Well a lot has happened since the last time I have posted....something I really not ready to chat about yet - BUT.....I do want to chat about a couple of recipes I've tried out on Goods....and both worthy of a post!

Oven baked vegan, of course, ONION RINGS! from Post Punk Kitchen

The recipe calls for store bought whole wheat bread crumbs...and for the life of me, I just couldn't find them in ANY store in Michigan. In fact I couldn't find breadcrumbs without dairy and egg in the - WTF???? oh...so I made my own...and they turned out dandy! They were light and crispy....and actually not hard to make at all!! We ate them with cocktail sauce and tarter sauce.

Our garden is over flowing with cucumbers. We've given them to neighbors and friends, I eat at least a cuke a day and I used them to make this....from a vegetarian time email I received....

White Gazpacho (Recipe here)

This was totally awesome perfect for a hot summer day - cukes, toasted almonds, GRAPES, and arugula - to name just a few ingredients. But one problems...I still have cucumbers coming out the kazoo.

And to end with a funny....I took this photo through our kitchen door......

Get your pretty little heads out of the gutter....the gray "baby" squirrel was grooming the other one - just like monkeys do.

Today Goods and I are celebrating our 1st Wedding Anniversary today - and look we've lasted...because the first 13 years of being together didn't count. We are going great restaurant tonight Mon Jin Lau. They have tons of vegan options- and they make pretty garsh darn good cocktails too.

I'll be back real soon....I have one more week of classes and then starting Thursday - I'll be off for THREE WHOLE WEEKS!!! except for my prereading I'll be doing for my fall classes - because I'm a geek that way.

Have a lovely weekend! Stay cool!

Fun time had by all.....

Normally- Goods and I are too busy to jet here and there on the weekend - you know - like to ACTUALLY relax and enjoy the weekend??? Well this weekend we squeezed a couple of fun Michigan things in between projects.

Guess where we went Saturday????? The Michigan Renaissance Festival - Yes we dress because we are cool like that!! Goods was a pirate (the theme for the weekend) I was his gypsy girl.

Go figure I took a picture of The PUB. And here is a pic of the Good-Men.....

Men in tights - love it. I didn't take any pictures of the food I did eat there....they don't have much of a selections for vegans. I did have a famous dill pickle, a order of crisscross fries, that were undercooked, and then a bag of overpriced Kettle Korn...my favorite!

I did take a photo of one of our favorite acts at the renn fest....if you ever get a chance to go - this is a must - they are hilarious! Great improving! They are The Bocca Show...

Then on Sunday we hit the streets of Ferndale, Michigan for....

Funky Ferndale Art Fair & DIY Street Fair.

It was a lot of fun...next time we go we will be allowing more time to people watch.

Ferndale is a cool town....they have some great eatery there. They have one of my favorite health food store there....and a newly founded (by me) this place.....

Where I was able to purchase and consume THIS-
It's been over 3 years since I have actually bought a milkshake or even icecream out. This brought me massive amounts of excitement and glee.
Here is Goods enjoying our shared, Peanutbutter, Chocolate & Banana milkshake.....

And to boot - it was great! Here is a link to AJ's - we will be going back to check out what else they have to offer.

....so a fun weekend had by all in the Goods' household.

Black Lotus Brewing Co.

Last Friday Goods and I were off to Whole Foods....it's a little jaunt away, so we don't get to go very often, but afterwards we thought we would try an new place for some grub. Black Lotus Brewing Co. in Clawson, MI.....
Of course I previewed the menu on line like any good little vegan would do. They had loads of vegan options....but ended up not having any VODKA, so I ended up with a beer with a hint of apricot in it. Not bad for beer. They had free popcorn too! I love popcorn so I scooped some up......

It was a pretty place....had setting outside too. Here is a pic of Goods trying to contain his excitement....

Goods had un-vegan food, but I had pizza, with tempeh, pineapple and toffuti cheese. I asked for extra sauce on it, but it didn't happen.

It was good, but nothing exciting. Here's another pic of the place in the other direction - they have a stage for entertainment...Good's wouldn't let me go up and dance, he can be a stick in the mud at times........

I doubt that we will go back, one because it's a jaunt away, and two, they don't have vodka....but it was nice to go to a place that I had loads of options!

Dee F. Changs

I heart, PF Changs. Loads of VEGAN options for me and the food is great....and they make great cocktails to boot!

I normally get their Coconut Curry Vegetables, because it's so yummy, and also because Goods isn't gaagaa over curry so I don't use it much at home. But....I was perusing some blogs, one of which was "Yeah, that Vegan Shit" because she's so funny (I think she's a she)...and there was a new link to her new site "Vegan in Cleveland" - I know where Cleveland is so I followed the link. She mentioned that at PF Changs you can get ORANGE PEEL TOFU.

