More Blueberry Love

Did everyone incorporate lots of red into their days today?

…I didn’t. Unless you count “red” bananas.

I had to run to the co-op and Hannaford after my failed shopping trip the other day. I saw these adorable little babies and read:

…slightly sweeter than a yellow banana, red bananas also have a subtle raspberry taste…

I was sold. I’ve never had a red banana.

…and I still haven’t had a red banana, but would it be weird if I’m psyched for breakfast tomorrow already?

I’m going to be so disappointed when I unpeel one of the precious little babies and discover it looks that same as a yellow banana, aren’t I? I’m imagining it to be…I don’t know…fuchsia or something.

Luckily, the co-op is never in short supply of dates.

Thankfully, they even stock the vegan ones.

It’s hard to find non-vegan dates these days, let me tell you.

Speaking of odd labeling tactics, though – my mom (cute as she is) was telling me how the peanut butter she always buys tasted different to her, and when she looked at the label realized she bought the “vegan” one.

“Mom, a lot of peanut butter is vegan anyways…”

(p.s. can I get a high five for only buying what I need at the co-op today? I swear, that store is a booby trap. So much temptation. I do not. need. a giant tub of carob powder. I do not. need. more flours until I finish one up. I do not. need. any of these fancy granolas.I do not. need. one of every dried fruit/nut/jam known to man)

Anyhow. My day actually had nothing to do with Valentines day, pink or red. It didn’t feel very Valentines-day to me this year.

I’m not sure what Valentine’s day “feels like,” but apparently it’s something more than an ordinary day.

Or maybe I’m just still a little bit bitter about my failing and flailing Bruins.

Or the fact that I had to function on about 6 hours of sleep today because a. this sinus congestion is a total PITA at night, leading me to wake up about every two hours to blow my nose, b. I happened to get a little enamored with the Grammy’s when I realized they were on, and c. I’d keep trying to fall asleep and I’d have a million and one ideas flood my brain.

But first thing’s first. First, the breakfast I woke up to.

While I was blog-surfing last night, I saw Averie’s newest microwave banana oat cake – a blueberry banana oat cake! The oat cakes sort of remind me of a quicker banana scramble…and so when I saw the addition of blueberries, figured why not make a blueberry banana scramble?!

To make things super streamlined (and allow myself an extra twenty minutes of sleep in the morning) I mixed everything together before I went to bed. This left me with a consistency very similar to that of a breakfast cookie come morning. I added a bit more milk and then plopped it in a pan.

Lets pause and think about how cool the word “plopped” is. It gets my vote for best onomatopoeia. Say it with me: “…plop.”

Blueberry Banana Scramble

with coconut and ginger and a cashew-blueberry sauce

• 1/3 c. quick oats
• 1/2 a banana
• 1 T. wheat germ
• pinch ground cinnamon
• 1/8 t. ground ginger
• 1/2 T. shredded coconut
• 2 T. blueberry yogurt
• 1-2 T. milk of choice
• 1 t. chia seeds
• 1/4 c. blueberries (I used frozen)

Mash everything together. If preparing this the night before, you will need to add a bit more milk come morning. Transfer mixture to a greased, preheated pan and flatten. Cook until golden on both sides.

See here for the blueberry-cashew butter sauce

As for that tofu? Well, I’m muddling through it still. Another scramble, this time with pasta sauce instead.

You would think that with all of the things I make myself, I would make my own darn pasta sauce, but no. I still buy the jars.

And yes, I burnt my onion rings.

Okay, so I need to know your favorite onomatopoeia. Just because.

Ever had a red banana?

WINNERS! (and Blueberry Yogurt Pancakes)

I think my butt hurts from sitting on it so much today.

Usually if I say that, I’m half kidding, knowing I didn’t just sit all. day. long. But that’s really the extent of what I’ve done, save for the 15 minutes I decided to do random workout moves so I could regain feeling in my limbs.

I had a bunch of work to get done today for one class in particular, a ton of work on a top-secret mission of mine that is proving to be quite a project as well as designing some things for a couple of lovely bloggers, and add to that the fact that we had company coming at 11:00 and a Bruins game on at 12:30, I knew I was going to have to work hard to make the most of my morning.

