A LOT has happened ... and a Southwestern Tofu Scramble

So much has happened in the last year.  I had some serious issues, my first foster dog had serious issues, but I made it through to the other side.  So, it's back to cooking.  Actually, I've been cooking all year, but it's back to blogging a bit.

I decided to use some of the tofu I bought a couple of weeks ago.  Both packages expire within days of each other and their time is about up.  One will be frozen and one was cooked today.  I haven't made a tofu scramble in a year or so and thought it would be a perfect "brunch" item for me.  

From my container garden ... yellow pear tomatoes, banana pepper, poblano pepper, red tomatoes, and jalapeno peppers.

I had some vegan breakfast sausage in my freezer that I had made.  Four little sausage patties was the perfect amount for the scramble.  The sweet white onion was from a farmer's market, and the poblano pepper and tomatoes (red and yellow pear) were from my container garden on my deck.  I have to say, I just LOVE walking out on my deck and picking peppers or tomatoes or snipping herbs!

My poblano pepper plant.

I wasn't sure what I was going to do because I didn't have all of the ingredients (or didn't want to put out the required effort) for some of the recipes I reviewed.  So, I kinda did my own thing. My inspiration came from Tamasin Noyes' American Vegan Kitchen.  If you don't have that cookbook, I swear, you must get it.  Every single recipe I've made from that cookbook has been fabulous!

I microwaved a couple of russet potatoes, peeled them, diced them, and then browned them in a couple of teaspoons of canola oil until they were crispy brown on a couple of sides.  I used some of the potatoes to make my son a couple of breakfast burritos. :)

While the potatoes were browning, I chopped up some red and yellow pear tomatoes, a poblano pepper, a sweet onion, and my vegan sausage.  My tofu had already been squeezed in my Tofu Xpress (love that thing) for about an hour, so all I had to do was crumble it. 

I sauteed the sausage, onion, pepper, and potatoes (again!) for a couple of minutes before I added a few spices (chile powder, cumin, garlic powder, oregano, and Kala Namak also called black salt). I stirred it all up, then added the tofu, some nooch, water, lime juice, and Cholula Chipolte hot sauce.  I let it cook for about 10 minutes.

To serve, I threw about a tablespoon of Follow Your Heart Mozzarella Shreds and some Herdez Salsa Verde.  It was quite tasty.  Probably cheddar or monterey jack shreds would have been better than mozzarella, but that's all I had.

Here are the ingredients and measurements I used.

1 medium potato (microwaved, peeled and diced)
1 teaspoon canola oil
Saute the potato until browned and crispy on a couple of sides in a big skillet.

4 small vegan breakfast sausages, diced (was about a cup total)
1 small sweet onion, diced
1 poblano pepper, seeded, veins removed, and diced
 Add diced sausages, onion, and pepper to skillet.  Saute a few more minutes (2 or 3).

1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon chipolte chile powder
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1/2 teaspoon or so Kala Namak (black salt ... I found it locally and it was pretty cheap)
1/2 teaspoon regular salt
pepper to taste
Sprinkle spices over sausage mixture.  Then immediately add the following to the skillet:

crumbled tofu (14 oz. package firm tofu, pressed and crumbled)
1-2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon Cholula Chipolte Sauce
Cook on low for about 10 minutes.  Add 1 cup diced tomato and cook for a few more minutes.

Serve with salsa, avocado, fresh chopped tomatoes, vegan cheese shreds ... whatever toppings you like on your southwestern dish.  This would be excellent as a breakfast burrito filling.

OK, now onto my foster pups.  I began volunteering for a rescue group, It's a Pittie Rescue (Chicago, IL area) on April 7, 2012, which was Easter weekend.  I started by going to their boarding facility and walking the dogs.  One dog I walked was Gumbo or Gumbino as he was known to our family.

Gumbo, Kobe, and Jordan in September 2012.

