Get Ready for... The Post-A-Thon... Massive Unload Part 1

I haven't posted since freakin July, what a shame, I haven't eaten since July either, I weigh fifty pounds now... 

Kidding!!! So as I kick back this "Lovely"... Bizarrely cold, hail ambushed, rain filled, thundery... Saturday afternoon, tucked away in my cozy apartment with the pups, sipping a vodka, OJ, frozen banana concoction, I decided I need to unload... Food Porn that is, the "Stuff" I have been consuming... 

I've been low on funds lately, which has been a blessing in disguise as I get creative with what I have and even start making my own ALMOND MILK! Gasp... Enough talkin, well typing, cause I honestly can't stand to read blogs with tons of words... Just get to the point: VEGAN FOOD PEOPLESSSS...

Massive Unload Part 1: Viva Vegan

On July 3rd 2011 (Ya, I know, 2 months ago!), I spent the ENTIRE DAY making tamales out of Viva Vegan... The total count came to something like 116 tamales, I think I made 5 or 6 batches and I just finished eating them a week ago!!! I made the Farmers Market Tamales and Black Bean Sweet Potato Tamales. Pictured above are the Farmers Market Tamales paired with Terry's suggestion of Green Tomatillo Sauce. These tamales were very tasty and very easy to make because the veggies were mixed into the masa dough instead of filled inside. I love this green sauce even though I always skip the extra step of adding the sauce back to the pot to simmer at the end. 

The Black Bean Sweet Potato Tamales were excellent as well! I paired these with Terry's suggestion of Red Chile Sauce, if you can't see above, this is what happens when you burn the chiles, your sauce looks purple/ black... Blech... I thought it was gross... I added some agave nectar to mask the "Smokey" taste and people actually liked it. One friend even look horrified when I told her I dumped it cause I thought it was gross. I wish she would have told me that before I dumped it! 

I've made the Red Chile Sauce before though and it is very good! Just don't go all crazy over-toasting your dried chiles, maybe I passed out from the intense pepper fumes without noticing?! Oh ya, note to self, toast dried peppers with all the windows open and the fan on full blast, make sure you do this by your lonesome unless your friends and family don't mind gasping for air for the next 30 minutes :)

Next up, Empanadas! I've showed you these on my blog before and they are worth every minute of effort, seriously... Viva Vegan's Sweet and Spicy Seitan Potato Empanadas (Bolivian Saltenas), paired with Terry's recommendation of So Good, So Green Dipping Sauce (Green Aji Sauce).

I make this in batches: Filling make 2 days before, Dipping Sauce and Dough make 1 day before, day of make the EMPANADAS!!! Otherwise, do this on the weekend, as you would Tamales (Unless you are a vampire or zombie that doesn't need any sleep). Make sure you put anything made in advance in the fridge, I know vegan food typically spoils very slowly, but I made the mistake of leaving the filling out for like a day and a half on the stove and it went bad... I was sad :( wasting yummy food upsets me...

The Empanadas are orgasmic and the Dipping Sauce is known to have addictive qualities... Anybody that has ever had the privilege of trying this green sauce has begged for the recipe, no joke... I can almost read their mind as they come to my cubicle, eyes wide open... I say, "The Green Sauce?"... They say, "Yessssss OMG! I need to make it what is in it?!"... I hand them a photocopy of the recipe immediately, (My recipe tweaks jotted down) to avoid bodily harm... Problem solved, vegan victory :)

I've also made my favorite recipe out of Viva Vegan, Peruvian Seitan and Potato Skewers (Seitan Anticuchos). I typically leave out the potato and just do the Red Seitan, bell pepper, and onion... Pictured is the kabobs removed from the stick. I always broil mine for about five minutes on each side since I don't have a barbecue though, even if I had one, I would probably continue to do it this way.

Red Seitan is always an easy go-to when I want to make some "Beef" like fajitas! Which are pictured above, and below, along with some homemade jalapeno flavored refried beans and Viva Vegan's Yellow Garlic Rice (I make this rice dish almost weekly).

