For Sue

New motivation for posting more often on this blog came in the form of a recipe request from Sue.
 
We were having a coffee, while reflecting on a community meeting that we both attended.  We've had a couple of interesting community meetings this week. Monday night's meeting included a pot-luck and interesting discussion about where to go as a community. I volunteered to participate on a committee to help our village become more environmentally conscientious. I'm really looking forward to finding out more about how our community can have less impact on the environment. "Clean and Green!" that's going to be my new motto.  Maybe the village will adopt it as their motto.

The second meeting prompted interesting discussion about parenting, education, empowering parents, encouraging creativity and empathy. All topics that are right up my alley! It was an enlightening week.

No matter how stimulating the conversation is, anyone with special dietary restrictions, and a love of cooking and good food knows that the conversation always comes back to food. Sue asked me for the recipe for a delicious Creamy Roasted Vegetable Soup. It is as easy as it is delicious. The real bonus: vegan and gluten free. :)

Creamy Roasted Vegetable Soup

1 sweet potato or yam, cut in slices

1 red pepper, cut in half and seeded

1 green pepper, cut in half and seeded

2 medium-sized potatoes cut into slices

1 large onion, cut into quarters

5 cloves garlic, peeled

1 carrot, cut in slices

Marinade:

3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 sprig of fresh rosemary or 2 teaspoons of dried rosemary

1 teaspoon thyme (fresh or dried)

½ teaspoon sea salt

Mix all marinade ingredients together.

Place all the vegetables in a large bowl.  Toss with the marinade until coated.  You may need to do this in two stages depending on the size of the bowl you are using.  Place all the vegetables on a large baking tray.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until vegetables are soft.  Puree in a food processor or blender, adding hot water or stock to thin to desired consistency.  Serve.  Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Happy Birthday to Me!

I'm so lucky.

I have so many great people in my life. I actually am one of the fortunate ones, who feel loved and appreciated every day, but on my birthday, last week, I felt a pretty extreme dose of specialness. It's the unexpected phone calls, hugs, and greetings that really make me smile. :)
My friend, Christine, at work, made a delicious chocolate cake. We shared it with all of the kids. They were asking if they could come to my party. I said, "You are at my party. This is it." They sang Happy Birthday 4 or 5 times, in their little 4-year old monotone voices. It was really great. 
Lynn had some new patio furniture to break in, so she invited me over for a delicious white cake (and margaritas). Mmmm. It was a yummy day.
I posted a recipe for white cake at Easter, but I thought I'd share a simple, delicious chocolate cake recipe.

Wacky Cake

stir together:
1 1/2 cups flour
4 Tbsp cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar

mix together in another bowl, then add to above:
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp vinegar
5 Tbsp oil
1 cup cold water 

Mix all ingredients together until just mixed.  Pour into lightly oiled round cake pan. Bake at 325 for 40-50 minutes.

Chocolate Frosting (gluten and dairy free)

• 1 cup sugar
• 6 tablespoons cornstarch
• 4 tablespoons cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 cup water 
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cocoa in a medium sauce pan.
2. Whisk in the water.
3. Heat over medium until it gets thick and starts to boil. Boil for 1-2 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and stir in oil and vanilla. Cool and spread on cooled cake.

 

Burgers

It's funny (well, I find it kind of funny...) how in the summer we want our food to be able to fit into a bun, so we can eat it with our hands.  Or is it just that we crave mustard and relish and can't find another legitimate way to use them?  Whatever the reason, burger season is here.
Vegan burgers come in many varieties. Some of the store-bought, frozen ones are really yucky. I don't know if it is just because they try too hard to make it look like meat, but it certainly isn't very appetizing to stare down a grey patty of unidentifiable ingredients. I have recently tried a store-bought, frozen, chicken-like thing that tastes pretty good, but I am aware that it is not the healthiest choice. It's kind of like choosing fries, when you should have had the baked potato :). I also recently had falafel in a pita when we went for "burgers" at John and Lynn's house. The taste was good, but there's something about putting a patty between a bun.....
Of course a grilled portobello mushroom is delicious, and the black bean burger recipe in the Whitewater Cookbook is really good (but it falls apart when I leave out the egg - I need to play with that recipe a bit...)
I did find this Black Bean - Quinoa Burger recipe in the summer edition of Vegetarian Times magazine. I made them yesterday, and although my technique needs a little refining, I was really happy with the resulting patty which fit very nicely in a bun - thank you very much! 

