New Blog!

I've realized that it's silly to keep writing on Vancouver Vegan while I'm not living in Vancouver. I'll continue to update about Vancouver-centric resources and restaurants when I'm in Van city (Xmas and Summers) but for now I'm going to be focusing on my new blog Veganlikewhat/Joyful Girl.

Hope to see you there!

Really Quick Meals!

The last 24 hours were hard. And horrible. An essay proposal due, a small paper due (that I completely forgot about!) and a midterm I was incredibly unprepared for.  And class until 830 at night. I knew I had no time for cooking (or sleeping as it turned out). So I went to the store and checked out the options.

I opted for Coconut Ginger Noodles from A Taste of Thai. You add a cup of water and microwave for 4 minutes (well, in my crappy microwave it's more like 8 minutes). I added cubed tofu for the last 2 minutes and it was crazy delicious! And filling.

Then, because you need something to get you through the night if sleep is unavailable, I ate really a rather remarkable amount of Mi-Del Chocolate Snaps, which were delicious!

Now you definitely shouldn't (and I, at least, couldn't!) eat like this often, but sometimes it's really the only thing to get you through this purgatory we call school.

Vegan Mofo #16: Another Weekday Dinner

Back when I lived in London I ate my fair share of jacket potatoes, usually with beans and cheese. Well, cheese is a no-go now, but, of course, as we all know, cheese isn't needed for a delicious meal! 

I was at the store a while ago feeling tired and hungry and buying really random things in hopes of stumbling upon some quick and easy solution to my hunger. I did, but I also bought baked beans!

So I kept meaning to throw some baked beans over a baked potato, but a couple of friends invited me for dinner Saturday, so that was out. Then they gave me leftovers, which lasted through Sunday and Monday. Tuesday was my day!

I baked a sweet potato (orange fleshed, what we call yams, even though, technically, they aren't yams) and topped it with baked beans then served it up alongside some garlicky asparagus and yellow squash. Ohhhh it was good! And healthy. And filling. 

Using yam instead of your everyday Idaho (well, here it would probably be a PEI) Russet potato kicked it up about 15 notches! Mmmm. Is there nothing yams can't do?

Now that I think about it, other than tofu (my one true love) it had all my favorite components of a savoury meal: yam, asparagus, zucchini, garlic.

Here we are:

Mmm those veg look like summery goodness. Man! I wish I was having this again tonight! Everything about this meal was fantastic. Seriously, everything.

Vegan Mofo #15: Popcorn!

Ah popcorn. Beloved by all. And so many ways to eat it! Here are my favorites:

1) Butterscotch Popcorn

Popcorn

Butterscotch chips

->mix, eat, all will be good in the world

2) Noochy

Popcorn

Olive Oil (makes the nooch stick)

Nutritional Yeast ("nooch")

Salt

Optional: paprika (smokey!), chili powder (kick!), garlic powder (garlicky goodness!)

3) Peanut Buttery Mess

Popcorn

Melted peanut butter (that crappy full of sugar gross stuff is best for this, because natural pb doesn't really "melt" per se)

Cinnamon

Sugar

->pour peanut butter over popcorn, sprinkle cinnamon and sugar liberally, mix, mix, mix! 

N.B. have lots of paper towels and cloths around, cause this one is MESSY!

Vegan Mofo #14: Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies!

So, Sunday seems to be baking day for me. I'm stressed by the amount of schoolwork I haven't done, and uninspired by the work ahead of me, so I head to the kitchen! Funnily enough, the motivation isn't eating. I'll (obviously) have a couple, but I'm really after the stress-relieving properties of the act of baking. Also, it's an excuse to go hang out with my friends, under the guise of bringing them cookies.

I made Pumpkin Oatmeal cookies, which I found on theppk.

Half the batch I made pretty much as the recipe stated, but with a little less sugar and no vanilla because mine has mysteriously vanished. Then, for the second half of the batch I added a half cup of butterscotch chips and half a cup of walnut pieces. WHOA! The butterscotch and walnuts brought these good cookies to a whole new level! A level of staggering genius. That's right, I said it. These cookies were an act of staggering genius on my part. So go make some!