Deep Dish Caramelized Onion Pizza Pie

I made a regular yeast pizza crust, rolled it out to about 12" across and put it in a lightly greased 9x2" deep, glass pie pan. I crimped the edges like a pie. Poke holes in the crust with a fork so the bottom will rise evenly.
Bake the crust at 425F for 5 minutes.
I filled the crust with a mixture of caramelized onions, mushrooms and Yves Lettuce Wrap crumbles. It's not just for wraps, says the label!

I baked the whole thing for another 15 minutes at 425F. Even though the outer crust is hard, the pie looks and smells really good.

Delicious. Very sweet with a tender crust.

Vegan Pizza!

I made a yeast pizza crust from the recipe on the Bob's Red Mill flour bag, but I used whole wheat flour and I add 1 tbs garlic powder (not garlic salt) to the recipe.

I rolled the crusts out super thin for a change, I usually make them thicker. Both are good :)

Crust drizzled with olive oil.















I like my home made vegan pizza sauce-less so it is topped with sliced tomatoes, basil, grilled onions, green olives, chopped seitan nuggets, chopped pickled garlic and cashew sour cream.















Bake 15 minutes at 425F, until crust is browned and crispy. Don't bake too long or the crust will be like a cracker.

Nom.

Seitan Nuggets Recipe!

As promised, my Seitan Nuggets recipe.

1 1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
2 tbs nutritional yeast
1 tbs sage
1 tbs garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs dulse flakes (it's a seaweed, optional. I think the salty, ocean-y flavor adds itself well to the seitan)
1 tbs olive oil
approx 1/2 cup water.

Put all ingredients in a bowl.
Stir until it all comes together.


















Knead 15 minutes or so.

It will be juicy at first but all the liquid will be absorbed.


Let the ball of dough rest while you make a broth.

Broth for steaming Seitan Nuggets

















4 cups vegetable broth or water
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 rough chopped onion
1/2 beet root, chopped (optional. I just had one that needed to be used. It added a great color!)

Bring this to a boil while you cut the seitan into small pieces.

Method 1. Cut the ball in half, then in half, then in half until you have approx 24 or so balls about 2 tbs each or about the size of your thumb.














Method 2. Do it however you like, in whatever shape and size you like. I wouldn't make them much bigger than the palm of my hand but you might be braver than I.

Make them smaller than you want the finished product, they will swell when you cook them.














Put the gluten hunks in the boiling broth about ten at a time, don't over crowd them.














They will sink at first then puff up and float. Let them cook in the broth for about 30 minutes.

Remove seitan nuggets from the boiling broth and add more water to the broth. If you think it needs it, you might add a tbs or so of soy sauce to the broth for flavor. Salty stuff.

Bring broth back to a boil and add more seitan chunks. Repeat until done.

Save the amazingly tasty broth for another recipe.

Put the hot, cooked nuggets on a slanted board to drain until cool.














I press them between two clean towels to remove more liquid. I think they keep longer if they are dry.


Now you have nuggets.
















Store covered in the fridge for about a week.

I'm going to serve mine with steamed veges and rice tonight. I think I might BBQ some this weekend.
What are you going to do with your nuggets?

I hope you all had a nice holiday

We went to San Francisco.







Haight St.






The boy is spending the summer with his mother.








More Haight






We will see him again in August. Its going to be very quiet here, I think.

August 2nd we will go down to pick him up and to see a free show at Excelsior park on Jerry Day.

We had a great time. We went camping in Oroville.


This is where we rough it.






























Bagel and seitan grilled over mesquite fire.



















Once we got to San Francisco and got everyone together, we had a barbecue in the park





Sweet potato, onions, small sweet peppers and portobello mushrooms



















In a lettuce leaf.


Here is avocado with tortilla chips. Tortilla chips were my downfall.






I ate pretty high raw while I was there. Next month I will keep track exactly what I eat and of how much I spend on food.




















It was a long drive. I'm glad I wore flip flops.








The man didn't smoke in the car for the whole trip so we stopped at a lot of rest areas. It was a nice trip. No ashes in my eyes. Thank you, Baby.







Shasta with a cloud cap. Sunday afternoon on the way home.
















We drove through a wild fire just outside of Klamath Falls


















And now I am sitting having a smoothie and I'm so happy to be home with my kitty. He's pawing at me so I guess I should go see what he wants.











Smoothie is frozen banana
a plum
4 leaves of rainbow chard
1 granny smith apple
maca
hemp
e3live
chia seeds
flax seeds
If there was anything else in there I don't remember. It was very good.

Vegan Dinner Ideas: Pulp Recipe: Carrot Burgers and Creamy Cashew Cheese Sauce

I made carrot patties for dinner and had them in sandwiches. I used the leftover flat bread for mine.

