Damn Right It's Cookin' Crunk!

About my absence: most people assume when a vegan blogger lays off the blog love, that they've mysteriously developed an inexplicable craving for bacon and cheese and have given a fat middle finger to veg heads everywhere. They create a huge assed entry about how they're not vegan anymore because of an iron deficiency-(bullshit), or were "listening to their bodies" and message boards are on fire with the news.

Sorry, I don't have that drama for you. I've just been busy. Really busy!

I travel a lot now, and I've had adventures finding vegan eats while on the road to Terre Haute, IN and Indianapolis. Found a great Mom and Pop diner in TH that serves Lebanese food. Homemade grape leaves. I'll post on that later. I promise it won't take a month to read about it, either.

Then there's my new love affair with the garlic jalapeno flavored Daiya wedge. You can eat vegan cheese cold! Whuuuut? A vegan cheese that tastes good cold?  GTFOH.Yes.

I started a new job I love, parent two small children, and have had limited time to cook. In the long-long ago, I tested for my buddy Bianca Phillip's bad-ass cookbook "Cookin' Crunk: Eatin' Vegan in the Dirty South." That's when I really  had my game on. I could hardly wait for the book to come out.

Then it did. Got my copy. Let it sit on the shelf. Baaaaaaad Jen.

The photos above are of the pulled BBQ tempeh, caramelized onions&cabbage, and of the Chocolate Fudgy Puddin' Cake. DUDE: THE CAKE HAS A POOL OF HOT CHOCOLATE PUDDING ON THE BOTTOM. Goes perfect with a couple scoops of vanilla vegan ice cream. Yum.

I tested MANY recipes for this book. Stuff like sweet potato bread, coconut pie, country fried tempeh and gravy, country potato soup, and the jaw splitting chicken fried tofu and waffle sandwich. What are you waiting for, Elvis to come back? Just go out and buy the book already. You won't regret it.

With Love from Nayonaise

The folks from Nayonaise, Nasoya Inc. sent me a care package with not one, but TWO jars of their new Nayonaise formula. The first tasted like mayo, and I used it liberally with my favorite go-to sammie: the avocado and bacon bitz special. I take half an avocado, slice, put on toasted bread with a tablespoon of bacon bits and some nayo. It was awesome.

The second jar was of Nayo Whipped, which--I swear to all things holy tastes just like the competitor's product that rhymes with Schmiracle Schmwhip. I plan on using it to veganise a dessert from my childhood: the amazing Miracle Whip cake.  For those of you who are unsure as to how to veganize a recipe, it's easy. Replace non-vegan items like milk, eggs, sugar, etc. with vegan ones like soymilk, ground flax seed, and turbinado. It's not rocket science. In fact, you should probably buy the amazeballs book The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions. That book gives you step-by-step instructions on how to take an omnivore dish and make it vegan. If you're a beginner to veganism, it's a really neat how-to guide.

More Goodness from American Vegan Kitchen!

Here's a treat for you: Seitan Katsu with Tonkatsu sauce from American Vegan Kitchen. This is the perfect meal if you're craving crunchy and savory! Any of you craving chicken out there but don't want to fall back on your vegan diet? This should do the trick. You get all that southern fried goodness and none of the murder to our feathered friends!

An American Vegan Kitchen Fave!

When I hear people whine about missing out on dessert as a vegan, I want to shove a pie in their face. This VEGAN pie. This is the Crispy Bottom Peanut Butter Pie with Chocolate Fudge Sauce from my favorite go-to vegan cookbook, American Vegan Kitchen. WARNING: this is a super decadent, peanut buttery, and fudgey nosh. You might have to sign up for diabetes supplies after eating a slice.

