I’m in Evol

(this is reposted from my main blog Spin Spin Sugar)

Since moving to Chico, one of the places I go the most is S & S Organic Produce & Natural foods. It’s close to my house and my job and they have so many things I (as a vegetarian/pescatarian can eat. But this morning my life changed, when I popped in to get something for breakfast.

I discovered Evol Burritos.

This is a line of frozen burritos, not dissimilar to Amy’s another great company. They carry meat products, vegetarian and vegan products. And bless them, they make breakfast burritos. BIG ONES. I just got the egg & green chile burrito and it’s actually really good. It’s huge and full of eggs and spices, something most frozen foods lack. It does take a little longer to cook than most and is still steeper in price than say… Taco Bell (ugh, damn their cheap but bad for me products!)… I paid 1.99 for mine this morning on sale, but damn if this isn’t good.

Best part is that it didn’t explode in the microwave like burritos are want to do. I don’t know if these puppies are hand wrapped or if they have some very sophisticated robot up in their burrito plant but it stayed together until then end of my breakfast… And I’m full.

delicious

*after some research I found out these burritos are hand rolled. Totally worth the price of burrito admission!

Sushi Sushi Sushi

All of these were taken at the Rawbar in Chico. This place is amazing at presentation, which any foodie knows is half the damn experience...

reviews!

I've been getting some delicious pescatarian and vegetarian eats from this great little Mexican food joint here in Chico. La Cocino Economica apparently used to be a taco truck in town and now is a cute little sit down taco joint with beer and the whole nine yards.

Grilled fish tacos

I've had a pretty wide variety of things on their menu, from the shrimp tacos, fish tacos, veggie burritos and now I've actually tried some breakfast goods. The Huevos Rancheros were delicious and had just the right level of spice and blew me away. But the front runner right now is the vegetarian breakfast burrito that I had today. I don't even know what all was in it, other than I wanted to kiss whomever made it when I was done. This thing is HUGE too, you could probably share it easily if you were looking for a lighter meal. Oh my gosh, easily the best breakfast burrito I've ever had.

See I really do eat there.

If you're ever in Chico and you're looking to get completely stuffed, make your mouth happy and not spend a grip of cash, this is the place to go.

Battered fish tacos. So good I actually married them...

reviving this blog?

I've been cooking again, even if just once a week, so I'm thinking of reviving this blog to show off what I make. And possibly to review places I go to eat around Chico. I don't know if any one is still reading it though... I mean what it's been a year since I've posted. We shall see!

homemade pizza

So I've been trying to perfect homemade pizza.

As a mostly vegetarian eater, there aren't a lot of frozen pizza options for me out there and we don't get delivery where I live. Also The Boyfriend is very picky about what goes on his pizza. He HATES mushrooms (I LOVE them) and isn't a big fan of olives. I'm also pretty sure he hates bell peppers. Since I don't eat meat the traditional pepperoni or sausage isn't going to work, and I think we're both getting tired of pineapples.

So the other day I made my first homemade pizza using Pillsbury biscuits for the dough.

This worked okay except that it was hard to get the crust cooked. It was my first attempt and I tried not to be too hard on myself about it.

The flavor was great though. I made sauce, like when I make pasta. I threw some frozen veggies in the wok to get them tender. Added cheese and some faux chickn and threw it in the oven. The result wasn't gorgeous by any means or perfect, but it had good flavor. I knew if I worked on the crust problem, this could end up being one of my favorite things to make. Well that and you know buy a pizza pan and a rolling pin, because I was having to roll out the dough with a wine bottle covered in flour. Hey, don't laugh, it totally worked.

Here's what my first pizza looked like:

Like I said, it wasn't perfect. But it tasted okay.

I went to the store a few days later and spied some other Pillsbury product that seemed better suited to getting the crust I wanted and picked it up. Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations run about the same price as the canned biscuits and you can find them in the same section at the store.

This worked much better as pizza crust, aside from the fact that one sheet of this stuff isn't really enough to make more than a personal pizza. Of course I didn't know this at the time and had to add in some biscuit dough to make it large enough for two people. I also baked the crust a little before adding the toppings, so this helped too. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of this particular creation.

Anyway when I finally get it PERFECT, I'll post the recipe. And some photos of course.

Using my love for Soyrizo

Last night it was pretty warm here in California so I decided a salad was in order for dinner. I went to the store to pick up some lettuce when a brainstorm hit me!

Soyrizo Taco Salad! I did this on the easy and cheap. This recipe could be easily veganized.

What you need:

1-Bag of salad mix. I did a mixed greens and baby spinach leaf mix

1-tube of soyrizo

1-bag of taco chips

1-cup of shredded cheese (or vegan cheese)

1 1/2 cups of sliced olives

1 1/2 cup of salsa

1 green bell pepper

2 cups of chopped green oinions

sour cream or vegan sour cream

salad dressing of choice. (I used Kraft Vidalia Onion Vinaigrette with Roasted Red Pepper)


Preperation:

Chop the bell pepper and oinion, saute in a wok with a touch of salsa and some of the olives until the bell peppers are tender. (I also thew a handful of Frenchs Dried Oinions in for texture and flavor and a dusting of garlic sea salt.)

