Pumpkin and Peanut Butter Soup

This was better than I thought it would be. My 12 year old had seconds.

I will definitely make this again and I highly recommend. Very peanut buttery.

You can find the recipe here.

Melissa

Pumpkin and Raisin Biscuits

I found this lovely recipe here.

I didn't roll them out and make them perfect. I just did them like cookies. They tasted just as good and were a lot quicker to make. The orange icing was probably the best part.

The kids really enjoyed them.

Melissa

Vegan Banana Bread

This is an amazingly moist banana bread recipe. I couldn't eat it because I'm allergic to bananas. But I'm told it was delicious.

Melissa

Delectable Chili

Serves 6. This recipe comes from Saving Dinner the Vegetarian Way.

1 TBSP olive oil (I used safflower)

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, pressed

2 (14 oz cans) red kidney beans

1 (15 oz can) chickpeas

4 cups tomato juice

2 TBSP chili powder

1 TBSP cumin

salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat and cook onion and garlic till onion is translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and stir together. Simmer on medium-low heat for 40-60 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Enjoy. My meat eating dad had some and he said it was very good.

Melissa

Vegan Pumpkin Pie

I found this amazing vegan pumpkin pie recipe. It was delicious. My non vegan dad loved it. So did my boys and my husband.

Melissa

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Frosting

I found these on a great blog called, "Hell Yeah it's Vegan". That's what I wanted to say when I took these to work. People loved them.

My advice to you is to double the recipe. It didn't make as many as it claimed. Also, the consistency was more like muffins than cupcakes.

My 12 year old begged me not to take them to work.

Melissa

Baked Tofu

I made baked tofu in stir fry the other night. So much tastier than real or faux meat. My family loved it.

Melissa

Vegan Pumpkin Pancakes

I recently learned how to puree pumpkin. I made a ton of puree and froze it. It could easily last me all year. I found the pumpkin pancake recipe here.

I thought this was a great website on how to roast the pumpkin seeds.

My 12 year old said, "Pumpkin pancakes??!! I didn't know such a thing existed! WOW!".

They were amazing.

Melissa

Grandma Squash

We call this recipe grandma squash because my great grandma made it. I asked my dad for the recipe so I could try to make it vegan. I did and it came out so good that we forgot to take pictures. We were too busy stuffing our faces. I used Ener G Egg replacer and safflower oil. I didn't have mint which was probably a real shame for taste reasons. I used a ton of garlic salt instead.

Here's my dad's recipe. Shred zucchini into a bowl. Let it stand 1/2 hour then drain excess water. Add 1 egg, flour, mint and salt/pepper. Use enough flour to make it pancake like batter. More egg for more batter. Probably about 2 tablespoons of mint to start.

Heat olive oil in skillet then add batter and grill. Flip after brown on one side. Can be messy and tough to get the right consistency but always tastes great.

Melissa

Turkish Black-eyed Pea Salad with Pomegranates & Walnuts

I received 3 gorgeous pomegranates in my Bountiful Basket last week. I've never even seen a pomegranate, I've only eaten the seeds when I ordered it in something at a restaurant. So the first thing I had to do was learn how to get the seeds out. I went here to do that.

Then I googled some recipes and came across this one. It looked delicious and I had all of the ingredients.

It was really good and I made a ton. I should be sick of it by next week.

Revisions: Basil instead of parsley. Apple juice instead of pomegranate juice. No lemon (just because I forgot). I skipped the Za’atar.

I used romaine lettuce leaves and kind of ate it like a lettuce wrap.

Melissa

Pumpkin and Black Bean Casserole

I ordered a bunch of baking pumpkins from Bountiful Baskets last week. I've never cooked with pumpkins, but I love anything made with them. So I started googling away and found some great recipes to try.

I made pumpkin and black bean casserole the other night and my 12 year old raved about how good it was. I feasted on the left overs all week.

It was easier to make than it looks. The only thing that was a pain in the butt was peeling the pumpkin. I'm sure if I had a better knife it would have been easier.

My revisions: 1 can of corn instead of fresh or frozen. No onion. No green pepper. 1 Mexican Squash. Instead of the spices, I used a taco seasoning packet.

Melissa

Rigatoni with Zucchini and Eggplant

I made this last night and everyone loved it. I will make this for potlucks in the future. Or for company. Amazing.

I found the recipe here.

