Making seitan is way easier than I thought!

Anyone that lives in Manitoba knows that today was a miserable day.  The sun never came out, it rained and rained (and in some cases snowed) all day long.  Not the way that I like to say goodbye to April, especially considering that we haven't spent much time inside all week!  We've gotten used to the nice weather and now..   BAM..  All of that is besides the point though, today we needed exactly this kind of meal.  A seitan "meat and potato" stew, some garlic rolls, and a crisp green salad.  It really hit the spot!  I made the seitan from Veganomicon (thanks for the suggesting Heather!) and got the stew recipe from the Vegetarian Family Cookbook.  Please excuse the photo quality as my battery died right after the first (not in focus shot) and I didn't have time to recharge it (we were hungry!!!).

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Seitan Stew

 1 chopped onion

3 cloves of minced garlic

5 diced potatoes

3 sliced carrots

4 cups vegetable broth

1 lb seitan, cubed

1 tsp italian seasonings

1 tsp sage

salt and pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

*In a stock pot, saute onion and onion until soft.

*Add potatoes, carrots, broth, and seasonings (except parsley) and simmer for 25-30 minutes.

*In a frying pan, saute seitan until browned on each side

*Mash stew several times and then stir in seitan. 

*Cook for 5 more minutes and then top with parsley.

Pizza on a Thursday :)

Tomorrow is my first baby's 8th birthday!  8!  We are having her grandparents over for a bbq and cake so I thought we would have pizza today instead.  While looking through my old blog posts and I realized that I've never actually posted my pizza recipe so here it is. We just had a cheese pizza with some raw vegetables.  Simple and delicious!

Pizza Dough

2 cups warm water

4 1/2 tsp yeast

2 tbsp honey

4 cups whole wheat flour

3/4 tsp salt

olive oil

*Mix together water, yeast and honey.  Set aside for 10 minutes.

*In a large bowl combine flour and salt, mix in yeast mixture.

*Knead for 6-7 minutes and cover in oil.

*Cover and let rise for 45-60 minutes.

Pizza Sauce

 1 can tomato paste

1 1/2 cups water 

1/3 cup olive oil

3 cloves minced garlic

3/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp basil

1/2 tsp thyme

*Whisk together paste, water and oil.

*Add in remaining ingredients and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Burger Wednesday!

My most favourite burger cookbook has gone missing!  It's true!  I don't know if I gave it to someone or put it down somewhere in the house, but either way I can't find it :(  Anyway, my friend Shannon makes some bulgur burgers and the other day on Best Recipes Ever I saw another version of them!  Obviously I took this as a sign that I should be adding them to our menu, so here is my version.  We had the burgers with some mashed yams and a simple green salad. 

Black Bean and Bulgur Burgers

1 1/2 cups bulgur

3 cups water

3 cups cooked black beans

1 chopped onion

1 chopped shallot

4 cloves minced garlic

2 cups finely diced mushrooms

1/2 cup vegetable stock

2 cups oats

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

 salt and pepper

3/4 tsp thyme

2 tsp cumin

*Bring water and bulgur to a boil, cover and remove from heat, let sit for 20 minutes

*Saute onion, shallot, and garlic in a skillet until soft

*Add mushrooms and stock and simmer until reduced

*Mash black beans in a large bowl, add bulgur, and onion mixture

*Add oats, parsley, salt, pepper, thyme and cumin

*Form into 8-10 patties and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

*Cook on bbq for 7-8 minutes per side

April's Slow Cooker Curry!

My friend April assured me that this was THE BEST curry ever, so I figured I should try it out!  She was right, it was pretty darned good.  It would have been even better if my swiss chard hadn't gone bad in the fridge and if any of the three grocery stores I sent my husband to had it in stock.  I was a little miffed about that (can you tell?)...  I liked this recipe because it only has to cook for 4 hours and so its good if you haven't had a chance to put things together in the morning and have to do it at lunch!  We had this curry with some brown rice, steamed broccoli, and (of course) samosas from India Palace.

