Chickpea Sandwich and Stirfry

A few days ago I made a delicious chickpea sandwich for lunch. I took half a large Ezikiel tortilla and filled it with lettuce, cold chickpeas, and alfalfa sprouts. It was simple, but very satisfying. The picture sucks, I know.



I also made a tasty stirfry using some eggplant and zucchini from the farmer's market. Here is the recipe:

Cherry's Zucchini Eggplant Stirfry

1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 eggplant, chopped
1 carrot, sliced
3-4 large cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 medium zucchini, sliced
1 15 oz can baby corn, drained and rinsed
1 cup of liquid of choice(water/broth/stock/vegetable steaming water)
1 T arrowroot powder or corn starch
1 T bragg's or soy sauce
.5 tsp. crush red pepper
7-8 oz tofu, cut into small trangles

Saute the onion and garlic in a little bit of liquid until onion is translucent. Then add eggplant, carrot, mushrooms, zucchini and baby corn and cook until carrots are easily pierced with a fork, about 10-20 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the liquid of choice with the arrowroot, bragg's and crushed red pepper. When the vegetables are done, add this mixture as well as the tofu to the pan and cook a few minutes until tofu is warm and the sauce has thickened, about 5 minutes. Serve with quinoa or other grain, if desired.

Yesterday I went to the Rec Center for the first time and worked out in the fitness room. I didn't do too much, I mainly wanted to see what equipment they have. Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed it! I will try to go there and strength train at least 2-3 times a week, in addition to my walk/jogs.

No more high school!

A week before yesterday (June 6), I graduated from high school! My grandma came down from Connecticut on the Wednesday before it, and left three days ago. It was pretty
exciting! I have been waiting for high school to be over since I was a freshman, and now it finally is! Because my grandma was here, we ate out a lot. After picking her up on Wednesday, we lunch ate at Mother's, and on Friday after my graduation, we ate at Kerby Lane, since my older brother was with us. Then for dinner, we ate at Casa de Luz. I had never been there before, even though it's the only 100% vegan restaurant in Austin. The food was very tasty, but it was pretty expensive and it was a little confusing. It is sort of buffet style. You get your own soup and salad and can eat as much as you want, but everything else comes on a plate. We weren't sure if we were supposed to have more than one of these plates. Over the weekend, I stayed home with my brother while my parents and my grandma went to see some boring painted churches. I was happy to have some time away from my grandma, who likes to complain and b**** about everything. I was sick of her telling me to "do something with your hair" and saying that vegan food is gross and a million other things. When they came back on Monday, I cooked some scrambled tofu and pancakes for dinner. My brother didn't even try them, but my grandma liked them, even though they're vegan. On Tuesday, we went to San Antonio to go to the SAS shoe store and then we went to Green again, for lunch. I bought something for dinner too because on the way back, we were going to stop in San Marcos to eat with my other brother (he's 23), and the only vegan friendly restaurant there is Thai Thai Cafe, which my brother eats at all the time. For lunch at Green, I ordered cece's stir fry with brown rice and sweet potato fries. This was very delicious, with lots of sauce and lots of veggies and some crispy, breaded tofu. I ordered the Raw Deal Wrap with fruit salad and kale salad to save for dinner. The kale salad was kind of weird(too salty maybe), but the wrap was pretty good. The next day, my grandma finally left.



A few days before my grandma came, I made Brussel Sprouts Go Asian from FatFree Vegan Kitchen and served it on Tofu Shirataki noodles with steamed broccoli. This was my first time trying both brussel sprouts and Tofu Shirataki noodles. The brussel sprouts were okay, but some of the bigger ones were a little bitter. The tofu noodles had a weird taste and texture, but they were good enough. Other than that, this was a pretty tasty dish.



Last night and the night before, I had Creamy Curried Veggies from How it all Vegan. This was very delicious and healthy, after a week of eating out too much. I subbed unsweetened almond milk for the coconut milk to make it healthier. I've been wanting to make Indian food lately; I can't remember the last time I cooked an Indian dish.

While my grandma was here, I more or less stopped exercising, so now I have to get back into the routine and start where I left off, with walking 4 minutes and running 1 and repeating for an hour. I want to also do some strength training, because I'm weak and not toned at all, and I want to change that.

Stirfry Success!

Last night I made a different, simplier stirfry than the one a couple of days ago. Despite it's simplicity, it was much tastier! It had onions, garlic, fresh ginger, cremini mushrooms, carrots, 3 baby bok choy, zucchini, snow peas, and this wheat roast I bought at Wheatsville. The wheat roast is similar to seitan, since the main ingredient is wheat gluten, but it is much firmer and denser, and also has peanut butter, tamari and nutritional yeast. It is so good! I also used a tablespoon of this stirfry spice mixture, which has seasame seeds and various spices, and made a sauce out of vegetable steaming liquid, bragg's, and arrowroot powder(although much less arrowroot than the last strifry!) based on the Basic Chinese Sauce from Vegetarian Family Cookbook by Nava Atlas. So now I see that you can have a very tasty stirfry without globs of agave nectar and arrowroot powder!

