Greetings from Good-Dees...

Grandma B goes Vegan

My Grandma B was a GREAT baker. I've been lucky enough to have some of her recipes passed on to me. I remember helping her make Christmas cookies, even though I'm sure I ate more then I helped. Here are some of my favorites!

Grandma B's Banana Bread

I know, everyone has an awesome banana bread recipe, but I SWEAR this is the best. I've tweaked it and veganized it, but it's just the bomb. It's moist, fluffy and makes you all warm an fuzzy inside

Banana Bread
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. earth balance
1/4 c. shortening
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs-Ener-G replacer
3-4 smashed bananas (I go 4)
1 tsp. baking soda in 1 Tbs hot water
2 c. flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c nuts (or more)

Cream together with mixer, sugar & "butter". Add "eggs", baking soda mixture, & vanilla and mix. Add flour and salt, little at a time while mixing. Then add bananas, mix and then add nuts. Spread into prepared (greased & flour) loaf pan. Bake @ 350 degrees for one hour, or until toothpick comes out clean.

I changed the "butter" amount from my Grandma's original recipe. It did call for a complete 1/2 c. of butter but I changed it to 1/4 c. and added a 1/4 c. of shortening. This made it a lot fluffier, and moister, all butter tends to make it drier. Also, I use bananas prefrozen. I think this adds some moistness also to the bread. If the banana have too much liquid when they thaw, I do drain it off.

Next up.....

Butternut Ball Cookies

I've totally avoided making butternut balls since I turned vegan. These are my favorite, and I just didn't think the Earth Balance could pull it off. Well I'm tickled to report - IT DID!! Goods confirmed after sampling MANY, you could NOT tell the difference. Here is the very simple recipe...

Butternut Balls

2- 3/4 cups of flour
3/4 c. power sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. Earth Balance "butter"
1 tsp. vanilla
2 -1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Sift flour, sugar and salt in separate bowl. In larger bowl cream "butter" and vanilla. Mix flour and cream mixture well. Add walnuts, mix. Roll approx. 2 tbs (a little shy) of mixture into balls. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or when sides get tanish. Roll in powder sugar when balls are still hot/warm. [FYI- if any of them make it to your freezer- these puppies are excellent to eat frozen!]
And the final recipe...

Raisin Filled Cookies

The recipe that I have for these, is very vague...so hopefully I filled in the blanks correctly...well I guess I did because the cookies turned out very yummy. Goods calls them Raisin Pies since they are so big.

Raisin Filled Cookies

4 c. flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 c. shortening
1/2 tsp salt
2 "egg" replacer
1 c. white sugar
1/2 c of soy milk
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Blend together flour, baking powder, shortening and salt in one bowl. Mix together sugar, eggs, milk, baking soda, and vanilla in a separate bowl. Then mix everything together. Put in refrigerator to chill.

THE FILLING

1 lbs raisins (approx 2 1/2 c.)
1 c. white sugar
2 c. water

Cook - Simmer the raisins, sugar and water for 15 minutes. Thicken with arrowroot until mixture is like gravy. (I used 3.5 Tbs. of arrowroot)

Assembling- Roll out chilled cookie dough (Good's job- he is the BEST roller!). Using two different size glasses, cut the dough (larger glass for top of cookie) . Place filling mixture on smaller dough circle and cover and seal with larger dough circle.

Baking- this is were it got a bit crazy...not sure if it's because I made them so big (like 3" diam) but I baked them for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. My vague recipe doesn't state how long they should be in the oven, but I've read other recipes that call for 8-10 mins.

The end.
Enjoy your holiday!

Weekend part 2- D-Derby

Saturday Night, Goods & I headed off to downtown Detroit. First off, was to grab some grub. We were running late, so I forgot to take food porn pixs so a list of food will have to do. We ate at Pegasus, in Greektown. We had the basics, hummus, roasted peppers, salad, grape leaves, and Goods had the flaming sagnaki. Some nice vegan choices for me.

Then we were off to the DETROIT DERBY GIRLS! We really enjoy going, we've made it there at least once a year for the past three. The venue is a the beautiful Masonic Temple. (sorry the photos are so bad, they didn't allow you take take photos, so I snuck them)

ZOOMMMMMM.....
Goods, watching intently....

And my PISTOLWHIPPERS WON! It was a nail bitter too!

Here are some miscellaneous photos inside the Masonic Temple. I took my cheap camera, so the photos aren't so good....

The detail.....

Need to make a call??? I hope not....
(all brass framing)

Such a fun thing to do, again in Detroit!

