Scones!

Here is a scone from 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes that I made tonight, because we went to tea today ( a family tradition) and of course, the scones weren't vegan, so I made some of my own!

But here is my wrap I had today. It was pretty good, and obnoxiously large. :)

We got this Peach Vanilla tea, it was soooo good. Definitely one of my favorites.

I would post pictures of the other stuff, but it was all meaty, and you guys don’t want to look at that.

 

 

 

Here is another scone to wrap it up.

Cheese Grits

First of all, Festive Christmas Fruit and I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! Somehow I managed to eat all of Christmas dinner without taking a single picture. Sorry.

However, I must say, Vegan Cheese Grits rock. My grandpa used Diaya (how do you pronounce this by the way?) and Earth Balance and it was fantastic! If you ever have the urge to make cheese grits, do it.

Here’s the recipe

http://www.quakeroats.com/cooking-and-recipes/content/recipes/recipe-detail.aspx?recipeId=919

Adapted from this one (its on the back of those grits)

Cheese Grits

2 cups water

1/2 cup quick grits

4 oz (or one half package) Diaya

Dash of Chili Powder

Salt to taste

To Make:

Bring the water to a boil and slowly stir in the grits. Return to a boil then reduce heat to medium low and cook 4-5 minutes or until thickened up. Add diaya and stir while it melts (it does, I promise!) (about 2-3 minutes) then add salt and chili powder. Stir.

Just some back story on Grits.

They are made by grinding dried corn kernels and are pretty much the same as italian polenta. Yellow grits are from the whole kernel and white grits are from kernels that have been treated with baking soda to remove the hull.

It is Georgia’s official prepared food.

 

Anyway, I hope you make some cheese grits and realize how good they are!

Misc. and JENNY Bars!

Here’s some stuff my mom made the other night, some soup and a rice salad? It was really good whatever it was.

 

 

Also, here is the vegan Biscuits and Gravy I got on finals week that I said I would post. Just had to get all those miscellaneous pictures out of the way.

But now for what this post is really about. JENNY Bars, named after the person I am giving them to in a style of a certain date filled bar.

 

I finally came up the recipe, that could still use some fine tuning, but is pretty dang good.

Here is what I’ve got.

the regular flavor? (help me come up with a name for this one)

1 cup whole dates

1 cup dried cherries

2 tbsp water

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2 cup whole almonds

To Make: (This is the important part)

 

1. Using a food processor, chop the almonds until fine, but not a powder. Remove from processor.

 

2.  Chop cherries in the processor until small, almost a mush, remove.

3. If you have really large dates, chop into pieces. If not, throw them in the processor with the water and lemon juice and mash until there are few chunks left.

4. Put all ingredients into a separate bowl and mix until thoroughly combined (what I found is that you cant do this is the food processor because it just turns into a big ball and spins around)

5. Spread evenly in the bottom of a pan/container. I used a glass Tupperware type thing.

Its probably about 9x5 inches? Ill get an exact measurement for you on that.

6. Freeze for about an hour. Remove from freezer and cut into bars, then use a spatula to remove.

I’ll get a lemon flavor up tomorrow. Tell me what you think!

VeganDad's Thai Chickpea Curry with Thai Basil

http://vegandad.blogspot.com/2010/08/thai-chickpea-curry-with-thai-basil.html

I tried out this recpie tonight and it was FANTASTIC. yeah, it deserved all caps.

INGREDIENTS
- 1 19 oz can chick peas, rinsed and drained
- 1 14 oz can coconut milk
- red curry paste to taste
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 cup vegetable stock (more if needed)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 cups frozen mixed veggies (I used an Asian mix of carrots, beans, mini corn, edamame and snow peas)
- 1 cup Thai basil leaves
- salt and white pepper to taste
- cooked jasmine rice
METHOD
1. Pulse chickpeas in a food processor until they resemble very rough bread crumbs. Set aside.
2. Separate coconut cream from the watery part. Bring to bubbling in a large pot over medium high heat, then add pulsed chickpeas. Cook for 2 mins, stirring, then add curry paste and ginger, blending well.
3. Add the rest of the coconut milk and the stock and bring to bubbling. Add sugar, soy, and veggies and bring to bubbling again. Reduce heat and simmer until veggies are cooked. Add more stock if too thick. Season to taste.
4. Add basil and mix well. Let basil wilt a bit, but do not overcook. Serve over rice. I put the rice in a ring and pressed a depression in the centre so it could hold the sauce.

 

 

It didn’t take excessively long, and you made it while the rice cooks so it all came out at the same time! I used quite a bit of Thai Curry Paste, and the only thing I would change is to reduce the sugar to maybe a quarter cup.  Also, I made 2 cups of rice (dry rice) and that turned out about right for the amount of curry it made.

I (don’t) love High School finals week!

