Vegan Pancakes: Cutie Style

I've been free-handing my pancakes lately - and I think they look really great!

I might not be on par with these peeps just yet;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McPBsNo367c

But hand me a squeeze bottle and you'll be saying hello to a few Chewbacca pancakes for your morning breakfast!

For a recipe - hit up my awesome recipe!

http://shinsveganloving.blogspot.com/2011/06/its-pancake-time.html

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Hope you enjoy! <3 p="">

Pandan Breakfast Bento

I'm posting another wonderful breakfast while I'm waiting for my cake to freeze - but that's for another post. This was one of my breakfasts for the week which consisted of lots of yummy pandan flavored items - the thing that I love about pandan is that it tastes so much like vanilla with its own "piney" taste! ^^ I made a face with nori on top of the spongey pancake and accidentally left some steamed mustard greens on top - I think its cute, don't you?

Pandan Breakfast Bento Ingredients:

Grapefruit Slices

Strawberries

Steamed Mustard Greens

Pandan Pancakes

Banana

Vegan "Egg White"

Pandan "Egg"



I hope you enjoy it! Do you like to make bentos - what types?

Blog Round Up - Great Superbowl Eats

I'll be honest - I'm not much of a football fan, but I can most definitely get into the spirit of things when there's plenty of cute and delicious food around. Here are some great ideas I've found!

Amazing Recipes that Aren't Mine:


25 Vegan Recipes from Peas and Thank You


BoyfriendLovlie's Stuffed Veggies from Veganlovlie


25 Super Bowl Party Recipes from Love, Veggies and Yoga

Healthy Comfort Food from Chocolate Covered-Katie

Vegan Buffalo Wings from Frugally Green Mom

Bean and Veggie Sliders from Martha Stewart

Vegan Nachos from Ellen Degeneres

Dairy and Egg Free Vegan Pretzel from ecoKaren


Top Ten Vegan Smoothies from VeganPlanet


Stuffed Vegan Pretzels (with gluten-free option)


Seven Different Homemade Popcorns from Vegan-Wolf


Quick N' Crispy Popped Rice


Best Ever Vegan Miniloaf from Vegandad


Veggie Hotdogs from Thrifty Living


Baked Potato Chips from Cookie Madness


Baked Kale Chips from Dine and Dish


Baked Pumpkin-Spice Donuts (Gluten-free) from Cinnamon Quills


Vegan White Chocolate from Bittersweet Blog


Salad Ideas and Recipes from Veganfamily

My Recipes (Some are pictureless):

Onion Rings and Delicious Things

Fudgy Chocolate Brownies

Nacho Cheese Pretzels

Strawberry Butter

When It's Chilly Eat Some Chili

Cute Mini Pizzas

Baked German Sopapilla

Chocolate Covered French Fries


Garden In A Bowl

Where are my recipes you ask? Don't worry - later will be full of little treats and sweets to delight you whilst you get up before the troops assemble in front of your television.

Happy New Years Rilakkuma & Friends Bento

This is the cutest (and healthiest) bento that I've ever made! I was going to make the little chicken out of the rice or the falafel, but decided that the two bears were just right (get it?) for this bento. Surrounding everything I have lots of fresh "foraging space",  wild strawberries, fresh water, cashews and lots of other delicious things that a growing bear needs.

Bento Ingredient List:

Italian Parsley

Brown Rice

Sticky Rice (with Soy Sauce)

Carrots

Wasabi Peas

Strawberries, Carrots, Raw Radishes and Parsnips

Cashews

Nori

Soy Cheese

Uncooked Spaghetti Noodles (to hold up ears)

Mini-Bottled Water (fake Sake)

Falafel

I hope that you found this bento to be just as adorable and delicious looking as I did!

Minnie Mouse Bento (Candy-Cane Style)

I'll admit - I'm not very good at taking pictures and I'm surely not the greatest at making bentos - but this one made me very proud. Although Minnie Mouse's face is a bit too masculine and puppet-like, it is very unique in the sense that it is vegan and is free-formed. But either way - I hope that you guys like it.

