Vegan MoFo Rob's Bloody Mary, vegan style

Today is my wonderful husband's birthday! Happy birthday, my Love!

Rob is not a vegan, but he does eat vegan most of the time. We joke that he's a vegan like Samuel L. Jackson was vegetarian in Pulp Fiction.

Rob has veganized a number of his recipes for me, but when I asked him what vegan recipe should be featured on the blog for his birthday, he said he wanted to make vegan Bloody Marys.

Regular Bloody Marys are not generally veg, Worsteshire sauce usually contains anchovies. A no-go for vegans and vegetarians alike.

Rob's bloody mary recipie for 2 drinks:

10 oz. Tomato or vegetable juice

3 oz. Vodka

3/4 oz. Lemon juice

<1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

> 1/4 tsp celery seed

6 dashes hot sauce

6 dashes soy sauce

Mix all of the above in a pitcher with three ice cubes. Strain into glasses filled with ice. Add about 1/4 tsp prepared horseradish to EACH glass, stir with a celery stalk.

Add three olives to each glass and serve.

Bloody Marys are Rob's specialty on Sunday afternoons during football season!

Cheers!

While Rob was mixing up drinks, I made up  brunch to eat! Pumpkin biscuits, Lightlife vegan sausage, sautéed mushrooms with chives and lavender, and some vegan brown gravy (from the Happy Herbivore cookbook).

Enjoy!

Vegan MoFo Moe's and thoughts about Frostburg

The pups and I took a trip earlier this month to visit Mia in Frostburg, MD. It was a nice weekend trip, with beautiful weather and fun times!

The pups and I especially liked the Appalachian Trail, which runs through Pittsburgh to Cumberland, and can be reached by a short 1/2 mile walk from Frostburg. Even though it was drizzling a little bit, we enjoyed the trail.  Lily was a little stiff from riding in the car, so we only walked 3.5 miles, but had a great time.

Later that afternoon, Mia and her boyfriend took us to Dan's Rock, an overlook just south of town where you can see three states. It was gorgeous, and Mia, Ryan, and Jack really had fun climbing on all of the rocks.  Copper and Lily weren't so sure about the whole thing.

Although no-where in town is touted as vegan or veg-friendly, we were able to find some good foods to eat! Gianni's pizza was happy to make me a vegan stromboli by not adding cheese. It was quite good. I'd never known before the difference between a calzone and a stromboli- but now I believe that a calzone has sauce, where a stromboli does not...

Mountain City Coffee not only had soy milk as an option on all drinks (yay!), they also had a number of vegetarian options (Mia was pleased about that!) and Hummus and Pita to please us vegans!

On another visit there, we went to the local Mexican restaurant, and I was also successful there in getting a vegan meal. In the future, I hope to check out Zen-Sushi, Eastern Express, and the local Greek restaurant- all three look like they can make a vegan meal happen pretty easily.

Tonight, Mia shared with me that her campus is about to get a Moe's in the student union! For those of you who are not familiar with Moe's, it is similar to a Chipotle, where you get to choose what goes on your taco/burrito/quesidilla/nachos/etc... One thing I love about Moe's is that TOFU is an option- yup, they had tofu before Chipotle had their Sofritas, giving this restaurant a special place in my heart.  Also, Moe's have all of their hot-sauces on a little buffet area where you can pick and choose ramekins of flavor, which reminds me fondly of Taco Cabana (a Texas favorite!).

In honor of the new Moe's in Frostburg, tonight I made a Moe's inspired salad.

First, I sauteed some diced onions, then added green pepper, cubed tofu, black beans, and tomatoes. I let these all simmer together with a dash or five of Frank's hot sauce.

Then in a bowl of shredded romaine lettuce, I added some of the tofu/beans mixture, topped it with a dollop of cashew crema, and some shredded Daiya cheddar vegan cheese.

Tasty and healthy, and makes me smile. This made 4 servings. Enjoy.

Vegan MoFo Trail Mix Cookie

As some of you know, I have been doing a lot of writing for my research study lately. Sitting at a computer has made me crave sweets! Fortunately, I don't keep a lot of vegan junk food in the house, so I've been able to quell that desire with fruit, but in the last week or so, I have been craving cookies. I haven't caved to buying any, so today I thought I would make some. I want my cookies to be vegan (duh), sweet, also healthy! But mostly they have to have the portability and joy that a cookie embodies.

I first came across the idea for the 2 ingredient cookie last spring. Basically, you take a cup of mashed bananas (about 2 large) and a cup of oats, mix, and insta-cookie. This trail-mix cookie uses that same general concept as a base.

