New Year's Eve 2006

Happy New year!

We spent this whole New Year's Eve pretty low-key. We started out (Bob and Courtney and I) with an oat bran breakfast. (Even though Bob's cholesterol is 166, he has another blood test scheduled in February and he is determined to stick it to his doctor even more than he has already.)

We spent the day putting the Xmas presents away and deconstructing the tree, so lunch was pretty uninteresting. (Beans and veggie weenies.)

For supper, however, we went Italian. I made two different types of pasta sauce, since the kids still won't eat mushrooms and I personally think you really can't make a decent sauce without it.

For me and Bob, we had Spaghetti a la Tracy:

The kids had a mushroom and carrot free version, which I am sure was OK, in it's mushroom-free way.

I also made a "finger-combo", which is a combination of garlic fingers (for the kiddies) and some lovely olive oil/fresh plum tomato/basil/ rice mozza combination for the adults. Delish!

After supper, we got started on a different project: Vegan Cabbage Rolls. This is something that Bob's family has eaten at the holidays for years, and being veg*n, he didn't get any this year. I said he should be able to make some just as tasty (to him) as the meaty version, so we decided to experiment. The whole house smells like cabbage. I will report back tomorrow. Sweet Dreams!

Saturday Night Soupapalooza!

Normally on the weekends I have a lot more time to play around in the kitchen, so tonight was a soup night. Normally when I make soup I make at least two, sometimes three different kinds, because I love to experiment and I think we need at least one tried-and-true favourite to eat incase my experiments, shall we say, fail miserably. One recent example of a colossal failure was Curried Pumpkin Soup, which was so vile it never reached the table.

Tonight I started with Sour Cream Chive and Spice Rolls. (Using Tofutti Sour Cream, of course.) Normally Daniel likes rolls made in crescents (he swears they taste better that way) but since I bought a snazzy new muffin pan this morning, I went with butt-shaped rolls.

Then, I whipped up something new- Black Bean and Root Vegetable Chowder. Delicious, and so healthy I dropped a year off my age just looking at it!

Then, the tried and true favourite- White Bean and Vegetable Soup, complete with wilted spinach added right at the end. I have only discovered how great beans can be in soup this last few months, and I feel stupid for not eating soup like this years ago.

Now, dinner is over and we're settling down to watch The Fox and the Hound. Great Saturday all the way around.

The Promised Poundcake, and Pizza Friday

As promised, here are the pictures of that pound cake that made my kitchen smell so heavenly last night, and here is the recipe if you want to make it for yourself. I've had this recipe jotted in my ratty old notebook for nigh on twelve years, so I wouldn't be able to tell you where I got it. I CAN tell you that is dense and moist like pound cake should be, much lower fat that poundcake usually is, and you would never, ever be able to tell there was tofu in it. So there.

Tofu Pound Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together in this order:

1/2 cup softened margarine

1 1/2 cups white sugar

(Beat.)

Add:

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp lemon extract or vanilla. (Bob hates lemon, so I personally use vanilla.)
3/4 cups lowfat silken tofu

1/2 cup water

2 cups white flour

Bake in a lightly greased loaf pan for about 50 minutes.

FYI: You can buy silken tofu in the natural food section of most reasonably- sized grocery stores. It looks like this:

On to supper...Friday night is pizza night most weeks around here. I first made homemade garlic fingers, using dough from scratch and vegan parmesan....

Then we used a 2-pack of premade crusts to whip up two pizzas, one brimming with veggies for Bob, and one with veggie pepperoni and soy cheese for me and the kids. Here's a couple shots of Bob's pizza, before and after cooking.

Add a cold beer (or in the case of the kiddies, a cold Pepsi) and the weekend is on! Happy Friday, everyone!

Rice, Rice Baby!

Hello all,

First off today, I promised that I would explain what "Magic Spice" is. I have to give exclusive credit for this one to Bob's Mom Betty, who has had a bottle of this stuff in her cupboard for as long as I have known her.


Magic Spice is a spice mixture that you whip up yourself that is good for just about everything; I put it in soup, chili, pot pie and casseroles, sprinkle it on french fries and whip it into potatoes, load it into rice and shake into spaghetti sauce, Hey! , you name it. Unless it's a dessert, almost everything is my kitchen has a dash of this spice in it.

Here's what you do:

-Go to a store that had same size bottles of no-name or store brand spice. (The Co-Op has nice bottles of spices for this.)

-Get equal amounts of onion salt and garlic powder, and one bottle of steak-type spice. "Arnie's" is a good brand if you can find it, but store brand is fine.

