#274 Sauteed Kasha and Mushrooms with Dill

Another dinner from Appetite for Reduction!!!

Let me start off by saying...Wait for Winter Weather to make this dish!! This was a yummy, earthy dinner. This was my first and second time making kasha. The first batch I made cooked WAY faster than I was anticipating and I ruined it. oops! It's ok though. I used a smaller sauce pan the 2nd time and I cooked it to perfection. Yay! The kasha was stirred into the mushroom and onion mixture. Near the end of the cooking time, you add the absolutely necessary dill. Michelle isn't crazy about dill but I told her if she makes it-- to not reduce the amount of dill. The dill adds a much needed brightness and fresh flavor to the kasha. 

I served this with baked tempeh and steamed kale. I drizzled a little of the tempeh marinade on the kale when I served it. This was a great dinner. It just felt too hearty for a such a hot day. 

#273 Thankgiving Testers

These are 3 new ones from Appetite for Reduction. Tamarind BBQ Tempeh and sweet potatoes, polenta stuffing, and shaved Brussels Sprouts. I would be totally happy having these at my Thanksgiving dinner. Save the calories for rolls, pie and green bean casserole!

#272 Red Wine and Kalamata Olive Tempeh

I never noticed this recipe in Appetite for Reducation until a few days ago. I love wine and kalamta olives so I thought I would love this...but...it was a little too strong. I felt that the wine was a little overpowering. I'd like to try making it again with an even milder wine. It wasn't inedible. I just wasn't crazy about it. I served it with the always delicious caulipots & steamed carrots and broccoli.

#271 Sanctuary Chef Salad

Lynzie has posted this salad from Appetite for Reduction before, this is my version. Actually, this is Ryan's salad so it's missing the cherry tomatoes. I used tempeh bacon instead of making the eggplant bacon (which I love, I just didn't have an eggplant, but I did have the tempeh!) I also did not have sprouts so those are missing. After I took the picture, I topped it with our beloved Black Creek Ranch Dressing. Delicious!

#270 Brown Cow

This is a dessert! I found that out the hard way ;) hahahaaaaa! Don't serve it with a meal. It's too heavy.

When I was a kid, I loved going to Rocky Cola Cafe. It's a fun 50s dinner themed restaurant- complete with a rocking jukebox. My favorite thing to order there was always the brown cow. It's a blended root beer float. I used my favorite vanilla bean soy ice cream and whole foods root beer. We put it in a cup and used an immersion blender. I like mine thick...so that's probably why it filled me up so much. Mmmm! I love this!!

#269 Veggie Potpie Stew with Sweet Potato Drop Biscuits

I've posted this before but it was awhile back. With Fall weather coming soon (I hope!) I thought I'd post it again. This is one of my favorites from Appetite for Reduction. It's cozy, stick to your ribs filling and a hearty portion with one biscuit is only 330 calories! It's amazing!

#268 Shrimp and Some Leftovers

I mentioned in my last post that that our cousin was with us over the weekend. I took her to Shogun in Sierra Madre. The chef was awesome cooking my food separate and not using butter. 

 

I had a TON of leftovers though!

I spruced it up with Sophie's breaded shrimp. I cooked them according to the directions and served it with some cocktail sauce. I also cooked a half cup of quinoa and added it to my left over steamed rice. I reheated my rice and browned my tofu.

It was totally yummy and didn't seem like leftovers at all!

#267 Bistro Soup & Salad

Both recipes are from Appetite for Reduction, Bistro Broccoli Chowder and Everyday Chickpea-Quinoa Salad.  So satisfying and chock full of veggies.  I love this salad!  The basil, chickpeas, and ranch together just rock my world.  Mia especially loved the soup.  She is responsible for eating most of the leftovers.

#266 Semi-Homemade Pasta

When I bring home leftovers, I almost never end up eating it. Sean always amazes me with how he brings leftovers back to life. This is leftover pasta from when we went out. He added fresh ingredients (tomatoes and eggplant) and made a light sauce with tomatoes from the garden. Mmmm!

#265 Hill street Bowl

Lynzie has posted her version, this is mine. It's a copycat of Hill street Cafe's Tofu Scramble. Weirdest scramble I've ever had, but delicious in it's own right. I actually don't even include tofu in my version anymore. There are so many flavors and textures happening, I don't think it needs it. This time I used a mix of quinoa and brown basmati rice that I had leftover from meals earlier on the week. I usually use short grain brown rice. For the roasted veggies I had: yams, broccoli, mushrooms(button and cremini), summer squash (Italian and yellow crookneck), and tomatoes from the garden. topped with steamed kale, sliced avocado, and Island Soyaki teriyaki sauce that I reduce down until it is thick and syrupy. So delicious and colorful! I roast each vegetable separately which seems crazy and time consuming. I really think its worth it though. They all like different temperatures and times, and I think the individual flavors stand out a bit more. Most of the roasting time is inactive anyway, you just have to toss or switch out veggies every half hour or so. It's a good meal to prep on a rainy Sunday spent at home while doing laundry and watching movies. You end up with plenty of leftovers too, perfect for lunches!

