Mushroom Bacon Experiment

Hey there! Long time no see, I know. I tend to go missing for long periods of time because I wind up not getting good pictures, or sometimes I feel like my food isn't all that spectacular. Anyway, a quick post today.

I've done tofu bacon quite a lot in the last few years, but I try not to eat soy constantly. So I figured I'd try making some fakin' bacon with portabello mushrooms this time around.  I did some internet lurking and found that most people trying this would marinate the mushrooms and then cook. They also said the mushrooms shouldn't marinate for too long because it would be "too much". I got to thinking about how to approach this, and remembered that mushrooms are something like 90% water and figured I'd try a trick I learned from Alton Brown in an old eggplant episode of Good Eats. He said since eggplants are mostly water they tend to get waterlogged when they cook instead of browning (summer squash does this to me a lot in casseroles, too).  His solution was to place the sliced eggplant on a rack over a pan and lightly salt them to draw the water out, so this is exactly what I tried with the mushrooms. I figured this is much like pressing tofu to get all the water out so it cooks properly.  (Note: I removed the stems and gills, but you don't have to)

I waited about an hour and a half, until they were puckered. Then I tossed with 1½ tbsp. nutritional yeast, 1 tbsp. Bragg's liquid aminos, and 2 tbsp. liquid smoke.  

I let them marinate for 20 minutes, and then popped them onto a sheet pan lined with a Silpat (one of my favorite Christmas presents this year! And, I do apologize for the poor lighting.)

Baked it at 350°F for half an hour, flipped them, and upped it to 400°F for another half hour. My oven is old and horribly off temperature, so you may be able to do this at 350° for half an hour flipping after 15 minutes.

Here it is on a vegan blt!

If you are looking for a good vegan mayo (other than Vegenaise which is pretty amazing, but can get pricey) check out Hampton Creek's Just Mayo. It's actually amazing and tastes like Hellman's and I was able to find the large tub at ShopRite, so look for it next time you're out!

Portabello Bacon
Ingredients

• 4 large portabello mushroom caps, stems and gills removed, sliced
• 2 tbsp. liquid smoke
• 1 tbsp. soy sauce or Bragg's Liquid Aminos
• 1½ tbsp. nutritional yeast

Method

Begin by cleaning and slicing the mushrooms. Put the sliced mushrooms in a colander and put the colander in a large bowl. Lightly salt the slices to try and draw the water out. Let sit for an hour or an hour and a half, until they are quite puckered or shriveled looking. In a large bowl, combine  the liquid smoke, Aminos/soy sauce, and nutritional yeast and then toss the mushroom slices so it is all evenly coated. Allow to marinate for 20 minutes to a half hour, then lay slices on a parchment or Silpat-lined pan and bake at 350°F, for a half hour, flipping half way through.

Cilantro Limeade

I had a mean hankering for a cherry limeade this afternoon after seeing half a lime staring at me, so I  came up with this. I don't have a juicer, just an antique blender so I can't remark on how this would taste if you did this with a juicer, but let me know if you try it that way! 
I always love Sonic's limeades, but I'm pretty sure they have soda and all kinds of awful stuff in them. I figured if I had that lime flavor hit the back of my mouth with something crisp, that might satisfy my craving. Cilantro + lime is just sooooooo...perfect. So I did that and I suspect if I had some seltzer to pour in at the end, this would have been superb!*

*Edit: I added a shot of seltzer after I wrote that, and it is indeed, superb! Try it! 

Cilantro Limeade

• 1 cup, or 1 handful baby spinach leaves
• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 1 cup water
• ⅔ oz. packaged* cilantro
• ½ lime, skin and pith removed
• optional: seltzer after blending

Put all ingredients except seltzer into a blender and blend until liquefied. Pour into a glass with ice, and top off with seltzer, if desired.

*It is sometimes hard for me to find bunched cilantro, and I wind up buying it in a plastic box. This is the typical size I find, but realistically it's about half a standard bunch- or a good handful.

Vegan Taco Meat

Being that yesterday was "Taco Tuesday" and all, I figured I should share with you how I made mine last night!

I made Pico de Gallo, guacamole, and my own taco filling, or "meat".

I had planned to make tacos anyway, but look at these tomatoes:

Tomatoes are pretty much my favorite food.

For a small batch of Pico de Gallo:

• 4 medium-small tomatoes
• ½ medium onion (preferably red or a shallot)
• ⅔ oz. cilantro leaves*
• zest of half a lime
• juice of one lime
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• salt & pepper, to taste

*if you can't find bunched cilantro, this is typically the size you would find boxed.

Chop tomatoes, onion, and cilantro leaves. Toss in a bowl with lime zest, lime juice, olive oil, salt & pepper. Allow to marinate at least 10 minutes.

For the Guacamole:

• 3 ripe avocados
• ¼ cup Pico de Gallo
• juice of one lime

Split the avocados, remove pits and scoop out the insides. Mash in a bowl with a fork or potato masher, add the Pico, lime juice, and optionally some salt & pepper, then mix together and allow to marinate for 10 minutes as well.

Now, for the star of the show! The taco meat!

