I Made Vegan Heart Shaped Banana Muffins!

I came back at around 8pm last night, after abandoning my 100 degree kitchen with melted (fake) butter spilled on the floor, baking flour that had dusted every surface, a bowl of mashed bananas, and every jar and package of baking ingredients open squeezed on the tiny counter. I figured I'd give the great idea of baking vegan banana muffins another shot...and I'm glad I did.

I took this recipe from
http://www.catcancook.com/awesome-banana-muffin-recipe/

My modifications and notes are in red

Banana Muffins (makes 12 muffins) Mine yielded 8

3 or 4 Large bananas, mashed (the more bananas the moister, so I use 4) I used five

1/2 cup white sugar (original recipe calls for 1 cup, but I don’t like them too sweet) I used raw sugar

1 slightly beaten egg I used the product Egg Replacer

1/3 cup melted margarine or butter I used Earth Balance Original

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups flour

Mix the mashed banana, sugar, egg and margarine together. Set aside. In a separate bowl, mix together baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour. Mix wet and dry ingredients all together! Pour into greased muffin tins, and bake in 350 degrees F oven for approximately 20 minutes. Enjoy! 

Mine were in an extra 10 minutes.

They came out looking and tasting really good!

Ananda Fuara & The SF EcoCenter

Sometimes all I want is the Neat Loaf Sandwich from Ananda Fuara. Ananda Fuara is a vegetarian restaurant on the corner of Market and Larkin, run by the disciples of Sri Chinmoy a guru. The ambiance of the restaurant is, basically a shrine to the beloved leader with all of the walls covered by his artwork, a designated area of his numerous books for sale, the music blaring through the speakers composed and performed by him, and a TV that is almost always showing tapes of him doing something amazing. The service consists of his converts shuffling around (the women wearing Saris and the men in blue polo shirts and white pants) like they were told Sri was going to speak and then realized they were actually expected to work. Dazed and confused would be a nice way to put how the staff look and act. I am sure Sri never set foot in the place before his Mahasamadhi in 2007. 

However, the food is excellent! 

My suggestion is the Neatloaf combo only available for lunch, the Neatloaf Sandwich, or the Neatloaf Dinner, which comes with mash potatoes and gravy. The Neatloaf is vegetarian made with some dairy, but now they have a vegan version that tastes pretty good also. 

Yesterday, en route to Ananda Fuara, I ended up parking on Grove Street across from the library and noticed a building I had never paid much attention to before. The big sign read SF Environment and the little sign (on paper) said it was the EcoCenter. The EcoCenter is a facility, run by the city of San Francisco that focuses on better ways we can all be more green. There happens to be a small gallery in their lobby that is showcasing Art Furniture made by Larry Berger. All of his pieces are made from found materials and recycled or milled wood.

http://www.intothewoodsstudio.com/Site/Welcome.html

I would like to leave you with some words of wisdom from the late great Sri Chinmoy

Be Happy
Be happy in the morning with what you have. Be happy in the evening with what you are. Be happy. Don't complain. Who complains? The blind beggar in you. When you complain, you dance in the mire of ignorance-condition. When you don't complain, all conditions of the world are at your feet, and God gives you a new name: aspiration. Aspiration is the supreme wealth in the world of light and delight.

Vegans In The Mall!

Loving Hut a vegan chain is coming into the food court at the Bloomingdale mall...Nice!

 I have been to the one on Stockton. I think the food court is a better location than China town. 

Last Night Was Great All You Foodies!

I was a little discouraged about having to make full course vegetarian dinners. I know it is a promise I had made to myself and not something I am being forced to do. However, it started to be a little bit of a drag. Mostly, because it is difficult to be inspired on a schedule. Plus, last week's dinner was a total fiasco!

But, I am here to tell you last night was Great!!!!

Menu

Caramelized Carrots with Baked Tofu, Purple Onions, & Toasted Pecans

Over White Basmati Rice

Corn Chowder

Tomatoes  Roasted with Garlic and Dried Oregano

The entire menu was completely VEGAN with NO dairy (even in the chowder) and NO sugar or honey!

I thought everything came out great except for the tomatoes, they were just good. I Think the next time I make the tomatoes I won't use a dried herb. I like the idea of simply using one herb with the garlic, but I think fresh dill would have been the magic ticket. Also, next time I will line the pan with tin foil, because I am still soaking the pan I used. 

I followed a recipe for the corn chowder I found online at http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Creamy-Vegan-Corn-Chowder/Detail.aspx. I believe, I will try that corn chowder again, but I will use less water. I created the tofu dish myself and it came out just how I had envisioned it in my mind.

