Vegan MoFo - Bring it on!

Vegan Month of Food 2012 blogroll

I am really excited about the Vegan MoFo this year!  My theme is going to be vegan cooking as a family.  For those of you who have kids and partners who might not be vegan but eat vegan anyway, this is for you!  Right now, there are three of us in the house - myself and my son and daughter Brian and Amy, both of who are omnivores.  Chris, my other son, is vegetarian and says he'll never go vegan (but LOVES my vegan brownies - hey a mom has to try!).  And my mom, who is omni, has to watch her salt level, and her blood pressure.  My husband, Marcus, well, he's game to try most of what I make as long as it doesn't taste too "green".

We will try as many new recipes as possible and hopefully find some new favorites.  We usually choose recipes on the basis of how healthy they are AND how easy they are to make.  No one wants to come home from work and work more.  Same goes for folks coming home from school - so we want to keep things easy and fun.  Anyhow, I hope everyone tries some new things and blogs LOTS about what works and what doesn't work, and why.

Roll on, Vegan MoFo!

Super Moist Pumpkin Bread - turned on its head

http://www.theppk.com/2008/10/super-moist-pumpkin-bread/#comment-32432

First of all, I omitted the coconut and the walnuts, because I didn't have any.  Boo hoo. 
THEN, I was really naughty and used organic sweet potato instead of pumpkin.

And this bread STILL turned out good.  Most of it went to church for the Fall Festival.

Even though the oven didn't turn on the first time I tried to bake it and the batter sat in the pans inside the oven doing NOTHING for about an hour and a half, once I baked it, even though it ended up cooking a bit longer than it should, it was forking delicious!  This is definitely my go-to recipe for pumpkin bread - until Isa Chandra Moskowitz comes up with a new one!

Snickerdoodle cookies go vegan

In my last post I was bemoaning the fact that I didn't have a go-to vegan cookie recipe.  Isa Chandra Moskowitz comes to the rescue again with Chai Spice Snickerdoodle Cookies.  I cannot wait to try this recipe.

Right now, I have to make the food I planned to take to sell at the fall festival.  And I don't particularly feel like it because my stomach hurts.  Too many fries at lunch.  I really need to stop eating fries.

Vegan brownies - my first try

Not bad for a first effort. Amy & Brian liked the brownies. Recipe here.  My only complaint is that they were oilier than I'd like.  I'm thinking maybe next time substitute some applesauce for half of the vegetable oil.  Also, I used sweetened chocolate/cocoa powder and it worked out fine.  Ghirardelli makes good products.

Oh, and I'd probably drink unsweetened iced tea with the brownies next time.  This time, I had cranberry juice.  Strange mix of flavors. 

I still haven't decided if I'm going to make more of them to sell at the Fall Festival.  I like The Best Pumpkin Muffins (from Vegan With A Vengeance) a lot better.  I still haven't found a good vegan cookie recipe yet.

Amy makes dinner GREAT!

Amy made the best bean dip this evening.  And we used it along with Daiya to make quesadillas.  VERY GOOD.

She blended together black beans, medium salsa, lime juice, cumin, and cayenne pepper.  We then took the mixture, spread it on tortillas, added some cheddar flavored Daiya, and browned the folded tortilla on each side in canola oil, melting the cheese and warming the bean mixture.  DELICIOUS!

Amy, you are quite a good cook!  EXCELLENT!  I am full and happy!  Or as I should say, fat and sassy!

Breakfast and Brunch

I made this chickpea scramble recipe for breakfast this AM.  It was quite good, though I probably should not have omitted the olive oil.  I'm going to use the leftover mix to make beanburgers for brunch.  And we're going to bake some fries as well.  YUM.

Update:  Well, the polls are in - from all 3 of the other people at lunch, Brian, Amy and Gina, and they all agree- these bean burgers taste like Taco Bell!  I think that must be a compliment so I'll take it that way.  I know it was cheaper than Taco Bell, for sure.  Here's something of a recipe:

Chickpea-Cannelloni Bean Burgers
yield 6-8 burgers

½ cup chickpeas, mashed
1 can cannelloni beans, mashed with liquid included
2 TBSP nutritional yeast (or 'nooch' for short)
¼ - ½ cup light whole wheat flour (or as needed)
2 TBSP garbanzo flour (or as needed)
one small onion, finely diced
2 tsp cumin or to taste
2 tsp chili powder or to taste
1 tsp salt or to taste (I wouldn't exceed 1½ tsp)
pepper to taste

Mash all beans together.  Make sure to include the liquid in the canned beans.  If not using canned beans, you are going to want to add about ¼-½ cup water, a little bit at a time.  Combine all above ingredients.  Add additional water or flour, to get a thick batter-type consistence.  If it's too mushy, add flour.  If it's too dry, add a bit of water.  Pancake batter consistency is too thin; aim for more of a bread batter consistency.

Coat a frying pan with non-stick canola oil spray.  Form 2-3" flat patties.  Brown on both sides, keep warm by stacking on a plate.

Enjoy with ketchup, mustard, chili sauce, bbq sauce, whatever you like. 

Who knew? Vegan brown bread

Amy told me an interesting fact.  Seems if you put a wooden spoon on top of a pasta pot, it won't boil over.  Hmmm.  I have got to try this.  Three peppers and an onion later - too bad the spaghetti sauce she's making has meat in it.  I will be eating leftover vegan lasagne.  But hey - dinner is being cooked! 

Oh, I am making vegan brown bread:

Brown Bread

·         2 cups soy milk

·         2 Tbsp. vinegar

·         4 cups whole wheat flour

·         2 cups all-purpose flour

·         2 Tbsp. vegan margarine, at room temperature

·         1 1/2 tsp. salt

·         1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1.       Preheat the oven to 425°F.

2.       In a small bowl, combine the soy milk and vinegar. Set aside.

3.       Sift together the flours in a large bowl. Using your fingers, rub the margarine into the flours, forming a crumbly mixture. Add the salt and baking soda.

4.       Make a well in the center and gradually add the soy milk mixture, mixing constantly. Add only enough to make the dough soft but still manageable.

5.       Knead inside the bowl for 30 seconds.

6.       Remove to a lightly floured baking sheet and use the palm of your hand to flatten into a 1 1/2–inch-thick disk. Use a knife to score a cross in the center.

7.       Bake for 25 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350°F and bake for 15 minutes. If the crust is too hard, cover it in a damp tea cloth. Let cool.

Makes 4  servings

Homemade vegan lasagne!

Brian decided last night that he wanted lasagne!  SO... he sautéed a bag of stir-fry veggies, and added pasta sauce to them.  I came home and made tofu ricotta (so easy, just took a fork and stirred up the tofu with basil, oregano, salt and pepper).  Brian layered the tofu ricotta and the sauce with the noodles and topped with Mozzarella and Cheddar Daiya.  We baked it for about a half hour or a little more.  It was delicious!  Nice job, Brian!  We will definitely have this again!