I've fiddled with a number of taco meat recipes, involving lentils, nuts, mushrooms, pintos, roasted chickpeas, and even mock meats and TVP. I prefer to use whole foods rather than mock meats primarily because they are processed foods. Seitan I prefer to use on its own, or as sausages especially because I haven't found it anywhere and where I have it's expensive so I make it myself. That being said, tacos would turn into an afternoon rather than a half hour or so of simple, easy cooking when we have plans for the evening or just want to go outside and play!

Vegan Taco Meat

• 1 cup dry lentils (any variety, I used green)
• 10 "Baby Bella" mushroom caps (medium sized)
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• ¼ cup BBQ sauce
• 2 small bay leaves
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• pinch red pepper flakes
• salt & pepper, to taste
• olive oil, or more broth, for the pan
• *optional: taco seasoning of choice

To prepare the lentils, rinse well and place in a pot with bay leaves, red pepper flakes, and vegetable broth. Cover loosely, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, lower to medium-low, and allow to simmer about a half hour, until most of the liquid is absorbed. Turn off the heat, and cover with a lid and allow to sit for another half hour or so (I usually do this an hour or two before I need them so they are cooked, but not mushy). Remove bay leaves.

Chop the mushrooms into a small dice, and add to a warmed (preferably cast iron)skillet with the oil/broth on medium heat. Allow to saute until tender. Add the cooked lentils, chili powder, salt & pepper, and saute about five more minutes, until things are fragrant. Add BBQ sauce, and turn heat off. Stir until evenly coated and everything is hot, serve!

Marinated Portabello Gyros With Cashew Tzatziki

These gyros are something I came up with on the fly, but not really on the fly, know what I mean? 

We wind up going to our favorite diner every few weekends, and they have a really great menu with lots of options, and are really happy to make substitutions which is why I like them so much. I usually wind up ordering the gyro platter and they're happy to hold the feta and use portabellos instead of meat! I know they marinate them in balsamic vinegar, so I was trying to recreate that and try my hand at vegan tzatziki, which believe it or not was so tasty, I was actually impressed with myself!

Let's start with the tzatziki sauce because that takes a little forethought and time/prep

Cashew Tzatziki Sauce (adapted from Addicted to Veggies' recipe)

• 1 3/4 cup raw whole cashews
• 1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. unfiltered apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/4 cup water
• juice of 1-2 lemons
• 1/2 tsp. dill
• 1/2 tsp. tarragon
• 1/2 cucumber
• pepper, to taste-optional

Cover the cashews with water and soak overnight (6-8 hours; I do this in a quart mason jar)

After soaking, add cashews, vinegar and salt to a food processor and whizz until it forms a thick, oily paste. Scrape this paste down the sides and off the bottom. Measure out 1&1/4 cup water, start whizzing again and add 1/4 cup of water at a time, letting it run 30 seconds to a minute between each addition of water. Taste test to see if this is how you would like it. For me, I wanted a tangy, yogurt-y, sour creamy sauce, so I wound up adding the juice of half a lemon and pureeing until I got the flavor I wanted, so I wound up adding the juice of 1&1/2 lemons, total.

Once you have finished pureeing, put into a container and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. It will thicken as it chills.

To make this into Tzaziki, chop up half a cucumber, and combine with about half the batch of sour cream, dill, and tarragon. Mix, and serve with gyros, or on salad.

Balsamic Marinated Portabellos (adapted fromVegan American Princess's recipe)

• 4 large portabello caps
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 small white or yellow onion, or 1 shallot
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp. minced ginger
• 1/2 tsp. dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp. dried tarragon
• salt & pepper, to taste

Measure out oil and vinegar in a 2-cup measure. 

Mince onion/shallot, garlic, and ginger, and add to the oil and vinegar. Add herbs, salt and pepper, and mix together with a fork to emulsify it as much as you can. I let that sit for a minute or two while I prepped the mushrooms, so everything would meld together.

Take out the stems of the mushrooms, and scrape out the gills. Slice into strips and throw into a bowl for marinating(just as a quick tip: you can keep the stems and gills in the freezer to make mushroom broth when you need it). 

Pour the marinade over the mushrooms and let stand for about a half hour, or honestly however long you want. Shorter/longer times won't really make a difference, this is just how long I left it while I was chopping up toppings.

Cook mushrooms in a skillet at medium-low heat, covered, with all the marinade for about 20 minutes or so- you want these to be soft but not mushy, and have some body, to take the place of what would normally be a strip of steak or shawarma or whatever.

Throw on a pita with lettuce, and top with green onion, red onion, cucumber, tomato, some tzatziki, or whatever other veggies your heart desires!

Kicking A Cold

Today I only have a small "recipe", if you want to call it that. I wanted to share a sandwich I made which turned out surprisingly well.

But first, I want to write about how I'm trying to kick my cold! Yesterday I woke up after an awful night's sleep with the dreaded pre-cold, knowing that the full blown thing was only 24 hours away if I was lucky. I think it was mostly due to the sudden temperature change from the 50s, to the 20s. We had the heat too high most of Sunday (since it was warmer and we burn wood for heat so the temperature is hard to control) and let it die down overnight. So we went to bed sweating, and woke up freezing and I feel this is most of why I woke up feeling like a cold was looming.

So I figured I'd try to combat it by drinking plenty of water, eating oranges and making some garlic ginger soup I found on plant-based on a budget for lunch. It helped, and I started to feel better yesterday, so I made some PPK chickpea cutlets with broccoli twice baked potatoes for dinner. Thinking back, I would probably steam the cutlets first and then brown them. I felt it was hard to cook the middle without burning them.

