Baked Veggies

Well, as seen by my lack of posting, I haven't been cooking all that much lately. :( Today though, Mom asked me to make lunch, and so I did! (or I am... it's in the oven as I type actually)

Baked Veggies

Easiest recipe in the world. Chop up veggies you like, put oil (olive, coconut - whatever you like) over them and spices (salt, paprika, tumeric, garlic, Nutritional Yeast Flakes - again, whatever you like), and bake them until they are done!
I used:

5 sweet potatoes, diced
1 bag of those cute little yellow potatoes, sliced
2 onions, chopped
2 eggplants, peeled and diced
4 bell peppers, sliced
2 packs of mushrooms, sliced
2 yellow summer squash, halved and sliced

You could add: zucchini, tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli... basically whatever you like to eat. Get creative with the spices and maybe try some Indian inspired veggies with tumeric, cinnamon, and curry powder. Or go Mexican with chili powder and cumin. Enjoy!!

Oh, and I was going to take a photo... but my family ate it too fast. :(

Portabella Mushroom Burgers

Another cooking show idea. It turned out to be a hit.... with me and mom and dad. My brothers didn't like it so much - but maybe that's because it's healthy? :P

Portabella Mushroom Burgers

10-12 large portabella mushroom de-stemmed (or, as many as you want to make)
1 1/2 cups coconut butter (works so much better if it's not in the liquid oil form)
2 bell peppers
4 garlic cloves
1 lemon, juiced
a handful of fresh parsley, chopped

Step 1: Spread out the mushrooms upside down on a cookie sheet. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Step 2: Chop/blend the last four ingredients in a food processor. Don't let it get liquid - just nicely chopped.

Step 3: Add the coconut butter in the food processor, and gently pulse. You should end up with wonderfully smelling paste-like stuff

Step 4: Put 1-2 TBSP of the paste on top of each mushroom and spread it out. You might have to use more or less on each, depending on how the paste divides up.

Step 5: Bake for 20-30 minutes until all the coconut butter has melted and the mushrooms are cooked. You can drain off the melted butter if you want, or just eat it like that.

They should look like this:

Enjoy! I made some homemade burger buns, added toppings, and here's what I got.

Jazzed-up Tofu

Basically.... I don't know what to call this. I came home from work tonight, was tired and hungry, and wanted tofu. So I started adding stuff to it. Before I knew it.... this had come forth:

Yeah? YEAH! I was kinda excited about my random creation. And it tastes pretty good too :D Here's what I did.

Jazzed-up Tofu

1/2 pack tofu, cut into chunks
1 TBSP coconut oil
1 tsp tamari (aka soy sauce)
2 mini red bell peppers (just what I had)
2 mini yellow bell peppers (cut the peppers into small slices)
3/4 granny smith apple, peeled and chopped
a sprinkle/pinch of: cinnamon, garlic powder, basil, cayenne pepper, paprika and tumeric

Step 1: Cut your tofu and veggies up.

Step 2: Oil and tamari in a hot skillet, add the tofu, and fry.

Step 3: After a couple minutes, add the peppers and let them cook.

Step 4: Add the spices (you should be stirring this every so often too by the way).

Step 5: Add the apple and cook (while stirring) for 5-6 minutes.

Voila! Enjoy! Now note, that this is what I made for one person. So adjust it to how big your family is (or whatever). Note 2: I may have burnt the tofu and peppers just a tad, thus the brown bits in the photo, but it actually tastes pretty good like that. Note 3: I would have LOVED to have added onions to this, but we didn't have any :(

p.s. I'm terribly sorry for having not posted in awhile.... I have photos from some burgers (yum!) that I made last week, hopefully I can get that up soon. :) Meanwhile, enjoy the above!

Fried Rice

I don't know about your house, but at my house the weeks go by, and we end up with lots and lots of leftover rice. Through (again) watching a cooking show, I've found a fun and easy way to use up that rice!

Fried Rice
--
leftover rice (when I make it for my whole family (6 of us), I probably use 6-8 cups of rice)
2 packages of tofu, cut into large chunks (think, maybe, an inch or so on a side)
3-4 TBSP tamari (soy sauce)
1-2 TBSP coconut oil
and-any-vegetables-you-have-on-hand. here are some of the ones I have used: onions, garlic, mushrooms, eggplant, peppers, peas, pineapple, apricots (makes it good and sweet/tangy!), baby corn, bean sprouts... the list is kind of endless. use whatever veggies you have and like to eat!!

Step 1: Fry the tofu in a large skillet with the coconut oil and 1/2 the tamari. It should sizzle and pop and get all brown and gorgeous. If you are adding onions, garlic, or mushrooms - add them in when the tofu is about half-way done.

Step 2: Add the rice and the rest of the tamari. The rice should start to turn brown. Stir well (pan should be on medium high heat).

