My First All Vegan Thanksgiving

This year was dinner at my pad. I was joined by my brother, sister, sister's BF, a friend, and my mom... I bought a a few items premade just to make the task a bit easier: Pepperidge Farm Stuffing Mix, Hain Gravy, a Tofurkey, canned corn, and a frozen vegan pumpkin pie. The only thing I enjoyed out of these prepackaged items was the gravy. The Tofurkey also turned out pretty good, but nothing mind blowing.

 Spinach Dip served with Wheat Thins

Salad served with vegan ranch or poppy seed dressing

Homemade mashed potatoes, seasoned with red onion, garlic, and parsley

Sweet potatoes, roasted and seasoned with vegan butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar, courtesy of my bro

Main dish, a Tofurkey Roast surrounded with carrots, onions, celery, and potatoes

Tofurkey Roast sliced up for serving

Pumpkin pie topped with Rice Cream

So full... I had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year being around like minded people. Yay :)

Vegan MOFO: Catch Up!

Yes I have been absent lately with my boring food posts so here is a big post for all the days I missed!

Tuesday:

B: Pumpkin Odwalla Drink
L: Rainbow Salad and Pumpkin Spice Soy Milk
D: Leftover Tofu Scramble, Leftover Peruvian Seitan, Pumpkin Spice Soy Milk, and 2 handfuls of raw cashews

Wednesday:

L: Fish Grill's (Yuck) side order of french fries and a side order of grilled zuchinni... Boring
S: Various candy (Airheads, Skittles, lollipop) 
D: Latin Inspired Quinoa (Used Viva Vegan's Red Seitan, olives, corn, onions, kidney beans, green bell pepper, garlic, oregano, cumin, salsa, and leftover quinoa) served with a dollop of vegan sour cream and Chocolate Peppermint Silk Soy Milk (This brand is disgusting! Vitasoy is far better!!!)

Thursday:

B: Pumpkin Odwalla Drink
L: Rainbow Salad
D: Teriyaki Tofu and leftover Peruvian Seitan, Chocolate Peppermint Vitasoy, handful of cashews

Friday:

B: Green Machine Naked Juice
S: Skittles
L: Rainbow Salad
S: An entire bag of Snap Pea Crisps (Addicting!!) and some Wheat Thins

Saturday:

L: Rainbow Salad
S: Starbucks Peppermint Mocha with soy milk
D: Leftover Latin Inspired Quinoa with a mound of homemade guac on top (1 ripe haas avocado, teaspoon lemon juice, salt, tablespoon vegan mayo, 2 tablespoons green onions, 2 tablespoons cilantro)

Sunday:

Not very hungry...
S: Iced Starbucks Peppermint Mocha with soy milk
L: Viva Vegan's Pan-Fried Tempeh with Sofrito (I thought this dish was alright, I am not a tempeh fan and this dish didn't change my mind about its yummy-ness at all unfortunately)

Today:

B: Mango Naked Juice
L: Chipotle's Vegetarian Bowl (Yummy!)
D: Leftover VWAV Black Bean, Quinoa, and Mushroom Stuffed Pepper topped with Creamy Chipotle Sauce and vegan sour cream

Vegan MOFO: Second Favorite Recipe and Rainbow Salad

So as you may have figured out by now, my first most favorite thing to eat is Viva Vegan's Peruvian Seitan Skewers, second to that is VWAV's recipe for Quinoa, Mushroom, and Black Bean Stuffed Peppers. This is my go to recipe for stuffed peppers and it turns out phenomenal every time. I made the peppers tonight though as a birthday present to one of my coworkers tomorrow (I only give away 1 and hog the rest for myself).

I also ran out of Rainbow Salad so I made a new batch which should last me 5 days. Tomorrow I will be grilling up some Teriyaki Tofu, it's marinating in the fridge as we speak.

Vegan MOFO: This weekend I made...

Yesterday I made an one of my all time favorites, an amazing Tofu Scramble.

Ingredients:

14 oz block extra firm tofu (not pressed)
1/2 a green bell pepper, diced
1/2 an onion, diced
A few baby carrots, diced (optional)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Black salt (kalma namak) to taste or just regular sea salt

Directions:

- Turn burner to medium heat and add olive oil, bell pepper, onion, and carrots. Crumble the tofu with your fingers over the pan to add it to the pan too.
- Cook up the tofu and veggies, stirring occasionally, until you tofu turns golden. Once golden, add all of your spices. If you are using black salt sprinkle it on your scramble right before eating it, if you are using regular salt add it along with the rest of the spices.

Today I made my favorite recipe in the whole wide world, Viva Vegan's Peruvian Seitan Skewers... Yummmmmmm

Vegan MOFO: Lunch and some new goodies

Today I got paid so I hit up the health food store for some vegan goodies! I got Silk Pumpkin Spice Soy Milk and Wayfare Hickory Cheddar Cheese Spread both were sinfully delicious! Above is my yummy lunch: Rainbow Salad topped with Teriyaki Tofu and soon to be slathered in Vegan Ranch Dressing, Pumpkin Spice Soy Milk, and Wayfare Hickory Cheddar Cheese Spread with Wheat Thins.

Vegan MOFO: Yessss Leftovers, Yesssss Again

Sorry I'm boring anyone reading this to death but most of my meals are plain or leftovers. Also, with the ex leaving me high and dry with all the bills, I really don't have much money to buy fancy vegan stuff (Except for my love obsession with Reduced Fat Vegenaise), or to try out tons of new recipes that require a bunch of things I don't have on hand. This too shall pass and one day I will have more money just not anytime too soon... So on with my boring day of food and some shots of my empty fridge and emptying pantry.