After dinner I started to crash a little and started drinking my green tea.

Today, I woke up much to my dismay feeling a full-on cold.  So I drank my liter of water, 3 cups of green tea and had some soup in my attempt to kick it out in half a day. No such luck, but I was less congested at least, and felt hungry mid-afternoon.

I was excited to see over the weekend that Freshtown started carrying Daiya, which I've heard quite a lot about but wanted to really get used to life without cheese before I tried it. You know, in case it was really awful and all the vegans were lying.

So I quickly heated up the leftover cutlet in a pan, threw some Vegenaise & roasted red pepper on pumpernickel, and "melted" the cheddar on the cutlet, topped with cilantro.

Truthfully, the cheese is ok on its own. It didn't really melt as I had hoped (which you can probably tell from the picture) but when it hits a hot surface it sort of...liquefies I suppose is what I would call it and it does taste better like that, and does give me the satisfaction of hot, melty cheese.

I also made these vegan cashew cheesecakes over the weekend for some friends and holy smokes they were gooooood. I still have leftovers I haven't gotten into because I'm trying to ration them and not eat the remaining 6 in one night!

Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches, For Valentine's Day (Vegan)

So I guess I should begin by saying, happy Valentine's Day! 

Chances are you are feeling one of three things today:

1. You absolutely hate it because you're single, or because you're still pushing the anti-establishment attitude and spouting off about how this is a commercialized holiday created by card companies to make money and you shouldn't need one day a year to profess your undying love to someone. (These go hand in hand)
2. You absolutely love it because you're in a relationship, or just really like pink, red, cupids, roses, hearts...or just because you're a romantic sap.
3. You're somewhere in between thinking it's a bit silly, but secretly loving it and you think it's nice to designate some time to be a little sappy and cheesy.

So which is it?

Me? Well, I used to be #1 through and through. I used to be a pretty angsty (and angry) teenager that was perpetually single when everyone around me had paired up within three weeks of Valentine's, if not longer. I went to school with a lot of people who were in relationships or so it seemed because that's how I remember it. So I used to say stuff like "oh, good for you, buying into the consumerism and the lie that being single is miserable; way to go Hallmark!...No, thanks I'm good over here by myself" Yup. I thought I was pretty witty with my bad puns and "GFYourself" attitude. I also used to call it "VD" thinking I was pretty funny making the analogy to what was happening between 200 of my fellow jailbait classmates by 3:30 after school. Ah, youth. Suffice it to say I was probably one of about 5 people not partaking in the joy of the flesh by graduation and little did I know that by 18 I would be perpetually paired with someone and fall head over heels, making me into a #2 pretty quickly and making myself swallow my former words. 

Now, I'm a 3. I do think it's a little silly, and I do think you should express love for your partner throughout the year. But, after having a child together it is hard to have alone time and you do kind of need to designate time "us" time to recharge and rekindle otherwise you get really into your routine and forget to talk and remember how much you really love each other. The last few years have been a bit stressful for us and being able to have time just to ourselves even if only once a month has been pretty much what we needed to step back, stop worrying, and be together.

So anyway, I guess you guys are probably wanting that ice cream sandwich recipe, huh?

The best way to do this is make the ice cream the night before, and the cookies the next day.

Vegan Maple Ice Cream slightly modified/adapted from THE SIMPLE VEGANISTA's "Butter Maple Pecan Ice Cream"

• 4 large bananas, frozen
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Puree everything in a food processor until smooth, transfer to a container and freeze. I did mine around noon, and it still hadn't set up in the freezer by 3, so I would recommend making this the day before so it's frozen at least 12 hours.

 

Before I get to the cookie recipe, I would like to say that even though these are vegan, they are NOT good for you, and this is not health food. At all. But, it's Valentine's Day so while I would typically make a less junky cookie, today is a day I don't mind indulging.

Vegan Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 3/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup soymilk
• 1 tbsp. + 1tsp. flax seed
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• chocolate chips

Preheat your over to 350F. Grind your flax in a blender until it becomes a fine powder, add milk, and whizz again. Transfer to a small bowl and let it sit for a few minutes to set up. In a larger bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. In another large bowl, cream the coconut oil and sugar together. (I recommend using a hand mixer for this) Add vanilla and flax eggs, and mix well. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet. You may or may not need to add some milk to this, I wound up having to add about another 2 tablespoons. When fully combined, add desired amount of  chocolate chips to the dough (let's be real: none of us measure it, we all eyeball it). 

Spoon balls of dough onto parchment-lined cookie sheets and bake for 10 minutes. Allow to cool slightly in the pans, then completely on a cooling rack.

When your ice cream is set up enough to be a "soft serve" consistency, use a tablespoon(like one you would eat with, not one for measuring) to plop a small amount in the middle of one cookie, take another and place on top, but don't smoosh too much or it will go everywhere. Wrap in plastic and put into the freezer for 2+ hours. 

This was enough for 14 sandwiches, plus leftover ice cream. 

I'm calling this ice cream maple but it's really peanut buttery maple greatness.
Sorry I didn't get very good pictures, but here it is!

Sweet Potato Falafel With Hummus

Hello, hello!

