Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Pumpkin Pumpkin Pumpkin. Its the end of December, I'm still holding on!

These cookies rocked! The recipe came from Vegan with a Vengeance. I've got to say, the best part about vegan baking, is worry-free spoon licking.

The flax seed was optional. I thought I would try to do it in my food processor. Bad move...the blade hovers right above all the seeds. The blender is the way to go on this one.

Also, never try to open a can with a knife. My can opener is from space so Nick and I thought it would be an alright idea to open the can with a knife. He cut his finger open, and I ended up with pumpkin up and down my arms. The good news is that we emptied the can of all its contents.

The cookies themselves we're chewy, gooey, and delicious. I didn't have one remaining by the time I got home last night.

Pasta Alfreda

Another Isa recipe....I KNOW, I need to get off this kick. It will end soon I promise!

Instead of fettuccine, I used gluten-free elbow pasta. My mom is gluten free so I try my darndest to make things that she can enjoy with me. I also added broccoli. I mean Alfredo and broccoli? mmm mmm.

This sauce is cool though! And I made it in my blender (I love my blender!). you saute and onion and 4 cloves of garlic, mix them in with vegtable broth, mustard, pine nuts, soy sauce, chile powder, and nutritional yeast (which by the way is the greatest ingredient known to man) and blend away! It tastes cheesy and creamy....real ligit.

I fed it to my friend Nick for lunch. He liked it.

Curried Tempeh Mango Salad Sammiches

My friend Tom and I got together for dinner last night. We love to cook but I was running a little bit late so we had to rush if we wanted to make it to our radio show on time.

We run a radio show together called Live from the Fallout Shelter on 91.5 WUML, Lowell. Every week a new live act comes in and plays a set.

We ended up bringing these "sammiches" to the Fallout Shelter where they were a huge hit! (especially with us). This recipe is also Isa's masterpiece.

Also, Tom's roomates haven't done the dishes in 16 or so years so we were forced to eyeball everything.

Tom fixed the packaged tempeh, soy sauce, and mangoes in a saucepan while I prepared the dressing.

For the dressing, I mixed vegannaise, curry powder, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, sugar, salt, and hot sauce into a little bowl. Next time I would use less vinegar. Isa suggests that you refrigerate all of the ingredients for at least an hour to let the flavors meld. Next time I would do that too.

We used that Indian Bread, Nam, instead of pita breads. Slathered the vegannaise mixture on and evenly distributed the tempeh and mango slices. Soo good! Here is Tom enjoying his:

My First Adventure...Ginger/Flax Muffins

My first adventure in the kitchen today was to cook the Ginger Flax Muffins that the Post Punk Kitchen just posted on their blog.

Here is a silly little side note: I LOVE the Post Punk Kitchen. I cannot stress that enough. Isa's "Vegan with a Vengeance," is pretty much my bible. We both come from Jewish upbringings and she has created recipes that hit reaaaal close to home. If you're thinking about investing in a vegan cookbook, go for Vegan with a Vengeance. I cannot get enough of it.

ANYWAYS:

My mother never followed a single recipe correctly. She would mossy on out to the store and get all the ingredients, mix them all together and call it a success.

So when I'm cooking, and I can't find the 1/3 cup because, shucks, we never had one, I am forced to improvise. No one should have to eyeball 1/3 of a cup of soy milk!

This recipe called for ground flax seed. Isa says that flax seed is a good, nutty, alternative for eggs. For each tablespoon of dried flax seed, you add 3 tablespoon of water, and grind (I did this in my blender). The result is a sticky, gooey, gluey mess, a lot like beaten egg whites. Getting it out of the blender was a pain in the backside too. Next time I'll use a food processor.

I substituted maple syrup for molasses, pumpkin soymilk for unsweetened soymilk, fresh chopped ginger for ground ginger, and a mix of confectionery sugar and hard-as-a-freakin- rock brown sugar instead of the real stuff (solely because I misread the sugar box before I headed for the store).

Yeah, yeah I am a BIG time substituter. Sue me. Anyways, they came out wicked freaken good. See for yourself:

Welcome...

...to this mess.

In the spirit of winter break, i.e. boredom, and an intense love to cook, I present to you my newest project: The Vegan Vanguard.

I will be updating for at least this month about the woes of vegan cooking.