Celebrating with a Vegan Reuben!

I have good news, friends! I'm officially going to be studying at the Bauhaus in Dessau, Germany next year!!! For my readers that aren't architectural nerdies, this place is packed with history and to actually attend a place I've learned about in class is insane. I couldn't be more excited. The whole going abroad scenario has been such a roller coaster of a ride, with mostly downs, but it will all be worth it when I'm exploring Berlin, Dresden, and the many other cities and countries I hope to dip my toes into. Eeeeeep! (I actually squeal like this when I'm crazy excited. It's weird).

I'll most likely be making another blog to document my travels, but more on that later. I have plenty of time to set that up, and it will more of a travel journal than anything for myself and my family to look back on when I have to re-assimilate into American society again. Dessau is a very small town (smaller than my hometown!... which is small) and the locals do not speak English, so I've already got my interactive cd's ordered. If anyone has any German to teach me, please share!

To celebrate, I decided to create my own version of a Vegan Reuben. While the origin of the Reuben Sandwich is a little hazy, it is said to have been invented by a German (possibly in the US?) in the 1940's, and it includes one of my favorite German ingredients: sauerkraut! I simply don't know enough dishes that include this treat, but hopefully while abroad I can pass on some recipes that will be more authentic than this one. I've seen many Vegan Reuben on the blog scene but I think mine's pretty darn good, so give it a shot and you won't be disappointed. :)

 

Ingredients:

Rye Bread (this really makes the sandwich, I swear it) 

Earth Balance spread

Tofurky, smoked flavor (amount desired)

Dash of olive oil

About 2 spoons Sauerkraut

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1/4 of an onion, diced (or desired amount)

Veganaise spread

Pinch of pepper jack flavored Daiya "cheese"

I used both a small frying pan and griddle for this sandwich. I started by throwing the garlic and onion into an oil-greased frying pan for about 5 minutes. Once browned, I added the sauerkraut just to warm it slightly.

In the meantime, I spread Earth Balance on one side of each rye slice, then Veganaise on the other. I placed the EB side down, V side up. I added tofurky slices to one slice, then added the sauerkraut mixture on top of that. 

Add a pinch of Daiya, and then put the empty rye slice on top and press. Flip and press again. 

Serve with a side of fruit or kettle chips, and enjoy! The bread and sauerkraut really make that classic reuben taste that I love so much!

Got to run to work! Auf Wiedersehen!

Kate

Some beans, some kale, and some unconventional pudding.

Hello Blogoverse!

I'm in quite good spirits after a wonderful and much needed yoga session this morning followed by some hilarious episodes of Weeds. I've got some lunch ideas on the brain, but in the meantime, I thought I'd share a good meal.

Been trying some fun recipes this week! I'd like to share my dinner from a couple nights ago. I did not make up any of these recipes but I did make some slight adjustments.

That brown pile of deliciousness is the Lemon Garlic Fava Beans and Mushrooms recipe from Post Punk Kitchen (once again, mad props Isa). Probably one of my favorite vegan recipes I've ever tried, no joke. The flavors were really multi-dimensional and so rich. A note of warning: don't watch television while you eat it, because the feeling of looking down to an empty serving with surprise is heartbreaking. Haha, I realize I always end up sharing my embarrassing relationships with food. No judgement.

The only tweek I made was cutting out the thyme, simply because I didn't have any, and I let the final product sit on the stove on simmer awhile while my rice was cooking to get it nice and thick. I don't prefer soupy, but that's a personal choice. I served over brown rice and it was filling and satisfying.

For my greens I decided to whip up some Kale Subzi from Holy Cow! Vegan Recipes because I had a ton of kale in the fridge. Silly me went out and bought fresh coconut just for the recipe but then forget to add it in at the end! So what we have here is coconut-less Kale Subzi, but delicious and healthy Kale Subzi regardless.

I topped it off with a big glass of almond milk. Oh yeah, get that good stuff.

