Veganizing an old favorite: Apricot Chicken

My mom used to make this awesome Apricot Chicken, that was SO EASY. So, I took a stab at veganizing it.

Try some Un-Chicken instead!

The original recipe calls for:

• Boneless skinless chicken breasts (eww)
• One packet of Lipton Onion Soup Mix (accidentally vegan)
• One bottle of Russian or Catalina Dressing
• One jar of Apricot preserves
• Preheat oven to 375. Mix all ingredients together. Pour mixture over chicken. Cook for 30-45 minutes (Gosh, I don’t miss how long real chicken takes to cook).

So really, the only thing I needed to veganize was the Chicken. I opted to try Gardein’s Chickn Scallopini instead of the Chicken and adjusted the cook time in the on to 15-20 minutes.

I also love to make Mahatma Yellow Rice (also accidentally vegan, and gluten free!) to accompany this dish. It’s my favorite yellow rice, and I just substitute Earth Balance in place of butter in the recipe.

The recipe turned out pretty good, but to tell the truth, I’m not crazy about Gardein’s Scallopini. I love some of their other products, so I’d be curious what the recipe would taste like with their Chick’n Filets. I also think Seitan might be a good option to make this dish taste even better!

 

 

Vegan Confession: Tofutti Sour Cream

Hello all. I’m in Florida this week, soaking up some natural vitamin D. I think I’ve mentioned before, my mom is recently vegan, so we’ve been experimenting with some recipes this week. Oh boy, the fun that is in store.
But today. I need to make another vegan confession.

I’m also addicted to Tofutti Sour Cream.

My go-to super-indulgent snack is Veggie Chips dipped in Tofutti. Also, take a Lipton’s onion soup package and mix it with Tofutti and you have a yummy Onion Dip!

I also add it to pretty much every good winter food. Chili, soup, Tacos. You name it, Tofutti Sour Cream will go on it.

So, bless me, for this is my latest confession.

*Tofutti has no idea who I am. I buy TONS of it with my own dime. So needless to say, this is not a sponsored post. I’m just a big, big fan.

Crock Pot Week

This week was busy, and there was no time for grocery shopping. We ate out every night this week. Dave Ramsey would scold us.

Anyhoo. I’m heading to the grocery store and have lots of yummy fall-friendly (and EASY) crock pot meals on the menu for next week.

Stay tuned!

Happy Weekend!

Cheesy Brocolli Casserole

My mom used to make this amazing Chicken and Broccoli dish. We called it “Carol Charlesworth’s Chicken,” because she got the recipe from a parent at my elementary school.

I missed this dish for a long time. My mom stopped making it eventually after we grew up and moved out.

Last weekend, I was planning our meals for the week and asked D what he wanted for dinner. He said “can you make a cheesy broccoli casserole?”

Once again, I turned to Google for a recipe and found the Happy Go Lucky Vegan’s Mom’s Broccoli Casserole!

mmm, just like mom made it!

 

It’s a super easy dish to make. I even conquered my blender fears!

The only things I would change would be to add more onion salt and cheese/nooch. It was a little bland, but I also tend to go easy on the salt, so once I seasoned a little bit more with the onion salt (and mixed in some Tofutti Sour Cream) the dish was super yummy.

I’d also like to try it sometime with a “chicken” type substitute. Maybe Tofu or Seitan. I think both would mix well in this dish!

What we ate last week

Life has been super busy lately. Luckily, it’s been busy with good things, but I have a nice backlog of photos from various dinners we’ve enjoyed recently.

I’ll start off with lunch! Sometimes, it’s hard to find vegan-friendly food in the food court at work. I stumbled upon this Cajun restaurant and notice that their veggies are all vegan friendly. Feeling good that my collards weren’t mixed with bacon fat, I ordered a plate of four veggie sides that really hit the spot. This place also offer pretty good tofu, but I was in the mood for a lighter dish.

Plate o' veggies

Next, one of my favorite spring/summer dishes are the Black Bean, Zucchini & Olive Tacos from Isa’s Appetite for Reduction. I omit the olives. Everything looks so colorful when it’s cooking in the pan!

About to be taco filling!

Finally, one of D’s absolute favorites is the Barbecue Beans and Rice from Dr. McDougall’s Quick and Easy Cookbook.  You can jazz this dish up with any other veggie you wish. I had some fresh red, green and yellow peppers – so into the pot they went!

BBQ Beans & Rice

You can probably tell I like “one-pot” types of dinners. I usually try to serve a side salad  too. I love anything that”s quick and easy!

 

Stroganoff Sans Mushrooms

I was inspired by Luminous Vegans post on veganizing Beef Stroganoff. D is also a big stroganoff fan, and that’s actually one of the first meals he ever made me (back when we were still eating animals).

However, D doesn’t like mushrooms. So although Veggie Grette’s recipe for mushroom stroganoff looked and sounded delish, I knew it wouldn’t be the right recipe for us.

