vegan thanksgiving!

sooooooo. thanksgiving- my first vegan thanksgiving to be exact- was fabulous!

not only did i make a few lovely things for myself, my very sweet mother in law got me a tofurkey and some vegan gravy from whole foods. along with that, she made vegan mashed potatoes (before she omni'ed them up for everyone else in the house) :)
and green beans with olive oil and spices. yum!
for myself, i made a green bean casserole, corn casserole, sweet potatoes, and a delicious and scandalous rum cake!

no one knew my cake was vegan. it was moist and delicious (it was the addition of coconut milk that did it, im guessing). it did knock the socks off of some folks who ate it. im a little heavy handed on the rum, heh.

















i didnt actually have a camera to photo my food as most people at the table would have found that a little strange. here is a photo of some leftovers nonetheless.















i had a wonderful day with my families and Brandon was nice and chipper. must have been that nice game of Risk with his father and brothers.

an anniversary

my grandparent's 60th anniversary was this weekend. pretty amazing really. my parent's took them to some steak house (ick) to celebrate. here is an embarrassing and adorable photo.
i, of course, didn't really get to eat but i was glad that my grandparents had a good time and were doted on by people who appreciate them.


as for "energy food", here's something new.
this is artichoke flour fettucini with a cheezy sauce, tofutti sour cream, and baby spinach. i needed some carbs before playing in the Memphis vs Huntsville bout. we won but it was a very hard fought game. it came down to the second half and a bunch of nail biting.
























now. if i can just get my menu figured out for thanksgiving..... at least this recipe for corn casserole should help cuz i looooooooove corn casserole!!

the chicken, the goats

ok so here is an actual photo of the scandal that turned into the chicken helmet.
i must say, this late night mission was hilarious.


while i am at it, let me rant a bit about paducky. they have very strange things there. mebbe it has something to do with that uranium plant......

and what better way to commemorate weird town landmarks than by taking embarrassing photos of your teammates/friends!?


Susan and the Captain D's fish















da easy money bus.















people here sell babies.











ok, so they are goat babies. kids, babies, whatever.

adventures in paducky

the PrissKillas went on another adventure this weekend. this time to scrimmage the radioactive city rollergirls. of course, when the pink girls go outta town, we don't simply go out of town. somewhere in arkansas we realized that there was a nail through a tire which prompted a trip to the wal-mart for a new tire. while there, we decided to play a prank on "White Cheri." it's kinda a sick joke but all she ever eats is chicken so the rest of the girls decided that she was "turning into a chicken" and therefore needed some sort of chicken adornment on her helmet.
Malice, Licious, Susie, and myself ran through wal-mart like 007 agents in search of the perfect chicken.
after we found our trinket, we picked up some silly string for a scheme outside. we lined the remaining PrissKillas and ref up for a "photo" of our ridiculous luck with the tire and all and shot them with silly string instead of a flash.

When it came down to it, we won our scrimmage. Not by many points mind you. The floor was more reminiscent of ice than wood and it was difficult to adjust. Nevertheless, we pulled it together and made it happen. Now, we just hope the PrissKillas can pull this off in our upcoming season.... that is unless MRD consolidates....

mmmmm, meatballs

more goodness from Happy Herbivore. these are her Grammy's Meatless Balls thrown on top of some squash, bell peppers, and onion right before i poured a vegan rotel mixture on top. these are absolutely delicious and versatile. they can be thrown in soup, used for the obvious pasta dish, cut up and added to a burrito (or a tortilla-less burrito as i have done here) or eaten as a sub with some marinara! in fact, that sounds like a great idea for a calzone.
school and derby has kinda limited my time this week and so i have not made much in the way of food. after this weekend and the PrissKilla trip to Kentucky to take on a derby team there, i will get back to the kitchen.

nuggets- Happy Herbivore style

if you somehow have not yet picked up Happy Herbivore's e-cookbooks, go and get them now!

once i discovered that i had been duped by the makers of Quorn, i knew this recipe would become a vital one. don't get me wrong, their products are certainly amazing, they just are not vegan. i, under a false pretense, was eating at least one a week. wouldn't you know it, they have eggs is them. so now my quick, pop in the freezer and snack on after roller derby meal is off of my list of things i choose to eat.
Happy Herbivore to the rescue!
these satisfy my "chicken" nugget craving without the use of eggs or milk (and obviously chicken). these are spot on. the texture is great and the flavor is delicious! i opted not to use corn flakes for the breading, instead i used grape nuts. next time i make these, i will make them a little more spicy. this recipe is brilliant!

as for my cheeze dilemma, i may have found my solution in a recipe for crock cheeze (as listed on the vegan outreach webpage). this cheeze is not pretty, but it tastes good. i believe with some tweaking, it will work for the veganization of mom's mac and cheese.

