Vegan Sausage Cheddar Balls

We altered the recipe from Martha Stewart to a vegan appetizer.

Ingredients 1 cup all-purpose gluten free flour
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups grated vegan cheddar (1/2 pound)
14 oz Beyond meat Brats sausage to make breakfast sausage, remove skins and crumble by hand
1 shallot, minced
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 

Directions
Step 1

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and baking powder. Add cheddar and toss to coat. Add sausage, onion, and butter. With your hands, mix until well combined and roll mixture into 1-inch balls. Place balls, 1/2 inch apart, on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until balls are golden and cooked through, 25 minutes. Serve warm.

Vegan Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake with a Brownie Crust

This recipe for a Vegan Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake with a Brownie Crust is altered from hugs and cookies xoxo to make it vegan but NOT low fat or whole food, but it is delicious and decadent!!!

Ingredients:
Brownie crust
½ cup of applesauce 1-¼ cup Sugar 1 Tablespoon Vanilla ½ cup aquafaba, liquid from canned white 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons gluten free Flour ⅓ cup Unsweetened Cacao ½ teaspoons Baking Powder ½ teaspoons Salt 1 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips
1 cup Peanut Butter 6 Vegan peanut butter cups, quartered

Directions: Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-inch springform pan (must be about 3" tall or overflow problems!), line with a parchment round and butter the parchment. *Note, some people had trouble with a 9inch pan so you may want to try a 10 inch but mine worked perfectly in the 9 inch and many commented it worked fine for them, too. Just a heads up! Stir together applesauce, sugar and vanilla in a bowl. Add aquafaba Stir in flour, cacao, baking powder and salt. Spread in prepared pan. Bake about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle on choc chips, peanut butter and the peanut butter cups. Lower oven to 325!!!!! Pour the cheesecake batter right on top (directions below)
Cheesecake batter 2 pounds vegan Cream Cheese, Soft 1 ¼ cup aquafaba 1 ½ cups Brown Sugar, Firmly Packed 1 cup creamy Peanut Butter ½ cups almond milk 1 Tablespoon Vanilla

Directions: Beat cream cheese in bowl with mixer until smooth. Add aquafaba, ¼ cup at a time. Add brown sugar, peanut butter and almond milk. Mix until smooth. Add vanilla. Pour filling into pan. Make sure you lowered oven to 325 at this point Wrap foil around springform sides and set in large roasting pan. Add hot water to roasting pan so it comes up 1 inch the sides of the pan. (You are making a water bath) Place entire roasting pan in the oven. Bake at 325 for 90 minutes. Let cool 1 hour. Run knife around edge and chill at least 4 hours.
Topping
¼ cup almond milk 1 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips 7 Vegan Peanut Butter Cups, Cut In Half

Directions:
Microwave cream till hot. Add chips and let sit a minute. Whisk chips until melted and smooth. Drizzle all over the top reserving some. Use the reserved chocolate to dip the peanut butter cup halves into and stick them on the cake. Keep chilled!

Thanksgiving 2019

What a year of blessings!!! My three sons have flourished this year, as have I. We are entertaining 16 people for thanksgiving this year and serving so many vegan, gluten, dairy free options. We are so grateful to our friends and family, without all of you, this meal wouldn't be possible.

Appetizers:

Spinach and Artichoke dip with Schar table crackers

Vegan Spinch Pinwheels
We used gluten free tortillas instead of puffed pastry sheets and no baking required

Potato chips and vegan french onion dip (kids favorite)

Main Dish:

stuffed turkey with turket gravy
gluten free stuffing with celery, onions, mushrooms, cranberries, garlic, sage, thyme
We stuffed the turkey








stuffed pumpkin with pumpkin gravy
gluten free stuffing with celery, onions, mushrooms, cranberries, garlic, sage, thyme
We stuffed the pumpkin, placed slits inthe pumpkin and baked for 2.5 hours

Sides:

mashed potatoes
5 pounds of potatoes
2 cups almond milk
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
salt and pepper to taste

Sugared carrots
we halved the vegan butter and replaced t with applesauce

Vegan green bean casserole

Roasted brussel sprouts
Garlic and brussel sprouts, roasted on the grill, lack of oven space.

