Lima Beans & Corn, Sweet Potato Pasta, Oven Zucchini, Breaded Fried Tofu

Lima bean & Corn - Makes 5 cups

I had these at the dinner after my Grandfather's funeral. They were really good. Although I am really hoping they did not have chicken broth in them...! I am really kinda wondering now if they did. I had never had lima beans before and this has quickly become a go to side dish me me. Or if I am home alone I boil up some beans add some frozen corn and eat it as a meal... I like to boil the limas in advance and freeze them. that way it doesn't take an hour and a half to cook them first or a $2 can of beans.

3 cups g Cooked Lima beans
2 cups g Frozen corn
Enough Veg broth to cover all the beans and corn
1 tbsp Vegan Butter of choice
1 tbsp Flour
1/2 to 1 tsp pepper
Salt to taste

Bring veg Lima beans, Corn , Veg broth, & Pepper to a boil. Melt Better add the flour to it and add to boiling pot. Make sure not to let it clump. When it thickens which should be fast it its done. Maybe about 10minutes all together if the beans where cooked in advance.


Sweet Potato Pasta

This was an accidental find. I was going to have some buttered noodle and beans for diner but accidentally opened the wrong can. But I love it. I really like to have it as a side to the Morningstar Farms vegan BBQ riblets. Or I just like it plain. It is a nice replacement for Mac & Cheese. I don't really like the nutritional yeast mac & cheese. But this turns out creamy and yummy... and sweet... :)


Box of whole wheat Pasta
1/2 cup Sweet Potato Puree
1/4cup soy milk
2 tbsp Smart Balance light
Salt to taste

Cook pasta as normal. Put the sweet potato puree in a pot with the soy milk and smart balance light. Let come together. Stir a little. Then add it to your pasta. If you don't want to make it on the stove top you don't have to. Just put it in a boil and stir together. If you put it in the microwave make sure you don't spoil the soy milk.


Oven Baked Zucchini

I love oven baked zucchini and though it is probably easy for everyone but me... I still make it. I have a horrible track record. I seem to either always forget about it and it turns into burnt zucchini chips or I get impatient and take it off early and eat it...

Zucchini - 1 whole for each person
Onion
olive Oil
salt

Preheat oven to 400. Slice onion and chunck up zucchini into bite sized pieces, or slices. Or you could just leave them cut long ways in to two or four pieces. the bigger the pieces the longer they take to cook. Put a little oil on the veggies and mix. lay on baking pan add salt. Then bake for 30 minutes or till desired doneness.


Tofu Nuggets- Pictured above with Zucchini

This recipe has been converted from the Deceptively Delicious Cook Book.

1 Cup Bread crumbs
1 Tbsp Flaxmeal
1 tbsp Vegan Parm like galaxy- optional- or try nutritional yeast
A pureed veggie of your choice. Depending on what you make it with.
1 tsp paprika
Egg replacer mixed with water- enough for all tofu
1 Pack extra firm tofu- this may work with tempeh
1/2 salt
oil

Mix all dry ingredients. Mix egg replacer with veggie puree in another bowl.
Slice tofu into bight sized chucks. Heat the oil. I like using thawed tofu. But tofu that had been frozen to give it more texture. Then dip into bread crumbs. Then put in pan with just a Tablespoon of oil. Do not use to much oil. They will fall apart or just be totally soked with oil. Then enjoy with your fave dip.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

It is quick & simple. The only thing you really have to do is chop and wait.... The pie looks super full after you add everything but it cooks down really nicely.

This has become one of my favorite desserts coming in only behind Pumpkin pie and Black Berry coobler. There are tons of recipes out there for rhubarb and I have been wanting to try some. This pie I have made 3 times now and it has turned out perfect each time. The recipe came from Vegan-licious.blogspot.com. Check back for more Rhubarb recipes because I have a ton of it to use and maybe even some more where that came from. The last picture was taken when the pie was cut and it was still warm... I couldn't wait... But it does set up very nice when you put it in the fridge.

Kale & Potato Enchiladas w/ Chips Plus Potato & kale soup

There are tons of recipes for Potatoes and Kale and I know why.. Because they go so well together.

Kale & Potato Enchilada's
Make sure you buy the book it is Great!

This recipe came from Veganomican..... and it is really good. It takes a little time but it is worth it. This was the first time I have ever had enchiladas so I am sure you figured out that this is the first time I have made them. The mix in Potato and Kale mix was so Yummy and the sauce was a good topper. But It can be kinda messy... But like I said well worth it.

