Another busy weekend. We had an out-of-town drive-by visit from friends. One of &'s best friends, her husband and new baby. : ). The 15 hour visit was quick but included food. Neither of them is Vegan and baby is still on the breast so feeding them caused a little concern....
& made sweet potato chili. I put together Monster Cookie Bars. (this recipe in bar form baked in a 9 x 13 for approx 23 Minutes and with the addition of Vegan candy coated chocolates.)
I also found a recipe for non-Vegan Oreo cookie truffles that are baked. Trouble is, I can't find the link to give credit. However, I did change ingredients and turn it into bars and it's almost printable. A tweak and trial and I'll get it posted. I used coconut oil for butter and they were a bit too coconutty for my taste. I'll tweak again and decrease the fat a bit as well. Pretty sure my Thanksgiving peeps will be guinea pigs.
And & found this recipe for baked French Toast. She decreased the Vegan butter by 1/3 - 1 stick instead of 3. There was a decrease in sugar, too, and we sprinkled sugar and cinnamon on top and baked it in two smaller pans so each piece was crunchy on top. Everything else the same. Delish. Even thought the picture of the pre baked batch looks a lot like chicken. UGH.
& and I made cakes for an omnivore anniversary/engagement party. Nice to see omnivores falling upon Vegan cakes, I tell ya.
Thanks Matt and Rachel for letting us experiment on your friends and family. Ha. Ha.
Here's my killer raspberry fudge cake. A conglomeration of several recipes. I'll post it some day soon.
And I haven't given a bunny update lately. Emma and Fannie were recently in a local high school play. Here's a picture for your enjoyment. Quite the adventure. Apparently, they were well-behaved though their time on the stage was pretty limited. They are naturals. Emma is featured, Fannie is sideways in front with one ear up, one down.
Sinai Chop Salad
Ingredients are cut into bite sized pieces so every bite has a little
of everything.
One can of
garbanzo beans (chickpeas) (If you have dried around, make your own.
A can = about 1 and 2/3 cup cooked beans.)
Three heads
of Romaine lettuce washed and chopped
Two
cucumbers. Remove most of the skin but leave just a bit for color and
chop into bite sized pieces.
Four small
dill pickles (chopped)
Purple
onion ½ to a whole onion, depending on size and your
preference (small chopped)
Four to six
tomatoes (chopped)
Dressing:
(Make this at least the day before so all the flavors marry)
2 TBSP
tahini (Sesame seed paste with a very distinct flavor should be in
internal section of the store.) (If this scares you, or you don't
want a jar of tahini in your fridge you can use hummus)
4 TBSP
Apple Cider Vinegar (may need more or some water to get to
consistency you'd like)
1 teaspoons
oregano (dried) or equivalent in fresh
1 teaspoon
dill (dried) or equivalent in fresh
1/2
teaspoon garlic powder
¼
teaspoon sea salt.
Toss all
the salad ingredients into a big bowl.
Drizzle
dressing over salad. Serve with pitas. Feel free to toss chunked
falafels into the mix, too.
Warning. This is involved. First you have to make the banana bread, then the other parts and pieces. It is delicious. So much so that I forgot to take pictures of my plate. One person who ate it decided it was too fusty and she wouldn't go to all the work. I'll hang onto the recipe because every once in awhile you just want a good brunch or breakfast recipe. The banana bread can be made ahead of time, sliced and frozen. The french toast mixture can be made ahead and refrigerated. The syrup as well. (However, you'll want to bring it back to room temperature or reheat it as the coconut oil will firm up in the fridge.) The coconut whip is great made two or three days before you need it as it thickens and gets even creamier as it ages.
This recipe was inspired, veganized and tweaked from one I found here. The French Toast recipe is one I use over and over tweaked slightly from here.
