Dinner & Dessert

The weekends are generally saved for longer cooking dinners, that is if we're not running around like crazy, and sometimes dessert. I do love my crockpot and make it a point to use it any day of the week but I do believe I use it more on the weekend. You would think I'd be smart and use it more during the work week. Oh well. Maybe next week.

Last night I used the Cassoulet recipe out of The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook: 125 Easy and Delicious Recipes to Jump-Start Weight Loss and Help You Feel Great. I actually did not know what Cassoulet was but the description said hearty stew and I was sold! It's quite warm in these neck of the woods these days, even in February but I like to believe it's still winter. I'm not ready for summer cooking yet.

The recipe was fairly simple. Onion, carrot, garlic, great northern beans, tomatoes, seasoning and vegan sausage. I like my stew a little more hearty so I added potato, collard greens and corn. I also omitted the vegan sausage. Now, I would have been fine without fake meat but there is a better chance BK will eat it with fake meat so I added Trader Joe's Meatless Meatballs. Next time I'll bake them first before adding, they fell apart in the stew. We were all in a agreement they would be tastier with a little sear on the outside. I made it up in a pot like the recipe said then threw it all in my favorite crockpot and let it do it's thing on low for several hours.

Finished product(okay, BK said it looked awful but he did like it!)


Now, what to do with all this extra time on my hands? Oh right...MAKE CHEESECAKE!

I'm a HUGE cheesecake fan(strange thing: I hated it when I was pregnant) and worried I would never get that fluffy sweet goodness again. I found a recipe on Vegweb.com(if you haven't checked out this website yet, now's the time!) and gave it a go. BK was skeptical, he didn't want a runny cheesecake. Neither did I, I forged ahead.

First off...WOW...SO GOOD!!! It actually tasted like cheesecake!! Wow!!

But, with that there are a few things I will change next time. I added Ener-G Egg Replacer, the box says add water, the website, per recommendations says not to. I didn't add any water, next time I will add just a tinsie bit. The graham cracker crust says to use 16 graham crackers, I will cut that in half. I used a spring form round pan and there ended up being way more crust than cheesecake. Along with that I will double the cheesecake "batter" because it was so very tasty!!

Here is the recipe from vegweb.com:
Yummy Vegan Cheesecake

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

16 cinnamon graham crackers, crumbled
1/2 cup vegan margarine
1 tablespoon light Karo syrup
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
16 ounces vegan cream cheese (I use Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese)
1/3 cup sugar
4 egg substitutes (http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=7678.0) (I use Ener-g)
1 teaspoon vanilla
juice of 1 lemon
vegan chocolate syrup (I use Ah!Laska)
fresh raspberries, to serve

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. For crust: Combine graham crackers, margarine, Karo syrup, and flour in a bowl. Mix by hand and press firmly into a round pan.

2. For filling: Combine cream cheese, sugar, egg substitutes, vanilla, and lemon juice in a blender and blend until creamy and smooth. Pour onto crust.

3. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until set (doesn't jiggle when you move the pan). Let cool. Place in refrigerator and chill for 12 hours. Drizzle with vegan chocolate syrup and add fresh raspberries.

You may use any kind of topping, such as strawberries in syrup, chocolate, vegan whipped cream, etc.

Serves: 8-10, Preparation time: 30 min.

Oh, and by the way also from recommendations I only added juice from half a lemon.

Picture(I added strawberries and chocolate syrup):


BK loved it! Yay!!!

This morning I was still on my high with dinner and dessert everyone liked I made pancakes. Again, I used a recipe off vegweb.com. Instead of egg replacer I added a mashed banana. I added some cinnamon to the recipe and instead of all non-dairy milk I added in some cinnamon juice. And instead of sugar I used agave nectar. I've made regular pancakes several times in my life and none have been very pretty(I guess I just wasn't that good at it) but these turned out beautifully. I'd prove it but I was so excited I forget to get a picture. Not only were they beautiful they tasted so darn good!! Everyone ate them..FAST! J had 2 whole pancakes, I don't know where she puts it all. BK loved them as did the hubby. I was very impressed. I was all ready to go get bagels in case they were horrible. Not horrible one bit! Mmmm...tofu scramble you're going to have to step it up a notch.

Cheers and happy eating!