Andouille Sausage Sandwich

- 1 package cooked Andouille sausage
- 1/2 cup Spicy Dijon Mustard
- 1/2 cup onions sliced
- 1/2 cup sliced green peppers
- 1/2 cup sliced red peppers
- 1/2 tbsp butter or margarine
- 4 sets of potato buns (or any buns of your choice)

Heat a pan on medium-high heat. Melt tablespoon of butter. Add peppers and onions and sauté for 3-4 minutes. I added the Andouille Sausage into the pan with the peppers and onion to heat up and allow any run off from the juice of the sausage to go straight into the pan.

Lightly toast buns in the toaster oven. Once everything is heated, remove from heat. Spread Dijon mustard generously on top bun. Take each sausage and slice into 4ths (so that you get 4 pieces of sausage from one sausage). Lay each slice of sausage flat side down onto bottom bun. Top with sauteed peppers and onion. Place top bun onto sausage and onions and enjoy. Super easy!

Green Chile Cheese Fries

- 1 package frozen french fries
- 1 can mild diced green chiles
- 3 cups shredded Mexican cheese mix (or you can use a combo of Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack etc.) – soy cheese for vegans
- salt and pepper to taste
- sour cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet or pan with foil. Lay out frozen fries onto foil. Cook fries for about 10-12 minutes according to package instructions in oven. Once fries are cooked or nearly cooked remove. Hit warm fries with some salt and pepper. Sprinkle 1 1/2 cups of cheese blend over fries. Sprinkle diced green chiles evenly over fries. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and place back in oven. Bake for an additional 10 minutes or until all cheese is fully melted. Remove from oven and allow to sit for a minute or so. Use a spatula to serve fries into dishes. Dollop a little sour cream on top and enjoy.

Buffalo Mac ‘n Cheese

– 1 box of elbow macaroni
1/4 cup diced celery
- 1 cup diced chicken (I used Tyson grilled chicken strips)
- 2 cups mild cheddar cheese
- 1/3 cup buffalo sauce
-1 tsp white pepper
-1 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter or margarine
- 1 tbsp flour
- water
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup crumbled bleu cheese (optional)

Bring a pot of water to boil. Add salt to the water. Drop in elbow macaroni and cook for 7-9 minutes or until the macaroni is al dente. Once macaroni is finished cooking, drain and set aside.

In a sauce pan begin making your cheese sauce. Heat pan on medium-high heat. Add margarine or butter and allow to melt fully before adding flour. Once you add flour, use a whisk to make sure all flour is incorporated with the melted butter. Add milk Turn the heat to low and allow milk to heat up for about a minute or so. After about a minute or so return heat to medium and add cheddar cheese. Whisk to quickly melt. Add buffalo sauce and whisk. Add celery and cook for 2-3 minutes to soften. Then add chicken.

Add the macaroni directly to the sauce pot Fold in macaroni with cheese and celery until it is fully incorporated. Add salt and pepper. Serve into dishes and top with crumbled bleu cheese (I hate bleu cheese but if you like it I imagine you’d want to do this)

Fried Okra w/Quick Remoulade

- 1/4 pound fresh okra, rinsed, tops and ends removed
- 1 cup tempura batter
- water
- Cajun seasoning
- oil for frying
- salt to taste

Remoulade
- 1/4 cup prepared horseradish
- 2 1/2 tbsp ketchup
- 2 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- salt and pepper to taste

Add oil to a frying pan and put the heat on medium-high.

Follow instructions for tempura using water to create a thick batter. Add cajun seasoning to batter. Cut okra into quarter-inch pieces. To test oil drop a small dot of batter into the oil. If the batter immediately comes up and starts frying, the oil is ready. If it drops towards the bottom of the pan then it still needs a few more minutes to heat up. Once oil is ready, dip okra into tempura batter by the handful (just so it’s easier for you to handle). Slowly drop battered okra into frying pan. Allow to fry for about a minute or until the outside is a golden brown. Remove fried okra from pan with a slotted spoon and place onto a paper-lined bowl. Hit the hot okra with a little bit of salt on top.

Repeat with remaining okra.

For remoulade, in a bowl combine all ingredients until fully incorporated and you get a nice light orangey color in the mix. Serve alongside fried okra for dipping.

