By Request

Tonight, for the second night this week, we're having Roman Rice and Beans.  I made this with green pepper for the first time the other night, and Amy & Brian loved it!  They requested I make it again tonight, so I acquiesced.  I made sure I used the amounts of spices called for in the recipe (Diet For A Small Planet). AND I made sure I chopped the tomatoes almost in a dice, since Amy usually does not like tomatoes.  With bread, of course.  Frances Moore Lappé suggests serving with a salad, but this is enough food and veggies without the salad.  This is also one of the DFASP recipes that doesn't have to be veganized, because it's vegan already (if you leave out the parmesan). Viva homecooked meals!

Veganomicon black bean burgers with a twist

Instead of ketchup or tomato paste, I added BBQ sauce (vegan as far as I know, but not really entirely sure - it sure tastes good)  to the black bean burger recipe from Veganomicon.  So far, so good.  With sweet potato fries.  Brian & I will have a good lunch.  No meals out today.  Too many crazy people out there on the road and elsewhere this Black Friday.

Update: General Tso's tofu at China Delight for dinner.  Oh well...

An almost all-vegan Thanksgiving

First of all, this morning I made chickpea scramble for breakfast.

Recipe:  1 can chickpeas, buzzed in food processor (I think next time I will just mash them with a fork and see if that works just as well)
             1 TBSP olive oil in pan for cooking
             1 small onion, chopped
             1 clove garlic, smashed
             1 tsp cumin
             1 TBSP soy sauce
             1 TBSP nutritional yeast

Heat up oil, then sautée onions and garlic in oil.  Add the rest of the ingredients and cook until a little crusty around the edges.  Enjoy!

Yesterday, everything on the Thanksgiving table was vegan except for the green bean casserole.  We made vegan gado-gado, with steamed broccoli and carrots, and roasted broccoli and Brussels sprouts.  We also made mashed sweet potatoes - next time we will make sure we don't cook them until closer to the time we eat, because they were a little cold.  The stuffing was a no-go, so we won't do that again, or I will try to find a recipe instead of winging it.  We all enjoyed each other's company.  It was all four kids - Alison, Chris, Brian and Amy, Alison's husband Shane and me.  Oh, and gluten-free squash pancakes and gluten-free noodles.  Because Shane has celiac disease.  I was glad we had food he could eat and enjoy.  The pancake batter made even better waffles.  So I may just make waffles with it when I do it.  We loaded up all kinds of stuff and took it to my mom's.  We did miss her, but she likes the traditional Thanksgiving food, so I don't think she would have liked what we made.

But we had a good time.  I am so grateful I have wonderful kids and a wonderful son-in-law.

Black Bean Burgers

We made the Black Bean Burgers recipe from Veganomicon, the Roasted Brussels Sprouts from Vegan With A Vengeance and mashed potatoes with a secret ingredient - grated onions.  All in all, a delicious meal!  Thanks to Amy for your help and your idea for the onions in the mashed potatoes.

update - those black bean burgers are GOOD

The end and the beginning

Well, a few days ago, the 2012 Vegan Month of Food came to an end.  I really enjoyed blogging about all the different things I was making.  In a way, I wish EVERY month was a Vegan Month of Food.  I'll continue blogging about the new recipes I'm trying and talking about those that become favorites.

On another note: I start a new job November 19.  I am excited, but a little scared.  It's going to be a promotion, and hopefully a new challenge.  I have some worries, which I won't detail here, but I am praying about this, and people at my church are praying for me.  I guess mostly I'm worried about a change since I've had my current job since 2008.  I should be used to a change every three or four years since I was in the Navy and moved around pretty much at that interval (except for San Diego, which I loved and stayed for 7 years).

I had my annual mammogram this morning.  Hopefully everything will be okay.  Fingers crossed.

Tonight is Band Together to Fight Hunger.  I will have to remember to bring a canned good or two so I can get in to watch the bands perform.