As you can see from the picture above, Gumbo was a natural in my girls' pack.  Gumbino had other issues and we had to keep him away from most visitors.  Gumbo had actually bit a visitor to our home.  We don't know what happened to him before he joined It's a Pittie Rescue, but I would venture to say it traumatized him and made him distrust people.  We fostered Gumbo from May 12, 2012 through September 23, 2012.  I had surgery on September 24, 2012 so Gumbo went back to boarding while I recovered.  Unfortunately, Gumbo had aggression issues towards strangers and he bit a walker on September 28, 2012 and the decision was made to put him to sleep. This was a very traumatic time for my sons and I.  Gumbo came to see us one last time that day before he was put down.  It still brings tears to my eyes because I blame myself, in part, for sending him back to boarding.  

Gumbo wore worry on his face sometimes.  It was a product of the hard life he had lived.  September 2012.

Gumbo may have had fear of strangers and aggression toward them, but he would have never hurt our family or my girls.  Gumbo would have protected us to his death.  I still love this handsome boy and I still miss him.  I do take some comfort in knowing that for the last months of his life, from May to September, he knew what it was like to be a beloved member of a family.  Rest in peace, Gumbo.  

Frost LOVES laying in the sun. He regularly sunned himself on the deck.  This was in June 2013.

It took us a month before we fostered again.  I saw a plea from Reach Out Rescue, NFP for a foster for Frost or Frosty Frost in our world.  I thought he was beautiful and I thought it would be a short foster, as he already had an application for adoption pending (it fell through).  I applied to foster, was approved and have been fostering for Reach Out Rescue, NFP ever since.  They are a great rescue group that rescues all dog breeds and a lot of kitties. 

Frost is an extremely handsome, make that beautiful American Bulldog mix.  I picked up Frost on Halloween 2012.  We fostered him until August 21, 2013, almost 10 months. Frost was starved to the point of being a skeleton dog.  He was kicked in boarding and his hip was broken and he had to have surgery.  This was in February 2012 way before I met him and even before he joined the rescue group.  The broken hip was when the rescue group stepped in and took Frost under its wings.

From February 2012 to Halloween 2012, he was fostered by a former official of his rescue group.  The woman was wretched to all of the foster dogs in her possession as she kept them all in cages that were too small.  She made them stay in the cages for 24 hours a day, only letting them out to go outside to potty, and I'm not even sure how much that happened.  She made them eat in their cages and gave them rawhides in the cages.  She quit the rescue group and dumped the dogs in her possession at the vet's office on Halloween 2012.  It was the absolute best thing she had ever done for the dogs.  They were finally free of her torture.

Frost during his first week with us ... skinny and stained from life in a cage.

Frost had urine stains on the back side of all of his legs.  In the picture above, you can see the stains on his front and back paws. His tendons had shortened from inactivity and being confined 24 hours a day, so he "high-stepped."  He didn't know what toys were for, he didn't know how to catch a treat, he couldn't walk on my kitchen floor (ceramic tile) without slipping and sliding.  He didn't know how to walk up or down stairs.  It was heartbreaking. The first time I scratched his back from his neck to his tail, he actually shivered because the act of giving him back scratches was completely foreign to him.  How sad.  Back, side, and belly scratches and rubs quickly became one of his favorite things.

August 17, 2013, a couple of days before Frost left ... no more stained paws for this boy!

Frost flourished with us. Frost is an extremely loving dog.  I don't think I've met a more loving dog who craves human attention and affection more than Frost. Frost was a reluctant pack member with my girls at first.  He had a little food aggression (which he got over) and was jealous of the attention we gave our girls.  Over the months I realized that while Frost became a good pack member with my girls, he really wanted to be an only dog who got all of the attention.  

August 21, 2013, Frost's last day with us, sunning himself on the deck.

It took a long time to find the perfect family, but Frost is finally home with them.  He is the only dog in a family of four, Mom, Dad, brother (age 10), and sister (age 4), plus a cat, who he is still trying to get to know.  It was so sad for us to lose Frost (I still miss him a lot), but he is being so pampered and loved that I can't help but be totally happy for him.

