Southern Fixins (Vegan)

I know... Southern fixins (or is it fixuns) and vegan don't typically go together.  The thing is, when my husband is having a busy week at work - I like to cheer him up with comfort food.  When he comes in the door to a big meal of his favourites he has the face of a child on Christmas morning.  This past Lent, our family chose to eliminate any food from animals from our diet - we ate like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, which is... vegan.

Although I wouldn't recommend making this all the time, vegan does NOT always equal healthy (example:Oreo cookies) these recipes are great for company, great for any holiday meal or potluck and especially great for cheering someone up!

Vegan Creamed Corn

2 1/2 cups of sweet corn (frozen)
1 can of coconut milk (not light)
2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp flour or cornstarch
water
2-3 tbsp Nutritional Yeast (optional)
1tsp salt

Place milk and sugar in saucepan, and add corn.  Bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Put flour in small dish and moisten with water until there are no lumps or dry flour.  Once smooth, add flour and water mixture to the boiled corn and coconut milk.  Keep the corn on high heat while the flour cooks and thickens the cream.  I added salt and nutritional yeast, the nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavour (in regular creamed corn you add almost a full cup of parmesan).  You can get creative here - adding a pinch of cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, or whatever strikes your fancy.

Frying Pan Biscuits (Sprouted Grain, vegan)

As you may or may not know, I don't turn my stove on during the week.  I especially don't turn it on to make one solitary thing.  If I'm going to turn that baby on mid-week I have to have at least 3 things to put in there to make it worth while.  If you turn your stove on feel free to make these in the oven - but I can't see why anyone would when they're so tasty and easy on the stove.

2 cups sprouted grain Spelt flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable shortening or Earth Balance shortening
3/4 cup milk alternative (I used Quinoa, but almond or coconut is cool beans)
coconut oil

Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.  Cut in shortening with two knives or pastry cutter until it is crumbly and there are no shortening clumps larger than a pea.  SLOWLY add your milk, I added mine 1/4 cup at a time and didn't need all of the last 1/4.  You need just enough liquid to hold the dough together and no more.  Once you have a good consistency, knead dough on floured board very briefly (I'd say 3-5 times) and roll out with a rolling pin.  I use a cup to cut out my biscuits, but you might be a fancy pants and have a biscuit or cookie cutter that will do the job.  You can also just cut out a shape with a butter knife.

Prepare your pan by turning it on high heat with a lid on.  I used a heavy ceramic pan - it is best if you use something very heavy like cast iron, ceramic, etc.  If you have to use a lighter teflon like pan turn the heat to medium high and wait longer for the pan to warm up so it doesn't smoke and get out of control.  If you are unsure if your pan is hot enough drop a small amount of water on it.  It should bead up, sizzle and evaporate in seconds.

Add 1tsp coconut oil to pan, and roll it around so it's evenly coated.  Add as many biscuits as will fit and put the lid back on, turning the heat to medium low (I'd say 6 on an electric).  Allow biscuits to cook for 5-6 minutes and flip to other side for another 5-6 minutes.  If you're unsure the biscuit is cooked thoroughly, just break one open and look for a nice flaky filling.  If it's flaky, your'e done with the bakey.  That was terrible, but it rhymed and I just couldn't help myself.

Repeat as necessary with any additional biscuits, just remember to give the pan a break to heat up between batches.

The BEST thing about frying these up was how little oil we had to use and how much flavour it added to the biscuits.  We ate them "plain" with no butter (or Earth Balance), jam, or anything - they were just plain tasty.

Kick Ass Coleslaw

I love coleslaw.  It's versatile, goes with a lot of different meals and the crunch just can't be beat.  I love a good crunch.

I knew I couldn't have biscuits and creamed corn without coleslaw.  It's a food sacrilege.  Coming up with something vegan was a breeze.  I had been watering down hummus and basically putting in on EVERYTHING.  Pizza.  Veggies.  You name it, I topped it with watered down hummus.  Don't knock it until you try it, you might just start putting it on everything too!