-Dump all of them into one big bowl.

-Take a moment to think about what qualities you like in a spice, and then add small amounts of those spices to the mix. For example, I like hot stuff so I add a tablespoon or two of pepper, a tablespoon or two of paprika, and a bit of cajun spice. You can use your own prefernces to add a few extra tablespoons of spice to yours. Stir it all up well, and then you can pour the mix back in the bottles the original spices came in.

-Voila! Good stuff! You will notice that I mention this spice a lot in my recipes.

Now that I've shared that bit of old business, on to supper. Bob considers himself the King of Rice in our house, so he whipped up some of "Bob's Microwave Fried Rice" for supper. It's quick, easy, and it's tasty.

Start with a microwave safe dish with a cover. Put 2 tsp of oil in the dish, and mix in 1 cup long grain white rice. Stir well, and microwave on high for 4 minutes. This essentially "seals" the rice to make it fluffy and not gluey later.

While the rice is cooking, prepare any veggies you want to add. You can get highly creative here, but tonight he added grated carrot, chopped onion and red pepper, and a bit of chopped celery.

Then add 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups hot water, along with 2 TBSP soy sauce, pepper, 1 TBSP magic spice, 1/2 tsp sage or poultry seasoning, a few tablespoons of bouillion powder, and heck, anything else you feel like! It's your rice, dammit!

Place in the microwave and cook on high for 4 minutes, and then on medium power for 14 minutes. Done! Let's eat!


My role in this supper was the seitan "fingers." Seitan is a meat substitute that is almost fat free that you can make yourself for pennies. As soon as I make it again myself, (likely this coming weekend) I will show you how to make it. It is super-easy and really tasty. Bob calls is vegan "Crack". (This gives me a mental picture of his standing in a dark alley wearing a trenchcoat lined with seitan hissing come-on's to passers-by.)

As for today, it's already made and I'm going to make breaded "fingers" out of it.
The seitan is cut into small pieces, dipped in soymilk and then flour (to which I have added liberal salt, pepper, and of course Magic Spice!)

Then, drop in the deep fryer, (or pan fry) for just a minute or two. As there is no fear of undercooking or food poisoning from this product, you do not need to overcook this stuff, just make sure the coating is crispy and the inside hot.

We cooked up some carrots and some canned green beans, and supper was served!

As I write this , there is a Tofu Pound Cake in the oven that smells absolutely divine. I will showcase the recipe and the pictures tomorrow. I will also be taking some samples of this goodie to work tomorow, so I can also post some comments from my carnivore co-workers. Sweet Dreams until then!

Some Junk Food, and some Health Food

Another very busy evening...Bob and I were a half hour late getting home, and still had lots of post-Christmas work around the house to do. We opted for our version of junk food: burgers, hot dogs and fries.

First the dogs: the kind we buy all the time is on the bottom of this picture- another President's Choice product. Out of all the dogs we tried, we like these the best. The other kind on top are Bob's favourite, but they are so incredibly expensive that I think I'd be struck down by lightning if I even mention here how much they cost...eeek!

The burgers are made by Morningstar Farms. The only place we can buy them is at the Seventh Day Adventist Church. (They have a "store" in their basement!) They are not vegan, but are of course vegetarian and a very tasty compromise.

Here they are frying in the pan....

Even though we do have a deep fryer, we have sorta lost our taste for really greasy things, so we prefer homemade wedges cooked in the over. Really easy to make too- set your oven to 425, cut in wedges , spray with PAM and sprinkle with spices, and cook for 15 minutes on one side, flip them over, spray and spice again, and cook another 10 on the other side. Voila! Also, we use only whole wheat buns. We started eating them exclusively for the health aspect, but now we find them tastier.

After supper, we went visiting at out next-door neighbours house, and didn't get home until 8:45. I realized that I didn't have anything to take for lunch the next day, so I decided to whip up some Mushroom Barley Soup and biscuits. This soup is pretty quick to make and soooo tasty.

First, I start by sauteing some onion, red peppers, and mushrooms in a pot.

Next, I added some diced turnip and diced carrot. I also added just a tiny smidgen, like, a tablespoon really, of diced celery. I really actually hate celery, but a tiny bit adds a certain "je ne sais quoi" to soup.

Next, some frozen peas and corn, which I just love and seem to add to almost everything. Kinda like diced red pepper.

Next, add some water, a good handful of pearl or pot barley, a healthy squirt of soy sauce , black pepper, a shake of sage, a few tablesppons of beef flavoured vegan bouillion, and some "Magic Spice." Whoa, I just realized that I haven't yet explained Magic Spice. I promise I will tomorrow.