So, its finals week, which is why I haven’t posted in a while. I’m sorry :(

But to make up for it, my Dad made me finals breakfast, on Wensday he made Oatmeal and Cinnamon Toast, nothing to see there, yesterday was the banana walnut wafffles  (walnut waffles? walnutnutnut wafwafwafwafles { that was song}) from Veganomicon. They were pretty dang good. I would recommend them.

Then, up tomorrow is Vegan Biscuits and Gravy, oh yeah.

Thankfully I have all this wonderful healthful vegan sustenance to nourish me because I have somehow come down with a virus that had made me lose my voice( except for the occasional whisper) and it really sucks because my band is playing a show on saturday, and I really want to sing backup vocals, because I would be way cool, but no…freaking virus.

But anyway, check the next post for Thai Curry from VeganDad

Apple Cinnamon Bread!

Here is what I’m making at this exact moment. Check it out its my new recipe.

Apple Cinnamon Bread

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp baking soda

1+1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 c. dried apples

1/4 c. oil

1/4 c applesauce

1/2 c milk

1/2 –3/4 cup sugar (personal preference)

- I actually did 1/4 c. each agave nectar, brown sugar, and white sugar. The 3/4 cup made it pretty sweet, so 1/2 would work just fine.

Brown sugar and cinnamon mixture to top

To Make:

Preheat over to 350F

Combine Dry Ingredients( Flour, soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, sugar and salt) in a large bowl and mix. Combine apples, oil, applesauce, and milk in a separate bowl and mix. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix. Pour 1/2 of the batter into a bread pan, cover with your desired amount of brown sugar and cinnamon mixture, than pour on the rest of the batter. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until a knife or toothpick inserted into the bread comes out clean.

Chocolate Chip Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

I took these to school today for a class, and as usual, the people who haven’t had my cookies before go, “They’re vegan? *uncertain face*” While the people who have had them before go strait for them and eat not less than 2. :)

Here is a variation on a recipe I use all the time

Chocolate Chip Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

2 c. flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup raw sugar

1/2 c. canola oil

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 c. water

vegan chocolate chips

1 cup oats

1/2 cup or to taste dried cherries’

To make:

Preheat oven to 350

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl

In another bowl mix sugar and oil. Add vanilla. Add water. Mix. Make a well in the dry ingredients, and then pour the wet into it. Mix but do not over work the dough. Add the oatmeal and mix. Then add the cherries and chocolate chips. Bake for 10-14 minutes or until they are cooked but still soft. They will harden A LOT while they cool. Unless you want really crispy cookies, don’t leave them in for too long.

Roasted Butternut Squash

Ok, so that was kind of a fail the last week of MoFo…sorry ‘bout that. School overwhelmed me and then I didn’t cook anything for a while. *ashamed face* But this will make up for it!!

 

Did anyone else get Butternut squash along with a whole bunch of unnamable gourds that you don't know what to do with?

Yeah, me too.

To make this I
1. Preheated the over to 375 F

2.Drizzled olive oil, salt and a herb mixture (rosmary, thyme, etc.) over it, to taste.

3. Roasted until tender.

It was quite good. I have to admit.

now, we get down and dirty

So if you scroll down a little bit you will see the original pecan pie I made, but here is my version, which is much better.

Pecan Pie

PIE CRUST

1 c. unbleached flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3-4 tablespoons cold water

1/4 c. + 2 tbsp vegetable shortening

FILLING

2/3 cup dark corn syrup

1/2 c. maple syrup

1/6 c. Earth Balance (go ahead and guesstimate here)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups pecans

1 tbsp golden or brown flax meal (Bob’s Red Mill sells this)

To make:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

1. To make the Pie Crust: Stir the flour and salt together in a bowl. Add shortening in small dollops and ‘cut’ with a pastry cutter or a fork. Which means to press and separate the shortening into the flour. Keep cutting the shortening until all of it had been used and they mixture is flaky. Add water until just moist enough to hold together. Make sure not to add too much water without mixing and then having to add more flour. That’s no good.

2. Flour a cutting board/baking tray and place your dough on the surface with floured hands. Flour your rolling pin and then roll to less then 1/8 in thickness, or enough to fit whatever pie place your using.

3. To flip into pie pan, place pan on top of the dough, then flip the whole board over and unstick the dough. It should fall right into the tray. rearrange the dough so it is evenly spaced all around. To crimp the edges, pinch the edges with your fingers while pressing in to make a peak shape and repeat around the edge.

4. Place pecans into the pie crust and bake for 20 minutes.

5. In a medium saucepan combine Corn Syrup, Maple Syrup, and Butter. Melt and stir. When melted, add vinilla, cinnamon, and salt. Simmer for 5 minutes over medium-low heat and remove from heat. Add flax meal and whisk well. Pour mixture over now baked pecans.

6. Bake at 350 for 30 more minutes. (Make sure to put a baking sheet under the pie, especially at high altitude because their prone to boil over) Remove and allow to cool before cutting.

 

and then my grandma made chocolate cupcakes and I made icing, both from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

and vegan whipped cream! Whoop!

