It has been a while since I have experimented with a totally new recipe. Last night I the most fabulous potato leek soup. It was a true hit with my family. I will definitely be making this one again.

5-6 large potatoes, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
1 head of cauliflower, cut into bite sized pieces
2 tbsp vegan butter spread
2-3 leeks sliced thinly
2 tbsp flour
6 cups vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste

Peel potatoes and cut up into small bite sized pieces. Boil in water for about 20 minutes, then add cut up cauliflower. Let boil an addition 15-20 minutes. Drain water and remove potatoes and cauliflower from pan. Put in two tablespoons of butter and saute cut up leek in it for about 5 minutes. Add two tablespoons flour and stir well for about 1 minute. Then add half of vegetable broth and mix well with leek/flour mixture. Add potatoes and cauliflower and then the remainder of the vegetable broth. Bring to a boil and add salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer for about 15-20 minutes and serve.

This weekend we made the best barbecue “beef” sandwiches. We cooked a package of fakin bacon in a stainless skillet with a light layer of olive oil for about 6 minutes (3 on each side), then added some barbecue sauce and sauteed for another 3-4 minutes. Then we toasted some sour dough bread in the toaster. Spread the bread with veganaise and topped with the barbecue fakin bacon. It was so unbelievable delicious. I would definitely recommend this the next time you go to a gathering where everyone is making barbecue sandwiches. It is everyone else that will be missing out.

It makes me so sad that I haven’t had a lot of time for posting and cooking lately. I am probably only cooking about twice a week lately. This week I made some really good food though. I made Vegan Black Bean Soup on Monday, one of my dh all time favorites, and Tuesday I made Italian Portabella Sandwiches. They were so awesome. I sauteed portabella mushrooms, some orange bellpepper and Herbes de Provence in olive oil and then added basil tomato sauce to it and let the flavors meld together. Then I hollowed out a sour dough bread role and scooped the mushrooms and sauce into the bread cups, topped with vegan mozzarella cheese and toasted in the preheated (400 degree) oven for about 10 minutes. It was definitely heavenly.

This week we also tried Fakin Bacon. I was craving a bacon type flavored sandwich. Though the Fakin Bacon didn’t taste like “bacon” to me, it did taste kind of like barbecue beef. We put on toasted bread with veganaise and it was so good. It just needs a little barbecue sauce and it will be the perfect summertime barbecue sandwich. I have been experimenting more with tofu lately and have been really liking what I taste. Last night I had a blackened tofu burger from New Frontiers (local health food store). It was so good. They put blackened tofu on a vegan whole wheat bun with veganaise, shredded lettuce, shredded carrot, sprouts, and onion. It had kind of a spicy flavor because of the blackened tofu. I could eat that for dinner every night it was so good. I am hoping to have some time in the next week to go blog visiting, because I just haven’t had the time or energy lately. I miss reading about what everyone is up to so much. Hope everyone is healthy and happy and I will visit you all soon.

I don’t know how many of you have tried the peanut butter Tofutti Cuties, but they are to die for. The chocolate is so chocolaty and the peanut butter ice cream is perfect and creamy. My whole family is hooked.

Last night I made a new variation of the nachos from the night before. I took most of the same ingredients and put them into a tortilla and made quick and easy homemade burritos. They were delicious, even better then the nachos I think.

Vegetarian Tortillas
Vegetarian Refried Beans
Guacamole
Tofutti Sour Cream
Taco Sauce
Green Onions

Wrap all ingredients up inside the tortillas and enjoy!

I have been doing simple cooking this week while adjusting to the new work schedule. Anything that I can cook in minimal time with maximum leftovers. I plan on doing a big thing of mashed potatoes tonight and make a big pot of Native American beans this week (can easily be converted into burritos and nachos, love the flexibility). Anything that I can cook in bulk and then turn into several dishes is definitely right up my alley.

I have picked up a couple of Amy’s Indian Food frozen dinners, but have been scared to try them, because all of the frozen Indian Food dinners I have tried so far have not been good and I love Indian Food. Nothing is worse then being all excited to try something and having the taste in your mouth and what you get tastes nothing like it and barely edible. Has any tried the Amy’s Indian Food dinners? If so, how were they? If I get brave enough to try them this week I will report back to you all on how they tasted.

It is funny, because I read the other day something about Tofutti cream cheese and Tofutti sour cream having partially hydrogenated oils. Apparently Tofutti cream cheese and sour cream comes in two versions, with or without hydrogenated oils. There was a whole discussion about how the non-hydrogenated version tastes chalky. I thought, Oh my God! I have been consuming partially hydrogenated oil, and I didn’t even know it. Because the Tofutti I eat tastes great, and the comments about how it isn’t very good were many, I just assumed I had been eating the hydrogenated version, based on the discussion. So the next time I went to the store I read the labels, and it turns out that the stores I shop at don’t even carry the hydrogenated version. That being said, I still love the products and don’t think they taste chalky at all, so there is no reason for the hydrogenated version.

