Valentines Day

Been busy hectic...midterms and and lots of test. In addition to work and school I have to do observations at a local high school for my secondary education minor. Well here is what I have hoarded up these past few weeks.

Valentine's day

Valentines day is such a commercialized holiday but however I too have became one of it's victim. If you truly love someone everyday should be valentines day well there shouldn't be an excuse to show your significant lover that you love them.
My boyfriend and I celebrated ours a month earlier buy building each other a matching bear from build a bear yay and I ended up baking him a vegan mini chocolate cake. It was fun :3 Being the poorly time managed person that I am, I wasn't able to finish the cake before hey came over but here's the finished product. The chocolate cake was actually part of the egg white substitute experiment. You can tell it's a bit dry by the appearance of the crumb.




Mango Lassi

I wanted to try the mango lassi at Dosa Hut so badly but it has dairy in it so I made my own. My b/f who tried both said that the taste is similar but it tasted a bit floury possibly from the soy yogurt. Personally I don't like silk soy yogurt it has a weird taste to it.


Yields about 5 cups, 109 Cal/Serving

1 Cup Soy Yogurt, Plain or Vanilla
1/2 Cup Soy milk, Plain
2 || 420g Mango, Large (preferably the orange skinned one)
+/- 3 Tbsp || Sugar, Granulated
a pinch of salt

• Peel and cut the mango into chunks, then puree the mango in a food processor and take out the fibers or you can use the blender. The orange skinned mango has a stronger mango taste and much sweeter.
  
• Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until everything is combined. If you are using vanilla yogurt add less sugar. The amount of sugar used will vary depending on how ripe the mango is.

Food Thermos

It is such a wonderful invention. It keeps your food warm for up to 8 hours but I have never waited that long before eating my food. It's great especially when you are on campus and do not want to buy expensive vegan food, if they have any that is. Mine has two tub to hold your food and it comes with a carrying bag. Most one person food thermos out there contain two food tubs unless you buy a huge one for a picnic. It may look small but it's really not. My parents though it was small but when I compared one of the tub to the bowl I eat dinner from, it's the same size. I think the depth of the tub is deceiving. It's not bad for it's price it ranges from $10-$50 dollars depending on the brand. I got mine for $11.99 at the Chinese supermarket. It's good enough for me, it keep my food warm for at least 5 hours and it's extremely cheap. You can buy it in Asian supermarkets but I believe they also have a few in Target. I think it's a great investment if you dont have the money to buy food when you are busy running around town or school.

Cookies

So damn tired. My b/f, friend and I went bike riding for more than 4 hours along bike trails. Holy Fudge!! My bum hurts like a bitch. We went down hill on a rocky, dirt rode. I hit a tree at full speed and I went flying across the path. Awesome...bruised my pelvic bone when I hit the metal rod on the bike that is between the legs. I need to go out more hahahh fudging loser :3 Anyways enough ranting.

Berry Stoned Pome Smoothie

Laced it with calcium powder and protein powder in attempt to get all the needed nutrients. It does taste more like a power shake since it's does have a slight powdery gritty texture from the soy protein. You can do without it but hey you're not getting that calcium and protein even though it's not as much as a glass of soy milk. It has more protein than a regular soy milk smoothie.

Recipe Yields 3 cups/ 144 Cal, 11.7% Dv Calcium, 6g og Protein
1 Med-Large/195g Apple
1/138g Nectarine, White
1 Cup/250g Raspberries, Unsweetened Frozen
1 Tbsp Agave Nectar
2 Tbsp Soy Powder (Now Brand)
1/2 Tsp Calcium Powder (Now Brand)
1 cup/237 mL Soy milk, plain

• Pit and chop the apple and nectarine into 1/2 inch cubes.
  
• Throw in the raspberries, apples and nectarine into the blender (hence the name of the smoothie).
• Top it off with the soy powder, calcium powder and agave nectar.
• Pour in the soy milk and blend!
  

It's really sweet from the apple yum!

Graham Cracker Raisin Cookies!!

Whoopdie doo! Need to get rid of my graham cracker. Use vegan graham cracker so watch out for em honey!! I need to perfect this cookie. My mom thinks it's sweet but I think it's fine. I think it's a bit too soft and chewy but my mom thinks it's nice soft and chewy. Hard to please so eh...

Recipe Yields 18 Cookies
1/2 Cup of Sugar
1/4 Cup Soy Butter
1 Egg Substitute (I used the rice egg)
1/3 Vanilla
1/4 Tsp Cinnamon, Grounded
8 Large/125g Graham Crackers
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
Pinch of Baking Soda
1/4 Tsp Salt

• Place the crackers into the food processor and process it until the crackers become powdered graham crackers. (Not crumb, POWDER!!)
• Cream together the sugar and the butter in a large bowl until the mixture is all nice and creamy.
• Cream the egg substitute into the creamed sugar mixture until everything is combined. (If you are using flax egg or the rice egg, let it cool down first or it will melt your creamed butter mixture)
• Put in the vanilla extract the grounded cinnamon and cream it all together.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F.
  
• Sift the graham cracker powder, baking powder baking soda and salt into the creamed mixture.
  
• Mix the dough together until everything is combined.
  
• Form into 18 balls of dough and bake it on the cookie sheets for 12 minutes @350 F.
  

Italy Grape


Can someone please tell me what exactly are they? They were labeled Italy Grapes but I googled it and there were just listing of wine grapes. The chinese name for it is also Italy Grapes so I don't know. They are about 3/4 inches in diameter. The skin is also quite thick and the flesh is a bit tart but also has a hint of grape/plum flavor. I don't know please do inform me of this odd fruit.


