Hot Dog Macaroni

Shmoo is quite the veggie dog lover, is he not? This time I took a cue from my lil' brother's childhood, and mixed sliced Yves Veggie Dogs in with macaroni and vegan "cheese" sauce. My brother went through a phase where he ate hot dogs mixed with boxed mac and cheese (the non-veg kind) every day for lunch until my mom thought it was going to come out his ears. On the side is an applesauce cup (I haven't been able to find applesauce tubes around here, but I'm still looking).

To complete this all-American kid meal, I made a pan of brownies. Oh, I've been craving brownies lately -- not the cakey kind that I usually make, but the fudgy, gooey, ultra-chocolatey kind. It was Dreena Burton to the rescue, with her incredible Fudgy Brownies recipe in Vive le Vegan!And to drink, a mixture of almond milk and vanilla soymilk, to go with that chocolatey brownie.

Verdict: Shmoo loved the hot dog macaroni; the "Amazing Mac 'N Cheez Sauce" I use for mac & cheese (from Ultimate Uncheese)is perhaps one of his favorite things to eat. And the brownies were perfection, just what I had been dreaming of! I can't imagine an omni ever guessing that these did not have eggs and dairy in them. 5 stars for sheer yumminess, but not too many for healthiness.

"Yes, where are the veggies?" I hear my critics complaining. Well, we do eat fruits and veggies every day, but I've noticed that my cooking tends to go back and forth between trying to be as super-healthy as possible, and trying to taste as delicious and comforting as possible (guess which style my husband and son prefer?).

Although I know it would be better if we always ate exclusively for our health, I don't think every vegan out there really cares about health first and foremost. Veganism for many is a path of compassion, rather than a "diet" or something they do for their bodies. And I'm glad of that, because everyone knows diets are meant to be broken! Thank goodness there are supremely decadent, ultra-rich vegan goodies -- like fudgy brownies! -- out there to enjoy, so we can continue to be kind to the animals, even when we're not being kind to our waistlines.

Jamaican Red Beans & Rice

Two more recipes today from The Vegetarian Family Cookbook. In all honesty, I have to say that until Nava Atlas offered to send me a copy of her book I hadn't given it any notice. That's really just because it started with the word "vegetarian", which in most of my cookbooks translates as "lots of eggs and dairy". But all the dishes I've looked at have either been vegan or have easy vegan options. Now I can't seem to put it down! Her recipes inspire me as an adventurous cook, but are still dishes that my son will gladly eat.

First, in the thermos, Quick Jamaican Red Beans & Rice, made of cooked brown rice, a can of red beans, and some light coconut milk. On the side are whole wheat Banana Fritters, another adaptation of a traditional Jamaican recipe, with a little container of maple syrup.

Nava recommended a green salad or a dish of glazed butternut squash to go with this meal. Sounds good to me, but as shmoo says when in one of his Raggae moods, "A nuh mi fi like it (I am not one to like that)." So I added a dish of blueberry soy yogurt topped with frozen cherries and raspberries.

Verdict: Beans and rice is such a staple at our house. If you cook a large batch of brown rice at the beginning of the week and keep canned beans on hand, you can have a fast, simple and kid-friendly supper together in minutes. Adding coconut milk this time gave it an extra-rich flavor we all loved -- even better the next day for lunch. The fritters were denser than a regular banana pancake, and more banana-y. Everything got eaten up by my wanga-gut (hungry belly) boy. 4 stars.

Aussie Tucker

My Dad is in Australia right now (hi, Dad!). Here's a little packed lunch in honor of his once (and future?) home.

First, could it be? Yes! It's a Vegemite sandwich! I made the "Love It or Leave It Vegemite Sandwich" from Vegetarians in Paradise -- a thin layer of Vegemite, veggie ham, pineapple, and grated carrot. Next to the sandwich are a side of baked potato crisps.

And even though it cost a fortune, I couldn't resist packing in a fresh paw paw (papaya). My grandmother grew up near her Uncle's paw paw farm in Queensland, and told stories of plucking them ripe from the trees and eating them in the shade. She missed them when they moved to America; back then fresh papaya was something you could only dream about in the deserts of eastern Washington.

For dessert, I used my Twinkie pan to make Lamingtons -- sponge cakes dipped in chocolate and rolled in coconut (follow the link to the recipe, but watch out or you'll be eating chocolate icing for breakfast with a spoon...or no, maybe that's just me...).

