Kasha and Bowties

1 c raw kasha (whole buckwheat groats)
1 c uncooked bowtie pasta (farfalle)
1 tbs olive oil (for frying)
1 med onion, chopped
about 8 med brown mushrooms, chopped
1.5 c vegetable broth, boiling in lidded saucepan

Boil and drain bowties. Set aside.
Heat oil in skillet add chopped onion and mushrooms and saute until soft and translucent.
Ad kasha and stir constantly until it begins to turn brown and smell toasty.
Pour sauteed kasha mixture in to boiling broth.
Lid saucepan and lower heat to simmer.
Simmer until liquid is absorbed.
Add bowties.
Stir and serve.

Delicious Vegan Dinner Pic! Baked Eggplant Recipe!

Eggplant baked in fat free onion gravy, beans and rice and green salad with chopped tomato and white mushroom.











The baked eggplant was really easy to make.

Peel and slice 1 or 2 eggplants.
Place the eggplant slices between two towels and cover with a weighted tray to drain the eggplant. Many people salt the eggplant slices when they do this but I tried it once without the salt and it worked just as good.

Drain the eggplant for about 4 hours and then make a big pot of gravy. Layer slices and gravy in a lidded baking pan then bake at 350F for 1 hour. Remove lid and bake one more hour. Let cool for about a half hour and serve.

I said easy, not quick!

A Boring Vegan Dinner Redeemed with Raw Vegan Banana Cream Pie for Dessert

The Spread
A nondescript celery soup, green salad, that is a glass of wine. Not mine, sadly. There in the corner you can see the not vegan mac n cheese for the boy. There is some sliced bread and a casserole and in the middle is a raw vegan banana cream pie!
















Casserole was leftover carrot soup poured between layers of potato with a thick layer of tomato on top covered with rye bread crumbs which is just my normal bread recipe with 1 cup of rye flour and one cup of whole wheat flour in place of the white flour the recipe calls for.









It was pretty good.





The bread was my regular bread recipe but I mixed it up in my new food processor. tax refund money well spent.















It came out fluffier some how. I guess over mixing made the air bubbles all tiny instead of large bubbles, I don't freaking know but this was the best bread I made ever. Same recipe, same pan, same oven, same cooking time. different mixer, different bread. Whew.
And the pie. The pie. The lovely, easy RAW pie. I wish there were some left but I don't even dare look, I'm sure it's gone, gone, gone. I had two pieces of six I guess I got my share. I might make individual banana pudding cups for dinner. I still have a few banan' left.















Here is my plate. I like taking a picture of my dinner every night. It's fun.














On the salad is kiwi and tomato salsa and sauerkraut. On the bread is Earth Balance.

Rambing Vegan Recipes into the Ether... and Vegan Laundry Alternative Adventures

For breakfast Sunday I made a delicious smoothie from the meat and juice of one young coconut, 1 very ripe banana, collard and kale and celery, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, and E3live Renew Me.

After that I made a big jar of salsa, put up some sauerkraut, some vegan parm sprinkle, and baked some cornbread since the boy likes it so much.

Corn Bread

1 cup oat milk
2 tbs vinegar
1 tsp salt
mix in a cup and let set while you mix dry ingredients

In a large bowl

2 cups flour
1/4 cup corn meal
3 tbs sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Mix well with a whisk and add oat milk mixture. Stir all with a spoon or your hands until well mixed, don't over mix.

Put in greased pan. For a loaf pan cook it for 1 hour at 350F or a 9 x 13" pan cook it for 45 minutes, at 350F.

Dinner was a casserole made of white potatoes, sweet potatoes, collard greens and eggplant. All sliced thin and layered then I made a sauce with some seed cheese a tomato, some other spices, I don't remember, water. Blended it all up and poured it over the casserole, baked it at 400F for about three hours. Too long. but it was still pretty good.
















The Money Shot














Red leaf lettuce salad with tomato and pepper salad, apple pear salsa, brine pickle, sweet potato and collard casserole, mashed cauliflower and cornbread on the side. mmm...

Mashed Cauliflower














One head of cauliflower, steamed

Whip it up food processor, or mash by hand, with some of the steaming water, salt and pepper. Put in an oven proof lidded dish and bake for 2 hours or more at 400F. Serve hot with some vegan buttery spread for a real treat.

