Thing-a-day.com

I’ve been in a blogging funk.  How do you know you’re in a funk?  When an earthquake cannot get you to blog about anything, you know you’ve temporarily lost your creative spirit.  What’s with February that just gets me half paralyzed?

Anyway, my last thing-a-day has to be a shitty photo I took with my new camera.  I’m ashamed of putting it up here but I’m in such a black mood that I don’t even care much now.

I’m not sure if anyone has already tried this flavor combo.  I had two big oranges dying to be picked up and I was in the mood for some refreshing citrus flavor.  Thus the orange pancakes were born.  The batter was very easy to make.  Half all-purpose flour and half oat flour.  Maple syrup as the sweetener, with the help of some vanilla extract and plain soy milk.  Freshly squeezed orange juice added the fresh garden smell and taste.  I loved these mild and subtle orange-y pancakes.  Next time I will use orange zest to strengthen the orange flavor a bit.  Overall, it was a great experiment.

I’m very glad that I went back to cooking finally.  The udon noodles and bread were very good but I needed something more substantial and special.  I felt pretty bad for my busy husband too, though he would gladly eat pasta with broccoli and peas/beans every day.  A broccoli tofu sandwish would make a good snack for him.  After I made the first comeback soup - potato quinoa chowder, he commented, “now that’s something that smells really homemade.”  I was very happy to hear that.  I got the recipe from Laura Jesser’s “Eden in the Kitchen”.  Do check out Laura’s blog which is full of wonderful photos and great recipes.
The only thing I did differently is to use bok choy instead of cooked kale and I didn’t puree half of the soup at all.  I love the soft little chunks of potatoes in the chowder.

I haven’t made pancakes much in the past few weeks.  I’m usually a huge pancake fan.  I mean I can eat pancakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I haven’t been cooking lately but making a stack of pancakes doesn’t feel like work at all.  So this is my new pancake mix: coconut-banana-cranberry flavor.  The sweet and rich combination of coconut and bananas is highlighted and contrasted by the tangy cranberries.  I highly recommend eating these pancakes with vegan margarine.

Coconut-Banana-Cranberry Pancakes
(makes 6-7 large pancakes)

1 cup self-rising flour (or all-purpose flour plus 1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1/4 tsp. salt)
1 cup oat flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup coconut cream
3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla soy milk
1 over-ripe banana, mashed
1/2 tsp. olive oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 to 4 1/2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
1/2 + 1 Tbsp. dried cranberries

1. Sift the flour and oat flour with baking soda in a large mixing bowl.
2. In another bowl, mash the banana, and add coconut cream, soy milk, olive oil, vanilla extract and maple syrup.  Mix well.
3. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients gradually.  Mix the batter well.  The batter should be runny but not too thin.
4. Use a paper towel to lightly grease the pan and then put it on medium heat.  When the pan is hot, cook your pancakes away.

Keiko Oikawa’s Nordljus is one of my favorite food and travel blogs.  Her photos are simply divine and exquisite.  I can’t help but make a couple of banners out of her photos and along the way, I made myself a new wallpaper too.

You can see one of these two banners in action here.  I haven’t decided which one to keep on my blog for now.  I guess I’ll just switch back and forth.

Download available for 1024×768, 1280×800, 1600×1200, 1920×1200.

I can’t believe I’ve already skipped 6 things-a-day.  Oh well, I have to say to myself that this fun thing doesn’t have to end with February.  I can still come up with creative things in the next 2 weeks.

I’ve seen this interesting survey made by Liz a few times in various vegan foodblogs.  I thought I’d give it a try just to get back into the routine a little bit.  I still haven’t been cooking at all.  Hopefully, I’ll have some nice food photos to share soon.  We shall see.  Anyway, here is my survey result.

1. If you have to choose between locally grown or organic, which do you usually choose?
I usually go with the locally grown stuff, because I like the freshness and community feeling.  Sometimes I have to buy organic food if I want to cook something out of the right season.
2. Favourite way to prepare potatoes:
Scalloped potatoes for sure!  OK, it’s fair enough to say that I also love rosemary potatoes a lot.  But scalloped potatoes just hit the right spot.

