A Slow Cooker Kinda Day

   Hi Friends!

   Yesterday I woke up to the best text ever from my coworker:

best.message.ever.

   I love my job, but I love unexpected days off even more!  That's one of the perks of being a teacher, you still get to feel like a kid when schools close due to the weather.  We didn't get a whole bunch of snow but we did get some freezing rain which resulted in bus cancellations and some school closures.  I'm so glad that mine was one of them.  I was not looking forward to my drive in to work if I had to deal with slippery roads.

   I spent a good chunk of my morning trying to go back to sleep, giving up, and then cuddling with my Patchie girl while having a FaceTime session with my Godson.

Patchie's idea of cuddling: staring me down until I get out of bed and feed her.

   Whenever I have a "free" day off I always face the dilemma of what to do.  Do I treat it like an extra day where I get to do whatever I want or do I use this day to catch up on everything I didn't do during the weekend?

   Because truth be told I did nothing this weekend except for maybe this:

Girl Time!

   My sister was watching her friend's daughter this weekend so I went over to her apartment and we had some good old fashioned girly fun.  We watched movies (Parent Trap: the Original), ate junk food (chips and salsa), and did our hair and nails.  Actually, I did our hair, and the little one's nails.  She returned the favor by playing with my hair, too.  Did I mention that I've secretly adopted her as my little sister?  She is too cute.

   Anyway, I decided that I would do a bit of both: a tiny bit of chores, followed by whatever else I felt like doing including: not getting out of my pajamas, reading magazines, taking a bath, and watching a movie (Elizabethtown <-- I'm probably the only person who loves that movie.).  I also felt like cooking.  It was a soup kind of day so that's what I made.  But, I wanted my whole apartment to smell like soup so I turned on the slow cooker and threw all the veggies in there.  Mission accomplished:  my whole apartment smelled amazing.  I love using my slow cooker but I think I'm one of those people that should only use it when I'll be out for the day.  I must have checked on it a thousand times before it was done.  Don't worry, I didn't remove the lid.  <--- I had to add that because it's something that I would probably do and I know my mom would ask me after reading this.  Ha.  You know the saying "good things come to those who wait?"  I don't think I got the memo.  When I was little I used to sit in front of the oven waiting for cookies to finish baking.  That is, until my mom would tell me to get up off the floor.  But that's another therapy session story.
Read on for my recipe:

Root Vegetable Soup - Slow Cooker Style
Makes 6 servings

It's party time!

Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup carrots, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 1/2 cups celery, chopped
2 cups parsnips, peeled and chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
4 cups vegetable broth
1/2 tsp herbamare (or sea salt)
1/4 tsp each: dried oregano, thyme, and rosemary
cracked black pepper to taste
2 cups kale, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped

Directions:
Place the oil, carrots, onion, and celery in a 4-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on high to soften slightly while you prep the remaining ingredients.
Add the rest of the ingredients, (except for the kale and tomatoes) and stir.  Cover and cook on high for 4 hours until the veggies are tender.  Carefully stir in the kale and tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes.  Turn off slow cooker and serve.  Enjoy!

*By the way, next time I would cook this soup on low for longer but like I said above, I'm not really good at waiting!

Til next time...

Love,
Ves xx

WIAW #23 OR Sweet Tooth Satisfaction

   Hello All!

   I don't know about you but, everyone around me has been super germy lately!  It was inevitable that I should catch whatever was going around (I work with children, after all).  I was attacked on Saturday with major body aches and since then I've been OD'ing on Oil of Oregano.  I forgot to take it the other day and I definitely think that's why I got worse.  I quadrupled my dose today and I can already feel myself getting healthy as I type this.  Ha! 

   Since I've been sick, my food has been a bit boring.  I haven't really had an appetite and when I do want something to eat, it's been the same thing:  soup.  orange juice.  toast.  That's pretty much all I've been craving.

   So, instead of What I Ate... I thought I would show you What I've Been Baking up this month.  Let's face it, baked goods are always more fun to look at than day to day meals.  That could just be my opinion but, I really do love dessert... WAY more than "regular" food.

Mmmm.... Cookies!

Cranberry Shortbread Cookies and Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles

Lemon Pistachio Cookies and my little Patchie Girl!

