Happy Thanksliving!

We are late to the party as usual... :)  We had our Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday instead of Thursday so we could have some extended family and friends join us.  It was so nice to have a house full of people relaxing and celebrating!  Over the last month we have had a multitude of changes in our lives, I recently went back to work and we are currently in the process of moving (Staying local just moving about 5 minutes from where we were), but going back to work means my daughter had to go to enroll in preschool which is a big change for her and add all the fun and jitters of a new job for me and stress of moving... Ugh!  It was so nice to set all of that aside for one day and just relax and hang out, even if I did have to go sifting through unpacked boxes for my potato masher and the kids had to eat picnic style in the living room because we don't have furniture in that room yet... it was all good!

So on to the feast!

 
I made a homemade seitan roast similar to this one from the PPK  and silly girl that I am I was worried it wouldn't turn out and we would be left with nothing to eat so we picked up a store bought Tofurkey roast,
for a back up, as it turns out I worried for nothing the roast I made was delish and even pleased the palates of our non veg friends.  The Tofurky roast was bland and over chewy in comparison to the delish homemade one... lesson learned!



I was lazy with the gravy and just went with the store bought Tofurkey brand gravy which was so good over my garlic mashed potatoes, stuffing and the roast.  Big fluffy dinner rolls were perfect for dipping the the yummy yummy gravy.

I did roasted veggies to go with the roast which were brussel sprouts, cauliflower and carrots they were tossed with bunches of minced garlic, seasonings and olive oil and then roasted until soft, about an hour. 

My special occasion green beans are always included at holiday meals and were so easy to make vegan, simply sub the butter for Earth Balance.  Take about a pound of fresh green beans, you put 1/2 a stick earth balance into a large heavy skillet and once melted and bubbly throw in a 1/2 cup shaved almonds and 1/2 cup pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds) toast those for about 5 minutes and then toss in your beans combine them really well so the earth balance is well distributed and let cook for around 5 more minutes or until the beans are as soft or as crisp as you like them, add salt to taste.

Candied yams are a Thanksgiving staple and were crazy easy to make vegan, just sub the marshmallows for vegan Dandies brand marshmallows and you're done!

My sons' birth father was in town and this was the first time in about 5 years that he has gotten to spend Thanksgiving with his sons so it was important to us to put off our feast until he could join us.  He is DEFINITELY not vegan, though when he is here he does try to be supportive of his sons' choices.   He made us a delish tart homemade cranberry sauce and whipped up a vegan cornbread stuffing with tempeh in place of his usual choice of sausage. 




For dessert I made my traditional chocolate pudding pie,  I've been making this pie every year for Thanksgiving since I was like 14.  For years I have made this pie using an Oreo cookie crust, Jello chocolate pudding mix and Cool whip on top.  But this like just about everything else is so easy to veganize.  I couldn't find a cookie crust at the healthfood store I was shopping at so I just decided to  go with a traditional pie crust and found some that were vegan in the freezer case.  I used organic chocolate pudding mix, and mixed with Silk's organic soy milk, topped with Soyatoo stick it in the freezer for 2 hours or so and then... revel in the amazing simpleness that is my favorite pie :)
 



I also made this crazy simple pumpkin pie from The Lunch Box Bunch that disappeared quickly and a raw vegan cheesecake , we were not in love with the cheesecake.  I used almonds instead of walnuts for the crust as my little dude is allergic to walnuts and it was just too nutty for us.  The texture of this cheesecake was spot on, it just didn't have enough of that "cheesecakey tang" so I want to try to work with it some more.  We are not raw by any means so I think pairing this filling with a vegan graham cracker crust and maybe doubling the lemon juice in the filling and we will get that "tang" we were missing.  






It was a great evening, we all ate way too much, enjoyed some drinks, card games, the company of friends and family and the spirit of being thankful for all that we have.  I am thankful for my beautiful children, for my furry babies, for my amazing husband, for the best friend a girl could wish for, for my wonderful new friends to make new memories with, our new home and that I was able to find a job easily and quickly to ensure we will not struggle financially to keep this roof over my family's heads. I am also thankful that my family is vegan, that we opened our eyes and our hearts to the millions of animals that suffer daily for our choices and that I have learned that I can put on a spread like this... made with love without causing harm to anyone.

