Category: Vegetarian/Vegan

Yesterday, I made homemade fettuccine pasta. The pasta receives its color from cilantro. Friday, I’d made a creamy mushroom and garlic soup and I thought that dish would be the perfect companion for my fettuccini noodles. Results? It was successful and my daughter had two bowls throughout the day.

I made plenty of the noodles and set some aside on a plate to dry.

I’ll be sending some of these noodles to a friend. I hope they like them as much as we have.

I used my much loved Marcato manual pasta machine to create the noodles. However, I could have cut the fettuccine noodles by hand.

The pasta machine simply makes the process easier.

Anyone else experiencing a shortage of certain food items in their area because of the coronavirus?  I know some people have started hoarding food. From what I’ve been reading on various posts within a few breadmaking communities that I frequent besides toilet paper and hand sanitizer, people stated that they saw a shortage of flour and yeast at their local grocery store. What???? Hopefully, a few bread bakers will be born because of this.

There’s no need for me to go out and purchase large quantities of flour, yeast, or anything else really since we preserve our food and have a large supply of dried goods/beans readily on hand. Also, our garden is starting to produce, so we’re well stocked on fresh vegetables.

I also make my own yeast at home. All you need is unbleached flour, water, and time. I already have several pounds of various types of flour at home since I regularly bake my own bread and now make all my own pasta.

Yesterday I made my weekly dinner rolls. I didn’t make a lot and so I know these will be gone within a few days.

I set aside some of the dough to prepare a small loaf of bread. I did like the crumb. However, I over-proofed it, and I KNEW this was going to happen as it happened. Sighs, regardless, I was proud of the bread’s taste, and I now have a default bread recipe that I use whenever I want rolls or a loaf of bread. This recipe creates a flaky and tender loaf that has a delicate crumb, and it never lasts long in our household. I don’t purchase bread anymore. I make it all myself. Yes, that includes dinner rolls/burger rolls.

Today I’m planning to make pasta. It most likely will be fettuccine noodles, and I’ll be doing something different and creating designs with the pasta. I cannot wait to see how that turns out. Since I’m creating designs within the pasta, perhaps I’ll also make manicotti shells? We’ll see!

A few weeks ago, I made this dish.

Garlic fried brown rice with a mushroom sauce and caramelized Brussel sprouts.

The rice simmered in an herbal tea and the rice received its golden color from turmeric.
A few of the herbs came from our garden. All the herbs/spices were ground in my 15-pound granite mortar and pestle. The herbs/spices that I do purchase are bought whole. Why? It’s much more flavorful. I grind them in my mortar and pestle. The scents that are released as you grind your herbs and spices can be intoxicating.
The Brussel sprouts were coarsely chopped and sautéed in my steel hand hammered wok. I’ve had that wok for almost 30 years. I purchased it during my sophomore year in college. Quality cookware can last a long time.

In other news…

It’s been very busy. Currently, I’m working on a few sewing related items that will be given out over the next few weeks and I have some orders. Besides that, all is well with my daughter and me. We’ve taken several road trips this year and are truly celebrating life. I hope you are also.

This weekend, I made a huge batch of raw vegan crackers and put my 9-tray Excalibur food dehydrator to good use. I made some sweet cookies that my daughter said smelled like banana muffins and I made a huge variety of crackers.

My daughter made quick work on the crackers and is slowly making a dent into the vegetable and bean crackers that I made. She said they’re really good.

I thought I’d have a bit more of the black bean crackers for myself since she normally does not like spicy (I added Korean chili pepper and a variety of other hot peppers to the black bean crackers) but she’s loving these and is eating them by the handful.

This morning, I made guacamole. I have not prepared that in a while, and the crackers, chips, whatever you want to call them worked perfect for dipping. Guess what, the veggie cracker were mainly made from juicer pulp. In our household, the pulp never goes to waste. I use it in soups, gumbos, vegan burgers, desserts and raw vegan snacks. Of course, the old standby is compost.

Happy munching!

Yesterday evening, making ranch fries was a spur of the moment decision. I’d already had dinner prepared for my daughter. She had eaten a few hours before; however, since I know she loves homemade fries, I prepared a quick snack for her.

I must say that it’s a shame that the only picture that I took was before I slid these homemade fries into the oven. My daughter returned for seconds and then thirds and so when I realized that I should take a picture, there were only a few fries left. In hindsight, I still should have taken the picture since it would have shown how much of a hit they were!

I will say they were golden brown, and the seasonings I had added to them made them very tasty. They had the proper crispness that many of us associate with fries, but without the added calories since they were baked instead of fried. I never fry them, if I’ve prepared them, they’re always baked.

I’m not usually a snacker, but sometimes… I will eat something in the evening. I usually don’t eat anything after 4:00 p.m.

This is what I had around 7:00 p.m. Granola cereal to which I added blueberries, pepita (pumpkin) seeds and raisins. This dish was simple but filling and delicious.