cheese tease

will someone please explain to me why i do not like teese? maybe it has something to do with the fact that when i first tried it i was just transitioning away from eating dairy.... maybe i am doing something wrong? i mean i tried eating it like sliced cheese and it was just a little horrible. perhaps if i try it melted on a pizza, i would be more fond of this item that more experienced vegans seem to enjoy.
as for other cheezes- here is another option. vegan outreach has these cheeze recipes listed on their site. they list the ultimate uncheese cookbook as a source, perhaps i should go and get a copy.
why the sudden interest in cheese you ask? well cheese was the reason that a vegan lifestyle almost did not work for me. i have a bit of a weakness for melty deliciousness. but not only does it make me sick (literally, im pretty confident that i have developed lactose intolerance) it is no reason to make an exception to my lifestyle choices. so here we are getting closer to the holidays and the mass consumption that accompanies them and i am reminded of my mother's mac and cheese that was previously my absolutely favorite dish. this must be veganized. i must figure it out. so i need to have some cheezy recipes under my belt before i tackle this monster. i guess another option is to use a cheddar soy cheeze like follow your heart... i just don't know what would work best. i better get crackin!

ethinic yum

let me just tell you that i love ethiopian food. Christina and i went to Abyssinia today. she was off as she had worked a week's worth of hours on monday and tuesday alone (the woman is a reporter and the election was kinda important for her to cover). after i got out of colloquium, we headed over there. she had no idea what she was in for but was pleasantly surprised when we got to the lunch buffet. what i love is that all of their vegetarian/vegan menu items also exist on their buffet.
red lentils are my absolute favorite! we also had green lentils with jalapenos and onion, potato salad, green beans and carrots, and injera.

This is Christina, she is fabulous.

on a different note here is a thought i had last night while at a baby shower with my mother in law and one of many reasons i am glad to have gone vegan, i cannot eat junk food at social gatherings because most junk has eggs or milk in it. this is kinda a throwback to my food obsession. if i want something sweet like cake i have to actually take the time to make it so that i can ensure no animals were harmed in the production of the cake. this removes the threat of simple mindless eating. obviously if you have to wait on your sweets to be made and cook then you have time to decide if you really want them. im all for satisfying cravings every now and then but i don't want to be victim to thoughtlessly munching away on unhealthy sweets all the time. that is (of course) not to say that i think people eating cake is bad, it's just to say that being vegan has removed the temptation for me in a situation where i don't happen to have much tenacity.

oh hail!

with the weather swiftly on its way to wretched, my brain and tummy are desperate for comfort foods! and when i am super lazy because of lack of sunlight and a tendency toward wanting to hibernate, the easiest and yummiest canned good around is Amy's Spicy Chili.
i cannot say too many fabulous things about this amazing product. it is deliciously spicy, has just the right amount of beans and "meat," and is filling. nothing says "escape the cold weather outside" to me quite like this chili. i have had the medium, but as i have stated before, i like my food hot especially if it is chili, salsa, mexican, or thai. that being said, i stick with the spicy chili.

and just think of the possibilities: chili dogs, chili fries on days when you are being naughty :), and even chili nachos, yum! all that to say i hate cold weather but this makes it all better. now my gears are grinding about adding this chili to a casserole... hmmm....

historic take 2

let us also not forget that today is another type of historic day. on this day in 1605, a group of catholic conspirators set out to destroy Parliament and the royal protestant family.
this is commonly referred to as the Gunpowder Plot.
Tonight is also known as Guy Fawkes night.

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,

The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,

I can think of no reason

Why the Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be forgot.

the graphic novel, and later film, V for Vendetta, presents an anarchist revolutionary dressed in a Guy Fawkes mask, trying to bring down the fascist government. One man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter, it just depends on which side you are on... i think that the only sanity lies somewhere in the middle.

historic

Like the outcome or not, last night's election was set to be a historic event on both sides of the ticket. We would have either embraced a woman as a vice president or an African American man as president. As it turns out, Obama will be our next president.

We are kinda married to him for four years, for better or worse. And it seems like people are completely on one side or the other. Some think that he is actually the antichrist, that he will destroy our economy, chat it up with terrorists and leave our country helpless. On the other hand, some think that he is the voice of reason and hope in a difficult time. That he will lead this country to a better economy but also to seek out hope and change. Of course, being the independent that i am, i can do nothing but wait it out and hope for the best. I don't pretend to know enough about politics to argue them. But I want to see our economy get better and our country not be threatened by others who would seek to destroy us (and if we are threatened, i want to see us defend ourselves ferociously). Anyone remember that little tea party we threw and the fact that our country is based in not allowing someone else to threaten to destroy us? That is really the bottom line for me.
I think that the Obama camp probably understands that they need to win the confidence of the American people, given that the popular vote was nearly split. Change can be frightening, and sometimes it is good and sometimes it is not, but like i said, we will just have to wait and see.

