Mexican Lasagna

I made this last night but we had an interesting night and I never got around to blogging about it.... so I'm trying to make up for it tonight. The interesting night consisted of finding out my heathen daughter is going to have a baby and get married (hopefully not in that order). It was a surprise to say the least. Blogging about my wonderful cooking was the last thing on my mind as you can imagine. :)

Heathen daughter and her intended are not following a plant-based diet so I wanted to make something that I think most anyone would love - plant-based or not. Mexican Lasagna to the rescue! :)

I've probably made this dish more times in the last 4 months, since we started our plant-based journey, than any other dish. We all just love it. Heathen son told me I could make it every single week and he'd be fine with that. I haven't done that yet but I do always try to keep the ingredients on hand just in case we get a craving for it.

It seems that food with a Mexican flare works really well on a plant-based diet. We can throw together some black beans, corn, cilantro, cumin and chili powder - roll it up in a whole wheat tortilla and we're good. This isn't quite that easy but it's not too far off.

I start off with the usual -- sauteed onions and bell peppers in some veggie broth. I also added some garlic and a grilled hatch green chili I got from the Farmers' Market last weekend.



Then I added some TVP (textured vegetable protein) crumbles, chili powder and cumin along with a can of drained and rinsed black beans and some fresh cilantro. I intended to add some corn but forgot. Oh well, next time. Now this would have been great rolled up in a tortilla, too, but I had other plans for it.



I thinly spread some fat free refried beans on 6 corn tortillas to cover the bottom of a 9x13 glass baking dish. You really have to do this one tortilla at a time. If you laid them in the dish first and then tried to spread the beans on them it could get ugly.



I added a layer of half the veggie bean mixture to cover the tortillas.


Then add another layer of tortillas with the refried beans.



Then add the rest of the veggie bean mixture, top it with a cup of your favorite salsa (I really like Pace's Texas White Bean Salsa -- yummy!). You can add chopped tomatoes, too, if you like. Sweet hubby doesn't like tomatoes so I only put it on half. Your baking pan is going to be really full and heavy!



Finally, add one last layer of tortillas (you'll need 18 in all), top it with a can of red enchilada sauce, cover it with foil and bake it at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.


I served this with some brown rice mixed with a little salsa and dinner was complete. It served 5 of us for dinner and there was plenty left over for heathen son and sweet hubby to have some for lunch today, too.

Give it a try. You'll see! :)

- Posted by Jennifer

Location:Home, Sweet Home

Pot Pie Appreciation

We had some wonderfully cooler days this weekend -- even hit freezing overnight. The days were so sunny and wonderful though it was hard to complain too much. Perfect October weather, I'd say.

Even though it's still fairly warm this evening, this time of year puts us in the mood for cooler weather food. I've already posted a blog on my attempt at making veggie pot pies (a very successful attempt at that!).

Since heathen son is thinking of spending Thanksgiving with his Aunt Karen and Uncle Jeff in Hanna -- and since they don't eat a plant based diet -- he was thinking I could teach him how to make the pot pies and then he could cook for them while he was there and, at the same time, ensure that he would be able to eat, too. Pretty good planning for an 18 year old boy, I thought.

Then his sweet girlfriend called and asked if he'd like to go out to dinner with her and he jumped at the offer, leaving me to make pot pies by myself. :) Oh well... I still love it that he thought about it and we have a few more weeks before Thanksgiving so maybe he'll get another chance. We'll see.

The pot pies are still in the oven but I think they're going to be just as good as they were last time. If you like this kind of hearty comfort food (and who on earth doesn't?), I definitely urge you to give it a try.

I made two separate pot pies again this time -- one adapting my usual chicken pot pie recipe using LightLife's chicken style veggies strips. Here's a picture of the filling while I was waiting for it to thicken up after adding the whole wheat flour.


The other is a veggie pot pie and this time I used broccoli, peas, carrots, potatoes and one of my new favorites -- delicata squash. I can't wait to try that one! It was so pretty putting it together, too. Here's all the veggies before I added the veggie broth and whole wheat flour.




Once the fillings thickened up I just poured them into the waiting pie shells, topped them both with freshly blended bread crumbs and a little paprika and put them in a 400 degree over for 35 minutes. They should be ready to come out in about 5 minutes... just in time for dinner. :) Yum!