Just buy the book already. Amazon gave it five stars, and you know the internet does not lie. IMO, this book has the best selection of dishes for the newly vegan to fully enjoy the transition from meaty to meatless. With recipes like Sweet Garlicky Ribz, Fried Avocados, and Greektown Gyros, you'd think you were eating stuff from one of them there restaurant places that has a bunch of stuff hangin' on the walls. When I was on vacation, I made a bunch of stuff from this book and felt like I was eating out every day.

While at the Cottage

 This was my daily view from the lake house where I spent my 40th birthday vacation! You can't see it, but there's a hot tub out on the deck. I spent a lot of time there when I wasn't in the kitchen.

 I made my infamous seitanic wingz. All you do is grab some seitan, lightly flour it, bake it up for a bit. I did 350 for ten minutes on each side. Once out of the oven, coat it with some wing sauce. It's not that hard and you have the fabulous flavor without any of the poultry or icky bones.

 I served it along with some fresh veggies and ranch style dip. I use beans as the base of the dip, and flavor it with ranch style seasonings. Think of it as ranchy, hummusy goodness.

For one night, we got rid of the kids and had some adult time together. I made this for dinner: The Jimwich from Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day! by Celine Steen and Tamasin Noyes. It's pan seared seitan served with bbq sauteed onions and FRIED PICKLES. It was SO GOOD.

Happy Birthday to Me! Party at The Owlery

 I celebrated my 40th birthday at Bloomington's finest vegetarian restaurant--The Owlery. 9 of us sat around a table and noshed on our favorite eats and shared a monster chocolate birthday cake! Imagine going to a restaurant where the entire dessert case is loaded with only vegan delights. I thought I had died and gone to Chocolate Heaven.

I had the poutine.  What's that? It's a Canadian delight: gravy fries covered in cheese. At The Owlery, the default setting for most dishes are vegan, and if you want dairy cheese, you have to order it that way. Pretty cool, eh?

We also went on a mini-getaway to a cabin in the woods and I made some dishes from American Vegan Kitchen and Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day. I'll post on that later.

More Praises for "Hearty Vegan"

 I decided to dust off my growing cookbook collection and get to gettin' with the cookin' if you know what I mean. I opened up Hearty Vegan: Meals for Monster Appetites by Celine Steen and Joni Marie Newman. The pictures had me drooling. Yowza! I picked a few dishes based on ingredients I had at home, made a shopping list for what I didn't have, and was off to work.

The first picture is of the Cheesy Chili Bake. I had a few cups of chili that was looking lonely and wanted to do something creative. This was a great move on my part. This ain't your momma's chili mac-- the shit was fabulous, the stuff of ultimate comfort food. Then again, that's Hearty Vegan in a nutshell for you-- ALL the recipes are for mouthwatering, homestyle, and rib sticking delights. The chili bake has a cheesy sauce inside the bake and another one on top for twice the cheese goodness. This is a must make for anyone craving cheese. I topped the casserole with some french fried onions for flair.

Breakfast, anyone?

These are the Chocolate Pecan muffins from the breakfast section of the book. Don't be fooled by the chocolate top. The muffins contain three types of grains to keep you filled and energized to tackle what the work week may bring you. 

Brrrr, it's cold outside! How about a Pot O' Lentil Stew?

This was a delightful way to end my Sunday: a nice lentil stew served with some Smoky Pub Cheez. Who knew you could recreate the bar cheese sensation with oatmeal? I know I've hit your curious nerve. Now go make it? The spread has a nice mellow bite and is perfectly smoky, a must bring to a party. The lentil stew warms you up from the inside out and is full of lentily-vegetabley goodness. 

I made all of this and that's just the tip of the iceberg for this cookbook! The instructions are easy to follow, the pictures are drop dead gorgeous, and the recipes are inspiring. I mean, don't you want to make your own vegan peanut butter cups? How's about waldorf salad wraps? And what in the hell are Irish nachos? You'll have to buy the book to find out. 

I'll be covering more vegan cookbooks in future entries to ignite the spark within you all.

Yes, You Can Haz Cheesecake.

