Category Archives: Breakfast

Scrambled Tofu

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veganmofo

I love making scrambled tofu because there are just so many ways you can go with it. You can give it an Indian flare, an Asian infusion, or a Mexican flavoring for example. I also LOVE having breakfast for dinner. So we have scrambled tofu about once a week and each time it’s slightly different.

Tofu in general is a staple in our house. Made from coagulated soymilk, tofu has very little taste or smell and so it takes on whatever flavors you pair with it. Tofu is a good source of protein – 100 calories of tofu contains 11 g protein. In comparison, 100 calories of ground beef provides 8.9 grams of protein, and  100 calories of cheese contains just 6.2 grams. Tofu is also low in calories . In addition, depending on how it was made tofu may have about 227mg of calcium in each 1/2 cup serving, which is about 22% of the Recommend Daily Allowance for calcium.

Here’s an interesting comparison of tofu to animal protein sources:

Protein (g) Calcium (mg) Calories Fat (g)
 Cholesterol (mg)
1/2 cup Firm Tofu 10.1 204 94 1.5 – 5 0
4 oz Beef 26 20 331 15 113
1/2 cup diced Cheddar Cheese 16.44 300 265 21.87 69.24
1/2 cup 2% Milk 5.1 148 60 2.4 9

The batch of scrambled tofu I made today is my current favorite.

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Scrambled Tofu

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil (NOT extra virgin – that’s not for high heat cooking!)
  • 1 cup diced onion
  • 1 red or orange pepper, diced
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 2 cloves garlic, diced or pressed
  • 1 package firm tofu, drained and cut into four large slices and pressed between a couple of towels for about 15 minutes to remove excess moisture
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 cup fresh salsa – I used Santa Barbara brand, which is my favorite, but of course you could also make your own.
  • 2-3 vegan sausage patties, chopped – I used Yves
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast – I ♥ Red Star
  • Salt
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • Vegan cheese – Daiya cheddar if you can! (optional)
  • Flour or corn tortillas (optional)
  • Avocado (optional)

Directions

  1. Heat the oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium to high heat for about a minute or two. Add the chopped onions and saute until the onions are soft and turning light brown, about 8-10 minutes.
  2. Add the peppers, cumin, thyme, and garlic and saute for about 3-4 more minutes stirring frequently.
  3. Tear off large bite size chunks of tofu and add to the pan, along with the turmeric, salsa and sausage. Cook for about 8-10 minutes, using a metal spatula to turn over the tofu every few minutes. I learned from Isa to really get underneath the tofu when you turn it so that you get some of the yummy bits off the bottom of the pan. If the tofu begins to get dry you can either add in some more salsa or sprinkle with water.
  4. Add in the nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper and cook for about 5 more minutes, occasionally turning the tofu.
  5. In the last minute of cooking, add in the Daiya cheese and gently stir until it melts. Serve in a warmed up tortilla with chopped up avocado and extra salsa.

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Everyday Eats

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Eats

A typical day of vegan food…

Remember the Pumpkin Pie Smoothie?

smoothieThat was breakfast this morning.
Mmmmmmm!! Delish.

And lunch was another oldie but goodie: Apple Cherry Oatmeal

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For dinner I tried a recipe from Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan, Blackened Tofu, which would easily fit in here:

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So in a last minute play, I rebounded with this:

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which went very nicely with our brown basmati rice and steamed broccoli.  :)

Run

I hopped on the treadmill today and went for a run. I know…it was beautiful outside today. But the treadmill is SOFT and the gym has WATER and so I opted to run inside.

Distance: 6 miles
Pace: 8:40 minute mile

I found out the gym now has BodyPump classes – has anyone tried this? I think I might give it a go next week. Right now I am running 6-8 miles every other day, and on opposite days getting on the elliptical machine or going to a vinyasa yoga class. I also have gotten back to walking the dogs 2x a day – about 2 miles each time. I LOVE running, walking, and yoga but the elliptical machine is…well…dry. So I’m looking for something else to add in.

