Dinner of Champions: Babycakes

So okay, tonight was laziness at its finest. I had a work event tonight on the LES that went longer than I had expected. When I finally left, it was late, and although I had consumed a fair share of the passed snacks (veggie spring rolls for me!), I hadn’t eaten dinner. Even weirder than me missing a meal (that NEVER happens), is that I wasn’t even all that hungry! Strange indeed.  I walked out of the event to hail a cab (thanks, work!) and suddenly a light bulb went off in my head. What’s right around the corner?! Babycakes. Huh-freaking-zah.

On any normal day, I probably wouldn’t stop by the bakery….it’s far from where I live and quite out of the way from my normal every day activities, but I figured tonight since I was close, I might as well stop in. I grabbed two cupcakes: a vanilla spelt and a vanilla gluten free (for no other reason than to see what the difference was between the two, side by side). On the cab ride home, I wolfed one of them down and called it evens: there, that was dinner.

Note: I NEVER DO THIS! I’m uber good about having several balanced meals throughout the day, fruits and veggies galore, but it was so close, I was so tired, and I was so not hungry for leftovers…it would have been downright disrespectful to the Vegan gods above for me to pass this up. I came home, finished the crumbs with a glass of vanilla soymilk, and now I’m pooped.

Bed time!

Now Taking Requests!

Do you have an awesome dish you’ve recently made that you want to share? Is there something you’re dying to veganize, but don’t know how? Do you work in my office and want desserts brought in but don’t feel like making them and instead want me to do it for you? Whatever your reasoning, it’s cool! – I’m now taking requests from YOU, readers. Each week I’ll post something that was requested/recommended and how it came out. Whatever you’ve got, I want to hear about it. Hit me: whatstephaniemade@gmail.com.

Eating Out: NYC

This page is now up. Click on it on the nav bar to have a look at my top picks in NYC. I’ll be putting similar lists together when I travel to other cities, so stay tuned!

Also – for all of those subscribed to my blog: I’m going to be upping the ante (so to speak) on the frequency of my posts and I,  personally have a very low tolerance for my inbox being flooded every day with “new post” e-mails, (you know, uh, except when they’re from What Stephanie Made)  so if you want to change the frequency of these e-mails, scroll to the bottom of this post and click “Manage Subscriptions.”

Cool. Thanks for reading!

Site Redesign…(And Other News)

What does everyone think? Love it? Hate it? Didn’t even notice it?

I tinkered around with the design of my site today and came up with this….I think I like it!

In other news, I’ve added a few new things to the site. Of note:

1. TWITTER FEED! I’m now going to have my tweets from my account, @WhatStephMade, fed onto the site. I’ll probably be using Twitter to post photos of things I eat/do while I’m out and about that probably wouldn’t fill a whole post….so keep your eyes peeled for that.

2. On a similar note, I’ve added a new section titled “Eating Out: NYC”. While I LOVE cooking and eating in, sometimes a girl has to walk away from the kitchen and eat out. I do my fair share of dining around New York (I’d be stupid not to – we have more options here than probably anywhere else I know of) and while I originally I had intended this blog to me just about the food I’m making, it almost doesn’t seem to fair to not share some of the awesome things I eat out. This new page is going to house a master list of my personal top picks for eating out vegetarian/vegan in New York.

3. Finally, when I switched the design of the site, I unfortunately lost my blogroll. Tear. SO, I created a separate page for it, at the top of the site. Go here to see a list of my favorite blogs!

Well, that wraps it up for now.

Thanks for reading!

Obsessed: Quinoa

While last week I was on a bit of a kale kick, this week it’s all about quinoa. I usually turn to quinoa when I’m out of groceries and am scavenging my cabinets for anything edible (see: all of last week.)  Beans? Box of quinoa? A veggie lying around? Hello, dinner. Of course, you can get pretty fancy when it comes to quinoa, but my favorite thing about it is that it’s incredibly versatile and I can eat it with practically anything.

Why Should I Be Eating Quinoa?