Take a skillet and heat soyrizo to texture preference. Cook it longer on higher heat if you want a firmer, crisper, texture.

Turn both pans down to low to keep warm.

Take taco chips and crumble. Toss salad with taco chips, cheese and the remaining olives.

Lay salad out on plate. Top with soyrizo and bell pepper garnish. Add dressing to taste. Top with sour cream and a dollop of salsa. I topped the boyfriend's sour creme and salsa mix with a little olive to make it pretty. You can also sprinkle some of the shredded cheese on top for color.

mixed veggie casserole

About a month ago I posted my recipe for Green Bean Casserole, which is one of my favorite vegetarian holiday foods. When I served it to The Boyfriend, he ate it but I also noticed he was picking out all of the green beans. Turns out he likes green beans about as much as he likes mushrooms, which is not at all. Oh well that's what dating is for, to learn what other people like and don't like.

Being as I love this dish and I also love casserole in general because it's sometimes two meals at once, I decided to give it another shot. Last night I cooked up what can only be described as mixed veggie casserole.

What You Need:

1-Can of potato soup. I used a roasted garlic potato soup.
1-Can of mixed veggies
1-Can of cream of mushroom soup
1-Can of French's Famous Fried Onions.
crutons

What You Do:

Pop open the potato soup and add to a pyrex dish.

Mix in the can of mixed veggies

Open up the mushroom soup. If you got condensed soup DO NOT ADD THE MILK, the mixture will get too mushy and you'll get more of a soupy texture and less casserole action. Add mushroom soup.

add either crushed croutons, precrushed breadcrumbs, or if you're feeling crunchy do whole croutons. Stir mixture around.

add about two handfuls of the dried onions. stir in.

Heat oven to about 350 degrees and bake for about 20 minutes.

Pull dish out after 20 minutes, stir in some pepper and seasonings of your choice. Coat the top of the dish with dried onions, these will become your crust as you bake the dish further.

put back in the oven for another 10-20 minutes or until hot and crisp on top.

let stand for about 5 minutes before serving.

A word of caution: this is a really filling and delicious dish. It's also not very pretty. But it worked, I got my casserole deliciousness on and The Boyfriend didn't pick out any of the ingredients this time around. Score.

Soyrizo!

As someone who grew up in Southern California, I've been eating Mexican food my whole life. And before giving up meat, I ate ALL of it. I've been having a hard time finding substitutes for some of my favorite meats until a neighbor of mine turned me onto some Soyrizo.

Holy crap, this stuff is good! And it's so easy to cook up. Just a few minutes in the skillet, depending on how crisp you want it. And because it's soy, there is very little mess left behind in the pan (something I do NOT miss about real meat, is the clean up.)

Best of all Soyrizo seems to be a great compromise in my house, since The Boyfriend does still eat meat. He gets the deliciousness that is Chorizo and Eggs and I get to not have actual Chorizo in my house. It's a win, win for everyone.

Just as a heads up though, because this isn't meat, the "casing" on the "sausage" is NOT edible. I didn't see any mentions of this on the package, but the "sausage" is wrapped in a thin saran wrap, so make sure to cut the plastic off and squeeze the Soyrizo into the pan before cooking.

a twist on the green bean casserole

A few years ago my vegetarian friend Russ was living with Jen Wa and I at one of crack house apartments and wanted to make us dinner. This was the first time I had the Famous French's Green Bean Casserole. He and I went to the store and I handed him a Pyrex dish and about half an hour later we had some delicious dinner.

Over the years though, I've made this recipe with a few tweaks, mostly to satisfy The Boyfriend who doesn't really like green beans, mushrooms or anything without a steak in it. Last night I made it again and for the first time ever, there weren't any leftovers! Triumph! Here's what I did.

WHAT TO USE:

1 can or 9 oz of green beans (I like the French of Fancy cut beans the best)
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 can of cream of potato soup
1 can of French's French Fried Onions (really these make the dish)
1 cup of crutons (I used garlic cheese flavor)
Milk
casserole dish

WHAT TO DO:

1-Open and drain green beans. Set aside.

2-Add can of cream of mushroom soup to casserole dish.

3-Add can of cream of potato soup to casserole dish

4-fill one of the empty cans with milk and stir into dish

5- stir in green beans

6- stir in crutons.

7- salt and pepper to taste. bake on 350 in oven for 20-30 minutes or until hot and thick.

8-remove dish from oven, add French's fried onions to the top of the dish like a crust

9-replace in oven and bake for 5 minutes or until top of casserole is golden brown.

