chipotle mac and cheez

Remember me? It's ok I don't either. It's been for-ev-er. But sometimes I make things and think, "I must let the rest of the world know about this!" But it's funny, because going back through old posts, I realize i don't ever make some of those recipes anymore. They are OLD news. Not as good as the stuff  make these days. Or rather, stuff I was making before Jonah was born. I have recently upped my cooking nights from 2 to 4 nights a week, and so far I am loving it. I still hate dishes, but they are actually a nice break from baby duty (pun intended) if Matt is home to do it. Anyway, something that never got on my blog, at least ... well i don't THINK it is on here. I don't really know. No one reads this, and neither do I. Anyway, i have a recipe for macaroni and cheez that is amazing and has won over omnivores and vegans  alike. This is NOT mac n cheez that tastes overwhelmingly of nutritional yeast, which is not what you want. This recipe tastes like white cheddar mac. CLICK HERE for the recipe

The "I beat Rachel Ray Jambalaya".

I feel like a dead beat dad. Every time I come visit this blog to write, Blogger (and I actually just had to check and see if that is, in fact, the right name) has changed completely. It's like I haven't seen my baby since he was a, well, baby, and now I've come back to spend some time with the little chap and he's 12 years old and spitting on the sidewalk, and I'm standing here all awkward holding a GI Joe doll. Well let's move on from my guilt and talk about food. That's pretty much the only thing I know anything about anyway. I was debating whether I should write about T.L.C.s (Tempeh Bacon& Tomato, Lettuce, Cheez Sammies) or Jambalaya today, and decided on jambalaya since I veganized a rachel ray recipe and made it (little) better. And who doesn't like one-upping Rachel ray? even if its only by a 1/2 point. So here we go, "Not Rachel's Jambalaya."

The Million Minute Pot Pie

Okay so it doesn't really take a million minutes. It totally felt like it, but maybe that's because I'd never made this before and it was my first time ever making a pie crust. Here is what my pot pie was based upon: (clicky) BUT, and it's a big Butt, I have some major changes and things to remember.

1. Regardless of how mad you get, keep going. Using this much earth balance butter means it is capable of mending a lot of mistakes. And it will be worth it. Don't Give Up! And yes, you can throw utensils around. And curse.

Lettuce Give Thanks, for lettuce wraps!

Matt took me out on a date a few weeks ago to PF Changs, where I'd never been but always heard good things about. We ordered vegetarian lettuce wraps, which I was not too pleased about, thinking they were those things where it's like an egg roll only wrapped in soggy lettuce. However, to my great surprise, it came out as the asian version of tacos where you use crisp lettuce leaves as a shell and stuff it with delicious tofu and veggies or whatever. So since then, I've been craving them and decided I NEED to make those at home. I sifted through a few recipes and decided on this one (click) and not because it was a fully disclosed PF Chang copy cat recipe. It looked the best.

Soup, shoop ba-doop Shoop ba-soup, Shoop ba-doop ba-doop ba-soup

not my picture, copied from the recipe.

Good morning, reader(s)! I'm running on not enough sleep. Yet again, I made the wonderful decision to stay up reading til 3 am. What could possibly go wrong? I have this feeling that something usually does go wrong on 5 hours sleep, but I can't remember any of these times specifically, probably because I was too tired for my memory to work properly on those days, so I just go on thinking 'nothing goes wrong, stay up in the sweet silence Beth! No one is around! No one is asking for a tissue or a drink!' Anyway, FOOD. Here is a recipe that I tried last week and I am happy to report it is a new favorite! (click) It's called Tomato Cocounut Soup with Spiced Chick Peas, and is influenced by Indian cuisine. I would have bet all my money that the 7 yr old who does NOT like tomato soup (or who thinks she does not like tomato soup) would have turned her nose up at this dish, but it's a good thing we're not gamblin' folk, cause I'da been broke. She ate it without so much as the beginnings of a frown playing on the corners of her mouth. So, one must infer that either her "dislike" of other tomato soups I've made is imaginary (yes, she is absolutely delusional when it comes to food sometimes. She'll angrily insist she does NOT like a food, after eating it most happily the week prior, stating that she never said she liked it, I'm remembering wrong.) OR that she likes THIS recipe for tomato soup, and it was pretty pretty tasty.