Wishing you all the the warmest wishes this holiday season.

King's Hawaiian Sweet Rolls - VEGANIZED!

Being a vegan is wonderful for so many reasons, we are working to right so many of the wrongs in our world with our fork and and our purchasing habits (i.e not supporting companies that test on animals).  But every now and then something will come up, we'll remember something that we used to eat or buy and get a little wistful.  Those moments just give me the inspiration I need to find creative ways to prove that vegans don't have to give up the things they love and crave.





When we first made the switch my husband was scared that we would be eating salads and tofu and not much else.  Well we do eat a LOT of salads and tofu lol but we eat LOTS of other things too.  AND I have found that aside from a bloody rare steak (which is just barftastic anyway) there is not much I have not been able to successfully recreate a vegan version of.  Case in point King's Hawaiian Buns.  We used to eat a lot and I mean a LOT of these things, a couple of packs a week easily.  They have been quite a temptation for my oldest son who has been really really missing them so I thought I would give it a go and try to surprise him by making them at home. 

I was so nervous about making these rolls because we all loved the originals so much, I wanted to be able to recreate them so we could have our happy sweet buns again!   I am very happy to say they were a smashing success!  Everyone LOVED them, they were SPOT on to the store bought ones, in taste, texture and aroma, except of course with everything homemade these were soooo much better!  Not only were they vegan but I always try to make everything with organic whole ingredients, AND they were made with mama's love and no crap!   You know we were buying these before my label reading days because once I stated reading labels there is NO way I would have bought something with this list of crap on it's label.  They have butter, eggs, milk.. and whey?  WHY?  Well MINE have NONE of that junk and they lack nothing.

So I ran across the recipe to make them at home here.  It was not vegan or organic so I made a few tweaks to make it so.  Also some people in the reviews mentioned trouble with the dough and the amount of flour.  I had no problems with it.  Mix your final 3 cups of flour in 1 CUP AT A TIME, your dough will be sticky and perhaps difficult at first but by the time you get all 6 cups mixed in it should be just perfect.  I don't have a stand mixer or a bread maker so I just mixed it by hand and they came out divine! Also one final note:  There is a lot of rise time involved here, so don't get all excited thinking you're gonna have that sweet doughy goodness in your mouth anytime soon... all good things to those who wait, or some crap like that right?  Well the dough rises twice for an hour each time so patience is your friend here :)

This recipe makes 3 loaves or 3 pans of rolls.

King's Hawaiian Sweet Rolls - VEGANIZED!

• 6 cups organic unbleached flour
• 1/2 cup organic unbleached flour for kneading
• Ener-G egg replacer equivalent to 3 eggs preblended
• 2 cups organic pineapple juice
• 3/4 cup organic unrefined sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon organic pure vanilla extract
• 2 (1/4 ounce) envelopes yeast
• 1/2 cup (one stick) Earth Balance (or other vegan margarine) melted  

 

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl mix your egg replacer, the pineapple juice, sugar, ginger, vanilla, and Earth Balance.
   
2. Place 3 cups of flour in a large bowl. Stir in the wet mixture until well-combined. Sprinkle in the yeast, one packet at a time, and mix.
3. Add the remaining flour one cup at a time and mix in.  By the last cup mixing with your wooded spoon will be hard, so you may have to use your hands. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure it is thoroughly combined. 
4. Cover the bowl with a cloth and set in a warm place to rise for 1 hour.
5. Remove from the bowl and knead in 1/2 cup flour. Knead about 10 times. Divide into three equal parts. 
   

   -  If you are want to make the round loaves take 1/3 of your dough and shape into a greased and floured round and place it in a round pan
   - If you want to make loaf shaped loaves take 1/3 of your dough and shape into a greased and floured loaf pan.

   -  If you want to make the rolls each 1/3 of your dough here will make 1 pan of rolls so you can make 3 pans if you use all of the dough.  Depending on how big or small you make your rolls will determine how many you get in each pan.  The ones you buy in the store come with 12 rolls per package I think but when I made mine I made my dough balls about 2 inches and I got 21 rolls in a pan.  Grease and flour your pan, roll your balls and place in pan.
6. Cover and place in a warm place to rise for 1 hour.
   
   Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or golden brown.
   
   The smell coming from your oven should be soooo good!  We dove into ours right out of the oven we just couldn't contain ourselves any longer and we were rewarded with sweet warm Hawaiian happiness on our taste buds!
   
   I decided to make a pan of rolls, a round loaf and the ones you see on the left there are filled with cream cheese to replicate these AMAZING cream cheese filled butter/sugar topped pastries you can only get at Filipino bakeries.  I don't know their "real name" but every one seems to call them Filipino cream cheese buns.  See the two final pictures for more detailed instructions on how to make these.  
   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   

   

   

   They had that perfect pull apart texture just like we remembered!

   
   

   

   They disappeared VERY fast.  I am going to make up a couple more batches this week to freeze so we always have some on hand. 

   
   

   Filipino Cream Cheese Buns

   I have such fond memories of these pastries... my sons' father, his mama and I used to go to a farmers market about 10 years ago in a tiny little cow town called Tracy, CA on the weekends.  We'd just had our oldest son and I'd push him around in his stroller and we would load up on fruits and veggies and then find the Filipino lady with her trays of pastries and hope she hadn't sold all of the cream cheese ones :)  Such a simple memory but it always makes me smile.  Well these pastries are pretty dang hard to come by, even when I was living in the Bay Area, which boasts a pretty large Filipino population.  Which leads me to another awesome memory involving these same pastries (yes lots of my happy memories do center around sugary treats).  My oldest was about a year old I think when we took him on his first BIG roadtrip from Livermore, CA to San Diego, CA to watch his uncle graduate from college.  While we were down in San Diego we did some exploring and one of the places we ventured to was National City which is seriously like someone took a tiny chunk of the Philippines and dropped it off just south of San Diego.  Well of course we found these amazing cream cheese buns there and I have to say, the ones we had in National City are probably the best ones I have ever had.  Now it's been at maybe 6 or 7 years since I've eaten one of these buns but I remember how soft and sweet the bread was, how the butter on top, was covered in sugar and was so sweet and mixed with the cream cheese was just like a bite of heaven in your mouth.  So when I decided to make the Hawaiian buns I figured I would give these a go as well.  My first try at these was good but not exactly as I remember them so I am going to give you the advice to sweeten the cream cheese vs. just putting it in plain as I did.  I think with that one little tweak these will be perfect!
   
   
   

   Directions:

   You need 1/3 of the dough from above (1 loaves' worth). Divide it up into 10-12 balls (depending on how big you want your final rolls to be)
   
   Added ingredients:
   1 tub vegan cream cheese
   1/2 cup organic agave or other sweetener
   1 stick Earth Balance softened to room temp
   Unrefined organic sugar for sprinkling
   
   In a mixing bowl mix cream cheese and sweetener.
   Take your dough balls and stretch them out into discs.
   Then spoon in some cream cheese and roll the dough up around it, pinch the ends to seal it.
   Place onto your greased/floured baking sheet with the seam down.   
   Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or golden brown.
   Take out of the oven and cool for about 15 mins
   Transfer to a cooling rack and cool for another 10 minutes
   Spread softened Earth Balance on each and sprinkle generously with sugar
   
   

   

   
   
   

   

   

   
   Do you have a favorite recipe or dish you have been missing since going vegan?  I have veganized just about everything my family used to eat from our prevegan days.  If you would like some help converting an old family recipe to a vegan version or if there is something you used to buy (like these King's Hawaiian buns) that there is just not a commercially available vegan version of let me know, I'd be happy to help you revamp anything (aside from a bloody rare steak as I mentioned above) into a vegan version.  To do so there is an appointment box over on the left there simply select "Meal Revamp" and fill in your details.  There is no charge for this service, just happy taste buds!
   
   
   
   
   
   

Easy Cheesy

I am hooked on Supreme Master TV lately if you have not heard of Supreme Master TV check it out!  From their website they are described as: "Supreme Master Television is an international, non-profit channel airing constructive news and programs that foster peace and promote healthy, green living."  There is countless number of vegan cooking videos from some amazing chefs available on their site.