Sadora, now Keegan - June 29, 2013

We fostered Sadora only for a night.  I got her on a Saturday from the vet's office.  Someone else had been fostering her and boarded her when they went on vacation.  I offered to pick her up to do a house check and adoption contract for her, but her new family couldn't meet on Saturday, so we kept her overnight.  She was adopted on Sunday, June 30, 2013.  Her new family named her Keegan. She has a furry brother to keep her company and is doing well.

Nacho Libre - August 31, 2013

That brings me to our current foster dog.  Nacho is a pure bred Boston Terrier.  He is a trip.  He's about a year and a half old and weighs 16 pounds, but he acts like he is a big dog.  He chases Kobe Bean (my black lab) and Jordan (my rottie/shepherd) like he is their size.  He's a good boy.  His family didn't have enough time for him, so they surrendered him to Reach Out Rescue, NFP.  I picked him up on Friday, August 23, 2013.  Nacho has an approved adoption application and I will be doing a home check and taking him to his forever family this week on Wednesday, September 4, 2013.  Even though Nacho is a short-term foster, he has made a big impact on us. We'll miss his crazy, frantic energy!

I am already thinking ahead and have offered to foster a couple of puppies.  They were born on July 13, 2013 and are a rottie/shepherd/chow mix.  I think I'll be getting them on September 13, 2013.  I don't expect them to last long here, either.  Puppies go fast.  But, I'll keep fostering.  Fostering and adoption saves lives.  I'm giving back and I feel good about it.

Cheezy Tofu Potato Skillet with Classic Cafe Hash Browns

After seeing my Mom off on her train, I was thinking about what I was going to make myself for breakfast brunch. It's a 25 minute drive from my house to the train station, so I had some time to think about it.  I have been wanting to make a skillet out of Tamasin Noyes' American Vegan Kitchen.  The Cheezy Tofu Potato Skillet on page 30 caught my eye, but she warns in the description that it's not a quick fix.  She's right.  It's not, but it's well worth the effort.

First, I made the Classic Cafe Hash Browns on page 44.  However, I used two russet and two sweet potatoes for the potatoes.  The hash browns had a wonderful flavor, but took longer to cook, I'm guessing because of the sweet potatoes.  In the end, it didn't matter because I just let them cook on medium/medium-low while I pulled the rest of the skillet meal together.

After the hash browns were made, it was pretty simple.  I sauteed the green pepper, onion, and spices.  I think the oregano flavor was too bold for me.  That may have been because I didn't have any fennel, but I don't really know.  Next time, I'll probably leave it out all together.  I won't miss it. 

I was being REALLY lazy and didn't want to get my garlic dicer gadget out, so I used Penzey's dried garlic, which is in perfectly formed little cubes.  Instead of sauteing it with the peppers and onion, I threw it in with the tofu, thinking that the moisture from the tofu would plump up the dried cubes.  It seemed to work wonderfully.

I put the onion/pepper mixture on top of the hash browns.  Next, I added a layer of Nacho Cheese Teese.  I put it between the peppers and onions and the tofu layer.

I piled on the tofu, diced tomato, and diced onion.  I put a single round of Nacho Cheese Teese on the center of the top of the skillet before popping it into the oven under the broiler.

When it came out of the oven, it looked pretty perfect to me.  I mean, how much more delicious can a dish look?

 

Two hours (at least) after I started preparation, I dished up my plate and made myself a fresh cuppa joe and got ready to eat.  I did add some taco sauce to my plate.  It was most excellent.

I will probably leave the cheese out of this next time.  I'm not a big vegan cheese fan.  Don't get me wrong, the Nacho Cheese Teese was good.  But, I don't think I've eaten a vegan diet long enough to fully embrace cheese substitutes.  I'm so used to not eating cheese at all and there were enough wonderful flavors in this skillet that I am sure the cheese would not be missed.  This is definitely a do again recipe for me.

