Oui oui.....crepes!

When I went to France 5 years ago (and pre-vegan) a wonderful thing happened....I ate a crepe! Suddenly I was eating them for every meal for the next two weeks. I especially loved the savory variety. It was one of best things I've ever experienced to have a piping hot crepe in your hands and be walking along the Seine. Cue the "ahhh pahr-eee".




So I can't believe it's taken me so long to make a crepe at home, vegan or otherwise. I've had Vegan Brunch since it came out and I guess I just thought they would be difficult or too fussy. Wrong! The recipe was great and it was extremely easy!



I love that the most unusual thing in the recipe is chickpea flour (and I guess tapioca but it said I could use cornstarch which I did) because that makes them easy pantry meals. They cook fast so they are ideal for quick breakfasts and for busy nights.
Perhaps the best thing in my book is their capacity to make leftovers something amazing. I had about 2 tsp of Daiya vegan cheese and 1 1/2 slices of Tofurky in the fridge that weren't enough for a recipe but I couldn't bear to throw out. So into the crepe they went with some spinach and tomatoes. (you don't want them too full, so it was perfect) I could see leftover dahl or a creamy sauce with veggies working great in these as well. I bet the smoky shiitake mushrooms from Vegan Brunch would be awesome in them.
I can't wait to make some vegan Nutella and banana crepes!

Vegan Brunch is on it's way to usurping the almighty Veganomicon in my house at this rate.


Sorry for the picture quality, but the lighting is so bad in my house at night! Boo.

Easy Chocolate Banana Cake with Ganache

Ack! I've been really busy preparing for going back to school, so I haven't been doing much on the cookbook challenges or blogging. But I did make this cake last night because I was craving *something*.




I didn't have a lot of ingredients, so I used this simple recipe from Isa Chandra Moskowitz:

http://www.theppk.com/2008/08/just-chocolate-cake/





It's mostly pantry ingredients, the only thing I didn't have was almond extract so I put a splash more of vanilla. I only baked one batch, so I cut it in half to make layers. I really wanted a filling but I didn't have ingredients for any sort of frosting or a berry filling. I ended up mashing up a banana with a bit of vanilla soy yogurt and powdered sugar to make a custard type filling. Delicious! The ganache topping was so fudgy, I'll definitely make that again too.
Yummmmmy!

Irish Stew & Red Beans and Rice...CHEAP!

Hello, hello and happy Monday to you all.

Today I made my first recipe from my new cookbook, Appetite for Reduction (which is by the author of Veganomicon, Vegan with a Vengeance and that awesome vegan cupcake book).



The recipe I chose was the Irish Stew with Seitan and Potatoes.




It was perfect for a cold day! I'm doing a fun weekly cookbook challenge on a vegan cooking forum, so you'll see a lot of recipes from cookbooks in the coming weeks. I'll try to do a mini-review of each recipe!


Irish Stew with Seitan and Potatoes (Appetite for Reduction)

What I liked:
It was very easy and filling. Perfect for a winter weeknight. It was not heavy like a meat based stew, the lemon added at the end made it yummy.
The ingredients were also very inexpensive.

What I disliked:
Nothing at all, it was delicious!!!

What I substituted:
I like the lemon flavor in this, but I also used 2 1/4 tbsp instead of 3 because it seemed like it that was plenty...although who knows, maybe I missed out ;)

I also used a lager for the "ale" cause that's what I had on hand.

Recipe notes:
It seemed like the amount of oil used was not quite enough. After sauteeing the seitan and removing them from the pan, there seemed to be no oil leftover for the onions and spices. I just added some water and it was totally fine, but it could be a problem without a non-stick pan.
It was very true to the time it estimated for the recipe, which is always great!

My man's opinion:
He absolutely loved this and requested I make it again :)

*****************************************************************************
I also made my requisite day-before-payday Red Beans and Rice.
There is no real recipe here...just use what you have! I make it in my crockpot and it always comes out delicious.





All you need is:

Red Beans (kidney beans)
Cajun seasoning ( I used Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning)
Veggie broth or water
Chopped celery and onion (can be left out, just add more spices)
Liquid Smoke (can be left out)
White Rice

Put the beans,celery and onion in the crockpot and cover with about twice as much water or broth. Turn on high and let them cook all day or at least 5 hours. When the beans are nearly done, add as much seasoning as you like, just keep tasting the liquid in the pot. Add a couple of drops of liquid smoke. That's it!!! Sometimes I add leftover seitan or even softened "bacon" bits (omit liquid smoke for this).
Serve with rice, cornbread and greens for a yummy and truly cheap meal!

If you want a stovetop method with the spice mix broken down, this recipe is great too:
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/02/real-louisiana-red-beans-and-rice.html

The cornbread muffins I served with these are from Robin Robertson's book 1000 Vegan Recipes, a wonderful tome of great recipes!

I love this recipe because it is all pantry ingredients. No soy yogurt or egg replacer needed! That makes it cheap and easy to add to any meal. I added jalapeños to the batter this time, yum!

Hope you all survive the coming week...! :)

Living on crumbs, black coffee and free wifi...

Hopefully this post isn't too much of a downer, I just need to vent! :) At least there are MUFFINS!



Well, it's been a rocky past couple of months and apparently that isn't going to change with the coming New Year. I'm not the only American who is struggling with the economic woes of the times, but damn it's frustrating!

After being layed off at the end of the summer, I found a job promising part/full time rather than accepting unemployment money. This has actually ended up being 16 to 20 hours a week...I'm trying to find another job but it's almost more difficult *because* I have a part time job already. I can't afford to quit and then look for one, so it's really become quite the chess game.

Living paycheck to paycheck in a city with one of the highest unemployment rates, previously thinking at any point I could go back to school and get a career...I have to say I'm getting a bit nervous!!!

One thing is for certain though, I will be sticking with my vegan diet. Anybody who thinks it's too expensive is a naysayer!
I can't afford organic everything or prepackaged Tofurky and the like, but I can eat quite satisfactorily I think on a very tight budget.

Here's something cheap and filling I had this morning:

Peaches and Cream Oatmeal with Cinnamon and Brown Sugar:




Oatmeal with frozen peaches, cinnamon, brown sugar and almond milk.



So I guess you will see some new directions for this blog with the new year:
THRIFTINESS
BUDGETING
MAKING-DO

I'm trying to budget all meals for two people for each month on $225 (hopefully less).
It will be an interesting if only necessary challenge. I'll probably be looking into homemade stuff more too (such as soaps, etc), so stay tuned!

In the meantime...would you like a muffin?

Mofo Day the Fourth

As promised I will explain how I do my meal planning and shopping for the month. Hopefully this helpful for new vegans or people on a budget. I get paid twice a month so I go shopping on those days and plan to buy enough food for the spaces in between. Don't despair, if you have a fridge, I assure you the produce will keep!
___________________________________________________________________
STEP #1 So first thing I do is check out my pantry and fridge to see how bad I was at using up everything. I did pretty good this last month (empty jars!), here's my pantry:

And you don't get to see the fridge, cause I'm sure its uncleaned ;)

I check to see if I have any soon-to-expire or weird ingredients that don't go with anything else and I write them down. I'm going to pick out some dishes to use those up right away. I also keep a running list in my kitchen of essential ingredients that I run out of such as : flour, spices, sugar etc.

_______________________________________________________________
Here's a few tips for the pantry:
- If you throw stuff out or it expires in your cupboard you're losing money!
- Buy in bulk and store in old jars that you save and wash
- Make sauces or condiments but only if it's really cheaper to do so
- Don't buy specialty ingredients for one dish. If there's a special spice required for a certain dish look up some more you can use it for
-Cook dried beans when possible. I don't soak ahead of time, I just put them in my crockpot for 3-5 hours, it's really really easy. You can save TONS of money this way.
-Buy frozen veggies for certain types of dishes like stews and casseroles, they can be cheaper and they won't go bad!
-Make your own stuff, the more the better! Like foccacia, gnocchi, hummus,etc. Homemade seitan especially will save you cash. I use Bryanna Clark Grogan's recipe for turkey style seitan most of the time.
-Buy your spices in bulk too, they really gouge you on those little jars.
________________________________________________________________________
STEP #2 Plan the majority of if not all your meals. This is helpful in so many ways:
-You know for sure you have enough stuff in your pantry to get you through the month!
-If you have a list of meals you can make, so you don't have to rack your brain as you clutch at your poor hungry tummy while staring in the fridge
-You'll be less tempted to eat out because you have yummy stuff you can make!
-You can plan for quick meals if you know you will be short on time

So, first I grab "the stack":

Then I figure out how many days I will need meals til my next payday. For this period of time it is 14 days. Make sure you include recipes that use up your stuff in the pantry and even weird condiments you have. For example, I have sauerkraut and pickles in the fridge, so I just need some homemade seitan to make Reuben sandwiches.