Here's the full recipe (I only made one veggie pot pie so I halfed this one) in case you want to give it a try:

Makes two pies, 12 or more servings
• 8 medium potatoes
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 3 cups diced vegetables of your choice
(choose 3 or 4 from among cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, leeks, peas, corn kernels, zucchini, yellow summer squash, mushrooms, kale, etc.)
• 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour or 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose seasoning blend (such as Spike or Mrs. Dash)
• 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
• Two 9-inch prepared good-quality whole wheat pie crusts
• 1 cup fine whole grain bread crumbs
• Paprika for topping
Cook or microwave the potatoes in their skins until done. Dice half of them and mash the other four coarsely. Set aside until needed.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Saute the onion in a little veggie broth over medium heat until golden. Add the vegetables of your choice, layering quicker-cooking vegetables like peas, corn, and zucchini over longer cooking ones like cauliflower, broccoli, etc.. Add a bit of broth; cover and cook until the vegetables are tender but not overdone, about 5 minutes.
Sprinkle the flour into the skillet, then pour in the stock. Add the nutritional yeast. Cook for a minute or two, stirring constantly. until the liquid thickens. Stir in both the diced and mashed potatoes. Heat through gently. Stir in the seasoning blend, thyme, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the mixture into the pie crust and pat in.
Sprinkle the bread crumbs evenly over each pie, then top with a sprinkling of paprika. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the crust is golden. Let the pies stand at room temperature for 10 minutes or so, then cut into wedges and serve.

- Posted by Jennifer

Location:Home, Sweet Home

Breakfast Casserole

Obviously I don't normally have the time to cook anything for breakfast. On this cold, somewhat lazy (we were up before 6:30) Saturday morning, however, I had time.

So, when the heathen son mentioned he was hungry for something hot and oatmeal wasn't going to cut it, I told him I'd see what I could come up with. I mentioned that I'd seen a lot of recipes for tofu scrambles but they'd never really appealed to me. None of us are big tofu fans so I'm sure that's the reason. I told him I had some frozen hashbrowns so perhaps I could do something with those. His eyes lit up. Then he said it would be great if I had some of the "Gimme Lean" vegan sausage and I could make some kind of breakfast casserole with that and the hashbrowns. That's when I told him I DID have some of the Gimme Lean. You should have seen his eyes then. It was pretty cute. :)

So off to the kitchen we went.

First thing I did was saute some red onions in a little veggie broth...



I'm still amazed at how easy it is to cook without using oil.

Then I added the sliced Gimme Lean sausage...



And chopped it up in the pan as it cooked...



I added a little garlic and some fennel seeds to give it even more of a sausage flavor but I didn't add any other spices.

I steamed a couple of cups of broccoli florets and made sure the frozen hashbrowns were separated instead of in clumps. Added that to the sausage onion mixture...



Then I put it all in a 9x13 glass baking dish I'd lightly sprayed with Pam and topped it with a layer of bread crumbs. The bread crumbs came about because I'd accidentally left some bread we'd had at dinner in the oven overnight. It was so hard the next morning when I discovered it that I almost threw it away but then it dawned on me I could throw it in the blender and get some really good bread crumbs. Worked like a charm!



I cooked it in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes and this is what it looked like when it came out.




Sweet hubby and heathen son both declared this a big winner. Hubby said he'd like it for breakfast, lunch or dinner - he didn't care which. We all had two good size servings and there's still a bit left so it makes a good batch.



Now I'm thinking I could substitute squash for the broccoli next time and that would be yummy... or I could substitute brown rice for the hashbrowns and have a really good broccoli rice casserole. Maybe add a little daiya cheese (which we use only sparingly) even. Oh, the possibilities. :)

Who knew a plant-based diet would be so versatile? :)

- Posted by Jennifer

Location:Home, Sweet Home

Super Soup!

It was 70 degrees when we left the house this morning but, within a couple of hours, the temps had dropped down into the 50s. Fall made its official arrival a few weeks ago but our weather just caught on. And that can only mean one thing --- soup for dinner! Hooray! :)

My wonderful next door neighbor shared this recipe recently. First she brought a small sample (which I scarfed down in no time) and then I had to twist her arm to share the recipe. Well, I didn't twist too hard. And, of course, I didn't actually follow the recipe so it has my own twist. :)

I've got to admit I've eaten quite a few things in the last few months since we switched to a plant-based diet that had never even been in my house before. Some I've liked... some not so much. For instance, none of us even care if we ever see another parsnip. :) This recipe called for millet and we've all decided that millet is A-OK with us. However, I was out of millet today (I did use it the first time I made this soup though!), I did have some quinoa and I was sure that would do in a pinch. I was right! And while I've had cauliflower many times, I'd never had it in soup before so that was new as well.

