"Milk" Making Adventures

I was outta funds but brainstorming foodie ideas as usual... I heard on VegWeb that you can make Oat Milk and was given this BAD RECIPE LOL for like Oatmeal Milk... I thought it was similar to drinking slime, though I've never actually drank slime though :) I say skip this recipe, though one VW user swears by it, I do not concur.

 (Plain Oat Milk)

(Chocolate Oat Milk ((Just added chocolate syrup)) was bearable when blended with some ice to make it shake-like)

Then I tried Rice Milk. First I attempted it in my Soyabella "Milk" Maker and it was a fail... Gooey mucous slime... 

 Then I tried This Recipe, with totally expected success cause this chick seems to know her shit, and slimy failure once again :( This could be my fault? I dunno.

 I've had a Soyabella "Milk" Maker since Christmas and finally decided to bust it out after months of dust collecting (First attempt at Almond Milk sucked cause you really need to purchase a Nut Milk Bag or it will be gritty). I had a shit ton of raw almonds in the freezer and some PURE VANILLA EXTRACT so I went for it. Epic SUCCESS! Here's what I did/ do:

Vanilla (Or Plain) Almond Milk:

1 cup raw almonds, soaked overnight and rinsed.

6 cups purified water

2 t PURE Vanilla Extract (Not cheap stuff!!!), omit if making plain "Milk"

1/4-1/3 cup white sugar (I like sweet "Milk")

1/4 t sea salt

Directions:

Follow Soyabella's instructions, this recipe is slightly adapted from the recipe book provided with the machine. Make sure you strain this through a nut milk bag once the milk has cooked and cooled.

(Vanilla Almond Milk served up with a toasted Pumpkin Bagel and Tofutti "Cream Cheese")

(Pumpkin Pie with crappy crust and modified version of Cashew Cream)

You will have leftover almond pulp/meal/flour if you strain through the nut milk bag... I didn't want to waste the pulp cause nuts are expensive homie! I tried making a pie crust which was an epic fail (Fell apart, my first attempt at using the pulp, I think it was too moist). The Pumpkin Pie was still good though, I just picked the crust off and dolloped some Cashew Cream on top! For the Cashew Cream, I recommend soaking the cashews and using "milk" in place of water and less.

To get the almond pulp less moist, I decided to bake it at 350F I believe for an hour or two, depending on how much pulp you have. One it loses it's moisture and cools a bit, I whiz it around in my food processor to make a flour like substance.

I also used VWAV's Pancake recipe to sub some almond pulp. I think I over did it though and subbed too much (I hear you can sub half for regular flour, I did like 3/4 cause I'm an idiot)... The pancakes were still very yummy with some cheapy "maple syrup" and powdered sugar :)

Feel free to send me some ideas on what to do with this abundance of almond pulp, I'm swimming in it.

I also tried Cashew Milk and strained it through the nut milk bag and got slime... Enough with the slime!

Peace, Love, Vegan <3

Spicy Eggplant with Tofu

Spicy Eggplant with Tofu is my favorite dish at my favorite restaurant Thai Garden in Foothill Ranch. I really want to recreate this dish sooooooo bad! This recipe comes close. The technique used for baking the tofu is a new technique for me that I plan on using often! The only substitute I made was to use vegan "oyster" sauce. 

http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=1774278

Recipes I've Posted On VegWeb

Here are pictures of a few of the recipes I've submitted on VegWeb. The first 2, I make ALL THE TIME... The last one, Pico de Gallo, I've only made once but it was heavenly :)

Vegan Taco Soup 

Nowadays, I omit the vegan ground "beef" crumbles and saute the onion and garlic in water to eliminate needless fat. I also add TVP usually towards the end of cooking (The fine granule kind, not chunks), about 3/4 cup and mix in to incorporate, as it cooks quickly.

My go to recipe for Potato Salad... Yummmm, think I might have to make some again this weekend!

Lastly, Pico de Gallo!

The recipe still hasn't been fixed on VegWeb but basically forget the liquid part in the directions! Just chop everything and mix it together, the tomatoes will omit enough juices on their own.

Peace, Love, Vegan <3

Breakfast at Mother's Market

Breakfast at Mother's Market:

As you peeps know, I love Mother's Market. Last weekend, I was fortunate enough to be treated to a breakfast feast by my friend Troy (Thanks Troy)... Troy watched Forks Over Knives and has decided he wanted to change his diet and came to me for some help and guidance :) This coming Sunday, I am driving down to San Diego to go shopping and teach my buddy how to cook some easy and delicious vegan grub.

