I'm Baaaaaack!

Hellooo, yes I know it has been FOREVER since I posted anything..  Sorry.

It has just been sooo long since i had anything worth reporting in the food dept.  Since I started this a year ago I have had far more shoot the chef moments than anything else and to be quite honest it gets VERY old.

BUT I return with AWESOME news.  I would say in the last year THIS RECIPE that I totally made up last week is my first ever HUGE success.  The most resentful of the humans to feed is the 13 yr old - Medium Human.  Nuff said right?  Anyway I made this last week for herself and a friend, and she at THIRDS.  She has also asked for it EVERY NIGHT since!

So here is what I have learned.  In Vegan-land if you want to make something AMAZINGLY creamy, you can add pureed RAW cashews.  This is SOOOOOO creamy.  You can make it sweet for a dessert, you can make alfredo, or cheese sauce or dill dip or onion dip.  This is my newest love and I may need to start farming cashews!

Ok so here goes Creamy "Cheesey" Pasta and veggies.
Boils some pasta - I like the stuff made from veggies with no flour.
Stir fry some veggies - I use fresh carrots (put them in first) cauliflower, broccoli, onion and frozen peas.  Then after about 5 mins of stirring add a couple of spoons of the pasta water, cover and simmer/steam.
Meanwhile in a blender across town...
1 cup almond milk
1/4 cup of raw cashews - soaked in water for anything from 20 min to 12 hrs
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp lemon juice
2/3 cup nutritional yeast
blend the heck out of it it
Drain the pasta, add to the veggies and stir
Pour the sauce over, stir and let it thicken a little - Did I mention you will need a BIIIIIG frying pan or WOK for this?

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 139 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  179 Calories from Fat  91

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  10.1g 16%

Saturated Fat  6.9g 34%

Trans Fat  0.0g

Cholesterol  0mg 0%

Sodium  334mg 14%

Total Carbohydrates  16.7g 6%

Dietary Fiber  6.9g 27%

Sugars  4.2g

Protein  9.8g

Vitamin A 75% • Vitamin C 69% Calcium 5% • Iron 22%

Nutrition Grade A

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

JUST LOOK AT ALL THAT NUTRITION!!!  10g protein!   Vit A, C Calcium Iron 7g fiber!!!!  Serving size is about 2.5 - 3 cups of the finished product!

Salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!


Sadly the small human is less than thrilled.  Sigh,

                         

WOOOO HOOOOOO!!!  

Another 2 thumbs up!!  FROM BOTH CRITICS!!!

Vegan pizza, edamame and cauliflower!!!  Ok so the critics didnt get any cauliflower, but hey I will take it as a success!!!

The crust was made from

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 package active dry yeast or instant yeast
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 tbso vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp honey or sugar

I put the honey in with the hot water and yeast first, to get the yeast started, then just added everything else, let it rise for about 30 mins, and them squished ( technical term) it into a pizza crust.  Topped with vegan tomato sauce ( Wegmans) and Daiya mozzarella.

YUMMY!!!!

Nutritional info - this includes the cup of cauliflower AND the 1/2 cup of Edamame.  :)

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 361 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  492 Calories from Fat  116

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  12.9g 20%

Saturated Fat  1.8g 9%

Cholesterol  0mg 0%

Sodium  491mg 20%

Total Carbohydrates  72.1g 24%

Dietary Fiber  9.9g 40%

Sugars  6.9g

Protein  25.7g

Vitamin A 5% • Vitamin C 139% Calcium 29% • Iron 46%

Nutrition Grade A

Not a single whine or complaint.  I will have to make this a once a week event!

 

I am on a roll now!

Medium Human is dining away for a few days, so it was just Small Human and I this evening.

I got a thumbs in the middle for this effort - and it was SUPER easy and fast.  The critic was not a fan of her peas having cheese sauce on them.  Apparently, she prefers her peas naked.  ( blush)

CheeZy Potato Casserole

6 small-medium red potatoes, sliced in 1/2" rounds
1/2-1 yellow onion, sliced
vegan buttery spread, to taste (I use Earth Balance)
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 cups unsweetened nondairy milk or water

1 cup peas

Slice everything thinly.  ( I used a mandolin slicer)  layer spuds, onions peas, salt pepper and a few thin slices of butter substitute.  With a dash of Salt and Pepper.  Stir nutritional yeast in "milk".  Pour a little over the layer.  Repeat until all your stuff is used up.

