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!!!

Vegetarian/Vegan Mexican bake with Quinoa.

My Son was recently at a youth program. I made a dish to help with the feeding of all the pre-teen monsters. The recipe was apparently a hit, and after testing the leftovers when he got home, I have now made it again, and again! it was adapted from this recipe. I didn't add as much spice as the original called for and as usual played around with the measurements a bit. :) here is my version.

• 2 1/4C veggie broth
• 1C uncooked Quinoa
• 15 oz can black beans
• 1 1/2 C frozen corn kernels
• 16 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1/2C chopped red peper
• 1/2C chopped green pepper
• 1/2 med onion
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 1T chili powder
• 1/2t salt
• 1t ground black pepper
• 1t ground Cumin
• 1t oregano
• 1C shredded cheese (optional)

So, I like easy..

throw everything into a crock pot minus the cheese.

turn on high for 2.5 to 3 hours. If you want to set it longer set it on low. I have cooked this for up to 6 hours, and then reheated it the next day and it is just as good!! 

I like to leave the cheese to the side so those who want can add it.

Love cooking once and eating twice.. ( or 3 or 4 times) 

'I will add a photo if I remember to take one next time. :)

crock pot mushroom barley soup

This is a quickie for the lovely Ms. Melly!!
Based on the recipe found here.

I am completely trying to fall back in love with my crock pot.  Here is the Mushroom barley soup I made a full crock of today. Love that I can start it and have it ready when I am. Tonight is a busy one with C.J. and J.T. off to their scouting groups. above web site is filled with vegan crock pot recipies. I am so happy to have found it. The whole cooking one meal for Todd and the kids and then something for me with enough for all the kids to try, is getting a bit exhausting to think about. Most often then not I end up losing out and eating something that maybe I would rather not. So, I'm trying to make mine the main meal and then a little bit of something for Todd. Mostly since chances are the kids will eat what I make for me anyways. so, enjoy, and stick around. I will eventually keep this up a bit more.  ;)

MM MM Mushroom Barley soup in a crock.

• 10 ounces mushrooms ,
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 carrots, 
• 1/4 Med onion 
• 2 stalks celery,
• 1/2 cup barley
• 5 cups veggie stock. (I use home made. YUMM!)
• 1 teaspoon thyme (or 2 sprigs fresh thyme)
• salt and pepper to taste

So I like quick and easy for supper. So toss all this in a crock pot. set on low for 6-8 hours. A great filling meal ready when you are. (inexpensive too!!!)

I should add, this came out pretty thick and a bit starchy for me this first go round. so, I would also highly recommend properly soaking and rinsing your barley before hand if you think a head. I made this on a whim today. And upping the stock or adding water. I added about 8 oz of water when I was about ready to serve and let it get good and hot again! 

so, for some bizarre reason my 3 boys do not like sweet potatoes. we have tried giving them to them baked, mashed, fried like fries and chips mixed with other stuff. no go, they ran if you mentioned them. Weird right?!? At our local farmers market we buy these huge sweet potatoes One would easily feed the 6 of us. so really besides refrigerating the left over, which is a lot, what do I do with all this sweet potatoe. so, today I decided that there must be a sweet potato muffin or bread I can make. So surfing I went. I found several pages that all had muffins and bread loaded with tons of sugar, not at all what I was looking for. then, I foundit. the answer to my get the kids to eat sweet potatoes with out loading it with sugar prayers. Sweet potato biscuits. the original recipe is at the Ontario sweet potato  Web site. I, Of course, can't resist changing things up a bit, so here is my version...