Fork-and-Knife Reuben

This post will be parts 2 and 3 for my St. Paddy's Day meal, which I'm actually eating tonight.  My dinner of choice is the Fork-and-Knife Reuben out of American Vegan Kitchen. Last night, I sliced the Savory Seitan ball into thin slices.  I made the marinade and put the seitan in it to marinate overnight and all day long today.

The seitan was ready to cook when I got home tonight.  First, I made the sauce and put it in a bowl in my fridge to chill while I cooked the seitan.  I have a huge skillet that accommodated all of the pieces of seitan since I was only making a half batch.

After it had heated through for 7 or 8 minutes, I added the marinade and cooked it until the marinade was almost gone.  I didn't have any rye bread, so I used double fiber bread.  I spread Dijon mustard on one slice, added a layer of seitan, added a layer of sauerkraut, and then added a drizzle of the sauce.  The recipes only calls for the sauce on the outside of the sandwich once it's done, but I HAD to put a generous drizzle on top of the sauerkraut.

Next, I popped the sandwich in a parchment bag and put it in my Rocket Grill to grill for about 2 minutes.  What came out was perfection!

I drizzled more sauce on the finished sandwich, grabbed a fork and knife, a cold beer, and sat down to enjoy my creation ... compliments of American Vegan Kitchen and Tamasin Noyes, of course! :)  This is a most excellent cookbook.  I have loved everything I've made out of it. I highly recommend it.

Savory Seitan - St. Paddy's Day Part 1

My goal is to make Fork-and-Knife Reubens in American Vegan Kitchen (p. 106) for St. Patrick's Day.  However, knowing what I do about cooking for a vegan diet, I figured I should start looking at preparation NOW.  :::chuckle:::  Actually, I have to keep the office open for OT on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, so I wanted to get a jump.  Tonight, I made Savory Seitan (p. 5) in American Vegan Kitchen in preparation for my Reuben dinner on St. Paddy's Day.

I'm making the slow cooker version.  I only needed to form 4 balls out of the dough, which was easy enough.  My dough was stickier than I'm used to (for homemade seitan), but I forged ahead.  It's in my slow cooker for the next 8 hours (really longer if you count the "warm" time it will have while I'm still snoozing at 4:30AM).  I did not have any veggie broth in my house, so I used 2½ cups of No Chicken broth (Imagine), 4 cups of water with 1½ teaspoons No-Chicken Better than Bouillon, and 2 cups of water with ½ No-Beef bouillon cube.  How does that sound for variety? :::chuckle:::  I had to add the last (no-beef variety) so that the water would cover the seitan balls as stated in the recipe.  After three hours in the crock pot, the seitan balls have grown.

After slow cooking all night in the VersaCooker, my seitan looks like it's done.

 

Since this is the first time I made the Savory Seitan recipe, I'm hoping it looks like it should.  It looks good to me.  I saved the broth and stuck it in my freezer to use to make more seitan or to use as a gravy base.  I only kept one seitan ball out and froze the other three to use in future dishes.

So, my seitan is prepared for the Reuben sandwich for St. Patrick's Day. I'll be making the marinade, probably tomorrow, as realistically, I have to work until 7PM on St. Paddy's Day, and I won't feel like cooking at 8PM when I get home, so I'll eat these on Wednesday.  I'll also make the Reuben Dressing on Tuesday night and put it in the fridge until Wednesday.  I'll marinade the seitan all day on Wednesday and then pull it all together when I arrive home.

I have wanted to make these Fork-and-Knife Reubens for a LONG time (ever since I got the cookbook a while back), and now, I'm finally doing it.  I cannot wait!!! 