Verdict: Americans, don't go flipping out on me ("Vegemite? Now you've gone too far, Jennifer Shmoo!"). Vegemite and its English cousin, Marmite, are actually quite good! Spread thinly, they have a salty, savory, beefy taste that reminds me of strong miso. But pineapple on a sandwich? Shmoo thinks that's just crazy-talk, and asked that it be removed. He got inspired by my Aussie stories and took his wooden hopping kangaroo for show-and-tell; I wish I had gotten it in the picture. Now how do you pack paw paw without it getting a bit mushy? 4 stars.

Blintz & Babka

I've had a lot of fun lately raiding the library shelves and learning about Jewish cuisine. Here's my attempt at a bissel lunch (a little lunch). First, a veganized potato- cheese blintz. I made tofu crêpes (another masterpiece from Bryanna Clark Grogan) and filled them with mashed potatoes and crumbled "Betta Feta" from Ultimate Uncheese,to replace the farmer's/cottage cheese called for in the recipe (I've always thought "Betta Feta" tasted more like "Betta Cottage Cheese" to me). I was told no blintz would be complete without a serving of applesauce, so I packed some in the large lidded container.

Tzimmes reminded me of compote; it's a sweet, spiced mixture of vegetables and dried fruit. I made mine with sweet potato, carrot, raisins, and prunes, but I had to make sure shmoo's portion only contained carrots and raisins (more prunes for me!).

And for dessert I couldn't resist making chocolate babka -- yeasted sweet dough rolled with a chocolate-cinnamon filling and topped with streusel. Normally it's baked in a loaf, but when I read that "Barney Greengrass on Manhattan's Upper West Side" serves individual babkas baked in muffin tins, I had to give it a try for the lunch box. Hey, it's as close to Manhattan as I'll ever get (but if you try it at home remember to spray the muffin liners with nonstick spray, or the chocolate filling will stick).

Verdict: Such a production? The tofu crêpes were absolutely amazing -- so easy to make and work with, so tasty, and so, so crêpey! And excellent served cold -- shmoo practically inhaled it. The tzimmes, not so much. But, oh, the babka! Somebody stop me before I babka again! 5 stars.

Cheese Sticks

Someone recently mentioned longing for packaged string cheese as a child, and it got me thinking on coming up with a vegan version. Now I'm positive that prepackaged vegan cheese sticks are either out there somewhere (?) or in the works, but it's still nice to come up with a healthy homemade version (and this one happens to be soy-free to boot). This vegan "cheddar" is a recipe from Bryanna Clark Grogan's subscription-only newsletter; it's made from a base of roasted red peppers and tahini, with magical gelling agents agar and carrageenan. I poured the warm mixture into an ice stick tray to create a cheese stick shape. I'm sure you could do the same with any of the vegan block cheese recipes out there, in books like Dairy-Free and Deliciousor The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook.

Next to the cheese sticks are baby carrots and jicama, a kiwi fruit, and soy crisps. For dessert, two slices of dried mango are resting in a muffin cup next to the crisps.

Verdict: The sticks were softer than regular cheese, but still finger-foodable. These were much, much better than my last block cheese attempt -- more flavorful and without that overwhelming mustard taste, and oddly enough without an overwhelming red pepper flavor, either. Shmoo only ate one, though, and says he still prefers transfat-filled Tofutti slices. He liked the soy crisps, but I wonder what happened to plain old mini-rice cakes -- sometimes even a vegan wants a break from all that soy! 3 stars.

Update: Right after dinner shmoo asked, "Are there more of those cheese sticks?" and then proceeded to eat all the rest. "But I thought you didn't like them?!?" I exclaimed. "No, I decided they were good!" So hey, you just never know!

Baseball

Welcome to my son's newest passion! Shmoo started Coach Pitch Softball this season and the team's second Big Game is tonight. Hubby and I both observed that we would have wailed in misery if our parents had made us play baseball (we're more the library/chess club crowd), but shmoo says wistfully, "I wish we could have softball practice every single day!"

So take shmoo out to the ball game with an Yves Veggie Dog on a whole wheat bun and a small ketchup on the side. The baseball is a Zucchini-Raisin Muffin from The Vegetarian Family Cookbook by Nava Atlas -- a whole wheat muffin filled with zucchini, applesauce, walnuts, and flax. I frosted the muffin with a basic white icing and piped on baseball stitching using icing tinted with natural food coloring. And I couldn't resist throwing in some (yes, it's vegan!) Cracker Jack, complete with a Surprise Inside.

Speaking of baseball, are you looking for a vegan baseball glove? Target carries inexpensive vinyl baseball gloves for kids (in pink, even!). And if you're looking for a top-of-the-line finest-of-the-fine all-vegan glove, visit Carpenter Trade.