When went to PF Changs a few days later, I looked for it. Well I saw it in the "dead chicken section" of menu, so I asked them to sub tofu. I WAS IN HEAVEN- it was the yummiest! Here is a pix of some left overs.....
No veggies with it, but that was okay, the dish wasn't really saucy, but yet so flavorful...brown rice was perfect with it.

So this past weekend I wanted it again. One problem, I wasn't at PF Changs, I was only in my kitchen. On line I found the copycat recipe - Looky here: ORANGE PEEL CHICKEN MINUS THE CHICKEN RECIPE.

I, of course, used tofu...and mine turned out saucy!
I served it with some veggies from leftover kabobs I made a few days before. Here is the sauce recipe I used from the link above; with the exception of the water, I substitute orange juice for it.

Sauce:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 tablespoons minced garlic

4 green onions, sliced

1 cup tomato sauce

1/2 cup water (OJ for me)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Prepare sauce by heating 1 tablespoon of oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add minced garlic and sliced green onions. Add tomato sauce and water quickly before the garlic burns. Add sugar, chili garlic sauce and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Simmer 5 to 6 minutes or until sauce thickens, then turn off the heat.

Last night for dinner, was fridge cleanout night, and I scored the rest of the orange peel tofu. I added a chunk of leftover bbq tempeh, and ate it over some tofu noodles. It was a lovely dish of protein! I think next time I will make the orange peel tofu with tempeh instead, it was totally yummy in it.

So after dinner it was time to go to my weekly ceramic class. I was excited to go since this was the day I got to take home the finish product of my hard work (BTW 3 coats EACH COLOR!!!!!) from the last few weeks.....TAH DAHHHHHH...

I designed, drew, and painted a "DAY OF THE DEAD" plate. Goods and I collect Day of the Dead art, so I was excited to bring it home to our collection. If I choose, I can even serve vegan food on it!

The weekend is almost here - ENJOY!

Weekend part 2- D-Derby

Saturday Night, Goods & I headed off to downtown Detroit. First off, was to grab some grub. We were running late, so I forgot to take food porn pixs so a list of food will have to do. We ate at Pegasus, in Greektown. We had the basics, hummus, roasted peppers, salad, grape leaves, and Goods had the flaming sagnaki. Some nice vegan choices for me.

Then we were off to the DETROIT DERBY GIRLS! We really enjoy going, we've made it there at least once a year for the past three. The venue is a the beautiful Masonic Temple. (sorry the photos are so bad, they didn't allow you take take photos, so I snuck them)

ZOOMMMMMM.....
Goods, watching intently....

And my PISTOLWHIPPERS WON! It was a nail bitter too!

Here are some miscellaneous photos inside the Masonic Temple. I took my cheap camera, so the photos aren't so good....

The detail.....

Need to make a call??? I hope not....
(all brass framing)

Such a fun thing to do, again in Detroit!

Vegan Detroit - The Majestic Cafe

Goods and I headed downtown a couple of weeks ago so we could pick up some Detroit stuff for Christmas presents. After we hit PURE DETROIT we decided to go to one of my favorite restaurants - The Majestic Cafe. They have some vegan options for me, tasty cocktails and have cool art exhibits for your viewing pleasure. So to Goods dismay, I took food porn photos to share with you.

We started off with some hummus, because I love me some hummus. This is very good hummus, it is very beany flavor, not too tahiniee (not that I have anything against tahini what so ever) and their pickled banana peppers are so very yummy - and crunchy to boot.

My main course was tempeh fajitas- hold the cheese & sour cream please.

It was very good, but the tempeh needed to be seasoned....but I didn't have the cheese smothered all over it like the menu stated it would be served. Oh and I found out, the hard way, the rice had butter in it- so of course I tossed it aside.

And this is what I took home....the serving was huge!

I did not take any pics of Goods' food because this is a VEGAN blog, not an omnivorous blog.

Adios!

Take me out to the veggie ball park.....

PETA has announced that Comerica Park is #7 on their PETA's 2008 Top 10 Vegetarian-Friendly Ballparks....

"Comerica Park (Detroit Tigers) Apparently, even Tigers love veggie burgers, because Comerica Park has cracked PETA's Top 10 for the first time ever! The Tigers are offering veggie burgers, vegetable stir-fries, vegetable fried rice, fruit trays, Mandarin salad, fish-free California rolls, and meatless taco salad. "

Goods and I are going to a Tiger's game Saturday night. We now plan to have dinner at the park instead of a restaurant.....a food review will follow next week. Hopefully they won't strike out and they will score with their veggie burger (vegan too). Gotta run, I'm outta here....

Where's the food???

