Butternut Squash and Maccaroni

Most of the recipes I've seen like this claim that this is a vegan Mac & Cheese.  I am here to tell you that they are all liars, and I mean that with love. I have tried 3 different ones and it in no way is a substitute for Mac & Cheese.  Your children will not somehow be tricked into thinking that this is their old favorite.  You will not be tricked into thinking that this is some old favorite.  It just isn't going to happen, but once you know this, you can now go on and make this recipe with the intention of having a yummy meal that looks somewhat like Mac & Cheese but tastes nothing at all like it.  This is what I have come up with as a concoction of various recipes - and what most appeals to our tastes.

Ingredients:

Butternut Squash (peeled and cut into chunks)
about 1 tsp of oil (I used grapeseed)
3/4 cup raw cashews
1 1/2 cloves of garlic  (I wouldn't suggest adding more)
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
7 Tbsp nutritional yeast (this makes it "cheesy)
1 cup non-dairy milk (I used original unsweetened almond milk)
1/4 tsp tumeric (mostly for color)
1/4 tsp paprika.
2 tsp mineral salt (I used this lovely pinkish mineral salt from Whole Foods)
        - you may need a bit more mineral salt, to taste.
1 lb pasta of your choice.  We used shells because that's what the kids like.

Additional add ins for a more adult flavor:
         1 tsp curry powder, more to taste if you wish
         Peas, Spinach, Carrots, or other veggies

Instructions:  

1.  Preheat oven to 350 and line baking sheet with parchment paper.  Peel and cut butternut squash (and remove seeds, obviously).  Lightly coat pieces in oil, lightly salt, and bake in oven for 35-40 minutes.  IMPORTANT:  Make sure to turn each piece of squash over after about 20 minutes of cooking.  Some of the bottoms get browned, and you won't want them to burn.  So take the 2 minutes and just turn each piece over.

2.  While that's cooking, begin your sauce base.  Add cashews to your food processor.  Pulse until you get a dust, but not a puree.   Then add the garlic.  I don't know why, but this is the best time to get it pulverized.  Next, add the remaining ingredients, EXCEPT for the mineral salt.  Leave mixture in the food processor

3.  Begin cooking pasta according to package directions.

4.  Once squash is finished, add the pieces to the food processor.  Blend squash into the mixture, creating a smooth sauce.  This is when you will add the salt to taste.  Kosher, sea, and other salts will require a different amount than the mineral salt, so you will need to do this by taste.  If your mixture tastes a bit flat or weird, add a bit more salt.  Adding the right amount of salt helps the taste of this TREMENDOUSLY.  It can change it from yuck to yum.  So please take the time to add your salt by taste.

**If your sauce is a bit thick, add a little more milk.  The sauce will thicken as time progresses.**

5.  Strain pasta when it is finished and place back into the pot.  Add butternut squash sauce and stir.  Warm up on the burner, and serve when ready.

*if adding curry powder or other seasonings, add during step 2.  If adding veggies add during step 5*


RESULTS:  2 out of 5 kids liked it, hubby liked it when we added curry powder to it, and I liked it just the way it is.  It wasn't a home-run for the kids, but hubby and I liked it.

Chocolate Covered Coconut Cashew Balls

Oh my heck - the name just says it all, doesn't it?  To me, it says HEAVEN IN BALL FORM!  I love cashews.  I love coconut.  I love chocolate.  How on earth have I lived so long without consuming such a wonderful treat?  Look at them!  They are DIVINE!!!!!

So I suppose you want the recipe?  Well, you can go to where I found the original recipe at Lux Hippie but I had to change the recipe a wee bit - mostly to actually make it vegan and a bit more affordable.

What I Used:

2 1/2 cups raw cashews  (you can use all cashews - just use 4 cups total)
1 cup blanched almonds
1/2 cup blanched peanuts
1 1/2 cups coconut sugar or vegan powdered sugar (regular powdered sugar isn't vegan)
1 13.5 oz can of coconut milk
1 3/4 cups shredded unsweetened coconut
1 tsp vanilla
2 bags of vegan chocolate chips (regular semi-sweet chips are not vegan)

Instructions:

1.  Put can of coconut milk into freezer for at least 45 minutes.  This will allow the water and the coconut cream to separate.  Take special care not to jostle of shake the can when you take it out of the fridge.  Open can and scrape off just the coconut cream into a bowl.  You do not need the water - just the cream.  Mine was pretty stiff so allow to get back to room temp while you gather your ingredients.