On the Laundry Front:

I did a bunch of laundry (video linky!) yesterday. I can't decide what I like better, doing little bits every day or letting it all build up and doing it all one or two days a week. They both have their merits. I am still using the laundry soap I mix up here at home, 1 part shredded bar soap and 2 parts Borax, and it's working great! I buy soap ends at Night Fire Natural Foods. The soap is made by a local company and are vegan, no beeswax, except some are made from goat milk. I pick the ends that aren't the color that the goat milk ones are and I feel pretty good about that. I don't think I can get much closer to vegan at this price. $1.69 a pound compared to $3.19 a bar for Dr Bronners. Until I find something better than that, here I am.
I am glad to be off of the commercial laundry soap train and away from the bleach, dyes and fragrances. I quit using fabric softener, too and it seems to be ok. No one is complaining about rough clothes.
If I feel the need for something to be softer or scented, like bath towels, I put about a tablespoon of some cheap 99c store conditioner on an old wash cloth and toss it in the dryer with the wet laundry. It softens fabrics and the scent isn't so strong that it gives me a headache the way commercial fabric softener does. I try to find the ones with very few ingredients, a light scent and of course, no animal products. Right now I'm using White Rain, the smell of which reminds me of high school... White Rain products are cheap and vegan. Not healthy, but cheap and vegan.

I don't wash my hair with shampoo but that is another entry...

Vegan Eggplant Noodle Casserole

Yet again, I have made dinner.













The casserole is elbow macaroni, dried eggplant slices, a lovely tomato sauce I made, ground vegan seitan sausage and bread crumbs on top. Bake two hours at 350F, covered, take the lid off and let it brown up then serve immediately.
The salad is red lettuce and spinach with some sesame dressing I threw together. sesame, olive oil, water, ACV and oregano.
The things that look like Dolmas are actually collard leaves* I put about a tablespoon of seitan sausage in each one, rolled them up and baked with a table spoon of water in a small covered casserole at 350 for about half an hour. Very simple and very impressive, IMO. I would serve these at a party as an appetizer. I would. You can't prove that I wouldn't :)

I bought this book at Goodwill and have been brushing up my non-existent yoga skills.





























I had the boy take a photo but it came out blurry. That is the fish pose, Matsyasana.
From the book:

Benefits of Matsyasana: The fish stretches the spine and at the same time expands and opens the chest. It helps to regulate the four parathyroid glands in the neck. These endocrine glands control the levels of calcium in the blood. Calcium strengthens bones and teeth. It is also important for the contraction of muscles and the clotting of blood. Matsyasana corrects rounded shoulders, increases lung capacity and helps with breathing problems, relieves stress and regulates moods, increases prana** in the neck, shoulders, lungs stomach and spleen and energizes the parathyroid glands and tones the pituitary.


I find that yoga really does regulate my mood. Since I released all that weight, I have noticed that my periods affect me more than they used to. Or at least I notice it more. I gain 5 lbs every month for a week. WTF is that about. Anyway. If I am in a pissy mood, doing some poses can really change my attitude.

You might also notice I cleaned up my sidebar. I had some affiliate links but since they have been there I haven't made a dime so, bye bye useless clutter!



Footnotes:

* collard leaves are a FANTASTIC substitute for grape leaves. I got four rolls out of one large leaf. Go Collard Greens! Speaking of collard greens and greens in general. I was in line at the supermarket last Thursday, with my usual cart full of nothing but veges. The cashiers LOVE me! (not) I actually had one goth looking chick cashier say, "Oh, no! You again!" hehe. I still get a thrill out of striking dread and terror in the hearts of people. I don't think that will ever fade. Anyway there was a weird lady in front of me in line. She was buying washcloths and sweatpants and wearing very red lipstick and very blue eyeshadow. Sort of your teapot type, ya know, short and stout. She turned back to me and asked me something about some fast food restaurant in the area. I smiled and said that I hadn't the slightest idea about any fast food restaurants. I didn't go on after that, just "Sorry, I really don't know." She then started gazing into my cart. Pointing at the huge bundle of collard greens she said (wrinkle nose) "What is THAT?" Again, I smiled and said, "That is collard." She said "COLLARD? I never heard of THAT!" I said, smiling, of course, "Well, it's a leafy green. You can eat it in salad like lettuce or steam it and eat it like you would spinach." Then it was her turn at the reg and she didn't like the price on any of the stuff she chose so she left with nothing. Strange lady. Then the cashier. They dread me because nothing I buy has a barcode and they have to either know the code or look it up or CALL SOMEONE in the produce department. Fun. The young cashier was a tall blond, corn-fed type looking boy about 18 years old. He did not know what a daikon, a rutabaga, a parsnip or a turnip was. His explanation "My parents just don't buy these kinds of vegetables!" I smiled and didn't say anything to that. And this is the extent of my contact with people outside of my family here is Klamath Falls, Oregon. It ain't easy being green in Klamtucky, I tell you.