Curry cauliflower salad with celery and bell peppers















Food porn
















Green onions from the garden woot!















Carrot patty with sauerkraut, seitan sausage slices and creamy cashew cheese sauce
















The arial shot
















Carrot Patties

1 cup carrot pulp
1 onion
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup celery juice you can use vege broth or water
2 tbs lemon juice

Chop in food processor with s blade until a paste.

Bake at 350 for an hour, flip and bake another hour. Should be crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Use 1/2 cup for each patty makes 6 patties.

Creamy Cashew Cheese Sauce

1/2 cup cashews
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic
3/4 cup, more or less of water for blending.

Blend until creamy, chill and serve. It will thicken with chilling

Leaving in a Pick up. Don't know when I'll update again...

First off I would like to say that this isn't a good time for me to try to eat raw. I thought it over long and hard and talked to Mil, whom I respect very much. She is a doctor and knows a lot about veganism, raw food, yoga, aromatherapy, massage, all thing that I am interested in. Anyway, I talked to her and I thought about it long and hard and for now I decided rather than have any stress over it, it's best for me to just eat cooked vegan with a high raw content, all whole foods if I can. I'm not going to beat myself up for eating nut butter on toast. It's not worth it.
Me feeling bad for not being able to keep a higher percentage of raw for any extended period of time was really affecting other areas of my life in a negative way.
There is plenty of good vegan food to eat in the city. No need to stress over any of it.
When I am ready, it will happen.


The boy stayed home sick today he had a nasty cough and we needed to get some packing done for our trip anyway. His birthday is 4/21 so we are going to SF to see his mother, his brother and sister and other family over an extended weekend. We will be in San Francisco's Famous Golden Gate Park on Monday, 4/20 to celebrate whatever they got to celebrate.

Going to the park is what we used to do every Sunday when we lived down there. I miss the drum circle and all the SF scumfucks, dammit.

So, If you are in the area, come out and see us, we will be at the top of hippie hill, Sharon Meadow, across from the newly rebuilt playground. Up the trail from the big redwoods. Near the Janis tree. Up the hill from the drum circle. At the peace sign. By the lawn bowling area. Over where the carousel is? Over the hill from JFK Drive. Yeah. We will be at the top of the hill with the scumfucks. Come say high.
*************************************Dinner tonight...Grilled corn, seitan and sweet potato slices a nice salad with sauerkraut, salsa and tomato cucumber salad.








I served all that with some 'clean the fridge' soup that was screamin.







The corn and seitan on the grill














Lunch today was stir-fried leftovers. I found a used wok at the goodwill. A nice hand hammered iron one. It is signed but I can't remember the name on it right now.















I had mine with a large helping of sauerkraut.















I baked a giant seitan sausage





It's as big as the oven!









When I went to Goodwill today I found a beautiful amber necklace hanging up with all the mardi gras beads. I bought it for $2.




















It feels really good on. I think I might just keep it.

Good day today. My cold sores are clearing up, my cats both seem to feel fine.

We are leaving early in the morning and won't be back until Wednesday. I will try to get an update or two in if I can.

Tomorrow morning I am going to blend up a cantaloupe mono smoothie for breakfast and see how long that will hold me over on a 7 hour car trip.

eeee. I'm going to San Francisco!!! eeeeee...

Bye, see ya in the park!

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.

Mostly Raw Vegan Taco for Lunch

This is one of my favorite quick lunches. I have it 2 or three times a week.















Get a nice, big, tortilla shaped and sized, collard leaf and fill it with sliced vegetables, sauerkraut, pickled sweet peppers, some seed cheese and I put a slice of vegan sausage in this one.














Then just fold and eat. You can roll it and tuck in an end to so the fillings don't fall out, or just fold it in half like a taco or eat it with a knife and fork if you don't feel like getting messy.

I always feel like getting messy when it comes to food. I have a huge collection of stained t-shirts that I need to make shopping bags out of.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day Seitan Stuffed Cabbage Rolls ::AND:: Vegan Stuffed Acorn Squash

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls














Sauce
3 roma tomatoes and a cup of water, blended and strained.

Put strained tomatoes in a sauce pan and reserve the pulp for the stuffing.
add
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tbs cornstarch
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp black pepper
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped.

Stir over med heat until reduced by 1/3, put aside.

Stuffing
in a large stock pot:
Tomato pulp from the sauce
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cups Nappa cabbage, chopped
Saute until onions are translucent and add
2 tbs ACV
2 cups water
1/3 cup each red, black and white quinoa.


Steam 9 large cabbage leaves.

