Happy Thanksgiving!!!

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you to all my blogging buddies.
Thank you so much for allowing me to peak into your kitchen.
Thank you for sharing your awesome recipes.
Thank you for being you.

Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours.

A Food Meme

What’s the last thing you ate? bagel & cream cheese.

What’s your favorite cheese? muenster.

What’s your favorite fruit? strawberries.

When, if ever, did you start liking olives? I have always loved them.

When, if ever, did you start liking beer? 20

What was the best thing your parent/s used to make? Apple pie..from what I am told. I have never liked pie. I always loved mom's macaroni salad as well.

What’s the native specialty of your home town? crab cakes.

What’s your comfort food? Morning Star Farms chick'n sandwiches & baked beans.
What’s your favorite type of chocolate? none

How do you like your eggs? omelets or hard boiled.

How do you like your potatoes? baked and stuffed with goodies.

How do you take your coffee? yuck!

How do you take your tea? sweet.

What’s your favorite mug? It was a snowman mug that was a gift from my kids. It broke last year. :(

What’s your cookie of choice? sugar

What’s your ideal breakfast? everything bagel and cream cheese

What’s your ideal sandwich? avocado, lettuce & tomato on toasted whole wheat.

What’s your ideal pizza (topping and base)? homemade taco pizza or veggie pizza on homemade crust

What’s your ideal pie (sweet or savory)? Pie? pumpkin

What’s your ideal salad? mixed lettuces, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, balck olives, roasted red peppers, chopped peppers, mozzarella cheese chunks, cooked mushrooms, black beans and homemade croutons.

What food do you always like to have in the fridge? soy milk, vegan mayo, borden sliced cheese, wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, flour, coffee, fruit, tempeh

What food do you always like to have in the freezer? tofu, egg roll wrapper, spring roll wrappers, frozen veggies

What food do you always like to have in the cupboard? spaghetti, tomato sauce, soymilk,veggie soup cubes, canned & dried beans.

What spices can you not live without? garlic, onion powder, basil, oregano, Dinosaur BBQ Rub Fore play

What sauces can you not live without? can't think of one

Where do you buy most of your food? Kroger, costco, & natural health food store

How often do you go food shopping? Major shopping every 2 weeks. fresh veggies & milk once a week.

What’s the most you’ve spent on a single food item? I am not sure

What’s the most expensive piece of kitchen equipment you own? Fridge.

What’s the last piece of equipment you bought for your kitchen? ?? a cookie scoop

What piece of kitchen equipment could you not live without? kitchen aid standing mixer

How many times a week/month do you cook from raw ingredients? all the time.

What’s the last thing you cooked from raw ingredients? soup

What’s your favorite thing to make for yourself? soft pretzels


What’s the last time you ate something that had fallen on the floor? I don't know. I don't tend to do that.

What’s the last time you ate something you’d picked in the wild? in the summer...blueberries. YUMMY

Place the following cuisines in order of preference (greatest to least) - Italian, sushi, Chinese, French, Indian, Thai: sushi, chinese, italian. I have never had french or indian food.

Place the following boozes in order of preference (greatest to least) - Whiskey, tequila, vodka, brandy, gin, rum: I very rarely drink.

Place the following flavors in order of preference (greatest to least) - Garlic, ginger, basil, aniseed, lime: garlic, basil, lime, ginger, aniseed.

Place the following fruits in order of preference (greatest to least) - cherry, apple, orange, pineapple, watermelon: watermelon, apple, orange, pineapple, cherry

Bread and spread: cinnamon raisin bread(toasted) and cream cheese.

What’s your fast food restaurant of choice, and what do you usually order? Subway veggie sub.

What are three of the best dining-out experiences you’ve had? I can only think of one. When dh and I went out for sushi a couple of months ago. It was our first date in 2 years.

What’s your choice of tipple at the end of a long day? Water. I don't drink.

Favorite cookbook/s? Vegan Planet & The Joy of Vegan Baking.

Got any favorite food blogs? yep~~~~>>>>

What’s the next thing you’ll eat? soup and grilled cheeses for lunch.

Tempeh Two Ways

I made 2 different versions of tempeh for lunch yesterday. Dh was at the station and I wanted to surprise him with something new. I made him Tempeh simmered with Tomatoes and Sauerkraut from Vegan Planet. He loved it. He said that he added just a little bit of sour cream and it was even better. I reduced the recipe since it was only going to feed him. It was a very quick recipe to make. I will be making it again for him.

I made another tempeh recipe from Vegan Planet for the kids and myself. I made Teriyaki-Glazed Tempeh. My kids loved the sauce, but the tempeh was a little to soft. I think that I cooked the tempeh to long. I served it over brown rice, broccoli and onions.

What's Been Cooking

Dh made the most amazing soup. Even my bean hater LOVED it. When I asked him for a recipe he said that it had a little bit and a little bit of that.

We only had one complaint...there wasn't enough.