Chickpeas and Barley, Stirfry and Bowtie Pasta

Sorry I haven't posted for nearly a week. I was so busy reading some awesome books! I finished Food for Life a day or two after my last post, and since then I have been reading Beyond the 120 Year Diet, which I am now about halfway through. I really am enjoying both books, although at points I get annoyed that Roy Walford in Beyond the 120 Year Diet puts like to no emphasis or importance to vegetarianism, much less veganism. I think if you're planning to live a long life, going vegan is the first change in diet you should consider! Oh well...



Anyway, here's what I've been up to in the kitchen. First, I made Chickpeas and Barley in Red Lentil and Eggplant Sauce from FatFree Vegan Kitchen. I used basil instead of the mint, which seemed to work well. I don't really like mint, especially after a particular experience a year ago, when I made a quinoa salad that had way, way, way too much mint. Anyway, this was very good. I think I made this recipe before and it was bland, but this time it was tasty. Maybe it's the basil?



Next, I made a stirfry. It had 3(!) baby bok choy, some snow peas, carrots, celery, cremini mushrooms, onions and garlic, as well as Sweet and Sour Tofu from VeganYumYum. I doubled the sauce since I was adding vegetables. Add I made several changes to the sauce: I used lemon juice instead of vinegar, agave nectar for sugar and molasses and reduced the amount, left out the ketchup and salt, and used fresh ginger. I also didn't use the eggreplacer and just used the moisture on the outside of the tofu to make the cornstarch stick. Also, instead of frying the tofu, I added it to the dry pan, adding very little water as necessary to keep the tofu from sticking and to help form that sticky coating. This recipe was okay, but it didn't turn out how I was hoping it would. There was WAY too much cornstarch, forming this great stick mess, hardly resembling a good stirfry, and the vegetables were a little over cooked, and the sauce didn't really coat the tofu like it should have. And the flavor of the sauce wasn't spectacular either. But don't let that discorage you from trying this recipe. I think I just screwed up a good recipe. I made a similar recipe before, Tangerine Seitan, except with tofu and no oil, and it comes out very delicious! I first made it in March and have made it at least three times since then. It is much more flavorful than this was, so from now on when I want tofu with that sticky coating, I'll just stick with this one!



After that, I made my own creation, and it was a success! I didn't really measure anything or keep track of how long it took for different parts to cook, but here's a general recipe:

Bowtie Pasta with Chickpeas and Vegetables

Ingredients:
5 oz. whole wheat bowtie pasta
water to cook pasta
about 1.5 cups of chickpeas
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, sliced
a handful of cremini mushrooms, chopped
1 medium zucchini, chopped
a few handfuls of grape tomatoes
1 TB. italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. lemon pepper
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
large handful of spinach

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, put a very tiny amount of water into a pot and add the garlic, and cook on high for about 2 minutes, stirring often and adding more water if neccessary to prevent sticking. Then, add mushrooms, zucchini, carrots, italian seasoning, lemon pepper and crushed red pepper, stir to mix, add a little water if neccessary, and cook over medium-high until zucchini and carrots are tender. Add tomatoes, cook for about 2 minutes, then add chickpeas and spinach and cook for about 5 more minutes, until chickpeas are warmed. Drain pasta when it's done and add to the chickpeas and vegetables. Turn of heat and mix the pasta in well.

This was really great. I used to wonder how to come up with recipes of my own, but lately it's come so easily to me, and been pretty successful! I guess all it takes is some cooking experience and knowledge of different foods.

Sweet and Sour Seitan and Vacation Pictures

Tonight I made Seitan Baked in Sweet and Sour Orange Sauce from Fatfree Vegan Kitchen. This is so delicious! I used the extra sauce to make a delicious stirfry of onions, garlic, ginger, carrots, celery, sugar snap peas, cremini mushrooms, bok choy and zucchini. I subbed lemon juice for the vinegar, arrowroot powder for the corn starch, and chipotle powder for the chili sauce. I also left out the sesame oil. Yum!

Now, here are some lovely vacation pictures:



Here is a picture of our first glimpse of the ocean.

Now here are a few from various places in Olimpic National Park:







And here is a very brave deer. This deer let us get about 5 feet from her without even flinching.



And here is a banana slug. Banana slugs are only found in Olimpic National Park!



One last thing before I end this post: ever time I try to log in to my blog, I have to reset my password because for some reason my old password will not work. Has anyone else had this problem? Any suggestions would be welcome.

No, I didn't give up on this blog...

I've just been really busy as well as lazy these last few months. Now there's so much to blog about! I worked really hard this last semester, but it really paid off! I finished the school year with excellent grades in all of my classes and completed my service hour requirements for NHS. In UIL, I made it to district and regional and came so close to making state in Science. At district, I got 5th place in Calculator and 2nd in Science, and at Regional, I got 5th in Science. If I had just got to 3rd place, I could have gone to state! Oh well, next year I will surely go to state! I also took three AP tests. I haven't gotten the scores yet, but I feel pretty confident that I did well, especially in Chemistry.