 

Lastly, is Viva Vegan's Cubano Vegano Sandwich made with Mojo Oven Roasted Seitan, I love this seitan recipe and the sammie is alright, a little too "Meat and cheese" centered for my tastes, but not bad... I prefer this Mojo Seitan recipe as is, paired with rice and veggies :)

Peace, Love, Vegan <3

Yep, I'm Still Alive & Kickin... This post will be about Restaurant Food

That sums this up... My lazy vegan restaurant food porn... Yup...

So if you didn't know, I LOVE NATIVE FOODS! Thank sweet baby Jesus there is one right by my house...

I love the Native "Chicken" Wings... Seriously, how do people make seitan that tastes exactly (well almost) like chicken?! I almost want to go work there undercover just so I can steal their recipes and stuff my little face with vegan goodies... Also, forget the Ranch and sub it for Chipotle Ranch! Holy smokes! Me and my sister said when we are in Heaven we will be eating these "Chicken" Wings along with some Sweet Potato Fries with endless amounts of Chipotle Ranch (Okay, I'll shut up now).

Oh ya and while you're at it, get a Green's Salad... Ask for the bigger bowl though so half of this magical salad doesn't end up on your lap! Oh, and yes, forget the balsalmic vinegar dressing and sub for, yep, Chipotle Ranch <3 (I'm done)!

I also have this vegan friendly restaurant right by my work that makes the most magical peanut dressing that you can buy! I love this dressing so much I might possibly OD on it. My favorite dish at Thai Garden is Spicy Eggplant with Tofu<3 Spicy Basil with Tofu, Garlic Lover with Tofu, and Chinese Broccoli Crispy Pork with Tofu (obviously) and not pork are also excellent choices. This is my favorite non vegan restaurant <3

I also went to Loving Hut, which is also close to my house. My Gma got the Chow Mein, which was really good and saucy!

I got the Lemongrass Tofu which was really dry and boring :(

I also got some vegan Cheesecake, which was good, not orgasmic.

The one thing I do like about Loving Hut is their food is pretty cheap for a vegan restaurant, but that becomes apparent in the quality of a lot of the dishes I have tried there. 

I am also very excited that Happa J's, in my hometown of San Clemente, offers a Vegan Taco during Taco Tuesday's! They are so yummy in my tummy along with a $2 Hawaiian Beer! The Vegan Taco consists of "Seasoned ground tofu, kim chee, and Asian slaw with Yuzu vinaigrette" on top of homemade corn tortillas... Squeeee :)

Peace, Love, Vegan <3

Vegan Fine Dining at Shojin in Los Angeles for my 27th Bday

For my 27th bday (Which was June 17th) I really wanted to go up to LA and mack on some good fancy vegan food. I've heard a lot of talk about this Shojin place and it was pretty darn good, mind you, I have had better, cheaper, and more filling vegan meals at places like Komol in Las Vegas and even my local Native Foods. This was a real treat though and very fancy :) so money well spent in my opinion. We also hit up the Museum of Contemporary Art cause they were showcasing a dope graffiti exhibit which I thoroughly enjoyed.

We started off the meal with a iced green tea for my friend and a natural soda for me... We also got water which was served at room temp with no ice?! Who the hell thinks this is normal or okay I do not know... I asked for some cubes :)

The green tea was so tasteless it sorta tasted like drinking water but it sure was purdy...

My friend Sierra ordered the Dynamite Roll... Very good presentation... I thought the mock tuna had a weird consistency, nothing like tuna, but I don't care much about those things as long as they taste good and don't contain animal parts :)

I splurged and got the Bento Box!

It came with a yummy Mixed Green Salad...

