Scraps and Snippets ~ Brrr It's Cold Outside...Soup for You...

I spent the weekend being domestic. I. E. I did a lot of cooking and began the start of some craft projects. I made a big ol' batch of Seitan (Vegan with a Vengeance version) and decided I needed to use up some onions that had decided to begin sprouting in my pantry. Here's what came out of that. 

(Happy Tail-end Side of Birthday Week to You, X-ta! Hope it's been a good one.)

"Steak" and  Potato Stew

2 Cups Potatoes small dice (3-4 potatoes)

1 TBSP Earth Balance

1 Cup Chopped Mushrooms

2 Small or 1 Medium/Large Onion

7 Cups Vegetable Broth

1/4 Cup Soy Sauce

2 Cups Small Dice Seitan

1/2 tsp Salt

1 TBSP Balsamic or Red Wine Vinegar

Melt Earth Balance in Dutch oven/soup pot) or frying pan. When hot add onions until they begin to caramelize, then add mushrooms and saute until tender. Either transfer to a crock pot (if using frying pan) or add directly to the Dutch oven the vegetable broth, soy sauce, potatoes, seitan. Simmer until the potatoes are tender. (Low 5-6 hours, high 2-3, stove top 1 hour) Taste and either add the salt or skip it. Add vinegar and serve with crusty bread.

Scraps and Snippets ~ ThanksgiVing Cranberry Citrus Apple Bake

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

I'm watching a colorful sunset and relaxing before we go to our next Thanksgiving meal. The recipes I wanted to create worked. Which is why I didn't post yesterday. Not that they worked but because I was still doing research. Or, maybe experimentation would be a better description.

I'm going to share them with you.

The first one is the:

Cranberry Citrus Apple Bake

1 1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries (you could probably use fresh with no problem)

1 Cup Craisins

5 Small Oranges (Like Clementines or Mandarins) or 2-3 larger ones.

3 TBSP Maple Syrup

3/4 Cup Chopped Pecans

6 Medium-sized Apples

1 Cup of Oatmeal

1/3 Cup Brown Sugar

Spray 9 x 13 pan. Preheat oven to 350 when ready to bake.

Mix the cranberries, craisins, Pecans and 2 TBSP of the maple syrup together. Squeeze all the oranges over the mixture, scrape out any extra pulp you want. Set aside to let the flavors marry.

Slice the apples into thin slices, you don't need to peel them. Lay the slices in the 9 x 13. Drizzle the apple slices with the remaining maple syrup, sprinkle brown sugar over that and follow with the oatmeal. Cover this with the cranberry mixture.

Bake at 350 for 45-minutes to an hour. Serves 20-24.

If you are doing Black Friday, be careful out there!!!!!

Scraps and Snippets ~ Affluenza and the Thanksgiving Season...

It is late afternoon, a late, gray afternoon. Three animals are curled up next to me. One purrs, another snores. All are blessedly warm.

And I'm hurrying to post some blog posts for the three blogs I dilly-dally around with and am feeling a sense of accomplishment, or maybe relief.

Dinner is partially ready. I've got a kitchen chemistry class tonight, and am going tomorrow to buy the rest of the food I need to create Vegan masterpieces for Thanksgiving. I don't plan to shop on Black Friday. I plan to sleep in two or three mornings this weekend.

But why do I feel a little crabby? And stressed? And overwhelmed?

My mind is already on the next few weeks and what that means. It means juggling, working, cleaning, shopping, cooking, cleaning, interacting, acting joyful. I want simple. But I don't allow myself to embrace simple. Instead, I complicate. If one is good enough, three would be incredible. But sometimes I give up at two and feel guilty.

Is this an American disease I've picked up? The dreaded affluenza? Is there a cure for it?

I've heard some sermons about words lately. Not new information. Crud. I've studied it myself. And it's not just a Biblical truth. It's a universal truth that a negative mindset breeds negative words and stinking thinking becomes the emotional equivalent to a bed bug infestation. What is the antidote to stinking thinking? This season, Thanksgiving (even though it's been completely eradicated by Christmas gloss and glitter at every store I've stepped into this week...but that's stink think) offers a huge piece of the puzzle. Gratitude.

