Vegan Alfredo

We made this the other night as per the recipe food on this site. We decided we would adjust it more to our tastes.

I found the original too peppery, Hubby said it was not garlic enough, (I agreed.) JT insisted it needed Parsley. :)

so here is our preferred version.

2T olive oil
4 cloves garlic smashed and minced
2 1/4C almond milk
3-3 1/2C chopped Cauiliflower
3/4t salt
1t peper, oregano, basil
juice of half a lemon. (or 1T lemon juice)
1/4 C and 2T nutritional yeast.
Pinch or 2 of parsley

In med pot, heat oil, and garlic until garlic is turning brown.
add in Almond milk and let com to a boil
Turn down heat. add cauliflower, salt, pepper, oregano, and basil. cook until cauliflower is soft. (8-10 mins)
let cool until safe enough to put in your blender.
blend cauliflower mix with lemon and nutritional yeast until creamy.

stir in parsley.

add over your favourite noodle, or noodle type substitute.

We easily fed 6 with this recipe. But 3 of the 6 are under 10. :) so it is probably a 4 adult meal.

faux red lobster buiscuts. veganized!

so, with my oldest having stomach issues currently. I am looking to perfect a faux red lobster biscuit recipe... dairy free.
ahhh
 so. here is my current work in progress. We shall see how much tweaking is needed!!
we tried it, it is pretty good, but we will be adding more nutritional yeast next time.

2C all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1 T granulated sugar
1 T garlic powder
¾ t kosher salt
½C coconut oil (or butter substitute)
1/4C coconut oil (or butter substitute) 
1C Almond milk
1/4C nutritional yeast
½t  dried parsley

Preheat oven to 450°F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, sugar, garlic and ½ tsp salt.  Whisk until well combined.  Add melted coconut oil and milk and whisk just until flour is all wet, do not over mix.  Add Nutritional yeast and fold in with a spoon.

Drop heaping spoonfuls onto baking sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, until biscuits are golden brown.

Meanwhile melt remaining ½ stick (¼ cup) of coconut oil in small mixing bowl.  Microwave for 5 seconds or until it is melted.  Add ¼ teaspoon salt and parsley.  Stir with pastry brush. 

grab those biscuits out of the oven and give the a brush.

Enjoy!!!

Thinking Ahead

I have been having this idea for quite a while now. I am completely sure I am not the first one to ever do this, but I have a great desire, now that I am looking having a child in their teenage years straight in the face,  to make sure that I am going to be setting them all up to be successful out of the home. (sigh) so I have this idea to put together a book that they can take with them when they go off on their  own world adventure of just the way we do things. I am not talking about lists of rules or anything similar, But more like a guide to recipe's they like, hints and tips. you know stuff so I know they will not be looking in their cupboards and then going for take out and help them keep their clothes clean.

Hubby and I do insist that most of the time the kids go to the grocery store with us.  I was surprised when I was married the first time that my then husband was so unaware of how to shop. And even still his desire to have a freezer full of ready made meals and not cook at all. Or even his lack of appreciation for the time that went into making a meal (burnt or not). Now, I'm not knocking ready made dinners, they do have a time and a place. My current hubby used to be quite happy eating them from time to time. Now he won't touch them, but that is my bad influence. (way over salted!!)

So anyways. short story long, ;) I am planning on (see if I can keep it up this time) getting back here. I do not want a huge page file on my computer and this way in the future, I can grab my labels and print off everything in some sort of order.


<3     Guys, if your reading this in the future, here is your digital version. :)   <3

Home made Oreo Cookies.

Ok, Today I was supposed to be making cupcakes for AJ's birthday party. But the thought was just much to daunting for a night of no sleep, a pounding pressure headache and too much heat outside. So, these seemed like the way to go. Although I'm not sure they were to much less work they were a lot less ingredients. To me, the means less finding and putting away.
The original recipe I used was from "The Cupcake Project" It is an awesome blog that I've been loving and is really what kicked me in the butt to start a new Blog. I've been thinking about it, but it's time for doing.
Anyhow...
I should now mention that I did not do it as the recipe is written there. I'm sure had I, these would have tasted way more like regular Oreos'. However, I don't like sweet. so I cut the sugar in half. So here is the original recipe from the cupcake Project . and here is the version I made today. For the butter in the recipe,  I cheated and set mine in a glass bowl outside in the 35 degree Celsius heat for 5 mins, so the butter was plenty warm and the bowl was to. so it softened up really nice with a fork.


The Cookie

• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened Cocoa
• 1t Baking soda
• 1t Baking powder
•  1/4 t salt
• 1C sugar ( I used Raw sugar)
• 1/2C + 2T butter (room temp or softer)
• 1 lg egg

Mix flour, Cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl. 

soften the butter in bowl with the back of a fork and add egg. mix and then add to flour mixture.

combine the two together until you get a mass of dough. 

Roll 1teaspoon pieces of the dough into balls then squish them onto a lined baking sheet (you want them fairly flat.)  And really one teaspoon is enough trust me. lol

Bake these off for 9 mins in a pre-heated 375 degree oven theses will burn fast. pay attention!! Cool on a rack. I strongly suggest letting them either sit on the sheet until they start to cool or just lift the whole sheet (I used Wax paper) and set that on top. Trying to move them before they are ready will result in lots of broken cookies!!

The filling... MMMM

• 1/2 cup  minus 2 T of butter (room temp or softer)
• 2T of coconut oil
• 1C confectioners sugar
• 2t of vanilla extract

Put Butter coconut oil and Vanilla extract in a bowl. Using a mixer blend together adding the sugar a little at a time until you get a nice fluffy icing. If you want it stiffer add more sugar. (Original recipe calls for 1 more cup). Now.. try to keep your fingers out or you will run out before you fill your cookies!!

Grab 2 cookies halves of completely cooled cookie that are close to the same size and put a spoonful (teaspoon or so) amount on the bottom side of the cookie. get your other half and put it on. Give the top a little 1/4 turn to help cover the whole cookie in filling and voila! enjoy.

review

CJ loved the cookie part but the filling, not so much. I think he would have liked it better with all the sugar in it. JT and AJ loved them and asked for more. I'm a big fan. But think that they would stay together better with more sugar. But that's not important enough for me to put it all in. I may try some though with it all just to see the difference. Maybe do a batch half and half.  I took some over to my trusty taste testing neighbours so I'll see what they think when they get home. Todd I'm sure will be into them right when he gets home from golfing this afternoon. I'm pretty sure they will be a hit with him. He, like me, isn't to into the sweet and is a fan of Vanilla which you can definitely taste in the filling. I was a little concerned the coconut oil taste would show up too much, but you don't really notice it. The vanilla definitely over powers it. Maybe swap out more butter for it next time.
Update;
Todd thought they were really good, and the neighbours (Angela and Erin) told me I was awesome. (that could partly be because they came home to treats already sitting on their counter.)  I told them I only used half the sugar and they replied that they were sweet enough for their tastes to. Angela's 6 year old apparently loved them to.