Dominican Breakfast

This is a good breakfast option for anyone that might be tired of the standard varieties. Being half Dominican I have been eating this for years, it's called Mangu. It is a breakfast staple among Dominicans and consists of eggs, Dominican salami, Dominican white cheese and mashed plantains. I actually love eating this but since giving up animal products have had to alter some of it.

Here is what you'll need: Green plantains(1-2 is fine for a single serving), olive oil, water, lemon, onions, Adobo, tofu (firm or extra firm), turmeric, pepper, paprika, vegan sausage (I just used pepperoni slices because it was at hand)

1. Cut off the ends of the plantains and take off the skin. If you don't know how to take the skin off take your knife and cut a line down one side then go in and peel it. 


2. Next cut up the plantains into like two or three pieces just to make it cook faster. Place the pieces into a pot of water and bring it to a boil. To determine if the plantains are cooked a knife inserted into them should be easy to do. You don't have to worry about overcooking them since we are going to be mashing them up.

3. After the plantains are done mash them up as you would with potatoes. Add in generous amounts of olive oil while mixing so make it softer and not quite creamy but almost. You can add in your seasonings also so some Adobo (to taste) and a bit of lemon juice (to taste). If it is still a bit dry add a bit of water from the batch that it was boiled in.

4. If you want to add onions to your Mangu then fry them in a pan and add them to the plantains that you mashed and seasoned.

5. Taking your vegan sausage cook it as you would normally, I would use a pan and with a bit of oil make it a bit crunchy. Which happens to be what I did to my pepperoni slices.

6. If you buy blocks of vegan cheese then you can easily cut a slice and heat it up then plate it. I didn't use cheese this time, but if I did I would just melt some shredded mozzarella on top because that's what I normally have on hand.

7. Cook your eggs as you normally would season them and plate them with the rest of the food. I like seasoning mine with some salt, pepper, paprika and turmeric.

So this is a hearty breakfast and an alternative to eating bread or sweets for breakfast. It is fairly simple to make and tastes delicious.

This is a picture of how someone would make Mangu with real cheese,eggs and salami 

Give it a try and enjoy!

Egg and Cheese Sandwich

So I have been craving an egg and cheese sandwich for like a week or so and finally this morning decided to give it a try. Occasionally I will make scrambled tofu but generally my breakfast consists of just toast with butter and some nutritional yeast. I woke up to find my mother cooking scrambled eggs and omeletes and felt inspired to make my own version.

Taking a pain I put a small amount of oil and threw in some sliced onions. Letting it cook for like a minute I then threw in some paprika, tumeric, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Normally to season my "eggs" I don't add poultry seasoning but I actually quite like the taste it gives it.

Crumble in the tofu and stir all the ingredients together so that it is well seasoned. Then in the meantime I just popped my bread into the toaster, lightly buttering one side.

Depending on whether you are going to use any mock meat you can start cooking it now also. I decided to use some pepperoni slices which I threw into the pan with the eggs to cook.

Once you see that the tofu is cooked (it doesn't take long) then you can add in your cheese, I used mozzarella. I just let it melt and then took my bread out of the toaster and placed it inside of it. Once my pepperoni's were as crunchy as I wanted them I added them on top of the egg and cheese. Also while the bread is still hot from the oven I sprinkled some nutritional yeast onto the side that was buttered.

*Since tofu can get cold really quick you want to space everything out so that it will still be warm by the time you plate it and go to eat it.

I had my sandwich with some water and an orange. The sandwich is filling and tasty, I might even go so far to say that it tastes better than a real egg and cheese sandwich. 

Smoothies

I have been trying to get more fruits into my diet because I hardly eat them, so I have been making them into smoothies. I try to get my 5 a day but if not at least 3 is better than nothing. I've made two different kind of smoothies the last couple of days and besides that I have also been eating an insane amount of clementines. 

The first smoothie I made (which I like to make for the color honestly) is what I call my pink smoothie. It has strawberries, banana, pineapple, soy milk/yogurt and oats. I love oatmeal and since being vegan I have only made it once successfully so whenever I can put oats into a recipe I do. I did figure out the trick to get my oatmeal the consistency I want it to be, just like it was when I used regular cows milk but I'll do a post on that another time. 

Okay so the second smoothie that I've made contains blueberries, apple, banana, oats, soy milk/yogurt and some superfood. I bought an individual packet of a green superfood at wholefoods just to give it a try and see if I liked it. I blended everything together then at the very end I added only like 1 tbsp of the superfood (I was only making 1 serving of my smoothie). It didn't alter the color in anyway but there was a slight taste of the superfood that peeked through, not immensely but noticeable. The smoothie was actually quite sweet with all the fruits so it masked the taste of the superfood pretty well I think.

I quite enjoy having my smoothies early morning as like a starter to my breakfast that way I get my servings of fruit out of the way and don't have to worry about getting them. I'm going to try and do a smoothie a day that way I get into the habit of it. Its really easy and quick to make, the only thing that I hate doing is cleaning the blender afterwards.

