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Monday, September 22, 2014

Vegan MoFo Day 22 - Sautéed Green Beans

Staying with the simple theme I’ll share my son’s sautéed green beans recipe.  We love to make our green beans this way.  It’s so easy and yes, so yummy.  Here is my dinner plate from last night.  My sister-in-law brought over the pasta salad.  I think it has chickpeas, fava beans and black beans in and other yummy ingredients.  I think she got the bean salad from Trader Joe’s and added the star shaped little pasta.  At first I thought it was couscous.  It is very good too.  I heated up the scalloped potatoes and creamed spinach to complete the meal. 




Sautéed Green Beans

fresh green beans
olive oil
garlic salt
water


Snap or cut off the ends of the green beans and put them in a skillet.  Drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil over the beans and sprinkle with garlic salt.  Sauté the beans over medium high heat until desired doneness.  (Pour a tiny bit of water in the pan and cover to steam to cook quicker.)

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Vegan MoFo Day 21 - Baked Acorn Squash

Acorn squash always reminds me of the fall.  I love the rich flavor of it.  I know there are so many different ways to make it but I like it just baked plain.  No matter how you prepare it though I think the toughest thing about preparing it is to just cut it open.  Make sure you have a really sharp, strong knife!





Baked Acorn Squash

1 acorn squash (will serve two - four people)
water 
salt


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  While the oven is heating up, cut the squash in half.  Scrape out the seeds with a spoon.  I find it easiest to get the seeds out by getting some of the flesh with your spoon.  Do a few more scrapes to get the remaining threads.  This is what you'll have.



I then rinse the squash on the inside with water and sprinkle a little bit of seat salt on it.  Put squash halves on a baking sheet (I usually cover mine with aluminum foil for easy clean up) faced down.  





Bake for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes turn the squash over and cook an additional 30 minutes until soft.





My mom and I had a quarter of the squash each last night for dinner.  I really just like it plain.  I put a little Earth Balance margarine on my portion with salt and pepper to taste.  I kinds of mash it all together in the little boat it forms.


I also made creamed spinach and scalloped potatoes for my dinner.  I used coconut milk in both recipes for the milk alternative.  It was okay but I think I like almond milk better in these two recipes because the coconut milk is a little sweet.  I made a little too much sauce for the spinach because I doubled the creamed spinach sauce and used the big value size of fresh spinach.  I probably only needed about 1 to 1 ½ of the recipe of the sauce for all that spinach.  I will start with the original recipe and then add "milk" as needed for the consistency/creaminess.  I am okay with it because I’m thinking I can either have the leftovers over a baked potato.



Saturday, September 20, 2014

Vegan MoFo Day 20 - Almond Milk at Dunkin Donuts!

On the long journey back from Massachusetts to Maryland (driving) from dropping B off at school we saw this awesome sign at the Dunkin Donuts at one of the rest stops!





We are thrilled.  It’s so disappointing that the major coffee shop that we all love to get the occasional coffee won’t serve almond milk.  Not everyone likes soy milk as their milk/dairy alternative.  It would be nice if they offered either almond milk or coconut milk as well.  Oh well, their loss – we will be going to Dunkin Donuts now!

Friday, September 19, 2014

Vegan MoFo Day 19 - Border Cafe

We went to this Mexican Restaurant in Cambridge the weekend we took B back to school.  I really like the Border Café.  Their chips and salsa and guacamole are so yummy. 





I've also gotten their vegetable fajitas twice now.  The portion size is absolutely huge but no one really wants to share with me since they have their own favorites too.  I probably shouldn't eat so many chips and salsa before my meal comes and I’d be able to eat more than one.  


Just looking at that picture makes me want to make some fajitas soon! 

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Vegan MoFo Day 18 - Easy Dinner

Here is one of my favorite easy dinners and has plenty of protein.  I’ve also included the protein for each below. 



