Easy Peasy Pizza

Hello fellow lazy vegans of the world!

Today I finished my interterm class (3 week class taken in January at my college to count for 3 credits) and then laid in bed with my pooch binge watching Netflix.  It was great but soon my stomach was growling and my little pup needed a potty break.  After our walk in the freezing tundra that has become Harrisonburg VA, I decided to make myself some lunch.

I had some leftover tomato sauce in the fridge, and I am running very low on produce and quick perishables because I was home last weekend AND going home today for a long weekend full of birthday celebrations for my mama! 

As I was saying, I had leftover sauce and a growling stomach.  For whatever reason, I decided on pizza.  So I quickly cut up some of my leftover sour dough bread, spread some olive oil on it, and then the tomato sauce I had.  Due to the fact I have no fresh garlic I put garlic powder on it (you know I am running low on food supplies when I don't have any garlic bulbs)!

 I put them in a brownie pan because of two reasons:
1. I was afraid the tomato sauce might seep through the bread and make a giant mess (which didn't even come close to happening).
2. I don't have any cookie sheets to use so this was the next best thing.

Of course I also sprinkled roasted red pepper flakes on the sauce, salt and pepper.  I should have put some oregano on now that I think about it, I will have to save that for next time!

Then I put some Daiya mozzarella shreds on top with cut up onion because I love onion on my pizza.  I put them in the oven at 375, for about 10 minutes and then I added more roasted red pepper flakes and enjoyed all three pieces (whoopsie)!

Pre-Oven

Post-Oven

I know what you're thinking, out of the oven looks the same as before the oven, but you're wrong.  I just take these photos with my phone because it is the only camera I have currently.  In reality the cheese is melty and the onions and much softer because they have been cooked.

The best part of this recipe is that anyone can make it with essentially anything.  I LOVE to make quesadilla pizzas; basically I just spread beans over a tortilla and then whatever toppings I want on top, and cook it in a pan until it is all warm and the tortilla is crispy.  Then I cut it up and eat it as fast as I can because I have no self-control.

I thought this would be a good idea to share with you all because you don't have to go out and buy anything, as long as you have some type of bread and something to spread on it you can make yourself a meal (more or less).

Guilt-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies and Garlic Fries

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day everyone!

Please remember to appreciate all the work set into motion by one of the greatest men to walk this earth!!

I was away for a while because of two reasons:
1. My boyfriend came back from Thailand so in between spending every moment with him and class, I had no time to blog.  Plus most of what I made him I already put on here.
2. I went home this weekend to see August Wilson's "Fences" at Princeton's McCarter Theatre directed by none other than Phylicia Rashad (GASP, OMG)!!!!

Me, Miss Rashad, my sissy, and my BFF

I have to stay she is one of the most eloquent, beautiful, talented, amazing people I have ever seen speak or had the privilege to meet.  She was everything you expected Claire Huxtable to be and more.  If you are in the surrounding area (or 5 hours away like me) go and see this play, you will not be disappointed.


Back to the food.

One day this past week I decided to make chocolate chip cookies.  I used to make these  all the time when I was a vegetarian and wanted to veganize them.  
So, instead of an egg while I used about 4/5th of a medium/large banana all mashed up, coconut oil instead of vegetable, and earth balance instead of butter.  They were SO good, but you have to like banana because they did taste like banana chocolate chip cookies.  And they always stay gooey which is good if that's what you like!

I don't have patience to make them as small as she says to on her website so mine are normal sized cookies.

Last week I made the corn fritters again, one of my new favorite things, and I also made these garlic fries I found online here.  I did not make as many as the recipe calls for because it was just for me and my boo, but they were so delicious, so give them a try if you want something new.

They are calling for lots of snow in this area tomorrow so let's pray for sunshine and warm weather because I am not into cold and wet weather.

Corn Fritters and Brownies (Not at the Same Time, Gross)

I hope you had a lovely weekend wherever you are!