**Prana is a Sanskrit word literally meaning 'life-force' the invisible bio-energy or vital energy that keeps the body alive and maintains a state of good health. It's all about creating balance to open psychic awareness, and the nature of reality and one's place in it.

Vegan Recipe! Dairy Free Mac N Cheese! Easy Dinner

What do you get when you cross a snowman and a vampire?
Frostbite! HAHAHAHAHA!

Last night's dinner was:
Vegan Mac n Cheese!














I didn't get a photo before it was cut but believe me, it was even prettier than it tasted!

Serves 4 as a main course or as a side dish for more.

Ingredients:

2 cups COOKED vegan elbow macaroni
3 cups oat cheese
2 roma tomatoes
About 1 cup chopped vegan sausage
1/4 cup bread crumbs
Lemon pepper

Instructions:

First cook about 2 cups of elbow macaroni until NOT QUITE done. That way the noodles will still have some firmness after baking in sauce for two hours or more.
Next make a batch of Oat cheese for the sauce. Follow the oat cheese recipe up to the part where you pour in a mold... but don't pour in a mold. Fear not, this will take you no more than five minutes, it's a blender recipe consisting of water, oats, nutritional yeast, sesame, lemon, onion powder and salt.

Assemble in a 2 qt casserole:

Half the cooked macaroni on the bottom
Pour some of the warm cheese on top, enough to cover, about a cup.
Two roma tomatoes, cut in thick slices are the next layer
The rest of the macaroni on top of that
A bit more cheese, but not all of it, you have one more layer to go.
Chop together: one cup of vegan sausage and one roma tomato, this is your third layer. Mix them well and spread evenly over the macaroni and cheese.
Pour the rest of the sauce over that and spread it around so no sausage is showing.
about a 1/4 cup of bread crumbs. I processed two small slices of my home made bread in the blender until they were fine crumbs.
Lemon pepper all over the top.

Bake covered for at least two hours at 350F. 15 minutes before you are ready to eat, remove the lid and let it brown. Ready to serve immediately but it's even better the next day!

Raw Vegan Casserole Project Part Deux.

A continuation of this entry. In which I attempt to create a RAW Vegan Casserole due to inspiration from this Rawkin' lady

I don't know. It had a lot of sesame in it and that with the onions made it a little, well, strong tasting. However the texture was aces and with a small tweaking I could make this good.

Here are the photos:















Served with spinach salad and some seed crackers.

Raw Vegan Casserole Project

Bottom layer is broken up raw seed crackers. These are flax, sesame and quinoa, made with vege juice pulp for the liquid.


















Over that is a layer of raw zucchini noodles. Just julienne zucchini if you don't have a gadget for noodling. I used 3 small zukes, then about 2 tbs sauerkraut, on top is half a small onion cut in paper thin slices and a tbs sesame seeds.















A basic seed cheese made with an additional 10 brazil nuts and a little bit of extra water. Just enough to make it thin enough to run down through the veges to the crackers but not watery, creamy.

Spread the cheese sauce around, tap it to get the bubbles out and lift the sides a bit so the sauce can run down. Garnished with onions and pop in the dehydrator at 125F.















I have it in the dehydrator now and will leave it in until dinner time, so that will be about 4 hours. It should get warm and soft and start to get cooked looking around the edges. I imagine it will have to be sliced, I really don't know how it's going to come out. As usual I am all excited about dinner!!!



Inspiration from one of my favorite people to emulate:

Rawkin'