Vegan by Valerie

Chocolate Protein Peanut Butter-Covered Frozen Bananas

You know it’s back-to-school time when the foliage begin to change….can you see the faint tinge of rust along the edge of these previously green leaves? Love that

As painful as that 6am wakeup call was, I survived (and actually kind of enjoyed) the first day back at work today.

I then came home to speedily print some documents for work, gotta love working in a school without a working printer or copier….

I set out for a 9 miler that turned into a little battle I like to call Val vs. The Humidity. The humidity won.  I ended up doing 5.3 miles outside, and the remaining 3.7 on the treadmill.

I sucked down another Gu and headed to an hour long yoga class.

I walked 20 minutes home.

I proceeded to scarf down everything in sight in my kitchen….including these guys.

(photo source)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Covered Frozen Bananas

Ingredients:

1/4 c. + 2 T. Vega Chocolate Shake and Go Smoothie (or your favorite chocolate protein powder of your choice, or you could do half vanilla protein powder + half cocoa powder)

1/2 c. PB2 (or you could use regular peanut butter, just cut back on the almond milk)

1 c. Almond milk

4-5 bananas, broken into pieces or left whole

Optional: coconut flakes, ground nuts, cacao nibs, and/or goji berries for toppings

Instructions:

1. Mix all ingredients together with a whisk, or use a food processor to blend so that the mixture is smooth with no lumps.

2. Dip the banana pieces into the chocolate, turning so that all sides are coated.

3. Roll the chocolate-covered bananas in the topping of your choice – I love to use them all!

4.  Lay the banana pieces on a wax paper lined freezer-safe container.

5.  Freeze at least 3-4 hours before eating.  If you freeze them overnight and they are fully frozen, thaw for 20-30 minutes before eating.

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Vegan Spinach and Cheese Calzones with Sundried Tomato Crust

Happy Tuesday! Today is kind of like my “Sunday”… the end of a very long, 10.5 week summer vacation.

Tomorrow I go back to work, and I’m ready to have a great school year!  As far as I know, I’m working at the same two schools that I was assigned to last year, so that alleviates some nerves since I know what I’m getting myself into.  Although there are always a little bit of nerves on the first day no matter what… here’s the post I wrote on the day before school last year, and I got a lot of great comments about how to psych yourself up for the first day!

***

So, yesterday I got my first rejection letter for the cookbook proposal I sent out…. no big deal, I know it happens to the best of ‘em   How do you deal with rejection?

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The other night I was dying to use some of the cheddar Daiya cheese that I had just bought, but I also wanted to get some greens into my diet.  Spinach and cheese together… hmm… that sounded just like one of my favorite meals of all time from my pre-vegan days, the spinach and cheese calzone from a restaurant in my hometown.

The only thing holding me back from attempting to veganize this ahmaaaaaaazing meal was my fear of making dough.  Homemade dough making scares the heck out of me, whether for bread, pizza, or calzones. Surprisingly, this dough ended up knocking my socks off… Mike said it was his favorite part of the recipe! I think it was the addition of the sundried tomatoes.

And this is how the most mouthwatering, tantalizing vegan calzone was born…

Spinach and Cheese Calzones with Sundried Tomato Crust

Dough:

2 ½ tsp yeast

1 T. sugar

¾ c. warm water

3 c. WW spelt flour

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. dried oregano

¼ c sundried tomatoes in oil, chopped finely (I whizzed them in the mini FP for a couple minutes)

¾ c EVOO

1/4 c. water

1 tsp. oil, to sprinkle on the bowl later

1 T.  cornmeal to sprinkle onto the pizza stone

Filling:

~ 1 lb spinach, or about 6 handfulls

2 ½ c. Daiya cheddar cheese

1 T. EVOO

1 T. minced garlic

1 c. diced mushrooms

* Optional: This is great on its own, or with a side of my cheesy tomato dip!

Instructions:

1. In a medium saucepan, heat up the 1 T EVOO, 1 T minced garlic, and sliced mushrooms.
2. After 5 minutes once the mushrooms become tender, add in the spinach and cook at a low heat until the spinach is wilted, stirring occasionally.
3. Mix the yeast and sugar into ¾ c. warm water.  Let sit 5-10 minutes, or until it becomes foamy.
4. Combine all dough ingredients (except the 1 tsp. oil and cornmeal) in a standing mixer with the dough hook. 
5. Stop mixing once the dough starts to form a ball and pulls away from the sides.
6. Knead the dough a couple times in the bowl with your hands.
7. Lightly oil the mixing bowl with 1 tsp. oil, and cover with saran wrap.  Place the bowl in a warm place (I used the top of my oven when it is heated to 350 degrees) for 35-45 minutes, or until you can poke the dough without it bouncing back.
8. Sprinkle the cornmeal onto the pizza stone.
9. Form your calzone shapes (whether you want one large calzone or four smaller ones) on the pizza stone.
10. Mix the fillings ingredients together and then spread them onto half of each calzone.
11. Fold the calzone (pulling the non-ingredient side over the filled side).
12. Use your fingers to make indentations, sealing the side completely.
13. Poke the calzone with a fork or knife a couple times to allow steam to escape.
14. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until the calzone crust is slightly golden and baked how you would like it.

Is there a certain kind of food that you are intimidated to make?  Dough?  Sushi?  Baked goods?