Yes, you can haz cheesecake. These are the pumpkin cheesecake squares from Kittee's 'zine Papa Tofu. So no more excuses about how you can't go vegan because you can't give up cheesecake. These morsels are sweet, creamy, and well--cheesy. The main ingredient is tofutti better than cream cheese, which is kind of expensive, but really worth it. The crust is a shortbread pecan sort of thing, so imagine glorious pumpkin cheesecake goodness on top of a pecan sandie and BOOM! you have this dessert that was meant to impress. This made a fabulous end to our Thanksgiving meal.

Rebooted and Ready To Roll

Nice to be back. I usually take a week or so off after MOFO because my brain is fried from all the activity.

I warned you I'd be on with the sass, and it's on. No more Ms. Nice Gal. You wanna be vegan? I can help you. Give this a chance and you'll see how awesome your life can be. The next few posts will be about vegan cheeses and cheese inspired dishes to get you off the dairy-go-round.

So Fall is in full swing and that means comfortable and cozy Autumnal dishes. Back in my pregan days, the  favorite was broccoli, cheese, and chicken casserole, the legend dish of any church potluck. But then I went vegan and thought I could never have it again. Not so. One of the biggest excuses people have for not going vegan is this inexplicable love affair with cheese. I was in that boat too.

 Then I had kids and learned that cows have to be in lactation mode to make milk, Duh. And that means continuously being pregnant for about 4 years until becoming a pair of boots. When I breast fed both my babies, it was exhausting. I was never one of those dames that rocked pregnancy. It was awful. I couldn't imagine being pregnant over and over again like that just to make people milk, cheese, and ice cream. Fuck you. No thanks. And I haven't even touched on how much fun it is to have mastitis. Yeah, that's right. Cows get that too. There's more in that milk than just milk, kids.

So if you are a cheese addict, my tough love words to you are nut up and cut the cow out. Now. Don't wait. It's not the cheese you crave, it's the company. It's the fatty-salty-stretchy that can be achieved by using any of the vegan cheeses out there.

I made this casserole with cooked rice, Ms. Dash, Daiya cheddar shreds-on clearance for $2 a package, broccoli, and Gardein chick'n strips, which I found on clearance for $1.89 a package. Everything was ready in less than 45 minutes, including prep time. This is so easy to make and you'll hardly miss the real live cruel version after having this. But veganism is so expensive. Shut up. I'm sick of your excuses. The ingredients to make this are no more expensive than getting quality cuts of meat and cheese from an animal. You know what's REALLY expensive? A heart attack, cholesterol controlling medications, and going to see the doctor all the time because you feel like shit from all that dairy. I'm done hearing it. Just do it. Just quit. Now. Don't worry if you don't make the shift perfectly. I know you can do this. If I can do it, you can do it.

Cheese Insanity Replacements rated best in:

• Cost: galaxy nutritional foods vegan shreds
• Flavor: Daiya cheese, Teese
• Freezes well: Follow Your Heart cheese

Note all three freeze well. 

One I'm not so wild about:

• Cheesely
• Soya Kaas Vegan cheese

What I use when I don't want vegan cheese but want that cheese like flavor and fat:

• Avocados mashed and mixed with a little salt
• Hummus
• Nutritional yeast mixed with some salted cashews

Cookbooks to help you with your cheesly desires:
The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook

Best vegan queso:
Food For Lovers Queso

Vegan cheese tips:

• Don't eat raw, it doesn't work and tastes gross.
• Use sparingly, some of the flavors are strong if you're not used to it.
• Try, try, and try again. Find one that you like and stick with it.
• Cost? Most brand names  have online coupons.

I love you. Stop making excuses. Go vegan.

Vegan MOFO Day #18: Beth's Pretty Pink Cookies

 

When Beth was going through her depressed-I-wanna-die-in-the-zombie-apocalypse phase, the real thing that made her turn around were these pretty pink chocolate chip cookies.