I leave you with a shot of Kobe, "My Girl", the one who had ACL surgery at the end of January.  She has stolen Skittles (my Yorkie) bowl of food (after Skits ate most of it) and took it to the living room to polish it off.  Kobe is the smartest dog I've ever owned.  I totally love her, but then, I love my other two dogs, too.  :)

Cinnacrunch Muffins

Today was a cookie exchange at work.  Did I make my cookies and take them in?  Ummm  :::kicking dirt with toe:::  nope, I sure didn't.  Do I have a good defense for not taking them?  Wellllllll ... no.  I just didn't make them.  There were 11 of us exchanging cookies, so I did get 10 bags of 3 cookies each.  No, make that 8 bags of 3 cookies each, 1 bag of 3 small muffins, and 1 bag of 5 very small, but very tasty orange cookies.  :)

So I decided to make muffins for breakfast for the cookie exchange group instead.  Tomorrow morning, I'll be taking Cinnacrunch Muffins on page 19 of the American Vegan Kitchen cookbook.  I decided to make these late.  I made the Crunch topping around 8:30 PM.  That means it finished baking at 8:45 PM.  Since it had to sit for 2 hours and cool (harden), that means I just now put my muffins in the oven at 11 PM.

I followed the recipe exactly, and I thought that the ingredients would be exact, but I found that I have a cup and a half or so of leftover crunch.  The recipe states it will keep for up to two weeks if kept airtight, which it is.  I don't have enough to make another batch of muffins, but I do have enough to sprinkle on oatmeal or use on a baked apple.  I seriously doubt that anyone at the office will even suspect that the muffins are vegan.  I read on someone's blog that these are the muffins you take to work when people at work are giving you grief about what you eat [as a vegan].  I believe it.  :::chuckle:::

All-American Incrediburgers and Roasted Sweet Potato and Yam

Tonight I made All-American Incrediburgers from the American Vegan Kitchen cookbook.  You can find the recipe here.  This is my second time making these burgers.  I like them because they freeze well and make a quick dinner when I don't feel like cooking or my sons are having burgers for dinner.  I cooked my Incrediburger in my Rocket Grill.  You know, the thing with the parchment paper pockets.  You put your food in the pocket and hang it in the grill.  The grill closes around it and it cooks vertically.  After your food is cooked, you throw away the parchment paper pocket and there is absolutely NO CLEAN-UP.  :)  No messy grill plate, no messy fry pan, no baking sheet ... nothing. And no, I do NOT work for Sunbeam. :)  I just love this grill.  I just bought 108 more bags for it.  It cooks my Incrediburgers in 3 minutes, complete with perfect grill marks. 

So, instead of salad or regular potatoes, I made a roasted sweet potato and a roasted red garnet yam.  When I was at the grocery store, I bagged up some sweet potatoes.  As I was walking through the rest of the produce department, I saw the yams, so I bought one for comparison.  The sweet potato is a light orange color, while the garnet yam was a deeper orange than the sweet potato and bigger.  I peeled them, cut them in half lengthwise, and then again in slices about 1/4" or so thick.  I sprinkled some salt and pepper on them and then drizzled 2 tablespoons of olive oil on them and tossed them.  Then, I decided I wanted a little more spice, so I sprinkled some chili powder on them.  I baked them at 400º for about 35 or 40 minutes.  They were tasty.  Both the yam and the sweet potato were very good ... a little sweet (naturally) with a little bit of spice.  Definitely a make again dish, although I'll experiment a bit with the spices.  I'd like a terriyaki mix.

Oh, and I used my Vitamix for the first time today.  I ordered it a week ago and it arrived on Thursday, but I didn't get around to unpacking it until today.  I had a green smoothie.  I used a couple of cups of spinach, a cup of almond milk, a tablespoon of ground flax seed, a red plum, a banana, and a few (maybe 10?) frozen strawberries.  I let it blend for 30 seconds or so and then threw in maybe half dozen ice cubes.  It was good ... filling.  Although the entire "green" smoothie is a stretch for me, but I suppose that's just because it's new to me.  I'll keep trying different combinations until I find a few that I really like.  I really want to try just almond milk and frozen fruit for a sorbet type of thing.  There are tons of recipes in the cookbook that came with it.  I want to start experimenting with making my own dressings, too.

I signed up for Vegan MOFO.  Let's see if I post any more than I have been.  One thing ... I made two dozen burgers this weekend and have left over sweet potatoes so I don't need to cook tomorrow.  :)  But I will be checking everyone's blogs.  They are so fun to read and MAN!  I've learned a lot.  It's good.

