Mofo Case # 12 Breaking News Press Conference and a Bread of Lies

We interrupt this blog with breaking LIVE news from a LIVE Press Conference and statement from the family of Missing Blogger, GiGi.
Then we will return  to your regularly scheduled recipe.

Food Chosen For a Press Conference 
Regularly Scheduled Recipe below
Pan Bagna is a very nice sandwich that originated in Nice. Pan Bagna means moist bread, or bathed bread. Crusty bread is often filled with a bunch of Nice fresh produce. After the sandwich is prepared it is a Nice thing to put several weighty objects atop the bread, much like a tofu press. A good weighty object to use would be something like Tolstoy's "War and Peace" or the vegan War and Peace equivalent, Isa Moskowitz's "Veganomicon".
Although we do have a copy of Veganomicon we did not have hours to weight down the sandwiches. We were pressed for time so came up with Cheater Pan Bagna.

Cheater Pan Bagna or Bread of Lies
4 crusty Italian breads or 2 packages TJ's bake it Italian Bread 
Tahini dressing of your choice with a squeeze of lime
1 16 ounce jar of hearts of palm drained and spears halved
4-5 heirloom tomatoes sliced
half a jar of 6.5 kalamata olives drained
3 avocados
enough arugula for each sandwich
TJ's vegan shreds or Daiya shreds

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment or foil. Cut each bread in half horizontally and then slice vertically. Line bottom of the breads next to each other.
Pour dressing evenly onto each bread. Add each ingredient to each bread. Top off with bread and cut in half. Here is the faker cheater part. Hold the top of the bread down, suffocating the bottom of the sandwich for about 40 seconds. Bake for 6 minutes until the cheez is drippy and as a cheezy as a lawyer.

MoFo 25 Devil in the White Potato

Perhaps you think you know everything you need to know about Seitan.
Well do you know that Seitan is a voracious reader? I am. I am. Here are a few of my favorite cookbooks and books I have cooked. Of course I am the featured antagonist in all of them.

The Devil in the White Potato
Rosemary's Herby
The Exordish
Vegan With a Revengeance
Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the Netherworld

I am quite fond of existentialism and Sartre. Are you familiar with the plot of No Exit? The recipes are mostly for disaster. The characters are damned, so they are cooked for sure. Their human vanity has given them a one way ticket to hell. Hell for them is a destination with no mirrors. Ah...but that is an old hell. In recent years I have given our occupants back their mirrors. They now have a fate much worse.....

You can have your beautiful reflections back. But ...

Tonight's recipe:
Devil in the White Potato
Serves 2

2 Bakers scrubbed
1 yukon
8 crimini mushrooms sliced
1 zucchini shredded and squeezed to remove water
1/4 of an onion chopped
1 clove garlic chopped/minced
1/2 package Upton chorizo seitan
1C plain soy yogurt plus 2 T
1/2 C daiya pepper jack shreds
1 tsp paprika
sea salt to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Place potatoes directly on oven rack and roast for 50-60 minutes or until tender and cooked through. The yukon will take about 40 minutes.
While the potatoes are baking do all the other prep. Saute mushrooms, garlic and onions and seitan for about 6 minutes, add zucchini and paprika and sea salt. Cook about 7 more minutes.
Remove  bakers from oven. Carefully slice off the top quarter of each baker and let them cool about five minutes. Scoop out the flesh of each baker and leave behind a 1/4 inch layer of potato on the inside to form a shell. Add the flesh, bahahaha, of the bakers and the yukon to a large bowl and mash. Add 2 T of soy yogurt and mix.

Raise oven temp to 475 degrees. Place the  potato shells on a foiled baking sheet. Roast in the oven for 12 minutes or until they begin to crisp.
While the potato shells are baking in the oven mix the with 1/2 C of and 1 C of soy to the zucchini mixture. Fold in the mashed potatoes.

Remove the potato shells from the oven and use a cupcake scoop to evenly fill each potato with several scoops.

These also go by the moniker, Seitan is Twice Baked!

MoFo 24 Sloth Day Friday Packaged Stuff and Sin City

Hey everybody it's Sloth Friday. Did you know that sloth is one of the 7 Deadly Sins? Since it's almost dias de los muertas we could start the party early and call today Day of the Deadly. I bet Kittee B. from Cake Maker to the Stars could even swing by with some of her menacingly beautiful sugar skulls. She's a maniac with those sparkly skulls, and she's been up to her underpants in glitter. Enough about Kittee. It's my blog.

Technically sins aren't supposed to be healthy. Even if you act out in moderation, it's not supposed to be good for you. But really, what's one more day of testing the fates?
Tonight I bring you packaged food you can slit open with a serrated knife and then cram down your throat while you eat at the kitchen sink, or in the corner under a dim light, or even partially suffocated under a non-wool Eco friendly blanket.

Oh forget it! You guys probably don't do that. Everybody has such nice kitchens and lives and, and, and...oh where did that serrated knife go? Did you know that self pity is another one of the 7 Deadly sins?

I never had the salsa hummus before and guess what? I got it for free! It's true. The cashier at WF didn't see a bar code and she and the bagger gifted me with it. Greed is another deadly sin. I thanked them profusely and then asked if they had any other freebies for me. On to the next sin.

