On Sunday, I made a ton-o-batter for french toast, but only had 4 slices of bread. Yesterday, I made another loaf of bread– this time with raisins and cinnamon– and left the slices out overnight to dry out. With my extra batter from the fridge, I had yummy, warm french toast in a matter of minutes!

Emma earned enough stickers on her reward chart to see Toy Story 3 yesterday. When we were walking from the parking garage to the theater, we passed by a pizza place and the smell was heavenly! Matt kept trying to tempt me with the most non-vegan pizzas he could think of– pepperoni, Hawaiian– but now it’s a mental thing. I don’t think I could ever go back to eating meat again. He’s vegetarian, by the way, so it’s not like he would have eaten those pizzas either. He just doesn’t think my vegan pizzas at home are the same as pizza parlor non-vegan pizzas.

So last night after the movie, I was making my menu and shopping list for the week and couldn’t resist trying to prove him wrong. My vegan pizzas are delicious and taste just like their non-vegan counterparts. At least I think they do, but it has been about 9 years since I’ve had real meat– even longer for him. Tonight was our pizza night and I ended up making 4 different kinds:

Plain cheese (for the kid).

Hawaiian – topped with Yves brand vegan Canadian bacon and pineapple.

Veggie – topped with broccoli, black olive and red onion.

Pepperoni (Yves brand) and black olive.

I made the dough from scratch in my bread machine, using the recipe that came in the booklet that accompanied it.  The only change I made was to double the recipe (since it’s not baking in the machine, I figured it would be okay to do that) and I didn’t pre-bake the crust, as the recipe instructs.  All of the pizzas are topped with a jarred marinara sauce and a mix of cheddar and mozzarella Daiya vegan cheese.  All were delicious, but my favorite was the pepperoni and black olive.  Matt preferred the veggie and commented that the faux meats just aren’t the same as the real thing.  He’s wrong, by the way. 

Since there’s no real recipe to this, I’ve made a list of pizza tips I’ve learned along the way:

• Vegan cheese is not like dairy cheese.  When topping your pizza, go easy on the cheese.  It will spread out while baking and the less you have, the better.  To give you an example, I didn’t even use half the bag of cheddar Daiya and I only used about 3/4 of the bag of the mozzarella for all 4 pizzas. Also, if you’re using Daiya that has been frozen, you’ll want to let it thaw first.
• If you’re topping your pizza with anything watery– vegetables, pineapple, etc– put the veggies on before topping with the cheese.  The water from the vegetables will mix with the cheese and make it too runny and weird.  You may notice some of the weirdness in the photo above of the Hawaiian pizza since I put the pineapple on top of the cheese.  It just works better to put the watery stuff underneath the cheese.
• With Daiya, you can bake your pizza at around 400 – 425 degrees and be okay.  With any other kind of vegan cheese (the FYH brand, for example), you’ll need to bake your pizza at a much higher temperature to get the cheese to melt.
• Once you remove your pizza from the oven, let it sit for a few minutes for the cheese to solidify a bit.  Otherwise, a lot of it will slide off when cut into it.

That’s all the tips I can think of.  Anyone else have any to add?

For a special Sunday morning breakfast, I made some yummy french toast. I made this up as I went along and it turned out so delicious that I thought I’d share the recipe. This recipe makes a lot of batter (probably enough to make an entire loaf of french toast), but since it uses silken tofu which I have no use for aside from french toast batter, I wanted to use the entire container of it. You may want to scale this back if you plan to only make a few slices.

Maple Cinnamon French Toast

1 12 oz. box soft silken tofu (Mori-Nu brand)
3/4 – 1 cup soy milk, or nondairy milk of choice
1/3 cup maple syrup
2-3 tsp cinnamon, use as little or as much as you like
2 tsp maple extract

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and whirl it all together.  Pour into a shallow baking dish.  Heat your skillet and spray with nonstick cooking spray.  Coat thick slices of stale bread in the batter, allow the excess to drip off, then place onto the hot skillet.  Cook 3-5 minutes per side or until golden brown.  Serve with extra maple syrup.

