I have been so busy with homeschooling that I rarely have time to blog, sadly enough! I have been cooking and got these pics uploaded. Since I am so limited on time these days, I have decided to post my favorite recipe out of this bunch - if you would like a recipe for one of the other dishes, leave me a comment and I will be happy to post!

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Enchiladas


Lemon Asparagus Fettucini

Cranberry Sauce Muffins

Vegan Danish Puff


Vegan Danish Puff (this dish is traditionally full of butter and eggs so I was thrilled when it turned out just as delicious as the original!)
1/2 cup earth balance
1 cup flour
2 T water
1/2 cup earth balance
1 cup water
1 t almond extract
1 cup flour
egg replacement for 3 eggs (I used EnerG)
Agave and walnuts (I am a vegan who uses honey so I used honey but agave would also work)

Heat oven to 350. Cut 1/2 cup earth balance into 1 cup flour. Sprinkle 2 T water over mixture. Form into a ball. Divide ball in half. On ungreased cookie sheet, pat each ball into a strip. Strips should be 3 in apart. Heat 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup water to rolling boil in saucepan. Remove from heat and quickly stir in vanilla and remaining flour. Stir vigorously over low heat until mixture forms a ball (about 1 minute). Remove from heat and beat in egg replacements until smooth and glossy. Spread evenly over the 2 strips on the cookie sheet. Bake for 1 hr or until topping is crisp and brown. Drizzle with agave and chopped walnuts. Cut into pieces and serve.

Cranberry Orange Muffins

A slightly modified version of a Post Punk Kitchen recipe, these were pretty yummy! I didn't have any orange juice so I subbed soy milk for the orange juice. I am sure they are extra fabulous with orange juice! The recipe can be found at http://www.theppk.com/2011/01/orange-cranberry-muffins/. Enjoy!

Broccoli Cheeze Soup

This soup is downright delicious! It's a bit time-consuming because you have to make the cashew cheese but it's well worth it. I made the cheese a few days before. I also only added 8 cups of broth. Next time I would perhaps add only 6-7 because even with 8 cups, the soup is pretty runny. I also only put about 3/4 of the soup in the food processor so there were a few chunks of veggies left in each bowl. Very delish and my fam loved it!

Green Tomato Salsa,..Nacho Cheesy Sauce...Buffalo Tempeh Salad..."Fruit Cake"

I have had a bowl of green tomatoes in my fridge for longer than I care to admit (picked from my plant - the sudden change in weather caused a halt in the ripening of my tomatoes and I didn't want to throw them away). I also had a couple of jalepenos that I needed to use. I found a recipe on a blog I follow called Kansas City Mamas (it's actually a couponing blog!) for a green tomato salsa. I have been wanting to try it and finally got around to making it yesterday - perfect timing for our dinner of burritos. I failed to take a pic of the burritos but managed a so-so pic of the salsa. It was very delicious. I totally modified the recipe so it only vaguely resembles the original!


Green Tomato Salsa
10 small green tomatoes
2 jalepenos, stems removed (for spicier salsa, leave the seeds intact; for milder salsa, take the seeds out)
1/2 t salt
1 T dried minced onions
1 t garlic powder
2/3 cup fresh cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
Combine all ingredients in blender or food processor and process until well minced - don't puree it but blend it enough to ensure mixture is well chopped. Store in an airtight container in the fridge or freeze for a later use.

Once again found a delicious-looking recipe in The Happy Herbivore - love that book!! This nacho cheese sauce turned out really good and went perfectly with our burritos as well.

Nacho Cheese Sauce (adapted from the Happy Herbivore)
1 cup soy milk
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
3T rolled oats
½ t each onion powder and cumin
¼ cup mild salsa or taco sauce
2t yellow miso
2t cornstarch
1t lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and whiz until smooth. Transfer to saucepan and cook until thick. Add lemon juice.


I have been wanting to try this recipe for ages too! Buffalo Tempeh Salad - very yummy indeed! Check out the recipe at littlehouseofveggies.blogspot.com.