I know, I know it is the year of the nut cheez, but hey this is grab and go. I heard somewhere that lust often masquerades as romance. Yep lust it's just another one of those deadlies. Eh. Who cares. I just love daiya sooooo much.

Rejected by a wedge of vegan cheez. Oh well it just would have been a marriage of convenience anyway. Still it pisses me off. You know what daiya? You can just Eat it!!

Sorry! Anger is another deadly sin. I think I will feel better after dessert. Crazy Boy didn't want any, and I could have eaten the whole thing by myself but that would have been gluttonous, and I think I've had enough sitting around sinning tonight. I left half for CB. He had it for breakfast and said he actually liked my raw tarts better. Not sure what that means. I think we all could use 10 Hail Merries.

Friday MoFo 5 Sloth Day Pizza

It's Friday and that means it's Sloth Day here at Veganville.
There are two kinds of sloth. The human kind and the animal kind.

The human sloth is:
a lover of sleep, couches, e-z boys, fuzzy slippers, high octane coffee, and early retirement and packaged foods. 47% of Americans who cannot afford health insurance have been referred to as sloths.


The animal sloth is:
so lazy that he cannot get up off his South American tree or ass. He is often two toed from losing his other toes to diabetes, since he could never afford his own health care. He grows algae all over his fur, because he is too lazy to shed. He has never voted in an election because he is two lazy to register.

By virtue of toes and voter registration I fall into the first category. Today we make gluten -free pizza crust from a package we found in a chain store. We shop at TJ Maxx for food props, and found this on the shelf. Vegan and GF! Why not?

We found it easy to make and spread out on the cookie sheet. We had some basil and vine ripened tomatoes in the frig, along with some Daiya. Just tore, sliced and sprinkled the ingredients. We added some nooch and a little oregano.

We thought it would taste like a flat bread, but we were really pleasantly surprised. After slicing the pie we realized the crust was indeed crusty as crusty crusts should be, and the rest of the slice was unsoggy and yet we could fold it like a New York pizza slice. This made these two New Yorkers very happy. I will definitely make it again, um maybe after another snooze.
We are super stoked about this crust.
Thanx for stopping by and remember to vote ;)

Heimlich and Gretel and Sauerkraut MoFo Day 1

Here we are again. Mofo 2012 is here, that's right. It's Veganville's third year to participate in this year's biggest international weight lifting competition. Oh sorry, I mixed up my international weight lifting and curling blog with my vegan food blog.

I'm back and less confused. You probably didn't need to see my before and after pics either.
Anyway, MoFo is month of Vegan food, where frenzied bloggers from all over the globe get chubby and tired from all the food they make and eat. Last year our theme was water so we didn't gain much. This year we are excited about our theme(s).
You'll have to watch the video to see what it is, and then please stay around so we can share some food.

Das Sauerkraut Which Would Look Better if Picmonkey was working today. Ach!

Here is Das Shtupid Recipe

1 can sauerkraut drained

1/2 pack vegan cheeze or shredded Daiya

6 frozen hash brown patties broken up or sliced nicely, depends on your mood.

1/2 pack tempeh, cut in bite sized chunks

1/2 C.vegan milk unflavored

ground pepper

7-8 sundried tomatoes, cut in small pieces

cayenne pepper

2 T whole grain mustard

2 T caraway seeds

 

Your favorite brown bread

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Spray saute pan and saute tempeh until lightly browned.

Empty drained can of sauerkraut into an ovenproof baking dish.

Add potatoes, sundrieds, and browned tempeh to sauerkraut. Mix well.

Pour vegan milk into a bowl and grate most of the vegan cheeze (or add shredded cheez) into the milk.

Add mustard, cayenne and black pepper to the milk.

Pour the milk and spices over the sauerkraut/potato mixture and mix well.

 

 

Bake for 25-30 minutes

 

Let sit for 5 minutes, or eat soon and burn your tongue.

 

 

Now as promised our MoFo themes:

 

 

Monday- Oktoberfest

Tuesday- Training Tuesdays where we attempt to be committed to something other than the psych ward and have some get in shape foods and tips too.

Wednesday- Crazy Boy Makes Something (that's Larry).

Thursday- Who Dat Vegan? My video interview with well, um another vegan.

Friday- Sloth Day where we use packaged foods or go out or take in.

Saturday- Desserts

Sunday- Sunday with Seitan where we will worship all things gluten.

 

Thanx for swinging by. I am excited to participate in MoFo. I love nice comments and I love reading other blogs. :)



Waldorf Pizza

I think I go through about six kitchen timers a year. I refuse to get rid of my latest kitchen timer, so I am constantly putting my ear up to it to see if it is still ticking. I am getting old so people might start doing that to me. Yep, she's still ticking.  I wish a vampire would bite me already. Youth is lost on the youth, as they say.

Did you ever eat a Waldorf Salad? If you are younger than me I bet you haven't. Many many moons ago, before there was microwave popcorn or library self checkout or even slave free chocolate there was Waldorf Salad. The Waldorf Salad was invented in 1896 by Oscar Tschirky a maitre de at the famed Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. My mom was invented after 1896 and she still made a delicious Waldorf Salad. Her Waldorf added a little bit of lemon to the tart Granny Smiths, crunchy celery with chopped walnuts and a dollop of Hellman's Mayonnaise. Today Vegennaise would shine in this salad. If you wanna get all fancy replace the apples with pears.

