A Dickensian Tale and 2013 Pie

We were going to do a Kickstarter campaign to get some funding for Veganville, which is how the above video began. We couldn't figure out a mission statement, and then we realized our mission was just to stay out of the Mission. Let's get real here, our real mission is to keep Larry out of the poky so we need money for that. Yeah, so our mission is to raise money...um for us. When you think about it what else could be more altruistic than giving money to our cause. Remember you can save your tax dollars by keeping us on the outside, and  you'll be giving to a worthy vegan cause- US. 
Please give what you can, and if your can't right now, please keep coming back to this blog, because it's never too late to donate to US. Thank you. 

Below please find  last year's Thanksgiving pie, called "Home Sweet Home Spelt Pie." I made this with the hope that it would not be our last home cooked meal.

This is not a baking mistake or a burnt crust from my baking. My "Home Sweet Home Spelt Pie" looked really good out of the oven. Unfortunately it got singed when Larry lit the house on fire. Still it manages to look festive, Right?

The recipe can be found in babycakes. It's a wonderful book, but Erin couldn't think of calling this anything other than "Apple Pie."  Hmmmph.

In the meantime...we've got these people to thank.

Video
Written and Directed: GiGi
DP/Director all cinematography except interview: Jeremy Fukunaga
DP and Post Production film editors, Directors:
Jake Gomez
Rick Lee Rahn

Director Interview: Tim Mull

Order of Appearance:
Fletcher Brooke: Brooke Fletcher
Skutch Sandalman: Tim Mull
Larry: Larry Tasse
GiGi: GiGi 
Zombie 1: Molly McCormick
Zombie 2: Noreen Poli
Zombie 3: Brooke Fletcher
Zombie 4: Tim Mull


Coming Soon:
Our Gargantuan Donation Button!!!
and some cookies.

Thank you for reading and viewing.

xxx
GiGi

Larry Takes Jerry Out to Flacos

Jerry: Hi everybody it's me, Jerry. I was feeling a little sad the other day, I mean I know there

was a Mommy sighting and everything but she's not here yet. I bet her cell phone ran out.

I bet Daddy didn't pay her cell phone bill.

Anyway, Daddy told me to keep my fingers crossed and my chin up. It's hard to cross my fingers because they can only go in one position. Kind of like my feet. I can keep my chin up if someone doesn't swivel my head.

Anyway, Daddy took me to my favorite place ever, Flacos in Berkeley and this what we had. Daddy can you tell everybody what we had?

Larry: Well, Jerry and Mommy and me love the taquitos which are made of a soy chicken mixture rolled in a corn tortilla and fried. They're doused in Flacos' signature avocado salsa, (also sold to-go for $6), which comes in mild or spicy, the latter with roasted habaneros, but we get it with mild because there is no happy medium. 

Flaco's 3031 Adeline Street Berkeley, California 94703 510.981.8081

Jerry: Tell everybody in blog world about the the huarache, Daddy.
Larry: Hi everybody in blog world, a huarache is a handmade corn tortilla layered with avocado, refried pinto beans, rice, cilantro, onions, cabbage and..
Jerry: There's cabbage in it, Daddy? No way!
Larry: Way, Jerry and it has radish and salsa too.

Jerry: And Flaco's has pozole that is almost as good as Mommy's.
Larry: Almost, you can find Mommy's recipe here. 
Jerry: I wish Mommy was here!!!

Larry and Jerry scream and cry and get kicked out of Flacos. On their way home from Berkeley Larry and Jerry get hopeful when they see Mommy's poster on a telephone pole. Larry and Jerry know in their heart of hearts that if people in Berkeley are looking for GiGi, then by God Mommy will be home soon.