Next he tried Bryanna's New Beefy Seitan that Vegan Dad talked about here. Tracker couldn't get enough of it. He called it meatloaf and kept asking for more. We had that with roasted red potatoes, steamed green beans and a Sun-dried Tomato and olive bread for The Joy of Vegan Baking. Yummy!! I don't think that this picture does it justice.

I tried to make bite sized quiches. They looked wonderful, but they were not that good. I need to fool around with the recipe some more. Has anyone ever made something similar before? Quiche is one of Tracker's favorite breakfast treats. I would love to find a way to make it a little bit lighter.

I also made a veggie sandwich with roasted mushrooms, onions, red peppers and garlic spinach. I used some homemade bread that dh made the day before. I will admit that it was not one of my best recipes. It was still ok.

The Best Nuggets EVER!!

Tonight dh made Vegan Dad's Hot Wingz and his Sweet & Sticky Wingz. He made them into nuggets and they were delicious. They are my new favorite finger food. I have already mentioned that these will be made next week during the last NASCAR Race of the season. I cannot tell you how delicious the BBQ sauce was for the nuggets. I could just eat the sauce straight out of the pan. My only complaint is that we didn't have anymore.


Dh also made 2 deep dish pizzas to go along with the wingz. The pizzas were outstanding as well.


I just love it when my hubby cooks.

Meat*loaf

I made the most amazing meal tonight. I made *meat*loaf, roasted veggies and biscuits for dinner. It was beyond amazing. I got the recipe from a vegetarian yahoo group that I belong to. The vegetables that I roasted were purple sweet potato, red potatoes, baby carrots and onions. The purple potato was my favorite. It was the first time that I ever cooked with them. I was disappointed that they weren't purple on the inside. The biscuit recipe came from The Joy of Vegan Baking cookbook.

*Meat* Loaf

1.5 cups dried lentils, rinsed
2 yellow onions
1/4 cup olive or canola oil
3 cups brown rice (cooked)
1 (6-ounce) can of tomato paste
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp sage
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
3/4 cup tomato sauce (or pasta sauce)
Additional ketchup or salt to taste



Rinse the lentil and cook them in 3-4 cups water until soft (about 30 minutes). Drain excess liquid. Mash lentils slightly.

Meanwhile, peel and chop both onions, cooking them on a skillet with the oil until translucent or golden.

In a large pot or bowl, combine mashed lentils with onions, rice, tomato paste, spices, quartered tomatoes, and pasta sauce until mixed well.

Press mixture into a well-oiled loaf or baking dish. Spread 1/2 cup ketchup across the top. Bake at 350-degrees for 1 hour.

Add additional ketchup to taste. Will keep (covered) in the refrigerator for 7-10 days.

Number of Servings: 10

***SF Notes*** Of course I didn't have all the spices. I just used a generic seasoning blend. I also didn't have the cherry tomatoes so I used a couple of spoonfuls of canned diced tomatoes. The only complaint that I heard was that it was not firm enough.

Baked Oatmeal

We woke up to a very chilly morning. I decided to make the kiddos some baked oatmeal. It is always a sign of fall when I start making this dish. I got the recipe from Allrecipes.

Baked Oatmeal II

Cook Time: 40 Minutes Ready In: 50 Minutes
Yields: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS:
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar

Publish Post

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup dried cranberries
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mix together oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Beat in milk, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Stir in dried cranberries. Spread into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2008 Allrecipes.com

***Summer Fae's Notes*** I don't use cranberries. I use raisins and chocolate chips.

Dragon's Top Secret Hot Chocolate

Dragon created his very own hot chocolate recipe. Shh..it's a secret. I was allowed to take a picture though. :)

Baked Tofu

The other day I could not decide what to do with some tofu that I had thawing(I freeze mine tofu). I decided to baked it. After I pressed the tofu, I cut the tofu into steaks. I got 8 'steaks' from the one package of tofu. I then pressed the tofu into a seasoned bread crumb mixture(bread crumbs and your favorite spices). I then baked them on a cookie sheet until they were crispy on the outside but still chewy on the inside. My kids LOVED them. I would of preferred the tofu to be less 'springy'(according to Dragon) but he loved it just like that. I served it along side scalloped potatoes. I had forgotten that I bought them. LOL.

The Best Sandwich EVER!!!

I made the most amazing sub yesterday. I took one package of tempeh and sliced it rather thick. I am not sure how many slices I got. I then simmered it in water for just a few moments. I then put them on a foil lined cookie sheet, spread BBQ sauce over them and baked until the BBQ sauce looked dried out. I then put it on a sub roll. I topped it with sliced colby-jack cheese, sauteed mushrooms, thin onion slices, thin tomato slices, pickle slices and then lettuce on top. I spread a little bit of mayo on the top. It was to DIE for. I actually used Pillsbury french loaf for this. I formed it like I did when I made the Snake sub last year for Halloween. This year the kids named it a slug sub. Unfortunately, my camera was mia so there are no pictures. But trust me it was delicious!