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My celebrity chef run-ins

A couple years ago, I had the pleasure of attending two celebrity chef cooking demos at the Macy’s on State St.  The first one was…. drumroll please…

Tyler Florence!!! Yes, he is as charming and ridiculously handsome in person as you would expect. Here he is answering my question… do you see me in the background??

So thrilled that I got to meet him and have him autograph my cookbook

This was actually taken the day before I ran my first half marathon, and so the entire weekend stands out in my mind as one of my favorite memories.

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I also saw a cooking demo by Cat Cora. She may not be as handsome at Tyler Florence, but she’s very sweet, and I love that she is part-Greek (like Mike) and thus has a lot of Greek recipes in her cookbooks.

My friend Vanessa has always been my partner in crime for chef demos!  A few weeks ago I attended a cooking demo by Karyn Calebrese, a prominent figure in Chicago’s vegan circles.  While it would be doing a disservice to Tyler Florence and Cat Cora to lump her in the ‘celeb chef’ category, it’s true that she is very influential in the Chicago restaurant world.

Karyn answered a few questions, and then her chef prepared some bite-sized samples for us.  This pulled pork sandwich was amazing!!!

The raw peach cheesecake was good, but wasn’t my favorite.  I prefer my own raw cheesecake but at the same time, I wouldn’t turn down a second piece…

After the demo, I went up to introduce myself to Karyn.  I think I stuttered and stumbled a bit while telling her that she was an inspiration to me, both for opening three successful vegan restaurants and because she has a cookbook on the way.

I hope that I can follow in her footsteps and have my own cookbook one day!

Have you ever met a celebrity chef?  Who would you most like to meet in person?  Who would you most like to have cook for you?

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These, are some, of my fayyyy-vorite things

(Sung to the tune of the song from The Sound of Music, of course!)

The weekend isn’t even over yet, but already it has been jam-packed with many of my favorite things.

1. Whole Foods made-to-order pizza (half Daiya/tomato/basil for me, half dairy mozz with mushrooms for Mike)   If you’re read this blog before you know I’m obsessed.  I’m starting a campaign to convince Mike that every Friday should be pizza night…. in the interest of carb-loading for Saturday long runs, that is. 

Just look at that beauty!!

2. More of the above (each pizza has 8 pieces, 4 for each of us, and we always eat the entire pizza in one sitting.  Hey, it’s thin crust!)

  3. These bars.  Mike claims they are life-changing… you can be the judge of that once I post the recipe and you try them for yourself!

4.  This morning’s 12 miler.  In the 60s/low 70s, breezy, perfect… everything you can ever hope for a long run to be, this long run was.  5. Greekfest with my family and Mike’s family.  Oh, and # 5 1/2 is for matching shirts (coincidental, I swear).

6. Grandmothers

7. Moms

8. Dads 

9. Waiters that bring me more than one measly slice of avocado when I ask for avocado on the side… they actually brought me the equivalent of two avocados worth!!! Perhaps that’s normal in San Fran and other glorious vegan-friendly cities, but in Chi-town, this is unheard of and I was thrilled to pieces.  And full for about 6 hours afterward!

10. Living in a beautiful city that is located halfway between my parents and Mike’s parents.  And I love that Chicago boasts an exceptional ethnic scene… Greektown, Chinatown, Little Italy, Pilsen, the Ukrainian Village, and more!

11. The “Tall Ships” exhibit at Navy Pier.  Well, truth be told this exhibit was a bit lackluster but riding on the $7 Water Taxi to get home was ridiculously wet and fun! 

`12.  Being able to take a picture from Mike and my favorite spot in Chicago when we are both wearing decent clothes… typically when I’m at this juncture I’m clothed in sweaty running attire.

Tell me 3 of your favorite things!

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Valerie’s Italian Bistro

Mike and I started dating in April 2004.  Ever since those very first days, we’ve saved little bits and pieces of memorabilia – restaurant receipts, airline tickets, notes and cards to each other.

All of that nostalgia takes up space, and last night (as a last-ditch effort to clean every inch of our condo before I go back to work next week), we went through everything to sort out the so-so stuff while keeping, and appreciating, the good stuff.

The above “menu” was one of the favorite things that I had completely forgotten about!  My senior year in college I made Mike a Valentine’s Day dinner.  I don’t know if I am a perfectionist, a budding restauranteur, or just a nerd, but yes, I actually took this homemade menu to the nearest copy store to get it laminated.

Finding the menu brought back vivid memories of eating the actual meal – I remember it like it was yesterday!  It stands out in both Mike and my minds as one of our favorite meals.

In case it’s hard to read, the menu reads:

Valerie’s Italian Restaurant

Your salad course will be comprised of exquisite mixed greens with tomatoes and feta cheese.

Daily antipasto: succulent crab cakes.

Tonight’s pasta special is a savory capellini tossed with shrimp and capers in a light cream sauce.

The house dessert is a mouthwatering peanut butter Oreo cheesecake.

Bon Appetit!

Ironically, the pasta with capers in a light lemon cream sauce was the dish that I was trying to recreate when I made Raw Eggplant Pasta with Raw Lemon Cream Sauce this week.

One thing that Mike and I both remarked about, while going through the items, was that receipts were the coolest things to find.  A receipt is a lightweight, small item to store, but it instantly brings back memories of wherever you were – whether a comedy show or a restaurant.

Do you save keepsakes like this?  Do you have any great ideas for how to store memorabilia in a fun way? (Ours are stored in tupperware!)

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