tofurkey: mediocre at best

i hear vegans and vegetarians alike raving about the stuff all of the time. there are sandwich slices and the more commonly known version vegans gobble up at thanksgiving. i've tried the yves brand turkey slices before and i didn't care for them at all. they tasted like sulfites and liquid smoke and the accurate lunch meat texture was very disturbing to this vegan. i've never had tofurkey though.

i recently talked about buckling under the vegan peer pressure to try tofurkey at thanksgiving this year. while out and about running errands today i saw a pack of the tofurkey lunch meat slices and decided to give it go. it only makes sense to spend $3 to find out if i like it now instead of $10 later on a giant hunk of mock meat that will go to the squirrels on thanksgiving because i couldn't choke it down.

i just made a sandwich of whole wheat bread, vegenaise, yellow mustard, yellow tomatoes, onions and tofurkey. first i tried the tofurkey on its own. my first reaction was that it wasn't half bad. then i noticed that the texture was tough, followed by the chemically aftertaste of all of the weird stuff used to try to make wheat gluten taste like turkey. ew. when i tried it on the actual sandwich i noticed that the taste had all but disappeared behind the rest of the ingredients, but the tough texture was still very noticeable.

i ate the whole sandwich and i will finish the slices because i don't want to waste them, but i've decided that tofurkey won't be on my thanksgiving table. i will probably make some seitan cutlets instead. i know i like seitan and it's easy to make.

all of that said, i was supposed to make apple cinnamon scones and pizza dough for you today, but i had technical difficulties because a maintenance man was in my kitchen all day with the refrigerator pushed up against the opposite counter. sigh. i may not get to them before saturday, but no longer than that, i promise.

dreams of pizza dough and scones

yes, i know. i haven't posted anything since mid-october when i told veganmofo to bite me. it would seem that my my muse took a walkabout and didn't leave a forwarding address when i made that gesture...veganmofo karma? perhaps, but i don't care. i've resided in the blogosphere long enough to know that you have to go with it when such things happen because, sooner or later, some other muse wanders by and takes a liking to you. thank goodness! i mean, i haven't even cooked anything other than spaghetti for the last three weeks! i've been living on sandwiches and ramen...if you know me then you know that's completely bizarre.

anyway, i have a plan. i will see you wednesday. megan suggested that i make something with apples so i've been working on a scone recipe...because i like apples and i like scones. then i'm going to try pizza crust...because i like pizza and all of the store bought crusts seem to have dairy in them, bleh.

yikes!

if you haven't already figured it out by my absence this last week, i've opted out of veganmofo. i didn't run out of steam, i don't have a problem finding things to post, i'm not too terribly busy and i'm not lazy. i simply don't feel like i have anything to prove, nothing to defend and no one to impress or convert with my awesome veganocity. besides, i'm just not into it this year. sorry.

now, back to our regularly scheduled program....

i've been trying this new program i heard about on veggiegail's page, she's the hungry vegan. (i would so link to your page right now gail, but i'm at work and am a bit limited. anyone who wants to visit can find gail in my sidebar listed as the hungry vegan.) it's called the mcdougall program and i think the web address is http://www.drmcdougall.com/. it's a program perfect for vegans because it leaves out all animal flesh and biproducts. it's a starch based, high complex carb, low fat dietary makeover. it's relatively easy. the most difficult part is training your tastebuds to taste without any added fats or oils.

yes, i've lost weight. no, i'm not satisfied. it's not that i miss the fat, it's just that i've never eaten so much starch in my life and i'm a bit bored with it. also, my skin seems to hate it. i mean HATE it. oh, let me tell ya! i feel like i'm going through puberty again and the dry, irritated flaky and painful blotches on my face are a big indicator that this program is NOT for me in its truest sense.

i decided this weekend to start adding back some healthy oils in moderation. you know, avocados, coconut, some nuts here and there...natural oils. i'm not going to start deep frying my tofu, but i'm not going to add any oils where they're not needed. i'm already seeing an improvement in my skin after two days of adding oils back into my diet. i've started my yoga again too, so perhaps with healthy fats in light moderation and some moderate exercise i can continue to lose weight AND have healthy skin.

veganmofo day 13 ~ there are no more excuses to NOT go vegan!

below are just a few of the lovely recipes i've created, tested and posted in the recipe column on the left side bar of the page you happen to be reading. they are all vegan. they are all delicious. they are not at all difficult. they have been tasted by friends, family and co-workers and have received the stamp of approval from omnivores i have made into my taste testers and recipe testers.

beautiful, fluffy chocolate cake

fluffy and moist whole wheat pancakes

creamy macaroni and cheese with a kick

rich coconut cream pie

banana nut muffins that will give you a foodgasm...seriously

try them, you'll see how hard it's NOT to cook delicious food that is also cruelty free.

so now when you say you would go vegan, but you don't see how you could live without cheese or other yummy confections that require dairy and/or eggs to taste good. or you just don't like to settle for mediocre food. or it's too hard to give up all of that deliciousness that comes from animals. or your family would never eat anything you cooked if you didn't give them meat. or you've had vegan food before and it was terrible...so, you're telling me you've never had bad food that contained animal ingredients before? and if you did, you'd stop eating that too?

think about it...

viva la mofo!

veganmofo day 12 ~ dinner out with the family

cheese-less pizza is fantastic! i haven't had pizza in a long, long time because i always assumed it would be boring and tasteless without the fattening, greasy cheese, but i was wrong. shall i tell you the real secret to good pizza? it's the crust. the CRUST! whodathunkit?!?

this pizza crust was so good and chewy with an ideal amount of crunch on the edges. topping this beauty was some really nice marinara, roma tomatoes, purple onions, black olives and mushrooms. they even gave me a side of marinara to dip the crust in. i didn't miss the cheese, vegan or not, at all. i think i have a new favorite and it's time for me to learn to make pizza crust.

here's my drink.

an italian margarita....i know! it's amazing, right?!?! you start out as though you're making a regular margarita with your tequila and triple sec, but you use 1/2 lime juice and 1/2 orange juice. then, you put a 2 ounce shot of amaretto liquor on the side that can be sipped or added to the drink...it's great either way. i always take a sip and then add it. oh, and the glass is rimmed with orange sugar.

now, guess where i got this delicious vegan meal...none other than the olive garden.

viva la mofo!!