Yes, the Bruins game does take precedence over everything else on that list. D’uh!

I was fueled by the best, however. Maybe it’s weird, but I hate using this yogurt as a snack/part of a meal/whatever. It just seems too expensive to eat all at once. Is that normal? Instead, I like to make “sauces” with it for pancakes. Or heck, add it to the pancakes.

Usually I get vanilla, but they were out of stock of it last time I went. Major bummer. Either way, I also put off eating these for the said price reason. The best-by date was nearing, though, and I figured that it being blueberry flavored and the fact that I caved and bought frozen blueberries the other day was pretty much destiny.

I am frugal. Slash cheap. Sue me. I have high hopes for this summer’s show season with the boy.

Oh, right; the recipe. Because you’re not sick of my pancake recipes yet. (that’s a joke.)

Blueberry-Spice Yogurt Pancakes

• 1/4 c. flour (I used graham, based on my obsession)
• 1 T. (generous) cornmeal
• 2 t. chia seeds + 2 T. water (mixed in a small cup)
• 1 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/2 T. shredded coconut
• 1/4 t. cinnamon
• 1/4 t. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 c. seltzer water
• 2 T. blueberry yogurt
• 1/4 c. blueberries (I used frozen blueberries that were uuuuber tiny – you might need more/less)

Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl. Add in the chia egg, seltzer and yogurt. Fold in the blueberries.

Pour onto a preheated, greased skillet and cook until golden brown on both sides.

Blueberry-Cashew Butter Yogurt Sauce

• 1 T. cashew butter
• 3-4 T. blueberry yogurt
• almond milk, to thin as desired

Whisk everything together. That is all.

The seltzer water is a baking trick I learned from Sarena. I wouldn’t say it is critical for the recipe – if you don’t have it, just use a milk of your choice (don’t sub plain water!) The carbonation makes them a bit lighter than they would be otherwise, though.

Does life get any better than blueberry pancakes?

No. Well, maybe it would had I used fresh lemon zest and juice – but I’m saving the lemons I have in case I need them to make lemon poppyseed cookies for a winner.

Yes, I’ll get to the winners.

But first: I think I’ve deduced that the Nasoya tofu is better when you are looking for more of an eggy-type dish. For me anyways – everyone else seems to love it so I think I just have high tofu standards.

There could be worse personality traits, don’t you think?

Barbecue scrambled tofu a la Matt.

Of course, after I added spinach, shallot and garlic, I realized I essentially made a deconstructed BBQ Spinach and Tofu Sammie.

Old loves die hard.

Onwards and upwards: The real reason you’re all reading this/”reading” this but really just skipping down to this part:

Did you know that wordpress has a little “hide/show kitchen sink” button in the add new post screen? I never had any idea, and had been missing Windows Live Write solely because I knew how to change font color and size as I saw fit.

Oh, right. Giveaway winners.

First winner issss…

Comment #45, Averie!

And secondly…

Comment #54, Mary!

And seriously, wordpress needs to number their comments or something. There’s nothing like counting down 50 comments on a computer screen.

ANYWAYS! Congratulations, ladies! Your wish is my demand. Shoot me an e-mail with your choice and I’ll hop-to.

Thank you to everyone for entering, though – I was shocked at how many people got involved with this giveaway!! So I will definitely be doing another one sooner rather than later 🙂

Drunk on Brownies

It’s a heat wave!

I think I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel that is the deep-freeze of January and February. It reached 30* today, and isn’t supposed to be below 20* (during the day) all week.

I am a happy girl.

Who had a wonderful ride on a happy pony.

Life is good.

And so is BBQ spinach and tofu.

My white balance, however, is not so good. Just pretend otherwise for the time being, m’kay? Please?

So remember how I’ve been saying I was now only going to buy the Vermont Soy tofu that I’ve proclaimed my love for?