Although I was nostalgic for this, I wanted something a little heartier one night, so I pulled out a corn crust pizza shell, and decided on a Waldorf Pizza. I knew I would forego the celery, since cooked celery makes me gag.  Patooey. What would replace the Vegennaise? What would make this Crazy Sicilian Boy's favorite pizza ever? Hmmm.

Waldorf Pizza Pre Oven

Waldorf Pizza

3/4 granny smith apple diced
3/4 C walnuts chopped
canola or olive oil spray
1 T agave
1/3 package of soy bleu crumbled
1/2 C Daiya Jack chunked
1/2 C Daiya Mozzarella shredded

Preheat oven 425 degrees. Place pizza crust on pan.
Don't sweat if you are a Daiya hater, this will still rock with Follow Your Heart or just the Bleu. We really liked the various textures of the cheezes.
Spray saute pan with spray. You probably figured that out. Heat pan. Add diced apples and saute about 2 minutes. Add walnuts and agave. Mix with wooden spoon. Cook another 2 minutes.
Top pizza crust with apple mixture. Add various cheezes. Cook 15 minutes until hot and bubbly. Let sit at room temperature for 5 minutes.

You can find this at Whole Foods or order online at Pangea



Waldorf All Bubbly and Happy Out of the Oven



Bet you thought I forgot to thank all the exceptional presenters of my Loveliest Blogger Awards. Well I almost did, but I didn't. You'll have to wait until I take my meds. Thank you for stopping by.

What Do You Call Hoppin' John A Week Later?

Y'all know what Hoppin' John is dontcha y'all? I had a Southern accent once. It's true. I adopted a Southern accent after living in what I affectionately dubbed "the armpit of the South". I drank a lot of tequila in those days. Slurring my words could easily pass as a drawl. I was a veg back then too. My diet consisted of grits, hush puppies and spirit water. My favorite book about the South is "Tequila a Mockingbird". Did I just lose 15 readers? Bahahaha.

Enough tangentialism... Back to Hoppin' John. Does this make this a blog hop now? What are those things anyway? Blog hops. Hmmm.

Hoppin' John is a dish that is traditionally eaten in the South on New Year's Day. Hoppin' John always includes black eyed peas. I think black eyed peas represent prosperity. Either that or a can of black eyed peas will become a collectible. So remember to save black eyed pea cans.

Here's your trivia of the day: If you eat Hoppin' John as a leftover (like on January 2nd) it's no longer called Hoppin' John. What's it called?
Hint 1:  ( fill in the blank) let's not "jump" or "___" to conclusions, shall we...
Hint 2: She married a short Scientologist.

If you guessed "Leapin Katie" you are correct!!! Leapin Katie is leftover Hoppin John!

We had a small gathering of friends who mean a lot to us (and also had no place else to go) over on New Year's  Day. My friend Marcia and I had both planned to make Hoppin' John. So dang it we had a shoot out, to see which Hoppin' John was left standing. Actually both Hoppin' John's were vegan of course, but that's where the similarity ended. Marcia made a Hoppin' John salad, that was as lovely as it was delicious. Marcia remembered that I have a gag reflex when it comes to celery, but had forgotten that the gag reflex only happens with cooked celery. Marcia left it out even though the salad was cold.  You could make it either way, with or without celery but it would be  unlikely since I didn't get the recipe from Marcia. I'll hit Marcia up for it though. We'll probably have coffee and celery sticks later this week. I want Marcia to come work with me!!! Below  is reason # 575 I want to work with Marcia again! I love her salad.

Marcia's Hoppin' John

Hoppin' John with Fragrant Basmati Rice and Roasted Rosemary Reds

3 cans Black Eyed Peas drained and rinsed
2 C White Basmati Rice
3 C Vegan Broth ( I use 365 brand) for the rice
1-2  More C Vegan Broth for the Hoppin' John Mix
1 medium sized onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic smashed and minced
2 C carrots chopped
1 bell pepper medium dice
1/2 C (or more) Daiya vegan cheese
1/4 C low sodium soy sauce
1/2 packet creole or taco seasoning (taco seasoning has paprika, red chili and black pepper so it works)
2-4 T Tabasco sauce (to taste)
1 Package Italian Tofurky Sausage cut into rounds and halved
21 salute seasoning to taste
1 bag spinach optional (to add in the last 3 minutes of cooking)


Directions:
You can cook your Basmati rice in a separate pot than the Hoppin' John. You can  make any kind of rice you like. I'm partial to Basmati. The color of the rice comes from the broth it's cooked in (and the Daiya that is later added). Rinse and drain the rice and then add with broth to a big sturdy pot. Bring to a boil and then turn to low. Spray another large pot with cooking spray and saute onion, and garlic for about 4 minutes, add carrots and pepper, and Tofurky and cook for another minute. Salt to taste. Add the drained and rinsed black eyed peas, and the remaining broth and seasoning mix. It should be ready about the same time as the rice. How cool is that.
Cook the rice for about 17-20 minutes. When I cook basmati it almost always takes 17 minutes. Stir in the Daiya, and salt to taste. Remove from stove.

