Carrot Cake Oatmeal

 

Vegan, Sugar-Free Cheesecake

The proof is in the pudding ~ look at the empty pie tin! I brought this dessert to the Redding Vegan Potluck dinner and it was gone in a heartbeat! I was totally impressed and couldn't wait to tell my Family of Friends I finally left my former cooking fiascos in the dust.

You'll Need:
A graham cracker pie shell
Tru Whip Whipped Cream
Unsweetened almond or soy milk
Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
Stevia, the plant sweetener (Different flavors, too!)
Cinnamon, Nutmeg or Pumpkin Spice

To Do:

Put three Tofutti into a large bowl and add about a 1/4 cup soy or almond milk. I don't measure anything so we're winging it here. Add enough milk so the Tofutti mixes with your electric mixer. Add several drops of Stevia or two to three packets of powdered Stevia to taste. Once you like the amount of sweetness and it blends easily, scoop it into your pie shell. Sprinkle it with one of the three topping choices and add sliced organic strawberries or blueberries if you wish. Add a dollop of Tru Whip and your guests will go wild. 

Breakfast of Champions

After researching chemical-laced foods, (preservatives, food colorings) I discovered going vegan/vegetarian helped me mentally, physically and emotionally. For those concerned with heart-related issues, diabetes, weight management, or your overall well-being, the items below will make you, your doctor and your body feel 100% better. With whatever changes you make, give your body and your cells 30 days to adjust. 

HIGH Fiber
No-to-Low Sugar
High Protein
Whole-Some Grains
Stevia Natural Sweetener (250-300 times sweeter than sugar and is derived from a South American herb)

Be sure to let your cereal sit a few minutes with the unsweetened soy/almond milk. This allows the cereal to swell and fill your bowl, which also fills your stomach with a smaller portion. Add a packet of powdered Stevia and you're good to go. YAY!

Bake a Tofurky Italian Sausage (with an amazing 29g of protein and zero bad fats!) sliced length-wise and add a dollop of Vegan Ranch Salad or Honey Mustard Dressing, Bar-B-Que Sauce or both. Tofurky products have gluten as their first ingredient, however. Another terrific plant-based protein line, which is gluten-free, is the Beyond Meat products. 

With a wedge of avocado on the side, you have a full-filling start to your day complete with nourishment.

Nutrition Facts

Calories in Tofurky Italian Sausage

Serving Size: 1 serving

Amount Per Serving

• Calories280.0
• Total Fat13.0 g
• Saturated Fat1.5 g
• Polyunsaturated Fat0.0 g
• Monounsaturated Fat0.0 g
• Cholesterol0.0 mg
• Sodium620.0 mg
• Potassium0.0 mg
• Total Carbohydrate12.0 g
• Dietary Fiber8.0 g
• Sugars3.0 g
• Protein                                                       29g

Hot Sauce Yakisoba ~ No Pork!

While attending the University of Hawaii ~ Manoa during the 80s, my friends and I frequented the Dai-Ryu Noodle House on the corner of King and Punahou Streets. This tiny eatery took no reservations and maintained a line of eager patrons waiting to be seated. 

My friends and I sat at the counter while watching the Japanese chefs prepare their patron's finest noodle meals. Our mouths watered in anticipation while guessing whether ours was next. My favorite was Hot Sauce Yakisoba, which I proudly ordered with, "No pork, please!" 

Returning to the Mainland nearly 26 years ago, I searched for establishments serving my favorite fried noodle dish, to no avail. I even succumbed to preparing the dish at home with purchased ingredients from the store, however, there weren't any. 

Last week while shopping at Raley's in Redding, California, I discovered packaged Yakisoba Stir Fry Noodles and bought all three varieties. I prepared the meal that evening and savored every morsel. If Asian-style food is a favorite of yours, too, try this one on for size!

You'll Need:
Yakisoba Noodle package
Green/White onion
Bragg's Amino Acid(naturally occurring sodium + aminos) or Shoyu (low sodium)
Sesame Oil
Ginger Juice
Extra Firm Tofu
Sugar Peas
Carrots
Celery
Garlic
Purple cabbage
Colorful Heirloom tomatoes

Unchickn' or your favorite plant-based meat

To Do:
Soak noodles in hot water for a couple minutes
Shred carrots, celery, cabbage, white onion and saute' in light olive oil with tofu
Add sugar peas, tomato, green onion, garlic, noodles, Yakisoba sauce with water
Add to taste: Bragg's Aminos or shoyu, ginger juice and sesame oil
Allow simmering a couple minutes so flavors mix well
Take emotions into account when preparing so negativity doesn't happen as in "Like Water for Chocolate." You'll want your guests dancing on the ceiling and singing your praises.

My Yelp testimonial for Dairyu Noodle House (now closed, darn it)

• Deborah G.
• Redding, CA

2/9/2014

 When living in Honolulu from 1978-88, my friends and I frequented Dairyu, especially while attending UH-Manoa. I always ordered the Hot Sauce Yakisoba without pork and waited in anticipation while watching its preparation. I fondly looked back on those years and was hopeful going again to Dairyu one day as a now middle-aged woman. I'm extremely disappointed they've closed ~ symbolizing the end of an important era in my life.

