It’s cold outside. Cold and windy! There’s snow on the ground, ice on the roads, and it’s still coming down.
Well, maybe not where I live, but winter comfort food is what we all tend to want this time of year. So this is what we had for dinner last night.
We call this “Squilly”, short for Squash Chili. It’s a hearty, vegan, chili that is warm, filling and just makes you feel good! Plus, it can be really good for you!
It’s flu season! Where I live, it isn’t really bad yet, but I saw a report on the news the other day that said it has hit some other areas pretty hard.
While just about everyone gets the flu once in a while, the best way to get over it quickly is to make sure your immune system is in tip-top shape!
With that in mind, this is what we had for dinner last night.
This Citrus Vinaigrette is delicious on Berry Delish Salad, and other salads.
Citrus Vinaigrette Yield
1 cup
Prep Time
10m
Cook Time
10m
Equipment Required stand mixer Ingredients 3 tablespoons lemon juice 3 tablespoons lime juice 2 tablespoons orange juice 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar 1⁄4 teaspoon thyme, dried
I’ve been making Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies since 1987. This is the first year, however, I’ve made a gluten free version! I’m so happy that it worked out, because these cookies have become part of our family’s holiday traditions.
I invented the original recipe based on a cookie purchased at Smith’s grocery store. (I don’t even know if the store still exists!) The original cookie was a pumpkin “cake” cookie with the chocolate chips. It was good, but not great. It had a lot of salt and baking soda in it. Because DH and I liked them so much, I experimented until I had a healthier, yummier version. The wheat version of these has been extremely popular with family and friends.
Tuesday was MIL’s birthday! We took her out to dinner (she loves to eat out) and we gave her this as a gift.
No, it’s not just a box. It contains an assortment of amazing raw chocolate confections!
Here is what is hiding under the two big ones.
Don’t those look luscious!
DH and I made these, from scratch, over several days as a special treat for his Mom for her birthday. She is a major choc-a-holic, but we wanted to make her chocolates that are actually good for her, along with tasting good!
Traditional Black Forest Cake is made in layers of chocolate cake with whipped cream and cherries between each layer. While this version certainly isn’t traditional, it does pay tribute to the basic concept. It also contains much healthier ingredients.
I was originally going to add just beet pulp. I juiced 3 medium beets, which was all I had on hand, and it didn’t make enough pulp, so I added in the carrot pulp to get a full cup. I’m glad I did because the beet pulp had a very earthy flavor. I think a full cup would have been too much.
I’m working on raw treats right now!
In particular, I’m looking at various cake ideas. I found a recipe for Hummingbird Cake on the internet. Although my version deviated from the original, it’s still based in the tropical flavors, and it’s really yummy!
It uses the same concepts as my Raw Carrot Cake, the mix is made, then it’s pressed into a mold to make “squares”. I used my favorite mold for this type of treat, the Wilton silicone brownie mold. It works great for me, and makes bite size treats that are great for dessert, box lunches and snacks.
Last Saturday, DH had his first raw chocolate adventure. He made this:
I call it Raw Chocolate Bliss, because when I eat it, it makes me feel so HAPPY! It is a combination of raw cacao paste, raw cacao butter, vanilla powder, pure maple syrup, coconut nectar, walnuts and hemp seeds.
Many commercial chocolates give me a residual head ache. They also make me feel over-caffinated. Raw chocolate doesn’t have this effect, and it’s actually healthy!
Along with the waffles, which I posted the recipe for yesterday, we had an Orange-Blueberry Sauce which I made the night before.
This is a great sauce to serve on waffles and pancakes. It also works well on top of raw cheesecake and ice cream!
It’s not difficult to make, you just have to be patient enough to allow the liquid to reduce and thicken.
Conclusion This is yummy stuff! I had some left over, so I’ll probably make ice cream in the near future!
DH made waffles for breakfast on Sunday! I made blueberry-orange sauce for them the night before, so it was ready to go in the morning.
These came out chewy, crispy and really yummy!
How much batter to add and how long to cook it for depends entirely on your waffle iron. For mine, this recipe makes enough for two, 4-rectangle waffles.
It is possible to mix up the batter the night before and store it, covered, in the refrigerator so it’s ready the next morning.
