WUV this sandwich MOM!

This sandwich came to light when I realized my boys would eat anything smothered in ketchup and vegenaise! We were all under the weather this week and I made this up to get my boys to eat something, anything! The creamy yet, rich flavor in this recipe is sure to be a hit! My oldest son who is 4 proclaimed "I WUV this sandwich!"

Ingredients:

1 recipe seitan cutlets, diced or 1 lb. fully cooked chicken, diced
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup vegenaise
4 good squirts of worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp sea salt
pinch black pepper
1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced
Salt and pepper, to taste
8 buns

Directions:

While I preheat my oven to bake the buns, I wrap up my mushrooms in foil and place on the top of the oven to cook.

Prepare the WUV sauce by combining the ketchup, vegenaise, worcestershire sauce, cumin, red pepper flakes, salt, black pepper in a bowl. Min until well combined. Add the diced chicken and stir to coat.

Divide the WUV muxture evenly between the 8 buns and top with your mushrooms. Serve warm!

Whole Wheat Buns

Everyone has a recipe for homemade buns and this is one I tweaked over time and changed a million times to suite my bread needs! These buns are thick and wholesome and everyone loves them!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/3 cup oil
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
2 tsp Ener-G egg Replacer mixed with 2 tbsp warm water
1 tsp sea salt
3 1/2 cups all-purpose whole wheat flour


Directions:

I use my bread machine to do all the mixing for me. So, place the yeast and warm water at the bottom of the bread machine. Stir in the oil and sugar, and let the mixture rest for 5 minutes.

Add the mixed Ener-G egg Replacer, salt and flour into the bread machine and set on the dough setting. Wait until it forms a soft dough. If kneading by hand, knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.

Divide the dough into 8 pieces, shaping into round circles.

Cover the dough with a towel and let them sit at least 10 minutes. In the mean time preheat your oven to 425F.

Bake for about 10 minutes or until nice and golden brown.

Fresh Corn and Celery Relish

Who says that your veggies alway needs to be a side dish? Can't we just throw some veggies together and top our tacos with it and call it a day? I'm sure there are a million recipe for corn relish so I just made one up to suite my familys taste. It seems I go through less hassle trying to get my oldest son to eat his veggies when his whole meal is "all in one!"

Ingredients:

3 celery stalks, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 ear corn, stripped of kernels
2 scallions, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Enough water to barely cover bottom of pan

Directions:

Place everything in a small pan. Cook gently on medium heat for about 15 minutes or until corn is tender. Serve on your tacos!

Simplest Rich Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting Review

Simplest Rich Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting is from a pretty cool vegan recipe book called Sweet Utopia. The title says it all! SIMPLEST one bowl cake ever! Since I was only testing the recipe I made only half but I should have made more since the boys actually took the dish and ate right out of it!! I had to snap a quick picture before it was inhaled!

Ingredients:

Chocolate Cake:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups soymilk
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Frosting:
1 1/2 cups nondairy chocolate chips
1/3 cup vegan butter substitute
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted

To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and oil and flour two 8-inch round cake pans. Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add the soymilk, oil, vinegar, and vanilla extract and stir until just combined. Pour evenly into the prepared pans and bake for about 28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on racks.

To make the frosting, melt the chocolate chips and vegan butter substitute in a double boiler over gently simmering water. Alternatively, place them in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave at medium power for 1 minute. Stir. Microwave for 25 seconds longer and stir until smooth. If necessary, microwave for an additional 25 seconds. Stir in the powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Let the frosting cool for 8 to 10 minutes.

Homemade Powdered Sugar

While I was on my quest for the perfect vegan birthday cake I ran out of powdered sugar mid way through a recipe. My google search brought me to The Vegan Chef where she gives a recipe for powdered sugar. This fascinating idea blends cane sugar and cornstarch together and voila... powdered sugar and it works! Vegan or not this is a great idea for when you are in a pinch!

Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached cane sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch

Directions:

In a blender or food processor, blend sugar and cornstarch for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and blend an additional 30 seconds. Store in an airtight container.

Chinese Miso Soup

Here is another favorite soup that is EASY especially with left over chicken or seitan, frozen stir-fry vegetables and that cooked rice you have stored in your freezer. Everything comes together quick for and easy last weekday dinner!

Ingredients:

5 cups rich broth
1 package frozen stir fry vegetable blend (the ones I buy are 14oz)
2 cups cooked chicken or seitan
1 tsp minced fresh ginger (I mince mine and freeze for later use)
1 tsp soy sauce or braggs
1 tsp yellow miso
1 cup cooked rice or 3oz you favorite noodle
1/2 cup dry sherry

Directions:

In a large saucepan add ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until heated through.

Seitan Street Tacos

Super easy dinner (period!)

