Vive les Potates!

Just a short post. This weekend I was finally able to make the meals from Vive that I wanted to make during the week. I made the pumpkin seed-coated lentil patties and served them with lemon rosemary potatoes.

The patties look burnt, because I refused to add more oil for frying, but they are quite yummy. The seeds give it a bit of crunch and the lentil mixture is smooth and a bit creamy in the centre. It has a sweet curry taste to it.

The potatoes...how can I do them justice. You really should make these! I used Klondike Yellow potatoes, which were great. And the lemon just adds so much to the flavour. They're simple to make too. It was really hard not to go back for seconds!

I probably won't post til Friday again. The patties made enough to last for a while, and I have three tests this week, so it'll be leftovers and whatever's in the freezer, plus some jarred pasta sauce with ground round. I'm hoping to spice it up for Friday though...have a great week!

Why is there always too much cabbage?

Billy and I went out for dinner tonite after skating. I got the veggie burger at Kelsey's...it is freakin' huge! I'm talking like a 6 inch diametre at least! I ended up just eating the burger and the veggies, since I forgot to ask for no mayo, and it was all over the bun.

So I made the eggroll filling from the Simple Little Vegan Slowcooker, but couldn't find vegan egg roll wrappers, so I just made spring rolls instead. They're okay. It could be because I baked them instead of frying. I made an easy peanut sauce from VegWeb to spice it up a bit, and served it with some seasoned brown basmati. I do enjoy the crunchiness of the rolls though.

I was left with 3/4 of a head of cabbage from the rolls, so I made the tomato cabbage soup from La Dolce Vegan. It was a last minute meal, so I didn't have any caraway seeds and used cumin seeds instead. Very good. I stirred in some rice to the leftover soup today, and it was even better.

I had planned on making some things from Vive this week, but it may have to wait unfortunately, since I have all these leftovers to eat! Billy refuses to eat anything containing cabbage, so I'm on my own.

Anyone have any ideas on how I can use up half a head of cabbage?

3 for 1 Birthday

This year it happens that I'm celebrating turning 22 three times! I had my surprise party last week and today I had dinner with my family, since my dad is out of town later this week. Plus I'll be going out with friends on the actual day. Dinner tonite was so good, and everyone loved it! I decided to make the Gigi sauce I blogged about before, since I know its good and didn't have to worry about any kitchen disasters. We had it with whole wheat rotini, some broccoli and some delicious and simple garlic bread made with Earth Balance and garlic powder.

But the real winner for me was dessert!! New York style cheesecake from Sinfully Vegan, which we topped off with a strawberry sauce. It was hard not going back for seconds. Mmmm mmmm. So creamy and so authentic, everyone enjoyed some of this. Its really rich though. A 9" cake makes 16 servings (or less if you want), but that sliver of heaven will cost you about 400 calories ;)

Billy and I had a great lunch for today. I made the Chicken and Rice Soup from La Dolce Vegan. If you have LDV, make this soup. Its quick and delicious. Billy ate all my leftovers that I wanted for tomorrow! It tastes just like that soup you crave when you get a cold. It has little pieces of seitan in it, but they cook up with the soup in 15 minutes, so there's no hassle.

Woot!

I made it through my lab exam today and I have next week off for reading week. Party :P

Here's the tofu alredo I mentioned earlier this week from Candle Cafe. It doesn't taste like traditional alfredo, but its got lots of garlic in it...num num.

It needs a bit of seasoning, and some fake parm finishes it off perfectly.

Bringing Sexy Back

Lunch this week was tortilla roll ups with salsa, apple and jicama. The roll ups are beyond simple and actually really yummy. Its just refried beans spread onto the tortilla and rolled up. It was my first time using jicama, and I have to say I'm not a fan. At least not of it plain. I may try to use the leftovers in the Vive salad that features it.

For our Valentine's meal, we decided not to go the fancy route (since we're at school til 6) and made pitas. Yesterday they were made with PC's chicken strips, but today I used chicken seitan from La Dolce Vegan and combined it with some romaine, tomato and hummus from Vive le Vegan. It was so yummy! And cheaper than the Pita Pit.

The title doesn't just relate to the Sexy Low Fat Vanilla Cupcakes I made from VCTOTW...it relates to me! I don't want to jinx myself again, but my weight went up way too much. So far, I've lost 5 pounds. Anyways, you'd have to be insane to give up cupcakes so I made this lower fat option for our V day. I was surprise at how sweet these are! Not much else to say, I think lots of people have tried them already, but they sure are pretty!