Well, I guess I lied. For the sake of convenience (as well as the fact that I’m cheap and had a $1 off coupon thanks to the heads-up from Matt) I picked up some Nasoya Plus on my shopping-trip-gone-wrong yesterday.

I’m not gonna lie. I think I’m a Vermont-Soy-only kinda gal. Nasoya just doesn’t hold a candle. I’m not sure if I’m just spoiled or what. But the Vermont Soy tofu is so much easier to work with. I’m not sure that the taste is a huge difference, but at least I don’t need to press it for about five hours with my body weight in paper towels. And it gets a better “crust” and has a better texture all around. I’ll step off my soapbox now. One last thing, though, since every story has a moral…

Moral of the story: Vermont Rawks.

But I made do with what I had.

I hate to make a big deal out of a sandwich, but this simple combination is stupid good. And with it having a combination of onions and enough garlic to kill a cow, it lets you see who really enjoys your company enough to still hang out with you after eating it.

For one sandwich:

• 1/4 of a small yellow onion, sliced
• olive oil, for sauteeing the onions
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 “serving” (a.k.a. however much you want) tofu
• salt and pepper, to taste
• hefty handful spinach
• 1-3 t. barbecue sauce, to taste
• 2 slices bread
• earth balance/butter/whatever for grilling the bread

For maximum efficiency, you can do everything pretty much all at once: preheat a small pan over medium heat, adding enough oil to thinly coat the bottom of the pan. Add the onions and sautee, stirring occasionally, about 7-8 minutes, or until golden brown/beginning to get carameliz-y. Or just a little burnt if you’re like me…anyways. Meanwhile, preheat another large pan or griddle over medium heat. Place the tofu on the pan and spread a little earth balance/butter on one side of each of your slices of bread. Add to the pan with the tofu. Cook the tofu until it gets a little bit of a crust on it, and the bread until golden.

When the onions are done, transfer to a dish and add the spinach and garlic to the same hot pan. Cover and allow to wilt, stirring in the BBQ sauce. Once good and sloppy (trust me, it will be) assemble your sandwich by layering the onions on top of the bread, followed by the spinach and then the tofu.

After eating this, you’ll be a greasy grimy mess, but you’ll still have the satisfaction of knowing it’s really not all too greasy and definitely not grimy.

And because I wanted to be really stinky when I start sweating tomorrow, I decided to polish off the day with onion rings in which I used garlic salt in the breadcrumbs instead of regular salt.

And thanks to L, I even had real breadcrumbs to complete this mission with! I was as happy as a kid in a candy shop.

Who’d-a thought this turned out to be way easier than crushing a bunch of pretzels.

Oh, and by the way – cutting that onion totally reduced me to tears. I have been so sensitive to cutting onions lately. I don’t remember always being this way but I guess I should just be happy that I’m getting pretty skilled at slicing onions with my eyes clenched shut. I even got them nice and evenly sliced!

I’m kidding.

I am now proclaiming myself an onion ring fiend.

It’s just a shame I can’t find them this good anywhere else.

Badoom-chh!

Luckily for you guys, this is a recipe that Isa chose to share on her website.

Second on the plate: no, I will never tire of sweet potatoes.

I’d call it a rut, but I prefer to call it a groove.

That gross looking yellow plop?

Curry hummus. Oh kale yes I went there.

I can’t take the credit for this genius, though – I saw it whilst flipping through Eat, Drink and Be Vegan. I did simplify it, though:

• 1 can chickpeas (I used a 19 oz. can which I think is a little larger than most?)
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 t. curry (the curry powder I have is a sweeter curry, I think. I’m not a curry connoisseur, though.)
• pinch salt
• hefty pinch dried chives
• handful raisins

Drain the chickpeas, reserving the liquid in a cup or bowl. Add all ingredients except raisins to processor. Blend until smooth, adding in the reserved liquid as necessary. At the end, add the raisins and pulse a few more times to combine.

The “reserved-chickpea” trick is from Appetite for Reduction. I am a cookbook fiend lately, obviously.

By the way, try to stop eating this by the spoonful after your tenth spoonful straight from the processor. It’s really good on sweet p’s or onion rings and does deserve to show you that.