Black Bean - Quinoa Burgers
1/2 cup quinoa, cooked with 1 1/4 cups water (boil for 15 minutes or until water is absorbed)
1 cup finely chopped onion
6 oil-packed sundried tomatoes, drained and chopped finely
1 1/2 cups cooked black beans, or 1 can, rinsed and drained (divided)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. Montreal Steak Spice
1 1/2 cups water

While quinoa is cooking, saute onion and tomatoes until the onion is tender. The oil left on the tomatoes should be enough to cook the onion.  Beware... the smell is really awesome... Stir in 3/4 cup beans, garlic, steak spice and water. Simmer until most of the liquid is gone. Now, this is where I may have needed to add some time. I think that I didn't simmer for long enough, so make sure to cook it down well. 
Transfer the bean/onion mixture to a food processor, add 3/4 cup quinoa and process until smooth. 
Transfer to a bowl, stir in the remaining 3/4 cup quinoa and 3/4 cup black beans. Allow to cool.
(takes a long time.)
Once cool.... Heat oven to 350. Generously grease a flat baking sheet.  Drop large spoonsful of the mixture onto the sheet and flatten into patties. Bake 20 minutes or so, until the patties are crisp on top. Flip over and cook another 10 minutes or so, until both sides are crisp.  These patties can be frozen, then reheated on the BBQ or in the oven before eating. 

I thought these patties would be simple because of the lack of ingredients, but they are definitely a do-ahead kind of thing. They are delicious, and really worth the time. I now have 8 ready-made burgers in the freezer!!!

I'm looking forward to trying a brown rice and mushroom patty, but I hesitate to put carb on carb when I put it in a bun.  Am I thinking about this too much?  I think not. I like to be included in the summer BBQ tradition. 

About Protein...

Funny how when you stop eating meat, the first question is, "Where are you getting your protein?" I'm guilty of asking it to Lynn's daughter, Jacy when she first became vegetarian. It's like we are programmed to think that protein is the most important nutrient that we take in.
After a year and a half of researching (I even read a paper from the World Health Organization, on protein production in people who are malnourished - that was a tough one to get through....) I have decided to share some of my findings here.

Have you ever known, or even heard of, someone having a protein deficiency? Even in countries where malnourishment is a problem, no one ever mentions protein, or lack of meat, being the problem. That's because our bodies can actually make protein. It's true.
Protein is made up of amino acids (not be be confused with fatty acids - omega 3s and 6s, etc - that's a story for another day.) Depending on what you read, there are between 20 and 23 amino acids. You might recognize some of the names - tryptophan, phenylalanine, lysine....anyway - there are 20 more names like that. Our bodies can actually create 15 of those amino acids, but 8 of them (9 for children), are considered "essential" to get from food. That's why those 8 are called Essential Amino Acids. When a food (like meat, soy beans, hemp seed, buckwheat, quinoa, etc...) contains all 8 of the Essential Amino Acids, it is called a complete protein.
The really cool thing is that most foods contain at least some of the essential amino acids, and our bodies have a nifty way of storing those amino acids in a bit of a storage bank, while they wait for the rest of the amino acids to join them to make a protein. The tricky part is eating enough of a variety of food to build those protein chains. Not all of the amino acids need to be consumed in the same meal, or even the same day. That storage bank holds them there for a while. It's really cool how the body works. Pretty fascinating.  :)

July Already

Ethan and I just had the most yummy treat for dessert tonight.
It was a toasty hot day, and we needed a little something delicious to cool us down, so I whipped up a little gelato of sorts.
Here's the recipe:

Mixed Berry Gelato
Into a blender or food processor (I used a magic bullet) put:
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup frozen raspberries
-or 2 cups of any frozen fruit
1 Tbsp agave syrup
-or any equivalent sweetener
1/2 cup coconut milk

Process until smooth, pour into dishes and serve immediately.  Oh my, it was delicious!