Friday - Food, Family and Festivities

Last Friday was our annual adventure to Greenfield Village for their Holiday Nights. We go with Good's Bro and & Sis-in-law and we always have a grand time....but first we must feast on food! This year I got to cook! I decided upon PPK Seitan Portobella Stroganoff , I'm not a fan of mushrooms but I thought I would give it a shot - and am I glad I did. The recipe calls for 3.5 cups of seitan, I used the left overs from the seitan crockpot roast I made earlier in the week. It was perfect for it! Here it is getting all crispy....
Of course, I changed the recipe a tiny bit....
For the mushrooms, I used baby Portobella, small whites, and Shiitake mix. I knew I could hand the Shiitake, so that is why I included them. I didn't know what cremini where, so I went with small white fungus.
For the soy milk, I substituted Tofuttii sour cream.

Here is how it turned out.....

Served with noodles and broccoli..

Verdict: I LOVE MUSHROOMS. Really truly, after this dish, I've even eaten stuffed ones! Oh, I'm still going to be a picky with the fungus, but I now no longer can't stand them! I made rice noodles for myself (cutting back on gluten) but I don't think next time I would make them for myself- just throw it on the broccoli, which was a great accompaniment...oh or a baked potato.

Oh but next time I will cut the salt to just 1 tsp. I was the only one that thought it was salty, but since I'm the cook, I can do what I want.

And look how shocked Good's Bro was, because it was so good....

So after good eats, we were off to Greenfield Village....

It was cold....

It was festive....

This is in one of the houses you could go into and see how they celebrated the holidays, way back when. Look a table set for a VEGAN FEAST!

And here is the "lady of the house" explaining all about their celebration, and what VEGAN food she will be preparing for all to enjoy.....

I'm guessing you know I made up the "VEGAN FEAST" part..

No festivities would be complete with out some music...

Music inside and outside...

And the festive finally...

Perfect evening! We are so blessed.

Next up - Saturday's Detroit adventure......

Crockpot Cheating....

Week 3 of the Crockpot Challange

I was very busy baking this weekend, and Goods really wanted sauerkraut - So I made a batch of sauerkraut - fast, easy and taste great....so easy, it felt like cheating.

I don't do too much with my sauerkraut - I add a little garlic powder, parsley, and fresh pepper. I also add, at the start, onion quarters. This time I added some whole shallots - I just had them laying around the kitche, never add them before. OMG they were outstanding! They were so sweet in the SOUR-kraut....I will never not add them again.



I add my "meats" about an hour before eating time. This time I used Tofukey Sausage and I put a hunk of "meat" that I had frozen that I made from Vegan Dad's site [My Dec 8th post] . (BTW I had to be very careful on the way I worded that - OY!)


I made the standard shmashed killer potatoes to go with the kraut. I call them that because potatoes killed my hand mixer I've been using for over 10 years. A new one in on it way- and of course I will share it with you - it's quite spiffy!

And the photo of the meal.

I have loads more to share with you. So peak back soon!

Is it crockpot or slow-cooker? Easy Seiten Pot Roast

By the way, it sucks being in Michigan right now!
But on to the regular schedule programing...

Week 2 of my self weekly crockpot challenge.....
Slower-Cooker Seitan Pot Roast from Vegan Planet.

Here is her recipe, copied directly from her website:

1 sweet yellow onion, peeled and coarsely chopped (I used pearl onions because they are pretty)
1 pound baby carrots
1 pound small red-skinned potatoes, halved or quartered
(I also added some chunks of celery)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup vegetable stock (I used 2 cups, will explain later)
2 garlic cloves, crushed (I added extra)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
(I added some dried rosemary cauze it's yummy)

2 cups wheat gluten flour
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 1/2 cup water, or more as needed (I didn't need extra)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup or tomato sauce (I used ketchup)

1. Arrange the onion, carrots, and potatoes in the bottom of a lightly oiled slow cooker. Season the vegetables to taste with salt and pepper and add the stock, garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon of the thyme.

2. In a large bowl, combine the wheat gluten flour, onion powder, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of thyme, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. Add the water, soy sauce, and ketchup. Mix well, adding a little more water if the mixture is too dry, then knead for 2 minutes until smooth. Shape the gluten to fit inside your cooker and place on top of the vegetables. Put the lid on the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 4 hours, or until the seitan and vegetables are cooked.