Verdict: This was a fun lunch, and shmoo loved the baseball muffin. He had never heard of Cracker Jack, so I had to sing him the song and explain what it was. 5 home runs.

P.S. Tomorrow is yet another noon release -- see you Wednesday!

Tofu Sandwich & Pineapple Lemon Bars

Two recipes today from Dreena Burton's Vive le Vegan!First, I followed her suggestion and mashed leftover Lemon-Herb Tofu with Vegenaise for a tangy sandwich filling. Next to the sandwich a Pineapple Lemon Bar is waiting for dessert. I also packed some Brussels sprouts and a bag of popcorn sprinkled with cheesy nutritional yeast flakes (I'm liking these snack-sized baggies!).
Verdict: Shmoo wasn't too crazy for the other two tofu sandwich spreads we've tried, both made from mashed raw tofu. These were much, much better. The tofu had a firmer texture and extra flavor from being baked with lemon juice and herbs. I'll be using mashed baked tofu for sandwich spreads from now on. The Pineapple Lemon Bars weren't as sickly-sweet as traditional lemon bars, and we liked the oat & coconut crust. Thanks, Dreena! 4 stars.

Indian Rice & Chapatis

Last night I made Indian Rice Salad from May All Be Fed-- brown rice cooked with Indian spices, then tossed with veggies and a mild dressing and chilled. The recipe recommended serving the salad with chapatis (Indian flatbreads), so this morning I made a batch of Oat Chapatis from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian.I tucked two into the lunch box and we ate the rest with breakfast (they're excellent warm with margarine and spicy peach butter).

Also in the lunch box today are a tropical fruit cup and a new experiment I am calling "So-Gurt". "It's not fair," shmoo complains. "Everyone else in my class gets Go-GURT® but I don't." Have any other parents out there been hearing this? Oh, the sufferings of youth! Apparently squeezing flourescent yogurt out of a tube is simply not to be missed.

I know some marketing genius is developing soy yogurt tubes even as we speak, but in the meantime I'm trying my hand at homemade: I filled a snack-size ziplock bag with about 1/2 cup cherry soy yogurt and froze it overnight. This morning I cut a very small slit in one corner of the bag. Hopefully at lunchtime shmoo can finish tearing the corner away and push out the custardy yogurt.

Verdict: My son was able to successfully squeeze yogurt out of a baggie, making him feel at one with his peers. It seems silly to me -- half the yogurt he would get in a cup, and a wasted plastic bag. But then again, so do a lot of things nowadays. I guess I'm just an old mom, sitting in my rocker telling "when I was your age, we ate with spoons" stories. Oh, the rice and chapatis were good, too. 4 stars.

Layered Bean Dip

Stone-ground corn chips for lunch today with a layered bean dip made with refried beans, avocado, salsa, vegan sour cream, and black olives. On the side are slices of watermelon and jicama. Beverage: Rice Dream Horchata (cinnamon rice milk).
Verdict: It must have been quite a while since we last had horchata. When I told him it was in his lunch today he said, "Oh YUM! I don't remember what that tastes like." A good lunch, easy to throw together and very well received. 5 stars.
P.S. No lunch tomorrow, see you Thursday!
P.P.S. Gee, if I'd been thinking at all I would have saved this lunch for Friday -- Cinco de Mayo!! Oh well, I guess I posted it early so now you all can make it for Friday!

May Day

It's an old May Day custom to give May Baskets filled with flowers and treats to your friends. I didn't think real flowers would hold up well at school, and what schoolkid really needs another piece of candy? So I'm surprising shmoo with sheets of flower stickers instead.

For lunch I made cream cheese spirals: wholegrain dough spread with vegan cream cheese and a sprinkle of chopped fresh herbs (basil, parsley, thyme, and dill), rolled up like a cinnamon roll, cut it into slices, and baked. On the side are an Odwalla Chocolate Chip Peanut Nourishing Food Bar and a fruit salad of strawberries, orange, and banana. Beverage: Kagome Purple Roots & Fruits Juice, a veggie/fruit juice combo. "Wow...now I can drink my vegetables!" the bottle enthuses. Let's see if shmoo will say the same...

Verdict: He drank all the juice! It tastes mostly of grapes and blueberries; you would never guess it contains spinach, beets, cabbage, etc. At the last minute I worried that I hadn't packed enough food for him, and threw in two more spirals. I shouldn't have worried; he ate the bar and all the cream cheese spirals, but then got too full to finish the fruit salad. Four would have been just right. 4 stars.