a big thing

Last night I spent a great deal of time on a brand new recipe for dinner and I was just sure all the kids would hate it.

Here's the big thing...it's HUGE!!

We sat down to dinner and all the kids held out their plates for a taste of whatever mom had been working on for the last few hours ("smells really good!" they all proclaimed)... they ate it, liked it (two of the kids asked for seconds!), left the table and NEVER asked what it was made of! After the shock wore off, I was grinning from ear to ear!!

Here's what we had...



cauliflower pasta sauce, tomato herb rolls, and spinach with mushrooms and garlic. The cauliflower sauce idea was from Josh at What Do Vegans Eat? I made several changes on his recipe but it's such a great dish that I think it pretty much can't be done wrong. For lunch today, I ate leftovers with some chopped tomato and jalapeno mustard and it was terrific! Great dinner...great progress from the family. There's hope :)

Another new recipe that went over well is Strawberry "Tofu" Yogurt from Tasty Vegan Delights again.


We ate it with a little granola and sliced bananas. Very light and fluffy. I missed the "sour" of regular soy yogurt but the kids liked this better than storebought.

Some other odds and ends...



a quickie lunch - some basic veg chili on homemade mini corn tortillas with chopped tomato.


a simple dinner - sliced Tofurky brand Beer Brats, sauerkraut, and potatoes, and sour cream cucumbers with Bragg's, and tomatoes. None of us really loved the brats. They were edible for sure, but not outstanding, and pretty expensive. The kids didn't agree about the edible part. They tried it with ketchup, barbecue sauce, and just plain soy sauce but the brats just would not go down. I really liked the Tofurky roast we had at Christmas, and was eager to try more of their products, but, now I'm thinking maybe it was the roast SMOTHERED IN GRAVY that I liked ;)

Strawberry "Tofu" Yogurt
Blend in a blender:

1/3 cup raw cashews
1 cup frozen strawberries, thawed and drained*
1/2 cup strawberry juice (drained from the strawberries mine didn't put out that much so I made up the difference with soy milk)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 12.3-ounce package Mori-Nu firm tofu
1 teaspoon vanilla
sweetener of choice, to taste

*If using fresh strawberries, use 1/2 cup white grape juice in the place of strawberry juice.

makes six - 1/2 cup servings

breakfast

A few new recipes from a new cookbook, "Tasty Vegan Delights" by Gloria Lawson and Debbi Puffer.

Breakfast Banana Splits.

So delicious! Oatmeal in the place of ice cream. Only 2 of my five kids like oatmeal and this did not convert anyone, unfortunately, but it was a fun treat that we will bring back for sure.

And Tofu "Egg" Gravy on Toast.



I thought this was amazing! So creamy and delicious. It reminded me of the Eggs Benedict that I was such a fan of in my pre-vegan days. One kid out of five approved :)

Tofu “Egg” Gravy on Toast

Prepare 1 recipe of Tofu Scrambler using 14 oz. package of tofu (I use Bryanna Clark Grogan's recipe for Tofu Scramble mix.) in a large skillet. Set aside.

Blend in a blender until creamy
1 cup raw cashews
1 cup water

Add and blend
3 ½ cups water
1 ½ teaspoons onion powder
½ teaspoon garlic salt
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cornstarch

Pour into the skillet with the Scrambled Tofu. Add
2 tablespoons dried onion flakes, or 1 small minced onion
¼ teaspoon dried garlic granules

Heat until thickened. Serve over toast topped with sliced tomatoes, fresh spinach, avocado, or vegetables of your choice.

optional: 2 T lemon juice

mushrooms

Ahhh, I'm in a rut. It seems I'm just cooking the same old things. Money's tight, so, exotic ingredients and gourmet creations are going to be in short supply for awhile. I think the kids like it simple (think boring!) anyway.

I splurged on some portobellos recently and decided not to grill them as we usually do. Just doesn't feel right to grill when it's 12 degrees outside.

Here's a homemade green bean casserole with portobellos...



and mushroom stroganoff with broccoli and whole wheat rotini. Both were very tasty but the kids hated them. I tried :)