GR's 10th Birthday Cake!

Hello, again! So sorry to have been away for a couple of weeks. I had an unscheduled time off, and then just life happened. But, I'm back and should be posting regularly again, which for me is one to two times a week (three if I'm feeling prolific). So, I have a fun entry tonight. My younger daughter's tenth birthday was a few days ago, and she requested the cake pictured below. Because it's her own invention, I don't really have a name for it, except for the title above. She thought it looked like a watermelon. This is just something fun, and you can always tweak the recipe for your loved ones. Her dinner menu consisted of burgers, which were vegan Asian patties marketed as black pepper pork chops, shoestring fries, and green salad. Also pictured below is an orange being held by my oldest daughter who thinks it is the perfect orange and wanted to protect it from being devoured. She was hoping its subsequent fame would provide the needed protection.

GR's 10th Birthday Cake!

Slice of cake with vegan Neapolitan ice cream

The perfect orange held protectively

GR's 10th Birthday Cake!
Ingredients:

Cake:

1 and 1/3 cups vegan sugar
1/2 cup vegan margarine, softened
2 cups soy milk
1 Tbs. strawberry extract

1Tbs. vanilla extract
1 Tbs. red food coloring
3 cups unbleached flour
1 Tbs. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt

Frosting:

1/2 cup vegan margarine, softened
1/4 cup soy milk
3 cups powdered sugar
1 and 1/2 Tbs. vanilla extract
1 tsp. green food coloring
Chocolate sprinkles

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x12 cake pan with Pam spray. In a medium mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and margarine on low speed. Add the soy milk and carefully continue to mix on low speed. Add the extract and food coloring and whisk together. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry and mix together on low speed until it begins to blend. Increase speed to medium and mix for two to three minutes, until it is well blended. Let little beggars lick the beaters. Pour into prepared pan, and bake for 40 minutes and until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Place the pan on a cooling rack for 20 minutes. Use a non-serrated butter knife to run around the edge of the pan to make sure nothing has stuck. Put the cooling rack over the top of the pan, and invert the cake onto the rack; it will now be upside down. Let cool completely. Invert onto a serving platter in the same manner. To make the frosting, mix all the ingredients, except the sprinkles, in a medium bowl on low speed. As it blends, increase speed to medium and mix until well blended. Hand the beaters off to impatient loved ones to be thoroughly licked again. Frost the cake all the way around and on top, making sure every spare inch is covered. Sprinkle the cake like crazy with the chocolate sprinkles, or better yet, let the birthday girl (or whomever the cake is honoring) sprinkle for you! Light some candles, sing a song, serve with ice cream, and eat up! Serves more than five hungry vegans -- or five piggie hungry vegans over two days.

Tropical Seitan Pasta Salad

This is truly a family favorite. I made this dish for Christmas, and I wrote at the time that I would post the recipe soon. Well, I just made it again for my sister-in-law's birthday, so I thought I'd post it now. I am planning on playing around with making homemade seitan over the summer break, but for now, I'm very pleased with the brand I use. This has a bit of zingy flavor at first due to the brand of peanut sauce, but it's the best for this dish. I've tried other brands, and they haven't been up to par. I hope your family enjoys this and requests this as much as mine does.

Tropical Seitan Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

1 lb. of linguine
2 pkgs. of liquid packed chicken-style seitan made by Westoy
1 Tbs. of canola oil
1 red bell pepper, halved widthwise and julienned
2 papayas
1 bunch of cilantro, leaves coarsely chopped
1 jar of House of Tsang peanut sauce
3 limes

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain. While pasta water is heating, heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Drain the liquid from the seitan packages. I reserve the liquid for later uses, such as a base for gravy or stock for soup. Chop the seitan into bite-sized pieces and saute them until brown, about five minutes or so. Meanwhile, while the pasta and seitan are cooking, you can prepare the fruit and veggies, unless you're organized and done this ahead of time. In a large bowl, put the julienned bell pepper and cilantro leaves. A quick way I remove the cilantro leaves from the stems is to hold the entire bunch of stems in one hand, and take a sharp knife and quickly slice down towards the cutting board. I turn the cilantro around to get all sides. If I get small chunks of stem, they get chopped up into the dish as well. To prepare the papaya, slice in half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds. Then cut in several long, narrow wedges. Take your paring knife, and carefully slice the fruit from the peel, then cut in each wedge in half widthwise. Add these to the bowl. When the seitan is cooked, add it to the bowl. Pour the hot noodles in as well, before they have time to stick together while cooling. Gently toss all the goodies together. Pour the entire bottle of peanut sauce over everything, and toss to thoroughly coat. Cut each lime into quarters, and squeeze the juice over the pasta. Mix once again. Can be served at room temperature or chilled; both are delicious. Now you have one of my family's all-time favorite recipes. Treat it with care and love! Feeds at least five hungry vegans.

