Christmas 2013 - prep timeline

Just getting this all written out so I have a solid plan to follow on Wednesday. 



Monday P.M.
-make red sauce for lasagna


Tuesday A.M.
-make hummus
-make orange pecan cake
-make peanut butter bars 


Tuesday P.M.
-assemble (2) lasagnas and refrigerate
-chop vegetables for salad and roasting
-cook lentils and prep veggies for shepherds pie
-bake cookies for Santa (these)


Wednesday A.M.
-make naan
-mash potatoes and parsnips for shepherds pie
-assemble 'bliss in a dish' and refrigerate 


Wednesday P.M.
-saute veggies and assemble shepherds pie
-bake lasagnas 
-bake 'bliss in a dish'
-make mushroom bread

 



Adjusted Christmas menu...

APPETIZERS: 

• Hummus & Naan (recipe 1 or recipe 2)

MAIN COURSES:

• Vegetable Lasagna
• Lentil Shepard's Pie

SIDES:

• Mushroom Bread
• White Beans and Artichoke "Bliss in a Dish"
• roasted veggies (broccoli, carrots, etc)
• salad

DESSERT:

• Cranberry Orange Pecan Cake
• No Bake Peanut Butter Bars 

One Pot Wonder - Tomato and White Bean

I found a couple of these 'one pot wonder' recipes on Pinterest and this one sounded quick and tasty so I decided to give it a shot for dinner tonight. With a few small changes to the original we had a pretty decent meal in record time!

INGREDIENTS

• 12 ounces pasta (I used thin spaghetti because I had it on hand)
• 1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes with liquid (I used fire roasted garlic flavor)
• 6 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
• 4 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• a handful of chopped fresh spinach
• 1 can Great Northern beans (rinsed and drained)
• salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Place pasta, tomatoes, and garlic in a large stock pot. Pour in vegetable broth. Sprinkle on top the pepper flakes and oregano.
2. Cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a low simmer and keep covered and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes or so. Cook until almost all liquid has evaporated.
3. Add spinach and beans in the last minute or two.
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir pasta several times to distribute the liquid in the bottom of the pot evenly throughout the pasta as you are serving. 

Everyone thought it was pretty good but we decided together that next time we'll skip the beans (my 16 year old just isn't a fan of the texture) and instead add mushrooms and broccoli. I will definitely be making this one again, as well as trying other 'one pot wonder' recipes. They're especially perfect for days I end up having to work late, leaving little to no time for cooking!

Vegetable Lasagna

I happened upon this recipe on Pinterest recently and it sounded so good I decided to throw it into the running for our 2013 Christmas dinner. I've made a few different vegan lasagnas before and though they've all turned out okay, I wasn't thrilled with any of them. SO instead of jumping right in on Christmas day I thought this time I would test it out in advance in case it was underwhelming... and I'm so glad I did! But not because it turned out badly, just the opposite in fact! It was SO tasty I can't wait to make it again! I was surprised to find it tasted very similar to it's non-vegan counterpart! I made just a few changes to the original, here's the recipe as I made it.

INGREDIENTS

• 6 Cloves Garlic, minced
• 8 ounces Mushrooms, sliced
• 4-5 cups veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots)
• homemade pasta sauce (I left out the spices called for in the original recipe because my sauce already had them in it)
• 1 pound Lasagna Noodles, cooked
• 3 Large Sweet Potatoes, baked and mashed
• about 1/2 cup Daiya shredded non dairy mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Start by baking your sweet potatoes. Scoop out and mash with a fork. You can do this ahead of time or use left overs (which is what I did). 
2. Steam broccoli, cauliflower and carrots, then saute mushrooms and garlic in olive oil. In a bowl combine all of the cooked veggies.
3. Cover the bottom of your pan with your pasta sauce.
4. Add a layer of noodles and sweet potato.
5. Next add half of the vegetable mixture, sauce and cheese.
6. Add another layer of noodles and sweet potato, followed by the rest of the vegetables, more sauce and more cheese.
7. Finish it off with a final layer of noodles, topped with sauce and cheese.
8. Cover and Bake for about an hour in a preheated oven to 400 degrees. The last 15 minutes of baking time take the foil off. Let it rest about 15 minutes before cutting and serving.