I make a little list and make spots to list 14 dinners. I also make a section for lunches. I only put about 7 because my BF eats leftovers from the previous days dinner 95% of the time and sometimes I eat free lunch at work.(lunch=salad unfortunately) The rest of the lunches are for weekends. I also listed 4 breakfasts because there are two weekends and then a few brekkie ideas for quick weekday grub. And there is snacks section cause we like snacks after stumbling home from the bar, haha.


Oh you can also see on top that I listed the stuff from the pantry/fridge that needed to be used.
As far as recipe sources, cookbooks are great, but blogs are awesome too. Especially right now because of MOFO. I get a lot of recipes from blogs, the PPK, Vegweb (searchable ingredients!) and cookbooks. I also make a lot of things that don't really require recipes (baked tofu, potatoes and sauteed veggies for example).

For cookbooks I like Vegan Brunch, Veganomicon, 1000 Vegan Recipes and A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen. I particularly like that last one because just perusing it gives me an idea of good seasonal ingredients even if I don't use the recipes themselves.
_______________________________________________________________________
STEP #3 Next I make a list of ingredients for when I'm shopping to make it easier. I list headings like "Produce" or "Freezer" so I can have some direction in the manic hell that is the grocery store. I do most of my shopping at the store that I have concluded was mostly the cheapest and had the best bulk bins. I also stop by whole foods for usually 1-3 ingredients that I can't find at the regular supermarket. I DO NOT do all my shopping there because it doubles my food bill.
You can see on my list I did put a few "convenience" items. I listed salsa because the fresh tomatoes are crap this time of year and I have been supplementing a cheap brand of salsa with my green tomatoes from my garden :) I also put Cheeze on the list because my BF requests pizza this month and we can strech one bag of Daiya pretty far. Of course you can always use a homemade substitute!



As far as organics you can use this guide to choose which ones to drop your cash on: http://gourmetfood.about.com/od/slowfoodorganiclocal/a/organicproduce_2.htm

I tend to buy about half and half...just because of money constraints. Also don't choose ahead of time the side veggies and fruits for your meals unless it's crucial to a recipe, check out at the store what's in season or what's cheapest.
Don't forget, if your store honors bag refunds, bring your own!
And the last big rule for shopping is DON'T DEVIATE FROM THE LIST! If there is one item outrageously on sale or something that is okay as long as you will use or freeze it, but try to stick to your list because impulse buys will kill you!
_______________________________________________________________________
I hope this helps people with their shopping and shows people that veganism does not mean spending tons of money! I am the world's least organized person so if I can take an hour to plan my meals, you can too! I know it really helps me from freaking out over what to make every night and my BF and I cut our grocery bill in half doing this. Just don't lose your list of dinners, haha. Happy Cooking ;)

PS Here is my cat trying to kill squirrels and crows with his mind powers from inside:

Yeah, good luck with that, Guthrie.

MOFO DAY TWO

Okay seriously, yesterday was only the second day and I didn't post....lame. So this is Day 2 really. Here's what I cooked yesterday and maybe I'll do a post later today too.

White Bean, Kale, and Rice Soup


Pretty much perfect for a chilly autumn night. This was sort of thrown together with the ingredients dictated by what was in my fridge and pantry.

I cooked the rice first and then dumped some into a pot that I had sauteed garlic in.
Then I added the white beans (which were cooked yesterday) and several cups of water.
I was out of broth, so I fudged it with some 'poultry' seasoning (I think it's usually parsley, sage, marjoram,rosemary,garlic and thyme or something like that), nooch, low sodium soy sauce and black pepper. With bean soups this usually works well because the beans themselves add some flavor to the cooking water.
Lastly I added the kale right into the pot raw, it got stewed pretty well in a couple of minutes. I sopped up all that brothy goodness with a baguette too......DELICIOUS!

PANCAKES!...and penny pinching

So....I did end up making those cinnamon rolls with several substitutions and just a sugar glaze instead of frosting and they were pretty good! However I forgot a picture and after the first day, they looked a bit grody but still tasted delicious heated up.

Today I made PANCAKES! A benefit of unemployment is making yourself breakfast in the not so early morning. (I now wake up at 8:00 instead of 4:45!!!)

These are whole wheat pastry flour pancakes from this veg web recipe: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=5337.0 since I didn't have all the ingredients for the Vegan Brunch pancakes.

I also used the Vegan Brunch whole berry sauce with just a little less sugar added in....so yummy! And cheaper if you have a few frozen berries in your freezer than real maple syrup.

I'm trying not to buy any food until I figure out if I can get some food stamps..I have an appointment later today to find out. My cupboards are so bare! :( At least there are pancakes! :)