Vegan MoFo Day 11/ Cheesy Sauce quick post

 Whew this week has just been flying by!  I don't have any recipes for you today this is just a quick post. 

Keaton went back to school today.  He still can't hear out of both ears but he made it through.

Carrots, celery, golden beet, apples, cucumber juice

For dinner I made something really quick.  Didn't feel like cooking.

I made a cheezy sauce (the nacho recipe subbed roasted bell pepper for the pimentos).

I poured the sauce over an organic russet potato and organic broccoli.

The cool thing about this sauce is that the only fat comes from the cashews(high in magnesium), nutritional yeast( is a complete protein and full of b-vitamins).  So you can have what may look like a non-nutritional, fat laden, artery clogging sauce... but it isn't!  Yum!

Back tomorrow with a GF-chocolate chip cookie

Houseboat and Viva Vegan/Peruvian Seitan and Potato Skewers

Hi everyone!  I was trying to post the other day but something was going on with my blog and it just didn't work out.  I'm here now!  I hope you are all off to a great summer.  4th of July is coming up, do you all have plans?  My in-laws are coming up again this year to watch the fireworks with us.  Our town has a parade and then some good bands that play before the fireworks.

We have been back from the family reunion housboat trip about a week now.  We had a nice time.  It was only like 104-107 degrees out. lol!   Acually that isn't bad because we have been houseboating in the middle of July and that's when it doesn't even cool off very much at night. My father-in-law made some awesome margarita's that I will post soon.   Here are a few pic's, I'm waiting on everyone else's pic's because we couldn't stay the whole week. 

Looking out from the front of our boat to the back of the "old people's boat" as we called it! lol!  Those "older ones" can put down some drink I tell you! 

Cleo hanging out!  First day we found a place to anchor she was non-stop in the water.  She was pooped out the next day.

 

I couldn't wait to make another recipe from Viva Vegan and the Peruvian Seitan and Potato Skewers were calling to me.  These are so good!!!  I made the Red Seitan recipe from the book and used up 3 out of 4 loaves from it for the skewers.  The seitan recipe is really easy to make and it made 12 skewers.  For the skewers I found these small cherry size potato's at Trader Joe's that worked perfectly.  The marinade for these skewers is delicious!  Next time I will kick up the heat more, I toned it down for my son.

This is one skewer(kabob) served with the So Good, So Green Dipping Sauce that is also in the book.  Again I will add more heat next go around but we really liked this sauce.  We made some artichokes as well and used the green sauce for dipping the leaves in them.

This sauce makes alot!!!

I had plenty of left over skewers from the night before so for dinner the next night I sauteed up some zucchini slices,a couple of tomatoes, then added the veggies and seitan from the skewers and heated through.  Warmed up some corn tortillas, filled them with the seitan mixture, topped off with avocado, lettuce, green onion and green sauce!  Served with a side of pinto beans. The seitan was really good the next night with all of those wonderful flavors from the marinade. Yum!  Dave commented on how good this was and topped off with the green sauce that he really likes!

My next venture...tamales? 

 I have a couple of girlfriends coming up to visit today.  I better go get ready. 

Until next post..have a wonderful summer day!

Going Primal,new foundation and raw treats

For starters it's been so freakin cold out lately.  Sunny but cold. Burrrrrr! Okay weather report is out of the way.  Moving on....Primal Strips.

I have been given the chance to sample Primal Strips meatless jerky. They are Non-GMO, vegan/kosher, no msg and made from seitan/soy/shitake mushroom.  They are high in protein while being low in calories and fat.  They come in 6 different flavors as you can see.  My favorites are the Mesquite Lime, Hickory Smoked and Terriyaki.  The first time I packed one in my son's lunch he came home from school telling me that his friends all really liked it.   I know they all share their food with each other but I didn't realize so many of them would want to try it.  So you could say these are kid approved! These are perfect for travelling, hiking or biking.  Just throw them in a pack and you are set! 

I've been inspired by Katie at Chocolate-Covered Katie , it started with her raw fudge "babies". I know it sounds weird if you don't know what I'm talking about but they consist of a few raw ingredients that are blended up and rolled into a fabulous treat!  Like no bake cookies.  I finally attempted my own and oh they are so good!  These ones taste like an Almond Joy.  Now I know why she is always making these raw treats, they are highly addictive!  A great tasting snack without the added sugar and oil.  Gluten free as well.  I coated some with chocolate so it's like eating a truffle...in my mind! lol! 

1/2 c. raw almonds

1/2 c. medjool dates(pitted)

1/4 c. shredded coconut

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 c. dark chocolate(melted)optional

      In a food processor add almonds and blend until chopped finely, not butter.  Then add the dates, coconut and vanilla.  Take out and roll into balls. 

If you dip in melted chocolate put on wax paper and stick in refrigerater until hardened.  Pack in airtight container.