Serve with vegan sour cream, Tabasco, spinach, balsamic, even roasted red potatoes.

Happy New Year y'all. Here's to a prosperous, healthy, compassionate 2012. Remember to stock up on those black eyed peas!

Cool Beans Nasoya Giveaway and Leftover Pasta Pie Recipe

I promised you a contest and I promised you a chance to win some Nasoya swanky swag. I haven't received my swag, (read- tee shirt in size unknown), from the lovely Nasoya peeps over at Nasoya.There could be a couple of reasons for that. If you are a long time reader of mine you probably know that I changed my address. That could be it. Or it could be that Nasoya's very nice PR person chased down the FedEx truck to get my tee shirt back after I conveyed some very real concerns I had about their Nasoya Tofu U site. Sure I like tofu and sure no animals were killed making the silken tofu I use for my mousse, but what about their egg based noodles and all the meat and chicken recipes on their site?  What about the frozen PB pie recipe dubbed vegan on their site but dripping with honey? Well I tell you I almost threw the baby tofu out with the tofu water. I was so conflicted. Why should I deprive my readers and fans of a give away? That would not be the right thing to do. No! Besides, I want more stuff...how 'bout a bag, or more coupons, or how 'bout sending me some of those nifty Richard Simmons like gym shorts with Tofu U written on them? I could wear them dancing to the oldies in my kitchen.

Crap. Now I probably have to apologize to Nasoya. I'm sorry Nasoya. I really do love Nasoya Silken Tofu. I used it in the pasta pie recipe I'm about to give you. I actually have used all their tofus except the new sprouted ones. I tried to track down Nasoya's new hummus but it was unavailable in the five stores that I checked. Speaking of five stores I take the fifth on Nayonnaise. It reminds me of that midwest sandwich spread - you know the one with the initials M.W. It might be good with vegan baloney, on vegan white bread if you dig that sort of thing. What do I know? Before we play, check out this interview I had on prime time.

Here's the recipe for leftover pasta pie I promised you.

Leftover Pasta Pie Made With Nasoya Silken Tofu

1 Prepared corn crust pie
1 hearty portion of leftover pasta (ours was made with rice pasta, peas, vine ripened tomato, Tofurkey and red onion)
vegan pesto (enough to cover bottom of pizza shell)
olive oil spray
1/4 C water
3 vine ripened tomatoes
1 clove of garlic minced

1 package Nasoya Silken Tofu (drained and pressed) crumbled
1 C Daiya Mozzarella
1 T oregano
1 tsp liquid smoke

Preheat oven according to corn pizza shell directions. Spread pesto on bottom of crust. Place on cookie sheet or pizza pan. Spray skillet with canola or olive oil, cook garlic for about 2 minutes, mix in pasta and add about 2 T of water, cook about 5 minutes, add crumbled tofu, and liquid smoke. Cook over medium heat for about 12 minutes. Add water or spray as needed. Slice tomatoes and place in concentric circles on pizza shell. Top with tofu mixture, sprinkle with Daiya and oregano. Cook according to pizza shell directions (12-15 minutes). Let sit.

Onto the giveaway and your chance to cash in on some free coupons and tee. Winners will be announced Friday December 14th  and will be chosen through a mighty number generator.

Here's all the ways you can play. You can enter as many times as you want too. Tell me what action you took in the comments. Each action is worth an entry. Woo hoo! Number 5 is worth 2 entries. C'mon I want those gym shorts.

1. Add yourself as a follower of the blog.
2. Tweet this contest.
3. Like the Nasoya FB page.https://www.facebook.com/#!/Nasoya
4. Like Veganville on FB https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/VEGANVILLE-Make-No-Bones-About-ItWere-Vegan/101254843910
5. And here's the clincher. Enroll in Tofu U and take the pledge to cook tofu once a week, (we're vegans, how easy is that?).http://www.nasoya.com/tofu-u/

Good luck and thanx for playing the "Cool Beans" giveaway!

MoFo Day 12 Lookie Lookie Lookie Here Comes Snoozy

Is it November 1st yet? Sorry didn't know you were there. I was busy celebrating my first day off in two weeks. Tomorrow is the actual day off but tonight I got to take a power snooze. I could have slept until tomorrow but the Type A nudnick inside of me didn't want to miss another MoFo post this early in the game. I'll keep it short, sweet and unadorned. I wanna get back to my pillow. No technicolor dreams for me. Here is a snapshot of the inside of GiGi's REM  cycle brain. Photo credit of GiGi's inner sleep sanctum taken by the husband aka Psycho Boy. Thank you PB!

 Our awake life and dinner...

Sweet dreams.

MoFo 10 Polenta: Made Martha's Method or GiGi's Way

I'm giving you a couple of options today. Let's say you've got oodles of time in the kitchen, an organic greenhouse on your estate, boy toys who massage your feet while you wait for your manservant to serve your casserole piping hot and bubbly direct from your "Wolf" oven. You savor this fragrant bit of magnificence that you have created while your winning show dog, (who has not come from the pound), fetches your slippers. If I have just described you, then Option 1: "The Martha Method" is for you.

