31 Days of Pumpkin

Hello!  I'm back!  I've been on a not-so-brief hiatus due to life getting a little crazy with a baby who is now growing into a toddler.  I had tried to keep up there for awhile, but it just got away from me.  Who has time to cook around here?  For example, we moved to a new house five months ago and I still haven't finished unpacking.  Needless to say, we've been eating a lot of pizza and burritos (no cheese for me of course.)

So now it's October, my baby is almost 14 months old, I've been back to work full-time for a year, and it's time to get back to cooking and writing.  Let the insanity begin (continue?) I have decided to come back with a bang by attempting to post each day this month with my theme of 31 Days of Pumpkin.  I'm just going all out with this pumpkin craze and will make or buy something pumpkin each day this month.

I thought of this idea at exactly 6:00am today, AFTER being awake for an hour already.  Clearly super optimistic about this and ready to start asap.

First, I was intent on making a vegan pumpkin spice latte since the one at Starbucks is infamous for being NOT dairy-free even if getting it with soy milk, and the one at Peets was disappointingly NOT good the other day when I tried it.

Well, my first attempt at a homemade pumpkin spice latte was an epic failure.  Way too much cinnamon and something else... not enough coffee?  I don't know, but it was bad.  I'll try again tomorrow.

Since the can of pumpkin was already open, I added a spoonful to the steel-cut oats I was making for Baby R.  That was actually delicious!  Score, 1 for 1.

 That was just breakfast.

I had grand plans for my dinner... Pumpkin Mac and Cheese!  Oooohhh Yeaaaaaaahhh.

We all know how much I love my vegan mac and cheese, and if there's one thing I come back to time and time again it's that.  Each time it's a new version of one of my favorite recipes.

Today I made the one from the Skinny B cookbook.  I've always made it with a yellow squash puree, but I just substituted that for the pumpkin puree of course!  I also added garlic powder, nutritional yeast and mushrooms.

The result?  Creamy rich delicious pumpkin cheesy goodness!  Score now 2 for 1 for day 1.

 

Potato, Broccoli and Peanut Casserole

My brother gave me a cookbook for my last birthday called "The Vegan Cookbook."  Every recipe I've tried out of it has been delicious.  Thank you Brother!  Today I just randomly picked the first recipe that the book opened up to and made it.

This is what resulted:  peanuty, potatoey goodness.  Yum....

I'm too lazy to copy the entire recipe on, so just enjoy the picture for now.  

Carrot, Bean and Radicchio Salad

I don't think I've ever made something with radicchio before.  It's quite interesting and flavorful.  This salad was pretty good, but a little too oniony.  Both Will and I suffered from heartburn after eating it.  The next day, I ate the leftovers, but picked out the onions.  The recipe is from Real Simple magazine.

Ingredients

• 1/4 small red onion, very thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 pound carrots, chopped
• 1 15.5-ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed
• 1 head radicchio, torn
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

Directions

1. Combine the onion, oil, vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper in a large bowl.
2. Steam the carrots in ½ inch of water until tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain and let cool.
3. Add the carrots, beans, radicchio, and parsley to the onion and toss to combine.

Orecchiette with Rosemary Carrots

This delicious recipe comes from my Real Simple magazine.  I would never have thought of this mix, but it turned out great!  I love this pasta shape, and the rosemary carrots were amazing with it.

Here is the recipe straight from Real Simple:

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound orecchiette or other short pasta
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted [vegan] butter
• 1 pound carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Directions

1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions; drain.
2. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the carrots, rosemary, and ¾ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until tender, 12 to 15 minutes.
3. Add the pasta, lemon juice, and the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the carrots and toss to combine.
4. Serve the pasta

Mardis Gras Red Beans and Rice

 Impromptu Mardis Gras meal.  Happy Fat Tuesday!

Mac N Cheese 2014 Update

Life is pretty hectic in our household lately, but when I get the urge for my all time favorite comfort food, I have to indulge.  Mmm, Mac and Cheese... so delicious. 


This is a new recipe I just made up tonight, and I swear it's the best one yet.  But you know I say that every time.

And I didn't really measure out the ingredients specifically; just threw everything together.

First I made the cashew cream with 1 cup of raw cashews soaked over night.  Blended them with one cup of fresh water.

While the macaroni noodles were cooking, I heated the cashew cream on the stove with the rest of the following ingredients:

fresh garlic
nutritional yeast
garlic powder
onion powder
pink sea salt
rice milk
Daiya vegan cheddar

Mixed the creamy, cheesy mixture with the pasta, sprinkled some more Daiya on top and broiled for a about five minutes.

As you can see, I don't have time to bother with measurements, let alone write about them.

Start with the cashew cream and then go from there.  Good luck.

Kushari

Does anyone else actually make the recipes on the back of the food package?  I've done this several times, and they are always really good!  They're on the back of the package for a reason, right?  I bought a bag of Bob's Red Mill Kamut because I originally saw another recipe calling for the grain, but then I saw the recipe on the back and decided to make that one instead.  It says this dish is traditional Egyptian fare, so that's an added bonus.  Delicious and cultural! 

(From the Bob's Red Mill website)

Ingredients

• 1 cup Organic Kamut Berries
• 1 cup Lentils
• 1 cup Whole Grain Elbow Macaroni
• Water as needed
• 4 medium Onions, halved & thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup Olive Oil
• 4 Garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tsp ground Cumin
• 1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
• 29 oz canned Tomato Puree
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions

Step 1

Soak Kamut® berries in water overnight. Drain and rise berries.

Step 2

Place Kamut® berries and 3 cups water in a pot on bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer until soft, about 1 hour. Drain off excess water.

Step 3

Rinse lentils and place in a pot with 3 cups of water. Cover and bring to a boil. Let boil for 2 – 3 minutes then reduce heat to low and simmer until tender, about 25 – 30 minutes. Drain off excess water.

Step 4

Cook macaroni in plenty of boiling salted water until tender, about 6 – 7 minutes. Drain.

Step 5

While grains are cooking, prepare onions and tomato sauce.

Heat oil in a pan to medium-high and cook sliced onions until brown and crispy, about 10 minutes. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Season with salt.

Step 6

In the same pan, add garlic, cumin and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add tomato puree and cook until heated through. Season with salt and pepper.

Step 7

To serve, combine cooked Kamut® , lentils and macaroni. Top with tomato sauce and crispy onions.

Makes 8 servings.