Orange Kielbasa Bowl

Hello everyone! Today's prompt is "Fusion Challenge!" I had no idea what to do for this prompt until Monday night when I mentioned it to Zach and he suggested (after first making a comment about hydrogen), "Why don't you make a Polish burrito?" Since I'd just had a burrito that night for dinner, I didn't want to do another burrito post so soon, but it got me thinking... I still had the extra Tofurky kielbasa from my Polish pizza (which I now realize could be considered a fusion meal, haha!) in the freezer, as well as the orange sauce packet from the Gardein Mandarin orange crispy chick'n (having used the chick'n to make fried chicken), so what if I were to combine them? Presenting my Orange Kielbasa Bowl, a Chinese-Polish fusion dish that I made for dinner tonight... 

instant white rice with carrots and broccoli, topped with sautéed onions and kielbasa in orange sauce

It turned out alright; it wasn't my favorite, I think partially because I love the Gardein chick'n so much that having the kielbasa instead of it was a bit disappointing, but it still worked. 

My lunch was pretty good, though, and I guess it could be considered fusion as well; I made a miso soup cup and stirred in the last of my franks and beans leftovers. Yum!

I can't believe today is the last day of the Vegan Month of Food; it was so much fun, but it went by way too fast! I enjoyed finding new blogs, as well as catching up with old favorites as well! And there's still a bunch I haven't even gotten to yet! (I tried to comment on as many as I could, but Wordpress seemed to have something against me this year, so apologies to any Wordpress blogs if my comments didn't make it through.)

Post-MoFo, I'll go back to blogging once a week, and I have tons of new recipes bookmarked that I want to try, so I'm excited! Also, tomorrow is October 1, which means I'm going to start decorating for Halloween, yay! And a heads-up for anyone who enjoyed my Veganlist posts – tomorrow night is the Season 3 premier of The Blacklist, so be sure to check it out!

Last but not least, here are Daisy, Buttons, Leela, and Cringer.

Peace. :)

Vegan Road Trip Essentials

Hello everyone! Today's prompt is "What would you bring on a vegan road trip?" My motto for road trips (and life, lol!) is "A vegan is always prepared!" Depending on the length of the road trip, I usually have at least one reusable grocery bag full of snacks and easy-to-prepare foods. Zach likes to tease me about how much food I bring along, but even though we stop along the way to eat and I can almost always find something veganizable, I still like to munch on snacks during the drive. So, if I pack them, then that's less stopping and more road tripping awesomeness!

I like to have these veggie chips on road trips.

Granola bars are always a good idea.

And some nuts & raisins are key.

Apples are nice to have, too. I pack cereal, orange juice, and soy milk for breakfasts, and bring along soup cups as just-in-case lunches.

Finally, I make sure to take my trusty water bottle, plus I always have mints, hand sanitizer spray, chap stick, extra napkins/tissues, and a plastic fork in my bag. 

And while this isn't a Veganlist post, I think it definitely contains some good suggestions for snacks that Red and Liz might enjoy while they are on the run...

P.S. Be sure to check out the giveaway for Vegan Bowls!

Here are Daisy, Cringer, Buttons, and Leela...

Peace. :)

Peanut Butter Brown Rice Burrito

Hello everyone! Today's prompt is "Tacos VS Burritos. Where do you stand on this important issue?" For me, this question was easy to answer; burritos will always be my favorite of the two, no doubt about it. Burritos aren't anywhere near as messy as tacos, they stay warmer longer, you can stuff so much into them, and they are way more convenient. I made this burrito earlier today so I could reheat it for my dinner when I got back from visiting the shelter kitties.

Peanut Butter, Brown Rice, and Carrots (plus broccoli)

P.S. Be sure to check out the giveaway for House Vegan: Fall FoMo No More if you haven't already!

Here's Buttons being sleepy...

Daisy taking an upside-down selfie... 

Cringer being very intent (she had a vet appointment today and did very well!)...

And Leela hanging out in our new (old) bookshelf (she insisted on sitting in it even while Zach was securing it to the wall)... 

(photo by Zach)

Peace. :)

Old Bay Seasoning

Hello everyone! Today's prompt is "Favorite herb or spice?" Some of my favorites include rosemary, ginger, and cinnamon, but today I want to focus on my most recent favorite spice mix: Old Bay Seasoning. (Or at least my homemade version of it, which contains salt, dry mustard, paprika, pepper, ginger, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and crushed red pepper flakes.) 

It's already awesome since it has ginger in it, but I especially like it since I made it myself, and while it's definitely spicy, it's not too spicy. Tonight I used it to season some fries, which I had with carrots and leftover fried chicken. Delicious!

added ranch to the carrots & bbq sauce to the fried chicken

In other news, here's a pretty sky pic that I took today during the historic walking tour of the north side of Phoenixville. 

And of course, here are Buttons, Cringer, Daisy, and Leela... 

Peace. :)

The Kings' Franks and Beans

Hello everyone! Today's prompt is "It’s cold and rainy and there’s a snow drift outside your door! What are you going to make using the ingredients you have?" So it looks like it's time for another Veganlist post!  

The Kings' Franks and Beans

[from The Blacklist, "T. Earl King VI" (No. 94) (Season 2, Episode 14)]

 

 

Following today's theme, I found a smart dog hanging out in the freezer, and dug out a can of kidney beans I've had in the cupboard for a while. 

Seeing that I had the other ingredients, I used this recipe, halved, from House Vegan. (BTW, if you haven't checked out her eBook yet, you really should; I tested four of the recipes, and they all turned out awesome!) These franks and beans were pretty good for being thrown together with what was available, so I'm glad I disregarded Red's warning. I'd love to retry this recipe someday with the right beans (pinto) and enough vegan hot dogs; I'm sure it would be even better then!

Bonus quotes from the episode:
Liz: I risked my life for you because I care about you. Deal with that. And when someone does something nice, you're supposed to say "thank you."
Red: Thank you.
Liz: You're welcome.
Red: But never do it again.

Here are Buttons, Leela, Cringer, and Daisy... 

Peace. :)

SuTao Cafe

Hello everyone! Today's prompt is "Share your favorite cuisine," and it couldn't have come at a better time! Alena stopped by to visit today; we took a nice walk on the trail, hung out with the kitties, and then went to lunch at SuTao Cafe, which serves Chinese food (my favorite cuisine), completely veganized! Without further ado, here's what I got from the buffet today...

vegetables, fried broccoli, vegetable fried rice, General Tso's chicken, spring roll, Treasure Island

vegetable fried rice, vegetable dumplings, lo mein, spring roll, General Tso's chicken, peppersteak with peppers, Treasure Island, spicy chickpeas

hot & sour soup – it was good but a little too spicy for me

pineapple, grapes, fried bananas

And here were Alena's plates... 

Delicious food all around and we left nice & full!

Here are Buttons, Daisy, Cringer, and Leela, all sprawled out (they are pretending that they went out to lunch and were stuffed, too). 

Peace. :)