Simmer for about an hour. While the soup was simmering, I made biscuits. Here's how I make them:

In a bowl, mix up the following:

-2 cups flour

-1/4 cup white sugar

-1 tsp salt

-1 tsp baking soda

-2 tsp baking powder

-2 tbsp ground flax seed (good for the heart, AND for the other end...:0) )

-1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional, but gets those vitamins in...)

-Mix in 1/4 cup shortening, preferably Earth Balance but not necessary.

Meanwhile, mix 1 tbsp vinegar with almost a full cup of soy milk. Let sit 5 minutes. Mix in to the dry mixture (but be careful not to make it TOO wet- you will not use quite all the milk mixture, you will have a bit left over to brush on the tops of the biscuits before putting in the oven.)

Cut out (it will make 10-12 biscuits) and bake in a 425 degree oven for 10 minutes. I recommend using a baking stone to cook them on. This ensures they won't burn on the bottom. After removing from the oven, allow them to sit for 3-4 minutes to make sure they are fully cooked in the middle. Eat with soup. Soup good! Yum Yum.


I'm off to bed. I am hoping to *not" wake up at 5 AM, like I have every day for the last two weeks. My internal clock has reset itself and I am not exactly happy about it. Sweet Dreams everyone!

Pure Lazy Comfort Food

Sometimes there are days when you just need something easy that you don't need to think about much. Today, the day after Christmas, was just such a day. I decided to whip up our home-grown version of "Hamburger Helper."

First, you start with a pound of soy Ground Round. This is made by a few different companies, but we buy ours in the Deli section of the Superstore. It is their own "Blue Label" brand. It's pricey, at $3.99 a pound, but we likely only use it once a week.

Then, I pour some olive oil in the frying pan and fry up some onion and red pepper. I would love to add some mushrooms at this point, but a certain two brats that live with me (who shall remain nameless) have resisted every effort I have made to get them to like them.

Next, add the ground round and fry for just a few minutes. We stir in about a tablespoon of "beefy" vegan bouillion at this point.

Next , we add a can of tomato soup and a few cups of water, a good few handfuls of whole wheat twisty pasta. I also throw in any leftover pizza sauce I might have in the fridge, and a whole mess o'spices: Italian Seasoning, paprika, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, whatever I'm in the mood for. Then, stir and cook until the pasta is tender, adding extra water as needed.

When it's all cooked up just right, eat and enjoy! We always eat this stuff poured over potatoes , as this is the way Bob's family ate it growing up. (They had a big family, and they tried to stretch it out to feed all seven of them. ) At first I thought this was pretty queer, but now I like it.

So there you have it! Easy, pretty cheap, and darn tasty too. It might not be the healthiest or most inventive supper on the planet, but hey! It fills you up, and sometimes that can be what matters most.

A Veg*n for the Health of It

Before I get into some recipes, let me tell you a story about my husband. About seven or eight years ago, Bob started getting, on occasion, terrible gut-wrenching pains in his abdomen. They were so bad that when they happened, it would keep him awake at night. I remember lying awake in bed listening to him pace the house and moaning. At the time, the doctors diagnosed him as having Crohn’s disease. It was terrible, heartbreaking time. He was basically told that he would have to be on medication for the rest of his life, and have to eat bland, fibreless food or risk having to have surgery to remove part of his bowel.
He was placed on some very powerful drugs, including at one point having to give him self an injection once a week of a type of medication used in Chemotherapy. These drugs made him so sick, that eventually just thinking about having to take them was enough to make him nauseous. He basically told the doctor that he simply could not continue to take these drugs, regardless of the consequences.
For the next few years, he basically tiptoed around his condition. Regular blood work revealed that he was anemic due to whatever absorption problem he was having. Whatever he ate just went through him like a shot.

When my daughter and I gave up all animal products on the fourth of January last year, it was originally intended as a 30 day experiment that just her and I were going to follow. She was going to document what changes we experienced in our health, and use it for the spring science project. When Bob announced that he was going to eat the same way too, I was surprised. I think that some of his friends and family members believed that I had blackmailed or threatened him to do it, but that definitely was not the case. He really didn’t share his motivation at the time, but as it turns out he just did not feel that he had been eating very well for a while, and also thought he might be able to drop the extra ten pounds or so that he had put on. Animal rights have never been Bob’s primary motivation for giving up the meat, as it is for me. He was more interested in the health aspect.

