Cheeze Sauce

Since eating dairy free helps me feel better, I am always on the prowl for new cheese like recipes to try.  Last night the menu called for macaroni and cheese.  When I made the menu, I had no problems with making that for the kids, I assumed that I would be fine and dandy eating some leftovers.  But last night came, and I had problems, lots of them!  I didn't want to eat another bowl of soup, even if it was delicious.  I wanted something noodle-ish too.  So I perused this new blog that I stumbled upon called Vegan Dad.  He has  lots of 'mac n cheese' recipes that he's tried his hand at.  Since I knew that he also has a cookbook out, I figured it'd give it a whirl.  And literally that was all I had to do--whirl up the ingredients in my blender!  That won big points for me right there, I've made a few different 'cheese' sauces, and having to cook them to get the proper thickness is kind of a turn off, even if it's tasty.  It was a great rich cheese like sauce, and totally hit the craving for mac and cheese.  I had Phil try it when he got home, thumbs up from him, with a 'yes it's good enough to have as a family meal sometime' approval.  Today I had some friends over for lunch, and I had them take a taste.  They couldn't believe that it was dairy free!  So we added a few spoonfuls into our southwestern potato soup.

Ok, so for those of you who are curious to know what goes into a cheese free cheeze sauce, and are tired of reading my review of such a wonderful dairy free sauce, here is the link to Vegan Dad's creation.  I used jarred roasted bell pepper (sadly it's cheaper than buying fresh at the moment!), no soy milk, and next time I wouldn't use the margarine as it was rich enough by itself.

http://vegandad.blogspot.com/2010/04/vegan-kd-10.html

And now onto a funny story from my cooking past....

Once upon a time, there was a girl who was newly married.  Her mother-in-law sent her and husband to the store with a list of ingredients for which to buy to make skyline chili.  On the list was garlic cloves.  The blushing bride was excited to help her mum out, and dutifully went to the spice isle to look for garlic cloves.  She found an array of garlic powders, salts, and granules--but no bottle that said garlic cloves.  After many exasperating minutes of reading all the labels, the pair finally sought help from a grocery clerk about where to find garlic cloves.  The clerk was kind enough to say that the couple would be able to find garlic cloves still on the head right near the onions which was (of course) over in the fresh produce isle.  Happily the couple trotted off to the produce where with ease they were able to locate a head of garlic.  The garlic was taken back to mum's home, the chili was made, and their tummies lived happily ever after.  The end.

English Muffins

At our house, there is a love affair with English Muffins.  In fact, even the baby will forsake his fruit to indulge in a hot buttery English Muffin.  However, they are costly, so we usually only buy them if they are in the reduced bin at the bakery outlet.

Monday, I got a hankering for an English Muffin.  I checked my Dining On a Dime cookbook.  They had a recipe for English Muffin Bread.  I'm sure I would have liked it, but it required 2c of milk and 7 cups of flour, over half of what I had left in the cupboard to last me the whole week.  I closed that beloved book, and turned to the internet.  Finding new recipes would probably be my number one reason to keep internet access.

This is what I found, and let me tell you, it doesn't get any easier than this to make bread at home!

http://www.veganappetite.com/2009/05/english-muffins.html

I know not many are interested in eating vegan, but I would urge you to try it for baked goods, that way you can save the eggs to be scrambled for a breakfast and the milk to pour on your cereal on a saturday instead of in your baked yummies.

The only changes I made were this:  I used 100% white whole wheat flour like one of the reviewers did.  But I reduced the amount by 1/4c.  Next time I'm going to add a little bit of vital wheat gluten flour to help with the rising.  Also, I used (unstrained) homemade almond milk for the soy.  

They were AMAZING!  I made them late afternoon, so for dinner we popped them in the toaster and slathered them with some I Cannot Believe It's Not Butter spread.  The mmm's abounded.  Phil asked if it was easy to make and I said yep, couldn't be easier.  When I responded that I'd make them again, Phil promptly ordered some silicon english muffin rings.

