poopiebitch.com - a vegan food blog » tempeh

I want to ride my bicycle

poopiebitch — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:37:46 +0000

I don’t have a lot to share with you today, but I promise my next post will include a picture of a cake I recently made. I haven’t been taking a lot of pictures lately, but I have been making lots of yummy food! I’ll try to get back into the habit of snapping pics before I eat. In the meantime, here’s a bad picture of an awesome meal:

They may look blurry, but they tasted awesome

DEOTS Tempeh Wingz served up with roasted baby red potatoes and roasted broccoli, both from the Farmers’ Market. The Brit wouldn’t touch the broccoli, so I may have eaten the entire head myself.

In other news, I kicked the ass of my May cycling goal, finally coming in at 133.16 miles for the month, with my longest ride being 13.22 miles. My new goal for June is 150 miles, with the additional goal of cycling 15 miles in one ride. I’ve already gone 11.2 miles today, so I’m off to a good start!

Bourbony tempeh

poopiebitch — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 20:47:09 +0000

I would like to share with you an item of deliciousness that I made recently: Jessy’s Maple-Bourbon Glazed Tempeh. Anything from Jessy’s blog is sure to be fantastic, but when you throw in some bourbon (I used Maker’s Mark), it could be nothing less than awesome.

Jessy suggests marinating the tempeh in some veggie broth after steaming, but I was making tempeh bacon anyway so I threw all the tempeh in the marinade together. I’m sure the recipe is fantastic as is, but let me tell you – the salty/smoky flavor of the bacon marinade paired with the sweet bourbon glaze sent this meal over the top! All I can say is: YUM. Plus, it was super-easy.

Sorry for the steamy picture, but look! Bourbony!

Thank you for another amazing recipe, Jessy – this one’s going into the rotation, for sure.

Sweet toothiness

poopiebitch — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 02:12:00 +0000

I have a chocolate orange layer cake cooling on my counter right now, waiting to be iced. Why, you ask? Well… why not?

Yesterday I made a slightly modified version of Jessy‘s Glazed Tempeh with Spiced Apples and Raisins. It made me very happyfaced, indeed! Thanks for the yummy recipe, Jessy!

The other day I was shopping at Kroger and noticed that their Larabars were on sale. They’re normally $1.49, but they were on special for $1.25. Meh, better… but not great. I can get Clif bars for $1, so I have a hard time spending that much on other bars, even though Larabars are my favorite.

Then I noticed that almost all of the bars had 40¢ off coupons stuck to them. DING! Kroger doubles coupons under 60¢, which meant these Larabars, which are normally $1.49, were 45¢! Hello! The cashier looked at me a little funny, but I stocked up. They only had Apple Pie, Cherry Pie, Chocolate Coconut Chew and Cashew Cookie (no Ginger Snap, boo), but I wasn’t about to complain. I might just go back and buy more before they go off sale!

Now, I’ll leave you with one of the saddest sights ever – an almost empty cookie jar.

Stacked food tastes better

poopiebitch — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 05:55:00 +0000

It’s pretty late so I’ll keep this entry short. It’s about time I updated though since it’s been a couple of days.

Tuesday was The Brit’s birthday so we had planned ahead of time to go out to eat for lunch (we didn’t go out last week for that very reason). We headed out to his favorite Indian place Golden India. It was awesome as always!

We had planned on just having sandwiches for dinner, but my parents offered to buy us dinner at a restaurant of The Brit’s choosing to celebrate, and we couldn’t really pass up a free meal, now could we? He picked P.F. Chang’s, and it was really good too.

Because of eating out twice in one day(!), I don’t have any pictures from Tuesday. I do have a couple of old ones that I never posted though. I’ll share them now.

Behold, tofu scramble:

And here’s one of some spinach pesto pasta. I made this before our trip to Texas in an effort to use up a bag of spinach that was going to go off. It’s mostly spinach, a little fresh basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. I decided at the end to blend in some soft silken tofu to make it creamy. It certainly did! This was rich and yummy.