Chewy Fruit 'N' Nut Cookies

Spice Cake Cookies

Magical Coconut Bars

Stay tuned because I will be posting recipes for some of these cookies!

Until next time...
Happy Hump Day and stay healthy my friends!

Love,
Ves xx

Oh, How Spicy! - Vegan MoFo #22

   Hi Friends!

   Here's another delicious soup recipe to keep you warm during this stormy gray weather.  By the way, Hamilton survived "the worst" of the storm overnight and I hope that other areas were just as lucky.  It looks like our East Coast friends in the States haven't been as lucky and I hope they've seen the worst of it as well.
On with the recipe...

Spicy Tortilla Soup
6-8 Servings

Ingredients
1 pablano pepper
1 15-ounce can tomatoes, preferably no salt added
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons coconut oil, divided
1 medium white onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
3 cups vegetable broth
3 cups water
1 14-ounce package extra-firm tofu
1 cup fresh corn kernels
1 cup white hominy
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon chilli powder
sea salt, to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
1 ripe large avocado, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/2 cup shredded vegan cheddar cheese (I used Daiya)
1/2 - 1 lime, juiced (optional)

Directions

1. Holding the poblano pepper with metal tongs, quickly toast it by turning it an inch or two above an open flame for a few seconds, or place it under the broiler (turning every minute or two) until the skin is slightly charred.
2. When cool enough to handle, peel, stem and seed the poblano pepper, break it into pieces and put it in a blender along with the tomatoes and their juice.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until golden, 6 to 9 minutes. Transfer the onion and garlic to the blender with the tomato mixture. Process until smooth.
4. Return the pot to medium heat. When quite hot, add the puree and stir almost constantly until thickened to the consistency of tomato paste, about 6 minutes.  Add broth, water, cumin and chilli powder.  Bring to a boil, then adjust heat to maintain a simmer.
5. Drain tofu, rinse and pat dry; cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the tofu and cook in a single layer, stirring every 2 to 3 minutes, until beginning to brown, 6 to 8 minutes total. Add the tofu to the soup and simmer for 30 minutes.
6. In the last few minutes, stir in the corn and hominy.  When heated through, stir in cilantro leaves and lime juice and serve.  Garnish with some avocado and tortilla strips.

 Love,
Ves xx

Ps: This was inspired by my mom's Chicken Tortilla Soup.  I used to love that soup and one day I will figure out all of the flavors that went into making that soup so delicious (minus the chicken, of course). ;)

Vegan French Onion Soup - Vegan MoFo #21

   Hi Friends!

   I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  Mine was good in spite of the wet weather that has been gracing Southern Ontario for the past five days!  My Saturday morning was spent in bed watching Will & Grace reruns with my cat curled up next to me.  That's totally out of character for me but I definitely enjoyed the indulgence.  I think Patchie was way more thrilled that I was vegging out, though.  I'm hardly ever home and when I am, I'm rarely sitting down in one spot so I think she thought she won the lottery having all of my attention on her.   She may have attachment issues... I'm looking into a specialist for her.

See what I mean?  Stucklikeglue.

   Moving on...  This week, because of the wet, cold, gray weather, I'm craving soup!  I made a couple of batches yesterday, and one of them was French Onion Soup.  I love this soup and I'm so glad that I was able to find a recipe that actually worked and tasted good.  A while ago, when my mom was making French Onion soup, she made a vegan version for me.  I was going to ask her how she made it but she was a little busy this weekend doing this:

My mom's baked goods at the Digby Farmer's Market! 

   So I decided to look up some recipes on Google.  I found a few good ones but I decided to use the one from The Inventive Vegetarian.  This recipe was awesome and I only tweaked it a little so I won't post it here but I will include the link.

   

   Since I'm not posting a recipe I will share my tips for staying tear-free (almost) while cutting massive amounts of onions.

1. Light Candles - As you can see in the photo above, I lit a couple of them.
2. Open your windows - let the fresh air in and let the onion fumes out!  I have two windows in my kitchen and they were both open.  I was freezing but at least I didn't cry (that much)!
3. Wear some sunglasses! - I know that one seems like a crazy tip but I really do think it helped me.
4. Use a Mandoline - I sliced those onions in no time!  Everyone knows that your eyes start to water as soon as you cut into an onion.  The faster you can get it done the better!