3. To serve, remove the vegetables and seitan from the slow cooker. Cut the seitan into slices and arrange them on a serving platter. Surround with the vegetables and spoon the cooking liquid over all.Serves 4

And here are my photos of the process-
I call this one - "THE RAW MEAT"
Now this one - "RAW MEAT ON RAW VEGGIES"
I call this - "RAW MEAT & VEGGIES COOKED TOO FAST" (I'll explain later)

And this one - "POT ROAST DONE AND NO ANIMALS HARMED"

And finally - "VEGGIES & GRAVY IN THE GRAVYBOAT THAT MY GRANDMA MADE"

This recipe was quite easy. I read some other blogs that stated that the recipe really took 8 hours to cook, I allotted for that, so I turned the cooker on at 10 am, and by 3 pm, the food was done. So it sat quietly on the counter until 6 ish. The roast didn't dry out all that much either, but I had no other choice, we weren't ready to eat dinner at 3 pm- I might have gotten a year older this week but I'm NOT ready for the early bird dinners.

I put my roast in a 6 quart roaster, so I added 2 cups of veggie broth. This turned out perfect since I was able to make gravy out of the extra broth. [side note, because I like to babble- I HATE GRAVY! I hate what it stood for, even when I ate poor little innocent animals. Who in their right mind would want to eat liquid animal fat - TOTALLY GROSS. So even as a vegetarian and then vegan, I still didn't touch the stuff....buuuttttt, I'm starting to appreciate it more. I started slowly, VWV chickpea gravy and now I'm up to making it all by myself now. End of side note]

Now the review, finally huh?

The roast - it was good, not wow great, but quite good. Maybe it was in the crockpot too long- nice flavor, I think next time I would add some extra stuff.

The veggies - totally kick a$$. Perfect seasoning.

The ease of preparation - great!

Do I need to go spend money to by her cookbook? - I do believe so!

I give this 4 out of 5 forks.

I saved the left over seitan to make "beef" stroganoff tomorrow night- pretty excited about that...not that I'm a fan of mushrooms, but I'm trying.

So Goods & I have a fun filled weekend planned, which of course I will share with you! So have a great weekend!

TEA-DEE, it was my birthday yesterday.

Not that I go around telling everyone it's my birthday, especially this year since adding a year to my age I now check another "age range box" on forms....BUT Goods gave me something I must share and tell anyone that is willing to listen, or read in this case.

I heart tea. It's just been in the last couple of years that I really started to dig it. They make fun of my tea drawer at work.....
....and I don't know why. I only have 17 flavors, a gal does likes to mix it up a bit.

So on to my cool gift Goods gave me..... A TEAPOSY! This tea blossom was heart of love - excellent rosy flavor. (If you don't know what it is, watch this YOUTUBE video.)

The tea went excellent with my birthday cake (made with the lemon icing) I made myself...Goods doesn't bake, but he made me a kick ass Vegan White Chili, that he made up and so I don't have a recipe to share with you. Maybe Goods could be a GUEST BLOGGER some day, but I would have to type for him since he is a pecker typer.

And if you look to the left of my TEAPOSY photo, you will see another gift - an electric pepper mill!! With a light that turns on when you start it's engine!! I guess in case you are eating during an electrical outage.

Back to the cake - it was totally awesome - I'll be serving it again Friday when we have peeps over for dinner.

And one finally share- this cool bracelet my nephews sent me (think it was more my sister though)
Purrrty isn't it? I wore it today to work and I look at it every time I reach into my tea drawer.

Peace out!

Giganitic Log of "Meat"

I like making my own fake meat. I like trying new recipes- so here we go...

The recipe is here: Veggie Lunch Meat

This made a GIGANTIC log of meat - like 10 inches long! I think the diameter was over 3 1/2 inches. HUGE.

I followed the directions up until the "how to cook" instructions. I do not have a steamer, even though I thought I had every kitchen gadget under the sun. So I restored to how I usually make fake meat - wrap it in parchment paper, then in foil- tightly.

So now I had a GIGANTIC foil log in front on me. When making seitan "meat" log from Vegan Vittles, I bake the log at 325 degrees for 1.5 hours (flipping it 1/2 thru)....so that is what I did with this monster. After the 1.5 hours I unwrapped it and ended up wrapping back up and put it back in for another 1/2 hour. The first time I took it out, it just wasn't firm in the middle- but adding the additional 1/2 hour to the bake time, the gigantic log came out PERFECT! SEE!!!!!

I loved the flavor of this, it reminded me of kabalsa/sausage. Even Goods asked me if I could make them into smaller logs and make sausage for sauerkraut. I loved the moistness of the meat too, not dry like other meats I made, this is very moist - even without steaming it as Vegan Dad does. So - excellent job Vegan Dad!