I'm trying to get better about posting more stuff on here, but I keep making the same stuff over and over, or we wind up going out and I don't cook. But the good news is I'm starting to get back into my groove again.
This is sort of in answer to the question I hear all the time: "But, what do you eat?" Oh boy, what DON'T I eat nowadays? I mean, aside from meat and dairy? This is the kind of stuff I eat now!

I found this recipe on the Earth Balance website, but I modified it a tiny bit. I also made hummus, which we ate all of, and I forgot to take a picture, but I can give you the recipe for that real quick:

Spicy Hummus

• 1 15oz. can chickpeas, thoroughly rinsed and drained
• 3 cloves fresh garlic, coarsely chopped
• juice of one lemon
• 1-2 tsp. tahini
• 1 tsp. dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp. dill weed (dried dill)
• salt & pepper
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• water, if needed

Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor and whirl until smooth. You may or may not need to add a tiny bit of water, depending on how thick/smooth you like it. I had to add about 2 teaspoons to thin it out to a spreadable consistency. It mostly depends on your beans- what brand, how dry they are, etc.

Sweet Potato Falafel

• 1lb. sweet potato, cooked and skins removed
• 1 15oz. can chickpeas, thoroughly rinsed and drained
• 4 cloves fresh garlic
• 1/4-1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp. ground flaxseed
• 2 tsp. dried parsley
• 1 tbsp. margarine (like Earth Balance)
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. coriander
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

I started by boiling the sweet potato instead of roasting because I was short on time today, then drained them and allowed to cool slightly. Combine the chickpeas and potato with  margarine and garlic in a food processor, and whizz until smooth. Alternatively, you could just mash them with a potato masher and mince the garlic by hand,  but I wanted these to be really smooth and come together almost like a cookie dough. If whizzing in a blender or food processor, transfer to a bowl, and combine with all ingredients except bread crumbs. Depending on how you prepare your potatoes and their moisture content, you may or may not need to add bread crumbs. If you mashed everything by hand you probably won't need to add any, but I wound up adding 1/2 cup of bread crumbs. Next I used a cookie dough scoop(which is actually just a small ice cream scoop) to make my falafel balls, dropped them on a parchment lined cookie sheet, baked at 400F for 30 minutes, and they came out like this:

I whipped up a "salad" to throw on top of the hummus and flatbread and that consisted of romaine, cucumber, grape tomato, and red onion that I marinated in balsamic vinegar for about 15 minutes. In the end, this is how it all came together:

Typically I use pita for this, but all the pita I found was looking sad and stale at the store, so I grabbed these. It was great because these are whole grain with flax (!!) and all the pita I found was white.

Enjoy your night! Don't forget The Village Farmhouse is now on facebook! Click here to "like"!

Artisan Bread in 5

Today I would like to share with you something I have come to love, and also use on a weekly basis.

I love bread, I love fresh baked bread, and I've always loved making bread except for the fact that it can be very time consuming. 
Until now.
I know I'm a little behind on this trend, and you've all possibly heard about this by now. I had heard about the book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day a few years ago and just never bought it even though it intrigued me for obvious reasons.
Well, my friends, Zoe and Jeff did the best thing that cookbook authors can do, and that is share their basic master recipe FOR FREE, on youtube. This is brilliant because when they share the master recipe for free, people like me see it and get really excited about it and tell everyone on Earth about it, and other people who aren't so cheap go out and buy all their books.
So one day here I am browsing Pinterest and a suggested pin for the youtube videos they did comes up, and now I've been baking it (almost)once a week because it is so delicious and easy.

The original white recipe I tried first, and let me tell you it was nice and crusty on the outside, soft and light on the inside

This is probably the more favorable one because it's just like good crusty Italian bread, since it's a traditional boule.
I also made the whole wheat version which probably would have come out better if I didn't do them as rolls. Next time, I do plan to make the whole wheat but to bake it as loaves. 

I didn't get a picture of the finished product on Thanksgiving, but they came out pretty well. I think more room on the pan would have made them crustier, and less doughy on the inside- that was my error. They rose quite a lot and became more like hamburger buns as left overs so it was nice to have them around for sandwiches!
I haven't made any in the last couple weeks, actually contrary to what I wrote at the beginning of this post, but only because I've still got so much in the house between Christmas, and parties, and having family over, and just have not had the need for bread with meals because there's so much in the house. 
I plan to make a batch of the whole wheat maybe next week, I will post on how that comes out!
As for now, I highly recommend making the traditional white recipe! It takes practically no time, and it's soooo good!

It's A New Year!

Today I come to you with nothing but words.

I've decided, for a multitude of reasons, I do not want to participate in social media anymore. This means, specifically, facebook.
And I'd like to use this as an outlet to explain why I no longer wish to use this service anymore.

1. Because it is a complete waste of time.
This is first, because it is most obvious. I feel that over the years, I've gotten to a point where every time I have a spare moment I'm on my phone scrolling through my news feed, or on my computer staring at the same things, that I'm not even really reading, I'm just perusing over and over and over again. I decided to no longer have the app on my phone, to force myself to only use it on the computer, actively knowing I am wasting my time.

