I AM CUPCAKENATOR.

It's too bad I wait so long to upload pics of past repasts sometimes. by the time I sit down to tell you about them, I've oft forgot what half the d'rn ingredients were. (ahhh, the dangling participle conundrum)

Below is Double Sins on a Dime, i.e. carbo-overload mixed with conveniently cheap and dangerously devilish crescent rolls in a tube (eh-hem... PHO. partially hydrogenated oils.) Generally I try to stay away from artery-clogging glue, but on this day I was desperately craving a croissant-filled something, so I "craved-n-caved" to Pillsbury. It is a spana-croissanta, filled with spinach and tofutti cream cheese, mixed with cumin, cayenne pepper, and paprika. Soooo not healthy. But still VEGAN!! The shells were baked atop Muir Glen chopped tomatoes and diced peppers, and a tofu feta, mixed with fresh herbs from my stairgarden (all of which are shrieking like mandrakes as they wither up and die in this unremitting heat).

and outta this world nachos (with ingredients leftover from taco night). it's a damn shame you can't see all of the goodies that went into this whopper. To name a few: veggie ground round; seitan stir-fried with lime juice, chili powder, curry powder, and broth from the "chicken-style" seitan container; red onion; jalapenos; FYH monterey jack; shredded lettuce, cilantro (ya gotta LOVE that cilantro!); and of course, salsa and hot sauce of choice. Oh, I almost forgot: also thrown in were some broiled summer squash, zucchini, and red bell pepper in a "special sauce" .
There. I think I named all of 'em.

yes, my gut was hurting a bit afterwards, but it was definitely worth it.

why do cats insist on being outside when it is hotter'n blazes???? here is Blackboy playing dead amongst dying flowers...

I also baked up some uber-fab mini lemon bundt cakes, with lemon frosting, served with fresh scrawberries. They were thigh-packing good, but some of the bundt stuck to the pan, so not necessarily photo-worthy this time around.

Speaking of baking, what is the DEAL with all the cupcake-orama going around lately? Is it a part of the vegan credo?

"thou shalt commit vegecide once a day, thou shalt bake fancy colorful cupcakes 3x/week"??

It seems that every vegan blog I visit (and many "other" eaters as well) are way into the cupcake thing. At first I thought it was a phenomenon started by the rockin' VwaV girls (that's Vegans with a Vagina to you), but then I found a couple of sites where you-know-who-you-are had not yet heard of their book, Vegan Cupcakes take over the World. So WHAT IS GOING ON??

Let me clarify; I have nothing against cupcakes, or any girlie baking for that matter. Actually, I hadn't really given them much thought in the post-Brownies years of my life. But now I am just jealous! Jealous of everyone who makes them expertly, and shows them off in such confabulous fotos. I even have my very own copy of VCTOTW just waiting on the counter in the kitchen for me to dive into whole happy hog. But, make no mistake, I will show you all that I am truly vegan. I, too, can be a cupcakenator, just like the rest of you. You - just - WAIT.

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What I manged upon while the rest of the crew went out for fried sea animals scooped from the Atlantic...

Oh, I am weary with blurriness. I am bleary with worriness. Does anyone else out there own a Sony Cyber-shot 6.0? It is almost impossible to take a focussed foto!

In any case, it's whole wheat pasta with snap peas, broccoli, carrots, cherry maters, fresh basil and garlic in a kick-tush lemon caper sauce...one of the best I've made. I wined and dined myself in front of the super-mega-deluxe-hi-def-flat-screen-boob-tube (I had my choice from about 15 of these things) in the sun room overlooking the bay. It was ALRIGHT!

she wants to see inside my fridgamicator!

ok, I uploaded these pictures yesterday, but then we lost power due to an electrical storm (lots of those this week), and I couldn't finish my post. lindyloo, from yeah, that "vegan" shit wants to know what is in my fridge (and yours, too), so sorry for this what-some-might-consider banality, and bear with me...



I won't bore you with a list of details, for if you are reading this, then I assume you have the eyes, brain capacity, and/or imagination to make out the goodies inside and pretend what may be lurking beyond.

here is the "meat" drawer, watched over by Filberto the Fire Pig

some produce goodies

I use Sta-Fresh bags to keep my greens and other veggies, well, fresh

and in the door, we have condiments!

hot sauce in every variety and nationality

here is a close-up section of magnets and ooey gooey food remnants that no amount of scrubbing with biokleen can erase

Now for some gratuitous kitty fotos before we move on to the gastronomical portion of this simple post.

here we have the Black Boy (a.k.a. Sylvester) showing us how to slumber

and here we have L'il Frito, one-upping Black Boy in the how-tos of Zen Beauty resting

Last night's supper (and the night before, as well) consisted of brown rice fusilli, curly kale, white onions, broccoli, and almonds in a garlic lemon sauce (with a little white wine and olive oil thrown in as well, bien sur!) sprinkle a little cayenne powder on top, and you've got yourself a pretty pasta meal deal!~~~ an episode or two of The Lost Room is a fine accompaniment for this dish.

The creeping kitties want my lunch! I don't blame them.... I made a burger with the same leftover patty mash concoction I previously made some "croquettes" with (scroll down to see). I'm not sure I can remember all of the ingredients I used now, but originally they were meant to be millet bean burgers. After I pretoasted then pressure-cooked my millet, I lifted the lid, let them steam clear for a second, and to my soooooo-prise I found that I had cooked yet another batch of quinoa! In their raw, dried form, the two grains (well, quinoa is not technically a grain, it's a seed) look almost identical. The good news is that they also make good substitutes for one another, although millet has more of a sticky quality that holds burgers and croquettes together better. On the other hand, quinoa is a complete, power-punching protein, so take that! No wonder those frisky frelines are trying to get at my sammich!

quinoa bean and beet burgers go a long way, topped with lettuce, onion, pickle and 100% rye bread!

the farfrednugen said they tasted very "convincing", or something to that effect

howdy-hoo, am I ever getting hongry! thought you might like to see the precooked patty (shaped just like a slice of bread). if you squint your eyes just a little, it looks like an authentic bloody-cow burger that's been left to fester in the heat. the quinoa wigglies appear to be maggots, and there're a few dead cockaroachees and who-knows-what-else in there! ok! so don't squint your eyes! and believe me when I tell you it's not only tasty, but 105% prime healthy.

contains (besides quinoa): beets, sunflower seeds, black beans, garlic, onions, much-rooms, cumin, and what-all

a simple breakfast of cinnamon raisin mochi with a tahini/maple syrup dish. deeeeeelish, and such a more nutitious, longer energizing sweet morning treat than an almond croissant!




...and here are the quinoa-bean croquettes, served with avocado and red leaf lettuce (to make wraps), a mustard dipping sauce, and summer squash fries with chili dust. the fries were super-tasty, but next time I will use a deep fryer to give them a better crunch.
fianally, the lunch pic I promised in my last post...

I don't really have anything mind-blowing, earth-shattering, creative, or even dull to say right now (and haven't in a while). I am just taking it all in... so as Porky Pig would say, "Th-th-th-that's all folks! Now stay away from me and go eat a tree!"