Andrea thinks it was her speech, Maggie thinks it was her love, but it really was just cookies. When the shit hits the fan and people start turning into zombies a sad thing happens to the survivors. They get bummed out and become the walking living. True dat. So if you think about it hard enough, everyone is a type of zombie in the apocalypse. Not all zombies eat brains. Some of us are peacemongers that enjoy a good cookie.

To make these, it's a cinch. Just take the recipe for chocolate chip cookies from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar and sub the vegan milk with beet juice-(I used Biotta brand beet juice). That's it. Beautiful pink cookies. And you can't even taste the beet flavor! Who needs red food coloring? Secret to having chocolate chips in every bite? Don't fold in the chips/chunks. I roll out the cookies and add them to the top by hand. You use less chips that way, and you don't end up with a wad of dough that's missing chips while the rest of the cookie sheet has a population problem. I'm digressing.

Anyway, cookies=no depression. And everyone can use cheering up when the world is crawling with flesh eating walkers.

You bet your buns they're that good!

Mr. J's birthday was a few weeks ago and he begged me for a copy ofHearty Vegan Meals For Monster Appetites by Celine Steen and Joni Marie Newman. I was stunned! He is incorporating more vegan meals than ever into his diet, and I really couldn't be any happier. He asked and received.

The magical vegan cookbook fairy sent me an autographed copy of HVFMA and The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions. ((((waving hands)))) I'm all kinds of farklempt! I haven't tried everything in the book, but I know enough to love it profoundly. LOVE IT! So far, I've tackled the super streusel-y muffins, the bbq buns, and tonight made some polish sausages to serve with peppers, onions, and kraut tomorrow. Food squee!

Pictured above is Vin's birthday lunch of BBQ Baked Buns served with a side of a broccoli salad I threw together. It was such a cinch. The beauty of HVFMA is that it is a really good transitional cookbook for those who are newly vegan, considering veganism, or if you just wanna blow omnivores away with some tasty down home equivalents to stuff that would normally make your doctor lecture you about cholesterol.

This book has received some unfair reviews, mostly by vegans who are surprised this isn't a salad cookbook, which makes me giggle. If the critical had looked harder, they would have seen the following review by Rory Freedman:

"Hearty Vegan Meals for Monster Appetites is a feast of indulgent, decadent goodness. If you're looking for a salad recipe for your health nut friends, this isn't the book for you. But if you're looking for the vegan answer to everything your meat eating mouth has ever wanted, you've come to the right place."

So really, people are disappointed by a book that clearly states what kind of food to expect? I mean I might whine if the book was titled Salads for Every Vegan, but it isn't. C'mon, the word MONSTER is in the title. I can't figure people out. What I can say with certainty is I want my food with flavor and filling. Salads? Get outta here, I want to make a meal that will turn into a video by Sir Mix-a-Lot. Back that plate up, do you hear me? Pass the wet naps too, because it is about to get messy in this bidnezz.

I often get overwhelmed with the sheer number of vegan cookbooks in veggietown. It's enough to drive a person nuts. After purchasing many books, I have come to the conclusion that I'm a diehard Steen/Newman fan. The recipes are taste bud tinglin' and Celine's food photography is to die for. I daydream of sitting at that big wood table she uses for taking photos. The food is piled high and I'm being totally pampered by both authors. ((((((sigh))))))

Do yourself a favor, save the salads for the dog days of Summer and get to gettin' on some substantial eats.

I have no beef with lentils

I'm so in love with Snobby Joes from Veganomicon, they are on my regular menu rotation. Woah, that made me sound like I'm all organized n' shit, and have planned menus. I don't. I just sit around watching TV and will say to myself, "You know what you haven't had in a while, Jen? Snobby Joes." From there it's a short mission to forage for the pantry staples to make this dish. If you want to make it even faster, prep your lentils the night before and just throw everything together. Dinner in less than 30 minutes, readers. Seriously, I use lentils in just about everything. It is my go-to in lieu of ground beef.