My good friend hosted a baby shower for me yesterday.  Actually, it was more of a “Big Sister” party for my 4-year-old to get her excited about her baby sis.  Everything was completely vegan and I don’t think any of the guests actually noticed.

I only took photos of the cake and favors, but here’s a list of the snacks we had (it was an afternoon party, so no need for a full meal): pretzels, popcorn, chips with guac and salsa, pita chips with hummus, veggie platter with dip (veg soup mix stirred into Tofutti sour cream), olives, and bruschetta with sundried tomato pesto and sauteed portobellas.  Everything was really good!

The cake.  Top tier was zucchini with vegan cream cheese frosting; bottom tier was chocolate/chocolate.

This time, I took a video of the cake, which I’ve never done before. I should do this more often. (YouTube is in the process of doing an audio swap so that you hear music with it instead of my kiddo’s chattering. I don’t know how long this will take, but hopefully it will be done soon.):

And here’s the favors. Lemon cupcakes frosted like flowers and topped with gum paste butterflies. I boxed these up the day before and by the party time, the butterflies had melted into the frosting. This has happened to me before and it wasn’t totally unexpected, but I wouldn’t have had the time to box them up the day of the party. While these cupcake boxes are attractive, they are a pain in the rear end to put together. I had all of the lids and bottoms pre-assembled, but it still took me over an hour to box up and all of the cupcakes. I was thankful that I only had 16 to do. I would definitely not recommend these for wedding favors or something, unless you’re paying someone else to do it for you. (BTW, the butterflies softened I think due to the moisture from the cupcake from being enclosed. This happens every time I top the cupcakes and enclose them in a container that doesn’t allow air to circulate freely.)

If you’re interested in making these cupcakes yourself, here’s where I got the idea, but I didn’t follow the instructions exactly:

My title says it all.  I can’t believe this story, but then again, I don’t know why I’m shocked…

On August 6, Attorney General of Vermont, William H. Sorrell, announced that Frank Perretta, a fugitive from justice in connection with an animal cruelty charge, was arrested in New York on an extradition warrant seeking his return to Vermont.

The cruelty charge stems from a 2009 undercover investigation into Bushway Packing, Inc., a Vermont veal processing plant that is no longer in operation. Video footage obtained by an undercover operative of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), revealed extreme cruelty to young calves, including one worker attempting to skin a calf alive, and Perretta excessively electric-shocking multiple calves.

Following a complaint filed by HSUS, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Office of the Inspector General and Food Safety Inspection Service conducted its own investigation, which resulted in the filing of criminal charges against Perretta and the other worker. The USDA also permanently shut down the slaughterhouse.

Each cruelty charge is a misdemeanor, carrying a possible sentence of not more than one year’s imprisonment and not more than $2,000 in fines. That brutalizing calves with an electric prod and even skinning a calf alive only constitute misdemeanors in Vermont illustrates the need for stronger state and federal legislation to protect farmed animals from abuse.

Sadly, the cruelty perpetrated against the calves at Bushway Packing is not isolated. Recent investigations into two U.S. dairy factory farms – Willet Dairy and Conklin Dairy Farms – exposed unimaginable cruelty, including the standard dairy industry practices of burning out the horns and cutting off the tails of young calves without anesthesia.

Click here to read the full story.

I can’t believe these charges are only misdemeanors!  If it were a dog that someone was trying to skin alive or was repeatedly shocking with an electric prod, would they have been felonies?  The only good things to come out of it is that the USDA filed charges and shut down the slaughterhouse, but seriously… misdemeanors?!

I’m sure this outrages every person who reads about it and I’m sure there are lots of petitions or whatever you can sign.  But do you honestly think those petitions do any good to protect animals?  It might make you feel like you’re doing something to help these animals, but I really don’t think they make any substantial improvements in how animals are treated.  Cruelty like this is the norm for this industry.