Oh How She Glows Caesar Salad

Slaw

Beverages:

Sangria
1 bottle of rose wine
1/2 cup triple sec
4 cups pomegrante juice
1 cup orange juice
sliced oranges
1 cup berries

Non-alcoholic Sangria
4 cups green tea
3 cups pomegrante juice
1 cup orange juice
sliced oranges
1 cup berries

Coffee

Dessert

Cranberry, walnut, white chocolate oat cookies

Gingerbread cake

Chocolate Mousse

Fruit

White chocolate cranberry walnut oat cookies

This recipe was altered from greatgrubdelicioustreats.com to reduce the fat, vegan and gluten free. This makes 4-5 dozen cookies. These are this year's favorite, in my opinion.

INGREDIENTS

1 stick vegan butter room temperature
1/2 cup applesauce
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup aquafaba (liquid from any canned white bean) or 2 TBS falx meal plus 6 TBS water
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups gf flour blend
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup fresh cranberries quartered
1 cup walnuts chopped
2 bars chopped of no whey white chocolate, or 1 cup of white chocolate chips, allergen free

INSTRUCTIONS Preheat oven to 350

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, applesauce and sugars together until creamy. Slowly mix in the aquafaba, then mix in the vanilla.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
3. Add flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture and stir until well combined.
4. Stir in oats
5. Place cranberries, nuts and white chocolate chips in a food processor and pulse until the consistency desired.
6. Drop about a tablespoon of dough onto ungreased cookie sheet for each cookie spacing 2 inches apart.
7. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until cookies start to brown around the edges.

November potluck 2019

This month's theme is Holiday dishes. Everything was amazing not just tot he eye but to our tastebuds. Next month we are ordering from Vegan Community Kitchen, and one of the members will pick it up. There will also be a gag gift exchange at the December gathering.

Garden greens bed for a chickpea salad

Chickpea salad

1 can garbanzo beans, drained

1/2 cup finely diced celery

1/4 cup finely sliced green onions

Garlic powder (to taste -  used 3 shakes)

1 tsp lime/lemon

1/4 cup vegan mayonnaise

salt (if desire, I did not use any)

Mash chick peas with a fork, or better. yet - put in a food processor and pulse a couple of times - break them up but don't make them mushy.  Add remaining ingredients and mix.  

"Traditional" green bean casserole
Canned gluten free onion rings were used

Almond green bean casserole 
baked  green beans at 350 with.oat milk for about 30 minutes.Top with slivered almonds,sprouted punpkin seeds and a few slices of red pepper on top.

Vegan Quinoa Cranberry Stuffed Acorn Squash 

Roasted Beet and Onions Salad (recipe is coming)

Hot Chocolate
Ingredients for 1 cup of hot chocolate
1.5 tsp cocoa powder
1 large medjool date, pit removed
10 ounces hot water

Directions: Place all the ingredients in a high speed blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into a mug and enjoy!




Fig Apricot Mascarpone Pie

Skinny Figgy Bars

The Best Vegan Meat"less" Balls

These are a treat and not a standard in our diet, but they do bring us back to my Italian heritage, my grandmother's cooking, and sometimes I do need the comfort of the past.

Ingredients:
12 oz impossible "meat"
1 beyond meat hot Itaian sausage, skin removed
1/2 cup gluten free italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 TBS flax meal with 3 TBS water or 1/4 cup aquafaba
1 shallot, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup vegan parmesan cheeze
2 TBS fresh parsley or 2 tsp dried
salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Combine everything in a large bowl. Using a 1" cookie scoop, make the meat"less" balls. Place on a large skillet, cooking individually over a medium heat until browned on all sides.
When the meat"less" balls are browned, place them in the sauce of one's choice (homemade or jarred) and allow to simmer. We simmer ours all day with vegetables of our choice, usualy peppers, onions, garlic, mushrooms, squash, and even sometimes broccoli, any vegetable can be used. We serve over quiona and brown rice pasta and top with vegan parmesan cheeze

October potluck 2019

This month's theme is Mexican.  Everything was delicous!!!
Next month's theme is holiday recipes.


Kale Cirtus Guacamole

Peach Salsa (waiting for recipe)

Guacamole (waiting for recipe)

Mexican Brown Rice

Salsa Bean Salad (waiting for recipe)

Pumpkin Tamales 
The recipe used is from The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook for your Instapot by Kathy Hester.

2 TBS of Black Bean Soup was added as a filling
2 cans drained, black beans
1 can stewed tomates
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
3 TBS taco seasoning mix
4 cups of vegetable broth
1 onion, diced
1 pepper dice
3 cloves of garlic minced

In the instapot on the soup setting until the vegetables were soft

Jackfruit tacos
Boil the fresh jackfruit for 40 in water to soften. Drain add 3 TBS of taco spices and 1/2 water to heat.
Toppings included tomatoes, lettuce, guacamole, peach salsa, vegan wayfare sour cream, so delicious mexican cheese.