I am grateful that today I have a few moments to breathe and catch up on a task. And I'm grateful I have a job. I'm grateful for warm animals who love me, heck, they adore me, and when I'm not tripping over, or cleaning up after them, a cuddle, a lick or a tail wag can definitely make a bad day not so bad after all. I'm grateful that I have three children who live close enough that I can see them on holidays. I love that I have been able to become friends with the grown-up versions of their special selves. I love that I have a roof over my head when some don't. I'm grateful that I have food in my freezer and pantry. I never have to worry about stretching one cup of rice or beans into three meals. My worry is what exactly I can add from my riches to make those beans and rice taste better. I have shoes. Lots of shoes. Not Imelda Marcos style, but I have more than one pair, and can always find socks without holes, too. My family is relatively healthy. No one is in the hospital. No one is currently reeling from bad news. My husband is a good man and we have a good life. We don't need for anything. Most of what we long for are wants.

Ten minutes of pondering what I'm grateful for and I already feel better.

Sigh. In and out. The air I breathe, the God who gives it to me. The sun that is hidden. The cold that has gripped the earth to slow the cycle of growth so even the ground can rest. And the signal that I am supposed to seek rest as well. Yes. I am very, very blessed.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Oh Yeah, This One Was Tasty...Asian Cranberry Slaw

On my quest to find delicious and Vegan or Veganable recipes for Thanksgiving I found a braised cabbage recipe that sounded pretty yummy. Except all the flavor came from pepperoni. Uhhh, so I put the idea of a warm cabbage slaw into my think-tank and this is what came out.

Braised Asian Cranberry Slaw.

1 Onion, small dice

2 TBSP sesame oil

1 tsp soy sauce

4 Cups Chopped Cabbage (or approx 1/2 large head cabbage, I used purple)

2 TBSP rice vinegar

1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes

1 TBSP sesame seeds

1/2 cup craisins

Heat 1 TBSP sesame oil in pan. Get it hot. Toss in onions and cook til browned and aromatic. Add cabbage and cook until it begins to shrink and tenderize, 3-5 minutes add soy sauce and hot pepper flakes. Stir and cook until cabbage is coated. Turn down flame and add sesame seeds, vinegar and last TBSP of sesame oil. Stir well, add craisins, stir again and serve.

Scraps and Snippets ~ ThanksgiVing with a Capital V...

To work through this Thanksgiving feast conundrum I think I have to dissect it. It helps to think about what I like, need, love about the Thanksgiving feast occasions.

Here is my early dissection list: the flavors and textures I love, the things that scream Thanksgiving meal.

Rolls. This is no issue. I’ve got a French bread recipe from the red gingham cookbook that is virtually Vegan. It calls for egg whites which I’m just going to skip since they just help make the bread crusty. And the suggestion was to use water if you want extra crusty. Win. Win. I’m going to make a batch of bread, as rolls, and with whole grain flour and some extra fun added. I'm thinking garlic rolls, some rosemary onion rolls, and maybe some herb with parsley, sage, and thyme.

I love the taste and texture of cranberry relish, but it has gelatin in it. I could use agar but I have an idea that will take a cranberries relish type dish another step into deliciousness. Stay tuned.

I’ve never been a die-hard turkey fan and I’ve always LOATHED dressing. This may be because early on I discovered my mom used giblet juice (and possibly little bits of giblets themselves sliced and diced but this is usually denied in an attempt to get me to eat it.) I always put gravy on my turkey and usually just ate one serving, calling it good. This year I’m going to make the Chickpea Cutlets. I think I might make smaller ones and bake them in the gravy. I’ll add sage and celery to the gravy to give it that Thanksgiving taste. More on this later, too.

Potatoes. That’s easy. We don’t need to make them, but I may do a batch anyway. Cut and boil potatoes (about 5 pounds) leave skin on for texture, a few peeled cloves of garlic and salt to taste, toss in a bag of frozen or fresh chopped cauliflower, when all tender, drain most of the water. Save some if needed. Add a container of Vegan Cream “Cheese” (Trader Joe’s has one.) Mash to consistency you like, add more potato water if needed. Make a few wells, add a TBSP or so of Earth Balance to each well.

My aunt has made a fudge pecan pie for years. That sucker is delicious. And full of dairy. So. I’m thinking that what I love best is the fudginess and the pecan. The flavors can be Veganized, No problem there, either. Not sure how yet, but it's on my list. Stay tuned.

