Now For a Journey Through Time and Space

The Mighty Booooosh!

Sorry.  I've just got Vince and Howard on the brain right now.

So,  I love this time of year.  The first week of June just begins summer for me.  June 3rd is our wedding anniversary and June 6th is my birthday.  Class is about to end...and it's cool enough to be outside.  Come late June, not a creature will be stirring outside (yes, not even a mouse).  So to kick off summer, we've been putting good use to our grill and enjoying some wine, beer, and liquor.

For Memorial Day, we made Mexican hot dogs.  Our friend, Roy, introduced me to them.  Just imagine the tastiest, messiest chili dog you ever did eat!  It's so effing good I don't know that I'll go back to my standby of mayo, deli mustard, and dill relish!

Traditional Mexican dogs are wrapped in bacon, grilled, and served on bolillos with a ridiculous array of toppings from beans to grilled onions to a variety of salsas.

The above featured wonder is gonna be a mainstay for Era and me.  I've read that these can be served in regular hot dog buns, but I recommend something sturdier.  This is so messy, we don't even pretend it's anything but a sandwich.  Below is how we built this bad boy:

• Warm bolillo smothered in Vegenaise (chipotle mayo will be tried next)
• grilled tofu dog
• soyrizo (homemade or store bought)
• meltable vegan cheddar (the above is FYH)
• grilled onions
• yellow mustard
• pico de gallo (our corner store sells pico with nopales in it!  HOLLA.)
• avocado

We served it with tots and Micheladas.  When the drinks got too spicy for me, I just switched over to ice cold beer.  Greatest Monday of all time.

To celebrate our anniversary, we went EPIC!  Era and I have been married 4 years, so we decided to do THE RETURN OF VEGAN CHEEZE TASTING.  Not as many cheeses this time, as they were all homemade.  So maybe it was epic lite.  Haha.

A horribly rushed shot of the table.  That wrinkle in the cloth bugs me so bad right now! :)

 

The centerpiece: Vegetarian Times' almond feta (covered in olive oil, balsamic, and black pepper) and The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook's white bean boursin.  Served with grapes and cucumber.

Focaccia, watermelon, blackberries, and black pepper water crackers.

Sweet and salty agave cheese spread minus the mint (an adaptation of this recipe)

Vegetarian Times' cheddar cheeze recipe served with sourdough crisps.  The seitan and olive stuff are Kittee testers!

So good.  I really liked the cheddar cheeze recipe.  It was amazing with mustard and seitan.  I suggest letting it sit for awhile so the lemon taste mellows, though.

I Had a Flame, But She Had a Fire

Cool points to those of you who get my title reference without using Senor Google!  Anyway.  Hello all!  I'm really trying to get back into the blogging spirit with summer just around the corner.  Remember when I told you that we left our bbq grill in Texas?  Well, we finally got one after a year and a half in the desert.  We've been grilling up a storm lately so there are plenty pics to come.

Quick Red Posole w/ Beans (pg. 136) garnished with Pickled Red Onions (pg. 43)

But first...I'm sure you've heard of a little cookbook by the name of Viva Vegan!  Trust me when I say that you need this in your life!  SO good.  I was fortunate enough to test for Terry, and the entire process really changed the way I viewed Latin cuisine.  I'm from South Texas, so I really thought I knew a lot about cooking some food...but this book really has a bunch of different cultures in it.  I felt like I was taking a trip to North, Central, or South America just reading a description of the food.

Yellow Rice w/ Garlic (pg. 96)

My favorite thing about testing was how inexpensive the ingredients were.  If you live in a Mexican-American neighborhood or have access to a Mexican grocer, a lot of this stuff will cost you less than a couple of bucks.  The most I paid for any single ingredient was probably 5 bucks...and the aji paste is still in my fridge.

Pupusas Stuffed w/ Black Beans and Plantains (pg. 162), Simple Latin Tomato Sauce (pg. 46), Swiss Chard w/ Raisins and Capers (pg. 123)

For people with special dietary needs, there are a lot of gluten free and soy free options.  I would also say that a huge majority of the food is based on whole foods.  I think almost every recipe that calls for prepackaged vegan cheese lists it as optional.  Plus, there is a huge condiment section that can really spice up your taco night!