Lemony-Aid

To Taste:

Organic lemon, lime juice OR
Fresh-Squeezed organic lemons (seeds optional)
Stevia packets or liquid
Pure water
Ice cubes

 

"Recipes for Life" ~ In the Beginning

        Every teenager knows everything and I was no exception. Wait, there was one tiny exception: I definitely knew way more than you could ever know.

Our summers in Redding were long, hot and filled with non-stop F-U-N. My four close girlfriends and I rode horses, bicycles, motorcycles, swam in each other’s swimming pools, camped out on our parents' lawns and made trips to Circle K for Slurpees.

            Each morning, the four of us took turns preparing breakfast. One summer morning it was my turn to prepare my mother’s well known sour cream pancakes. The pancake recipe called for an entire cube of melted butter. Positive the recipe was mistaken, I left the butter out. The girls filed in one by one as the cakes bubbled on the griddle. Twirling the spatula, I knew I had this nailed hands down. The girls sat at the kitchen counter next to the griddle, watching with anticipation. Slowly, the edges of the pancakes began curling upward.

Startled, I distracted the girls with orange juice, hot syrup AND the necessary butter for their pancakes. The silent stares were broken when Donna asked, “Hey Deb, do the pancakes look a little strange to you?” Defending my efforts, I replied, “No, of course not. That’s the way they’re supposed to look.”

To prove my point, I said I’d feed one to Cleo, our German Shepard. I called Cleo knowing she’d gobble the pancake. She sniffed the pancake on the kitchen floor and walked away. I picked up the pancake, threw it onto the kitchen floor and watched it bounce. In lieu of breakfast, we raced outside and jumped into the swimming pool for a round of Marco Polo.

The teenage years of cooking experiences continued. Ross, my brother, tried cutting his birthday cake with a saw and chisel, while Ronnie, my step-brother, had his birthday banana cream pie pour onto the dinner table. The cake had too much corn starch, while the pie had none. I was too lazy to drag a chair to the top of the cupboard and get the corn starch.

The spaghetti sauce for the dinner upheld the wooden spoon. I neglected to add water to the can of tomato paste. My brothers raced out the back door when they saw the pot of sauce with the spoon standing straight up in the middle. When my mother came home to find only me, she asked, “Debbie, what could you have possible done to this sauce?” Shrugging my shoulders, I asked, “Mom, what’s the big deal? It’s not like they’re going to starve to death!” My frustrated mother replied, “Debbie, why can’t you ever just follow the recipe?”

Pre-heat oven to temperature of choice. Clear counter top and make room for an array of attempts. Get largest mixing bowl from under counter. Don’t bother with measuring spoons/cups. They won’t get used.

Mix together following ingredients as needed:

1.                  Wisdom from years of efforts, failures, successes

3.                  Regrets, longings, aching in heart

5.                  Patience, impatience, frustration

6.                  Fulfillment from various corners of life

7.                  Faith

8.                  Advice given or received

9.                  Shrieks of laughter

10.             A romantic love like no other

Pour ingredients into heart-shaped pan and set in oven until visually baked. At end of time, pull out of oven, wait until cooled and take a bite. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy every morsel, however, if not there’s always embracing of this one.

Leaving out an ingredient here, adding an ingredient there, the recipes in my mother’s cookbooks never worked for me. As an adult, I’ve created my own recipes from my own experiences, and am having tremendous success.

From I Corinthian 13:13, I learned, “The three most important ingredients to have in life are faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

Mixing these three ingredients into my life’s bowl, I'm giving it a try.  I now, however, turn on the oven when I want the cookies to bake rather than just have the light melt them. Before I blindly navigate another half century of life away, I’ll lovingly mixing faith and hope into my life’s bowl to see whether this is the recipe for life.

 

Aunt Audrey's Enchilada Bake

Invite your friends over for this amazingly tasty dish and make an organic salad to go with it. Don't bother adding garlic bread as the main dish has corn tortillas in it. For a light-hearted dessert, prepare Mama Frannie's Apple Crisp, complete with Tru Whip, and your friends will be impressed.

Preheat your oven to 350. 

You'll Need:

Organic corn tortillas (no GMO's), green and white onions, mild chiles, garlic, Tofutti Sour Cream, enchilada sauce, cilantro, either dairy or soy cheese, Parmesan for the topping, LiteLife Mexican Style Smart Ground and organic red or yellow peppers (conventional peppers are heavily sprayed with pesticides) 

Saute' the onions and ground soy until onions are lightly golden. Don't saute the garlic because all the flavor will be gone while in the oven, too. 

Pour all the chopped ingredients into a bowl with the onions. Put a couple corn tortillas in the bottom of your pan and begin adding the ingredients to your taste preferences. I am crazy for cilantro and mild chiles therefore, I add heaps of these into the mix. Along the way, add as much cream cheese as you desire. After all, this type has no bad fats and is very low in calories! Add as many mild chiles as you wish. If your cooking dish is tall enough, add another couple of corn tortillas. 

Once all the items are in your oven dish, add the varieties of cheeses you desire and then pour on the enchilada sauce until everything is practically floating. Put a cookie sheet under your beautiful enchilada bake in the event it bubbles over the edge. Mine did and made a horrible mess on the bottom of my oven ~ which I still haven't cleaned. Cover the entire top with freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese and bake for 30 minutes at 350. 

Hot Tip:
Take these ingredients and turn them into tacos, too!