Like most all of the recipes I've been making lately, this one starts with saute-ing (how DO you spell that?) some chopped up veggies. As usual, I had some bell peppers and onions chopped up but I also had some leeks from a recipe I made earlier this week (that was a first, too!). I used the leeks in place of the onions this time even though I had some already chopped - I was afraid both might have been too much.

I cooked 2 cups of quinoa (the recipe called for one cup of grain but I went ahead and made two cups -- will save some for something I make this weekend) in 3 cups of water for 15 minutes.

While the quinoa was cooking I chopped up a full head of cauliflower along with 3 stalks of celery. I sauteed the leeks, celery, bell pepper and a chopped carrot for about 5 minutes in a little veggie broth. The veggie broth I used this time was darker than the stuff I usually use so I was afraid the soup would turn out a funny color but it really didn't. The recipe called for water but I like veggie broth better.






To the sauteed veggies I added 1 teaspoon each of basil, thyme and celery seed. Then I added the cauliflower and 6 cups of veggie broth. I let this simmer for about 20 minutes. Once the quinoa was cooked, I added that, too.

Next comes the surprising part -- the creamy soup base. Not using milk or cream or half & half, you'd think it would be hard to create a creamy soup but this stuff makes it easy!

Put 2 tablespoons of white miso, 3/4 cup of raw cashews, 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast and 1 cup of water in your blender and blend until smooth. Voila! The best vegan creamy soup base you can imagine. Add this to your soup and simmer for another 10 minutes. This is a thick, creamy, amazing soup that you'll just love!

The BEST dinner for cool fall evening. :) Yummo!



- Posted by Jennifer

Location:Home, Sweet Home

Making Up For Lost Time

I was shocked to look at my blog this afternoon and realize it's been almost three weeks since I've posted anything! Yikes! How did that happen? Well, let's see... first it was the twins' birthday (darling grandbabies) and a trip to Kansas City for their party and then it was a week-long trip to the beach with two of my bestest friends and then a mad week back at home trying to get caught up on everything that hadn't been done at home -- like laundry and groceries and cooking. :)

I have been doing a fair share of cooking lately, including on our trip to the beach. I convinced the girls to let me cook for them that week so they could see what kind of plant-based meals the boys and I have been enjoying. I was delighted that they agreed because it also guaranteed that everything I ate was something I knew I could have without any worries. Plus I loved making my friends feel pampered and taken care of, too. I think we all enjoyed it.

I thought I'd start with dinner last night and work my way backwards... a lot of the stuff I've made recently is stuff I've already posted about because they've become our favorite dishes. Last night, I tried something completely new that had ingredients I'd never even had in my house before!Stuffed Delicata Squash with Kale, Chickpeas and Leeks. Yum!

Until a friend gave me this recipe, I didn't know what a delicata squash even was. When I saw the picture of it I realized I'd recently seen it in the store but just didn't know what it was. Of course I looked in the stores for it (Crest, Sprouts and Whole Foods) once I got the recipe and couldn't find it anywhere! Sigh... I was incredibly happy to find it yesterday morning at the Edmond Farmers Market. I'm sure I acted ridiculous but the farmer was really nice about it. :)



The recipe is pretty easy. Take 2 Delicata Squash and wash them really well (because the skin is soft and edible). Slice them in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and gooey stuff. Spray the cut side lightly with Pam and place cut side down in a glass baking dish. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.






While the squash is roasting, wash the leeks and kale well. Leeks were another item I'd never had in my house before. I've heard of them and knew what they were, I was just always a little intimidated by them. They're pretty big and I wasn't at all sure what to do with them or which parts you discard, if any. Now I find out they're really just like big, mild onions. I don't honestly know if I'll use them all that much because I like onions and they're a whole lot cheaper -- but in the spirit of trying something completely new, I went with the leeks. :)

I sliced the leeks right down to the tougher green part and discarded that. Then I used my handy Vidalia Onion Chopper from Bed, Bath & Beyond to dice them up. I just love that thing - it's got to be one of my favorite kitchen gadgets. :)

I sauteed the leeks with a couple cloves of minced garlic in some veggie broth for a few minutes until the leeks were tender. Then I added one bunch of kale that had been stemmed and roughly chopped, one can of drained and rinsed chickpeas and about a tablespoon of sage. I LOVE sage. If you don't like it as much as I do, scale it back until you're happy with it or leave it out completely.