Something else I think about when I'm lounging around watching my stories on the teevee is how much I love to read inspirational articles. Funny, right? Thinking about reading when watching television. I am a hoot.

When I just need to be reminded why I do what I do, is this article by Vegan Outreach. Unlike other angry, agitated, and acronym filled organizations, VO is all about small steps and working towards an actual goal instead of living in an unreasonable all-or-nothing paradigm. Moving in a direction that spares animals, even in a slow motion is better than never doing anything. Don't forget that! Example: my SUPERomni spouse that grew up eating pigs with his cows told me that he wanted to go pescatarian, for himself. Not because anything I've done or said--just because he's tired of the flesh world.

Now some would say that isn't good enough. I say a big fat WRONG! Will he ever go all the way and shout Viva La Vegan from the rooftops? I have no idea. I mean, I'd love to hear him say that, but no one has to be me but me--and at the end of the day I want to know that I've given people the dignity to be themselves, even if I don't completely agree with what they do. Lord knows not everyone agrees with me and I'm still loved.

What I do think is amazing is that he is completely open to doing something positive like this. I'm so proud of him. I'd like to take credit for this, but I can't. He made the decision to do what is real and right for him, to find his own truth. All I can do is continue to cook really good vegan meals for him and just be a good example. Let this be your mantra: something is better than nothing.

My Valentine's Wish For You

What do I want for you? The same thing I want for me: supremely tasty food and a fantastic journey learning your own Truth. Everyone wants a box of quality candy, some ferocious loving, and a hand to hold on this special day.
I want to point out that you can't do any dancin' to Barry White without a heart. Going vegan isn't a complicated endeavor--initially it is a challenge for sure, but it is a process in holistic love. You're caring for your body with a plant based diet--and your heart is writing you beautiful poetry! You are taking responsibility for the environment by eating foods sourced from non-animal derived ingredients. Cows, chickens, turkeys, pigs, and fish want to cover you with fat kisses and squishy hugs because your actions spared their lives. Let's not forget how absolutely divine it is to know how your food got to your plate, right?


So--if you want to do something totally sexy for heart, try the following menu for tonight or any day in the future:

You can't go wrong with this appetizer plate.
Spinach Fettucine with Edamame Pesto
Carob PB Cake
OR this if you're a chocolate/carob hater: Celine's mini coffee cakes

Or you can just make the sugar cookies from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar-(shown above.)

The Best Kind of Vegan Accident

I love vegan accidents. I'm not talking about finding out a certain snack chip or packaged cookie is vegan-(although that's pretty cool), I'm talking when people get together to do something rad and the meal is vegan. It happens! Here's an example:

I belong to a chalice circle at church, or as my son likes to call it, "Turch." It's a committed group of people who get together twice a month to discuss a subject and have two service projects to complete, one to the church and one to the local community. We all agreed to cook a meal for one of the night shelters in town. Since most shelters are overcrowded, this traveling night shelter is a Godsend to people to get in from the cold, eat a hot meal, and go to bed for a good night's rest.
Y'all know there's nothing more warming than soup! So I made the barley chili from 500 Vegan Recipes as well as the cornbread. One of the other members made a yellow lentil and potato soup. Guess what? All vegan. That's right. Without us even trying we cooked a nice vegan meal for 60 people! We were given a budget and only had to spend half the money allowed because we were so smart about what to serve. So when people tell you veganism is expensive, they're WRONG!
Here I am blending my wet ingredients for the corn bread. My favorite egg replacer in baked goods is the good ol' fashioned flax seed meal. Celine is a big fan of sucanat and she has made me a bonafide convert. I have found it at the local Sahara Mart for .99 a #. For real! Prepackaged 1# containers are usually $5 or more. I added a little molasses and creamed corn to the mix to amp the corn flavor. The recipe is called Skillet Corn Bread, but we made two large cafeteria pans, for a total of 8 batches of cornbread!