2. Because it makes high school last longer.
For a long time, I resisted the notion of discontinuing my facebook use, because I do have family on my personal page that are hard to keep in touch with otherwise. That still holds true, but honestly they're not popping up on my feed nearly as much as people that I used to see every day, 10 years ago. There are people I really and genuinely would love to keep in touch with that without facebook I would have lost all contact with, but there's also so many that we don't particularly want to talk to regularly, and vice versa. Doesn't that sound just like 20 minutes before homeroom? Having to deal with/listen to people simply because they are there and you feel you can't avoid it?

3. Because I don't want to be "keeping up with" you anymore.
This goes hand-in-hand with #2, but I mean something slightly different by this. I feel facebook creates, and breeds totally unnecessary drama. I will not say I am innocent of this. I find that in my ripe old age of 27, people are starting to settle down, have babies, buy homes, etc. That's all well and good(and I truly am happy for most of these people on my feed), but when it's shoved in my face in a "LOOKATME!!!" way, I'm sorry to say I'm not all that happy for you. I don't want to be told your life is perfect, much as I don't want to listen to people whine about how awful their life is. And that is all I ever see any more. We see it all the time, either there's a couple fighting with each other for all the world to see, or there's the couple who have nothing bad happening in their life and just COULD NOT be happier by any stretch of the imagination; you have the person who just got that great, awesome, incredible, new job and is just swimming in money(look at me now!), and the next post is the person who needs to tell everyone how crappy everything is, woe is me, feel bad for me. It's exhausting. I feel this breeds self-centered, attention-getting, and narcissistic behavior because everyone feels they have an audience. That may sound ironic coming from someone who created a blog to share their thoughts and experiments in everyday life, but I've really tried very hard in the last year to distance myself from the notion that people actually care about what I say, or my opinion.

4. POLITICS.
This one is further down on the list because we ALL do it. Everyone. We've all gotten sucked in and faltered on this one. Everyone has posted something concerning their political standing, especially when there's a looming election(myself included, I admit to being horribly annoying). But, why do we all do this? All it does is annoy everyone else because no one agrees. We're turning ourselves into rage-balls because politics is so hot-button and no one ever agrees anymore. We all know everyone on our list is going to get aggravated and it's like we love knowing how ticked people will get, or how true it is...but where does it get you? What is the point? It's like being able to have your own press conference, I guess, and as I write this I realize a lot of what I wrote in #3 carries over to here.

5. Because I just don't need it.
I feel I have gotten so sucked in, and so dependent on facebook, that I've forgotten how useless it really is, and that it's not something I need to follow all the time. And when it comes down to it, I really just don't need it. I don't need to be reading all this stuff, wasting my time instead of being productive and actively trying to keep relationships I care about instead of scrolling through a bunch I probably wouldn't have otherwise. Furthermore, I just don't want it anymore.

I will admit I created a page specifically to post my blog stuff, so I'm not quitting entirely, but I won't be following my personal page anymore, and these are the reasons why. I feel that by only having a page for this blog, I will not be on there unless I have a purpose.

8 Days left

Oh my gosh, you guys. I meant to post the week after Thanksgiving, and just never got around to it. So, think of this as a "What I've been eating lately" as well as a quick little update on my very boring, but high in cooking, life.
We didn't start Christmas shopping until this past weekend, and only put our tree up on Saturday! We never go this late, and picked the worst possible day to go because it was snowing and 12 degrees. Poor Lex was bundled in two very warm layers plus a snowsuit and still got cold and I had to carry her up a steep hill after about 10 minutes of walking. 
I wasn't able to get any pictures of it but I made a killer hot chocolate with coconut milk, 100% dark chocolate and a teeny tiny bit of sugar on the stove which we brought with us. It was overall really nice, and we were laughing on the ride back from the tree farm, but oh boy was it cold while we were there!
For Thanksgiving, I made a few sides to bring with us to my in-laws that turned out pretty well

I made this stuffing that I stole from here. I didn't use bagged stuffing bread, I used a leftover stale loaf I had been saving in my freezer. Overall, I really liked it but would decrease the veggie amount next time because it tasted more like carrots than stuffing. I also wound up using too much broth so it was a little soggy unfortunately but no one else ate it so it was fine for me.

I also made some whole wheat rolls from the artisan bread in five video which I can't even tell you how much this concept has changed my life. It is so little work, and fresh bread whenever you want it. I'm not lying, this is a real game changer, and they have more than one recipe if you follow that link. So far I've tried the traditional boule and the whole wheat one I linked to, I don't have the book so I've only tried the ones I have access to through youtube. You can just visit their website to really check it all out, or buy the book if you want!
Moving  on, since we ate at about 1 at someone else's house we wound up hungry later on around dinner time and I had prepped a small Thanksgiving dinner for just us:

This is stuffing, some green beans with cranberries, slivered almonds, and a little maple syrup sauteed together, and a stuffed seitan roast I completely stole from The PPK. I also made a quick mushroom gravy to go with it. It was all really tasty, and we enjoyed our little family feast together!





In the last few weeks, I've been trying my hand at vegan sushi which turned out to be really easy. The first try I didn't even have a sushi mat (I've since bought one off amazon for $2!!), and the idea is a whole lot more daunting than it actually is when in fact, it was really easy.