I cooked all of this about 5 minutes and that's when the timer went off on the squash. I got them out of the oven, flipped them over using some tongs and filled them with the kale,chickpea mixture. I put this back in the oven for about 10 minutes.



I made some whole wheat pasta as a side dish and added a little red pepper hummus and almond milk to it to give it an almost macaroni and cheese like appearance. It was delicous.

the Delicata squash has an almost sweet flavor that goes really well with the savory kale and chickpea mixture. It was yummy.

Let's see... what are some of the other yummy dishes I've made lately? I know I've taken some pictures...

Oh yeah... Cajun Cornbread Casserole one night. This is a spicy mixture of onions, bell peppers and beans (the recipe called for kidney beans but I only had black beans, pinto beans and chickpeas so I did the combo thing instead) with lots of Cajun seasoning. Then you mix corn meal, applesauce, baking powder and almond milk to make the cornbread and bake that on top. So good!






I made a really delicious sweet potato and red potato soup before I left for Alabama. I cooked 3 sweet potatoes and 3 red potatoes in the microwave. I sauteed some onion, fennel seeds and garlic in a little veggie broth and then added some reconstituted TVP crumbles. I added the potatoes and about 6 cups of veggie broth and let it all simmer for about 20 minutes. Then I added quite a bit of chopped kale and cooked until it was all wilted. Delish!


I also made the Curried Sweet Potato Casserole right before I left because I knew the boys could eat on the leftovers for awhile. This uses sweet potato tater tots as the topping on the casserole. It's so good. Mixture of sweet peas and chick peas with a spicy curry sauce that's so filling. Good cool weather food for sure.


While we were at the beach I made a Mexican Lasagna one night, Mushroom Stroganoff one night and Asparagus Chickpea Casserole one night. Didn't take any pictures of the food but did get this great shot that shows what a good time we had:



Ahhhhhhh.... :)

- Posted by Jennifer

Location:Home, Sweet Home

Chick pea tacos

My wonderful friend, Patti, recently shared a recipe with me once we started our new plant-based diet. Chick pea tacos. I wasn't too impressed with the recipe upon first reading it but once I made it... wow. Crazy good. The only change I made to it was to add fat free refried beans to the bottom of the taco shell because they will keep the chick peas from rolling out. The first time we had them it was pretty comical watching the chick peas just dropping out of the shell and rolling all over the plate and table. The refried beans do a really good job of holding them in and keeping them in place. :)



Chick Pea Tacos

Ingredients (8 tacos)
• 2 t. chili powder
• 1/4 t. garlic powder
• 1/4 t. onion powder
• 1/4 t. dried oregano
• 1 1/2 t. ground cumin
• 1 t. sea salt
• 1 T. lime juice
• 2 T. water
• One 14 oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 8 organic taco shells
• Taco trimmings: shredded lettuce, tomato, guacamole, non-dairy (i.e. Daiya) cheese, etc.

Instructions
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, cumin, salt, lime juice and water.
• Add chickpeas and marinate for at least 30 minutes.
• Place chickpeas on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
• Bake for 20-30 minutes, stirring once during cooking, until chickpeas are slightly crispy.
• Prepare taco shells according to package directions. Fill with chickpeas and desired toppings.

I mixed a can of black beans and a can of corn together and added some freshly chopped cilantro as a side and then mixed a can of Rotel tomatoes with some brown rice and we were all set. Yummy!


- Posted by Jennifer

Location:Home, sweet home

Ginger "Beef" Stir Fry

I've adapted quite a few of our old favorite recipes to our new plant-based eating lifestyle and this is one I didn't really expect to be able to duplicate - but it's probably turned out to be the best adaptation so far.

We've all liked my ginger beef stir fry. It would be good even without meat because the sauce is so tasty but when I found Lightlife's smart strips - steak style seasoned veggie strips, well... it was even better. They look like steak strips and have the same texture, too... except they're 100% veggie and have 14 grams of protein per serving. Pretty awesome!



I make the sauce first and let it sit so all the flavors will combine. 1/2 cup of veggie broth, 3 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce (I use the Bragg's liquid aminos), 2 1/2 teaspoons of cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of minced ginger. Combine it all in a small bowl and let it sit while you put everything else together.