It goes way beyond saying “well, I just won’t eat veal” because veal is a byproduct of the dairy industry.  Like humans, cows have to have given birth to  produce milk and the male offspring usually end up as veal.  You can see that the chain just keeps getting longer and longer and longer.  If you oppose animal cruelty and really want to do something meaningful to stop it, don’t eat them or their byproducts, don’t wear them, and don’t go to the circus or other events that feature animals as entertainment.  It’s really that simple.

Farm Sanctuary needs your help!  They are currently collecting funds to transport Jay the bull (at left) to their shelter in New York.  Jay’s story is sad but unlike his fellow passengers, he’ll soon be able to enjoy his new life:

The accident happened just before midnight, when a 1999 Peterbilt semi hauling 34 cattle headed west on I-94 crashed into a 2011 Volvo semi at State Road 49 near Chesterton, Indiana. The driver of the cattle trailer was on his citizens’ band radio talking to another driver when he hit the rear of the other truck. According to Indiana State Police, the tractor caught fire and ruptured, releasing the terrified animals onto the highway. The truck’s driver dove out his window to escape the fire, but 18 of the 34 cattle perished, and others were injured. Of the 16 cattle who survived, seven attempted to escape with their lives, but as of 6 a.m. Tuesday, all had been accounted for, except one. According to Indiana State Police Sgt. Ann Wojas, the determined 2-year-old bull attempted to jump the 3-foot concrete median into the eastbound lanes but didn’t make it. After eluding capture for 12 hours and winning the respect and admiration of local residents moved by the story of a slaughterhouse-bound bull who literally rose from the ashes to save his own life, the courageous animal was caught by local officials and taken to the Porter County Animal Shelter, where he currently awaits safe transport to Farm Sanctuary.

All of the cattle aboard the truck were bound for slaughter.  The saddest part of the whole story is that all who survived the crash and fire were rounded up and sent to slaughter still, despite their injuries.  All except Jay.

If you’re able to help out, please consider donating to Jay’s rescue fund.  Farm Sanctuary is non-profit and counts on public support to rescue and care for animals like Jay.  If you would like to donate, here is the link.  No amount is too small; every little bit helps.

Yeah, that’s actually a photo of the last batch of granola I made, but they all look pretty much the same that I thought I’d recycle the photo.  And by “recycle the photo” I mean that I’m too lazy to take another.

For my latest batch of granola, I used the rest of a can of sweet potato puree to moisten it.  I like to use grated apples, pumpkin, etc. to moisten the mix because it lets me significantly cut down on the amount of oil and sugar.  My standard granola recipe:

6 cups oats

2 cuts nuts/seeds

2 cups dried fruit

1/2 cup (or more) flax meal

1/2 cup liquid sweetener of choice

1 cup canned pumpkin, sweet potato (or 4-6 grated apples)

2 TB oil

Spice mixture of your choice

This time, I used sunflower and pumpkin seeds for the nuts; brown rice syrup for the sweetener; 1 cup sweet potato puree; 1 TB blackstrap molasses;  spices: 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp ground cloves.  Flavorwise, this granola was like a spicy pumpkin tasting granola.  Yummy!!

My munchkin requested pizza for dinner last night. Since I hadn’t planned on making anything in particular, I thought it would be an easy enough request to fill, even though I had no pizza sauce or dough on hand. I whipped out my trusty bread machine and made the dough for the crust, using the recipe in the book that came with the bread maker. That recipe said that I should prebake the crust, which I did, but will definitely never do again. Baking it twice was just too long and made for one tough crust.

