French Toast Breakfast and Cabbage Rolls

I finally made the Fronch Toast recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance and it was a so good. I ate all of that! I served it with some Tofurky maple tempeh bacon.

Before being drowned in maple syrup. Yum yum yum.

And for Sunday lunch my mom and I made the Syrian cabbage rolls from the Olive Trees and Honey cookbook. The insides were stuffed with rice, smashed chickpeas, onion and diced tomatoes and flavored with cilantro, garlic, mint and paprika.

I made a delicious side of dill potatoes with caramelized onions. This meal was amazing. And I have ton of leftovers!

Creamy Cashew Leek and Spinach Pasta with Tempeh Bacon.

Hey guys, here's a great pasta recipe that uses a vegan version of creme fraiche. You basically soak about 1 cup of cashews in hot water for 30 minutes, drain and then blend with 1/2 cup water, 2 TB lemon juice and a couple pinches of salt. Then you cook up some leeks, garlic, spinach and mix in with cashew sauce. I added tempeh bacon to mine. This is optional.

Some ingredients: spinach, vegan cheese and pasta. You will only need 1/4 cup cheese. Save the rest for pizza later in the week!

Chop up your leeks (I used 2) and garlic (2 cloves) . Quickly fry up the tempeh bacon that has been cut into bits.

Saute the garlic and leeks in olive oil over medium high heat. Once leeks have softened, add half a bag of spinach that has been roughly chopped.

This is what your cashew creme fraiche looks like all blended up.

Stir the cashew sauce into the leeks and spinach. It'll be very thick. At this point you can add some unsweetened soy or almond milk to thin it out, or even hot water. Add the 1/4 cup of vegan cheese. Season with salt, pepper, a squeeze of lemon, red pepper flakes.

After the sauce is nice and hot and creamy, mix in the pasta. Add the tempeh bacon bits.

Eat!

Salad Samurai: BLT salad

I just picked up Salad Samurai the cookbook and I can't wait to try all the recipes. There was one called BKT which is Bacon, Kale, Tomato salad that looked so good but I didn't have kale so I used romaine and baby lettuces instead. Turned out perfect. The dressing is a beautiful dijon/maple concoction that tastes wonderful. My tempeh bacon came out dark because I accidentally used gravy browning instead of liquid smoke! I eventually found the liquid smoke in the back of my cupboard and shook some into the tempeh marinade. Oops! The browning didn't alter the flavor in any way, it just made the tempeh a very dark brown.

I can eat this everyday it's so good.

Quiche Lunch, Tempeh Bacon Sandwich, Native Foods.

Broccoli Spinach Quiche from Vegan Brunch never disappoints.

Sunday Quiche lunch with Paul. I also made fat free fries.

Yesterday's breakfast: Tofurky Tempeh Bacon sandwich. I love the Tofurky tempeh. It's flavored just right with salty smoke and maple syrup.

We went to Native Foods yesterday. This is my husband's sandwich, the Chicken Bacon Avo Club. All vegan!

My BIG SALAD! It's called the Mexican Cobb.

Hahaha! Yes, yes I did.

Chili Cheese Fries.

Dessert and drinks. Strawberry Chocolate parfait was great!

Edited to add a pic of my texas sheet cake! I was craving a cake so in thirty minutes I made this! MMMMMmmmmmmm!!!!

Sandwich stuff and Baja Fresh.

Picked up some ingredients for sandwiches this week. I never tried the Tofurky tempeh before. So convenient! I usually make my own tempeh bacon.

Tempeh bacon, Avocado, Lettuce and Tomato sandwich on Dill rye. YUM.

Went to Baja Fresh yesterday. Easy vegan meal and cheap too. The beans and rice plate (no cheese) with a side of corn tortillas, guac and pico de gallo!

Food, food, wonderful Christmas food!

A tradition at christmas eve with our friends Hope and Gary: samosas from India's Sweets and Spices.

A Christmas Feast. I brought the Tofurky and gravy. Gary made the beautiful veg and Hope made her killer mash with soymilk and Earth Balance.