Step 3: Add remaining vegetables and stir every now and again until they're done!

Step 4: Eat it and enjoy. Seriously, that's it. I love this easy recipe, and my family likes it too - PLUS you have a good way to use up rice - tons of bonuses!!

(note: for the Fried Rice I made today, which is the same rice in the photo, I used peas, pineapple and onions for my veggies)

Veggie Alfredo

I love cooking shows. It's so much fun to watch other people create things.... and then grab their ideas and make them your own. I was watching one last night - this guy made this amazing fettuccine alfredo with a million different kinds of mushrooms.... mmm! I didn't have fettuccine noodles, or mushrooms.... so I did my own thing and kind of made it up as I went.

Veggie Alfredo
--
2 eggplants - peeled, cut in slices 1/4 thick
1 box grape tomatoes - each tomato cut in half
2 peppers - sliced
1 medium onion - sliced
4 cloves garlic - chopped
1 handful chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
--
1 cup pine nuts
1 cup cashews
1 package soft tofu
juice from 1 lemon
1 tsp arrowroot powder
1 cup Nutritional Yeast Flakes (leave this out if making it 100% gluten free)
1 cup (and possibly more) almond milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp nutmeg
--
However much pasta you want to make - and whatever kind you want. I used brown rice elbow (all we had) - but I think fettuccine would probably work the best. Note: I always cook with brown rice pasta - it's a lot better for you than whole wheat - and it's gluten free!!

Step 1: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Chop all the veggies in the first part of the recipe- add to large bowl. Add the oil, herbs and spices, and give a nice toss with your hands. Spread out on a baking sheet and let cook in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Step 2: For the second part of the recipe, blend the nuts in a blender until smooth. Add the tofu, and blend together. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend.

Step 3: Now might be a good time to start your water boiling for the pasta.

Step 4: Pour the thick alfredo sauce into a saucepan, and cook on medium heat. Add more almond milk to get the consistency that you want.

Step 5: When the water is boiling, add your pasta and let it cook for 20 minutes (stirring every once and awhile so it doesn't stick and/or burn).

Step 6: Check the veggies - make sure they aren't burning --- and they should smell delicious. :)

Step 7: When the pasta is done, drain it, and dish up!

Note: I only used the veggies that we had - next time I make this dish I'd like to add broccoli and mushrooms to it - but you can use whatever you want!

Pumpkin Gingerbread {part 2}

I added frosting - tried it - and it was pretty good! It might have been a little strong for my taste - if I did it again I'd do less molasses and more sucanat. But the walnuts added a nice crunch and the frosting just gave it that classy edge that was nice. Oh, and my family loved it. :)

Spiced Buttercream Frosting
1 cup butter (I used Earth Balance 'butter' - it's totally vegan!)
1 cup sucanat
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp vanilla
almond milk - however much you need to make the frosting the consistency you wanted.

Step 1: Using a hand mixer, whip the butter.

Step 2: Slowly add the sucanat to the butter, and mix that in well.

Step 3: Add the spices and vanilla, continuing to mix. Add the milk as you need it - and voila!

Cover your gingerbread in the frosting, and eeeenjoy! 

Pumpkin Gingerbread

Mmmm. It definitely feels like fall outside. Sweaters, scarves, hot tea.... and pumpkin! Fall just isn't fall without making goodies with pumpkin. My brothers harvested one from our garden, and I proceeded to bake it into a lovely pan of gingerbread.

2 cups cooked pumpkin
6 TBSP pure maple syrup
1/2 cup sucanat (a healthier form of sugar)
1/2 cup coconut oil (healthier than olive oil - you could use that instead though)
1/2 cup black strap molasses
2 TBSP chia seeds + 6 TBSP water*
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp clove powder
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup walnuts

*Mix this together, and let sit in a bowl for 5 minutes. It will gum up and create a sticky substance to help hold your gingerbread together. If you don't have chia seeds, use flax seeds! And if you really feel like rebelling against healthy ways (haha), that would equal 2 eggs.

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Crush the walnuts up by hand and place on a baking sheet. Bake them (to nicely toast) for about 10 minutes.

Step 2: Mix all wet ingredients in a bowl (pumpkin, maple syrup, sucanat, coconut oil, molasses, and chia mix)

Step 3: Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl (flour, spices, salt, baking powder)

Step 4: Find a 9x13 baking pan and line it with parchment paper.

Step 5: Add the dry mix to the wet, and stir! Then add the walnuts, and stir some more!

Step 6: Pour into the pan, and bake for 60 minutes. Make sure a toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy! Later, I'll be posting an alternate to this recipe - one where you top it with a spiced buttercream frosting. If you want to stay more healthy, leave the frosting off, otherwise go for it! That post will include photos of the finished product.