I always cut up all the veggies to begin with. About 3 cups of small broccoli pieces cut in half. 2 red bell peppers, sliced. 1 cup of sliced mushrooms and 1 grated carrot. It's really colorful.




The boys LOVE this stuff so next time I have to remember to make a double batch. I'm sure both of them would have eaten more if we'd had more. :)

Saute the carrots and mushrooms in a couple tablespoons of veggie broth for about 3 minutes.



Then add the broccoli, bell peppers and veggie strips and cook for about 3-5 minutes longer.



Add more veggie broth to keep it from sticking. When the veggies are done, pour in the sauce and cook on low until sauce thickens.



Top with chopped green onions and serve over brown rice. Crazy good!

- Posted by Jennifer

Location:Home, sweet home

New Soup!

Wow, this has been an interesting week. I've only cooked a couple of times this week because sweet hubby was out of town on business. Heathen son and I enjoyed Cool Greens and Panera Bread on our alone nights and then when sweet hubby got home, he was hungry for pizza. Since I didn't have the makings for a vegan pizza, we ordered a couple of cheese-free thin crust veggie pizzas from Domino's. They're really good but the funny thing is, you pay about twice as much for them without cheese as you would with cheese. Makes no sense to me! Sheesh.

Our sweet neighbor, Kay, brought over a stack of food containers the other night while heathen son and I were home alone. She had a container of Kung Pao tofu that heathen son scarfed right up. There was some other container of something she declared way too spicy for her and Bill - also scarfed up immediately. And then, there was the most delectable, wonderful soup which I got to scarf up!

It was light-colored, creamy soup with all kinds of veggies and spices floating around. It was amazing. I hounded her for the recipe, which she gladly shared. Then I asked her if she'd actually FOLLOWED the recipe (because Lord knows I never do!) and found that she had made a few tweaks, which I then incorporated into my version of the recipe. Then, of course, I made a few more alterations. LOL.

You start by toasting a cup of millet in a large soup pan sprayed with non-stick spray. I had personally never cooked with or even eaten millet but it was easy to find at Whole Foods. Millet is a kind of seed grass that's popular in Asia and Africa - probably because it grows well in hot, dry climates. It's kind of similar to quinoa.

Toast the millet, stirring occasionally, until it turns golden and starts to pop. Then add 2 cups of water, bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. The millet will absorb most of the water.




While the millet is simmering, put a couple tablespoons veggie broth in a large skillet and add one medium diced onion, one medium diced bell pepper (the recipe called for green but I had red and yellow so I used half of each to give more color), 3 sliced stalks of celery, 1 medium grated carrot and two minced cloves of garlic. Saute these until the onions are translucent. Add more veggie broth if they start to stick. It was so pretty - before I stirred them together and afterward! Turn off the heat when done and add 1/2 teaspoon each of basil, thyme and celery seed.







While the veggies are sauteing, steam one medium head of cauliflower. I did this in the microwave but do it however you prefer. You want the cauliflower to be pretty soft for the soup.

Next, you'll need your blender to make the creamy base. Add 2 tablespoons white miso (if you use brown your soup will be tan instead of cream colored), 3/4 cup of raw cashews (don't use roasted), 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast and one cup of water. Blend all of this together until smooth. Hooray for the Vitamix but I think it would work in any blender.



Once the 20 minutes is up for the millet, you should have everything else ready to go. Pour the sauteed veggies into the soup pot with the millet, add 6 cups of veggie broth and the cashew sauce. Stir together well and simmer for 10-20 minutes to blend all the flavors.

I'm serving this tonight with some good, crusty wheat bread. Can't wait! :)



Here's it is in recipe form:

Millet Cauliflower Soup
1 cup millet
1 ½ cups water
3 stalks celery
1 green pepper, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 large carrot, grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups vegetable broth
1 medium head cauliflower, very coarsely chopped
½ teaspoon each basil, thyme, celery seed
2 tablespoons white miso
¾ cup raw cashews
1 cup water
½ cup nutritional yeast
Salt to taste (I used Bragg's Liquid Aminos instead of salt)

Toast millet in soup pot that’s been lightly sprayed with non-stick spray until golden brown and beginning to pop. Remove from heat. Add ½ cups water, bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

In a medium skillet, sauté celery, green pepper, onion, garlic and carrot until onion is translucent.

