food food food food food!

Been busy working on a few different projects including some upkeep at the house. It's time for an update on all the happenings in the kitchen. First picture I roasted tempeh, yams, and red peppers topped with soy sour cream for some simple but really tasty fajitas. Next up Cranberry Almond Cookies from the Vegan Cookie Connoisseur. 

Getting back to some of the items on my menu I cooked up a batch of Crispy Tofu Squares which are baked not fried. Yea... I care about your health!  To balance out some of that health I made a 1/2 batch of Boston Creme Donuts. Plan to make some for the Vegan Iron Chef event in February.

Last night I made Tahini Tofu Wraps with roasted red peppers and red swiss chard. I found some rad Clay Oven Baked Lavash Bread at Trader Joes that I used for those. I'm pretty anti cake, but I had left over filling and topping from the donuts so I made a half dozen Boston Creme Cupcakes.

And then today, the reason I was motivated to sit down and write this entry, I got my Joyoung Soy Milk Maker. Personally I drink a lot of soymilk also almond milk from time to time. Also with all of the cooking & baking I tend to go through of a lot of 1/2 gallon containers. It amazes me how many Silk containers I recycle when we take our bimonthly trip to the recycling center. 

Within 15 minutes of UPS showing up I started my first batch. Didn't bother looking online for flavoring recipes yet just wanted to see how the machine worked. Added some agave and vanilla. Really liked it. Looking forward to making some almond milk in the next day or so also.

The last picture is from tonight. I made a "burger" with okara, bread crumbs, corn meal and seasonings on dave's killer bread with tomato and pan seared spinach. The smoothie is avocado, frozen strawberries and bananas, and soy milk from the batch that i made today. Okara is the left over pulp when making soy milk. 

Until next time...

roasted tempeh, red pepper, and yam fajitas.

cranberry almond cookies

crispy tofu squares

boston creme donuts

tahini tofu squares

boston creme cupcakes

okara burger & smoothie

gluten roast w/ stringbean & sweet potato casseroles.

Gluten Soy Roast w/ String Bean Casserole

String Bean Casserole

Sweet Potato Casserole

Gluten Soy Roast

 I'm a little bit last in typing this up but I spent a good part of 1/1/11 in and out of the kitchen. First I made the gluten soy roast from my menu. Its a pretty lengthy process but it's totally worth the results. Then looking through finding vegan I found a simple sweet potato casserole recipe that I wanted to try. It's more or less mashed garlic sweet potatoes with candied pecans on top. Simple, but very flavorful. Lastly I made the string bean casserole from my menu that happens to be another recipe from growing up that I converted to vegan. Definitely fit for a holiday meal.

clear skies, cold days, warm soup.

Carrots, potatoes, ginger, hing, and earth balance getting to know each other.

Carrot Ginger Soup.

We're in the midst of a 4-5 day stretch of clear skies here in Portland. The sunshine is welcome, however the temperature is not. It's easily 10 degrees warmer when we have cloud cover. Also rain in town means fresh snow out at the mountain. Enough about the weather. With the cold temperatures I thought it was a great change to cook up a batch of Carrot Ginger Soup from my menu. Cant beat the simple earthy tones and flavors of this one. Happens to be gluten free as well. Enjoy.