I have been out of school since May 25th. A few days after school ended, my parents, my oldest brother and I went on a three week long vacation to the Washington/Oregon area. My other brother stayed home with the animals. Not that he minded- he hates vacations! Too much driving! It was great, and I literally have hundreds of pictures, which I will probably post some of tomorrow. We saw Seattle, Portland, Olympic National Park, Orcas Island, and numerous beaches. It was a great vacation, but maybe it was a little too long. By the end we were all getting on each other's nerves.

Then, I came back to Texas. It has been raining and raining and raining ever since I came back! When my dad and I went to volunteer at the humane society today to find out that the dog area had flood with a foot of water last night! At least the rain has kept it much cooler than usual though. The highs have been only in the 80's since we came back, which is very unusual.

Also, guess what else? In April, my parents went vegetarian! They did this in honor of my 17th birthday and have been vegetarian even since! Unfortunately, they are not vegan. I honestly don't think my mother could ever be vegan. She really enjoys chocolate and candy and store-bought baked goods, as well as cheese, and doesn't like soy milk on her cereal. My dad might be able to though. Just have to wait and see...

I've recently bough three vegan cookbooks: Vegan with a Vengence, The Everyday Vegan, and Vegan Lunchbox! I also checked out six cookbooks from the library, so be prepared to see a lot of recipes from cookbooks in the next few weeks. Here are three recipes I have made over the last few days:

First up, Red Curry Vegetable Stir-Fry from Real Vegetarian Thai by Nancie McDermott.





Very good and very spicy. Tofu, green beans, japanese eggplant, basil, red pepper, curry paste. I also added add handful of bean sprouts, though it was not called for in the original recipe. Served with steamed kale.

Next, Auntie Bonnie's Lively Lentil Stew from How it All Vegan! by Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer.



This soup is really delicious. I really like lentil soups, and this one was no exception! I used several handfuls of spinach, rather than the half cup called for, and added in a few green beans we had layng around in the fridge.

And last but not least.... Lentils Rice Balls with Sneaky Momma's Tomato Sauce from Vegan Lunch Box by Jennifer McCann.



These balls came together so well. They were easy to form and held their shape so well. And they were so delicious. The sauce was so flavorful! I used a can of crushed tomatoes instead of the tomato paste and whole canned tomatoes called for. I served the Lentil-rice Balls and Tomato Sauce along with some steamed broccoli for a lovely, delicious meal.

Well, I guess that's all for now. I will post tomorrow with more about the vacation as well as a delicious recipe.

Welcome

Hello and welcome to my blog. This is my first post. I was planning to start this days ago, but my computer wasn't functioning. So, I have many pictures to post. I am a 16 year old vegan who lives in Texas. I am a junior in high school. Yesterday was my first day back to school after winter break. I am very health conscious, and I care about the environment and animals. When I go to college, I think I will study biology or chemistry.

I love to cook, and that will probably be the main focus of this blog. Sometimes, though, I am too busy with schoolwork, UIL math competetions, and volunteering to cook interesting things, so I just have plain beans or grains and raw or steamed veggies. Here are some things I have made the past couple of days. I know, I'm not a great photographer.

This is a stirfry I made. I thought it would be great, but it was just ok. It had a sauce made of fresh orange juice, Bragg's, garlic, ginger, kombu, and thai chiles. The tofu was marinated in this and then baked. The veggies were onions, carrots, lemon grass, zucchini, more garlic, mushrooms, and a pound of mixed frozen vegetables.

This is a raw apple pie I made from Delights of the Garden by Imar Hutchins. The crust is made of unsweetened dried bananas, dried pineapple, and dates. The filling is apples, dried pinapple, lemon juice, and apple pie spice. It was delicious, even though it was made with nasty, mealy apples. My omnivore parents loved it too.

This is Spiced and Roasted Winter Vegetables from a flyer from Whole Foods. This photo is aweful, but this is so delicious! Here is the recipe:

2 winter squash, sliced in wedges

2 parsnips, sliced in 1 inch pieces

2 sweet potatoes, cut in wedges

2 carrots, sliced

2 red onions, cut in wedges

3 Yukon gold potatoes, cut into wedges

8 cloves garlic, peeled

1 teaspoon pepper

4 cinnamon sticks

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

6 whole star anise

Preheat oven to 400 F. In a large mixing bowl, mix the vegetables and pepper. Put in a roasting pan covered with a sheet of parchment paper and bake for 25 minutes. Add last 3 ingredients and bake for 10-15 more minutes until vegetables are tender.

The original recipe called for salt, oil, sugar, and butter, but I left these out. This is so good it doesn't need any of that unhealthy stuff! If you make the amount in the recipe, this makes a HUGE amount. I only made half and it was still a lot. What you see in the photo is probably less than a quarter of the amount I made, after making half.

There was another recipe I took a picture of, but the picture isn't so pretty, this post is already long, and I want to go to bed, so that's all for now. I will try to post again tomorrow.