Bacon, foe or friend?

These last couple weeks I've totally been on a cooking adventure. I made made first "soup" and ventured into "fake bacon." Anyone who knows me might find this amusing, since I really don't like regular bacon (yes, I know this is blasphemy to some people) But ready? I really like fake bacon. It has a slightly different texture, but still the same good salty taste. We used Turtle Island Tempeh Smoky Maple Marinated Bacon. While other Tofurky products have not made the cut, this one totally did and made a killer sandwich. I tried Veganaise (Which actually smells exactly like mayo, it's creepy!) as well. I know, look at me, Ms. Adventurous! The result was this killer sandwich on a pub bun made by a local Portland company:

My second accomplishment was this slightly modified Vegan Dumpling Soup. I followed this recipe, but added a boiled potato chopped up as well as some frozen peas and carrots. Oh my gosh, seriously amazing. Perfect for the rainy days that are still creeping in here in Portland.

In other non-cooking news:

- I saw the book "World of Geekcraft" in person at Crafty Wonderland, and am totally in love with it. It even  has it's own website here! You can download one of their projects (pow! zap! magnets) via PDF at the Craft Blog.

- Has anyone who's gotten married recently used an Amazon registry? We did it in addition to our Target registry. I liked that it has a universal capability so you can add stuff from any website.

Kitchen Post - Vegan Taquitos

Tonight we decided to make homemade vegan taquitos!

For the recipe I bought:
- 1 can black beans
- 1 can corn
- fancy packaged corn tortillas
- mozzarella Daiya "cheese"

After cooking the black beans and corn I placed a spoonful of each on the tortilla and sprinkled just a bit of Daiya on top (for some cheezy-creaminess)

Rolled them up, and passed them on to my handsome assistant, who fried them up!

And for the finished product, I whipped up some Spanish Rice (nothing fancy, just a box mix) and my favorite Tortilla Chips & Salsa on the side -

pumpkin roll with cream cheese frosting

I love baking. So this morning when I had no plans and I was stuck at home unable to move much because of my back, I realized I could bake. I didn't have to move around a lot and could use the mixer for any stirring. Thus....

Pumpkin Cake Roll with Cream Cheese Frosting

tofu lettuce wraps

These were amazing! Tofu + shiitake mushrooms + soy sauce + napa cabbage. Yum!

Trashy to Classy, Dinner Series

I'm all about easy dinners. I love cheating and making something reasonably priced into a high class meal. Here's our easy, yet "classy" lunch that we've been loving lately:

Also in the picture, Vegan grillers on a Trader Joe's Michette Roll, with spring mix, red peppers, and a dab of BBQ sauce as condiments.

Kitchen Post, Donuts

 

One of my favorite thing is baking desserts. It's not even about being able to eat it, although it is generally tasty. It's more about the fun of baking.  Then what makes it even better is being able to give the baked goods away to grateful friends.

My newest recipe has been these vegan miniature chocolate cake donuts. Nutmeg is the key ingredient giving them just the right flavor... Amazing!

Burgers!

Since Colin went vegan it's forced us to eat out a lot less, and eat at home a lot more. It's been a welcome, but hard change. I had been hesitant about any "fake meat" products because in the past I've always thought they were pretty gross. 

But actually, the Morningstar Vegan Grillers were good. I know, and hell is not even freezing over! I think it's partially because I've never been a big hamburger fan, so I don't really have a taste associated with them. I also, didn't expect it to taste like hamburger persay. Anyhow, we made these and I cut up and made some home fries from some potatoes that needed to be eaten. With that I present you our dinner:

Colin added lettuce, pineapple, red pepper, sprouts, jalapenos to his, while I just stuck with red pepper and lettuce (I am much less adventurous apparently) Yum!