I did end up using the leftover tempeh from my last post in sandwiches. It was much better like this than on it’s own, by far.

And last but not least, yesterday was my one year veganniversary! To celebrate I made some stacked food. Pan-fried polenta topped with walnut white bean puree and mushrooms sauteed in white wine, served with garlicky spinach. Yum!

Peace out, yo!

“A loaf of bread,” the Walrus said, “is what we chiefly need.”

poopiebitch — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:20:00 +0000

On Saturday I baked four loaves of whole wheat bread. I was hoping that they would last us through the whole week, but I’m not sure they will. The Brit goes through a lot of bread, and I find it kind of hard to resist when it’s homemade and fresh. It’s cheaper than buying bread, but I may have to supplement with store-bought. Either that, or bake twice a week. Also, our bread intake will probably go down a bit once homemade bread stops being such a novelty and becomes the norm.

Meanwhile, I’m really enjoying it. I’d forgotten how much better fresh home baked bread was than store bought. Here it is starring in a tempeh BLT:

And here accompanying some tart lingonberry jam:

Delish.

For lunch today I made baked marinated tempeh with pan-fried polenta and peas.

I used a store-bought marinade (Annie’s Naturals Island Marinade), and while I thought it was ‘okay’, The Brit did not like it at all. He ate about two bites of the tempeh (at least he tried!), but it was a definite ‘no’. I managed to confirm that it wasn’t the tempeh he didn’t like – he said the texture was just fine – but that the marinade tasted too ‘vinegary’.

I’m afraid I have to agree. I didn’t find it unpalatable, but I wouldn’t buy it again. That’s what I get for taking shortcuts! It did remind me a little of a Jamaican Jerk type flavor, so I plan to use the leftover tempeh in a Jamaican Jerk style sandwich, ala Spiral Diner. I’ll let you know how that goes.

On the bright side, he ate all of the polenta.

What you want, baby I got it

poopiebitch — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:07:00 +0000

I made this a few weeks ago and have only just got around to uploading the pictures – shameful! Another tester for Bianca, and another winner! Southern Fried Tempeh Steak with Milk Gravy, and Creamy Corn Casserole (served up with mashed potatoes and peas).

The fried tempeh was sooooo good!

And the corn casserole was so rich and creamy and decadent. The Brit said he ‘loved’ both of these dishes – score!

Next up, dinner loaf. I’ve been trying to use up stuff I already have on hand, and this fit in with that plan nicely. I used this tool to build my recipe, changing just a couple of things to fit what I had on hand and personal preferences. Another hit with The Brit – he even asked me to make sure I wrote down what I did so I could make it the same way again. Served with mashed potatoes, green beans and gravy (not shown). Sorry for the mediocre picture, but you get the idea.

And last, but certainly not least, orange tamarind glazed tofu! This was really yummy, just a teensy bit too sour. Next time I will cut down a little on the tamarind paste – otherwise, super good. Served up with quinoa, peas and glazed carrots.

That’s it for now – look forward to more frequent updates from now on… find out why in my next post!

No New York Yet -OR- I love alliteration

poopiebitch — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:48:00 +0000

Yeah, that’s right, my lazy ass hasn’t sorted through the pictures from NYC yet. I will do it, I promise. I have been cooking though! Shown below, in a somewhat nonsensical dinner-lunch-breakfast order, are my latest yummies.

First off, Bianca‘s Chipotle Chickpea Chili, another tester for her book. Holy mother of beans, this stuff is good. Even The Brit ate it, and he’s the pickiest person I know. I made some double corn bread muffins to go along with it. Thank goodness this made enough for leftovers tonight, because I’ve been craving it since I got up this morning. I almost had it for breakfast. Seriously.

Up next, I have possibly boring but incredibly delicious lunches from the last couple of days. First, roasted red pepper hummus, avocado, tomato and cucumber in a whole wheat pita. So easy. So good.

Next, essentially the same thing but with leftover tempeh bacon and Vegenaise in place of the hummus. Serious yum.

