2 ingredient cake!

1 box of Duncan Hines (I think!) devil's food cake mix and 1 can of pure pumpkin makes this luscious pumpkin-chocolate cake. I piped Pillsbury chocolate fudge frosting on top (used a ziploc bag as a piping bag) and added sprinkles. I normally make my cakes from scratch but today I was in need and I wanted it fast. It was so good and so satisfying.

Enchilada Casserole and Pumpkin Pie Scones.

I was craving mexican flavors the other day so I decided to make this for the weekend. The filling is mixed vegetables, whatever was in the fridge (onion, brussels sprouts, carrot, corn, edamame, green beans), black beans, diced tomatoes and gardein crumbles with spices (cumin, chili powder, oregano, paprika, salt, onion powder). Then I layered corn tortillas with the filling and topped with El Pato tomato sauce, Daiya cheese, vegenaise blobs and olives.

Topped with Cholula green sauce!

Got these at Target. They are vegan and you only need vegan butter and vegan milk to make it. I used Earth Balance and almond milk.

Came out really nice.

Perfect with coffee. The glaze was nice but a little too much clove I think. The scones were very nice and tender.

Apple Pumpkin Upside Down Cake, Polka Dot Muffins and Quesadilla

Pumpkin apple cake from an adapted recipe that was featured at the Midcentury Menu blog. I used a can of pumpkin and a box of spice cake mix for the batter. That's it! The apples, I just simmered in juice (cranberry or apple will do) until tender. I melted Earth Balance margarine on the bottom of the pan and sprinkled brown sugar, layered the apple slices, then poured batter on top. After 28 or so minutes in the oven, it was perfect! This cake went to a house party we went to last night. It was gone in a flash.

Polka Dot Muffins recipe from The Complete Vegan Kitchen cookbook. It uses cream of wheat in the batter and for me, it was a little too coarse of a muffin. I don't know if I'll make these again. They were just ok.

Breakfast Daiya cheese quesdilla.

Weekend Food: Squash and Onion Quiche, 2 Bean Salad & Apple Cider Pumpkin Upside Down Cake.

I got up super early today and went grocery shopping to get ingredients for today's menu. Saturdays are really the only day I feel motivated to make a lot of food. I would have added a fourth dish of potato salad but I forgot to buy potatoes!

Squash and onion quiche from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook. You can't see the squash and onion because they were mixed in with the filling! I took a cue from Isa's book Vegan Brunch buy adding cashews to the filling to make it creamier. After a few hours in the fridge, this will be ready to eat.

My husband was in the mood for bean salad so I whipped this one up based on the technicolor bean salad in Linda McCartney's Kitchen cookbook. I left out the green beans.

And now for the best part. I made this gorgeous cake based off of the recipe I saw at a fabulous blog called Midcentury Menu. Find the recipe here. Instead of making the cake from the cake mix instructions, I just used a can of pumpkin and the cake mix and stirred it all together. Worked great! Only thing is when you plop the batter on top of the apples, you have to be careful to spread it all out with a spatula as the batter is thickish.

This cake is so moist and delicious. The apples are so good with the pumpkin flavor of the cake!

Long time no blog...here's a soup recipe.

Trying to get back into blogging. Things have been kind of dull around here. No sweet puppy to come home to anymore. I haven't been motivated to do much more than go to work, come home, shower and make very simple dinners that don't require much effort, ingredients or time. These past couple of weeks I've been focusing on soup because throwing things into one pot and walking away while dinner cooks itself is so appealing right now. I've been inspired by the soups on Fran's Ayurvedic blog. The one I made tonight is just a variation of what I've been doing the past two weeks. Whatever veggies I have on hand goes into the pot. It always turns out tasty.

Pureed Veggie and Lentil Soup With Pumpkin

1/4 to 1/2 cup mung dal (split mung beans)
2-3 cups chopped kale leaves
1 cup broccoli, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp yellow mild curry powder
1 tsp soy sauce
1/4 cup pureed pure pumpkin from a can (ingredients should be just: pumpkin)
salt and pepper to taste

Put lentils and vegetables, (except pumpkin) in a pot. Add water to cover about 1" above the vegetables. Bring to a boil. Add spices/seasonings, stir and lower heat to medium and cover. Cook until all vegetables are tender and lentils are mushy. Blend half of the soup and pour back into the pot while simmering on low. Add the pureed pumpkin and stir well to incorporate. This will thicken up the soup. Simmer until heated through. Adjust spices and salt/pepper as needed. Serve with a drizzle of tahini and a squeeze of lemon.

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread Pudding.

This is a good one for the holidays. I got the recipe from 1,000 Vegan Recipes. I used a day old french loaf that I knew was not going to be eaten so I used it for this. I also had exactly 1 cup of pumpkin puree leftover from Thanksgiving that was hiding out in my freezer. 45 minutes later, we have bread pudding. It was so good, soft and tender with holiday flavors. Yummy.