Frittata? Sure, let's call it that.

So I've tried to make this recipe numerous ways, and have recently found a way that works to my satisfaction. As a vegan, one of my biggest missed foods is breakfast sandwiches. There's just something so homey and wonderful about a bacon egg and cheese sandwich, yet I don't want to buy any of those things. So I came across this recipe (click) for mini quiches, and while it tasted good, it was impossible to get them out of the muffin tin and we ended up with little piles of "quiche." Actually, that's a REALLY good thing to call someone who has just pissed you off without getting vulgar, 'why you little pile of quiche!'  But I digress.

PIZZA!!

"sausage lovers", with roasted asparagus, onions, green
and red bell peppers, white sauce, daiya mozzarella,
pepperoni and chorizo.

 Pizza is the nectar of the Gods, I don't know who ever decided it was orange juice... They're wrong. It's very hard to mess up, once you've got the dough squared away, and I highly recommend making your own. It's cheaper and makes me feel more french, which is ironic... I guess because making my own dough that rises and everything makes me feel very capable as a chef. And I think of France when I think of chefs, and rising bread... Stop asking me questions!

Two-fer-One, a review of Vegan Dad

I'll be reviewing two recipes posted by Vegan Dad today, in an effort to at least get something on here, since I promised I would post before yesterday passed. I know, I know, no one is actually holding you to that promise, Beth. But I'm a vegan of her word now, so if I say I will do something I'm gonna really probably maybe do it, for sure. First up, chick'n burgers (ding!).

Veggie Grinders

What I like about this recipe is that it's versatile. AND it's MY recipe, and it just so happens to be delicious. The whole thing came about after a highly non-nutritious beach weekend and a severe craving for all things green and leafy. Ron's Schoolhouse offers a veggie grinder as a surprising, yet welcome alternative to the standard restaurant nod to "alternative diets," the veggie burger, which actually i don't think Ron's even offers... or maybe it has cheese in it possibly... which is ridiculous to put cheese IN a veggie burger when it can absolutely be left out of the burger and placed ON TOP of the burger if you need cheese... anyway, FOOD. So Ron's offers this sub with what I think is roasted veggies- green beans, broccoli, carrots, onions, etc.- and a light coating of teriyaki type sauce. And it's really good with a side of fries and a coke. I recreated it pretty well, but chose to save time and basically stir fry the veggies on the stove top, then cut up some boca chickn patties and toss it all with a little teriyaki. The result was awesome, and to top it all off the whole thing took just over half an hour.

Chickpea Piccata, and a nervous chef

I'm not exactly sure what made me want to try this recipe to begin with. I don't know the motivation behind saving it with my other recipes. I can tell you, that I chose to make it this week because I needed something new to make for dinner, as the stand bys were in danger of getting "old." That being said, I'm not really a white wine sauce kinda person, or maybe I've never had a good one before. I think, after making this recipe, I can sort of gleam that it might be both, but mostly that I've never had a GOOD one. Here's the link: (click)

Oven Fried Chicken and honey dijon

There's just something about the taste of honey mustard and "chicken" that just tastes like a Sunday. It slows you down in a really nice way. Honey-Dijon has more class than plain mustard, and isn't snotty about it, but doesn't ask of you any more effort, unless you find it difficult to squeeze a tube and stir with a teaspoon. I guess what I'm saying is, I like it. To make this recipe I used the "chicken" seitan recipe from here: (click)   and veganized this recipe for oven frying : (click) and typed up my changes after the break.

Yet another top five: Chesapeak Tempeh Cakes!

                                                                  

 Good evening! This recipe, though it doesn't taste like alaskan king snow crab 90% meat cakes, will remind you of crab cakes nonetheless in a great nostalgic way. Crab cakes, as I remember them can be million dollar patties of crisp on the outside, succulent on the inside, unadulterated joy. OR they can be defrosted, breadcrumb dominant, $1.99/two dozen soggy little bastards. This recipe totally trumps the mush, but  because we choose not to use animals anymore, can't quite measure up to the best. Fortunately this recipe IS online, which means I won't have to type it up. (CLICK HERE) 

Another top-five recipe: Vegan Reubens!

