Tempeh Vegetable Taco Filling

This recipe is based on the Tempeh-Vegetable Enchilada recipe from the book, The 30-Minute Vegan. I haven't tried the recipe as it appears in the book, as I didn't have all the ingredients on hand. This experiment turned out pretty well. It is fairly adaptable too, depending on what veggies you happen to have available. I think zucchini or cauliflower or spinach would be pretty good additions/trade-ins.

Ingredients
8 ounces tempeh
1/2 red onion
1/2 green pepper
1/2 red pepper
1/2-1 cup broccoli
1-2 tbsp coconut oil
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp thyme
2 tbsp braggs liquid aminos or soy sauce
1/2 tsp agave nectar
salt and pepper to taste
tortillas (6-8)
optional toppings - avocado, cucumber, tomato, cheese (dairy or vegan)


Directions
Dice the onions and peppers. Chop the broccoli florets and stems into small pieces. Chop or crush the garlic. Crumble the tempeh.

Heat the coconut oil in a large pan. Add the onion and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the rest of the veggies, the tempeh, and the garlic. Saute for a couple more minutes. Add the liquid aminos, spices, and agave nectar and saute until the veggies are done to your liking.

Heat the tortillas and spoon the filling in. I added some grated cheese, chopped cucumber, and avocado to my tacos.

Checking in - Swamped

I'm still alive, just swamped. Work is super busy. Home life is super busy. No time to sit. No time to read. No time to write. So, here are just a few random snipits of what's been going on around here.

I took SchmoopyBoy to ride on Thomas the train last weekend. He had fun. I took pictures. Unfortunately I accidentally changed the setting on the camera without realizing it and none of the pictures turned out. boo.

Lil' Schmoo is trying really hard to pull himself to standing. I am going to be in for it early with this one, I fear.

SchmoopyBoy started gymnastics 2 weeks ago. Loves it! He is more excited about gymnastics than he ever was about soccer or t-ball. Of course, he is a little monkey, so it's no surprise that he loves any activity that involves flipping, rolling, hanging, jumping and the like.

Lil' Schmoo is tolerating his carseat much better these days. Still won't fall asleep in it, but he'll last multiple trips in a day without complaint. So much better than the days of complete meltdown after about 2 minutes in the carseat.

That's all I have time for now. Hopefully I can start writing more again soon.

Vegan Banana Matzo Brei Recipe

 I've been trying to figure out a way to include the vegan husband in the yumminess and festivity of "traditional" Passover foods.This experiment turned out pretty well. The recipe is based on the banana french toast recipe in The McDougall Quick and Easy Cookbook.

I only had about one and a half pieces of matzo left in my stash, so this recipe is only for one (although the husband, SchoopyBoy and I all shared the small portion). It does lend itself quite easily to doubling or quadrupling. I made this recipe pancake-style, but I think it could work scrambled style too. Also, as usual, I didn't really measure the cinnamon or vanilla, so the amounts are approximations. My apologies, I am a Jewish mother after all, so gawd-forbid I should actually make precise measurements in my cooking. ;)


Ingredients

1/2 banana
1/4 cup nondairy milk (I used soy milk)
~1/8 tsp vanilla
generous sprinkle cinnamon
1 1/2 pieces matzo

Instructions

1. Break the matzo into small pieces in a bowl and fill with water until the matzo is covered.
2. While the matzo is soaking, combine the remaining ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and thick.
3. Drain the water from the matzo. Pour the banana mixture over the wet matzo and stir to combine.
4. Heat a pan on the stove and pour a little oil in. When the pan and oil are hot, scoop the matzo mixture with a spoon into pancakes.
5. Let cook for a few minutes and turn to cook on the other side for a few minutes more.
6. Done!

cooking in the pan

the finished product, golden brown

The banana and vanilla make these sweet enough that you really don't need any additional syrup or other sweetener. That being said, a little agave nectar drizzled over them enhanced the sweetness of the banana flavor quite nicely.

morning hair - devil horns

One of the things I love about Lil' Schmoo is his soft, fine hair, that fluffs and poofs after washing. This morning, after washing his hair before going to bed, he woke up with these two perfect little devil horns.

The cutest devil-baby I ever did see

Oy Vey! You call that a Passover?

It was quite a weekend here at chez Schmoopy. Passover and Easter in one big hodge-podge of festivity. On Friday evening, the traditional night of the first Seder, I got home late from work and so made matzah pizza for dinner. Vegan "cheese" for the husband, and dairy for me and SchmoopyBoy. Ancestors, I apologize. Please don't strain something as you turn over in your graves.

Vegetarian matzah pizza

Vegan matzah pizza

I haven't really done Passover for a few years. Putting together a full Seder is a lot of work. I don't have grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins around, and quite frankly it's not worth all the work involved for basically, me. Before SchoopyBoy was born I always found a community Seder to attend with the husband. The thought of dragging a small child to a 3-hour community seder with a bunch of strangers sounds like about as much fun as a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, so I've basically been doing not much more than a Passover themed dinner. This year, however, I wanted to do something more, since SchmoopyBoy is at an age where the things we do in the home will become "his".

Covered matzah, parsley, eggs and salt water appear
on traditional seder tables

So I put together a short child-friendly Seder for Saturday. With the help of Uncle Eli (think of a Jewish Dr. Seuss after drinking 4 cups of wine) and a few other online sources like this and this, I put together a mish-mash children's Haggadah. I made fresh vegetable stock and matzaball soup. Parsley and hard boiled eggs for dipping into salt water, charoset, matza in the cover I bought at a Jewish cultural fair a number of years ago, and grape juice in wine glasses and one plastic cup adorned my table. We got through everything in about an hour, including the main course, a Moroccan style eggplant and garbanzo bean dish (garbanzos are kosher for Passover aren't they?).

Then on Sunday we first went to visit our next door neighbors for an egg hunt in the morning. Another egg hunt at my in-law's followed in the afternoon. More toys and candy than any human should be exposed to. But fun, fun, fun for SchmoopyBoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Clusters

I heard about this recipe through the Alisa Cooks website, although you can find her recipe here listed as Addictive Double Chocolate Granola Bars at the Attune Foods site.

I used Go Raw brand chocolate granola, peanut butter, and dairy-free semisweet chocolate chips as my variations, and put the mixture into lightly greased mini-muffin tins - thus I have renamed them Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Clusters. The size is perfect for a preschooler-friendly treat, and between the raw granola and peanut butter, this a guilt-free nutrient-dense delight for everyone in the family (baby excepted, of course).

Forgive the blurry picture. With the gaping hole you can tell we devoured most of them in short time. :)















Super fast and easy to make. This one's a keeper.