Pumpkin Pancakes

I got this recipe from Veg Web, but when I went back there and did a search, I couldn't find it.  Soooooooooo...

Here's the recipe:

Meatout Mondays Recipe of the Week: Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes

They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So, we figured, why not have breakfast at every meal! Topped off with melty vegan butter and a warm drizzle of maple syrup or agave, these fluffy wonders will have you craving breakfast morning, noon, and night. We won't say anything if you want to stay in your jammies all day long.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups vanilla dairy-free milk
15 oz. can pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp. praline or vanilla extract
maple syrup (optional)
pralines, chopped (optional)

Directions:
1. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together non-dairy milk, pumpkin, brown sugar, canola oil, and extract.
3. Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix.
4. Brush nonstick skillet with canola oil (or spray) and heat over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking.
5. Pour about 1/4 cup batter per pancake onto the hot skillet and cook on each side for about 2 to 3 minutes, or until undersides are golden brown. Serve with syrup and chopped pralines.

Recipe courtesy of VegWeb.com.

For this veganized recipe and thousands more, visit:
http://vegweb.com/recipes/pumpkin-pancakes-1

Evidently, I got it all wrong - this recipe came in my e-mail from Meatout Monday- so here's the link so you can find it on teh interwebs:

Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes 

This recipe makes a lot of pancakes, so you're going to want to save some for later.  I made them first on Saturday, but am just posting about them now.  YUM.

One thing - spread the batter out in the frying pan, because otherwise they will take forever to cook.  If you spread the batter out, they will still be fluffy, but they will also not take quite so long to get done.  Pure maple syrup and soy free Earth Balance completes the picture.  (Sorry, no photos, I was in too much of a hurry to eat them!) 

Chai Spice Snickerdoodles

Chai Spice Snickerdoodles

I made the substitution of ¼ cup applesauce for ¼ cup (half the original amount) of oil, and these cookies came out very chewy.  Delicious.  Also, in the spices on top, I didn't have any cardamom, so I used ½ tsp of allspice instead.

Cheater Chili

This recipe comes from The Vegan Slow Cooker by Kathy Hester.  Really simple.  I didn't use black beans because I'm all out; instead I used extra pintos.  Didn't have any kidney beans either, so I used cannelloni beans.  And Texas Pete hot sauce instead of Tabasco.  But, other than those substitutions, I made the recipe as is.  On high, it's 11:13 now; the chili should be done before 3:30 PM if the power doesn't go out before then.  I guess we'll see what Ms. Sandy is going to do.

Sweet potato and black bean stew with quinoa

I made up this recipe, because I didn't have all the ingredients for any of the recipes I looked up that involved sweet potatoes and black beans. 

First, I cooked a boatload of quinoa in my rice cooker.  Turned out pretty good, though I guess I needed to rinse the quinoa a little better.

Second, I diced and roasted two large sweet potatoes.  This was almost too much, except for the brazen sweet potato lover (me). 

In my soup/stew pot, I sautéed a diced onion and added a can of black beans (drained) and a can of diced tomatoes (with juice).  I seasoned it with a TBSP of chili powder and a tsp of cumin, as well as a dash of garlic powder.  TASTY!

I combined all these things and VOILA!  Pretty good for an improvised recipe.

The kids liked it better once they added some Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce.

Public Service Announcement

It's not just Frankenstorm - we also have to worry about the Zombie Apocalypse.  Leave it to the zombies to decide to have their apocalypse during the worst storm in ages.  Beware, everyone!

PPK saves the day

Roasted Butternut Alfredo

The minute I first saw this recipe, I knew I had to make it.  I love me some butternut squash and in my pregan days, I adored a good alfredo sauce.  Add to that, that Isa Chandra Moskowitz can do no wrong in the kitchen, and I am convinced.  So tonight, I'm making her Roasted Butternut Alfredo with pasta for dinner.  I think we have some salad, but I'm not convinced we need it.

Update:  left out the wine, and I think I put too much nooch (nutritional yeast) in the sauce.  And too much miso.  I don't like the way it smells.

Update 2:  It tastes pretty good.  So I think I will try making it again, and maybe cut back on the nooch and the miso.

Meals out

I have been eating too many French fries and too many orders of General Tso's Tofu.   I like the latter best with lots of broccoli.  But I hope to eat at home all this weekend.

Hummus

Amy borrowed a book from the library entitled Sam Stern's Get Cooking,  She wants to have more say in what we cook, since I do not like going out for dinner anywhere near as much as I used to.  Mr. Stern's hummus recipe is in the back of the book, on page 140 under the heading Essential Extras.  Now, anyone who has been vegan for a while knows that one always needs a good go-to hummus recipe.  What else are you going to dip all those raw veggies into?

We did sub a teaspoon of white vinegar for the lemon juice, but other than that we followed the recipe.  We both tasted it before we put it in the fridge to chill.  I think it probably has a bit too much garlic for my taste, but it does have a nice 'kick' to it, that makes it more than just bland old chickpeas ground up.  Amy also, kind of by accident, added dill to it, so it has something extra that makes it even better.

We'll update later on how it tastes once it has chilled for a few hours or so.

Update:  We had the hummus for an after-dinner something (not sure what you call that, second course, perhaps?).  It was nicely chilled and we ate it dipping toasted whole wheat pita chips in it.  VERY GOOD.  

A fungus among us

I had vegetable lo mein for lunch and it contained several whole mushrooms- shaped like a tiny Christmas tree -not sure what they are called.  I LOVE mushrooms. 
Why a post about mushrooms? Well, my kids all hate them.  Amy especially dislikes them because they are a fungus.  I can't seem to find a way to get them to eat them.  And that goes for chopped up as well as sliced.

One week later, or more, I still have a box of fresh mushrooms in the fridge.  I might eat them with a salad this afternoon.  Waiting for Hurricane Sandy to hit.

Crockpot Black Bean Stew

Brian has a chorus concert tonight, and we very much need dinner to be ready by 5.  Hopefully, that will be the case.  The thing is, the crockpot recipes in the cookbooks cook in under 8 hours.  I have anywhere from 10-13 hours before we eat dinner, so I need something with a longer, not shorter cooking time.

 Soooooo....
This is one I made up all by myself.  Pretty much.  I cut up carrots, celery, and potatoes and put them in the crockpot.  Then I emptied a bag of dried black turtle beans into the pot.  I added ½ tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp cumin and 1 TBSP chili powder to the mix.  My greatest fear with this is that I may have added too many dried beans and not have enough water to cook them completely.  The pot is chock full to the brim.

Request night

Last night, I thought I'd do something involving potatoes.  But Brian asked, "Can we have gado-gado?"  So, } steamed carrots and broccoli, roasted brussels sprouts and winter squash and boiled up some pasta shells.  Oh and made the sauce.  I'll post a link to a recipe later.  Or link back to an earlier post.  Gado-gado is a family favorite for us so I know I've written about it before now.
Some thoughts on the sauce:  coconut milk works best.  It's nice and creamy.  And diced onions add texture. 
Fortunately I made enough so I can have the leftovers for lunch one day this week.

Update:  leftovers are gone.  Brian had them for dinner last night!  That stuff is so good.  I should make two or three batches at a time, I believe.

Pumpkin and White Bean Lasagna

For lunch today, I have prepared Pumpkin and White Bean Lasagna from The Vegan Slow Cooker by Kathy Hester.  She writes the recipes so that some of the work for them is done the night before cooking.  This one is like that.  Last night, I made the Pumpkin-Tofu ricotta filling for the lasagna.  It called for 3 sun-dried tomatoes, rehydrated, buzzed in the food processor with the tofu and the pumpkin and various spices.  My food processor is too small, so I ended up buzzing the tofu and sun-dried tomatoes until smooth, then blending that with everything else by hand.  I stored the mixture in the fridge overnight, and this morning, made the lasagna in the crock pot.  I used Grandpa's Sauce Goes Vegetarian from Wegman's which tastes really good.  More later.

