Dream: meet reality

a friend just informed me of RenCon in April.

why am I so excited?

Qntal and Estampie will be performing. 2 of my favorite medieval groups. i'm about ready to dance around like das technoviking.

i'm giddy. gonna book my room and flight tomorrow. i'd do it now but i just made a $400 car registration transaction, that's enough money spending for one day >_<

(and to try to keep this a bit on topic, here's what i cooked for thanksgiving)

Haunted Hollywood

So! I've been, as usual, busy with life. Much to my dismay, I haven't been cooking much lately. Or I should say, I haven't been cooking anything too fancy. And when I do.....I forget to photograph it.

So....what have I been up to? I took a fun "Haunted Hollywood" tour this past weekend with some friends. I took a peek at a bunch of LA/Hollywood vegan restaurants but my friends weren't brave enough to try them, so we went to California Pizza Kitchen. I got a delicious Japanese Eggplant veggie pizza, and it was very satisfying after a day of stomping around the city.

Some highlights (aside from the awesomely spooky theme music my friend put on a CD):
driveway to the Playboy mansion.....I had to get a shot of the sign....until the rock next to me told me to get off the driveway.


Duckula von Duck and Techno Frog posing in front of the Hollywood sign (about as close as you can get to it)


me at the altar near Bela Lugosi's grave....

Breakfast Sammich

Finally I've had a bit of time to make something new and actually photograph it! I have been so busy the past few months with writing my thesis, serving as webmaster for 2 different library associations, lots of work projects and trying to fit in some form of social life. My yoga has been slacking a bit lately as well, but I'm almost finished with my thesis, so I'll soon be back on track with regular blog updates as well as yoga.

I found myself earlier in the week having a weird craving for McDonald's breakfast sandwiches. I used to love them since I was a kid, and while I definitely don't miss them, thinking of eating one still gives me that warm fuzzy feeling. So, Bob Marley playing on my car stereo, I hit the grocery store and picked up supplies to make my own. (no idea what Bob Marley or reggae has to do with breakfast sammiches, but I thought I'd throw that in there....and no I wasn't suffering from a case of the munchies haha)

Ingredients

tofu (I used sprouted silken tofu because that's what I had on hand, but I'd recommend firm or extra firm)

veggie sausage patties

turmeric

black pepper

garlic powder

rosemary

sage (ground)

English muffins - I used Ezekiel sprouted English muffins and they were delicious

slice of dairy-free cheese

Directions

Cut the block of tofu in the center, height wise. Get out your round glass to make circular tofu patties. That part brought back good childhood memories of making Popeye Toast. Hmm.....maybe that's an idea for a future recipe? Fry up the round tofu patties as you would any other tofu, adding the seasonings to your taste.

Pretty easy! Because I like to have a hearty meal once a week, I added veggie gravy, avocado, hash browns and some tempeh bacon as sides. In the picture, the first tofu "egg" patty kinda almost looks like a grilled pineapple; I had a little accident when I was transferring it from the pan to the muffin...oops. Boy was it good......but I'll be doing some extra exercise this week to work it off!

Upcoming Shows

Funker Vogt is playing at Bunker in April. They are one of the few EBM/Industrial groups that I like. Actually I'm a big fan of their stuff; they are one of the few electronic groups that manages to capture the scrape-your-face brutality of metal. It'll be an awesome show!

Babyland is playing in May at one of the Bats Day pre-events. More awesomeness.

Convergence 15 in July. I still haven't bought my tickets but I need to. I was kinda waiting to see whether I'd still be in the area or already up in Seattle. Although it wouldn't be much of a problem to just fly down here for the weekend.

Last night for dinner I enjoyed a vegan knish with spinach dal and some sautee'd vegetables. It was a wide range of cultural foods but it was all so good, especially the knish.

Avocado Smoothie....of doom

I've been meaning to try this for some time, and I finally did. I was a bit apprehensive at first, because I usaully associate avocados with salty, Mexican style flavors, but I was very pleasantly surprised at how good this was.

Avocado really is a versatile food, and this is super quick to make. Even with my crappy blender, it only took maybe 10 minutes from start to finish.

Ingredients

1 avocado

1 cup ice (or more depending how thick you want it)

1/4 cup soy/rice/almond/hemp milk (I prefer hemp milk)

2 tablespoons agave nectar

2 tablespoons coconut milk (optional)

Preparation is simple. Pour in the milk, avocado, coconut milk, agave nectar and blend till smooth. Add the ice and continue blending till you get it to your desired consistency. Also, feel free to add agave or coconut milk to your desired taste.