I used Jasmine rice because that's what I had around and only boiled up 1 cup and it was enough to make about 4 rolls. For the fillings, I used mushroom, carrot, cucumber and this one has some sriracha in it. I've since made rolls with green onion instead of cucumber, and want to do avocado next. You can find Nori at pretty much any supermarket now either by the wonton wrappers and tofu or in the international aisle. And, YES, it is seaweed, but it's really good for you and gives you a nice fishy taste in other dishes (I'm looking at you New England glam chowder which I made and was awfully discolored but still tasty) if you're no longer eating seafood.

That's all for now, enjoy the next week, and try not to go crazy buying stuff for people. Have a Merry Christmas if I don't get back here before then!

Stuffed Seitan Roast

All right, so I really meant to write this up last night when I made it but I was so exhausted I just wanted to lay down and sleep for approximately 4 days. Not because this recipe is difficult or time consuming (truthfully, it isn't) but because I've been awoken night after night for probably the last month, paired with early mornings and late nights (let's say 11pm to 6am) with the same sad, sad reason: "Mommy, I need you", "I have to go potty", "I want my night light off". Sigh. She rarely needs to go to the bathroom, and honestly I think she's just over this whole sleeping thing which is getting really frustrating and results in my sleepwalking through life lately.

I've gotten really into seitan lately which you wouldn't think considering I have only been making it once a month or so (moderation!). It's so good, and so easy to flavor. It fills you up quickly and I have discovered it's really great for make-your-own-vegan/vegetarian-sausages.

From start to finish it will only take you about 10 minutes to get in the oven, and that is assuming you are like me and measure, pour, put away after each ingredient. The longest time is the cooking time. My recipe is not entirely original. I used this recipe as the basis and building block, and fused it with the spices and used the stuffing from this other one to make my own sort of roast creation. I did omit the cheese and some other things from the stuffing, but we can get to that when you read my recipe at the bottom.

I had made this about a month ago, and had extra stuffing that I froze for next time, so that's why the stuffing is nice and tubular! 
As a general rule, I don't like to bake with aluminum, but for this recipe you kind of have to in order to keep it together. Though, I've never tried tightly wrapping it in parchment, either.
I made a quick gravy out of Earth Balance, flour, and vegetable broth with various seasonings and threw that on top and some sweet potatoes on the side. Came out really good, even if the pictures make it not look so appetizing.

                 

Don't be intimidated! It's really quick, and you can't mess it up unless you over/under cook it. 

Stuffed Seitan Roast

• 2 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten
• 1/2 cup soy flour
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tbsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. coriander
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. poultry seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1 3/4 cup vegetable broth
• 2 tbsp. Bragg's

In a large bowl, whisk dry ingredients together. Add your wet ingredients to a measuring cup and mix. Combine wet into dry, mixing with a wooden spoon. Mix until it forms a dough ball (you may or may not need a couple more tablespoons or vegetable brother to pull it together). Turn out onto a cutting board and knead the dough for a minute or so, until it is a nice uniform ball. Roll out flat, and stuff with whatever you like.

Stuffing I used, and had frozen when I had extra:

• 4 cups fresh spinach
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• bread crumbs, enough to pull it together
• olive oil, for sauteeing
• salt & pepper

Cook spinach with olive oil and garlic until wilted. Add everything else, and saute until tender. Stuff your roast

After you stuff your roast, roll it up as tight as you can, and tuck ends under. Transfer to an oiled foil sheet, and roll again, like a Tootsie Roll, as tight as you can. Bake at 350 for anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half. It's finished when you press it and it feels like a roast would- a little give, but firm.

Are you all ready for Thanksgiving yet? I'm no, but luckily I don't host dinner, I just bring pie & sides!

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Now that the clock has been pushed back an hour, it seems winter is practically here. It's slightly depressing to see dusk at 4pm, but luckily there's a whole bunch of squash in season to lessen the sting of knowing snow is just around the corner. Not only is squash really good for you(and really tasty, too), but there's something comforting to me about eating squash. I don't know why, but the cold weather always makes me want to bake cookies and roast some squash. Acorn and butternut are my favorites, and pumpkin isn't bad either!

I wanted to do something different than soup, or mashing my acorn squash like I usually do with butternut and eat it like mashed potatoes, or twice baked like a casserole. I figured anything stuffed is a winner (potato skins? Roasts? Mushrooms? Am I right?) and decided to stuff my acorn squash that's been sitting in a basket for a week. I started with your basics: onion, garlic, carrot, and celery sauteed in olive oil. I added some Italian seasoning and oregano at the beginning so the dried herbs would  "bloom" as everything cooked. I knew I was going to be making a stuffing with veggies but I also wanted to get some protein in the meal, too.

So I decided to boil up some quinoa in my veggie broth I told you about earlier this week. One tip about quinoa, ESPECIALLY if you've never cooked it before or are buying it in bulk: rinse it well in a kitchen strainer before cooking it. If you don't it can be bitter because there is an outer coating of saponins that need to be rinsed off.  My recommendation is to rinse ALL quinoa whether it's in bulk, or in a bag that says you don't have to rinse it because I've forgotten and the result is really not as good, especially if you're serving people who have never had it before and they will think they dislike quinoa because it's bitter when in actuality it just wasn't rinsed first.

While my quinoa was cooking, I threw in a little bit of chopped apple and some small grape tomatoes I had also cut up. I let it simmer, covered until the quinoa was almost finished, but not quite because I planned on baking it so I didn't want it really tender at this point.







