I fell down the rabbit hole

Life had just gotten in the way and this blog was on the bottom of the list. But I figure I will give this another try. I am going to ask some friends about what I can do to make it better and so that you can actually FIND it when you google it..LOL
I am stupid when it comes to that.
So I am here and the Kid is still Vegan. She is an official adult now. She turned 21 and before I know it, I will not be cooking Vegan much. I really am not cooking that much anyway in that realm. She has been doing a superb job of cooking for herself.
So that is all for now...

To be continued in the very close future.

What is for dinner? Spicy Fried Tofu!

When I make dinner for the whole family, I try to incorporate as much of the meat eaters and Vegan eaters meals together. It makes my Vegan Dd feel like she is not so seperate from the rest of the family at dinner time. I can cook nice side dishes that we all can eat and then make two different main dishes for the meal. Everyone is happy.
Last night was Carolina long grain and wild rice with broccoli, tossed salad, cheeseburgers and Spicy Fried Tofu. I use Carolina brand rice because it is easy, tasty, and Vegan. I chopped up the broccoli and steamed it in the microwave for 3 minutes. Then I dumped it into the rice as it was still cooking.
I use a locally made Tofu when I need to use a firm style. This brand is local here in Connecticut and it is from a store called The Bridge. It is about the same price as the stuff in the regular grocery store but it is LOCAL and it tastes really good. Try and see if you can buy local in your area also. Helps sustain your area businesses and you know that it is fresh and where it came from.
Here is the recipe for the Spicy Fried Tofu. It is something I threw together one day and Dd has loved it ever since.

Spicy Fried Tofu

1 package firm tofu, cut in 1/2 inch slices then cut in half into triangles
Hot sauce
1 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup water
1 tbl. Sea salt
1 tbl. black or white pepper
3 tbl. Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp of crushed red pepper
3 tbl of vegetable or canola oil for frying

You want to do this ahead of time, maybe about 2-3 hours before you cook. After you have drained, sliced, and triangled (is that a word?? LOL) your tofu, you want to press all the juice out of it. I take a plate and cover with two sheets of paper towels, put tofu on top, cover with two more sheets of paper towels and put another plate on top of that. Then I put something moderately heavy (couple cans of crushed tomatoes work in a pinch) to weight it down. Then just leave it alone until you are ready to cook.

In a shallow bowl mix together the cornstarch, old bay, sea salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper. In another shallow bowl have your water. Dip your tofu in water and lightly shake off excess. Dip in cornstarch mixture to coat both sides. Place the tofu on a plate or a rack for about 5-10 minutes. It lets the cornstarch mixture adhere better.
Start your oil in a frying pan on medium heat. When oil is hot, add your tofu. If you have to do it in batches, add a little bit more oil if it looks like it needs it. When the tofu is golden on both sides you are going to add your heat.
Now if you did your tofu in batches, now is the time for everybody to go back into the pan. If there is only a small amount of oil in there, add just a little bit more, about 1 tbl. Now you add your hot sauce. I do not have an amount on this. You want to shake it around on the oil and on the tofu so that when you lightly mix it, every piece of tofu will be covered in hot sauce. So this is something you are going to have to experiment with. When they are all coated and heated through (the ones that were waiting on standby) you can serve.
She loves this dish! It was a throw together one night but has become a staple when she wants something spicy. Mmm! I love it because it is spicy and crispy. Try it the next time your Vegan child wants something to spice up their dinnertime.

Try it! You might like it!

Everything that is brought into the house, in terms of Vegan food, I try. How can I shop for and prepare something if I do not know what it tastes like?
You should do it too. Got Tofu in your fridge? Prepare a meal and give it a taste. There are some recipes with tofu that I do not like. There are others I fight the kid over. One thing I did not think I would like was Soy milk. So I drank some, cold out of the fridge in a large glass. I tried the plain flavored one. No vanilla or chocolate. If I wanted to see what this stuff REALLY tasted like, I had to drink it in it`s most naked form. No sipping either! Drink it down so you can really get the taste of it. Guess what? I loved it!
I loved it so much that I do not even drink milk anymore. Plain soy milk in cold cereal is heaven to me. I do not use cream in my coffee anymore. I use Silk brand creamer. I bet my cholesterol thanks me.
There are many types of *milk* that you can purchase for your child other then Soy and you can also buy them all in different flavors. The staples in our house are Plain Soy Milk, Plain Rice Milk, Plain Oat Milk, and Plain Almond Milk. Dd has ventured into some of the holiday flavored soy milks that are only sold at Christmas time. Her favorite right now is Westsoy Chocolate Peppermint Stick.
Now you may like some of these milks and you may want to wash your mouth out with others. I personally do not like the texture of Oat milk. My Dd loves it. You can make some really different flavor nuances in your cooking when you try different milks. I use Almond milk in some of my cookie baking. You can really taste the nuttiness in the results.
I will probably never go back to milk in my cereal or cream in my coffee again. If I had not sucked it up and tried it, I would have never known how good it tastes!
Try it! You might really like it!

