Vegan and the Out of Town Guests

Hummmm, what to make when you need a lot of food and the people you are cooking for eat meat, diary and eggs, and you are trying not to.

I now have my standby for when I need a generous amount of food that is tasty and does not appear Vegan.

Fiesta Bake from Everyday Happy Herbivore cookbook, written by Lindsay Nixon.

It is cheap, easy and quick to make.  Perfect for a house full of people.

Fiesta Bake reheats really well.

Fiesta Bake

Serves 4+

Ingredients

1/2 lb Whole Wheat Pasta

1 11oz can of corn, drained and rinsed  

1 15oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 4oz can of diced green chilies, drained (optional)

1 1/4 cups of nondairy milk

1/3 cup nutritional yeast

2 Tbsp Yellow Miso

2 Tbsp Cornstarch

1 Tbsp Onion Powder

1 Tbsp Garlic Powder

1/2 Tsp paprika

1/4 Tsp turmeric

1 Cup Salsa

1 Tomato, sliced (optional)

Fresh Cilantro for Garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F

Cook pasta

Whisk together the nondairy milk through the turmeric in a saucepan

Heat over medium heat until it thickens

Add salsa to sauce, starting with 1 cup.

(If salsa is really chunky, add another 1/4 to 1/2 cup)

Mix together pasta, beans, corn and green chilies

Pour sauce over and mix well

Pour mixture into a casserole dish and bake for 15 minutes.

Garnish with cilantro and tomato slices

*****

use brown-rice pasta to be gluten free

use miso make from chickpeas to be soy free

You Can't Have Bananas without Strawberries

This morning, due to lack of proper freezer management, I was out of both raspberries and blueberries.  I now needed a new breakfast plan.  Normally, I would switch to oatmeal, the bad kind, with all the sugar and flavors, like strawberries and cream.  It might be tasty, but it sure isn't good for the body.  This morning was different.  I had already added the bananas, orange juice, yogurt, avocado and strawberries to the blender, I really hated to toss all that expensive goodness.  So the Banana and Strawberry Smoothie was born.

Banana and Strawberry Smoothie

2 Bananas
2 Cups Strawberries
1 Tablespoon avocado (opt)
1 Cup Keifer, Yogurt, Almond or Soy Milk
1 Cup of Orange Juice or 1 Orange and 1/2 cup of water

Blend

This combination of flavors was both tasty and very pretty.  A nice girly pink.

Before Dinner Drink

Before dinner drink?  You bet.  Each night before dinner this teetotaller tilts one back.  The kids too.

I find this recipe quick and easy to prepare while I am working on the remaining meal prep and cooking.  It needs just a few ingredients, which I buy in bulk at Costco.

Oh, and this is not instead of a tossed salad, often, it is in addition to a tossed salad.

Cheers!

Seasonal Green Smoothie

1/2 Cup Water

1 Banana, peeled

1 Orange, peeled*

1 Pear or Apple, quartered

2 Cups of Spinach or other leafy greens

1 Cup Ice

*Before peeling orange, use a paring knife to remove some of the zest and add

Directions

Add ingredients to blender in order listed

Blend till smooth

Ginger Bread House

Our church held a Gingerbread House building event, which I knew the girls would enjoy.  For years, I have seen the kits in the store, but have never purchased one.  It seemed like a messy craft and this Mom tends to avoid "messy" anything.  I am all about clean and tidy.

I was surprised that the craft was not messy and barely sticky, clean up was a breeze.  The girls played nice together.  No altercations about candy or placement came up.  Yay for well behaved little girls.

Our little house looked pretty good, as long as you did not compare it to our competition.  A few families went all out.  Whereas we showed up with our self contained kit and a spatula, others needed rolling carts to bring in all their house building supplies.

But unfortunately . . . . 

a big wind struck and our little house didn't make it.

Mmmmmm Breakfast Smoothie

Mmmmmmmm Breakfast Smoothie

Supper yummy way to start the day, and look how much fruit you are eating in just one meal.  Why eat a boring apple at lunch when you can have all this whole fruit?

Makes 2

2 Banana's
1 Cup of Blueberries
1 Cup of Raspberries
1 Cup of Strawberries
1 Cup of Orange Juice or 1 Orange and 1/2 Cup of Water
1 Cup of Keifer, Yogurt, Almond, Soy, Rice or Cows Milk

(I use soy yogurt that I make.  It is full-proof when using a yogurt maker.)

(http://www.amazon.com/Euro-Cuisine-Automatic-Yogurt-White/dp/B001KZM4Y4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354835461&sr=8-1&keywords=yogurt+maker)

I use frozen Blueberries, Raspberries and Strawberries.  I am able to buy the Blueberries and Strawberries in bulk at Costco.

In a pinch, I use frozen bananas.  With frozen, I either scale back to using one banana or add more liquid.  Frozen bananas are a bear to blend, even in the Vitimix.

Let me know if you give this smoothie a whirl.

Apple Has Let Me Down

Well, lets just say that Apple has let me down.  My web page, "It's all about the Kids" is no longer being hosted by Apple.  It was so simple, so easy, even a caveman could do it.  Apple has this program, iWeb, that is so easy to use.  Drop, Drag and Write.  Than with a click of a button and $100 a year, it is published and hosted by Apple.  Not any more.  :(  So this is my attempt at a replacement.  Will it be as pretty?  Probably not, but here goes.