Red Velvet Cheesecake

This was my own choice to serve as the “birthday cake” for my brother. I love red-velvet anything and I’d had a craving for Stephanie’s Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory. If anyone has eaten it there then they know that the cheesecake comes layered much like many of Junior’s famous cheesecakes in New York. It was going to be quite the task for me because I’ve never made a layered cake before let alone 3 layers of 2 different kinds of cakes. But I knew if I could get anywhere near the results of The Cheesecake Factory and even better, Junior’s then it was a challenge I was wholeheartedly willing to accept. I started the night before by making the cheesecake so it would have several hours to refrigerate overnight…

Crustless Cheesecake
- 3 packages of 8 oz. cream cheese at room temperature
- 3 eggs (egg substitute which is what I used and it came out just like normal cheesecake)
- 1 cup sugar or sugar substitute
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- pinch of salt
- Springform pan (imperative!)

Like the ingredients suggest, a spring form pan is imperative to make the cheesecake, ESPECIALLY since we are making it crustless.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a mixing bowl add cream cheese. Using a mixer, begin slowly mixing cream cheese together. Add sugar and continue to mix until fluffy. Add eggs or egg substitute and continue beating. Once all ingredients are incorporated add salt, lemon juice and vanilla one by one. Once everything is mixed scrape down all sides of the bowl to make sure everything has been mixed.

Spray your spring form pan with non-stick spray. Pour cheesecake batter into pan. Make sure it’s even in pan otherwise when you try to layer when preparing the cake you will get a lopsided cake. Place pan in oven and cook for about 40-45 minutes or until the cake passes the toothpick test.

Once cheesecake is done, remove from oven and allow to cool for about 30 minutes. Use a knife to just cut around the outer edge of the cake just to ensure that it doesn’t stick to the sides. Do not remove cake from pan. Place cake directly into fridge and allow to sit over night. I didn’t put any plastic wrap or foil over the pan because I didn’t want to run the risk of any leftover heat escaping the pan and causing condensation as a result onto the cake.

Red Velvet Cake
- 1 box red velvet cake mix
- 1 egg (or egg substitute according to cake directions)
- 1/3 cup oil (according to box instructions
- round cake pan same size as your spring form

Again the pan is imperative here. You want to make sure your cake pan is the same size as your spring form so you don’t have an uneven cake. Obviously you will want to refer before you make either cake so be sure you check before you go through the trouble of baking.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In a bowl combine red velvet cake mix, egg, and oil. Use a mixer to mix all ingredients and create a smooth batter. Spray your cake pan with nonstick spray. Pour cake batter into pan and once again make sure it’s all even.

Place pan in oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes or until cake passes toothpick test. Once the cake is finished remove from oven and allow it to cool completely for about a half hour.

Layering the Cake
Remove cheesecake from fridge. Once your red-velvet cake is completely cooled, CAREFULLY remove it from the pan. The easiest way I found to do this was to place a large serving dish on top of the pan and then flip the pan over.

Now here’s where you have to be precise, the the bottom side up, carefully take a large sharp knife, gently put one hand on top of the cake, and with your other hand, cut the cake in half horizontally. Now, this part was definitely not my brightest moment but in the end everything turned out ok so no worries here. Once your knife comes through to the other side, carefully lift the top cut part of the cake, and place it on your serving dish flat bottom side down. Now don’t worry if you have bits of cake fall off here and there. You can do what I did and use it as topping.

Here’s where you may be asking what about the frosting? You can easily make your own but for time’s sake I bought 2 containers of Betty Croker’s Rich & Creamy Cream Cheese frosting.

Take a spatula (or if you have a pastry froster that’s a plus, I know I have one somewhere in my kitchen but I scoured everywhere and I couldn’t find it so I just used a spatula), and frost the outside and top of your cut cake until it is completely covered.

Next step is your cheesecake. Open the spring form pan. Using a spatula, gently lift your cheesecake from the bottom of the pan, and place on top of your first layer of frosted cake. Frost the outside and top of your cheesecake.

Next step, take the second part of your red velvet cake and place it on top of your cheesecake, the smooth side (or un-cut side) up. Frost the side and top of second layer of cake. Then like i said, any cake that had crumbled in the process I crumbled up and sprinkled it on top.

Place cake in fridge for about an hour. When ready, remove from fridge, cut and serve.

Lucky for me this cake was every bit delicious as I hoped it would be and thankfully not too sweet despite all the frosting.

Not Pictured: “New Orleans Hurricane”
Not pictured cause my family and friends are drunks and consumed it all. I came across this drink since I’m not exactly a mixologist on some bar website. Nowadays putting together the words New Orleans and Hurricanes isn’t exactly PC. SO! I’m changing the name of it to the Drew Breeze (ha ha get it?)

- dark rum
- light rum
- pineapple juice
- orange juice
- lime juice
- grenadine syrup (or I think any fruity syrup will do personally)
- sugar
- ice

Now I don’t have any proportions why? Cause when it comes to alcoholic drinks you can put however much of whatever you want into it. Looking to get drunk? Obviously add more rum. Don’t want to get drunk? Then add more juice it’s entirely up to you. Taste it and test it.

Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice and serve in tall glasses and drink up.

I saw that I had some very ripe bananas lying around as well as an excess of rum. I know the obvious thought would be to just drink the rum, but I’m not much of a heavy drinker these days. My original plan was to make the traditional bananas foster but I didn’t quite feel like dealing with the flambé part of the dish. So I opted for something a bit more simpler and would last longer throughout the week to nom nom on and came up with this. The bars were light and chewy and the rum is very subtle in taste.

- 1/2 cup butter or unsalted margarine softened
- 1 1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (or you can use wheat flour like I did)
- 1 cup dark brown sugar (raw sugar)
- 1 egg (egg substitute)
- 1 tbsp dark rum
- 1/2 tbsp Pumpkin Pie Spice (if you don’t have this you can use cinnamon and nutmeg)
- pinch of baking powder and baking soda
- pinch of salt

Frosting
- 1 cup plain cream cheese (Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese) at room temperature
- 1/2 tbsp white sugar (raw sugar or agave syrup)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp dark rum

Topping
- Nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray non-stick spray to a 9 inch pan (or if you want the bars to be a little thicker use a smaller pan). Use one bowl to combine all your wet and soft ingredients and a bowl to combine all your dry ingredients. For wet use a mixer cream together butter and sugar. Once you’ve got a creamy consistency add your remaining liquid ingredients: rum and egg. For dry ingredients combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Add to your wet ingredients. Add your mashed bananas and mix to get a batter like consistency. If you don’t mind your bars being a little chunky on the inside don’t worry if there are still chunks of bananas in it.

Pour batter into pan and make sure it’s even on all sides. Place in oven and bake for 22-25 minutes or until passes the toothpick test. Once it’s done remove from oven and allow to cool.

For the frosting, in a bowl combine cream cheese, rum, sugar and vanilla extract. Since I wasn’t handling a lot of cream cheese I just used a spoon to whip all the ingredients together. Once the bars have completely cooled, spread cream cheese frosting over the top. Even though they’ll be tempting to consume right away I put the pan in the fridge for about an hour to allow the frosting to set but it’s really up to you how you want to do it. Remove pan from fridge after about an hour and cut into square bars. I topped each of my bars with a walnut but it’s entirely your choice if you want to top them with anything. Eat and enjoy!

I love Auntie Anne’s Pretzels that they have at the mall. I hadn’t however had one in a really, REALLY long time.  I had this sudden inexplicable craving for them one night but by that time the mall was naturally closed.  I decided then to try my hand at making my own.  The results tasted JUST LIKE Auntie Anne’s (with maybe a little less butter).  Now I don’t need to go to the mall to get my pretzel fix.

- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp yeast (you can find in packets at the grocery store)
- 1 1/4 cup water
- 1 1/2 tbsp jalapeno chopped
- 1 tsp sugar
- coarse salt
- melted butter (unsalted margarine)
- 1 tbsp baking soda
- 3 cups water

In a bowl of room temperature water add yeast and allow to sit for about 5 minutes or until it gets foamy. In a bowl combine flour, sugar and yeast. Add chopped jalapenos. Knead the mixture to form a dough. Roll it into a large ball. Remove dough from your bowl and lightly oil the entire inside of it. Place the dough back in the bowl, cover with a dish and allow the dough to rise for about 20-25 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray.

Lightly flour a surface for you to put the dough out on. Divide the dough up into equal parts. Take each part of dough and roll out into a “rope.” Be careful not to make it too thin. Then, make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. In a small pot simmer 3 cups of water with baking soda. Keep the heat very low. As you finish each pretzels quickly dunk into the baking soda water and then place onto baking sheet.

Bake pretzels for about 10 minutes or until the outsides start to turn a golden color. Remove from oven and brush with melted butter immediately. Sprinkle coarse salt over each pretzel if desired. You can eat them warm or wait to eat them later. With the salt and the spice from the jalapenos I didn’t create a dipping sauce to dunk these in. They were flavorful on their on.

Happy Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving for many means Turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pies and food comas.  Not for my family and myself — well except for maybe the food coma part.  I like being vegetarian with my family during Thanksgiving, because since we are not traditionalists it allows me to make traditional Thanksgiving items in an nontraditional manner.  Did I use traditional enough that sentence? This Thanksgiving was no different (except maybe the cornbread because my family just wanted cornbread).