French Toast Banana Bread
Banana Bread
4 Cups flour
1 Cup oatmeal
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 Cup coconut oil
1 1/2 Cups sugar
2 ripe bananas
1/2 Cup non dairy milk
2 TBSP ground flax seed
1 1/2 Cup applesauce
4 teaspoons vanilla
Combine non dairy milk and flax and let gel in a small bowl. Mix coconut oil, sugar, bananas and applesauce together. Add vanilla and stir. Add spices, salt, soda and baking powder and mix well. Stir in flax/milk mixture until all incorporated. Add flour and oatmeal until mixed.
Grease two loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or until knife comes out clean or almost clean.
When the bread cools cut into approximately 1/2 inch slices.
Prepare French Toast Mixture.
2 Cups non-dairy milk
1 TBSP maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 Cup of flour
Mix well.
Dip
the slices of banana bread into mixture. Cook on greased griddle or pan
until golden on each side. Set in warm oven to keep until ready to
serve.
Serve with:
Peanut Butter Syrup
1 Cup maple syrup
1/2 Cup peanut butter
1 TBSP coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Coconut Whipped Cream
1
Can full fat coconut milk (chilled for several days to separate cream
from water. Scoop out thick white cream into a bowl. Discard or use
water for smoothies, Thai recipes, etc.
Whip coconut cream until fluffy.
Add 1 TBSP maple syrup
1/4 Cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Whip
all ingredients together until fluffy and whipped. Return to
refrigerator until ready to serve. This will thicken as it chills so
feel free to make it a day or two ahead.
I've made this recipe twice and I'm calling it a keeper. Tonight I added dried cranberries and walnuts to one loaf, chocolate chips and walnuts to the other. Both are tasty.
I love that the ingredients include whole grain, bananas, applesauce and flax.
Banana Cranberry Bread
4 Cups flour
1 Cup oatmeal
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 Cup coconut oil
1 1/2 Cups sugar
2 ripe bananas
1/2 Cup non dairy milk
2 TBSP ground flax seed
1 1/2 Cup applesauce
4 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 Cups crushed walnuts or pecans
1 1/2 Cups dried cranberries or chocolate chips
Combine non dairy milk and flax and let gel in a small bowl. Mix coconut oil, sugar, bananas and applesauce together. Add vanilla and stir. Add spices, salt, soda and baking powder and mix well. Stir in flax/milk mixture until all incorporated. Add flour and oatmeal until mixed. Toss in nuts and cranberries or chocolate chips.
Grease two loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or until knife comes out clean or almost clean.
Next time I'm going to add white chocolate chips and some orange zest with the cranberry version. I'm thinking it will be delicious.
Green Rice
Back a long, tong time ago. Super long, like when I first got married, we visited my grandparents and I returned home with lots of recipes I copied from her file.
Grandma's recipes are the real deal full of all sorts of dairy. And this is a dish I made often.
It's a casserole that is full of cheese and eggs and flavor. I'm not going to lie. Sometimes I want this casserole real bad.
We have three butternut squash waiting for inspiration. I was successful with a butternut mac and cheese and thought I'd take it another step. Spinach would be my first choice, but we had chard that needed to be eaten up.
4-6 Cups cooked brown rice (I used 4 but I will use more next time.)
1 Cup cashews
1 Clove garlic
1 Small onion diced
2 teaspoons mustard
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2/3 Cup vegetable broth
2 Cups prepared butternut squash
1 teaspoon salt
4 TBSP nutritional yeast
2 Cups chopped chard (uncooked)
Put cashews, broth, mustard, diced onion, lemon juice garlic in food processor and let sit while you prepare the rice.
Grease a 9 x 13 pan and preheat oven to 350.
Whir cashew mixture. Add butternut squash and salt and whir. Combine rice, chard and sauce together until well mixed. Pour into 9 x 13 pan and bake for 45 minutes.
I also found a recipe for non-Vegan Oreo cookie truffles that are baked. Trouble is, I can't find the link to give credit. However, I did change ingredients and turn it into bars and it's almost printable. A tweak and trial and I'll get it posted. I used coconut oil for butter and they were a bit too coconutty for my taste. I'll tweak again and decrease the fat a bit as well. Pretty sure my Thanksgiving peeps will be guinea pigs. 
