Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Life sometimes really gets in the way of blogging.

...and cooking!

I've been busy with wedding things, medical issues (I want to return my stomach for a refund), work, gym trips (which don't seem to be making a difference), family things, potlucks (though this is such a good thing) and I haven't been able to post.

It's been a long time, folks!

I haven't been cooking too much beyond tofu scrambles lately, mainly because it's about all my tummy can handle about 85% of the time. I'm fortunate that I can handle some random spicy yummyness on occaision, but definetely not regularly. Here are some of the dishes generated by my kitchen as of late.

Potatoes and Tofu in Miso Gravy from VwaV



This dish is beyond delicious and not too rough on my delicate stomach. If you haven't tried it yet, please do it soon. Be warned though, you might eat the entire pot yourself if you aren't careful.

Quinoa Pilaf with Pan Fried Tofu Nuggets and Esme's Sauce



Another tummy friendly dish. This was just some quinoa I cooked up with some mushrooms, edamame, leftover broccoli and veggie stock. I molded it to look pretty on my plate and added some quickly pan fried tofu. I topped it with a variation on Esme's sauce recipe, which for me just basically consisted of equal parts lemon juice, tahini, nooch, garlic powder, white miso, water & grapeseed oil.

BoringTofu Scramble



This is my default dinner. It's based on the VwaV recipe, only with less spice and lots of broccoli.

Melody's Crazy Delicious Amazing Asian Tofu and Green Beans (test recipe)



This was perhaps the most delicious Asian dish to ever come out of my kitchen aside from the VwaV Pad Thai! I couldn't really indulge in this much without a world of hurt, but M ate almost all of it in one sitting. It was really REALLY good. Restaurant quality. I hope Melody does put out a cookbook or cookzine or something. Her food always looks amazing and this recipe was proof positive that she is a goddess in the kitchen!


Joanna's GI Friendly and Totally Fantasical Lemon Butter Rice and Collard Greens (test recipes)




I've been lax in my recipe testing duties, but these recipes have become staples in my house. The lemon butter rice has this beautifully familiar flavor that reminds me of the Rice A Roni mixes I was addicted to as a kid, except so SO much tastier. The collards are this nice spicy savory bit of yum. Joanna is fantastic. Trust me, when her cookbook comes out, it will be a must have for everyone!


The 3,000 Calorie Pizza




I have no idea of the calorie content. Nor do I want to. It started off simple. Flatbread crust, jarred sauce, sauteed spinach & broccoli. And somehow I decided to put seitan on top. But plain seitan? Oh no. I had to deep fry it. It was like Paula Deen possesed me or something. I made a batter out of soymilk, panko and baking powder. It came out like tempura. I sliced it and put it on top and wow. I didn't eat any of the pizza. I had a few bites of the seitan and it made my tummy angry. It was okay. M was glad that he had enough for dinner and lunch the next day.

So here's the one thing that makes my insides feel really good...



There is a local old fashioned ice cream shop that has a non dairy soft serve mix. You can add ANY of their flavors to it. This was strawberry. I enjoyed it on that one fleeting 70 degree day a few weeks ago. Come back Spring!

41 comments:

scottishvegan said...

I have tummy troubles too so I can sympathise with you there. I love the Potatoes and Tofu in Miso Gravy from VWAV… they are sooo good! And I could definitely eat the entire pot by myself! Your pizza looks really good. I was quite excited because I misread the title and thought it said 300 calorie pizza and I thought I was about to find out how to make a gorgous low calorie pizza! Ah well…

bazu said...

I'm so sorry for your tummy troubles- have you figured out what's bugging it yet? I hope you feel better soon!
In the meanwhile, you've been eating well! I love the look of that quinoa dish. Your comment about Paula Deen taking over your body made me laugh- exorcise her right away! Evil!
Oh my gosh- non-dairy soft-serve ice cream from an ice cream shop?? With your choice of flavor?? Sigh... I want some right now!

Congrats on the contest =)

Kati said...

I'm sorry to hear about your continuing tummy troubles. I can definitely relate. The only thing that's helped me recover lately (besides finishing off my bottle of protonix :P) has been cutting out all foods that could possibly be considered spicy, including all tomatoes and bell peppers. Hopefully you'll find a solution that works for you soon.

That soft serve looks amazing! I'm so impressed that an ice cream place had a vegan option. I really want to try the tofu and potatoes from VwaV - it looks great and very tummy-friendly! =)

Unknown said...

Your food looks great (especially the heart shaped pizza -- aww!). I have this recurring dream where I wrap a calzone (like a pizza) with phyllo and deep fry it.

I hope your stomach problems iron out. It seems like everyone I know (at least half a dozen people) is having stomach problems these days.

Anonymous said...

try using rice oil...it is hypoallergenic and contains gamma-oryzanol. have you tried taking a fish oil dose-buy fresh and keep it in the fridge

Candi said...

Nikki, I hope your stomach troubles ease up on you! Is it nerves? You have so much to do and plan... I hope you can relax a little now and again.