Here's a shot of the chili. We had a really good time coming together and doing something we all loved, laughed, shared some cookies-(I made the Butterscotch Pecan Cookies s, and I taught a few people how easy it is to make something vegan.

OYMST Day #31: WHEW! In Conclusion

In the past 48 hours I have had not one, but TWO or THREE opportunities to have a vegan dessert when I was not expecting it and have turned it down. Really? Like really! Today I considered making cookies, but decided to have apple slices and some pumpkin dip instead. Why did this miracle happen?

Operation Yank My Sweet Tooth. Has it in fact been yanked? Not really, but I have experienced a change that has altered my relationship with eating sweets. Prior to this experiment, I had been making a return to mindless eating, something that is not really good for me. I also have a family history of the diabeetus and I need to be careful. I really didn't think I'd be able to make it.

Then I decided to blog about it and reach out for support. I treasure dessert for what it really is: a beautiful end to a nice meal with friends, family, self, and as a special treat. Not something that I scarf before my 4 year old son sees me and asks if he can also have cookies for breakfast. You can only bullshit a kid for so long until he smells the turd of deceit. What kind of lesson would I be teaching him then?

I've reignited a love for fruit, something I can share with my kids since they adore fruit too. I've found that and some hot tea really does the trick. I feel better. It isn't so hard to get up in the morning. I can concentrate better at work, and I think people have noticed. I've discovered that there are different ways to have sweet treats without feeling deprived. Day 10 was really hard, but after day 15 or 16 it just didn't seem like such a big deal.

What will happen to me when I have dessert tomorrow? I have no idea. I'll keep the size small and will be eating with a bunch of people so I don't eat an entire Smolve pie by myself. I've always enjoyed cooking for people, but now I really treasure eating a meal with the people I cook for. Today I took my daughter out for Thai food at Bloomington's best ethnic restaurant: Siam House. This is a must if you are visiting our little city for whatever reason. The cozy lil' gem is located on 4th and Dunn St. During warm weather you can enjoy your meal outside. They have one of the best lunch buffets, $9. Get this: no fish in the vegetarian dishes. In fact, there are big labels on the dishes that say VEGAN. No guesswork-- I counted 5 things on the buffet! I had red curry w/tofu, soup, spring rolls w/ peanut sauce, a delicious savory salad, and fresh cool melon. I thanked the wait staff for taking the time to label everything. I got a container to go for my spouse and the waiter insisted on holding my daughter so I could tend to that task without any distraction. Is that service or what? You'd really be a fool to not hold her. She's super cute.

I haven't seen my tally for this month, but I'm pretty sure that I was able to raise $15 for the food bank on my hits alone--that's 105# of food! Thank you so much, beautiful readers. Stay tuned for fun stuff next month. I'll be cooking the $#!T out of 500 Vegan Recipes and The Complete Guide to Vegan Substitutions. You'd think I was married to Celine or Joni, but I'm not. I'm just really believe these books don't get enough cred.

OYMST Day #26: School is in session!

Back in the days of my early veganism, I made hummus with lima beans!

I started teaching a class on compassionate eating at church. Pretty cool, huh? That's the UU denomination for you. I'm pretty sure I'd be allowed to teach just about any subject so long as I could connect it to how the lesson brings people together. I was so psyched when my proposal was accepted! The class meets once per week for two hours for ten weeks. My angle was to teach and NOT preach my experience, strength, and hope eating a vegan diet. No expectations, just sharing good food and fun.

The weather was iffy, so I only had half the class in attendance. It was still a blast! We had introductions and part of the process was to finish the sentence, "When I hear the word vegan I think..." Here were the responses:

"Impossible."
"Fake Blood at PETA demonstrations."
"Underweight."
"Admirable."
"Cool."