You have to understand that Phil is a bread snob.  I've tried my hand numerous times at making different breads, buns, biscuits, etc.  Rarely have I encountered a hearty this is great.  Usually there are kind comments with suggestions for the next time.  But this time, nothing like that.  Just a hearty make them again they are amazing!

I am thrilled to have found something so easy and tasty to make for my family.  Not only can I make english muffins for cheap for my family, I can make them whole grain and preservative free too!  This was a much needed success as last week was kind of a bust in the cooking realm.

I'm excited for the muffin rings to come in so I can whip up another batch, hopefully for Saturday breakfast!

Why I choose Veg

The other night Phil asked me if I could sum up my vegetarian stance in one sentence.  I thought for a few minutes and realized that I could not.  My vegetarianism is multifaceted, so I can't sum it up in one sentence.  However, I can rattle off many reasons that all play into why I eat what I do.

       My Health
I feel better mentally and physically when I do not eat animals.  Phil asked me how do I know.  I retorted back 'have you ever been constipated?'.  I had it chronically in high school, and that was the first benefit I noticed once I changed my eating habits.  If that was the only thing I ever experienced, that would be enough right there!  I have less blemishes, reduced pms, more energy, and feel 'lighter' and less slodgy in general.  Also, so long as I stay away from dairy, I have pain free hands.  These are just the day to day benefits.  Who knows what my diet is doing for me in the long run!

      The Earth
I am a big 'green' person.  Factory farming takes a huge toll on the earth.  Forests are wiped out to create more grazing land.  Deep sea fishing is destroying the ocean.  The vast amount of water and grains that are used to create one pound of animal flesh is so mind boggling.  It saddens me to know how much people's 'need' for meat is harming the earth.

     People of the World
This kind of goes right along with the earth topic.  I truly believe that if everyone gave up meat that there would be enough food for all the people of the world.  If grains went to feed the children of africa instead of our cows, there would be enough.

     The Animals
Perhaps it is strange that the animals that used to be on my plate are the least pressing reason to my rationale.  Yes, I find it distressing that a factory farmed chicken doesn't have enough room in her cage to stand up or spread her wings.  Or that she is starved to induce molting in order to bring her egg production back up (which eggs being part of a chicken's menstrual cycle kinda grosses me out).  Or that baby cows are taken from their mamas so that way people can drink their milk.  Yes, the plight of animals bothers me, but I am so far removed from 'the food chain' that these aren't realities to me, just things that I have read about.  I don't see commercials about how bad the animals have it, but I do see images of children starving around the globe because they do not have access to food.

Questions that people have asked me in the past:
Did you like meat?
Not really, if you don't believe me, ask my parents.

Do I miss meat?
I do sometimes miss sausage and chicken.  In the case of sausage, I know it's the sage.  I looooove sage, a hearty bean dish smothered in sage and black pepper does it for me!  Now the chicken on the other hand I have no idea, and it seems to correlate most with when I am pregnant.

How do I get my protein?
Beans, nuts, and more beans.  Oh yeah, and have you looked at how much protein there is in whole grains?  No protein shortage here!

What about calcium?
Calcium is a mineral that plants soak up from the soil as they grow.  Also, most processed foods (bread, cereal, oj) have been fortified with calcium.

Got more questions?  Ask away and I will answer them :)

Adventurous Vs Creative

I've had some twinges of guilt over not posting for such a long time.  But I've just not been able to come up with anything to write about.  My friends tell me that I'm creative, and for a long time I believed that.  But now I know why it's not true.  I don't 'create' anything (unless you count babies, but even then that's God's handiwork inside my body!).  When I go to cook, bake, or sew anything, I don't just throw things together. Nope, I instead search, sometimes for hours, looking for what someone has already done that looks about perfect to me.  And you know what?  It usually is!  There have been very few recipes that have been a major dud (well, there was that soymilk recipe...).  So to all of the creative mamas out there that share your mini masterpieces on the internet--thank you.  Thank you for letting adventurous souls like myself ride on your creative coattails!

Phew!  Now that I've got that off of my conscious, I can keep perusing cookbooks, blogs and websites for fun things to recreate in my home.

Stay tuned for my adventures...