Last, breakfast this morning was tofu scramble, which is so hard to photograph because it rarely looks pretty, but I tried anyway. This was basically a ‘clean out the fridge before I go out of town again’ breakfast, using up leftover tofu, mushrooms and onion. I normally like something green in my scramble, but I didn’t have anything so I tossed in some sun-dried tomatoes instead. Doesn’t really make sense, but whatever. The muffins are just leftover cornbread with blueberry jam.

The Brit and I are leaving tomorrow to go to Nashville for the weekend, so I probably won’t post again until Monday. Have a good weekend everyone!

Inauguration Day breakfast

poopiebitch — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:47:00 +0000

I had an awesome time in NYC, but I haven’t sorted through all my photos yet, so you’ll have to wait to read about it. Don’t worry, I have something equally as good – if not better – for today’s post.

Seeing as it’s such a special day, what with the inauguration of President Obama and all, I figured I should make a special breakfast. And what could be more special than testing Bianca‘s Cinnamon Pecan Waffles and Tempeh Bacon from her upcoming southern vegan cookbook! I couldn’t decide on which photos to share, so I thought I’d just share a bunch!

Let me tell you – these were the best waffles I’ve ever made. Seriously. The flavor was awesome, cinnamon-y and not too sweet, and the texture was perfect! Crispy and delicious. And since The Brit isn’t a fan of pecans, I get to eat all of these waffles myself! Yay! I even have enough leftover to last the rest of the week.

The tempeh bacon was also the best I have ever made. Of course, I’ve only tried once before, but it was a total disaster. Bianca’s recipe was so easy and so tasty, I can’t wait to make it again! I definitely see some rockin’ TLT’s in my future.

Pictures from Manhattan to come, but in the meantime, happy inauguration day everyone!

Last supper

poopiebitch — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:18:00 +0000

Thanks to everyone who offered their condolences for my recent loss.

My new oven will be delivered tomorrow. I have needed a new oven since we moved into this house, but I’ve never HAD to buy one, so I’ve been putting it off. It is kind of a blessing in disguise, although choosing a replacement oven was not without it’s own trials.

The oven that died is the original from when the house was built. It’s 23 years old and never held a consistent temperature since I’ve lived in the house. It’s always required constant babysitting of my oven thermometer to not turn every cake and meal into charcoal. In a nutshell, it was time.

Unfortunately, it is a 27″ drop-in oven. The counter around it is built to fit a 27″ drop-in oven, and nothing else. There is only one 27″ drop-in oven on the market these days. It is small, it is crappy, and it is $1200. If I was going to spend that amount, I did not want to settle for a newer (admittedly better) version of the same thing. I had a tough choice to make.

I decided to shell out a little more, and get an oven that I love. Namely, this oven. I had enough money saved from my cake business to buy it in cash, thankfully. It will not fit where the old oven is, so it will have to sit on the other side of the counter (in the dining room) until I can figure something out. I can’t afford to remodel the kitchen right now, so I’ll just have to get used to having the stove in another room. It’s hard to describe, but I’ll take a picture once it’s here and in place.

Here is a picture of the last meal my oven ever made:

Baked BBQ Tempeh, couscous and mixed veggies (from the freezer!). Easy, but good.

Buying ovens isn’t all I’ve been up to the last few days. I’ve also made petit fours (among other things which I didn’t get pictures of)! These were for a bridal shower. They were having a zebra stripe and monogram theme, with red accents.

I think the zebra stripes turned out so cute:

(Hopefully) pictures of my beautiful new oven tomorrow!

Bad blogger, good sister

poopiebitch — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:07:00 +0000

I know, I know… three days since I updated last. I’m a bad blogger. Here are some of the things I have been eating since I last updated:

Lindt 70% Cocoa Intense Dark chocolate bar. It is OMG good, and so very dark and rich that I simply can’t eat more than one square at a time.

After craving and craving that sandwich I had at Spiral Diner, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I made the Jamaican Jerk sauce from VwaV and marinated some five grain tempeh. Here it is with some pineapple in my trusty cast iron grill pan (I made way more than I could eat in one sitting!):

I put it one some whole grain toast with Vegenaise, lettuce, red onion and Wickles (the best spicy pickles in the world). It wasn’t quite the same, but it was still hella good.