We went to help celebrate our friend John's birthday, and we weren't even tempted by the beautiful looking black forest cake that John's mom made. :)
...enjoy the warm weather.... then eat gelato for dessert!!! :) Life is good.

Too Hot for Soup

Totally changed my mind. I thought I'd like to share some soup recipes, but no one is in the mood for soup right now.... That's for winter! It's much more fun to get in the summertime, entertaining frame of mind. Snack food - that's where it's at!
I went to Kelowna on April 30. The girls and I got to see Sarah McLachlan's re-booked concert (which was great.) I also got to do a little grocery shopping for the girls while I was there. We went to Costco.... Yikes! There's a lot of BIG food there! Huge food. Huge quantities. I bought a huge tub of artichoke/spinach hummus. It was pretty good. I took the hummus to work on Monday, and shared it with my co-workers. Lorraine's daughter, Aiko, said that she had seen a recipe for the same stuff in a magazine recently. She copied the recipe and I made it last week. It's much better than the store bought version.

Artichoke/Spinach Hummus
Throw all these ingredients into a good blender or food processor
1 can chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
1 Tbsp tahini
2 cloves garlic
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 can artichokes, drained
Salt and pepper to taste.
 Process until just blended (some chunks are okay).
This hummus is great with carrot sticks, pita, or on a sliced baguette. 
It is probably best to eat it right away or within a couple of days, so the spinach doesn't get too yucky. 

Thanks, Aiko.
With all the graduation celebrations, and weddings coming up, this dip is sure to become a popular replacement for all of those greasy (but delicious, I know) cheese-and cream-filled dips.

Stone Soup

Of course, as an Early Childhood Educator, I have a passion for my work.  It's a great day when my passion for my work and my passion for cooking come together.
Remember the story "Stone Soup?" (There have been many versions of it over the years.) - The stranger(s) comes to the village of grumpy people (or a single grumpy person) and tricks them into being generous, by pretending to make soup from a stone (or stones.) Well, we had introduced that story to the kids and got them each to bring an ingredient for making stone soup. It turned out beautifully. Just a basic vegetable soup, but so easy and delicious.

Stone (Vegetable) Soup
Saute in bottom of large soup pot:
1 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 Tbsp olive oil
Add:
3 carrots, diced
3 potatoes, diced
1/2 cup barley (or rice for gluten free option)
2 vegetable bouillon cubes
4 cups water
1 lg can tomatoes (sometimes it is nice to use just the juice, if you don't like lumps of tomatoes)
Simmer above until veggies and barley are cooked.
Add:
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen peas
1 can white beans (rinsed and drained)
Salt and pepper to taste.
Simmer for 5 more minutes.

I know.... too easy, right? Soup is. So many variations exist. Adding cabbage to this one would be delicious. Lots of people like pasta in their soups, but it pays to cook it first and throw it in at the end, to avoid the humungous slimy noodle thing that happens with over-cooked pasta. Throw in some rice, black beans and chili powder instead of the white beans and you've got a great southwestern option. Mmmmm. Maybe May should be soup month on The Normal Vegan.... more to come :)

Happy Easter

It was a strange Easter without the girls at home. They have always been into our little traditions of colouring eggs (we always did the white wax and food-colouring method), and having an egg hunt in the yard. For the most part they were probably playing along for Ethan's sake, but I think those things were important to them. I asked Ethan (who is now 13), if any of those traditions were important to him. Ethan has never eaten eggs, and with me being vegan, I was hoping that he wasn't interested in colouring eggs. What would we do with a bunch of hard-boiled eggs? The family used to eat egg sandwiches after Easter, but now Fred is the only one who would be interested in that... I was relieved when Ethan said, "I like the egg hunt. Getting candy."  It's fun (and funny) to see a 13 year old boy searching high and low just to get some little eggs with candy in them. :) I'm glad he is still motivated by childish pleasures.
*Note about candy: Many types of candy are not vegan. They may contain ingredients like gelatin or modified milk ingredients.