On another note…

I came across an article in the Baltimore Sun called Turn Over a New Leaf: Vegan Diets are Moving Solidly into Mainstream. How awesome is that? The article says there are about 1,000,000 vegans in the USA, and that the rise of “eating locally” has resulted in an increase in vegetarian and vegan cookbooks. It also includes a recipe for Manhattan Vegetable Chowder that looks awesome!

Have you seen an increase in people going vegan?

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Apple Cherry Oatmeal

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veganmofoIn case you haven’t noticed, I really love oatmeal. Here are a few fun facts about oats:

  • Oats are higher in soluble fiber (which has been proven to lower cholesterol) than any other grain
  • Oat protein in equal in quality to soy protein
  • Oats are part of a gluten-free diet when they have not been processed near gluten-containing foods
  • In Scottish English oats might be called “corn”
  • The oldest known oats were found in Egypt and dated approximately 2000BC – at that time however oats were probably just weeds

I don’t tend to eat oats for breakfast as I am a breakfast smoothie girl through and through.
I prefer to have a big steaming bowl of oats for lunch. Usually I make old fashioned rolled oats (which only take 10 minutes to cook), and if I have time I’ll make steel cut oats in my crockpot.
I tend vary the toppings for my oatmeal, sticking mostly to fruits, nuts, and sweetener. I was especially pleased with today’s creation:

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Apple Cherry Oatmeal

Serves 1

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup cold water
  • 1/2 cup cold vanilla soymilk (or favorite non-dairy milk)
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 Honeycrisp apple, or whatever awesome apple you have, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • handful of sulfite-free dried cherries

Directions

  1. Combine the oats, water, milk, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 7 minutes.
  2. Add in the apple, brown sugar, and cinnamon and continue to cook for another 3 minutes or so. The apples should be warm and slightly soft but still firm.
  3. Pour the oats into a bowl and top with the dried cherries. Add any additional seasonings as desired.

What’s your favorite oat recipe?

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Vegan Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

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I LOVE this time of year for many reasons.

One of which is…PUMPKINS!

Pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin scones, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread, and Pumpkin Spice Lattes at Starbucks. Mmmmm…..

So today I created…Vegan Pumpkin Pie Smoothie for the hubby and me.

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Vegan Pumpkin Pie Smoothie
Makes 2 12oz smoothies plus a little extra

What you need…

  • 1 12 oz glass full of ice
  • 1/2 container vanilla silken tofu (or plain – I thought this would be a good use for the vanilla tofu I had in my fridge)
  • 3/4 cup pumpkin
  • 12 oz So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Beverage (you could use any vanilla milk – this is just what I had on hand)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract – maybe 3/4 teaspoon if you didn’t use vanilla tofu
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • agave nectar to taste – I used about 2 tablespoons

Add all to the blender and buzz it up…

Enjoy!

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Vegan Coconut PB-n-B Stuffed French Toast

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Oh. My.

I’ve really outdone myself!   :)

I decided to participate in Vegan Appetite’s Food Network Friday.
The challenge was to “veganize” a recipe from the Food Network’s website for Banana Stuffed French Toast.
We had the option to add or omit ingredients as we like.

In my opinion, what goes great with bananas?? Peanut Butter of course!
AND…I had some canned coconut milk that was leftover from a curry I made a few days ago.
AND…I had a carton of So Delicious’ Vanilla Coconut Milk Beverage (which by the way I am CRAZY about!)

So you see it was a no-brainer.

And thus Vegan Coconut Peanut Butter and Banana Stuffed French Toast was born!

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So how to make eggless French Toast you might ask? There are actually tons of recipes for vegan French Toast. I started out by looking at Vegan with a Vengeance’s vegan “Fronch Toast”  recipe. I had made it before and the use of chickpea flour is just genius. Thank you Isa! From there it was simple.