What an array of responses! I talked to them about my vegan journey and why I do what I do. Then I launched into a discussion about hummus and schmears. You do NOT have to have the standard hummus as a dip. Live it up and try to make your own unique schmear! A good schmear or hummus is made from the following: a source of protein, fat, vegetable, salt, garlic, lemon juice (or some kind of acid), and spices. I regret not taking pictures of our awesome meal, but I'll let you know what was on the menu:

Black Bean Dip- 1 can of rinsed black beans, 1/2 cup of store bought salsa, 1/4 t cumin, 1/2 t ms. dash's Caribbean citrus, and some sea salt. Puree in a blender. Low fat! Serve with pita, fresh colored peppers, and avocado slices.

A heavily improvised muhamara- 1/2 c. bread crumbs, 1/2 c. olive oil, 1 garlic clove, 1 cap of AC vinegar, sea salt, 1/3 c. raw pumpkin seeds, red pepper flakes, black pepper, roasted yellow peppers and one roasted mirliton. Add contents to blender and add a little water. You want it to be the consistency of pate. Serve with cheesy quackers from 500 Vegan Recipes.

Buffalo Black Eye Pea Dip- Buffalo Dip from 500 Vegan Recipes + 1 can of rinsed black eye peas. Pulse in a food processor. You don't want this to be smooth--let it have some texture! Serve with cuke slices, celery sticks, or both. This was the belle of the ball.

Chocolate Pumpkin Pie Dip- My own creation! This was inspired by one of my readers, Sharine. I took 2 cups of canned pumpkin, 1/4 c. brown rice syrup, 3 chopped dates, 1/4 t vanilla, 2T soy or coconut coffee creamer, 3T water, 1/4 t nutmeg, 1/2 t cinnamon, and a shy T of cocoa powder. I served this with apple slices as a non-traditional dessert option. It went over so well!

Fig and Lentil Soup from 500 Vegan Recipes- If you can't already tell, this is my new favorite cookbook. Seriously people, this book doesn't get enough love. I own many vegan cookbooks, but not this one. I checked it out at the library and I'm now convinced this is the ONLY cookbook I need. Stay tuned for a full review-(and giveaway!) at a later date.

I brought in a few of my cookbooks, and I had a very informal Q&A session. I discussed where I get my protein, that milk can be made from anything-(that's next week's topic!), and that one could make an exciting dip from just about anything.

One student asked, "How can I make a dip low fat?"

Easy. Bypass the amount of oil. You want a little, but not the standard amount in recipes. You don't even really need the fat, but a little gives a big punch of flavor. Example: the "muhamara" had the most oil, and I cut 1/4 out of the recipe based on a bunch I reviewed. The buffalo dip used light mayo instead of full fat vegan mayo. The bean dip had zero oil added as well as the pumpkin pie dip. I explained one could roast or boil a vegetable-(their choice, try to go with one that is creamy when pureed) and cut it into the bean, lemon juice, garlic, and spice mixture to reduce the amount of oil or nut butter one would normally use. That approach enhances the texture, color, and flavor without a bunch of extra fat.

Their homework? Easy-invent your own creative bean schmear and tell me about it.

OYMST Day #25: 6 Days and counting

Man-oh-man, I'm so looking forward to ending this month. I'm going to make some S'molve Pie and/or cookies and pass out for a few days. I kid, really Operation Yank My Sweet Tooth has brought me closer to myself, namely my insatiable need to consume more sweets than vegetables, which isn't the ideal path for a vegan.

Some of the cravings have subsided. I have noticed that when I eat something even mildly sweetened, it is a little too much for me. I've come to appreciate dates on a whole new level. Dried figs are my new buddies. I cherish the flavor of a fresh orange or apple slice. This is important because as much as I declare myself a hard-core-vegan-foodie, there is something to be said about mindlessly noshing away. I personally found myself not appreciating the flavors of sweets so much as I thought I had to have them, like a smoker has to have a cigarette. For me, I want to avoid that.

