Sarah's Chili-con-Bulgur~pg. 163

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I forgot how good this chili is! It makes a large quantity so we've got leftovers for another meal.

 

The bulgur adds alot of meaty bulk to the chili. One note-next time I make this I won't add the 1/4 tsp. salt. It's salty enough with the vegetable stock and the 1/4 cup of tamari. I served the chili with the best cornbread in the world~Wolffie's 'Buttermilk' Cornbread from La Dolce Vegan.

Chocolate-Walnut Loaf~pg. 240

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I started off this morning making a late breakfast of Freedom French Toast from LDV topped with applesauce and maple syrup~mmm mmm.

 

Then it was off on a bike ride. It feels great easing back into being active again after my back surgery. I then decided to make this decadent chocolatey loaf. It is moist and yummy and is on my "make again" list.

 

 

After baking this delicious loaf it was time for a swim at my brother and sister-in-law's house. They live just around the corner from me. We had a great time with our 'water therapy'; it's a nice, safe environment to float around and talk about life!

 

By the time I got home and visited with my mom who lives across the street I realized it was too late for lunch (good excuse) so I had a slice of chocolate-walnut loaf. So it's on to making dinner now!

Cousin Natasha's Everything But the Kitchen Sink Vegetable Curry~pg. 143

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Still trying to finish up a few dishes from my La Dolce Vegan Challenge which I started a little over a year ago. I've made this recipe before and my hubby thought it was a little too spicy; so I adjusted the curry powder and cayenne just for him. Of course, then I had to add a little sriracha sauce to mine! Now I've found a new cookbook challenge: VegCookBookClub They choose a vegan cookbook to cook out of for a month. Since I have about 50 vegan cookbooks I thought this should work. :) This month the club chose The Vegan Slow Cooker by Kathy Hester. I admit I went out and bought a 2 qt. and 4 qt. slow cooker since I only had a large 6 qt. Most of her recipes are cooked in a 4 qt. There are no set recipes to cook, you just choose some and then post a pic and comment. It's nice to read the reviews of some of the recipes everyone tries. So that's next on my list. Just got to get to the grocery store so I can make my first slow cooker recipe!

Curry simmering on the stove~smells delicious! This recipe is great because just like the title says you can throw everything but the kitchen sink in it. I subbed out the red pepper for a green and the zucchini for a large yellow summer squash. Can't wait to try some more variations.

 

 

Served my curry over some couscous!

The Battle of the Vegan Ranch Dressings

Just got Cookin' Crunk by Bianca Phillips from Vegan Crunk in the mail! My hubby is at the football game and I'm just sitting around watching random movies on TV. I was craving some veggies and ranch dip so I thought I'd try out her recipe for vegan ranch.

 

I followed the recipe for making it a thicker dip and not the dressing by leaving out the soy milk and vinegar. It should have said decrease the salt also because 1/4 tsp. salt is way too much for the dip. Duh, I should have figured that out for myself but didn't.  I added a tsp. of vanilla coconut creamer to sweeten it a little. Sorry, this ranch recipe lost. The winner so far is Veganize This! Ranch Dressing .

Roasted Holiday Vegetables~pg. 194

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Don't wait for a holiday to try these roasted veggies~they're too good to wait! The molasses and cinnamon makes these smell great while cooking.

Served my roasted veggies with my favorite  Kale Salad (I added some yellow sweet mini peppers in the salad this time) and Morning Star Farms Hickory BBQ Riblets. I like to keep some convenience foods in the freezer to help me round out a meal or just when I don't feel like cooking!

Siue's Chocolate Chocolate Brownie "Cheesecake"~pg. 243

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I was craving something sweet and chocolatey so I thought I'd make one of the desserts I hadn't tried yet from the LDV challenge. I had all the ingredients so it was easy to whip up and bake.

Unfortunately this is not a dessert I could serve to guests. I baked it for the required time and chilled it in the fridge but it still had a thick, puddingy, chewy texture. I had to scoop it out with a spoon to eat it. Even though the consistency wasn't good, I still ate it! It was sweet and chocolatey but not the 'cheesecake' I was looking for. Wolffie's Pumpkin Tofu 'Cheesecake' on page 244 is much better. Of course this morning I have a sugar hangover and headache~ugh!

Red Lentil Pasta~pg. 137

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Great dinner tonight~loved this recipe and so easy! I substituted the cashews for toasted pine nuts. Yum. I served the sauce over spelt udon noodles. I love soba and udon noodles and I haven't been able to find any vegan noodles in any of the four grocery stores I checked. So I finally got online at https://www.edenfoods.com/ and ordered a sampler pack of different types of udon and soba noodles and one big package of 100% buckwheat soba noodles. I love using those in Sarah's recipe for Seaweed Soup (LDV pg. 104). That's for lunch today using the leftover noodles!