Cheezy Butternut Macaroni

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This was a recipe I had seen floating around the vegan recipe pages and thought it was worth a shot. My husband, as you probably know by now, loves all things butternut squash and my daughter is very picky, so, this seemed like a good way to hide a few veggies. I followed the recipe I saw online and I was not happy with the way it turned out. I was very sweet and my daughter would pick out the flavor and turn her nose up quick. My husband poured hot sauce on it and ate it anyways, but I knew I had to work on this recipe before feeding it to the kids. 

This recipe is similar to the one I saw online, except I made it more of a Mac-n-cheese with hidden butternut squash. If my daughter could taste the cheesiness first, she would be fine ( she pours ketchup on her mac-n-cheese anyways). This batch passed with fling colors! In fact, the ENTIRE pan was cleaned out and my daughter ate 2 helpings. I truly enjoyed this recipe once I reworked it and made it more family friendly. 

Looking for more great family friendly meals? Try my "Baked & Loaded" Stuffed Burritos, Vegan "Meaty" spaghetti, "Beefless" Pies with Roasted Butternut Squash, Vegan "Chick'n" (Jackfruit) Casserole & Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Cheezy Butternut Macaroni:

Recipe :

4 cups butternut squash, cubed
1 onion, chopped
6 cloves Chopped fresh garlic
1 cup nutritional yeast

Salt and pepper to taste
4 cups veggie broth
1 cup unsweetened plain plant milk
8 oz. vegan cheddar style shreds
1 tsp. Paprika

1 tsp. Chili powder (optional)
1 (16oz )Box pasta

**For the breadcrumbs :

5 slices of bread
2 Tbsp. Nutritional yeast
1 Tbs. groundflax seeds
Sea salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp. Paprika
Olive oil to drizzle

Preheat oven to 350.

Boil water and cook pasta about 7 minutes... just slightly under cooked.

In a deep skillet over medium high heat, cook butternut squash, onions, garlic, nutritional yeast and paprika in veggie broth & chili powder (Should cover all veggies, add more if needed).

Allow to boil, then reduce heat to simmer and add plant milk, salt & pepper to taste. Cook 10 minutes.

Drain pasta and pour into a greased 2 quart casserole dish.

Transfer butternut squash and all the liquid it cooked in, to a high powdered blender and puree until smooth.

Pour over pasta. Add vegan cheddar shreds. Stir to mix well. Mixture will seem a bit "runny", but it will absorb during baking.

Toast your bread. Let cool completely. 

Add bread to a food processor with nutritional yeast, salt,ground flax seeds, pepper, and paprika.

Process on high until it becomes breadcrumbs.

Sprinkle breadcrumbs over pasta and drizzle with olive oil.

Place in oven and cook for 25 mins.

Serves 6-8.

** you can substitute 1 cup of premade breadcrumbs if you don't have time to make them.

Vegan Philly & Cheeze

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You have to have a good sandwich every once in a while. As much as I love peanut butter and banana sandwiches, they are not "dinner worthy". I wanted a sandwich to serve my teenage son that would make him say "wow!". 

This whole idea started with the portobella mushrooms being on sale at the store this week. I grabbed 4 big mushrooms and through them in the cart and started looking for inspiration. It always takes me time in the grocery store, because I do love to browse and look for new ideas. I just walked up and down the isles gathering my already planned meals and looking for something, other than Stroganoff  I could make for dinner. (Nothing wrong with Stroganoff, but we have had this meal a lot & I'm just tired of it at the moment.)

 I found a steakhouse marinade when looking at pasta sauces. I decided to try and marinade my mushrooms and grill them up into a Philly style creation using up the rest of my Lazy vegan Beer Cheese sauce. This was not a recipe for the health conscious vegans out there, it was a recipe for a family dinner without worries. My messy, gooey, cheesy, tangy, "meaty", hearty, and delicious sandwich was a hit at dinner & will be come a regular rotation at the house since it was so easy to prepare.

