My new goal... to SHINE!

Ok, ok, ok, i know it's been about two months since my last post - in other words, I'm kind of sucking right now at being a blogger. But, in my defense, I have a had a very busy last few months. We've had visitors on multiple occasions, weekend events, and I started a new job!

To be completely honest, I haven't even really thought about blogging recently. That is, until I logged onto facebook this morning and saw that a friend had posted a link to her blog - naturally, I checked it out.  She had posted about this project she recently discovered called The Shine Project. Seriously, if you haven't heard of this blog yet, go check it out NOW!

It's basically about this girl named Ashley who decided she wanted to start a project to help people SHINE. Every week, she posts a challenge and encourages her followers to step out of their comfort zone, partake in the challenge, and then blog about it. I just spent the last two hours at work browsing her website, and let me tell you... I LOVE IT! She is so inspiring and passionate about what she is doing. So, I have decided to join the cause and let myself SHINE! Stay tuned for more on The Shine Project.

Oh, and about my last post on baking - I have every intention to still stick with those goals. If anything, Ashley and her Shine Project have inspired me to be even more passionate about my bakery.

I'm pretty excited about all of this - I hope you are too!

FYI: this may turn into a "just baking" blog for a little while...

So, i've decided to do it... I know it sounds crazy, but i've put my mind to it... I am going to open my own vegan bakery!! I mean, why not? I love to bake AND I would love nothing more than to own my own business.. so you combine the two and... vegan bakery it is!!

I haven't worked out all of the details just yet, but first things first... RECIPES!!! This blog is now officially dedicated to posting about baking and recipe testing. Of course, if I make some insanely tasty meal, you can bet your ass that I will post about it on here.. but prepare yourself for mostly sweet, chocolately, gooey goodness!!

On a similar note, I have also made a promise to myself to post more often - at least once or twice a week, which is how often I plan to test a recipe...

OMG, im so excited right now!!

Happy Anniversary, my love!

Stephen and I celebrated our one year anniversary as an official couple this week. We opted to have dinner at home, followed by drinks at the Mark Hopkins Hotel.

I made a spinach salad (served warm) with roasted butternut squash (I buy the already cut and packaged kind from Trader Joes - seriously a life saver) and toasted walnuts with a warm vinagrette - made with slivered red onions, white balsamic vinegar, minced garlic, agave, fresh rosemary, salt, pepper, and olive oil - the vinagrette wilted the baby spinach leaves ever so perfectly...

The main course was a joint effort. Taking a few tips from VeganYumYum, Stephen and I made some delicious gnocchi with lemon cream sauce and thyme vinagrette. I hardly ever follow a recipe exactly (except when baking, or course), and this was no exception. I didn't have any cashews on hand, so I made the cream sauce from a rue and added a little non-dairy milk, garlic, lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper - simple and delicious!

After dinner, we enjoyed a couple martinis at the Top of the Mark - very romantic! Happy Anniversay, babe!

Seitan... More like Satan!!

I just adore Seitan, and since it can be little pricey in the store, I decided to make some at home. Now, this was not my first attempt at Seitan - I actaully made it for Christmas last year, but it was a bit of a disaster. Of course my hunny ate it up, showering me with compliments of how good it tasted, but I knew he was full of sh**. The flavor was alright, but it had this awful chewy texture. So, I thought I would try it again this holiday, but this time, I decided to test the recipe out first...

I used a combination of recipes that I found on VegWeb and created my own recipe. I also tried out a technique I learned from Chef Tanya of Native Foods (who happens to make the best seitan in the world!) - after mixing the vital wheat gluten with water, she rinses the ball of dough under running water to remove the starch. I divided my dough in two and tried this "rinsing" technique on half - i rinsed for about 15 minutes until the dough started to barely hold together and started to look like oatmeal... see below (on the left)...

Next, I put both blobs in a pan with the broth I made - soy sauce, veggie stock, garlic, onion, fresh herbs - and baked in oven until most of the liquid had absorbed (about 45-60 mins). I sliced the loaves in the pan and at this point, couldn't quite tell the difference...

... that is, until I actually ate them... the dough I DID NOT rinse tasted much better than the other, texture and flavor-wise. I sauteed the 'non-rinsed' seitan in a pan with some taco seasoning...

... and made some delicious tacos - with sauteed veggies, lettuce, tofutti sour cream and a whole lotta hot sauce!

As much as I want to, I am not giving up on seitan - "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again," right? Well, that I will do! One of these days I will figure it out. Until then, I guess White Wave will curb my seitan cravings.

God, I love Daiya!!

Yes, its a little pricey and is defintely a luxury for us, but when we have a package of Daiya cheese in our fridge, I get oh-so excited to use it. Today was another cold, wet day here in San Francisco and I couldn't stop thinking about soup. As soon as I got home from work, I scoured the fridge to see what I had - 2 broccoli crowns, half an onion, a garlic bulb, a few potatoes, and a bag of "cheddar style" Daiya cheese. I knew immediately what I would be making for dinner tonight... Broccoli potato cheese soup... YUUMMMM!!

I started off by sauteeing the onion and garlic with a little Earth Balance in a pot. When soft, I added a little flour to make a rue. To that, I added a couple cups of veg stock and whisked it until it thickened. Then, I added the Daiya - and I was not skimpy here. I boiled the potatoes separately and when they were fork tender, I added them into the soup, along with the chopped broccoli. I generously salted and peppered the pot and let simmer until Stephen got home - probably about 30 to 45 minutes.

I served it up in big bowls with a sliced bagguette...

Our first Thanksgiving together!

Thanksgiving - one of my favorite holidays, as far as the food goes! And this year was extra special because it was the first one Stephen and I spent together (and sadly the first one we weren't spending with our families). Naturally, I wanted to make a vegan feast! Our good friends Chantz and Valerie (not vegans) joined us in our tiny apartment for dinner. We ate delicious food, drank wine, and had an amazing day!

On the menu...

Tofurkey from Trader Joe's

Mashed potatoes with rosemary mushroom gravy

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Sauteed green beans with garlic, thyme and lemon

Apple walnut Stuffing (made by Valerie)

Bread and butter (Boudin, of course!)

And for dessert, an apple and pear crumble (made by Valerie)

Before...

And after...

Can you say food coma? Sadly, we were too full to even eat dessert...

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Whole Foods totally ripped off Amys Vegan Pizza

Amy's Roasted Vegetable Pizza is probably one of my favorite frozen meal indulgences - and I say indulgence here because I try to eat very little frozen food. Lets be real - fresh food is just plain better for you. But sometimes I get lazy and dont want to cook - and what can I say... they're convenient! However, when I do "indulge", I always add a heaping pile of fresh chopped veggies on top before I pop that bad boy in the oven.

So anyway, I was shopping at Whole Foods last night and stumbled across a 365 (the Whole Foods brand) pizza that looked just like Amy's. Plus it was about $4 cheaper! So, as would anyone in my situation, I bought one. Check out the photo:

So, following my usual frozen food ritual, I chopped up and piled on whatever I had in the fridge - broccoli, zuchini, potatoes, tomatoes, green onions - I know, it sounds weird, but it tasted damn good! Here it is before it went in the oven:

My final thoughts: Amy's pizza kicks Whole Foods pizza's ass! Amy's crust is better - thicker and chewier - plus it has more veggies (before i added my own extra). So, is it worth it to spend the extra $4 to get Amy's? Maybe. Or perhaps next time I will spend a little extra time and make a pizza from scratch. Yes, I think so.