Veggie Burgers with No SOY!

Veggie Burgers

Ingredients:
1 can black beans
1/3 cup onion (coarsely chopped)
1 garlic clove (minced)
1 egg (I used http://www.ener-g.com/egg-replacer.html)
2 Tbs BBQ sauce 

(I used 1 Tbs ketchup, 1/2 molasses 1/2 tomato paste because most BBQ sauces are too spicy for the kids)
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp canola oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper (freshly ground)
1/3 cup gf flour
1/2 cup gf breadcrumbs (I used leftover crust from Udi's)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
6 Udi's buns (rolls)

Preparation Steps:
Drain and rinse beans with cold water.
Drain again and pat dry with paper towels.
Add beans, onions, garlic, egg substitute, barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce, oil, salt and pepper to food processor or blender
Pulse until beans are the size of peas.
Place pulsed mixture into a large bowl.
Add flour and stir until evenly mixed.
Add bread crumbs and mix well.
Add nutritional yeast and mix well, it will be thick and sticky
Divide mixture into six portions.
Flour your hands and shape into 1/2-inch thick burgers

The burgers may be refrigerated in a sealed container for 1 day or frozen until ready to grill.
I used my grill pan and cooked them over med-high heat about 3-4 minutes each side

(Oil your grill and preheat grill to medium-high. Place burgers on grill. Barbecue with lid down until hot, turning once, for 8 to 10 minutes.)

Serve on buns with desired toppings i.e. pickles, onions, tomatoes, salsa.
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They were kid and husband tested. Eric came in the kitchen and asked what I was making and was skeptical, since I have flopped too many times with veggie burger. However, he gave me the thumbs up to make them again. I plan on making a large batch, stack them layered with wax paper and freezing them.
I am so excited
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The original recipe
http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Easy-Veggie-Burgers-Recipezaar?utm_source=sendgrid&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=website

Cool Nutty Noodles

Oh how I love new recipes and making old ones better. I was in a bit of a rut with new recipe ideas. I have been over at Happy Herbivore for some inspiration. I am sometimes a little nervous about certain ingredients but her recipe of Cool Noodles added a new twist to my Nutty noodles!


*inspired by Happy Herbivore and my Nutty noodle recipe
16 oz corn spaghetti
3/4-1c peanut butter or sunflower butter (I tried almond butter and it was ok but not great)
1/4 c rice milk
2-3 Tb gf soy sauce or Bragg's amino acid
2 limes juiced
1/2 english cucumber peeled, julienne cut 2" long
handful of Trader Joe's shredded carrots
2 green onions julienne cut
handful of cilantro coarsely chopped
red pepper flakes (optional)

Cook pasta accordingly to directions, drain and set aside.
In small saute pan, whisk peanut butter, milk, and soy sauce over med/low heat, until creamy.
In a large bowl toss noodles, sauce and lime juice together. Make sure to coat the noodles. (This ensures them to not dry out in the refridgerator) Toss in carrots, cucumber and green onions.
Garnish with cilantro and little red pepper flakes if you like a little heat!

This recipe is great warm or cold
Enjoy!

Bread Maker and Life

I borrowed a bread maker from a friend to see if I would possibly want to get one for my birthday.
I used my recipe for gf bread and it turned out amazing. Instead of following all of the details of the recipe, I simply put together all of the wet ingredients and sugar. Then I mix all the dry ingredients except yeast. In the baking pan I put the wet ingredients in first, cover it with the dry then, I make a shallow well and put the yeast in it and make sure it doesn't get wet. Press start and let it do what it does.  So easy and quick. In fact, I am going to use the timer mode and make bread to be ready in the morning! I am pretty excited.
Plus a loaf of really tasty gf bread store bought is about $6 and this costs me about $2 a loaf.
So now that I told you what I am up today, I should probably fill you in on life in general.
It has been a long, tiring and stressful nine months since starting work full time. I feel like I have had a baby.
I am tired, out of shape and feel like I have had the life sucked out of me.
The restaurant, my baby, is doing well. I finally feel like it is doing what it should be doing. The staff is great and improving constantly. We are doing wine education and everyone is really putting the effort forward to learn. Sales are up and the regulars are coming in more frequently too.
The other great news is I finally have two days off in a row! I have been working six to seven days a week for the the last 39 weeks. I now have Sunday and Monday off. I almost don't know what to do.....almost.
I am enjoying Sunday with my family and doing a few errands. Mondays after I drop Kira off at school, Enzo and I are going to have a breakfast date. He is excited and so am I.
I am planning on getting rest and enjoying my time with my family and making an effort to do more things for them and with them.
Speaking of rest, goodnight!

