MOFO

Catch-up time! I haven't blogged for a few days, things have been hectic. Currently waiting for the weather to make it's damn mind up about snowing so we can either travel or not travel for Thanksgiving!

In penance I offer this cookie:



It's a recipe by Dreena Burton that I really love but don't make all that often because it calls for 1/3 cup maple syrup which frankly isn't in the budget that often. Here is where you can get the RECIPE and watch Dreena make them!
http://www.everydaydish.tv/index.php?page=recipe&recipe=86

Also, Vegan Vittles has a recipe for extended maple syrup that is quite helpful! Some google sleuthing will find it ;)


---------------------------------------!!!HOT TODDY ALERT!!!------------------------
I made hot toddies recently since it has been very chilly here especially at night. Usually these are made with honey but if you're adverse like me, agave works great as does some simple syrup or just sugar if the liquid is hot enough to dissolve it well.

You can find a recipe online easily but you can improvise. Just taste test as you go!

I like a bit of orange zest in mine....This time I used a clementine. Cute!

Gimme some sugah!

Nutmeg and cinnamon...spicy!

Freshly grated is the best!

Lovely lemon:

The magic elixir:

Throw it in a teapot with boiling water so you can top it off when it starts to cool down!

......aaaaaaand then forget to take a picture when you are done! ;)
Here's an action shot.. Not too pretty, but very warming!

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Today I made some burritos (wraps?) that had BBQ glazed sweet potato, black beans, jasmine rice,chili powder and avocado, YUMMY!!!



MMMMMM!!!


Where burritos go to die:


Send anti-snow thoughts my way, people!!!

Mofo #18..Thanksgiving planning...

The time has come to finalize my plans for Thanksgiving...I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow and will likely be picking up ingredients for the week.
We will be driving 4 hours to my parents' house. Previously we had made do with side dishes...(requesting a couple of potatoes to be left aside to mash with earth balance, buying our own salad dressing and gravy, etc)

BUT NOT THIS YEAR!

I want to make a feast that makes the rest of my skeptical family envious!

MAIN COURSE
I toyed with the idea of an autumnal Shepard's pie but ultimately I think I'm going with something I have made before and is mostly turkey-ish: Bryanna Clark Grogan's turkey style seitan. It's my go-to recipe and it can be seasoned very similarly to turkey. Plus I know that it reheats well so I can make it ahead of time! YES!



The recipe doesn't seem to be on her website anymore...however she does have a whole page of Thanksgiving recipes(including slow cooker and low-fat) that look great!!


SIDE DISHES
-Definitely need a green bean dish and rather than the boring old green bean casserole, I will probably do something like this:
http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/2010/07/green-beans-with-bacon-balsamic.html
But obviously tempeh bacon or maybe even bacon bits in place of the actual bacon...

-As for the potatoes...I may actually just do with plain ol' mashers and maybe some roasted garlic and chives thrown in

-With the potatoes we will definitely have gravy. My favorite is mushroom gravy but my partner DETESTS MUSHROOMS.
I've made this one from Vegan Vittles before and upped the poultry spices and soy sauce...it was pretty good. And its really only pantry ingredients so that's a plus for travelling and my wallet.



-Probably some greenage...sauteed kale most likely.

-Stuffing is actually something I usually make from a pre-mix...horrible I know. But it's so convenient! This year I want to try making my own. This might require a test run though...
This one from Terry Hope Romero looks pretty dang good

This one looks alright too as long as I use a different gravy

IF ANYBODY HAS A KICK ASS STUFFING RECIPE LET ME KNOW!

-And we'll have cranberry sauce of course...cranberries, sugar, spices...Boil it up and DONE


DESSERT
I'm probably going to make FFV's pumpkin cheesecake...although I've never made it before..it doesn't look too tough, right?!



Probably whip up an tofu-spinach-onion dip and do some spiced olives for appetizers but here's hoping it goes well!

Mofo 17

Weekly pasta dish post ;)

A simple dish of rotini and a lentil tomato sauce. The sauce has sauteed red onion, red pepper, garlic, french lentils, red pepper flakes, nooch, and canned tomatoes.


Pumpkin bread pudding for dessert from a few days ago, this time complete with sauce! I made a bastardized version of caramel sauce and a cashew based 'whipped' cream. The whipped cream recipe was from VegWeb and I was pretty unimpressed...it was kind of funky tasting...Anybody have a good recipe out there?
Oh well, I just dumped extra caramel sauce on it, heh heh...

THANKSGIVING FREAK-OUT

AAAAAAAAAAGH I just realized I will be cooking a ton of food amongst my crazy omni family in an unfamiliar oven in 9 days!!!!*





*real mofo post for today to come later...after the freakout is over :[

MOFO the 14th

Making diner a little early tonight as I'm off to work soon... I opted for the Leek and Bean Cassoulet from Veganomicon as it's perfect cheap winter food.



I can never seem to follow a recipe exactly as written...Here I modified a few things. I used whole wheat pastry flour (and added nooch) for the biscuits instead of AP. I also added cabbage, squash and extra garlic to the stew part.
I garnished it with the cute flower that my garlic chive plant made...thanks plant!



Overflow....


Also, since I had a little leftover pumpkin and an old baguette I thought I'd throw together a quick bread pudding. (I'm scrambling to take the photo here cause I'm also trying to put the cassoulet biscuits together so sorry that it looks crappy, haha)


I do plan to make a cream of sorts and a caramel topping for this later tonight but I couldn't wait to try it right away!!! I scooped some out piping hot and added a few chocolate chips to melt into it...pretty good for an on the fly/leftovers recipe.
Bread puddings are awesome for that, you can make endless variations.