I've been extremely uninterested in making food, even though Goods would say differently.
I think I lost my Mojo, maybe a mojito would help.

Even our neighborhood hawk is looking for food...

(on the brush pile in our garden- Goods built for the winter for the birdies)

Even Guido weighs nothing-

And Fluffy has resorted to threatening to run away to get food....

(not true always tons of kitty food out)

So here is some of the food I've made-

Spicy Peanut Sauce from VWV served over stirfry of veggies, preseasoned- prepressed tofu (see I told you no Mojo) and oriental noodles. Made enough for two dinners.

I love this sauce, I always make a batch of it for my lettuce wraps.

Whatever Bean Soup (made up as I went)...Mixed beans, veggie broth, seasoning, tomatoes & tomato paste, carrots and some other veggies- threw together and cooked in the slower cooker for 10 hours.

Another slow cooker recipe I made "What a Dal", from "Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker"

I served it in rolled up with fried potatoes & peppers and some fire roasted tomatoes - oh and a little "cheese". The concept was good but the "Dal" needed a lot more seasoning - we are "high seasoning" people. And the recipe stated to cook for 8 hours- well it was done in about 1/2 the time. It made TONS so the next night I made "Dal patties" - added some chopped veggies and more seasoning-

Then for dinner #3- the next night, we put the patties in buns and had "Dal Burgers" with all the burger fixings. I still have a huge container left of the lentils, they are going in the freezer, I'm lentiled out.

And lastly, I am fairly certain that I am the LAST person to finally make "Tamari-Roasted Chickpeas" from EDBV.

OMG- they are the best, LOVE LOVE LOVE them. Great with the baked potato I served with them. The organic baby zucchini that I got at Whole Foods was so sweet- excellent.

So that about wraps things up. Eating out a little bit more - have to give a shot out to the Majestic Cafe , in downtown Detroit, where I had the most kick ass Tempeh Sloppy Joe - oh and great hummous and all it's garlic loveliness! I was giddy with all their vegan options.

Until next time Ciao!

Orange Soup

Well I didn't know what else to call the soup because I used carrots, butternut squash and sweet potatoes....oh, and orange juice.

THE RECIPE......

Prepared:
4 C. Diced Carrots
2 C. Cubed Butternut Squash (which I had left over from Veganomicon - Butternut Squash Rice
Paper Rolls - I love these things...I've made them twice so far! no pics though)
2 C. Cubed Sweet Potatoes

In large pot, combine above veggies with:
3 C. Water
1 C. Orange Juice
1 small Veggie Bullion Cube (optional, I didn’t add salt)

Cook until veggies are tender.

In the mean time- Saute:
4 tsp. vegan butter
1 C. Chopped Onion
3 Cloves of chopped garlic
1 tsp. of chopped hot pepper—I used Serranos (optional)

After the above has sautéed for a few minutes add:
1 tsp Curry Powder Seasoning (this had ginger, cinnamon, cloves etc. in it too)
1 Tbs. Fresh Grated Ginger (think 1.5 tsp would be good next time)
1 Tbs. of Dried Parsley
Fresh Ground Pepper to taste.

When the sautéing is complete, add 1/2 C. of Ground Cashews (measured before grinding) – Here, I used raw cashews, I think toasted cashews would be good too, or you can just leave the nuts out altogether….I’m easy like that.

Now add the sautéed mixture to the cooked veggies (no not drain).
Add 1 C. of Soymilk

With my emulsion blender, I love love this thing, I blended it smooth.
Tasted it, humm, Goods tasted it- I made the following additions:
1 C. of Orange juice
1 more Sweet Potato (I had one in the freezer just waiting to become sweet potato biscuits)

By adding the extra items, it tamed down the ginger that was a tad strong, and it you now could taste a hint of Orange in it, which I was striving for.

Then I heated again for 15 minutes. I served with a sprinkle of toasted pumpkin seeds and some croutons.

I give this a 4 out of 5 forks. I need to play with the seasonings some. I would make this again, but it won't be for a while, I made a TON.

I'll end with a photo of Guido playing with her imaginary carrot--really, she plays with a lot of imaginary things.

Okay- I'm almost ending with Guido.

If you are from the Detroit area, there is a restaurant in Grosse Pointe that we went to Saturday night that Goods and I both very much enjoyed. The name of the joint is "City Kitchen" I've included a link. The atmosphere was great, we sat at the bar- THE NON-SMOKING BAR! The whole restaurant is NON-SMOKING. The food was great, they went out of their way to make my meal vegan (even checking their pasta lables!) - I had a pasta with veggies in a wine sauce - sorry no pics THIS TIME. Oh, and I had a super spinach salad with jalapeno mango dressing. The people were extremely friendly, both the people that work there and the patrons.

Okay, NOW I'm ending.