Creamy Vegan pasta bake

Vegan creamy pasta bake recipe:

Sauce:
1 onion; chopped, 4ish stalks celery; chopped, a GIANT spoonful of minced garlic, 1 small head cauliflower; chopped. Saute all this in a pot with oil until onions are soft. Add 1 can of chickpeas (rinsed) and 2c. veg stock. Simmer until veg is smushy. Once veg is done blend everything in a blender or food processor until smooth and creamy. Put back into pot and add a tsp of onion powder, 2-3tsp of braggs liquid aminos (or soy sauce/tamari), 1/3c. nutritional yeast flakes. Stir to combine.

Preheat oven to 350F

Boil up a box of pasta (I used sprout wheat macaroni cause thats what I grabbed).

Thaw up 2c. frozen peas.

Once noodles are almost cooked through drain and dump them in the sauce, add peas. Put in greased (I used vegan butter) 9x13 glass dish and topped with butter bread crumbs (1/4ish c. bread crumbs and TBL melted butter mixed together)

Bake for 20 minutes.

I think it would be even better with a TBL or so of brown mustard in the sauce for that little extra something ;)

Vegan Style Classic Creamy "Chicken" and Dumplings

Vegan Classic Creamy "Chicken" and Dumplings

1 onion, diced
2 carrots, chopped
3 celery stalks including leaves, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic

*Saute these until onions are translucent

Add in the following (add or minus things to your taste)

6-8 button mushrooms, roughly chopped
small handful of fresh green beans, roughly chopped
1 ear of sweet corn, cut off the cob
1/2c of frozen peas (or fresh if you have them)
6 cups of water made into veggie stock (I like to use a vegan "chicken" bullion powder)
2-3 TBL Braggs amino acids
 
*Bring to a boil

Make a batch of your favorite drop biscuit dough (Like this one). After the stock has come to a boil plop in spoonfuls of the biscuit dough, enough to cover the top of the pot with a little room left around each biscuit since they will expand. Partially cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until your carrots and biscuits are cooked through.

I like to add in pan seared setian to this but it is equally yummy without it (or maybe try it with chickpeas!).

Menu plan Week 6

Week 6

All Recipes (excluding Monday) from the book

Real Simple Dinner Tonight -- Done!: 189 Quick and Delicious Recipes  by Real Simple 

Everything serves four people

-Monday: Crock pot roast turkey with potatoes and corn

-Tuesday: Gingery pork and cucumber pitas pg. 205

-Wednesday: Turkey Waldorf salad pg. 73

-Thursday: Spinach and ricotta stuffed shells with garlic bread pg. 271

-Friday:Turkey Ruebens with side salad pg. 93


**This grocery list is for the dinners only. Not lunch or breakfast. Buying meats, cheese, and canned goods in bulk will save you money and effort later on.

Week 5 meal plan

Week 5

All Recipes from the book

Real Simple Dinner Tonight -- Done!: 189 Quick and Delicious Recipes  by Real Simple 

Everything serves four people

-Monday: Asian beef and cabbage salad pg. 65 (Add corn chips for kids)

-Tuesday: Lasagna with broccoli and 3 cheeses with side salad pg. 289

-Wednesday: Salmon black bean and corn tostadas (make into tacos for kids and add cilantro rice) pg. 257

-Thursday:Mediterranean salad with shrimp and chickpeas (sub shrimp for chicken) pg. 71

-Friday: Soba noodle salad with chicken pg. 51

**This grocery list is for the dinners only. Not lunch or breakfast. Buying meats, cheese, and canned goods in bulk will save you money and effort later on. 

Grocery list:

4c. shredded Napa cabbage

2 carrots

2 bunch cilantro

2 bunch scallions

4c. mixed greens

1 large head romaine lettuce

1 lime

1 English cucumber

1 sweet onion

Ginger root

2c. thinly sliced red cabbage
 

1 pound ground beef

 1 ¼ pound salmon fillets

1 whole chicken

15oz ricotta cheese

2 ¼ c. grated mozzarella cheese

1/2c. Parmesan cheese

1/2c. heavy cream

3oz feta cheese
 

16oz jar marinara sauce

1c. black beans

1/2c. jarred salsa verde

1/2c. kalamata olives

 

8 no boil lasagna noodle (whole wheat/grain if you can find it)

8oz Soba noodles

Corn tortillas

4 tostada shells

2 c. pita chips

Corn chips

 

1lb frozen chopped broccoli

1c. frozen corn
 

Plum sauce

Rice vinegar

Lemon juice

Red wine vinegar

Olive oil

Soy sauce 

Week 4 Menu Plan

Week 4 menu plan

Monday
B- Cereal
D- Vegan Sloppy Joes w/fruit n fries


Tuesday
B- Eggs tacos
D- Okra Gumbo With Chickpeas & Kidney Beans

Wednesday
B- Oatmeal
D- Thai Mango Noodles

Thursday
B- Oatmeal leftovers
D- Skillet Gardener’s Pie

Friday
B- Pancakes
D- Asian Edamame Fried Rice w/kimchi

Saturday
B- pancakes
D- Leftovers

Menu plan Week 3

Week 3

Monday
B- Cereal
D- Pesto cavatappi

Tuesday
B- Egg tacos
D- Vegan Tofu and Vegetable Pot Pie

Wednesday
B- Oatmeal
D- Cheesy Chicken & Rice Casserole (sub out Campbells condensed soup for homemade)