Are you sweating it out with a day job that barely pays the bills? Do you work crazy ass ridiculous long hours on calloused feet? Is the only time you get to sit during a 15 hour day is when you blog for MoFo? Is the only garden you see an aloe plant you artfully placed on your garbage can? Would you love to gaze at this aloe plant through your kitchen window but your kitchen has no window? Do your domesticated ferals shed all over your Salvation Army chairs? Do people often confuse your apartment with an MRI machine? Then hurry up and make this quick and wolf it down, and post the recipe for MoFo or "GiGi's Way" is the one for you.

Polenta Casserole Option 1: "Martha's Method"
Martha's Polenta
10 cups cold water
1 heaping tablespoon coarse salt
1 dried bay leaf
2 cups coarse-ground polenta meal
Freshly ground pepper


Directions


1. Put 6 cups cold water, the salt and bay leaf into a Dutch oven or a heavy stockpot, and bring to a boil. Bring remaining 4 cups cold water to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add polenta to large pot in handfuls, separating your fingers to let the grains slip through and whisking constantly until combined. Reduce heat until only a couple of large bubbles appear at a time.
3. Whisk 2 ladlefuls of simmering water into polenta, and cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until water has been absorbed, about 5 minutes. Continue to add 2 ladlefuls of water every 5 minutes, stirring often and waiting for it to be absorbed before adding more, until polenta is creamy and just pulls away from sides of pot, about 45 minutes. (It may be necessary to adjust heat.)
4. If not serving immediately, reduce heat to lowest setting, cover pot and keep warm until ready to serve. (Up to 1 hour). Remove bay leaf. Season with pepper.
5. For soft polenta only: Stir in butter. Sorry GiGi. Earth Balance. Use a damp spoon to serve. Top each serving with Parmigiano-Reggiano. Sorry I didn't mean that, GiGi! I mean nutritional yeast, GiGi!
6. For set polenta only: Pour into a slightly damp medium bowl (or a 13-by-9-inch baking dish). Let stand until no longer steaming, about 10 minutes. Refrigerate, uncovered until cold and set, about 1 1/2 hours. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until ready to serve. (Up to 2 days). Turn out polenta. Using plain dental floss, cut horizontally in half, pulling string toward you. Cut in half crosswise, pressing string downward. Cut each half lengthwise into 1 1/2 inch-wide strips, cut strips crosswise into thirds, and then into triangles or squares if desired. (Alternatively, cut polenta with a knife.)


Option 2: "GiGi's Way"
ZzzzzzOh come on Martha, I mean I really appreciate you blogging with me but, dental floss? Dental Floss!!?

For the polenta part, "GiGi's Method":
Purchase one cylinder premade polenta and slice into rounds, then half moons. That's it. Your turn Martha.

Option 1: Sauce "Martha's Method"
Be sure to pick the ripest greenhouse tomatoes. Remember how you lovingly tended to the vines while the pool boy watched.

I'm sorry Martha. Again I really appreciate you helping me blog here, but me and the readers have to get some sleep and we haven't eaten yet. And your revery as delightful as it may be is just taking a little too much time. Say good night Martha :)

Sorry folks no more options tonight. Let's cook this baby up. I can't believe Martha was about to use real parm...what was she thinking? And dental floss?

GiGi's Fast and Effective Polenta Casserole continued from above.
1-2 Cups marinara sauce
2 C roasted broccoli (spray foil lined roasting pan with olive oil and bake at 450 degrees about 15 minutes)
1/2 C pitted and chopped kalamata olives
1 C Daiya mozzarella
1/4 C nooch (nutritional yeast)
1 tsp dried oregano

Pre Oven Polenta

1. Lightly spray casserole dish with olive oil. Place rounds or moons in dish layer with 1 T sauce per round, and one piece of roasted broccoli per round. Layer until there is no more polenta :(
Top with Daiya. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
2. Eat.
3. Now would be a good time for you to use use Martha's floss.
4. Go to bed.
5. Tomorrow's is another day of Mofo.Sweet vegan dreams. Lalalala.

Post oven Polenta

Sgetti Pie and Day 4 of Engine 2

I think crazy man (a.k.a my husband) is more scared than he's letting on. On day one, I asked him if he was excited about the new plan we were about to embark on, and he said NO! Committed, Yes!  I guess whooping it up and jumping for joy are not Larryisms. Oh, don't get me wrong, Psycho boy can be a real Mr. Funbags when he wants to be, but he's such a Taurus that I often have to prod him along. I'm more a whoopdeedo- let's do it kind of gal. So we started the Engine 2 Plan 3 days ago. If you are not familiar with Engine 2, it's a vegan plan/diet (diet seems so passe) devised by Rip Esselyn a triathlete/fireman. Phenom, Lance Armstrong used this eating plan to train for his last Tour De France. The jacket of the Engine 2 book calls this diet a 28 Day Save-Your- Life- Plan that Lowers Your Cholesterol and Burns Away Pounds. I think that blurb is important to attract readers. Not this reader though. Yes, I'd be happy to burn fat and get lean and mean and build muscle. My cholesterol is good, so is my husband's. He's thin, most people would say I am too, and we are both already vegans. If I lose 5-6 pounds that would be a fringe benefit with no fringe bikinis I promise!!!

