Recipes

There are two recipes that I've "created" in the last week that my husband, the meat eater, has really enjoyed. I thought I'd post them for those with picky meat eating spouses! :-)



Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:
I batch of cheeze Sauce
2/3 of a bag of shredded hash browns (the frozen kind - I guessed at how much)
2/3 - 3/4 bag of morning star "sausage" crumbles (I'm sure you could use real sausage, but the morningstar is all cooked and ready to go :-)) If you use real sausage cook it and drain it first
1/2 cup tofutti better than sour cream
bread crumbs (or some other kind of topping - French fried onions would be good, crackers would work, corn flakes might be good too).
Directions:
Mix it all up, put it in a sheet pan (casserole dish) and bake at 350 for 30-45mins (until it's hot all the way through and the potatoes are cooked.



Enchiladas

Ingredients:

1 package Fantastic world foods vegetarian sloppy joe

1 can diced tomatoes

1/2 onion

1/4 cup fresh basil

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 batch of "cheeze sauce"

1/2 container of "sour cream" (I used tofutti's better than sour cream)

salsa

Corn tortillas

Directions:

Saute diced onion until caramelized. Add can of tomatoes, sloppy joe mix, and 1/4 cup of water. Simmer until sloppy joe is cooked. (It should have the consistency of meat, kind of).

Add 1/2 container of "sour cream" (appx oz) to the "cheeze sauce"

Assemble enchiladas (put sloppy joe and some cheeze inside corn tortillas, roll, and place in a pan)

Cover enchiladas with "cheeze sauce"

Bake at 350 for 30-40 mins (until cheeze sauce is slightly browned)



Cheeze Sauce

Ingredients:

1/4 cup margarine (vegan)

1/4 cup flour

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1 TBSP soy sauce

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1/4 cup nutritional yeast (to taste)

3/4 cup "cream cheese" (to taste)



Directions:

Mix margarine and flour over low heat. Add broth, soy sauce, garlic and onion powders. When sauce is thickened whisk in nutritional yeast and "cream cheese"

This isn't my recipe. My mom found it on a website...maybe vegweb? as a sauce for green bean casserole. It has been modified. If you know where it came from, please leave a comment and I'll give credit where it's due!



Please leave comments - like, dislike, could/should change...:-)

Guilty?

Let me start with a little background. I'm a vegan mom married to a meat eating man, raising a meat eating daughter. Recently I've been thinking/researching/learning, a great deal about the health benefits of being vegan, and finding out that they are numerous. I had no idea that being vegan was so healthy. I just knew that treating animals the way that factory farmers treat them, wasn't something I was willing to support. I was a vegetarian when I met my husband 6 years ago, but I wasn't an advocate. Things are starting to change. I'm starting to change. I see the health benefits of being vegan. I know what it's done for me, both physically and emotionally, and I want my family to convert. I feel as if I've failed my daughter (who is 3 years old) by feeding her the garbage that she eats. She loves hot dogs and chicken sandwiches. (I know, I already said I feel horrible, stop looking at me like that :-)). I'm supposed to do what's best for her, but what do I do when what I know is best isn't accepted by my husband and her father as being the best? I'm working really hard on making vegan meals my whole family will eat and enjoy. I've even gone back to "fake meats" to fill in for my husband. I just feel guilty knowing that I have been feeding (and am continuing to feed) my daughter animal products.
I think maybe I can eventually convert them both...with time and patience (which I don't have an abundant supply of). I'll be posting updates. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

UPDATE: Tonight for dinner, my 3 year old ate a vegan hot dog. I know it's not the best, but it's better then a regular one! Maybe we're taking positive steps towards becoming a vegan household! :-)

6 "healthiest foods"...according to some.

Yahoo! had an article titled "6 Healthiest Foods You Aren't Eating" so I clicked on it and read the article like any good nutritionally aware person would do. (Here's the link if you want to see it http://droogie.co.uk/veggie/veggiemars.html)
Scallops? Ok, maybe...Dark Meat?! Really? We should be eating more turkey? ONLY a 1/3 of the fat is bad for you. What? Come on people. Why should I be eating more turkey of any kind? It makes you feel full longer. OK, so do whole grains. It makes me so angry to read articles that suggest that we as a nation need to eat more MEAT! I think we eat enough meat. How about we stop eating the animals and end suffering?
Sorry - I just needed to rant.

What do YOU think we need to eat more of? Or less of?