Stuffed Dreidle/Stocking Cookies

I grew up making these as stocking cookies. But I had a brainstorm this week to make stuffed dreidle cookies.

1/2 C crisco shortening
1/2 C soft butter
1/2 C sifted confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond flavoring
1/4 to 1/2 tsp food coloring
2 1/4 C sifted Gold Medal flour
1/4 tsp salt

for surprises:
9 candied cherries, quartered
1/4 C broken nuts
1/4 C chocolate pieces
anything else you think would be tasty inside

Mix well shortening, sugar, flavorings and food coloring.

Blend in flour and salt. If dough seems too dry, add a few drops of cream.

Chill 1 hour. Heat oven to 400 degrees. In palm of hand, pat 1 level teaspoon of dough and shape into dreidle shape or cut out with a small cookie cutter. Place surprises in appropriate spot.

Cover with another dreidle shaped cookie. Press to seal edges. Place on greased baking sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Cool.

Frost tip of dreidle and handle with confectioner's sugar icing.

For stockings: shape dough into a square in your palm. Put treats on one side of the dough, and fold over. Shape into a stocking or L shape.

When finished baking, frost the trim, heel, and toe with confectioners frosting.

Makes about 2-3 dozen.

Spinach Pesto Portabellos

I didn't get a picture of mine. So I took this picture from the place I got the idea from.

Spinach Pesto Portabellos

Ingredients

* 1 portobello mushroom per person
* olive oil
* Freshly made pesto, or from a jar
* chunks of Cheddar and Monterrey Jack cheeses

Directions

Put the mushrooms on a foil lined cookie sheet and spoon the pesto onto the mushrooms leaving spaces for the cheeses. Chop the cheese into pieces and alternate between the pesto. Sprinkle the pine nuts over and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and melted.

Spinach Pesto

1/4 C Walnuts or Pine nuts
4 oz basil leaves
4 oz spinach leaves
Parmesan cheese (optional)
Olive Oil
Garlic Salt to taste

Layer nuts, basil and spinach, and oil in a blender, processor or magic bullet. Puree. Mix in cheese and salt to taste.

Braised Tofu with mushrooms

I have not posted in a while, mainly due to the fact that I am chronically tired again. Yep, I'm pregnant, with our third!

Mini Muffin is super busy, learning more than most almost-4 year olds. She's in gymnastics, swimming, she may be able to go to preschool, and may be in Tae Kwon Do, all of which she loves. She also is making great leaps in her education, already reading, writing, and doing some simple math.

Mocha Muffin is busy blowing our minds. He is the only kid in his swim class who actually swims. The other kids are close, but not quite at his level. Oh, and at 16 months, he's the youngest as well. He also apparently knows some numbers, as he's been bringing his numbers from his puzzle to me and telling me their names, correctly! EEK! I'd like to say its the nutrition, but its more than that LOL.

Tonight's dish was something I'd been wanting to make for quite a while, but never knew how. I finally found a recipe for it, here. I didn't measure, I modified, and it came out a tad salty, and the Muffin Man requested I leave out the scallions next time. They were a bit tough. But even the kiddos loved it. We served it over brown rice.

1 block tofu, sliced into large pieces, about 1/2" or less thick
4-8 white mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, pressed
soy sauce (again, I didn't measure, the recipe says 4-5 tsp)
sweet soy sauce to taste
2/3 C water
1 tsp corn starch added to water
1 tsp sweet chili sauce

Brown the tofu on both sides. Remove from pan and saute mushrooms, adding garlic at the very end. Add in water, and the rest of liquids. Boil until it thickens and the corn starch clears. Serve over rice.

Opps, a not so great one

I really like summer squash casserole. However, this one wasn't so good. I used matzah meal in place of the bread crumbs, and I think I put too much in, as it was too dry.

The vegetables on the side where good.

Well, here is the recipe, as I have made it successfully before. As usual, I substituted the liquid dairy for soymilk with a couple tablespoons of cornstarch.