So why this decision?
No I am not a cyclist. As a matter of fact I'm an idiot on a bike. I'm not training for a triathlon.
Neither is "have to push him off the couch and drag him to exercise, man".


Top 10 Reasons GiGi is Doing This:
1. I need something to blog about. (No but it sure helps with 28 days worth of blogs).
2. I bake for a living and stray chocolate chips often wind up in my mouth, and on my hips.
3. I bake for a living (I know I said that before) and leftover dough....please see number two (mouth/hips).
4. I bake for a living (there it is again) and I must test each and every frosting to see if it is good enough for my clients. (please see numbers two and three)
5. I have found myself saying, if only I didn't bake, I would not do sugar and flour...hmmm, so why let my baking be a limitation?
6. Speaking of limitations, I've realized some are self imposed, and I am in fact accepting things I can change. I am an ex-competitive athlete and coach. When I see people who are in terrific shape I say, "Eh well good for them. I had my day". Why should my days be numbered?
7. I've had sports related injuries. 3 herniated discs, (one neck, 2 lower back). Blown out knees and 9 years ago loss use of both arms for a year and a half. I walk, but lift weights and do core ball exercises infrequently. I already know what a vegan diet can do for me. I believe if I rid myself of the rest of these toxins I'll be able to work out consistently and without fear and run as well.
8. Family history- my 92 year old dad played semi-pro ball and played all kind of sports all his life. He swam up until a year ago. My mom now in her 80's and former professional dancer played tennis until two years ago. My sister was a runner, and tennis player and now just walks. None of them are on plant based diets. All of them suffer from severe arthritis and back and neck pain. In addition to this my sister suffers from severe migraines. Could you imagine how great they would feel from all those healthy sports if their diet had been/was different? I believe I can eliminate most inflammation by following this plan.
9. I like a good challenge.
10. I want more energy. I work long hours on my feet and am tired of being tired and sleeping away my time off. I want to embrace life.

Please keep up with me on this. I'll let you in on my goals, and Larry's reason for doing this too.

For more information on Engine2 plan please visit:http://engine2diet.com/

Here is what we had for dinner on day 2.
Day one was brown rice penne, marinara sauce, broccoli and nooch.

E2 Sgetti Pie
1 C leftover cooked brown rice pasta (or any whole grain pasta)
2 C broccoli chopped
2 C mushrooms sliced
1 clove garlic
1 vegan sausage sliced and cut in half
1 C E2 approved marinara sauce (sans oil and sugar)
1 tofu drained
1/2 Cup Daiya Mozzarella
1/4 C nutritional yeast
1 T dried oregano
spray oil
sea salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray an 8 inch pie pan and set aside. Spray heavy bottomed fry pan and heat. Add broccoli, and garlic and saute for about six minutes. Add veggie sausage and saute for two minutes. Add shrooms and saute another couple of minutes, add the marina and stir. Meanwhile in a big bowl, crumble the tofu until it is the consistency of ricotta. Add the cooked ingredients to the tofu and mix well. Stir in the nooch and 1/4 cup of the Daiya, and oregano. Empty bowl into prepared pan and press firmly. Go ahead it's fun. Top with remaining Daiya and sprinkle some more nooch if your little heart desires. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool for about 3-4 minutes.

Today is day four.



Feel free to jump in any time. Do you have any goals right now?

Your Toast or You're Toast

Today I will attempt to explain some unkind things to you. I don't want to necessarily make your day suck or anything, that's all up to you and your lonesome. Remember, we can always change our days around by taking positive action, so your day never really has to suck that much. Even making tiny changes can be so empowering.

Anyway, this post is rated PG for PG, partially gruesome. I'll give you a recipe at the end of the post so if you want, you can just bypass the graphic stuff. Hey speaking of bypass, you do know that eating animal products can cause quadruple bypasses, right? Yep. Thump, thump, stop! So if you wanna keep that heart a pumpin' and a thumpin' it might be time to eat more of a plant based diet.

Today let's take a glance  at one of the animals you might still be putting on your plate. I applaud you if you've give up red meat. It's a start but don't think you are totally in the clear, buddy! This isn't just about your health any more. It's about compassion. Like I've said before, comapssion is good for your soul, hence your heart.

Let's take a look at chicken, shall we. Let's imagine what the chicken feels like when confined to a battery cage.
WARNING!!!! DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME! Just imagine How it Feels! I repeat! Don't Do This At Home! I take no responsibility for burnt toast.

Imagine this scenario:
You take your favorite morning multi-grain bread out of the frig and place it in the toaster. You savor it, and say to yourself, (because you always talk a lot to yourself in the morning), this flax seed toast is going to taste so good especially if I put some softened Earth Balance on it! 
You, get some organic coffee brewing, plug in the toaster, place the flax seed spelt bread in the slot and press the highest, darkest toaster setting. You pour yourself a steaming cup of joe,  and consider getting baptized even though you are Jewish.
You shout Thank you baby Jesus for free trade caffeine!
You sip your morning java. Ah java.
The world is a beautiful place.This is better than the 70's. Peace. 
Yes this is a beautiful life, it's such a beautiful world I might be able to share the earth with Ann Coulter.

Uh oh is that toast burning? OMG! And just like that you are Snapped out of your disgusting Ann Coulter revery. Thank Goodness.