Those are my tips for staying almost tear-free while cutting onions.  I can honestly say that I only had a few tears.  Normally I would be crying like a baby after cutting into half an onion - but after FOUR onions I hardly had any tears.  I did leave my sunglasses on for a little while after I was finished with the onions, just in case.

On to the soup...

My beautiful bowl of onions!

In the pot, ready to get cookin'!

Here are the very minor tweaks that I made to this recipe:

Instead of using Mushroom Stock I used vegetarian "Beef" Bouillon cubes.  First, I hate mushrooms.  I know 'hate' is a strong word and I always advise children against saying hate about food... BUT, I'm an adult and I know I really, really, REALLY do not like mushrooms!. So it's okay if I say I hate them!  Ha.  Plus, I had the cubes in my cupboard so it was a no-brainer. 

For the wine, I used a Pinot Grigio because that's what I had on hand.  Plus I love it, so I knew it would be good in this recipe.  Don't cook with a wine that you don't like the taste of!

For the cheese, I obviously did not use Swiss.  Instead, I used Daiya Mozzarella Shreds and it was perfect for this dish.

For the bread, I used a whole grain baguette instead of white French bread.

I also did not bake this soup the way that she does in her recipe.  I simply ladled the soup in the dishes, added the toasted bread and cheese on top, and put it in the oven on broil until the cheese melted.

Here's how it turned out...

   This soup was delicious which made me so happy because I miss my mom's French Onion soup.  And, my sister came over for dinner and loved this soup.  Yay!  Oh, and the cute dishes?  I found them at the Dollar Store for $2 each.  And they're oven safe.  Bonus! 

Stay tuned for tomorrow's soup recipe.  And in the meantime, please stay safe if you live in and around the 'Storm Watch' areas for Hurricane Sandy.

Love,

Ves xx

WIAW # 18, a Soup Recipe and Vegan MoFo #18 Oh, My!

Hi Friends!

This post is coming to you a little a lot late in the day and I have zero energy to be witty or clever or anything for that matter.  Today was super full with work (picture day!) and then an after work function, so I had no time for cooking let alone blogging.  Unfortunately this means that tomorrow's post will be a bit behind.  Sheesh!  I need to learn how to write 8 posts in one day!  Anyway, enough about my complaining, let's get to the good stuff!
Here's a day in the life of my eats... aka What I Ate Wednesday... aka what I ate at some point this week but, not necessarily on a Wednesday... aka what I ate to semi-cleanse from all of the really heavy meals I've been eating thanks to Thanksgiving and Birthday's... aka too many aka's!

Let's move on...

{First thing}: As always, I have a glass of water with lemon and cayenne pepper plus a probiotic or two for good measure!; {pre-breakfast}: Green Juice with celery, cucumber, romaine and lemon; COFFEE; {Breakfast}: Like most mornings I enjoyed a delicious Green Smoothie with romaine, celery, cucumber, mango and banana; {Lunch}: Salad!- mixed greens, avocado, tomatoes, chopped veggies, lemon, nooch and a touch of mustard; {Dinner}: RAW wraps with veggies and homemade hummus plus a salad; {Dessert}: Apple Pie Pudding and a coffee.


As always, thanks to Jenn of Peas and Crayons for hosting this link-up party!

And now for the recipe...

This is what is was like all day yesterday!  I'm glad I made this soup!

Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
Ingredients
1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped
3 apples, sweet variety, peeled and chopped
a few tablespoons of olive oil
1 tsp of dried oregano
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chilli powder
pinch of sea salt
1 medium sweet onion, peeled and chopped
a little extra olive oil for sautéeing
3 cups vegetable stock

Directions:
1) Toss squash and apples with enough olive oil to coat, stir in salt and seasonings. Roast at 375 degrees until tender, about 30 minutes, stir halfway through cooking time.
2) Sauté onions in olive oil until very soft (about 5 minutes).
3) Add vegetable stock to onions, bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Stir in roasted squash and apple. Mash with a potato masher or an immersion blender until desired texture is reached. Simmer a few minutes until thick and bubbly. Taste, and add salt if needed. Garnish with roasted seeds for added crunch.

Ready for the oven!

Simmering on the stove.

I love this handy blender! 