Ok... and again with the no Photos.. so sorry. will post them when iPhoto loves me again.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

1 C all-purpose flour 1/2C Whole wheat flour 1 T baking powder ½ t. salt 3 T. coconut oil 1 C cooked and mashed sweet potatoes (i didn't peel mine, but do what  works for you) ¼ t. ground cinnamon 1/8 t. ground nutmeg ¼ C Almond  milk In a lg mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.  drizzle the room temp oil into the dry mix. using the back of a fork mix into flour mixture until it's crumbly looking. you could use a pastry knife as well. this worked just fine though. add in sweet potatoes and spices. blend well.  Add milk all at once and stir with fork until mixture comes together. ** note I found this a very wet mixture** Roll out on generously floured surface to ½ inch thickness.  Cut with biscuit cutter or the open end of a drinking glass, which is my usual method.  Arrange on ungreased baking sheet Bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 minutes or until golden and puffed up place on cooling rack. theses little suckers are HOT!! So the kids went crazy for these. they even helped make them J.T. was in charge of the biscuit cutting! so, I will be making these again in the future! I don't mind them eating lots if the nutrition value is there! I think the only thing I would change is next time put the potato's through the ricer so they mix easier.

Pizza bread

YUM. I got this out of a cook book on my shelf that I have had forever. It is called "school Days Lunches"  by Jean Pare. It is from her company's coming series. Great book. Even though we homeschool I live to have easy to make projects for the kids that turn into portable lunches and snacks. Cause homeschooling is not about staying home!! This is a great recipie since it is easy to make vegan. (I generally make a vegan version) I will present it here as I make it and put the extras that I don't use in brackets.
Please pardon I have no photo's on here.. iPhoto is being a royal pain in my ass and I will get those up wen I figure out what the issue is!!!


1T coconut OR olive oil.
1C chopped onion
2 garlic cloves (org. calls for 1. we LOVE garlic...)
2t Paprika (I often skip this if I don't have it)
1/2t Pepper
(3/4C chopped Pepperoni slices)
1/2 C all purpouse flour
1C whole wheat flour
(really any combination of flour will do. Just need to make sure you have 1 1/2 Cups in there... i tend to try to use more whole wheat)
2t baking powder
1/4t salt
4 egg replacers (or 4 eggs)
3/4 C nutritional Yeast  (or 3/4C parmesan Cheese)
1/2C tomato sauce
1/3 C coconut oil in liquid state (OR hard margrine or butter melted)
3/4t dried Oregano (OR if you super lucky and have some fresh, I would totally do that. so 1T chopped)

You also need; a frying pan, a small mixing bowl, a LG mixing bowl, and either a 22cm (9") greased round pan or a greased muffin tin.

Ok I know that list looks long, but I promise these are super easy and you can substitute the extra's you don't like.

As a side note to the Oregano, I I happen to not have enough I just wing it with what ever spices smell good that day.

so, your going to take that first bit of coconut (or what ever cooking oil you are using) and heat it in your fry pan.
in the pan add your onion and cook until softened. then add in the Garlic, Paprika if your using it and pepper. Just heat it until it smells yummy (about 2 mins)
if you are using the pepperoni. add it now and cook until browned.  then transfer to your smaller bowl to cool. if not, then transfer and cool.

Hey! this is a great time to make a tea while everything is cooling. Or do something really exciting like throw in a load of laundry... Yeah, I'll stick with the tea too...

Preheat your oven to 375.

Put the flour, baking powder, and salt in the Lg bowl and make a well in the centre. add your cooled mixture from your small bowl into your well in the lg bowl, and then add in the last 5 ingredients.

I find this mixture very wet. so if your used to making bread be ready for it. I also find it mixes better when you flour your counter top and give it a quick knead. although the book says just to stir until moist. I found stirring left it not well mixed.

This is also a great time to add your extra pizza toppings you may like. I loved a few handfuls of mushrooms and black olives (rinsed and drained!) Just add until it looks good in the dough. go crazy!!

Now you can either dump it into your round pan or put it into your muffin tins. I fill my muffin tins about 2/3 of the way. This way they are a great size for small hands and make cute sandwiches if you chose to stuff them.
toss them in the oven and let them bake for about 20 mins. the tops turn a pretty golden colour and your should be able to stick a toothpick or fork through the middle and have it come out nice and clean. I've found the muffins took as long as the round. keep half an eye on them as all oven are different. and some have hot spots.

This recipe freezes awesome (if they last that long).
Hope you enjoy them.