Vegan Mofo Day 7 Pancakes!!!

    

Can you feel that? Yes, it has cooled down. Thanks be to God! I am so wanting to enjoy some fall favorites and tuck away the summer goodies. Although it still feels like summer and the sky is a beautiful clear blue color I still wanted pancakes. After quick thought I came to the conclusion that the griddle would not create too much heat and meeting the needs of this craving was much more important.

   

For those of you who live in a blended family of vegans and omnivores you should get this book. Vegan Family Favorites is used over and over again in our home. My sweet omnivore husband enjoys many of the recipes in this book and trust me he can be a hard sell. Funny thing about my DH is that he will be the first to promote a healthy, animal friendly, vegan lifestyle, yet can't give up some of those old time favorites. On days like that this book becomes invaluable. Trust me and try it!

Testing Breakfast Recipes for Julie. Delish!!!

Some test recipes for Julie. Sorry to make everyone drool, but you will have to just keep drooling until Julie's new book, "Vegan Diner" comes out. Trust me you will want this book for the biscuits and gravy alone!!! Enjoy! :o)

Breakfast anyone?

New Sausage and pancake recipe. Can you say YUM?

Ok, stop drooling on your keyboard.


Now wipe your chin, folks!

This is my weakness. Can I say RED LIGHT FOOD?

You bet. They are perfect for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.

You ask, How do I know? Trust me I ate biscuits and gravy 4 times in one day. lol

The next day I walked 5.6 miles.

:o)

Fun cooking and delicious meals

Yeah! Blogger finally let me on. After deleting and emptying files, history, cookies, and whatever else I could I was given the right of passage to post on my blog. I was a bit worried that I would never get logged on. Anyway, I have been cooking up a storm. It was time to defrost the big, bad, boy freezer in the garage. I usually keep a good amount of go to meals ready for weekday meals and when I saw that my stash had been deleted it was time to break out the ice pick and hair dryer. All kidding aside the blow dryer does work on those last, few, stubborn ice chunks. Next came the fun of filling the bad boy back up. I cooked up a huge batch of my marinara sauce. To achieve a great sauce I mix to sauces together. The first, is a recipe adapted from an old Mennonite cookbook that I have made for over 25 years and Melodies awesome marinara sauce for that extra kick! Sorry folks it is a test recipe, which is fantastic. Here is the sauce ready for the deep freeze.

Next, over run with zucchini I made some zucchini pancakes. I found this recipe on Su Good Sweets and they are awesome. They have a really nice flavor and they freeze really well for those on the run mornings. I can grab one, toss it in my lunch bag, and use the toaster oven at work. If you are trying to get your kids to eat more veggies this is a way to do it. I used agave in place of honey. So, so, good!




I also made Susan's favorite lasagna, which has become our household favorite. This recipe freezes really well. I freeze it in single serving portions and put a spoon of added sauce over the top. Defrost it and place in the toaster oven and you have a wonderful meal. For those of you who use the microwave it works well in it too. Sorry no picture. I packaged it up and tucked them all nicely in the deep freeze.



After all that cooking it was time to try a new recipe. I broke out my Vegan Vittles cookbook by Joanne Stepaniak. Mine is the older edition. It is a wonderful cookbook. This week I made "Barbecue-Style Braised Short Ribs" on page 130. They are very simple to put together, but take an hour and a half to cook in the oven. You turn them every 30 minutes while baking. The sauteed onions, carrots, and garlic along with the sauce turn your home into a summer BBQ. Give them a try!





Finally after a few really lousy days with my back and I mean lousy it was time for a comfort meal. My dear hubby is my knight in shinning armor. He has been helping so much around the house and even helping me get dressed (I am not able to bend these days), he still had time to help make this comfort meal. I know we have all made this same meal, but it was really good today. "Buttermilk" Biscuits with cream gravy, scrambled tofu with zucchini, Vegan Dad's sausage made into patties, and good old country potatoes. I tried hash browns, but they never turn out. They just stay soggy or burn. If anyone has any great solutions to this problem please let me know. DH loves hash browns. And to top it off, my DH did all the dishes and boy were there alot. Thanks babe!

Lastly a smile from our grandson. Enjoy!

Julie's Healthy Pancakes, Vegan Dad's Breakfast Sausage, and Testing Grammy's Meatless Balls

Breakfast is usually the same for DH and I . He eats a variety of cereals, soy or almond milk, and banana. My breakfast, as of lately, has been grapefruit, oranges, and mango or melon, which ever I have on hand. Somehow we got into a tradition of making Sunday morning breakfast a bit hardier. Why Sunday? I have no idea. We are always super busy getting ready for church and still this tradition has taken hold. This past Sunday we tried Julie's new pancake recipe from http://www.everydaydish.tv/ Well, it is the main batter minus the blueberries and orange juice. I increased the soy milk to compensate for the missing orange juice and added a bit of vinegar to the milk to make "Buttermilk" pancakes. We used what we had on hand and they are wonderful. Julie makes hers with what looks like about a 1/4 cup but I used 1/2 cup. Shall I say right now, make 1/4 cup, they are huge! DH who usually eats 4 pancakes could only eat 2. :o) They were a hit. Along with them is Vegan Dad's breakfast sausage recipe. Simply put, a staple in our home. They freeze well and taste delicious!

Thank you Julie and Vegan Dad for making this Sunday a meal to remember!

The Happy Herbivore has done it again. Here is another mouthwatering preview of another great recipe for her upcoming cookbook. Enjoy, drool a little, and let your imagination go wild.

Here we have Grammy's Meatless Balls, which happen to be the best vegan "meatballs" I have ever tasted. Forget the frozen ones, these put those to shame! Here they are accompanied with mashed potatoes, gravy, and veggies.

Ok, now I know this meal is not the healthiest, but some days you just need some good old fashioned comfort food. Grammy's Meatless Balls worked wonderfully in this Vegan Alfredo dish by Don't get Mad get Vegan. By the way the Alfredo sauce calls for white wine, which we never have so I added 2 Tbls of "No Chicken Broth" and it tasted great.

And finally what everyone has been waiting for Spaghetti and "Meatballs". Once again Grammy's Meatless Balls did their job quite well. They hold up so nicely

in sauces and taste fantastic.

Well, it is time to wipe your chins and enjoy life. :o)