Last Posts of 2013!!!

Vegcookbookclub December 2013 ~

Woot! I accomplished my goal this month of cooking out of the eight cookbooks I had for this last year of the cookbook club. I'm excited to see what 2014 has in store.

from Vegan on the Cheap: White Beans & Lemon Potatoes with Olives & Tomatoes ~ 

~ roasty toasty yumminess ~

Yukon Gold potatoes, cannellini beans, sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, capers, garlic, fresh parsley and lemon. A one dish meal! I will definitely add this to my 'make again' list. 

My favorite sun-dried tomatoes. 

I served the roasted potatoes & beans with the best Massaged Kale Salad and

 Dijon Mustard Brussels Sprouts.

from Isa Does It: Carrot Cake Pancakes ~

I finally got a recipe made from this cookbook. I think the tiny print she uses in the recipes (the descriptions and the ingredients lists) discourages me but I got a bright light and squinted real hard and got this made! hehe

~ a stack of carrot cake pancakes ~

If you are starving and in a hurry to eat; don't make this recipe. This requires some extra time and patience. After mixing the batter you're supposed to let it set for 10 minutes. Then to cook the pancakes requires spreading the batter evenly into a circle (it's kind of thick) and letting it cook for 4 minutes on each side. I added the optional chopped walnuts in my batter along with the finely shredded carrots. For all the time it took to make these I'm glad to say they are delicious! I ate a couple with some Earth Balance margarine and maple syrup and froze the rest of them for "quick" breakfasts. 

Here's to the end of 2013 ~ May 2014 bring new cooking adventures!

November Parties!

I thought I would wrap up the end of the month with a rundown of get-togethers and parties that filled November! Now that my anxiety, OCD and bipolar symptoms are on the wane (for now) it's time to get back to some cooking. 

Nov. 9th ~ Guy Fawke's Bonfire at my sweet English friend's home. The actual day they celebrate is Nov. 5th but that was a Tuesday so it was moved to Saturday. Such fun! Lots of food and an awesome bonfire burning of the Guy Fawke's effigy. I always try to bring a casserole or other substantial dish so I know I have at least one thing to eat. I made Black Bean & Sweet Potato Tortilla Casserole from Vegan Holiday Kitchen and Cowgirl Cookies from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. 

This is an alternative to the Cowboy Cookies using cranberries and vegan white chocolate chips.

The Black Bean-Sweet Potato Casserole is always a hit. I even had one lady come up to me and tell me that her husband loved this dish! The pan was empty at the end of the night.

Nov. 15th ~ Rehearsal dinner at Macayo's Mexican restaurant for my son and his fiance'. They make a California Burro that I always order. I have them substitute the refried beans for black beans. And yes, I do include the cheese and sour cream. 

Nov. 16th ~ Wedding! A beautiful ceremony and reception at the Golf Club of Estrella for my baby boy (25 in February) and his beloved. Lots of great food; appetizers of hummus, pita bread, veggies, cheese, crackers, green salads, roasted veggies, scalloped potatoes, rolls and meat. And the wedding cake was delicious along with the champagne! Not too worried about watching what I ate that night. Celebrate!!!

Nov. 24th ~ Potluck Birthday/Bon Voyage Party at another dear friend's home. There is always a ton of food at these potlucks. Again, I made a casserole dish; Baked Chili with Cornbread Biscuit Topping from La Dolce Vegan. 

A wonderfully, sweet and spicy chili. This time I used Butler's Soy Curls instead of the frozen veggie crumbles (which bother my stomach.) Loved the addition of the soy curls; they gave it that meaty, hearty texture this dish needed. And it fooled all the meat-eaters! Again, another empty casserole dish. 

I love using these because they are just dried soybeans; nothing else. 

They are very kind to my stomach! 

Nov. 28th ~ Thanksgiving Day. My mom likes to cook a huge meal for everyone. I always bring the Tofurky with roasted carrots, potatoes and onions along with some Tofurky gravy. I also made Green Bean Casserole Redux from 1000 Vegan Recipes and Cranberry-Carrot Cake with Maple-Cream Cheese Frosting from Vegan Holiday Kitchen. It's a nice, easy trip to Mom and Dad's; they live right across the street! 

This year I basted the Tofurky and veggies with a mixture of my Poultry Seasoning, Bragg's and Roasted Garlic Infused Oil. My New York friend sells Tastefully Simple products and this Garlic Oil is delicious. It added a subtle sweet garlic taste to the veggies and Tofurky. I want to try it the next time I roast asparagus or green beans. Confession time~this is the last year I am making a Tofurky. Well, I'm the only one who eats it and also, it really gives me intestinal distress! Next year, I'm going to try making some stuffed squash but I like the roasted veggies so I'll keep making those.

Basting marinade. 

Fresh, organic green beans for the Green Bean Casserole. Instead of the usual cream of mushroom soup (which isn't vegan) you make a yummy sauce using chopped fresh mushrooms, seasonings and unsweetened soymilk. Of course you have to use a can of fried onion rings!

This tastes just like I remember a good old fashioned green bean casserole should!

The Cranberry-Carrot Cake hot from the oven. She suggested using a springform pan to make a prettier presentation. I mixed up the Maple-Cream Cheese Frosting according to the directions but it just tasted and had the consistency of the soymilk. Maybe a typo? I added about 3/4 cup powdered sugar and it turned out alot better. After drizzling on the cake I added toasted, chopped walnuts. 