So off we went. Having dabbled in vegetarianism off and on for over 13 years, it was not a difficult transition for us. The first thing Bob noticed is that giving up dairy products made his sinus congestion a whole lot better. The second thing he noticed is that his gut seemed to be healing. Food didn’t cruise through his system the way it used to, so it seemed that whatever was causing his gut to be irritated was going away. He hasn’t had a single blockage or pain in his intestines this entire year, despite plowing his way through huge bowls of salads and scads of nuts in a single sitting. (Man, that guy sure likes his walnuts!)

The real kicker was his blood work. He recently went for the first blood test he has taken since giving up the animal products. The most wonderful thing is that his cholesterol has dropped from 222 a bit over a year ago, down to 166 today. Also, his iron is within the normal range for the first time in seven years!! You might expect for it to go down when giving up meat, but nope! All other numbers are within the normal range.

When Bob mentioned to our doctor that it was his personal belief that the veg*nism was healing his problem, and that he himself didn’t feel he ever really had Crohn’s at all, she was, shall we say, less than receptive to the notion. What is so radical about the idea that food can heal? We can certainly all agree that food can kill!
Time will tell as to what lies in store for Bob in the future. He has more blood work scheduled for late February, and he said he would like to see his cholesterol even lower, so that’s our goal for the new year. No matter how well we may think we eat now, we know that we can always do better. We’ll keep you posted.

A Tofurky Christmas

Merry Christmas, people!!

Christmas Eve was a blast, as usual. We watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and cooked up a big ole scoff of Chinese food. We all pitched in...

Supper was wontons made with chik'n seitan, vegetable and seitan stir fry, and fried rice. Delicious!

Just before we ate, we put all the presents under the tree. This is my favourite moment of the whole year...

The kids went to be early, as we all know Santa won't come until everyone is in bed. So we went to bed early, and sure enough, the big guy arrived! We must have been good this year. We were up at 6:30, which wasn't bad. considering I personally was awake at 5 am.

**************************

Well, here it is Christmas afternoon. The gifts have been opened, the dinner is eaten, the mess has been cleaned, and lethargy has set in. Santa was extra nice to us this year. Daniel got a Lego set with a motor that allows you to build things that move, which he really likes, as you can see...

Courtney got a new TV for her room , but Santa must have dropped it from his sleigh, because it has a crack in it and will have to be exchanged on Wednesday) and Bob is the proud new owner of a new hammer drill, whatever the heck that is....

As for me? I got lots of cool goodies from my wish list, like a Bundt pan, the cookbook "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World" , a gorgeous white bathrobe that made me want to bathe immediately, and a rockin' new MEC backpack for hiking this summer.

After the presents were opened, BOY, what a scoff we had! We picked up the Tofurky Feast in a box this year....

It included the Tofurky, "giblet" gravy, a vegan wishbone to wish on, and some dumplings. Unfortunately, I didn't read the directions closely enough...the dumplings weren't supposed to be thawed along with the rest of it, but I did it, so they were trashed.

Along with the Tofurky, we had whipped potatoes, corn, stove top stuffing, (which I love so much I would roll in it if I could) carrots and turnips cooked together, and my own gravy just in case the Tofurky gravy was icky. I need not have worried....

It was all delicious, and even smelled great while cooking. We will most definitely have this again next year. Even the gravy was as good as mine, which I didn't think was possible. (hee hee).

We also cracked open a bottle of Grand Pre Peach Sparkling Wine which we picked up on our travels last summer. All in all, the whole day was a great success. As I write this, Dan is still fiddling with his Lego's, Courtney is waiting upstairs to play Karaoke Superstar on the playstation with me, and Bob is out in the garage playing with his tools. A very peaceful Christmas afternoon. I cannot help but think for a moment, though, about the many, many people out there not as fortunate as we are today. Blessings and good wishes, and a hope for a better 2007 to them all. Peace to all beings.

Vegan Cookies for Santa!

Well, it's Christmas Eve, the most magical day of the year. For me at least, it's all about the anticipation. We're all hoping that the Big Guy will make an appearance at our house tonight, so yesterday I whipped up some vegan gingersnaps to leave out for him. I didn't need to use any fancy pants vegan cookbook either- this recipe was straight from the Company's Coming cookie book. I veganized it by using powdered egg replacer. It's just that simple.

There haven't been very many recipes that I have come across so far that couldn't be made without eggs or dairy. Egg replacer is easily found in the natural food section of your supermarket, is cheap considering the number of "eggs" you get out of it, keeps forever, and gives your arteries a break from the whopping 213 grams of cholesterol in a single egg. Over time, that can really add up! I highly recommend that everyone have a box in your cupboard. I picked up a box for my mother in law this past summer when my kids were staying with her. She uses it in all her baking when she knows we are coming for a visit.