Cranberry Fritters

- 1 can gelled cranberry sauce
- all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup pancake mix
- water
- powdered sugar (optional)
- vegetable oil

Heat a pot with 1 cup of vegetable oil on medium-high heat. Carefully take out gelled cranberry by turning can over and running warm water on the bottom. The gel should slide out as a cylinder. Turn it to its side and cut about 1/2″ discs. You want to make sure they’re thick enough for you to handle. Put flour in one bowl and in another bowl mix water and pancake mix together to form a thick batter. Your batter MUST be thick otherwise it will not cook properly in the oil.

To test the oil take a tiny dollop of pancake batter and put in the oil. If it immediately starts fizzing and floats to the top then it’s ready. If it doesn’t wait a little bit longer. Once the oil is ready, take each cranberry disc, cover in flour on all sides, dip in pancake batter, dip again in flour, and again in pancake batter (double battering will ensure the batter stays on the gel). Slowly place in oil and allow to fry until the outside is a golden color. Using a slotted spoon, remove from oil and place on paper-towel lined plate. Sprinkle powder sugar on top. Eat once cooled. Repeat with remaining discs. If the batter slips off in the oil try drying the discs with a paper towel to make it less slippery.

Jalapeno Cornbread

- 1 box cornbread mix
- water (per mix instructions)
- 1 small jalapeno

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl combine corn bread mix and water to create batter. Using a grater, grate one small jalapeno directly into batter. If you prefer less heat, grate the jalapeno in a separate bowl first and remove seeds. Spray a 9 x 13 baking pan with non-stick spray. Pour batter directly into pan. Place pan in oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until corn bread passes the toothpick test. Once cornbread is done remove from oven an allow to cool. Cut into slices and serve.

Alton Brown’s Not-Your-Mom’s Green Bean Casserole

So as it should be noted, I can not take credit for this particular recipe as I came across it while perusing the Food Network’s site. The truth is I’ve never made green bean casserole before, in years past I just always omitted any green bean dishes. So I decided to try this out made a couple slight tweaks to it and it was by far my favorite item to eat at the Thanksgiving table

Onion Topping:
- 1 small onion thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups vegetable oil for frying
- water

For beans:
- 1/2 pound fresh green beans, rinsed and ends trimmed
- water
- salt
- 1 bowl of ice water

For sauce:
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter or margarine
- 1 1/2 cup white mushrooms cleaned, stems removed and sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 tsp all-spice
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup cream or half and half
- salt and pepper

Add oil to a frying pan and heat on medium-high heat. In a bowl add garbanzo bean flour, water and salt  (I use garbanzo bean flour as an alternative to the traditional method of dipping things you’re planning on frying in egg.  I’ve gotten a lot of the same results using garbanzo bean flour.  You can usually find it at any middle-Eastern or Asian food stores.  If you can’t find any there you can also buy dried chick-peas and grind it to create the flour and add water and spices accordingly).  Mix to create a smooth batter. To see if oil is ready for frying gently place a small dollop of batter into oil. If it immediately floats to the top then it’s ready. If it sinks to the bottom of the pan or takes a while to come up then give the oil a few more minutes to heat. Once oil is ready dip onions in batter and gently drop into oil. Fry battered onions for 1-2 minutes or until the outside coating is a nice honey brown color. Using a slotted spoon, remove fried onions from pan and place in a paper towel lined bowl to allow any excess oil to drop off. Put onions to the side to use when ready.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Bring a pot of water to boil. Add salt to water. Once water is boiling, add green beans and blanch for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes remove the beans and immediately put them into a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and set aside.

Heat a pan on medium-high heat. Melt butter or margarine. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes. Add garlic and allspice and continue to cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Add flour stir to combine. The liquid from the mushrooms coupled with the melted butter and flour will create a gravy-like consistency in the pan. Cook for about 1 minute. Add the broth and simmer for 1 minute. Add cream and cook until the mixture thickens, approximately 6 to 8 minutes.

One it’s finished cooking, in a casserole dish add green beans. Pour mushroom sauce over beans. Then top with fried onions. Place into the oven and bake until bubbly, approximately 15 minutes. Remove and serve immediately.

Veggie Gravy

– 3/4 cup white or brown mushrooms chopped – 1/2 yellow or white onion minced
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter (unsalted margarine or vegan   margarine)
- 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tbsp poultry seasoning

Heat a pan on high heat and melt the butter or margarine and add onion and mushrooms. Sautee the onions and mushrooms until the onions start to become translucent about 2-3 minutes. Lower heat to medium and add vegetable broth and soy sauce. Add flour and stir to combine. Make sure there are no lumps. Reduce the heat to low and all seasonings. Allow to cook for another 8-10 minutes stirring every 30 seconds or so until gravy thickens. Remove from heat into a gravy boat and serve

