Vegan stroganoff

I have resolved to make more meals at home and try a lot of new things.  One thing I definitely wanted to make was goulash.  I had the recipe from Vegan on the Cheap in mind, but when I got ready to cook yesterday, I realized it was a slow cooker recipe, and that it wouldn't work on the stovetop.  So I switched to stroganoff and after some searching (I still have some vegan sour cream in my fridge that I made from VotC) I found a stroganoff recipe in Vegan With A Vengeance.  Now, my kids hate mushrooms.  So those were out, and the original recipe calls for both porcini and small white mushrooms.  Besides, when I looked in the fridge for the mushrooms I had (bellas), they were nowhere to be found, and,  I suspect, had been thrown out by my ambitious kids when they cleaned out the fridge the other day.  Anyhow, another problem I had was that the original recipe calls for a cup of red wine.  Alison found a great substitute: cranberry juice with a dash of vinegar!  That really saved the day.

One of my triumphs yesterday was the seitan I made from Veganomicon (that recipe is simpler, and tastes better than the one from VWAV and is similar enough to the one in VotC).  Anyhow, the seitan was very meaty, and not brainy at all.  Chris said it tasted like ground beef to him - and Chris is a very picky eater.  Also, I used farfalle instead of eggless noodles or fettucine.  I think I would go with the fettucine if/when I make this again.  The farfalle were too thick.

You can imagine from just reading this post that I did a lot of cooking yesterday.  And that is quite correct: I was busy for two hours.  But the recipe, despite smelling kind of odd after I added the nutritional yeast, or nooch, actually tasted very good.  I will definitely make it again (perhaps sneaking in the mushrooms if I can!).

I am hoping that if I stay motivated in the kitchen, I can cut my eating expenses in half.  That, and truth be told, I am tired of eating out and not having any interesting food, because I don't eat meat and dairy.  Hopefully, our kitchen will become proof that, yes, you can cook without meat and dairy, and make delicious, interesting, enjoyable meals.