Vegan Coconut Peanut Butter and Banana Stuffed French Toast
Makes about 4-5 thick slices

Ingredients

  • 1 loaf of Italian bread (purchase this UNsliced)
  • 1-2 ripe bananas
  • peanut butter (natural please!)
  • 1/2 cup coconut milk from a can
  • 1/2 cup So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk Beverage
  • 1/4 cup chickpea flour
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • dash of salt (optional)
  • vegetable or canola oil
  • maple syrup
  • toasted coconut (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat over to 375.
  2. Cut off about 2 inches or so from the end of the loaf of bread – do whatever you like with it!
  3. Cut a slice of bread about 1.5″ wide. Make a slit down the center of the slice  but only from the top going straight down so you leave the sides and bottom intact. Basically you are creating a “pocket” for the stuffing. Repeat for 3-4 more slices.
  4. Place the bread on a cookie sheet into the preheated oven. Let bake for about 3 minutes – you want the bread to feel dried out and slightly stale – but not toasted. Alternatively of course you could just use stale bread!
  5. Once the bread is dried out, cut the bananas into small slices and place the slices into a bowl. Add some peanut butter and mix around – it’s ok if the bananas get smooshed.
  6. Stuff the banana mixture into the bread “pocket.”
  7. In a separate wide and shallow bowl, combine the coconut milk, coconut milk beverage, vanilla, cinnamon, salt (if using), and chickpea flour. Mix until combined – it’s ok if there are a few lumps.
  8. Pour oil into a large non-stick skillet until there is a very thin coating on the bottom – I used a 12″ skillet and used about 2T oil. Preheat the skillet.
  9. Place the stuffed bread slices into the coconut milk mixture until well soaked. Then carefully place the soaked bread into the preheated skillet.
  10. Cook each side for about 2 minutes. When it’s browned and crispy it’s done!
  11. Serve with maple syrup, sprinkle with toasted coconut, and eat your “vegan coconut peanut butter and banana french toast” right away!

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YUMMY!

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French Toast: I'd Love YOUR Help!

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I’ve been thinking about French Toast a lot lately, ever since I made vegan French Toast during the Labor Day weekend. It was so delicious. I hadn’t had French Toast, much less VEGAN French Toast, in a very  very long time.

So I was thrilled to stumble upon Vegan Appetite’s Food Network Friday to discover that the topic for this week is Banana Stuffed French Toast!

Here’s how Food Network Friday works.

Vegan Appetite selects recipe from The Food Network – in this case it’s the Neely’s Banana Stuffed French Toast.
All you do then is veganize it – remake the recipe without any meat, dairy, eggs, honey – any animal product at all.
And in the process you can add things in, take things out. Basically, make it your own.

So I have lots of ideas swimming around in my head for this.
But I thought it would be fun to ask YOU what you think would make an awesome stuffed French Toast.
Peanut Butter?
Marshmallow?
Coconut?
All of the above?

I’d love your help – what would be your idea makeover of the Banana Stuffed French Toast recipe?

Looking forward to reading your ideas!

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Labor Day Vegan French Toast

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Ahhh yesssssssssssssssssssssss.

I FINALLY have cooked from Vegan with a Vengeance! I was beginning to think I was the only veg who hasn’t.

Yesterday I made the Scrambled Tofu and Chorizo Sausage. I forgot to take photos BOO :(
But I can say it was delish. I think next time…a little less salt ;)

And tonight…French Toast! Or as Isa says, “Fronch Toast!”

And you might say, how on earth can French Toast be vegan?

Well, the recipe uses soy creamer, rice milk (I used almond), and chickpea flour.
And it was fabulous.
It’s been so long since I have had French Toast.
I used to like it but only when it wasn’t “eggy.” I always detested eggy French toast.

DSC_0001Next time I will add some cinnamon, or vanilla extract, or both. But even plain it was awesome.

Eats

I made it to 8 fruits and veggies today as part of my 9-A-Day Fruits and Veggie Challenge!