Chipotle-Orange Sweet Potatoes in Orange Cups

- 2 large oranges cut in half
- 2 sweet potatoes
- 1 chipotle pepper from canned chipotle chopped
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter or margarine
- 1/4 cup milk (soymilk)
- 1/2 banana mashed
- 1/4 cup pecans chopped
- fresh orange juice (that will come from the oranges you’ve cut)

Boil sweet potatoes in a pot until they are soft to the touch. In the meantime, take your orange halves and scoop out the center with a spoon. Keep a bowl underneath to catch all the juice. Once the flesh of the orange has been removed scrape out any excess orange bits. If it’s not 100% clean inside don’t worry about it. Squeeze juice from oranges into a bowl. Repeat with each half. My recipe only serves 4 if you plan on serving to more people just increase the quantities. Place hulled oranges into a dish

Once potatoes are done peel and set aside in a large bowl. Using a masher (or your hands, whatever other tools you may have on hand) while it is still warm. Add butter and whisk mashed sweet potatoes. Add milk and continue to whisk. Add chipotle pepper, mashed bananas and orange juice and fold into potatoes. Once everything is completely folded in scoop into orange halves and place on a dish. Top with chopped pecans or walnuts.

Spanish Mac & Cheese

- 1/2 bag elbow macaroni
- 2 1/2 cups manchego cheese grated
- 2 1/2 tbsp fennel seeds
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter or margarine
- 1 cup grated onions

Bring a pot of water to boil. Add salt to the water. Drop in elbow macaroni and cook for 7-9 minutes or until the macaroni is al dente. Once macaroni is finished cooking, drain and set aside.

In a sauce pan begin making your cheese sauce. Heat pan on medium-high heat. Add margarine or butter and allow to melt fully before adding flour. Once you add flour, use a whisk to make sure all flour is incorporated with the melted butter. Add milk and whisk in with the roux mixture. Allow to sit for about a minute or so. Add cheese and whisk until it is melted and there are no lumps. Add grated onions and fennel seeds. Cook for about another 1-2 minutes stirring intermittently. Add macaroni directly to cheese. Fold macaroni in until it looks like everything is coated. Serve immediately.

Not pictured: Pumpkin Pie Pops

Why are these are not pictured?  Because 1. I only made a couple of them and 2. by the time I set them out to cool and came back they were already in my brother’s belly.  But here’s the recipe to make your own:

- 1 round of frozen pie crust thawed
- 1/2 can of pumpkin
- pumpkin pie seasoning (or you can use cinnamon, nutmeg separately)
- 1/2 tbsp sugar
- lollipop sticks

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray or you can use parchment/wax paper to line the tray.

Lay out thawed pie crust dough. Using a biscuit cutter or something that is small and round and can cut, to cut circles in the dough. Don’t cut them too large because the will have to be supported by the lollipop sticks. In a bowl combine canned pumpkin with sugar and pumpkin pie seasoning. Scoop a small amount of pumpkin pie and place in the center of a circle. Place a lollipop stick, about a thumbnail’s length on one side of the dough circle and press down firmly. Place another dough circle on top of it. To seal the edges, take another lollipop stick and roll creases around the edges like an actual pie crust. Place pops on baking sheet and gently sweep on some melted butter on the outsides just so it’ll get nice and brown when it comes out of the oven. Repeat for any additional pops.

Once you are finished place pops in oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until you get the brown color on the outsides. Remove from oven and allow to cool before consuming

Not pictured: Mashed Potato Croquettes
Why is this not pictured? Um…quite frankly I think I just forgot to take a photo..recipe below. Because of the nature of this dish you can make the mashed potatoes a day in advance:

- 3 large potatoes
- 1/4 cup green onions chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped Morningstar bacon (or real bacon for you meaties out there)
- 1 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese (soy cheese)
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter or margarine
- milk (plain soymilk)
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
- oil for frying

Boil potatoes in a pot with water until they are tender and you can pierce them with a fork. Peel and place in a large bowl. Begin mashing potatoes with a masher (or your hand). Add butter and milk and whip potatoes with a wooden spoon if you have one otherwise a spatula or any long spoon will do. Add green onions and shredded cheese and fold in together. If the potatoes are still warm the cheese will nicely melt into it. Hit it with some salt and pepper. Place potatoes in the fridge to settle about an hour or can be left overnight.

Once you’re ready to fry scoop potatoes out and mold them either into patties or balls. Heat a pan on medium-high heat with oil. Roll them around in a plate of all purpose flour. Then roll them in a plate of panko bread crumbs. Slowly add them to the frying pan and fry until each side is nicely browned. Repeat with as many croquettes you wish to make.

