Granola 1

Here is my recipe for perfect and good granola. It makes quite a bit. I fill my two 'towers' of granola. It's nice to put ontop of cereals, frozen yogurt, or soy ice cream.I got it from the November 2010 Family Fun and did a few twists to it to make it healthier and this is what i came up with.

4 cup rolled oats (also called old fashioned oats)
1 cup wheat germ (optional, you can replace with 1 c. rolled or quick oats)
1 cup. chopped walnuts or silvered almonds
1 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. salt

1/3 c. apple sauce (or apple concentrate)
1/3 c. honey                  or for all three of the 1/3 liquid ingredients, you can
1/3 c. water                  put in about 2/3 c. to 1 cup of apple concentrate. it also counts as the sugar


Heat the oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together oats, wheat germ, nuts, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the apple sauce, honey water (apple concentrate if choose to). Toss the mixture until it is well combined, then spread it evenly on a cookie sheet or high rimmed casserole dish. I find it easier to do it in a casserole dish because when you stir it, it won't go over the sides.
Bake the granola until lightly browned, about 1 hr, stirring every 15 minutes. Keep the granola away from the sides of the pan because that makes them burn. If you want to, you can add some dried fruit like:
cranbereries
blueberries
raisins
cheeries
pineapple
papaya
mango

Jump Ice Cream

1 t. vanilla
1 c. milk (soy milk is what i used)
1 T. sugar

add ins
1 T. coconut
1 T. chocolate or carob chips
1 T. raisins

Put the vanilla, milk, sugar and as many as the add ins as you want to in a small zip lock bag. then, fill a big zip lock bag 3/4 the way full with ice. Push the little bag down into the ice into the big bag and ziplock the bag. Then if you want to, you can put some rock salt to make it melt faster. This is up to you. Wrap a dish towel or tea towel around the bags and jump around with them. When the ice cream inside is nice and not liquidy, you can take it out and eat it. Fun and easy ice cream to make.

Topppings

Granola
Raisins
Mini marshmellows
chocolate chips
cheerios
rice krispies
blueberries
other fresh fruit
mochi

Review; Rice Cooker

Rice cookers are so handy! You put them on and then leave them and tadah! Rice! Mine has a cook option and then a keep warm. This is the ratio that i use

• Long grain white rice - 1¾ cups of water per cup of rice
• Medium grain white rice - 1½ cups of water per cup of rice
• Short grain white rice - 1½ cups of water per cup of rice

Brown Rice
The perfect ratio for brown rice is 2¼ cups of water per cup of rice. Brown rice takes longer to cook so this is what i do. I watcht he rice until it boils. Then i turn it off, setting a timer for 30 minutes. When the 30 minutes are up, turn the rice cooker back on cook and then let it do it's thing. Remember to was the brown rice!

Home Made Ketchup

I can tomato paste (mini cans)
3 T. lemon juice
1 t. garlic powder
1 T. brown sugar

Mix it all together and put it with some potato or baked yam sticks. :D

blueberry barbeque sauce

have an overabundance of blueberries over here so i decided to google some blueberry bbq sauce. We had had some over at a friends house and i wanted to make my own. I found one from the blog/site grillingcompanion.com
and it worked great. :D really liked it and will have fun finding stuff to put it on. At the end, i'll give some suggestions for vegans and vegetarians.

1/2 recipe

1 c. blueberries
1/4 c. vinegar (cider preferbly)
1/4 t. salt
1 T. onion, chopped
1/4 t. cayenne pepper or sriracha sauce
1 1/2 T. ketchup
1 1/2 T sugar
1 clove garlic
1 t. hoisin sauce
1 t. chili powder

heat all ingredients over medium/high heat in a saucepan. let boil a bit. if you want to, you can add some (1/2 T.) cornstarch mixed with water to make it thicker if you want to. Blend it if it isn't smooth consistancy.

