Indian Stir Fry with noodles

Cubed tofu lightly fried in shallow oil, peas, broccoli, onion, chinese noodles, and Good Korma Simmer Sauce .

The sauce was a little sweet, but they have all different flavors.  https://www.navanfoods.com/manufacturer/162

I also bought the Rogan Josh simmer sauce and wish I had used that instead because I like spicy.

Chik`n Fajitas

Chik`n cooked in fajita seasoning, peppers, onion and salsa!
Easy peazy lemon squeezy.

"Fried" Chik`n

(Picture is bad because I forgot to take a picture until I was already halfway through eating it. Haha)
I had some leftover chick`n strips that I wanted to use, and thought about just cooking them with a Chinese food flavored seasoning packets (I buy seasoning packets all the time. Taco, fajita, szechuan (sic), stir fry, etc flavors are some of my favorites to mix with a variety of fake meats), but instead tonight I found some spicy shake-n-bake to shake it up in. Moistened it with a little water, shook those babies up and baked them at 400 for probably about 10 or so minutes? They came out so crunchy.
Just had mashed potatoes on the side and dipped the "fried" chik`n in Baby Rays Sweet Vidalia BBQ Sauce.
So good.

Empty-Out-My-Fridge Soup

The weather is getting more and more bitterly cold by the day, making my cravings for soups and stews stronger and stronger.

I took a tupperware container full of some slow-cooker veggies I've had for a while that was cooked in stock and seasonings; carrots, green beans and baby red skin potatoes.  I also had a giant bag of cooked peas that I was able to swipe from my kids (the kitchen lets me take food all the time. Our lunch lady is a super hippie and would rather see me take it home than throw it out).

I put it all in my food processor with 2 cups of vegetable broth (Meijer brand) and got to work. Poured it into a pan, heated it up, took half of it back out and put it back in the food processor with the other 2 cups of veggie broth and whirred the shit out of it.  To my disappointment, I couldn't for the life of me get it to that creamy consistency that I was looking for.  Maybe I should have added some plain soy milk or soy creamer.  Damnit, my best ideas are always after thoughts.  Poured the liquidy soup back into the pot on the stove with a pile of chopped onion I had leftover from Thanksgiving, stirred it occasionally and heated it up thoroughly.  Ate it with a big chunk of soft rye bread and a glass of cabernet. 

-Sigh-

I also had a crap ton leftover to freeze!

Mac`N`Cheese`N`Peas, Birthday dinner and Dessert in one, Tex-Mex Mac`N`Cheese, and Not-Quite-Pad Thai! (2 out of 4 meals are vegan)

Well since I have been so lazy about posting it's about time I get started.  Let's start with the Mac`N`Cheese`N`peas, because its the easiest.  Sorry, non-vegan, but it is vegetarian, and I am only partial vegan (I bet that phrase makes some people cringe), plus there are like a hundred vegan mac n cheese recipes out there.  Mine was just macaroni and cheese out of the box with ALOT of peas thrown in.  It's the first time I've tried it this way and it was so crazy good.  The peas added a sweet mashy complex.

My 25th birthday was November 10th.  A while ago, I promised myself I would try my damndest to go vegan by my birthday.  I couldnt.  I tried, but many would say not hard enough.  At the very least I saw fitting to have a vegan dinner that night.  My boyfriend Chris made it for me.  It's wild rice and and a butternut squash with cinnamon brown sugar apples in the bowl of it.  He said it dinner and dessert in one!

Then this last one, while not vegan, can be easily veganized, but was still ridiculously tasty.  It's just macaroni and cheese from the box, half a packet of taco seasoning from the grocery store, a sprinkle of Lawrys (not neccessary but I did it anyways), a can of corn and some quick soak black beans.  VOILA!  

Now that brings us to tonight, where I tried to make vegan spaghetti make-it-up-at-the-last-second sort of pad thai.  I found some "Hawaiian Style" fried tofu, and I had a mushroom blend of some unknown mushrooms, and some onion.  I sauteed all of that with a healthy dose of ginger, red pepper, jerk seasoning, hot sauce, and a light barely sprinkle of cinnamon.   Then I just tossed it in spaghetti and oil.  Pretty good!!!

Annie Chuns Sushi Wraps

Bless the day I found these sushi wraps in the grocery store.  Among other items like rice and noodle bowls, this brand makes sushi wraps in sprouted brown rice and sticky white rice (I found the brown rice to be pretty darn sticky).

They come with a rice steamer bowl that steams rice in your microwave, 10 Nori wraps (that I cut in half so they were easier to eat, I find most sushi to be too large to even fit in my mouth, plus cutting the Nori wraps in half gave me 20 mini sushis), plus soy sauce.  Unfortunatly, no pickled ginger or wasabi.  Ill have to buy my own next time, oh and you better believe there will be a next time.

I made mine with orange peppers.  I made 4 at first, then went crazy and made all twenty and inhaled them.  The key is to let the warm rice sit on the Nori to soften it a little so its easier to roll.

  

Pasties!!!

Being the good Irish-Catholic family we are, my mum (yes, I'm born and raised in Ohio, and our Irish relatives are like my great-great-grandparents, but I still call my mum "mum" or "mumma" because that's what she called her mum and so on...) makes pasties (not a pastie, the nipple covers, a pasty) a few times a year, usually when it's cold, more specifically right before we go camping in chillier weather, like we are about to next weekend. They freeze beautifully, and are easier to make ahead of time and then cook up at the campsite. If you plan on doing the same, make sure you do cook them ahead of time and dont freeze them uncooked, because when you go to cook them after they've been frozen, apparently the potatoes turn black. I have no idea. I just do what I'm told. Haha.

The pasty is originally Cornish, but Britain and Wales and Ireland and Scotland (we're Scottish, too) all were very similar, culinary wise, and traded recipes often. The ones my mum makes are slightly smaller in girth than the ones in the picture, but yummy nonetheless.
The recipe is simple, but calls for steak or beef cubes. Guess what. I just leave them out and have veggie pasties. They can last a month or so in the freezer (we assume, they're usually eaten fast than that) and were originally meant to be eaten by hand. Great warm veggie pie on a cold day, plus, how many recipes do YOU have that include rutebaga? Now you do!

Pasty Crust
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup milk (I haven't ever made them with soy or almond or hemp milk, but I imagine it'd work)
1 cup shortening

Filling
1 rutebaga, chopped into smallish squares
1 medium onion, ditto
3-4 medium potatoes, ditto
3-4 carrots, ditto

Blend flour, salt and baking powder. Add milk to flour mixture. Add shortening, mix to texture of pie crust. Roll out the dough and use an upside down cereal bowl to make uniform circles. Don't roll the crust out too thin. Put in your filling, fold in half, and flute the edges with a fork to seal, like you would a regular pie crust. My mumma says she can get about ten pasties out of that much dough.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 min - hour, or until crust is golden and crispy and flaky.

The pasty has an interesting history. Does everyone else love food history as much as I do??

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_pasty