Creamy Chickpea and Tahini Casserole

I've been reading other food blogs and got this recipe for Creamy Chickpea and Tahini Casserole off one of them. I hate to be such a copy-cat, but I HAD to try it. I had all the ingredients at home and it looked super easy. I used dried chickpeas instead of canned, because they are cheaper, and that's what I had on hand. It was very tasty. Hubby was a bit skeptical about it, and thought it would be too bland. But he loved it. He did add nutritional yeast to his bowl, and I think I will make it with the yeast next time too.

Spinach & Mushroom Risotto

I need to use up our mushrooms and corn on the cob that have been in our fridge for too long. I had a nice big dinner planned for tonight, but plans got canceled. So, it ended up being boxed spinach and mushroom risotto with added saute'd mushrooms, and a side of steamed corn on the cob. It tasted pretty good for being a boxed dinner. Sometimes vegan mothers need a quick fix on the cheap!

P.S. I know I take crappy photos! I am working on improving my food pics, so please be patient with me and thanks for enduring my crappy photography!

Penne & Cheese, Mushrooms & Trees

Hubby got into tonight's dinner! He even wanted me to show his homebrew in the pic, and helped come up with the name. He talked me out of 'Shrooms N' Trees because it sounded too hippy.

This was a great recipe. It was inspired by a broccoli & mushroom Alfredo off of vegweb.com. But I feel I altered it enough to call it my own.



Recipe:

• Penne pasta (as much as you would eat in one sitting)
• 2/3 cup broccoli florets (fresh or frozen)
• 1 cup plain soy milk
  
• 2 tablespoons white flour
• 1 crushed or chopped garlic cloves (to taste)
• plenty of salt (to taste)
• pepper (to taste)
• 2/3 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (any kind)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon vegan margarine (I like Earth Balance)
• 1/2 c. nutritional yeast
  

Cooking Directions:
Start boiling water for the pasta. chop the garlic and add to an oiled pan- saute on med heat. Chop mushrooms and add to garlic in the pan. When water boils, add penne pasta. In a med saucepan mix together milk, flour, margarine, olive oil, and yeast. Bring to a boil over med heat until thick while occasionally whisking sauce. Before you drain the pasta, add chopped broccoli to the boiling water and cook for about 3-5 mins. Drain. Mix with sauce and mushrooms, top with salt and pepper. Enjoy!

We liked this a lot. It was really easy and quick to make, with not a lot of chopping. It's a keeper!

Birthday Lasagna

It was my husband's birthday recently, so we had a small family get together dinner for him. I made a Cheesy Vegan Lasagna from www.vegweb.com. It was a lot more time consuming then most of my dinners, but no one minded holding the baby while I cooked. I followed the recipe pretty accuratly, although it called for a lot more than I actually used; for instance I only used one jar of sauce and it called for 2. I also topped it with Follow Your Heart Vegan Mozzerella. The end result? Everyone seamed to love it, it was a big hit, and I would love to have the time to make it again.

On the side we had a garden salad, topped with homemade tahini dressing. Garlic Italian Flatbread finished the plate.

Who can have a birthday without a cake? Not my husband! My mom made a triple chocolate whole wheat vegan cake for his birthday. It was sooo good! She blended everything in her super blender, even the wheat to make flour, and the sugar to powder it for the frosting! Yum!

Gee Whiz Mac N' Cheeze

Tonight was a mac and cheese made from the Gee Whiz cheese spread from the book "The Uncheese Cookbook". It was super easy, and we just happened to put on some white beans earlier today. The cheeze sauce was a little tangy, even though I didn't use nearly the amount of lemon juice the recipe called for.

Quinoa, Beans & Rainbow Veggies

I finally remembered to take a photo of our dinner! Tonight we had Quinoa, Red Beans & Rainbow Veggies (for lack of a better title). It's a great protein packed meal for super cheap. I used dried red beans, but I've also made this with black beans and black eyed peas. Pintos would work too. I try to use dried beans because they are cheaper, but of course canned would work with this recipe.

• 1 cup dried quinoa
• 1-2 cups cooked beans (your choice)
• 2 peppers (green, yellow, red, orange, etc)
• 1/2 cup red onion, chopped
• Any other veggies you have on hand (I used some summer squash from the farmers market).
• Olive Oil
• Tamari or Bragg's Liquid Amino's

Cook quinoa as directed (one cup Quinoa to 2 c. water)
Saute veggies in olive oil
When quinoa is done, add beans and veggies, mix together and serve with tamari or Bragg's.