To millet pot add 6 cups of water (for thick soup), cauliflower, bay leaf, sautéed mixture, soup base, herbs and celery seed, stirring occasionally so millet doesn’t stick. Simmer for 20 minutes.

In a blender, process miso, cashews, 1 cup water and yeast. Add to soup and simmer for 10-20 minutes. Taste for salt and add water to adjust consistency to your liking.

- Posted by Jennifer

Location:Home, sweet home

Birthday Dinner

Heathen son's birthday is tomorrow. His EIGHTEENTH birthday. Wow. I'm reminded of an old saying - the days are long but the years are short. That's so true with kids. I can remember days when he and his heathen sister were younger and I was certain the day lasted 48 hours at least. Now I look back and they're both grown. My baby turns 18 in less than 24 hours (6:32 p.m. to be exact!). He and his sister both get to vote for the first time in this election. And they're both looking forward to it, too, which thrills me. :)

When we were figuring out what to do to celebrate his birthday as a family, we found out that, lo and behold, he made plans with his friends on his actually birthday evening. Hmmm, go figure. Then he has plans the next night to see a friend from out of town. So our only option was to do something the night before. Tonight.

We used to go out for birthday dinner celebrations but there have been several birthdays in the past when he and heathen sister have both asked that I make them a favorite meal instead. This year was one of those years and, considering how we've changed the way we're eating, it definitely made it easier than finding a restaurant with a plant-based menu. However, he couldn't decide on one thing he wanted for dinner... so he asked that I make TWO things instead. Being a good mom (I hope!), I agreed.

So dinner tonight consisted of his two favorite casseroles (and probably sweet hubby's favorites as well) - both things I've made in recent weeks and featured on this blog even - "chicken" spinach pasta bake and spaghetti casserole. So I'm not going to take up much time on those two items since I've featured them before but I will share a picture just because they look so good and yummy...




The nice thing is that there are plenty of leftovers for lunch and probably dinner tomorrow night, too! I like that! :)



Of course you can't really have a birthday dinner without a birthday cake, right? Heathen son asked for a spice cake like I made recently when we had Bill and Kay over for dinner. I discovered there are plenty of cake mixes that are vegan -- and I knew that you can make a cake with cake mix and pumpkin because I found a great recipe on Pinterest some months ago. It's wonderful! And completely fat free, too. So is the frosting glaze.

For the frosting glaze, I mixed 1 cup of powdered sugar, 1/4 cup of applesauce, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and 2 tablespoons of almond milk. I heated this together in a small saucepan until it was well blended. After the cake was out of the oven (bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees), I poured the glaze over the hot cake and let it soak in. It's only been out of the oven for about 10 minutes so we're waiting for it to cool a bit longer before cutting into it. :)



The singing and birthday present has to wait until morning. )

- Posted by Jennifer

Location:Home, sweet home

Mushroom Stroganoff

Heathen son and I like mushrooms in general and we both LOVE portobello mushrooms. Sweet hubby, not so much. In fact, he doesn't like onions, mushrooms or tomatoes -- probably the three main ingredients most recipes start with (including mine!). However, I have discovered that if I just chop up the mushrooms and onions small enough he'll usually be fine with it. It's not so much the taste he doesn't like as it is biting into an onion or a mushroom.

Tonight's dinner though... I don't know. Mushroom stroganoff. He had a late meeting at work this afternoon and isn't home yet so we'll see what he thinks. Heathen son and I both think it's a winner! :)

Just in case sweet hubby doesn't like it, I made something else that he will like... sloppy Joe's (made with TVP, of course) and vegetarian baked beans. If he decides he likes the stroganoff, he'll definitely have a full plate! :)



To start the stroganoff, I sauteed some green onions, some red onion (I like their flavor better), some garlic, thyme and rosemary in a couple tablespoons of water. I didn't really measure anything... maybe a teaspoon each of the spices.

Last weekend I'd chopped up a whole pound of portobello mushrooms with my handy Vidalia onion chopper from Bed, Bath & Beyond (I just love that store!) so I had those ready to go. I also put 1 oz. of dried porcini mushrooms in a cup of boiling water to sit for about 30 minutes.

I tossed in the portobello mushrooms and cooked it all for about 10 minutes on medium heat. Then I chopped the porcini mushrooms and added them, along with the soaking water and a half cup of dry white wine. Oh. My. Gosh. It smelled so good!


I let that cook for about 20 minutes, until most of the liquid had evaporated. While that was cooking, I cooked a pound of angel hair pasta and drained it. I think fettucini or any thicker noodle would have probably been even better but angel hair was what I had so I made do.