Not pictured: Tofu Turkey

Why is this not pictured? Well to tell you the truth, it was because it was a bit of a disaster. You see, I hate the taste of an actual Tofurky. I’ve tried it before a couple of times and it’s just not something I can physically consume. I had an interest to make my own tofu turkey because I wanted the family to have a main course “meat” dish, and since I hadn’t the slightest idea on where to start, I went searching for some recipes and I found a few that looked pretty simple to make. Of course once I followed all the steps and did what i needed to it, it turned out nothing as what I was going for and tasted even more terrible. So in the end, we had to ditch the Tofu Turkey. Tofu Turkey FAIL.

Hope you and you families had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Ahh Sundays..lazy lazy Sundays.  On this particular Sunday the only people home were my brother and myself. Naturally we both slept in and then inquired about our hunger once we arose.  I love hearty meals in the morning (or in this case early afternoon) and Sundays usually call for Brunch.  I decided I wanted to have a little fun in the kitchen so I made mint-chocolate chip pancakes and tofu scramble with peppers and onions.  Adding cheese to it made it yellow so it looked just like scrambled eggs. You don’t even miss the taste of real eggs. For the pancakes, syrup isn’t even required as the chocolate chips give it enough sweetness…

Mint-Chocolate Chip Pancakes
- 2 cup pancake mix
- 1/2 cup mint chocolate chips
- water

We had a large bag of Krusteez Pancake mix so I just used that. In a bowl add pancake mix and water and stir until you get a nice thick batter. If it’s too thick keep adding water, if it’s too thin then add more mix. Some people like to add chocolate chips while one side of the pancake is cooking, but I like to throw it in the batter. The decision though is up to you. Add chocolate chips to batter.

Heat a pan on medium-high heat. Spray with non-stick cooking spray. When the pan is nice and hot, ladle batter onto pan. Heat until batter has set and turned a nice golden butter color. Flip over to cook other side. Remove from heat and plate. Repeat process until all batter is used up.

Tofu Scramble
- 1 large block extra firm tofu
- 1/4 cup red peppers diced
- 1/4 cup green peppers diced
- 1/4 cup yellow peppers diced
- 1/4 cup onions diced
- 1/2-1 cup shredded cheddar cheese – optional (soy cheese)
- salt and pepper to taste
- avocado slices (optional)

Heat a pan on medium-high heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Remove block of tofu from water. There’s no need to dry the tofu because you’ll want it to be soft enough to break down. The water will evaporate as it cooks. Using a spatula, break tofu block up into chunks. Once you have a bunch of chunks, using the flat side of the spatula, press down on chunks to slightly flatten and break up to achieve a crumbly “scrambled” texture. Add peppers, onions, salt and pepper. Cook for 3-4 minutes until veggies are tender. Turn heat down to low. Add cheese straight onto tofu in the pan. With your spatula fold into tofu & veggies with the cheese. The cheese will melt within the hot tofu and give it a yellow color. One all cheese is melted remove from heat and plate. Add avocado slices on top.

I had an entire loaf of banana bread and no one around to eat it. Rather than just simply eat it slice by slice I wanted to try something different.  I had a craving for french toast so I figured why not try it with the banana bread? I made it a bit healthier than traditional french toast by not dipping it in egg but rather using soymilk and flour and topping it with fresh berry compote as opposed to syrup. If you’re not familiar with compote, think of it almost like a fruit stew; a bit chunky but still liquidy. I guarantee it’s just as good if not better than traditional french toast

Banana Bread (Note: I had already made this bread myself but you can also purchase from the store if you’d like — if you buy from the store skip down to the french toast instructions)

- 3-4 ripe bananas smashed (you know when it’s ripe when the outer peel is completely or nearly all brown)
- 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup melted butter (or unsalted margarine)
- 3/4 cup sugar (raw sugar or sugar substitute)
- 1 egg (egg substitute)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking soda
- dash of salt

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Using a mixer (or you can do by hand with a spatula/wooden spoon in a bowl) mix butter and mashed bananas. Add the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Then add all the dry ingredients: baking soda, salt and flour. Mix all ingredients together. Butter or spray non-stick spray to your load pan. Place in oven and bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until the bread passes the toothpick test. Then remove from oven and allow to cool. Remove from bread from pan and slice.