Since I had no pizza sauce, Emma had hers plain topped with some Daiya mozzerella from the freezer (I let it thaw before using).  Essentially she had cheese and bread for dinner, but she loved it.  She also had ate some salad and a plum, so that sort of made up for the pizza.  For the adult pizza, I used some vegan pesto that I had in the freezer as the sauce.  This particular one I got from a stand at the farmer’s market, but you could make your own or use whatever sauce you want.  I then topped the pizza with some very lightly sauteed zucchini, red onion and broccoli.  Had I not prebaked the crust, I wouldn’t have sauteed it but I thought it best to soften them a tad before putting in the oven since it all would have finished baking at different times.  On top of the veggies, I added the Daiya.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 8-10 minutes, or until the cheese is melty.

Every week at the farmer’s market, I find myself picking up a head of cauliflower and a head of broccoli.  The stand that I like to visit often has a “3 for $5″ deal going by the end of the market, which is about the time I generally get there.  Not wanting to pass up the deal, I snag the same things every week.  So after grabbing the broccoli and cauliflower again this week (I go on Saturdays and Wednesdays, so I always seem to have broccoli and cauliflower!), I asked Google what I should do with it.

I came across this recipe for Tandoori Kebabs and thought I could very easily make it vegan.  Also, I don’t have a grill and I liked that the recipe said I could broil these instead of grilling.  And these turned out so good that there were no leftovers!  My husband really liked them– although, I’m not so sure if he really liked them or if he was just really hungry.  The next time I make these, I will probably double the amounts for the spices.  These were extremely mild in terms of both heat and spice and I may even add some cayenne pepper next time.  I did make a couple of changes this time around:

• I omitted the tomatoes and used those on a side green salad instead.
• I added super firm tofu cubes to the kebab for some extra protein.
• Instead of dairy yogurt, I used plain coconut milk yogurt.
• I also forgot to put salt in the marinade… I definitely do not recommend skipping that step!

Like I said above, we had ours with a side salad and a little bit of basmati rice.  I would have preferred brown basmati rice, but was all out.

Thanks to my parents, grandma and aunt, I am back in business with a camera! It’s so nice and fancy and takes the best looking photos. Check out our dinner last night:

I’ll admit that it’s not the best photo but that’s because the food was so hot that I kept getting a picture of the steam coming off of it.  This dish was really easy and is perfect for those clean-out-the-fridge nights.  I sauteed one small red onion with one clove of garlic in some olive oil.  Once soft, I added some frozen artichoke hearts, some chopped broccoli and cauliflower and sliced zucchini (broccoli, cauliflower and zucchini all organic from the farmer’s market).  After allowing it to cook for a few minutes, I dumped in one jar of organic marinara sauce and let it simmer for about 10 minutes or until the veggies were soft.  A little basil from my garden and the sauce was done.

We had this with some brown rice noodles, a gluten-free pasta that I picked up from Trader Joe’s.  I’m toying with the possibility of going gluten-free in an effort to fix my thyroid (that’s another post for another day), so I’ve slowly been buying G-F cereals, pastas, etc to try.  This is similar to how I transitioned to a vegan diet and I found that it was the best way for me to transition.  I’m not saying that I’ll for sure go G-F, but cutting out some sources of gluten certainly won’t hurt me.  Anyway, we all really enjoyed these noodles and I think I will buy brown rice pasta from now on.  No one was able to tell that it wasn’t wheat pasta.

I also made these cookies last week.  They are not G-F, but they were pretty tasty.  The recipe is a slight adaptation from the Cranberry-Walnut Oatmeal cookie recipe from Vegan Planet. I’ve made this recipe a few times– once with raisins and pecans– and this time with dried cranberries, pecans and white chocolate.  I think I preferred the first one with the raisins, but I liked this one too.  If you’re wondering where I get vegan white chocolate (good luck finding it in any store), I have to special order it from Vegan Essentials.  I order my vitamins from there too and usually do a big order once every three months.  If I’m low on the white chocolate, I’ll throw that into my virtual cart too.  Here’s a tip for ordering from Vegan Essentials: sign up for their email newsletter that they sometimes include discount codes in.

Have a good weekend everyone!