I spent most of my weekend at home because I am a master of procrastination and now still have at least 4 pages to write for my paper that is for one of my classes in Spain!  I know, I have a problem.  It is not due until Tuesday, but I have had over a month to do it and did not start until yesterday (whoopsie!), but who wants to write a paper in Spanish when they are home for Christmas break?  And who wants to write a paper when they are at school for interterm and all their friends are around to play?  No one is the correct answer.
But I have all day to do it, which actually is the worst because it is FINALLY a nice day outside.  I am very annoyed with myself, but this is the path I chose.

Anyways, enough of my school ramblings.  I am actually here to talk about these awesome corn fritters I made yesterday, and brownies I made Thursday.

The fritter recipe I got from one of my vegan cookbooks, Vegan with a Vengeance,  one of the books my mother gave me.  So far, between my mama and myself, we've made 4 recipes from this book and they were all very delicious so I highly recommend it for your vegan kitchen.

I am pretty sure it would go against copyright laws if I posted the recipe here since it is not available for free on their website, so I will just have to explain the alterations I made.   You should check out their recipe section though because they have tons of free ones online!

The recipe calls for a red pepper, but I did not have one.  I did, however, have an onion in my fridge that looked close to death so I made sure to use him up before he went bad.  I also did not have a fresh jalapeno so I cut up some I had from a jar (the juice in these jars is great for spicing up Mexican dips).

I ate the corn fritters with some cut up cherry tomatoes, for an added freshness, and they were amazingly good.  I think guacamole would be really good with them as well but my avocados were not ripe yet.  Basically I love anything with corn so I was so excited to make them.  Because they have tofu in them they have a lot of protein, so they are nice and filling.

Now for the brownies.  I can post this recipe because I found it online here.  Instead of vegetable oil I used coconut oil because it is better for you, and I wanted to put coconut shreds on top so I thought it would be very complementary.  I also used whole wheat flour and put walnuts on top.

However, I only put the coconut on half because I was afraid it might burn and then not taste good.  They did not burn, and the coconut was a great addition so if you choose to make these I would add coconut to all of them.

These are fantastic hot, but once cooled they are not as delicious.  Maybe I just have a bias for warm brownies, but as a solution I have been microwaving the pieces I eat so they are warm and gooey again.  I also like to pour a little bit of almond milk on top.  It is like dunking them in milk but less messy. 

Let me know if you try any of these or have similar recipes you think I should try!

Pesto Paradise

Hello fellow popsicles of America!

Today I left my class ravenous, as always, day dreaming about what I would make for lunch as the cold air threatened to take my extremities on the walk to my car.  I remembered I had some tofu left over from the other day.  And if you are new to tofu there are three things you should know:

1. When you first open it, put it between two plates with paper towels on the bottom plate, and something heavy  on the top.  You need to squeeze most of the liquid out so when you cook it the rest of your food doesn't drown in tofu juice.
2. If you don't eat it all at once, save some of the juice it came in for your tupperware when you store the leftovers in the fridge.
3. Tofu does not last long once opened, you need to finish it within a few days or so.
4. (BONUS!) Only buy organic tofu, GMO's are NOT your friend.

As I was saying, I realized I needed to cook that tofu and I came up with a delicious idea!  I made grilled cheese (with vegan Daiya cheese), homemade pesto, onion and this tofu I had.

Here is how I mad the magic happen:

First I cut the tofu up into long, 1/2 thick pieces (this is just an estimate), and I fried it in some olive oil with a bunch of spices I found in my cabinet.  I actually used a "Montreal Steak Seasoning" that my roommates have (a bit ironic don't you think?)

While that browned and spiced up, I made my pesto.  I have no measurements for you because I just kept adding stuff to my new food processor (so amazing) until I liked the taste and had enough.  In this pesto I put a handful of walnuts, a handful of basil leaves, a clove of garlic, salt, pepper and nutritional yeast.  It was great but would have better if I had some parsley to throw in there; I need to remember that for next time.

 So once the tofu was done, I made 2 grilled cheese with sour dough bread smeared in pesto (on the inside obviously), a slice of Daiya provolone in each,  a little bit of sweet onion, and then I put the tofu in one of them.  It was really hard to keep the sandwich together while cooking so I only tried it in the one sandwich.

The results were a delicious melody of complimenting flavors snuggling up to my taste buds in the most savory way possible.

I even told my mom I felt sorry for her because she wasn't here to experience it all.

On the left is the sandwich open so you can see how I put the tofu in... now looking at it, it doesn't seem very appetizing but I promise you it really was and I will definitely make it again.
On the right is just the plate turned around to better see the tofu and pesto.

This meal is a good substitute to grilled cheese and french fries because it has a bunch of good green pesto, protein packed tofu, and it is much healthier than using a deep fryer.

Let me know if you try it out, and any changes you make so I can try them myself!

Frozen Pizza Worth Tasting

I told you I'd be back!

Last night's meat-free Mexican margarita Monday was a great success!  All my friends loved the food and we had a wonderful night.  Sadly, I couldn't get any pictures because we demolished the majority of the food in minutes.

Today, I had this frozen vegan pizza I found in the grocery store for lunch because when I got home I was starving AND it was so freaking cold out I just wanted to sit, curled up in a blanket on the couch.  At first I thought my house was so cold because it was about 12 degrees today, but after a while I looked at my thermostat and decided there is no way the house should be about 10 degrees colder than I have it set at.  So, I called in a work order and the maintenance man told me my heater was broken!  He fixed it for now and had to order some parts.  But now my house is livable and I am as snug as a bug in a rug.

Anywho, back to the pizza.  For a frozen pizza this was actually quite delicious... AND I ate the whole thing...by myself.

 So this is what the box looked like, so I was expecting something a little closer to cheesy-bread.  However, this is how it came out, much more saucy than the box picture.  The crust was amazingly yummy yummy in my tummy.

I sprinkled roasted red pepper flakes and some garlic powder on top and it was magical.  Definitely the perfect quick meal for a freezing cold day.

Haitus is Ova

Hello fellow Earth lovers!

Sorry about my extended hiatus; between finals in Spain, coming home, the holidays, moving back to Virginia for school, and starting my interterm class I have been a bit neglectful.  But do not call child protective services yet, I promise to pay more attention to my blog in this new year.

For Christmas I got a blender and food processor so be on the look out for some yummy dips and sauces.  So far I've just made fruit smoothies but they rock my socks.
I also got 5 vegan cook books, which is actually a lit bit daunting because now I feel like I must impress people with fancy recipes when I get home.
 
Anywho, I grew up with a strong love connection to mac and cheese from a box; preferably Annie's and NEVER Easy Mac (how that is even considered food I do not understand).  I always add peas to my mac and cheese because I love peas and they always fit into the little shells like they were wearing helmets.  It was great because you got cheese, pasta and pea all in the same bite.  Becoming vegan obviously meant no Annie's.

While I was in Spain my mom found this: Road's End Organics Dairy Free Shells & Chreese.  While it is not the same as Annie's, it was pretty good!  I put peas in it, obviously, and added some black pepper, roasted red pepper flakes and topped it with nutritional yeast.  It was a really nice easy meal for me to have on a freezing cold day where I locked myself inside. 

This cold weather is really on my last nerve; I am a woman of the sea, not of the Arctic tundra.

In spite of the cold, tonight I am hosting a Meat-free, Mexican and Margarita Monday for my friends!  I am going to make lentil tacos, a giant pot of my mom's secret Mexican rice, homemade tortillas (fancy), guacamole, salsa, vegan raw chocolate fudge (for dessert) and my friend Katie is making the Margaritas. 
I wish I had one of my sombreros here (I have multiples at home from claiming it was my birthday every time we went to Chevy's growing up).  But even without the sombreros it will still be a fiesta!

Adios amigos!