3. Do you press your tofu before preparing/cooking it (if you eat soy)?
Pressing tofu is almost like meditation for me.  I love pressing tofu and love love love the result.  I used to feel it was so much trouble and waiting time.  But after trying the pressed tofu I can’t go back any more.  I usually take a whole afternoon preparing the tofu.  It feels really good to cook the pressed tofu afterwards.

4. Name your favorite recipe that is a tradition in your family:
This is a hard question.  It’s probably the whole wheat/kamut pasta with mashed bean and tomato sauce.  We have a few variations of this recipe and we love them all.

5. Any food allergies?
No, thank God, no food allergies.

6. When you want to go to a fancy dinner, where do you go?
Where would I *potentially* go if I did indeed go out for fancy dinners?  I’d probably just have a “fancy” vegan dinner party at home.  I’m simply not a fancy vegan.  I love fancy (homemade of course) vegan desserts though.
7. When you have a cold, what do you crave?
Chickpea noodle soup, or udon noodles with loads of mushrooms.  Anything warm and comforting might strike my fancy.

8. What kind of water do you drink? (Filtered, spring, tap, etc.)
Spring water.  Sometimes filtered water if I have no other option.

9. Name a flavor of soda you’d love to see:
Nothing!  I totally loathe soda.  All kinds of soda drinks.

10. If the recipes you ate as a child were compiled into a cookbook, what would the title be?
The Ultimate Fusion Cuisine: How To Eat and Cook Things You Don’t Know As A Pro

11. If you were allowed to grow one food that can’t grow in your climate, what would it be?
I’ve always wanted to grow avocados.  Mashed avocado can be even better than vegan margarine/butter.

12. Favorite type of mushroom?
I have tried many types of mushrooms.  My favorite is still the all-faithful shiitake mushroom.  I can live on shiitake mushrooms.
13. Most frustrating part of your kitchen?
Total lack of storage and counter space.  I’ve already converted most of the cupboards and shelves into my pantry area but I have to make sure I don’t buy too much bulk items like grains, legumes or spices.  The counter space is more of a problem, especially if I want to make a couple of batches of cupcakes or cakes together, but I’m getting used to improvising every time I cook.

14. Last food you burned?
The crispy peanut butter cookies from VwaV.  I tried twice!  I still have no idea why my cookies turned into a big flat sheet of dough and got burned.  So far I haven’t been able to make crispy peanut butter cookies.

15. Usual response to a veg*n’s favorite question, “But where do you get your protein?”:
I don’t even think any more because every omnivore or carnivore we encounter invariably asks this question.  “From tofu, soy products, legumes, whole grains, and many things that you often eat too.  We are not that different if you focus on the healthy part of your diet instead of getting stuck on the fact that not everyone eats meat.”  And deep down, I’m also screaming, “I’m certainly not telling you to change your diet.  So don’t get all defensive and argue with me about how wrong MY diet is, because I’m in no mood for a debate that won’t get us anywhere.  Let’s just talk about the weather today instead.”

16. If you were baking your own birthday cake today, what flavor would it be?
I will be making a half dark chocolate and half coconut cake.  Absolutely these two flavors together!
17. Favourite brand of chocolate chips?
I don’t have a favorite brand since I don’t really use chocolate chips often.  I mean, really not often at all, if they are used once in a year.

18. You have $200 of your tax return reserved for Williams Sonoma - What do you buy?
What’s Williams Sonoma?  OK, I just googled it and now I’m staring at this Web site.  Only 200 dollars… I guess I’ll have to save some more cash to get a Dutch oven then.
19. Do you plan your menus in advance? Any tips to share?
Not really.  I only plan my menus slightly before dinner.  I can think about recipes for a whole day without deciding on a single course.  I’m really bad at planning in a way.  Tips to share: whatever you crave for, you can go for it without much planning.  In my case, it always turns out to be the best dish since I really crave for it.