If you need any additional incentive, you can read all about the terrible cruelty of commercial egg "farms" at www.peta.org. I toured an egg farm myself and witnessed this first hand, so believe me when I tell you that Peta has not exaggerated.

Anyway, the stockings are hung, the Tofurky Feast is thawing in the fridge, and the kiddies are excited. Hubby Bob is settling down for his long winter's nap. Hope you all have a very peaceful Christmas Eve, and I hope the big guy finds you!

Looking back, and Looking Foward!

Welcome to my very first post! This blog is going to be a celebration of a great year just about to end, and an ever better one just about to begin.

My family of four will celebrate one year of Veg*nism on January 4th. Veg*n is a term that a lot of people use when writing to decribe someone who is more than a vegetarian, but not quite a vegan. This would be the term I would use to describe us. Full fledged veganism is our ultimate goal, although we are not quite there at the moment. For example, we don't use dairy cheese at home, but when travelling, we don't obess about a little cheese on the pizza. We live in an area that is not exactly bursting with vegan-friendly restaurants, and we have decided that the little bit we eat while on the road is not worth obessing about or beating ourselves up for. As well, we aren't able to realistically (at this time, anyway) eliminate every last speck of dairy by-products from our lives. If you were to scrutinize the small print on some of our granola bars or our potato chips. for example. I expect you would be able to find a few transgressions. However, both from a health standpoint and an animal welfare standpoint, we all feel that the way we live to day is far, far improved from where we were a mere year ago, and we know we will get better as time goes on.

That being said, I decided to call this Blog "A Vegan for Dinner" because vegan is what our family strives to be.

The lightbulb behind this blog was actually my mom. She has listened to me yap all year about the great food we have been indulging in and all the cooking and baking I do, and she suggested I channel that energy into a cookbook. She mentioned that vegetarianism/veganism is a foreign concept to a lot of people, and that a cookbook that focuses on simple, easy, familiar recipes that could be made and enjoyed by anyone would be something she thought a lot of people would be interested in.

As I pondered that thought, I reflected back on a lot of the comments that had been made to my husband and I over the last year. (Announcing that you are changing your diet certainly does invite just about anyone with an opinion to comment on it! ) Most people were at least very tolerant of the idea, and some were even quite supportive, even if they didn't choose to jump on that bandwagon themselves. I have even discovered some other veg*n's in the most unlikely places. One thing I have learned this year is that contrary to popular belief, most vegetarians are not announcing themselves from the rooftops. In my small area of the world at least, they seem to be a pretty quiet bunch. Rather than demanding that others accomadate THEM, they are doing the best to take care of their own needs and fit as seamlessly as possible in a world not exactly built to their specifications.

But you know what??? Sometimes it's really very nice to have someone go out of their way to make you feel that your needs and wants are validated. In the span of a year, there has only been one soul brave enough to cook us up a meal--a big shout out to my husband's big sister Sherry, who only a week ago whipped up a scoff of pasta with portobello mushroom "meatballs, " garlic toast and some awesome fruit salad. We brought the wine, and we all had a fine time. I want her to know how much that effort meant to us.

I decided that I will in fact make that cookbook, and my tentative goal date in October 2007. I suspect that it will be something that I will distribute just to family and friends in this area, but who knows? Dare to dream, I always say. This blog is meant to get me motivated, let you all follow along with the progress I am making, and perhaps get a few ideas for when we (or any other veg*n's in your life) are dropping by. Hey, we can be great guests! We'll bring the wine and help with the dishes. Please just be brave enough to give it a shot.

The one comment that I have heard more than any other this past year is: "You don't eat meat? My god, what DO you eat then?". The fact of the matter is, never before have we ever eaten so well. Until you step out of that "meat, potato, vegetable" mindset, you will never begin to guess what a world of possibilities exist out there. Check back here often, and I will try to give you a glimpse of it.

In case you are wondering about the picture above.... Here is the homemade tofu "turkey" dinner we had at Easter. It was really good, great texture, had great potential, if a little salty. We decided to go crazy and buy the Tofurky Feast with all the trimming this year. (Causing uncontrollable grinning among all to whom I have mentioned it! :0)

I will take pictures on the whole process, and our family will rate and compare the Tofurky to this past meal. Should be a hoot. Merry Christmas Everyone! Peace to all beings.

Tracy