I suck at remembering to take pictures of the food I make and last night was no exception. It sucks to, because my nachos were so pretty and tasted so absolutely fabulous. Anyway, here is the recipe and I will post pictures the next time I make them.

Vegan Nachos

1 can vegetarian refried beans
4 green onions chopped
1 cup Tofutti Sour Cream (non-hydrogenated version)
1 cup guacamole
1 cup salsa
1/2 can chopped black olives
4 cups tortilla chips

Heat refried beans on the stove until warm. Line a medium sized baking dish with chips. Cover the chips with refried beans. Top beans with salsa. Top salsa with guacamole. Top guacamole with sour cream. Then top sour cream with onions and olives. That’s eat, quick and easy dinner and oh-so-delicious.

Guacamole

1 ripe avocado
1/2 cup vegannaise
1/2 cup salsa (add more if you like your guacamole spicy).

Mash avocado and mix in vegannaise and salsa. Serve with chips or place on top of your favorite burrito, taco, or nachos.

Rarely when I make fried potatoes do they turn out looking almost perfect, crispy on the outside tender on the inside. So I had to have my husband take a picture of these, because they will probably never turn out this perfect again. I did so a couple of things different than I normally do. I used my really big iron skillet (iron skillets are a must when making fried potatoes), then I poured in the olive oil and heated for a few minutes before adding the potatoes. Once I put the potatoes in I added the salt and pepper and made sure to coat all the potatoes with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Then I let them sit for a while undisturbed (about 10 minutes), flipped them once and cooked them on a low temp. Once they began to soften I turned the temperature up to make the outsides nice and crispy and added sliced yellow onion. I cooked until the onions began to caramelize and the potatoes had a nice crispy, golden brown appearance. I am so proud.

With my potatoes, I made vegan cornbread. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. I put in one cup of cornmeal, one cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup agave syrup, equivalent to one prepared egg of Energ Egg replacer, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp baking powder, 1 cup rice milk, 1/3 cup olive oil. Then I mix all the dry ingredients, then add the oil and mix well. Then I add the egg replacer, agave syrup and rice milk. Mix well and pour into a greased glass baking dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes. You know they are ready when the top begins to lightly brown.

This is my traditional “cowboy” meal served with Native American Beans. I love the simplicity.

You guys will not believe what I finally have for you. That’s right, Christmas dinner pics. I finally got my hubbie to download them off of the camera for me.

The first picture I have is of my precious baby boy on Christmas Eve.

Note: We thought the earth deserved a present too, so we bought a live tree to give back later this year.

Doesn’t he look handsome? He had so much fun on Christmas. The great part was we actually did things a little mellower this year and I think it was more enjoyable all the way around.

Next, we have a picture of my garlic mashed potatoes. They were delicious. Of course, I love mashed potatoes and could probably eat them everyday.

Next, my absolutely favorite food for Thanksgiving and Christmas, Vegan Green Bean Casserole. When I was pregnant that was all I wanted to eat.

Another family staple every holiday is this creamy and delicious Sweet Potato Casserole. I use natural sweetener so, for the most part, it is pretty healthy. My family uses it as a side dish, but when it is just my husband, my son, and myself, we actually treat it like a dessert.

Now for the main course, spinach pie, of which I forgot to take a picture of until after we ate it, but it still looks good. I love spinach pie. I really love it with hummus drizzled on top. So delicious.

To get the recipes for any of these dishes, click the link below:

Vegan Christmas Dinner

I know it is a bit belated, but once again, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and a very Happy New Year.

This past weekend was my baby boy’s fifth birthday. It was exciting and sad at the same time. I can’t believe how big he is getting. Even in the past 6 months he has changed so much and grown. I didn’t have time to make him a cake from scratch, so we had to buy one from the store. So no cake for me, which I will never do again. It was so hard to smell the icing and cake and not have something for me to eat. From now on I will make the time to make a cake.

I have found a new job. Hopefully I will be starting next week. I am hoping to be able to keep up with my blogs, but bear with me if I am a bit erratic in my posts over the next couple of weeks, while I settle into my new schedule. Which is really early because I will be working 5:30-2pm. It is early, but I like the hours because I will be home early enough to spend time with my son and get things done around the house. I will be managing an addictions treatment program and am quite excited about it. It will be a different position for me. I have worked with addictions before, but this time I will be doing more of the program development, community education and politicing.

This week I made the best broccoli ever. I sauteed garlic, red pepper flake, salt and pepper in olive oil, then I added frozen broccoli and sauteed for about 2 minutes. Then I added about a cup of vegetable broth, put the lid on and let the broccoli steam in vegetable broth for about 5 minutes. It is so absolutely delicious, you’ll never want anything else for lunch. My dh and I are definitely hooked. I will have to cook it up and put into a stainless steel thermos and take for lunch at the new job.

