Party for One, Part 3

This is getting tiresome, I'd really love to post more than two pictures per post....Anyways on with the recipes from Catherine's cookbook in the making.













And last, my favourite, the lasagna florentine. Like I told Catherine, this is the best lasagna I've had in a long time. With other recipes, I always find there's too much tofu or spinach, but this recipe included both, along with some other key ingredients, in perfect balance. It was also my first lasagna since I discovered vegan cheese, so I was excited! There's even artichokes in it, and they are yummy. Plus, I was able to make it with next to no counter space. I can't stress how easy all these recipes were, and the ingredients are easy to find, you'll find most in your pantry already.















There you have it folks, when this book comes out, buy it! Even if you're cooking for more than one, its easy to double or triple the recipe, and the lasagna alone is worth it!

Party for One, Part 2

I could only get in two pictures for the last post, hopefully I can fit in the rest here.

Another recipe I was given was Angel Hair with Walnuts. I couldn't find whole wheat angel hair, so I just used spaghetti. What an easy meal. The walnuts roasted really nicely and added a lot of flavour.














One of the recipes I really wasn't sure about, Minted Mac and Peas, ended up being one of my favourites. In this one, cream cheese was used, and anyone who knows me knows that the cheesier the better! I wasn't sure how well mint would fit into the picture, but it was really refreshing. And the meal was pretty too :) I love peas, so I was happy to be able to use them in this dish. I'm going to keep making this dish until I've used up all my fresh mint! Oh yes, I used whole wheat penne, but I think it would look better with macaroni.













The first recipe I made was the garlicky penne with cheese. And it was good! Mmmmm.

Party for One!!!

I volunteered to test out some recipes for a fellow blogger, Catherine, for a cookbook she's working on, called Party for One. Most of the recipes yield one serving, which is perfect for singles, and vegans living in a non-vegan household. Oh yes, and all the recipes were prepared in my tiny apartment kitchen, meaning they're easy to make!! Being the procrastinator that I am, I of course waited til the last week of June to make the food, when she wanted it for July, haha. Plus I've been in a big junk food rut. But, thanks to her recipes, I am now out of it, and on my way to a better diet. With her permission, I can post the pictures, but if you guys want the recipes, you'll have to buy the book when it comes out (or bombard her on her blog with requests :P). So let's get the party started.

First up is Artichoke and Lemon Spaghetti . I was worried about this one, because I don't usually like artichokes. What the heck was I worried about?!? It was so yummy! The lemon juice was really great tossed with the whole wheat spaghetti. This is a perfect summer meal when you don't have much energy for cooking, but you still want a healthy meal. And its garlicky too!













Next, Tomato Basil Mozza-Pasta. Yes, its as good as it sounds. Even Billy wanted in on this one, so I doubled the recipe. . The only bad thing about this is that I bought tomatoes that weren't fully ripenened, but that's my error, not the recipe's.

Cooking for One continued

I had to start a new post...after the BBQ tofu picture, I couldn't post pictures anymore.

Next from Vegan Cooking for One, the tofu celery loaf served with steamed zucchini. This was pretty good. It didn't hold together as well as expected, but that's probably my fault, since the tofu I bought was already expired and I had to use frozen instead. It was pretty good. It mainly consisted of the tofu, celery, breadcrumbs, brown rice and seasonings. It was salty, which I like.













One of my favourite meals of the week was the lima bean Italian rice. It was my first time having lima beans in a meal, and I really liked them! It was brown rice with a tomato sauce and oregano, parsley, onions, tomatoes and potatoes. Quite yummy, and it was sticky or held together, which I liked too.













Also on the menu: Mushroom cashew savoury. The only problem with this meal was that their was no grain. I would serve it on rice next time. It was mushrooms, roasted cashews, tomato and onion. The sauce that held it together was made from flour and yeast extract with a few other seasonings. It was a nice light meal for a hot summer day. I had it with some potatoes.













One of the coolest things I've made, even though it wasn't the best tasting thing I've ever made, was a frying pan pizza. The zucchini and onion were stirfried in oil, and then mixed with sundried tomatoes and oregano. The pan was wiped clean, and then the simple pizza dough was rolled out and fried in the pan. Then I spread tomato paste on the crust, and topped it with the zucchini mixture, followed by some nutritional yeast. It was really easy to make, and tasted pretty good. A good way to get rid of a pizza craving, without the hour and a half wait for the dough!
















Hmm, I was able to get in four pictures this time...there's hope.

Where to Start??

Okey Dokey...I've got lots of pictures :D
I'll start with the baked goodies, since I won't be eating them for a while. I'm a compulsive eater, and need to keep that stuff away for now while I get myself in order. These are Debbie's peanut butter coconut squares from La Dolce Vegan. Yummy! Peanut butter and chocolate together...match made in heaven. The bar has corn flakes and rice crispies, and the topping is just melted chocolate. I really liked these...and so did my brother, its always nice when the carnies enjoy my vegan goodies :D













Next, the tomato soup spice cake from LDV as well. DO NOT let the name of this cake scare you away!! If I hadn't made the cake myself, I would've asked if it was pumpkin. Its like pumpkin pie! And its probably the easiest cake I've ever made. All you need is a can of soup, oil, cinnamon and cloves, flour, baking soda and powder. I left the optional raisins out for Billy's liking. We devoured this cake! Between the two of us, it didn't last 24 hours. I topped it with the vanilla frosting from LDV. I didn't have enough powdered sugar so I ended up making some of my own, and it make the icing gritty. So instead of icing the cake, I just poured some icing over each individual slice, which was pretty. This cake would be beautiful in the fall and at Thanksgiving.













