Vegan Cooking for Carnivores

I just had to share this with you! My husband is a very strong and manly man: Video Games. Football. Basketball. Meat & Potates. He does his best to be supportive of my recent dietary change from Omnivorous to Vegan, but he wouldn't eat tofu if his life depended on it.

 

He does have a sweet and thoughtful side, however, that peeks out occasionally. Yesterday was one of those times. You ready?

 

***DRUMROLL***

 

My husband, on his way home from work, stopped at the local library and checked out this book:

  

 

 

I was floored - and excited! He said he checked it out because he wanted to cook me vegan burgers for dinner!! Isn't that the sweetest gesture? He hasn't cooked them yet - but I am still very pleased he looked into the subject on his own.

I cannot wait to try my hand at some of these and share my experiences with you! It is a very beautiful book.

 

...Until next time!

Crockpot Nation

I have never been a member of the Crockpot Nation. I don't pin hundreds of recipes that feature the popular slow-cooker to a Pinterest board exclusively devoted to the topic in my spare time. I don't share Memes and Posts around my mom's and foodie groups on Facebook and Google+. In fact, I only use my small slow-cooker about two times a year: Once at Thanksgiving and once on Superbowl Sunday; both times to hold my Rotel Dip.

 

Now, you should know that I am at my highest moment of culinary creativity when my cupboard starts to get a little thin. When I have worked my way through the canned goods and bagged items until all I have left are the beans, rice, and pasta - that is the moment when I am ready to try something new. I had arrived at that moment two days ago, and so, I looked to the bags at the back rear of my little cupboard: Pinto Beans, and Red Kidney Beans.

 

Mind you, I've never eaten Red Kidney Beans in my life, let alone cooked them, but I grew up on Pinto Beans, so being that Red Kidney Beans happen to share half a name with one of the greatest comfort foods of all time made this endeavor just a bit easier. I sorted and soaked both bags of beans, and set them in separate containers to soak overnight. Then last night, I brought out my slower-cooker. It only holds a couple of quarts at a time, so I first cooked the pinto beans, transferred the beans to another container; washed out the cooker dish, boiled the red kidney beans, then put them in the slow cooker with spices and bay leaves and started the process again.

 

As a result, I had a DELICIOUS and hearty bowl of Pinto & Kidney Beans for lunch with a slice of my homemade bread. Those beans....ohhhhh, those beans.

 

 

Fun Fact: I won this slow-cooker as a prize from Dave & Busters!

 

 

So, if I can do something other than melt Velveeta in my slow-cooker, who's to say I'm not the newest citizen of the venerable Crockpot Nation?

 

What is your favorite recipe to cook with the slow cooker, and why?

 

 

Cilantro Lime Brown Rice

Yesterday I had been taking inventory all day in my head of what ingredients I had at home which could be used to offer a tasty and well-balanced meal to my Handsome Husband and Lovely Littles, cooked in the least amount of time, since I arrive home from work between 5 and 6. My husband has a penchant for store-bought, frozen chicken-and-cheese taquitos, so I knew our freezer was stocked with those. I also knew we had some of my homemade salsa leftover from the other day (I don't really have a "recipe" persay, but I'll make it a point to post about this another time), and some store bought tortilla chips. I remembered I had chopped, uncooked remnants of an amazing 3-pound sweet potato I bought at the farmer's market on Saturday - my first purchase at our local market, ever! Finally, I had a bag of "Texas parboiled brown rice" sitting in the cupboard, to round out what would become a Tex-Mex feast.

"What do I do with the rice?" was my first thought. I make a mean Spanish Rice, and a decent Ginger Sage Rice, but we were out of some key ingredients for either dish, and I hate grocery shopping. I would rather change my entire menu to omit the one ingredient I don't have at home than go to the store to buy it. Because of this, I found myself google'ing the interwebs to come across this recipe for Cilantro Lime Brown Rice here.

I adapted the recipe only lightly, and it turned out well. If I had vegetable stock on hand (or chicken stock for you omnivores), I would have used that in place of the water with salt and cumin, and the rice would've come out a bit heartier and more satisfying; but, as previously mentioned, I wasn't going to the store to buy what I didn't have. I would just make do. It was still a wonderful addition to our Tex-Mex'ian meal.

Here is is some of that yummy rice!

Cilantro Lime Texas Parboiled Brown Rice

Ingredients

• 2-4 Tbsp Vegetable Oil (or whatever you have on hand)
• 1 small to medium Onion, diced
• 2 cloves Garlic, minced
• 2-3 dashes Salt*
• 1 cup Texas Parboiled Brown rice
• 2 cups Water, with 1 tsp Salt and 1/2 tsp Cumin
• 1 Lime
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup loosely packed Cilantro, chopped

Preparation

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, season with salt (about 2-3 dashes) and cook, stirring occasionally for 3-4 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring to avoid burning.

2. Reduce the heat to low and add rice. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add water with spices and the lime juice. Raise heat to medium-high and bring mixture to a boil. 

3. Reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer, cover, and cook until the rice is done as per the directions on your bag of rice.