My father-in-law just had a birthday but he doesn't eat gluten or sugar so coming up with a special dessert is next to impossible. Therefore, I decided to make him a "fruit cake"...literally. I layered pineapple, clementines, pears, apples and grapes and topped the creation with a candle. Pretty cute if I do say so myself :-)

Creamy Veggies and Dumplings

Growing up, one of my very favorite meals was Chicken and Dumplings - my mom makes the most amazing Chicken and Dumplings. It was a treat, not something she made very often. It was full of delicious veggies, chicken and fluffy dumplings. Wow! Of course it was not vegan or anywhere close to it but yesterday I decided it was time I figured out a vegan version. A challenging feat I know! The good part is that the soup itself with the veggies and dumplings were always my favorite part - the chicken was good but not necessarily the heart of the meal for me. So, I didn't even attempt to come up with a substitute for the chicken. I stuck to the delicious spice blend, yummy veggies and delicate dumplings. The original recipe also has sour cream in it, lending a creaminess to the dish. However, when the dumplings are placed on top of the soup to cook, they impart an involuntary creaminess to the soup - the milk and flour in the dumplings seep into the soup and create an amazingly creamy consistency and flavor. I was thrilled with the results and it tasted very much like the original...sans the chicken!

Creamy Veggies and Dumplings
5 cups water
4 t faux chicken boullion (I like Better Than Boullion brand)
2 t salt (I know it sounds like a lot but it's perfect in taste)
1 bay leaf
3 whole cloves
1 large onion, chopped
5 carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
2 cups quartered button mushrooms
2 cloves minced garlic
1 T dried parsley or 1/4 cup fresh chopped
1/4 t dried marjoram
Combine all soup ingredients and bring to a boil in a large saucepan. Meanwhile, mix together the dumplings. Recipe below.

Dumplings:
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 t salt
1 T dried parsley
2 t baking powder
3/4 cup soy milk
3 T vegan butter
Mix flour, salt, parsley, baking powder. Cut in butter. Add milk and stir until mixed and sticky. Drop large spoonfuls of dough on top of soup. Cook for 10 miinutes. cover and cook additional 10 min. Serve.

Delicious Vegan Meatloaf!

I have been thoroughly enjoying the Happy Herbivore cookbook from the library - what a fabulous book! Unfortunately, it was due and I couldn't renew so I had to take it back yesterday. Oh well, it's definitely going on my Christmas list! I have made several meatloafs on our veganizing journey and a couple have turned out pretty good, a couple only mediocre and a couple downright dreadful! I was a little apprehensive to try this one but it looked so good I just had to give it a go. So glad I did. Probably the best one yet! It was delicious. It was also my first try at using Lightlife Gimme Lean. Love that stuff!

Cajun Meatloaf (adapted from Happy Herbivore)
1small onion, minced
3 minced garlic cloves
1 14 oz package gimme lean beef
3T steak sauce
2T mustard
1T vegan Worcestershire
1T Cajun seasoning
¼ cup water or hot sauce or combo
1 cup breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 350. Grease loaf pan. Place onion, celery and garlic in food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Transfer to mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Transfer to loaf pan and pat down. Use foil to make a tent over loaf pan. Bake for 1 hr and then uncover and bake additional 10-30 min until browned and firm. Cool 10-20 min.

Hearty Oatmeal Bread

I usually make the and recipe for wheat bread to use for toast and sandwiches but this time I decided to try a new bread recipe. It turned out very yummy - a hint of sweetness, nice outer crust with a tasty soft center. We had it as toast this morning and it was delish.

Oat Bread (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens)
4 1/4 cups flour
2 cups quick cooking oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 3/4 cups water
1 package instant dry yeast
2 T canola oil
1 T vegan butter


Combine 2 cups of flour with yeast. Set aside. Heat oil, butter, sugar, and water. Cook on low until sugar dissolves. Add to flour/yeast mixture. Use dough hook on a mixer to begin mixing flour mixture. Gradually add oats and 2 more cups of flour. If mixture is too sticky, add additional 1/4 cup of flour. Mix for about 5 min. Cover and let rise 1 hour. Divided dough in half and place in 2 greased 9in loaf pans. Cover and let rise additional 1 hour. Bake at 350 for 30-40 min or until golden brown.