After all that savory goodness, I needed something sweet. I had some silken tofu that needed to be used up, so I made chocolate mousse pie, natch.

First I made the crust. I had about half a package of slightly stale Newman-O’s (chocolate sandwich cookies), so they went into the blender first and got turned into crumbs. To those I added about 3 Tbs melted Earth Balance, and pressed the crust into the pie plate.

I added 1 package silken tofu to the blender and pureed until it was smooth. I added 1/4 cup Kahlua, a tsp of vanilla and a generous squeeze of agave, then processed again. I melted 1 1/2 cups of vegan chocolate chips and added that to the blender, processing again until everything was smooth and creamy.

I spread it in the pie crust and left it in the fridge until it was set. So freakin’ rich and creamy.

It was so good, but The Brit wouldn’t even try one bite. Oh well, I took some to my sister’s house and her whole family enjoyed it!

Yesterday I played the role of big sister and took my younger sister Abbie to the mall. Abbie is 11, which gives me an excellent excuse to ride the carousel!

Disclaimer: it is very difficult to take a picture of someone sitting next to you on a carousel, because as you are going up they are going down, and vice versa.

That said, here is Abbie:

I don’t really have an excuse for the blurry picture of myself (notice that I have taken most of the color out of the picture – this is because I was sitting under some bizarre red light that made me look like a demon, and I attempted to counteract that with desaturation):

After much walking around and looking at shiny things, we got hungry and stopped for lunch. Abbie opted for Chick-fil-a:

The only thing I could find to eat was spaghetti from Villa Pizza, which was cold and cost $5, but at least it was filling:

We met up with my little brother (who is 20) after the mall and went and played miniature golf (I won both games, of course). I didn’t get any pictures of that though because it was HOT and I didn’t feel like lugging my camera around the course. Trust me though, hilarity ensued.

And last but not least, the mandatory ‘sisters acting very silly together’ shot:

Spiral Diner

poopiebitch — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:30:00 +0000

The Brit and I made the drive back from Texas Tuesday afternoon, getting back home early evening. Yesterday was a busy day of catching up on missed calls and emails etc, topped off with babysitting my niece and nephew for a couple of hours so my sister could go get her hair cut in peace.

The visit was good, but it always is when I go see my grandparents. The rest of my family kind of get on my nerves (although I still love them, of course), but my grandparents are a different story. For one thing, everyone else in my family are die-hard extreme-right conservative republicans. My grandparents are liberal democrats. In other words, they’re smart.

They still love their meat, though. Before the trip my Mema asked me if I was still a vegetarian (yes, Mema – STILL). When I told her that I had also stopped eating diary and eggs, she paused for a second and said “well, sweetheart, what DO you eat?”. Gotta love her.

They eat out every night, so the trip pretty much consisted of us going to a meat-centric restaurant and me trying not to be a pain in the arse while still trying to eat enough to survive. The outings to steak houses and burger joints were all worth it though, for my one little trip to Spiral Diner.

Mema and Papa were less than excited about the prospect of a meal without animal products, so The Brit and I went for lunch without them one day. Now, The Brit wasn’t very enthused about the visit either, but I made him take me anyway.

I started off by ordering a Mocha Shake. It was the best. damn. shake. ever.

For my meal I decided to try the Jamaican Jerk BBQ Sandwich, and it was pretty much awesome. It consisted of grilled multi-grain tempeh marinated in jerk sauce, on multigrain bread with grilled pineapple and other stuff. I just wish it had more pineapple, but I couldn’t complain. I got potato salad on the side, which was okay but nothing to write home about.

The Brit decided to go with the Spiral Burger. After one bite he declared it “nasty” and pushed the plate back. *sigh*. At least he tried. I boxed it up and ate it for lunch the next day. Even reheated, it was really good.

I wish we could have gone back one more time before leaving, but The Brit refused. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to wait until my next trip!