Crap. Just when you were going to catch up on all your Vegetarian Times reading too and live in placid co-existence with Tea Party folk, the revery ends. Oh no! The smoke alarm in your tiny digs is crazy loud. Your moron next door neighbor the one with the "don't save the dolphins unless they have beer" trucker hat is pounding on the wall of his trailer. Your freakin' toast is stuck and won't pop up. You grab the nearest knife, the one that was going to spread your softened Earth Balance on your whole grain toast. You stick the butter knife in the slot. What?! Don't tell me. You didn't unplug the toaster! Expletive. Expletive.

Zap! Jolt! Hey bub, you still with me? Oops. Sorry about that.

Hey! Now you know that this is how a chicken confined to a battery cage feels everyday of his existence. These poor chickens never even get to experience their morning coffee. Yep, these poor creatures are debeaked too, so they never ever get to wake up and smell the coffee. Yep, these poor chickens are toast!

Please think about what you eat before you eat!

Hey! Let's have a real life breakfast!!! You deserve it.

I heart the new marinated tempehs from Turtle Island Foods Inc. At least the ones I've tried, like Smokey Maple Bacon and Coconut Curry.

The Smoky Tempeh Bacon is perfect in a tofu scramble with tomatoes and peppers and onions. They are already pre-sliced. Of course the tempeh is perfect in a BLT as well. I know I promised breakfast, but really who wants it after the toaster ordeal. Let's do lunch instead.

BLT Taco Salad with Broken "Tortilla Flats"
with a nod to John Steinbeck

Half-Assed Recipe Because I'm Toast Today (serves 4 "Big Baby" salads or 4 baby salads)
For the Salad

About 16 ounces of butter lettuce
8 cherry tomatoes
package of the tempeh featured up there cooked according to package directions
2 T canola or olive oil
About a C of your choice of your favorite shredded Daiya
Crispy corn tortillas as many as you can handle

For the Fake Blue Cheez Dressing
1/2 a block "tofu life" lemon garlic smoked tofu crumbled
1 C vegenaise
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp sea salt




Directions: Plate it so everything looks pretty. Decorate with broken tortillas while you nosh on some.

Dressing Directions: Whisk all ingredients together except the crumbled tofu. Fold that in last.
Serve over your pretty salad.


Enjoy tomorrow's breakfast.

I'm Stuffed....Peppers

There is a dizzying array of colors at my local produce market right now. You can walk out of  Berkeley's Monterey Market with two canvas bags filled to the brim with juicy seasonal goodness for under eighteen bucks, maybe twenty. I usually get very excited about a trip to the market but I must be prepared to wear my game face. I must be psyched and in tip top shape. Monterey Market is the Lohmann's of produce. While New York Jews might elbow each other and stampede a Lohmann's for a marked down Balenciaga or Kate Spade bag, Berkeley tie dyed grey haired hippies will squash your Tevas for the purplest plum. And no I don't wear Tevas. My 92 year old dad, Pete does. NO tie dye though. Pete usually dons Brooklyn Dodger Tee and NYPD sweat pants. Don't think I haven't thought about using Dad and his wheelchair as a weapon in the Roman Coliseum of fruits. Yep Pete is sure deadly in his wheel chair but  you know what else...he's  an ex-mucky muck on the NYPD. So watch out  and get outta our way Mr. Jerry Garcia look alike.You over there, drop the honeydew. Pete still remembers the Miranda rights too, or at least something cop like. How 'bout..."drop the radicchio, and nobody gets hurt". Ooh you go Daddy!
Last trip, Pete wasn't with me. I did manage to get away with some yellow peppers, blueberries and strawberries, but it wasn't easy. A pigtailed grandma in lederhosen got a little too close to my peppers and I had to bop her on the suspenders with my recycled Lohmann's bag.

Moral of the story: Violence doesn't pay. I got home and didn't know what the hell to do with the yellow peppers.

I decided to veganize and tweak a vegetarian recipe I googled. Eh. It wouldn't be worth it to give you the recipe but I'd be happy to give you some tweak pointers and an elocution lesson. Say "Pete's Peppers Pointers" three times fast. Now out of our way.

Pete's Peppers Pointers

1. Yellow peppers make perfect containers-boats if you will. Cut vertically. Leave the top and bottom but remove pepper membrane.
2. I think the pepper boats taste better roasted or charred before filled.
3. I used a combo of quinoa, roasted peppers, red onion, scallion, raisins, and pine nuts, and cumin- (none of these were in the recipe prior to the tweak). Any grain will do. I added olive oil and a touch of balsamic. The base works. I think cilantro would have brought it up a notch.
4. Needs lots of flavor and seasoning.
5. For leftovers we drizzled olive oil and sprinkled Daiya over the top. It works.
6. I think Black Forbidden rice inside the yellow peppers would give it a Gothic twist for a special occasion.

Do you have a favorite way to cook yellow peppers? I'm stuffed.

Tempeh For the Taurus

Well crazy Taurus boy had yet another birthday. But I swear the dude is like Dorian Gray. I'd hate to see what his attic picture looks like. We celebrated with the movie, "Bill Cunningham New York" . The photos and fashion are a must see and Bill is a lovable eccentric. We enjoyed takeout from Nature's Express in Berkeley and combined their delicious frozen dessert with some lemon custard cupcake and lemon frosting to make a delectable party parfait. Woohoo.