What will happen post-project? I'll still eat sweets, but I'll look for new takes on old favorites. My tried and true loves will be eaten less often so I can really appreciate their flavors. I'll make more stuff with fruit.

Before the project, a fellow PPKer sent me this incredible care package loaded with chocolate. One of the gems in this package was made by The Tea Room (?) and was the best chocolate I've ever tasted with the exception of Enjoy Life's Boom-Choco-Boom dark bar. The chocolate fusion bar was super dark with fruity tones and a distinctive coffee flavor. I melted it and used it to coat cookies--divine!

Have you ever taken a break from something you enjoy because you were losing your respect for it? Tell me about it.

OYMST Day#19: Yeehaw! Do Texans really say that?

Being a gigantic Yankee, I have all sorts of ideas about Texas based on movies and television. Like that scene in Pee Wee's Big Adventure. For a spandex second, I really thought there might be a basement at The Alamo!

This dish is one of Molly's recipes for Texas style vegan chili. Sans beans, of course--and served on top of a bed of corn chips. That's authentic, right? I think so, but then again I hail from the land of automobiles, snow, and Derek Jeter. I added just a kiss of Daiya to cut the heat. I scored a flamin' hot bag of corn chips that was accidentally vegan. Pair this with an ice cold root beer or ginger ale, and well--you've got a meal. I had the co-workers sample this and they described the chili as, "Awesome" , "Perfectly spiced!", and " I never thought of using that ingredient as part of a chili recipe."

The recipe and so many more can be yours by purchasing the cook 'zine Sunny Days in Texas. $$ goes to the animal sanctuary and you'll be armed with some really boss Tey-has recipes. Like the recipe for Spiral Diner's famous ranch dressing.

OYMST Days #8 and 9: Cheezy Quackers are PEOPLE!

I needed to take a day off blogging yesterday. Don't worry, you didn't miss anything.
I'm not as cranky today. I do notice that it is much easier for me to get out of bed in the morning and not as difficult to get started. I also think I'm developing a sensitive tooth because I tried sweetening my grits this morning and found them to be too sweet after 1t of agave and 1.5 t of brown rice syrup. Sweet grits? I know I just made a gaggle of you savory grit people groan in unison by typing that. So I like sweet grits. Sue me.

So what's up with the shitty photograph of the bowl of soup topped with little dudes? I made a batch of Celine Steen's cheezy quackers using tiny gingerbread cookie cutters. Why not? People eat animal crackers and goldfish crackers all the time. Why not gender neutral bald people? They made a great topping for some asparagus dill soup I made a while back.

OYMST Day #4: I Have No Idea What I'm Doing

When the holidays are over, I still like holiday food. Here we have a nice lentil, rice, & walnut loaf matched with some cornbread stuffing, cranberry sauce-(no sugar!), and mashed turnips in lieu of potatoes. That bit of yellow in the far right corner is my new love, the golden beet. I'll talk more about that later.

Although my intentions were to reduce some of the carbs by including more veggies, I must have done something wrong in the cooking process, because the turnip mash was watery and not very creamy. Note: use coconut milk in the future and a little garlic powder. That ought to do the trick. Or maybe do 1/2 potatoes and 1/2 turnips, kind of like Isa's caulipots- (photo in link by Maggie Muggins) from Appetite for Reduction.

I'm finding that I'm still pretty hungry between meals, and I'm not sure whether that is psychological or physical. Regardless, I still snack away and stick to nuts, fruit, or vegan yogurt between meals. The objective is to lay off the dessert, not diet! I'm just amazed at how much of my daily food intake was from dessert type items. I want to carve out better habits for myself so I can appreciate my dessert a little more instead of mindlessly stuffing my pie hole.

Is there an activity you find yourself doing that has gone autopilot? What is it? What can you do to make it a special experience again?

Thanks for supporting my project and please spread the word about Operation Yank My Sweet Tooth!