I've Got You Now!!

I saw the squirrel again and I got pictures!!!! Haha Since the picture from the last post was stolen from the web, I was determined to hunt this damn squirrel down and get a shot of its mug. He was eating when I saw him, which isn’t surprising, but he posed for two shots. There were a few cars slowly driving near me (probably wondering what the hell I was doing), but at that point, I didn’t even try to hide the fact that I was after this squirrel.

Tomorrow, I’m gonna try to capture it. I’ve attempted this with a skunk before and it didn’t work. My friend, Brian, and I tried to trap him with our tennis rackets (we put our tennis game on hold because this was obviously more important). In the end, the skunk sprayed the hell out of us and I haven’t attempted animal capturing since (well, there was this one time with a fox, but don’t even ask haha). Hopefully, this works out better. And just so you guys know, I don’t want to kill the animal or make a hat out of it (although the skunk would’ve made a dashing hat), I just want it as a pet or something haha

All this squirrel talk makes me hungry haha Luckily, I have a great recipe for today. It’s a tempeh dish from Veganomicon. It was originally called Hot Sauce-Glazed Tempeh, but I used Hoisin Sauce because it’s my new thang. It’s the first dish I’ve made from this cookbook, and I was addicted to it!! I made it at like 10 pm, ate half of it, and had the rest in the morning on a tortilla with all the fixins. It’s pretty spicy, but I put sour cream on it to cool it off. Sour cream tastes good on everything… including muffins… and squirrels? haha

Here’s the recipe:

Hoisin Sauce-Glazed Tofu

1 8oz package tempeh

½ cup wine (any kind)

¼ cup hoisin sauce

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp soy sauce

3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp dried oregano

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions: Bring a medium size pot of water to a boil. Whisk all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl large enough to fit the tempeh slices. Cut the tempeh in half, widthwise, then cut each of the squares diagonally, to form four large triangles. When water is boiling, lower the heat to a simmer, and cok the tempeh for 10 minutes. This steams the tempeh. Use to tongs immediately place the tempeh in the marinade bowl. Marinate for one hour, flipping the tempeh every now and then. After tempeh has marinated, preheat oven to broil. Place tempeh in an oven safe pan. Spoon some of marinade over tempeh and broil for 5 minutes. Flip over and broil it for another 5 minutes.

And I was tagged by Belle Eats for this fun, little weird fact spiller. haha

Rules:

• Link the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
• Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links.
• Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Facts:

1. I sleep with a heating pad every night. My room is absolutely freezing, so I love having it with me.
2. I make the biggest mess when I cook. Even if I’m making a sandwich, pots and pans will be used for some crazy reason. And if I use measuring cups or spoons, I never wash them between uses.
3. I love my butt haha but that’s no secret really. I look at it every day because it’s just so cute and perky all the time.
4. I hate getting gas by myself. Something bad always happens. Either I’ll get gas all over myself or all over the car.
5. It drives me nuts if someone flushes the toilet while the lid is up!!! Actually, nuts is an understatement. More like INSANE MADWOMAN PSYCHONESS. I just hate the pee and poop germs flying out of the toilet and onto the walls, my toothbrush, my towels, etc.
6. I eat muffins like it’s my job. I usually make 3 batches a week, and I’ll eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner until they’re gone. I realize I’m not getting a mix of vitamins and nutrients and blah blah blah but I don’t care haha
7. I love dancing in the Sears parking lot. Actually, any parking lot will do but Sears is my favorite. I’ll go really late at night with a friend and we’ll just bust our moves for an hour or so until security comes and tells us to leave.

I tag...
For the Love of Guava
Agnes' World of Vegan Pleasures
The Pink Apron
I Am Not A Rabbit
A Vegan with A Reason
Flowers at Home
Vegan Dance if You Want to

I couldn't stop eating this.

Alrighty. So I am off the ENTIRE day! It feels amazing right now. I have so much stuff I wanna do... sunbathe, get my haircut, run in South Park, go to the library, go to Michaels, go to the gym, and homework (only because I have to). I hope I have time to squeeze it all in. Today reminds me of the last day I'm alive for some reason- trying to do a million things in one day. It's kind of exciting. haha

And since I'm in a great mood, I had to put up a picture of the largest underwear in the world. I found them at Sears, of course. I'm gonna go back and get them because I've needed a new set of sheets.

And the corn is from Whole Foods. I tried to make the Whole Foods "kettle corn tasting" corn and I did it. It tasted just like the damn stuff. I should've left it on the grill longer, but I'm not complaining. It was delicious.