Vegan Cheeze Mexican Tortilla Bake

September 2019 Buddha Bowl Potluck

This month's theme is Buddha Bowls. Each participant brought an ingredient for the Buddha Bowl most things were steamed unless otherwise noted. Next month's theme is a Mexican Bar.
Our education portion was from Master Diabetes, Ketosis and the Ketogenic Diet: Debunking 7 misleading statements

Tahini dressing:

2 10.5-oz jars of tahini with the oil poured off
2 10.5-oz jars of hot water
3 TBS maple syrup
2 TBS turmeric
2 tsp sriracha sauce
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 tsp black pepper
Blend all ingredients together until smooth.


Roasted Potato Wedges:
5 pounds yukon gold
washed and baked at 400 for 50 minutes. Cooled. Each potato is cut into 1/8th, placed on parchment paper, seasoned with salt and pepper and baked at 375 or 12-15 minutes.



Black Beans:
cooked with a bay leaf and garlic

Lentils:

Broccoli and Carrots:











Onions and peppers: watter sauteed












Brussel Sprouts:
garlic, salt, pepper and roasted

Sweet Potatoes:

Asparagus and green beans:

Quiona Salad: recipe needed

Quiona Salad:

Kale and apple Salad:

Chocolate hummus with fruit:
one bowl made with chickpeas and the other with black beans. Maple syrup was also used

Southwestern Mac and Cheese

We altered this recipe from David Wolfe to create ours.

Ingredients:
Dry Roasted vegetables:
2-3 Sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Direction: Toss onion, sweet potatoes and garlic with cumin, salt and pepper
Dry roast at 375 for 20 minutes

Sauce:
3 cups unsweetened almond milk
1/2 cup tapioca starch
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sriracha sauce
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 tsp tamari sauce
2 tsp lime juice
2 TBS nutritional yeast
2 cups of above roasted vegetables

Directions: While the pasta and broccoli are cooking prepare the sauce. Add the sauce ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a large frying pan over medium heat whisking until thick.

Pasta and broccoli:
1 pound pasta
4 cups broccoli

Directions: bring water to a boil for the pasta. Cook according to the package directions. Add the broccoli abou t1 minute prior to the pasta being done. Drain both.

Bread crumbs topping:
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup vegan parmesan cheese
1 tsp Italian seasoning

Directions: combine the topping ingredients.

To asssemble:
Preheat oven to 350
Transfer the pasta, broccoli and extra roasted vegetables to a large 9x13 baking dish. Stir to combine well.
Pour sauce over the the pasta mixture. Stir to evenly coat the pasta mix. 
Sprinkle the topping over the pasta
Bake for 20 minutes with a piece of parchment paper of the top to keep it from drying out.

Vegan Italian Sausage

We made the Italian Sausage from the Engine 2 cookbook. For us the spices were lacking but the texture was great, so we found an homemade Italian Sausage Seasoning recipe

This is what we did

Ingredients:
1 14.5 oz can Adzuki beans, drained, rinsed and drained
1 14.5 oz can Chickpeas, drained, rinsed and drained
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
2 TBS sundried tomatoes soaked in water (just covering the tomato slices, save the soaking water to add to the recipe
1 cup sliced kale, large stems removed
2 tsp dried parsley
1 TBS dried oregano
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 TBS minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp back pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp minced onions

Directions: Combine all the spices in a separate bowl.
Place everything in the food processor, scraping down the sides as needed until everything is incorporated to your desired consistency.
Allow to rest in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.
Set up a wrap station for 8-10 brown rice spring roll wrappers. Use a container large enough for the wrapper to fit. Fill with warm to hot water. Place the wrapper in the water until soft. Once soft remove the wrapper from the water, spreading out. Place 1/3 cup of fillingrolled into a sausage shape, on the wrapper. Fold over the ends and then roll the sausage tightly. Repeat utilt he filling is gone.
Allow to rest 15 minutes prior to grilling
Rotate the sausage every couple of minutes until the wrapper bubbles.
Place the sausage on a third of a Schar Baguette, covering with vegetable rich tomato sauce and Violite Provolone cheeze. We placed it under the broiler for 5 minutes for the cheeze to melt.