Butternut Squash Soup

I have wanted to try making this soup for a while now. 

The restaurant I used to work at had a butternut squash bisque and I loved it.

(Of course it had tons of cream and a bacon wrapped sea scallop, oh well.)

I knew I could make a soup comparable to the restaurants and way more healthy too.

Success!

I was so excited, it tastes just like the bisque that I remember minus all the bad stuff.

Butternut Squash Soup
2 Tb Earth best butter
2 large butternut squash
2 medium onions
1 shallot
water
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 c cashews

Directions:
In a large stockpot  melt butter and add onions and shallots. Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
Add butternut squash and cook over low for about 30-40 minutes, stirring frequently. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Add nutmeg and dash of salt and pepper. Let simmer for 20 minutes until squash soften. Remove from heat and blend in Vitamix or blender, reserve about one cup of broth. The second batch add cashews and blend until smooth. Pour all mixtures in the stockpot and season with s & p to taste. If too thick add reserved water.

Serve with dinner rolls or corn tortillas. Perfect on a chilly day or night.
I made this for lunch and Eric walked in and said it smelled like Thanksgiving! I agree!

Enjoy

Pumpkin Raisin Cookies

I subscribe to way to many other blogs in my Google reader and my email. Every once in a while a real gem comes through and today I hit the jackpot! Kitchen Stewardship always has great posts about healthy food and healthy living and today was no different. She wrote about pumpkin cookies. Now I am not a huge pumpkin fan. I think since my brother's favorite dessert was pumpkin pie and for his birthday (Christmas Eve) we would always have pumpkin pie instead of cake, I guess I just got burnt out on all the extra pumpkin pie and such. Don't get me wrong I love the pumpkin ravioli's from my last job but because they were savory not sweet. Something about the texture or maybe too much spice or something I just turned me off. But I know the kids like pumpkin and so after it finally getting a little cold here on the Central Coast, around 75 degrees, I thought I would actually turn on my big oven for the first time since February.
I made banana bread muffins and these little beauties

Yummy yum is all I can say but my mouth is full with one so I probably should not say anything. :)
Anyways here is how I made them

Gluten Free Pumpkin Cookies
2 cups Earth Balance Butter
1 1/2 c turbinado sugar
16 oz. can pumpkin
2 Tb Cornstarch and 4 Tb warm water mixture (2 eggs substitute)
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups Gluten free flour mix
1 1/2 tsp Xanthan gum
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
2 cups raisins

Directions:
Cream butter and sugar. Add pumpkin, cornstarch mixture and vanilla. Sift together dry ingredients except raisins. Add to pumpkin mixture; mix well and fold in raisins.

On a greased baking sheet drop teaspoonfuls about two inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.

*I initially baked them for 12-15 minutes but mine were not done all the way. So I adjusted to 15-20 minutes. I like them a little crispy on the bottom. Fool around with the time and find texture you like.
Enjoy!




Thank you Kitchen Stewardship again for such a great recipe!

