Classic Tofu Salad Sandwich

Here is a really simple way to remake the egg salad sandwich.  I simply subbed the tofu for the eggs and used all the familiar ingredients like I did in the old days.  We have this sandwich several times a year, and it's a great dinner to make when you don't have much time.  I've been making this for sooooo long, and it's still good every time.  Served with greens on the side, it makes for a healthy lunch or dinner.

Classic Tofu Salad Sandwich

Ingredients:

1 12-14 oz. pkg. extra-firm tofu, water-packed, drained
1 cup of vegenaise
2 Tbs. yellow mustard
1 Tbs. dill pickle relish
Salt and pepper to taste
Bread

Directions:

In a medium bowl, mash the tofu with a masher or fork.  Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the bread.  Stir well.  It should be creamy but spreadable, not runny.  Taste and adjust ingredients to your liking.  Chill if you have time, or if not, serve immediately.  It's good either way.  Spread on a slice of bread and top with another piece.  It's that simple!  Feeds five hungry vegans.

200th Post Giveaway Winner!

We have a winner, and her name is Nicole, commenter #17!  Her blog is Musings, Ramblings and Mumblings , which follows her life as a mom and other adventures.  The problem is she hasn't written a post since 2009!  So, Nicole, maybe this is just the impetus to get you writing again.  :-)

Thank you to everyone who participated and especially for your supportive comments.  I read each and every one of them.  I started this blog to mark down my best recipes for my children, and it's been great to see it have an effect on others as well.

Nicole, take a shower with the rose petal soap, paint your nails and read your new book while the water comes to a boil for the pasta.  Enjoy your prize!  You just need to let me know where to mail this.  E-mail me at blessedmama@pacbell.net. 

Thank you!

200th Post Giveaway!

Hello, and once again welcome to another giveaway!  The other one was only a year and a half ago :-).  Really, it seemed like it took FO-EVAH to get to this one.   With all the Blogger problems I had last year and with my struggles with my own energy this year, I am just thankful I finally made it to 200.  Whew.

So, the major thing that I did to my blog since #100 was that I added pages at the top.  I linked all of my recipes there, and I haven't counted, but it's close to 200.  The remaining posts are things like restaurants, garden shots, awards, product reviews and such.  I'm still tweaking the Travel page and the Other Fun Stuff page, but I'm happy overall with my pages.  If there's anything that can make my blog more user-friendly, please let me know.  You can reach me at:  blessedmama@pacbell.net.

Soooooooo, before I show the pic of what I'm giving away, you have to suffer once again through Memory Lane: a short reminder of some of the highlights of the last 100 recipes.  No fair jumping to the end.  If you want to read any of the recipes that are pictured, just click on their captions.  Enjoy!

BREAKFASTS:

Breakfast Potato Skillet

Breakfast Links

Peach Cream Cheese Spread

Tofu Ranchero

BREADS:

Cheesy Garlic Bread

Pumpkin Pecan Bread with Chocolate Glaze

Sugary Lemon Loaf

Loaded Cinnamon Rolls

ENTREES:

Warm Lentils with Carmelized Onions and Red Bell Peppers over Greens with a Tangy Mustard Dressing

Seitan Steak and Asparagus Roll-ups with Hollandaise Sauce

Cornbread Stuffed Setian with Whte Bean Gravy and Toasted Cornbread Crumbles

Maple-Glazed Seitan Roast

Tofu with Wild Spinach and Almonds

Red Beans over Barley

JUST VEGGIES AND SALADS:

Radical Rice Salad
AND
Zukes with Anaheim Peppers and Garlic

Vegetable Salad

Roasted Baby Artichokes

Raw Sweet Potato, Beet and Coconut Salad

SOUPS AND SANDWICHES:

Bean and Facon Soup

Fiesta Lentil-Pea Soup

Teriyaki Tofu Tango Sandwich

Confetti Tofu with Red Pepper Hummus on Rye

DESSERTS:

Big and Little Pink Strawberry Cakes, Naturally

Black Tie Cheesecake

Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Cookies 'n' Cream Cake

You made it, congratulations!  I hope that wasn't too long or boring for you.  But, it's nice to see the journey from 100 to 200, don't you think?  If you want to check out more recipes, just click on the Recipes tab above.  And again, I'm available to answer any questions at my e-mail.