#264 Tacorama

Our 11 year old cousin is here for the next couple days. I wanted to make something that was yummy for our non-vegan guest. She loved them! I used Yves meatless crumbles, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado and onion. mmmmm!

#263 Butternut Coconut Rice, Pineapple Collards, and blackened Tofu

This was one of the best meals I've made in a long time. All 3 recipes were new to me and from my favorite, Appetite for Reduction. I had a couple of Seany's homegrown Butternut squash and was looking for something different to do with them. Butternut Coconut Rice was the obvious choice. Isa recommended serving it with Pineapple Collards and broiled, blackened tofu. I happened to have a fresh, ripe pineapple on hand. Perfect! Everything worked so well together, we all loved it. The collards were a little spicy for the kids though. I'll definitely be making this again!

#262 Chik'n Quesadilla

This is what Sean made me for dinner as I slaved away on my homework. I might have starved without him!

#261 Tempeh Helper

Another new one from Appetite for Reduction. This is Isa's recreation of Hamburger Helper. I can't remember ever having HH so I can't compare the two. It was quick, easy, and didn't dirty a bunch of pots and pans. My only complaint is that it was way too salty. I'm blaming that on the "chicken" broth powder I used. Next time I'll be sure to stick with the tried and true powder by Frontier! Max really liked this meal! Figures.

#260 Brussels Sprout-Potato Hash

With Roasted Portobello Mushrooms and Easy Breezy Cheezy Sauce.

Lynz and I have both posted this one before, it's so good!! I coated the mushrooms in a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Then I roasted them at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, flipping once halfway through. Oh man I'm excited for Fall. I love roasted veggies! Especially mushrooms, broccoli, tomatoes, and Brussels Sprouts!

#259 Curried Chickpeas & Greens (kale)

This recipe is from Appetite for Reduction. It made the house smell incredible while cooking and was really quick and easy. I served it with trader joe's quick cooking brown basmati rice. Yum!!!

#258 Catalina Island Dining

I went to C.C. Gallagher for some food and drink. I ordered the Spanish wine flight. I really liked the 1st and 4th. The pours were bigger than I'm used to- so it made it worth the price, $34. I also ordered the Mediterranean plate. It had olive tapenade, hummus and olive oil/vinegar with a baguette and crispy crackers. This was yummy and satisfying- though pricey. Lucky for me (bad for my hubby) I lost my debit card today and couldn't pay for my pricey feast.

#257 Vietnamese Noodle Bowl

Step 1: Mixed Greens

Step 3: Drizzle with sauce (recipe below)

Step 2: Cold Rice Noodles

Step 4: Tofu, Cucumber, Carrots, Bean Sprouts

This is Ryan's favorite meal.  I use this tofu.  The dressing is:

1/4 cup peanut oil

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

1 Tablespoon mirin

3 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice

Salt to taste

Whisk all ingredients together. After the dressing is all mixed, I stir in vegetarian hoisin sauce until it's a smooth and pourable consistency.  You can also mix in some cock sauce AKA Sriracha but I just drizzle it on top and keep the dressing mild for the kiddos.

Step 5: Cilantro, Mint, Scallions,
Sliced Hot Spring Rolls, more sauce.

#256 Chili Cheese Fries

No explanation necessary!

#255 BBQ Tofu Salad

I love this salad!! Get ready for a long list; Romaine, red cabbage, carrots, black beans, roasted corn, BBQ tofu, jicama, avocado, yellow tomato from the garden, cilantro, pepitas, BBQ sauce, homemade ranch. Yikes! I usually have red or green onion, crispy tortilla strips, and hemp seeds on there too! Needless to say, this salad takes a bit of prep time so I make a ton to have for lunch during the week. I could eat it 3 days in a row before getting tired of it. I'll take a better picture tomorrow so you can see how colorful it really is.

#254 Fried Everything Burgers

After riding our bikes in this hot, humid weather, Sean and I were starving. Burgers sounded good, so that's what we had. Sean wanted onion rings in his burger so I made some onion rings using Isa's recipe for baked onion rings...only...I fried them instead of baking them and I added a little panko to the breadcrumbs. The batter was so good and they came out golden, crispy and perfect. I wanted frizzled onions instead of rings.