This will be the first time that I have worked out of the house while being vegan. We will probably be doing a lot more soups, because they are easy to pack up and take for lunch. We don’t use microwaves, which makes reheating food not really an option. So I have to bring foods that taste good luke warm or pack easily into a thermos. Lifes about to get busy, but I enjoy being busy. So it will be good. I am still waiting for my dh to upload pics for me of food that we took last week. Hopefully I will have them for tomorrow.

I wish you a Happy Holiday, I wish you a Happy Holiday, I wish you a Happy Holiday and a Happy New Year. This is probably my last post until after Christmas. I look forward to hanging out with my son this weekend and doing Christmasy things. Plus I have some homework to get done, yuck!

Anyway, I have finally put together my Christmas dinner menu and wanted to share it with you. If I am a good girl, you will have pictures of all this delicious food on Tuesday.

Here are my plans:

Appetizer: Pita chips topped with hummus and caramelized onions
Cut pita into triangles and toast in oven. Making them slightly crisp. In an iron skillet, saute onions in vegan butter spread until nice and brown. Top pita triangles with hummus and caramelized onions and place on a platter to serve.
Salad: Vegan Corn Arugula Salad
Dinner: Vegan Spinach Pie, Vegan Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Vegan Green Bean Casserole, Vegan Bread Stuffing, Vegan Spinach Biscuits, Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole.

Vegan Garlic Mashed Potatoes

8-10 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 head garlic
2 tbsp vegan butter spread
1/4 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup rice milk
salt and pepper to taste

Boil potato chunks in hot water until fork tender. Cut the very top off of the head of garlic and place on a cookie sheet, brush with olive oil and place in the oven. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Once potatoes and garlic are done, drain water from potatoes and pop garlic gloves out of the head of garlic and mash together. Add butter spread and let melt and then add vegetable broth and rice milk. Mash until slightly lumpy. Add salt and pepper to taste and mix in.

Vegan Spinach Biscuits

3 cups Bisquick
1 cup rice milk
1/2 package frozen spinach
1 small yellow onion
2 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In an iron skillet saute onion and spinach in olive oil. In a mixing bowl, mix bisquick and rice milk until slightly lumpy. Add in spinach and onion mixture and mix well. Fill greased muffin tins with biscuit mixture, each cup approximately 3/4 of the way. Cook in the oven for approximately 15 minutes or until tops become golden brown.

Dessert: Apple Crisp

Vegan Apple Crisp

5-6 crisp apples cut into chunks
1/4 cup apple juice
2 tbsp vegan butter spread
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups oats
1 cup flour
1/2 cup vegan butter spread
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan melt 2 tbsp vegan butter spread and saute apple chunks. Add apple juice, maple syrup and tsp cinnamon and continue cooking until apples begin to soften. In a mixing bowl mix brown sugar, cinnamon, oats and flour. Add 1/2 cup butter and mix until crumbly. Pour apples into a glass baking dish and top with oat mixture. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, until top layer is nice and crispy.

My son insists every year that we make chocolate chip cookies, because one year Santa told him that they were his favorite. So now we make chocolate chip cookies for Santa. This is the first time I have ever made vegan chocolate chip cookies and I definitely got no complaints from my family. It was a pretty basic chocolate chip cookie recipe, with some slight modifications.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup vegan butter spread
3/4 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup organic vegan sugar
2 servings of Energ Egg, Egg Replacer, mixed according to package
1 tsp pure organic, fair trade vanilla extract
1 bag sunspire grain sweetened vegan chocolate chips
2 1/4 cups unbleached flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Cream butter, brown sugar and white sugar in a bowl. Mix in egg replacer and vanilla. Mix flour, baking powder and salt in another bowl. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until fully mixed. Add chocolate chips and mix with hands, until chips are mixed throughout. Place dough in the refrigerator for two hours before baking for best results. When ready to bake cookies, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Using a spoon and your fingers, make 1 1/2 inch diameter balls with cookie dough and place on a cookie sheet, flatten balls slightly and then bake in the oven for about 12 minutes. Until they begin to take on a light brown coloring on the bottom. Place on a cooling rack and let cool.

I made the best, most delicious, moist vegan brownies this weekend. My dh loves brownies, and this was his one request for my holiday baking. The recipe is very easy and very yummy.

Vegan Fudge Brownies

6 ounces (about 2/3 bag) vegan Sunspire Grain Sweetened Chocolate Chips
1 cup vegan butter spread
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 servings Energ Egg, Egg Replacer
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 ounces (about 1/3 bag) vegan Sunspire Grain Sweetened Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a double boiler (medium sized sauce pan with water in the bottom, with a small saucepan inside where you put the chocolate chips), melt chocolate chips and butter together until smooth and set aside to cool completely. Mix Energ Eggs according to package (1 1/2 tsp powder mix with 2 tbsp warm water per egg), with a mixer whip them up a bit and then add sugar, beat for two to three minutes, then add vanilla and chocolate mixture and mix together well. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a medium sized bowl. Add sifted dry ingredients slowly into wet ingredients until completely mixed. Mix in remaining chocolate chips and pour into a greased full sized glass baking dish. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

This is a must try recipe.