I left some chunks in my soup because I was going for a more rustic feel.  If you'd like you can always put this soup in your blender to make it super smooth.

Ready to eat!  Is it a surprise that I plated the soup over a plate of arugula?  I doubt it!

So there you have it!  WIAW and a super yummy and "fall-like" soup.
Enjoy!

Love,
Ves xx

1 Potato, 2 Potato, 3 Potato, Sweet!

   That's right!  Mmm... I'm about to confess my love for the Sweet Potato.  You can turn away if you want, but then you might miss the yummy recipe I'll be posting after I'm done being all mushy.  There really isn't anything better than a nice baked sweet potato.  Except for maybe a grilled one... or a steamed one... or a mashed one.  I'll eat them any which way I can get them! 
   In addition to being so delicious, sweet potatoes are really good for you.  Just one medium sweet potato is rich in beta-carotene and meets your daily need for vitamin A.  It also provides nearly a third of the vitamin C you need each day.  If you eat it with the skin on (organic only) it's packed with fiber, too.  Woohoo!  I knew there was a reason I love this veggie so much!

   I was at my parents house earlier this evening for a quick hello, and my mom warmed up a soup for me to try that she had made the day before.  It was beyond yummy and the 'star' of the soup was a sweet potato!  After explaining how easy it was to make, and after trying (unsuccessfully) to give me the rest to take home (hey, my mom's gotta eat too!), I decided I was going to make that soup for dinner.  I already had a couple of sweet potatoes hangin' out in the fridge and one on the counter (I had planned on making a sweet potato for supper) so I didn't have to stop at the store.
   My mom had steamed the sweet potatoes first, so I decided to bake mine and see if it would taste differently.  I didn't want to use oil though, so I added a bit of veg stock to the baking dish before placing it in the oven.  I also don't like to mess with the flavor of the sweet potato; I think it's pretty awesome on it's own.

Read on for the recipe...

Creamy Sweet Potato Soup
Serves 2
prep time: 5min.
Total Time : approx. 1hr 15min.

Ingredients:
1 large sweet potato or 2 small ones
2 + 1 cups vegetable stock
cumin
turmeric
sea salt

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375F.
Wash, peel and cut the sweet potato into cubes.  Place in an oven safe baking dish and add a bit of the veg stock (just enough to cover the bottom of the pan).  Mix the sweet potatoes until they're covered in the stock.  Add a few dashes of cumin and a pinch of salt and pop it in the oven.  Check on them every 15-20 minutes and add a bit more stock if needed.  After about 40 min take the sweet potatoes out of the oven and stir them up a bit.  If they aren't done yet, add some more veg stock (if they're dry) and then cover the dish with foil and place it back in the oven for a few more minutes.  When the sweet potatoes are soft and can easily be pierced with a fork, they're done.

In a high speed blender add 1 1/2 cups of the veg stock and half of the sweet potatoes and process.  Keep adding the sweet potatoes (and stock as needed) until they're all in the blender and process until smooth.  Add a pinch of turmeric and taste.  Add more cumin and salt if needed.  Transfer the contents to a pot on the stove and warm until heated through.

Serve it like this...

...or the way that I ate it...

   You guys should know by now that I have to add greens to everything that I eat and this meal was no exception.  I poured the creamy sweet potato soup over a bed of raw kale... my favorite green on the planet!  I added a bit of nutritional yeast and a squirt of lemon right before eating.  It was so delicious!  

   If you liked this recipe, stay tuned tomorrow for another sweet potato recipe! 

Until then, have a Happy Friday!

Love,

Ves xx

It's a Lean, Mean, Clean, Green Kind of Day!

   The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, my cat's napping and I'm feeling kinda green today.  Huh?? Okay, maybe I'm not feeling green, I'm just seeing it!  As in, every time I open the fridge.  So, I've decided to make it a theme... Today is GREEN FOOD DAY!!  Man, I probably should have saved this one for St. Patty's Day! Ha.  Oh well.

   I should start off by saying that my body is going to be sooo happy with me today!  Green foods are one of the best foods to feed our bodies as they are the most nutrient-rich foods on the planet.  I know I sang chlorophyll's praises here but it doesn't get old. Chlorophyll is known to help cleanse the body, help heal wounds, fight infection, and promote the health of the circulatory, digestive, immune, and detoxification systems. And where can we find chlorophyll?  Green foods, of course!  

