Beautiful Day

It is sunny and windy in Virginia (Tidewater) today. I am stuck in my office for a while but it's my sweetie's birthday today so I will leave early and enjoy some of it with our kids. I am looking out of the window of the office across the hall over the water of the James River. The surf is excited and white foam is speckled out on the water. I remember that for years I wondered why there were dark spots on the water in lakes and bays. I didn't realize until much later that it was the shadows of clouds dancing on the surface. This earth is so beautiful and such a feast for our eyes, I am going to try to do at least one thing to better care for it today. I hope you will join me.

Some Seitan Ideas and Vegan Cheezecake

Okay so here are some dishes I ultimately made with my most successful (to date) batch of seitan:
I have to say that VWAV (Vegan With A Vengence) Jerk Seitan is the BOMB!!

This one below was my lame attempt at Seitan Adobo, which in my mind was a really good idea, since I have been craving the adobo flavor, but in practice turned out just a sour mess, but the plate looked good. I offered it to my very wanna-b-veg dog, and even he had a hard time with it.

This is not Kapone after the food, but just a pic to give you a visual.

I also tried my hand at a cheeze steak. This was actually really good, but I want to tweak the seasonings a bit. I made the nutritional yeast cheeze sauce on the stove top for this one and I was pleased. I sauteed it with peppers, onions, and mushrooms. This is just the filling, because I didn't have a bun or sub roll handy for the pic, but it was good, let me tell you.

Finally, this I am really proud of, it is a cheezecake mainly derived from the baking sheet (via fat free vegan). I had to sub vanilla for the almond flavoring (I'm allergic to tree nuts) and I reduced the lemon juice and added some soy creamer, (which will start to coagulate on you if your not careful, who knew?), but the cake turned out really great. I threw some frozen fruit, wine and sugar on the stove for the topping.

Some Vegan Recipes I've been working on here lately.

Lasagna, inspired by Soul Vegetarian in D.C. I've tweaked it quite a bit (I use TVP and also make the cheese with a soymilk and toful mixture), but I do love this recipe.

Lasagna roll-up, my fiance' (self proclaimed skeptic of all things veg) really liked this one.

Vegan "Save a Veal" Parmezean. A baked seitan cutlet.

This is my snow day chilli. I made it with TVP, black beans, and kidney beans. It was good and my daughter and fiance' loved it.

Hopefull this is just a beginning for me. I absolutely love getting into the kitchen and experimenting with new vegan and vegetarian recipes. I am still on my path to converting for my sanity, my part and my health, but it is still a work in progress. Hopefully the pics will get better too :)

Come on Sunshine. . .

It has been raining for a week in Tidewater. I have just about had it, I assure you. I love the rain sometimes. Like when I don't have to get out of bed and it makes it a little bit darker in the room behind my blinds and the warmth of my comforter that much more satisfying. Or when it is rainy and cold, but not uncomfortable and it reminds me of a trip to Paris I took years ago, where it rained all week, but I could not of cared less, because I was in freakin' Paris and the buildings were beautiful even under the heavy weather. But today, I have had it. I need the warmth of the sun. I need to feel it on my skin and see it glisten off of the streets making illusion ponds. The sun makes me smile. I feel like my body is using my food better or something. I love solar panels, but today I say a prayer for those folks who are off the grid and have no real way of making their homes snuggly in this sunless stint.

As a result of the sunlessness (I will blame it on that) I am lacking motivation for anything. I am work right now, waiting to go on a lunch break. I need motivation. All I really want to do is look at vegan blogs and plan my wedding (which will be decidedly un-vegan, sadly, my mission to go vegan is stifled slightly by those around me, although my darling fiance is eating a lot less meat these days). I am very thankful for today, though, don't get me wrong. I feel remarkably blessed lately and a little satisfied even that I am at my middle again. But I am antsy, I do need to feel that I am continuously growing and striving toward some goal. Of course I just need to know what that new goal is. The clouds are not helping with guidance on that one. . . at all.

Seriously. . .I got nothin'

Well that's not exactly true. I am in such awe of those that do have or make the time to keep up with their blogs on a daily basis. I will say that I have taken quite of few pictures of some dishes that I have been truly proud of lately, and I just finished up a play run of Nunsense II which was bunches of fun, so I should have so much to talk about. I love the blogger community and I am excited to have my own forum, but today, I don't really have anything to add to our abundance of information. I just wanted to say that I am still here, still creating and experiencing life and still happy as all get out. Butterflies, Dragonflies and Flowers. . .Peace.

Special Diets

My daughter is allergic to everything. Okay not everything, but I learned very early that she couldn't have peanuts, tree nuts (I'm actually allergic to those myself too), dairy or eggs. Soooooooo, what else is left? Tons of things. I have been modifying my way of cooking for a long time, even before she was born. I love all types of foods and I have a respect for all types of diets. Because of my daughter's allergies, I have picked up a bunch of vegan and vegetarian techniques as well. I should make it clear that we are not vegetarians, I guess technically I am a pescetarian, but I don't even go into all that with most people unless I have to. My daughter proclaims weekly that she is going to stop eating meat for the sake of the animals but will have a hamburger at a restaurant the moment I'm not looking. As for me, I still eat seafood and eggs and dairy occasionally, but I do avoid the other stuff. I would love to follow a completely vegan diet, but it isn't that easy. Additionally, I find that when I am not eating any meat at all, my skin suffers. If anyone has any insight on this one let me know. Any way, I digress, I LOVE meatless recipes that fool everyone else though, and tonight's trial is brownies. I got the recipe from http://www.theppk.com/ a site that I love by the way and I've tried it tonight with all of it's steps. The brownies are good, and my daughter approves. I will admit though that I baked them in the wrong kind of pan (it should have been 9x13) and I wish they tasted more buttery. The next time, I may substitute softened Earth Balance for the oil and add a pinch more salt. I will say though that they rose very well and as long as you don't have a deep aversion to the "tofuey" taste that comes with many vegan recipes then you will likely love this. The brownies are very moist and fudgey, but be sure to use the right size pan, lest you have to cook the brownies to death to get them done. (I speak from experience :) I will keep you posted on my quest for veganism and just a healthier lifestyle in general. My daughter gave her tummy rub approval.

Overly Overwhelmed

OMG, I have been feeling like I can't get my hairline above water. Have you ever had one of those months? Not one of those days, not one of those weeks, but one of those months. There are so many things going on in my life at this one moment. Some great, some not so great at all. There are more bills than money, more work than time, more demands than supply, just more. I am trying not to have thoughts about giving up some of the things that mean so much to me, but truthfully, I have to look at those things now. Wow, they say that busy people get things done, soooooooo, my guess is that based on how my January is going, I should have Rome built by February easily. I'll keep you posted.