Vegenaise and Fried Rice with Tempeh

Today I bought Vegenaise for the first time. Ive had a jar of Nayonaise in the fridge for months but found it disgusting. Vegenaise, Im impressed with. And since I was planning to have Gardein's buffalo wings for dinner, ranch dressing seemed like the logical accompaniment. I went on a hunt and found this recipe. Only 40 calories per tablespoon. Overall, it was delicious. I did add a few drop of lemon juice but I feel like it still needed a little bit of something else. Vinegar perhaps? Anyways, I definitely needed it tonight because those wings were hot!

Right before I went to purchase the Vegenaise, it was lunch time. I needed to use up some left over rice and settled on a veggie stir fry type dish with a side of tempeh. Ive tried other brands of tempeh before and I actually thought for a while that I just didnt care for it anymore. When I got around to buying my usual brand though (Lightlife), I realized it wasnt my taste buds that changed at all! I had just been buying a less than average product. And Im glad that tempeh is back on my plate.

Tempeh and Veggie Fried Rice



For the tempeh:

2 oz. Lightlife tempeh ( I used 3 grain )
1 tbsp. soy sauce
3/4 tsp. nutritional yeast

In a pan over medium high heat, cook all ingredients until the tempeh is golden brown. Add salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

For the rice:

4 asparagus spears, cut into 1" pieces
3 button mushrooms, quartered
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup cooked brown rice
1 tbsp. cashews, chopped roughly
1/2 tsp. nutritional yeast
salt and pepper

First, in a pan over medium heat cook asparagus for about 5 minutes and then add the other veggies. Cook 5 minutes more until asparagus is tender.
Add in the the rice, yeast and salt and pepper. Stir and cook about a minute more.
Meanwhile, toast the cashew pieces under the broiler for 2 minutes or until golden.
Serve rice topped with cashews with the tempeh.

**260 calories

My first taste of Rice Pudding

Breakfast again! By far the best meal of the day. Unless you decide to have breakfast for dinner too, then its an even tie.

Ive been perusing recipe sites and blogs lately and again and again I was stumbling across recipes for rice pudding. Hmm... rice pudding? Sounded interesting. Saved it on my KartMe.com account and moved on. But I kept coming back to it. And then I stumbled upon this recipe from Manifest Vegan. I was sold and decided to whip up a rice pudding recipe of my own.


(^in the making^)

The final product was perfection. I decided to combine it with my love for pumpkin pie. Exactly what a chilly fall morning deserves.



Pumpkin Pie Rice Pudding

1/3 cup hazelnut milk
2 tbsp canned pumpkin
2 tbsp sugar free Cracker Barrel maple syrup
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or more)
pinch of salt

2/3 cup brown rice, cooked

2 tsp raisins
1 tbsp sliced almonds
1 tbsp sugar free CB maple syrup

In a small bowl whisk together the first set of ingredients. Heat a pot over high and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
Once the mixture is boiling, turn heat to just under medium and stir often until the mixture starts to thicken.
Add rice, stir to combine, turn heat down a bit more (medium low) and cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile toast almonds under the broiler until golden. (Make sure to check constantly, they burn fast.)
Stir raisins into the rice and transfer to a bowl. Top with toasted almonds and syrup.

(250 calories)

Now originally, I wanted to make the milk mixture with about 1 1/2 tbsp. silken tofu as well for extra protein/ creaminess but I was banned from the blender due to a few people still asleep. If you want to try it with the tofu, just blend the milk mixture with the tofu in a blender instead of whisking it together. (Add about 10 calories to the total amount.)

Daiya Cheese and Stir Fry

After a recent trip to Virginia, I have a full fridge of vegan/ vegetarian food products which are not sold in Canada or are so far away from where I live, I never buy them. My favourite has to be the Daiya "Cheese" that I picked up. Ive never had it before and let me just say cow's milk cheese is a thing of the past! As an avid cheese lover its been a difficult search for a vegan replacement but the search has ended.



So far, Ive created the following:

* "Chicken" Mac and "Cheese" Casserole
* "Bacon", Lettuce, Onion, and "Cheese" Panini Sandwich
* "Chicken", Lettuce, Onion, "Cheese" Panini Pita Sandwich with Toasted Almonds

What will tomorrow bring?? Who knows!

Aside from my Daiya adventures, I had the most wonderful vegan stir fry dinner. My friends decided to have a teryaki stir fry with egg and I jumped at the chance to get creative.



Maple Teryaki Stir Fry with "Egg" and Rice

1/3 cup cooked brown rice

1 1/4 cup stir fry veggies (I used carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, and onion)
2 1/2 tbsp teryaki sauce
1 1/2 tbsp sugar free Cracker Barrel maple syrup
1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 serving Nasoya extra firm tofu (1/2 of 1/5 of a block), cubed
1/4 serving soft tofu (about a tablespoon + a teaspoon), mashed
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 clove of garlic (minced)

salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp sesame seeds

(This recipe has a lot of steps, so bear with me.)

First heat a pan over medium.
Put the broccoli, celery, and cauliflower in a bowl with a bit of water and microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds.
In a seperate bowl, mix together tofu, garlic, and tumeric and add to the pan. Add yeast and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5-7 minutes until golden. Set aside.
Stir fry the veggies until they brown and are tender-crisp.
Meanwhile mix together the soy sauce and syrup. Add to veggies and cook, stirring for about 2-3 minutes.
When the veggies absorb most of the sauce, add the tofu "egg", salt and pepper to taste and stir to combine.
Plate and sprinkle with seasame seeds and rice.

(210 calories)