Scraps and Snippets ~ Buffalo Scalloped Potatoes

Buffalo Scalloped Potatoes

5-6 medium potatoes thinly sliced or diced
1/2 onion thinly sliced or diced
1 TBSP Earth Balance
1 tub Vegan cream cheese (8 ounces, I used Trader Joe's)
2 stalks finely diced celery
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp dried parsley
1 and 1/2 cups of the following liquids...water and red hot/pepper/wing sauce. I uses 1/2 cup Frank's hot sauce and 1/4 cup of habenaro hot pepper sauce and 3/4 cup water. This was a spicy combo. Nicely spicy for heat lovers, too much for weenies. :  ).

Instructions:

Dice or slice the potatoes and onion. Heat the Earth Balance in a skillet and toss in onions and potatoes and brown so they are semi-crunchy and caramelized. 

While the potatoes are browning, preheat oven to 350 and slightly spray 8 x 11 or 10 inch round pan. 

In a medium bowl mix liquids with the cream cheese. Add the spices and mix very well. Add the diced celery and blend. 

When your potatoes and onions are cooked to your preference slide half into the baking pan. Pour half of the buffalo sauce over the potatoes. Add the rest of the potatoes and repeat with rest of the sauce. Bake at 350 for approx 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender and the sauce is bubbling.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Weekend Lessons Learned...

This weekend I learned a few lessons.

Sad, Scalloped Thumb Buddy...

A) When you have one of those really, really sweet mandoline slicers. The ones that have the protective guard to hold your fruits and veggies and come with warnings to use them....yeah. That neat little razor sharp gadget. Even if you need to slice a bunch of potatoes and onions for dinner and have very little time to throw dinner together because you have to go to a jewelry party at which you are the demonstrator...DO NOT slice potatoes and onions or anything else without the guard. Unless, that is, you want to slice an unexpected non-veggie, such as your thumb. 

I've taken on the burden of pain to bring you this Public Service Announcement (PSA) about mandoline safety. Ms. Thumb is indeed sad. She bled on my pink sweater, payback, passive aggressive little twerp. Ms thumb will survive. Next time she might not be so lucky. So let's just say she learned a lesson, and indeed, what doesn't kill you, will make you stronger, proven. We will never, never, never misuse my mandoline again. Repeat after me. What I just said.

Lesson B) Bunnies are tricky and sneaky. Of course we know that based on the sheer number of bunnies who live with us. However, the little surprise bunny, Fanny, is proving to be very advanced in her trickiness, last night, while I was distracted she jumped out of the cage. I grabbed her right away, but it was a surprise. Rotten little thing.  

Lesson C) Recipe creating, tweaking, retweaking and fails are getting fun. I feel like I kind of have a basic understanding, finally, of Vegan cooking and baking. I've found some go-to recipes and am beginning to really enjoy layering, messing with, adding and subtracting to create new. 

almond bisYummy

I've decided to do a project for Vegan Month of Food (Vegan Mofo) for October this year. I'll be sharing a bunch of recipes then. But I'm trying, tweaking and creating them now, so we can test them out. Last weekend I scored two wins. And Friday and Saturday I messed with three more (two need a few tweaks but are nearly there, one, needs some rethinking). Sunday evening was another experiment that included a recipe for almond biscotti that was stellar. Fortunately, I made enough of a batch that it could be sampled instead of all earmarked for the other recipe. This little beauty in the picture was slated for scarfing. And scarfed it was.  And since this is just one component of a dessert that should be off the charts, I think I can go ahead and share the recipe soon. So come back tomorrow for the recipe. Toad-boy, a kind of a biscotti snob, crunched through one and called it the best biscotti he's ever eaten.

Hope you had a good weekend.

Scraps and Snippets ~ No-Cheese, Cheesy Scallped Veggies, A Review AND A GIVEAWAY

Some days my mailbox feels like Christmas. 

I was given the opportunity to try out one of OXO's Healthy Eating Tools. Not only did they gift me with one sweet Hand Held Mandoline Slicer to try out...they sent me another to send to one of my readers. These gifts arrived in my mail last week...Merry Christmas to me and to one of you.

Hmmm. Would you like Christmas to come early to you? Best keep reading, or jump to the bottom of the post for instructions.

The Hand Held Mandoline Slicer is a pretty sweet tool. 

For starters. It's simple. And it's adjustable. Simply slide the little lever and tell it the thickness you want. I got some sweet thin slices out of this bad boy. It conquered the potatoes and onions in record time. The mushrooms didn't slice as easy, but they are kind of finicky, so I wasn't too surprised. The slicer is a good size for hand and bowls. I also found the finger protector (and guest protector, ha, ha) easy to use. Basically, it was really easy to use for someone who has been known to occasionally poke a hole in her dermis (sounds better than stab myself with a knife). Clean up was also a breeze. 