Amazing Vegan Mac n Cheese

I love mac n cheese and who doesn't!?! When we first went off cow dairy products I made my mac n cheese with goat cheese but since we are off animal products I have stopped making it for some time. We went to Trader Joe's they had their pumpkin puree out in front and it reminded me of yummy mac n cheese. I bought some and made it last night. I used nutritional yeast instead of Parmesan cheese and it was so good! The family gobbled it up with fresh green beans.
Here is the recipe:

Vegan Mac n Cheese

Ingredients:
Bag of Trader Joe's Penne Rice Noodles cooked according to package
3/4 can of pumpkin puree
3 Tb nutritional yeast
~1/2 c rice milk
1 Tb earth balance butter
Mary-Ann's seasoning salt or pinch of nutmeg and salt & pepper

Cook noodles according to package (for rice noodles I usually cook them 9-10 minutes but not more since they will fall apart). Drain, lightly rinse and return to pan. Add the pumpkin immediately. Then add nutritional yeast, rice milk and butter. Mix until blended well and add salt to taste. You might need to keep warm over low heat in order to mix well if noodles cooled down too much.

Serve immediately with a yummy green vegetable like broccoli or green beans.
Enjoy

School and Morning Snack-Banana Bread Muffins

Well I guess I have been busy since it has been since August for a post....opps! I have been very busy but loving every minute of it. Kira has started school at home and loves it. We started Zoo Phonics in the summer when my sister brought it over from NZ. The kids love it and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a phonics program. It is fun and interactive for the kids, while teaching them (and me) phonics. I did not learn phonics as a kid, so it is interesting for me to learn the process. We started to read a couple little easy reading books, cat on the mat etc. Then she wanted to read more. So we read the first two pages of "The Fire Cat". She did great and loved every minute of it. She is getting some sight words and wants to learn more. I love seeing her excitement and do not want to drown it out with constant lessons and pounding it into her brain. But rather take our time and let her lead the way with the speed of learning. As long as she wants to keep reading in a session, we will.
I guess I am doing a mixture of traditional schooling but with a small part of unschooling in it too. The whole unschooling idea intrigues me. I love the idea of them studying what their interests are and as a parent you can lead the learning by certain books. I read this one blog on how the mom would put out a book on insects on the kitchen table in the morning and then the kids would go through it and it would produce the appetite for more. The kids would go outside with jars, shovels and magnifying glasses then have a day full of learning all untraditional. Anyways, I want to incorporate that type of freedom in teaching Kira and Enzo and encourage their interests to come out!

I have been baking more now that is is a little cooler...not that it ever really got hot this summer. There were a few days here and there but nothing crazy. I just realized that I do love to bake and I know why now. When I have something baking and the kids smell it and I overhear them talk to one another about it in wonder, it is so cute. In example, I was baking banana bread for our neighbor and Enzo and Kira are coloring in the living room. Enzo turns to Kira and says "Kira, do you smell that?" She replies "Yes, what do you think it is?" He replies "Something yummy!" Then they came to me and asked when it was ready and when could they eat it! It was so great that their senses were heightened and it peaked their interest! So cute! So I guess I am a baker after all.

This recipe is great, easy and quick. For some reason I thought banana bread was more labor intense than this. It is also vegan which is great, but full of flavor! I have tweaked the recipe a bit, it originally had one cup of sugar and it only needs 1/4 cup because the bananas are so ripe and sweet. I want to mess around more with it but for now this recipe is great!


Gluten Free Banana Bread Muffins
3 ripe bananas
1/4 c oil
1/4 c cane sugar
2 c GF flour
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 c chopped walnuts

Mash bananas and mix well with oil and sugar.
In a separate bowl sift flour, xanthan gum, salt, and baking soda.
Mix banana mixture and flour mixture.
Fold in walnuts
Using 1/4 c fill muffin tins about 3/4 full.
Yields 12 muffins

Bake at 360 degrees for about 20 minutes.
I bake them in my toaster oven for about 16-18 minutes.
My oven heats up the whole house and I not ready for that kind of heat :)

Kira does not like walnuts but Enzo does. So I split the mixture and only use 1/2 c walnuts in Enzo's and top the muffins with walnuts so I know which one is which. It just takes a second to do and then I do not have her picking apart the muffins :)

Enjoy!