I also made another week's worth of recipes from Vegan Cooking for One last week. In no particular order (because I don't have the book on me) here they are:
BBQ tofu with vegetables. Despite my aversion to tofu stirfries and the likes, this was pretty good. I think its because it used frozen and thawed tofu, which makes the tofu spongier and chewier. It used a simple BBQ sauce involving vegan worcestershire, soysauce,etc. And the veggies were zucchini, onions and mushrooms. It was served over bulgur.

testing, testing...

Yay, for now pictures are working, so I'll post while I can. Of course there's a back log of pictures. This is sesame asparagus from VwaV. Its pretty good, but the roasted asparagus in LDV remains my favourite. I had it with whole wheat spaghetti and leftover tomato sauce from the cabbage rolls.













Next is the cauliflower red lentil soup from La Dolce Vegan. I just realised that I repeated everything I said earlier about the asparagus, so if you want the description, just scroll down to the "failing miserably" post :P













Stupid me, I forgot the plug in that lets me transfer photos onto the computer at home...so I'll have to post the rest tomorrow!!

I really don't know what to do. I emailed blogger help about my photo problem after reading their whole help page and they sent me an automatic response with links to all the pages I already read!! So it didn't help. I still can't upload pictures, and I have new ones! This is so frustrating....













EDIT:
Hey, a picture uploaded :P...now to get it in the right post...thanks ladies!

above picture: chocolate chip cookies from VwaV

Letter to Boston Pizza

Dear BP,

Shame on you for changing your menu and taking off every single meal that I could eat! My boyfriend and I used to go to your restaurant here in Sudbury almost every time we went out for dinner, we enjoyed it that much. We went the other night with another couple...and what did I find? Californian pizza? Gone. Cheese-less tomato sauce for pasta? Gone. Ginger chicken noodles (sans chicken)? Gone.

Of course, I could have gone with the vegetarian pizza without cheese...but boring! So I opted for the thai chicken salad without chicken. Yuck. First of all, I'm sick of never getting the yummy garnishes that the menu boasts. There were no sesame seeds or peanuts!! It was just a boring salad with an okay peanut sauce. Even my pina colada was off...oh wait, that's because you gave me a chi chi instead. Le sigh.

So, in closing, my ex-best friends...East Side Mario's will be our new hangout, with their scrumptious bruschetta and several pasta options. East Side Mario's is the new Boston Pizza.

Sincerely,

A Disgruntled Vegan

Is anyone else having trouble uploading pictures? None of mine work!!!

Failing miserably...

at keeping up with my blog that is! Geez louise! I don't know what's up with blogger right now...but it won't let me post the rest of my pictures...so I'll just post what I have and change it later.

Sorry, I just haven't been cooking much lately, and the stuff I did make, I didn't take pictures of because I was in a huge rush. Billy and I went to Ottawa last week on the bus, so I wanted to have some snacks made. I made the rice crispy squares from How It All Vegan and apple hemp muffins from Vive le Vegan. The squares were delicious! A perfect mix of crunch, peanut butter and chocolate. Billy and I loved them, and they were gone very fast. The muffins were good too. I found that the ones I froze and then thawed had even more apple flavour for some reason. I also made Jen's creamy basil and sundried tomato pasta from La Dolce Vegan. It was pretty good. I forgot to buy fresh basil though so I had to use the dried stuff, I'm sure it would've been even better with fresh. Speaking of...the market downtown in Ottawa is awesome! There were loads of fresh herbs on sale, for cheap...the planted kind. I wish I could've brought some home with me.

I made the stuffed cabbage rolls from La Dolce Vegan a while back. It was pretty good. There's a typo on the page for the tomato sauce, so mine turned out pretty thick, but other than that, a nice and healthy meal. I got to use up some more bulgur, which I really enjoy. The filling has bulgur, onion, garlic, mushrooms, paprika, pepper and cayenne, walnuts and cabbage. I've never had cabbage rolls before, so it was nice for my first experience with them to be a vegan one for once ;)














I made a few more things from Vegan with a Vengeance. Chocolate chip cookies and sesame asparagus. The cookies were ok, I made a substitution for the margarine though, so its probably my fault that they weren't too great. I still like the cookies from LDV, HIAV, and Vive better. The asparagus was yummy, although I prefer to roast asparagus rather than saute it. I served it with whole wheat spaghetti with leftover tomato sauce from the cabbage rolls. I don't think I'll be buying VwaV soon. I may buy it in the future, but for now I'm happy with what I have, and I'm trying to save up some money for a gym pass.

I made the cauliflower red lentil soup from La Dolce Vegan before my trip too. I love the colour, its so rich. The soup is yummy and its pretty spicy. The lentils, tomatoes and cauliflower make it a very healthy soup. The spice comes from the cumin seeds and red pepper flakes, as well as from fresh ginger.

That's all for now. I have to work on an experiment for psyc. class, and then I promise I'll start cooking more!

PS...this post was ready last week, but blogger wouldn't let me post pictures!