Summer Blueberries In January

Gardeners freeze your foods!  Or can them, or dry them...whatever you do, save your foods!  We did a lot of canning and freezing and drying this year from our gardens and we are still enjoying summer bounty which will last us for many more months.  It's a lot of work and I have to admit that while I am very busy during the school year, all I do during the summer is garden, hike, and play at the pool with the kids.  Anyhow, this morning I pulled out a bag of blueberries and made some pancakes to die for.  Think Bisquick, egg-replacer, vanilla, and fresh (I mean frozen) blueberries.  Add some blueberry syrup and you have summer love...even with 6 inches of snow on the ground!  Now I really cannot wait for summer!  Or spring...or whatever brings warmth!  I cannot wait to start blogging about our gardens!

Birthday Cupcakes

 

We recently had a birthday here and that means CUPCAKES!  I almost always use Cherrybrook Kitchen chocolate cake mix because it is allergen-free and I do not have to use egg-replacer.  But this time I decided to try Naturally Nora's Lotta Dots cake mix.  I DID have to add egg-replacer.  Occasionally I make cake from scratch, but this was in the middle of the week after school and work and I was up late making these cupcakes the night before.  I used Pillsbury chocolate fudge icing.  Not a vegan company, but the frosting itself is vegan.  You have to do what you can, I believe.  You can also make your own, as always!  These cupcakes turned out very nice, but I still prefer Cherrybrook kitchen, and if I keep the boxtops I can get prizes!

Seitan Fajitas

So now that you have these fantastic seitan cutlets, you should make fajitas.  Once you have them, you will crave them all the time.  Or maybe that's just me...anyhow...they are very easy to make and can potentially serve a lot of people.  This would be great to bring to a potluck, now that I think about it!  Easy steps to fajitas:
1.  Slice up the cutlets into strips.
2.  Saute lovely peppers, onions, and mushrooms in a little olive oil.
3.  Add the seitan strips when the veggies are tender.
4.  Add 1/4 cup of water and a packet of fajita seasoning.  Or make your own.  But if you have the time to make your own, I am insanely jealous!
5.  Mix and let it simmer for a few minutes.  Remember:  your seitan has already been cooked!  You are pretty much just giving it some heat.  No salmonella, here, folks!
6.  Scoop mixture into a tortilla.  Add some salsa and maybe some tofutti sour cream.  Fold.
7.  Enjoy!

Easy, Multipurpose Seitan

Seitan is a great substitute for chicken in many recipes.  For those of you who did not know, it is just wheat gluten that has been separated.  If you buy it already made from the grocery or co-op, it can be really expensive and you end up with not very much.  This is terrible if you have a husband and kids who love to eat.  So I make my own, and it is really very, very easy.  There are a lot of good recipes for seitan out there, but I find most of them, while yummy, are time-consuming.  So after playing around with the stuff, I came up with a system that really works for the "perpetually busy".  Throw about 2 cups or so of wheat gluten in a bowl (I buy mine in bulk from the co-op...along with hummus, falafel, you name it...).  Add a liberal amount of garlic and onion powder and nutritional yeast flakes.  Maybe a couple tablespoons of each.  Some salt is good too, so throw in some of that.  Mix it up while it is dry.  Then add water.  This is the tricky part.  Keep adding a bout 1/4 cup of water at a time and then kneading the mixture.  When you do not see any powder and you have something that looks like bread dough but springier, you are done.  Be careful because the uncooked dough is super-sticky and it is better to just pick it off of your hands and throw it in the compost or trash.  Seriuosly, it will stick to everything.  I shape mine into a loaf and then slice it into "cutlets".  I boil these in a large pot of water with vegetable bouillon for 45 minutes.  They do get much larger, use a big pot that is 1/2 filled with water.  Drain them and you can store them in the fridge for about a week or even freeze them and they are good in many, many recipes that once called for chicken.

Stuff Kids Love: Jumex!

We recently discovered Jumex mango nectar, and my kids love it.  It is high in sugar, so if you are watching that, this is more of a special treat than an everyday drink.  But that being said, if you fill a cup with crushed ice and pour the nectar over top of it, it is really delicious and cold and more like a dessert than anything!

Football Eats

It is a tradition in my family to spend New Year's day laying around the house eating hot dogs with sauerkraut and watching football games.  Well, with some modifications, we still participate every year and it is just one of those comforting days that reminds me of when I was growing up.  I love that my kids get to experience eating hot dogs and watching football with their Grampy!  We eat Smart Dogs rather than Tofu Pups because they hold together really well.  My dad usually cooks the sauerkraut with pork in it, but he did not this year so my husband was thrilled.  We also made some Fantastic Foods chili (did not add beans for that chili dog texture).  Put a Smart Dog on a bun, top with sauerkraut and chili, throw on some onions and ketchup and mustard and you will be in hot dog heaven.  With it we had vegetarian baked beans, Spicy Sweet Chili Dorito, and tons of fruit salad that my mom made.  This is the kind of spread that you just eat all day, whenever you are hungry.  Keep this menu in mind for your summer cookouts as well!  Smart Dogs and Tofu Pups grill better than you think they would.