I scoured the web and came upon this recipe from Lux Hippie for the “Best Vegan Stroganoff Ever.” Well, with a name like that, I had to give it a try.

"beefy" "cheesy" goodness

I didn’t have Seitan on hand, so I substituted with Gimme Lean “beef.” I also used quinoa shells instead of brown rice fusilli, since it’s what I had on hand.

The stroganoff was so quick and easy to make, and super delicious. D approved, and we both happily ate two bowls.

* * *

Now, a small warning. Sometimes we forget that we can get food poisoning from greens. I think my kale was bad, because about 30 minutes after dinner, both of us had. . . well, some stomach issues. We don’t normally have reactions to any other ingredient used in the dish, so I definitely think the Kale was the culprit.

So, just be careful and make sure your greens are fresh and well washed before eating. Your tummy will thank you.

 

Scared of Cashews

I have a confession. I’m intimidated by cashews.

I see all of these yummy vegan recipes. . .and they all require cashews.

I don’t know why I’m intimidated. I think anything I have to soak and blend just sounds so difficult.

I know one day I’ll try one of these recipes, and I’ll see how easy it is and my cashew fear will go away. I think I just need encouragement.

 

Easiest Vegan Lasagna Ever

My mom sent me a recipe a couple of weeks ago for vegan lasagna. I’m all about anything that I can throw together and throw in the oven, and this recipes fits that bill!

First, you preheat your oven to 350 and mash up some extra-firm tofu in a bowl (pardon my photos, I was playing around with FX camera)

 

Mashing tofu in the 70's.

I use a potato masher on my tofu. I find that it creates a “scrambled egg” like consistency for scrambles, and a “ricotta” consistency for lasagna.

Then, you mix in nutritional yeast, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

In another bowl, dump two jars of vegan pasta sauce. I used Organicville Tomato Basil the first time (although, your simple generic brand is great too).

Organicville Tomato Basil Sauce

Then, mix a veggie of your choice in with the pasta sauce. I was super lazy and bought pre-chopped peppers at whole foods. My mom used brocolli since my dad isn’t a pepper fan. I think this would be great with spinach, or even kale too!

Get some no-boil lasagna noodles (which are are awesome, I wish I knew about these years ago). Put a layer of the sauce mixture on the bottom of the pan, followed by a layer of noodles, then a layer of tofu, then a layer of sauce. Repeat three times.

Easiest. Lasagna. Ever.

Put in the oven for 50-60 minutes and Enjoy!

 

 

Beans and (Veggie)Dogs

I’ve been obsessed with my slow cooker lately. The cold(ish) weather, plus busy days at work, plus evening activities like yoga class make me want a quick and easy dinner. I love EASY slow cooker recipes with little to no prep work. The kind of recipes where you just throw lots of stuff in the slow cooker and set it for 8 hours.

This recipe from I Married an Omnivore is just that (She has TONS of great looking slow cooker recipes, so you’ll probably see her recipes on the blog). Throw three cans of baked beans (I used Whole Food’s fat free baked beans), some sliced up veggie dogs (I used Smart Dogs), some onions, some molasses, ketchup and mustard in the slow cooker, mix together and voila! A super easy supper.

No woof, lots of yum

I served with some brown rice from the rice cooker (it cooked while I took the dog on his evening walk) along with a sprinkle of Daiya Cheddar and a dollop of Tofutti sour cream.

I’m going to try some slow cooker stew, slow cooker “pot roast,” and a new lasagna recipe in the next couple of weeks!

Do you have any slow cooker favorites?

Hippie Loaf

The weeks leading up to the holidays have been crazy, but luckily it’s all good stuff.

Two weeks ago, we added a new member to our family. 5 readers, meet River!

River

 He’s a two year old Great Pyrenees and a big bundle of snuggle. He’s a lap dog, even though he’s 65 pounds.  He likes long walks, and licking peanut butter out of his Kong.

In other news, Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching. We have two Thanksgiving dinners this year, one at noon in Gainesville and one in the evening at my aunt’s house. We are making a green bean casserole, twice baked potato casserole, and a sweet potato casserole. I’m also thinking of making and bringing HH’s Hippie Loaf, so that we have some protein alternative to Turkey this year.

I LOVE HH’s Hippie Loaf. It’s seriously easy, and SO tasty.

Yum on your face

If you click on the image, it’ll take you to HH’s recipe. I’ve made this about 4 times in the past month. It takes a little time to cook, about 45 minutes, but it only takes about 10 minutes to throw everything together! Hubbers doesn’t like mushrooms, so I omitted those, and I was lazy the last two times and didn’t include the carrots or celery either.

 

To me, it’s the same consistency of meatloaf, but tastes way better. It also makes you feel way better. I usually serve it with a side of mashed potatoes and green beans. Yum!

 

Happy Holidays!