This is what I made with it. See the pretty veggie slices.

No-Cheese, Cheesy Scalloped Veggies

1 Cup soaked cashews (soak at least 30 minutes)
1 Cup cauliflower florets
2 Cups veggie broth
1 TBSP flour
3 TBSP nutritional yeast
1 TBSP tahini
2 Cloves garlic minced
1 and 1/2 TBSP lemon juice
1 tsp salt
5-6 medium potatoes thinly sliced
1 onion thinly sliced
7-8 mushrooms thinly sliced.
2 TBSP Earth Balance Spread

(Keep potatoes in salt water until you use them.)

Heat oven to 350. Grease 9 x 13 pan.

In a large pan, turn flame up high, add 1 TBSP Veg margarine (Earth Balance) to pan. Toss in potato slices and the onion. Don't turn until the potatoes and onions begin to caramelize. Then turn. Repeat until they begin to grow tender and both sides of the potatoes and onions are golden. Add the mushrooms when potatoes are beginning to cook. Adjust heat as needed. You don't want them to burn, you want them crusty though. Place onion/potato/mushroom mixture into the 9 x 13.

Drain cashew water. Add 1 TBSP Earth Balance to the large pan you used for the potatoes. Heat. Add cauliflower and garlic.  Add the flour, stir until all the veggies are coated. Then add Veggie broth, lemon juice, cashews, nutritional yeast, tahini and salt. Simmer/stir until mixture thickens.  

Cool. Run the mixture through a food processor. Then pour over potato mixture. Use it all.

Bake for 35 minutes at 350.

Okay. Here are the rules for the giveaway. 


Open to US residents.
Open from April 30, 2012 thru May 15, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. (Will be announced on the 17th)

Winner will be chosen at random.
Each activity counts as one entry. So each activity needs a separate comment. 


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Tell me what you'd make with the OXO Hand Held Mandoline Slicer.
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Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Thirty Day Vegan...Day 18

Lots of opportunity to eat not-so clean this weekend.

We had a tea party at church. Full of delectable sounding and smelling desserts and sandwiches.

However, I stuck with the four Vegan friendly items on the menu.

A cup of fruit. Check.

A cup of celery and carrots (and a whole lot of extra carrots as my table mate kept giving me hers.) Check.

Cucumber sandwiches. Classic seasoned cream cheese with a cucumber on top. One of my favorites. And we made the recipe with Vegan Cream Cheese (Soy). My table mate said it was hand's down the best sandwich. So that was all good. And the dang thing was tasty.

The Vegan cookies fooled lots of people and tasted just grand.

I created a dish Saturday night that was super good. I had some sauce leftover because I only cooked half the box of spirals so I adapted it for a casserole on Sunday, too. I was really excited that the sauce kept it's flavor. If you ever eat leftover alfredo or mac and cheese you know what I mean.

At the beginning of our journey I said I had made a Scalloped potato dish that needed tweaked. This sauce will do it. Seriously. The other one was good. But it was made with more Nutritional Yeast and cashews and lemon juice (among other ingredients). So it cost more, too.

This would be fabulous with sauteed mushrooms, too. Rob loved it. So did the girl...and her dogs.

Here is the recipe.

Spring Fling Greenfredo

5 Chopped Green Onions.
10 Chopped Asparagus Spears
1 Minced Clove of Garlic
4 TBSP Soy Free Earth Balance Spread
4 TBSP favorite flour (I used Spelt)
1/3 tsp salt
2 and 1/2 Cups unflavored Almond, oat or soy Milk
1/2 tsp garlic powder.
2 Handfuls of raw spinach leaves (approx 2 jam-packed cups)
1/4 heaping cup of Nutritional Yeast (this is sold in bulk at Whole Foods)(and probably at health food stores. I couldn't find it at my local store that has a healthy/organic food section)(It has a cheesy, almost parmesan-y flavor).
1 - 12 oz Package Eden Organic Kamut Spirals

Put water for pasta on to boil in a saucepan. When the water reaches boil. Add pasta and stir. Then cook for 7-8 minutes.

While pasta boils, in another saucepan melt the Earth Balance spread.

Toss in the minced garlic, the asparagus spears and the green onions. Saute until tender. Approx 2 minutes.

Add the flour and salt and garlic powder and stir. The mixture will become paste-like. Add the milk and stir. When blended toss in the spinach which will wither and cook down. Stir until mixture thickens into an alfredo type sauce. About 3 minutes.