Alfredo

Billy and I had tofu "alfredo" from Candle Cafe Cookbook today for dinner. The colour isn't very appetizing and I couldn't get a picture, but its yummy. B says it doesn't taste like regular alfredo but that it's really good anyways, and really garlic-y! We decided to make it chicken alfredo, so we used PC Blue Menu Meatless Chicken Strips. Mmmm, these things are great! I like the texture better than Yves. The pasta, topped with some faux parm and parsley was yummy! And the delicious garlic bread helped too ;)

Thanks for all the get well and birthday wishes...I'm feeling better but still not 100%. Good enough to make cupcakes though ;)

Surprise!

I got sick on Tuesday, and it hasn't gotten any better. So the motivation to eat, let alone cook has disappeared, and its been a struggle to get enough food into me for the week. We had plans on Wednesday night to meet at a pub for a staff get together...really informal, only 8-10 people. I was feeling so gross though that I wasn't going to go, but Billy insisted. Turns out it was because it was a surprise birthday party for yours truly! My birthday isn't until the 23rd, but some of the girls are out of town that week, so they wanted to celebrate early. So even though I felt horrible, I had a great time and I was so flattered.


Hopefully I get better quickly so I can get some cooking done!

Forgiving but not forgetting

I'm starting to forgive Candle Cafe for its not-so-great tofu scramble. These lemon poppy seed muffins are delish. I asked Billy while I was baking them if he liked lemon poppy seed muffins in general, and he said "not really". That's funny...he ate 3 for supper last night! These are nice and light with a crunch from the seeds. A perfect breakfast with a smoothie.

Dinner tonite was courtesy of CalciYum! Hearty soybean burgers. I don't make my own burgers very often, just because I have the idea that they are time consuming and tedious. These did take some time, but with a little coordination, or even planning ahead, they could be made quickly. I did cook soybeans in my slowcooker for them, since I couldn't find any canned. Aside from the soybeans, these also have potato, carrot, celery, onion, ground almonds, tofu, bread crumbs, a nice touch of mustard and some seasonings. I love that they're baked and not fried, and they even hold up together pretty well. And...they have 24% of your daily calcium! I liked the flavour of these and I think I'll freeze some for later use.

Lunch this week, as I mentioned is lentil rice balls with pasta and tomato sauce from Vegan Lunchbox. I couldn't find any pomegranates like the menu suggested so I went with kiwi. And of course a square of dark orange chocolate. The author suggests packing the balls separate from the pasta until lunch or they'll get soggy. I find that they get harder when they're reheated so today I packed it with the pasta, and they were just right. I didn't get the greatest picture from yesterday but it'll do. I know you can all visualize it easily enough, I just like providing pictures :)

A Yummy Sunday

While I am cooking, I'm not cooking as much, since I have lots of leftovers to eat...which is part of the plan. Leftovers are a big help when you're at school/working late. I spent all day at work yesterday. I walked there, ate my last calzone and started my lunch shift. I ended up having to work straight through til dinner, meaning I got about 2 minutes to eat my dinner standing up. 9.5 hour shifts are horrible! By the end of the night, I could barely stand from a pain in my back, and then I got to walk home! But enough whining.

Breakfast this morning was Claire's Couscous porridge from Garden of Vegan. Soymilk, couscous, nuts and dried fruit. I left out the coconut. What I like about this recipe is that you can vary the nuts and the fruit, so its always a little different. I made mine with peanuts and cranberries.

I also prepped some lentil-rice balls from Vegan Lunch Box last night, so I just had to put them in the oven this morning. Most of them are for lunch this coming week, but there were two left over so I had them for lunch with tomato sauce (also from Lunch Box, that I had frozen), some cheese and whole wheat bow ties. Mmm mmmm good. The lentil-rice balls have a great cumin taste.

Next stop...my thighs.

I got to use my slow cooker again yesterday to make Bacon and Lentil Soup from the Simple Little Vegan Slow Cooker. When we got home, the room smelled so good! The bacon strips (Yves) in this soup give it an amazing smokey taste since it cooks all day. I threw in some aduki beans I had in the fridge and subbed out the cilantro for basil, oregano and rosemary. So delicious!! I also made a french baguette from Garden of Vegan to eat with the soup. Nothing beats dunking fresh bread into a good soup, it was my favourite part of the meal!



Some exciting news (for me at least, not my body)... Katie a.k.a Sam's Mom generously gave me a copy of Vecan Cupcakes Take Over the World, since she got another one for Christmas. I'm not making any cupcakes til Valentine's Day, but I cannot wait. I owe all future enjoyment of cupcakes to Katie :) Thanks so much!!