Enough of that rambling! that must be the detox talking!
today is "get the junk out" day. this consists of the usual apple cider vinegar and water right upon waking, then a tbsp of blackstrap mollasses, and (lucky for me, being able to keep that down) then a smoothie breakfast. this morning the smoothie consisted of raw oats, flax seed, 1/2 a frozen banana, 1/2 cup soymilk, 1/2 cup water, and a spoonful of peanut butter.





















my snack around 11:45 will be 1/2 cup grated raw zuchinni with tahini sauce. lunch will contain the most cooked element i have seen today- two slices of whole wheat bread. the sammich will be filled with chick pea not tuna and raw spinach.

tuesday brought to you by the word calzone.

back on the pizza kick. this time i made my own crust from Vegan with a Vengeance only i used whole wheat flour. i stuffed half of the crust recipe with tofu ricotta and spinach and shaped it into a calzone. after popping this baby in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, lunch was ready to go before i went to vote. i also made marinara as a side. yum!


here are the guts!

i was just meandering through the PPK forum when i came across this!! Vegan Queso from Vegan Explosion!!!!!
Add this to the list of things that i want right now. gimme. Nothing is better than some chips and queso when you are in a serious crave mode. I imagine this stuff is also great on tacos or burritos or maybe even a vegan chili mac. the possibilities are endless and are making me a bit hungry even though my mother and i just went to on the border to have an anxiety cocktail. i will be glad when this blasted election is over.

as for my car- it's still not fixed. my mother even had to take me to class today, drop me off and pick me back up.... i felt like a middle schooler. i am glad that my mom is cool. :)

tomorrow needs to be detox day because today is making me sick.

aw for crying out loud!

this is about to be a bit of a rant.















this was the end of my stinking weekend. after the fun that i had on friday night, saturday night reared its ugly head. the bout was a win for memphis roller derby, 170 something to 40 something. in case you can't tell, the captain had my number and she was not small. eeeeep! nonetheless, i was put in as jammer the two times there was a jammerless jam and i managed to score something like 6 points. not a lot but enough to keep the Tulsa girls behind.
late in the game, i put a hit on their jammer Sweet Sassy Mollassy that landed me in the box and her in the hospital. the hit was clean, though one of our skates was out of bounds so i did get a penalty for it. she fell wrong. i mean really wrong. her leg is broken through both bones just above the ankle. this was her first bout. i cannot tell you how much of a jerk i felt like while sitting in the box watching the ambulance take her away. i know that this is a tough sport and that people get hurt (especially people who have not been doing this for years) but i just did not intend to hurt her. i intended to knock her down.
here's the only vegan thing in this whole post and i dont even have a photo. i made butternut squash with black beans, mushrooms, green bell peppers and spices. i put the concoction in tortillas and baked them in the oven. apparently they were good (although i didn't even get one) because all ten of them were quickly eaten by derby girls at our after bout potluck...

at the after party which was downtown, someone busted in my window and ransacked my car. they stole my dad's radar detector, a cell phone charger, and ipod connector cable, and my watch. luckily for me, they did not find the ring that my mother in law gave me and they forgot to take my ipod. here is the glass that is now missing from my passenger side window. whoever did this sucks. gotta love Memphis. im not going to go downtown unless it is for some special occasion and next time Brandon is going with me. im thinking that after parties are a bad idea for me as well. my phone ended up in the toilet.


i went home crying to Brandon in hysterics as if i wasnt upset already. the icing on the cake- this whole daylight savings time switch thing has me so messed up that i slept twelve hours last night. i went to sleep at 8 and got up at 8. i guess i needed it. i don't know. it seems crazy but i've had kinda a crazy week!

Halloween!

Although we did not go out and do much for Halloween festivities, we had a bit of fun. Brandon got me a pumpkin! Yay! And we decorated it about 30 different ways with this Mr. Pumpkin Head kit that his mother bought us. Fun!
We got a bit bored and decided to dress up in some regular clothes, capes, and masks and walk around the block to see what the kids were up to. We have no street lights so the kids were not really out and about....


















Memphis Roller Derby takes on Tulsa, OK in a few hours so i thought it might be good to eat some carbs before i play. I made pasta (which i never eat anymore) and covered it in a variation of Vegan Dad's creamy mac and cheese.
I didn't actually measure anything but i included tahini, nutritional yeast, garlic dijon mustard, onion powder, salt, miso, soymilk, tofu, paprika, olive oil and just a bit of raw sugar. Tasty!