Vegan Mo-Fo

I'm doing this called Vegan MoFo. Maybe you've heard of it. Probably. Maybe I'm insane, since this is going to mean 2 months glued to my computer and struggling to maintain my social life at the same time.

What's that? Two months you say? That's because I'm doing Nanowrimo in November.

I don't have a badge for that because they haven't come out with the artwork yet.

I'll just leave you with one last thought: Vegan Philly Cheesesteak. (Yeah, I'm saving actual posts about food for October. I think you'll live)

Veggie galaxy

Veggie galaxy, a vegetarian diner styled with a fifties vibe recently in central square. I got take out recently-the French toast stuffed with vegan banana nut cream cheese. I also got an upside down sticky bun. Yum. The food was incredibly delicious, but there was a huge problem. They forgot to give me my food. I had to walk to the counter. My food was tepid. The server was apologetic bit didn't offer any options-like reheating. (I should note it was take out-but I live fairly close. It wouldn't have cooled much.)

This week, I menu planned for myself and my roommate. I have a feeling I'll be doing that occasionally. Or often. Or all the time. Because I enjoy it. and I enjoy cooking. I went back to a recipe i'd used before in Color Me Vegan, Red Lentil Apricot stew. Which, despite seeming as if it might be bland based on the ingredients, is actually quite amazing. The mix of spices and flavors is perfect. Beyond perfect. And it is so very easy. 

I also made bread and jerk asparagus based on Isa's Jerk Asparagus recipe. I used jerk seasoning, however, that my friend brought back with her from Jamaica. I used a bit too much, it was a little too hot for my liking. I also put rosemary in the bread. And flax meal. I think the flax meal made me stinky gassy. The rosemary was good though. 

Black bean soup rougly based off American Vegan Kitchen's black bean soup. We added chard because it was about to go bad and zucchini for the same reason. There were more black beans than called for, but I personally adore black beans. They are the best thing ever. 

New Foods.. sorta.

Two days in and I think both of us are doing very well at keeping each other on track. Portion sizes are better, there is a LOT less snackage between meals so far (and both days have been not-work days, which are notoriously awful for me in the snacking department) and our meals have been good. Plus, leftovers will no longer languish in the depths of an overstuffed refrigerator. They will be used within a couple days.

Luckily, we both seem to be awesome cooks. Here's what I made last night:

That's nominally the pineapple cashew quinoa stirfry from Veganomicon. With several changes made due to lack of certain ingredients/availability of other ingredients that needed to be used-We had previously made quinoa/rice mix plus white rice that the indian food restaurant gave me with my chana masala, so I used those plus an onion instead of the scallions and rosemary instead of thyme. I think I added some chipotle chile powder and srirarcha because I didn't have the hot peppers.

It still turned out delicious. It was good cold this afternoon too. I absolutely adore Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Actually, I adore most of the vegan cookbook authors since all their foods seem so delicious. (Only a few random duds so far!)

 Here is what the roommate made:

 Using the basis of the tomato curry (because I fail at reading ingredients list thoroughly/don't realize when instructions are stupid time consuming) from Moosewood, he created this for dinner. There's a rice/lentil mix under there-I've been trying to intentionally up my protein intake to see if it makes a difference-but that's kale from my parent's garden-there's so much of it-and tomatoes from his. Local local local! The kale was cooked perfectly. No bitterness, but still a little hint of crunch to it.

Food and Moving to a healthier eating pattern.

Yesterday, I moved. I moved all of 8 miles or so, closer in to Boston. I moved here:

Whose kitchen looks like this:

This will be interesting. My roommate and I are both seeking to eat a healthier diet and having someone else striving for the same will keep us on track through the guilt processes. Which means cooking a lot from scratch, which I do anyways. It's a tiny little kitchen, but as long as I (Or my roommate) am the only one in it, it does not appear to be an issue. The appliances are decent, which I am happy about.

Those are the Rosemary Bean burgers that I got the recipe off What the hell does a vegan eat anyways (I think). I used too much onion, but that's ok. Those are leftover lemony pan fried chickpeas with greens and the burger's topped with this blueberry onion thing. Delicious.