While I was frying the onions, Sean was slicing avocados and tomatoes. He brought over a few avocado wedges and pickles to batter and fry. Yummm! Since I don't make a habit of eating fried foods on a regular basis (even though, yes, I know my last 2 posts have featured friedness) I find it totally acceptable to eat all this fried junk food!

For dessert we each had one vegan peanut buttercup :) mmmm!

#253 Black Bean, Zucchini, and olive tacos

These are from Appetite for Reduction. I've never thought they sounded appealing. I only made them because I still have insane amounts of zucchini coming from the garden. Wow, they were delicious! So glad I finally tried them. The kalamata olives were perfection, yummy lil briny bursts of flavor. I topped them with lettuce and tomatoes from the garden, green onions, and tofutti sour cream. You should totally try these if you have the cookbook.

#252 Grilled Cheese and Bologna

I made this as an after school snack today; sourdough, teese cheddar, and Bolonga by Tofurky. I love this Bolonga! Super thin and chewy. If I had to choose between Teese cheddar and Daiya's cheddar wedge, I'd go Daiya all the way. It's more melty, creamy, and has a sharper flavor. This was still a delicious sandwich though, don't get me wrong!

#251 Fried Chik'n, Mashed Potatoes and Kale

I had major cooking ADD the night I made this. It took me forever. But it all came out yummy so that's all that matters. I didn't follow a recipe for the chicken. I dipped halved Gardein scallopini in soy milk and then into a mixture of flour, salt pepper, cayenne, garlic power and thyme. I fried them in a cast iron skillet until they were golden brown.

I used Vegan Cooking for Carnivores for the roasted garlic mashed potato recipe. They came out really good- but I ended up adding a little more butter than it called for.

The kale was quickly steamed and tossed with a little umeboshi vinegar.

I know this dinner was good because there were no leftovers!

#250 Butternut Squash Risotto

 

I made  this yummy risotto using butternut squash that we grew in our garden. I got the recipe from another blog: Holy Cow Vegan Recipes

Check out the recipe and try making this!

Click here for the recipe

#249 Taco Spud

Omg! This was the yummiest thing I've made in awhile. A few weeks ago Pee-wee posted this picture. It looked so good, I saved the photo to use for a copycat down the road. Tonight was that night! I think mine looks better. Don't you? Yesterday, I baked the potatoes in my crockpot. Today I split them in half, scooped out the potato, and mashed them with a little unsweetened soy milk and olive oil. Heat it up to make the mashing easier. Then I mixed in daiya cheddar wedge cubes and soyrizo that I had browned. Next I spooned the filling back in to the potato skins. I baked them for 20 minutes on 400 degrees. I topped them with my famous (in some circles ;) homemade guacamole, Tofutti sour cream, and green onion. For six potatoes I used the whole package of daiya and the whole tube of soyrizo. It was a bit of work but totally manageable for a weeknight if you Pre-bake the potatoes. I did nuke the potato halves for 30 seconds each to soften them up and make it easier to scoop without breaking the skin. They are really filling, we all were stuffed with a half so I have a lot of leftovers. Make this!

#248 Sean and Hudgie's Dinner

Sean and Hudgie both worked hard today. Sean was working with 150 kiddos teaching about all his critters. Hudgie was tortoise wrangling on a set for a new television show today. 

I made them a classic BLTA on 12 grain bread using Tofurky tempeh bacon and home grown tomatoes. I served it with a pickle, chips and onion dip. Yummers. 

#247 Breakfast Sandwich

#246 Blue Potato Hash

This was so yummy! I made blue potato hash using a recipe from Veganomicon. I love me some potatoes!!! MmmMmmMmm! The hash had tempeh and blue potatoes. It really hit the spot. I added a few sprinkles of daiya cheddar and a small dollop of sour cream. I also heated up a tofurky breakfast link and toasted 1/2 an english muffin. I put a little EB and some blackberry jelly. I had a few fresh berries too! So I put those on the plate. 

Here are is the potato/tempeh mix before it was cooked all the way. I think the purple potatoes are so pretty!

I know that this is kinda gross..but it's also pretty damn funny. I love my Play With Your Food Plate.

#245 Avocado Pesto Angel Hair

I'm going to keep the angel hair posts going! I had half of the package of pasta left, basil growing in my garden, and I always have avocados on hand...avocado pesto! Yum! You've seen lynz and I both post this from Chloe's Kitchen. It's so quick and delicious.