And since I was on a pieces-parts theme for dinner, tofu also made an appearance. Kind of.

Most of it was eaten before it made it to the plate. Sorry. I was waiting for the onion rings to finish cooking and it was right there! I couldn’t resist.

I followed the concept of this recipe for the ‘fu, but basically just reduced it to a combination of cashew butter, lime juice, salt, pepper and dijon mustard. It needed a hint of honey, but was otherwise just as good.

Rounded out by a spot o’ wine.

Okay, so maybe not quite. This cabernet brownie was in the Foodzie box I received yesterday. As you know, I’m usually saying I’m not a brownie person, but lately I’ve come to appreciate chocolate rather than feel it’s overrated.

See guys, there’s still hope for me!

I was surprised to discover I actually really liked it! Probably because it uses a weird flour. I’m a sucker for any  kind of different flour.

Like most things like this, though, it was so sweet after a couple of bites! Mreh, well.

At least if you have it you can say your drunk on brownies, whether you are or not. It’s got a ring to it, don’t you think?

What’s a simple sandwich combination that you love?

*****

DON’T FORGET! You have until tomorrow to enter my giveaway!!

Scrambling

I am loving reading everyone’s requests for winning the baked goods! Seems like the lemon poppyseed cookies and birdseed bars are in high demand 😉 Keep on piling in those entries!

***

I don’t think whatever that sickness I had yesterday had much of a chance…in fact, I think I effectively slept it off. Between dozing all morning yesterday and sleeping until nearly 8:00 this morning, I was good to go today. I woke up still a little “bleh,” but ate something and took 875% of my d.v. of vitamin C and I was feeling better already.

I actually received this sample along with my iHerb order, and I figured there was no day better than today to use it. Yes, that is 525 mg of vitamin C per serving, and yes, that does equate 875% of my daily value of the stuff.

I was a little worried I was going to turn into a clementine or something, but I’m still alive. Even better than alive, dare I say.

Maybe this was the reason why I felt so good all afternoon? It’s probably just coincidence, but oh well 😉

Good enough to go grocery shopping, even!

…unfortunately, I would have been better off at home. Ugh, $60? Really? I am so upset because I didn’t need to spend that much. In fact, I had just cashed a check for $45 an intended to spend no more than that.

I decided to just go to Price Chopper (from here on out to be called “The store which shall not be named,” AKA TSWSNBN) rather than Hannaford (closest thing I have to a Whole Foods around here, though I’m thinking it’s less expensive from what I hear) because of the whole convenience thing. TSWSNBN = 5 mins away, Hannaford = 1 hour away. It’s convenient if I’m in the area because of work/going to see Teddie, but not on a day like today.

Anyways. I get there and start cringing at the produce prices, but shrug it off thinking “I didn’t spend any gas money to get here at least.” and carry on. Note I pretty much just buy produce that’s on sale. If you can call it that.

Not only that, but they were out of just about everything I needed – most imperatively, dates.

I almost started crying when the stock-boy told me they were sold out. My lip started quivering and I had to breathe deep, but luckily I spared him the waterworks. And moved on to wanting to hit him over the head with the chopped dates he suggested I get.

You know you’re a date addict when you move from feelings of despair to ones of extreme anger.

Not only that but all their produce was on its outs, they didn’t have any old fashioned rolled oats unless I wanted to buy them in the tiniest container possible for $4 and I bought a moldy yucca.

So basically, I have to go to Hannafords and/or the co-op sometime soon anyway. And had I known that from the get-go, I just plain wouldn’t have wasted my time and money there today.

UGH! Okay, rant over. Onto happy things.

Like banana scrambles.

Oh hail yes. I feel better just looking at that. Don’t you?

It’s like food therapy.

See, the other option for breakfast the other morning was a banana scramble, but the French toast had the louder scream.

When I saw Jenny suggest a banana scramble on that very post, I knew it was fate. I had to try one, once and for all. I might start cheating on my pancakes for these babies, too.

But oyu know what I haven’t had in a while?

