Buckwheat Pancakes

This morning I made the buckwheat pancakes from the Vegan Brunch cookbook. They were easy to prepare and are gluten free. I used a combination of buckwheat flour and corn flour. These were really good with Earth Balance margarine, maple syrup and a blob of apple butter. Yummy.

Granola: Breakfast of Champions.

Granola is a great breakfast to get you going in the morning. I was inspired by my friend's granola picture on her Facebook page and I knew I had to make some right away. Mine has rolled oats, ground flax seeds, sunflower seeds, slivered almonds, walnut pieces, pumpkin seeds, coconut, raisins, sultanas, cranberries, cinnamon, a "touch" of sunflower oil and sweeteened with date syrup.


And it all fit into the new jar I bought from Ikea! Can't wait for breakfast tomorrow. Going to have this with hemp milk, mmm...

"Full English", Vegan Style.

I've always loved the idea of the full english breakfast. Before I was vegan, I had one once in London. It had bacon, eggs, sausage, grilled tomato, mushrooms, beans and toast. I think there were potatoes or "bubble and squeak" too, I don't remember. Now that I don't eat meat or eggs, I have to improvise. Mine has scrambled tofu with onions, sauteed mushrooms, heinz beans (a british product), LightLife brand vegan sausage patties with some HP sauce on the side and tomatoes. I'm missing the bacon aspect because I really didn't want to add another protein to my dish! It was way too much food as it was!


Also included, hot ceylon tea and white toast with Earth Balance and apricot jam. This was a nice treat on my patio on this fine Labor Day holiday.

Monte Cristo Breakfast Sandwich

I only make these when I'm in the mood and it's not very often. It's decadent and oh so bad for you. Two slices of french toast fried in Earth Balance margarine, slathered with Vegenaise holding a few slices of Tofurky and melted Daiya vegan cheese and dipped in maple syrup. Ridiculously good.

Cooking out of the pantry: Breakfast Sandwich

Simple tofu scramble between two slices of whole wheat slathered with vegan mayo and topped with ketchup and hot sauce! I didn't have to delve too much into my pantry but it was nice to have these few ingredients for this delicious breakfast.

Pantry staples used:
whole wheat bread
herbs/spices: garlic powder, turmeric
ketchup
hot sauce

Other ingredients:
onion
firm tofu
Vegenaise

Ingredients I had to purchase: none

Happy Monday.

Well, not really happy Monday but you know, I try to be positive at the start of the week. Also a good breakfast doesn't hurt. I had a bowl of Weetabix with bananas and rice milk this morning. It was the perfect start to my day. Lately I've been obsessed with breakfast. I've been eating loads of hot cereals like farina (cream of wheat), oatmeal, oat bran as well as more indulgent foods like pancakes and Monte Cristo sandwiches (these are a breakfast item in my book!). They're not messing around when they say that a good breakfast is an important part of your morning. I've wasted so many years without it. I remember every day of high school, I'd wake up, get ready for school, skip breakfast completely, then around 10am would have a diet coke and a bag of chips at school. Dreadful! College wasn't any better. Now that I'm a proper grown up, haha, I try my best to get in a good breakfast every morning. If anything, it keeps me focused and energized during the day. Also I find that taking the time to enjoy the bit of morning I have free with a bowl of delicious breakfast sets the tone for the day. Today is going to be a good day and like I always say on Monday: it will go by fast!

Monday Eats.

Happy Monday all! Don't worry, it'll go by fast! That's what I tell myself every Monday anyway. After a nice walk this morning with the dog, I had a bowl of Farina hot cereal (cream of wheat) with blackstrap molasses, maple syrup and cinnamon. Not so pretty looking but it was very good.


I made a big batch of this red bean jambalaya from 1,000 Vegan Recipes last night. This will be lunch and possibly dinner today. It's a pretty good recipe though I did change a few things like using yellow pepper instead of green, jalapeno instead of mild green chiles and I omitted one can of the crushed tomatoes because I didn't have any. I guess it would have been more tomatoey with it but I liked it this way.

Monte Cristo Breakfast and Pizza/Salad Lunch

Hope everyone is enjoying the tail end of the weekend. This was breakfast today. Monte Cristo sandwich which is basically french toast slathered with Vegenaise and stuffed with veggie ham and melty dairy-free cheese then sprinkled with powdered sugar. Served with a cup of illy. Yummmm. In case you're wondering, I used Lightlife Smart Deli Veggie Ham and Tofutti American dairy free cheese. My recipe for this sandwich here.


