Classic Baked Tofu (Isa Does It)

Hi everyone! I tried another marinated tofu this week, the classic baked tofu from Isa Does It, and it turned out great! I had it with brown rice and asparagus, and added some spoonfuls of warmed leftover marinade as a sauce.

Delicious!

Cringer and Daisy were watching birds together this morning… 

And I started my daily summer sketching with a flowery affirmation… 

dogwood blossom (image source)

Peace. :)

Goddess Noodles with Tempeh & Broccoli (Isa Does It)

Hi everyone! Today's Vegan MoFo prompt is "Original vegan," so I made the goddess noodles from Isa Does It. I didn't have enough broccoli, so I just used what I had (~2 cups instead of 6) and also left out the chives. 

It was such a filling lunch; I couldn't finish the bowl that I'd served myself. The broccoli was extremely welcome; I didn't get nearly enough veggies this week, and the broccoli had such a nice crunch to it. If I make this recipe again, I might try peanut butter instead of tahini, though; I wasn't as big a fan of the tahini sauce as I hoped I'd be, but it was still good overall. I'll probably use the rest of the tahini in hummus.

Here's my Inktober sketch...

Here's Leela being adorable...

And here's Buttons; this morning she jumped from the floor to the top of the cat tower! 

I had been worried when I saw what she was planning (What if she can't make the jump and falls? What if she hurts herself? Maybe I should just pick her up and put her there...), but I stayed back and watched, and she got there all on her own, easily. It made me really happy to see her there; it's always been one of her favorite spots.

"You're proud of me, right?"

"I'm proud of me."

Peace. :)

Peachy Raspberry Cobbler (Isa Does It)

Hi everyone! I made another red recipe this week -- the Peachy Raspberry Cobbler from Isa Does It. It was really good, though a bit too sweet, so I'll just decrease the sugar the next time I make it.

In other news, I made the spiced nuts again with some adjustments -- 1 T Bragg liquid aminos and a heaping teaspoon of chili powder -- and they turned out much better this time!

I also tried two new chocolate bars this month (they were on sale for Valentine's Day hehe). I liked the raspberry one, and the salted almond one was really good, too -- better than I'd expected!

Here are the sleepy, cuddly sisters, Cringer & Daisy...

Peace. :)

Strawberries & Cream Bread Pudding (Isa Does It)

Hello everyone! Yesterday I made the Strawberries & Cream Bread Pudding from Isa Does It, another recipe with red in it for February's MiniMoFo. 

I tried some of it last night -- and decided it was good enough to stand on its own without the optional glaze -- and had more this morning for breakfast!

Here's Buttons and Daisy sharing the sunshine...

Peace. :)

Banana-Berry Scones (Isa Does It)

Hi everyone! The MiniMoFo theme for February is "red," so I'm trying red recipes this month. Yesterday, I made the Banana-Berry Scones from Isa Does It. I made them a bit too big (next time I'll make them smaller; the recipe says it should make 12 scones) but they turned out so, so good! I think I might also try using a bit more raspberries and mashing them with the bananas, instead of just putting them on top of the scones.

On Tuesday, I went to a protest here in Phoenixville. It was focused on immigrant rights, so I used my Refugees Are Welcome Here / #NoBanNoWall sign again. There were maybe 25 of us, but it was a good group overall; we stood on a small sidewalk at a busy intersection in town holding our signs. We got a lot of honks and waves in support, lots of thumbs-up & peace signs. Of course, there were also people driving by who shook their heads at us, gave thumbs-down, and flipped us off. But they were much fewer in number.

Here's Leela in her favorite place to nap -- between my dresser and a heating vent. 

Peace. :)

Omaha Yakisoba

Hi everyone! Today's Vegan MoFo prompt is: Fusion Food – Take two cuisines and make them work together. Since my attempt at fusion food last Vegan MoFo was kinda meh, I turned to Isa Does It and tried the Omaha Yakisoba for dinner tonight. I halved the recipe and it turned out really well!

Super delicious!

Here's Leela on the bed, getting some sunshine.

Peace. :)

Marbled Banana Bread

Hi everyone! This week I took a break from popsicle recipes to make the marbled banana bread from Isa Does It, and it was amazing! I still love the best banana bread recipe from VegWeb, but this is definitely a step up. While a little bit messier and more involved, it's certainly worth it for a fun and fancy banana bread. 

These three goobers decided to keep me company in the kitchen... 

Peace. :)

Random food, post-MoFo

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been away from my blog for a bit. Once Vegan MoFo ends, my posting momentum tends to slow down significantly. My goal is to do a post every other week; today will be a random post of some of the food I've had since Vegan MoFo. Mainly I've been trying to do really simple meals and work on using up ingredients I already have, instead of buying new ingredients for recipes I want to try. But that hasn't stopped me from making exceptions and trying out some of the recipes from Isa Does It.

I decided to make the roasted red pepper mac & cheese (for those without the cookbook, the recipe can be found online here); this was my first time soaking cashews. The sauce turned out OK (I probably should have soaked the cashews longer than the two hours and/or blended them for longer), but I don't know, it wasn't as awesome as I'd hoped it would be. I'll try the recipe again sometime, soaking the cashews overnight and blending for longer and seeing if that helps. 

I mixed the leftovers with corn and baked them with breadcrumbs and garlic salt and pepper on top. 

Other random stuff I've had since Vegan MoFo: Hot dogs with fries and corn...

...baked ziti with mixed vegetables, spaghetti sauce, mozzarella and cheddar Daiya, and breadcrumbs... 

...apples with harvest pumpkin hummus from the farmers' market (YUM!)... 

...and a simple pasta with garlic bread.

I also tried a second recipe from Isa Does It: the curried peanut sauce bowl; this time, I was missing several of the ingredients (and also left out the greens because I was rushing), but it turned out awesome (what it ended up being was brown rice, tofu, and a sauce with garlic, ginger, agave nectar, and peanut butter). 

I added some frozen mixed vegetables to the leftovers. YUM and YUM!

Buttons checking it out. :)

I've also been trying out a bunch of Amy's canned organic soups because they've been on sale. I took pictures for all of them, except as it turns out, my favorite, which was the lentil soup. It was so good & I'm definitely going to get it again, though I'd also like to make it myself sometime!

Fire Roasted Southwestern Vegetable Soup (good, but a bit too spicy for me) 

with added croutons

Minestrone Soup (good; cute noodle shapes) 

Lentil Vegetable Soup (really good; my second favorite to the plain lentil soup)

Tuscan Bean & Rice Soup (pretty good overall)

Hearty French Country Vegetable Soup (I was a bit unsure of this one because it had mushrooms, but it was actually pretty good) 

In other news, I'm looking forward to Halloween this Friday! And then on Saturday, I begin my fifth NaNoWriMo! So that will keep me busy; I'll share my writing stats here as I did last year.

And last but not least, Buttons and Leela have been enjoying the sun. 

Peace. :)