I decided to make up a bundle of Valentines goodies for my boys and had lots of fun doing so! I made dried pineapple in my dehydrator (my hubby's favorite but I have never made it before - we have tried it at Whole Foods but it is soooo expensive!), granola bars, peanut/pretzel/chocolate clusters, fruit and nut trail mix, honey roasted chickpeas, and bagel chip/pretzel snack mix.



I love to make fofars (previous post) and I use Gardein beef tips for the filling. However, Gardein (as much as we love it) is quite pricey at $3.99/package. I had some baked seitan log in the fridge just asking to be used, along with some leftover pie dough from the last time I made fofars. I decided to attempt a new and revised version of the famed fofars. I heated a bit of oil in a skillet and threw in a chopped onion and about 3 cups diced potatoes (I figured adding a good amount of potatoes and onions would expand the mixture quite nicely, eliminating the need for the bulk of the filling to be "meat"). I cooked those until almost done and then threw in about 1 cup diced seitan (I wouldn't recommend boiled for this - it's too spongey. Use a baked seitan).
I generously doused this mixture with freshly cracked pepper and some salt. I then poured this mixture into a pie plate and topped it with my leftover pie dough that I had rolled out. I baked for about 20 min at 400 until the crust was browned and then served it with a mixture of ketchup/A1 like we do with fofars. It was delicious and every bit as good as it's Gardein counterpart, not to mention much cheaper. And by making this into a one-crusted pie, I eliminated the need of rolling out each circle of dough like I do when making the original fofars. Needless to say, this will be made time and time again I suspect!

I made tostadas out of leftover beans I made the other day (modified version of Morgan's beans - see previous post). I simply brushed my corn tortillas with canola oil, sprinkled with a tad of garlic salt and broiled them on each side until crispy. I made a Mexican slaw and guacamole and also chopped up tomatoes. These were fabulous! That pot of beans makes a lot of meals and each time we eat them I can't get over how deliciously flavorful they are! Since I have already posted the recipe for the beans, I will just post the slaw recipe.

Spiced Mexican Slaw
2 1/2 cups shredded cabbage
1/2 cup vegan mayo (I used homemade)
1 t cumin
2 t chili powder
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 t minced dried onion
1 t garlic powder
1/2 t salt

Combine all ingredients and stir well.

This was another of Morgan's recipes (Littlehouseofveggies) which I tweaked a bit. It was quite delicious and the "ranch" was so flavorful. I would modify a few things next time and have typed the recipe as such. I was in a hurry (as frequently happens!) to get dinner on the table for 3 very hungry boys so the picture is terrible and I also didn't fill the wrap with as much as I would have liked. Next time I would mix cabbage with the ranch and serve it that way. It needed something else (recipe called for lettuce, tomato and carrots I think) and I think cabbage would give it a good crunch factor and also add lots of good nutrition. A definite make-again.

Buffalo "Chicken" Wraps (adapted from Littlehouseofveggies)

Vegan Ranch Slaw (what I would do next time)
1/2 cup vegan mayo
1/4 cup soymilk
2 t dried parsley
1 tsp dried dill
1 tsp garlic powder
cracked black pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded cabbage
Combine all ingredients. Set aside

Spicy Buffalo Sauce:
1/2 cup Louisiana Hot Sauce
2 tsp garlic powder
Combine ingredients and set aside.

"Chicken"
2 cups thinly sliced seitan (I used homemade boiled seitan)
1 cup flour
1 t garlic salt
1 t pepper
1/3 cup soy milk
oil for pan frying

Combine flor, garlic salt and pepper in shallow bowl. Pour soy milk into separate shallow bowl. Dredge seitan slices into milk and then flour. Heat oil (just enough to cover bottom of skillet) and pan fry strips until golden on each side. Drain on paper towels.

Assembly:
Toss seitan with buffalo sauce. Take a tortilla or wrap. Layer seitan and ranch slaw on wrap and roll up. Eat with extra hot sauce if desire

These cookie were delightful - very fudgy and moist and chewy. So yummy! Recipe to come...