Total Comfort Food

My first attempt and vegan mac and cheese and guess what? It was a total success- yay! I used this recipe that I actually found from another blog (can't remember which one right now, sorry). The only change I would make in the future would be to add a little more salt, 1/2 teaspoon more mustard, and maybe some garlic powder. I'm not entirely sure why I made this since I have never been a huge fan of cheese, but I think I saw it more of an adventure as opposed to actually wanting something that tasted like macaroni and cheese. This was really amazing though and actually tasted quite a bit like I remember mac and cheese tasting, but not entirely (which is a good thing). This was way way WAY better after a day in the refrigerator. The flavors developed and the texture became much more of what I think of when I imagine my mom's baked macaroni and cheese. Now that I think about, I think my mom's macaroni and cheese is normally eaten cold. Or is it? Well, this tastes great cold from the fridge or reheated. Oooh- this is gonna make a kick-ass lunch at school!

Bread pudding is one of the most brilliant culinary creations as far as I'm concerned. It amazes me how you have this delicious mixture of (soy)milk, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and the second you add the stale bread to it- BAM! It begins smelling like something completely different. It's like the flavor and aroma of the bread mixes with this stuff and becomes....BREAD PUDDING! Of course it still needs to be baked, but whatever. I think the bread tastes almost better before it's baked, all sweet and soggy. I used this recipe from Everyday Dish as a base, but altered it a little bit using my mom's recipe that she has always used since it's the only bread pudding I've ever had, so that's the flavor I associate with comfort. I served it with, once again, the caramel sauce from Vegan Ice Cream Paradise, which added the perfect amount of sweetness. I was so excited to have this with some Soyatoo whipped "cream," but after taking the cap off, I realized that mine had gone bad! Crap.......Oh well, I've had it for awhile and only a little was left. This was still very yummy, just not as photogenic as I had hoped.

Geez, I have been pigging out lately. I think this weekend I'll need to have a "cleansing day," meaning a day of eating nice, healthy foods that are just very simple, clean and as minimally processed as possible. I'm thinking this would be a great day to try the Baked Tangerine Tofu recipe from Vcon. Hm...we'll see how it goes!