UPDATE

So I haven't posted any new food posts this year, mainly because I've been in a cooking slump. I haven't been in the mood to cook and really I haven't had much of an appetite. Most of my meals have been fairly simple or ones I have already done so they haven't been blog worthy. I'm going to get back into the swing of things and cook new things. I have been thinking of maybe getting a really good vegan cookbook and challenging myself to cook from it for like a month or so. I could stand to learn more recipes and it's a way to get me out of my comfort zone and be more creative with cooking. I already have a couple of cookbooks but none of them are vegan which is why I'm thinking of buying one. Or I could make it a bit more interesting and challenge myself further to adapt the recipes in the cookbook into vegan alternatives.
Nonetheless I will be posting new recipes by the end of this week or by Monday the latest, so look out for those. 

End Of Year Reflections

As 2012 approaches it makes me reflect on everything that has taken place in 2011. I've honestly changed a lot this year and look forward to more change in the coming year. I feel much more at peace and complete as a person than I did at the end of last year. Although not everything has turned out how I would have liked this year, what I have accomplished overshadows it. I've learned a lot about myself and it has only worked in making me stronger. The biggest thing that I set out to do this year was to put myself first and get to know myself more, and I did. For years I have been so caught up with other people that I allowed myself to sit on the back burner. That is no longer an option, I've enjoyed being selfish and making sure my needs are met before others. Slowly I have crawled out of a toxic place that I seemed to dwell in and I like the light. Although some of my plans fell through and everything didn't go as I liked I'm okay with that. I know that in this coming year I will set to rights all that went wrong within this year. I made huge strides in becoming a happier more fulfilled person and I feel it. I've learned that believing is the first step in accomplishing what I want, the second is putting action behind it. I have started on some of my goals and although they are not met yet I have done enough to make me feel proud. I've learned that letting go of negative, toxic things will set me free to grow into the person I need to be. I've learned to accept without anger the things that I cannot control and rather try to enjoy what I do have. I've learned that connecting with family although irritating as it might be at times, it is more meaningful than being alone. I've learned that being alone is good for the soul, kind of like a refresher. I've learned that I cannot be without creating. Wether that be writing, cooking, drawing, reading, sewing, editing or even doing makeup. Even daydreaming is essential to my well being. I need to be creative in order to feel productive, something I lacked before. I learned that I am much stronger and braver than I give myself credit for. I learned that it's okay to be emotional. I learned it's okay to live in the now and not stress about the tomorrow. I've learned that I do have will power and can be determined when I put my mind to it. I know that I can achieve and will achieve anything that I really want and set out to do. Nothing is too far-fetched or out of reach if I believe in it and work for it. I know that I will accomplish so much more this coming year simply because I want to. I've learned that I need to take nay-sayers words with a grain of salt in order to press on. I'm excited for 2012, it symbolizes everything that I am excited to accomplish. Although I'm sure I will slip up or have to deal with some setbacks along the way, that's life. There will always be setbacks and so long as you are patient and never take your eye off the prize you will get to your set destination. I will get to my destination, figuratively and literally. Although I was conflicted on my plans to end the New Year after reflecting I'm not any longer. I want to end the year exactly the way that I have positively transformed myself throughout. Rather than spend my time around a group of strangers that don't know me or care to I'm going to be with people who do. I'm going to ring in the new year clear headed, with my loved ones, good food and doing what I love, writing. When I thought about it, I really couldn't picture myself doing anything else that day. I'm thankful for all the blessings that I've had and all the misfortunes that taught me a lesson. So I end this year light of heart, happy and await the New Year with open arms.

Happy New Year!
xo Melissa

Birthday Meal

I went out to a Vegan Restaurant for my birthday and I wanted to share pictures of my delicious meal. I went to a restaurant called Red Bamboo in the city, it was my first time being there and I'm happy I picked that place. My sister ordered some mock pork chops with veggies and I ordered chicken parm with a side of brown rice. Then for desert we split a pumpkin cheesecake, and OMG was it so good.

Waiting for our food

Breaded "Pork chops" with a side of vegetables and corn mashed potatoes

Chicken Parmesan with garlic bread and a side of brown rice. Look at that serving! I gave one of the chickens and breads to my sister it was just too much food.

Pumpkin cheesecake=DELICIOUS! We were so full after our meal but I've been dying to try vegan cheesecake so we split it. It was so worth it!

Holiday Food

This christmas I was a bit lazy about cooking for myself but I managed to make a little something to eat. My favorite thing about the holidays has always been when they make honey ham at home. That was definitely something that I missed on thanksgiving and this time I decided to make my own. It's quite easy really, and to accompany it I chose to make seasoned potatoes and a little avocado alfalfa sprout salad.

Here's what you will need: Raisins, Brown sugar, Water, Maple Syrup, seitan, salt, mustard, BBQ sauce, olive oil, potatoes

So for the potatoes I used some red potatoes and cut them in small peices. Then I tossed them with some olive oil, BBQ sauce and mustard. I put them in a pan in the oven covered and let them cook until soft.

For the Honey Ham this is what I did.
Taking a pan and putting it on medium heat I added some water (the quantity depends on how much sauce you will want to make). Then I added some brown sugar,salt and the raisins as well. Putting the fire up a bit the sugar should start to caramelize. One the sauce starts to thicken you can add your pieces of fake meat and cook it together on lower heat.

Another way to do it if you didn't have any brown sugar or if the sauce wasn't thick enough is to add some maple syrup.

Both of these are such easy dishes and the pairing of sweet mock meat with savory potatoes is a nice combination.

Give this a try and enjoy!