Quinoa (4 grams)
Black Beans (15 grams)
Sautéed Mushrooms (3 grams)
Green Beans (2 grams)

The quinoa is from a package.  My family likes the Near East ones.  I like the rosemary and olive oil one but the roasted red pepper and basil is pretty good too.  I like how easy they are to make!


We just heat up the black beans in a pot, sauté the mushroom in a little Earth Balance, and sauté the green beans with a little olive oil and garlic salt.

It is true that so many people ask me where I get my protein.  I tell them protein is in everything even broccoli.  This nutrition tables says it has 7 grams! 






Sometimes I will also say that cows don’t eat “meat” and they must be getting their protein.  I also tell them I eat a lot of beans.  

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Vegan MoFo Day 17 - Green Bean Casserole


My family, especially my son, loves green bean casserole.  Once I figured out how to make vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup it was easy to make it plant based.  




Green Bean Casserole
2 cans cut green beans
2 cans french style green beans
1 teaspoon no beef better than bouillon 
a few dashes of soy sauce
French's french fried onions

Drain the green beans and add to a casserole dish.  Add the no beef better than bouillon to the cream of mushroom soup mixture.  Pour cream of mushroom soup over beans, sprinkle a few dashes of soy sauce.  Add up to one cup of the french fried onions to the mixture.  Stir well.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.  Top with a few more of the french fried onions and bake for 5 more minutes.




Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Vegan MoFo Day 16 - Yellow Squash Casserole

I saw a squash casserole posted on Facebook and I knew I had to find a way to make it.  I’ve come up with a smaller version.  I would probably use less of the margarine next time though because it seemed a little greasy to me.  If you don’t like onions you could also take them out of the recipe and even the sage if you don’t like that flavor.



Yellow Squash Casserole
3 yellow squashes
1 medium sweet onion
6 tablespoons Earth Balance margarine
1 teaspoon no chicken better than bouillon paste
Salt, pepper, sage, thyme
½ package of cornbread (already made)
Water reserved from cooking the squash
Daiya cheddar cheese shredded

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large pot put the sliced squash and cover with water.  Cook until the squash is tender.  Drain but keep at least 1 cup of the squash cooking water. 



In another pan, sauté the onion in the margarine until translucent.  Stir in the no chicken better than bouillon paste.  Sprinkle a few shakes of salt and pepper and add a little bit of sage and thyme (like ¼ teaspoon) or to taste.  Add the drained squash to the onion and spices mixture.  Stir to combine. 


Here's a picture of the baked cornbread.  I used about half for this recipe.



In a greased casserole dish break up the corn bread into chunks.  Pour the squash mixture over top and sprinkle some of the Daiya cheese to taste (I put a thin layer over top.)  Add about ½ cup of the reserved squash cooking water or more to combine.  Stir well.

Cover and bake in the 375 degree oven for 45 minutes; remove cover and cook additional 15 minutes



  

Here’s the original recipe I found on-line.  I didn’t have zucchini squash and I wasn’t sure how it would taste so I pretty much made half the recipe and more to my own taste.  I made the cornbread with applesauce instead of adding an egg.  I also don’t like too much of the cheddar cheese in things. 

Boston Market Squash Casserole
*4 cups zucchini, chopped
*4 cups yellow squash, chopped
*1 large onion, chopped
*1-1/2 sticks earth balance
*salt, pepper, sage, thyme, parsley
*1 package cheddar daiya (or other vegan shredded cheese)
*better than bouillon (no chicken – vegan)
*one loaf of freshly baked vegan cornbread
Preheat the oven to 375. in a large pot add chopped zucchini and yellow squash (covered with water) cook until squash is tender. in another pan melt earth balance. Sauté onions until tender. Add no chicken better than bouillon, thyme, salt, pepper and parsley. Drain squash (reserve ONE CUP of this water) and add the squash to the onion mixture. Combine well. Add one package of cheddar daiya, mixing well. Crumble cornbread into mixture and add the one cup of reserved water – make sure everything is well combined. Add mixture to a lightly greased casserole dish, cover and bake at 375 for about an hour.