vegan mofo: winners and samosas.

Thanks for joining the giveaway everybody! I had fun looking at all the entries, like having my very own "best-of" list.
The winners were randomly chosen by my buddy Kenn, from little strips of paper in a box. So it was fair and square.
(Of course, you are all winners in my book... but I just didn't make enough to go around!)

Mug winners:
jenn
lazysmurf
erin32mc
pixiepine

Keychain winners:
tiffany c
vegga
andrea
jodie
herbstsonne
shannonmarie
bazu
kelly g.
cookingforaveganlover
cornfieldandcookies

I will be emailing everyone in the next day or two to gather mailing addresses. If you don't hear from me, feel free to email me at vegandish@gmail.com!

I had a couple of food-making goals in mind when I started this month. And one of them actually got finished! (The other one did too, but I failed to take pictures as they didn't come out very pretty.) SAMOSAS!!!

I had been wanting to make samosas ever since I bought Vegan With a Vengeance (4 years ago??!!) But was a bit intimidated. I finally gave it a try. They totally ruled. I'll be making lots more of these. So many possibilities.



And now the mofo is done. Hopefully, I will continue to cook most nights. I really do enjoy it again. And I will continue to lurk in the vegan blog world to keep me inspired. Goodnight everybody!

vegan mofo: beans and greens.

Yay! Keep those entries coming! If you haven't entered, please do!

Part of the reason I wanted to participate in the mofo is because our food budget is out of control. It is not uncommon for us to go to the grocery store for one meal's worth of ingredients and end up spending $40. Do that a few times a week, and it just is way too much money. Or we just get tired and lazy and end up eating out. I mean, Soul Vegetarian is literally right around the corner. Closer than the grocery store. How can you resist that?

So I figured doing the mofo would be a great way to force myself to cook everyday. And surprisingly enough, I pretty much have. I think I went out to eat only once so far this month. Sure, I haven't posted as much as I was planning, but that's okay. I really just wanted to get back into cooking.

When I first became vegan, I made EVERYTHING from scratch. Granola, bread, vegetable broth. I didn't eat any processed foods. And then I discovered that lots of processed foods are vegan. And I became a bit of a junk food vegan.

I know that eating whole foods is better for me. I feel the difference when I eat loads of crap versus a nutritionally-packed meal. None the less. Convenience often reigns. I could stand to lose SEVERAL pounds. So it is time for me to clean it up a bit.

Here is a delicious and nutritious and quick meal (and cheap!) meal that I made for lunch:


Kale + white beans + shallots + splashed with hot sauce.

vegan mofo: its a mofo giveaway!

Well folks, the vegan month of food is almost over! Its been overwhelming, my reader is jam-packed with enough reading to keep me occupied for several more months. I realized that I eat a lot of orange food. I re-discovered that I like kale.

Hopefully you are having fun, too. And want to remember it enough to enter a contest for a "vegan mofo" mug and keychains!!! I have three mugs and several keychains, so there will be lots of winners.

Here's how it will go down. Simply leave a comment with a link to your favorite blog entry/recipe for the month (can be yours or someone else's) All relevant comments will be entered into the random drawing. To be picked and announced on October 31.

(If your profile/blog does not include an email address, please drop me a line at vegandish@gmail.com to make sure I have your contact information!)

Sorry, but this contest is only open to participates of vegan mofo.


***unrelated giveaway for one of my cupcake stands (and lots of other great stuff!) on another blog***
Cinnamon*Sticks Boutique: 12 Days of Christmas

vegan mofo: morning oatmeal.

I have trouble making myself eat breakfast in the morning. So I'm trying to get in the habit of eating oatmeal while I do my morning computer work.

It's quite good with raspberries and almonds. And a Kristen Kieffer bowl.

What do you eat for breakfast? I need fast and simple. And vaguely healthy.

vegan mofo: chili and cornbread.

This meal was from early this week. But it is still relevant today. Because the weather is fall-like and perfect for chili and cornbread.




And also, a picture of the kitten.

vegan mofo: tofu heavies.

It has been a week of repeats, so I haven't posted. But I have been eating.

And I have been working on something for a vegan mofo giveaway! Yay!