Happy Halloween!

I'm being the hermit again this year by staying in and eating scrumptious foods and watching scary movies with my husband. We're starting off with Rosemary's Baby. I didn't want to make a dinner but instead do appetizers which we could nibble on with bloody marys.


Spinach Artichoke Dip with sundried tomatoes and hot chili flakes. This will go with whole grain crackers and celery sticks. Recipe here.


Stuffed baked potato skins with imitation bacon bits. Yum!


And you gotta have a sweets on Halloween. These are pumpkin bars with cream "cheez" frosting. I am not crazy about this recipe, it was only ok. The frosting didn't set at all and the bars were a bit on the mushy/gooey side.

Thai Delicious.

I had a small pumpkin, a container of tofu, a bag of spinach, a can of Thai green curry paste and coconut milk. The perfect combination of ingredients for this fiery green curry. I loved the pumpkin in it. I'm loving fall. Bring on the pumpkins!


My mom made this mung bean noodles and veggie stir fry especially for me. How sweet! It was so good!

Pumpkin Chili and Chocolate Cake

Today was a grey, drizzly day that got me in the mood for some serious comfort foods. I made this delicious pumpkin chili which I based off of this recipe. Mine is not fat free because I added a good amount of olive oil to cook the vegetables. I also used pumpkin instead of butternut squash. This chili is probably the best I've ever had. It's so flavorful and hearty.


I've been wanting a chocolate cake for the longest time! Now I am having it! I made this basic chocolate cake with a basic chocolate buttercream frosting. You can find a basic buttercream frosting recipe here. Just add 1/2 cup cocoa powder to it. I was going to make a layered cake but I got lazy.


Super moist and chocolatey. I'm a happy girl.

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!

Giving Thanks.

Over the years on Thanksgiving, my whole family gets together at an aunt's house to celebrate together and eat together. It's usually a gigantic Thai-American potluck and boy, can our family eat! Our family parties last all day and into the night with non-stop eating. It's quite amazing and makes me laugh when I think about it. I won't be partaking this year at the family party because my mom has to work all day today. We decided to have a small dinner tonight for the 5 of us here at home (me, husband, brother, mom and dad). I'll miss seeing my many many cousins but I know that christmas is just around the corner and I will most likely see them at the holiday shindig in December. I'm so grateful to have such a large family who all enjoy being in each other's company and always want the best for each other. I can't imagine not having them in my life. I am thankful for so many things in my life, number one being my family.

So as this is a food bog, on to the food!


I made this Tofu Dinner Loaf last year as well. It's wonderful and bakes up firm and sliceable. I love it with orange herb gravy. Recipe here.


My plate: tofu loaf with orange herb gravy, stuffing (I used the vegetarian stuff in a box, not homemade sorry!), green bean casserole, glazed dijon carrots and mashed potatoes and cranberry/mandarin sauce. All very simple recipes that took no time at all!


The best part of the meal is dessert I think! Here is my favorite vegan pumpkin pie with a spelt crust.


A slice served with maple sweetened cashew cream!!!!! Recipe is here. This cream is unbelievable! I used rice milk instead of the water in the recipe and a little more maple syrup than usual. So freaking creamy and delicious!!!


I also made a VERY EASY AND QUICK puff pastry apple tart. Seriously, all you need to do is slice a few apples and toss them in sugar and lay 'em out on a piece of frozen puff pastry and bake! This was yummy as well.


Here's a bonus pic of my baby. He had a "Thanksgiving Day" flavored dog food today to celebrate.

Vegan MoFo: Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies and Cardamom Coffee

Fall is here and pumpkins are to be seen everywhere. I have not yet shopped for any pumpkins to cook with but I did have some canned pure pumpkin that I wanted to make a dessert with. I found this cookie recipe at the PPK. I had all of the ingredients (except walnuts and raisins) so I decided to spend my solitary Sunday (husband was at a friend's watching football) baking these delicious treats. Wow, the smells coming out of the oven were heavenly. It reminded me that Halloween and Thanksgiving are just around the corner. Yay!

I enjoyed my soft and tender cookies with a very aromatic cardamom flavored coffee by Cafe Najjar. I bought this coffee from lebanesefoodmarket.com. They have a great assortment of lebanese groceries and cookware. I bought a Ma'amoul mold there too which I haven't used yet. (To be seen in a future blog post!) I love this coffee. It's fairly strong and has a gorgeous cardamom fragrance and flavor. If you don't want to buy this, you can probably put a few teaspoons of cardamom into the coffee filter along with your regular ground coffee to give it flavor. I've done that with cinnamon before and it worked well so I can't imagine why cardamom wouldn't. In any case, coffee and cookies are a great combo no matter what flavors they are!