Blackened Tofu Slabs with Succotash Salsa

Having received a coupon for Amazon.com for completing a quick survey, I quickly purchased Vegan Soul Kitchen, an African-American inspired, soul food cookbook that I have heard good things about. This is the first dish I have made out of the cookbook, and it was simple, inexpensive, light, and delicious. And very spicy, just the way we like it around here. Unfortunately I burned my thumb on a jalapeno. I have never felt this kind of pain from a pepper before in my life, and keep taking brief pauses from typing to ice my burning pre-axial digit. :) It may be an excuse to put off writing a few paragraphs of my novel this evening, although I do need to forge ahead, or at least find a way to create more hours in the day. Here' s a picture of my dinner.
Very crisp and fresh-looking, wouldn't you agree? Wonderful meal when one is weight-watching.

Deli Style Sandwich

This is not the most extravagant dinner, but I had to do something, and fast, to get me back to my food blog. As I mentioned, I have been (and still am) writing a novel, which is slow going, but it's going. I also started Weight Watchers on November 1st with approximately nine of my co-workers. Because of the novel-writing and weight-watching, there has not been a lot of time in my life for cooking new things. But I am hoping that will change, as my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, new crockpot, and new bread baking bible and slow cooker bible are beckoning to me. And I was going to make Gobi Manchurian and onion paratha tonight, however the Gobi Manchurian is deep fried, which is not in the points (Weight Watchers points, that is) for me today. But Gobi Manchurian will be made, as well as bread, buns, pretzels, etc., and hopefully some slow cooker casserole dishes (these casserole dishes are pending Jeffrey's palate, which is not favorable in this area).

So here's a giant sandwich.
It has no Vegenaise or cheese, because that is not part of weight-watching, but has a TON of veggies, Tofurky slices, Yves ham slices, Smart Bacon strips, and spicy mustard. The buns are homemade, using a recipe from my new bread bible (which is entitled The Bread and Bread Machine Bible, and I cannot find it on the Internet to link, possibly because I found it on the discount rack at Borders).

I love making dough with my stand mixer much better than the bread machine because I have more control over the texture of the dough. I plan to make english muffins and pretzels over the weekend, if time permits.

Oh, and one last thing before I go. I've lost 12.5 pounds since starting Weight Watchers. Go me!

Look what I got for Christmas.......

This beautiful mixer, which I have been pining for for years, will whirl me into a bread and dough and treat making frenzy.

Back from Novelling....sort of......

National Novel Writing Month was not kind to me. Alas, I did not complete the 50,000 word goal, but did make it 20,000, which I am still quite proud of. I will continue writing and have a new goal of 10,000 more words by December 21, set by my encouraging aunt. :) As I am still writing, I will not have as much time to post delicious food. I'm sure all four or five of you that read this blog are bitterly disappointed. ;)

I will continue to post food, just not tonight. Maybe not tomorrow night, either. Jeffrey and I are in the process of buying our first home (exciting!) and planning our wedding (also exciting!) so things are a little busy around here. My wedding dress arrived at my parents' house yesterday and I just CANNOT WAIT to try it on! It's a vintage 30's style dress, and if it works out, we are going to be having a 30's wedding! How fun is that?! My mom says the dress is just as beautiful as it looked online, at the neat website I found: www.unique-vintage.com. Fun site for vintage and antique clothing.

See you folks soon.......I hope. Here is a picture of an orangutan at the Phoenix Zoo, just for kicks.

On Hiatus

I am participating in National Novel Writing Month, which takes up absolutely all of my time in the evenings. The point of the contest is to write 50,000 words in 30 days, and I am waaay behind. I will not be posting here until after the 30th of November, when my novel-writing is complete and my brain is fried. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Veggie Burgers

I have never made a veggie burger before. I have made black bean burgers, which were just okay, but never a true veggie burger. For some illegitimate reason, I've always looked upon veggie burgers as lifeless, tasteless, and not possibly as good as Boca burgers or Morningstar Farms burgers. But due to a dearth of food in the house and no desire to go out to the store, I made veggie burgers from Vegan with a Vengeance. I really would like to lie and say I came up with them myself, especially since I have NOT been creating many new recipes at all, but alas, they are all Isa's. I fixed them up on homemade buns with Vegenaise, lettuce, pickles, and ketchup, served with sides of french fries and love.

Sea Cakes and Buffalo Wings

If you haven't checked out Rhymes with Vegan, I implore you to do so immediately. I don't remember what I was searching for, but while I was searching for it, Meagan's blog popped up. I literally looked at the entire blog in one sitting. I was absolutely captivated by the recipes, pictures, and her Lunch Delivery business, where she delivers food to friends and acquaintances for lunch. Too bad she doesn't live in Arizona. :(

But at least I was able to find her blog and immediately make two of the recipes, sea cakes and tofu buffalo wings. I will say that I may have gone a little overboard on the beer batter, using Arrogant Bastard Ale rather than something a little less "in your face," but it was delicious and VERY filling. The sea cakes were light and tasty, and delicious dipped in "tartar" sauce. I have a feeling I will make both of these dishes often. Check out Rhymes with Vegan, if you haven't already!

On a side note, my left eyelid has been twitching all day. It's been really irritating.