The Einstein, a scrambled tofu, tempeh bacon, Daiya cheese tomato avocado and black bean burrito is pretty good.

The real genius is the Grilled Tempeh Reuben. The homemade kraut paired with the tangy house thousand island and melted Daiya hits the spot and is calling to my taste buds as I write.

I'm a huge fan of Nature's Express frozen dessert, even though I get freeze head. They carry a different flavor everyday. The vanilla almond was a terrific compliment to the lemon flavors swirling through the parfait. It was a very hot day, and we had to carry the parfaits home without lids, hence the leaning tower.

Now excuse me while I go eat in the attic. Bahahahaha.

(photo credits-crazy Taurus boy)

MoFo 10 Lasagna-An Aerial View

Yes the road is paved with good intentions. I fully intended to write a recipe blog on roasted veggie and meatless ground round lasagna. I realize all my MoFo recipes thus far are laden with Daiya so I probably need to switch it up a bit. Plus my stupid lasagna photo looks like an aerial shot of Smyrna, Georgia.

Look closely. That might look like a black olive far right but it is actually the house Julia Roberts grew up in. A little to the left of Julia's birthplace- the thing that looks nothing like an onion- is the acting school Julia's parents owned.
Oh for goodness sake, I promised a savory recipe today and by God I'll post it.

Smyrna Lasagna
1/2 box of 16 oz no boil lasagna (365 is vegan)
20 oz, ( I think), Hm marinara or in a pinch TJ's organic basics tomato sauce in can
1 cup of baby carrots
2 cups broccoli (chopped)
1 onion (chopped)
About 7 oz of spinach thawed and water squeezed out.
1  10 oz tofu drained and pressed
1 clove of garlic smashed and chopped
3 T nooch
2 tsp olive oil
1 8 oz. package of Shredded Daiya Mozzarella
1 package Yves meatless ground round
1 T of oregano
canola oil spray or olive oil spray
sea salt
1C H2O


Preheat oven 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment and spray with oil. Place veggies on prepared pan. Spray again and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake about 20 minutes. Meanwhile back on the farm....
Crumble the Yves in one bowl and the tofu in another. Get out your 9x13 in. lasagna pan and some foil. 
For the ricotta...add garlic salt, olive oil and nooch to and mush it. Set aside.

When the veggies are done well take them out of the oven silly. Turn oven down to 375 degrees. Now assemble.
Ladle about 1/2 C  marinara on bottom of lasagna pan. Layer with about 6 overlapping noodles. Spread with ricotta, then spinach, then Yves, then a layer of veggies and a about 1/4 C Daiya. Repeat with sauce....layering. Pour the H2O all over this baby in between the crevices too, (you don't want hard noodles), then sprinkle with  a little nooch and oregano. Cover with two overlapping layers of foil. Bake for about 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 20 minutes til bubbly and you just can't wait.

OMG I swear I  can see Julia Robert's face in my lasagna.

4 my blog by Vegan Chick on Polyvore.com

MoFo 7 Popeye Pin Wheels With Olive Oyle

I always had the impression that Popeye was a vegan. I mean besides being a spinach junkie Popeye's motto is "I yam what I yam". Popeye even owned a restaurant called "Spinach Heaven". Popeye once made a documentary called "Spinach vs. Hamburger", which is considered the Food Inc. of the 30's. I just found out that Popeye's "Spinach Heaven" served Spanish spinach omelets, so apparently Popeye is a vegetarian not a vegan. His archenemy Bluto passed away a number of years ago, (clogged artery), bloated and sad and alone, still pining for Olive Oyle. I'd rather not analyze Olive Oyle's eating habits in this post. Suffice it to say she has remained a size zero-zero throughout her life.
Don't be Wimpy, give these Pin Wheels a whirl.

1/2 of a 17.3 oz. package of Pepperidge Farm (Fahm) Puff Pastry Sheet (hooray they're vegan)
2 T of Earth Balance melted or 2 T of Olive Oyl (ha ha)
3/4 C Daiya shredded mozzarella or cheddar
1/8th C of nutritional yeast (nooch)
1-2 T of Tofutti "cream" cheese
1 clove garlic smashed and minced
1 chopped green onion
1 T non-wine Dijon or regular Dijon if you want
10 0z. chopped spinach thawed with as much water squeezed out as humanly possible

Preheat oven 400 degrees. If using Earth Balance go ahead melt it and set aside. If using olive oil pour it in to a ramekin. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Stir Daiya, nooch, tofutti, mustard and garlic in medium bowl.

Flour flat surface. Unfold pastry sheet on to aforementioned surface. Brush pastry sheet with chosen oil. Top with Daiya mix, and then some spinach. Starting with the short end roll up pastry like a jelly roll. Cut into 12 pieces. Place cut side down on baking sheet. Brush with melted EB or olive oil. Bake 17-20 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on rack.

A personal note. My late aunt's name was Olive. She was a kick with a great sense of humor. Sometimes I'd call her Aunt Pickles. We all miss you Aunt Olive. (This post is dedicated to her memory) xoxo