Anything gingerbread. I’m assuming this has been done already, since it is gingerbread and all…but here’s how I did it:

Gingerbread Banana Scramble

adapted from The Edible Perspective’s Cinnamon Banana Scramble

• 1/3 c. quick oats
• 1 T. oat bran
• 1 t. chia seeds
• 1-2 T. milk
• 1/2 of a large banana
• 1/2 t. cinnamon
• 1/8 t. ground clove
• 1/8 – 1/4 t. ground ginger
• 1/4 t. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 – 1 t. molasses
• pinch of maple sugar

Mash the banana with the oats. Mix in all remaining ingredients and then form into a patty with your hands. Place on a pre-heated, greased pan and cook until golden brown on both sides. Top with peanut-ginger sauce.

Peanut-Ginger Sauce

• scant 1/4 c. peanut flour
• 1/2 – 1 t. molasses
• 1/2 t. maple syrup (or to taste)
• pinch ground ginger
• heavy pinch ground cinnamon
• 2-3 T. milk

Whisk together all ingredients, starting with just 1 T. milk and adding more to get to your desired consistency. Check for sweetness, adding more maple syrup as your taste buds call for it 😉

The only thing that would have made this better would have been having it between French toast. Too bad I was out of bread :[

But naturally, when new obsessions are born, they do not die quickly. As a snack post-workout, I decided more were necessary as an almost-lunch-but-not-quite.

On a note unrelated to banana scrambles, I think this was when I realized I might be more of a “late morning” workout kinda gal. I’ve never given myself the chance to workout anytime other than mornings, before starting my day. I felt like my mind was so much more in it today, though.

Maybe I was just high on Vitamin C, though.

In keeping with my almost-tradition of making just about everything either gingerbread or carrot cake, though, these ones were carrot cake.

I die.

Carrot Cake Banana Scrambles

adapted from the Edible Perspective’s Apple Scramble

• 1/4 c. quick oats
• 2-3 T. applesauce
• 5 shredded baby carrots (do you find it funny to imagine me shredding poor little baby carrots?)
• 1 t. chia seeds
• 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 t. ground nutmeg
• pinch ground ginger
• 1/2 T. shredded coconut
• pinch maple sugar
• 2-3 T. milk

Combine all ingredients, adding in more milk as you see fit. Carefully form a patty (or two) and place it on a preheated, greased pan. Cook until golden on both sides.  Serve and top with peanut-carrot sauce, coconut, carrot, pecans and molasses.

Peanut-Carrot Sauce

• scant 1/4 c. peanut flour
• 1 shredded baby carrot
• 1/2 t. maple syrup (more or less as desired)
• 2-3 T. milk

Whisk all ingredients together, adding milk 1 T. at a time until you reach your desired consistency.

I think this one would have been ever better with a banana instead of applesauce, just to add a little bit more sweetness to the carrots. I didn’t really want to go on three bananas today, though. What can I say?

What else happened today? Well, naturally I made more bread. Do I even need to say I love Sarena’s bread anymore? It’s probably engrained in everyone’s brains already.

I made this loaf with 6-grain flour that I’d almost forgotten about, adding in a little Vital Wheat Gluten to make up for the heavier flour.

You know bread is good when you can eat it plain without even toasting it.

I made Chelsey’s granola and burnt all the raisins.

Luckily, I don’t mind the occassional taste of char. You probably think I’m being witty right now but I’m totally serious.

Ironically, I also had to make it with quick oats. The whole reason I wanted to get rolled oats at the store was so I could make granola. My heart was dead-set on making granola though, so I didn’t give up. It worked better than I thought it would!

Aaand lastly – sausage and peppers and a baked sweet potato.

You know what I realized? I don’t think I like green peppers anymore.

And also: Jenn’s method of baking a couple sweet potatoes at a time (in the oven) for grabbing one on the fly, totally works. I baked this one when I baked one for last night, and after reheating in the toaster oven, it was just as good as if it were fresh out of the oven. It’s a great trick if I’m craving a sweet potato for work the next day since it takes an hour in the oven and I now flat-out refuse to microwave-bake my taters.