You didn't think I'd forget dessert did you?! What kinda girl do you think I am?

 

Chocolate Pudding! Made from avocados! Wait.. what?

I've read some different recipes for this on the internet and was floored. I had to make it myself.

Vegan Chocolate Pudding 

(I won't even put avocado in the title because you can't taste it!)

Ingredients:
1.5 medium ripe avocados (because that's what I had), diced
1/3 cup raw agave nectar (or another sweetener of choice)
2-3 Tbsp pure cocoa powder (start with two and add for a more chocolate-y taste)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
A pinch or 2 of sea salt (to taste)
2 Tbsp water (I mixed the other ingredients first then added as I went to get the texture I wanted)
Sprinkle fresh coconut on top

All I did was combine the ingredients in my handy magic bullet and ta-da! This makes 2 servings, so my first attempt was without coconut, and the aftertaste of avocado was still slightly there (probably because I was thinking about it so much). On the second go, I added the fresh coconut and it made a world of difference. It added texture, masked the avocado flavor, and it was pretty to look at.
You! Must! Try! This!

Experimentor Extroidinare,
Kate

Wraps at Sunset

I've been trying new products lately! Hooray for me! I will do a little showcase and review of these products later this week. I think I can attribute my experiments to finally starting to become comfortable with the vegan lifestyle. I'm at a point where I can view it as a part of who I am, and not just as a diet.

However some sad news: I'm still waiting to hear back from my university as far as where I'll be studying abroad next year, and chances are I may have to take a vegan break during my travels. I'm sad by this... I have become so accustomed to feeling light and guilt-free about the origins of what I put on my plate, but I know if I were to live with a host family, or in a country where I don't speak the language, being picky about my food may not be an option. I'd like to think that foreign countries (at least in the lesser populated areas that I could be living in like Dessau) treat their animals with more respect than the money-hungry Americans that push livestock through death rows with a blindfold on. I'll have to do more research on that and get back to you.

So far my living situation for next year comes down to:
Copenhagen, Denmark (one of the most environmentally friendly places in the world!), 1 year
Florence, Italy, 1 year
Dessau, Germany, 7 months
Canberra, Austrailia, 1 year
Switzerland (traveling class), 10 weeks

Every afternoon I come home from school, day-dreaming about living abroad and my stomach literally does somersaults. So I do the practical thing, and feed my turning stomach with good food!

One night this week I made some veggie wraps and spicy sweet potato wedges (made like any other potato wedges, but with the addition of a lot of sweet cayenne pepper, mmm). I got the wraps at a local Asian market next to the nori and I had to give them a try. They are great for on the go because they easily fit in a to-go container, and they can be filled with anything!

Some of my favorite combos:

Fresh carrots (peeled)
Romaine lettuce
Sprouts
Lemon juice
Sesame wrapper

Avocado (good with everything, let's be real)
Spinach
Tofutti cream cheese
Sprouts
Yellow wrapper (I'm not exactly sure what the flavor was! But I'll reveal it on my product post)


Happy eating, and dreaming!
Kate

It's Poppin'.

Hello hello!

Work, school, and design competitions are taking over my life as of late. However, I've still been finding time to squeeze in a little pan-fryin'. There's always time for that.

On a side note, is anyone out there in the blogoverse as obsessed with Pushing Daisies as I am? Thank you to my roomie for introducing us! I watched the entire (and only) season in such a short amount of time, that it's embarrassing to say. I think I may watch it again.

Ready for some writing-magic? I'm going to tie these two complex thoughts together..

I had a really good night recently that involved jalapeno poppers, my favorite of fried foods, and Pushing Daisies! Don't believe me?

 

See! I told you!

This appetizer is really fun to make as long as you're wearing long sleeves, or actually have a deep fryer. 