This is Kenn's recipe. His red beans and rice are also pretty kick-ass.

freeze and thaw/drain tofu
cut into 1" strips
spice rub: 2 T. salt, 2 T. paprika, 2 t. garlic powder, 1 t. cayenne
liberally sprinkle onto tofu
dip into all-purpose flour
dip into soymilk
re-dip into flour

heat 1/2" vegetable oil to 350. fry for 10 minutes. flip and fry some more.
eat.

vegan mofo: kitchen companion

This is Syd. He likes to hang out in the kitchen. Our kitchen is very small. There are 5 squares of linoleum from one counter to the other. You can see that he takes up two. But that's okay. He's a friendly guy and like to stand in the refrigerator when you open the door.

I got Syd a couple of months before I became vegan. I don't really recall if the two events are related. But it's hard to imagine that they aren't. Syd was my first pet that was my responsibility and I was living alone for the first time. I had transferred schools and was really just being lonely and lost and all college-y. Syd has been with me through all the apartment moves (12 in the last 15 years!) And is just a great friend.

(Though not vegan. Which I am not happy about. But am, quite frankly, just too scared to change. I have read Obligate Carnivore and think it makes an excellent case for vegan cats.)

(Dinner was kale, sweet potatoes, white beans and herb-y biscuits. I doused my plate with rice vinegar. Because that is how I roll.)

vegan mofo: done deal.

There is nothing quite like coming home from a long day at the studio and finding dinner ready and waiting.

It was all good.

vegan mofo: monochromatic meal.

This happens rather often in our house. Once dinner is plated, I realize everything is the same color. Though it is usually in the white/cream/brown family. And not the green family. Huh.

I was going to make carrot and potato soup. Which I did, but I kicked it up a notch by adding curry seasonings. Delicious.

And we attempted fried chicken tofu, using K.'s grandma's (real chicken) recipe. With some minor tweaking, this will be a new staple, I think. It was pretty tasty, but missing the crispy exterior.

And a biscuit.

vegan mofo: bbq tofu.

Hey, I live in the south and I love barbeque. Or more to the point, I love barbeque sauce. This is a quick and tasty dinner. For when you just don't feel like cooking but want something totally delicious.

We use frozen tofu. Thaw and press during the day. Freezing the tofu first really gives it a firmer texture. Grill it up in a bit of oil and put in a baking dish.

In a sauce pan, cook some onions and red pepper. Add your bbq sauce of choice, plus some tomato sauce and vegan worcestershire sauce. Cook it down for a few minutes and add to the baking dish. Bake it for about 15 minutes at 400, or until its nice and bubbly.

Favorite bbq sauce:

vegan mofo: biscuits and gravy.

A couple of weeks ago, Kenn asked for biscuits. Normally, I would just say no. I don't bake. And I sure as hell don't knead and roll-out. And what good are biscuits that aren't round. (sorry drop-biscuits, I'm just not that into you.)

But I figured I would give it a shot. We had everything we needed. So I browsed my cookbooks and most of the recipes were pretty similar. So I measured and mixed. And then I kneaded and rolled and cut and baked.

Way easier than I had imagined and so good. And now I can't stop.

Tonights biscuit: jalapeno and cilantro with lime (couldn't taste the lime)

Rest of the meal: Vegan With A Vengeance's Breakfast Veggie Chorizo (pg. 20) with the addition of some oatmeal flakes and flour to form into patties. With a nutritional yeast gravy.
Snobby Joe's on the side, cause that stuff is good.
Broccoli.

And today, instead of reading mofo blogs all day, I actually need to get to the studio! I can just feel my blog reader getting full and suffocating. How do you plan on staying on top of it all?

vegan mofo 2009.

In celebration of my 15-year vegan-versary, I am participating in Vegan MoFo.

A really amazing event, where vegan (and non-vegan) blogs around the globe discuss vegan food for the month of October. And since October is the month when I start to use my kitchen again (thanks Atlanta summers) and I just finished reading Julie & Julia (meh), the timing seemed right.

For those of you that are here for the random pottery content, consider this fair warning. There is about to be way more posts. All of them yummy (or not so yummy) vegan food related.

While I don't have a working theme, I do plan on cooking most of the entries. And trying to stretch my somewhat limited culinary skills on some recipes that I have been hesitant to try. But I can tell you this: there will be biscuits. Lots of biscuits.

First up:


Leftover lentil soup.
Jalapeno and chedder biscuits. (HIAV biscuit recipe with 2 minced jalapenos and about 1/3 cup shredded Follow Your Heart chedder cheese)

We don't really eat much vegan cheese, so this is different for us. Kenn loves the jalapeno and cheddar biscuits at Sevenanda (vegetarian food co-op right up the street), so I tried to make them. I thought they were pretty good.

And, of course, leftover lentil soup is always good.