This is awesome. But you get extra calories with your calories, and then crumbly calories on top of that. Yeah….. This is a once a year thing for me, so I decided to veganize it and enjoy it. Maybe one day I’ll work on a lower calorie version, but until then….omnomnom.

Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole

Filling:
1350g Mashed Cooked Sweet Potato (~4 Large Sweet potatoes)
350g Organic vegan Brown Sugar
1C Unsweetened SO Delicious Coconut Milk Beverage
224g Earth Balance (vegan butter – I used the soy free one)
64g ENER-G Egg Replacer (follow instructions on box)

Topping:
200g Organic vegan Brown Sugar
150g Earth Balance
80g Whole Wheat Flour
250g Pecans, chopped

Peel and slice sweet potatoes. Cook in a pot full of water until they are soft enough to mash, drain, and mash. Take 1350g of those mashed potatoes and put in large mixing bowl. Add “butter”, coconut beverage, and sugar and mix well. Add the egg replacer last, mix well. I tried to cook this in a 9×9″ baking pan, but it was a little too much and I had to take a little off the top and cook in a small side dish. So, use a little bigger pan or two smaller pans.

Preheat oven to 350F.

For the topping, melt the “butter” then add the sugar, pecans, and flour. Crumble with your hands to spread topping evenly over the filling.

Bake for ~40min or until topping is bubbling.

Notice how it almost bubbled over on me....need bigger pan.

Stuffing is one of the things I look forward to all year. I don’t eat it outside of the holidays, so it is always nostalgic nomnom’ng when I get to have it. And of course, it’s my Mother’s recipe I always love. I’ve made this into a vegan version, and I am looking for to eating it tomorrow.

START THIS THE DAY BEFORE YOU WANT TO EAT IT.

First make some vegan cornbread:

Vegan Corn Bread

300g Cornmeal
140g Whole wheat Flour
2t Baking Powder
70g Coconut Oil
2T Maple Syrup
2C Unsweetened SO Delicious Coconut Milk Beverage
2t Apple Cider Vinegar

Preheat over to 350F. Combine dry ingredients, stir together. Add remaining ingredients, mix well. Pour into lightly oiled cast iron skillet, then bake for ~25-30 min or until top starts to lightly brown.

Vegan Southern Cornbread Stuffing

1/2 Recipe Vegan Corn Bread (crumbled)
180g Ciabatta Bread
(“crumbled”-equivalent volume to corn bread of french/sour dough/ etc bread)
100g Green topped Scallions (chopped)
180g Celery (finely chopped)
1 heaping T (~2.3g) Sage, dried
1g each: Rosemary, Thyme
2.5C Vegetable Broth.

Crumble cornbread and bread together in a large bowl and toss well. Add onion and celery, toss well. Add in herbs, toss. One the dry mix has been well tosses, cover bowl and allow mix to “marinate” overnight.

Next Day:
Preheat oven to 350F. Add ~2.5C vegetable broth to the dry mix and toss well. The mix should be very moist, but not runny. Most of the broth will be soaked up, leaving a mushy crumbly mix. Bake for 30min.

This was mostly a novelty thing. I’ve never had roasted chestnuts, or chestnuts at all for that matter. So, when I saw the big bin of chestnuts at my favorite grocery store I had to try some. They turned out pretty good. Reminded me of a combination of a potato and a nut with a subtle but noticeable sweetness.

Roasted Chestnuts

How ever many you want. :-p

Preheat oven to 400F. Make a ~1/2 inch slit on the flat side of each chestnut. I made sure the slit was facing up when I put them on the try. Bake for 30min. Peel when cool to touch.

Yes, it’s 8am and it’s my bedtime. So, while all of you are having breakfast, waking up, or are already at work, I am just now coming home and getting around for bed. This is my life on the night shift.

Today I was super hungry as I left work. Since I had to stop by my favorite grocery store to pick up some tofu, I decided to pick out a healthy delicious bedtime snack. None of my usual snacks would do. Do I believe an olive roll will help me achieve optimum health, even if it is vegan? No. And I didn’t really feel like a piece of fruit, but I didn’t rule it out either.

As I walked the isles, picking up some juicing ingredients, tofu, and canned pumpkin the thought of roasted asparagus crossed my mind. Perfect! This isn’t the first time I have eaten roasted asparagus as a bedtime snack, and  I am sure it won’t be my last. I decided to pick up a Organic Raw Kombucha too, because this is now back in stores and I missed it dearly. It’s full of good for you pro-biotic bacteria, and has a wonderful flavor that is unique to kombucha. Kombucha is my healthy indulgence.