10- remove from oven and let stand for about 5 minutes

The crutons and potato soup mask the mushroom soup and give the casserole more depth and texture, making it seem more like a meal than a sidedish. The Boyfriend had seconds and thirds, and he's a big meat eater, so I must have been doing something right.

Best of all, this is a fairly cheap dish to throw together and in our house, baking something in the oven is almost better than turning on the heater! Enjoy!

bento! (or holiday gift ideas for your veg friends)

So recently I've become kind of obsessed with the concept of Bento Boxes. I have a lot of time on my hands and like to cook. And I love anything cute. I joined a community for Bento and I realized a lot of people who are into Bento are also vegetarians. The community on LJ has all the entries tagged so you can click straight through to veg or vegan boxes and there are some really creative ideas in there for packing a more appealing lunch.

With the holidays coming up I thought I would start a series on gift ideas for you to ask for or to give your vegetairan friends! So today's idea is all about the bento.

Some examples of the boxes:



This is a pretty traditional Japanese Bento.
It comes with:
*2 tier lunch box
*Lunch box bag
*Chopsticks
*Erastic belt

Or if you want to go a little more cutesy, there is this Black Sheep box.

And as far as I'm concerned you can't talk bento without bringing Miss Hello Kitty into the mix.

There are alot of extras you can also throw in when introducing someone to the art of bento. Like rice molds, so that they can create rice balls or even use them to make sushi. Some people like egg molds for hard boiled eggs and another almost essential product is a sauce container.

The best part about the bento is its resuable and you save some plastic waste, especially if you make sure to get the sauce/condiment container.

There are also loads of cook books on how to make bento boxes that would make a handy companion for a first time bento maker. The Manga Cookbook comes with a bento box already while Vegan Lunch Box takes a more American and totally vegan take on making and packing lunch.

I'll leave you with some photos of delicious looking veggie bentos. Come back soon for more gift ideas....

A couple of lunches prepared by jokergirl

contents:
Vegan Korean stew, -with sihmeji and enoki mushrooms. Then there's tomatoes, carrots, a dumpling and a mini muffin, and rice in the top layer.

Big box (top): Millet and chili sin carne decorated with parsley. Millet is actually rather tasty, but not very different from couscous texture and flavour-wise. Mmm.
Small box (bottom): Tiny croquettes on picks decorated with oregano; mini chocolate chip muffin (made in a condiment cup with a tiny amount of muffin dough), star-shaped carrots and a cup of tsatsiki.

Review!

So yesterday I had lunch at a great place in Bakersfield, California.


(I'll wait while you recover from the shock of this revelation)

Mama Roomba's in Bakersfield is a Caribbean place that sprung up a couple of years ago and despite having a fabulous menu that isn't totally meat laden, and very authentic, it's stayed open. Praise the food Gods.



I stopped in with my friend The Loss Adjuster and had a few things from their menu.

We ordered some sweet potato fries, sauteed mushrooms, plantain chips, and some calamari (because as I have mentioned before, I do sometimes eat fish) and washed it all back with some homemade Sangira.

Everything was beyond fantastic. The real treat at the end of the Sangria being of course all the fresh fruit that had been soaking in the glass. They offer it by the glass or by the pitcher for 19 dollars. Also our lunch came up to be about 40 bucks for two people with drinks, so it wasn't expensive.

I had been to Mama Roomba's a few years back and have also tried their mojitos. They are pretty much to die for.

After having spent Monday evening at the Los Angeles Farmer's Market, marveling at everything there that was available for a vegetarian person to eat, I was thought I was pretty spoiled, but Mama Roomba's really took the "cake" if you know what I mean.


Definitely if you ever do something wrong and are banished to Bakersfield, California for an evening, check out Mama Roomba's. Once you're full and happy you can grab a drink at the Alley Cat bar next door and really see some wild life...

PRODUCT REVIEW

I went grocery shopping the other day and picked up a premade Vegetarian sandwhich from the frozen section. I was shopping at Foods for Less and let's just say their selection is pretty crappy, but I don't always want to make myself a meal. I don't think I should be denied pre-made frozen crap just because I don't eat meat, so any time I see a quick and easy entree I have to try it.



This product is NOT Vegan. It does contain cheese.

I microwaved one of these puppies this morning and really my only complaint is the bread. The bun is pretty dry, small and very easily overcooked. The Chik'n patty though isn't bad. It's pretty flavorful and didn't dry out when I cooked it. I looked for traditional oven directions, since most frozen food is better if you cook it in the oven but is a strictly microwave product.

I don't think this would ever be something I bought on a regular basis, but hey, when the munchies strike and all you have at your disposal is the 24 hour grocery store, this isn't so bad. It's like the vegetarian equivalent of those bad gas station hot dogs and burgers people buy when they're drunk and trying to sober up. Not really that good or good for you, but sometimes needed.