Yes, GiGi/Mommy will be home soon.
P.S. I need Mommy to help me with Blogger. I am very sorry the text came out weird!!!
Love,
Jerry

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 2013 The GiGi Doppelganger and Gluten Free Cookies

Good morning everybody in Mofo Land. Larry, here. Did GiGi ever mention to you that we live in a destination spot? It's true, people come from far and wide to hangout on the famous Solano Avenue which is a mile and half row of restaurants, boutiques, an indie movie theatre etc. and just happens to be around the corner from us. Living here in this cool area makes up for our MRI sized dwelling. The cat kids and Jerry love it. Anyway, yesterday was the annual Solano Stroll. Since 1974 Solano Avenue and the twin-cities of Albany and Berkeley CA, have hosted the Solano Avenue Stroll, the east bay's largest street festival! They feature over five hundred vendors including entertainers, food booths, government and non-profit agencies, hand-crafters and more! Participants and the event guests visit from everywhere throughout California! (Some even from out of the state.)

Now I am well aware that I might be a suspect in the disappearance of GiGi, however I have decided to take the matter into my own piano playing hands. I decided to scour the streets of the stroll for GiGi and because there are not a lot of vegan options at the Stroll for GiGi, I figured she might be hungry. I brought some GF sugar free, oil free cookies she had frozen just before she... she, you know went missing from her blog. Maybe the cookies would entice her. First the cookies, then the footage and stills. Do you think this is GiGi or a GiGi doppelganger? 

Gingersnaps

3/4 C melted coconut oil
1/3 C unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp sea salt
3 T molasses
1 C agave
2 T non-alcoholic vanilla
2 1/4 C GF  "Perfect Blend" flour
1/4 C flax meal
1 tsp baking soda
jam optional

Preheat oven 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment. In medium bowl combine the first 5 ingredients. In another medium bowl whisk the dry ingredients. With a spatula carefully add the dry to the wet ingredients until a grainy dough is formed. Using a small scoop scoop dough onto prepared baking pans, spacing 1 inch apart. Flatten with heel of your hand. Bake cookies 1 inch apart for 9 minutes, rotate pans and bake another 6 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on racks for ten minutes and then remove cookies from pan. Let cool and then spread one cookie with jam of your choice and top with another cookie. 

Is this GiGi?

Anyone with any information concerning GiGi is urged to contact: 

Spin the Wheel and Happy Thanksgiving

I guess it was about 6 years ago that my sister Heidi texted me a message similar to this.

You better hurry down to LA the parental unit is on it's last legs.
You might want to say sianara and be on your merry way, since you know... since they are not leaving you anything except maybe some old shoe trees. Oh and that Las Vegas snow globe you wanted.

I had talked to the parental unit just moments before. Both of my parents have husky voices, so when the timber of my dad's voice sounded crypt like and my mom sounded like Foghorn Leghorn I figured their voices were just horser from yelling at each more than usual. Still the shoe trees were worth taking a trip for. Psycho Boy and I jumped in the car and drove 8 hours to the death condo.

We arrived drawn and haggard. Ding dong ding dong. I banged on the door with a shoe tree I clipped on an earlier visit and rang the door bell again. Ding dong. No answer. When I was about to give up and call the coroner, I heard a man yell, "Spin the wheel!" What the hell was Pat Sajak doing in my dead parents living room? I crawled on to their balcony and peaked through the venetian blinds, and there at the dining room table watching a deafening and gargantuan flat screen were two very alive parents eating spaghetti, drinking wine and solving TV hangman.

Since I am fairly thin, I slid through their venetian blinds.

Me: Doesn't anybody answer their doorbell anymore?
Mom and Dad: We knew it was you. Ha ha ha. Now that you are here, we might as well talk about those shoe trees.
Me: No. I am too vulnerable and I have to let Larry in.
Mom and Dad: Hi Larry! While you are here, can you go to T.J.'s for us? Here's the list.

We did not look at the list until we got to T.J.'s. It included 3 Two Buck Chucks and 3 bags of ginger chews, and two salads. We looked all over the meat cold case for the offending chuck meat. A Hawaiian shirted employee pointed us towards the cheap wine section. I guess, alcohol either kills you or preserves you.