Miso Soup... Squeeee

The actual "Box" had Sushi, Fried Rice, Pumpkin Croquette, and Spicy "Chicken" Seitan... The only thing that was magical in that box was the seitan... I wish I could have just grubbed on a monstrous plate of that... These all came in sizes fit for a small child... But yes, I'm was fancy for a day ;)

For dessert we shared the Ice Cream Trio... Very pretty and pretty tasty as well.

I think I will try Shojin again but probably if I'm ever a "blaller" with lots of money to blow on small portions of pretty vegan food :)

Peace, Love, Vegan <3

I have been relying on vegan convience food a lot lately... Some food porn

For my birthday, I got $120 worth of gift cards to Trader Joe's, so I bought a lot of convience food I wanted to try but don't want to spend my funds on... Also, I heard via vegweb.com that Ralph's (Kroger) was drastically cutting prices on some vegan goodies (Half off!) so I bought lots of stuffs :)

YOU MUST TRY AMY'S TOFU SCRAMBLE HOT POCKET THING NOW!!!

TJ's Mochi is yummy! Never tried a non-vegan version but these were delicious :) Ice cream filling made with coconut milk <3

Inside these babies:

Here are the goodies I got from Ralph's... Cost me $40... I also hit up another Ralph's and got a few other things that I typically wouldn't buy cause it's too expensive...

The vegan chicken nuggets were ok... I remember buying a Morningstar or Boca version that I liked much better...

Tofurkey Vegan Pizzas are alright, def not worth the typical $10 price tag, but for $5, why the hell not?

"Cheese" with added veggies on top (This one was pretty good). I would cook as directed on the box but broil these pizzas for a minute or two so the "cheese" melts and tastes better

Tofurkey "Pepperoni" (Least fave, too much "pepperoni" that wasn't very good) additional veggies added again...

Tofurkey Italian "Sausage" Pizza, was pretty decent cause it had some veggies for pizazz...

I also bought Amy's Roasted Vegetable Pizza half off. THIS IS THE BEST PIZZA EVER (No cheese-like substance needed)!!!

I have been hitting up Mother's Market lately as well (Health food store with an awesome deli with lots of vegan dishes)... You can get 3 portions of anything in the deli-case for $7! 

 

Teriyaki "Beef" Chow Mein (Made with TVP chunks I'm guessing)... This was decent, I enjoyed the "Beef"

An Italian type "Chicken" dish I served over some leftover rice (Very good)

A "Shrimp" dish (Maybe Cajun?) served over rice as well... I think vegan shrimp makers have the shrimp texture down pretty good but the taste is lacking, still like this dish though!

Fettuccine Alfredo (Had some "Chicken" chunks that were probably TVP)... This was alright...

Peace, Love, Vegan <3

Life has been rough...

If you can't tell my posts have been sporadic...

So much going on in my existence that I need a little break from so many things...

I will be back once I figure myself and my life out... Reevaluating how I am as a person...

Hopefully I will be back soon but gotta just deal....

This has nothing to do with my eating habbits, my next post will have nothing to do with something like such... Veganism is so important to me and I will never go back, just other heavier things: heartbreak, friendships, spirtuality, self destructive actions...

Peace, Love, Vegan <3

Part 3 of the Post-A-Thon... Cookies, Wontons, Viva Vegan, and Soup

Robek's now has not only vegan smoothies but vegan cookies, check em out! I couldn't contain myself and bought 2 flavors: Oatmeal and Pumpkin... yummmmmm :)

I also made some vegan cream cheese wontons since I had some wonton wrappers to use up... This was the first time I made these puppies without my deep fryer (It was gross so I just threw the damn thing out) and they turned out spectacular :)

Viva Vegan cooking was in the rotation again so I tried a new recipe, Arroz con Seitan, and this is definitely a new favorite from the book!

I also made a tried and true favorite from the book, Mojo Oven-Roasted Seitan and Cilantro-Lime Rice, perfection...

I also made some Tomato Quinoa Soup from my friends blog and thought it turned out alright, it was kind of bland, so I added more tomato flavor in the form of tomato paste... It definitely thickened up as leftovers and I thought it could use some spice as well... Definitely edible but nothing to get wet over...