Cashew Crema (pg. 51)

The dessert section is pretty epic for me.  As a San Antonian, I have dreamt about things like vegan churros and tres leches for years.  I can tell you that both of those recipes are worth the price of the book alone.  I'm pretty sure the day I first made the churros, that was all I consumed all day!  Haha.  There's also a drink section with some really badass alcoholic and non-alcoholic recipes.  Plus a shopping list and a bunch of menus! 

Coconut Tres Leches Cake (pg. 230)

I think the best possible thing I could say about Viva Vegan is that it completely makes me never want to go to a restaurant again.  Why go pay 10 bucks for a plate of food when I can make an entire meal for four?  Plus...super moist and delectable vegan tres leches!

I tested about 40 recipes, so I'll leave you with my personal favorites:

Annatto-Infused Oil (pg. 31) will change your life...and probably stain your chucks.

Chorizo Seitan Sausages (pg. 36) are amazing if you use half ancho and have chipotle for the chili powder.

So Good, So Green Dipping Sauce (pg. 43)

Cubano Vegano Sandwich (pg. 66)

Home-Style Refried Beans (pg. 86)

Yellow Rice w/ Garlic (pg. 96)

Latin Shredded Seitan (pg. 106)

Yuca w/ Cuban Garlic-Lime-Mojo Sauce (pg. 127)

Arroz Con Seitan (pg. 145)

Arepas (pg. 177)

Churros (pg. 223)

Coconut Tres Leches Cake (pg. 230)

Well, I have some marinating to do.  I'll be talking about Mexican hot dogs in my next entry because I was just introduced to them.  Weight loss is still going.  I didn't gain or lose any last month (because I just stopped working out), but this month I've lost a couple of pounds so far.  I'm hoping to push through by the end of the month and meet my next goal soon.  Happy Sunday all!

Howdy Y'all and Haluski, Yo!

Hello everybody.  I know: I suck.  I've been super busy since last month.  Had a ton going on with class, car troubles, and I spent spring break back home in Texas.  It was such a joy to go back to San Antonio after a year and a half.  I didn't realize how much I missed it.  Most of all, I missed HEB!  That is the best grocery store in the world.  Word.

So I'll fill you in super quick on where I am.  Last month, I picked up where I slacked off in February.  For the rest of April I hope to do the same.  Ha ha.

March Weight Loss: 8.4 lbs
Total Weight Loss: 21.4 lbs

I did my little happy dance when I found out I had crossed over the 20 lb mark.  I'm thinking about getting into more intense workouts because I'm getting a bit bored with the ones I've been doing...which is a good thing.

As far as food goes, I ate mostly raw for March and have recently started eating a lot of Indian, Ethiopian, Mexican, and Polish.  Yes...Polish.

While watching Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives one day I saw a woman making haluski.  It's a cabbage and noodle dish straight out of Poland and Slovakia.  It seemed super easy to recreate, so I looked at a recipe and just winged it.  I like the addition of dark, leafy greens for color and extra vitaminy goodness.

Haluski (Cabbage and Noodles)
1 serving of pasta (penne, spirals, macaroni, etc.) cooked according to package
1/4 of a head of green cabbage, lightly boiled and rinsed under cold water, sliced
1 Tbsp vegan margarine
1/2 a small onion, sliced in half moons
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups dark greens (my personal fave is kale), roughly chopped
1/2 cup vegan bacon, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Melt margarine in a skillet on medium high heat. Add the onion and saute until slightly browned. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the sliced cabbage and chopped greens. Cook until wilted and tender to your liking. Add the veggie bacn and pasta. Cook until heated through. Taste for salt. Add salt and pepper to taste. Makes 2 servings.

My favorite green to use is kale because it's so bright and bold.  I've also used red chard and it added a pinkish hue to the dish (see above picture).  I seriously loves me some haluski!

If you'll excuse me, I have at least a month's worth of blogs to read, Roswell to watch, and samosas to make.  Mmmm.