Troy ordered the Ma's Flap Jacks, which were huge! Yummmmm! He also ordered some kind of carrot juice (I don't know where the picture went!) and a shot of wheat grass.

I got the Antioxidant Smoothie which was pretty good... Kinda icy and thick instead of creamy and smooth like I prefer, but good none the less.

I also got the Tofu Omelette stuffed with avocado, bell peppers, and onions, served with herb roasted potatoes and raisin swirl bread... The Omelette needed some nut yeast or something... I think I'm going to try to make my own this weekend... I'm guessing all you need to do it process the tofu into batter, season well (Which this omelette lacked), and add some sauteed veggies in the middle... Sounds easy peasy for sheezy :)

Peace, Love, Vegan <3

The Post-A-Thon... Massive Unload Part 7

Convenience Food:

As a vegan, I rely on my fair share of convenience foods, though I much prefer to cook a yummy meal or eat the typical leftovers my yummy homemade meals provide... Sometimes though, I just want to shove food in my fat little face with little effort and I recently hit up the 99 cents store and found an abundance of cheapy items! If I wasn't at work I would have picked up more veggies and cold stuffs!

I love me some Nissin Oriental Ramen, with about a tablespoon of garlic chili paste mixed in, as well as a cilantro garnish if I have it on hand.

I also love bagels, especially before bed (Bad I know) to settle my little tummy, typically slathered with some Tofutti Vegan Cream Cheese. <3 I just stumbled upon these Pumpkin Spice Bagels at Walmart today on my lunch break... Yummm

Gardein Crispy Tenders are the bomb peoples! Especially if you can steel some McDonald's barbecue sauce from your unsuspecting chicken nugget loving brothers. Ha!

I also love making french bread style vegan pizzas! Heat the oven to 400F pile with pasta sauce and your favorite veggies and sprinkle a little Daiya vegan "Mozzarella" and bake for about 10 minutes and you got some bomb pizza, especially if you have some Vegan Ranch for dipping purposes!

I also cannot live without Tofurkey Deli Slices! My current favorite is Hickory but Peppered is also legit... Look at this yummy sammie: Hickory Tofurkey, Vegenaise, avocado, tomatoes, romaine, spicy mustard... I think I'm in heaven <3 Especially with a little Sriracha squirted on every bite!

These Fudge Sticks are divine! Mind you, I am more lenient on iffy ingredients than a "Level 5 Vegan" unless I am told straight out that the company confirmed such things as "Monoglycerides" are animal sourced. These look vegan enough for me for the time being.

Lastly, some of my spread from the 99 cent store... Good finds include jarred pimentos, pasta, ramen (Which the packet ones are gross so far), spicy ramen noodle cups, onion dip mix...

Also, I grabbed a few produce items that I knew wouldn't take up much room in the work fridge, baby carrots and this big head of broccoflower!!!

I spent under $5!!! And I plan on going early this weekend to check out the produce at the 99 cent store closer to my house! They also have cheap bread! Squeeee :)

Peace, Love, Vegan <3

The Post-A-Thon... Massive Unload Part 6

Manjula's Kitchen (Indian Food):

Have you checked out this blog, Manjula's Kitchen? Sweet Baby Jesus, what an easy way to learn how to cook some bomb Indian food! All vegetarian and an abundance of vegan recipes with easy to find ingredients (Mind you, I live in So Cal, not out in the sticks)!

I made 4 dishes within a few hours and I loved all of them except for the Chana Masala (Pictured above), but mind you, this is the second recipe I've tried for this dish and I just don't get what the hype is and I am a huge fan of chickpeas!

Here are the other 3 dishes I loved:

 Aloo Masala

 Aloo Gobi

And my favorite so far... Aloo Mattar!

Go try and cook some Indian food! The main ingredients seem to center around Potatoes, Tomatoes, Green Chiles, Cilantro, Cumin Seeds, Turmeric, Hing, Ginger Paste, and Oil... 