My top 5 favorite list is getting crowded. I think in the end my top five list will be many more than five recipes. This one is definitely worthy. I got the recipe from foodtv.com, "Vegetarian Reubens," but they no longer have it up. It's easily veganized, and I'll just type up my vegan version for you. The picture is not completely accurate since normally I have more than 5 baby spinach leaves to throw in. But you get the idea.

Ginger-Raisin Bran Muffins, AHhhhhhmazing

I made some lemon poppy seed muffins from Vegan With a Vengeance with children one day and they came out weird. They tasted fine, the kids gave them 5 stars. The youngest, after receiving a taste, actually refused to eat anything from his lunch until he got a whole one. He only partially succeeded in this face off. They tasted ok, but the texture reminded me of brownies made with tofu. They had a dense gelatinous consistency which I didn't enjoy. Not muffin-like at all. So because I'm weirdly obsessive, I had a need to make muffins that DID come out like muffins and later that night I made these. I was not disappointed, they were the shit. recipe: click here  

Meat-less loaf and green and yellow squash

 Are you a vegan who is looking for a tasty "meat" loaf recipe? I was one once too, but I have found it. I tried a different recipe that had lentils and tomato paste and whatnot that I wasn't happy with. I tried this one (click here) and have fallen in love with it. So much so that I don't mind how long it takes to put together and the necessity of using the food processor (which I hate because I then have to wash it.)

Introducing my recipe rating system.

  Good morning, readers. I'm happy to say 'readerS' now that I have TWO followers. In an effort to streamline my new rating system, I'm introducing Carrot person here with full descriptions of what he's telling you. You know the "smiley face to frowny face/how much does it hurt?" poster in the pediatrician? Well this is the food version. Carrot person's expression will tell you exactly what I thought.


#1 Disgusted carrot person. Needless to say, the dinner marked with THIS carrot was inedible. I will not make this recipe again. Nothing can be done to this recipe that will make me like it. Carrot man cannot stomach such recipes.

#2 BLAH carrot guy. It was edible, but not good or enjoyable. Maybe I would try a recipe with BLAH carrot guy again if I knew what could be added or subtracted to make it better.

#3 Satisfied Carrot Person. "Not too bad, not too bad" says this carrot about the recipe he stands with. I probably know what to do to make this recipe better, and will attempt it again. It was worth the time to cook and money spent on ingredients.

#4 Very Satisfied Carrot Woman. This carrot marks recipes that are VERY good. You will LOVE them, but they won't be "the best thing you ever ate." You will cook them again and again. You will crave them. You will think, "oh man, I just made that dish last week. You know what, I'm making it again this week!"

#5  Extremely Satisfied Carrot Woman. This IS the best thing I've ever ate. I could eat this recipe every day, and not get sick of it. I get so full, and STILL I want to eat more of it. I think, "oh man, I just made that dish yesterday. You know what? I'm making it again today!" It's too die for, this recipe. And that's just what happened to carrot woman. She died in a sea of flavor.

A mishmash of two recipes: Ratatouille Polenta Bake

 This recipe, though one of Matt's favorite meals, only gets 3.5 out of 5 stars for taste. I'm not all that into Italien food... It does earn super bonus points though, because while it's baking you can get every single dish you used that day washed. Whenever a recipe allows me to get the dishes washed before eating, I love it and want to cook it a lot more.

A new recipe, and an old favorite: Tomato Rice Soup, Grilled "Cheese" and Tempeh "Bacon"

There's always a certain amount of anxiety I experience when trying a new recipe. I don't deal well with the unknown, particularly when it comes to dinner. Or maybe it's more that I really don't deal well with the disappointment I feel after spending an hour creating a meal that I just don't like. Well this recipe verifies those fears.

In my top Five list of favorite meals: Black Bean Cornbread Pie

mmmmm Black Beans, Corn, Red Pepper, onions, carrots, tomatoes, spices all under a corn bread topping. This recipe is awesome AND easy. It only uses one pan which is ALWAYS a plus. Here's the recipe: (click)

I skipped Monday's "What we're eating for dinner": Greek Orzo Salad

So now you get it on Wednesday, which works out anyway because I don't cook dinner on Wednesdays. Matt will have to come in and post or something.
This recipe (cleeeek) gets 3 outta 5 stars. Maybe I'll throw in an extra half a star. It's pretty good, but I definitely feel like the dressing could use more tang. More pucker.