Nibelungenlied

Last night was Wikinger Kino Abend (viking movie night) at my house. My cousin Kurt came over and we did our part to keep the fires of Midgard burning bright.

After a hearty feast (veggie burgers), we watched Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King, which is an English version of a German movie called Die Nibelungen. It was a great movie and very entertaining.

My cousin has an older German movie version of this saga from the 1960's and it was interesting to compare the two.

After the movie, we got into a long philosophical conversation about the evils of monotheistic religions (aka the top three). Much fun was had.

A few links for more info on this Germanic/Norse saga:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagen_(legend)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nibelungenlied
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigurd
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nibelungs

Ghoulash

Nothing reminds me of home like a good goulash. Its Hungarian, its hearty, and absolutely satisfying. It is the definitive comfort food for me. My Grandmother makes the best goulash, hands down. So, when I thought of making a vegan version, I went straight to the master. With a bit of help, this turned out every bit as delicious as the traditional version.

My cousin came over for a movie night, so we cracked a bottle of wine to celebrate the end of another semester, and enjoyed a bit of spooky ghoulash with salad.

The ingredient amounts are very informal. This is one of those recipes that you can just eyeball, mainly to your own taste, but below is a guideline.



Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1-2 cups soy chik'n or other faux meat of your choice
• 2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon flour (thickens it up a bit)
• 1-2 tablespoons red paprika
• 1 onion, chopped
• pinch of sea salt
• noodles of your choice (traditionally egg noodles are used, but I used wheat)

Directions:

• heat the faux meat - I prefer to use a skillet
• heat the oil on medium, and sautee the onions until they are a nice browned color
• add half the water (slowly), bring to a boil momentarily, then reduce the heat to about medium-low to simmer
• add the chik'n, paprika, and sea salt
• let that simmer for about 10 minutes and prepare the noodles in the meantime
• when the noodles are finished, its time to dig in......enjoy!

Edgar Allan Po' Boys

Its my favorite time of the year....autumn. And my favorite day of the year is just around the corner.....Halloween! So to celebrate, I cranked up some classic Bauhaus records and got down to the business of making some spooky Po' Boys.

This was my first time making po' boys, so I wasn't sure how they'd turn out. But......they turned out absolutely spectacular. Seriously delicious. This will definitely become a staple in my kitchen.

Everyone makes po' boys differently, and everyone has different preferences. The key to a po' boy is the French baguette. One that is crispy on the outside and airy on the inside. Crunchy is key. Everything else kinda comes down to preference. Here's how I made mine.....

Ingredients:

• 1 package of seitan - thinly sliced (that's enough for 2 or 3 people)


• 1/2 onion, finely chopped


• 5 cloves garlic, minced


• 2 or 3 peppers, finely chopped


• 2 tablespoons soy sauce (I use Bragg's Aminos - healthier soy sauce)


• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar (or whatever vinegar you like)


• 1 tablespoon garlic powder


• 1 tablespoon turmeric

Toppings:

• kale (I boil mine in water with a pinch of salt for about 5 minutes to soften it up)


• miso mayo (or vegannaise will work)


• hot sauce (being a hot sauce addict, I used Tapatio and Tabasco)


• gravy

Directions:

1. Start the gravy. You can cook it up and let it simmer while you do the rest. My gravy recipe can be found on this page.

2. Sauté the seitan slices, onion and garlic in oil over medium heat (I used olive oil, you don't need too much, maybe 2 tablespoons)

3. After the onions soften a bit and the seitan starts to brown, add the soy sauce, vinegar, garlic powder and turmeric and sauté a little longer until the liquids cook off and the smell is so awesome you just can't wait any longer

4. As the seitan is nearing completion, toast your baguette

5. Once the baguette is nice and crispy warm, pile the seitan mixture on, add your toppings (miso mayo on the bread), slather it with gravy, find some suitably spooky music and enjoy your Edgar Allan Po' Boy!

An Evening with Robert Cheeke

This past weekend was another veggie meetup, once again at the excellent restaurant, Au Lac. Vegan bodybuilder Robert Cheeke was there to give a presentation on following your dreams and doing what makes you happy. I was initially skeptical about having a presenter, but his passion for life was refreshing, and by the end of his presentation I was glad he had made a stop on his speaking tour to talk to us (for free, no less).