2.  In the food processor, pulse the nuts.  You will want the nuts to resemble a somewhat course sand.  You do not want it to become puree...just a sand-like substance.  You can use any kind of nuts, so long as they total 4 cups.  I just couldn't justify the cost of 4 cups of raw cashews.  Since the majority of the mix was cashews, it's the predominant flavor.

3.  Add coconut sugar (or powdered sugar), unsweetened coconut, and vanilla.  Mix very well.  Because my coconut cream was not quite at room temperature, the only way I could fully incorporate it into the mix was to use my hands.

4.  Roll mixture into balls and place on a lined cookie sheet.  Place in freezer for a couple of hours.  It will be much easier to dip the balls in chocolate once they are completely frozen.

5.  Next, dip balls into melted chocolate.  I just nuked my vegan chocolate in the microwave in 15 second intervals, stirring each time.  Because chocolate chips (of any kind) are not tempered chocolate or a dipping chocolate, they will only harden when kept in the refrigerator.  You will absolutely need to store these in the fridge and serve them cold.  If not, you will have a mess.

*Please note that little hands most definitely melt these Quadruple C Balls, you will want to make sure that your child either eats them fast or you have a sink nearby.  My 2 year old was COVERED in chocolate.  She looked like she had a fu manchu of chocolate with chocolate gloves on.  It was awesome.  lol.

**Also note that these taste great without being covered in chocolate.  I only used one bag of vegan chips because I wanted to save some of the balls to eat without chocolate.  They are perfectly yummy as they are.

Taco "Meat"

This is my own little concoction of ingredients for taco meat.  I looked up various recipes, and personally I am not in love with eating a lot of soy, so I kinda mixed this, mixed that, tried this, and tried that.  This is what works for us.  This is what my kids like, my hubby likes, and I like it too.  The first time I made it, no one (except my hubby) even realized it wasn't real meat until after the fact.

Ingredients:

mushrooms (preferably portabella)
walnuts
taco seasonings (whatever you use)
brown rice (cooked)

Note:  For my family of 7, I use an entire package of baby portabella mushrooms and about 1 cup of walnuts, so adjust accordingly.  It makes quite a bit of "meat" and it can be re-heated the next day if you make too much.

chop up and semi-puree the mushrooms and walnuts in a food processor.  You want to make it like a slightly chunky paste).  Next, transfer to a pan, stir in taco seasonings of choice and cooked brown rice.  Allow to become fully heated.  It will look a bit mushy and weird, but once you put it on a taco shell or into a tortilla and doctor that baby up, it is amazingly yummy!

See...it looks a bit gross, but I promise it's yummy.  If my picky kids that have rejected meat time and time again will eat this, you know it's good.  :)

Sorry for not taking pictures of our tacos - I had to run out the door to Cub Scouts or else I would have taken great pictures.  I had to scarf mine down on the go.

Vegan Mayo

So, today I tried my hand at vegan mayo.  I gotta admit, I was pretty nervous about this one.  I found a simple recipe here, and I wanted to see if I could actually pull it together, make it taste good, and use it in tonight's planned spinach and artichoke dip. 

Here's the exact recipe I used:

3/4 cup raw cashews (soaked 8 hours in water, drained, and patted dry)
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup grape seed oil
1 tsp Grade B maple syrup
1/4 cup water

1.  Soak cashews in water for 8 hours, drain them and pat them dry.

2.  Combine cashews and sea salt in food processor until it makes a thick paste.  You will probably have to scrape the sides a time or two. 

3.  While processor is going, slowly drizzle in the lemon juice, grape seed oil, and maple syrup.  *Note:  Make sure you use grade B maple syrup instead of grade A.  It has a deeper flavor.  Grade A may be too sweet*

4.  Allow all ingredients to whip up for a few minutes - scraping sides and bottom a couple of times to make sure it all gets incorporated. 

5.  Finally, you will slowly stream in the water.  If you look at the link above, it screwed me up because I thought I was done after step 4.  I had even cleaned up my food processor when I realized the error, so you are not finished until you add water.  :)  Also, as an FYI:  You may have a runny mixture, but it will firm up in the fridge.  Mine wasn't runny - it was just about the right consistency, but it is possible.

Now, for the part you really want to know about - Does it taste like mayo?  Yes...actually it does.  It is pretty dang close to mayo.  It's not a Kraft mayo (which was my personal favorite) but more of a cross between Hellman's and Kraft.  So really it's pretty dang good.

How much does it make?  About a cup and a half.  How long does it last?  I'd say a couple of weeks.  It will be gone in another day or two.  I used 1 cup in my spinach and artichoke dip, which was FABULOUS.  So yeah...it goes quickly.