Lunch: Take-away sundried tomato-garlic pizza with added Daiya cheese plus spinach salad with orange-dijon dressing from 1,000 Vegan Recipes. Served with half a banana and pomegranate white tea.

Breakfast Burrito and Thai Take-away.

Breakfast in bed. Tofu, tomato and potato scramble in a flour tortilla with vegan mayo/ketchup sauce. Yum!


Dinner provided by 'The Vegan Joint' in West L.A. We started out with crispy spring rolls that were perfectly fried and stuffed with vegetables.


The "mushroom soup" which was coconut milk based. You can't tell in this poor photo but it also has tofu, bamboo shoots, lemongrass, lime leaves and celery as well as mushrooms. My husband was craving this and he loved it. It was very good.


Spicy Mint Noodles with tofu aka "Drunken Noodles", aka Pad Kee Mow. Yum. Not very spicy though! For American palettes maybe but in my Thai household, this wasn't a bit spicy. But still, everything was delicious and satisfied our junky Thai food craving.

Pancake Breakfast & Iraqi Eggplant Casserole

This morning we had pancakes (Vegan w/ a Vengeance recipe) and veggie sausages. The sausages are Lightlife's Gimme Lean ground veggie sausage which I shaped into little links. They were perfect with the fluffy pancakes and maple syrup!


Not the most photogenic dish... This is the eggplant casserole recipe from my Iraqi cookbook "Delights from the Garden of Eden". It has eggplant, onions, peppers, garlic and chickpeas in a savory tomato sauce. The recipe called for too much liquid I think so it was still a little watery at the end but I didn't mind that much. Next time I make this I'll decrease the liquid a bit.


Casserole served on top of couscous with a garlicky yogurt sauce, pita and arugula and cucumber salad. So delicious!

Vegan Pumpkin Waffles

I so had this for dinner. I felt really guilty and full of white flour and sugar afterwards but then I thought, 'what the hey! it's the holidays!'. This is the recipe from 'Vegan with a Vengeance'. I think I may have messed up because while the outside was semi crispy, the inside was a little mushy. I was playing around with the amounts of sugar (I decreased it by a bit) and the amount of oil and pumpkin. So it was very much my fault for fiddling around with the recipe. But the taste was good and I ate all of it with melty Earth Balance margarine and maple syrup. I was so sugared out after I finished that I had some salty/sour sauerkraut and pepperoncini to balance my taste buds out, haha!

Monte Cristo Sandwich

This was breakfast. Two slices of french toast slathered with vegan mayo with veggie bologna and melted Tofutti cheese in between. Not healthy but so yummy.

Monte Cristo Sandwich
(Makes 2 sandwiches)

1/2 cup soymilk
2 Tbsp unbleached white flour
1 tsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp sugar
pinch of cinnamon
4 bread slices
4 slices Yves veggie bologna or Lightlife veggie ham (or any deli meat alternative of your choice)
2 slices Tofutti American slices
Vegenaise
powdered sugar

Whisk together first 5 ingredients while heating up a pan sprayed with oil. Dip one bread slice in mixture on one side then quickly turn over and dip the other side. Do not leave it in too long or it will get soggy. Fry on both sides until lightly browned. Set aside and continue with the other bread slices.

To make a sandwich: Set french toast slices aside and keep the heat going in your pan. Place two bologna slices in the hot pan. Place a slice of cheese on one bologna slice. Flip the other bologna slice on top of the cheese so the cheese is sandwiched in the middle. The cheese will start to melt. While they are frying, spread Vegenaise on both slices of the french toast. Place bologna/cheese combo on on slice and sandwich with the other. Spray a little nonstick spray on your pan and fry your whole sandwich on both sides to firm it up more and get a golden color. Repeat with another sandwich. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving. Enjoy!

Tempeh Sausage Pastry Puffs

Happy World Vegan Day! To celebrate, I opened up 'Vegan Brunch' this morning and made the "Tempeh Sausage Pastry Puffs". WOW. WOW. WOW. These are amazing. The tempeh "sausage" crumbles are wonderfully spiced with sausage seasonings like fennel, rosemary and thyme and encased in a golden flaky shell. I used store bought puffed pastry that was vegan and it made it all come together so easily. I also used the new Trader Joe's brand of tempeh which tastes great. My husband really loved these. He said they were awesome. And coming from a man who loves sausage pizza, that is a compliment!

VeganMoFo: Smoothie and Muffins

Not much cooking this weekend. We went out for lunch today at Johnny Rockets and then going to someone's house for dinner. Tomorrow is the ballgame (Game 3 of the NLCS!) so we're going to stay in and heat up a few burgers and dogs. This is what I did today:


Green smoothie for breakfast: spinach, apples, bananas, strawberries and mango.


