Vegan dessert

Taken from Facebook:

3 mashed bananas

1/3 cup applesauce

2 cups oats

1/4 cup almond milk

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cinnamon

Bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes

Potato Soup

We had this recipe along with brisket sandwiches last night and it was fantastic.

4-6 potatoes cubed and cooked in microwave for 8 minutes
1/4 cup butter
2 T flour
3 c. milk
1 t garlic
2 T salt
1 T pepper flakes
1/2 t celery salt
1/2 t basil
1/4 c. cheddar cheese
1/4 c. parmeson cheese
1 c. chicken broth

Soften potatoes in microwave.  Melt butter with flour in dutch oven adding milk slowly and the rest of the ingredients.  Mash potatoes before serving.

Vegan "diet"

It has been atleast a year since Jacob moved from being a vegetarian to becoming vegan. He has noodles, rice or cereal at every meal, lots of fruits and vegetables, protein smoothies, peanut butter, fried tofu, stir fry, pot stickers, veggie hamburgers, bean burritos, cheese-free pizza, and many other things. I am still surprised when I hear people argue that he should be eating meat. It's his ethical choice and I think for him, it would be wrong to do anything else.

He loves his kale smoothies. He's getting tired of strawberries so I have been using kiwi and mangos instead.

Green Mango Smoothie

1/2 cup kale
1 cup orange juice
1 cup mango
1 kiwi
1-2 tablespoons flaxseed

Blend in blender.

Lemon Pasta

6 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
8 oz. frozen mixed vegetables
pasta
Boil pasta and vegetables together. In small bowl mix olive oil, lemon, garlic, salt, and pepper. When pasta and vegetables are ready, drain and coat in oil mixture, stirring well. Serve.

Pass the beans

I've got a good recipe called Calico beans (bbq beans and hamburger meat casserole) that was passed to me by Frances Allesandro in Atwater, California years ago. Since then, we've made some fun varieties of chili with beans-no meat. Most recently I found a great recipe for crock pot roast and beans. Here are the vegan chili and crock pot roast and bean recipes, both of which I modified from other recipes I have seen.

Vegan Chili

1-19 ounce can tomato
2 T ground chili powder
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon crushed red chili pepper
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups cooked beans
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce

Simmer for 1 hour.

Crock pot roast and beans

1 can northern white beans
3 lb roast dredged in flour
1 can roasted tomato
1 can tomato paste
1 cup water
1 pkg. Lipton onio soup mix

Add to crock pot covering roast with liquids. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

More Smoothie Ideas

Jacob has had this peanut butter smoothie several times.

8 oz. soymilk

1 banana

1/2 cup fruit

1/2 T. flax seed

2 T. peanut butter

Place all ingredients in a blender until smooth.

He prefers the berry smoothie:

8 oz. juice (cranapple, grape, etc..)

1 banana

1/2 cup frozen fruit (mango, pineapple,....)

1/2 cup kale

grated carrot

2 T. tofu

Blend in blender until smooth.

Beef Noodle Stew

1.5 pounds chuck steak cut in 1 in. cubes
flour
butter
can of diced tomato
8 oz. bow tie pasta
4 cups broth
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. thyme
1 1/2 tsp. garlic


Dredge beef in flour and brown in skillet with melted butter. Add beef, tomato, uncooked pasta, spices and broth to crock pot and cook on slow for 4 hours or on high for 2 hours.

Banana Split Cookies

1/2 c. butter 1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. sugar 2 tsp. baking powder
medium banana 2 3/4 c. flour

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream butter and sugar with mixer. Add smashed banana, vanilla, and baking powder beating slowly until mixed. Add flour slowly-I usually end up adding more to make a stiff enough dough to cut out cookies. Roll and cut on floured board. Bake 6 minutes on top rack of the oven. Add frosting and sprinkles when cooled.

Asparagus Soup

Two weeks since my hiatal hernia repair and still on a liquid diet. Here is a soup recipe that I like.

1 lb. fresh asparagus spears
3 cups chicken stock
1 medium potato peeled and diced
3-4 stalks celery chopped
thyme
1 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste

Soak and rinse asparagus. Remove top inch of each spear, discard tough lower part, reserving middle portion of stalks. Add chicken stock, asparagus tips and stems, potato, celery, thyme, and pepper. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Remove asparagus stems and set aside.

Place half of the soup at a time in a blender container. Cover and blend at high speed for 20 to 30 seconds or until very smooth. Pass through a fine sieve and return blended soup to saucepan. Add reserved asparagus tips and milk and heat thoroughly, or refriegerate to be served cold.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
1 cup non-dairy butter
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup almond milk
water for desired texture
1 cup non-dairy chocolate chips

Blend well and stir in non-dairy chocolate chips.