Next up, I made some tofu sour cream. I am not a big tofu fan but this stuff is blended so it is nothing at all like tofu. Tofu doesn't have a taste really anyway... it's a consistency thing with me not liking it. Sweet hubby doesn't want to bite into an onion, I don't like biting into tofu. :)

To make the tofu sour cream, I used an entire package of silken light tofu, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar. Blend it all together and it makes about 1 1/2 cups. You can use this on baked potatoes, enchiladas... anything you need a good sour cream substitute for.



I poured about a cup of the sour cream mixture over the noodles (the rest will keep in the fridge for awhile to use somewhere else), then poured the mushroom mixture in and stirred it all up. Oh, wow. It was amazingly good. Definitely a keeper, whether sweet hubby is on board or not.



Here's the recipe in a form that may be easier to follow:

Mushroom Stroganoff 

• 2 large green onions, sliced thinly

• 4 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 teaspoons thyme

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

• 1 teaspoon rosemary

• 1 pound portobello mushrooms, chopped

• 1 ounce porcini mushrooms, soaked in 1 cup boiling water for 30 minutes

• ½ cup dry white wine

• 1 pound whole-grain pasta of choice, cooked

• 1 cup Tofu Sour Cream (recipe follows)




Place the green onions in a large skillet with a couple tablespoons of water and sauté over a medium heat for several minutes.

Add the garlic, rosemary and thyme, and cook for another minute.

Stir in the portobello mushrooms and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the porcini mushrooms, and their soaking liquid, and the wine.

Stir, and cook over medium-low heat for 20 minutes.


When the stroganoff is finished cooking, stir in the sour cream.

Add the cooked noodles and toss well.

Tofu Sour Cream


• 1 package extra firm lite silken tofu, drained

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a blender until smooth and creamy. Chill until ready to serve.

- Posted by Jennifer

Location:Home, sweet home

Stuffed Bell Peppers

I always liked veggies growing up. Most veggies anyway. I think I could have eaten my own weight in spinach. Oddly enough, back then I preferred canned spinach - but that's usually what my mom served so that's what I knew. Now I know the joys of fresh spinach and can't imagine eating it canned. There were a few veggies I never cared for though -- okra was one - but that's in the past. Green bell peppers were another one. And that one has stuck with me! I can eat them in small amounts but I don't like them. And the funny thing when you don't like the taste of something, you can taste it in anything it's in... spaghetti sauce, lasagna... anything with green bell peppers in it, I can taste them. Sweet hubby, however, adores them.

He asked me to make stuffed bell peppers awhile back and I gladly obliged. I made stuff RED bell peppers because I love the red ones. Isn't that funny what a difference the color makes? He didn't say anything at first but I noticed he was eating the stuffing but just picking around the pepper. I finally asked him what was wrong and he shrugged and told me he was expecting stuffed green peppers because that's what his mom always made so that's what he thought of when he thought of stuffed bell peppers. I had no idea! So now I make stuffed green peppers for hubby and heathen son and, if I'm in the mood for them, I'll stuff a red one for me.

Tonight I was not in the mood for them so green was all I stuffed. Heathen son is at work tonight and hubby is working on our upstairs room getting it ready to be textured so I had the kitchen to myself.

Last weekend I bought four peppers that would be great for stuffing. They just had the perfect shape. I sliced the tops off carefully so I could use them as caps once the peppers were stuffed and cleaned out the seeds and membranes, then set the peppers aside.

I sauteed about a cup of chopped onion, a couple cloves of garlic, some diced jalapeno and a cup (or more) of chopped portobello mushrooms in just a tiny bit of veggie broth.



I added just a little chopped red pepper (for color more than anything) and an 8 oz. package of grated tempeh. After that cooked for a few minutes I added 2 cups of tomato sauce and a 10 oz. bag of fresh spinach. The final addition was 1.5 cups of cooked brown rice.


I stuffed the peppers until the were completely full. The nice thing is that I had some stuffing left over for lunch tomorrow. I'm thinking it will be really good stuffed into a pita pocket.



I capped them with the tops I'd cut off and baked them in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. They were so fragrant when I pulled them out of the oven.



I served them up with some roasted Brussels sprouts and corn tossed with a little cilantro. I should really start setting the bar a little lower on Monday nights. :)


- Posted by Jennifer

Location:Home, sweet home