Pumpkin. & has produced two different, delicious caramelized pumpkin nut “cheese”cakes. And she just needs to tweak her recipe to pull off the perfect Vegan pumpkin pie, traditional style.

& also keeps mentioning a Vegan stuffing recipe she found somewhere.

All of these sound delicious and I'm pretty sure they will scratch the itch and fill the "meat and dairy" void. I'll keep you posted.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Gobble, Gobble, Gulp...

My anxiety level clicked up a notch today.

Why? Probably because I solidified plans for two Thanksgivings and remembered a church Harvest dinner I'd signed up for. Not a big deal. Really. None of them are at my house. And I kind of have them all on my radar. But. These suckers are all a week or less away.

Yikes.

This is the first year we are going to concern ourselves with the Vegan thing, too. Which means that what I prepare has to be Vegan for us to eat without guilt and/or sadness that we are gorging on stuff we don't really want to gorge on, and it has to taste good to others, those who are hoping that what we bring to the table is going to be deliciously up to our normal standards of food.

I've been called a good cook. And I've had folks ask my husband and kids what I made so they can be sure to grab some at potlucks. I don't want to become the weirdo lady who brings tasteless food to gatherings. I want to keep my good cook badge.

The other issue I have is the stupid Martha Stewart inner freak who wants to not only make things good enough, she wants to make things that cause tastebuds to rejoice, and tears to well and maybe even spill over the eyelid and trickle down a cheek. You know. Sappy stuff which is better than a purple ribbon at a state fair.

My challenge over the next few days is to find, tweak, twist and wrestle foods that embody the spirit of Thanksgiving and the heart of "Kind" eating i.e. Whole Food Plant-Based.

I'm not even thinking about Christmas. The Eves of many Christmases past have been at my house and full of soups rich with meaty goodness, cheeses, creams. Cookies, and candies made with items like butter.

Suffice it to say. This blog is going to continue to be about food. I'm very grateful that there are hundreds of other blogs that are about food, too. I'm going to need all of them as I take the holiday challenge to beat my own holiday food expectations.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Monkeying Around

Crazy day.

For starters. I was a little crabby. People annoyed me today. So it's probably good that I didn't have a patient filled day as I was seriously lacking patience. : ). However. I did start out my morning with a new guy who laughed like I was a stand up comedian. (This is my absolute favorite thing. I have another patient that hoots and hollers at almost everything I say. Trust me, a person is seriously good when she can make, "I need you to put this paper top on so it opens in the front. Remove your blouse and bra and lay them right here." funny on any level. I do, apparently. It's pretty amazing. (Okay, sometimes I ad lib and add a few other one-liners, and these folks are fasting which means they DO not have the benefit of coffee in their systems, which can affect common sense and bring drastic mental changes.) But still. However, an enthusiastic hooter generally only crosses my path a total of three minutes, and they are usually long gone when I hit the paperwork part of my job.

I left work when the scanner took the equivalent to a spring break and refused to come back, even when I whistled for it and promised it treats.

& and I went to the big city again for groceries, our Financial Peace University Dave Ramsey class, and candle shopping et al. Ecoscents, a local "cottage" candle shop was kind enough to honor a Groupon we both purchased and then procrastinated and tried to redeem on a day they were closed, the last day of redemption. They gave us the full value, even though the date had passed, and really, honestly, we should not have procrastinated and should have noted that they wouldn't have been open on the last date because they don't have weekend hours. Nice of them to be generous, they really could've just given us the value we paid as required, instead they let us spend the full amount. The candles smell amazing. And they will refill the jars, and any other candle jars we have, for a discount of 30%. Kind of cool. I picked out a cranberry hot tea and an herbal medley that are yummy. 

Since we were in the neighborhood, (literally, we walked through the ditch that separated the stores) we visited an indoor farmer's market that is chock full of locally grown and made items. Fun and quirky and nice to know we can still find some local stuff after the farmer's markets go to sleep for the long winter.

Finally, the pictures. This is Latte Art. & made me a monkey. I'll let you figure out which one is her monkey in my mocha soy latte, and which is the pro's monkey. We will be generous and say this was a) her first attempt at a monkey, and b) soy milk doesn't quite produce the foam that milk does, so there's that. 

As far as financial wisdom. Uhh. I wish I had taken Financial Peace University about twenty years ago. I'd be typing this from some beach somewhere...maybe. :  )