So I hope you’ve enjoyed and had a Happy Thanksgiving! 

Thanksgiving Post-a-thon

Thanksgiving was delicious. We had our Colorado extended family over, and made 5 pies, dressing, cranberry sauce, I roasted a tofurkey, mashed potatoes, homemade bread, chocolate cupcakes, and more. It was good. We had a vegan pecan, round 2, a vegan and non vegan pumpkin, a cherry, and a apple. All the vegan ones were pretty good and the pecan pie turned out much better this time.

Let’s Break it down.

The Tofurkey. It was quite good. I roasted it with some vegetables and ate it with some musroom gravy. Here is the recipe.

Mushroom Gravy

8 oz. mushrooms(Shiitake, Portobello, Brown, or White)

1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup white flour

2 tbsp oil

4 cups vegetable broth

1tbsp soy sauce

1/4 tsp black pepper

salt, to taste

1 pinch sage

Sauté the mushrooms in the 1 1/2 tbsp oil until brown and soft. While sautéing add 2c stock and flour heat over medium heat. Whisk vigorously to avoid the flour clumping. When mixed and boiling, add the other 2 c. broth. Stir until well mixed, then add salt, soy sauce, sage, and pepper. When thickened and clear of lumps, add mushrooms. Stir and serve.

 

Mashed Potatoes. I’ll be posting a follow up post on how to make mashed potatoes soon. Check it out!

Sweet Potatoes. Which I don’t have the recipe for. Sorry!

Corn bread dressing. The BEST THING EVER. Maybe one day I can learn the secrets of this recipe.  

Cranberry Sauce. It was just the recipe on the package. Nothing special.

Cranberry Tangerine Relish. Also very good.

 

Almond butter stuffed celery sticks and homemade bread.

and that is why I went running this morning.

Thanksgiving Day 1

Here’s the Pumpkin Pie I made today.
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/9598
 

and it made to much filling, so I put some in custard cups and baked it.
Homemade bread all wrapped up and waiting for tomorrow.
Sorry it is all plastic wrapped, it won't be tomorrow and I'll put up better pictures!




I also got one of those stuffed Tofurkeys' this year, so you will soon see a review of that. And soy whipped cream, and a better vegan pecan pie. and bread! and cranberry sauce, and apple pie. and stuff. :)
Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Vegan Pecan Pie!

Take 1: Here is the link to the recipe I used.

http://www.tablespoon.com/recipes/vegan-pecan-pie-recipe/1/

but next time…

The cardamon I used was really strong, so I’m reducing that from 1-2 to 1-4 or even1-8. also, I am going to add more flour because I think it will keep it from boiling over in the oven like it did today. (That High Altitude thing again, what a pain). And it needs something else…but I don’t know what..

 

Doesn't that look really good?

I was making this as a test pie for Thanksgiving, because I can’t ruin my first Vegan thanksgiving by having bad food for my non vegan extended family. I just hope the pumpkin pie is delicious.

Do you guys have any good recipes for vegan pecan/pumpkin pie?

Also, is there anything anyone wants me to talk about during the rest of the month?

Bean Burgers and Red Pepper Dip

woah, am I behind on vegan mofo or what? But i’ll catch up, I promise.

Here is what I made on Sunday, all out of Supermarket Vegan

Here are the Burgers

Messy but Delicious

with the Roasted Red Pepper and Artichoke Dip

These made a really good lunch.

Biscuits

My mom makes really good vegan biscuits. I’ve never made them, but they’re pretty dang good.
so here you go..Biscuits.

 

Homemade Lara Bars..my new project

For reasons not to be disclosed until Christmas time, I’m on a quest to make homemade Lara bars. That are better than Lara bars. I’ve been studying their ingredients and here is what I have.

1. Dates- their bars are pretty much based off of dates.
2. Cashews
3. Almonds
4. Whole flavorings like Lemon/Lime Juice, Apples, other Nuts, Fruits, or spices.

So I kind of feel like they blend everything together, and then cut into bar shapes. Do they cook it? I don’t know.

I would like to create a more traditional, healthy, granola bar recipe. Then, mabye I could combine the two and come up with something like a Clif Bar.

Any ideas anyone?

Homemade Pizza and Pumpkin Cookies

We made some homemade pizza today. And that is just the best. Its just good. Its not greasy or unhealthy or unvegan :)
Here is a Pizza Dough Recipe:
1 package active dry yeast
1 c. warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour (or white or wheat)
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in remaining ingredients. Beat quickly. Let rest 5 or so minutes.

Then, roll it out and add sauce (or hummus!) and your favorite toppings:

• Tomatoes, Onions, Potatoes, Pineapple, olives, beans, ARTICHOKE HEARTS, etc etc.

Bake at 350 until brown around the edges (probably 15 or so minutes)


And then, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies from 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes.
(pretty much just add a can of pumpkin to your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe)


Peace, Love, and MoFo