VegWeb's Grilled Avocado Sammie's... I slather one side with vegan mayo and the other with vegan cream cheese :)

My Sweet & Spicy Fried Rice... Always a easy peasy meal when I need food fast!

My first attempt at Portobello Burgers turned out tasty... I marinated these in garlic salt, pepper, olive oil, Braggs, and balsamic vinegar and baked at 400F for 35ish minutes, flipping halfway... I wanted to try the recipe out of Vegan Table for these but the damn cookbook vanished!

Peace, Love, Vegan <3

Round Two of the Vegan Food Porn Post-A-Thon... VegWeb's Potato Angel's

Okay here we go again! A few weekends ago, I made a tried and true favorite with a new twist: VegWeb's Potato Angels! This time, I added black salt (an Indian spice that gives dishes and "eggy" flavor) and OMG did this taste like a deviled egg (Well the yellow filling definitely did)... This was so good I swear you could use the filling (made out of potatoes, vegan mayo, yellow mustard, minced onions, pepper, black salt, and paprika) as spread for vegan egg salad sammies... Seriously legit folks... Get off your ass and get some black salt, look at this!

I served the Angel's alongside some tofu that I baked in Braggs and Olive Oil (find the technique in Viva Vegan) at 400F for 20 minutes and another 15 minutes or so slathered in store bought barbecue sauce, served with some roasted brussels sprouts...

The "Egg Salad" was served alongside some slices of Vegan Dad's Lunch Meat, thickly sliced and smothered in ketchup, served with roasted carrots and brussels...

Oh ya, and I also made some vegan sushi cause I can't go long without my fix... This was pretty simple since I didn't have much on hand... Just avocado, carrots, pickled radish and cucumber.

Sorry I've Been MIA...

I have a lot, I mean A LOT of catching up to do... It's Friday night and I have an appointment tomorrow in the AM so I will break my massive amounts of vegan food porn up into a few separate posts to keep you peeps (who are still paying attention to my blog) some stuffs to look at...

Easter (Yes, I know like a month ago) was quite a vegan success... I had a Tofurkey in the freezer and this was the last time I ever planned on making the damn thing again since, I felt it wasn't that "drool worthy"... Well holy crap, my Tofurkey turned out bomb on Easter... I did the soy sauce and herb mixture on the back of the package this time and probably doubled it... Perfection

I also made a vegan cheesecake from my friends blog Vegan Machine and oh my, did this cheesecake taste delicious! I boiled down some frozen berries with sugar for the cheesecake topping, my family scarfed it down!

I have also been doing tons of cooking out of my favorite cookbook, Viva Vegan... Here is some food porn to enjoy... Above is Gallo Pinto served with some vegan sour cream, tostadas, and random garnishes... It is also pictured below with some creamy chipotle sauce made out of vegan mayo blended with soy milk and canned chipotles in adobo (plus more random garnishes), with a side of homemade jalapeno refried beans.

I also made Viva Vegan's Peruvian Seitan Skewers and Yellow Garlic Rice and served them up with some Easy Elotes (canned corn, vegan mayo, and pico de gallo seasoning sprinkled on top).

Here is Viva Vegan's Quick Red Posole with Beans. I wasn't impressed with this dish unfortunately and will not be making this again...

I made 3 batches of seitan as well a few weekends ago: Red, White, and Chorizo Seitan... All turned out magical as usual as Viva Vegan's Seitan recipes never disappoint!

I used the Chorizo Seitan Sausages to make my new favorite soup: Potato-Kale Soup with Sizzling Chorizo!

Finally, I had some Classic Roasted Tomatillo Sauce in the freezer that I thawed and used to whip up some Potato-Chickpea Enchiladas with Green Tomatillo Sauce (Sans the nasty Cashew Crema)

That's all for this post! Stay tuned homies!

Peace, Love, Vegan <3