Cooking This Week!

I made a few old favorite recipes this week along with a couple of new ones.

I made this yummy bread for my daughter's family; the grandsons love this. I just bought some more zucchini to make two more loaves.


~ Zucchini Apple Bread ~
Betty Goes Vegan

I had a pound of fresh organic green beans and this recipe I found here. These remind me of my favorite green beans I order at P. F. Chang's. Yum! They could use a little more heat for my taste; a sprinkle of red pepper flakes would be good. 

~ Dry-Sauteed Green Beans ~ 

I served the green beans with another long green veggie-some roasted asparagus; a loaded baked potato and Morning Star Farms BBQ Riblets. 

I've had this cookbook Peas and Thank You for about a year now and I have to admit this is the first recipe I have made out of it. Hmm~I wonder if I have too many cookbooks! It looks like there are lots of delicious recipes; so I'll be trying a few of them soon. 

This smoothie recipe sounded so tasty I had to try it.

Ingredients for smoothie ~ blackberries, lime, basil, ginger and soymilk with stevia to sweeten. It took alot of stevia to sweeten this to my taste. Kind of tart and tangy! 

~ Blackberry Basil Smash Smoothie ~ 

This made enough for two servings so I poured the rest into some popsicle molds for the grandkids. 

Another favorite recipe I like to make is the "Mock Beef & Rice Noodle Toss" from La Dolce Vegan. I have made so many variations of this using whatever veggies I have on hand. The Teriyaki Marinade really brings it all together. I usually end up using all of the marinade and thickening it with a little cornstarch for the sauce. This time I used Gardein Beefless Tips, broccoli and snow peas over quinoa. 

~ Mock Beef & (Rice Noodle) Toss ~

La Dolce Vegan

The lasagna recipe from Chloe's Kitchen is the best! This is the second time I have made this. It's so easy using no-boil lasagna noodles. My brother and his family came to visit the day after I made this. He ate the leftovers and wanted the recipe! I couldn't believe he wanted to make a vegan recipe; I was so thrilled and he wanted to make it for company!

before baking

~ Ooh-La-La Lasagna ~

Chloe's Kitchen

I was so excited to see Beyond Meat chicken at my local Sprouts. They have all the different flavors of chicken but no other products yet. I knew just what I wanted to try it in. Give Them Something Better's cookbook has so many homey, comforting, familiar recipes. I wanted to try the Chicken Stew and Easy Biscuits. 

Easy Biscuits hot from the oven.

 You use whole wheat pastry flour and make them in a muffin pan. They were flavorful but I still like light, airy cut biscuits better. The Chicken Stew tastes just like my grandma's (well, almost!) I should have put the chicken pieces in at the end of cooking because they did get a little spongy but it didn't affect the flavor at all. This makes a big pot of stew; I need to remember to start halving these recipes. 

~ Chicken Stew & Easy Biscuits ~
Give Them Something Better

Now, what to cook for this week?!!

Lentil Stew & Mess O' Greens

It's been a busy week! We welcomed a new granddaughter into the world; little baby Blake Lynn. She joins her big brothers James-3 1/2 and Max 2 1/2. Grandma is going to be busy babysitting! 

I found this Slow-Cooked Lentil Stew recipe in the McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook. So easy to add everything to the Crock Pot and let cook all day. 

Ingredients for the lentil stew. Instead of a vegetable broth it uses 5 cups of V8 juice. 

This makes a Big pot of stew! The first night I served it over some brown rice. The V8 juice gives it a nice hearty flavor. I added 4 cups of chopped spinach for some contrast and extra nutrients. 

The next night I made this recipe for Mess O' Greens from Cookin' Crunk. Collard greens, liquid smoke and turnips.These are really tasty! You let them cook for a good 35 to 40 minutes. 

The Mess O' Greens tasted great with the Lentil Stew and brown rice. I still had some stew left so I put it in the freezer. Three nights of leftovers is too much for me!

This week I also made a favorite cool salad using buckwheat soba noodles.


~ Asian Noodles with Black Vinaigrette ~
from Crazy Sexy Kitchen

I thawed out my previously frozen black beans and made a quick dinner along with some garlic bread.