So when Heidi texted me about my dad this time, I wasn't sure what to think. My mom confirmed that my elderly dad was doing very poorly and that hospice was in and he was taking morphine for pain. This time they knew we were coming and were happy we came. My dad wasn't that responsive at first, except when I asked if he was comfortable, and he answered, "I make a living." He also sang with Heidi and me several choruses of "Take Me Out To the Ball Game" and "Button Up Your Overcoat." Always the showman, my dad ended the song with," I really mean it!"  My mom is still his main caregiver/entertainer so when I heard her bustling about I crept into my dad's room. My dad sat up, looked down at his hospital bed and exclaimed, "Oyvay", closed his eyes and opened them and added "Gefalt, and Patooey!" The three of us laughed and joked for what seemed like an hour, until my dad faded back to sleep.

Crazy Boy and I left two days later. I was exhausted and hungry the entire trip home. I am not normally a car sleeper, but I do like to nosh on road trips. I slept on and off for half the trip. While dazed and confused we bought these T.J. foods for the way home. Both are equally delicious and comforting.

Although there are times I miss my younger parents, a younger sibling, husband and of course a youthful me, I am grateful this Thanksgiving for all of them being around for as long as they have. Through all the trials and tribulations that have come with a long life, I am even more grateful that my family has maintained the ability to laugh at life's absurdities.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! And much love!
What are you most grateful for?

MoFo 21 Training Tuesdays From Soup To...

I am thinking of ditching a couple of my MoFo themes this week. Yesterday was Monday and German fest day at Veganville. I adamantly refused to dress up in my Fraulein costume and wound up writing about Halloween candy. Halloween is not that big of a deal in Germany. I think it is almost as popular as the Bavarian Kwanzaa. Maybe I'm just better at going for a theme within a theme.

Today's theme within a theme is a loose rendition of Training Tuesday. I want to work in the hearty barley soup that I didn't get to share yesterday. There will never be a barley soup jelly bean. Anyway my running mileage once again sucked this week, in fact I am armed with so many blame excuses for why I did NOT run that I am calling this week's entry...

~From Soup to Nots~

Crazy Boy made this soup.
I did not.

Crazy Boy made up the recipe.
I did not.
Truth...kind Psycho Boy made this while I was working out. Really.

Yes I lifted weights and did cardio ...Run?
I did not.

CB set up this shot and took this picture.
I did not, not, not!

CB is asleep and has the recipe in his head.
I do not.

This soup is good after a run. I will run and get you the recipe soon.

P.S. Thank you for the delicious soup and surprise pics, CB!

Is your partner helping you out during MoFo? How?

MoFo 16 Sweet Potato Bowl and a Meteor

Crazy Boy aka Psycho Boy usually makes something on Wednesday nights. He went shopping for his ingredients and he even took a photo I call, "Still Life With Knife".

He had an allergy attack earlier today, slept a little and then met me on my run tonight. On our walk back from the track,Crazy Boy pointed up at the sky and said, look a meteor! Sure enough it was a beautiful star burst that we got to experience together. Crazy Boy can often see things that other people can't. He can often find the miraculous in the ordinary. I probably would have missed my first meteor if my hero had stayed home. I've probably seen a meteor before but somehow everything always seems more special with C.B.

We watched it fall from the sky and journeyed home, but again my hero was weakened by allergies. Perhaps what we witnessed was not a meteor at all, but a nugget of Krypton.

 

Psycho Boy tries to regain strength from warm towel.

Alas, he could not recover in time to prepare something so his sidekick took over.

Riffin' on Engine 2 Rip's Sweet Potato Bowl (changed up a bit).
Feeds one out of commission super hero and his sidekick.