Tempeh mixed Veggie Sandwich


Mixed veggies...You can tell me about it. Yes that is bokchoy. I dont even know what kind of sandwich it is hahah. Fried tempeh with soy sauce, Bokchoy, pan fried tomato with sweet relish and dijon mustard on pumpernickel. Que? Asian stuff with some non Asian stuff hahah yay!! It tasted pretty good though. Muahahah oddball

First week of School

College sucks butt. This semester is more hectic than my previous semesters. Despite all the load I want to start a a vegan/vegetarian club at my school I need to recruit some vegan/vegetarians first. I know no one there let alone any vegan/vegetarians. I need to devise some things to do and plant out each meeting. I'm at a total lose. Some suggestions would be nice :3

I didn't cook much either. I have no idea what I've been eating this whole week...I've been eating Energy bars. Hahah a lot of luna bars, organic food bar. Oofz those are so gritty but it doesn't taste that bad after a while. They do have 22g of protein AWESOME. I've been eating a lot of durians too. Yayyy durians everyday. It's my fucking life.

Calcium Enriched Banana Raspberry Shake
It sucks that I have to go to work right after class so I don't get a chance to eat lunch and I start work at 1. I don't want to go to work and work for only 5 minutes and take my lunch break. I decided to make shakes so I can type as I chug down my shake. Sorry no picture because I had to rush to work. This shake is also calcium fortified since it's quite important for women to get a sufficient amount of calcium or else by the time we're 40, we're screwed.

Recipe Yields 2 Cup/ 198 Cal/cup

1 Large Banana, Chunks
1/2 Cup Frozen Raspberry
2 Tbsp Agave Nectar
1 Cup Soymilk
1/3 Tsp Citrate Calcium (I used NOW brand since it's Vegan)

• Place the frozen raspberries in the blender first then put in the chunks of banana on top of the raspberries
  
• Pour in the soymilk and put in the calcium and the agave nectar.
• Blend it on high speed.
  

ed Bean/Green Bean Buns
Buns buns buns!! Sorry didn't measure out the amount for the filling so I only have the calorie intake for the buns not the filling

Portuguese Sweet Bread

Recipe Yields 8 Buns/262 Cal/Buns
1/6 Cup/8 Tsp Warm Water (105- 115 F)
2 1/2 Tsp Active Dry Yeast
1/2 Tsp and 3/8 Cup/6 Tbsp Sugar
1/6 Cup/ 8 Tsp and 1 Tbsp Warm Milk
3/8 Cup/ 6 Tbsp Margarine, Warm (Soy Garden)
1/2 Tsp Salt
3 Flax Egg ( I used 1 1/2 Flax Egg and 1 1/2 Rice Egg)
2 1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour

Red Bean/Mung Bean Filling

Recipe
Red Bean/Mung Beans
Water
Sugar
Oil

or you can use canned red bean or mung bean at the asian markets.

To make the filling

• Prepare the filling first if you are making your own by soaking the red beans in one bowl and the mung beans in another bowl for at least 4 hours or overnight.
  
• Boil the red beans until the beans are cooked and soft.
  
• Drain out all the water and blend the beans in the blender until it becomes a paste.
  
• Then put the paste in a sauce pan and pour a small amount of oil (same amount you would for sauteing that much vegetables) and enough sugar for you to sweeten that batch of red bean.
  
• Cook it on med to high heat until it reaches the consistency of a thick paste. (around 5 minutes)
  
• Follow the same instructions above to make the mung bean paste.
  

To make the bread

• Combine the warm water, active dry yeast and 1/2 tsp of sugar together. Let it sit for 5 minutes or until the liquid mixture starts to bubble and rises to about double the size.
• Then combine in the sugar, warm milk, butter and salt.
  
• Then pour the "eggs" and 2 cup of the flour and mix it until it forms into a dough.
  
• Knead the dough and add in the remaining flour. If the dough is a bit too wet add a bit more flour.
• Knead it for 10 minutes. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit for about and hour or until it has double in sized and the dough retains the punctures of your fingers when you poke at the dough.
  
• Punch down the dough and separate the dough into 8 balls.
  
• Fill each ball of dough with the bean fillings.
  
• Preheat the oven to 350F.
  
• Let the shaped buns rise for about 35 minutes or until it has double and the passes the finger test. (Same test you would use to test for the first rising)
• Brush the buns with the remaining soy milk and bake for 30 minutes at 350F.

NOW Food
You have to love NOW food. They have an awesome amount of vegan/vegetarian supplements. I just go the calcium citrate and the soy protein powder from them and I already had the calcium citrate + vitamin D pills. Awesome. Hm... I would consider these items a staple we need protein to survive and calcium too especially for women. Women tend to lack calcium so by the time they reach their middle ages, their bone mass has decrease to half it's original bone mass. Osteoporosis, slouching and fracture limbs are some of the symptoms of low bone mass. Watch out women!! BUILD EM BONES!!



Calcium Citrate
1 Tsp = 700mg = 70% of our DV (DV is 1000mg)
Although it says powder, it's not as fine as powder sugar. It's a bit gritty like cornmeal. It also has a tint of sourness towards it since it is derived from citrus items. It's great for sprinkling it on food items. The sour taste can easily be covered up by salt, sugar or anything.

Soy Protein
1/4 Cup = 21g =40% of our DV (DV is aorund 52g-53g)
NOW food brand soy protein powder is unflavored. Unlike the flavored soy protein drinks, it does not contain sugar so you can sprinkle your soy protein powder into salty food as well yay!
It taste like soy so it's not so hard masking the taste. Create a sauce for your tofu dish. Whatever you want! Make your own soy protein shake. Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry. Use your imagination. You are not limited to the vanilla flavor or chocolate flavor that they have at the health food stores.