I rigged up this steamer that I can cook under and over at the same time :)

Saute-ing veges
















Cabbage leaves in a colander on top of pan with veges
















Large bowl inverted on top as a lid so the steam stays in














By the time the quinoa was cooked, the cabbage was steamed and ready to wrap. It was a stroke of genius, IMO :)

The stuffing is done when all the water is absorbed and the quinoa is tender, about 20 minutes.

The set up















1/3 cup of stuffing mixture and 1 tbs seitan sausage in a cabbage leaf, tuck the sides in a roll them over. Place in pan seam side down. Repeat until pan is full.

Pour the sauce over the top of the whole thing and bake covered at 400F for 1 hour or until the sauce gets nice and thick.

I served it with a green salad, sauerkraut and soda bread and curry carrot salad

I have been threatening to make these for months. The man has been giving me a bad time about it, suggesting (nicely) that they wouldn't be right, blah, blah, traditionally, blah, blah, yadda, yadda.
I spent all day making them and went through a fair amount of stress worrying that he wouldn't like them. The oven actually malfunctioned so dinner was an hour late. I guess he must have been hungry because he said he liked them. I thought they were delicious. I put the seitan in the leaves when rolling instead of cooking it in with the stuffing because when you cook seitan in liquid for any amount of time, the liquid sucks the flavor out of the seitan and you get mushy tasteless gluten blobs.* *
Putting it in at the last minute is the secret to keeping the flavor in the seitan. I minced the seitan and the texture was good, almost like ground beef, said the omnis.


For lunch I made some stuffed acorn squash with the leftovers from the vindaloo I made the other day.
















I have the recipe written down and will post it soon, I can't find it now and it's bed time.

Oh, and I made ketchup.
Blend and strain 2 roma tomatoes with 1/2 cup water. Strain and put in a jar. Add 2 tsp of salt and let it set*** loosely covered at room temp for three days. Then refrigerate and use as you would ketchup. I love to put a spoonful in my soup, yum.

Night all. I hope you had a happy St Patrick's Day.

Footnotes:

*that's my story and I'm sticking to it
**What omnis call "that flavorless vegan shit".
*** Sit?

Groovy Gravy! It's Not Just Brown and Water :: Seitan Sausage GRAVY :: Vegan Gravy Recipe :: Quick Easy Vegan White Sauce Recipe :: Hail Seitan!

Gravy! Yay for gravy! It goes great on everything, including mashed potatoes.














It's also great to pour in a baking dish full of chopped veges and then bake it until it's a casserole.
Talk about easy.

I make it with olive oil so there is NO cholesterol, no trans-fat, nothing yucky like that, just delicious, flavorful flavor.

Basic white gravy is easy to make. Oil heated in an iron skillet, sprinkle white flour over it, stir it in until you have a thick paste and add liquid, stirring constantly and adding more or less liquid for desired consistency. For liquid I use water or vege broth.

If you want brown gravy, brown your flour by putting it in a skillet with medium heat until it is dark enough for your brown gravy, then make gravy like you normally would, using the browned flour.

Once you get it to the consistency you like, add your seasonings to taste. I like salt, pepper, garlic and cumin in my basic gravy.

To make vegan sausage gravy that people will want to drink from the pan, cut up Seitan Sausage, plenty of it, you want a really sausage-y gravy. Use less salt in your basic gravy because the sausage is salty, too.
Put the sausage in a skillet with a little oil and brown them up. Add the seitan to the basic gravy at the very last minute before serving so the sausage doesn't absorb the liquid and become soggy.

A visit from a Friend ::AND:: VEGAN Seitan Wellington :: Vegan Recipe

Art came and went. It was a nice visit. Quiet and uneventful. He's a great houseguest and welcome to curl up on my rug anytime!

Dinners were had.

The first night I made a Seitan Wellington that came out pretty good

I didn't have a recipe but I just made a half loaf of bread and a half seitan sausage. I used pureed tomato and garlic powder in the bread and pureed tomato and juicing pulp in the sausage.
I rolled out the dough and rolled up the raw sausage lump inside.















I was going to bake it in a loaf pan but then I thought, no it will rise too much not be sausage-y in the middle. So I wrapped up in foil, just like you would a regular sausage without bread around it














and baked the whole thing at
350F for about an hour and 15 minutes.

Giant Vegan Corn Dog...















I let it cool completely on the counter and then chilled it until dinner time. About half an hour before dinner, I sliced it into cutlets and warmed them in the oven.















I then served them.














Green salad with red lettuce, collard greens, bell pepper, daikon radish, sauerkraut and a carrot pickle* on the side. Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Seitan Wellington with Seitan Sausage Gravy.


Footnotes:
* Carrot pickle recipe is coming soon. Cuz it's all about the condiments, baby.