milky lemon pepper italian broccoli and rice casserole

This casserole has so much flavor, I love it :) Warning: Be careful on the seasonings because a little goes a long long way! And it's so nice when you have everything on hand when you want to create something in the kitchen...

milky lemon pepper italian broccoli and rice casserole
------------------------------
Casserole:
1 recipe for lemon seasoned tofu (added below)
1 recipe for italian seasoned sauce (added below)
32 oz frozen broccoli
2 cups whole wheat rice, steamed with 1 tsp chicken flavored base
roasted vegetable ritz crackers, to top in the casserole dish

Add all ingredients together in a casserole dish and bake at 300 for 15 minutes.

lemon seasoned tofu:
1 package pre-cubed firm or extra-firm tofu OR one package firm or extra firm tofu, drained, and cut into 1" cubes
4T freshly squeezed lemon juice (or store bought)
1T olive oil
1T shoyu
1tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp fresh black pepper

1. Open tofu package and drain excess water, place in a medium sized bowl (or leave it in the tofu package if you're like me and hate making more dirty dishes!).
2. Add all other ingredients and let marinade for as long as it takes your oven to preheat to 350.
3. Put in a small over-safe dish with a lip so the liquid won't spill. Bake for 30 minutes.

italian seasoned sauce:
3 T margarine
3 T whole wheat flour
1 cup original unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 cup vegetable broth
5 T nutritional yeast
hardly-noticeable pinch of nutmeg
hardy-noticeable pinch of dry mustard
generous pinch of spike seasoning
salt and pepper (go lighter on the pepper if you want to allow the pepper in the tofu to be the main pepper source)

1. Melt margarine in a medium saucepan. Add flour and whisk until think. Add broth, milk and nutritional yeast. Once it starts to get to desired thickness, add seasonings.

This seems a little more involved, doesn't it? Well, I felt like it was really easy because there wasn't any chopping or peeling! :) Just a few simple little recipes to make.

compassionate cream of broccoli soup

I have been craving cream of broccoli lately. I have really noticed as I have gotten older just how much I adore soup. It's savable, a good snack, doesn't make you feel weighed down, and is portable....and freezable! I love it. The problem is, I haven't been able to find vegan versions in any of the stores around me, but I have been able to find them online. I just don't love the thought of having to buy some of my groceries online and I didn't want this delicious soup to only be a one-time deal, or even an occasional treat because I had to buy it on the internet. So I decided to try making it on my own (I love finding an excuse to cook...). It was, how shall I put this....totally curbed my craving and is incredibly simple and it makes a generous amount! I have been able to take this to work for a full week every single day and still have some left. Gotta love that.

Even though I don't have pictures up of this yet, I sure hope at least one person tries this out. It's extremely easy. You only have to chop some celery and 1/2 an onion then shred some carrots. The rest is dump and pour and mix and simmer ;) You can deal, right?

cream of broccoli soup
------------------
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 generous cup of shredded carrot
1/2 white or yellow onion, chopped
4 cups frozen broccoli florets
1/2 tsp onion powder
8 T margarine
8 T whole wheat flour
1 - 32 oz vegetable broth or stock container

1 cup of non-dairy milk (I have even used unsweetened coconut milk, and it is still really good)
1 T torn up fresh parsley
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

1. Using about a 5 quart pot, bring enough water to a boil to cover broccoli florets, onion powder, and carrots. Boil until slightly tender. Drain and set aside.
2. Using the same pot, melt margarine and saute onions until translucent and tender. Add 4 T of whole wheat flour. Stir in broth (or stock) n' milk, stirring constantly (I usually whisk here), and add the additional 4 T of flour.
3. Once boiling, let it simmer for about a minute. Mix in broccoli, carrots, celery, parsley, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Cover n' simmer for 30 minutes, or until desired done-ness, stirring occasionally.

creamy healthified mac

I haven't been cooking lately, as I mentioned in my last post. But I did make a grocery list, I did actually go to the store, and I am now officially committed to the next few things I vowed to make! This creamy mac dish was perfect and beyond easy.
I have a hard time with these vegan alternative cheeses these days. Even the ones that are really good, like Daiya and Teese, I still have to have them just the right way otherwise they're too potent.
With this recipe, I decided to take a plunge and let the daiya rule all instead of going against the grain and trying to make the cheddar flavor settle.

