I Want Tea and Black Bean Burgers!

My favorite thing to drink is tea. I absolutely love tea. My mom is a huge tea drinker. I remember always seeing her with a cup of tea the whole time I was growing up. Guess I got it from her. I have a cup sitting in front of me now as I type this. I also love mugs. I love wacky and fun looking mugs. My current favorite is my monkey mug. I have loved it since I first laid eyes on it. It was only 5 dollars. I couldn't pass it up. There's also a zebra, a giraffe and an elephant. I'll be sure to show those off in a later post.

Another favorite of mine are my black bean burgers. I make amazing Black Bean Burgers. I topped these off with sauteed mushrooms, avocado spread, lettuce and mustard.

I went over to my friend Heather's house to cook dinner for her again and decided on these because they are just amazing. I blogged BBQ black bean burgers, however you can add whatever kind of sauce you like to the mixture. I've done Dijon mustard, bbq sauce and I've also done ones with salsa. These I used a tomato based sauce (it was what was available). If using this recipe, replace the amount of bbq sauce with whatever sauce/salsa that you wish. That's the best part about black bean burgers. They can be so versatile! They worked out extremely well when I made Panko Friend Black Bean Patties.

Creamy Veggie Potatoes

These were tasty. Very filling. Hit the spot.


Zucchini/Bell Pepper tofu

Probably one of my favorite things I've had for breakfast lately!

-1 Bell Pepper, diced
-1 Zucchini, diced
-1/2 tub firm tofu, crumbled
- diced onion
-1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- garlic (fresh or powdered)
- salt and pepper to taste

Quick and easy. Dice veggies and cook them in 1 tbsp olive oil until softened. Add crumbled tofu and spices. Cook until water from tofu is evaporated. TA DA!

The slacking is over. Back to blogging!

It's been a long time. The last blog I posted was back in July. Wow, that was quite some time ago. I've come back to blogging because I miss it. Yes, my life will be insanely hectic for the next 9 months as I prepare myself for graduation, but that doesn't mean I have to give up on what makes me happy. Blogging made me happy for the 1 year that I dedicated myself to it. It was so much fun and it helped me learn a lot more about what it is to be vegan and how to be a healthy one at that.

Ok, enough chatter. Here are a few things that I've eaten lately:

Grits and Kale/tomato/garlic tofu scramble:



Close Up Shot:

This is definitely one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast. Grits are amazing AND filling. I didn't feel hungry again for many, many hours. Plus, you can't go wrong with kale, tomatoes and garlic.

Sauteed Seitan Over Rice

When I first started cooking seitan I thought it was horrible. I followed someone's recipe and found it to be completely YUCK! That's right! Com-plete-ly YUCK! I gave up on it. Few months later, being the open person that I am, I decided to give it another go. I used Isa Moskowitz's Simple Seitan recipe from VEGANOMICON and I have never had a problem with it since. Thanks, Isa.

Israeli couscous w/ Spinach and Tempeh:

This was very good. It was one of those "I just got home from working all day/throw something together really quick because I'M STARVING" dinners. Not a complete dinner but it was midnight and I just needed food.

The PIZZA:

Now that my good friend Heather lives in town again it gives me the opportunity to cook with someone. She's not vegan but is very interested in learning about the lifestyle and is open to trying just about any food I throw at her. This pizza was simple. Red pepper tomato sauce, sliced sun dried tomato Tofurkey Italian Sausages, thick slices of mushroom and topped off with Daiya Vegan Cheese. The melting was pretty good, but what got me was the taste of Daiya. Absolutely delicious. Won't mind using this every time I make pizza. Ialso sprinkled some Athens Seasoning on the crust for a little extra somethin'.

MmMmMm... So good:


The Holidays:

Thanksgiving was a bust. I didn't cook anything! I just went to my sisters house and filled up on my brother's magical alcoholic concoctions. My family was pretty upset that I didn't bring anything that I could eat. I really should have. I have no excuses. However, Christmas was much different. I made myself Christmas dinner for the first time. I was very happy with it! Even my family was eating my food.

Mashed Garlic Red Potatoes w/ Kale, Green Onion:

Garlic Infused Seitan Roast w/ carrots, broccoli, mushroom:


My plate assembled:



No Recipes this post, but I am having a much anticipated Vegan dinner party at my good friend Rob's house on the 31st. There will be plenty of pictures and I'll definitely throw some recipes at you. I may even have video footage for you all!

-Lee

MY 50TH POST!!!

Yeah, I know. Most people celebrate their 100th post, but screw all that. I'm proud that I have made it to my 50th post! I'm also ecstatic that I have almost 50 followers! I am very glad that you all have me in your thoughts. I hope I have added you all to my list of who I follow as well.

I figured since it was my 50th post I'd make it a big one! So let's get going! Sorry, there aren't any recipes in this particular post.