Squash Casserole

Ingredients

Serves 8

* 2 pounds yellow squash or zucchini, (older larger squash may be used here), cleaned and cut into 1/2-inch rounds
* 1 yellow onion, peeled and cut into large dice
* 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
* 1 1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
* 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
* 1 cup heavy cream
* 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
* 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
* 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1 cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place squash and onion in a medium saucepan, and cover with water. Add 1 tablespoon salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain well, and transfer to a large bowl.
2. Add 1 cup breadcrumbs, eggs, cream, thyme, 1/2 cup cheese, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and remaining teaspoon salt. Gently stir to combine. Pour into a 2-quart shallow baking dish. Spread remaining 1/2 cup cheese and remaining 1/2 cup breadcrumbs over top. Cover, and bake until set, about 30 minutes. Uncover, and continue baking until top is browned, about 10 minutes more.

Oven Baked Fries, a great side!

Yes, its been a while. But that's because this picture was taken of a meal just before a camping trip. Which was followed closely by another camping trip the next weekend, where I got slightly hurt. I bruised my bottom. And that made it hard to sit and write this up.

So now I am writing this up for all of you.

Here we have a nice summer meal, great for a barbeque. A Vegan Burger, steamed corn (you could roast yours over coals if you'd like), and oven baked fries.

The Fries make a great compliment to many meals, and this version has very little fat. Plus they are seasoned by herbs. Thyme and Rosemary make a great combonation, or you could use what we do, which is your basic italian combo, basil, garlic, oregano, and paprika.

You will need:

1 potato, cut into strips or wedges.
Herbs, whatever you choose.
Non-Stick oil spray.
Salt to taste

Spray a baking dish with nonstick spray. Lay the potatoes out, in one layer. Sprinkle with herbs and salt. Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes, or until potatoes are soft and turning golden brown.

Enjoy!

Matzah Lasagna, Matzagna? - Vegan Friendly

I have two images for you tonight, if I can get them loaded on here. First, our traditional Passover dinner. We eat this each Passover at some point, its a very yummy tradition. It is simple, and surprisingly faster than regular lasagna.

Matzah Lasagna
Otherwise known as Matzagna.

6 matzah sheets
1 block tofu
2 cup frozen spinach, thawed
6-8 mushrooms, sliced thinly
1 jar spaghetti sauce
italian seasoning
shredded cheese - optional

You will also need two 10x13 baking dishes, one for the lasagna, one for water.

First mash your tofu into a cottage cheese sized mixture. Squeeze the water out of the spinach and mix with the tofu. Season with the italian seasonings to taste. Fill one baking dish halfway with water. Place two matzah sheets in the water. While that is soaking, put a small amount of spaghetti sauce in the other baking dish to keep the lasagna from sticking. Let the matzah get well moistened on both sides, and then place into the other baking dish. Place half of the tofu mixture and then half of the mushrooms on that. Put a third of the cheese if using, and about a third of the remaining spaghetti sauce, and then moisten two more matzah's. Repeat layers, tofu, mushrooms, cheese sauce one more time. Moisten two remaining matzah sheets, and then cover with remaining sauce and cheese. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until done.

The second image is of Mocha Muffin, enjoying his Cream Cheese and Jelly Matzah sandwich. This is his first experience with Matzah crackers and let me just say, he didn't have to be asked twice. Our friend asked to try some this year, so we brought some to him one day while we were preparing for our congregation's Seder. He pulled one out and Mocha Muffin IMMEDIATELY started asking for some with his hand outstretched! Yep, no doubting his heritage!

Indian Food - Palak and Aloo Curries - VEGAN

Well, after getting emails I will attempt to resurrect this blog. I may only be able to blog once a week however. My 3 year old daughter is homeschooling, and my one year old (yes its been a year already!) is growing well and fast!

Tonight we had something very colorful and I decided to share this. First we had Palak Paneer, my vegetarian style. Instead of Paneer which is Goat Milk Cheese, I use Tofu chunks.

The process is very simple really, I use a half a block of tofu, and fry it up until its firm. I then add curry powder, paprika, and Garam Masala to taste. Frozen chopped spinach is added next, approximately 12-16 ounces. You can add some coconut milk as well if you'd like. Salt to taste

The other curry we had was an Aloo Curry. This recipe is a tad more complicated, but just as simple. You will need:

1 half Cauliflower head, chopped
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 can Coconut Milk
1/2 tsp turmeric
paprika to taste
curry to taste
salt to taste

Saute and steam the cauliflower. Add the turmeric, and the curry powder and paprika to taste. Throw in the chopped tomatoes, and then boil that until the cauliflower is soft enough for you. Pour in the coconut milk and then salt to taste.

And that is it!

Serve over brown rice.