All this food talk and I haven't even posted a recipe! The recipe for today is Dreena Burton's AMAZING Pan-Fried Tempt-eh! Wow, that's all I can say. It supposedly makes 5-6 servings, but I ate it all last night around 12 am. haha. I drenched mine in ketchup, but that's because I'm weird. I put ketchup on everything.

Here's the recipe:
Pan-Fried Tempt-eh!

1 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar (may use apple cider vinegar)
1 1/2 tbsp tamari
1 pkg (8oz) tempeh
3-4 tbsp arrowroot powder
3 tbsp coconut oil
lemon wedges (for serving)

Directions:
In a large shallow dish, mix rice vinegar and tamari. On a cutting board, cut tempeh into about 1/2 x 3 1/2 in slices. Add tempeh to vinegar-tamari mixture to marinate, turning slices to absorb marinade on both sides. If possible, allow tempeh to marinate for 20 minutes or more in the refrigerator.

In a large dish, spread arrowroot powder. Dip each tempeh slice in arrowroot, gently tapping to remove any clumps. In a non-stick frying pan on high, heat oil. Add tempeh slices and fry on one side for 3-5 minutes until crispy, adding more oil if needed. Flip again if needed. Remove and serve immediately with a squeeze of lemon wedge or with a favorite dipping sauce...like ketchup!

Ok I really love ice cream. I really, really do.

I'm a little bit sore today. Actually, a lot. I did a pilates class yesterday and a yoga class this morning. I never thought yoga would take strength and endurance, but that's what yoga is. I work up a sweat every time I take the class. After class, my mom and I went to LUSH!! It just opened in our mall and we got so much stuff. They overcharged us by 50 bux, but that won't stop me from going back there all the time. haha. I wanna apply there because Sears is just a mess. I need a job where people are happy to be there and not wanting to stab themselves with ink tags.

And of course, I just had to put a picture up of this Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream that I've been living off of. Straight out of the container is always the way to go. Oh and I almost forgot to mention... Whole Foods might be moving closer to me!! Thank God. Now I can eat copious amounts of ice cream any time I feel like it. haha... so it wouldn't really be different than usual. But their bread is unbelievable! I just had a slice of oatmeal bread with Crunchy Time Peanut Butter.

Anyway, the recipe!! Yes, let me get to that. It's super easy but very good. It's actually almost classy haha... and I never associate myself with the word classy let alone my food. It's for tempeh wrapped figs. I am obsessed with fakin bacon and figs, so the two join together in perfect harmony.

Here's the recipe:
Tempeh-Wrapped Figs

2 strips Tempeh Fakin Bacon
2 Figs
Balsamic Vinegar
Honey

Directions:

Wrap the tempeh around the fig and poke a toothpick through to secure it. Without spraying a pan, heat the figs over medium heat. Turn the figs so all the sides can cook and begin to brown. This takes about 5 minutes. When the figs are done, put them on a plate, and pour balsamic vinegar and honey onto each one. Make them look nice and fancy. haha.
Note: I use honey in the recipe because I don't understand why vegans don't eat it. It's probably my favorite food haha.

Just Plain Hungry

After a tough workout at the gym today, I was famished when I got home. There was a bunch of random stuff in my house that I just didn't know what to do with. Not knowing exactly what I was hungry for, I threw together this delicious vegetable medley with tempeh bacon. DEAR LORD! It is so good. I'm finishing my bowl right now and getting another after I type this.

Here's the recipe:
Hungry Woman's Veggies with Tempeh Bacon
PAM cooking spray
1/2 cup vegetable stock
1/3 cup chopped onions
1 baked potato, cut into chunks (I used Yukon Gold)
1 1/2 cups fresh spinach
2 cloves of garlic
1 medium-sized tomato, cut into chunks
1-2 tbsp fresh dill (I LOVE dill)
1 tsp paprika
a few dashes of freshly ground black pepper
2 strips of Tempeh bacon, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 tbsp agave nectar
Directions:

Spray skillet with PAM, a good amount. Add the vegetable stalk, onions, garlic, and tomato. Let simmer for 1 minute. Add in the spinach, tomato, dill, paprika, and pepper. Let the spinach cook down a little bit, about 1-2 minutes, and then add in your chunks of baked potato. Move the veggies around the skillet with a spatula until the potatoes get a nice coating of the spices. Add in the tempeh bacon and cook until their is the fragrant bacon smell in the kitchen, about 2 minutes. Add in the agave nectar and let simmer for about 20 seconds. Take the meal off the skillet and top with some guacamole.

Guacamole

1 avocado, mashed
juice of half a lime
1/2 tsp of sea salt
1-2 tsp ground cumin

Combine ingredients and add on the top of your veggies and tempeh bacon. The heat of the veggies and the coolness of the guacamole is just a delicious fiesta of flavors in your mouth!