French Toast-ing
- 1 cup plain soy milk (or you can use vanilla)
- 1 tbsp all purpose flour
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- unsalted margarine

Heat a pan on medium-high heat. Melt some unsalted margarine in the pan. In a shallow dish add soy milk, flour and cinnamon. Gently whisk to incorporate flour into milk. Dip each slice of banana bread in soy milk mixture. Place each slice on buttered pan. Cook until golden brown and then flip over to other side. If you need to add more margarine continue to do so. Once both sides are golden brown remove from pan and plate

Mixed Berry Compote
- 1/4 cup fresh blueberries
- 1/4 cup fresh raspberries
- 1/4 cup fresh strawberries with the tops cut off and quartered
- 1/4 cup sugar (raw sugar/sugar substitute)
- 2 tbsp water

heat a small sauce pot on medium-high heat. Add berries and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Add water and sugar and allow sugar to full absorb in the liquid. Cook for 2-3 more minutes to allow to thicken. Remove from heat an allow to cool for 1-2 minutes. Ladle immediately after on top of banana bread french toast & enjoy!

I had some leftover white beans from a dish I had made, not a whole lot left maybe about a little less than a cup. It was at the point where I had to either use them up or throw them out. I hate being wasteful when it comes to food so I definitely wanted to use the beans up but in what? Then I thought about creating a hummus. After all it’s just beans and olive oil and super super quick and easy to make. It’ll take all of 5 minutes of your life

- 1 cup white beans rinsed
- 1 small garlic clove (go as small as you can with this since 1 cup isn’t a whole lot in the end)
- olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste

In a food processor or blender drop in beans, garlic, salt, pepper and about 2 tbsp olive oil. Hit blend. Keep adding olive oil until you get a nice creamy consistency. Once you have the desired consistency take out into a bowl and serve with pita bread or chips. Quick, easy snack

Fried food. Who doesn’t love fried food? One fried food I had always wanted to try but never did because no one would suck up and share with me was fried pickles. It’s a Southern classic and I’ve always been intrigued. I mean I know you can fry just about anything, after all fairs deep fry Twinkies, Oreos and the like (neither of which I’ve tried yet for fear of artery blockage) but I decided if I wanted to try something so badly I was going to have to make it myself. I went on a frying spree throwing in onions and zucchini rounds as well.  Lucky for me, fried pickles are pretty tasty no need to fear ordering them anymore!

- 1/2 package tempura batter (can be found in grocery store)
- cold water as needed according to tempura instructions
- 2 cups panko bread crumbs
- 1 1/2 cup vegetable oil for frying
- 1 cup sliced onion rings
- 1 cup sliced zucchini rounds
- 1 cup sliced pickles (don’t do thin slices)
- salt and pepper to taste

In a bowl follow tempura batter instructions (usually will just entail mixing the tempura with water). Place oil in a frying pan. Put the pan on medium heat and allow oil to start getting hot. Depending on what kind of stove you have this can take a coupe to several minutes. Set up another bowl with panko bread crumbs. To check to see if the oil is ready take a tiny dollop of the batter and slowly drop into frying pan. If it floats to the top and the oil is bubbling then it’s ready.

Take a slice of each veggie, dip in tempura batter, roll around in panko bread crumbs and SLOWLY drop into frying pan. Let it fry for about a minute or so or until the outside is a nice golden brown. Remove from pan, shake off any excess oil and place onto a paper towel lined dish (this will allow it to absorb any remaining oil). Hit it with some salt and pepper. How quickly each piece will cook will be dependent on how thick each slice is. Remember the thicker it is the longer it will take. Also, don’t forget the more you put into the pan, the temperature of the oil will go down and it will take longer to cook so try and make sure you don’t overload your pan. Repeat the steps above as necessary for each veggie and then eat on up!

I love this dish because it’s filling and delicious and practically effortless to make.  The ingredients are so simple yet combined they bring so much flavor to the dish plus the acidity of the lemon cuts right through everything. It’s great for lunch or dinner and perfect in the summer since it is a cold dish.

- 1 package of orzo pasta
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup red onion diced
- 1/2 cup cucumber diced
- 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes chopped
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (optional)
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Drop in orzo and cook for 5-7 minutes or until al dente. Carefully strain (to be safe I would put a bowl underneath your strainer as orzo is pretty thin and small and can easily fall through strainer holes — you can scoop whatever drops in the bowl after straining)

Transfer strained orzo to a large bowl and allow to cool for 10 minutes occasionally stirring to release heat. Add olive oil and toss with orzo. Add lemon juice, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes & cheese and fold. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. Serve cold

Avocado Gazpacho

Gazpacho is also one of the easiest and most flavorful things to make and doesn’t take long at all if you know what you want to put in it. It’s also completely vegan yet hearty enough to satisfy any appetite.

