Pre Payday Meals

I don't know about you, but I've definitely had to get creative with the meals between paydays. I am an obsessive person when it comes to grocery lists. I have ingredients down to the exact number I need for the recipes I'd like to make. Sometimes we grab extras just because, but we mostly stick to the list.

A couple of weeks ago, I ran out of ingredients needed to test for Viva Vegan. It was a couple of days before we planned to shop, so I pieced together some things out of random ingredients I had leftover. Here's what I did. I had one poblano pepper, a bit of garlic, and some rice. I fashioned together this killer poblano rice. It was so good, but I knew it was missing something. My husband wanted peas, but I knew it was corn. I made it again a few days ago with the corn and that made the difference!

poblano rice with cashew crema (Viva Vegan tester) and avocado

Of course, rice just isn't complete without a little bean action. I swear I could live off of rice and beans. So, all I had to work with was about a cup of dried black beans, some garlic and an orange. I just recently discovered how fantastic black beans and orange taste together so I came up with these sun kissed black beans. The orange adds a subtle fruity flavor. The garlic, jalapeno, and cilantro pair well with it.

poblano rice, sun kissed black beans, and yuca with cuban mojo sauce (Viva Vegan tester)

I'm gonna post the recipe for the rice and beans soonish. My friend gets back from Indiana in a couple of weeks, so we'll discuss getting this show/vlog thing up hopefully some time in August. Until then all I can promise is that I'll post more frequently so I don't disappoint my mom. Sheesh. Hee hee.

So what's your favorite pre payday meal?

My Latest Obsessions

Well, it's mid summer and completely miserable outside. I can barely muster the strength to take my dogs out. It is that hot right now. My two regrets so far: I haven't made any ice cream yet and I'm still kicking myself for forgetting my grill in San Antonio.

Lately, I've been on these food related obsessions. It's weird because I don't usually like to eat similar things day after day, but times are a-changin'. So I present to you...Mo's Food Obsessions of DOOM.

Fried foods. There was a period of about four days that I ate multiple fried things, usually paired with something fresh to offset the gross-yet-yummy factor. I swear I came up with the crunchiest batter ever for fried seitan/tofu/veggies. The problem? I didn't measure or write anything down. Along these lines, I am officially a fan of deep frying in a wok. It uses less oil and gives an incredibly crispy result.

Watermelon. When is this not an obsession of mine? I'm working on this watermelon punch right now. My first attempt came out okay. It needs more fizz. It involves watermelon, lime and ginger...so good. I also made some watermelon ice cubes and just ate huge bowls of it. Mmm. Must get more soon.

Bowls. I am not the hugest fan of bowls (mostly because I like controlling how my food touches), but we've been eating them a lot lately. It started with a dragon bowl recipe from Garden of Vegan. Now I am basically in love with the simplistic approach. Grain + protein + greens + sauce. Super easy and really delicious.

 

India's 500 Best Recipes. This book is pretty amazing. I love how complex the flavors are with relatively simplistic steps. We had this really great eggplant and sweet potato stew with coconut milk, black rice pudding, and "fish" cakes with cucumber sauce this weekend.

Viva Vegan testers. I am in love with the arroz con seitan, refried beans, and yellow garlic rice. Most of the ingredients are super inexpensive and the recipes are so packed with flavor. I can't wait for the book to be here!

Black Beans. I'm working on this recipe for black beans made with orange juice and zest. They are pretty good. I just need to finalize the recipe.

Summer is going great! If only this heat would subside. If I was rich, I'd summer in LA where it is considerably cooler than here. Also the temperature is lower. Hee hee.

Food Art

So my friend, Kayla, is auctioning off her hamburger bed. I am linking to this auction for three reasons. 1) She really needs the money. 2) This is inspiring art. 3) When, I look at it I see a boca burger and some FYH cheddar. What, what?!

Kayla is a fantastic artist and a lover of food. When I asked her if the materials used were vegan she said "Hmmm... I have no idea... Everything I have was the cheapest I could get..." Particularly, I asked about down, leather and silk. So I'm gonna go out on a limb and say: vegan, though there is no 100% confirmation. However, she bought the mattress and sewed everything else together herself using inexpensive sheets and pillows.

Basically, you can gaze in awe or tell a friend or whatever. If you are anything like me...you can loathe yourself for not being nearly this creative or food obsessed.

**ETA: The auction has ended and the final bid was $3,050! Woo!**

Airing of Grievances

I want to apologize for my absence. A piece of my laptop broke and I've been grudgingly using a Mac. I hope everybody had a glorious 4th! I made some bomb ass strawberry coladas, which is unheard of for me. I am not what one would call a mixologist. I have been known to completely ruin martinis and micheladas. Onto the good stuff...

While watching Food Network today, I felt this intense feeling. I was watching The Next Food Network Star and some show about tablescapes (you know the one) and feeling super bitter that FN does not take vegetarianism seriously. I'm about to get Kanye on y'all. FOOD NETWORK DOES NOT LIKE VEGETARIANS. Yeah. I said it.

If I have to watch another piece of asparagus get violated by a blanket of pork, I may just do an Excorcist style projectile vomit all over my television. The strange thing, y'all, is that Bobby Flay has the most vegan friendly show on there unless I'm missing something. Hear me out. He often has substantial vegetable sides that are completely vegan or easily veganizable. Also his marinades are often vegan. Plus, he never disrespects the vegetables by slathering them in butter and covering them in cheese. I have nothing but mad crazy booty love for Bobby Flay. My love for this man is ridiculous.

Anyway. I had this idea. Stop me if this already exists...Vegan/Veg*n Food Network. An online recipe and cooking show database with vegetarian and vegan cooking shows. No meat for you! I'm kinda sick of being considered a niche market. It's insulting. People want to see vegetable recipes that don't involve bacon and salads that aren't slabs of meat garnished with greens. Amiright?! Somebody who isn't as big of an artistic flake as me should totally make this happen. If we can't have a show on a television network, we damn sure should make our own network!

Also, I'm totally going to start doing an online show. I have too many opinions and too much time on my hands not to make this happen now. It will probably start out more as a video blog and hopefully become more awesome. More on this later. For now, I leave you with a fiery passion to change America's mindset on veganism and some Viva Vegan by Terry Hope Romero testing photos.

quicker red posole garnished with pickled red onions, avocado and cilantro


yellow rice with garlic


black bean and plantain pupusas covered in simple latin tomato sauce, rainbow chard with capers and raisins, avocado


un-tres leches cake!!!

Not testers...just me cooking it up:

brownie topped with homemade caramel ice cream


bbq sauce and rice recipes I'm working on

jalapeno and cilantro hummus recipe that my friend gave me