~ Black Beans ~
from Give Them Something Better

Trying to Get Back to Normal (Whatever That Is)

I did manage to try some new recipes this last week. This month has just flown by it seems. Now I'm fighting another stupid sinus infection which leaves me not wanting to do anything. Onward and upward! I made this tasty soup from The McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook. It makes a big pot of soup using frozen veggies and canned beans. I thought it needed some green so I added a big handful of chopped spinach and some fresh basil. I took this over to my mom and dad's for their supper while my mom is recovering. I served it with some garlic bread. 

Fast Minestrone

My brother and sister-in-law had a Memorial weekend BBQ swim party on Saturday. I brought my veggie dog, cookies and coleslaw. I made my favorite coleslaw from Give Them Something Better. Even my 9 year old nephew loved the coleslaw! I also made these yummy cookies from Meet the Shannons; here is the recipe. I usually like a chewy cookie but these were more of a dry, baked texture like I think of store-bought cookies. Loaded with dried cherries, chocolate chips and walnuts, they're yummy with a cup of hot tea.

Cherry, Walnut & Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made another soup/stew this week. This is from The China Study Cookbook. This one is packed with protein with chickpeas, lentils, bulgur and sweet potato. The cayenne and coriander give it a nice spicy kick.

Zesty Bulgur Stew

I bought too many fresh berries last week and they were going bad so I thought "hey, make a crisp!" I always look in La Dolce Vegan first because I've made just about every recipe out of there. I used the Raspberry Apple Crisp recipe and instead of just raspberries I used a mixture of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. I doubled the recipe and made a big 9x13 pan. We were babysitting the grandsons and they ate a big bowl of it. Yummy! Delicious for breakfast, too.

Berry Apple Crisp

Irish Bean Stew

I love the recipes in The McDougall Quick and Easy Cookbook. Well, they're "quick and easy" and they are low-fat and use no added oils. 

The ingredients for this "stew" are onion, caraway seeds, frozen hash browns, frozen mixed veggies, cabbage, canned white beans and veg. broth. So easy to have everything on hand. You don't even have to defrost the frozen hash browns and veggies. The potatoes help thicken up the stew. I used Better Than Bouillon No Chicken Base and added an extra two cups of broth because it was way too thick. 

Seasoned with some freshly ground pepper and it is yummy! 

Barley Vegetable Stew

Celebrating the start of autumn with a nice hearty stew. This recipe is from Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Robertson. It's so easy to throw everything in the slow cooker in the morning and then I get to smell it cooking all day! I'm glad I was home to watch it because it didn't take 8 hours to cook like the recipe stated. 

A great, big slow cooker full of stew. This filled up my 4 quart size Crock Pot. Lots of yummy veggies, barley and Great Northern beans.

This is definitely a thick, hearty, homey stew. I like my food a little spicier so I added some Tabasco Chipotle Pepper Sauce on top of mine. Perfect with some crusty Italian Herb garlic bread.

Time to make some more Italian Bread Herb Mix. This dried herb mix comes from Herb Mixtures & Spicy Blends. Last Christmas I quadrupled the recipe and packaged bottles up for gifts along with other herby items. 

"Three Sisters" Stew

VegCookbookClub December recipes from Nava Atlas-Vegan Holiday Kitchen:

Squash, corn, and beans~the 'three sisters' in Native American mythology. Love it! I had half a butternut squash left over from the Coconut Butternut Squash Soup I made the other day so this stew was perfect. All of the other ingredients are staples in my kitchen; even the cilantro :)

 

I served my stew over brown rice. You'll notice some extra green surrounding the stew. I had baby bok choy in the fridge that needed to be cooked so I sauteed it with some olive oil and garlic. Yum, it added texture, color and crunch to this dish.

 

 

Southern Skillet Black-Eyed Peas with Quick Buttery Biscuits

VegCookbookClub October recipes from Chloe's Kitchen:

 

 These biscuits were good but next time I'll make my favorite biscuit recipe from La Dolce Vegan, 'Basic Baking Powder Biscuits'. They have a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar that helps them rise.

 

Hubby loved these blackeyed peas. It was really like a stew to me. Really good for dipping the biscuits in. I know it must have been good because he said I could make this one again!

Irish Stew and Oat Bread

I made the oat bread for my LDV challenge and wanted something easy to go with it. I had made the stew a couple of weeks ago and had put the rest of it in the freezer. When I made it I had forgotten that it seemed to keep growing as I added ingredients! Next time I make this I'll cut the recipe in half. The recipe is here:  http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2009/03/irish-white-bean-and-cabbage-stew.html

Even though it's hot and humid outside this stew and bread reminds me that autumn is on its way!

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 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