Easy Peasy for Sheezy <3

The Post-A-Thon... Massive Unload Part 5

Restaurant Food Porn:

(Native Foods Green's Salad)

So I'm sure you peeps know, I live in So Cal where good vegan food is not so hard to find, thankfully! I do most of my "specialty" shopping (Cheap organic tofu, Earth Balance, Vegenasise, Tofutti Cream Cheese, Tofurkey Deli Slices, Nutritional Yeast, broth, etc.) at Mother's Market. Why I put "cheap" in bold is because I can still find most of these items in grocery stores but they are typically half the price at Mother's, as these aren't seen as such "specialty" items at a health food store chock full of vegan goodies! 

Mother's also has an awesome deli case with a deal for 3 hot items for $6.99 (Perfect for lazy hungover weekend days!). Some days they don't have much to offer, other days, it's a gold mine! I am usually happy if they at least have a vegan pizza out so I can have two Daiya cheese covered slices along with another item from the case. 

Last weekend, I chose 2 vegan pizza slices (One pictured above) and some barbecue soy "chicken". The "chicken" was especially tasty with some leftover rice from some vegan Thai takeout at Jumbo Thai Cuisine.

So on to Jumbo Thai Cuisine (Sorry their website isn't up an running yet so I used the best link I could find above)! I love the fact that they have a small section labeled "Vegan Dishes" but what I don't understand is that the restaurant has a huge VEGAN sign in the window yet most of the dishes they serve are not vegan?! 

I do appreciate how helpful the owners are in letting you know what meat dishes can be veganized but I feel like Jumbo Thai alienates both of their potential audiences: Typical "sheepoles" who want to mack on Thai animal fragments and run the opposite direction at anything vaguely vegan and vegans/ vegetarians who foolishly go in thinking that this is a legitimate vegan restaurant. 

I mean shit, what if I was that big if a dumb ass that I just phoned in my order thinking the Mongolian Beef was "Beef" made from wheat gluten or something?! I am developing a relationship with the owner, a VERY friendly lady, who knows me since I have come in a few times and talked to her while I was waiting for my food and the restaurant was empty... I am eventually going to tell her she should lose the sign that screams "VEGAN" so that this little gem stays in business!

First off, I would like to mention, the prices are cheap, especially the lunch specials! Here are a few dishes I tried when my battery was getting replaced at the Pep Boys nearby.

Spicy Eggplant with Tofu (This is my favorite Thai dish typically at any Thai restaurant so ya, I liked it!)

Pad Thai sans the egg (barf) before a good mixing...

Post mixing... Very good! I needed to dump on some Sriracha though to make it spicier.

 This is Young Ginger Thai Style with Tofu... This was okay, lots of shrooms and ginger... The owner recommended it. I personally wouldn't order it again though even though I don't particularly dislike any of the ingredients, it was just overkill.

(My personal favorite thing on Earth: Native Foods "Chicken" Wings)

Lastly, my love child, Native Foods, that has blessed this sweet Earth with happy hour every Friday 3pm to 6pm, which encompasses half priced appetizers and drinks! 

(My sisters favorite, Sweet Potato Taquitos... Sorry peeps these are greasy tacos, just sayin!)

I rush over straight after work to meet up with my sis every week we possibly can coordinate our schedules so we can stuff our happy, fat little vegan faces with as much food as we possibly can!

(Native Nachos are the bomb!)

This week, Chef Tanya was at the Aliso Viejo location we always hit up and was delighted to see us squealing with our typical joy as we fill up on half priced appetizers galore. She had us shoot a little video for yelp or something telling how we (Well my sister cause she was all dolled up so I nominated her for the role haha) loved Native Foods. We got a free Strawberry Shortcake Parfait for our difficult task :)

Saigon Roll (This is purdy but not orgasmic or anything)

Peace, Love, Vegan <3

The Post-A-Thon... Massive Unload Part 4

The Vegan Mouse's Mini Wet Burritos:

These Mini Wet Burritos, or rather enchiladas in my opinion, are the bomb, seriously peoples! They even take the cake over VegWeb's Cheesy Bean and Cheese Enchiladas, and believe me, that means a lot! My love for this easy casserole probably comes from the fact that it incorporates quinoa, which I love, and I without a doubt almost always have every ingredient on hand... Go make these asap!

I had enough of the filling mixture leftover to fill some additional corn tortillas and was able to use up some homemade enchilada sauce I has laying around and just made some extra drizzle (The smaller batch with the greenish sauce and corn tortillas). I love how the drizzle turns from light pink to and orange "cheesy" looking color once it bakes in the oven, brilliant!

