Vegan MoFo: On the Go

Starting my new job today (!!!), so a quick post full of quick vegan noms.

Fast and easy vegan breakfast, take 3-ish:

How to: Fry up some potatoes in olive oil. After flipping (once brown on one side), add soyrizo. Fry a little more. Nom. Swoon.

Quick vegan dinner in October:

Souuuuuup. Minestrone soup. Ok, ready? Set?
– Pan. Olive oil. Onions + garlic. Saute (no burning!) until slightly wiggly.
– Add carrots, celery, potatoes, other harder veggies of your choosing. Saute a little more.
– Add pasta, chopped kale/cabbage, small can of crushed tomatoes (with liquid), veggie stock to more than cover. Also add salt, pepper, Italian seasoning. Simmer for a while — until pasta is cooked.
– Again, nom.

Easy like… something that’s really easy, like… slipping on a banana peel. Or, considering I’ve never done that, someting easier. Like sleeping in on the weekend. Only tastier.

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Vegan MoFo: Continuing to Take Back Breakfast

My breakfast this morning was about as healthful — and delicious — as it gets. I bet I got two servings of fruit and two servings of whole grains. I just can’t get over oatmeal!

In my previous life at a desk job, I ate oatmeal every weekday. I had my little pint-sized Mason jar that I’d keep at my desk and a bag of thick rolled oats in the desk drawer. Every day it was two-thirds of a jar of oats, some turbinado sugar, and enough hot water just to cover it. Put the cap on, let sit for a few minutes, et voila! Chewy, warm, tasty oatmeal.

Oatmeal still serves me as perhaps the quickest, easiest breakfast I can muster. I’ve also been stirring in a spoonful of yogurt lately, for extra creaminess and probiotic action. Today, though, was special. I added a chopped-up pear, and things went to another level. These pears from the farmers’ market are SO sweet and the perfect texture. And what a good, easy way to kick up oatmeal! I bet it would be easy enough to chop them up the night before and take them in a plastic container, then add them at work. Yummers.

In conclusion: Dear pears, I love you.

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Vegan MoFo: Taking Back Breakfast

I’ll admit, I’ve been sucky on the breakfast front lately. I’m a picky breakfast eater — I don’t like anything sweet or cold, and it has to be sturdy. I’ve been eating a lot of oatmeal (thick rolled oats + boiling water + sugar), but I’m also easily bored. I decided to take back breakfast this morning.

A big cup of tea and my favorite vegan breakfast — and actually sitting down and deciding to make a meal of it, instead of eating in my lap while on my laptop.

In my brain I’m all about valuing eating. Food is important! Put away the internet and sit down at a table! I’m pretty good at dinner since the boy and I have been eating meals I make at home regularly, but the rest of the day’s meals get tossed away. I know it’s even worse with an 8-5, or if you’re a student. Breakfast becomes a hassle, pitting your body’s needs against time. And time kind of wins usually.

But today breakfast won. With my favorite, quick and easy vegan breakfast. Here’s what you do (taken from one of the How It All Vegan books).

– Leftover rice and tofu into a pan with some olive oil and soy sauce
– Bread gets toasty
– Toasty bread receives Vegenaise treatment
– Soy saucy rice and tofus go onto lubricated bread
– All gets topped with ketchup

Kind of weird, but really fast and tasty. And man, talk about stick to your ribs! I was full full full after two pieces.

Now, of course, I’m imagining out-the-door versions. Rolled in some lavash bread maybe?

But for now, I’m going to stick to my sit down breakfast. I think I owe it to myself.

(Books are a nutritious part of this balanced breakfast. I’ve discovered the library, can you tell…?)

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Vegan MoFo Day 3: Best (Vegan) Fast Breakfast

I introduce to you, the food that powered me through college:

There’s a reason my breakfast today is arranged in a heart shape: I love this quick, simple, healthy, vegan! breakfast. It requires little hands-on time — perfect for rushing out the door to an 8am class — and is sturdy enough to sit in your stomach until there’s time to get a real meal.

Preparation is simple. Toasted bread (I used sourdough), plus some margarine. I use Earth Balance because it is trans-fat free and the best for any kind of vegan cooking/baking. Once the margarine has melted, sprinkle nutritional yeast on top. The yeast will soak up the moisture from the margarine, and that’s when you add MORE.

The result? A cheesy delicious meal on the go. Please note that it’s really good on bagels. This would also make a good accompaniment to soup, especially if you were to add garlic bread spices.

Hooray Vegan MoFo!

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Apple of My Eye

Worked the farmers’ market again with much success — but this time for cash instead of produce. So, no insane amounts of tomatoes this week, which is a convenient but much less tasty thing.

A friend of mine has an insane apple tree in her front yard and we’ve had a few apple-preserving sessions. We made some applesauce and crisps and pies, and I still have a few left over.

This picture was taken after washing, before our last pie-making session. I don’t have quite that many left right now, but I still have a giant bowl full of them. I’ll probably make applesauce with them, as I’m running out of space in the freezer that’s not really mine.

When I got back from the market dead tired this afternoon — my alarm failed to go off which resulted in me being “late” at, oh, 6:45 in the morning — I was hungry (another result of rushing out the door). I’ve got lots of squash to make and a few other things, but I wanted something simple and tasty. My UCSC CSA cookbook came to the rescue! I just purchased their other cookbook yesterday at the plant sale (I own one already and loved it so much I decided I needed its older sibling). In the first few pages of the cookbook is a recipe for “Quick Sauteed Apples,” which was just the ticket this afternoon.

I didn’t make this up myself, but the recipe is so simple I feel okay about re-posting it here. I mean, really, you just take some apples, core them and slice them up about 1/4″ thick. I left skins on for added nutritional value. Heat some butter or margarine in a pan (I used Earth Balance which is an incredible vegan alternative to butter), and add some brown sugar. Again, I used two small-ish apples, so I added 1 Tbsp each of margarine and sugar. Toss in the apples and saute over medium-ish heat for 5-10 minutes. Add some cinnamon at the end, and your kitchen smells divine.

I’d say it made enough for 1-3 people, depending on how much you like apples. I ate them as is and they were mighty tasty — kind of like apple pie but without, you know, the pie part. I bet they’d taste great with some oatmeal (real, steel-cut oatmeal, that is), and the cookbook recommends them over some ice cream. An incredibly satisfying breakfast.

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