Veggie Enchiladas

I made sweet potato and black bean enchiladas last week and thought I would try another recipe.

I used zucchini, carrots, red potatoes, black beans and onions.

Obviously, if you use sour cream these are not Casein free or vegan but you can use a sour cream substitute.

Veggie Enchiladas

Corn tortillas

2 carrots-sliced as big as potatoes

1 large zucchini sliced

1/2 med onion- cubed

5-6 red potatoes- large cubes

1 tsp Cumin

salt and pepper

1 cup cooked black beans

enchiladas sauce and/or

sour cream sauce- 1 part water 2 parts sour cream mixed

Directions

Bring potatoes and carrots to boil until fork tender about 5-10minutes depending on size of chunks. Meanwhile saute onions and zucchini with salt and pepper until tender. In a blender puree potatoes, carrots, zucchini, onion and black beans. Season with cumin. Warm corn tortillas on a skillet. There are two ways of doing enchiladas.

First is the prep before if you are not eating right away: in a baking pan pour enchiladas sauce or sour cream sauce and place warm corn tortillas in sauce covering on both sides one at a time. Once tortilla is saturated, spoon on about 2 Tb of potato mixture. Roll up and arrange neatly in pan. Cover with remaining sauce and cover with foil and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

Second prep is for immediate enjoyment. Your potato mixture is hot and tortillas are warm so you will need to warm up your enchiladas sauce or sour cream sauce. On a large plate assemble the tortillas with the filling. Pour the sauce on top and serve.

You can add black olives, green onions, cheese or even jalpenos to top of the enchiladas.

The kids ate these up and Eric even said these tasted like a meat filling. I think the cumin is the trick. You could use any taco seasoning too.

Enjoy!

You get veggies in there and the kids have no idea, I love it!

**If you want an easier recipe use two large sweet potatoes cubed instead of the red potatoes and carrots**

Quick Note

I am winding down from six days in a row at work. We are all off schedule sleep wise. We are going to bed late and waking up late which is not bad since it is summer. I went to bed early last night....11:30, well sort of early. I am keeping dinners super easy and light. Dishes are getting done somehow, laundry is clean but not folded or put away. But I do not care, I am enjoying time with the kids and Eric. Eric has been AMAZING!! I came home on Friday night and he was in the kitchen doing all the dishes. He swept and mopped the kitchen and vaccumed the house! We were able to enjoy Saturday morning instead of cleaning, so sweet!

Today it finally warmed up and felt like summer!! Enzo had therapy this morning and he got a new splint for his left hand. For the next couple weeks at therapy he will be wearing it during his session. Eventually, he will be wearing it during the night. I think it will really help him and his hand. I had to bribe him with a lollipop to wear it. Trader Joe's now has natural organic lollipops!!! Yeah!

With the sun out I brought out the pool again and poured some warm water and the kids played for awhile. We are watching "Muppet Movie" right now and I love this movie. I remember watching it as a kid. I loved the muppets, especially Miss Piggy! HiiiiYaa!(karate kick). I could not believe how many big stars were in it, Bob Hope, Richard Pryor, Madelin Kahn, Steve Martin, Orson Wells etc. It is just as fabulous as I remember.

Finally, I have a great tip with leftover rice pasta:
I have found the only annoying thing about rice pasta is when it comes to reheating it. Instead of adding all your sauce to the pasta, serve up your family and then store your cooked pasta in a container without any sauce, sauce in a separate container. Then when you go to reheat the next day add pasta to a saute pan with about 1-2 cups of water. Over medium to high heat warm up water and pasta. The noodles will become untangled and soft again. Drain and serve with favorite sauce. It worked like a dream and I do not know why I did not think to do it before!

Anyways, enjoy your day and stay hydrated.
P.S. Only 16 days until our Alaskan Cruise!!!!Yippee!! My Uncle has so kindly paid for my entire family to go on a seven day cruise to Alaska. There will be about 35 of us! What a blessing!