I did make a cute egg-shaped cake for Easter. Cakes are fun. Baking really is like science too. Adding a little vinegar to a recipe that contains baking powder provides all the rising power that a cake needs (without the eggs).

White Cake

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon white vinegar

5 tablespoons melted vegan margarine

1 cup lukewarm water   

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Have ready an ungreased 8-inch square cake pan. Line the pan with parchment paper or grease and flour the bottom. For a layer cake, double the recipe.  Sift flour, baking soda and powder, sugar and salt into a bowl.  Make 3 holes in the dry ingredients. Into one hole pour the vanilla, in second hole pour vinegar and into last hole pour melted margarine.  Quickly pour LUKEWARM water over all. Beat well. Pour batter into cake pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until top seems cooked. Easy peasy!

 

Lunch with an Old Friend

My long-time friend, Cyndi came by today. She was traveling through town and happened to stop by around lunch time. We sat outside, catching up on family news and enjoying the warm sun.  I love being able to feed anyone who comes in my door, so I was prepared with some build-your-own pita sandwiches. It's like good science when you can put a bunch of good ingredients together to make something even better. Inside our pitas we put mayo (vegan), spinach, grated carrots, grated raw beets, slivered dill pickles, onions sauteed in bbq sauce, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds. They were great, and have so many variations. You could add sprouts, blanched broccoli or cauliflower florets, grated red cabbage......
So many choices. To me, the ingredients that make it really good are the dill pickles and the bbq onions, and of course a great friend to share it with. ;)

Ethiopian Cuisine?

Of course Ethiopia has a traditional cuisine. Why wouldn't they? I just didn't know about it until Friday when friends Laurie, Deb, Anja, Michelle and I became enlightened. We met in Spokane to see Elton John (that's right!) and before the concert we shared (literally) an Ethiopian experience at Queen of Sheba restaurant.
Vegan food is readily available in Ethiopian restaurants since, traditionally, the Ethiopians have a meat and animal product fast on Wednesdays, Fridays and other holidays throughout the year.
The information in the menu (and in many articles I have read on the net since then) describes their eating traditions. Food is shared. Food is eaten with the hand (some articles say the right hand). A crepe-like flatbread called injera is used as a base on which to serve the variety of foods on the menu, and extra pieces of injera is used to pick up the food and transfer it to the mouth. Injera is made using flour from a grain called Teff. Teff flour is high in protein, iron and calcium (bring it on). The batter is fermented, which creates little holes when the batter is cooked. It is a bit spongy, but definitely holds the other foods quite well.
We liked the spicy dishes, which were seasoned with a mixture of spices called Berbere.  Berbere is a mixture of red chilis and other tasty spices.  Naturally we asked for the spicy food, and we meant it, but we don't think they believed us, because they brought some pretty mild selections. The tastier ones were definitely the ones with the berbere, though. I also enjoyed a potato, carrot and cabbage stew-like dish with hints of ginger.
I have been looking up a few recipes that I think will resemble some of what we ate. I'm looking forward to trying these at home.

Injera (Ethiopian bread)

Serving for 2 people, yields 5 to 6 Injera.

Mix by hand, 1lb of Teff with 3 cups of water along with 1 teaspoon of yeast.

For fermentation to take place, set aside overnight (24 hrs) outside. (I don’t know if it needs to be as hot as Ethiopia, but I think for a Canadian girl like me, I’ll try leaving it inside). Preheat pan, and leave on low heat during baking. Swirl pan while heating, to spread batter into large circle (as large as you can- the ones in the restaurant were about 18 inches in diameter). Heat only on one side for about 2 minutes.
Take injera out carefully (hot) and set aside on a plate to cool down before eating.