The food was, of course excellent. I got a raw appetizer, the curry guacamole, which was unbelievable, and also the curry soy "chicken" dish. I also bought a DVD for my mom, who is really into bodybuilding (she's a bodybuilder herself....at age 56!).

The attendance was excellent, with about 40 people showing up. All in all, it was a really fun night!

Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fond

Last summer when I was at a music festival in Portland, Oregon, I had the pleasure of trying some absinthe (well....it was quite the raging party, so I guess I had my fair share). The theme of the music festival was "A Dark Victorian Dream", so naturally I bought an absinthe glass and spoon while I was there.

I've been meaning to buy some absinthe so I could actually be able to use my glass and spoon, but being that I'm not much of a drinker, I just never got around to buying any until today. I had gift cards, which was probably the only way I could justify spending $60 on a bottle of alcohol. So I bought a bottle of Le Tourment Vert, which I'm excited to try it, although I'm not sure when that will be....the bottle is so beautiful I'd hate to ruin it by opening it. It is hand glazed and numbered.

They say Van Gogh was intoxicated with absinthe when he cut his ear off....lets hope I don't get to that point :)

Mexican Country Tofu Scramble

Ay Caramba! This is currently my favorite breakfast item. Its fairly quick to make (about 20 minutes) and will definitely satisfy you if you're hungry. It is surprisingly light, however. This is a variation on my normal tofu scramble, but the difference is enough to warrant its own entry.

This time I used silken tofu instead of extra firm (thought I had some in the fridge but I was wrong). I was apprehensive but it actually turned out great. The key to making this recipe awesome is.....the gravy! My grandmother is a gravy master, and she was nice enough to teach me a while back. Its pretty easy, you just have to be careful when mixing the flour and the hot bouillon water, or else you'll end up making dumplings instead of gravy (I know from experience).

The Scramble

• 1/3 block silken tofu (full block if you are cooking for more people, or if you have a REALLY big appetite)


• 1/4 onion, diced (again, 1/2 onion for more than one person)


• 1/2 tsp turmeric (this is what gives it the yellow color)


• 1 tablespoon soy sauce, or I use Bragg's Liquid Aminos


• curry powder, seasoned to taste


• garlic powder, seasoned to taste


• 1 soy breakfast sausage link


• Soyrizo (soy chorizo)

Added to this affair is a Tofurky chipotle breakfast link, chopped up and mixed with the scramble, and because I love spicy, I add a few shakes of Tapatio hot sauce and Tabasco. Also, can't go without the smoky tempeh bacon!

The Gravy

• 1/2 or 1 cube of vegetable bouillon


• 2 cups water


• 3-5 tablespoons flour

Directions

• Start off with 1 cup of water and the bouillon in a pot, and bring to a boil so that the bouillon dissolves; once dissolved, bring the heat down to medium


• Pour 1/2 cup water into a measure cup and add about 2 tablespoons of flour


• Whisk the flour and water until its evenly mixed, and slowly pour into the hot bouillon water, stirring as you do this


• I usually add another tablespoon or two of flour mixed with another 1/2 cup of water at this point, and this is the part where you can decide how thick you want your gravy to be

Let it simmer while you cook your scramble and you are ready for one seriously hearty meal....yee haw!

Yogi Bhajan's Onion Soup

I am a soup junkie. I've never met a soup I didn't love. So the other night I had a favorite...my beloved German Potato Soup, and still craving soup, last night I made this new onion soup recipe, which I found on the Yogi Tea web site.

If there is one other soup that gives the German Potato Soup a run for its money, its a good onion soup.....and this one delivers!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup oil


• 3 onions, thinly sliced


• 3 tablespoons minced gingerroot


• 2 tablespoons minced garlic


• 1/2 teaspoon pepper


• 2 teaspoons turmeric


• 1 tablespoon caraway seeds


• 1 pinch of crushed red chilies


• 3 quarts water


• 1 tablespoon kelp powder


• tamari

Directions

• Heat the oil in a 4-quart pot over a medium-high flame


• Add onions, garlic and ginger, allowing this mixture to soften and lightly brown


• Add the balance of the spices: garlic, pepper, turmeric, caraway seeds and red chilies


• Cook until well done


• Add water and bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes


• Add kelp and tamari to taste

**to this recipe, I added some komis bread (sourdough-rye) from the local German bakery, and some vegan melting cheez (I didn't heat it enough though, it didnt' melt haha)

Family Dinner

Summer classes have been keeping me busy. Cooking has been limited to tasty but functional meals. Thankfully the summer semester is just about over, and then its a whole month off. I can't wait!