Today I consumed:

B: Mango Naked Juice
L: Rainbow Salad, black iced tea
D: Leftover roasted cauliflower and leftover roasted potatoes, vanilla soy milk

I also made a huge batch of Teriyaki Tofu for my Rainbow Salads <3

I promise I will be cooking this weekend, probably most things you've seen before just cause Viva Vegan recipes require so little bizarre ingredients and taste so great I just can't help but make them!

On to my humble abode kitchen...

Fridge:

Well if I run out of food I always have tons of condiments!

Pantry:

Vegan MOFO: A few typical days...

Sorry I missed MOFO-ing yesterday but I will make up for it today by posting 2 days worth of food...

Yesterday's Grub:

B: Vanilla Soy Protein Odwalla drink
L: Rainbow Salad, black iced tea + vanilla almond milk, pistachios
D: Garbanzo Bean Sammie Spread (Just made a fresh batch!) with Wheat Thins, vanilla soy milk, Oven Roasted Cauliflower with Rosemary and Garlic

Today:

L: Rainbow Salad, a really yummy homemade Indian potato and cauliflower dish, black iced tea, few pieces of candy
D: More of the Indian dish, and some roasted potatoes based on my memories of THIS recipe but not measured at all, vanilla soy milk

Look at all the pre-made Rainbow Salads I have awaiting me :) Romaine, green bell pepper, corn, peas, black olives, green onion, and kidney beans... All it's missing is some Teriyaki Tofu which I will be grilling tomorrow (Have it marinating in the fridge as we speak) and a good slathering of Vegan Ranch!

Vegan MOFO: Barbecue Brussels Sprouts

VegWeb's Barbecue Brussels Sprouts really hit the spot. It may sound bizarre but I'm a big fan of brussels dipped in barbecue so having them roasted in barbecue was really delicious and quick. I left out the garlic this time as I just did this recipe from memory.

Vegan MOFO: Smokey Refired Beans

 Oh my God peoples! I just made THE MOST AMAZING REFRIED BEANS and I would like to share them with you!
Smokey Refried Beans:
- 1 pound dried pinto beans, soaked overnight, then rinsed
- 4 bay leaves
- 1 to 1.5 teaspoons sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 onion, quartered
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke

Directions:
- Place all ingredients (except for liquid smoke) into a big pot and cover with about 1.5 inches of water.
- Bring everything to a boil, then cover and everything simmer for 2 hours.
- Drain your beans in a metal colander and pick out the bay leaves.
- Place your cooked bean and onion mixture into a food processor along with the liquid smoke and let it do its magic for a minute or two until nice and creamy.
- Taste and see if additional salt is needed and don't ruin your beans by over-salting them!

See you don't need oil or lard to make creamy refried beans, just use a food processor!

Vegan MOFO: Another Typical Food Day

Today was another typical day in Amy land LOL as I'm still eating my way through leftovers...

Breakfast: Odwalla Vanilla Soy Protein drink
Lunch: What I crave on a daily basis: Rainbow Salad with Teriyaki Tofu and Vegan Ranch, vanilla soy milk

Din Din: Leftover modified Cheesy Bean and Cheese Enchiladas with some Creamy Chipotle Sauce slathered on top (I was out of vegan sour cream)

Vegan MOFO: Vegan Ranch

Today the only food item I made was some Vegan Ranch so I will have some to slather on tomorrows Rainbow Salad. I love homemade vegan ranch and praise God for the invention of Vegenasie (I use the Reduced Fat variety, can't even tell the difference) I can't imagine eating a salad not covered in the stuff!

Today I consumed:

Breakfast: Odwalla Vanilla Soy Protein Drink
Lunch: Wahoo's Banzi Veggie Bowl with black beans and a side of guac + iced black tea (from work)
Dinner: Rainbow Salad slathered in vegan ranch, leftover Viva Vegan Drunken Beans with Seitan Chorizo + Silk Organic Vanilla Soy Milk

Vegan MOFO: Grilled Teriyaki Tofu and Garbanzo Bean Salad Sandwich Spread

Today was a pretty awesome day food-wise but not so much cooking-wise. For breakfast I had a Vanilla Soy Protein Odwalla, I love these things! Also, since it is that time of year, you can get the Pumkin Soy Protein Odwalla which I always look forward to and have been know to hoard it whenever I see it! For lunch, I got to eat lunch from my favorite Thai restaurant, Thai Garden in Foothill Ranch, and ordered my favorite dish, Spicy Basil with Tofu and I finished the whole thing. Dinner will be something light if I even get hungry, most likely a Rainbow Salad.

I did make a few things tonight though, Teriyaki Tofu and Garbanzo Bean Salad Sandwich Spread... Both staples around here!

Vegan MOFO: A Spin on VegWeb's Cheesy Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

I've made VegWeb's Cheesy Bean and Cheese Enchiladas about 3 or 4 times now and they always turn out fantastic! This time around I switched up the recipe a bit to use up some of the my leftovers.

Here's what I did:

- I added 1/2 cup of TVP to the mixture and a tablespoon of taco seasoning
- Subbed a can of hominy for 1 of the cans of beans
- Subbed some sliced mini bell peppers instead of using 1 of the onions
- Threw in a chopped tomato
- Added probably double the amount of olives
- Added half a can of corn
- Used a smallish can of green enchilada sauce for 1 casserole full and red taco sauce for the other
- I used corn tortillas this time instead of flour

It turned out pretty darn tasty but I had so much filing I wiped out an entire package of corn tortillas! Looks like leftovers for the next week for me. I'm going to try to do my best with Vegan Mofo, I won't always have new foodie pics but I will post just to say, "Hey look what I ate today!"