A romantic shot of blueberry muffins. I love these. Recipe from Vegan Brunch cookbook.

VeganMoFo: Mondays Ugh. And Breakfast in Bed.

Had such a nice weekend that went by way too fast. Dodgers playoffs on Saturday was amazing. We swept the Cards so onward to the National League Championship Series! I also didn't sleep well last night so I'm not feeling it today. Coffee, coffee, coffee! That was my morning. After a couple cups I thought maybe I should eat something too. I had half a block of tofu in the fridge so I scrambled it up with onions and made a sandwich on toast. When I used to be omni, I made them with scrambled eggs. This version is just as tasty with the advantage of no cholestorol. Yay. Happy Monday everyone, hope it speeds by.

VeganMoFo: Breakfast in Bed and Bleeding Dodger Blue.

Tonight is Game 1 of the National League Division Series, Dodgers vs. Cardinals. The postseason has begun and I'm excited to see my team fight to make it to the World Series. I will be decked out in Dodger blue today. This morning I made a "blue" smoothie in homage to my boys in blue. It's not really blue blue, more purple really, but it's got blueberries, bananas, dates, mango and a handful of spinach (for some iron!). I also had a couple multigrain toasts with sunflower butter and a side of fresh melon. Deliciously simple and will give me energy to get through the day. Hopefully I'll be home from work in time to catch the first pitch on tv! Let's go Dodgers, let's go!!!

VeganMoFo: TGIF & B.I.B

B.I.B. = Breakfast in bed! There's just nothing like it. I've been doing it more often and have been relishing every moment. I'd do it everyday if I had the time. Sometimes on weekends I extend my B.I.B time by making a more substantial tray of food and bringing it to my room to enjoy with a dvd. It's bliss. I may do that this weekend as my Netflix shipment (BBC's adaptation of Dracula) arrived yesterday. This morning to celebrate all that is Friday, I brought to my room a mug of cocoa chai tea, fresh nectarine slices, mulitigrain toast with sunflower seed butter and a slice of my apple-walnut birthday cake. Carb heaven!


Here's a better shot of the cake. Look at all the apple-y chunkiness!

Chocolate Loaf Cake & Breakfast in Bed.

I made this moist and perfect loaf cake yesterday using this recipe and on a whim added a small mashed sweet potato to the batter. The sweet potato flavor didn't come through at all but it made the cake very moist and fluffy and hold together so well. I've made this cake in the past and sometimes it would be a bit crumbly but this time it was utterly perfect, slice after slice. I topped it with a sweet cinnamon glaze made with powdered sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and soymilk.


Breakfast in bed again! This time while watching my latest Netflix arrival: Mrs. Dalloway. On the tray: Darjeeling/Earl Grey tea, buttered toast, a dish of raspberry soy yogurt with bananas and a slice of cake. It was all delightful.

Breakfast in Bed: Raw Strawberry-Banana Pudding and Toast!

I whipped up this decadent raw pudding this morning that was so thick, rich and creamy. It was really yummy and filling too. Yes, it's healthier than most desserts but it's not low fat because of the nuts.

Raw Strawberry-Banana Pudding

1/2 to 1 cup raw unsalted cashews (I didn't really measure but think I used close to a cup!)
8 dates, pitted
6-8 fresh strawberries
1 frozen banana

Soak cashews and dates in hot water for at least 20 minutes. Drain water. Blend all ingredients in a blender until thick and creamy. Serve with fresh berries on top.

Edited to add:


This is dinner tonight. It's a cauliflower, potato and mushroom gratin adapted from Brian McCarthy's Broccoli and Cauliflower Gratin from The Vegan Family Cookbook.

Breakfast in Bed + Ready Made Curry

This was my breakfast this morning, in bed while reading my Agatha Christie. I had a whole grain english muffin spread with Earth Balance margarine, a piece of orange blossom cake and hot ceylon tea (with a dash of soymilk and agave). I enjoyed this very very much. Only thing missing was fresh fruit which I didn't have today.


A close up of the cake. It was supposed to be sour cherry/orange blossom but the sour cherry flavor never came through. I used a half recipe of kittee's vanilla cake and used a mixture of water/sour cherry syrup for the liquid portion but I think I should have added more sour cherry, less water. Oh well. I will try to tweak it next time. But even so, this cake was delicious. Orange blossom is wonderful in desserts.


Sorry about the bad lighting but by the time I got around to eating this, it was late and the light was terrible. This is Trader Joe's Choley curry with toasted and "buttered" rolls. I served it with a side of cucumber salad. Yummy.