Tuesday nights I don't usually make a time intensive meal due to Keaton's guitar lessons being in the late afternoon and it's also our night to watch LOST.  You know speaking of LOST, we finally got a little bit of the puzzle answered after all of these episodes!   I also had an exciting moment last night, well for me anyways.  It's when Ben is in the teacher role and writes "ELBA" on the chalkboard, Elba spelled backwards is Able, you know how there is all these secret messages and references in each episode.  Anyways, I was excited I caught it,  if even if it doesn't mean anything.  Bake to the food.   I had a few huge potatoes  sitting in my pantry so that's what we had.  Baked potatoes topped with sauteed swiss chard and mushrooms.  Filling and comforting. Yum!

The other day at New Frontiers, our local health food store, I found my new favorite foundation.  It's EMANI Minerals.  I've been preferring the liquid foundations over the powdered ones, so it's nice to find more of them out there.  It's always so hard to find a new foundation that works, you know?  So while I was at the store and I rubbed some of the foundation on top of my hand to try it out and when I got home to wash my hands I couldn't tell that there was any foundation on it.  I mean, it blended in so well!  I went back the next day to purchase some before we went out with some friends and it feels so light on the skin.  It doesn't feel like you have any foundation on at all.  It is a light to medium coverage.  It is also vegan and gluten free! This color is the Oyster Beige.  My skin is lighter during the winter months so I'll have to go to the medium color during the summer.  Check it out! 

Cruelty Free Sheppard's Pie

What a treat this actually was. This turned out so tasty I couldn't stop eating it. Maybe it was the mashed potatoes, I just can't put a stop to eating those mashed potatoes! Sheppherds Pie, it's not just about dumping ingredients into a casserole dish and then topping them off with potatoes, it has to be tasty! This is my recipe for a warm and tasty pie!

CRUELTY FREE SHEPHERDS PIE

Filling:

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil or more

1 Large Onion, finely diced

3 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped or minced

*8 oz. package Veggie Crumbles

2 1/4 C. cooked lentils

3/4 tsp dried Rosemary, crushed

1 tsp. dried thyme

8 oz. pack crimini or baby bella mushrooms, finely chopped

2 1/2 Cups Vegetable Broth

1 1/2 T.Arrowroot Powder or cornstartch

1 cup or more frozen green peas

Salt & Pepper to taste

Topping:

About 4 Large (Russet) Potatoes & 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

Non-dairy milk and Earth Balance or olive oil for mashing.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.

In a med-large pot boil potatoes, drain and mash as you do for mashed potatoes.

In a large cast iron pan or sauce/stockpot heat oil and add the chopped onion. Stir the onion frequently until it is soft add garlic and stir for a minute or so more. Next add the veggie crumbles, herbs and mushrooms, cook until mushrooms are soft and cooked. Stir in lentils and cook until combined. Next add vegetable stock mixed with arrowroot or cornstarch, heat to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer and cook for another 15 minutes. Stir in frozen peas and finish off by adding salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble, use a deep medium sized casserole dish. Pour in the filling and top of with spoonfuls of mashed potatoes and smooth out with a spatula. Cover and heat in the oven for about 20 – 30 minutes at this time it should be bubbling around the edges. Take cover off and let the top brown a bit for 10-15 minutes.

*You can also eliminate veggie crumbles and use more lentils and mushrooms.

Green Curry with Vegetables

For those busy days and not alot of time to make dinner, sometimes a jar of sauce on hand does the trick. You can still lightly saute fresh vegetables and then pour in the sauce. I'm really not into premade sauces and I have to say I only have this one in the pantry every once in a while. It's Trader Joes Thai Green Curry Sauce. It's actually pretty good and has a nice kick to it. The veggies I used were sweet potato, russet potato, red bell pepper, snow peas & brocolli. A half block of tofu and the brown rice is under there somewhere. Enjoy!

Seitan Cutlets with Mushroom Ragu,mashed potatoes and sauteed greens

Valentines is about sharing a great meal and spending quality time with the ones you love. Oh, and a nice glass of wine or a bottle, I prefer the later.

To our surprise my husband arrived home from work early and he suggested we go into town to walk around a bit before dinner, so we bundled up and headed on out. This actually was perfect timing because the french bread dough was on it's second rise.

Before dinner we had a little entertainment. My sons Valentine gift to his dad was playing a song from a band my husband likes, we had set up the music/office room with candles and my son played his guitar while I sang. That was a lot of fun.

Next it was dinner and was it amazing if I do say so myself. hee hee.

I made seitan cutluts from VCON, smothered in a mushroom ragout(from Emeril on the green channel) if you love mushrooms as much as we do you will love this! I did add a bit of Marsala wine to give it a deeper flavor. I put this on a bed of mashed potatoes and a side of sauteed greens. Served with a salad and homemade french bread. It looked and tasted like a meal from a nice restaurant. I was very pleased with myself as well as my family was, as there was not one morsel left on their plates. I will definitely make this for dinner guests.