Creamy Pasta And Veggies

Ingredients
8 oz cooked pasta (I used rotini)
3 cloves garlic minced
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup cauliflower florets
1/2 carrots diced
1/2 small onion diced
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 cup vegetable broth
Pepper to taste

Sauce
4 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup flour
4 Tbsp nutritional yeast
3 cups non-dairy milk

Instructions
Sauce: in a pan over medium heat add olive oil and flour a little at a time while whisking. Add milk and nutritional yeast. Continue whisking. Simmer till thickens up a bit.

Veggies: In a skillet over medium heat cook veggies until softened a little. Add sauce, vegetable broth, nutritional yeast and pepper. Stir and simmer for a few minutes.

Weekend Trip To Oklahoma And Missouri

We took our bikes to explore the abandoned mining town of Picher, Oklahoma. Those photos here. We spent the night in Joplin, Mo and also visited the towns on Kansas route 66 and Pawhuska, OK.

 

Day Drive With Dad

Dad and I took a drive to Lindsborg, Coronado Heights, Kanopolis lake, Ellsworth, Great Bend and back home.

Smoky Valley Roller Mill, Lindsborg.

Coronado Heights, Lindsborg.

Coronado Heights, Lindsborg.

Coronado Heights, Lindsborg.

Somewhere near Kanopolis lake.

Marquette.

Kanopolis Lake.

Basil Mushroom Pizza With Miyoko’s Mozzarella

Nova made us the crust using a Pioneer Woman recipe substituting the white flour for whole wheat. Crust wasn’t bad for being whole wheat. This was our first time trying miyoko’s vegan mozzarella. It was good but we’d use more of it in the future. Guess we’re used to the really strong flavor of Daiya which we use sparingly.

Before the oven.

Out of the oven. Cheese is almost non-existent.

Sliced and served.

Tofu Jerky

As for the marinade you could add many other seasonings to your liking. Below is a base marinade that I start with.

Ingredients:
1/2 block of extra firm tofu
4 Tbsp tamari
1 tsp liquid smoke
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika
Several cranks of Black pepper

Directions:
Mix all ingredients except tofu in a bowl.
Press the tofu dry being careful not to damage the integrity of the block. I cut the half block in half again and lightly press them individually between paper towels.
Cut the tofu into thin slices.
Dip tofu strips in the marinade.
Place tofu strips on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Bake for 2.5 to 3 hours at 200 degrees.

Before going into the oven.

After 3 hours in the oven.

Improved Instant Ramen

I eat a lot of instant ramen but generally minus the broth and stir-fried. While battling a cold this week I decided to eat it with the broth. I cooked the ramen in water along with a veggie bouillon cube, garlic, onion and turmeric powders. THe only veggie I had on hand was Brussels sprouts so I shaved and included them. I also crumbled up some tofu jerky. Was really good.

For the jerky I patted dry and thinly sliced extra firm tofu and dipped it in a mixture of tamari, liquid smoke and garlic salt. I then roasted in a 200 degree oven for 3 hours.

Aldi’s Vegan

Aldi’s USA just recently introduced a line of vegan meats and cheese. So far we’ve tried two of the burgers.

The soy protein patty was pretty good. Nice meaty texture but I didn’t detect much of a flavor which is fine.

The Thai burger turned out a little mushy which may have been due to my cooking but it had a nice flavor.

I’d eat either of these again.