Minnie Mouse Ingredient List:

Green and Red Grapes

Blackberries

Sliced Radish

Brocolli

2 Gardein Veggie Burgers (for the head)

Just Bento Fried Rice (sans soy sauce)

Nori

Sriracha

Soy Cheese (Tofutti)



2 Vegan Egg Sheets
Strawberries, Mini Sweet Peppers and Black Olives

I'm developing my skills (and will continue to do so) but I hope that you can all enjoy these wonderful bentos! ^^

Veganopolis (The Sequel To Insanity) Part 1

Mordecai The Bluejay Bento

Yes - it's another member of the "Regular Show" Gang, Mordecai! He's surrounded by delicious food, but this time he IS the food. Don't worry though, Mordecai made it out of this dastardly bento - and into my mouth.

Ingredient List:



Sticky Rice
Vegan Tempura (Wasabi Tofu)
Carrots
Steamed Tofu
Black Bean Balls
Nori
Radish
Parsley

Wasabi Tofu Recipe:
1/4 Package of Extra-Firm Tofu
1/2-1 tsp Wasabi Paste
Enough Rice Flour (Mochiko) for Coating and Pasting
Water for the Paste
Vegetable Oil
Salt to Taste


Slice your tofu through the the middle and again into thick "steak fry" pieces. Press the tofu until as dry as possible and then roll it in some of the rice flour. Meanwhile, take a pair of chopsticks and mix your wasabi in a bowl with the rice flour. Once fully incorporated and a bit lumpy, stream in the water until it's a thick paste. Place your floured tofu into the mixture, coat it, roll it in the flour and place it back into the paste. Fry them off for about 30-45 seconds on each side or until crisp, then bake them off in a 450 degree oven for about 10 minutes. After that you can lower the heat to 200 degrees after you've prepared the rest of the bento. Be prepared to see a lot more of the gang soon.

Enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3

Vegan Sakura Denbu Part 2

I had been planning to do this for a while now since my other sakura denbu wasn't dry or flaky enough. I wondered what I could use - the answer was coconut! I had two bags of coconut flakes, one that was sweetened and the other was unsweetened and untouched other than being dehydrated. I couldn't find the later and so I went for the sweetened.

(2nd Vegan Sakura Denbu Recipe)

• 1/4 cup Coconut Flakes (Unsweetened would probably be best)
• 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
• 1/2 tsp Mirin
• 1/2 tsp Beet Juice

(Directions)

• Combine all of the ingredients together in order and place through a food processor until it all turns into small flaky bits.
• Place the mixture into a cheesecloth and tie it very tightly.
• Once that is done- begin to wring out any liquid as best as you can. If it's not dry enough for you, you can dot across the "denbu" once you open up your cheesecloth.
• Use in your favorite bento mixture.
• Enjoy!

Princess Mononoke Bento

I wanted to make this bento very simple as my bentos are (mostly) already natural. I used some leftover black bean chili that I had for last night's dinner and a bit of white rice with some vegetables (I also had a seperate veggie platter). The "H" is made out of a nori and it stands for both Hime (princess) and Hayao Miyazaki. The recipe is a bit different than what I did because I just mixed corn meal (sub rice flour) with chili.

Black Bean Burger Recipe:
1/4 cup of Cooked Black Beans + Juice
1 Jumbo Garlic Clove (minced and cooked)
1/4 Small Onion (minced and cooked)
1/2 Green Bell Pepper (minced)
Cumin, pepper, salt and chili powder to taste
Cornstarch or other thickener mixed + water (depending on your allergies)
Corn Meal or Rice flour (enough to make a paste)

Mix the ingredients together until they create a paste and then lightly oil or spray your cooking pan. Place the mixture in the pan and then cover it with a top until the bottom has cooked, flip it and then repeat until it has cooked to your liking. Add it on top of rice colored with chlorophyll and brocolli then create your kodama onigiri.

Enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3

How To Make A (Vegan) Egg Sheet


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Four tofu sheets and one Lightlife Smartdog 

I mentioned this in my Adventure Time Sushi post but I decided to make a whole tutorial on it. Here is what you will need -

Tofu Sheet Recipe:
1/4-1/2 Block of Tofu (soft - not silken works best)
1/2-1 tbl Cornstarch
1/2-1 tbl Liquid Food Dye (I used chlorophyll for this example)
1/4 tsp Iodized Salt
A few teaspoons of Flavor-less Oil (to coat the bottom but not to make it oily)

Tools List:
1 Rubber Spatula (for lifting the sheet)
1 Rubber Spatula (used for mixing)
1 Food Processor
1 Medium-sized Pan (that heats well)
1 Lid for the pan (preferably clear)

Slurry for the Pig Face

Step 1. Mix your liquid food dye with the cornstarch. Put the liquid in a ramekin or cup first and then add your cornstarch. Stir it into a slurry and set aside.