Now, you ask: what am I giving away?  Here's the photo and the description below:

What we have here are:

• Two boxes of Road's End Organics Dairy and Gluten-free Penne and Chreese, cheddar style.  You need two boxes to feed five hungry vegans.  I would also suggest adding a bit more soy milk than the box suggests for a creamier sauce.
• Cruelty-free nail polish by Zoya.  I didn't know until after I purchased it that all the colors are women's names.  This one is Kali.  Had I know beforehand, I would have found one with my real name as the color.  But, I don't know if they could fit Supreme Amazing Modest Esmerelda Laquisha Hoppenboffer-Dippendorf on the label. Next time, I'll check it out just to be sure.  But, I've been wearing mine for a week now, and it is amazing - barely any chips!  I'm impressed.  With my small number of male commenters, perhaps, if you don't want to wear this shade, you may have a sister or mother or friend that might appreciate it.
• On that note, I also have Rose Petal-scented soap by One with Nature.  This Dead Sea mineral soap lasts so long!  I love it, and they come in so many realistic scents.  I let my girls pick out their choices first when I come home with them.  We haven't found one yet that we don't like.
• Finally, you get a copy of John Robbins' The Food Revolution.  I'm really looking forward to reading my copy right along with you.  It's supposed to have made a real impact on so many people who have read it.

No photo of me this year, sorry!  I know, I know, I hear your tears.  To make up for it, when I reach 1000 posts, maybe I'll let you fly me pay for my road trip out to your city and we can celebrate!  Yay!  Ha ha!

That's it!  I hope you like the gifts.  Who is this open to you may ask?

• Anyone!
• Followers
• Non-followers
• Lurkers
• First-time viewers
• First-time commenters
• People who have stumbled across me by accident
• Domestic (U.S.) people
• International - why not? - It's only once every year and half!

If there's anyone I've missed, and you're in that category, you can also try and win.  The rules?  Easy!  Last year, I had people number their space in the comments, but that didn't work out so well.  If I ever get over 50 or near 50 comments, I'll worry about numbering at that time.  Just comment - ONCE.  You are only allowed ONE entry.  I will NOT be responding to your comments or questions on the comment space on this post.  If you need a response, I will come to your blog.  If you don't have a blog, and you need a response, e-mail me at blessedmama@pacbell.net.  That's all you have to do: comment ONCE.  I will go to random.org and pick a winner from the list.  This will be open until midnight Sunday, August 19th, 2012.  I will announce the winner on Monday, the 20th.  I need to have a way to reach you, so I can let you know you've won, and you can get me your mailing address. If you have a blog, I'll reach you there.  If not, I'll be posting the winner on my blog, as well.  If you are the winner, you can e-mail your address.

Just like last time, no pushing and shoving.  Everyone will have a turn.  Good luck!  Have fun! And thanks for reading my blog!  I appreciate all of you!
  

Savannah Cake, Watermelon Cake, Hulk Cake and Birthday Dinners!

Some of my regular readers may remember that every July I have a few days where I am on birthday overload.  SR's and JK's b-days are six days apart; my dad's is a week earlier, and my mom's is a week later.  For the kids, I have a long day where we have two birthday parties back to back.  It's fun, but we always take a deep breath when it's done.  I always let the Blessings pick what kind of cake they want and what they want for the birthday dinners.  Since we eliminated artificial colors and flavors and preservatives, along with the already eliminated msg and corn syrup, a couple of years ago, they only get to have the "bad" stuff on their birthdays.  They can pick anything they want to eat at their parties.  With that in mind, two of the cakes below have colors in them, but one is all natural, and I'll share what I did with that. Enjoy the birthday tour!

SR turned 15 on July 20th, which was the same day as her acting class.  I made these cookies 'n' cream cupcakes for her to share, which we have at least once a year.  They are from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

SR wanted to go out for her dinner and picked one of our family's most favorite restaurants: Andy Nguyen's II.  Do not mistake this for Andy Nguyen's, which my mom took me to on my birthday; this is No. 2, and although it is not a vegan restaurant, the veg choices there are excellent.  It is so unfortunate that this shot came out blurry because their Vegetarian Hot and Sour Soup is outstanding.  We always ask for extra tofu to be added.  Some of the fam likes to add steamed rice to their bowl with the soup.

These are their Vegetarian Rolls - so good.

These are their Crispy Noodles with Tofu - awesome.