Remove from heat.

Toss in nutritional yeast and stir.

Spoon pasta onto plates. Top with Greenfredo sauce.
Serves about 6.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Thirty Day Vegan...Day 25

Scalloped "Cheesy" Potatoes

3 lbs potatoes
4 TBSP of Earth Balance Spread (or fat of choice)
1/2 chopped onion
2 cloves minced garlic
4-6 ounces of fresh mushooms
5 TBSP of flour
2 and 1/2 cups of non-dairy unsweetened milk
1/2 cup of nutritional yeast (bulk or packaged at health food stores, on-line or some grocery stores.)


Prepare (I just cut eyes out, left most of the skin on) potatoes. Bake in 350 oven for approx 25 min (for small to medium potatoes) until half baked. Cool. Then slice into slightly greased 9 x 13 pan and sprinkle with salt.

In a sauce pan melt:

4 TBSP of Earth Balance
Toss chopped onion, minced garlic and mushrooms.
When veggies are sauteed and tender add 5 TBSP of flour and blend together until pasty.
Stir in 2 and 1/2 cups of non-dairy unsweetened milk of choice. (i.e, almond, soy, oat or rice)
Stir over low heat until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast (bulk or packaged at health food stores, on-line or some grocery stores.)

Pour "cheese" veggie sauce over potatoes.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Not the best picture. But the potatoes were pretty tasty. Even the non-vegans scarfed them down. Win. Win.

Every dessert we had was Vegan. And, again, no one complained. The chocolate cake was a little crumbly, but oh so good.

These cookies are amazing.


Orange Cranberry Pecan Coconut Cookies

1 Cup Coconut Oil
1/2 Cup Sugar
Zest of one small orange. (zest before juicing)
Juice of one small orange
1 Cup chopped nuts of choice
2 and 1/4 Cups flour (King Arthur, unbleached, Oat or spelt flours or a blend)
1/2 to 3/4 Cup of dried cranberries

Set oven to 350. Blend coconut oil and sugar until mixed. Add zest and juice. Mix. Add flour, stir. Add nuts and cranberries. Roll into small balls, or use small cookie scoop. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in 350 oven for 11 minutes. NOTE: These little guys are frail. Loosen them on the cookie sheet. Cool for a few minutes, then place on cookie rack. Store in the refrigerator or they are really fall apart crumbly.

Rob and I were able to pass up the half and half, the ham, the venison (that wasn't tough. Ha.) and a few more non-Vegan items without feeling super deprived. Because the vegan dishes were pretty delish.

And boy, did we ever have fun with Kombucha and the mother. Several brave souls tried a sip of both Kombucha and Kefir. And there were some seriously hilarious expressions on people's faces when they were introduced to Mother in her new home. She now resides in a 6 quart crock pot crock. She was getting too big for her huge pickle jar. One of her babies is now living there. Mother is fully unfurled across the top of her tea bath. Pulling back the curtain on her was quite the trip. Ha. Ha. We also did do a little I Pad/I Phone research and found that Kefir has tons of probiotics...

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Thirty Day Vegan...Day 22

No pictures of poo food, EER. So sorry. However, last night's dinner was fajitas made with portebello mushrooms sliced into strips, tossed with onions and red, yellow and green peppers and sauteed.

With that much taste you don't really need cheese. Okay. I didn't.

Add to that cilantro lime rice. Which was precooked and frozen servings of brown rice. Juice of a lime and fresh cilantro (or dried) to taste.

Threw it all together into a multi-grain tortilla. Added tomatoes, good lettuce. Really satisfying and delicious.

I also did some searching for the difference between coconut oil (which is one of our staples) and coconut butter which we've never used (not even on our heels, EER.)

http://nouveauraw.com/special-ingredients/coconut-oil-vs-coconut-butter/

http://www.ehow.com/how_4733159_milk-coconut-cream-coconut-water.html

http://www.livestrong.com/article/245310-what-is-the-difference-between-coconut-oil-coconut-butter/

http://paleohacks.com/questions/890/coconut-oil-vs-butter#axzz1KDRLEnLI

I'm also reading the Coconut Oil Miracle that goes into all this Coconut Oil craze.

More to report after the Holiday weekend.

For Easter dinner I will be serving Tropical Eggplant - eggplant coated with toasted coconut and served with Mango/Pomegranate Salsa. And Vegan Scalloped Potatoes. And some delicious Orange Cranberry Pecan Vegan Cookies.

And there will be items to please the meat eaters who will attend as well.

Hope you have a meaningful Resurrection Sunday. Christ is alive. He is indeed.