Loved the flavors; the fresh cranberries were a nice, tangy contrast to the sweet frosting. Hubby especially liked it! 

Nov. 30th ~  Last but not least! As I was typing up my post, my son texted me and said "drinkin beer and eatin turkey tonight at my house". Heeheehee. I texted back and said "is that an invitation?" So I better bring something to eat for myself because who knows what else there will be to eat?! I'm going to whip up Wolffie's Fiesta Macaroni Bean Salad from La Dolce Vegan for tonight. 

Wow! What a month! I'm sure December will be just as wild and crazy. I'm getting all of my fall decorations gathered up today while I've got the hubby out in the garage bringing in all of the winter holiday decorations. I think tomorrow will be busy! 

Quick Ginger Carrot Soup~pg. 113; Simple Sassy Soda Bread~pg. 269

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

This bread was quite bland tasting to me. I used 1 1/2 C whole wheat flour and 1 1/2 C white flour when making it. It needs some kind of herb flavor in it. I'll have to add something to it next time.

Whoo! My ginger must have been extra potent-this was spicy! I even reduced the amount of black pepper I used. It was still good though; especially with the Simple Sassy Soda Bread (which had no flavor at all).

Chunky Vegetable Chowder~pg. 120

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

This was a nice, quick soup to throw together; especially when I don't feel like cooking. I used "Better Than Bouillon No Beef Base" for the 2 cups of vegetable stock. It really gives a much more flavorful broth than alot of the other vegetable stocks/broths you buy. I must remember to only use 1/4 tsp. or less of black pepper next time; it's a little spicy. I like it but my husband complains every time. I made a 'big' note by the recipe ingredients! I served it with some Cumin-Spiced Quick Bread (pg. 267) that I had in the freezer topped with Earth Balance margarine, garlic powder and Faux Parmesan and broiled.

Veggie Pot Pie~pg. 153; Merciful Miso Gravy~pg. 182

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Simmering the filling for the pot pie.

I have one of those metal pie rings that you put on the edge of the crust the last 15 minutes of baking so the edges don't get too brown. You can tell I don't like to fiddle around with a "pretty" pie edge; just used the edge of a fork. I have made this pot pie before. I wrote in my cookbook that my husband likes this so I knew it was safe to make again!

Merciful Miso Gravy

Love the flavor of this gravy, will have to use this recipe again.

Roasted Carrot Coconut Soup~pg. 112

This was a light, refreshing soup. The lime juice and lemongrass added a citrusy flavor. I have never seen fresh lemongrass in my grocery store so I used 3/4 tsp. dried. I have a gallon jar of dried lemongrass which I use when I'm making my herb teas. I also had some turnip left over from something we made last week so I added a cup of diced turnip to my roasting vegetables. And the soup has my favorite ingredient~cilantro! I know how Joel loves cilantro; I'm sure he'll use extra (or maybe not!!)

Country Turnip Carrot Soup

From The Garden of Vegan ~pg. 81:

The picture doesn't do this soup justice. It is delicious; especially now that the weather is finally cooling off. It is chock full of turnips, carrots, potatoes and leeks. I served it with "Wolffie's 'Buttermilk' Cornbread" from La Dolce Vegan (my favorite-ever-cornbread). I'm not printing these recipes because you need to buy the cookbook! All of Sarah Kramer's cookbooks are excellent. I use them the most out of all my approx. 50 vegan cookbooks! Alot of the cookbooks use too many ingredients, unfamiliar or hard to find ingredients, are too time consuming or make too many servings so I usually go back to Sarah Kramer's cookbooks! On the days we just make a dessert I'm going to fill in with some of her recipes from her other cookbooks; it takes alot of guesswork out of what to make for supper!

Veggie Goulash~pg. 140

Vegan Culinary Institute La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Bubbling away on the stove!

Sorry it's messy I was hungry!

I added some minced shallots to my chopped onion because I hate to waste food and it looked so lonely in my crisper! I also used a can of tri-blend beans (kidney, pinto, black) instead of just pinto beans. I sprinkled a good helping of No-Salt Shaker (pg. 303) on top and ta-da~ my favorite starch to serve it over~quinoa!

Eat one cup of quinoa (a single serving size), and you’ll consume:

• 220 calories (70 percent carbs, 15 percent fat, 15 percent protein)
• 40 grams of carbohydrates (13 percent daily value)
• 8 grams of protein (16 percent of daily value)
• 3.5 grams of fat (5 percent daily value with no saturated fat)
• A glycemic load (blood sugar spike) of only 18 out of 250
• 5 grams of fiber (20 percent of daily value)
• 20 percent of daily value of folate (various forms of Vitamin B)
• 30 percent of magnesium daily value (beneficial for people with migraine headaches); 28 percent daily value of phosphorous; iron (15 percent); copper (18 percent); and manganese (almost 60 percent)

Quinoa is stocked with life-sustaining nutrients all across the board, including all eight essential amino acids. There are other highly beneficial compounds, vitamins and minerals in this food that the Incas reverently called "chisaya mama" (mother of all grains). www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/stories/quinoa-nutrition-facts