Bake at 450 for about 45 mins.  You want boiling and crisp, not brunt and sticky - so keep an eye on it!!

This was my portion on the breakdown.  I ate about 1/3 of the whole thing.  LOOOK at that protein!!!!  :)

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 556 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  488 Calories from Fat  51

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  5.7g 9%

Saturated Fat  0.8g 4%

Trans Fat  0.0g

Cholesterol  0mg 0%

Sodium  1448mg 60%

Total Carbohydrates  83.4g 28%

Dietary Fiber  21.3g 85%

Sugars  14.1g

Protein  35.0g

Vitamin A 13% • Vitamin C 94% Calcium 12% • Iron 73%

Nutrition Grade A

I must have found my stride.....

because here we are on day 141 and I MADE UP DINNER!!  LOL  As in didn't follow a recipe, didnt assemble something from the minds of others I just WINGED it.  I used to do this all the time BV ( before vegan!)  but today, I knew I wanted stirfry and noodles and a sauce.  So I invented one!!!

AAAAAAAANNNNND there's more.  These words came from the mouth of the MEDIUM human ( much harder to please)

"CAN I HAVE SECONDS"????



I present....Teryaki Stir fry with Mai Fun Noodles

Onions, carrots, broccoli, peas ( any other veggie you want)  Stir fried in 1 tbsp coconut oil.

boil Mai fun ( rice noodels) in 1 cup veggie broth.

Teraki sauce
1 cup water
1/8 cup soy sauce or Braggs
2 tbsp agave or honey
1/2 tsp fresh ginger
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp corn starch
Blend everything.

When the veggies are cooked add in the mai fun and remaining broth.  Pour over sauce, heat til it thickens and serve!!

      

Thank you! Thank you!  Thank you very much!  :)

WOO HOOOO another success!

I got a thumbs up from the 13 yr old critic!!!  Aka the TOUGHEST critic!!!!   I got a thumbs in the middle from Small Human.

Soo what was this culinary masterpiece I hear you all ask!?!?

FRENCH ONION SOUP!!!

My friend Stephanie gave me this recipe and it is EASY and YUMMY.

Crock pot 4 sliced Vidalia onions and 1/4 cup olive oil for 8 hours
Add 5.5 cups veggie broth, salt and pepper to taste, cook a bit longer

Serve with toasted bread and melted cheese over the bread.  You just plop that on top before you serve!  VERY easy, good for a busy night.



The picture doesnt exactly do it justice - it was REALLY good!!!

Sure hits that are disasters.......

oh dear dear dear, as we Brits say, when things aren't going according to plan.  Oh DEAR DEAR DEAR!

I thought tonight was going to be a sure hit.  Twice Baked potatoes.  Just swapped out the ingredients for vegan stuff.  Small Human LOVES vegan cheese.  LOOOOOOVES it.  Thought FOR SURE she would be quite happy with this.

Twice Baked Spuds a la me!

Nuke spuds in wet paper towels for 10 mins
1 serving Daiya Cheddar ( grated)
Couple of spoons of Vegan Sour Cream
Salt pepper

So you scoop out the spud, mix the potato from inside with all other ingredients, put them back in the skins, grill til the top is slightly brown.

Medium human ( not a huge fan of vegan cheese, but does like sour cream) ate the lot with her side of UK Heinz Baked Beans.  She was the one who I thought would be less thrilled.  Small human ate only her beans.



I really thought this would be a HUGE success.  Oh well.  Back to the drawing board.    The quest continues.

Well it was a thumbs in the middle from the critics......

....and I almost gagged on it!!!!

I took a short cut I generally don't.  I bought Natures Promise veggie burgers a little while ago for a crazy night when I had no time to cook.  So I served them up with some peas on cute little rounds of whole wheat bread.  I got a thumbs in the middle and they both ate the lot.  Seems like a total success right?!?!  Sadly no, I just had mine with a little ketchup on it.  While I could eat it, I did not enjoy it one bit.  BARF, gag, they were TERRIBLE.



So this led me to thinking that either A.  they tasted better with the bread.  Or B. I am wearing my kids down and their expectations of liking food are dwindling!!!  LOL