Grab your food processor and take some onion and pulse it, set aside. Take some cilantro and pulse a few times, set aside. Now, it's the end of the week which means I usually make a vegetable medley of what ever we have left from the weeks vegetables I bought. I toss them in my food processor and pulse a few times, season and wrap in foil. Next, I prepare some seitan cutlets wrap them in foil and steam my veggies and cutlets together. After 20 minutes I remove the veggies and seitan cutlets and now place the corn tortillas on a piece of foil on my steamer and cover to lightly steam. Unwrap you seitan and chop into small bite size pieces or if you already washed your food processor you can use that, too! Assemble your street tacos and serve along side you veggies. Dinner done!

Chicken or Vegetable Noodle Pot Pie

This week was rainy so I made some chicken noodle soup which means I always have leftovers! Here is a recipe for all the left over noodle soup you have but would rather not freeze!

Ingredients:

1 left over noodle soup recipe
2 3/4 cups liquid from noodle soup
1 sheet puff pastry
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup nutritional yeast

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F.

Lightly oil a 9x9 casserole dish.

Using a fine mesh strainer drain out all the liquid from your left over noodle soup and place 2 3/4 cups in a small pan over med heat. Once the liquid started to boil add the whole wheat pastry flour and nutritional yeast and blend until mixed well. Lower heat and simmer until it starts to thicken. Set aside.

Pour remaining soup into casserole dish and top with with your thickened soup liquid. Please pastry puff sheet on top and place in oven.

Cook for about 20 minutes or until the pastry puffs up and turn a nice golden brown.

White Winter Chili

So last week was hot here in So Cal and we have been eating lots of fresh fruits, cut up veggies and popsicles! However, when I woke up one morning early this week the weather changed for the worse and it was cold, overcast and raining! So instead of letting the day put me down I decided to do what I love best... Cook! As I said it's cold so I opted to make Chili!

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tsp + 2 tsp oil
1 onion, chopped
1 T chopped garlic
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp dried parsley
2 4 oz cans diced mild green chilies
1/2 cup minced green/red/yellow peppers (your choice which you pick)
4 cups soaked white beans (Or possibly 2 cans low sodium white beans if you are in a pinch)
4 cups rich broth 

1 small bunch cilantro, chopped
2 greens onion, chopped

Directions:

While heating 2 tsp. oil in your heavy soup pot trim all fat from the chicken breasts. Please use med-low heat because the goal is to only use one pot to save time.

While the chicken is slowing browning I take out my small $10 Target food processor and "mince" my onions and set aside. Next I mince my garlic and bell peppers, set aside. Once the chicken is browned on both sides remove from pot and place right in the food processor and push the buttons a few times so the chicken gets chopped up a bit now, set aside. I personally place most everything back on the cutting board in the order it will go it the pot.

Heat the other 2 teaspoons of oil in your pot, then saute onions until they're softened and just starting to brown, about 3-5 minutes. Add minced garlic, peppers, ground cumin, parsley and saute a couple minutes.

Add 4 cups white beans, 4 cups chicken broth and canned diced chilies, turn to low and simmer. Let cook for 30 minutes.

After the chili has simmered for 30 minutes, add the chicken and simmer about 5 minutes more.

After adding the chicken, chop up the cilantro and green onions. After 5 minutes add chopped cilantro and simmer about 5 minutes more. Garnish with green onions and serve hot.

Other easy toppers are:

  Sour cream or vegan alternative, Cheese or vegan alternative and Tortilla Chips

Open Face Sushi Style Dinner

Did you know that Sushi really means “seasoned rice” which often is confused with sashimi which means “sliced raw fish.” Over the summer I became fascinated with making my own sushi! I made it every way I could think of... I made veggie rolls, chicken and fish rolls and sometimes I just made the sushi rice as a side for dinner. I never knew the one ingredient I loved so much in sushi is the rice vinegar you use to season the sticky rice. This is so easy to make really, you just boil some water for the rice, cut up some veggies and if you choose cut up some type of protein!

Ingredients:

1 cup sushi rice or brown rice

2 avocados

2 large carrots

1 cucumber

8oz salmon, 1 large chicken breast or 6 oz seitan

2 tsp rice vinegar

2 tsp raw sugar

1/8 tsp salt

Directions:

Cook rice according to package directions but add about 1/4 cup extra water. Meanwhile prepare your meat. I like to boil the chicken and steam my fish or seitan. While everything is cooking shred your carrots and cucumbers and cut the avocado up in small slivers or cubes. When the rice is done cooking add the salt, sugar and rice vinegar. Instead of mixing it up all you want to "cut" the rice up and down since mixing it makes it mushy! While your rice is cooling down your meat should be ready to be cut up anyway you prefer. Now, mix your meat and veggies together and you can either toss in the cooled rice or serve your veggie/meat mixture on your sushi rice. Serve with some braggs and wasabi!

If you have the extra time and went through all the above and want professional style rolls you can get one of these babies, Sushezi Sushi Made Easy!  It's great if you want the cute little rolls all chopped up to serve to guests or for a party.