More delicious  family meals:  Italian Roasted Tempeh w/ Whole Garlic Cloves, Harvest Vegetable Soup w/ Grilled Cheeze, Short Cut Red Beans and Rice, & Red Curry Veggies and Ramen, Easy Vegan Sunday Dinner & for desert try No Bake Banana Oreo Pudding

Philly Portobella & Cheeze Sandwiches:

4 (8oz.) Packages fresh mushrooms, sliced*

1 (16 oz) steakhouse style marinade *

1 (16 oz) Frozen peppers and onions

1 cup Lazy Vegan Beer Cheese , or other vegan cheese sauce

4 sub style rolls

Salt and Pepper to taste

Sliced jalapeños (optional )

Just Mayo (optional )

In a deep bowl, cover mushrooms in marinade. Cover tightly.

Place bowl in refrigerator for at least 1 hour ( I did this in the morning before work & cooked them when I got home).

Preheat oven to broil .

Warm up your flat griddle to high (or heat up a non stick skillet over medium heat heat).

Drain excess marinade from mushrooms.

Cook mushrooms, peppers and onions on griddle for about 8 minutes, until browned. Season to taste.

Place split rolls on a cookie sheet.

Coat each side with cheeze sauce

Brown under broiler. Remove from

Top rolls with mushrooms, peppers and onions. Pour more hot Cheeze sauce over mushrooms and top with desired toppings.

Makes 4 sandwiches

* For a quicker sandwich, you can use 2 bags of Gardein Szechuan beefless strips. Save the glavor packet for another meal. Cook strips over medium high heat with olive oil, A1 sauce & 8 oz. Chopped mushrooms.

Prepare as directed above.

Baked Spinach and Artichoke Pasta

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My son loves spinach and artichoke dip, so he is my inspiration tonight. This was a modified version of the cauliflower alfredo I make for my kids. The idea struck me, while grocery shopping, that I could do better than just plain alfredo for dinner tonight. I wanted to make it hearty. A meal to stand up to this cold weather and make you feel loved. I think I accomplished that with this dish. This is a dish good enough to take to a potluck & have no one notice it's vegan. I served this with broccoli steamed in fresh lemon juice and tossed in a little italian seasoning... it was a perfect meal for the kids tonight. I hope you family will enjoy it on a cold night in the future. 

Looking for more Vegan Pasta Dishes? Try my Vegan 'Meaty" spaghetti, Lemon and Garlic Pasta, Kale Stuffed Eggplant Parm, &Chipotle Mac-N-Cheeze w/ smokey lentils

For the Pasta sauce :

1/3 cup olive oil

5 cloves garlic, crushed 
3 cups Frozen or fresh cauliflower, thawed & chopped into small pieces

2 1/2 cups unsweetened plant milk

Salt and pepper to taste

3 Tbsp nutritional yeast

1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 cups fresh spinach, chopped

1 (12 oz ) jar artichokes, rinsed and drained

1 (16 oz) package of cooked rigatoni

For the breadcrumbs:

4 slices of bread

2 Tbsp vegan butter, melted

1 tsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp. dried parsley

To Assemble:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Heat oil and garlic over medium low heat until garlic is golden brown and fragrant.

Add milk and allow to come to a boil.

Add cauliflower, salt and pepper to taste. Cook an additional 5-6 minutes.

Remove from heat and add nutritional yeast and lemon juice. Set aside.

Toast bread.

Break toast up into rough pieces and add to a food processor with nutritional yeast, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, & dried parsley.

Pulse on high until toast becomes breadcrumbs.

Add cauliflower mixture to a high powdered blender.

Set to "food puree" and blend until smooth.

Pour cauliflower sauce over rigatoni in a deep mixing bowl . Add spinach and artichokes. Stir to combine.

Grease a 2 quart casserole dish.

Pour rigatoni into casserole dish and top with breadcrumbs.

Drizzle melted butter over breadcrumbs.

Place in oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until breadcrumbs are golden brown and pasta is bubbly.

Makes 4-6 servings

Easy Pulled Jackfruit

New Year's Day is a big celebration around our house. It is my husband's birthday and, in the South, we have to cook a big traditional meal. That meal ( greens, black eyed peas and pork) is supposed to bring us luck and money in the new year. As a vegan, obviously, we won't be eating pork. What do Vegans eat for New Years? 