Once my quinoa was finished, I put it in the pan with the stuffing and then tossed in some homemade bread crumbs I had in my freezer.










Then I loaded it into my halved squash, and baked, covered for about an hour, removed the cover and baked for an additional 10 minutes.





After that, it came out of the oven looking like this:

And after cutting into it:

Happy Autumn!

Stuffed Acorn Squash

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 gloves garlic, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1 small carrot, chopped
• 1 medium apple, chopped
• handful grape tomatoes, chopped
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1/2-1 cup bread crumbs, depending on how dry your ingredients are
• 1 acorn squash
• salt & pepper

Start the stuffing by sauteing onions, garlic, celery and carrot. Add salt and pepper, Italian seasoning, and oregano and let it cook on medium-low heat(this is setting 3 on my electric range). If it starts to dry out a little bit, add some vegetable broth to lightly steam-fry. Cover saute, and while that is cooking, rinse your quinoa very well in a tight kitchen strainer, until all bubbles dissipate. Combine quinoa and broth in a small saucepan. Allow to come to a simmer, then lower heat to a low simmer for about 15-20 minutes. After you've started the quinoa, add apples and tomatoes, and some more salt and pepper to the stuffing, cover and allow to steam, stirring occasionally while quinoa cooks. Split your acorn squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and you may need to slice a small piece of skin off the bottom so it will sit stable in your pan. Oil the entire squash using a brush. When the quinoa is almost finished, add it to the rest of the stuffing, stirring in, and adding bread crumbs as you need until it holds together loosely, almost like a turkey stuffing. Taste test at this point for seasoning. Scoop stuffing into the squash, cover and bake at 350F for 50 minutes-1 hour depending on how soft it is after 50 minutes(it should be fork tender), take cover off and bake an additional 10 minutes to brown as you like.

Is This A Thing? Yes, It Is- Chickpea Salad

So, over the summer I remember searching for something quick and easy and summery. I also remember kind of wanting some egg salad which not only smells but eggs make me pretty nauseous now that I haven't been eating them on a semi-regular basis. I remember I used to eat eggs all the time especially Saturday mornings growing up, but as I grew into my 20s I stopped eating them as much, started eating them again because I had it in my head it was a good breakfast, and then stopped eating breakfast all together or moved on to cereal.  And this cycle has happened roughly every year since I was about 21. Now, I don't really eat eggs mostly because I just don't want them, but every once in a while I do have a hankering for some egg salad. 
So anyway, I found this recipe a while back and never made it until recently, and let me tell you, it's pretty good.

 I do admit, I feel sometimes like I'm no longer an amateur at this vegan thing, but the truth is I am, and there are plenty of people out there scoffing at me because I'm such a newbie I didn't even know about mashing some chickpeas and throwing it on a sandwich. 8-year vegetarians are laughing at me right now: "Ha! You think you know everything now, don't you?!" Nope. I felt pretty silly when I saw this on The PPK and thought it was revolutionary, meanwhile you guys have been doing this all along.

I made mine with two cans of chickpeas because John was going to be home for lunch, and it's inevitable that my 3 year old daughter has to share all food with us. I added a heaping tablespoon (the one you eat with, not an actual measuring spoon tablespoon) of roasted garlic Vegenaise, some celery, some carrot, salt pepper, turmeric, coriander and a little ground mustard. Turmeric makes a tofu scramble taste and look "eggy" so that's why I used that. Ground mustard I really like in egg salad, so I threw that in and coriander I just like to toss into stuff because it gives some stuff sort of a fresh taste, much like cilantro (which I LOVE, but coriander is great when you don't have a fresh bunch of cilantro hanging around).

Chickpeas tend to taste a bit dry to me, so that's why I used tomato slices on my sandwich, not because it's traditional or because the recipe recommends it.

Chickpea Salad

• 1 can garbanzo beans(chickpeas), drained and rinsed thoroughly
• 1 heaping tablespoon Vegenaise
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 small carrot, chopped
• 1 tsp. turmeric
• 1 tsp. coriander
• 1 tsp. ground mustard
• salt & pepper

Mash chickpeas with a potato masher, or a fork. Add all ingredients and mix together, like you would tuna or egg salad. Serve on a sandwich, or as a dip with crackers, or even as a salad by itself or over lettuce.

Many Things & Many Thanks

Well, I cannot believe I've neglected writing on here since August, and really hope not to take such a long hiatus again!

I have delved so far into the DIY world of cooking/vegan/housekeeping, that my friends are wondering if I will ever be "normal" again!
So, here's what's up with me. This is going to be kind of a long post, so I apologize if you're here for recipes and not commentary- but I feel like writing and sharing with all 3 of you today.

1. I make almost everything from scratch now. From pie crust, to to seitan, to my own stock/broth, I've started making almost everything I need myself. It started while reading up on various recipes when I saw a tip I had never thought of, and now I have no idea why since it's sort of a no-brainer. So, I started saving all my veggie ends in a bag in my freezer and once every week or two, I take it out and pour four quarts of water over it, simmer it with salt, pepper & spices, strain it, and divide it into two 2-qt. pitchers because I don't have a gallon size. Done. Took like half an hour. And you can add chicken, beef, pork, or any bones you want to the bag if you eat meat. Also, after you strain it out, (if you don't have bones in your stock)you can use the leftover veggies for compost if you have a garden. Neat trick I thought, and now that I always have it around- I use it all the time for just about anything.