Step 2. Break up your tofu but don't squeeze it out. Simply place it in a food processor and sprinkle with a bit of salt. Pour your slurry over it but just remember that the end result will be a much lighter color than what you started with. Get as much of the liquid onto the tofu and then puree it. There might be some color around the rim that hasn't been fully incorporated so you will need a small rubber spatula to mix it thoroughly. It should look like this -

Step 3. Oil your pan lightly and set it on the eye but don't light the fire yet. Spread your tofu around as smoothly as possible and if you have a large and round Wilton cutter then you can try to use it as your mold and guide. Just try to spread it as thinly and evenly as possible without having any holes. Place the lid on top of the pan and then set the heating level on low. Wait until it starts to steam and sputter a bit and then you can remove the top. Let that cook for a few minutes until the top has firmed completely. It won't be completely round, but if you want it to be you can take a smaller plastic top (as in from a crock pot) and place it in the middle while it is still steaming. Once the edges firm up you can remove it carefully and then cut it more easily from the ridges. If you're making the crown like I did, then you have to use water in place of the dye and add a bit of turmeric. Carefully scrape along the ridges with the bigger spatula, being careful with the center. Place it onto a plate and repeat the process until you have as many different egg sheet colors as you want.

Spreading the paste

Before cooking

Finished sheet

Enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3

Sushi Time

Okay, I've been going a little crazy with tofu lately - I know. But there are so many things that you can do with it especially with the fatfree vegan recipe that I just used in my breakfast bento. I found that when you start the tofu omelette off in a cold pan and keep the lid on until the top solidifies - it's very similar to egg sheets used for kyaraben. They didn't turn out as smooth as normal egg sheets but I think that was because I didn't use silken tofu.

Finn's Face:
1/2 block of Tofu (of your choice)
1/2 tbl Tahini
1 tbl Cornstarch
1 tbl Beet Juice
1/4-1/2 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Iodized Salt

Jake's Face:
1/2 block of Tofu (of your choice)
1 tbl Cornstarch
1 tbl Water
1/4 cup of Nutritional Yeast
1/2 tsp Turmeric (I didn't have this)
1/2 tsp Iodized Salt

For Jake's face I had actually only used a fourth of a package of tofu, so if you follow the recipe exactly you may need to split it up into two batches. After you oil your medium-sized non-stick pan, spread in your tofu mixture and make it as round as possible and as smooth and even on top as possible. Turn on the heat and quickly put on a (hopefully clear) lid on top. Check it every so often and once the top solidifies, turn off the heat and remove the lid and use a rubber spatula to carefully scrape around the sides. Turn it upside down on a plate until it cools then pat it down once corrected.

Cut out and place on top of sushi rice and decorate with nori, soy cheese, carrots and sriracha as you like.

Enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3

Hello Kitty-Shaped Tofu

I bought the most adorable little Hello Kitty egg mold online and used it to press my tofu. The white one turned out better (in my opinion) and I shaped it like an egg after quartering the package, slicing off the top and bottom and sliced it in half. I boiled it for a minute and then placed it into the egg mold for ten minutes. The other one was just a piece of tofu cut into a square and in half and the process was the same. After its ten minutes in the fridge were up I soaked it in soy sauce for a pretty brown color.

Garden In A Bowl

It would have been better if I had used Romaine Lettuce, but I had none on hand. It was still extremely delicious and healthy though - it's great for light lunch! It doesn't require a recipe as it is very simple and quick to make. It consists of blueberries on the right side (to viewers), pistachios to the left and a piece of pan-fried tofu atop juicy tomatoes, crunchy onions and crisp lettuce. I added more to the meal later as I added thinly slice radish pieces, chunks of avocado and lots of tasty cucumbers. The tofu was coated in cumin, chili powder and a little bit of salt and pepper, seared on both sides and then crisped up even more in the oven. Add a dressing if you like, but it's definitely not necessary with this tasty meal.

Enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3