It's Friday evening.

I am staying home by choice. To study. So I decided to make it interesting by cooking up a storm. And by cooking up a storm, I mean this was an absolutely crazy storm.

To continue with bean week, I made baked ziti. I know, you are probably scratching your head in confusion. I'd like to call this Tulika's heartier than hearty baked ziti.

I started off by boiling some whole wheat penne. Then I started making the sauce. I had some Trader Joe's tomato basil marinara left, but not enough, so I added a small can of plain tomato sauce. Here's where it got out of control. I chopped and added half a red bell pepper, one tomato, one clove of garlic, about 1/4 can of olives, and about 5/6 of a can of kidney beans. I also added some pieces of seitan (wheat gluten). Then I added some garlic and herb seasoning as well as oregano. That is one freaking thick sauce.

I took the pasta off the stove pretty quickly since it would be baked soon anyway. Then I combined the pasta and sauce together and put it in a baking dish.

Then added some shredded mozzarella (2% of course!).

Baked at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.

It looks beautiful, if I say so myself. It tastes just as beautiful.

So earlier this week, I decided I needed to buy canned pumpkin puree. Why? I really, really don't know. But, I bought it anyway. Today I decided I'd put it to good use by making a pumpkin pie-esque dessert. Basically, pumpkin pie without the crust.

I mixed in a bowl one can of pumpkin puree, half a cup of egg whites, and half a can of condensed milk.

Condensed milk = deliciousness in a can. Finger-licking delicious.

I was not kidding when I said finger-licking delicious.

Then I added one teaspoon of ground cinnamon.

Next, transferred the mixture into a baking dish, and baked for 30-ish minutes. I didn't keep track, hence...

It burned a little. But oh well, it still tastes amazing.

My dad's birthday was earlier this week, and he's vegan (sort of). So I decided to experiment a little and bake him an eggless cake. Okay, I know the combination of ingredients sounds horrific, but I was actually eating this batter straight up. Like, spoonfuls of it.

One box of cake mix, one block of tofu (I used a 454g block), and one cup of water. Blend it together, and bake.

Seriously, that combination was the creamiest batter EVER. I didn't take a picture of the batter, because it was all over the place/all over my hands/all over my face. 

I also put some walnuts in the batter, and here is the finished product.

What a productive Friday evening. Now to actually start studying...