  • 1 Banana in my morning smoothie
  • 1 serving spinach in smoothie
  • 1 serving Tomato Salad snack – yummy yum yum!
  • 1 apple snack
  • 3 servings of veggies at Thai lunch
  • 1 serving Tomato Salad at dinner

I could make it to 9 tonight but I’m just not very hungry so I’m going to stop here. I’m pretty happy with 8!

One thing I’ve noticed since starting the Challenge is that I’m selecting my food more consciously. Instead of snacking mindlessly I’m thinking, “what fruit or veggie could I eat?”

Run

We have a new “Runner in Training!”

RIT2 and I started with a 2 mile run today:

  • walk 5 minutes
  • run 1 minute, walk 1 minute for 21 minutes
  • walk 4 minutes

RIT2 did AWESOME his first time out. I was really impressed with how well he was breathing during our run. He is planning to run a 5K with me in November – Details about that race will be coming!

Marty Update

Several of you have emailed me asking about how Marty is doing.IMG_0499
We found out on Thursday that the lump she had removed on Monday was malignant. She has fibrosarcoma.
The good news is that this type of cancer stays local and she was diagnosed as a “grade 1″ – we caught it early and it was small.
We got a chest xray on Friday and her lungs are clear. So that’s good, too.

We are going to the Oncologist tomorrow to find out what our next steps should be.
We know from the biopsy that some of the cells had started to migrate to the edge of the tumor, and so most likely she will have another surgery where they will remove more tissue from that area to make sure the cancerous cells have all been removed.

I was pretty distraught when I first learned all of this and it took me a few days to accept all of this. We’re staying optimistic and taking it one day at a time.
I really appreciate your kind words and prayers.

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I Heart Colorado

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I’m having the BEST time in Colorado. Here’s what we’ve done so far:

Sunflower field outside of Denver

Sunflower field outside of Denver

  • Yesterday we drove to Fort Collins and visited our friends Gary and Tiffany and their beautiful kids. They took the afternoon off to show us their hometown and wow did we love it! We ate at Avogadro’s Number where I had a delicious homemade tempeh sandwich.
  • When we got back to Denver we ate dinner at WaterCourse – our favorite veggie restaurant of all time. We ordered a Buffalo Tofu Sandwich with sauteed greens and broccoli (amazing!), a bowl of green chili soup (D. loved it but too spicy for me. since when am I a spice wimp? Is this a sign of old age?), and the “Frings” – a basket of 1/2 french fries and 1/2 onion rings (thumbs down on the fries but the rings rocked!).
  • This morning I went for a run through Cheesman Park and City Park. The weather was perfect and surprisingly I was not winded from the higher altitude. I ran 6.6 miles in 60 minutes – a little slower than usual but I felt great.
  • After I showered and dressed, D. and I hiked all over Denver. We went to “Lo-Do” (lower downtown Denver) and ate breakfast at Organixx where we got delicious scrambled tofu with fresh (really fresh!) fruit.
  • From Organixx we walked to a cute neighborhood called “Hi-Lo” (between The Highlands and Lo-Do). We stopped at the Savory Spice Shop and loaded up on vanilla sugar, dutch cocoa, berbere Ethiopian seasoning, chat masala, vietnamese saigon cassia cinnamon, freeze dried shallots, and Italian herbs. I loved this store and cannot wait to cook and bake with my new spices!
  • We then hiked up to The Highlands. I wasn’t too impressed with The Highlands. Maybe my expectations were too high?
  • Then…back to WaterCourse! Tonight we ordered the blackened tofu with coconut cream, rice, broccoli, and avocado, and the  Po Boy sandwich – a crispy cornmeal crusted portobella with coleslaw and garlic ailoi. We topped it off with a Ho Ho Cupcake and a slice of chocolate pie. All vegan of course! I can’t believe I forgot to take a single picture…it was all so good.

We walked a total of 10.8 miles and that was after my 6.6 mile run! I think I might sleep for a very long time :)

Have you been to Colorado? What do you love most about it? What do you love about Denver? Fort Collins?

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A Big Running Day

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IT. IS. SO. HOT. OUT. SIDE.