This year I decided to try one of the latest vegan food trends - Jackfruit. This is an Asian fruit that shreds like meat when cooked. It has a bland flavor which takes on any sauce you cook it in and is perfect for making pulled jackfruit sandwiches! You will probably have to go to an Asian specialty supermarket to find the cans of green jackfruit. Make sure you get the jackfruit in water or brine & not in syrup...that's a whole other thing. 

So...Happy new year!! Go celebrate and try new things!

Looking for some more southern classics?  Try my Buffalo Tempeh over cheeze grits, fried green tomatoes, Banana Pudding Pie, Applesauce Cornbread Muffins, Vegan "Chicken" (jackfruit) Casserole , & Cheezy Butternut Macaroni

Pulled Jackfruit Sandwiches:

I made 6 sandwiches from this recipe...

4 (17oz.) cans of green jackfruit in water, drained.
1 (16oz.) Jar of vinegar based NC BBQ sauce (or your favorite BBQ sauce)

1 package of hamburger rolls
Vegan Coleslaw (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 450.

2. spread your jackfruit out on a greased 11x13 casserole dish.

3. Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring after about 10 minutes. Continue to cook until jackfruit begins to brown on the edges and no longer looks transparent.

4. Remove jackfruit from the oven and toss with 2/3 of your BBQ sauce. Place back in the oven about 10 minutes.

5. Remove jackfruit and allow to cool about 10 minutes.

6. Using 2 forks, pull your jackfruit apart. It should resemble shredded meat. Make sure you pull the rougher core pieces, and large seeds apart also for a better texture. 

7. Place jackfruit on your roll and enjoy!

Serve with vegan coleslaw for authentic NC BBQ sandwiches. 

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Our Anniversary Dinner

This is not a recipe, but a way of saying "Thank You" to a wonderful chef for making our anniversary wonderful. This is the Trip Advisor Review I published. I want to share it with all of you to show you eating Vegan is not restrictive on your social life. This is how you make sure your vegan meal at a non vegan restaurant is perfect. You have to plan ahead, yes, but it is worth it to get treatment and a meal like the one we had for our anniversary.....

"Last night was our 22nd anniversary. My husband called ahead to request a vegan meal for me and spoke with the Owner/Chef, Curt personally. He told my husband, he was more than happy to create a custom meal for me on our anniversary. He was so pleasant and professional to my husband, that he booked a reservation. 

We arrived and were greeted immediately by our server ( I wish I remembered to write down her name because she was wonderful!) with fresh bread and a tomato sauce ( both were vegan). She made a nice suggestion for a pinot noir, so we ordered a bottle. When the wine arrived, she presented it nicely & we were both very happy with her suggestion. The atmosphere was relaxed, like being in an Italian friend's home, not just a restaurant. People were laughing, having conversations and Curt was visiting tables to make sure everyone enjoyed their meals. We felt welcomed from start to finish at Curt's.

Curt had asked my husband what I liked before we arrived, so he had arranged a meal for us based on our tastes. I didn't even have to try to figure out the menu, like I usually have to do at other restaurants. We had a nice salad to start with, and then our meal arrived. Curt came out to explain his creation and make sure that we were happy with the meal. It was BEAUTIFUL and perfect! He made a gnocchi with several different olives, artichokes and veggies in a sweet basil sauce. He is truly a gifted Chef and all around great guy, you can tell this by the way he runs his business and the food he presents. He made sure we were enjoying our meals and even took a few minutes to talk with us and wish us a happy anniversary. The food was so good, we ate in silence. We just savored the experience, food and wine, as you should when you are given such a wonderful night out.

After our meal, Curt came back to check on us and let us know he would love to cook more meals for us in the future. We will be taking him up on his offer. We have found a new perfect date night location.

Curt made our anniversary perfect. His food was a gift to us & I want to publicly thank him for going out of his way on a Saturday night to care for us like family."