This is a basic, gluten free, “sweet” flour combination. To actually use it, it needs to be combined with starch and xanthan gum.
Gluten Free Waffle Flour Mix Yield
2 cups
Prep Time
10m
Ingredients 1 cup Bob's Red Mill Organic Brown Rice Flour 1⁄2 cup Bob's Red Mill GF Sorghum Flour 1⁄2 cup Bob's Red Mill Organic Quinoa Flour
This year is our first totally vegan Thanksgiving dinner!
We actually made our dinner on Tuesday, so that we could share it with MIL. Here’s what we had.
From left to right:
Carrots cooked in a sauce of orange juice, vegan butter and parsley Pickled Green Beans (served hot) Foxbarrel Blackberry Pear Cider (to drink) Mushrooms and onions sauteed in olive oil, with white wine, rosemary, thyme, poultry seasoning and basalmic vinegar, then stir fried with temph Roasted potatoes, onions and yams with the sour cream from the coleslaw and chives Kale, rainbow chard, spinach salad (with other veggies) and a home made vinaigrette For dessert, DH made apple cranberry pie with a pecan crunch top, which was served with sweet cashew creme.
We call this stuff “chezee”, since it’s not cheese, but it’s a vegan version! It’s comparable to a fresh, soft goat cheeze, mixed with herbs and can be used in recipes in place of it.
This is really easy to make, since the nuts can soak on the counter and once that’s done, it only takes a few minutes in the blender. But, if you don’t have a Vitamix, you may want to peek at the notes, first!
Whether your party is formal and fancy, or just a group of friends and relatives watching the Sunday afternoon game, this pate is a great crowd pleaser! The taste is rich and meaty, and can be used as a spread on crackers or bread.
It’s not hard to make. Here’s my setup.
After cooking, the mushroom mixture looks like this.
Add parsley and walnuts, and process until completely smooth.
When you think of football parties, does pizza come to mind? Well, here’s a vegan twist that you can make the night before: Pizza Hummus! It’s a healthy, delicious, pizza-flavored dip or spread you can happily add to your game day celebrations!
Making this is easy! Put all the ingredients in a food processor.
Pulse until everything is in smaller pieces and mixed together.
Add 2 tablespoons of the liquid from the chick peas and 2 tablespoons of the liquid from the dried tomatoes.
Spring rolls are great for lunch, dinner, or even an after-school snack. You can put whatever you have on hand in them, they don’t take long to make, and the wrappers can be kept in the pantry for months!
We had a variety of veggies in ours, some Asian Ground NotPork and topped it all of with a bit of Nori Komi Furikake (Rice Seasoning). This type of Furikake doesn’t have any fish in it.
Asian Ground NotPork Yield
2 cups
Prep Time
8h
Cook Time
10m
Equipment Required list special equipment here Ingredients 1 cup walnuts 1 cup almonds 2-1⁄2 cups water, filtered 1⁄2 teaspoon onion powder 1⁄4 teaspoon garlic powder 1⁄4 teaspoon coriander, ground
I love it when the weather cools off and I can have hot soups for lunch or dinner! This soup is quick and easy to make, once the veggies are prepped. You could do all of that the night before, or in the morning before heading off to work, then it’s quick to make at dinner.
I used the block of tofu that I pressed for the Tools: TofuXpress Review . All I did was put it in the freezer, pressed, after the demo. When I was ready to make the soup, I just took it out the night before and let it thaw out in the refrigerator!
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. A while back, I got this cookie cutter.
It’s the Fred and Friends Gingerdead Men Cookie Cutter/Stamps , and it’s under 7 bucks on Amazon! F&F has all kinds of fun and funny gadgets that will make you smile, some for the kitchen, some for entertaining, and many for around the house.
I knew I wanted to make a chocolate pumpkin cookie dough for these. I figured it would be nice and dark, showing off the frosting well.
Vanilla Cashew Icing Yield
1-1/2 cups
Prep Time
12h
Equipment Required list special equipment here Ingredients 1 cup cashews, raw 2 cups water, filtered 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1⁄2 cup So Delicious coconut milk 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 tablespoon Coconut Secret Coconut Nectar