Full recipe

2 c. blueberries
1/2 c. vinegar
1/2 t. salt
2 T. onion, chopped
1/2 t. caynne pepper
3 T. ketchup
3 T. sugar
2 cloves garlic
2 t. hoisin sauce
2 t. chili powder

use instructions from the half recipe

You can put this on:

Seitan
Worthington Swiss Steak
Worthington Tenderbits
Worthington Big Franks
Be creative and post what you put it on!

Stuffed Seitan

So i got bored today and decided that i would make something like dumplings, but since i didn't have wrappers and were to lazy to make them, i'd make them out of seitan. So the seitan recipe is

1 c. vital wheat gluten flour
1 c. water
1 T. soy sauce
1 T. brewers yeast
1/2 t. garlic powder

Broth
2 C.water
1 C. fry chick broth or what ever is in the can, if you don't have it, just use water
3 T. soy sauce

Mix the dry, add wet, knead and pull to make it nice and soft, pushing out the air, then divide up into small pieces. I got about 20+ from my batch. Knead and press it into a semi round shape and stuff with the stuffing.... Oh, and start to boil your water.

Stuffing:
4 fry chick pieces
1/4 c. onion ground in the ultimate chopper or chopped finely
1 celery stick, medium
handful of bread crumbs
garlic, onion, or mckays chicken seasoning
Mix all together and you can use it for the inside stuffing. It will make more than you need so you can always spread it on the sandwhich.

Don't put too much of the stuffing into the seitan because it will not stick as well if it is super super bulging. As you make them, put them into the boiling water and boil them. Make sure it isn't boiling to hard or else that will make them pop, so bring to a boil and then set to low-medium or low. Let cook for about 20-30 minutes, checking frequently to make sure they haven't exploded.

Enjoy with sauce made from a mixture of sriracha sauce, soy sauce, hoisin sauce and a dash of chinese hot chili oil.

Review : Misto Sprayer

Another review here. The picture above are Misto Sprayers. what they are basicly is do it yourself pam oil spray for like cooking or spraying on salads. You put a bit of oil in them, then you pump it up and down to make the pressure go up, then you spray it out on to the desired item, meat, frying pan, salad, popcorn, whatnot.
For us, it doesnt spray like the aerosol cans do but it does help to cut the oil consumption in half when i put seasoning on popcorn. I use to pour the oil over and then add seasoning but i used a lot of oil, so now that i use the spray oil, i cut the oil consumption i guess into more than half.
I would say this gets a four because it doesn't spray like aerosol, meaning taht when i spray the pan, i have to rub it around with a spatula more than i do with the regular store bought spray oil. They do come in different colors and that makes them fun. :)

Review; Ultimate Chopper

A few years ago we got this ultimate chopper as a christmas gift. It has been an amazing tool in the kitchen because when the blender is too big for your item you want chopped, i just stick it in this little guy and whiz it up! It's very nice and i use it to make pesto, grind up stuff for spreads and usually when i talk about blending small quantities of food in my recipes, this is what I'm talking about. :) 

this is not my picture so i give my credits to amazon.com, where i got the picture. Couldn't take one at the moment, not at the place that has it. 

I am going to give this 5 stars because it is super super handy and i really find it very useful. Easy to clean also. 

Sorry

My apologies here because I went on a week vacation and couldn't have access to a computer I couldn't upload any pictures or recipes but I defiantly will try and do some super super soon! Probably tomorrow! ;) Today I am going to go into the kitchen and start experimenting with making some vegan cheese for you guys! My goal is for it to grate like normal cheese but I doubt i could get it like that so I am going to try and make a log, like you know the fancy logs with crackers all around, anyway that consistency, kinda soft? Yeah, that kind. Not too hard, or it doesn't sound too hard....

What is it? It's Energ Egg Replacer!