My 1st Vegan Thanksgiving

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This was the holiday we were worried about as a Vegan family. We knew we would be eating with lots of non-vegan family members and we were afraid of the comments we might hear at dinner. In reality, we worried for nothing!

Dinner was the same as it always is, pleasant and filling. The men gathered in the living room watching football. The ladies gathered in the kitchen, drinking wine and prepping our dishes. The kids sat around, playing their devices and waiting on a plate. The dogs all gathered in the kitchen waiting for a scrap to hit the floor and belly rubs from all the new faces. Nothing was different.

I made (as you see above) garlic mashed potatoes, sausage and apple stuffing, creamy mushroom gravy, roasted fall veggies, crescent rolls (store bought, but I did cook them) and I cooked Gardein chick'n in the gravy. The Gardein was my only Vegan option in my small town. I had originally planned on making a roasted tofu, but time was not on my side this week. It all turned out perfect anyways. I did not tell our extended family members that the food was vegan, just presented it on the counter top along with all the other dishes. 

We all sat around the table, said our blessings and started eating. No one asked me about my food, choices, or was in any way rude to me. I say this because I was, wrongly, expecting it. As everyone ate, I enjoyed all the positive comments on my stuffing, veggies and mashed potatoes. I simply said "thank you" and let it go at that. I was happy that everyone was enjoying vegan food, with or without their knowledge. I have to admit, no one outside our immediate family tried the Gardein, but I expected that and I really only brought enough for my family. The Gardein, by the way, was great. 

When it was time for desert and coffee, I grabbed one of my Vegan pumpkin spice cupcakes with maple cream cheese icing. They were amazing and my entire family loved them! My daughter was nice enough to make a vegan apple cobbler, which everyone also enjoyed. So, we made it through the entire meal without issues. I sat down at the kitchen table with my daughter, cousin, aunt and mom and had a few glasses of wine and a lot of laughs. I really enjoyed Thanksgiving!

Looking for more Family Dinner Ideas? Try my Taco Tuesday , "Beefless" pies with Kale roasted Butternut Squash, Southwestern Sweet Potato Soup with Applesauce Cornbread, Shepard's Pie and finish your meal with my Chocolate Covered Cherry Pie

**Vegan sausage and apple stuffing :

1 (14 oz.)LiteLife vegan sausage 
1 onion, finely diced
1 medium carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 stalk of celery, finely diced
1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored & finely diced
Oil
1 (14 oz)dry herb Stuffing
1 (32 oz) container of veggie broth
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp of sage
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350°.

Heat a little oil over medium heat. Add sausage and begin to crumble as you cook.

Heat your broth over medium heat.

Cook for about 5 minutes, then add thyme, parsley, rosemary, cumin, sage, onions, carrots, celery, and apples.

Cook until veggies are tender.

In a large mixing bowl, add stuffing, sausage mixer and warm broth. Stir well.

Pour into a greased 9x13 casserole dish & bake 30 minutes.

Makes 8 servings.

**Garlic mashed potatoes :

10 Yukon gold potatoes, chopped
2 cup plant milk
1/2 cup vegan butter
4 cloves fresh garlic, pressed
Salt & pepper

Clean and chop potatoes.

Boil until tender and drain.

Melt butter over medium heat. Add crushed garlic.

Allow garlic to flavor butter, but do not let it burn.

Add plant milk and bring to a simmer.

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy.

**Creamy Vegan mushroom gravy :
2 Tbsp of vegan butter
2 Tbsp of flour
1/2 corn starch
6 oz. mushrooms, chopped small
1 small onion, finely diced
1 1/2 cups veggie broth
1 1/2 cups of unsweetened cashew milk
1 envelope of onion dip mix
1 tsp of parsley

Melt butter over medium heat.

Add flour and corn starch. Whisk until smooth & allow to cook about 3 minutes.

Add mushrooms, onions, broth, parsley, and onion soup mix. Bring to a boil, whisking occasionally to prevent lumps.

Reduce heat to simmer for 5 minutes. Add cashew milk, salt and pepper and Whisk for 2 more minutes, or until thickened.

Makes 2 cups.