April's Butternut and Chickpea Curry

 2 cups cubed butternut squash

2 cups cubed potato

2 cups cooked chickpeas

1 chopped onion

3 cloves minced garlic

1 tbsp minced ginger

3 tbsp curry paste

1 can coconut milk

1 cup vegetable stock

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups finely shredded swiss chard  :(

1 cup frozen peas

2 tbsp chopped cilantro

*In a slow cooker, combine squash, potato, and chickpeas

*In a skillet, saute onion, garlic and ginger for about 7 minutes

*Add curry paste and stir in until fragrant

*Add to slow cooker, along with coconut milk, stock, peanut butter and salt

*Cook on low for 4 hours

*Add swiss chard and peas, turn slow cooker on high, cook for 15 minutes

*Serve with chopped cilantro

Menu Plan for the week of April 26

Tuesday: April's Chickpea Curry, rice, and steamed broccoli
Wednesday: Black Bean and bulgur burgers, mashed yams, and brussel sprouts
Thursday: Pizza and raw veggies
Friday: (BIG BIRTHDAY!!) lentil burgers, salad, corn on the cob and grilled asparagus, maybe potatoes?
Saturday: Seitan stew, garlic rolls, and a green salad
Sunday: Vegetable upside-down casserole, mixed bean salad, and...
Monday: Cream cheese pasta, tofu salad, and something else :p
Tuesday: Southwestern corn and roasted red pepper soup, sourdough bread, and a green salad

Whole Wheat Bread!

When I was making my menu last week I forgot that because today is technically a holiday, dance class would be cancelled.  I was SURE my favourite 2 year old would love tonight's meal because the only thing she ever tells me that she likes is peanut butter sandwiches.  We had peanut butter, honey and banana sandwiches on fresh whole wheat bread, fruit salad, and some raw vegetables.  Unfortunately the little miss was not here to enjoy it but I can always make it again :)  This is one of my favourite bread recipes.  Last year, while nesting, I think I made at least 15 loaves to freeze for bebe's arrival.  Not one was left when she arrived (2 weeks late) but they were enjoyed nonetheless.

Whole Wheat Bread

1/4 cup butter

1 cup hot water

1 cup brown sugar

3 packages yeast

4 cups warm water

4 tbsp honey

3 tsp salt

1/2 cup vital wheat gluten

9 cups whole wheat flour

3 cups all purpose flour

*In a small bowl, whisk together butter, hot water and brown sugar until dissolved.

*In a large bowl, combine warm water and yeast and let sit for 5-10 minutes.

*Add honey, salt, wheat gluten, butter mixture and all purpose flour.  Mix well.

*Add remaining flour one cup at a time until you have a stiff dough.

*Remove from bowl and knead well (at least 10 minutes)

*Place in a well oiled bowl and let rise until doubled (about an hour)

*Punch down and divide into 4.  Place in greased loaf pans and let rise for 1 more hour.

*Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.

Easter Dinner

I think today there might have been too much food, even for this foodie.  It started yesterday when I made the mashed potatoes, ratatouille and started the tofurkey.  After church and swimming (our Sunday morning tradition!) I almost immediately got to work on the rest of our Easter supper.  It was a beautiful day (finally!) and I could hear the kids playing outside and feel the lovely breeze.  I spent a bit of time (while the rolls were rising) sitting with a neighbour on her porch.  It was a perfect day.  I can hardly move now though, from both sheer exhaustion and because I am pretty sure that I am literally stuffed full of food.

 

 

  So from the top, I have: the super easy cranberry sauce (sugar, water, cranberries, orange zest),steamed vegetables, apple pie (the only change I had was using slightly more apples), vegetarian gravy, Amy's super wicked mashed potatoes, quinoa rolls, tofurkey (which didn't at all hold up like the pictures BUT it did taste good!, ratatouille (I found this recipe in the Metro a few weeks ago), and stuffing (box mix that I added craisins, yellow and red onion, and celery to).

Amy's Super Wicked Mashed Potatoes

10 medium potatoes, boiled until very tender

1/4 cup butter

8 oz cream cheese

1 cup sour cream

salt and pepper

2 tbsp melted butter

1/4 cup bread crumbs

*Mash together potatoes, butter, cream cheese, and sour cream

*Add salt and pepper to taste

*Transfer to a greased baking dish

*In a small bowl, mix together melted butter and bread crumbs, top potato mixture

*Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before cooking

*Bake at 350 for 45 minutes

Ratatouille

 2 tbsp olive oil

2 sliced yellow onions

3 cloves chopped garlic

1 diced red pepper

1/2 cup fresh chopped basil

1 tbsp fresh chopped thyme

1 can diced tomatoes

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp each salt and pepper

3-4 sliced zucchini

1 1/2 cups comte cheese (or gruyere)

*In a large skillet, saute onion, garlic and pepper for 10 minutes.

*Add basil, thyme, tomatoes, vinegar, salt and pepper.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.

*Spread a third of the tomato mixture over the bottom of a deep dish pie pan.

*Arrange a third of the zucchini on top, then a third of the cheese.  Repeat the layering two more times.

*Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.