This is their Vegetable Fried Rice without egg - yums.  Andy's is located at 10145 Folsom Blvd. in Rancho Cordova, CA.  Their phone is (916) 362-2270.  They know us so well that when I call them up, Vinny the co-owner, says my name before I can say who I am.  A nice touch.

 

The next day was the birthday parties. JK turned 6 on the 26th and said he wanted a Savannah cake for his party.  Savannah cake, hmm?  Well, I first tried to find a little bag of toy animals that were Savannah-like to decorate the cake, but no luck. So, GR and I made the animals from play dough.  GR made the giraffe, crocodile and snake, and I made the tiger, elephant and lion.

 For the cake I used my recipe for my White Cake with White Buttercream Frosting .  I baked it in a 9x12 pan.  I made the frosting as usual - I took about 1/4 of it out and stirred in 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. of turmeric into it.  I divided the rest in half; to one half I blended in 2 Tbs. of cocoa.  I spread the white sky on first, then added the hilly brown, then used a fork to spread on the Savannah grass.  I thought this came out pretty cute.  JK got to keep his little animals.

SR remembered GR's 10th Birthday Cake  and wanted that again but wanted it to be deliberately made to look like a watermelon cake.  So, I made the cake the same way, but I put in 2 cups of chocolate chips in the batter and skipped the sprinkles on top.  This is such a moist cake. To avoid artificial coloring, you could use sweetened and reduced asparagus water for the frosting and pureed strawberries for the batter.

We actually left for camping on JK's birthday, and we had a blast celebrating it in the woods.  For his dinner, he picked tofu fried his favorite way: plain.  He likes to dip fried tofu in ketchup and raw tofu in soy sauce.  :-)  He wanted a banana and strawberry salad and Kids Love It! Potato Salad . 

He wanted a Hulk cake, so Mommy did her best with a butter knife and fork.  I made the White Cake with White Buttercream Frosting again in two cake rounds but added 1/2 cup of cocoa to the batter.  I saved a a small portion of the frosting and kept it white and added various amounts of green coloring to get his hair and skin.  I tried to make him grimace - what do you think?  I brushed his hair very nicely, though.  :-)  Normally I would have used asparagus or artichoke water to make the coloring, but with my energy levels lately, I copped out... But he only got colors on his birthday!

I had the clever idea of putting the candles in Hulk's eyes and teeth.  Creepy!  Hulk on fire!

Here's what a slice of Hulk looks like.

We had a great time camping and celebrating little ones' birthdays!  Thanks for sharing the memories with us.

Classic Biscuits

I'm back with another classic recipe.  No longer do you need to buy pre-made biscuits in a tube.  You can have fresh, fluffy ones sans chemicals on your table in just about a half hour.  The key is to not roll these out too thinly.  Keep the dough fairly thick - between 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick for super thick, fluffy biscuits.

Thanks for all the well-wishes on my energy and health.  The vitamins do seem to be helping, although I'm not back 100 percent.  I've had a magnesium deficiency for some time and I just basically need to always take that vitamin.  When I forget or run out, I start twitching all over, and my poor left tricep is worn out - it twitches the most.  I've also had terrible plantar fasciatis, and that pain has not only worn me out but has discouraged me from doing any walking, which creates a snowball effect for things being left undone.  Just yesterday I had a cortisone shot for it, so I'm hoping that will help.  Plus G thinks I have chronic fatigue syndrome, but I'm not going there!  Anyhoo, I am feeling better, and we're leaving for a camping trip tomorrow. I'm hoping fresh mountain air and swimming in a lake will revive me.  So, I'll respond to comments when I get back.  The 200th post giveaway is right around the corner, so don't give up on me yet!  Also, I'll have plenty of cute birthday cakes to post when I post next.

Classic Biscuits

Biscuits with margarine accompanying a bowl of soup

Classic Biscuits

Ingredients:

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbs. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
2/3 cup shortening
1 and 1/2 cups soy milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Add the shortening and use a fork or pastry cutter to blend it in until the dough is crumbly.  Use your fingers, if necessary, to complete the job.  Add the soy milk, and stir until well blended.  On a large, lightly floured surface knead the dough for about minute, not longer, or else it will get tough.  Put half the dough back in the bowl.  Roll out the other half to about a 1/2 inch thick.  Using a round glass, cut circles of dough out and place on an ungreased baking sheet.  When you've cut out as many circles as you can, roll the dough back up into a small ball and roll out a second time.  Try to handle as little as possible.  Continue cutting out circles.   With the last remaining dough, shape with your hands a final biscuit.  Repeat process with second half of dough waiting its turn in the bowl.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Serve hot in a bowl covered with a towel.  Makes approximately two dozen biscuits.  Feeds five hungry vegans for two meals.

