Scrambled Tofu

Place 1 block of soft tofu in a pan and cover with water. Heat til boiling and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.

Drain the tofu pressing out all the water you can, dice the tofu and put in a non-stick skillet.
Add salt, pepper, garlic powder and about 1/4 tsp of tumeric and toss well.
Add some frozen chopped onion, green pepper and some diced potatoes and cook til everything begins to brown.

This is a great breakfast dish and is good on a plate or would be good in a tortilla with some salsa.

Vicki's Easy Hummus

1 - 15 ounce can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
juice and zest of 1 lime
3 Tbl of the chickpea liquid (more or less)
garlic to taste
sea salt to taste

Whirl the chickpeas in the food processor until they are smooth and add the rest.

Quick and easy!

Crunchy Crust Apple Pie

Make a pie crust using Grape Nuts cereal and just enough frozen apple juice concentrate to make the cereal wet and sticky and press the mixture in a pie pan. (probably about 1/3 cup)

Core, peel and dice 5 or 6 apples. I used Red Delicious because that's what I had.
Add 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp cloves and 1/4 tsp nutmeg and toss to coat the apples. (I just used whatever I found in the spice cabinet)
Add 1/4 c whole wheat flour and stir again.
I added the juice of 1/2 lemon to keep the apples from getting dark.
Add 1/2 c. brown sugar (I used the Splenda half and half brown sugar) and about 1/4 c. maple syrup to sweeten.

Put the apple mixture in the crust and bake 30 minutes at 350.

Vegan Lasagna

So the menu at Care Group last night was lasagna and I decided that it would be fun for us to have the same thing. I had been thinking I could make a decent lasagna using silken tofu. I did a quick Google search and saw that someone had posted a recipe using tofu instead of ricotta cheese so I put this together. I made a small pan for the 2 of us and enough to share with the curiousity seekers.

8 whole wheat lasagna noodles boiled until tender

1 jar of Wild Oates 365 Brand no fat spaghetti sauce - or make your own.

1 pack of silken tofu - placed in food processer until creamy
add some Italian seasoning, garlic powder, parsley, and egg substitute powder and water equal to 1 egg. Mix well in the food processer until blended.

1/2 pack frozen spinach (cut leaf is what I like) - thawed in the microwave and drained well.

Layer all of the above as many times as you like and bake for about 30-40 minutes at 350.

Honestly, all we missed was the cheese on the top. The seasoned tofu really did a good imitation of ricotta.

Faux Chicken and Rice

1 Bag of Morning Star* brand "Chicken Strips"
1 chopped onion
Brown together in a non-stick skillet til onion is tender.

1 cup of basmati rice
2 cups of water (I used half mushroom broth and half water)

Dump all of the "chicken" and the onion into the pot with the rice and water and throw in a few green peas, carrots and other veggies (celery would probably be good if you like it.)

Cook til the rice is fluffy. We added just a little sea salt to our portions on our plates.

The aroma reminded me of Thanksgiving while it was cooking. I had a little cranberry sauce on the side. It was delicious!

*The chicken strips have expeller pressed canola oil as the very last ingredient on the list. It seems pretty negligible to me and since we don't have heart disease, we enjoy these. :)

Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 c Splenda
1/2 c Brown sugar and brown Splenda mix
1 individual serving size of unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg or egg substitute (for vegans)
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. oatmeal
1/2 c raisins
1 tsp vanilla

Blend together till mixed well. You may need to add about 1 T. of water.
Spoon onto cookie sheet and bake for about 8-10 minutes til done.

Vegan Spaghetti Squash

Prepare a spaghetti squash by cutting in half, wrapping with plastic wrap, and microwaving for 10 minutes or until soft. Clean out the middles with a spoon, getting all the seeds, then use a fork to separate the squash into spaghetti-like strands.

Top with homemade sauce with lots of garlic - or use your favorite jarred sauce.