All-American Incrediburgers

It's Saturday.  I typically like to cook more on the weekends.  This weekend is no exception. I've been wanting to try the All-American Incrediburgers recipe in the American Vegan Kitchen cookbook by Tamasin Noyes for a while now.  I have all of the ingredients needed in my kitchen.  In fact, the recipe pretty much just takes staple items found in any vegan cook's kitchen.  However, the burgers have to steam for one hour and then cool in the fridge for an hour before grilling.  So, I knew it would take some time to make these.  I was determined they would be my Saturday project.

The burgers were very easy to put together.  The hardest part was timing myself so I kneaded them a full 4 minutes.  I'll admit, my hands were tired kneading at about the 3 minute mark, but I kneaded them a full 4 minutes.  I used an old Tupperware hamburger mold to make the burgers.  That way, my burgers will all be uniform in size and shape (hopefully!).  I created a loose foil packet around each one.

The next step was to steam the burgers for an hour.  OK, I don't know why I thought this, but I thought I'd be able to steam all 6 burgers in my steamer basket for my 3 quart saucepan.  WRONG!  So, I went to Plan B.  I bought this rice cooker with 3 steamer baskets in July 2009, 6 months before I had even thought about changing my eating lifestyle and a full year before I started using vegan recipes.  It was still in the box as I had never used it.  How glad was I that I had it?!?!?  It has 3 steamer baskets.  I know this will become one of my much used appliances.  I have been using a rice cooker with a single steamer insert to make rice and steam veggies at the same time, but now that I'm making my own burgers, etc. I will need more steamer baskets and this will definitely fit the bill.

An hour later, the burgers have finished steaming.  Out of the steamer they came and I put them on a plate.  The next step is to refrigerate the burgers for an hour (at least) to let them cool.  THEN, they will be ready for the grill.  It's rainy here today. I can't decide whether to BBQ them on the Weber or use the indoor grill.  I guess when the time is closer, I'll make that call. 

In the meantime, I need to go to the grocery store and pick up some Hawaiian Bread sandwich rolls, which are basically hamburger buns.  Yes, I know they are not the most nutrient dense buns that could be used, but my sons absolutely love them.  I'll probably pick up a package of multi-grain buns for myself.  After I return from the store, I'll start out side dish.  I will be making Crash Hot Potatoes instead of the usual.  My sons usually ask for Tator Tots, French fries, or mac 'n cheese.  However, I want something a bit more nutritious and flavorful. 

So, I decided to cook the burgers out on the Weber.  It's still gray and cloudy, but I would like the full flavor experience. After starting the charcoal, I smashed the potatoes.  

I went out and got some fresh chives off of my deck.  Years ago, probably more than a decade ago, I bought a chive plant.  That thing is indestructible.  I brushed the potatoes with some olive oil and sprinkled them with freshly cut chives. The potatoes were ready to pop into the oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

I got the burgers out and brushed one side with olive oil and popped them on the grill for 5 minutes before brushing the other side with olive oil and turning them over.  After 10 minutes on the grill, they were looking quite tasty.

Just to give myself the most authentic burger experience I could, I put a slice of vegan cheese on one of the burgers and put it back on the grill for about another minute.

About that time, the potatoes were ready to take out of the oven.  They looked great, too!

My Saturday evening dinner, which is a casual affair, actually took quite a bit of planning and preparation as I fixed two multi-stage dishes. BUT it was WELL worth the effort and time.  This is a repeat meal for sure.  AND, I have burgers left for another meal this week and to stick in the freezer for a night that I don't feel like cooking.  What could be better than a BBQ burger?  YUM!

I highly recommend the American Vegan Kitchen cookbook.  It has some fabulous recipes in it, all family friendly.  My son wants me to fix the NY Cheesecake out of the cookbook and there is a coffee cake recipe that I simply must try.  Plus, I will be making the Fork-and-Knife Reuben.  So many recipes, endless time...what a nice hobby for my fall and winter.