Fourth of July

We went down to Orange COunty for a whirlwind trip this last weekend. We left after I got off work Friday night around 11:00 pm. Eric was a trooper and drove the whole way. We were blessed with Eric's parents car to drive down. Wow! what a difference a car makes. The Beast whas made the trip but it is better it doesn't. We got in around 3:00am and of course Enzo woke up thinking it was morning and wanted to play with cousins. It took about an hour or two to get him back to bed, that was fun.
Needless to say we went into the weekend sleep deprived....never a great thing but oh well!

Saturday morning I made my famous pancakes as requested and we ate and ate and there were still tons left. I may have gotten carried away but they were good the next day too. We froze them with wax paper between and then popped them into the toaster...yummy!

Eric was able to go and watch our friend shape a surfboard blank that Eric had got a while back. Later the guys went SUPing (Stand Up Paddling). Jebraun and I went to shopping for a few odds and ends. I offered to give my sister some highlights and we got supplies for that too.

Saturday night I made GF pizza for the kids and bought Trader Joe's Whole Wheat pizza dough for the rest of the clan. I baked up five pizzas for them and one for the kids and I. We had a topping bar and everyone made their own pizzas. The trick with the pre-made dough is to bake it first for about 8-10 minutes, then add your toppings and throw it back into the oven to warm up the toppings. way better than having burnt topping and gooey crust! Thanks Trader Joe's Check out guy for the tip!

Sunday morning we woke up early and headed to Disneyland!!!

We got there about 8:30 and pretty much walked on every ride until lunch time!

We went on

Dumbo

Merry-Go-Round

Alice in Wonderland

Teacups

Winnie the Pooh (twice)

Mark Twain River Boat-I had never been on it!

Pirates of the Caribbean

Swiss Family Robinson's Tree House-(it is not Tarzan's tree to this family!!!)

Tom Sawyer's Island

Mickey and Pluto made an appearance at Club 33!

Club 33 for lunch at 1:30 was amazing!

Club 33 has always been such a treat but they went up and beyond the call of duty. My mom had called to see if there was any way they could accommendate our gluten free issues. Boy, did they!!

The chef made a special gf marinara sauce and got rice noodles for us.

Then for dessert they made special flourless chocolate cupcake, gf chocolate cookies and berry sorbet!!!

They have totally out did themselves and it was all so tasty. Then they gave us the rest of the cookies, about 10 more cookies in a bakery box to go!

Then we were off to California Adventure

Bugs Life here we come!

Heimlich's Chew Chew Train

Flik's Flyers

Francis' Ladybug Boogie-(like the teacups)

It's Tough to be a Bug Show

Toy Story

Soaring over California

Family picture of 20 people!

The whole clan

except

 my brother Christian, Sheri, his wife and Maile their daughter :( 

Needless to say we had fun!

Summer Recipe Week! Strawberry Shortcake

Super simple recipe and turned out so good! My girlfriend made them and they looked so good. She found the recipe here. I changed it up a bit. With the potluck we did have whipped cream on our desserts as a little treat, so as pictured it is NOT vegan but my recipe without whipped cream IS vegan.

Gluten Free Shortcake

Ingredients:
1/2 c vegan butter
1 c powder sugar
4 egg substitute: I used Ener-G Egg Substitute
1 tsp vanilla
1 c cornstarch or potatoe starch is you have a corn allergy
1 1/4 tsp baking powder

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 12-muffin pan or use cupcake liners
In a large bowl cream butter and sugar, using electric mixer/kitchen aid.
Add the egg substitute and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy.
In a small bowl mix the cornstarch and baking powder together and add SLOWLY to the creamed mixture.
Mix until well blended. Fill the greased muffin tins half full.
Bake for 15 minutes. (Test with a toothpick, after 15 minutes, even if the top looks shiny).
Remove from the pan while still warm.
Serve topped with strawberries, and whipped cream.

Enjoy!
 

We did!