Since I work during the week throughout the day, and the husby is home with Jabe, I usually ask what our little guy ate that day. I know that it is hard for Austin to feed Jairus vegan options when he's not vegan himself. But there a lot of vegan choices at our home, so I try to make it easier for him. There have been days where Aus has told me that Jairus ate mac and cheese..from the box...eh! Jairus goes through phases where he really won't eat, so that's generally when Austin does that. As much as I understand it, I get upset at myself for not having vegan mac and cheese around since it seems to be Jairus' staple. I think I will be making this recipe a lot more because when I made it earlier today, Jairus had two large servings. Makes me smile to see him eat so heartily.

creamy healthified mac
-----------------------
2 1/4 cup uncooked whole wheat or regular elbow noodles
* *one package Daiya cheddar shreds
generous pinch cayenne, or any other preference to taste
1/4 t black pepper
1/4 t salt
1/4 t garlic powder
1 t dijon mustard
3 T Bob's Gluten Free flour, or whole wheat flour
2 cups + 2 T unsweetened nut milk of choice
3 T margarine
Garnish: Pepper and dried parsley

1. In a pot, cook noodles. While noodles are boiling, preheat oven to 350 F and add the 3T margarine into a 2 quart saucepan. Once melted, add all other ingredients (except the garnish ingredients), whisking well until cheese is melted. Reduce heat.
2. Drain noodles and pour back into original pot. Add cheese sauce to noodle pot and stir until incorporated.
3. Add mac mixture into a baking dish, sprinkle generously with pepper and dried parsley and bake for approximately 20 minutes.

* *Note: If you can't find Daiya, go ahead and try Teese cheddar cheese. Just shred about 2 cups + a bit extra (maybe a little less than a 1/4 cup) of it to equal the Daiya in this recipe. Both alternatives cheese are delicious.

This is really tasty and extremely easy with only one possibly difficult ingredient to find - the cheese! But honestly, just call your local health food stores before going to see if they carry them. No big deal. So go ahead...try this three step recipe! It's basically just the noodle cook time, then it cooks itself in the oven for 20 minutes.

Another variation: This is something I have done with other mac and cheese dishes before I was vegan. Add peas into the mac mixture and then garnish with halved grape or cherry tomatoes and fresh bread crumbs, along with the parsley and pepper. That was always my favorite :)

I hope you all enjoy!

so sorry to disappoint

I just can't explain it. I guess happiness has gotten the best of me. Lately I haven't wanted to worry about cooking (sad to say). Or cleaning. Or laundry. Or many otherwise important things that I have let take over my life way too heavily. I have since decided to take life down a notch and truly enjoy my family. We enjoy the not occasional, but frequent, eating out-ings due to my lack of goods and leftovers prepared homemade :)

As much as I love and truly truly enjoy cooking (and baking), I have really needed this break from reality and focus on having a better attitude towards a job I have struggled with, among other things. I needed some time to find myself.

Well, I was lost, but think now I am found!

So I now have this grocery list that I sat down and wrote. I took a bunch of recipes that I came up with prior to becoming veg. Because I really enjoyed them then, I thought I could try to veganize the crap out of them to make them my favs again! But here's the thing; I'm nervous! Why oh why am I nervous? Eh. I suppose it's because I've had this really great time with myself and my family recently that it's just downright hard to commit to cooking again! I say "commit" because we all know when you buy the produce, you must use the produce. Am I right??

Kind of silly, I get it. But hey, thought I'd share a bit of honesty. Enjoy!

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
-----------------
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
----------------------------------
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 :)