Now... don't judge me for buying prepackaged coleslaw.  I was making homemade spring rolls and they are already a lot of work, so I skipped some of the HOURS of prep and bought the coleslaw mix from the fresh food section of the grocery store.  It's just red and green cabbage and a few shreds of carrot.  For $1.30/bag I was happy to skip prepping it myself.

1/2 bag of coleslaw mix
1/2 cup hummus
3-4 tbsp tahini
freshly squeezed lemon juice

In a large bowl, mix your hummus and tahini until it is smooth and runny.  Add the coleslaw, and the juice from half a lemon and you're in business.  That's it.  Seriously.  Eat it.

I hope you try some (or ALL) of these recipes the next time you're craving some soul food.  

Bon Appetite and Have fun with your Fixuns!

Bake your Blues Away... even if you're not blue

Originally Posted 02/24/10

Today was a bake day. I gave myself a few hours in the kitchen and there will be days of food to show for it! I can't say exactly how long it took because I had to break up a few fights between my two youngest, but the baby to sleep, do the dishes a few times, etc. Including all of those things, it took 4 hours from start to finish - but those hours weren't all spent in the kitchen. I pay my own utilities, so to cut down on energy costs I bake as little as possible - cramming as many things into one session as I can. I often freeze things soon after they've cooled so when they're defrosted they taste as fresh as the day you made them.

Please note I couldn't even take a picture without Sol grabbing a pretzel!

First on the list:

Soft Pretzels

2 tbsp Yeast
2 tbsp Sugar
2 tsp Salt
4 tbsp softened butter
2 cup warm water

5 1/2 cups flour

Coarse Salt to sprinkle on Pretzels before baking
5 tsp baking soda mixed in 4 cups water

Preheat oven to 475 F

Mix sugar and salt with warm water. Sprinkle yeast on top and let proof for about 5 minutes. Add butter and two cups of flour, mix well, and let it bubble again (another 5-10 minutes).

Add remaining flour one cup at a time until dough pulls from the bowl. Please remember you may not need the amount of flour in the recipe.  Different climates require different amounts of flour.  Turn dough onto floured work surface and knead. Dough should be moist but not sticky.

Allow dough to rise to about double (typically 1 hour)

When dough is risen enough, punch down. Begin to boil water and add baking soda only once the water has boiled. Knead dough a few times, then divide into 12 even sized pieces. If you'd like to make smaller pretzels just keep an eye on them as they bake.

Roll pieces into long ropes (anywhere from 1 - 2 cm thick) and twist the ends two or three times leaving enough room to attach ends to round part.  I had a video on the original post but can't transfer it!  YouTube it if you must :)

Let the pretzels boil for 1 minute, then flip them over with a slotted spoon and boil on the other side for another minute.

Fish them out of the water, let them drip off and place them on cookie sheet. Your cookie sheet needs to be greased or have parchment paper.

Sprinkle the pretzels with rock salt while they are still wet from being boiled.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the pretzels are golden brown.

Bread

While my dough was rising for the pretzels, I began to get a batch of sandwich bread going. I'm not going to share the recipe I used, because I used specialty bread flour and most people bake with all purpose. There are a TONNE of bread recipes online, but I particularly like a recipe from King Arthur Flour website. It's called "The easiest loaf of bread you'll ever bake"

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/the-easiest-loaf-of-bread-youll-ever-bake-recipe

It's rustic looking and beautiful like a baguette. I'll make a few loaves soon and post the pictures.

So, I made three loaves of sandwich bread for the kids lunches. It took no more work than making one loaf, and since bread typically takes an hour to rise and another hour to rise in the loaf pan - the timing will work out perfectly. When my pretzels are done baking I can turn the oven down for the bread and it will be ready to go in. After they've cooled, I'll keep one in the bread box and the other two will go straight to the freezer for when we need them next.

Ever get stuck for lunch ideas? Stuffed bread is AMAZINGLY delicious and quite simple to make. You can substitute the meat in this recipe with grilled vegetables if you prefer, any way you change it - it usually turns out delectable.