Thursday
B- Oatmeal leftovers
D- Slow Cooked Macaroni & Cheese

Friday
B- Pancakes
D- Rustic Winter Stew Over Polenta

Saturday
B- Pancakes
D- Leftovers

Menu Plan Week Two

Week Two Menu Plan

Monday
B- Oatmeal
D- Gluten Free BLGT Sandwich with fruit

Tuesday
B- Eggs tacos
D- Buffalo Chicken Wings with carrots and celery

Wednesday
B- Overnight oatmeal
D- Seven Minute Egg Salad in lettuce cups with fruit

Thursday
B- Oatmeal leftovers
D- Gluten Free Pork Dumplings with mixed veggies

Friday
B- Pancakes
D- Asian Edamame Fried Rice with kimchi

Saturday
B- Pancakes
D- Leftover meal (aka whatever is in the fridge)

Menu Plan Week One

Since I can't seem to write lately I thought I would at least share my weekly menu plans.

Week one (current)

Monday
B- Oatmeal
D- Crockpot tomato basil soup and biscuits (You can easily sub ingredients to make gluten & dairy free. I also omitted the Parmesan cheese)

Tuesday
B- Egg tacos
D- Falafel with tahini sauce and side of veg (sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, lettuce)

Wednesday
B- Blueberry pancakes
D- Red beans and rice with corn bread

Thursday
B- Left over pancakes
D- Left overs plus kids choice of homemade treat

Friday
B- Berry baked oatmeal
D- Sweet and sour chicken with brown rice and green beans

Saturday
B- Left over berry baked oatmeal
D- Ham and potato casserole (using nooch sauce) with broccoli

Doomsday Brain

This last week has been highly stressful and caused a mental symptom I like to call “Doomsday brain.” It happens when your life is so disorganized and crazy that the only thing you can think about is catastrophic disasters.

I am a highly strung person.  My brain almost never shuts down. Every night before I fall asleep I tend to list things or organize things I need to do in the near future.  Such as which bills I need to pay, how I am going to organize a birthday party, or what I need to buy while grocery shopping. When an all-consuming event happens (moving) my brain can no longer focus on one task at a time. It goes on super hyper drive and tries to organize everything all at once. This is the moment that doomsday brain flips on. All the sudden the only thing I will be able to think about is disaster scenarios. A few examples that were running through my brain a few nights ago are: What would I do/how would I handle it if my child was bit in the throat by a large dog, how would I and my children escape a vehicle if we were in an accident and the car landed in a lake, what would I do if my husband died in a car crash the next day.  I have never known another person to have this strange coping mechanism, although I’m sure there is at least one more person out there… somewhere. My odd pattern of thinking will only happen at night and never for more than two nights.  There you have it folks. A small look into my lovely misfiring brain.

To My Wonderful Husband

Dear Husband,

Happy birthday! I just wanted to write you a little note to let you know how much I love and appreciate everything you’ve done for me and the kids these past years. We’ve had our ups and downs but we’ve always made it through.  Thank you for being so amazing these past few days (even though you were a bit grumpy at times) with all the craziness that has been going on. I know your birthday won’t be perfect this year but I hope it’s better than past ones. Plus I have a surprise for you! Love you!

My lovely Husbands blog

Oh the boxes!

Moving. Moving. Moving. It’s one of those things that you just can’t wait for but the closer it gets to the date the more your dread it. We are now 9 days away from moving to our new townhome (thank god). Boxes are everywhere, things are disorganized and I can barely find a clean pair of socks in the morning. My house currently looks like a disaster zone in need of rescue from the Nation Guard.  There will be a large sigh of relief when they moving date is finally here and all the waiting is over. We now have everything set up to be delivered or turned on and the moving truck is reserved.

To keep myself entertained during these last days I’ve decided to turn into an old lady (Yes even more old then normal).  I have been crocheting hand towels, wash cloths and dish cloths in different patterns and colors. They are turning out great but I feel as though I should be wearing a bathrobe (eh hem), fuzzy slippers and have a large cat on my lap at all times.

I hope to have my meal plans back in action within a few weeks of the move so posts will be more frequent and informative. I also have been thinking on venturing into the world of online reviews. Mostly for my own entertainment, plus it’s a good excuse to buy things.

There will be one more post before move date to celebrate R’s 3^rd birthday. Not exactly sure what it will entail but I feel the need to say something since my first baby is nearly a child now.

Wish me luck folks. I’m gonna need it. Oh and hope for decent weather!