“Bedtime-Snack” Roasted Asparagus

(serves 1 asparagus lover)

1 bunch asparagus, with ends trimmed.
Sea salt, cracked black pepper, garlic powder, fenugreek powder
Spray oil

Preheat oven to 425F. Since I don’t like to cook with oil, I use just enough to get the seasonings to stick to the asparagus. After you put the asparagus in the pan, spray it lightly with the oil, then shake/roll it about to coat well. Then shake on seasonings, then shake/roll again to coat with the seasonings. Bake for about 15-20 min depending on how much crunch you like (17-18min for me), shaking halfway though the cooking process. Serve.

This looks so yummy! And the greenness just makes me happy!

This asparagus is WONDERFUL! The seasoning combination is fantastic. Will cook again A++. Ha.

Today is when I do most of my cooking/baking/food prep for my coming work week. Tomorrow kicks off my next night shift. QB wanted some better cornmeal muffins to nosh on while I am at work since the first recipe had a strange texture that really went weird if reheated in the microwave. These came out of the oven awesome, but we haven’t done the microwave test. Even if the mircowave isn’t compaitble, QB can heat them in the toaster oven. And, he likes them with smart balance.

Cornmeal Muffins II (makes ~20-30 mini muffins)

260g Organic Cornmeal
100g Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Mix
1t Baking Powder (aluminum free)
2 Eggs
100g Banana, mashed
150g Coconut Milk
120g Kefir
Stevia

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, then add all wet ingredients and mix well with a hand mixer (or whatever you use). Divide into the mini muffin pan. I ended up filling them to the top, and they overflowed a bit. I got 20, but you may get more if you don’t over fill. Bake for 25min. Done.

QB asked if I could make him some cornmeal muffins after he saw some cornbread somewhere – I forget where. I figured I’d give it a go. The result was good enough to be post-able. QB said he would like them to be a little moister, but he says some people like drier muffins, so I should post the recipe anyway. I will likely modify this slightly the next time I make them, so I will update once I have the final winner.

*Note* After reheating these in teh microwave, QB says the texture is strange. So, the next batch will be a little different. Just wanted to give y’all a heads up.

Update 2: I cut these in half and heated them in the toaster over just until they were nice and warm. QB said the texture was fine when heated this way.

Gluten Free Cornmeal Muffins (21 mini muffins)

300g Organic Cornmeal
60g Tapioca Starch
3 Eggs
120g Kefir
100g Coconut Milk (full fat)
1 tsp Baking Powder – Al Free
3 tsp Stevia (just add some sugar sub for a little sweetness)

Preheat over to 350F. Mix all in a large bowl, and them spoon into muffin pan. My mini muffin pan may be slightly larger than the usual muffin pan, so I will say this recipe makes approximately 21 mini-muffins.

QB says these are wonderful with a little smart balance (we don’t buy butter).

Nutritional Profile per 1 mini muffin::::
===========================================
Report generated by CRON-o-Meter v0.9.7
===========================================

General (14%)
===========================================
Energy               |    84.9 kcal     6%
Protein              |     2.3 g        4%
Carbs                |    14.3 g        7%
Fiber              |     0.7 g        3%
Starch             |    10.5 g       70%
Sugars             |     0.6 g        1%
Fat                  |     2.0 g        4%

Vitamins (2%)
===========================================
Vitamin A            |    77.3 IU       2%
Lutein+Zeaxanthin  |   217.2 µg       4%
Folate               |     8.4 µg       5%
B1 (Thiamine)        |     0.0 mg       2%
B2 (Riboflavin)      |     0.0 mg       3%
B3 (Niacin)          |     0.2 mg       1%
B5 (Pantothenic Acid)|     0.2 mg       3%
B6 (Pyridoxine)      |     0.0 mg       3%
B12 (Cyanocobalamin) |     0.1 µg       5%
Vitamin C            |     0.1 mg       0%
Vitamin D            |     6.0 IU       3%
Vitamin E            |     0.1 mg       1%
Vitamin K            |     0.0 µg       0%

Minerals (3%)
===========================================
Calcium              |    12.8 mg       1%
Copper               |     0.0 mg       1%
Iron                 |     0.5 mg       3%
Magnesium            |     8.1 mg       3%
Manganese            |     0.1 mg       2%
Phosphorus           |    33.4 mg       5%
Potassium            |    42.1 mg       1%
Selenium             |     3.9 µg       7%
Sodium               |    14.6 mg       3%
Zinc                 |     0.2 mg       2%