   I hope I don't shock my body with the abundance of healthy meals it's going to receive today.  I'll probably have a slice of chocolate cake later (vegan, of course) just to balance things out! Ha.  Just kidding.  Or am I? 

   On to the Green Goodness!

Green Juice!

Ooohhh... doesn't that look pretty? 

Lean Green Juice

2 bunches Broccoli

4 Stalks Celery

4-5 Romaine Leaves

1/2 Lemon

2 Wheat grass Cubes

Juice, drink, and be prepared for the abundance of energy that you're about to have!

**I don't like my green juice to be sweet but if you're wanting a bit of sweetness add an apple or pear to the juice.

Green Smoothie!

My green smoothie today was so yummy and easy to make.  You probably already have all of the ingredients (even if you don't have some of the powders) so go ahead and make this for your snack today!

Mean Green Smoothie

1 - 1 1/2 cups of Almond Milk (or water)

1 frozen banana

1 apple

2 large handfuls of Spinach

1 tbsp Almond Butter (you can use natural peanut butter too)

1 tbsp Goji Berries (optional)

1 tbsp Hemp Seeds (optional)

1 tsp Spirulina (optional)

1 tsp Chlorella (optional)

1 tbsp Maca (optional)

 

Add all of the ingredients to a high speed blender and process until smooth.  Pour into a glass add a straw and enjoy! OR do as I sometimes do and add a straw to your blender!  Why dirty a glass?? :)

* I know there are a lot of "optional" ingredients listed above but they will not change the flavor of the smoothie so if you don't have them go ahead and make this anyway.  I'm a little obsessed with adding "extras" to my smoothies. 

Green Soup!

   I made this soup last night because I wanted to use up some of the produce that was in my fridge before it spoiled.  I have leftovers for today which is perfect for my GREEN FOOD DAY!  Oh and just so you know, this is a RAW soup recipe.  Which really just means that I didn't cook it, I made it in my blender. (Man I love raw food!)  If you want a warmer soup you can definitely warm this on the stove until it's just "finger warm" - not hot, that way it's still technically raw (not heated above 108-115 degrees).

Clean Green Soup

1 1/2 cups water

2 (really) large handfuls Romaine/Spinach

1 small handful Parsley

1 large head Broccoli

3 Basil leaves

2 tomatoes, chopped

juice of half a lemon plus rind

3-4 Radishes, diced

2 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt

Pinch Cumin

Pinch turmeric

Pinch cayenne pepper

Place all the ingredients into a high speed blender and process until smooth.  For a smoother soup consistency add a half or whole avocado.  I would have done that except that I never have avocado's lying around - I eat them immediately!  

Pour into a bowl, grab a spoon and enjoy!  If you want it warmer add a pinch more cayenne or see my note above.

If you try any of these recipes let me know by posting in the comments below!

(Oh, and it seems that I have been on a roll with "S" titles in the last 4 posts.  See here, here, here and here.  How weird.  Anyway, this post broke that strange little kick I was on... thankfully.)

Happy GREEN FOOD DAY... AKA Family Day here in Ontario!

Love, 

Ves xx

"...It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...!"

      No, I'm not talking about Christmas (although I do know a few people who have finished their Christmas shopping, but that's another story!).  I'm talking about Fall.  Okay, I know I'm a little ahead of myself and technically it's still summer.  But with the crisp weather we are having today, and the delicious smells wafting from the kitchen, Fall is in the air today.  I love this season with it's red, orange and yellow colors; Back to School shopping; sweater wearing; leaf raking; pumpkin carving; apple pie baking; cinnamon smelling; cider drinking; soup making; and Birthday singing (to me!). 

    For me, the Autumn season symbolizes new beginnings, and I know that for most people that's supposed to be the Spring time.  Maybe it's because I was born this time of the year but, I feel like everything starts in the Fall.  Summer ends and we cap it off with a Labor Day party celebrating the end of summer and the beginning of Fall.  At least that's the way I see it.  And Fall is so jam packed with excitement and activities how could you not love it?  School starts; everyone flocks to the farm stands for apples, and then we're off to the fairs for wagon rides and pumpkin picking; my birthday and Halloween come around the corner and before you know it, it's Thanksgiving and the Macy's Parade!  Eat your heart out Winter/Spring/Summer; Autumn rocks!

