Tom's World-Famous Pancakes, Gluten-Free

Hello on the 23rd day of the Vegan Month of Food! Up next on The Veganlist is Tom's world-famous pancakes, gluten-free.

I have to say I loved this scene because Tom was so puffed up about his pancakes...

...and Liz could clearly care less, and then Tom asks her to marry him again, to renew their vows... (C'mon, man, you've only been married two years, dial it back a bit, haha) ...and then when he leaves for the day, Liz just loses it, smashing the plate before tearing the house apart. 

To make Tom's pancakes, I used the gluten-free pancake mix from Bob's Red Mill. The recipe on the back of the package was: 1 ½ cups pancake mix, 1 egg (I used 3 T mashed banana), ¾ cup milk (I used soy), and 1 T oil (I used canola). Mix it all together, and get making your pancakes, pretty simple. Mine came out a little thick; I think the recipe was supposed to make 8 pancakes, but I got 6 out of it.

I added the rest of the banana, sliced, as well as some blueberry syrup to three of the pancakes (and saved the others as leftovers for tomorrow).

I say, YUM!

They turned out pretty good, probably would have been better thinner, but other than that, everything was good.

Bonus quotes from this episode (Season 1, Episode 18, “Milton Bobbit (No. 135)”):

Liz: What?
Dembe: This paint – what color is it?
Liz: It's called “Chicago Skyline.”
Dembe: Nice.

(Sorry, I just loved that bit for how random it was.)

Just as I was sitting down to write this post, Buttons spotted a cricket by one of the heating vents, and she chased him around until we were able to intervene. While I held Buttons back, Zach scooped the cricket up into a cup and held a piece of cardboard over top. We took him outside and set him free; Buttons was a bit grumpy about it.

"Really?! How dare you take my crickets away from me?"

Leela, on the other hand, doesn't quite get Buttons' fascination with bugs.

"You and your silly crickets."

Hope anyone who watched The Blacklist last night enjoyed it. I'm still thinking through what happened, but I think two of the best things were: A) Liz's reasoning regarding her name, and B) the developments regarding Harold's character.

Hot chocolate in my Vegan MoFo mug last night while I watched The Blacklist.

Peace. :)

Pirozhki with Ivan

Hello on the 22nd day of the Vegan Month of Food! Today continues my Veganlist theme (veganizing of foods from The Blacklist) with pirozhki, which Red enjoyed when he met with Ivan (Season 1, Episode 17, “Ivan (No. 88)”).

To make the pirozhki, I used the recipe here. I halved it (though I realized I did the math wrong for the soy milk, and so I added more to the dough right before I was supposed to leave it alone to rise... without heating the soy milk up first, so I think the cold may have killed the yeast, whoops), and used mashed potatoes and the stroganoff leftovers as the filling, leaving out the optional red pepper flakes.

So, the dough didn't rise much. I was able to form three little circles and two bigger ones. I really should have rolled the dough flatter. Ah well, next time. I was able to fit about half of the filling in, though pinching the pirozhki closed was difficult and the filling was still poking out a bit.

This one turned out the best. :)

While the pirozhki baked, I snacked on the remaining filling, which turned out to be a rather delicious combo. Add in some veggies, and it would be a nice variation on my mashed potato bowl. And then I sampled the pirozhki itself once it was done; it was good, all things considered! For my first time making it, I'll look at it as a success, but here's hoping the next time turns out better.

The Blacklist returns for its second season tonight at 10 p.m. Anyone else watching?

(Photo source: http://nbcblacklist.tumblr.com/post/98152779453/hes-baaaaack)

In other news, guess what got delivered today!

That's right: The Vegan MoFo mug from Jeanette Zeis Ceramics that I won in the giveaway! It's so cute & cool; I love it! I'm debating whether I want the first drink I have from it to be hot chocolate or tea tonight... I'm leaning toward hot chocolate.

Leela and Buttons enjoyed sniffing everything over.

And they were especially fond of the twine that had been tied around the bubble-wrapped mug.

At one point, they were even playing with it at the same time.

Oh, and silly Buttons made it onto the Vegan MoFo Sunday Round Up; check it out!

Peace. :)

Janice's Stroganoff

Hello on the 21st day of the Vegan Month of Food! Today begins my Veganlist week, wherein I will be veganizing food from The Blacklist in order to prepare for (and celebrate) the return of its second season on Monday, September 22nd!

The Blacklist begins with Raymond “Red” Reddington surrendering to the FBI, offering to help them capture other criminals. Red's assistance, however, is conditional on one demand: That he gets to work with Elizabeth Keen, a profiler who has just begun her first day on the job. Each episode focuses on a criminal from Red's “blacklist,” but woven throughout are questions regarding the connection between Agent Keen and Red, their histories, and secrets from the past. Other characters include the individuals in the special task force that forms to coordinate with Red; Elizabeth's husband Tom; and Red's various contacts and fellow criminals.

(Trigger warning: Discussion of violence, gun, shooting)

For today's post, we hop to Season 1's Episode 11 (“The Good Samaritan No. 106”), which shows the fallout from the events surrounding the previous blacklister, Anslo Garrick. Red spends this episode hunting down everyone involved as he attempts to figure out who betrayed him. The wife of one of the individuals he meets with is preparing dinner while the two talk. Things quickly escalate when Red shoots the man, demanding a name. Quite understandably, the wife loses it and Red brings her to a closet, closing her inside. When the man finally gives a name, Red goes to the closet door, apologizing to the wife before he leaves: “Janice, I'll take a rain check on the stroganoff; it smells delicious.”

(End of trigger warning)

So, I decided to make Janice's stroganoff for my first Veganlist meal. I used Gardein's “beefless tips” and the recipe they suggested. I used 8 beefless tips and halved the rest of the recipe. Other changes: I used sliced white mushrooms, couldn't find any called cremini; I used a vegan “creamy mushroom soup” and Tofutti sour cream; and I substituted vegetable broth for the white wine. Everything came together fairly easily, though I did start off using too small a pan and have to switch to a bigger one once I added the mushrooms, whoops.

As for the meal itself, it was good overall, but I actually didn't care for the beefless tips. They just tasted weird to me, and it surprised me when I realized that I preferred the mushrooms!

So, for future versions of this recipe, I think I might actually make it without the beefless tips. Thanks for the recipe, Gardein, but, ah, I think I'll pass on the product that inspired it.

(Gif source: http://legit-reponse-gifs.tumblr.com/post/84560190923/aram-from-the-blacklist-speaking-text-reads)

Mind your own business, Aram. :P

To close tonight's post, let's check in with the kitties: Leela really enjoyed playing with the drop cloth before I started painting this week, while Buttons was a bit less sure of it and kept her distance.

"This is the best toy ever!"

"Um, hey guys, what's going on?"

Peace. :)