What are your time-saving techniques?

Seitan Sausages

I had better not be getting sick.

My boss has been sick for the past…well, it seems like he’s always sick…but really sick for the past two weeks. I’ve been feeling 100% but all of a sudden this afternoon I got a tickle in my throat.

When these things happen, I tend to go a little overboard. Call it paranoia of catching the nasties, if you will. But as soon as there is even a vague hint of a cold or the nasties, I come home and start chugging the vit C and fresh veg.

And seitan sausages.

What, you don’t look to sausages to cure the plague?

…oh. Maybe it’s the higher protein content that I am hoping will shield me from infection.

You may or may not recall my mention of being burnt out on tempeh.

As well as my mention of limiting my grocery spending.

Enter: seitan. I used to make it all the time. What happened?!

I have no reasonably excuse for our time apart. I do enjoy seitan, after all.

But it was time to take vital wheat gluten’s and my relationship to the next level.

Every since first hearing I could make my own “seitan sausages,” I was intrigued by the idea.

Every time I went to make them though, I was turned off by all the many steps.

I think I was just being lazy, though. Truth is, making them was not difficult. I could have read the directions to Kaia and she’d have been able to make them, for Pete’s sake.

I based my seitan sausages off of these recipes. The flavors weren’t anything that tickled my fancy for what I envisioned in my mind, so I took the template and tweaked to my liking.

Aren’t they creepy looking?! No fear, though – they taste phenomenal. Perfect to go with a “sausage and peppers” theme. With pasta and jarred pasta sauce.

The initial idea was to have them with Chelsey’s Mexicalian cilantro pesto, but it was as I was chopping the cilantro for my sausages that I remembered I’m not a cilantro fan.

I think I get my herbs mixed up, and can only remember which ones I like when I smell them fresh.

From now on, I’ll just be that girl over in the produce aisle, sniffing all the herbs before landing them in my cart.

Hey, they have those little shower-sprayers for a reason. For wackjobs like me.

Either way, I still sauteed some sliced sausage up with onions and jarred roasted reds. We had no fresh. I’m telling you, my fridge is empty. I’m going to make it work, though. The cilantro was the last fresh bit of green in there, which is why it still made an appearance. The rotini tossed in jarred pasta sauce pulled it all together.

It’s the little things, people. The little things.

Tonight I had one in a similar fashion, but with polenta. Mmmm, mm. I love polenta.

Seitan Sausages:

yields 3-4 sausages

adapted from “Have Cake Will Travel”s fauxsages.

• 1/2 c. + 2 T. vital wheat gluten
• 2 T. nutritional yeast
• 1/2 t. italian seasoning
• dash crushed red pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 T. onion, chopped finely
• 1 T. fresh cilantro, optional
• 1/2 t. sea salt
• 2-3 sundried tomatoes in oil, chopped
• 1 t. dried chives
• 1 T. olive oil (I used the olive oil in the sundried tomato jar)
• 1/3 c. + 3 T. water

Preheat oven to 325* F. In a large bowl, combine the VWG, nutritional yeast, italian seasoning, pepper, garlic, onion, cilantro, salt, chives and tomatoes. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil and water. Add to the VWG mixture, and mix to combine. Knead a few times. If you’ve got some herbs/onions/tomatoes wanting to fall out, that’s fine.

Divide the mixture into 4 equal parts, roll out a bit, and wrap tightly in a piece of aluminum foil. Repeat for the remaining, and place in a baking dish. Bake for one hour to an hour and 15 minutes. When done, unwrap and allow to cool. Or eat right away.

Some notes:

• I think I overcooked mine a bit at an hour and 15. Next time I’d probably just do an hour.
• I’d also like to try baking them in something, like tomato sauce. Maybe if they were baked in the foil for half the time, then taken out and baked in tomato sauce?
• Needs more cowbell.

On another note, I wanted to share this fab little snack/dessert/what-have-you:

Averie’s banana oat cakes. The fig jam is a critical element.

What do you do when you have a hunch the plague is after you?

Seitan – yay or nay?