happy vibes

I feel so good. I haven't had any time for myself for months now. What did I do with my time? Well, hung out doin' stuff in my kitchen of course! I didn't do a ton, but I had myself a cooking/cleaning/dance party.

I pulled up my favorite website for music - pandora.com. I made some cookies, which I have been craving for far too long, it's shameful...really. And also strange considering I have never really loved cookies. I made some more sauce for leftover hawaiian haystack stuff, except I changed it by adding in 2 tsp maca powder (so good for you in so many different ways!). I'm kind of terrible at eating leftovers when not everything is there. I cut up some overripe bananas to put in the freezer for "ice cream" during the week. Yes, I plan on posting recipes for these things when it's not 1:00 AM. Oh! And...I cleaned my own dishes! It's a miracle.

I admit, I am the culprit of all my husband's chores - dishes.

He used to joke when we first got married that he would be the dishwasher, now I think he has swallowed those words whole. More like choked on them. Hard. *Please! Don't pity him* He's fine, that's his one task to do around the house, so he's all right. He's a good husby. I show him gratitude by making delicious baked goods and tasty dishes :)

Anyway...I just had to mention how good of a night I had all by myself doing exactly what I wanted to do while knowing my little guy was upstairs sound asleep dreaming of whatever happy little boy things might be.

shepherd's pie - mushroomized

I admit, the picture...not so enticing, I get it. It looks like mush in a bowl? Meaty mush. I know.

Think again. It.is.so.tasty! I made it a bit runnier because I love liquidy casserole dishes, full of flavor! The husby wanted to make a bowl immediately after taste testing for me. That is saying a lot - for those who read my personal blog, you know that I struggle to feed my guy. He's just not an eater. He useta could eat a-ny-thing! Now...phh, just get him a 24 pack of sprite through the year and some egg nog during the holidays and he's all set! That just doesn't fly with me :) I like knowing I gave my guy a well balanced, fill-your-tummy, meal! I just do, it's in my nature. So, you can imagine my happiness when he asked me if we he could make some up for himself! That is a huge compliment when I adore cooking so much and he hardly eats any of it. A true success!

shepherd's pie
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3 T earth balance margarine
4 large russet potatoes, scrubbed clean under lukewarm water, then chopped into large pieces (you can peel, if you don't like the skins. Remember, though, extra minerals are a plus!)
1/2 cup original soymilk (or anything other nut milk), plus additional tbsp's as needed
1 bag of morningstar farms burger crumbles
2 cans campbell's mushroom gravy (if you don't like it as runny as mine, maybe try a 1/4 cup veg broth with 2 T garbanzo bean flour or 1 T cornstarch over medium high heat to thicken, then add to other 1 can of mushroom gravy)
1 can organic peas, drained
1/2 of 1 large carrot, chopped
1 - 7oz can of sliced mushrooms

Seasonings:
1 tsp meat and poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
pinch (seriously, just a smidgen) of cayenne pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. In a large pot, boil the potatoes for 20-30 minutes. You want them to be very tender for mashing them up later.
3. While the potatoes are boiling, mix the burger crumbles, gravy, mushrooms, peas, carrots, n' spices. Pour into 13 x 9 casserole dish. Easy peasy! How's that for slaving over a hot can opener? ;)
4. Drain potatoes and place in a medium bowl. Using a hand mixer, mash potatoes with margarine and soymilk.
5. Top the crumble mixture in the casserole dish with an even spread of divinely mashed potatoes, making sure to get all the way to the edges!
5. Bake 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are starting to get a bit browned.

See? I like it runny. That Campbell's mushroom gravy is the devil, though! I'm a mushroomaholic, so it's my vise. (Shh, don't tell my dad that, it'll make him rethink his ways when I was a kid, lol. All those years shoving them down my throat while I would refuse. It was just a front I put on.)

Enjoy!

my version of momma's hawaiian haystacks

Hands down the most unusual mix of things that turns out the easiest and most convenient and most addicting concoction ever! This was a tradition in my house growing up and sadly, I haven't indulged enough in it for the past few years. I have created a delicious substitute for cream of chicken just so I could enjoy this once again!

momma's hawaiian haystacks
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cooked brown rice
crunchy chow mein noodles
pineapple tidbits in 100% pineapple juice
mandarin oranges in naturally sweet mandarin orange juice

toppings to choose from:
diced tomatoes
peas
olives
green onions
black beans (or whatever)
chopped green onions
bell peppers
carrots
shredded cheese
green beans
corn

cream of chicken sauce:
1 3/4 cups water
5 T garbanzo bean flour (add additional tsp's if necessary)
3 T no chicken base bouillon
2 T juice from the can of mandarin oranges
1 T juice from the can or pineapple tidbits

1. Since garbanzo bean flour is easier to work with as a thickener than cornstarch, arrowroot, or xantham gum, go ahead and add all sauce ingredients to a medium saucepan, stirring with a whisk constantly over medium high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook over medium for about 2 minutes or until you reach desired thickness.
2. Add more flour if you want a thicker sauce.

To serve, add a layer of brown rice, cream of chicken sauce, then toppings of choice. Bare in mind, there are plenty of toppings you can come up with, but make sure to use the mandarin oranges and pineapple tidbits to garnish. It adds the perfect hawaiian flavor!

Note to parents: your kids will love this if you place all toppings on the table and let them choose what they get to put in their bowls to eat :)

egg nog pudding - or any other pudding!

This is scrumptious. Like heaven in your mouth. That is, if you like egg nog ;)

egg nog pudding
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1/3 cup turbinado sugar
3 T plus 1 tsp garbanzo bean flour
1/8 tsp fine sea salt
2 cups soy egg nog
1 tsp vanilla emulsion (or extract)
nutmeg

1. Mix sugar, salt, n' 1 cup of egg nog in a medium saucepan.
2. Whisk remaining 1 cup of egg nog with garbanzo bean flour in a small bowl.
3. Turn stove to medium high heat. Add in flour mixture, whisking constantly. Once heated through, reduce heat to low-medium, stirring constantly until thickened.
4. Remove from heat n' add vanilla. Let cool for about 10 minutes. Pour in a bowl, cover with saran wrap pressed down to touch the top of the custard, store in fridge for about 2 or 3 hours before serving. You want to make sure you press the saran wrap down in order to prevent a hard layer on your pudding mixture.

To serve, layer in a mason jar or any dish of choice with graham crackers or gingersnap cookies. Top with a smidgen of nutmeg or go with soy whipped cream topped with nutmeg and more graham cracker crumbs.

If you haven't already thought of it, I am just going to state the obvious here; try going with any other types of nut milk instead of using egg nog for a year round dessert! This would be killer with coconut milk (not canned, I'm talking about the stuff you see right with the almond and soy milk these days mmMmmmMMm!) I have made it with vanilla almond milk and used less vanilla emulsion, but added in different extracts before. It's really incredible. Always use a different crumble to compliment the flavor. Mint pudding would go well with shortbread cookies, coconut pudding would be delicious with some type of lemon cookie. Just go wild!