2 medium sweet potatoes cubed and roasted
1 can of black beans drained and rinsed
1 red bell pepper seeded and diced
10 ounces pineapple chunks drained
1 handful of fresh spinach chopped
1 avocado pitted and diced
juice of one lime
2.5 T balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp of pink Himalayan salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Scrub and cube sweet potatoes. Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with canola oil. Lightly spray sweet potatoes. Roast for about 25 minutes until lightly browned. Place everything in large salad bowl and toss gently.

Today:Look for the miraculous in the ordinary. Maybe wish upon a star, or be someone's super hero, you never know who's day you might brighten, just by being you.

MoFo 10 Psycho Boy Makes Something Tasty Wednesday

Wow reading all these MoFo blogs is making me dizzy. My goal is to read about fifty blogs a day. Today I decided to make it easy on myself. Rather than read all these blogs separately, I decided to read all the blogs in my Blogger reading list as if they were one big blog post. I think this new fangled idea confused me more. Who knew that there was such a thing as an Ethiopian frozen yogurt and that Ethiopian frozen yogurt looks pretty much like pizza with bok choy on it? Why is that woman feeding her baby a blended pine cone on sour dough toast? Oh look there's that baby being used as a centerpiece. What does Freida Kahlo have to do with Day of the Oktoberfest?

It's Wednesday and Psycho Boy aka Crazy Boy aka the husband makes something. It's a good thing since I have to figure out how to comment on that gigantic twisted blog I just read.

Allergy Warning: The following recipe was made in a kitchen by nuts.

Cashew Walnut Maple Butter

1 C roughly chopped walnuts
1 C raw cashews
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp non-alcoholic vanilla
1/8th tsp sea salt
1-2 T pure maple syrup

Process nuts together until smooth like buttah. You can do this in your food processor or one of those fancy pants things everybody has now. Oh yeah the Vita-mix. Add remaining ingredients. Blend. We used a food processor that is scotch taped together. We found this to be very delicious.

Thanks for making something, Crazy boy :)

She is the Most Interesting...recipe and video included

Since her reputation precedes her today's blog will simply include a video and recipe.

Music provided/played by Crazy Boy.

PB and Vegan Fluff Milk Shecky with ingredients Standing Tall

2 C vegan milk of your choice
1 C Peanut Butter
1.5 C vanilla ice creme of your choice
3/4 C plus one dollop of Ricemellow to top milk shecky
1 tsp non-alcoholic vanilla
2 T agave (sweeten to taste)
2-3 ice cubes

Blend until thick. Top with dollop.

Made in Berkeley, California. Drink responsibly.

Stay tuned, contest coming soon!

PS Below in the comments is a linky to the commercial this video spoofs ;)

Crazy Boy Cooks

Hey do you dig Pinterest as much as I do? I really like it a lot more now since I pronounce it properly. For months I shouted from the rooftops, "Hey you gotta check out Pin-interest, Pin-interest is the best." Well, forget the rooftop shouts I practically jumped when a friend told me that I might be interested in calling Pin-interest by it's rightful name, Pinterest. Pinterest- Pin- interest. Who cares I didn't jump and I've lived to pin. Now Crazy Boy husband calls it Pin-interest. Please don't try to correct him, he is Sicilian and he might push you off the roof.
I got Crazy Boy to join the site a couple of months ago. He seemed excited enough at the time. He pinned a bunch of my food while in a manic cycle. That doesn't count. During that upswing he also cleaned a neighbor's garage which is all well and good, but we have never met our neighbor. With the exception of the manic pins, psycho boy actually has two pins. One is the picture he took of a dog. The other is a recipe from "the Vegan Stoner". In typical Drama King fashion Psycho Boy made a huge deal about both pins.

Crazy Boy: Hey, guess what? Somebody repinned my dog!!! I gotta a repin! I gotta repin! He then went outside and told all the cats in the neighborhood about his repin.
 (I think he wrote a letter to his congressman about it.)

GiGi: Um...You gotta repin from a spam site, honey. I repinned it though.

Crazy Boy: What?! A spam site?! They can't have my dog picture.

