I am on the VeganEssentials.com mailing list, and thank dog I am because last week they had a sale for Daiya vegan cheese. Now, I was skeptical about this cheese since no other vegan attempt at the regular dairy cheese has ever been the same. For the most part, that’s fine by me because I don’t need cheese. I used to think I couldn’t live without it, why I couldn’t go vegan, which was, of course, complete bullshit. There is no food I can’t live without, and there is DEFINITELY no animals excretion that I should consume. Ever.

The only exception I’ve found is pizza. I was never a big into pizza before going vegan. Don’t get me wrong, I liked pizza, but it wasn’t my go-to food. But after going vegan, cheese and pepperoni pizza is what I missed. It was bizarre how I would get a craving for this thing I was never really that into before. And it wasn’t until just a few months ago that I really made an attempt to make my own pizza. It was when I discovered Daiya cheese. It melts, it stretches, it fills that void I’ve had for cheese pizza. I bought a little of each to try, and it was amazing.

Last week, I bought some more. Hey, it was on sale and it freezes really well, so I ordered it on a whim. Since the company that sells it is in Wisco, I got it the next day. Of course I had to make pizza that night. A-mazing!

(and no animals were harmed in the making of this pizza, not even me!)

I was trying a new recipe for pizza dough, and it made a huge, pliable batch. I could have saved the extra and made another pizza later, but I was inspired by a commercial for Hot Pockets. I used to love Hot Pockets, especially the pepperoni ones that would ooze grease and oil when you bit into them. EWWW (well, this is what I think about that now, at least). Needless to say, I don’t miss the oozy grease or the ground animal bits, but I do miss the surprise. Oh, it looks like just a roll of bread, but SURPRISE, you’re meal’s inside! Yeah, I know I’m weird. I also like cookies like that, but that’s a whole other post.

The the stuffed part of this is just a pizza crust on the bottom, and another crust on the top. A lot like a huge calzone. Ok, exactly like that. What was so great about it that one piece was more than enough for a meal, so this last for several days/meals that I didn’t have to cook for. Don’t get me wrong, I love to make things. But when I get home from work, walk Doc, and then just want to put my feet up, to know there is a meal already ready for me, I hum with happiness. Just a few short seconds in the micro and voila! Delicious vegan stuffed pizza burning the inside of my mouth! Yes, I need to work on my patience.

So this weekend was one for the record books as far as time I spent in the kitchen. I guess I was inspired, or motivated, or hungry. Whatever the reason, I made a bunch of stuff that I’ll share with you now.

First was the bread. I found a cheap-o bread machine last week, and plus has a coupon for 20% off, so I thought, hell, why not? I like the idea of making my own bread. Have you looked at an ingredient list on a normal loaf of store-bought bread? It reads like a chemical composition of unpronounceable ingredients. I actually have one of these loaves that’s been in my fridge for over 9 months and NOT MOLDY. Yes, it still tastes fine, after 9 months. What the hell is in it that it doesn’t go bad after so many months? Whatever it is, it can’t be good for me.

So anyways, back to the bread machine. It’s a cheapy, so I don’t have super high hopes. Worst case, I hate it and take it back. Best case, I have yummy bread with a short ingredient list. So then to choose what kind of bread to make. I could have gone with the standard white bread, but truth is I don’t really like it. I prefer whole wheat, the nuttier and grainier, the better. The settings I went with were the normal ones (not the express), so it took, like, 3 hours or something to make. But it smelled so good and tasted even better!

This is what it looked like:

(I know, my camera is shitty and since I do most of my cooking at night, the photos are even worse!)

And this is what I made with it: a grilled cheese panini!!!!

Add a little bbq sauce for dipping and I am a happy chica!

Sweety humini, just thinking about it makes my mouth water. Maybe I’ll have that again for dinner to night. Hmmm….

Ok, so that was only the beginning. I also (finally) decided to actually make the carrot cake I’ve been thinking about for a month or more. You see, for me it’s all about motivation. If I don’t HAVE to do something, and I don’t really want to do it, I usually will not do it. It’s a trait I hate about myself, but it’s pretty low on the list so, well, whatever… Back to the carrot cake. What a fucking pain in the ass! It wasn’t complicated or anything, but since I’ve never before made carrot cake, I didn’t realize what a mess it would make. But the final product turned out really good (maybe a little undercooked, but very moist and wonderful). Add a little cream cheese frosting and VOILA! Heaven in my mouth. And I’ll be able to have this heavenly treat for a long time because the cake was HUGE (ok, so I doubled it. But only because I didn’t want to have half things in my fridge!).

Slice of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting:

And the leftovers:

And MORE leftovers:

Oh, and because OBVIOUSLY I wasn’t busy enough, I decided to attempt the pepperoni recipe from vegandad.blogspot.com. Ever since I went vegan almost 2 years ago, I’ve missed pizza. More specifically, pepperoni pizza. Yeah, I know it’s terrible for me and all that, but sweet mother of all that is yummy, it’s delicious.

I didn’t even know it was possible to make vegan pepperoni until a few months ago (or weeks, I can’t keep track of time). Well, it is possible. And, very easy! and it totally smells like pepperoni and tastes amazing! I’d like to say it tastes just like ordinary, dead-animal-carcass pepperoni… but honestly, I can’t remember. I’m pretty sure it does.

So in honor of the pepperoni, I decided to make pizza today. Ok, so it isn’t like I need a reason to make pizza.

Pizza with cheezy sauce and vegan pepperoni (before going into the oven):

And after:

And finally, I needed to make something for my lunches for the week at work. Since last week’s peanut sauce was so amazing, I decided to make it again with wide wheat noodles, cauliflower, tofu and green beans. Yes, I think we have another winner!

Peanut sauce on wide wheat noodles with tofu and veggies:

Bloody hell, my camera sucks unless it has a ton of light. Suckity suck sucks! I need to get a lamp or something when I take photos, and maybe a tripod. I think I actually have one in the garage. I’ll have to take a look.

So now I just need to choose what to have for dinner. My choices are: left over pepperoni pizza, grilled cheese,  or peanut tofu noodles. OR carrot cake.

Hmmmm these are the BEST kinds of decisions!

Bonus pic: Doc choosing the prime bed location: