Seitan pot pie

I got my cast iron skillet back and made a seitan veggie pot pie.  The crust is whole wheat, and on the whole, it is rather dry.  I think I will try a crust recipe with all purpose flour next time.  The filling was good, but there didn't seem to be quite enough of it.  Or the crust was too thick.  But it was still good.

The Day I Met Jesus: The Revealing Diaries of Five Women from the Gospels

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25007056-the-day-i-met-jesus" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Day I Met Jesus: The Revealing Diaries of Five Women from the Gospels" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1440096632m/25007056.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25007056-the-day-i-met-jesus">The Day I Met Jesus: The Revealing Diaries of Five Women from the Gospels</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/96732.Frank_Viola">Frank Viola</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1356717231">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
This book fleshed out five women who personally, directly encountered Jesus. It looks at the Biblical events from the female point of view, particularly that of first century women. For all the progress we've made toward a more egalitarian relationship between the sexes, it is obvious that even in the most enlightened parts of the world, we have a long way to go. First and foremost, Jesus approached these women as human beings, created in G-D's image, and a delight to Him because of that. He also held the men who accused accountable for their actions, something pretty much unheard of in the first century CE. I think what stands out more than anything else is Jesus' love and his justice and mercy. Justice without mercy is brutality. Mercy without justice cannot exist. I felt I became closer to Jesus through these five accounts. Thank you to the authors for a wonderful read.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/45412382-patricia-a-sj-berg">View all my reviews</a>

Even if you are not Christian, this is a good read.  I think the one thing we sometimes forget is that, when we encounter Jesus, he offers forgiveness, but he also asks of us accountability for our actions.  We are called to be like him, and that scares most people.  Because it is personal.  It is not a political agenda, it isn't "those people" ruining society - we are called to PERSONAL ACCOUNT for what each of us does.  Jesus is, in fact, one scary dude.

Chickpea and Broccoli Casserole

It has been a while since I posted.  I had gotten out of the habit of cooking at home, sad to say.  Well, I'm back with a vengeance... with Vegan With A Vengeance, that is.  Tonight's new recipe is Chickpea and Broccoli Casserole.  From what I can gather from the ingredients, it not only will taste great hot, but it will also make some great sandwiches.  So, anyway, I'm trying it.

Looks pretty good, I think.  I made the spicy version, adding onion powder, thyme and a  few red pepper flakes.  I think if I make it again, I will puree the chickpeas in my food processor.  I will also chop the broccoli a bit finer, as well.  That way, the consistency will hold moisture a bit better, and the final product will not be quite so dry.  I do like the taste of it, for sure.  I am thinking perhaps adding some water chestnuts, or perhaps a few chopped walnuts?  It is pretty filling, and I think one serving of this is pretty much a complete meal. 

New interests

Life is renewing itself.  I have discovered an interest in Christian theology.  Reading a lot of Biblical commentaries.

I'm also discovering I enjoy photographing my cats.  A couple of them even pose.

Simple vegetable Soup

2 cups vegetable broth

2 cups vegetable juice (tomato based, like v-8)

1 large potato, peeled & diced

2 medium carrots peeled and diced

1 summer squash diced

1 cup frozen green beans

1 cup mixed vegetables. Amounts of vegetable may vary

1/2 onion quartered and sliced

Place all ingredients in soup pot.  Bring to a boil. Cover and  Simmer for about 30 minutes.  Reduce heat further and cook, covered for about 45 minutes.

Mac and cheese - vegan of course

It has been a while since I wrote anything here.  I had surgery on my right knee on December 16th, 2014, and am in recovery.  For a while I didn't do much in the kitchen.  But I'm back, and blogging about my culinary misadventures.
My son Brian came up with a recipe that is easy-peasy, and sates my craving for mac & cheese: 

Make the cashew cheese from the book Isa Does It:  (the original recipe this is found in is here)


White sauce:
1 cup cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours
3/4 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cornstarch

I usually just use my blender to make this.  And instead of water, I use vegetable stock, or vegetable broth.  It makes it a bit tangier, and more cheese-like to me.

Cook the pasta of your choice (I like small shells) according to package directions.  I would use about 2 cups of dry pasta.  Drain.  Then, in a greased casserole dish, mix the pasta with the white sauce until all pasta is coated.  Top with Daiya cheddar flavor shreds, or shredded Teese, whichever you prefer. 

Bake at 350ºF for about 25 minutes.  Take out of the oven, cool a bit, and EAT!

Egyptian Khousari

koushari  A very simple, nutritious meal with macaroni, lentils, rice and coriander-flavored tomato sauce.  When I had it at Nile Market, Fredericksburg it was garnished with crispy fried onions.  I used my new Cuisinart Dutch Oven on top of the stove to make the sauce.  I got the macaroni a bit over done, and I thought I'd like a bit more salt, but besides that, it was good.  This recipe is vegan, though I swore when I had it at Nile Market, it tasted cheesy.  There was no cheese in it, but still.  Maybe it was the olive oil in the tomato sauce.

Frying up tofu

I know I am somewhat slow on the draw.  It takes me a while to figure things out.  Yes, I have had to pee on the electric fence and find out for myself (quite a feat for a female, let me tell you).  Anyhow...

I finally figured out the secret to frying up tofu.  You have to heat up the oil completely before adding the tofu.  And that will make the oil splatter - hot oil, mind you.  But I also checked with the young lady who waits tables at my favorite Chinese restaurant ( China Delight, Fredericksburg, VA) and that is the right way to fry up tofu.  You know, I should have just asked.  I will still go there, because some nights I just don't feel like cooking.  Anyhow...

Whole Foods Market Customer Feedback

Cooking for one? Not if I can help it!

I do not like cooking when it is just me at home. I am glad that, at least during the summer, Brian is here.  Amy tends to go out a lot.  Hopefully she will be home tonight to try the vegan lasagna.  Alison is supposed to come by here for some of that, also.  Amy picked her up, so they are together. 

Lasagna with Roasted Cauliflower Ricotta and Spinach

I am back to cooking more at home and trying new recipes.  This one comes from Appetite for Reduction, a cookbook I definitely want to use more often. I did find I didn't quite have enough of the tofu/cauliflower ricotta so I think next time I'll get a larger cauliflower (if possible) and use more than a pound of tofu.  I used fresh spinach.    I can't wait to try this, but I'm trying to hold off until at least one of my kids is home to join me.  The taste?  Maybe a touch bland.  I would prefer some pepper in the tofu/cauliflower ricotta, but that's just me.  It was light, but satisfying to eat.  Brian said he liked it also.

Vegan Fire and Spice

I made the Thai Tofu and the Spicy Peanut Sauce.  YUM.  This was the second time I made this.  I always add extra vegetables.  And there is enough to take to work tomorrow.

Vegan Mac and Cheez

Well, I had some leftover greens and wanted some ersatz comfort food.  SO... I made Mac & Shews .  Secret ingredient is sauerkraut.  I never thought I would find any use for that strange food item, but this smells delicious baking in the oven, and I invited Chris to come and partake.  Hopefully he will stop by.  Anyhow, give it a try.  I made the greens with the same recipe I used Sunday night, and I know they will be delicious.

The only negative I can think of, is, I need a much larger food processor.  Mine is tiny, and the cashews/broth/sauerkraut BARELY fit in my blender.  I don't think I got the sauce as smooth as I would like it to be.  But it did look creamy when I added it to the roux and stirred everything up.  Here's hoping!

Update:  It was nearly perfect!  I would have liked the sauce to be just a bit creamier, but even with the nutritional yeast, it tasted fabulous!

First tries from Sexy Vegan

I may have mentioned that my son Chris gave me The Sexy Vegan Cookbook for Christmas.  We finally got around to making something from it, well sort of.

Here's the finished product (food porn coming up!)

Chris helped me with the entire dinner from start of the seitan to the finishing touches on the greens.  We used the Simmered Seitan from Isa Does It, the breading recipe Colonel Schmolonel from The Sexy Vegan Cookbook, the Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy from Vegan With A Vengeance, a mashed potato recipe similar to that in The Sexy Vegan Cookbook and the greens recipe from The Sexy Vegan Cookbook.  The food was as delicious as it looks in the picture, perhaps more.  Amy thought I put too much salt in the greens, so I'll back off of that a little next time.  But I do like the touch of putting some red pepper flakes in the greens.  The greens had just a hint of spiciness and were cooked perfectly, not too wilted.  Chris really got into using the mixer to make the mashed potatoes.  They turned out really well. (I didn 't use the amounts in the cookbook, just the basic ingredients; after all, I've made these before.)  The Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy has become a favorite of mine, though I'm always having to leave one or two ingredients out because, well, I forget to get stuff at the store.  Next weekend will herald a MAJOR grocery shopping day.  Just saying.

Chris wants to do some more cooking, and I for one want to encourage him.  I enjoy his company in the kitchen and I have also told him chicks dig a dude who can cook. (Now to get Marcus to do some vegan cooking... he is going to make Nirvana Enchilada Casserole some time soon, I think.  Shucks that would make enough food to feed one person for a week.  Of course, on the day of the Chargers game, we snarfed it all down in no time flat.  But...

I think you could make Fried Seitan out of just about any decent seitan recipe.  But I do want to try the Sexy Vegan seitan recipe some time soon.  Wow.  I am so satisfied by this meal, I decided NOT to bake chocolate chip cookies until another night this week.

White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup

Amy requested soup for dinner last night.  Of course, I acquiesced, and thus made White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup from Vegan With A Vengeance.  It was a little thin, even with the beans and garlic pureed (using my wonderful  immersion blender Marcus gave me for my birthday), so we added frozen mixed vegetables.  I also made a couple of other changes - I only roasted one head of garlic and not two - I thought two was a bit excessive- and I put in a half teaspoon of white vinegar instead of the lemon juice. (I keep forgetting to buy lemon juice.  I'm not sure why.)  Anyhow, I'm not sure I will make it again, but if I do, I will try two heads of garlic for sure, and of course, the lemon juice. It was quite good.

To go with the soup, I made Irish Soda Bread  from Recipes For A Small Planet-well, a recipe for it, with white whole wheat flour, using molasses  instead of honey and soured soy milk instead of yogurt AND applesauce instead of an egg.  It was rather gooey and had to be spread in the pan, but Amy liked it.  I was pleasantly surprised, because Amy is not one for liking bread all that much. All in all, I would say it was a successful supper, and we will have the leftovers for lunch today!

Seitan and Broccoli with Pantry BBQ Sauce

More goodness from  Isa Does It.  Using the Chicky Seitan recipe, I made about two pounds of seitan, all of which I used in the recipe.  The BBQ sauce is as it says, using all items that are pantry staples.  It really was very simple to rustle up, and the flavor of the seitan was really brought out by the steaming.  My son Chris, who has been vegetarian for nearly 10 years, really liked this, his first time trying seitan.  Amy and I liked it too, and I definitely want to make this again.

Vegan Cinnamon Rolls (Bread Machine)

I made these using my breadmaker on the dough setting.

Here is the recipe, altered to make it vegan:

• 1 TBSP ground flax seed + 1 cup water at room temperature (whisk until foamy, then add to bread pan first
• ¼ cup oil (I used vegetable)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 3½ cups flour (I used all purpose)
• 1½ tsp active dry yeast

Place ingredients in bread maker pan in order presented.  Prepare using your bread maker's dough setting.

Prepare the filling:

• 1/3 cup soft Earth Balance spread
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 TBSP cinnamon

Mix together and let set until dough is finished.

Once the dough is finished, roll out with rolling pin until it is flat, kind of like a square pizza.  USing a flat spatula, spread the filling all over the dough as one would pizza sauce on a pizza.  Then, roll the dough up jelly roll style.  Cut the roll into small cylindrical shapes (a kitchen knife will do fine).  Next, place the cinnamon rolls on one or two flat cookie sheets to prepare for baking.

In a warm place (we heated our oven to 170º then turned it off and placed the pans inside) let the buns rise for about 45 minutes.  Once the buns have finished rising, preheat the oven to 350ºF.  Bake the cinnamon buns for 25-30 minutes.

Prepare the icing:

• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 3 TBSP almond milk
• ¼ tsp vanilla

(I doubled the recipe to make more icing)

Once the buns are finished baking, take out of oven, pour icing over them, let cool a bit, then ENJOY!

Update:
Sadly, I think 1TBSP of ground flax seed is way too much.  Also, perhaps one would do better to use bread flour.  And do NOT double the filling.  It melts and ends up really nasty.  I may try this again, but I think I will use applesauce instead of flax seed.  These were positively dreadful.

Isa Pizza, Pizza Sauce and Cashew Cheesy Cream

I got a bit adventurous tonight.  Amy wanted pizza, and I didn't want to order out, so, I got out Vegan With A Vengeance and made the pizza crust and the pizza sauce for Isa Pizza.  The recipes make enough for two pizzas, so I decided to try something.  One pizza I did up with veggies (onion, spinach, and tempeh cubes on both) and Daiya (both cheddar and mozzarella styles.  The other pizza I made the same way, EXCEPT that instead of Daiya, I used the Cheesy Cashew Cream from the Nirvana Enchilada Casserole recipe in Isa Does It.  Both pizzas were good, but I thought the second one was AMAZING.  That cashew cream is just fantastic. AND I have four slices leftover for a lunch some time this week!  It was Amy's idea to put spinach on the pizzas - we sautéed all the veggies in olive oil before putting them on the pizzas to bake.  Needless to say, these pizzas were better than ANYTHING we could have ordered elsewhere. 

Did I mention I am beginning to love cooking at home?

Everyday Pad Thai

I tried the Everyday Pad Thai recipe from Isa Does It, and it is really good!  Amazing - it tastes like restaurant food.  It really does!  It was really delicious!  I will definitely make it again.  One thing - Marcus does not care for tofu, so I could make it with seitan for him.  I left out the cilantro ad the scallions, and added an onion, sliced really thinly.  Also, I browned the tofu in peanut oil like ICM tells you to in Brooklyn Pad Thai in Vegan With A Vengeance.  I think that will be the next Pad Thai recipe I try, the Brooklyn Pad Thai.  I have a LOT of rice noodles left so definitely need to try that.  It appears to be a bit more complex.  And she does say to only cook half of the veggies/sauce/noodles/tofu at a time so the noodles don't become soggy.  I tend to avoid things like that.  But I also have some broccoli left, so ... yeah.

Fire Brigade Stuffing

Fire Brigade Stuffing 

Changes I made:  I didn't use Granny Smith apples, because I didn't have any.  I think I used Macs or some other kind of red apple.  Also, I left out the cranberries, and didn't put in quite as many slivered almonds as called for.  Additionally, I only used whole wheat and pumpernickel bread, no rye.  And, let's see, I didn't make it in a pumpkin, because there were none to be seen at the grocery store.  Bummer.  I should have gone to the produce stand yesterday for that.  But for all those changes, it still looks to be pretty good.  It sure does smell good.

I'm also making vegan mashed potatoes.  I really should make some vegan gravy, because, well, I like it.  I will make the Brussels sprouts at my mom's house.

Update:  The stuffing was horrible.  Of course, it was cold when I finally ate it.  But it was really bad.  I didn't make any Brussels sprouts because Amy had already made squash and carrots.  She didn't get the squash quite done, but the carrots were very good.  I liked how she added yellow peppers and onions to the carrots.  The mashed potatoes were better when I heated them up in the microwave.