20. You have 3 minutes before you have to leave the house and you’re starving- What do you eat?
Vegan margarine on two slices of whole wheat bread.

21. If Martha Stewart, Paula Deen, and Rachel Ray got into a fight, who would win and how?
I don’t personally know any of them so how can I answer this question?  Paula’s got the strength.  Rachael can smother the other two in her burgers.  Martha’s recipes are the only ones that I’ve used.  So maybe Rachael would smother Paula with her burgers and Martha would stuff Rachael in her homemade duvet cover and win.

22. If you eat oatmeal, what do you add to it before serving?
Vanilla soy milk or coconut milk, chopped dates and maybe some macadamia nuts.

23. If you got to travel to one country and learn all the traditional dishes there, where would you go (ignore commitments in your current place of residence)?
Italy.  Oh, I dream of Italy!

24. Favourite late night snack?
I haven’t had any late night snack in years now.  If I had to have one, maybe just a banana.

25. Favourite springtime food?
Fresh strawberries for sure.  Nothing smells better than those red little babies.
26. Favorite food-related magazine?
I don’t really read magazines, but I flipped through Vegetarian Times and I liked it.

27. Which do you prefer: shoyu, tamari, conventional soy sauce, or Bragg’s Aminos?
Tamari.  Soy sauce makes a fine substitute.

28. What vegetable or fruit do you dislike the most?
The stinky durian irks me to no end.  I get queasy just imagining it.

29. Name a holiday food you look forward to all year long:
A gigantic creamy slice of pumpkin pie, with extra pie filling all to myself.  So people, stay away while I’m enjoying my pie!

30. If you could convert anyone to veganism with your magic wand, who would you convert?
Nobody!  It’s not my place to do so even if I had a magic wand.  I don’t have any desire to do so either.  If people don’t want it, let them be.

I don’t know how this happened but we suddenly got busy a couple of days ago so I had to skip the 14th and 15th things-a-day.  I was planning on making one more Valentine’s dessert.  I can still do it in the next few days.  Today I have a very fast recipe to share with you.  When you get busy and don’t feel like making something complicated or time-consuming, this is the one for you.  It took me only 15 minutes to make altogether including waiting for a pot of water to boil.  And it was such a delicious and healthy meal on a cold wintry morning.

Udon Noodles with Brussels Sprouts, Bean Sprouts and Edamame

(serves 1, but you can easily double it)

This noodle bowl has a very toothsome texture because of the edamame (fresh soy beans) which I love.  You can use fresh or frozen edamame.  Feel free to alter any ingredient or the amount to suit your taste.

1 package “instant” udon noodles (enough for 1 person)

8-9 shiitake mushrooms, wiped clean* (see notes below)

5 oz. Brussels sprouts

4 oz. soybean sprouts

1 package of fresh spinach

2 tsp. olive oil

2 tsp. toasted sesame oil

1.5 Tbsp. mushroom dark soy sauce

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. coriander

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1. In a pot, boil 8 cups of water together with shiitake mushrooms, Brussels sprouts and soybean sprouts.  (You can adjust the amount of water according to the vegetables you choose.)

2. When the water boils, add udon noodles.  Mine takes only 3 minutes to cook.  Towards the end throw in spinach.  Drain when the noodles are cooked.

3. Mix in olive oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic powder, paprika, coriander and black pepper.  Stir well and serve immediately.  Enjoy!

* Generally you shouldn’t wash mushrooms as they soak too much water and become mushy very quickly.  Use a paper towel to wipe them clean.

For Valentine’s Day, I was courageous enough to make half a batch of Brooklyn vs. Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes (VCTOTW, page 65).  My vegan pastry crème is not as clearly visible in the photo as in the cookbook but the taste is purely heavenly.  My rich chocolate ganache frosting came out a little thinner than usual this time (probably because I had a heavy hand in measuring the soy milk) but what the heck.  I’m still loving this batch of not-overly-sweet-and-super-rich cupcakes.