You mean, aside from me telling you that you should, damnit!? I kid. But seriously…you should be. Aside from it going great with anything and everything, it’s packed with protein (and in fact, is considered a complete protein!) It’s also filled with calcium, iron, lysine, manganese, magnesium, iron, copper, phosphorous, is a good source of Vitamin E, B Vitamins and dietary fiber! Phew, that was exhausting. But, I’m not done, peeps. It’s also gluten free, and the best part is that it only takes about 10 minutes to make.

Okay, I get it. It’s “good” for you, or whatever, but what do I DO with it?

The question should be more like what CAN’T you do with this. Breakfast, lunch or dinner – you can make it for any meal. First, where to find it? You can pick up quinoa at any health food store (or even your local grocery store) but I usually get mine at either Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. Once purchased, my technique lately has been very simple: cook, add anything I can find, eat.

To cook: first, be sure to rinse it. Then place one cup of quinoa into a saucepan with two cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer, cover and let cook (don’t touch it!) for about 12-15 minutes. Remove cover, fluff with a fork, and voila!

At this point, as I mentioned, I usually chop up a bunch of different veggies, some beans, add in some soy sauce, maybe a few herbs, salt, pepper and there you have it. Dinner.

But of course, there are a ton of other different ways you could prepare it. Here is some inspiration:

Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango

Curried Chickpeas and Quinoa

Quinoa Primavera with Peas and Asparagus – omit the chicken!

Tempeh and Quinoa Veggie Burgers – these look insaaaane.

Breakfast Ideas:

Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa

Warm Quinoa with Raisins and Almonds

The rule of thumb I use: anywhere you would use rice, use quinoa instead. Eating rice is like eating sugar (really tasty but nothing too positive – nutritionally speaking – going on with it) so if you can replace it with quinoa, go for it!

Hi Anthony.  Hope you had a fantastic weekend!

Wanted to check in and see if there was final word on the Apple BTS plan yet?  Waiting with bated breath!  And please definitely let us know if there’s anything else we can provide as well!

Thanks!

-cindy

Now On The Huffington Post!

Big news, everyone. I blogged for The Huffington Post today! I’m SUPER excited about it…hopefully I’ll be able to submit one awesome vegan recipe per week.

Check it out! Oh, and leave a comment too if you feel so inclined….(do it. dooo ittt.)

A Vegan Passover….?

So. I haven’t decided whether or not I’m going to be “keeping” Passover this year or not. I’ll admit, I’m not THE BEST of Jews…some years I keep, some years I don’t.  At first, I figured keeping Passover this year (while trying to eat as “veganly” as possible), would be a piece of cake. But then I got to thinking of the foods I eat the most – beans, tofu, pasta, whole grains….err, this might be tougher than I thought. Alas, how could I turn  my back on what appeared to be a true kitchen challenge? Cue: my second to none internet-ing skills.  I found a few recipe gems on the interwebs  and this week I’ll be whipping them up. So ladies and gentlemen, prepare yourselves for a LOT of vegetables, a LOT of tomato sauce and a LOT of sweet potato (doesn’t sound too bad, right?) Stay tuned, peeps.

Banana Bread Recipe

for all of you just DYING to know the recipe for the banana chocolate chip walnut bread (ie: one of you) HERE IT IS!

it’s seriously really easy and i’m not just saying this but its REALLY GOOD. a hit with every single person that ate it (none of them being vegan.)

A Note On My Photos

i started this blog using pictures take on my blackberry. why? honestly, just too lazy to take them on my normal camera, hook it up to my computer, and go through the whole hassle. but i tried the good ole camera out last night, and the results were worth sticking with. true, it took a little more time than normal but thanks to an awesome, speedy computer that SOMEONE left at my apartment (thanks, boyfriend!) uploading them wasn’t a problem.

now. this isn’t to say that long gone are the days of bb pics. that would be far too simple. i think i’m going to stick to a combo of both….food pictures will get the special treatment (because honestly, isn’t that why you’re here?!) and everything else, wil get the grainy/dark/lazy treatment.

cool!

Baking/Cooking Aftermath

bleh. taken last night post cooking/baking. thank god for the dishwasher.