~Signs of Spring~

Seeeee.....a sign of SPRING!
No, the above photo isn't from Fall, we actually still have 2 pumpkins left from Halloween, as Lily poses with the 7 month old pumpkins.

Here's a real sign of Spring.....

And another, the Green Heron's are nesting....

Thank goodness they pick the Detroit Zoo to nest at, not our neighborhood....they've visited our yard before, eyeing up our fish in our pond- don't they realize they are my PETS??? Here's a closer look at the beasts....

And yet another sign of Spring- Goods doing Spring clean-up in the pond....and yes the water was FREEZING.

Then Goods got to rest on our new double chaise lounge at the tiki hut patio.

Goods, if you are reading this, make a note to take off the canvas cover off the roof.

And it was a beautiful Saturday, weather wise, so we immediately think of PICNIC FOOD!

Planned menu of:

Fake Chicken Patty Sandwich

Baked Beans

Corn on the Cob

It was a long day of yardwork so I went and checked the freezer- shoot, no Boca Chicken Patties, so I did have to make my own after all. Well, they really weren't my own, I borrowed the recipe from Vegan Dad- I used his Chicken Wing recipe and made my own patties...lookie...

I baked them in the oven as you do the wings, then Goods threw them on the grill for a bit. They were excellent. I think next time I will just dip them once in the breading instead of twice, that you do for the wings-they were a tad bready, and really crunchy...but I liked that! When I was forming the patties, one of them thought about falling apart, but I just pinched it back together. Here is my plate, I'm bunless...

My condiments are on the side, one of which is Bubbie's Pickles - they are the bomb! The corn was from Kroger's and it was great- very sweet and tender- soaked in their husk and done on the grill. I have bought it a few times lately, and it's been great every time.

The baked beans, well they cooked all afternoon in the crockpot - I can't tell you my secret recipe, well one, because I don't want to, and the other reason is because I wing it each time I make them.

Since I was talking about beans....I made a Gluten Free Chocolate Cake - out of Black Eye Peas....Are peas considered a beans??? Well close enough...

I've been trying to cut out as much gluten in my diet as possible and I've been testing some "different" recipes and this was one of them- It was like Puddin' cake. It should have been called "Protein Packed Puddin' Cake". The recipe was from Bittersweet Blog - link for recipe ***here*** (and she has much prettier photos of the cake too). Next time I'm going to bake it in a 8" x 8" pan and see how that turns out...just because the cake was so thick. The cake wasn't too sweet, which I prefer....you know, because I'm sweet enough.

And just for fun....a photo of a new addition to the Detroit Zoo-

He was saying to me - "Hey were is my piece of Protein Packed Puddin' Cake" - yes, I think he was.

All food rated 5 out of 5 forks.

Quick-A-Dee-Quick

It was like a eating at fast food restaurant (gag) last night. We whipped up this meal in no time (excluding the sweet potato that was baked in the oven)

Along with the Sweet Potato we had~

**Vegan Dad's Maple BBQ Tofu**

&

**Dijon-Dill Brussel Sprouts**

The Maple BBQ Tofu~ Awesome. Recipe here - directing you to his site. My changes: I only had garlic chili sauce, so that is what we used. Used the brown sugar (dark) as he suggested. Also added some chopped green onion with the tofu as it was cooking.

The Brussel Sprouts~ I was skeptical - DILL & BRUSSEL SPOUTS?? Well the reviews were good from the Allrecipe website so I went for it, and I'm I glad I did!! Outstanding! Here's a closer look.....

The original recipe is here, but I made enough changes that I think I'm allowed to share it with you.

Dee's Nutty Dilly Dijon Brussel Sprouts

What you need:
Brussel Sprouts - 1 pkg
6-8 Cloves of Garlic (keep nice size pieces)
Vegan Butter
1/2 c TOASTED Walnut pieces

3 Tbs. Melted Vegan Butter
2 tsp. Dijon Mustard
2 tsp. Fresh Lemon Juice
1/2 - 1 tsp. Dried Dill Weed
Pepper to taste

Brussel Sprouts cleaned and halved. I'm sorry I don't have an amount, at my store they sell them in prepackage containers - like they do mushrooms. Steam Brussel Spouts (w/ garlic gloves) until desired tenderness. Drain water off. Add approx 1 Tbs. of vegan butter, and brown those puppies up. After browned, put into serving dish. Now, melt 3 Tbs. vegan butter to pour on the brussel sprouts, and toss with the mustard, lemon juice, dill weed, pepper and toasted walnuts. Now now you are ready for your tastebuds to explode!

Quick, Easy and Delish! (oh and GOODS HELPED!!!)

This dinner was definitely 5 out of 5 forks
(I'm brining back my old ranking system)

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!

Vat-O-Cheese

Contemplating dinner last night, I had a few factors that was going to determine what was going to be served. One, I need to use up stuff before Goods and I venture to my parents for Thanksgiving, two, I wanted to try a new Mac & Cheese recipe since I want to make it for our Thanksgiving fest...and three, I've been on a mission to find the best mac & cheese. I decided try the cheese sauce from Vegan Dad's website, but instead of noodles, we put the sauce on baked potatoes- the potatoes were starting to sprout eyes, so they needed to be used. Here is the VAT of cheese sauce that the recipe made.

And here is the recipe link -
Vegan Dad's Mac & Cheese

And this is our dinner table - please excuse the tubs of stuff, I usually do not allow plastic on our table but I think I was still in shock of the amount of cheese sauce we had to eat before we leave Weds.

This was the best cheese sauce. I did however adjusted it to our tastes. One, I put only a 1/2 teaspoon of salt in it....but I ended up adding the additional 1/2 teaspoon the recipe called for. I also added an additional 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast (because I love this stuff), and I added extra garlic powder, added fresh ground pepper and some dried parsley. As you can see the photo above, I heated the sauce in a pot, on the stove instead of heating it with the called for noodles.

I can't wait to pour this on noodles - I hope I have enough cheese sauce left....

Actually I'm going to try an freeze a little container of it and see how it survives...I'll let you know. UPDATE - the sauce FREEZES GREAT!

I Give this 5 out of 5 forks!