When I drove to the gym at 1030am this morning my car said 91 degrees! The girls are lounging around the house as usual -  they were pretty beat after our walk this morning.
yoga

I got up at 6am this morning and practiced yoga for 1/2 hour. I’m still practicing in the viniyoga tradition – right now I am following a sequence that focuses on neck+shoulders that I found in Yoga for Wellness by Gary Kraftsow. It’s a great book but I didn’t really get it until I studied with Gary last month at part 1 of my Yoga Therapy training. Anyway, the practice might be working because I had a really tight neck all of last week and it’s finally starting to relax.  :)

Run

Man I got a lot of running and walking in today!

First I went for a walk / run with Kate. We went out for about 30 minutes. It wasn’t boiling hot out yet and it felt really good to be outside. It’s so much more fun running with a friend!

When I got home the girls were giving me Big Eyes and so I took them out for a walk. We walked our normal 2 miles + change.

THEN I went to the gym! I ran on the treadmill 6.5 miles at average of 8:13 mph. After two jaunts outside it felt SO GOOD to be in air conditioning!

I really love my Monday mornings – lots of “me” time.  :)

Eats

Breakfast was…guess…c’mon just guess…a SMOOTHIE! Today was:

  • 2 bananas
  • 12 oz lite vanilla soy milk
  • 2 scoops Spirutein Vanilla Protein powder
  • 2 tablespoons Smooth Operator peanut butter
  • 2 huge handfuls of baby spinach
  • cinnamon
  • salt

This made two smoothies.

That was before I went out with Kate. Then after my run at the gym I had a slice of Honey Kissed Peanut Butter Bread with cherry preserves spread on top. YUM! That really filled me up so I wasn’t hungry for lunch until mid-afternoon.

Then, using my Reston Farmers Market loot I made this:

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  • 1 onion
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1/2 of a huge yellow squash
  • 1 huge fresh tomato
  • 1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes with Italian herbs
  • some fresh basil
  • 1 tablespoon of dried Italian herbs
  • salt
  • pepper

I sauteed the onion + garlic in 2 tablespoons of water until the onions were soft. Then I added in the rest of the ingredients and let them simmer until the squash was soft. I scooped about 1/3 of what I made into a bowl, and after I took the picture I decided to put some mozzarella Veggie Shreds on top. Delish.

While I had that all going on I whipped up a batch of spelt Blueberry Muffins from the Babycakes cookbook.

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I ate one of them while I was waiting for the squash to be ready and then I ate another one after I ate the squash! They were really good. I’ve noticed that when I ate wheat today – in the Honey Kissed Peanut Butter Bread – I felt a little bloated afterwards. I didn’t feel that way after I ate the spelt muffins. Hmmmm…interesting.

Right now Stella The Cat is trying to go up the stairs but Marty The Big Black Lab is blocking her way and just daring her to try it. LOL – I love watching them.

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Getting That Last Blob of Peanut Butter

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Finally -I have a way to get every last blob out of my peanut butter jar!

You know what I mean.

You work your way through your peanut butter until there are just scrapings clinging to the side of the jar.
Just enough left so that you wish you had the perfect rubber spatula (and the time) for getting every last bit out of the jar.
But not enough to really justify keeping the jar.

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This situation really gets me because I’m the type of person to use EVERY LAST DROP, whether it be peanut butter, shampoo, chips, etc. In fact, D. often laughs at me because I’ll put way a bag of chips that has just crumbs remaining.

Anywho, so here’s what you do for the peanut butter situation…make oatmeal!

Pour the cooked oats into your “empty” peanut butter jar.
Add fruit, brown sugar, maple syrup, etc.
Swirl around and enjoy!

DSC_0006DSC_0008The oatmeal soaks up the remaining peanut butter.
So you end up with a “clean” jar.

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Ta da! I saw this somewhere on the internet. Someone out there is a genius.

Next just run the jar through the dishwasher and now you have a sparkly clean jar ready for re-use or the recycling bin!

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