2. I've pretty much given up on mock meats. I feel you get better nutrition from whole plant foods, and most of the time I don't miss meat too much. I do miss cheese, and do give in a lot to cheese. That being said, sometimes I want a stuffed pork roast, or a turkey sandwich. I had heard around the internerd that seitan makes a really great meat substitute, and found this recipe, this recipe, and this one too. I loved that it was baked, and not steamed, and that for $7 at Freshtown of Amenia, I could make two of my own seitan roasts or logs, instead of having to buy it in a small container at the store... and that's assuming I'd even be able to find it anywhere near me. Well, my friends; I have made at least 3 seitan: 1 log, and 2 greens and mushroom-stuffed roasts. I took the trifeca of recipes listed above and combined them to make a stuffed turkey tasting roast and a mild-turkey-sandwich-slice log. They went really quickly, and I had no leftovers because John liked it so much, he practically licked his plate. Not to toot my own horn, but I was kind of impressed with myself! Unfortunately, I have no pictures of this, but plan to make some this week and will have one when I do.

3. I make A. LOT. of soup now. Especially with Autumn upon us and Winter imminent, there seems to be nothing better than a hot bowl of soup and some bread. Squash is so perfect for soup, I'm reheating a batch of butternut squash soup this week which I made a few weeks ago and froze. For Halloween I made a giant pot of vegan chili for a whole bunch of people who eat a whole bunch of meat

I realize how truly un-appetizing(is that a word?) this looks, really I do...but it's chili, and it's supposed to be brown and somewhat slop-looking. Anyway, I used TVP which I do try to stay away from because it's really kind of a mock meat and I'd rather just use beans nowadays, but I had a lot of non-vegetarians coming over and I knew in a chili it would be filling enough and taste meaty enough to satisfy everyone. I didn't have any complaints and was complimented on it, so I assume everyone liked it and didn't lie to me! :)

Along the same lines with soup, I kind of had a soba noodle love affair over the summer. I put them in everything this summer. I made soups, and I made so many different slaws with soba it was a little ridiculous. I made a particular slaw I really liked with Nappa cabbage, red cabbage, carrot, soba noodles and a peanut sauce that I really just could not keep around long enough. I also made this soup with greens and a bunch of vegetables I needed to use, too.

I've never had Pho, but I actually used it somewhat as an inspiration for this. Note: I understand this is NOT Pho...just saw a picture of it and used that as inspiration!







4. In a serious, really strict effort to keep anything processed out of my body, and also because I feel no one is eating enough greens in their diet, I've been having for breakfast almost every day a green smoothie.

It's approximately 2 cups of kale(or any green, like chard, spinach, collard, etc.), an apple, and sometimes I throw some frozen mango in there too. I puree the greens first with either a cup of almond milk or water depending on my mood, and then add everything else to puree while it's still running. You pretty much only taste apple, and you basically punch your body with nutrition. My "resolution" (in September, because that makes sense) has become to not only eat plant based, but to really focus more on whole foods and nutrition, and this helps a lot because I find that having this for breakfast keeps me on track since it makes me not want to screw up how I started my day. If I throw some flax meal in there it helps even more because I feel fuller longer.

5. I don't really eat/use all that much sugar anymore. Before I get ahead of myself, let me make one thing clear: I am a big girl. I am not going to sit here and tell you I never eat chocolate or I've given up cake. Because that would be lying. What I am saying is most of the time, If I want something sweet, I have to go through the trouble of making it myself. So, If I'm making an apple pie I'll throw in a couple tablespoons of pure maple syrup with the apples and cinnamon and spices instead of sugar. In most of my baking now I've switched to brown rice syrup instead. Brown rice syrup is made from brown rice and is a complex sugar so it doesn't spike your blood sugar the way cane sugar does. In doing this, I've noticed a significant difference in how I don't want the junky stuff as much anymore- even after Halloween, I'm not wanting the candy since I don't really crave it as bad. It's easier to walk away from, and if I really want something sweet I'd rather have something I made with my own hands and I know what's in it. My dietary choices also stem from being a somewhat-control-freak, too!
6. I'm going to make a Shepherd's Pie out of these lentils tonight, and it's going to be delicious.

Lastly, everyone is doing a "what I'm thankful for" a day this month with Thanksgiving coming up. I'm not. I'm not because, I will be honest: I would not have enough creativity to come up with something different every single day to be thankful for.
So. Now that I sound like a spoiled little princess, what am I thankful for?
I am thankful I have opened my eyes and taken in breath today. I am thankful my husband and my daughter did the same, and I am thankful every single day this happens. I am thankful for all the beautiful food I have become accustomed to eating, I am thankful I have adopted a plant-based diet because it has given me such an education about nutrition, and has inspired me to be creative. I am thankful I have been able to eat plant based for a year now, and that it has cut my grocery bill in half. I am thankful for this because it has made my family happier, made me stronger as a person, and has become the focal point of how I live my life.
I am thankful to have so many people I love in my life. I am thankful I have friends, I am thankful for the family I have left.
But mostly, I am thankful for the life John and I have built together.