Bread Pudding!

Used up the leftover french bread from last night to make this treat which I had for breakfast. I never made a vegan bread pudding before so I went online and looked at several recipes and came up with this.

Bread Pudding

1 small loaf of day old french bread, sliced
2 cups soymilk
2 TB cornstarch
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
cinnamon
dark raisins
sultanas

Preheat oven to 350 F. Layer bread in a oiled baking dish, overlapping slices and sprinkle raisins on top as well as in between slices. Combine soymilk, cornstarch, vanilla, sugar and a pinch or two of cinnamon. Whisk together. Pour mixture over bread slices and make sure to soak every piece. Sprinkle more raisins and cinnamon on top and let soak for 5-10 minutes. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 min. or until golden.
Variation: For extra richness, spread each bread slice with Earth Balance margarine before layering. I would have done this if I had some margarine but I didn't!

I Love Pasta!

Hello Friday! Good to see you. I got out of work early today (3pm) so I wanted to celebrate an early start to the weekend by cooking up a big pot of my special red wine vegetable marinara. I really love this sauce. It's rich and deep with a hint of sweetness and full of a variety of veggies. Whatever I have in my fridge is what goes in this sauce. I had zucchini, carrots, red bell pepper and onions which made a wonderful chunky sauce. I haven't had pasta in a while so this was a treat. My husband brought home a fresh loaf of french bread. It was definitely a carb heavy dinner but it was worth it! Underneath the pasta there is a big handful of fresh baby spinach. The topping is "Parmezano Sprinkles" from The Ultimate Uncheese cookbook.

Scrambled Tofu Sandwich

I woke up early this morning but didn't have anything for breakfast except coffee so I made this sandwich which combines both breakfast and lunch elements! I used to make these all the time with real eggs and white processed bread. This is a much healthier version which is just as tasty. I don't miss real eggs at all. I sauteed some onions and garlic first before throwing in some crumbled firm tofu, a handful of chopped spinach and seasonings (salt, pepper, turmeric, onion powder and paprika). I popped a couple of sesame whole grain sprouted toasts and spread Vegenaise on both slices (not very healthy!) and squirted some ketchup on top of the scramble. This was deeelicious.

Banana-Nut Muffins

Oh my these are good! I haven't made many vegan muffins because I'm not much of a baker but these were just perfect. Soft and moist with the perfect amount of banana flavor and walnut crunch. These are the "Chimp Cakes" from Vegetarian Times magazine. The only difference I made to mine were using regular unrefined sugar, as opposed to Sucanat which would have make them a dark brown molasses color and I also omitted the chocolate chips. The muffin in front has it's hump cut off and spread with sunflower butter. I just discovered sunflower seed butter and I can't believe I didn't try it sooner. It's incredible!

Healthy Stuff.

Fresh fruit bowl for breakfast followed by a bowl of oatmeal (not pictured).


A big tupperware of red lentil soup. I know you're probably sick of seeing this soup. I make it all the time. I'm like a one trick pony when it comes to soup! I did make it a little different this time by adding chopped zucchini. I will be eating this every night this week. It's so good. Recipe is from Olive Trees & Honey.

Pizza Pizza.

Pizza day. Made this a half hour before the game on tv (Dodgers vs. Rangers). I was in the mood for two kinds of pizza. I made a hawaiian style on one side with vegan pepperoni, pineapple, onions and olives...and the other side sliced tomatoes, kale pesto (that I had in the freezer) and olives. There's also some vegan mozzarella underneath everything. This pizza was absolutely delicious! I was a pig and had about 3-4 slices.


You can see the cheese better in this shot.

Quick Foods.

Lunch. This was simply taking cold leftover tofu and cabbage from yesterday's dinner (Mango Chutney Hoisin Tofu), chopping it up, mixing it with vegan mayo and curry powder and enjoying it in a wrap with spinach. It was....okay. I think it was a little sweet for my taste and became a little overwhelming after every bite. Looks pretty though!


Dinner. I wanted something quick and comfort foody. I made the 'Instant Cheez-It' sauce from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook, and boiled a cup of pasta to make this shells and cheese supper. It was nice and creamy. My additions to the sauce: a little soy sauce and yellow mustard for more salty tang.