I made some revisions based on what I had. I used one small white zucchini and 1 whole medium eggplant. I only used about 6 oz of tofu because that's all I had. So I just did a dash or so of each ingredient that went into the tofu. I also used linguini. I skipped the vegan parmesan because I don't like it. Next time I make this I'll use all of the ingredients correctly. Next time I also won't try to cram it all into a too small casserole dish and make a mess in the oven. Oops. Oh well.

Melissa

Mega-Garlic Pasta

This recipe comes from the cookbook, "Saving Dinner The Vegetarian Way".

It serves six so I cut the recipe in half. I still have an insane amount of leftovers.

The following is the original recipe.

12 oz linguine

4 tbsp olive oil

12 garlic cloves, pressed

3 tsp red pepper flakes

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain and keep warm.

Meanwhile, in a small skillet, heat 2 tbsp of oil (I used safflower) over medium-low heat. Add garlic, pepper flakes, and salt and pepper and saute till garlic is tender.

Toss pasta with remaining 2 tbsp oil (I used olive), basil, and garlic mixture. Garnish with Parmesan cheese.

The kids really loved this one. I did too. I'm already looking forward to leftovers.

Melissa

PS See the beets in the salad? I am still using the beets from bountiful baskets from 3 weeks ago. They are delicious but I'm getting sick of them.

Vegan Egg Sandwich

I loved egg sandwiches. That is until I learned how horribly laying hens are treated on factory farms. I have a friend who has true free range chickens. I would gladly eat those eggs. I didn't have any, but I did have tofu. I was inspired to try this after having vegan eggs benedict at 24 carrots today. I have made tofu scramble in the past and I love it. The vegan eggs benedict was ridiculously good.

I did a google search and found this recipe.

I added a little bit of turmeric as well. I'm having it with some celery and hummus. Amazingly delicious!

Melissa

Healthy Pasta Primavera

We made this dish together, it was a little timely cutting the vegetables, however this dish was delicious, we froze the leftovers in individual servings, and they thawed and reheated great!



Ingredients
1/2 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 sweet orange peppers, cored, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 pound spaghetti
3/4 cup half-and-half
3/4 cup chicken broth (I used vegetable broth)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 cloves garlic, sliced
2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Shaved Parmesan, optional

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add asparagus and green beans; cook 4 minutes. Add peppers and cook 1 more minute. Scoop out vegetables with a large slotted spoon and place in a colander. Rinse under cold water.

2. Add pasta to boiling water and cook following package directions, about 9 minutes. Drain; return to pot.

3. While pasta is cooking, place half-and-half, chicken broth, salt, pepper and nutmeg in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.

4. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add cooked veggies and tomatoes. Cook, stirring a few times, about 1 minute, 30 seconds. Spoon into pasta pot. Stir grated cheese into the half- and-half mixture. Add to pasta and gently stir in parsley until all ingredients are combined. Allow to stand for 5 minutes. Shave Parmesan on top, if desired

Quickest-Ever Spicy Marinara

This is another recipe from family circle... I loved it, my fiance liked it, he is getting used to pastas, and vegetarian meals LOL he loves his meat!!!

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 can (28 ounces) plum tomatoes in thick puree
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 pound extra-large (or traditional-size) rigatoni
1/2 cup fresh basil
6 tablespoons part-skim ricotta cheese

Directions
1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add oil, onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally so garlic doesn't burn. Add tomato paste and cook 1 minute. Add tomatoes and puree, sugar, salt and red pepper flakes. Break up tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Cook, uncovered, over medium heat for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. While sauce is simmering, cook pasta following package directions, about 10 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water.

3. Tear basil into bite-size pieces and stir into sauce. Toss pasta with sauce, adding 1/4 cup of reserved cooking water if needed to thin out sauce.

4. To serve, spoon pasta into individual serving bowls and top each with a tablespoon of ricotta.

Beet Soup

Remember in my previous post about my overabundance of beets from my bountiful basket? Well, I still have a bunch and they are still as good as new. So I found this recipe from Lisa's Kitchen.

Revisions: I used safflower oil instead of olive oil. I used half an onion and a stalk of celery. I used bulgur instead of barley, which didn't need to be presoaked. I used black eyed peas (beans) instead of black beans (I did soak them). I don't have fresh cracked pepper, so I just used regular black pepper. Just a few dashes. Instead of tamari I used Bragg's Liquid Amino Acids. I used a few dashes of dill weed instead of 1/2 cup of fresh dill. I left out the feta.

I had this with a side salad and garlic toast. My favorites. Yum.

Melissa