PS--I did NOT forget to garnish the soup!!!!

Full On Homemade Vegetarian Dinners On Tuesday and Thursday!

I know, I know I promised to make complete vegetarian meals every Tuesday and Thursday. 
Three veg days have passed and I only cooked once...and it came out terrible!

The menu was as follows: 

Baked Tofu With Pear Sauce Over Rice

 Vegan Creamy Broccoli Soup

Salad with Red Leaf and Baby Mixed Lettuce, Goat Cheese, Raisins, Grape Tomatoes, Pine Nuts, and Homemade Dressing

I have to say, I was a little bouillon cube crazy. I normally use vegetable broth or stock already made that comes in a carton. However, I  thought it would be more cost effective to just buy the package of vegan bouillon cubes with sea salt.

OK, let's start with the Baked Tofu...I had made the pear sauce before, but it was a little too sweet. This time I mixed up a bouillon cube with warm water, ginger, and the pear all fruit, hoping it would balance out the sweetness.  Then I threw some whole pieces of Star Anise into the sauce while it was simmering over the baked tofu. However, the sauce never caramelized, so the flavors never blended together. I did throw in pear slices, but I don't think it was the right time. Nothing really came together...Oh and the rice! I'm not sure if putting a bouillon cube into the rice worked or not. I was too focused on the tofu thing to really figure that one out.

Now, on to the Vegan Creamy Broccoli Soup! 

I found the recipe online at http://www.care2.com/greenliving/creamy-broccoli-soup-recipe.html#  and I added garlic and used 6 bouillon cubes in 6 cups of water instead of 6 cups of vegetable broth. I believe I might have put way too many cubes in the pot, because all I could taste was the sea salt. It was so gross neither one of us ate it. 

I really liked the salad, but in the midst of the stress related to the other dishes coming out so bad, I messed up on the dressing. I just didn't have the patience to stream in the oil and it never emulsified. Hence, basically ruining the salad. 

So, that is another accounting of my experience making full on homemade vegetarian meals on Tuesdays and Thursdays!

Tonight I hope it all comes out better! I'll try to take it easy with the bouillon cubes...

SALUD!

Homemade Vegetarian Dinner On Tuesday And Thursday!

I made a promise to make full vegetarian meals for Thomas and I every Tuesday and Thursday. This week was the third week of this experiment. However, Thomas had undergone oral surgery on Tuesday and was relegated to soft warm foods.

He was in a lot of pain and was basically starving by the time dinner came around. I really didn't want to take any chances, so I decided to repeat a winner from a few weeks ago, the vegetarian Shepard's Pie. Instead of carving out EAT Me on the top I just made a heart. For dessert, we had tangerine juice bars that doubled as an ice pack for his mouth. On Thursday, I made my old standard, lentil soup thick with red and green lentils, red onion,  purple, red, and baby potatoes, garlic and baby carrots. It is always a hit on cold winter days when you might be a little down and in this case unable to chew food. We topped it off with chocolate soy pudding I bought in snack packs at Rainbow.

I regret I didn't take any pictures, but it just didn't seem like the thing to do. By the way, let me know if you would like any of the recipes I have mentioned.

Homemade Vegetarian Dinner Last Tuesday!

Cooking on Tuesday night was a little rough for me. My plan was to make baked tofu in a cashew cream sauce over jasmine rice, steamed Brussel sprouts and baby carrots with fennel, and a salad incorporating some of the crazy lettuce we had bought at the San Francisco Farmer's Market on Saturday.

The biggest problem I faced was the time crunch. It was pouring rain most of the day, so my errands took longer than usual to carry out. I also think the damp cold weather irritated my foot. I was walking terribly slow with an obnoxious limp. By the time I got home I had about a half an hour to make everything. After I put on the rice and started the veggies in the steamer, I realized there was no way the rice would be done in time. I had to improvise, so I put on water for the rice noodles that I remembered I had. Those take a few minutes and are 100% brown rice, so I figured that would be an adequate substitute.

I doubled the recipe for the cashew sauce (I had found online at http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=17310.0), with less water because that was all of the starchy water left from the pasta and three times more garlic, just because. In a medium size skillet I sautéed large pieces of red onion and the Savory baked tofu I cut into cubes. I just bought the tofu already cooked. Then I poured in about half of the cashew sauce and let it reduce about a third in the pan, because I thought it tasted too strong on its own, which I think worked perfectly. However, next time I would reduce more of it and then add the rest of the sauce and reduce it again about a third and save some cashews to garnish the dish. I never made the salad.