Last week I had some Tofurkey deli slices left and had myself a sandwich. Not a huge, wonderful sandwich, just a plain sandwich. It was good, not spectacular, but good. However, I wanted to jazz up the Vegenaise so I made a Spicy cilantro garlic spread. I mixed together crushed garlic, cilantro, Tabasco and Vegenaise. I'm not going to lie, it was just okay. It kinda had a funny taste to it, but the sandwich was still good.

Spicy Cilantro Garlic spread:

On the bread:

Just the deli slices, lettuce and the cilantro spread. I think what made my lunch better was the Three Bean Salad I had with it. The recipe is posted HERE in a previous post.

MmMmMm... Bean salad:



Tofurkey Sandwich:

A friend that I work with decided to move to Oakland, CA. This made me sad. What's even worse is none of the managers at my job gave him anything! No going away cake, no card, no we'll miss you... NOTHING! Shows how much they care about us. No one did anything for him and I thought that was kind of sad. Since I knew this was going to happen I planned to make him a whole cake just for him and his girlfriend Tonya to share. I'll miss you Allen!

Coconut Lemon Bundt cake from Veganomicon.

He had tried a slice of this cake when I took it to one of my good friend Joey's shindigs. He loved everything about the cake and asked me many times to make it for him. I kept up the whole, "I will... soon" for a good 6 months. I couldn't let him leave without making it for him. I told him I would and I refused to let him leave and remember me as the liar that never made his damn cake.

Topped off with powdered sugar:

He was so happy. I told him since no one did anything for him he shouldn't feel the need to share (bitchy of me?) but he shared anyway. Now the whole store wants me to bring in cake on a regular basis.

Breakfast Grits, Day 1:

I haven't had grits since I lived at home. I don't know why I waited so long to make this! My mom use to make grits for breakfast all the time! My mom is in town right now and I got to hang out with her a few days ago. Since then I have been thinking about her a lot and I remembered how she cooked grits and eggs for the whole family (me and my 9 brothers and sisters) on a regular basis. Since I don't eat eggs now I made tofu to go with it (I'm out of green onions unfortunately, but it still came out good).

Grits, Day 2:

I kicked it up a few DOZEN notches this morning when I had this. I topped my grits off with a super delicious teriyaki tofu/seitan scramble. I could honestly eat this every day! It was super simple. all you need is:

-1/2 tub tofu
-teriyaki sauce
-seitan (I made the Simple Seitan from Vegamonicon)
-1/2 cup chopped onion
-Vegan magarine
-nutritional yeast
-bit of salt/pepper

I don't have exact measurements, I threw in about 1 tbsp of each. (except onion and salt) It came out really good. I highly recommend it.

Veggie/Seitan Stir Fry:

In September my roommate and one of my best friends is moving to CA. This does not make me happy, but I am happy that he is finally graduating and getting out of Vegas once and for all. So, when he moves I will be moving in with the other best friend Joelle and her boyfriend. I went over to hang out the other day and brought some of the homemade seitan for her. (She's vegetarian) Her very un-vegetarian boyfriend took the seitan and whipped up an amazing vegan friendly veggie stir fry for us! It... was... so... DELICIOUS!!! He made sure to clear all ingredients with me before making it. (which was only 3 ingredients besides the veggies! Genius!)

Supa dupa tasty:

And last but not least...

Bumble Bar:

My wonderful friend Magda came to pick me up for the gym last week and brought me a little gift. I use to eat these like crazy and I hadn't had one in over a year. It's like they were somehow erased from my thoughts. I love these. Especially when I am running out the door and don't have time to make food for myself (which happens WAY too often).


And there we have it. My 50th post. I hope it wasn't too lame or boring for you. I also apologize for no real recipes in this post. I will make it up to you, I swear.

-Lee

Scrambled Tofu

Front: Scrambled Tofu, Behind: Salsa Variation

When I first became an herbivore I decided to try tofu. My mom ate it all the time when I was growing up but I never liked it. She also use to eat it by the scoop right out of the container and that really grossed me out as a kid. At first when I started cooking it I didn't like it but I later realized that I wasn't making it properly and that is why it was so tasteless. I have learned to love tofu like most vegan and vegetarians. GO TOFU!!!!!

Simple Scrambled Tofu

1 container extra firm tofu (crumbled)
1-2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1-2 teaspoons salt
1 tbsp olive oil
few cloves of garlic OR garlic powder
3 stalks green onion chopped
OPTIONAL: few scoops of your favorite salsa


Heat a medium sized skillet to med heat. If using fresh garlic you ant to use 1tbsp olive oil and cook your garlic first. If not add your tofu directly to an non oiled pan. Cook the tofu on medium to medium high heat and stir once every 30 seconds or so. The thing is you want your tofu to be drained of most of its wetness. Once the tofu is dry lower heat. add 1tbsp olive oil and mix thoroughly. Add nutritional yeast, salt, and the chopped green onion. Mix until all is blended. If adding optional salsa add last and mix well.

This tasted really good with my German Sunflower seed bread. If you want to add margarine instead of the olive oil feel free.