Baking the Vegan way.

I have always loved to bake my entire life. You name it, I have probably made it. When Dd (darling daughter) told me she was a Vegan, the first thing that crossed my mind was baking. How will I make her birthday cake with NO eggs? Cookies? Brownies? What is a Betty Crocker wanna-be supposed to do?

It is very easy to veganize almost any home made baking recipe. I have tried to do this with commercially prepared mixes and it was always a disaster. You have to replace the eggs, butter and in some recipes, the milk. For the milk, you simply use one of the many alternatives out there. You can use Soy milk, rice milk, oat milk, or any of the nut milks. Same measurements that you would use for standard Moo-cow milk.
For the butter in a recipe you will just with non-dairy margarine. The eggs are simple to replace also but you have to use different measurements. One way to replace eggs in a recipe is with Silken tofu. For every one egg, you want to replace it with 1/4 cup (dry measurement) of tofu. If you find that you are in the mood to back but only have Firm Tofu, you can use that too. You are going to want to whip that tofu into a frenzy with your mixer to smooth it out. That way you will not have any chunks. The tofu works really well in cookies. And believe me when I say this...If you do not tell your family it is in there, they wont even notice!
Another thing you can use to replace eggs is EnerG Egg Replacer. The measurement for one egg is 1 1/2 teaspoon of egg replacer and 2 tablespoons of water. For most standard recipes of 2 eggs, you want to mix up (in a seperate bowl) 3 teaspoons of the powder with 4 tablespoons of water. The mixture will get frothy and thick like an egg white consistency. Then just add it to your recipe. You can purchase this at any health food store and most health food sections of your local grocery store.
You also want to avoid using white sugar in your recipes. I use Turbanado sugar instead.
This past week, I veganized a tried and true blueberry muffin recipe and they turned out great! Dd loves muffins for breakfast and for a quick snack on the run.

Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:
2 cups of sifted flour
2 tbls of flour
1/4 cup of sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup of non-dairy margarine, softened
1/4 cup of tofu (mashed) or 1 1/2 tsp. egg replacer with 2 tbls. of water (mixed seperately)
1 cup of soy milk or rice milk
1 cup of blueberries
Sugar for tops
Temperature: 375 deg.
Time: Bake 20-25 minutes
Amount: 12 muffins
In seperate small bowl, toss together blueberries and 2 tbls of flour to coat. Set aside. (the flour keeps the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the muffins.) In large mixing bowl, hand mix together the margarine, egg substitute of your choice, and soy or rice milk. Add dry ingredients in batches (dont dump the whole thing in at once). Do not over stir the batter. Mix enough to incorporate the dry with the wet but too much mixing is not a good thing. If you see blobs of flour in the mix, that is okay. Add the blueberries last and give it a light mix to incorporate.
Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full. Sprinkle sugar on top of each muffin to coat. Bake until golden brown.

This recipe (non-vegan version) came from a 1950s version of Betty Crocker`s Picture Cook Book.

Your whole family will enjoy these muffins. They taste really good and you will wonder why you ever fretted over baking vegan!

Welcome Welcome Welcome

I was cooking dinner tonight and for some reason the name My Vegan Daughter popped into my head. Huh? Yes, I have a Vegan daughter but why that phrase. So here I am. Starting my very first blog. Please bear with me as I learn all the ins and outs of blogging.
So why do I feel the need to have a blog about my daughter? I think there are many parents out there that have heard those four little words, "I am vegan now." uttered from your darling daughter or son. If you do not live in a vegan or vegetarian household, a look of utter shock probably registered across your face. Internally you are saying,"NOOOOO!" I know that I did.
My almost 2o year old daughter became a vegetarian on Easter Sunday 2007. One year later she became a vegan. I kicked and screamed all the way to the health food store. "How am I going to bake?" "What are you going to eat?" OMG!
After much experimentation, web surfing, cookbooks, and her help I have sort of mastered the art of vegan cookery. You are probably wondering why I care what my adult daughter is eating. She can cook for herself! Well, she still lives at home and I like to cook for my family. I also like a challenge in the kitchen.
I am going to blog on my successes and failures. Which products were good and which ones weren't. I will post pictures of some of my creations. Any recipes that I use from other sources will be given to you so you can try them out also.
So here I am. A mother of a vegan daughter. Thanks for coming on in.