Thursday, November 30, 2017

...W.I.A.Y. ...

...I got one of my vegan probiotic biscuits out of the freezer...toasted it and crumbled half of it...
...made a quick vegan gravy with some TVP sausage crumbles from the SDA store and some flour and almond milk...super simple and quick...
...poured that over the crumbled biscuit...and ate the other half toasted with some Bee Free Honee...as dessert...
...I had gotten this adorable little tray of tiny cucumbers last weekend...and hadn't even opened it...
...so I sliced a couple and added them to a bowl with some Brussels Sprouts and oven fries...I also had some tofu with this...but it's not in the picture...
...for a snack I sprinkled some flax seed on top of some homemade soy probiotic yogurt mixed with some frozen strawberry jam...it was yummy...
...a simple Chana Masala over rice topped with some more of that yogurt for Dinner...
...and cornbread and milk for a late night snack...

...and again that seems like a lot of food for one day...

...what did you eat yesterday?...

~Have a lovely day!

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

...Using up Thanksgiving Leftovers...

...Mom gave me a quart jar of the leftover vegan cranberry relish...
...and the first thing I did with it was simply to mix it in with some chopped kale and top it with some pecans...that was delicious...
...and then because I used to make a cranberry orange quickbread for Christmas...I thought I'd try that with some muffins...
...just stirred in a cup of the relish...
....and those were pretty delicious as well...

...I still have a cup or so of relish...so I'll probably do another kale salad...and then just eat the rest as a side...

...how are you using up your leftovers?...

~Have a lovely day!

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

...Tunisian Bread...

...this is another recipe from our Ultimate Bread book...
...it's a really simple bread to make...
...shaped into two loaves and flattened...
...I love that in the bottom corner of this page of glazing options they give instructions for a vegan glaze...and it's just soy powder and water...who knew...
...let rise again...
...and then mix up your soy glaze...
...and brush that on...
...and sprinkle with sesame seeds...

...this bread was so perfect...a crisp crust and a chewy center...I'll definitely be making it again..

Tunisian Bread

1 1/2 cups semolina flour
1 1/2 cups bread flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp instant yeast
a little more than 1 cup warm water
2 Tbls olive oil
soy powder mixed with water for glazing
sesame seeds

Mix flours and salt and set aside...then add yeast to 1/2 cup water and let sit for 10 minutes...then add olive oil and the rest of the water...make a well in the flour and pour the liquid in and mix until you get a sticky dough that adheres and cleans the bowl...transfer to an oiled bowl and let rise for around an hour until double.   Divide and shape into two disks on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper...and let rise 30 minutes...while preheating the oven to 400 F.   Brush with soy/water mixture.   Sprinkle with sesame seeds.    Bake for 40 minutes. 

~Have a lovely day!

Monday, November 27, 2017

...Over the Long Holiday Weekend...

...we spent some time at my childhood home...I am always grateful that I got to grow up in this peaceful and beautiful location...
...we walked down to the river (aka swimming hole) with my brother and sweet SIL...

...and we had a delicious Vegan Thanksgiving meal that I already posted about...
...and Scout took an online test for his statistics class...
...and a cousin's game of basketball was played...
...we drove home Saturday morning...and then almost immediately went tree shopping...at...you guessed it our local Food Lion...they had quite a selection of fresh bargain priced trees...
...so we chose one that we thought would fit in our house and loaded it up...
...got it home...and trimmed it up...
...and got it into it's stand and gave it a drink...
...meanwhile...we made whole wheat bread...
...we brought the tree inside...and kitten was thrilled...

...and this year we're setting the tree up in the den instead of in the living room which is on the front of the house...

...it really didn't make sense to put it in the front room as we rarely sit in there...so that made the tree kindof just for show...for the people outside looking in...and not for US...

...so this year...we're putting the Christmas tree in the den where we can enjoy it...and...if we open the front door...you can see it through the foyer from the street...
...Scout trimmed the top...
...and we got the 'snow' tree skirt in place...Mom always did this when we were growing up...it's just a white bed sheet rumpled and tucked around the tree...
...we had a delicious vegan beef stew for dinner on our Christmas plates...it's always so much fun to get those out and use them each year...

...maybe I'll do a post tomorrow about those two delicious loaves of beautiful Tunisian Bread...
...the kiddos checked all the lights...
...and then added them to the tree...
...we dressed up our Jack-Jack as Santa...of course...

...and then he attacked the Santa hat...no idea why...but it was funny...he actually got really feisty after being dressed up...and ran around all crazy for a while...
...so then we dressed kitten up as Santa...and she was definitely not impressed...
...then Our Girl and I put the knitted tinsel on the tree...Scout said we should have done it before we put the ornaments on...but I don't know...when do you put your tinsel/garland on?...
...and finally...Scout put the star on top...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!

Saturday, November 25, 2017

...What I Ate Yesterday...Vegan Thanksgiving...

...I had brought some vegan pepper jack cheese...
...I've posted about it before...it's Julie Hasson's recipe...
...and Mom made a Vegan Version of her famous Christmas cookies and gave us a bag...I had gotten some vegan white chocolate chips just for this...

...so I ate one of those...you know...just to try them out...

...they were delicious of course...
...these are the chips I got from Amazon...
...then we got busy preparing all the vegan sides...I prepped some Brussels Sprouts...
...made the vegan gravy...it's just veg broth...soy milk and corn starch...and cooked some canned green beans in some more veg broth...
...the green beans got done first...so they moved off to the serving table...
...the main table is set...
...and Mom sweetly set up a vegan table...so that we wouldn't have to sit around a dead animal carcass...
...the vegan dressing came out of the oven...
...Grandma's Mashed...
...sweet corn from Mom's freezer...with Earth Balance added...
...the Brussel's Sprouts are done...
...my sweet sissie's cranberry relish...veganized by Mom...she went to a lot of trouble to find vegan jello...her recipe here...
...Brussels Sprouts...
...all the vegan sides...

Cranberry Relish
Brussels Sprouts
Sweet Corn
Vegan Dressing
Green Beans
Vegan Gravy
Grandma's Mashed
...and the Vegan Seitan Turkey came out of the oven......
...it was exactly what I was hoping for...a crispy vegan 'skin' and a delicious meaty seitan...
...my crowded vegan plate...
...dessert...vegan pumpkin pie...topped with whipped Aqua Faba cream...

...everything was delicious...

~Wishing you continued Thanksgiving fun with your families...