It was delicious! Though my youngest son wasn't a big fan, my 16 year old ate three big pieces and I liked it so much I was thrilled to have leftovers for lunch the next day! :) The only thing I found it was lacking was a pinch of salt (because I don't add salt to my homemade spaghetti sauce) but sprinkling a tiny bit on my own individual pieces fixed that issue. I look forward to not only making this again on Christmas day, but adding it to our regular meal rotation for sure!

Creamy Potato and Corn Chowder

This is my second shot at a corn chowder recipe, the first turned out to be QUITE spicy, so the mild flavor of this chowder was refreshing. The original was a vegan recipe to begin with so I only had to make a few small changes to suit our personal tastes and it was just what we needed on this COLD snowy night! :)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 4 ribs of celery, chopped
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and diced
• 4 cups organic vegetable broth
• 5 large russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 3.5 cups frozen corn
• 2 cans creamed corn
• 3 cups rice milk
• 1/2 cup flour
• sprinkle of salt, pepper, garlic powder (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat a skillet on medium heat with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the celery and carrots to the skillet and saute 8-10 minutes, until carrots and celery have softened. Add the salt, pepper and garlic powder if using.
2. Meanwhile, bring the 4 cups of vegetable broth to boil in a large pot. Add the peeled and chopped potatoes and boil for about 8-10 minutes, until fork tender. Once the potatoes have cooked, add in the sauteed vegetables.
3. Next, add in both the frozen and the canned corn. Whisk the flour together with the rice milk in a liquid measuring cup and add to the rest of the soup. Return everything to a light boil and stir in the flour. Continue to stir until the mixture thickens, reduce heat and simmer a few minutes more to bring all of the flavors together.

Voila! That's it! The result was a nice, thick, hearty soup with a great flavor. I love that it uses ingredients I pretty much always have on hand so we will definitely be adding this one to the regular Fall/Winter rotation! :)

Christmas dinner 2013

Speaking of Christmas dinner... I've pulled together my list for this year and it looks so darn good I kinda wish it was Christmas tomorrow! :) Like last year, my family has agreed to a completely vegan meal so I'm excited! We'll be down four people for dinner this year (my sister's kids will be with their dad), but I'm still cooking for a group of nine so hopefully most everyone will like what I've chosen.

Here's my list...

APPETIZERS: 

• Hummus and Pita Bread
• Breaded Zucchini Sticks

MAIN COURSES:

• Lasagna with Sweet Potato and Cauliflower
• Lentil Shepard's Pie

SIDES:

• Mushroom Bread
• White Beans and Artichoke "Bliss in a Dish"
• roasted veggies (broccoli, carrots, etc)
• salad

DESSERT:

• Cranberry Orange Pecan Cake
• maybe a pie of some sort - apple cranberry?

I may also make some cookies but it just depends on how many days I have to work leading up to Christmas and how my arthritis is feeling at the time. Can't wait for dinner this year! Only 16 days away!! :)

Mushroom Bread

I had a bunch of leftover mushrooms from Thanksgiving that needed to be used up before they went bad, so I went on a search for recipes and decided to go with this one. The original wasn't vegan, but it was super easy to swap out for non dairy ingredients. This is the recipe, as I made it...

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1 loaf French or Italian bread
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup Earth Balance buttery spread, softened
• Daiya shredded non dairy mozzarella cheese (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Slice bread in half horizontally.
3. Mix together mushrooms, garlic and butter. Spread the mixture on both sides of the cut bread. Place the bread, cut sides up, on a baking sheet. Sprinkle preferred amount of Daiya non dairy cheese over mushroom mixture. 
4. Bake in preheated oven until cheese has melted, about 10-15 minutes. Cut in wedges to serve.

My boys looked at this as I was putting it together and said, "gross, I hate mushrooms!" When it came out of the oven they both ate multiple pieces.  Apparently mushrooms aren't so bad after all. ;) Personally I loved it! I think I may even add it to my Christmas menu this year. Delish! Will make this one again for sure!