Secret family recipe, veganized: cough syrup

In the same few days, I managed to catch a cold while the temperature plummeted from beautiful 50F to 10F. Oh my.

My family was big on making cough syrup from scratch. And it always worked like a charm! The only problem: honey is the base.

Searching through my cupboards for relief, I stumbled upon my cure: brown rice syrup! Here's my family's cough syrup, veganized:

3 parts brown rice syrup (replaces honey, volume for volume)
2 parts lemon juice (yes, go ahead and use concentrate if you don't have lemons)
1 part whiskey (the cheap shit that you don't really drink is fine)

I use 1/8 cup as a "part," but feel free to use any unit of measurement that fits your fancy! Combine all ingredients in a small, resealable bowl. Mix with a spoon until completely homogeneous. Take 2 tablespoons of cough syrup every 4-6 hours until you feel better.

The syrup/honey coats and soothes your throat. The lemon starts to cut through the junk in your throat. And the whiskey cuts through the rest of the crap and makes your feel better!

Thanksgiving compromise

I've accepted that my close friends, family, and husband can enjoy vegan food but will never be vegan. To some, this may seem impossible. To others, you totally understand where I'm coming from. I'm not pushy and I'm patient. When asked, I explain why I'm vegan; I never tell my story without being asked.

Over the years, my family and I have had growing pains about my veganism. However, I'd say it is at its best right now!

This Thanksgiving I will be celebrating with my mom, sister, a co-worker from India, and an aunt and uncle (one pair out of four). We finally discussed what will be served, and I'm proud to present that more than 75% of it is vegan, some from Appetite For Reduction and some from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen blog, which I love dearly. Here's the list:

Chickpea Cutlets
Caulipots (mashed potatoes and cauliflower, AfR)
Chickpea Gravy (AfR)
Green Bean Casserole (FFVK)
Coconut Butternut Squash (AfR)
Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake (FFVK)
Dressing aka Stuffing (veganizing my grandmother's recipe)
Pecan Pie (Oey, we're going to try to veganize my mom's recipe this year)
A "relish tray" - this is what my mom calls a veggie tray with dip (We'll be making the dip with Tofutti's sour cream!)
Dinner rolls that are accidentally vegan
A couple of turkey breasts (I feel defeated, but it is not a whole turkey!)
My aunt is going to a side dish, but I'm not sure what it is

I talked my mom out of creamed corn (my least favorite vegetable), Jell-o, Jell-o with fruit in it salad, a regular salad (come on! it is Thanksgiving! I eat salads almost everyday), and candied yams.

Overall, this is a success this year for me. Compared to the first Thanksgiving a couple of years ago, this is amazing. At the first one, I could only eat the pie and side dish I brought.

What are you doing for Thanksgiving? If you have omni friends or family that you're celebrating with, how are you compromising with them (or do you not compromise)?

Product review: Gardien Seven Grain Crispy Tenders

I've tried a few different kinds of Gardien, but these are the one I like the best: Seven Grain Crispy Tenders. I use the traditional method of the conventional oven, so they do take a bit longer to make. My thoughts: yeah, they're good. I can eat the whole bag in one sitting. However, I can't eat them without some kind of bar-b-que sauce (more calories).
When I eat the whole bag, it is a guilty pleasure that comes back to bite me in the butt. literary. One bag is what? 5 servings? omg. Okay, so about 450 calories. When I pair them with baked tater tots or tater triangles, then eat the whole bag with bbq sauce, that's about a 1000 calories. A girl needs to know her limits, and I don't. And can't resist.
My rating:
Taste (with bbq sauce): 9/10
Taste (without bbq sauce): 2/10
Nutritional profile: 8/10 (they are decent for you)
Texture: 7/10
Convenience: 10/10
Works well with weight-loss diet: 0/10 (no restraint, remember?)
Overall: 5/10

Vegan MoFo Day 14: Cookbook Challenge

Two posts, one day? Yes, I was inspired to cook again! I love the ideas that spew from Vegan MoFo. I'm taking on a challenge, initialized by vegan.in.brighton. I too have a lot of cookbooks that I've barely touched. To make me feel like I use all of my cookbooks, the rest of MoFo, I'll be doing this challenge (optimally it will be every other day, but I'm shooting for everyday)!

A piece of paper for every cookbook that I want to use more goes into hat. I draw a piece of paper, then use random.org to generate 2 numbers (sorry, I just can't do three like Jojo!) I make the recipes on the corresponding pages, and post 'em. Also, I'm just going to use one cookbook instead of a couple. Since I plan on doing this for the remaining half of MoFo, I don't feel too bad about only using one cookbook at a time.


Here we go! Today's cookbook is The Kind Diet (don't judge me, I really like Alicia Silverstone!) and the random numbers generated were 151 and 208. Tonight's menu consists of Hot Rice with Cold Lemon, Basil, and Tomato along with Egg Salad Sandwiches.

The hot rice dish is a nice side dish. I definitely was tempted to open a can of beans to go with it! It is a simple dish to make, especially with my rice cooker. The ingredients are easy to obtain, which is a plus in my book. The recipe is easy to remember too! It reminds me of risotto that I make in my rice cooker, except I like my risotto better. In a pinch, it is a really quick and easy way to spice up rice. Since I eat rice a lot, this actually might make it back in the rotation.


The second recipe is Egg Salad Sandwiches made with tofu (not eggs). I halved the recipe, but there's enough tofu mixture to make at least 4 sandwiches, so I don't understand how many sandwiches equals a serving. After adding the ingredients and tasted it, I ended up doubling the spices; it was really bland. I also ended up adding some garlic powder, and then I liked the mixture.