Bailey on one of her walks.

   I'm so ready for this season to begin!  I gave my blog a fresh new look (hope you like it!), and I'm already planning my Thanksgiving Menu!  Too soon?  Did I mention that Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday?  It is!  But, there will be plenty of time to talk about that later.  

   For now, I'm going to enjoy the fresh air by taking a nice long walk and then coming home to some delicious, homemade Butternut Squash soup and then later, some warming nut-tea beverage.  Okay, I made that up.  It's really just tea with nut milk and cinnamon.  Yum!

Butternut Squash Soup

All the yummy veggies that make this soup so delicious!

After a day like today...

...It felt good to drink this!

ps: My mom made the soup, and it was SO good... Thanks mom!

FYI:  Today is the first day of the 21-Day Vegan Kickstart.  If your curious about becoming a Vegan or just want to add more whole foods into your daily diet visit the PCRM website for some healthy and delicious recipes.  I joined it in April and I found that my favorite part was reading the forums - I learned a lot from them.

Enjoy the rest of your Labor Day weekend!

Love,

Ves xx

You Made What?

Today I made Seitan for the first time.  Say what, you ask?  Seitan, pronounced say-tan, is a 'wheat meat' made from Vital Wheat Gluten.  Two things I had never heard of before becoming vegan. 
I honestly can't believe I had the guts to make this before ever trying it.  Seitan is something that you should be able to buy at a grocery store or Health Food store, but I have yet to find it anywhere.  I have heard (read) so much about it and have been dying to try it that I finally broke down and made it.

 By the way, I love that I can just make my 'meat'!  So far I haven't come across anything that I hate about being a vegan.  Accept maybe the way some people act towards me.  I won't name any names... ahem, my brother. 

Anyway, I had no idea what this would end up tasting like, or looking like for that matter.  But luckily I read so many blogs and visit so many websites that I couldn't go wrong with a recipe from the Post Punk Kitchen.  I have made quite a few recipes from the PPK website that it seemed like a no-brainer to go with her Seitan recipe.  Since it was my first time experimenting with this recipe I followed it to the T. 
Here's how I made it... or rather, here is the recipe from the PPK (ha!):
1 cup vital wheat gluten flour
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 cup cold vegetable broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed or grated on a microplane grater

For the simmering broth:
4 cups vegetable broth
4 cups water
1/4 cup soy sauce
Fill a stock pot with the water, broth and soy sauce, cover and bring to a boil.
In the mean time, in a large bowl mix together gluten and yeast.  In a smaller bowl mix together broth, soy sauce, lemon juice, olive oil and garlic. Pour the wet into the dry and combine with a wooden spoon until most of the moisture has absorbed and partially clumped up with the dry ingredients. Use your hands and knead for about 3 minutes, until it’s an elastic dough. Divide into 3 equal pieces with a knife and then knead those pieces in your hand just to stretch them out a bit. Let rest until the broth has come to a full boil.
Once boiling, lower the heat to a simmer. Add the gluten pieces and partially cover pot so that steam can escape. Let simmer for 45 minutes, turning occasionally. Turn the heat off and take the lid off, let sit for 15 minutes.
Remove from broth and place in a strainer until it is cool enough to handle. Slice and use as desired.

 I didn't take step-by-step photos but I did take a few pictures.  Here's what it looked like:

This is what mine looked like in it's broth after it's done simmering.

And this is what it looked like in the strainer.

I did end up slicing a tiny piece and sauteing it up so that I could taste it, but I didn't take a picture of that.  If you are wondering, it was delicious!  

When it cooled down, I took one of the pieces and put it in a container in the fridge and I put the other two pieces in the freezer.  I'm the only vegan in the house and I am going away next week so there was no way I was going to let this go bad.  

Oh, and if you are wondering about the broth that the seitan was simmering in, it was too yummy to throw out so I ended up making a miso soup with tofu out of it.  So delish!  

I hope you guys are feeling adventurous enough to try this out even if you aren't eating a vegan diet.  I had members of my family taste the sauteed seitan and they liked it too, so give it a shot!  

Happy eating!

Love,

Ves