This past weekend was lots of fun! We had our monthly veggie meetup, this time at the beach. Sounds like fun, but it was really cold and overcast and windy. I LOVE weather like that, but not when I'm wearing shorts and a tank top and looking forward to splashing around in the water! It was a good time though. On my way home, I stopped by 118 degrees for one of their awesome raw chocolate smoothie shakes - chocolate supreme. It didn't disappoint!

Went over to my aunt and uncle's house on Sunday for a family dinner. My aunt cooked an AWESOME vegan meal. My aunt, uncle and cousin are omnis, so I was really surprised and touched that they went out of their way to have a really good vegan dinner for the evening. We had wheat pasta tossed with toasted pine nuts, garlic, sun dried tomatoes, broccoli, oil and a few other ingredients. For appetizers we had 2 types of hummus - an olive hummus and an asparagus hummus, as well as an artichoke tepenade. I was really blown away with how good everything was, and to top it off, my aunt made a Spanish raspberry iced tea with tea that they got on their recent vacation in Europe.

While we were waiting for dinner to be ready, I played some Mario Cart with my cousin, on his Wii. That's a fun game, but its so strange to get my butt kicked by a 9 year old!

Our absolutely delicious dinner! I forgot my camera, so I used my uncle's, and he ended up taking the photos to a developer, so I had to scan the prints back onto a computer, hence the slightly lower quality of the picture!

On Tea

I just had a delicious cup of Masala Chai Tea. I'm not used to high-caffeine drinks, so when I have even a bit, I'm bouncing off the walls. I can barely sit still at work this morning. Thankfully, I'm sitting on my yoga ball, so I'm putting my energy to good use.

Ingredients to make the best Chai tea EVAR:

Chai tea (of course)

Silk vanilla soymilk creamer

Generous helping of raw agave nectar

Something to munch on....I've got almonds (this is optional!)

My most favorite tea in the whole world:



Jasmine Pearl Green Tea

I drink this pretty much every night. Just the smell of it puts me in a coma, its that good. I put a dab of raw agave in it to enhance the flavor, and that's all it needs. My family calls me Mr. Tea whenever I make a pot. I pity the foo who's never tasted this tea!

4th of July

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July, and a safe one! I drove out to my friend's house in Riverside to enjoy the holiday. We were treated to 2 different fireworks shows, all from the comfort of his backyard! Great conversations, great company and great food.....didn't leave their house till 2 in the morning.....late night for me, I'm usually in bed by 10 pm!

What does this statue have to do with 4th of July? Absolutely nothing, but I love it and had to share it =)


While my friend and his wife are omni, they were very considerate in providing vegan options for me and also for my friend Matt, and so I had a vegan boca chik'n burger (which Matt brought) with hummus, avocado, onions, and corn. Sooooo good! It was getting toward night time, so the pictures of the patties on the grill didn't turn out very well but I got some good shots of the condiments....and fireworks!

Festive Casserole

Festive Casserole......great for festive occasions! Today is indeed a festive occasion: I finally got a food processor! Yes, I've entered the 21st century. I made this recipe once before, about a month ago and let me tell you, grating/shredding the beets was HORRIBLE without my handy dandy food processor. It took about an hour to shred everything. With my food processor, it took about 10 minutes. Food processors really are cruise control for AWESOME.

So.....on to the dish. I found this recipe on the Yogi Tea web site. It is a fairly ayurvedic-friendly recipe (garlic is a no-no in the ayurvedic diet), but I veganized a few of the ingredients. The vegan cheez is what makes this dish so great. I pretty much use the Follow Your Heart brand exclusively. The key to making this cheez taste really good is to melt it till its bubbly.



Ingredients:

• 4 beets of assorted colors (I did 2 red beets and 2 white beets)


• 1.5 lbs carrots


• 1 bunch green onions, finely chopped


• 3 onions (I chopped one onion normally and food processed the other 2 until they were minced)


• 3 cloves of garlic (I like mine fairly large, but you can mince the garlic if you want)


• black pepper to taste


• Braggs Aminos, sprinkled to taste (this is a healthy and low-sodium soy sauce)


• 1/4 cup olive or canola oil (for use when you sautée)


• 2 packages of vegan jack cheez

Directions:

1. Scrub beets and carrots, but don't cut off stems or roots.


2. Steam whole beets for about 15 minutes, then add whole carrots and steam until tender/firm


3. Rinse in cold water and remove the skins (I use one of those hand skinner tools)


4. Separately grate the beets and carrots (in your handy food processor!)


5. Marvel at how bloody your hands look from the red beets


6. Place in casserole dish, mixing lightly so the colors are distinct.


7. Sautée onions and garlic in oil until golden brown


8. Gently mix the onions and garlic with beets and carrots, layering cheez in as well


9. Sprinkle with pepper and Braggs Aminos (or soy sauce if you want to go the less healthy route)


10. Cover entirely with the grated cheez


11. Cook in the oven at about 400 degrees for around 5 minutes, then broil until the cheez is bubbly


12. Enjoy!

OC Veggie Meetup

Tonight was the June OC Veggie meetup. My friend and co-organizer, Alia, is in Guatemala right now, so I wanted to keep this meet low-key. Haha, nice try! Ended up having about 30 people attend. Great crowd and everyone was friendly and having a good time.

This meetup was held at Au Lac, a very popular vegan/raw restaurant in Orange County. Their raw menu is incredible, and the presentation is very artistic. I had the curry "chicken". I'm addicted to curry; I couldn't help but order it...again. Good times and good company! Next month, Alia will be back and we are going to have a potluck. That'll be a great opportunity for everyone to mingle a bit more.

Raspberry Chocolove

My latest routine has been to have 3 squares of chocolate after dinner. I'm not much of a dessert person, but this chocolate has me hooked. Its gotta be the best chocolate I've ever had. I especially like the Raspberries In Dark Chocolate. All organic, vegan, and fair-trade. And I love the added touches they include in the wrapping. It not only looks visually appealing, but on the inside is an excerpt from Don Juan, by Lord Byron. How cool is that? Being an English Lit major, I find it to be one of the coolest things I've seen on packaging in a long time.

So if you see this in the store and are wondering if you should try this brand, I have to highly recommend it!

Rustic Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Tempeh "Bacon"

I've been really busy with the beginning of the summer semester that I haven't had much time to cook. Well, I've been cooking plenty, but I haven't had very much time to actually take quality photographs of the stuff I've been cooking. But anyway......

These pancakes were really good! Rustic chocolate chip pancakes. The "rustic" means that they don't look too pretty, but they are very good, and they'll really stick to your ribs! I'm not sure where that expression came from originally, but I saw it on a Disney cartoon a long time ago and I always say that when I make pancakes. So anyway, they have chocolate chips in them, chopped hazelnuts and some grated and chopped almonds.

Ingredients:

1 cup pancake mix (I used Arrowhead Mills)

1.5 tsp. egg replacer (mix with 2 tbsp. water)

1 tbsp. canola oil (organic....the non-organic kind is very very bad, most likely genetically modified)

1 tbsp. agave nectar (the raw version is my favorite, as I've mentioned before)

2/3 cup soy milk (this is more like a minimum, I ended up using about a cup of soy milk, both the normal and vanilla variety for extra flavor)

1/4 tsp. sea salt (if desired)

hazelnuts, almonds, dark chocolate or carob chips (add as much or as little as you like; I tend to be fairly heavy-handed)

Directions:

1. Stir all ingredients until lumps disappear


2. Let batter sit for one minute


3. Cook on preheated lightly oiled griddle or pan, turning when bubbles form on surface and edges begin to dry.


4. To ensure they cook all the way through, I usually use my spatula to poke a sliver in the center of the pancake, so that heat can move through a little better.


5. Enjoy!

Favorite Cereal

Hey everybody! I've been lazy these past few weeks! At least as far as posting any recipes. I've been cooking plenty, and experimenting with new recipes, but I guess I've just been a little too busy living life to stop and take a few pictures. Between juggling a job that I love, yoga, and cooking, I've been a very busy (vegan) bee. But I have been trying new recipes and I wanted to perfect them before photographing and sharing them. So, I haven't been entirely lazy! Upcoming recipes I'll be sharing are: Yogi Bhajan's Onion Soup recipe, Vegetable Beet Casserole, and some more German/Yugoslavian/Croatian traditional dishes that I've veganized. Can't wait to share!

My stereo was on, and somewhere between listening to The Cure and Depeche Mode, the idea of making a blog entry about my favorite cereal combination popped into my head. I love to mix Nature's Path Organic Flax Plus with their Organic Hemp Plus Granola cereals. So delicious! And the soy milk adds that extra zing that makes this my preferred breakfast item.

I hope everyone's Memorial Day weekend is going great!