Pocket food for your belly!

I tried out the (obviously non-meat) Meat Pies from Weekly Vegan Menu.  I love this blog...everything turns out well and they are a family, so the recipes get kid tested!

The meat pies are fun little parsley biscuit wrapped pockets of yum!  They were a bit heavy on the dough for Brad and me, BUT the kids enjoyed them and it's always good to have a healthy little pocket meal that they can grab and cram in their face!  I added a little more salt and seasoning to the filling than they did, and I used Gimme Lean instead of Boca burger, but I'm sure any meat-ish substitute you like would work, or even just extra veggies.

In a non-meat pie related note...one of our vendors at work is super sweet and knows I'm vegan, so instead of bringing greasy doughnuts, he brings us Saint Cupcake cupcakes.  They always have a couple of vegan options, though they NEVER get creative with the vegan ones.  (If you are Saint Cupcake and you are reading this, I'm getting a little pissed off about only having chocolate and vanilla to choose from.)  My kids will eat anything with sugar in it (or just sugar...cut out the middle man), but NONE of them will eat the regular cupcakes from Saint Cupcake. They say the frosting makes their mouth feel gross.  I have to agree, I never liked their frosting much when I was vegetarian.  The vegan frosting however is friggin' awesome.  I highly recommend trying the vegan version if  you go!  You'll only have a couple of flavors to choose from, but on the bright side, it makes deciding which one to get so much easier.

What's creamy and golden and disappearing rapidly?!

I finally decided to serve something more creative than burritos last night and I made not one but TWO new recipes!!

First, the Cashew Cream Sauce with Sun Dried Tomatoes from Our Veggie Kitchen blog.  The sauce looks deliciously creamy and thick in their photo, but mine was SUPER watery. I don’t know if they really intended to say “add 3 cups of boiling water”, but the next time I make this I will cut it down to probably 1-1/2 cups of water.  By the time you add the can of un-drained tomatoes, it’s just way too much liquid.  To compensate, I added twice the indicated amounts of lemon juice, seasoning, and sun dried tomatoes.  It did turn out well…the kids loved it but it was a wee bland for Brad.  I think it will be a lot more flavorful when I make it with less water.

I also made the Crispy Golden Tofu from Vegan Dad’s blog and THAT was amazing!!!!!!!!  The last time I was dragged to Winco, I stocked up on some really firm tofu and froze it.  It is not remotely wobbly (because I hate wobbly foods. If it resembles jell-o or pudding, I will spit it back at you.), and it had an excellent, chewy texture after freezing and thawing it.  The mustard and hot sauce made for a super good flavor and I dipped it in some raspberry chipotle sauce!  I made them last night (and even my tofu-hater daughter ate some), but this pic is my mid-morning snack, so it’s not looking terribly photogenic anymore.  My carrot is hot though, eh?!  I’ll be making this again, but not TOO often because even healthy foods will stick to your fat ass when fried.

Weeping tiger, hidden bakery

I’ve been sick and busy so I haven’t cooked much lately.  Brad made his super delicious Noodle Meal on Monday night and he and I ate it ALL.  I’m more of a naked food person, so he’s the sauce master in our house.  I call him in to sauce our veggie burgers and noodles, etc.  I’ll have him share his Noodle Meal recipe and its million variations soon!

In keeping with my “no cooking” theme, we went out for lunch on Sunday to Bye and Bye on Alberta, an all vegan bar.  The food menu is limited but everything I’ve tried has been excellent!  Brad had the BBQ platter; it comes with yummy BBQ tofu, black-eyed peas, collard greens and a delicious, crispy toasted baguette.  He has had and enjoyed the Weeping Tiger sandwich before, but it is REALLY really spicy.  You think you’re more bad ass than a tiger, fool?!  I had the Meatball Sub and it was so good, I only intended to eat half and save half like a proper dainty girl.  I then picked at my “saving” half until it too was gone. I didn’t feel so dainty but I was pretty full and happy with myself.  My favorite thing about the sub…they used a delicious almond-oat cheese spread on the baguette and it was PERFECT. I’m not a huge fan of vegan cheeses that try and replicate actual cheese. They tend to have a texture that I can’t handle. The almond-oat cheese tasted perfect and didn’t make me gag once!

But let’s cut to the chase…the drinks are YUMMY, especially the Bye and Bye. It has peach infused vodka and bourbon, cranberry juice, and lemon. You can care for your bladder while you destroy your liver!  I took a picture of it to make Kristin thirsty. Now I torture you, too.

Back to Eden, the vegan bakery, is not walking distance from Bye and Bye. Or not on a yucky April day, anyway.  We drove up there (you have to keep your eyes peeled if you’re driving, it’s tiny and easy to miss) and I bounced around in front of the counter while the nice man made me a dish of chocolate soft-serve with caramel sauce and Dandies marshmallows, YUM!  Brad had a peanut butter shake and no one ended up wearing it so it must have been good!

Alberta, I love you and I will be back…and not only when I’m sick and lazy.