Vegan Javenese Chick-Un

Javenese Chicken was a delicious meal my mom made when I was growing up. It began as a very easy meal - basically cooked chicken tossed in a creamy sauce made of cream of celery soup and cream of chicken soup and a few added ingredients. This concoction was served over a bed of rice and topped with pineapple, coconut, nuts, raisins, tomatoes, cheese, and crunchy chow mein noodles. The recipe evolved over the years to a slightly healthier version of homemade cream soups (instead of canned) and the chow mein noodles were nixed due to their hydrogenated oils. Here we are, many years later and in need for a vegan revision of the recipe. Thankfully the outcome was pure success - the vegan counterpart was incredible! Quite a simple dish and abounding with flavor.

Vegan Javanese Chick-Un
1 package Gardein Scallopini, cut into small cubes
1 T canola oil
1/2 cup vegan butter
1/2 cup flour
1 1/4 cups unsweetened soy milk
1 1/4 cups faux chicken broth
2 t cracked black pepper
2 t curry powder
Rice

Heat oil in pan and add Gardein. Cook until browned. Set aside. Heat butter in a saucepan. When melted, whisk in flour. Slowly whisk mixture while adding the soy milk. Keep stirring, making sure no lumps form. Add broth and continue to whisk until thick and bubbly. Add pepper and curry powder. Spoon sauce over hot rice, top with a spoonful of Gardein. Top with following toppings.

Toppings:
Cut pineapple
Raisins
Chopped nuts
Fresh diced tomatoes
Crispy wontons
Shredded coconut

Terriyaki Tofu and Hearty Oatmeal Bowls

I made a delicious Terriyaki Tofu the other night. It was super easy and very flavorful served over a bed of sticky rice. I simply drained, pressed and sliced one block of extra firm tofu into about 16 pieces (I made them fairly small so they would bake nicely and create that chewy texture faster). I baked the tofu slices on a cookie sheet coated with cooking spray for about 20 min, flipping once - at 400 degrees. When the tofu was browned, I removed it from the oven and tossed it with terriyaki sauce. Perfect consistency and delicious flavor! I used this homemade terriyaki sauce recipe from the Whole Foods website (revised a tad).

Terriyaki Sauce

1/4 cup low-sodium tamari
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1 T cornstarch mixed with 1 T water
Mix all ingredients in a saucepan except cornstarch/water mixture. Heat until bubbly. Combine cornstarch and water until past forms. Slowly add to saucepan and stir constantly until thickened.

The boys and I have been fighting colds recently and for breakfast the other day, I was having a hard time thinking of anything yummy to make that would feel good on scratchy throats. I also wanted to make something with as little added sugar as possible since we were under the weather. I decided to make oatmeal without the brown sugar. Instead, I topped our bowls with a bit of vegan butter, a splash of almond milk, a handful of raisins a a couple of Earths Best Graham Cracker sticks. Though the graham sticks have some sugar in them, the amount is minimal with how many I put in each bowl and the sugar in the raisins is natural sugar rather than refined table sugar. The boys loved the oatmeal. This was a treat my mom and grandma used to make when we were kids - on special occasions. Worked perfectly!

Thai Lettuce Wraps

With a couple adaptations, this recipe was a winner! The picture was taken very quickly and consequently didn't turn out so great. Hopefully the general idea is presented!

Thai Lettuce Wraps (adapted from Vegetarian Times)
Sauce
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup sugar
2 T soy sauce
1 T rice vinegar
1/2 t brown sugar
Blend ingredients and set aside.

Filling
2 cups pressed, drained, crumbled tofu (I actually use Central Soy Hot and Zesty and I had also frozen it so it crumbled beautifully)
2 cups peeled carrots cut into matchsticks
1 T oil
2 T minced fresh ginger
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup lime juice
1 t minced dried onions
1 t soy sauce
1 T rice vinegar
2 t sugar
1 t chili sauce (such as sriracha)
1/4 t brown sugar

Heat oil in skillet. Add tofu, ginger, garlic and carrots. Cook until tofu starts to brown and carrots are crisp tender. Add remaining ingredients and cook until liquid has mostly evaporated - about 5 minutes. Serve filling in large lettuce leaves, drizzled with above sauce.