* If this is your first batch of injera, use the teaspoon of yeast; but if you plan to make injera regularly... then save about 3 spoonsful of the mix for your next injera. This will act as a self-rising yeast on your next batch of injera; save it in your fridge it will stay for over a month. This is the same process of saving some of your current dough for your next batch of sourdough cakes or cookies.

Alecha (Ethiopian Vegetable Stew)

6 servings

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups red onions (chopped)
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic
• 6 new potatoes, chopped
• 5 carrots, chopped
• 1 small cabbage, chopped
• 6 medium chili peppers, chopped (3, if you like it milder)
• salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cardamom
• 2 teaspoons parsley, chopped
• 2 tablespoons basil, chopped

Cook onions and garlic in oil until transparent. Wash and chop vegetables and add them to the onions, lightly browning. Add nutmeg, garlic and cardamom then cook slowly for 30 mins. Season to taste then add chili, parsley and basil just before serving. 

Berbere Stew (Ethiopian Lentil Stew)

• Berbere Spice mixture
  1 Tbs. ground cardamom
• 1 Tbs. ground coriander
• 1 Tbs. fenugreek
• 1 Tbs. ground nutmeg
• 1 Tbs. ground cloves
• 1 Tbs. ground allspice
• 1 Tbs. cinnamon
• 1 Tbs. paprika
• 1 Tbs. turmeric
• 1 tsp. cayenne
• 1 Tbs. ground black pepper
• 1 Tbs. ground sea salt
• Store in a cool, dark place.
  
  The stew:
  1/2 large onion, chopped
• 1 + 1/4 cup red lentils
• 2 1/4 cups water
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1-2 Tbs. berberé spice mixture, above
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

Mix lentils with water, garlic, onion, and spices. Cook, uncovered, over medium-low heat, for 20 minutes or until the lentils have softened.   Watch carefully and add water if it starts to dry out.  Add the tomatoes and heat at least 15 more minutes. Could be served over brown rice, if you aren’t doing the injera.

I'm looking forward to trying these dishes at home. I really liked the flavours, and I'm excited to have found another ethnicity to draw my food interests from.

Breakfast on the Run

As long as I remember to have the ingredients in the house, my favourite (and healthiest) breakfast option is a smoothie.
It really does fill me up enough to last until a mid-morning snack or even lunch. In order to cut out some unnecessary calories, I now use water where I used to use apple juice.

Breakfast Smoothie
Put all ingredients into a blender!
1 banana
1/2 - 3/4 c. frozen fruit (I like raspberries the best, but I had blueberries this morning)
1/2-3/4 c. water
1/2 c. spinach leaves
2 Tbsp flax seed, hemp seed, buckwheat groats (whatever)

Done!

Onions, Garlic and Olive Oil

Why do so many simple and delicious dishes start with sauteing onions and garlic in olive oil?
This struck me tonight as I was throwing together some Bean Soup for supper.  Check out how easy this soup is....

Red and White Bean Soup
saute:
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
add:
4 cups water
2 veggie bouillon cubes
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning 
1 can white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 lg. can diced tomatoes
simmer until everything is hot and the flavours have melded together.

This soup is gluten free, too! You could add 1/2 c of barley or pasta (which would make it not gluten free), or 1/2 c of rice.  You'd just have to simmer it a bit longer to cook the grain.

Excuse me while I go stir the soup.

:)

Hail to the Kale!

Fred and I enjoyed a great evening with friends last night. I always feel so honoured when our hosts go out of their way to make a vegan-friendly meal, although for Ray and Nancy this was not too huge of a step, since Ray has been a vegetarian for more than 20 years.
In addition to lots of other delicious food, Nancy made a great Kale Salad that reminded me a lot of that delicious Japanese Cabbage Salad with the crunchy noodles. She shared the recipe:

Hail to the Kale Salad
Into a large salad bowl, put:
1 bunch of kale, washed and chopped
3 cups of grated carrots
1/2 head of red cabbage, chopped thinly
In a skillet, toast:
1/2 c. pumpkin seeds
1.2 c. sunflower seeds
-add a few drops of tamari while the pan is hot to flavour the seeds, and remove from heat
Then add seeds to veggies.
Toss above ingredients with the dressing below:
1/2 c. flax or hemp oil
1/3 c. Braggs liquid aminos (or liquid soy, or all purpose seasoning - whatever they call it this day)
5 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp dried oregano 
This delicious salad will last 2 or 3 days in the fridge.