This is what i use instead of using eggs in my baking. It works so great in foods and I am very amazed. This box only cost about $7 dollars and i know at first it sounds like a lot but really it's soo much cheaper then eggs because there's about like 140 something eggs tat you can get out that box and so do the math, it's much cheaper! I just quit using eggs so i have about a dozen eggs in my fridge, going to waste,,, need to use them on my face for a nice facial i guess... that's the only thing i can think of using them for! Lol. Anyway, that might be a later post. :p It's gluten free, wheat free, no preservatives, no artificial flavor, no sugar added and no cholesterol! Almost as good as water, except it has like 15 calories. Which is nothing compared to the 70 that the Eggland's best eggs have. I suggest that you use this and I use it in my recipes. Where i put egg, just suppose i use this. I will start putting it down because i have posted this.
You use 1 1/5 t. of the egg replacer plus 2T. water equals one egg.
I hope you guys have fun baking with out eggs and tell me how your goodies come out like!

What is it?? It's Tahini!!

Here's the food that I am going to talk about for today/tonight! It's Tahini! Tahini is basically sesame seeds ground up into a buttery, spreadable, like peanut butter but stiffer?? They roast them and then puree them. We get the Joyva brand on tahini and the ingredient list is like this

for 1 Tablespoon
100 calories
8 g fat
17mg sodium

It's about like peanut butter so i really enjoy using it in my asian cooking. Joyva also makes a halva, which is like a tahini but it's hardened and can have nuts. You can only have like a little little little bit of it because it is like pure fat! So like don't eat that whole thing! Just like super super super small bits. That's how i eat my halva.

Biscuits

This morning i woke up and made some biscuits to go with out fresh box of strawberries that we got yesterday. I did a little remix on the cornbread recipe and this is what i got.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 c. white flour
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1 serving energ fake egg
1 T. baking powder
1/8 c. soy milk powder + one cup water  or 1 cup soy milk
1 1/4 T. oil

Mix it with a WOODEN SPOON not a Whisk!!!! It'll be like thicker dough than the cornbread because the flour is more 'thirsty' than the cornmeal. Put it in a greased pan, either square or round and bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees F. I cut mine into eight pieces, and put some strawberries on top. Since i don't like eating cool whip, (in my opinion, it's absolutely disgusting, i drizzled a bit of honey on top.

Nutritional Facts
Calories 148.4
Total Fat 3.1 g
 Sat 0.4 g
 Poly 0.6 g
 Mono 1.7 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Total Carbs 27.4 g
 Fiber 2.7 g
 Sugar 2.9 g

Carrot Salad

This is my version of carrot salad for 4 people.

2 medium sized carrots
1/4 c. Almondaise 
or regular mayo
1/4 c. raisins

Grate the carrots and then mix in the almondaise. Then sprinkle in raisins. I put less than 1/4th of a cup. This salad is nice when you're getting super super sick of regular lettuce salads.

Onion Peas

This is a recipe that is very easy and that you use frozen peas for.
To feed four people, use 1/2 the bag of frozen peas with water and start warming them up in the microwave. I did for 2 minutes. While those two minutes are going, chop up some Walla Walla sweet onions and get ready to put those in. When the peas are ready, put the onion in, with some garlic and onion powder and have it go the rest of the time. (Mine was for 3 more minutes to get it nice and hot). Enjoy!

Hot dog gravy

This can at the bottom is what i used in my gravy. you can take out the big franks and then it will be brown gravy.

In a blender
2 c. water
4 T. flour

While that is blending, saute some onion in a frying pan
and when the water/flour mix is blended, pour it into
the frying pan. Mix it until it is thick and you might want
to add some marmite

I used about a teaspoon. Make it nice and thick. 

Optional, slice up your big frank into coins and warm them in the gravy. I ate this over left over sushi rice and regular rice. 

To complete the meal, i ate it with my Onion Peas and Carrot Salad

Have fun!

Vegetarian Chili

Here's a great vegetarian chili recipe

1 can diced tomatoes' i used the chili diced tomatoes from western family
1 can black beans; use whatever bean you like to use for chili. I just grabbed a random one out of my pantry
1/2 cup water
1 T. Chili powder + or - depending on your likes
1 chili pepper
1/4 t .salt
1 T. soy sauce (shhhh my secret ingredient!)
1/4 c. onion; sauteed in the bottom of the sauce pan
1 clove of garlic; peeled and chopped into small bits

First sautee the onion in the bottom with the garlic. Then add in the tomatoes, beans, water and chili powder and chili. Then add salt and or soy sauce.  This recipe is more like a base to the chili. I put in like 1/3 c. of tvp meat and called it a soup!
I ate this with cornbread, and put some good old Sunflower chip dip in the soup as  like a sour cream. Have fun and eat up!