GiGi: Why don't you make the Vegan Stoner recipe? I think the Vegan Stoner blog would be a nice blog for you to follow.

Crazy Boy: But we've been trying to get our brain cells back since the Reagan administration.

GiGi: That's right. I forgot, apparently so did Reagan. (that's terrible, I'm sorry) Make the recipe anyway. It could be a memorable dinner.

And my terrific but crazy guy did just that, and lucky for me, decided to cook for me and Marcia during my busiest week, Mother's Day week . Thank you, honey I am so blessed!!!! xoxox and a big shout out to Vegan Stoner. You gotta check Vegan Stoner out! The illustrations are amazing!!! Click on the link and you can find the Falafel Recipe crazy boy made.


The sweetest Crazy boy on earth!

Falafel Pie
First the Crust.



Then the ingredients

The Pie, which was much more delicious than the picture.

Please Follow Larry's pins at http://pinterest.com/lptband/ .

A Tale of One Ice Cream

You probably know by now that GiGi and her vegan ice cream maker didn't have much fun together during the month of October. In fact GiGi and her vegan ice cream maker were always at odds!

Sometimes GiGi was eleven, sometimes the vegan ice cream maker was 17, sometimes GiGi was 15, sometimes the vegan ice cream maker was 31. GiGi and her vegan ice cream maker never met on even ground.

GiGi and her vegan ice cream maker even disagreed about the basics.

Back and forth. Back forth. They'd yell! Almond! Rice! Almond! Rice! Almond! GiGi would get so upset she would scream, "That's enough! You know what happened to Frosty the snowman don't you? That's right just a puddle and a carrot for a nose. Don't push my buttons, Frosty!" Yes GiGi and her vegan ice cream maker bickered and they even arm wrestled!

GiGi wins match 3002!

Come November neither GiGi nor her vegan ice cream maker felt good about their relationship. Vegans shouldn't act this way. So GiGi and her vegan ice cream maker decided to meditate for their higher good.

The vegan ice cream maker opened his eyes and peeked during meditation.

And then GiGi has a divine frozen dessert moment, where she is given the answers.


GiGi and her now vegan ice cream maker friend are ecstatic about GiGi's inspiration. They are now convinced that their vegan ice cream will take over the world, (but where has GiGi heard that before...take over the world?). GiGi and her vegan ice cream maker pal must make this new recipe right away, but first GiGi has to look up this cranberry recipe from Veganomicon  she has remembered in meditation. "I'll be with you in a minute, little buddy...hey bet we can make nutty buddies too bahaha :)"

GiGi opens Veganomicon to turn to the cranberry thingy and then she sees it. OMFG! Right there in front of GiGi is a recipe, but not just any recipe and not the cranberry thingy recipe either, but GiGi's divinely inspired frozen dessert recipe. It's right there in Isa and Hope's freaking book. Did Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero the two wunderkinds of the vegan cooking world think of this recipe first? or did GiGi? or more likely did Isa and Hope invade and take over GiGi's brain??? Just like they said they would?!!! Please watch below reenactment.

Well after I run around the block and exorcise the those two ^^^, I will claim this recipe as all mine...MINE! MINE! (I'm very sorry my lawyer just phoned and I have to say it's partly their recipe, damn them)

The Recipe
This works better if all your ingredients are cold.

About 8oz silken tofu drained
1/2 C creme of coconut  milk (Isa and Terry say)  Place can in frig over night and scoop 1/2 C off top
3/4 C almond milk
3/4 C agave
1 banana (peeled of course)
3/4 C Almond butter
1 tsp almond flavoring

Add to food processor or blender and blend well. Pour into ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's directions.