:) Thanks Nancy!  I will definitely be re-creating this salad very soon!

Gluten Free 2 nights in a Row!

My friend, Sue, follows a low fat, gluten free diet. Sometimes when I'm making supper I think, "Sue could eat this." That's what happened on Wednesday, so I phoned her at work and said, "I think you should come over for supper." The rest of her family was away, so she did.
We had a simple meal of mashed potatoes, mashed yams, mushroom miso gravy, spinach salad and tofu cutlets (chicken for the meat eaters.)
I recently learned that if you freeze tofu (in the package), then thaw it and press out the excess water, it soaks up a marinade beautifully and has a bit of a drier texture, which is more palatable for some people.  I tried this technique with the tofu cutlets. It worked beautifully.

Tofu Cutlets 
1 lb of tofu - frozen, thawed and drained (or use 1 lb of firm tofu, drained)
1/3 cup tamari sauce

Slice the tofu 1/2 inch thick and marinate for 2 hours in the tamari.

Dip each slice in:
olive oil
Then roll in a mixture of:
1 c. gluten free chick pea flour mix (or 1/2 cup cracker crumbs and 1/2 cup ww flour if gluten isn't an issue)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. parsley flakes
1/2 tsp. turmeric

Brush a cookie sheet with oil.

Lay the tofu on the cookie sheet at bake at 400 for 15 minutes on each side.

They get really crispy. Mmm.

They can be served with your favourite salsa or sauce if you like.

Well, that was Wednesday....

Then came Thursday...

I went into the cupboard looking for ingredients to make something with an Indian flare, but I opted for the simplest meal on the face of the earth.

Rice and Lentils 

Saute:

1 onion, diced

1 Tbsp garlic, minced

1 Tbsp olive oil

Add:

1 cup brown rice

1 cup lentils

4 cups veggie broth

1 bayleaf

simmer for 1 hour, until rice and lentils are cooked.
Add some colourful veggies, and you've got a completely nutritious meal.

So, there it is.
It is so easy to cater a vegan diet to a gluten free diet.

Inspiration from a Restaurant

Okay, so eating out as a vegan is challenging, but not always a bad thing.  We went away for the weekend and took Fred's mom out for dinner to an Italian restaurant. Although the menu was full of cheesy delights, I managed to find Spaghettini with Mushrooms that was delicious. I added a salad, and had a great meal.  Tonight for supper, I re-created the Spaghettini with Mushrooms.  Here's my take on an easy peasy pasta dish.

Spaghettini with Basil and Mushrooms

Saute:
2 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

8 sliced mushrooms

1 sliced portabello mushroom

1Tbsp dried basil

Sea salt to taste

Toss with spaghettini. (I used brown rice rotini for Tara) 

Tonight's salad was a mixture of fresh spinach, sliced mushrooms, roasted sliced almonds, and cubed smoked tofu (for Jacey and I). 

All-in-all it was a really simple supper. Simple, but satisfying.  :)

Comfort Food

Eating leftovers for lunch at work is one of the best treats! Especially when it is a delicious version of a traditional Shepherd's Pie topped with an amazing Mushroom Miso Gravy. Even though these seem like time consuming meals to prepare, especially on a weeknight, I don't really ever spend more than an hour getting supper ready.

Shepherd's Pie

Prepare some mashed potatoes.  Sometimes I like to add minced garlic and parsley before I mash them up.

While the potatoes are cooking... 
Saute: 
1/2 onion, diced
3 carrots, diced
5 sliced mushrooms
1 Tbsp minced garlic

Add: 
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn
large can (or 2 cups) of cooked lentils
Saute for a couple of minutes. 
Add 1/2 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp parsley
1 1/2 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
4 tsp tamari

In a measuring cup, stir together: 
2 Tbsp corn starch 
1 cup of veggie broth
Add it to the veggies. Stir well and cook until thick. 