Random side note: due to its name in health food stores (apparently), Alicia calls soy sauce by its other name: shoyu. This is really annoying to me. I've never seen soy sauce called shoyu.

The best part of this challenge: the leftovers. I've been trying to reduce the number of containers I take to work. Here, I've packed the rice and tofu-salad sandwich into one container - Bento Box Style!

I'm glad that I did this challenge. I don't think I would have made this dishes due to the "shoyu" - it just sounded complicated! I really enjoy how easy it was to put these two recipes together. However, I don't think I'll be turning to The Kind Diet anytime soon (unless chosen out of the hat!)

My favorite sandwich

I'm a simple person. I guess you already figured that out; my favorite weeknight dinner is beans and rice. Really? Yeah, I know.

Here's my simple sandwich cure for the weekdays: an avocado sandwich. Dress it up simple with some vegenaise. Or make it fancy: puree the avocados into a spread (while you're at it, add some vegenaise to that avocado to skip the step of adding it later. Or better yet, use a magic bullet and add onion, garlic, and lime!).

Additional toppings for me vary, based on what's in available in my fridge. If I have nothing but vegenaise, bread, and an avocado, then I'm not opposed to eating just that (pictured left). However, my favorite version of the avocado sandwich includes the blended avocado (with onion, garlic, and lime mixed in), alfalfa sprouts, tomato, red onion, and romaine lettuce.

Vegan MoFo 2010 Survey

I'm still pretty new to VeganMoFo, even though I wandered aimless around in blogs last year without posting. Anyways, there are usually surveys floating around; I saw this on (Mandee) Cupcake Kitteh's site, and thought I should participate in this too!

What is one food you thought you'd miss when you went vegan, but don't?

Marshmallows

What is a food or dish that you wouldn't touch as a child, but enjoy now?

Brussel Sprouts! However, I should be honest: I've only found two recipes that I love, both found in Appetite for Reduction.

What vegan food or dish do you feel like you should like but you don't?

Rice milk (or any rice milk products). It just feels too grainy to me and reminds me of skim milk.

What beverage do you consume the most of each day?

Water

What dish are you famous for bringing to gatherings?

For my work outings, it is either double layered pumpkin cheesecake or quinoa salad both from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen Blog (if you haven't checked it out, you should do so!) For other gatherings, cookies!

Do you have any self-imposed food rules (like no food touching on the plate or no nuts in sweets)?

Whenever possible, use the cast iron skillet!

What's one food or dish that you eat too much off when it's in your home?

Chips and salsa

What ingredient or food do you prefer to make yourself despite it being widely available repackaged?

Guacamole. I now have my family eating guacamole, so I can't really complain!

What ingredient or food is worth spending extra money on to get the good stuff?

Berries, broccoli, and oranges

Are you much of a snacker? What are your favourite snacks?

Snacking is my nemesis! If it is in the house, always chips and salsa. However, I eat a lot of hummus and crackers, yogurt and berries (raspberries or blueberries preferably), or peanut butter and celery.

What are your favourite vegan pizza toppings?

Basil, mushrooms, tomatoes, veggie pepperoni, green peppers, onions, garlic, and black olives. And if we have any fresh pineapple, that gets tossed on as well!

What's your favourite fruit and vegetable?

Broccoli has always been my favorite vegetable since I was a kid. My favorite fruit, boring as it sounds, is the orange.

What is the best salad dressing?

Cashew-based Caesar salad dressing. Oh. I might need to go make some and eat a salad.

What is your favourite thing to put on toasted bread?

Earth Balance Butter. However, lately I've been making tofu breakfast sandwiches with fried tofu, tomatoes, sprouts, and vegenaise, and that's pretty fantastic!

What kind of soup do you turn to on a chilly day or when you don't feel well?

Potato soup on a chilly day. Amy's No-chicken soup when I don't feel well (because I can open a can of soup but I won't want to make something from scratch!)

What is your favourite cupcake and icing flavour?

Tough question. I love the Tiramisu cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. However, I really like the Carrot Cupcakes from that book too! But my friend Erin makes these killer chocolate mousse cupcakes - I'm going to need to ask her for the recipe!

What is your favourite type of cookie?

Mexican snickerdoodle from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. My childhood favorite was No-Bake Cookies that my grandmother made all the time. I need to get a hold of that recipe to veganize it as well!

What is your most-loved weeknight meal?

I love cannellini beans with basmati rice and steamed veggies (preferred veggie is broccoli). It is super fast and simple to make!

What is one food or dish you enjoy but can't get anyone else in your house to eat?

My husband claims to hate tofu. We're opposites, you see.

How long on average do you spend in the kitchen each day?

1-3 hours, depending on the day.

As Mandee suggests, if you haven't done a survey yet, there's no time like the present! You should try one out too!

I like your bundt.

Many of you follow theppk on facebook, so this is old news for you. For those of you who haven't tasted this fabulous bundt cake, I command you to add theppk on facebook and make the Triple Apple Cider Bundt Cake.

Obviously, Isa's pictures are way better than my cell phone picture of the cake straight out of the oven (no frosting on it, as you can see in the photo. Here it is, sorta a proof of baking thing.

I made this cake for a co-worker's birthday. It was gone in about four hours. It goes well with coffee, tea, or a glass of soymilk (or whatever milk you prefer, I'm sure). My boss and co-workers give this cake 5 stars! And coming from all omnis, that's really awesome.

I ended up making 2 cups of the apple filling (...accidentally? I love apple pie, so probably not an accident). I ended up plopping some of that deliciousness onto toast - amazing!