O, woe is me; To have seen what I have seen, see what I see! - from Shakes and Vegan Hamlet 
I bid you g'night.
xo
music and direction by
Sir Larry  AKA Psycho Boy

MoFo 16 Welcome to Parfait World

I think I just ate my weight in agave sweetened gluten free cake. If it sounds less than appetizing it wasn't, but it is a pretty ugly cake. I hate to talk behind my cake's back but it's not a cake you'd want to escort to a party where there's a beautiful spread. It's better to eat it under the covers with the lights off. And you won't have to answer to anyone. Or you could try the botox of the cake world...usually it's frosting but yours truly is still off the sugar. This works on dense cakes. Grab the cookie cutter of your choice and and stamp out a shape of cake. Like I just did, now ugly cake is a star in her own right.

Guess what, guess what guess what?? No, silly. We got the ice cream maker to make ice cream. Psycho boy defrosted the freezer and turned it up as far as it would go and yay my first attempt worked, but I would definitely tweak it. PBoy ate all of it. Well I had a little. I used vanilla soy creamer, coconut milk, vanilla flavoring and agave. I realized I'm not such a fan of soy creamer, but I'm stoked that I got the consistency right. It was spoonable. Check out my parfait world. I included strawberry Rice Dream ice cream which happens to be one of my faves. Just in case you don't have an ice cream maker, right yet. Right yet? Must be my Southern evil twin who just wrote that. Right yet?

Feel like indulging in a parfait? Scroll down my recipes to desserts and I'm sure you'll find one that will make your taste buds happy. See the example of "Just Peachy" parfait.

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.

Autumnal Pumpkin Pancakes with Bob's Dread Mill

The vegan boards are in an upheaval. That's right. Apparently Bob and Mrs. Bob the retired founders of Bob's Red Mill have considered donating a hunk of money to an Oregon corporation that does animal testing. This is not good, especially since lots of vegans, me included have at least one of Bob's products in their pantry. Bob's face is even on the front of the package. We have a package of unopened Bob's Gluten Free all purpose baking flour in the cupboard. Now what should we do with this brand new bag of Bob's? Well, rationalize of course. See no evil, hear no evil...doesn't usually  work for me. However I did purchase said bag before Bob's Red Mill became Bob's Dead Mill. So after much deliberating, Crazy Boy and I decided to see what would happen if we used some of evil Bob's flour. Would we be struck down? Would we be ostracized from the vegan community? My activist friends know where we live. Would we wake up to find that our apartment had been leafleted, toilet papered and bloodstained in the middle night? Would my reveries of being a poster child for PETA end?
C'mon, please dear vegan friends, we bought this gluten free flour way before Bob and Charlee donated to the evil corporation and we besides we want pancakes for dinner.

Psycho boy googled an Engine 2 suitable pancake recipe and without reservation, tore open the Bag with his teeth, and got to work. For some crazy reason he used a waffle recipe for pancakes. Sometimes waffle and pancake recipes are interchangeable. Sometimes waffle batters are thinner. Personally I didn't want to take any chances. I was scared enough using the butcher's bag of gluten free flour. PBoy mixed the batter together and heated the pan. I hid in the closet with a crucifix and some roasted garlic.
Let me know when it's ready, I'm freaking starving, I croaked from my place of darkness.
Stop panicking it's just a bag of gluten free flour, your friends won't find out, PBoy said.
Yeah they will. They know everything there is to know about butchering. And then they'll show up with picket signs.

And then I heard it, bloodcurdling Linda Blair screams coming from the man who was once my husband.
I ran to the kitchen, stopping on the way to pick up another makeshift rosary. Actually it was two Popsicle sticks and a necklace stuck together.
What is it????
Oh these stupid pancakes have no oil in the pan because we're on this E2 Plan and they are sticking to the skillet. Damn it!
So add some more spray.
Okay.
Anything else?
NO..They're almost ready.
Good I'm starving.

I must say they were excellent pancakes, except for their obvious deformities, hence no pics.
Use this recipe at your own risk! Bahahaha.