Your foods look great. Deep fried seitan pizza? Holy yum. My stomach would kill after that, but I'd love it anyhow!!

I'm so envious of the ice cream too! :P I wouldn't even think to look into any ice cream shops... now I know! :)

Nikk said...

Vincent: I like your idea of the deep fried calzone! I hope you do it someday and blog wildly about it!

Bazu: I'm trying to shake the Paula out of me. :)

Mark: I will look up rice oil! I don't do fish oil as I'm veg*n.

Candi: If you're ever in Newton, go to Cabot's. Actually, you NEED to get over here so we can do dinner/ice cream! There's a PPK meet up at Grasshopper coming up soon. Maybe you can come?

Unknown said...

Whoa. Your pilaf and your tofu look AMAZING. I'm hungry now.

KleoPatra said...

All that food looks SO good! Especially the "hi cal" pizza. I'd be all over that. I am so glad to see you posting, and i understand your being so busy... please take care of you! Hope your tummy gets happier soon... *HUGS* Nikki!

aTxVegn said...

It's good to hear from you, Nikki! I have stomach issues too, so I definitely feel for you. Wheat is my main enemy. I will never give up spicy food! Your dishes all look wonderful. The lemon rice sounds delicious and tummy-friendly. And ice cream will always make you feel better!

MeloMeals said...

I'm so sorry about your tummy issues.. that has to be tough..

I'm glad the tofu/green dish turned out well..

I really have to make the potatoes and tofu in miso gravy.. they looks sooo good.

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

yay! You're back!
Your pizza idea is stunning. so wicked! I really need to try the miso potatoes.

Twisted Cinderella said...

I am so glad you are back! I am sorry about your tummy troubles. and I want your ice cream shop to send some ice cream up to me. Do you think it would melt before it got here? LOL just kidding

theONLYtania said...

That's a bummer about your stomach. The potatoes and tofu dish looks great, I've been craving potatoes lately because I realized I haven't had them in forever!
Haha funny pizza story. Mmmm the ice cream looks sooo good. I do wish the weather would get nice again!!

Anonymous said...

I really hope your stomach gets on the right track soon. Not being able to eat much must be miserable. Although the convenience of that soft serve would probably make it my nightly dinner. And breakfast for that matter. With strawberries it looks like a winner.

runswithdog said...

Hey, thanks for the visit and the comment on my blog. I will post information, books and the websites I use for information about raw feeding soon.

I hope you feel better soon. My husb has gastrointestinal issues so I sympathisize with you. Hope you are feeling better soon!

BTW, your food all looks so delish!

Anonymous said...

It's good to hear from you, too bad that your stomach are giving you so much trouble.

Anonymous said...

you have no idea how delighted i am to see you update!!!! but your poor stomach, what's wrong with it? i wish you could exchange it for a "better" one, you poor thing.
your foods look absolutely outstanding and i'll be annoying and insist that you should update more often.

laura k said...

I hope your tummy issues get worked out soon... ginger is the only advice I can offer! Hey, I wish I could find vegan soft-serve around here!

How's the wedding stuff coming along? :)

Anonymous said...

Tummy issues are no fun, I can certainly sympathize with you!

Everything looks delicious. I am so excited for all of the new cookbooks that everyone is testing for. Every recipe looks amazing.

urban vegan said...

I hope you're feeling better, Nikki. Stomach probelms sure get in the way of eating, cooking and blogging--though it looks liek you;ve made some amazing stuff.

(((hugs)))

Anonymous said...

Hey Nikki !

I am so sad to hear you are not feeling well :(((
I will be sending lots of Perfect Health thoughts your way.

Potatoes and Tofu is Miso Gravy sounds so good ! I have to try that. Another one of VWAV's recipes I haven't tried yet !

Take care ! And let us know how you're doing !

MeloMeals said...

Hey, I just saw your reply to the baker thing... and I'm not sure what exact hours she is hiring for.. but I think it's full time. So far, I love working there. She can't pay much right now.. but I firmly believe she is a fair person.. and when her business takes off more, she will be able to compensate us more. I LOVE the job so far... great group of women. Nashua to Concord wouldn't be bad at all!

The www.cafeindigo.com is the url.. and her name is Patti. There is contact info on their website.. tell her you heard about it from my blog..

Mikaela said...

That is a lot of broccoli in that tofu scrambler - which is *not* a bad thing :D

Emmy said...

Glad to see you are you blogging again. So sorry to hear of your tummy troubles :( I hope you feel better soon. All the food looks great. That is awesome you can get non-dairy soft serve. I'm jealous!!

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

Hi Nikki! I'm so happy to come by and see a new post cuz I've missed you. Sorry to hear about your tummy - do you know what's going on? Hope you feel 100% asap! All your food looks fabulous, and I'm especially craving your pizza! mmm, good. How's the wedding planning going?!! :o)

Candi said...

Hi again!
Just wanted pop by and say hi since I was actually online for once! ;)

Hope the wedding planning is going great!!

aTxVegn said...

How's it going Nikki? Do you have any wedding plans you could share with us?

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