Strawberry Smoothie

Put the following ingredients in a blender:

1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup chopped strawberries
1 banana
2 pieces tofu
1 scoop Spiru-ten Protein supplement

Blend until smooth.

Fruit and Vegetable Smoothie

Put the following ingredients in the blender and blend on high until fully liquified.

1 banana
1 orange
5-6 fresh or frozen strawberries
3-4 pieces pineapple
1 carrot cut in pieces
1/2 cup chopped fresh kale
1 cup orange juice

Vegan Stir Fry

Ingredients:
3/4 c. vegetable broth
3 T. soy sauce
1 T. vinegar
2 t. sugar
2 T. corn starch
1/4 c. tofu
snow peas
carrots
mushrooms
ginger
garlic

Sauce:
In a small saucepan stir 3/4 c. vegetable broth, 3 T. soy sauce, 1 T. vinegar, and 2 t. sugar. Heat to boiling and whisk in 2 T. corn starch.

Dredge tofu in cornstarch and fry in hot oil turning to brown on both sides. Add snow peas, carrots, mushroom, ginger and garlic. Drain. Add sauce.

Serve on rice.

Vegan Pesto Pasta

This recipe came from Leah Farmer.

Whole wheat pasta with pesto and roasted asparagus, onion, mushroom, and garlic topped with cherry tomatoes and a side of crispy garlic flat bread. Vegan delight!

Vegan Lasagna

12 oz. lasagna noodles
2 (16 oz) firm tofu
2 T. olive oil
small bunch chopped kale
salt and pepper to taste
3 cups marinara sauce
2 small sliced zucchini or squash
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place thin layer of marinara sauce on bottom of 9 x 13 inch baking dish. On top of marinara sauce place a layer of noodles. Mix tufu, oil, kale, salt, pepper. Add layer of zucchini. Top with 1/2 of tofu mixure and half of marinara sauce. Place another layer of noodles, tofu and marinara sauce. Bake for 45 minutes uncovered or until hot and bubbly. Let sit for 10 minutes before cutting.

Soup time

Trying to cook vegan on a cold and snowy day....here is what we came up with.


Vegetable Apple Soup

2 small grated apples
1 large potato grated
2 cups thinly sliced carrots
2 pints vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste

Saute vegetables and apples in 2 T. butter for 5 minutes. Add stock and simmer for 30 minutes.

Vegan chocolate cupcakes

Have you ever been at the place where you've seen your children make choices and you wonder where did they ever get an idea like that???? That is where I am with Jacob's choice to be vegan but it is getting easier to substitute for an egg or leave an ingredient out to meet his choices. This is a tested and approved recipe:

Vegan chocolate cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 1/2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 t. baking soda
3 T. vegetable oil
1 T. apple cider vinegar
1 t. vanilla
1 T. cocoa
1 c. cold water

Add ingredients in order adding the water slowly as you blend to get the desired consistency. Pour into muffin tins lined with cupcake papers.
Bake 25-30 minutes.

Tomato Pasta

The newest challenge is to learn how to cook vegan. The stir-fry with tofu did not go over well today. This is recipe we all like:

Tomato Pasta

3 T. sun dried tomato
2 cloves garlic
1 small bunch kale
1/3 c. olive oil
2 T. hot pasta water
salt/pepper
2 t. lemon juice
12 oz. pasta
1 t. thyme

Boil pasta with garlic and salt. In the last few minutes add kale chopped well. Drain pasta and kale saving 2 T. water. Butter casserole dish. Stir in pasta and other ingredients. Serve.

Banana Pumpkin Muffins

My son Jacob has allergies toward beef and chicken. By 3rd grade he had decided as a personal decision he would become a vegetarian. He's now in 9th grade and is even more passionate about his decisions with food, cleaning products, etc...that involve the (harmful) use of animals. My personal opinion is that he loves and cares strongly for the well being of animals which has driven first his decision to be a vegetarian and now a vegan.

Several weeks ago a friend brought by a recipe for Jacob for vegan choc. pudding. It was very good! My husband Paul made Jacob Vegan Chocolate Chip cookies and then my mom made him blueberry muffins and apple muffins.

When he went Vegan I thought his ability to eat baked goods were gone. There are very few breads he would eat, he doesn't eat cheese, eggs, milk, etc... But not to be outdone by the loving people around me that are helping Jacob with Vegan recipes, I too came up with one after several tries. I really like this one. I used a banana in place of 2 eggs and soy milk instead of regular milk.

Banana Pumpkin Muffins

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes

2 c. flour
1 T. baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ginger
1/3 c. margarin
1 c. sugar
1 medium banana
1 c. mashed, cooked, or canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
3/4 c. soy milk

Scoop 1/4 c. mixture into muffin tins.

I have more coming soon.