We also made chips out of the rest of the corn tortillas. They were a nice salty & crunchy extra.

Tortilla Corn Chips

Just cut the tortilla
Spray with oil
Sprinkle / salt
Put in the oven at 350F
and bake till browned and crispy.. Between 7 and 15 minutes..

There are also so many different toppings you can add. The possibilities are endless.

Kale & Potato Soup

I loved this recipe from Vegan Vittles. It turned out awesome. It was supper easy and I made it two days in a row when I was sick. It is definitely a comfort food..! I don't know what else to say about this one.. Just TRY IT! You will love it... Buy the book!!!! All the comfort food you could ever want... Plus potatoes and Kale are both super cheap and you can make a ton of it. I think I will have this for dinner today.

CousCous, Pasta & Beans, Vegan white sauce & Brussel Sprouts

I have been cooking sorry I have neglected posting. I have been totaling busy. But with no further ado.... Here are some of the recipe I have made lately...

Corn & Couscous salad from the Martha Stewart living web page.. Out of all the couscous recipes I don't know why I chose this one but sadly I did. I am not a big fan of curry powder alone. And this tastes alot like curry powder. John and I both really did not like it... But here is a link incase you would like to try it.... Martha Stewarts Corn & Couscous salad

Next up is Pasta with a Northern Bean white sauce. I make this when I want something quick and easy.. very quick and easy. I throw spinach in also. Just to round it out a little.
I take a can of northern beans and drain it.
Put half the can into the blender of food processor and add a good amount of pepper and some water or soy milk. You might want to try some nutmeg too. Thats the spice that is in dairy white sauce. You aso might want to try so light smart balance in the mix.
I put the rest of my beans in the pasta. Mix in the spinach and then poor the sauce over. 15 minutes and dinner is served....


Sometimes I also just use the white beans, pasta & spinach. Just melt some smart balance light and some salt and pepper.. That way you have far less dishes and done even quicker. Fast and simple for those of the go days..

I have also recently become a fan of Brussel sprouts having my first one just a month or so ago. I used the recipe from Vegan Lunch Box Names Best Brussel Sprouts and John and I loves them..! I could have just had a dinner of Brussel...!!! they were awesome. But we had it with Roads end soy mac and soyrizo. This is also the first time I have also had soyrizo. In this pic they are not mixed together. But we mixed it with the Roads end and made Chili make and it was pretty good too. The soyrizo is pretty spicy. I was kinda surprised.

Lately I have also tried the soy chreese packets on my Popcorn too.. It is pretty Tasty.. And I am not a big soy cheese fan.

Found the camera!!!!!

This is the first post in sometime..... oops.... But I will get straight to the point.. Food!!!

1st a snack I love to have....

Banana's, berries, w/ peanut butter Rye Crackers

Quick simple and is really tasty. I'm not big on the rye crackers by them selves but w/ the peanut butter and bananas....I love them. They are high in fiber and protein!!!! Plus you can get a couple servings of fruit with them.


4 Rye Crackers
1 Tablespoon peanut Butter
1 Banana
Berries of you liking


Fried Tofu w/ sweet & sour mixed veggies & lo mien

1 pack firm tofu (drained, frozen. thawed and redrained)
Sweet snap peas or Green beans
carrots
Red, orange sweet peppers
Pineapples (fresh or canned in pineapple juice)
Lo mein noodles
Sweet & sour sauce

I fry my tofu ahead of time. It can sit for a while. I cook it when I feel like it the same day I am going to eat it. Then later when I want to through the rest together it is all done. I normally used frozen peas & beans so unthaw them. Throw all the veggies in together. Boil the lo mein seperaly. When the lo mein is almost done throw in with the veggies and it will finish cooking off in there. Add the tofu so that it reheats and then add your S&S sauce.

Banana Bread

This recipe turned out great. It came from the PPK website. Its one of Isa's recipes so you now its going to be good!








Baby Bella & carmalized onion sammies

This sammie is from Sarah Kramers book The Garden of Vegan. The only thing different I do is I purchase baby bella's and slice them up thin. I don't like the mushroom texture or the black oil that portabellas leak off. Plus I don't ass the goddess dressing. But these are really good try them. The recipe is on page 56.