Pasta with a Kick

This is a simple recipe that I created from what was on hand once, and I've enjoyed making it since then because it's so tasty. You only need three ingredients, so that's even better!



Pasta with a Kick
Ingredients:

1 lb. of your favorite pasta (we used radiatori)
2 cups of fresh pico de gallo (we use the kind with no liquid)
1/4 cup of nutritional yeast flakes

Directions:

Prepare pasta according to package directions, and drain. Pour into a large serving bowl and stir in the pico de gallo and nutritional yeast flakes. Mix thoroughly to coat. This is surprisingly tasty, trust me. You can add more or less flakes to suit your taste. I have found adding that 1/2 cup, though, makes the dish sticky, so I wouldn't recommend going to that amount. Feeds five hungry vegans. Enjoy!

Teriyaki Tofu

This is an exceptionally easy recipe, but it tastes good, so when the family scarfs it down in five minutes, I don't feel badly that I spent hours over a hot stove - because I didn't! So, once again I've shamelessly used shortcuts. Pick your favorite teriyaki sauce; if it's store bought, try to find a brand without corn syrup or msg. The only other detailed directions would be how to press your tofu and to cut it in the triangles shown in the picture. Both of those will be explained below. Hope you find it tasty!

Teriyaki Tofu

Ingredients:

2 blocks of water packed tofu, extra-firm style
1 medium onion
1 Tbs. canola oil
1/2 cup Teriyaki sauce

Directions:

Press the tofu for at least hour before cooking. To do this, remove the tofu from their packages. Then, place several paper towels on a large cutting board with the blocks of tofu on top side by side. Place several more paper towels on top of the tofu with something heavy on top of them. I use three more cutting boards and a heavy appliance, usually my deep fryer or electric can opener. About every 20-30 minutes, swap the wet paper with new, dry ones. When ready to begin cooking, slice each tofu block into thirds horizontally, like a layered cake. Then, cut each stack of thirds into a plus sign, north/south and west/east. Keeping them in the same stack, cut it into a large "X," corner to corner. This should result in several small triangles. To prepare the onion, cut in half, then in half again lengthwise. Cut each of these sections into thin slices. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat. Add the tofu, and stir frequently for about five minutes. Add the onion, and lower the heat to medium. Cook for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. When tofu has browned and onion looks translucent, add the teriyaki sauce. Stir to coat completely, and cook until heated through, about five minutes. If you wish, you can add more sauce to suit your tastes. We serve this with rice and steamed or sauteed veggies. Feeds five hungry vegans. Enjoy!

Shortcut Blueberry Pancakes

Hello, again - what a hectic week. My husband gutted our school room, so now we have loads of stuff all over the living room and dining room. I've got a preschool group coming over on Wednesday morning, so we're madly trying to get some order back in the main rooms of the house. But, the school room is beginning to look great! Both my son and mom had surgery Friday morning, and both are fine, praise God, but it was very stressful. So, starting today, I'm taking my three blessings over to my parents' (a 30 minute drive) and homeschooling there for two weeks, so I can care for her. But, I've neglected this spot, so I'm adding a very simple recipe tonight. I hope you enjoy it. I have learned to appreciate the speed that Bisquick offers, and I am not offended to use shortcuts occasionally. I love to make things from scratch, and usually do, but this recipe offers a speedy way to make a quick and nutritious meal. I've pretty much just veganized the recipe on the back of the box and added blueberries, but so as not to cheat, I'll list everything below. Also, I have noticed that if I make real-sized pancakes, my numbers turn out less than the box says, so I've doubled everything.

Shortcut Blueberry Pancakes

Ingredients:

4 cups Original Bisquick mix
2 cups of soy milk
Ener-G Egg Replacer for four eggs: 2 Tbs. of the mix with 8 Tbs. of water
1 cup of frozen blueberries with extra for garnish
Your favorite syrup
Canola oil as needed

Directions:

Heat one tablespoon of oil over medium heat on a pancake griddle. While oil is heating, mix the Bisquick, soy milk, Egg Replacer, and water in a medium bowl with a whisk or spoon. Add blueberries and gently stir. When oil is hot, take a large spoon and scoop out batter onto griddle. Mine hold four pancakes, and I'm guessing it's about a third of a cup per pancake - they end up about the size of my hand, or just a tad smaller. Cook until bottom is browned, about three to five minutes, and gently flip with a pancake spatula. Gently press down once flipped. The second side cooks faster than the first. When browned on the second side, check to see if there is any batter that has oozed but not cooked. If so, flip again and press those edges down to brown. Set on serving platter. Add the same amount of oil for each batch. I also check to see if I need to turn down my heat slightly, for often my griddle seems to get hotter over time. If they brown too fast, they may burn, or the middle may stay gooey. Top with more blueberries (which have thawed by now) and your favorite syrup. Feeds five hungry vegans with leftovers to freeze for quick morning breakfasts. Enjoy!