- 1/2 cup red bell pepper chopped
- 1/2 cup white onion chopped
- 1/2 cup zucchini chopped
- 1/2 cup yellow squash chopped
- 2 ripe avocados
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup corn kernels
- 1/2 cup red tomatoes diced
- 1 1/2 tbsp cilantro chopped
- 1 tbsp Anaheim chile diced (you can use serrano or even jalapeno depending on how spicy you want it to be)
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 2 1/2 cups ice cold water
- 1 tsp dried cumin (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
- sour cream (optional)
- Cotija cheese (optional)

Take the first 4 ingredients, throw them in the food processor and pulse for a few seconds to get finer bits of veggies.  Dump them into a bowl.  Add corn, tomatoes, cilantro, garlic, cumin and chile.  Take one avocado, remove pit, scoop out the flesh and dice.  Add diced avocado to the bowl.  Add lime juice and generous amounts of salt and some pepper to bowl.

Take the second avocado, remove pit and scoop out flesh into a food processor (or you can use a blender for this if you don’t have a food processor).  Add about 3/4 cup ice cold water and puree.  Add more water if it’s still chunky until you get a smooth texture.  Add puree to the rest of the ingredients.  Add the remaining water and whisk all the ingredients together.  If it’s too thick add more water but be careful not to over thin it.  Add any seasoning as necessary.

The ice water is good if you are planning to serve right away but if you’re able, place the gazpacho in the fridge for up to an hour before serving.  When ready to serve, ladle into bowls and top with dollop of sour cream and sprinkle Cotija cheese.

Serves 4-6

Tacos

Chipotle Black Beans, Potato & Roasted Poblano Taco
- corn tortillas
- 1 can black beans
- 1 chipotle pepper marinated in adobo sauce (available at your grocery store)
- 2 small potatoes
- 1 poblano pepper
- Cotija cheese (optional)
- sour cream (optional)

Heat a pan on medium heat.  Slightly drain black beans (otherwise they come heavily salted). Dump them into the pan and allow them to heat through. Carefully remove 1 chipotle pepper and dice (if you don’t want to touch it drop it in a small food processor and pulse for a few seconds to chop up — you can also remove any seeds this way to lighten the heat).  Add diced pepper to beans and stir.  Add any other spices or ingredients you normally like to put with beans (I kept it to just the pepper since it’s already very spicy and the adobo sauce is a nice smoky roasted flavor; plus black beans alone are pretty hearty and flavorful).

On a grill, or grill pan (or in my instance we have a gas stove i just used the stove top), heat to a high heat.  If you are fortunate to use a gas stove like myself you can turn it on medium and place the poblano pepper directly on top of the flames.  If you are using a grill pan wait until the grill is completely hot before putting the pepper on the grill.  It will just be a slower process but should also do the job.  Roast the pepper until most of the outside of the pepper is blackened.  Once you are finished set aside and allow it to cool for a few minutes.

Your beans should be done cooking at this point. Reduce to a light heat to allow them to stay warm.  Take your potatoes and wash them thoroughly and remove any rough spots and “eyes” on the skin. You may remove the skin if you like but I preferred to keep mine on. Wrap the potatoes in saran wrap and microwave for about 3-3 1/2 minutes until just slightly tender.  You don’t want them to be super soft and mushy.  Remove from microwave and take off saran wrap and allow them to cool.

Back to the pepper, start peeling outside of pepper until all roasted skin is gone.  Then dice the pepper as normal.  Once potatoes have cooled cut into small wedges.

In a small pan heat corn tortillas.  As each one is heated place beans, potatoes & roasted pepper. Sprinkle Cotija cheese and add a dollop of sour cream if desired.

Ground Beef (”Beef”), Grilled Veggie & Chipotle Salsa Taco
- corn tortillas
- 2 cups ground beef or Morningstar Crumbles
- 2 tbsp taco seasoning
- 3/4 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup sliced red pepper
- 1/2 cup sliced green pepper
- 1/4 cup sliced zucchini
- 1/4 cup sliced yellow squash
- 1/4 cup frozen corn kernels
- Cotija cheese (optional)

Chipotle Salsa
- 1 tomato cut into wedges
- 1/4 of a white onion
- 1 small chipotle pepper marinated in adobo sauce
- 1/2 garlic glove
- 1 tbsp cilantro
- 1 tbsp lemon juice

Heat a pan on medium-high heat.  Add beef (”beef”) to pan and allow to heat.  Add taco seasoning for some flavor.  In a separate pan, heat on medium and add olive oil.  Add squash, zucchini, peppers and corn kernels.  Cook for about 2 minutes or until veggies are slightly tender.

For salsa, using a food processor, add all ingredients and pulse 4 or 5 times.  If you’d like it less chunky then blend until smooth.

Remove beef and veggies from stove.  Heat corn tortillas as you would. Place beef in tortilla. Add veggies.  Dollop chipotle salsa on top (careful it’s spicy!). Grate Cotija cheese as desired.