I’m still a little under the weather because I haven’t slept well for a couple of weeks.  A veggie goulash was screaming out to me since it’s comforting, soft, satisfying and healthy.  I used Sarah Kramer’s recipe in La Dolce Vegan! (page 140).  I cooked the goulash a little faster than required by the original recipe to keep the vegetables a little more crunchy.  It worked out really well.  I thoroughly enjoyed it with some udon noodles on the side and cornbread.  Yeah, I’m still loving the udon noodles.

I’ve been having some sleeping problem lately so I haven’t done much of anything. But I amazed myself by thinking of making a banner finally. I was never interested in learning more about Photoshop since I’m satisfied with the most basic functions. I guess I wanted a customized banner bad enough. I got one now! I love flowers so I googled for white roses and happened to find three gorgeous photos. I studied a bit of the online tutorials and this is what I managed to do.

I tried the above banner on my blog only to see that my blog’s name and description were completely overshadowed and hard to discern. So I made the second banner below.

Now this is the final product.

See it in action on my other blog.

This is very similar to what I made yesterday.  I’m madly in love with udon noodles now.  Instead of dark soy sauce, I used sea salt and garlic powder.  I added a little more sesame oil and miso and used two different types of mushrooms: dried shiitake mushrooms and the other, I have no idea.  They have much fatter stems than the enoki mushrooms but taste a little like the oyster mushrooms.  So they add a natural seafood flavor to the noodles.  I have to share the photo here since I love how the noodle bowl looks.

This is a very simple dish.  We’ve been really busy so I haven’t really cooked.  I’m still trying to get back into our regular routine.  Somehow I was craving for some Japanese noodles and nothing beats the easy-and-simple-yet-flavorful udon noodles.

Udon Noodles with Bok Choy and Seaweed
(serves 1)

1 pkg. udon noodles (cooking time according to the package instructions)
5 cups water
8-9 dried shiitake mushrooms
1/3 block extra-firm tofu, cubed
4 cups of baby bok choy, roughly chopped
Some Japanese seaweed (any type you like), torn into pieces
1 1/2 Tbsp. white miso
1 1/2 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
2 tsp. toasted sesame oil

1. Add dried mushrooms to the water in a pot and cook together.  Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to medium.
2. Add tofu cubes and stir in the miso.  Cook for 2 minutes.  One minute before everything is cooked, add bok choy.
3. Turn off heat when the noodles are done.  Add soy sauce, sesame oil and seaweed.  Stir.  Serve right away.

* Feel free to adjust all the ingredients to your own preference

I simply googled for golden phoenix and got a photo.  This is my first piece of Photoshop thingy.  I really have a lot to learn in Photoshop in the next few weeks.

I’ve got very little time to do anything including cooking. So the only thing I can share today is the wedding present we wrapped for my stepsister and her husband. I didn’t make the main bow. It was store-bought. I didn’t make the box either. I only did the ribbon and put them together. Well, we’ve both been quite stressed out since we still haven’t slept much. Sleeping seems more and more like a challenging job nowadays.

I’ve set New Year’s resulotion or un-resolution but I haven’t been carrying those plans out religiously.  Maybe it’s just a human weakness that I don’t really want to face.  Whenever we make a plan, we’re doomed to encounter some unexpected changes.  We can’t foresee the future, so how can we plan everything out till the very last minute detail?  I guess I’m only looking for futile excuses to justify why I haven’t stuck with my own resolution.  The truth is that I wasn’t ready and I pushed myself.  Obviously I wasn’t going too far.  But I feel ready now.  At least for now I know that I can do this and I’ll try my best.  So here come my February resolutions.

1. I will lose 10 pounds.  (I’m not going to set a time frame or deadline.  I just know I’ll lose these 10 extra pounds that don’t belong to me.)