Amino Acids (10%)
===========================================
CYS                  |     0.0 g       19%
ILE                  |     0.1 g        8%
LEU                  |     0.2 g       10%
LYS                  |     0.1 g        5%
MET                  |     0.1 g        9%
PHE                  |     0.1 g       11%
THR                  |     0.1 g        8%
TRP                  |     0.0 g        8%
TYR                  |     0.1 g       14%
VAL     &nbsp
;            |     0.1 g        7%

Lipids (3%)
===========================================
Saturated            |     1.2 g        6%
Monounsaturated      |     0.4 g        1%
Polyunsaturated      |     0.2 g        1%
Omega-3            |     0.0 g        1%
Omega-6            |     0.2 g        2%
Cholesterol          |    30.5 mg      10%

I saw sausage for lack of a better descriptor. I found this recipe as a topping for a raw veggie pizza, and decided to make it for QB to use in his veggie zucchini spaghetti type dish (which is cooked, but he is avoiding meat right now so this “sausage” is for added flavor and calories). He likes it used as small meat balls, but says this seasoning is almost too much. It’s the fennel he thinks is a bit overpowering. I like it, but I am a big fennel fan, so cut back on it if you aren’t as too crazy on fennel. He was hesitant at first, but decided he really liked with the veggie spaghetti thing. Win.

Raw Nutty “Sausage”

90g Pecan Halves
130g Apple
2T Oil (I think I used walnut, but maybe it was olive)
1/2t fennel seeds (I crushed then w/ a mortar & pestle)
1/2t salt, thyme
3/4t black pepper
1t cayenne pepper, chili powder

Use a food processor to turn this in to a paste, add a little water if you need to, but you want it to be very thick. Once you have your thick paste, pinch off ~t size pieces a place on a dehydrator sheet. Dehydrate at ~110F for about 2 hours, turn pieces and then dehydrator for another 1-2 hours. Store in fridge and use as needed. These could be used for pizza, pasta, salad toppings, or on salads. Enjoy.

As much as I love the olive hummus, it is time for me to expand my recipes. QB and I are big fans of sweet red peppers, so the idea of red pepper hummus sounded like a sure win. I definitely like it and think it’s a nice alternative to my other hummus.

The QB report: Definite win. He likes this hummus better on the raw paleo bread since it has a mild flavor, but likes the olive hummus better on the red pepper slices since it has a very strong flavor.

Raw Red Pepper Hummus

~250g Zucchini
~150 Sweet Red Pepper
~112g Raw Tahini
40g Hemp Seeds
1T Olive Oil
1/4C Lemon Juice
1/2t Salt

Just mix well in a food processor and be creative with what you serve it with. We are falling back to our usual pepper slices or the raw paleo bread, but I want to find other things to put this on. Since it is milder in flavor than the olive hummus, it seems more versatile.

I have taken to a new treat. A few days ago I was in search of a novel, quick and tasty salad I ended up resorting to opening up a jar of my favorite pasta sauce and using that instead of my usual – or conventional- dressings. The nice thing about this is it is an extremely malleable recipe, use any veggies and greens you want. Now, I have never been a big pasta or spaghetti lover, but there is something very emotionally satisfying about this dish. I accidentally discovered a healthy comfort food. I was hesitant at first, because when I eat my pasta sauce stir-fries or italian tomato soup, I like it HOT. Very hot. I tend to be very particular about the temperature and texture of my foods. Some foods I put in the freezer to achieve my preference, and other foods I would microwave them to death (I am trying to to less of that now).

Easy Pasta Sauce Salad

Pasta Sauce of Choice
Veggies of Choice
My veggie favs are:
*carrots
*spinach
*kale

Simply shred, dice, and chop the veggies you want. Toss with pasta sauce of choice. I am using this lovely tomato basil that has ~70cal/cup. Very tasty and a great compromise if you are craving something cooked.

This is the salsa dressing recipe I have been procrastinating on posting. No idea why I have put it off, but I did. Ha. This works well over kale and spinach, and added carrot is wonderful.

Partly Raw Spicy Salsa (2-4 servings)

1 can Tomatoes, diced, chili style
215g Tomatoes (~ 2 med. tomatoes)
3 Cloves Garlic
15g Cilantro
100g Onion
6g Nutritional Yeast
1T Chili Powder
1/2 T Cumin Powder, Cayenne Powder
3-6g Salt

I just blend all ingredients in the food processor and divide into servings. I like it spicy, so if you aren’t accustom to spicy food, you may want to tone down the cayenne. Enjoy.