Xi'an Cold Silken Tofu With Sauce

We visited China this past summer and while we were in Xi'an, the home of the ancient terra cotta warriors, we found a vegetarian restaurant near a pagoda we went and visited right outside the city wall. It was a beautiful place with really nice dishes. We got a hot pot with mushrooms (enoki, shiitake, other ones we don't know the names of) and we got this side dish. Sooo good!

1 package tofu; silken
3 T. Hoisin Sauce ; I used soy vay garlic hoisin
3 T. soy sauce; low sodium
1 clove garlic, chopped
3 stalks of green onion; sliced
1/2 sheet of nori cut up thin.
Carefully put the tofu into a dish. The reason why i say carefully is because silken tofu is very tender and it's super super easy to break it into little bits and then it gets messy. So proced with caution. Pour the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, or what ever marinades over the tofu and then sprinkle on green onions and garlic. Cut up the nori or seaweed very thin with scissors and lay it over the top. Chill in the refrigerator.

Serves 8

72 Calories per serving

Scrambled Tofu

Here's a great breakfast recipe that is a vegan substitute for scrambled eggs. Combining this with hash browns makes a nice breakfast!

1 box of very firm tofu ( i used light kind)
2 T. brewers or nutritional yeast
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. turmeric
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/4 onion, chopped

Saute the onion. While it's sauteing, mash the tofu with a potato masher and put in brewers yeast, salt, turmeric, garlic powder, and any other seasoning that you put with scrambled eggs.
Add the seasoned mashed tofu in with the onion and let it get nice and warm. Serve warm.

Serves from 4-6, depending on how much you take.

Lots of people like to eat their scrambled eggs differently, but this is what i've seen put in it that you can also put in your scrambled tofu

Shiitake Mushrooms
Mushrooms
Red Peppers
Cayenne Pepper
Jalapeno Peppers
Seaweed (Nori)

Per serving  calories <128

Mashed Potatoes 101

Start of today with a little cooking story:
When i first started cooking our family's lunches, i decided that we'd have mashed potatoes and broccoli. I had a vague idea of how to make mashed potatoes, you have the cut up and boiled potatoes, then you mash them into the paste, putting in milk to make it smoother, well, we have four people in our family and i didn't know that for mashed potatoes you need like more potatoes than just one per person. So i washed and grabbed four potatoes, sliced them up and boiled them. Well, when dinner came around, i mashed them and put soy milk with them. My mom came home and she was like how many potatoes did you cook up? I was like one for each of us, like what we usually have for things like baked potatoes. I learned that day that you need almost double the potatoes for mashed potatoes because it like mashes down to nothing!
Here we go on the recipe.
For three people :
6 medium to small sized potatoes
enough water to cover them
1/2 c. milk plus or minus to fit your wishes..
salt to taste

Wash the potatoes, peel them and then slice them up. Put in enough water to cover them and boil them for 20 - 30 minutes. Make sure they're nice and soft. I sometimes pour off some of the water but it's really up to you. Grab your potato masher and then start mashing. Add soy milk and salt to make it easier to mash. Enjoy with sriachara sauce (or how ever you spell it.. it's a red bottle, green nozzle and with a rooster on it. Very nice hot sauce. :-0)

All these Spreads???

You're probably wondering why i have so many more spreads than i do anything else huh? I would too if i were you! Here's the reason why. Spreads are a lot of the time not vegan. I have tried to have a lot of vegan substitutes here that you could get inspired by. So as my blog progresses along, I will be adding more entrées and main dishes, appetizers, snacks, breads and desserts not to forget more spreads and dressings. Just remember to use the spreads and dressings that are nut based sparingly because they do have fat and calories from those nuts! Have a great day and I hope you guys can get vegan inspired!