October 13th - Eggplant Parmesan

I know I missed the Sunday family recipe day last week.  But I was a bit jet lagged from flying home to the east coast from California the day/night before.  So, I'm sorry I've been a bit lax with my family recipe posting and all week of no posts.  I also started a new job on Monday so I've been quite busy.

But Monday night Dave made Eggplant Parmesan for dinner.  It was soooooooooo good.  We all really like it.  Dave was so sweet because he Googled "vegan eggplant parmesan" to make it.  I know him and he wants to perfect it and make it more crispy but I think it is wonderful.

Here's how he made it.

Eggplant Parmesan
1 eggplant peeled and sliced
salt
flour
almond milk
panko bread crumbs
canola oil
spaghetti sauce
spaghetti (cooked according to package and drained)

Sprinkle the eggplant with salt  and let stand for about 20 minutes.  Then wash it off.     Coat the eggplant with the flour, then dip in the almond  milk and then coat with the panko bread crumbs.  Place coated eggplant in a hot frying pan with a thin layer of canola oil.  Fry the eggplant slices.


Once all the eggplant slices are cooked serve with the spaghetti noodles and sauce.  You can keep the cooked eggplant sliced warm in the oven (about 250 degrees) while the rest are cooking.


p.s. Be on the lookout for updates to the Eggplant Parmesan recipe.  Dave is already talking about mixing the flour with the almond milk and making a coating and then coating the eggplant with the panko.  I don't mind the experiments!  It was delicious on Monday and very good for leftovers in my lunch!

October 4th - Pinwheels Appetizers

I previously froze half of the mushroom & eggplant mixture (recipe here) from the other day and I still had some leftover cashew cheese so I decided to make some pinwheels for my sister-in-law and nephew to try.  I like the mushroom & eggplant mixture both ways and I really like the cheese pinwheels.

I just made another row of the mushroom & eggplant puffs and then I made the pinwheels.  I spread a thin layer of the mushroom mixture on half of the 2/3s piece of the puff pastry for the mushroom & eggplant pinwheels.  For the cheese pinwheels I spread a thin layer of the cashew cheese on the other third and then I sprinkled some shredded cheddar Daiya on it.  I rolled them both up and then sliced them. 

I baked them at 400 degrees for 18 minutes.

Using the puff pastry is very easy and my mind is racing with yummy ideas to fill it!  Plus it really makes a ton of little appetizers!  

October 1st - Reflections on my first Vegan MoFo

Wow, I made it.  I did a post every day of September for my first Vegan MoFo.  I must say I’m pretty proud of myself!  It truly hasn't been easy since I've been at my parents' house in California for the past two weeks and my dad was in the hospital the first week I was here.  I think it’s harder being in someone else’s kitchen any way and then add that you don’t eat animal products and you want to try to make things for this Vegan MoFo you've signed up to do!  I did prepare many of my posts and post ideas on my flight here.  I had five hours to kill on the flight to Phoenix.  (I’m still here until Saturday!)  I was lucky enough to have quite a few pictures of meals I've already made and lots of ideas in my head.  My mom has also been pretty open to whatever I made too.  My dad is recovering from surgery and he needs his “protein” (insert animal protein in their eyes) to heal so we've been making a few beef hamburger patties for him too.  I keep teasing him and telling him I’m putting him on the “Bill Clinton Diet” soon! 

Vegan MoFo is one of the many internet “things” that have really helped me in my first year of switching to a plant base diet.  I couldn't imagine doing it without the internet.  There are so many resources out there to help figure out meal ideas, information and support.  I pretty much search any recipe I’m thinking about and put vegan in the search too.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it comes up vegetarian.  Sometimes I just figure out how to make it vegan and taste good.  I truly think plant base eating is going to explode in the next few years.  So many people are leaning towards it. 

Since I've been pretty busy with my parents and their needs I really haven’t had much time to do my internet searches.  I really wanted to check out more of the other Vegan MoFo participants.  I will go back to their posts and note the blogs that inspire me and those I’d like to follow.  Speaking of which, this blog Your Mom's a Vegan was one of the ones I found last year when I came across their blog roll last year.  The name of her blog made me want to check it out.  It is fun to periodically check out other’s blogs and see what they are doing. 

My sister-in-law has been eating this way for a while and my nephew, her son, is vegan.  They live here in California and they are coming over this morning.  It’s fun to have someone who eats like you.  I’m going to make the rest of the mushroom puffs (I froze the half I didn't use).  I may even try some of my cashew cheese in some of the puff pastry.  I was thinking I could even do pinwheel like bites.  I think I even saw some vegan vegetable egg rolls in my parent’s freezer. I could make those to snack on too!