Tofurky roast, mash, gravy, roasted veg, piccalili.

For dessert: VCTOW's gingerbread and toasted coconut cupcakes. Heaven. To die for.

Mocha Mama cookies. These are also to die for, especially the next day with a cup of coffee.

Christmas morning, I made the tempeh sausage puffs from Vegan Brunch and waffles.

This is a mushroom and kale lasagna that I made to bring to my aunt's house for another christmas gathering with my cousins.

Xmas foods.

Tempeh sausage pastry puffs from the Vegan Brunch book.

I thought the recipe would make good sausage rolls. I was right.

Boston vs. Brooklyn cream pie cupcakes and espresso oatmeal cookies from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World and Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.

It is always a pleasure to receive beautiful cookbooks for xmas! Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season!

Szechuan Noodles with Tempeh

This comes together quickly if you have instant ramen noodles. Just cook them up, drain them and set aside. Meanwhile, steam broccoli and carrots and stir fry onions, cubed tempeh and spinach. Heat up sauce until bubbly, turn off heat and toss noodles and all veggies and tempeh together. Very yummy with extra sriracha chili sauce on top!
Recipe here.

Tempeh Reuben & Orange Tea Cake

Yummy tempeh reuben on german sunflower rye bread. That's Daiya cheddar!


A simple vanilla cake where I substituted oj and water for the liquid in the batter. I also added a bit of orange zest. This is perfect with tea.

Salad, Sandwich, Cake.

This was my dinner tonight. My friend sprouted some mung beans and gave me some which I decided to use in this salad. I also added baked tempeh, tomatoes and creamy dijon dressing (dijon, vegenaise, red wine vinegar, garlic, sugar, pepper).


This was lunch sometime last week. Baked tofu sandwich!


And a yummy chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream that I made for Superbowl Sunday.

Club Sandwich and Curried Butternut Squash and Split Pea Soup

Husband and I went for a 40 minute run/walk before coming home to this delicious dinner. I made baked tofu and tempeh "bacon" to make this beautiful club sandwich with white toast, romaine lettuce, fresh tomato from the garden and Vegenaise!


I also made this healthy butternut squash and split pea soup flavored with cinnamon, ginger and curry powder. It was so delicious with tender chunks of butternut squash.

Baked Tofu and Tempeh Bacon

14 oz. firm tofu, cut into 1/2" thick slices
1 package tempeh, cut into 1/8" thick strips
For the marinades below, feel free to adjust to your tastes.

Marinade for tofu:
1/2 cup olive oil
2 TB dijon mustard
2 tsp. low sodium soy sauce
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. black pepper
Whisk ingredients until smooth.

Brush both sides of tofu with marinade and place on lightly oiled baking sheet.

Marinade for tempeh:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 TB soy sauce
2 tsp. sugar or 1 TB maple syrup
1/4 tsp. liquid smoke

Brush both sides of tempeh slices with marinade and place on lightly oiled baking sheet.

Bake both sheets at 350 degrees F for 18-20 minutes, flipping tofu and tempeh slices halfway.


Curried Butternut Squash and Split Pea Soup

1 small onion, chopped
2 cups cubed butternut squash
1/2 cup yellow split peas
2" cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp. ginger powder
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. cumin
pinch of sugar
4 cups vegetable broth or water
salt and pepper to taste

Saute onions in olive oil until soft. Add squash, split peas, spices and veggie broth. Bring to a boil and lower heat to simmer covered for 45-50 min. until peas and squash are tender. Remove cinnamon stick and discard. If soup is too thin, uncover and let simmer a while longer. It will thicken as it sits.

Tempeh & Veggie Rolls

Delicious tempeh and veggie rolls (recipe from Veganomicon) that I will serve to my in-laws and husband for supper. The filling is tempeh chunks coated in vegan mayo with a little sesame oil and chili sauce, carrots, cucumber and scallion.


A mountain of rolls in celebration of my two days off tomorrow and Friday!

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!