Squirrel’s Vegan Kitchen

This week I had a hankering for some kielbasa and potatoes. My mother rarely cooked when I was growing up. Heated up, yes. Ordered for delivery, yes. Thawed and microwaved, yes. Cooked or baked, not so much. But one thing she did make was fried potatoes and kielbasa and I really had a hankering for it the other day.

Yum- grease! It totally satisfied my craving.

Breakfast this morning, VwaV Banana Oatmeal Raisin waffles, as pancakes, with some fruit salad on the side.

So yummy and moist. So far every VwaV waffle recipe I’ve used for pancakes has been great. I just can’t motivate myself to deal with the waffle maker, I always struggle with it, they stick, brown or tear, it’s just a chore.

I have been very busy lately, and it makes me sad to look back at the last few posts and see them span a few months. About a month ago I started a new job, at a credit union doing work similar to what I was doing in AZ, so between that and working on the book (and it’s accompanying website) I’ve been swamped and not cooking very much at all. We’ve been throwing together random meals and eating boring stuff, but things are starting to settle down a bit and I’m looking forward to some new kitchen adventures.

Trader Joe’s started carrying some frozen vegan fried rice. Fried rice without eggs is so hard to come by, so we had to try it.

I stir fried up some extra firm tofu with toasted sesame oil and some soy sauce and added in some fresh broccoli. The mix was good, but a bit greasy for my taste. Jim loved it and we’ll probably buy it to keep in the freezer (since we now have one that works!) for when we’re in a pinch.

Coconut lemongrass curry simmer sauce from a jar, another TJs find. I got part way into it before realizing that I didn’t have any garbanzo beans, so I used pinto instead, along with potatoes and carrots. I really like the lemongrass flavor in this sauce. Served over brown basmati rice.

The Trader Joe’s I shop at has a little fresh produce and herb market attached to it, which is very convenient if you’re at all familiar with TJ’s lackluster produce selection. Well, I walked in there a week ago to find ripe, single, organic bananas were 10/$1! What a steal! Our usual 5-6 bunch costs about $2.50. We’ve been spending a lot of money on bananas too, now with our banana ice cream habit. I quickly became the crazy banana lady and walked out of there with 30 bananas! I got them home, peeled them and popped them in the freezer. We’re now fully stocked for ice cream making… at least for a little while.

I’ll be fleshing it out in the next few weeks and adding links, recipes and all sorts of goodies, so stay tuned for that. I’ll also be working on the font size on the other posts, so hold tight.

I haven’t been around much lately because the final bits and pieces of my cookbook, The Damn Tasty Vegan Baking Guide, are coming together! It’s very, very exciting but it’s also very busy and stressful. We’re dealing with the layout and some design issues right now, but it’s going to be going to press next month and will done by the end of April or the very beginning of May! I am lucky enough to be working with some amazing friends and family that are pitching in to pull this all together, between editing, designing, layout, etc, I have so much support right now that it’s very humbling and I am incredibly grateful.

With all the new stuff coming up, this blog will be getting a beautiful face-lift, which will hopefully be debuting this week, so keep a look out. I’m excited to see what you think.

Okay, so now onto the food-related news! Remember several months ago, me talking about the slow death of our fridge and oven? Well, we held out as long as we could, but we had to finally break down and buy some new appliances. Wow, did we ever feel like grown-ups, it was surreal!

Our shiny new fridge! So big! I have a considerable amount of freezer space now. And it’s an energy saver!

And our oven. I pouted a little about oven buying, because we have electric and I really prefer cooking with gas, so I was able to cheer myself up a bit by getting an oven with a warming drawer. It’s really nifty! And the price was good. Viva vegan appliances!

Pea soup last week, with some EB smothered wheat rolls. I was able to whip it up, from dried peas to completely-obliterated-peas in 12 minutes with the pressure cooker.

A simple spaghetti with Nate’s meatballs and brown rice noodles.

Yummy veggie wraps (well, veggie tacos, really, since we couldn’t wrap them). Lettuce and spinach, tomatoes, pickles, avocados and dressing.

Brunch this morning- Cinnamon raisin French (”Fronch”) toast with tempeh and white bean patties from VwaV and Kate’s yummy hash browns (that she actually got to brown, unlike the sad potato piles I usually make). Jim and I agreed that maple syrup wouldn’t be considered sugar if it is used in moderation and if he dips, rather than pours.

And on the side, some fruit salad, made up of apples, kiwi, pineapple, bananas, and a hint of lime juice. Served with the Macadamia Cream Sauce (which has a minor amount of sugar in it, but I figured that in having a tablespoon of the whole batch, it was excusable).

This really cool pilaf that I picked up at (where else?) Trader Joe’s. It has little pasta balls, red quinoa, red lentils, multiple orzo pastas and baby garbanzo beans in it. Cooked up with just water and nothing else, it is delicious. Yum!

A simple potato, sweet potato, garbanzo, carrot, kale stew served over quinoa. I made a huge batch that made lunches for us for several days.

And for our other news…

Hazel! We adopted a hamster last weekend from this great rescue that is run by the nicest husband and wife. They rescue the “cheap” animals that most people overlook the fates of, like hamsters and beta fish. They recently took on two huge groups of hamsters, Syrian and Dwarf, and Jim and I came across them and decided we wanted to step in and help another hamster in need. Little Hazel is only 4 months old and she’s full of spunk. On the first day she came to live with us, she crawled in Jim’s sleeve and explored the inside of his shirt. The look of panic on his face while he sat there really still was priceless. She’s very sweet and likes to be touched and interacted with, so we’re having a fun time getting to know each other. I’m so grateful to that shelter for the work they are doing, helping out the little guys who are so easily overlooked.