Strawberry Cake w/ tofutti cream cheese icing

This strawberry cake turned out pretty good. It came from The Joy of Vegan Baking the Strawberry Cupcake recipe on page 87. The tofutti cream cheese icing came from the same book page 231. It was a tad bit liquidy though. I added extra toffuti cream cheese to get it to thicken up some. When you mix up the batter to this came it is an awesome red. I wish it would stay that color. But the flavor is good and it turns out a light pink brown color. The toffuti cream cheese icing is awesome on it. I can't wait to try it on a carrot cake!














Chocolate Chocolate Chip muffins


These are from the book Vegan with a Vengeance. This recipe always turns out yummy and very chocolatey. Definitely try this recipe! (Sorry I can't list the page number I can't find my book...)












Shepard's pie

This recipe originated from Rachael Ray's 30 minute meals. But I changed it up a lot. So I am going to post my recipe and click on her name for the link to her recipe.

Ingredients

Potato Topping
2 to 3 pounds Pototoes
2 Table spoons tofutti sour cream or cream cheese (I used the Toffuti sour cream)
1/2 cups Veg stock or soy milk (I used stock this time)
Salt & pepper

Filling
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 pack ground boca crumbles
3 Carrots
1 Cup sweet peas
1 onion
1 pack tempeh of choice
2 Tbsp Smart Balance Light
2 Tbsp flour
1 Cup veg broth
2 Tsp Vegan Worcestershire sauce
1 Tsp Paprika

Instructions
Boil potatoes. Strain and add the tofutti sour cream, stock, salt, & pepper and mash.

while potatoes ate boiling. Add oil to skillet over medium heat. Add the Onions to cook down some and after onions sweat down some add the carrots so they can become tender. After carrots get tender but still have some texture left add Boca burger and tempah to brown. Add peas. Let cook 5 minutes. Make a well in the center of the mixture. Add smart balance & flour let cook a minute. Whisk in veg broth & vegan worcestershire sauce so that it forms a gravy. Pour mixture into an over safe pan if you didn't cook it is one. Place the mashed potatoes on top. Sprinkle w/ paprika. Broil for 6 to 8 minutes. Till the potatoes are crusty. Serve....











Pinto Beans
I just started cooking beans from scratch. This batch turned out great. I froze a big bowls full. And then I made these for dinner.

Pinto Beans- Boil water then turn off. Let set for an hour or two in the hot water with a cover over it. Strain and rinse. Let cook for 3 to 4 hours. Don't cook till done if you are going to freeze them. Freeze in there broth.

Pinto beans w/ bread or Corn bread
Finish cooking beans with pepper, salt, and onions. (Onions are optional). Cook beans till desired tenderness. In a cup or bowl melt smart balance or add oil and some flour. I part butter to one part flour. Depending on how much bean broth you have to thicken. About 1 Tbsp of Flour & oil pour cup of fluid. Add some water to you cup to thin out flour mixture. Then add slowly to beans. This will thicken them. Make sure the broth doesn't scald the flour mixture because then it will not mix in and will leave chunks of flour throughout your food. Which is not good..... Add a good amount of pepper.... This serves really good with corn bread. But when I don't feel like making corn bread we have it on regular buttered bread. Even when I do make corn bread I make the sweet corn bread and I have it for dessert and have my beans on regular bread. After it thickens it is ready to serve.

LOst My Camera

LOst My camera when I find it... which hopefully will be soon I will start posting again!!!! Keep coming back!

Soup, Home Fries, Sage "Butter" & Pasta, & Quick unPot Pie

I have been very busy lately. But I have still been cooking so here is some of our dinners. Sorry It has taken me so long to update. I was staying at a family members house while my Grandfather had surgery. So here are some of the quick easy meals I made while there.

Rock Soup- Which basically means everything but a rock will do.

• 1 to 2 Tbsp Olive oil
• 2 to 3 Medium Potatoes
• 2 to 3 Carrots, Chopped
• 2 ribs Celery, Chopped
• 1 diced Onion
• 1 1/2 Cups Green Beans
• 2 Cans Beans (Great northern, kidney, black beans, garbonzo, etc.)
• 1 1/2 Cups Corn
• Or use a bags of Mixed Frozen or canned veggies - I always just add a bag if I need extra to fill the pot.
• 6 Cups Vegtetable broth or no- chick broth
• 1 or 2 Cubes No- chick Bouillon cube- to taste- not necessary
• 1 to 2 tsp Smoked Paprika
• 15 oz Can diced or stewed tomatoes
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Chipotle Tabasco sauce
• 3 Cloves Garlic- Fresh or in jar