Creamy Dill Dip

This is a wonderfully creamy, easy-to-make dip that's perfectly cool for the heat of summer.  Enjoy this with some fresh garden veggies, and you have a terrific snack to share with loved ones.

Creamy Dill Dip

Creamy Dill Dip with green onions, red and orange bell peppers, carrots and mushrooms.

Creamy Dill Dip

Ingredients:

1 - 8 oz.. tub Tofutti cream cheese
1 - 12 oz. tub vegan sour cream
1 Tbs. dried dill or 1/3 cup fresh dill, minced
1/2 tsp. salt

Fresh veggies of your choice

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients, except the dippin' veggies, and stir well until thoroughly combined.  Chill for at least one hour.  Serve with the fresh veggies. Mild tasting and good.  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Splatter Chili

Hello, everyone!  Sorry about the extended absence.  I've been caught up in a lot of personal stuff, and I've been hit really hard with a startling lack of energy.  I haven't done anything for about a month, which has led to the destruction of my garden, the shambles of my home, the boredom of my Blessings, the backlog on my computer, and all the guilt that goes along with that.  I've since bought some vitamins that G and I think I may be lacking in, and I've forced myself to start exercising again after taking the month off.  So, hopefully, this will pass.  I apologize for not being here and for not commenting on your amazing blogs.  But, I am coming near my 200th post, which means another giveaway, so I'm going to try very hard to keep up on posting.  I hope all has been going well with all of you.  Now, on with the food!

I first made this dish when G and I were first married eons ago.  His workplace had a chili cook-off, and he wanted to show off his young wife's chili culinary skills...to a bunch of carnivores...that worked at a sewage treatment plant...yes.  Oh, don't worry, this gets better - I have yet to post my spaghetti recipe that G had me make for a fundraiser at said place of employment - mine was the only dish, by the way: the sole source of fundraising.  Oh, the faith he had in me as a newlywed.  So, anyway, he named my home-famous chili Splatter, called me the Veggie Vixen, stuck an apron on me, and said, "Make!"  Sadly Splatter did not win there that day but has since won the hearts of many people at church and in my homeschool group that have had various meal needs over time.  As a matter of fact, every single time I've made this chili for someone, all of whom have been decidedly non-vegan, they've wanted the recipe.  It is thinner that most chilis; that's because I added the liquid from the cans directly in the pot - you can always drain them for a thicker meal.  I've also slightly updated my original recipe for you.  Instead of writing "half a bag of frozen corn," leaving us to wonder what size bag I was using, I changed it to "one cup."  I also just apparently eyeballed my spices because they are listed by name with no amounts.  That has been modified as well.  I've thawed frozen tofu for the recipe: if you don't know it, doing that creates a crumbly texture, which I like here.  I mentioned some time ago that years before I started the blog, I created a cookbook for my loved ones in Word, so that is where this recipe has been culled and updated for the blog.  Sniff, Splatter's growing up.  Hope you enjoy it!

Splatter Chili

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 - 1.25 or 1.5 oz. packet of vegan chili seasoning mix, such as by Lawry's or McCormick in the spice section of the grocery store
1 pkg. extra-firm tofu, water-packed, frozen and thawed
2 - 15 oz. cans tomatoes with green chilies
2 - 15 oz. cans pinto beans with liquid
2 - 15 oz. cans black beans with liquid
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
6 - 10 large mushrooms, sliced
2 green onions, sliced
1 cup frozen corn
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 Tbs. dried basil
1 and 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. cumin seed
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Directions:

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat.  Squeeze water from the tofu, put in pot and mash.  Cook for ten or so minutes, stirring occasionally, until tofu just starts to brown or all the liquid has evaporated.  Add the chili packet and stir.  Add the remaining ingredients.  Continue to cook over medium heat until it comes to a boil.  Turn down to medium low and cook for one hour.  Can top with vegan cheese, vegan sour cream and chopped red onions, if desired.  Serve alongside some crackers for a comforting meal.  Splatter on!  Serves five hungry vegans.