Saturday, May 28, 2011

A Message About My Blog

Well, Blogger has done it to me again. For the past few months, most of you know that I've been dealing with a formatting issue, where I can no longer write my posts in Compose mode. I have to go only to html and write and then force all my formatting that you see on the posts: spacing, centering, links, etc. I've learned to live with it and have become very versed in html coding.

But, now I have a new blog problem that's really preventing me from creating new posts: My blog doesn't keep me signed in, and in effect doesn't even recognize me. So, starting on last Tuesday, I was no longer able to respond to comments on my blog nor go to other people's blogs and leave comments for them. To me, if someone leaves a comment for me and I don't acknowledge it, and if I don't show blogger-friendship and comment on their blogs, it's akin to being rude on my part.

Other people are still able to leave comments on my blog, unless they are experiencing the same problem I am. And, apparently, there are several bloggers who are having the same problem according to Bloggers own Known Issues site. I could still continue to post, but it would really bug me to not be able to respond. So, what I've decided to do is hold off on posting until Blogger can get this fixed. I will continue to check on their site to see if there are any updates from them. When they get this fixed, I will continue to post again. If they do not get this fixed, then I will have to look for another way to continue. I have so many more recipes to share; as a matter of fact, right now I have about a dozen recipes in the queue waiting their turn. This is very disappointing and frustrating to me because I really wanted this to be long-term, but I don't see any other way. In the meantime, I can still be reached through my email at blessedmama@pacbell.net.

I won't be able to respond to anything you say here on my blog, but I hope you all continue to flourish, enjoy good vegan food, and help save the world! I appreciate all the friendships that were starting to form, and I hope to be back posting soon.

Thank you,
BlessedMama :-)

Friday, May 20, 2011

Bean and Facon Soup

Well, wasn't that fun? Experiencing almost two weeks of not being able to access my computer was an exercise in time well-spent otherwise. Now that most of the electrical problems in our home have been fixed by my sweet G (Happy Anniversary today!), I can blog again! Aren't we all happier now?

This soup is a take on my favorite canned soup from my childhood. I've tried remaking it a few times, as I do with my most of my dishes before I post them, and I think I've come up with a recipe that is strikingly similar, except for the cruelty to animals. G grew up with a mom who worked the swing-shift and retired from said canned soup company, and he thinks this version is spot on. My children have fortunately never tasted the inhumane original and love this. I have to say, my other tries, which were too dark and heavy, take a back seat to this lighter, well-balanced tasty bowl of goodness. This is definitely going on my menu board on the inside of my cupboard.



Bean and Facon Soup

Ingredients:

1 pound bag of Great Northern Beans
Water to cover
1 - 32 oz. box of Organic Imagine No-Chicken Broth
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 pkg. of LightLife Smart Bacon, diced small

Directions:

Sort beans for grit and put in large pot with water a couple of inches over the beans. Cook on medium heat for one hour. Add broth, seasonings, and enough water to stay about an inch over the beans. Continue cooking on medium heat for another hour. When the beans are tender, add the facon, and cook for twenty minutes more. Can serve with crunchy bread and a yummy green salad. Feeds five hungry vegans.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

GT Express Pizzas

So, I'm going to start out by saying that this is not an endorsement of the GT Express kitchen gadget. But, since it is a gadget that we use frequently in our home, especially the children, it seemed appropriate to post a meal using it. Just to note, we have the original, old GT Express, not the newer RediSetGo. I was going to order the new one for Mother's Day per G's prompting, but ended up dealing with a nightmare of a recording that kept insisting I needed every other product and trip and magazine available to man, which caused me to cancel my order. So, I love my old version but cannot vouch for the new one. Anyway, I love this thing (we actually have two) because the Blessings can make wraps, burritos and grilled cheese sandwiches without using the stove or oven.

We got small recipe books with our order several years ago, and I've been having fun trying to veganize them. I use that term loosely because it's not so much veganizing, as it is completely revamping a recipe. This latest one is my version of their pizzas, which turned out just great. I used my pizza dough recipe again, and with that recipe, we made sixteen mini pizzas: plenty for dinner and lunch the next day! Everyone got to have just the type of pizza they wanted. I'm not sure if there's something similar on the market, but it's a great way to make small dishes. The only drawback is with a family of five, one of us has to wait for our meal since there's only four wells (read: me). See below for a tasty recipe!


GT Express Pizza


The size of the pizza dough ball you'll need for each pizza, about a palm-full


Two pizzas in their wells (with a touch of flour on the sides)


GT Express Pizzas

Ingredients:

Pizza dough, my recipe (click on link)
Various fillings - we used:
Organic pizza sauce
Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet, cheddar cheese style, finely grated
Gimme Lean Sausage, made into little meatballs and sauteed
Black olives, sliced into thirds
Fresh pineapple, diced small
Artichoke hearts, quartered and canned in water, sliced in half lengthwise
Mushrooms, halved and sliced

Directions:

Follow the recipe on making the dough, including the resting period. Plug in the GT Expresses. Take healthy-sized handfulls of dough, filling up your palm, and on a floured surface, roll slightly out a bit larger than the size of the well. Place in heated well, and spread a small amount of sauce and toppings on each pizza. Once both wells have dough and toppings, shut the lid and time for ten minutes. Comes out perfectly. Makes approximately sixteen mini pizzas, plenty for five hungry vegans for a couple of meals.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Easy Bagel and Deli Slice Breakfast

This is such an easy breakfast that it's not really a difficult recipe but more of another breakfast idea for you. I could have baked the bagels myself, and I could have made the deli slices by hand, but c'mon, we all need a break and have shortcuts sometimes, right? So, do yourself a favor, if you have a spare ten dollars, buy the bagels and some slices, and have a quick, easy and tasty breakfast. Just a tip: use the plain or savory bagels, not the sweet ones here.




Easy Bagel and Deli Slice Breakfast

Ingredients:

Bagels - plain or savory
Vegan margarine
Vegan deli slices from Yves or Tofurky or your favorite brand

Directions:

Cut the whole bagels in half. Toast them bagels. Spread a touch of margarine on each slice. Put a few deli slices on each bagel half. So good, so simple, so filling. Feeds five hungry vegans.