This soup is really easy. Get a big put. Chop onion ans throw in on medium heat till translucent. Add the Chopped Carrots & Celery and cook for about 5 minutes. Then add chopped potatoes. (remember after you add the potatoes you don't want to over cook them and make them mushy). Let cook 3 minutes and add the paprika, garlic, beans, frozen veggies. Let cook till carrots slightly soften. Add the Broth, tomatoes, and hot sauce. Bring simmer. Take small about of broth out and add the bouillion cube and let it dissolve and add back to pot. You can also add extra cubes & water or broth. Just make sure you don't water the seasoning down to much. Let simmer till potatoes are soft. I like to eat this with toasted bread or buns. They soak up the broth so you can taste it so much more in every bite.

This will also freezes well. Just do not fully cook potatoes. That way when you unfreeze it you can finish cooking it without the potatoes getting mushy.


Home Fries

• 1 1/2 Medium potatoes per person
• Olive oil
• salt
• Paprika or other spices if wanted. (endless options)

Heat oven to 450 F
Bake for about 30 minutes- flip half way through- bake till browned

Cut into wedge. make sure they are dried off good. Coat well in olive oil. Add salt and spice to taste. Play around with these. They can go with so many different meals. And are better for you then those frozen fries that are cooked in oil.

Sage Butter w/ Pasta, Cabbage, Potatoes & Onion

• 1 onion
• 1 head savory cabbage, cord & chopped
• 1 box Rotini whole wheat Pasta
• 4 cloves Garlic
• 4 Sage leafs
• 2 large or 4 medium Potatoes
• 8 tbsp Smart Balance light or other vegan Margerine
• 1 tsp Pepper
• Save 3/4 cup water when cooking the poatoes

Dice onion and cook on medium till translucent. Do not burn or brown oils they will be bitter in this dish. In a separate pot boil chopped potatoes for 3 minutes than add pasta, Cook till almost done about 8 minutes, set aside. Add chopped cabbage to the onions and cook till tender then add the potatoes, let cook for around 5 to 8 minutes. In the pot that the potatoes where in melt down your margarine and add the garlic, bay leaves, pepper, and about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of the potato water. Let simmer for 5 minutes then strain while adding it to pasta mixture. Mix thoroughly. Make sure potatoes and pasta finished cooking through. And now your ready to eat!


Quick unPot pie

Ever want the pot pie but don't want to take the time to make it homemade. Well this will give you that pot pie taste with out all the time.

Pot pie mix

• 4 Cups veggie stock or no chick broth -boullion cubes & water will work as well just add an extra cube for more flavor. So Like 5 or 6 Cubes to 4 cups water.
• 1 Bag Frozen or canned veggie mix, the kind with carrots
  
• 1 can or 1 1/2 cups Canned or frozen corn
• 1 can or 1/2 cups Canned or Frozen green beans
• 1 or 2 cans Beans (your choice)
• 1 pack Tempeh ( Can up protein)
• salt & pepper
  
• 6 tbsp Flour
• 6 tbsp oil or Margarine
  

Biscuits from scratch or bisquick is fine too. Follow instruction just use soy milk, make a double batch.

Add stock, all the veggies, beans, & tempeh. Let simmer for 15 minutes. about 3 minutes before the end of the 15 In a separate small pot heat oil and add the flour to it. You are making a roux. Make sure it is not thick. Let cook a 1 or 2 minute to get rid of the floor taste. Add a half cup of your broth from the other put to your roux. Let thicken do this a couple more times till it is not really thick. The add to your veggie mix. Let the broth thicken. Pour on top of biscuits. and you have an unpot pie.. :) Enjoy. Add salt and pepper to taste.

You can also make you rough in a coffee sup. Just mix the flour and oil. Put a little stock in it. then pour into your veggie mix try to make sure the roux does not clump when you pour it in.

• You could also make dumplings directly in with your veggies near the end of cooking. Just don't over cook the dumplings.

• Or use drop biscuits. Preheat oven to desired temp. When the timer has about 7 or 8 minutes left to cook put pot pie mix into a casserole dish. Put drop biscuits on top. Put into oven and follow biscuit instructions.
  

• One last one. Make pie crust chips. Make your pie crust. Cut it into wedges and throw onto cookie sheet. Follow instructions on heat. But watch because they will be done a lot faster then the instruction say. This is a really great option. I love the recipe from Vegan with a vengeance. That pie crust is flacky, buttery, and just yummy!!!