Put the mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 pan and top with the mashed potatoes.  
Bake at 350 while you make the gravy.

Mushroom Miso Gravy

Saute:
1/2 onion, finely chopped
7 -10 mushrooms, finely chopped
1 Tbsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil 
until the veggies are leaving some brown in the pan. 
Stir together: 
2 Tbsp corn starch
2 cups veggie broth
2 Tbsp Braggs or tamari
1 tsp dill weed.  
Add to the mushrooms and onions in the pan, and cook until thickened.  Remove from heat. 
Add:
1 tsp miso.  
Stir and enjoy. 

 
When I took my lovely leftovers to work, Lorraine said, "That smells really good. Like comfort food."  She's right. Sometimes you just need mashed potatoes and gravy.  Mmmm.

Eating Out? (no thanks!)

Eating out can be such a treat, but it can also be such a disappointment. We had high hopes when we went for supper last night to a new restaurant. There were so many choices on the menu.  It was actually quite excessive. I ended up choosing stir-fried veggies on rice. The salad bar consisted of iceberg lettuce, coleslaw, bean salad (from a can?), and raw veggies. The dressings were Thousand Island, Italian, Ranch and French. I felt like I was back in the '70s. The only saving grace was that we enjoyed our time out with 2 of our children and our friends. 

As far as the meal goes...I am making up for it tonight with a Mexican night at home: Spanish Rice, Chili, and Corn Muffins. Tara is home for a couple of weeks. She is avoiding wheat as much as possible, and also avoids meat, dairy and eggs. She still eats seafood, but I'm sketched out by the amount of waste that our fishing industries produce, so I will stick to the vegan meals.

Spanish Rice

Saute:
1/2 large onion, chopped 
1/2 green pepper, chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil 
2 cloves of garlic

Add:
1 large tomato, diced 
1 tsp dry basil
1 tsp of oregano
1 Tbsp of chili powder
Add: 
1 cup brown rice 
2 cups of water
simmer 50 minutes, or until rice is tender.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Chili

Saute:
1 large onion 
1 green pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil 
2 cloves of garlic (sounds like the rice recipe). 

Add: 
3 carrots, diced 
10 mushrooms, sliced
1 cup of frozen corn, 
1-28 oz can diced tomatoes, 
1 Tbsp chili powder, 
1 tsp cumin, 
1 lg can black beans, rinsed and drained 
1 lg can kidney beans, rinsed and drained 
1 regular can of beans in tomato sauce, 
salt and pepper to taste.  
Simmer for 40 minutes or so until flavours have a chance to blend.

Corn Muffins

Stir together: 
3/4 cup of yellow cornmeal, 
3/4 cup of flour (I used a gluten free variety, but the recipe calls for regular), 
1 tsp baking powder, 
1/2 tsp baking soda, and 
1/4 tsp salt. 
In another bowl stir together: 
egg replacer (to equal 2 eggs - I used 2 Tbsp psyllium husks and 4 Tbsp water), 
1/2 cup soy milk or water, 
2 Tbsp sweetener, 
2 Tbsp olive oil, 
1/2 tsp vinegar, 
1 cup frozen corn kernels. 
 Mix the contents of the two bowls together and drop into greased muffin tins. 
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. 

Where to Begin?

I guess that starting anywhere is better than starting nowhere.
Breakfast this morning: toast with peanut butter, coffee with soy.
See what I mean about being a "normal" vegan.
Food doesn't have to be weird to be from the earth, although I must say that toast and peanut butter isn't my usual way to start the day. I seem to have been on a bit of a dive the last few days. Supper last night was Tofu Dogs (I like them better than Veggie Dogs).  Fred sliced up some tomatoes and green peppers and sauteed some mushrooms, onions and garlic to go with them, but still.... Tofu Dogs for supper???? Of course Fred and Ethan had the animal equivalent in a bun, but all men have their weaknesses...