First, I got out all my ingredients. For my cookie base, I used 1 ripe banana, 1 cup oats, and 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce. Since I wanted a trail-mix Flavor cookie, I pulled out EVERYTHING! I pulsed three dates, and a small handful (about an ounce) of a packaged dried fruit and raw nut mix in my Food processor first.

To start the cookie base, I mashed the banana and mixed in the applesauce in the bottom of my bowl.

 

Next, I added in the oats, I've seen some folks add in agave here, too, but I think these are plenty sweet without. Mix together! Then I added in my trail mix, the pulsed dried fruit and dates, some sunflower, flax, pumpkin, and hemp seeds.  At the last minute I tossed in an ounce of vegan chocolate chips, too. 

The mixture never looks quite doughy Enough. That's okay. With your hands form little balls, packing the oatmeal together. And pay no attention to how old and dingy my cookie sheet looks here!

While the cookies are baking (15 minutes at 350 degrees) go peek at the pups. I caught Little Jack in a blissful nap on the dog couch with his toys, he's such an angel when he sleeps (as opposed to the crazy creature he becomes at the dog park!) 

Here's an example of his outdoor zaniness....

Oh! They are ready! Yum! They look good, and taste good!

This makes me think of the musical I saw with my daughter when she was young: A year with Frog and Toad. It was based on the children's book series, and they encompassed the story about Toad making cookies in such a cute song! Mia and I still sing it to each other!

"This is a fabulous cookie

sweet with a scintilla of spice

cunningly soft in the middle,

Let's have another,

these cookies are nice..."

Vegan MoFo Breakfast sandwich

I had a gorgeous go on the trail this morning! I love being outside early in the morning!

I've got a long day today, and won't get lunch until after my swim class later this afternoon. I need a good breakfast that won't leave me hungry again before then, but is not too filling so that I feel heavy in the water.

This recipe is a modification of a recipe I've previously posted on this blog 

(http://questingadventures.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-breakfast-blog-for-rachel.html)

and is in frequent rotation in my house.

First, I sliced some tofu into quarter inch strips, tossed them in a mixture of nutritional yeast, ground flax seeds, and garlic powder. Then I toasted them for a few minutes on each side in my cast iron skillet.

Next, I put a whole grain tortilla in the pan, topped it with some mashed & baked sweet potato, a bit of daiya mozzarella, and the tofu, and warmed the whole thing.

I added a bit of hot sauce (my favorite right now is Virginia Gentleman Bourbon Chipotle sauce)! Folded it in half, and, YUM. This ended up not being one I could pick up and eat with my hands.

Do you yoga? You should. I try to incorporate at least 10 minutes of yoga into my routine every day.

Before my daughter was born, I was NOT a morning person, but when she was little, I found I needed to be. Morning time since then has been my time. Now, I love my mornings. I run or walk my dogs, do a little yoga, have a nice breakfast, and get ready for my day!

Vegan MoFo this one is for the dogs!

As you know, I have three incredible dogs. I love them like they were my children! They are part of our family.

Lily, the oldest, is a Beagle. We adopted her over 8 years ago from the animal shelter. When we went to look at dogs, I didn't want a beagle, because I didn't want her to bark and howl. Lily never did those things, though. In fact, my daughter had to teach her how! Lily is my DBFF (my dog best friend forever).

Copper is the youngest, and largest. She is about 4 now, and it is hard to believe she was the smallest of the litter. We got her from a local farm, and are pretty sure she is a mix of terrier and lab. She's my running buddy, and goes with me everywhere I train. She has completed a few half marathons!

Jack is 6, and was a stray dog that adopted us when we were traveling a few years ago. We contacted the local authorities, but didn't leave him behind, the local shelter was a kill-shelter. By the time we realized that  no one was going yo contact us or claim him, he'd already decided he was one of the pack. He is the funniest little dog, and the best snuggler!

Each of the pups has such a great, individual personality. I love them all!

Because I care so much about what I put in my own body, I started doing research about what I was feeding my dogs. After all, they're part of my family! What I discovered wasn't pretty. Most of the moderately priced dog food on the market (I hadn't even been feeding them the cheap stuff, which I would expect these statistics from) was awful. That kibble was the equivalent of a fast food meal, on the health scale. Then I found out that a lot of those companies also conduct cruel animal testing, and I knew something had to change.

I found a few brands of dog food that were healthier, and cruelty-free, but wow, really EXPENSIVE. I mean, first of all, when you have three dogs, dog food isn't cheap, but this stuff I wanted to buy was just out of my price range.

So what I do now, is supplement. This makes the high priced good stuff last a lot longer, and adds in even healthier, fresher foods into my pup's diets. Also, it gives them some variety, which I know I like in my diet!

Here's an example of some things I make for the dogs:

Rice

Beans

Legumes (their favorite!)