Oh, and since this log was so gigantic, I cut it in half and froze it. Vegan Dad likes to make lots, just like when I made the VAT-O-CHEESE (my Nov 21st post) and I made Vegan Sweet & Sticky Wingz (didn't blog about but made a lot and were excellent!) I kind of feel like I'm stalking Vegan Dad, but really it's all about the recipes!

Definitey a 5 out of 5 fork recipe!

Vegan Detroit - The Majestic Cafe

Goods and I headed downtown a couple of weeks ago so we could pick up some Detroit stuff for Christmas presents. After we hit PURE DETROIT we decided to go to one of my favorite restaurants - The Majestic Cafe. They have some vegan options for me, tasty cocktails and have cool art exhibits for your viewing pleasure. So to Goods dismay, I took food porn photos to share with you.

We started off with some hummus, because I love me some hummus. This is very good hummus, it is very beany flavor, not too tahiniee (not that I have anything against tahini what so ever) and their pickled banana peppers are so very yummy - and crunchy to boot.

My main course was tempeh fajitas- hold the cheese & sour cream please.

It was very good, but the tempeh needed to be seasoned....but I didn't have the cheese smothered all over it like the menu stated it would be served. Oh and I found out, the hard way, the rice had butter in it- so of course I tossed it aside.

And this is what I took home....the serving was huge!

I did not take any pics of Goods' food because this is a VEGAN blog, not an omnivorous blog.

Adios!

Potato, Patato Zoup

I have a mission, a goal, a challenge- I'm going to use my crockpot (one of my three) at least once a week until Spring. This week I accomplished my goal by making the incredibly delicious Potato Soup. The secret ingredient that pulled it all together - TOFUTTI SOUR CREAM!



This is what I did-
The ingredients:

• 5 russet potatoes peeled and cubed
• 1/2 c. chopped onion
• 5 cloves of minced garlic (adjust to your taste of course)
• 1 carrot chopped
• 1/4 c. red pepper chopped (next time I'm upping the quantity)
• 1 stalk celery chopped
• 1/4 c. fresh parsley (or dry)
• approx 1/2 tsp of Italian seasoning (or oregano)
• 3 cups veggie broth (I used 3 cups of water & 3 Tbs. of Bryanna's homemade stuff)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Then I cooked the hell out of it, on low, for 8 ish hours.

Side Note: If you have never made BRYANNA'S HOMEMADE VEGAN "CHICKEN-STYLE" BROTH POWDER do yourself a favor and do it. I'm totally in love with the stuff, I will never use store bought again.

I then scooped out about 2 cups of the soup and put in a medium size mixing bowl. Using my emulsion blender, I blended it pretty smooth, and then put it back into the crock.

Then I measured out 1 1/2 cups of rice milk and whisked 2 Tbs. of arrowroot with it. Poured that mixture into the crock. Cooked for another 1/2 hour.

Next I put a blop of sour cream in a bowl (estimating at 1/2-3/4 cup) and mixed in 1 Tbs. of arrowroot, and mixed that into the crock. Cook for another 15-20 minutes.

Serve and eat.....

The red stuff sprinkled in my bowl is dried hot peppers. I totally forgot to cook and serve the Vegan Bacon that I made a special trip to the store for.

I also made bread in my bread machine (I kitchen gadgets) - seriously, this is recipe for Light Oat Bread is the best. Since I found this recipe, I haven't made any other bread - it's light, the crust is crispy- perfection in a loaf.
I'll copy it here, from Allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 cups water
2 tablespoons margarine
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
Add ingredients to bread machine pan in order recommended by your manufacturer.
Use regular light setting.

I know that one might say - OY, another potato soup recipe- but really, the sour cream in it turned an okay tasting soup into a WOW soup.

Raw Raw Raw, Penn State won!

Penn State kicked Michingan State's green butt! Now on to the Rose Bowl!

And here is the yummy Raw Corn Chips I was yacking about before......


These are extremely simple to make- in food processor combine/grind
Fresh RAW Corn cut from cob (I think I did 4 ears this time)
One RAW Carrot (peeled)
Garlic Powder to taste
and whatever other seasonings you want (chilie powder / cayenne / onion powder / parsley)
and this time I added 1 Tbs. of Flax Mill (the corn was very juicy)

After blended - spread out on teflon sheets or parchment paper - approx 1/8" thick.
dehydrate @ 105 degrees for approx. 24 hours - flipping and removing the corn "sheets" half way through.

See how easy???? They keep for weeks, in an air tight container or bag, if they last that long.

I'll be back cooking soon.....byes.