Peace, Love, Vegan <3

The Post-A-Thon... Massive Unload Part 3

VegWeb Recipe Pics and Reviews:

The first day I was vegan, I googled "Vegan Recipes" and found VegWeb, and all I can say is, "Thank God for VegWeb!" I was a pretty new cook in general before I went vegan and I can tell you that making vegan food never crossed my mind...VegWeb can pretty much take the credit for teaching me how to cook not just even vegan, but in general. I have come a long way and have screwed up countless times but screwing up teaches you what NOT to ever do again :)

My favorite recipe on VegWeb so far is Baha Tofu Tacos with Cilantro Coleslaw and my recipe for Vegan Tarter Sauce. The only change I have made is to double the amount of cabbage in the slaw but leave the rest the same.

This is my second favorite recipe on VegWeb, a simplified version of General Tao's Tofu. To simplify this recipe, I don't freeze the tofu, I use ginger garlic paste in place of the minced ginger and garlic, and I omit the sherry. If I have no veggies in my house (THE HORROR) I even admit the green onions and half the sauce which I did above.

I've made this Pumpkin Pie a few times as well (Never made the crust part), it requires at least 15 minutes additional baking time for me if I remember correctly. I dolloped some Cashew Cream on top as well (Modifications include soaking cashews, replacing water with vanilla almond milk and using less of it).

Above is VegWeb's Chipotle Roasted Red Pepper Chowder. This soup will be in the regular rotation once it cools down again. Love it! I can't wait to try it in a bread bowl <3

This is my go to pasta salad recipe, Southern Macaroni Salad (With bowties obviously above), I add the dressing right before serving this because it always soaks into the pasta too much for me (Others on on VegWeb disagree with my thoughts so I'm probably doing something wrong!).

Lastly, what do you do when you want salsa but have no tomatoes and pretty scarce ingredients around? Halve this recipe of  Salsa Delicioso!!!! My modifications were :Used petite diced tomatoes instead of stewed, used garlic powder instead of fresh (Have no idea how much, accidentally dumped more than I meant to cause the cap fell off but still so so good!), fresh jalapeno instead of serrano (2 fatty ones not seeded cause I like spice), and left out the oil cause it just seemed unnecessary, and omitted the cilantro.

Check out VegWeb! It's my home away from home <3

Peace, Love, Vegan <3

The Post-A-Thon... Massive Unload Part 2

Part 2 of the Post-A-Thon will be called...

Slop: What you do when you don't have much money but need to eat some random food... 

You slop together what you have and pray it works... My slop skills have gotten pretty good, mind you, from lots of trial and error when my vegan slop journey began, 2.5 years ago :)

I eat a lot of rice and quinoa... as far as rice goes, I usually stick to my ever evolving, modification love child, Sweet and Spicy Fried Rice... All you need is cold cooked calrose rice, Braggs or soy sauce, Thai sweet chili sauce, and sriracha or chili paste, and oil... Then veggies (fresh or frozen), maybe some baked tofu if you have it... Honestly, whatever you have on hand that would taste legit in an Asian style rice dish here are a few examples: 

This version was frozen mixed veggies, onions, pickled diakon radish, and teriyaki baked tofu

This version was frozen peas and green beans, mushrooms, teriyaki baked tofu, and avocado added at the end <3

When it comes to quinoa, I enjoy it in slop stirfry dishes... I use cold quinoa cooked in my rice cooker (1 cup quinoa (rinsed), 2 cups veggie broth, and some cracked pepper) and add it at the end of cooking the rest of the ingredients in a slop dish. A few examples:

Indian slop: Pan fried drained and pressed tofu seasoned up with Indian spices, chickpeas seasoned with Indian spices, onions, bell peppers, canned diced tomatoes or tomato sauce (cannot remember), garlic, and quinoa, topped with cilantro.

Very similar dish but ran out of cilantro so not as purdy :(

I made a "Curry" (Quinoa underneath), with many of the same ingredients as before in addition to canned baby corn and coconut milk. I had cilantro this time :)

Tofu is such a go to protein for me because it is cheap, easy to quickly make, and delicious... This is a tofu stirfry where the tofu was coated with cornstarch, then fried until golden, next I added bells and onions, then some La Choy brand Sweet and Sour Sauce I had sitting in the fridge as well as some garlic chili paste.

I made a vegan lasagna but had extra noodles and lasagna fillings, so I slopped this together to make an easy pasta type meal (I gave the entire tray of lasagna I cooked to my grandma cause she loves it).