Later:  It's delicious.  However, the tofu-pumpkin ricotta is very mushy and I used firm tofu, so, I don't know.  Maybe I buzzed it too much in the food processor.  The taste, however, was out of this world!  The Italian Spices coupled with the onion and garlic powders really was spicy.  I used garlic powder instead of fresh garlic, which might be why it was so spicy.  But since I've become vegan, I like spicy foods quite a bit more than I used to.

Kitchen Wishes

KitchenAid 9 cup food processor
KitchenAid 2 speed Hand Blender

These two items are a must for anyone who wants to do some serious cooking.  All too often, families give up on cooking at home because homemade food isn't quite like what is served in a restaurant.  With these two appliances, you can get the kind of smooth textures you find in restaurant dishes, without the added salt and chemicals from commercially processed/prepared foods.  You can take what you get at your local farmer's market, and with a little work, you get creamy soups, perfect lasagna filling, and all kinds of wonderful vegan foods made with tofu, cashews and other delectables.  I am fortunate I have a good blender, but I need more than that.  Definitely want these two items.  Or something like them.  Doesn't have to be KitchenAid, although that is one of the best brands out there.

Pumpkin Spice Bread

This recipe is from Forks Over Knives Cookbook, page 293.  The batter is, as the recipe says, stiff.  Made the kitchen smell marvelous.

Right now I'm baking the Super Moist Pumpkin Bread, this time WITH pumpkin and walnuts, though I still don't like coconut.  That will be three loaves of sweet bread.  But this stuff is just so good.  And I'm going to make crockpot pumpkin lasagne, but that is another post.

Update:  I am finally eating some of the Pumpkin Spice Bread.  It's a bit dry, and just a touch bland.  I would put some Earth Balance on it, but I want to cut down on calories. I will probably eat some more of it in the morning for breakfast, and I think I will toast it and put Earth Balance on it then.  Toasting seems to improve most breads, sweet or no.

Roasted Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili

Roasted Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili

Food wishes Chef John goes vegetarian (vegan, actually, if you leave out the sour cream, or use vegan sour cream).  My husband Marcus found this recipe on teh interwebs. This is what I'm making today.  I have transcribed the recipe from the video and am posting it below.  This is definitely a good cause, and especially as a vegan, I feel that we DO have enough food to feed the world - it's terrible that children starve, when if people adopted a vegan diet, we could feed everyone.  Just my opinion.  At any rate, sign the petition.  Kids need to be fed.  And we can start, by feeding our own children good nutritious food.

Here's the website to sign the petition:  Sweet Potatoes on the menu at One.org

And now, the transcribed recipe:

Roasted Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili

Ingredients:

2 lbs orange-fleshed sweet potatoes

1/2 tsp ground chipotle pepper, or to taste

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil, divided

1 onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 jalapeno, sliced

1 tbsp cumin

2 or 3 tbsp Ancho chili powder, or other chili powders, or to taste

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1 can (28-oz) diced or crushed tomatoes

1 cup water, more as needed
1 tbsp corn meal

1 tsp salt, or to taste

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp unsweetened cocoa

2 cans (15-oz) black beans, drained, rinsed

cayenne to taste

vegan sour cream and cilantro to garnish, if desired

Peel and cube  3 sweet potatoes.  Place cubed sweet potatoes in a bowl and add salt and chipotle chili pepper and olive oil, stir to coat.  Place on baking sheet and roast for 20-25 minutes at 400ºF. 

Meanwhile,  sauté onion, red pepper and jalapeño , chili powder , cumin and oregano until onions are translucent.  Add crushed tomatoes and bring to a simmer, adding salt, sugar, water and corn meal.  While simmering, add cocoa and simmer for thirty minutes.  Stir in black beans and sweet potatoes, and keep warm until ready to eat.

Update:  This is positively delicious!  YUM YUM