**Roasted Fall Veggies:

4 small potatoes, washed & cubed
2 carrots, peeled and cubed
2 stalks of celery, diced
8 oz. Mushrooms, diced
2 onions, diced
15 Brussel sprouts, halved
1 bottle Italian dressing

Preheat oven to 450°

Put all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and toss well to coat.

Pour into a large roasting pan.

Bake 45 mins, stirring occasionally to coat veggies and make sure they brown up evenly.

Makes 8 servings.

**Pumpkin spice cupcakes :

1 box spice cake mix
1 can 100% pure pumpkin
1 tsp. Pumpkin pie spice
1 vegan icing of choice

Preheat oven to 350°

Mix cake mix, pumpkin, and pumpkin pie spice together in a mixing bowl. *Mixture will be sticky, like peanut butter

Line muffin pan with 14 baking cups.

Divide mixture evenly and pour into baking cups.

Bake about 15 minutes & allow to rest at least 1 hour before frosting.

Makes 14 servings.

Chipotle Mac-n-Cheese & Smokey Lentils

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This is a recipe that I started and had no idea where it would end up... You probably have those moments too. I needed to go to the grocery store, but it was too late. I had to work with what I had on hand for dinner tonight. I pulled out the usual suspects - pasta, spaghetti sauce, veggies, lentils,left over veggie broth and my last pobalno pepper to figure out what would make sense out of this group of random ingredients ( which is how most of my cooking always starts). 

At first, I though I would make an American chop suey with lentils, but I needed to use up my last pobalno pepper from my garden before it went bad. Strike the chop suey. I decided to just start cooking the pasta, because I knew that was going to be the base of my meal. While the pasta cooked, I started the lentils (which my husband does not like any other way than "smokey" with lots of cumin and paprika in veggie broth). My basic recipe was started, but where was it headed?

As my pasta and lentils cooked, I looked around for a flavor idea. In the freezer I found some of my potato and carrot cheese I keep on hand. *Recipe can be found here -vegan cheese sauce * I always make a double batch of this and freeze it in 1/2 cup portions to have on hand for quick meals. I had a mac-n-cheese idea working! In the refrigerator I found a little vegan sour cream and the last of my jar of chipotle peppers. That was the inspiration I needed. Smokey, cheesy, creamy, spicy...yes, I love all those flavors! That is how I ended up here tonight. Vegan "hamburger helper" is what this reminded me of, so, I served it with just a few slices of bread in a big bowl. 

My husband raved, which is huge with a lentil dish! He loved it so much I added it to this blog just for him to remember later. It is not a "pretty" or "gourmet" meal, but a real meal that a busy Vegan mom can throw together after a hard day of work and make her family happy. That is what my cooking is all about, Family. If they won't eat it, there's no point in me making it. Dinner came together in under 30 minutes, from cheap, on hand, ingredients and everyone was happy. That's a successful night around here. 

Looking for other great Vegan dinner ideas? Try my BBQ tempeh over Southwestern Cauliflower "rice", Kale Stuffed Eggplant Parm, Cheezy Baked Enchiladas, or Sriracha Roasted Tofu over Rainbow veggies & Don't forget the desert - Banana Pudding Pie

Recipe:

1 lb. Cooked pasta, drained

1 cup dried lentils
2 cups veggie broth 
2 tsp. Cumin 
1 tsp. garlic powder 
1 tsp. smokey Paprika 
Salt & Pepper 
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 poblano pepper, chopped fine 
1/2 cup of corn
Oil
3 cups Vegan cheese sauce
3-4 Tbsp. Vegan sour cream of choice 
1 Tbsp. of jarred Chipotle peppers in their sauce

Cook lentils with veggie broth, cumin, garlic powder, paprika and salt and pepper over medium heat until tender (about 15 minutes).

Drain any excess liquid from lentils. 

Sautée onions, poblano peppers and corn over high heat with a little oil until slightly charred.

Toss pasta, lentils, sautéed veggies, Sour cream, Chipotle peppers and Cheeze together. Serve with a little extra sour cream or Sriracha if you want it hotter.

Makes 4-6 servings