Ingredients:

Fresh jalapenos, cut in half length-wise and gutted of most seeds (I leave in some for the spicy kick)

Tofutti Better-Than-Cream-Cheese, original flavor

Panko Bread Crumbs

Bowl of water

Bowl of Flour

-Cut the jalapenos in the long direction and gut as instructed above. Leave the desired amount of seeds inside

-Fill the "jalapeno canyon" with Tofutti

-Submerge the entire jalapeno half in the bowl of water (don't leave underwater too long, just enough to cover), then roll in the flour

-Let the jalapeno half dry for about ten minutes (I put them on a paper towl while I did the others)

-Submerge the half in water again, then roll in the Panko bread crumbs. Let dry.

-You may want to repeat the Panko step again to get it as covered as possible. 

-Heat a large skillet with raised sides, filled with vegetable oil

-When it starts to pop, add the jalapeno poppers and rotate about every 5 minutes until they are a golden brown color

-Let them cool on a paper towel to absorb some of the extra oil

-Eat those suckers!

These are feel-good.

Promise,

Kate

Galapril's Pancakes

This morning I stumbled upon a Danish girl's blog while procrastinating doing my taxes... oops. She doesn't seem to be completely vegan as some of her older posts include tuna and milk, but those Vegan Chocolate Chip pancakes look delish in her current post's video! Check her out!
April is an aspiring photographer and high school student. Plus, she's just way adorable and her english is so cute!

Today is April 4, the day that architecture students here must commit to their abroad programs. I'm anxiously waiting to hear from the Copenhagen program to see if I got spot. Eeeep!

Kate

Happy April everyone! Sorry I've been gone so long, once again. This past week was my university's spring break, and I spent mine in snowy, cold Minneapolis. It's not the typical spring break location, filled with beaches, booze, and booty. And by that I mean treasure. Many tropical locations have hidden treasure.

You sick minded people.

 I was in Minneapolis for a co-ed fraternity convention, and one would think it would be difficult for a vegan to eat in a convention setting; I believe I was one of two vegans out of 150 people! But once again, veganism proves itself to rule harder than ever. Someone at every meal expressed jealously over my creative dishes. Who needs soggy piece of fish when you could have sweet tomato and tofu curry? Who needs plain old white cake when you could have a giant martini glass of fresh berries and raspberry sorbet? I could go on, but you get the idea. Us vegans even got different dishes from the vegetarians, which is strange and seems to cost more for the caterers, but whatever. Vegans 1, Everyone Else 0.

There was one night where dinner was not provided for us, so I convinced my hotel roomies to venture into the freezing cold in search of a vegan restaurant. I have to admit I was skeptical, considering vegan almost seems like a foreign word outside of hippy California, but we ended up finding the most delicious vegan pizza I've ever tasted!

Let me now present...
Pizza Luce Downtown! in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

I started off with the "cheesy" garlic bread that was made with a tofu-nut mixture. It was SPICY! But the chronic heartburn was so worth it. 

As a main dish I got the Athena Pizza: Their special cheese substitute, spinach, olives, artichoke hearts, and tomatoes, all on a garlic-y crust. 

The environment of the place was just too cute. High bar stools, local art for sale, and a sports bar, it definitely had a warm vibe. And look at those to-go boxes! Mm! My friends opted to get the all-meat pizza, of course. Sigh, carnivores. But it goes to show this restaurant is perfect for anyone and everyone - they even had gluten free options. BIG WIN!

This place definitely got my mind working on some new creative pizza ideas.

In other news, I just hit my -20 lbs mark today! I've been stuck in the 15-18 lb range for a while so it was a big surprise when I hopped on the scale this morning. And I just came back from a vacation... What what?! I'm feeling more motivated than ever to work out harder and watch my sugar intake for the upcoming bikini season. Yesterday the central coast reached a whopping 80 degrees and the beach was covered with tanning, swimming, college bodies. And to think it all worked out on what happened to be a school holiday as well!

Thank you, Mother Nature. You're the best, and I love you,
Kate