and cars aren't very well equipped for that.
Since interviews suck and it is 5 o' clock somewhere, I am going to be ending my day with a little of this.

Vegan Bloody Mary's are the best! I need a bigger glass to fit in some ice cubes, or what I like to call, the unimportant part. Next to the VBM (that doesn't look right) are some spicy green beans that I crammed in there as well as some green olives. It still wasn't spicy enough so I added some Crystal's hot sauce to make it more hellz yeah!

Grapefruit ACV Sparkling Water

This is a super refreshing drink I make at least once a day. I take a splash of fresh grapefruit juice, 1-2 Tbs of Bragg's ACV (apple cider vinegar) and fill with sparkling water (we always get lemon). If you like sweeter drinks you could add molasses. Also, if you wait and add the molasses last, it will probably do something really cool, like dance! Okay, I think I am all caught up now! See you tomorrow!

Weenie Wednesday?!

I know that isn't an official theme for MoFo Wednesdays but it sounds good and I am running with it. We normally buy Lightlife smart dogs because that is the only veggie dog they sell at my local store but this time we scored some Tofurky brand dogs. I like both brands just fine but I would probably pick Tofurky if it wasn't an out of the way trip. Today I made one Chicago style and the other has chili and cheeze.

Chicago on the left, Chili-cheeze on the right

The cheeze is  Dragon's Bulk, Dry Uncheese mix from Vegweb. I mix it with water and a little bit of pickle juice to add a little tangy flavor. The chili is made from seasoned crumbled tempeh.
I am not a fan of boiled things so I cook the dogs a bit different than a lot of folks. I put them in a skillet with a quarter to half cup of water over med high heat so they get warmed through and then let the water evaporate. At this point I add a touch of oil to the skillet and let them get a bit crispy on the outside. Now just toast some buns and add your toppings!
We don't really eat this way very often but sometimes the convenience of ready made food really hits the spot. Have y'all heard of carrot dogs? I think these might hold up better on the grill than veggie dogs, might need to try these out soon.

Stir Fried Green Beans and Veggie Balls

I am going to make this post short since I am playing catch up. This is a stir fry I made recently featuring the veggie balls I made out of juice pulp. I didn't really use a recipe I just kind of mashed up about a cup or so of juice pulp (squeeze out excess liquid) some extra firm tofu, about a Tbls. of peanut butter, fresh garlic and ginger, dash of tamari, and green onions. If you want to use this idea for italian dishes then replace the ginger with oregano and basil. After incorporating ingredients, shape into balls about 1-2"s in diameter and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until firm.

One thing I should mention about the pulp, you obviously don't want fruit pulp for this dish. When I know I will be using the pulp for savory recipes I will juice my veggies first and collect the pulp and finish up my juice with the fruit later. On that note, if you wanted to save you fruit pulp you could make muffins or cakes with it. We aren't really sweets people, I might use vegan MoFo as an opportunity to make a carrot or pineapple cake. What are your favorite juice pulp recipes?

Vegan MoFo

I am a couple of days late to MoFo but I will try and make up for it with some extra posts here and there. I am going to try and keep up but I am starting a new job soon and it might get hectic.
I didn't really want to stick with a theme for MoFo but it seems like a lot of my food lately has revolved around my new juicer and how I have gone juice and pulp crazy! Here is a shot from a recent grocery trip.

Ready for Juicing!

I have used to pulp for veggie balls and veggie burgers and they were great! I don't have a dehydrator or I would be making crackers out the wazoo. I don't like wasting the pulp but I have been juicing at least once a day and sadly most of it ends up in the compost bin. Also, I don't know if you can tell from the picture but those carrots are ginormous! Here is a reference shot.

Monster carrot!

Is it bad that we reference most things with beer or other adult beverages? Don't answer that. Ok, I will try and play catch-up later today!

~B