Triple Layer Meatloaf

Despite the terrible picture, this was actually a really awesome dinner. Boo for no natural lighting at the time.

This was based on this foodnetwork recipe. It was originally a food network friday thing I tried to participate in!

I made Bryanna's version of meatloaf, gluten-free (mmm!), and then topped it with Chive Mashed Potatoes, then some grilled veggies (courgette, peppers, carrots), and then smothered it in gravy.

Seriously delicious comfort food.

Samosa Soup and Garlic Naan Bread

So I was going to make a giant batch of samosas (which I did do eventually), but instead, I threw all the ingredients together with some veggie stock and flavourings and cooked it as a soup.

I made a side of naan to go with the soup - it worked really well - I haven't really made naan too many times before.

And then, for some randomness, I made veggie take out style chicken balls. So good. So very very good. I based it on this recipe here. I just found it was a bit heavy handed on the cornstarch.

What's really been taking up most of my time is moving and making gingerbread. So. Much. Gingerbread (for houses).

Updates

I'm in the midst of packing, and I can't for the life of me find my USB cable thing to upload my photos!

I did some really awesome cooking - and I've also been attempting to bake 7 gingerbread houses with 100 or so pieces each. Every year I host a gingerbread making day, and this year I got a little more complicated than past years.

Stay tuned, I'll be back as soon as I find my USB thing or go out and buy one :D

Arame Tofu Salad, Butternut Squash Risotto, and a delicious Soba Noodle Salad

First of all, let me say, that I cannot say enough good things about Rebar, one of my favourite cookbooks. It's not entirely vegetarian, as they do use seafood in a few recipes, but the rest of them are vegetarian/vegan. I've also been able to veganize a good number of their recipes. Seriously - check it out - get it out of your local library and test out some recipes. Rebar is actually a restaurant in BC, Canada, and you can check out their website here, for recipes! I ran into this book at the library, and I used it so much, I bought the book.

Here is their delicious Soba Noodle Salad - so good!

On the right side of this place, is the Warm Vegetable Salad from Rebar - super delicious!

I made an Arame Tofu Salad to go along with it. The latter salad is my own recipe.

Here's a recent Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto inside a roasted squash!

And lastly, a poor, deflated, pumpkin.

Saskatoon Berry Scones

I didn't have any blueberries, just a zillion Saskatoon berries, which I'm not terribly fond of. We have 3 or 4 bushes of Saskatoon berries here, so might as well use them up!

Suprisingly, they were quite tasty in these scones! I used the recipe here, but subbed EB for the butter, and soy milk with vinegar for the buttermilk.

Making a Danish

I promised these last week, but here there are today!

Here's the recipe I used to make the 'danish.' I'm not claiming these as an authentic danish at all, but they were close, and it was pretty good. This is a little bit of a tedious recipe, but it's not hard. There is just a lot of rolling of dough, to build up the flaky layers that makes the tastiness.

It's based on a few different recipes I came across.

2 cups flour

1 pkg traditional dry yeast (like 2 1/2 tsp)

1/2 tsp sugar

1/3 cup warm water

1 flax egg

1 tsp sugar

pinch salt

2 tbsp Earth Balance or the like

10 tbsp whipped, but chilled Earth Balance - you don't want it to be soft and warm - you just want it to be spreadable and smooth.

Dissolve 1/2 tsp sugar in the warm water, and sprinkle the yeast over the top. Stir it together, and let sit for 10 minutes until frothy.

Add the flax egg to the yeast liquid.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, the teaspoon of sugar, and the salt. Rub the 2 tbsp EB into the flour mixture until grainy. Dump in the flax egg and yeast into the flour and mix to combine. Dump the dough out onto a floured surface, and knead for about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Place in an oiled bowl and cover with a lid. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Get your 10 tbsp of EB ready to go - I used a spatula to make mine all spreadable like so.

For the rest of the recipe, follow these instructions - it's pretty much the same thing!

So I usually that about 6 times - with a 30 minute rest in the fridge in between.

Let it sit in the fridge overnight before the final roll-out.

Divide the dough in half, and roll each out into a rectangle, maybe 6x14 inches. I was able to cut it into squares after this. I made pinwheel danishes, so I cut each corner like so.

Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of the process of folding it. Basically, you put 1 - 2 tbsp filling in the centre (I used my Saffron Vanilla Pear Jam), and then take one corner and fold it toward the centre, and do that all the way around - just make sure you put the same piece into the middle all the way around. I really wish I had a picture of this.

This is what they'll look like after that. Let them rise for 30 minutes. Then brush with a bit of soy milk, and sprinkle with a coarse sugar.

Have the oven preheated to 400 F. Put them on in. After 10 minutes, reduce heat to 350F and bake for another 10-15 minutes, until golden brown.

And enjoy.

Brunch Day

It's been awhile, but I'm around still.
Had a lovely brunch with some girlfriends that I met in Thunder Bay. Vegan potluck brunch!
I'm not posting this on my mac, and I'm a little confused with the PC, so if this post turns out weird, then sorry! I am bad enough, that I can't cut and paste, so these photos are in no particular order.

Meghan made a wonderful tofu cheesecake.


Veggie Sausage Rolls


Homemade Pear "Danish" - recipe tomorrow or the next day (really good!)


Kelsey's red or black? rice sushi - super yum! super blurry, oops!


Alicia made a delicious mango salsa!


Kelsey made a wonderful raw dessert - like a chocolate mousse deliciousness!


I attempted some fresh rolls - can't roll them very well though!


Made some rebar sushi!