Vegan MoFo Post 4- Chipotle Lime Grilled Tofu with fried rice

Seriously guys, I am getting spoiled at work! We have a new head chef who has been coming up with some pretty badass specials for our daily menu. For example, tonight's Entree Special was Chipotle Lime Grilled Tofu with mashed yucca and a lime cashew crema. It looked awesome an people loved it!

My dinner was a little different but still just as awesome. He cooked up some of the tofu he was using for the special and put it on a bed of fried rice with a side of kale greens. Oh man, it really hit the spot. The tofu was cooked perfectly and the marinade was fantastic. I could really taste the smokiness of the chipotle. The rice had snow peas, red bell pepper, shredded carrots an was topped with sesame seeds. I really wish I could've finished it all in one sitting but I definitely packed the rest to bring home as a late night snack!

Vegan Mofo - Day Three - Indonesian Stir Fry

Sometimes when the owner of the restaurant I work at is in, I get lucky enough to have him cook my food. He always comes up with an awesome meal for me. This time it was an Indonesian Stir Fry, while I don't get what makes it Indonesian, it doesn't matter because it was fuckin awesome!

He cooked up some soba noodles with cubes of tofu, jalapeno, fresh ginger and garlic. It was in a bowl on top of some fresh spinach leaves and topped with bean sprouts, crushed peanuts and black & white sesame seeds. I have no idea what else he put in it, but it is by far the best meal he has made for me yet!

Vegan MoFo -Day Two-Danged Quesadilla

I've mentioned before that I am the manager at a veg*n restaurant in the Boston area, I'd tell you the name but with all my blogging fame I would be sure to get some stalkers. Anyways, the food there is awesome and I promise I'm not just saying that because I work there.

Sometimes I eat off the menu, sometimes I create my own meal and have the cooks make it and sometimes if its slow enough I will get behind the line and make myself an awesome salad or pizza. A few weeks ago, after eating wraps for days on end, I had enough. I was all wrapped out(ha) so I asked the cook to make me something else but I couldn't figure out what I wanted. The only guidelines I ever give him are vegan(obvs) and no raw onion, This particular day he decided to make me a quesadilla. I've had some pretty awesome quesadillas in my life and while this one was pretty basic, it was out of this world! He stuffed a whole wheat tortilla with tons of Daiya, breaded soy chicken, avocado and hot sauce. Served with a side of our house salsa, it was the perfect meal to get me out of my daily wrap routine!

Vegan MoFo-Day One - Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Cinnamon Icing

Fall is by far my favorite seasons! How could it not be, I live in New England! With all of the gorgeous foliage, pumpkin beer making its way back into bars and liquor stores, the cool breeze that starts chilling the air at night, the abundance of apples, the sound of leaves and pine cones crunching under your feet and getting to dress Gizmo in adorable sweaters adorned with skulls and crossbones are all things that make this season awesome. The one thing that will make this fall especially awesome is Vegan MoFo! 

If you aren't familiar with MoFo, I suggest you get yourself acquainted because for the rest of the month, myself along with 800+ other vegans will be blogging almost daily! Last year I suffered from MoFo burnout, but I am determined to not let that happen this year. Armed with my million vegan cookbooks, my Nikon D40, iTouch and my awesome job as the manager of a veg*n restaurant I will see this bitch through til the end! Sure, some posts might just be a photo and a few sentences about what I am eating, buying or cooking but I will succeed!

Now, onto my very first MoFo post of the year.........

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Cinnamon Icing!

I walked to the market with plans on buying canned pumpkin to make some dog treats for Gizmo and her new best friend, Stank, my neighbors pitbull. I left with about 5 cans so of course I had to find something to make for myself with my surplus pumpkin supply.  One of my missions is to eventually bake my way through Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and these cupcakes got me one step closer.

They are super easy to make and friggen delicious! I've made a shit ton of cupcakes in my vegan and pre-vegan life and these are by far, the moistest(is that a word?) cupcakes I have baked. I've had pumpkin bread, cookies and muffins before but never a cupcake. The only thing I think I will do differently next time is add a little more cinnamon and maybe throw in some nutmeg and ginger to give them more of a pumpkin pie flavor. But even without the extra spices, these little cakes of heaven are seriously worth dying for.

Hey Mofos! It's that time of year again!!!!

Yeah, I know it's been a million years since my last post and I NoFo'ed last year but I am in it to win it this year! That's right, it is time for VEGAN MOFO!!!!!!!!!!! And by "win it" I mean successfussly post all 31 days of October! Luckily, working in a veg*n restaurant leaves me no shortage of vegan noms, so when there is no time to cook, there is always time to eat! Armed with my nikon and itouch, I will succeed!

I spent my evening cleaning and organizing my cabinets and now I am working my way through a stack of cookbooks! Even if I can't cook everyday, I WILL post everyday! My mantra for the month of October will be "Must MoFo"

I can't wait to see what all my amazing PPK peeps create and am hoping to find a bunch of new awesome blogs to read! If you haven't signed up yet, get your ass over here to get in on the action!

See ya in October Mofo

When it's too fucking hot to cook

Spring Rolls are what is for dinner! I feel like this is a reoccurring theme with me where I tell you how much I used to hate something but gush about how I love it now but here goes.... Spring rolls used to gross me the fuck out. Not because of the fillings but because of the wrapping, they always me reminded me of flaccid penis. No joke. One day that all changed but don't get me wrong, they totally still remind of a limpy. A delicious and healthy limpy!

I was determined to make something cold but still filling for dinner and everything I was coming up with just wasn't tickling my fancy until I started thinking about limpies spring rolls. I set out to the grocery store and picked up all my fresh veggies and had to make a quick detour to a small local Asian market for the spring roll wraps(my grocery store doesn't carry them? wtf).


For the filling I used baby spinach, red bell pepper, cucumber, bean sprouts, carrots, pickled beets and mint. I got them all rolled up and chilled them for about 30 minutes to maximize the coldness.

After I got home and got all my veggies chopped I threw some sunflower seeds in the blender with some olive oil. I then mixed in some soy sauce, lemon juice, fresh ginger, apple cider vinegar, Asian chili sauce and thought it was good. Jeremy thought it wasn't hot enough so he added cayenne which really made it much better.

I made about a dozen huge rolls and dipped them in the sunflower sauce and a sweet chili sauce. We inhaled them with some fresh lemon and mint water too.  Now all I need is a Tofutti Cutie to make my cold meal complete.

Coconut + Lime = Heaven

It's funny how your taste buds change as you get older. When I was younger I wouldn't touch anything with lemon or lime, especially baked goods. I didn't think they had any place in something sweet. Nowadays I can't get enough citrus in my life. I used to get pissed when a waitress would bring me a glass of water that already had lemon in it but nowadays I always add either lemon slices or fresh squeezed lemon juice to it. If I don't have lemon, lime goes in as a substitute. Ever since I got some Coconut Lemon Liz Lovely cookies to sample and review for xgfx.org my feelings towards citrus in baked goods have changed. In the semi-recent past I have made Coconut Citrus Glitter cookies at least twice, devoured a vegan lime coconut cake that my old boss made for my birthday and most recently was a batch of Coconut Lime Cupcakes I whipped up from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. 

Out of all the cupcakes I have made so far from this book, these are my favorite. I can't wait to keep exploring the awesomeness that is citrus!