4. Once liquid is completely evaporated and rice is cooked, fluff rice with a fork and stir in cilantro. 

*If you choose to use chicken stock in place of water/salt/cumin, increase the salt from 2-3 dashes to not more than 1 tsp of salt. Of course, dont add any salt to the chicken stock.

Now, if you're wondering about those sweet potatoes, stay tuned for new posts!

Enjoy!

Oven Baked Fries

French Fries are undeniably seductive. There's just something about the combination of the greasey, crunchy, salty exterior, and the warm, moist, soft interior that makes it nearly impossible to stop at consuming just one good french fry.

What I love about them isn't just the taste and texture, but the ease of making them, and the versatility of the dish: you can use any root vegetable! I have made carrot, sweet potato, and red potato fries, and they are always delicious. I like to toss my fries with salt, powdered garlic, oregano and paprika, but there are so many other spice blends that would work! Of course, I serve my fries with ketchup - it's a classic!

What's your favorite way to make french fries?

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies - Adapted, Vegan-Friendly

On Saturday, I had a handful of friends over for what I like to call a "Baking Party". My friends came over and brought an ingredient or two (chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, graham crackers, butter) and a recipe they wanted to try. I provided all the basics, the oven, and the cooking pans and utensils, and we talked and baked together. It was a lot of fun, and I look forward to hosting more in the future (or what if we got together once a month and did it at a different person's house each time?! *squeal*).

My new friend Nicole made Czechosolovakian Cocoa Oatmeal Cookies, adapting the recipe by adding in peanut butter chips and make it a cookie bar instead of individual cookies. My other new friend Melissa, made butter-saturated graham cracker cookies dipped in chocolate. It sounds simple, but I cannot emphasize how delicious they really were! My dear friend Katie came over later and made moan-worthy Peppermint Patty Brownies - so good they literally made me weak in the knees. I believe she adapted the recipe from here.

But today I'm going to share with you what I made: Vegan Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are much more moist and tasty than one would think by the title alone. I adapted my recipe from the Giving Up On Perfect blog. Their recipe - for the omnivorous - can be found here.

Here's a picture of one of my cookies. If it looks like I couldn't resist taking a bite before I took this picture, it's because I couldn't resist taking a bite of the cookie before I took this picture!

Vegan-Friendly Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread*
1 cup White, Granulated Sugar
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 heaping tsp Orgran No Egg Natural Egg Replacer* mixed with 1 tsp water, per box
1 cup Plain, Pumpkin Puree
1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
2 cups All-Purpose Unbleached Flour*
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 cups Oats*
1 cup Enjoy Life Dairy, Nut and Soy Free chocolate chips*

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream together the butter and sugars. Add in egg, pumpkin and vanilla. 
2. Mix together dry ingredients. Add dry mixture to sugar mixture. 
3. Fold in oats and chocolate chips. 
4. Scoop onto greased baking sheet (I used a serving spoon and tablespoon) and bake for about 12 minutes.

NOTES:

* I've heard Earth Balance makes baking sticks, but the buttery spread is what I had on hand!

*Any egg or egg substitute will do; again, No Egg is what I had on hand.

*Using white whole wheat flour makes these even healthier. Alternatively, you could add wheat germ to boost the protein, fiber and vitamin content of these cookies.

*I used old-fashioned oats; I imagine using quick-cooking oats could shorten the bake time

*It would be worth your time to experiment with different additives: peanut butter chips and chocolate chips; raisins and dried cranberries; chopped walnuts, raisins and chocolate chips; M&Ms and Reese's Pieces. These are all acceptable combinations!

 

Look at how the sunlight hits these cookies. This picture doesn't do them justice!

I like that these cookies can be made any time of year. Of course, they can be added to the long list of pumpkin-centered recipes, but I often get a craving for anything with pumpkin (and a longing for fall) in the late Spring and Early Summer.

If you make these, let me know what you think!

Introduction to Yummy Vittles

I know this has been done before (only about 20,975 times, according to Technorati), but I'm taking the plunge because I do love food, and I have some beloved friends that seem to enjoy my sharing my recipes and yummy vittles with them. I believe the secret to a successful life is to do only what you love. In step with that belief, this blog was born.

I must issue a disclaimer, however: I am a grossly under-educated Foodie, so don't expect anything fancy up in here. I've chosen the name "Yummy Vittles" to underscore that the type of food I make and share is lazy dinner-table fare. You can easily have anything I make at your next meal. My dishes are also yummy enough to be deeply satisfying, while equally sustaining. I even made a logo!

Another noteworthy bit is that I am a new vegan (as of 1/1/2014!), so most of my recipes are adapted to be vegan-friendly. You can easily make them omnivorous again by using real eggs and real butter where I use an egg substitute or vegan butter, etc. If you are gluten-free, you can usually adapt the recipes by using All-Purpose GF flour by Bob's Red Mill and a tsp of Xantham Gum (I've also heard THIS is a good DIY all-purpose flour recipe). I have friends that eat GF so I will occasionally dabble in that territory.

While we're at it, I thought this was a fun list of synonyms for "food": http://www.dailywritingtips.com/45-synonyms-for-food/ (I'm a bit of a language-junkie, too).

I think that's all for now. Enjoy!

--Bethany