TVP

Carrots

Green Beans

Sprouts

Peas

Corn

Sweet Potato

Pumpkin

etc.

Then I add in Flax oil (to keep their skin and fur nice-this also helps Little Jack who gets itchy sometimes), and this powdered supplement, Vegedog, which has B vitamins and taurine.

The dogs each eat about 70/30% of the cooked food and the healthy kibble. They seem to love it! And they are very healthy. It takes me about an hour to make (factoring in 40 minutes for brown rice to cook!) And I generally make a batch once a week while I'm also cooking my own dinner. It is worth every minute!

OH! I came across some pictures recently that I took the day we adopted baby Copper- look at how cute and little she was!!!

Vegan MoFo Mia's birthday Pumpkin Mug Cake

Today is my girl, Mia's 19th birthday! Happy Birthday, Mia- this song is for you!

In honor of Mia's birthday, I wanted to make cake. Since she lives in a dorm, I thought the perfect kind of cake to make would be one she could make on her own. Mug cakes are kind of fun- they're a quick, single serving of cake. Less calories and commitment than a real cake. I'm down for that.

Seeing as how it is September, and that brisk fall weather is just around the corner, I thought a Pumpkin Mug Cake would be perfect.  I modified this recipe from a sweet potato cake recipe, which I find is just a bit more work than this. Pumpkin is in all the stores this time of year- I stock up on canned pumpkin (NOT PUMPKIN PIE MIX, THAT STUFF IS WHACK) and use it all year. Pumpkin is a great egg replacer in baking recipes. Also, the dogs LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Who knew?

Start by mixing 4 tablespoons of flour, 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. I also added 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger, and you can also add ground nutmeg. If you were living in a small space (like a dorm) you could use instead of the assorted spices just 1 teaspoon of Pumpkin Pie Spice. Stir together in your mug.

Now add 3 heaping tablespoonfuls of pumpkin, 2 teaspoons maple syrup, 1 teaspoon soy or almond milk, 1 teaspoon oil (I used almond milk and flax oil). Stir well. That flour-y stuff at the bottom likes to get stuck in the edges of the bottom of the mug.

Now microwave for two minutes. Mia will tell you that anytime I use the microwave, it's for two minutes. Honestly, I don't know why I have other buttons. I just need one button that says "2 minutes" to push.

While it was in the microwave, I made a topping. I still have some cashew crema in the fridge (soaked cashews blended with water, lemon juice, and just a pinch of salt), so I stirred together a spoonful of the crema with a splash of maple syrup.

When the cake came out of the microwave, it didn't LOOK done, but I went with it anyway. I also noticed that for this recipe, I might want to use a smaller mug for more aesthetic quality...

I topped the cake with the crema, and added a pinch of lavender on top.

Oh.My.Goodness. It was SO good! I was surprised! The cake was dense and moist, not chewy like other mug cakes tend to be. The topping was just a hint of sweetness, and the lavender really brought out the fall flavors. Mia, I'll be happy to make you one next time you're home!!

Enjoy!

Good Monday Morning, Vegan MoFo friends!

Last week, I wasn't able to make all of the meals I planned, but I had fun in the kitchen. It was a busy one, with school starting! I also got back in the pool to swim laps twice last week, and attended a Bhangra dance class which is a hoot!

This week, I'm inspired by some meals I've had recently in restaurants, as well as an awesome blog. Next weekend, we'll be heading to the Renaissance Fair, and I'll be running in the Air Force-Navy 5 miler.

This week is also the BIRTHDAY week of my two favorite humans! Mia (Tuesday) and Rob (Sunday)! Look for special posts this week in their honor!

Monday

Walk, Run, Abs, Arms

Variations on Cafe Gratitude's "I am Humble"

Tuesday

Walk, Abs, Swim, Yoga

Mia's Birthday!

Vegan Spanokopita

Wednesday

Walk, Run, Abs, Arms

Curried carrot slaw with maple triangles (inspired by kblog.lunchboxbunch.com) 

Thursday

Yoga, Abs, Swim, Bhangra

Late night leftovers

Friday

Abs, Arms, Self-Defense class

Aloo Paratha (Potato stuffed vegan bread- making extra for Mia to have up in college)

Saturday

Renaissance Fair!

Yum! Ren-Fair Food!

Sunday

Air Force-Navy 5 miler

Rob's birthday!

This past week on the trail, I saw a Crawdad on the running trail! I see them close to the water sometimes, but rarely on the trail, so that was a treat! Copper didn't know quite what to think, and made a wide berth around it.

Speaking of Copper, she's my long-run dog, and accompanies me on my LSD runs (Long-Slow-Day). Friday, though, she wanted to stop and rest after about 5 miles.  It's been awfully hot and humid here this week, and I think that's why.