Sideshow Punk-in Pancakes Gluten Free


11/4 Bob's Dread Mill Gluten Free Fix
2 T cornstarch
1 T ground flax seeds
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2  tsp ginger
1/ 2 tsp allspice
1 T agave
3/4 C solid-pack canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
11/2 C rice milk or any vegan milk thereof
2 tablespoons orange juice

 Spray skillet with canola spray, heat pan. Mix all ingredients together. (Batter will be thick; add more liquid if you want a thinner batter.) You will need to spray skillet between batters. Proceed at your own risk. Oh stop waffling. Any thoughts on the Bob's Red Mill debacle?

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?

Transylvanian Stroganoff and Comfort

I'm waiting for last minute entries to trickle in and watching the weather channel for updated hurricane news. I've been praying for all my friends and family back on the east coast. Some of my friends have been evacuated. My FB page really has the most up to date news that is fit to print. What kind of meals are served in evacuation shelters anyway? What's happening to the stores and the restaurants? Wishing you all safety, warmth and nourishment. Here is some comfort food.

Thursdays are our day off in Veganville, so we either take time to experiment in the kitchen or hit up a new vegan restaurant. I asked Crazy boy what he wanted to do and he said he wanted me to whip up some stroganoff. I've had Vegan Vengeance for years. The pesto stains and melted chocolate in the margins indicate how it's one of my go to books. Although the stroganoff looked like a great dish I've never been a seitan worshipper, so this beautiful recipe has been abandoned until now. CB promised to chop the onions into little half moons like Isa suggests. Onions make me weep, which can be cathartic when I'm not famished. He promised to photograph the stroganoff in stages too. It was a done deal.
We were very happy with the results and it made enough for three dinners. I'm still not a huge fan of seitan but I do love pronouncing "stroganoff" with a Transylvanian accent. It makes the dinner more fun. Hey did you ever take "transylvanian meditation"? Bahaha.

Transylvanian Stroganoff Variation on Isa's Stroganoff

2 T arrowroot or cornstarch (I used cornstarch)
2 C vegan broth or cold water (I used 365 vegan broth)
8 tsp olive oil
1 C shallots thinly sliced
1 large onion cut into half moons by Larry (if you don't have a Larry, anyone who doesn't sob will do)
3 cloves garlic minced
2 C cremini mushrooms thinly sliced
2 portabello caps thinly sliced
2 T thyme
1 package seitan (we used a smoked seitan) or 3.5 C seitan all sliced in wide thin strips
2 tsp sea salt
Isa uses 1 C burgundy wine (we are allergic to wine so we used 3/4 C water with 1/4 aged balsamic)
1 T Hungarian paprika
1/2 C nooch
1/2 C plain soy milk
2 tsp Dijon mustard (I use 365 mustard- sans wine)
1 C frozen peas
1/2 pound wide noodles (we used fresh pasta)

Dissolve the cornstarch in the 2 C of broth. Set aside. Heat 2 T oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add shallots, onions and saute for 5 minutes. Add garlic, all the mushrooms and thyme. Saute for 15 minutes.

While this is sauteing heat a cast iron skillet with remaining 2 tsp of olive oil. Add seitan and saute over medium heat 'til brown and crispy. If you use store bought like we did this will take ten minutes. If using homemade seitan it will take about 25 minutes.

Okay, back to the sauce. Add salt, water and balsamic or wine and paprika. Turn up heat to high so liquid reduces, about ten minutes.
Lower heat to medium high and add cornstarch mixture, stir well and let the sauce thicken for about 5 minutes Add nooch and mix 'til well dissolved.

Add soy milk and mustard and bring heat down to low. Isa says to be very careful here not to let the mix boil, since boiling can make the soy milk and mustard bitter.

Add the seitan and peas, and cook for 10 more minutes. Prepare your noodles according to package directions. Divide noodles amongst dishes and top with the stroganoff. Tofu sour cream is really good on top too.

Hey thanks for the pics CB. I'll be back with a winner of Veganville's most recent contest a little later today.Thanks for playing everyone. In the meantime, may you all  find comfort in the middle of life's storms.