This recipe is an adaptation of the "All-American Ham and Cheese Roll" from King Arthur Flour

Stuffed Bread

Crust
3 cups (12 3/4 ounces) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup powdered milk
1 tbsp corn starch
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 tsp traditional Italian herbs (oregano, parsley, whatever you'd like. I used the Tapinade mix from Epicure)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 teaspoons instant or quick yeast
1 cup water (you may need more depending on weather)

Filling
thin-sliced deli meat

thin-sliced cheese

Butter

Mustard

I haven't specified amounts for the filling, because this is entirely to taste. I used enough meat to cover the dough, and only enough cheese to cover one "fold". Today I had specialty turkey (onion and sage flavored) that I bought 50% off and froze. You can use more if you're not on such a tight budget, or even replace the meat with roasted peppers, zuchinni, eggplant, etc. Just be sure to keep the veggies to one layer and not to pile them on top of eachother.

To make the dough: Combine all of the dough ingredients (wet ingredients last), and knead them together until you've made a soft, smooth dough. This is where you may find you need an extra tablespoon or so of water. Allow the dough to rise, covered with a damp cloth or dishtowel, for 1 hour.

Roll the dough into a rectangle until it is roughly 1cm thick. Brush one third with soft or melted butter. Brush all over with mustard, leaving a 1" mustard-free zone all around the edge. Lay your meat (or veggies) out in a single layer across the dough, again leaving a 1" border. If using veggies, you might want to substitute the mustard for hummus (see Hummus recipe). Add the cheese to one third of the dough.

Starting with a long edge, roll the dough into an log. Pinch the long seam closed (or as close to "closed" as you can get) then fold the ends over and pinch them closed too. Curve the log into a horseshoe shape on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, seam-side down. Cover the sheet, and allow the roll to rise for 1 to 2 hours; it should look puffy, though not doubled. I only let mine rise for an hour today, because the oven was ready for it and I had a doc appointment coming up.

Score the roll crosswise (you may want to sharpen your knife first), about ½" deep, at 3" to 4" intervals along its length. Bake the roll in a preheated 375°F oven for 35 minutes, until it's golden brown, tenting it lightly with foil if it appears to be browning too quickly. Remove it from the oven, and allow it to cool for 20 minutes before serving. Serve warm, or at room temperature.Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

Want more from the Lent Experiment blog?  Visit http://thelentexperiment.blogspot.ca 

The beginning of the Lent Experiment.....

Starting a new blog, I decided to keep the posts from my Lent Experiment blog.  I don't know if we are planning on doing it again this year, or a variation of it, but the experiment has continued to change our lives all these years later and I think it's worth sharing.  Re-sharing.


We are an average family, but we used to be a lot more average. We bought the "norm" hook line and sinker. Christmas, Easter and birthdays used to have presents galore. The kids got new knapsacks each September. We would go to big box stores just to see what was on clearance. You get the idea. It's hard to believe that all of this changed from simply changing how much we spend on food, but it did.

 Lent 2009 we decided that if more than half of the world lives on less than $2.00/day, then surely we could manage to eat for less than that. Lent means Spring (Anglo Saxon) and also means forty (Greek) and is typically a period of fasting before the Easter celebration. We did not exercise the right to reprieve the experiment on Sundays (makes the Lent period an even forty days), but did not count gifts of food (my Dad often drops off muffins on Sunday morning) or having a meal at someone else's house. "Yes, we'd love to come over for dinner - but would you mind keeping it under $2.00/per person?"

So, what's the point? What does eating for less have to do with people who don't have a choice of how much they spend on groceries? During Lent, (or year round), cut your budget to what most of the world has to live on and give the remainder away. Yep, give it away. I trust World Vision but you may have a trusted charity that you could make a donation to. If you give this an earnest effort, you will be amazed not only at how much food you can eat for less than $2.00/day, but how much fun you (and your family) will have.

Want more from the Lent Experiment blog?  Visit http://thelentexperiment.blogspot.ca