2. I will take a vigorous walk every day, whether it snows or rains outside.

3. I will finish reading the last 3 volumes of Proust’s In Search of Lost Time in 2008.

4. I will make some serious and casual creative endeavors in the next 10 months.

5. I will write more.

6. I will talk less and listen more.

7. I will finish reading all the books on our shelves before buying any new book.

I can’t believe I’m posting here at this hour.  I feel like I haven’t slept in 2 days.  I actually feel as if I had been waiting for a midnight flight at the airport.  Obviously I wasn’t feeling too creative.  Anyway, it was my mother’s birthday and since she doesn’t like eating much sweet food, I made half a batch of vegan cupcakes for her.  They were the basic chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting (VCTOTW) and a strawberry cut into halves on top.  Both my husband and I took photos of the cupcakes.  I like both photos below so I decided to post them together.  The cupcake looked like a bunny rabbit, don’t you think?

This is when I realized how much I suck at using Photoshop.  I opted for the easy drag-and-drop Picasa in the end.  I never knew that I should save my food porn photos on my hard drive too.  I ended up digging through my albums everywhere.  But I am reasonably happy with my first desktop.  The resolution is only for 1280×768 though.  Feel free to download it.

I decided to write a meme of my own. I’ve never done anything like that so I don’t know if there’s any rule that I should follow. Anyhow, my meme is below, which requires a little bit of imagination and suspense of your usual belief if you happen to have a strong view towards life and afterlife.

1. Are you an animal lover or are you afraid of anything furry?

2. If you are not afraid of animals, which animal do you think you would choose to be if you had to be an animal for the rest of your life?

3. Which animal resembles your spouse/partner/loved one?

4. What would you feed the animal that most resembles your spouse/partner/loved one?

5. If you had to choose what you would be in your next lifetime (please just assume this is possible for a second), among vegetables, plants, flowers, and animals, what would you rather be?

6. Which vegetable (or plant, flower, animal) would you want your spouse/partner/loved one be?

7. How long would you choose your life span is?

8. What would you want to do as a vegetable (or plant, flower, animal) for a living?

9. List three vegetable (or plant, flower, animal) that you absolutely don’t want to be. You can list all three of the same category, for example, three vegetables.

10. If you have to write a book about a vegetable (or plant, flower, animal) kingdom, what would it be like living in this kingdom? Would you be the king of this kingdom?

I’ve been way too busy to make much of a creative effort again. I still have to think what to do for the third day. But anyway, here’s the improved recipe for a whole wheat bread made with the bread machine. The good thing about this recipe is that there is no refined sugar in it. I only used pure maple syrup.

To make a 1.5 lb loaf

1 cup+1.5 Tbsp. soy milk
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1 tsp. salt
1.5 Tbsp. maple syrup
3 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/3 tsp. bread machine yeast

Unfortunately, my first entry is a little lame. I simply created a dish from my pantry and fridge, out of necessity. It was very yummy and satisfying, but not like what I planned - I had wanted to write something about my favorite books for the first entry. But I was too busy to sit down for a couple of hours to organize my thoughts. I’ll try harder in the next few posts.

The Really Everything Casserole
(serves 2-3) - feel free to adjust the amounts of the ingredients according to your pantry situation

3 Tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cups chopped celery
1 Granny Smith apple, diced
1 stale roll with sunflower seeds, cubed
1 small carrot, peeled and diced
1/2 zucchini, chopped
3/4 cup English peas (pea pods), ends discarded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup quinoa
2/3 (14 ounce) can butter beans
1 tsp. sage
3/4 tsp. rosemary
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 tsp. salt

1. Over medium-high heat, heat up the olive oil for a minute, then sauté garlic, onion, celery, and apple until everything is lightly caramelized. Add zucchini and pea pods and sauté for a minute or two.
2. Add bread cubes, sage, rosemary, cinnamon and black pepper. Cook for 3-4 minutes until bread gets toasty. Add quinoa and mix well. You should see most vegetables and bread get coated with quinoa. Cook for 2 more minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 350F.
4. Pour in the vegetable broth and stir well. Bring to a boil and then cover to simmer for 20 minutes. When the quinoa is mostly cooked, add butter beans. Cook for 5 more minutes. Add salt to taste.
5. Bake in a deep casserole dish for 40-45 minutes.

See this and more vegan recipes (and other stuff) in my Vox blog.