One of my favorite chefs from Supreme Master  TV is Miyoko Schinner she has such a great personality and makes everything seem simple and easy to do!  I watched a video of her making vegan yogurt and cheese and it looked too easy not to try.  If you had asked me a few years ago how to make yogurt I would have said "uh, you walk down the dairy aisle and pick up a few tubs."  But now not only am I making my own yogurt which is CHEAP and EASY to do I am turning that yogurt into cheese!!  No joke, cheap, easy YUMMY vegan cheese!  This is cream cheese type cheese, you know the kind that you spend $3.50-$4.00 for 8 oz of?  Just a disclaimer here the process is ridiculously easy but does take some time (about 2 days if you are making your own yogurt or 1 day with store bought).  

You need to start with yogurt, learning how to make my own yogurt has been an interesting experience, I have read blog after blog on how to make dairy free yogurt.  People sharing how they do it in a crock pot, on the stove top, in a picnic cooler etc... all without use of a special yogurt maker.  I tried all of these methods and could never get my yogurt to set, it tasted like yogurt but was drinkable :(  So finally I laid down the $40 and bought the Yolife Yogurt Maker and the very first batch of yogurt I made with it set!  I was so excited!  Plain yogurt is so simple to make just heat soy milk to luke warm, add your starter and incubate in the yogurt maker for 8-12 hours.  

I have been experimenting with making flavored and fruit soy yogurts, once I have them perfected I will share! 

If you are wondering why anyone would want to make their own soy yogurts here is a cost comparison:  I use the 32 oz boxes of Kirkland Organic soy milk from Costso, they cost about $1 each and I get four 8oz yogurts from each one.  FOUR yogurts for a dollar!  The Whole Soy yogurt I buy cost about $1.50 each and they are only 6oz. So I can make 32oz of yogurt for a little over a $1 vs 30oz of store bought for about $7.50.  That is a pretty impressive savings to me, especially if your family eats yogurt the way mine does by the buckets full!  And now that I am making cheese with the yogurts as well I am saving even more money.  Once you make the yogurt into cheese you end up with about half as much volume as you started with so I get about 16 oz of cream cheese from a 32oz box of soy milk.  Again... about a dollar vs $3.50 for half as much store bought... bring on the savings!

If you are not quite ready to dive into the world of yogurt making a large tub of plain soy yogurt will work great too.

Vegan Herb and Chive Cream Cheese

Ingredients

32 oz homemade yogurt or one 24 oz tub of store bought plain

Lemon juice

1 bunch chives or green onions

Dried herbs (basil, oregano, parsley, thyme etc) 

Nutritional yeast

Salt and pepper

Tools needed

Colander

Bowl

Cheesecloth

Put the colander into a bowl that it can sit on the rim of without falling all the way in, a pot works too if you don't have a bowl that fits.  Fold your cheese cloth couple times until it fits the size of your colander, then line the colander with it and pour the yogurt on top of the cheese cloth then fold the sides of the cheese cloth over so the whole thing is covered and set it aside in a place where it won't be bothered.  Let drain for at least 12 hours (up to 24).  

 

After sitting for about 12 hours

I usually let mine go overnight and part of the next day, then around noon the following day I will dump the liquid and then tie and hang the cheese in the cheese cloth for another 6-8 hours or so.  

After it has drained untie the cheese cloth and turn the cheese out into a bowl.  Mix in about a 1/4 cup nutritional yeast a sprinkle of salt and a small squirt of lemon juice and with just those things you have pretty much the same thing you get when buying store bought vegan cream cheese.  Like I said ridiculously simple! 

For the herb and chive one we are making chop 1/2 a bunch of green onions or a handful of chives and mix with 3 tsp of dried herbs of your choice.  I am addicted to thyme, I put it in or on just about everything I make so of course I put thyme in mine but just choose whatever your favorite herb mixture is and use those herbs to create your perfect cheese!  Add some fresh cracked pepper and fold everything into the cheese.