Baked tofu in a creamy cashew sauce over rice pasta 

and steamed Brussel sprouts, carrots and fennel

Yesterday, I made a salad with red leaf and just peppered in the weird lettuce we had bought on Saturday. One of the lettuces was a dark maroonish red color and the other one was green with spots the same color of red. Both of them had a strong bitter taste, but mixed with the red leaf lettuce, blue cheese, pine nuts, apples, and grape tomatoes it tasted great. I fried up a package of the Gimme Lean fake sausage with some red onion, poured in a jar of organic spaghetti sauce and threw in the rice we didn't use on Tuesday. I felt very industrious not wasting anything and it all came out great.

So, now it is Thursday and I have no idea what I am going to make for dinner tonight. I am being taunted by the huge bowl of radishes Thomas and I were hypnotized into buying at the Farmer's Market.

Wish me luck!!!

Hanging With The Tourists And The Yuppies

Thomas took this by mistake, but I really like it
 

Well, today is Tuesday and I am wondering what to make for dinner. Last week I decided I would create full vegetarian meals on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Saturday, Thomas and I soldiered on (I think it took us about 7 minutes) to the Ferry Building to shop at the Farmer's Market. I haven't been since last year and Thomas has never checked it out. It is kind of a tourist destination as well as a yuppie vortex, which are two groups of people a lot of San Franciscans try to avoid. However, it has the best variety of organic produce from local farms in the city. We got there probably around 9:30 in the morning. I knew it was on the late side, but that was the best we could do. Arriving late at the San Francisco Farmer's Market doesn't mean you'll miss the best produce. It simply means you will not miss most of the tourists and city dwellers pushing those crazy kids in those gigantic strollers. We decided whole families just don't get out of the house before 9 am. Also, I think the people are a little more polite earlier on Saturday morning. I suggest getting there no later than 8 am.  

Thomas took these pictures of us

We were really cold

This is where we went to escape from the maddening crowd

Immediately, we were overwhelmed by the amount of people already there, plus the amount of booths selling produce as well as prepared food, spices, pickled things, and cheese, cheese, cheese. I love cheese, but these days I am trying not to get lost in it. We just concentrated on the goat cheese, because I am convinced it is better for us. However, in the end we didn't buy any. We ended up with a bunch of different types of radishes, potatoes, chard (baby and regular), two kinds of lettuce I've never seen before, two bags of almonds, and a type of pear I have not had before, plus other things I am sure I have already forgotten about. Right now I am trying to figure out what to do with all of this, plus the broccoli and cabbage I already have.  

I will let you know how it turns out!

By the way,

I found this great vegan cooking blog I would like to share!

http://tofu-n-sproutz.blogspot.com/

Homemade Vegetarian Dinner On Tuesday and Thursday!

I have been a vegetarian for nineteen years. Over the years I have gone through periods when I'd cook quite a bit, other times I would go out to eat for every meal, and recently I have been eating food already prepared out of a can or the freezer.  Clearly, just nuking my food was the only option the two months after foot surgery, but I have been a lazy vegetarian for a few years, now. I don't (ever) eat fish, chicken, or anything that had eyes, but I tend to depend on quesadillas and mac and cheese a little too much and the extra poundage I have acquired proves it.

Cooking full vegetarian meals just for me, feels weird. Now, that I can walk around my house, stand long enough to cook a full meal, and have a guinea pig to experiment on, I mean cook for I am determined to do so. Thomas, my willing participant in this cooking venture, is also a vegetarian.

So far so good, as I have already prepared two full vegetarian meals this week. Neither of us have ever really gone out with vegetarians who are really into food before, so this is a real treat for both of us. Both of the dinners were things I created without recipes and have never made before this week. I forgot to cut off my Spud account and they delivered the set box with organic veggies I do not usually order, so I had to get creative and just use what I had.

TUESDAY

Salad

Green leaf lettuce, plain goat cheese, red onion, pine nuts, and Mandarin oranges with homemade dressing

Roasted Root Vegetables

Red beets, yellow beets, baby potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, red onion, garlic cloves, leeks, whole sprigs of Rosemary, Thyme, and Dill

Baked Tofu

Tofu cooked in a pear and ginger caramelized sauce with fresh pear

THURSDAY

Salad

Green leaf lettuce, plain goat cheese, unsalted and raw cashews, apples, and grape tomatoes

 

Veggie Shepard's Pie
Vegetarian Sausage (Gimme Lean), celery, red onion, garlic, baby potatoes, and sweet potatoes

EAT ME
It's barely legible in this photo

Tomorrow, Thomas and I are off to the Farmer's Market at The San Francisco Ferry Building to figure out what we are going to eat next time.

SALUD!