If you want to mold it into a more presentable slightly firmer shape for serving to guests or at a dinner party you can do what Chef Miyoko does and scoop it into a plastic wrapped bowl and refrigerate for a while and then turn it out onto a plate and you will have a beautiful molded cheese.  The hungry mouths in my house won't have any of that!  They want it in their bellies STAT!  So  it usually just gets eaten out of the bowl I mixed it in. 

This cheese is fabulous with pita chips or on bagels, but my fave thing to eat it with is the Sunflower Basil crackers from Back to Nature.  Enjoy!

Mrs. Mash - Grownup Mashed Potatoes

In my home I like to cook big. To me nothing is worse than making a fabulous meal that the kids love and ask for more of only to have to tell them there is no more. It always brings to mind hungry little Oliver Twist asking "Please sir, I want some more." So sad, and so to avoid having my own Oliver Twist moments, I try to always make sure I cook in portions large enough to fill 'em up.

 

I also like to make use of leftovers for lunches.  When planning my weekly menus I specifically plan 2 or 3 dinners that will be used as leftover lunches.  It saves me time and money to plan like this. Making the meals a little larger takes a negligible amount of time and if I pack the lunches and put them in the fridge when I am cleaning up after dinner I have saved myself a bunch of time in the mornings.  So when the recipe below calls for 4 lbs of potatoes, know that you have enough to feed a family of 5, for everyone to have seconds (one greedy child even went back for 3rds and 4ths), and to have some left over for lunches the next day.

I call these grownup mashed potatoes because I leave the skins on which never would have flew in this family just a few years ago, in fact I couldn't get my oldest to eat mashed potatoes to save my life.  There were many a sad night when he would have to go to bed early for not finishing his dinner when the steaming pile of mushed of taters was the only thing left on his plate.  This is the SAME greedy boy that went back for 4ths of these mashed potatoes last night, it's AMAZING how their tastes have changed in the year and some change that we have been vegan.  I also put cauliflower in them, don't worry no one but you will even know it's in there and it's a great way to make your taters healthier.  Cauliflower has all kinds of good things like phytonutrients, antioxidants, and all sorts of vitamins and nutrients going for it. You want to use organic potatoes as potatoes are among the most pesticide ridden of all our produce and we are going to be leaving the skins on. So onward with the grown up mash!

 Ingredients:

• 4 lbs of potatoes - Russets or Yukon Golds (that is all but like 3 potatoes in a 5lb sack)
• 1 head of cauliflower
• 2 sticks (1 cup) of vegan butter or margarine
• 1 tub of vegan sour cream
• 1 cup plain soy milk
• 1 head of garlic minced - You may not like your potatoes as garlicly so please adjust this as needed.
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
• 1 tsp sea salt
• Additional salt and pepper to taste
• *Optional vegetable broth

Wash and slice your potatoes (leave those skins on).  Boil them in a large pot for 20-30 minutes until you can poke a fork in them easily.  This is where that optional veggie broth comes in.  Sometimes I will boil the potatoes in vegetable stock vs plain water it adds a lot of flavor to the finished product, however if you do this make sure you taste them before you add any additional salt.  I find that I don't add salt at all when I boil in veggie stock.  Last night I didn't have any stock in the freezer or pantry so we just boiled in water.  

Chop the cauliflower into florets as you would broccoli and add to the boiling potatoes for the last 10 minutes.  Once done drain and return to the pot.

Add the butter, sour cream, garlic, basil and salt and get to mashing.  Once they are mashed add the soy milk a little at a time until you get the consistency you like.  Some days I want my potatoes more like whipped potatoes so I will add more milk, other days I want them thick and chunky so I add less milk. I find that mashed potatoes are a very "taste and see" kind of thing.  I mash them all up, add a splash of milk and taste, add some salt and pepper and taste, if needed add a smidge more pepper or another splash of milk stir taste,  add, stir, taste... you get the picture.  Once you have the seasonings and consistency you like serve 'em hot!

We had ours with steamed veggies and a super yummy vegan "meat"loaf that I have adapted from  the Engine 2 Diet, which if you have not read I HIGHLY recommend you do.  A good friend shared the recipe with me a while back and I have made a few tweaks here and there to make it big enough to feed us with leftovers.  I will share that one next time I make it for sure.

The kiddo sized portions