Recipe #9: Gloom Raiser Martini

Recipe: Gloom Raiser from Martini by Jonathon Goodall
Verdict: Yum!

Here are the ingredients: 2 fl oz gin, 1 fl oz dry vermouth, 2 dashes grenadine, 2 dashes absinthe (the real stuff)

Here is the final product, garnished with a lemon twist.

Yum!

Recipe #8: "Cream" of Cauliflower Soup

Recipe: "Cream" of Cauliflower Soup from Vegetarian Soups for all Seasons by Nava Atlas
Changes made: I did not use onion; I used regular vegetable broth; I seasoned to my taste (spicy)
Verdict: Yum!

Here you can see the cauliflower, potato and beans simmering away with some spices. This soup is blended to be creamy, but doesn't actually contain any cream or milk.

Here is the final product all blended together and garnished with steamed green peas and oregano. A good, hearty soup.

Recipe #7: Veggie Chorizo Burritos

OMG! I have been so bad about updating this blog. I really don't know why. I have been mostly keeping up with the recipe a week that I had originally intended, but not completely, so I am going to change it up a little. I will try at least 52 new recipes within a year from the start date of this blog. I am starting to number the recipes instead of the weeks and will continue like that. Onto the recipe....

Recipe: My creation
Verdict: Yum!
I started with some Yves veggie chorizo and McCormick's taco seasoning. I had never used the chorizo before and only bought it because I found a really great deal on it at Grocery Outlet :)


I added some black beans for a little interest and cooked them together with some hot sauce and Bragg's Liquid Aminos. No oil!
All served on a whole wheat tortilla with lettuce, tomato and onion for me.....
lettuce, tomato and cheese for my hubby :)

Yum!

Week 7: Low Fat Scramble

I was inspired by Hungry Girl and her use of egg white products, so I decided to try a variation of one of her breakfast scrambles. These are the two main ingredients.
I Can't Believe it's Not Butter Spray instead of butter. Egg white product instead of eggs. I added some soy meat, onion and hot sauce.Mmmmmm. Looks appetizing, right?

It actually tasted ok. The texture was a little weird. Probably will never make it again.
Look what it did to my pan. The spray "butter" did not do its job.

Week 6: Snacks and Soup

Recipe: Low calorie not-fried cheese sticks
Verdict: Yum. Definitely try again

I got this recipe from Hungry Girl: 200 under 200. The recipe uses Fiber One Original cereal and egg substitute.

This light cheese stick gets cut in half and dipped in egg substitute.
Then they are shaken in a Ziploc bag of blended Fiber One and seasoning.
They are then baked in the oven. I did not get a picture of them after baking, but they looked pretty much like this, except with cheese oozing out.
They were served with Chef Pastorelli pizza sauce, possibly the best pizza sauce ever. Since I don't eat cheese, I did not get to taste the cheese sticks, but Rob tells me that they are excellent and should definitely be served at our next party!!


Recipe: Blooming Onion
Verdict: Ok. Will not try again.

Take a sweet onion. Cut in sections almost to the root and place in water to allow the onion layers to open up.
Again this recipe is a Hungry Girl recipe and calls for Fiber One Original and egg substitute. It was very difficult to cover each little piece of each layer of the onion with the egg and the cereal.
Here it is after baking. It was not super pleasant to eat, since the coating was very uneven and clumped in areas. I really like onions, so I couldn't stop eating it, although I did remove a lot of the coating :) There was a dipping sauce recipe to go with the onion, but since it sounded a lot like Thousand Island dressing and I already had some in the fridge, I just used the pre-made Thousand Island. It went well with the onion.


Recipe: Fresh Asparagus Soup with Parmesan Crisps
Verdict: Yum. Will try again.
Modifications: I made half of the recipe. I used garlic instead of shallots. I added red chili pepper flakes.

I got this recipe from Vegetarian Times online. Here is the beautiful asparagus, all cut up and divided in piles.
Asparagus cooking in veggie broth with seasonings.
Meanwhile, I made some parmesan crisps. The recipe called for lining the cookie sheet, so I used wax paper.
Unfortunately, the paper stuck to the bottom of my crisps. Ooops.
Second attempt. No wax paper. Success:)
After the asparagus is blended, lemon juice is added.
Rob's soup with parmesan crisp.
My soup with croutons(a slice of bread cut in cubes and baked).

New Product: Vegan Kung Pao Chicken

We had tried this product before at a friend's house, but this was my first time preparing it myself. It is expensive, almost $6 for this box. I misread the directions. It cooks in the oven at 325 degrees, but should be wrapped in foil. I did not wrap it in foil, so it took a lot longer to cook than the package stated. I even turned the temperature up halfway through because I got impatient.

I served this with one of our favorite salads, ginger salad. I got the recipe from an old Vegetarian Times. It is basically ginger soaked in lime juice, cabbage, tomato, crushed peanuts, soy sauce, a little sesame oil, garlic, and it is yummy. The kung pao chicken really complemented the ginger salad. It was amazing. However, I think that the servings of the vegan chicken were really small, and the calories really high. What you see on this plate is two servings and over 400 calories.
Overall, I really like this product. However, because I watch my calorie intake closely during the week, I would normally pass this item up. Also it is pretty pricey for what you actually get. I will probably buy it again, but it will not be a regular item on my grocery list.

Week 5: Chocolate Dipped Madness

Recipe: Chocolate dipped stuff
Verdict: Yum. Definitely do again.

I bought some strawberries today at the produce store, and it inspired me to melt some chocolate and start dipping. I have made chocolate dipped strawberries before, but I wanted to try something new. I started by melting some chocolate chips in a double boiler(basically the chips are put in a pyrex bowl that sits over a pan of boiling water). Doesn't it look yummy? Smells good too :)
Remember the mini moon pies from last week? Well, I decided to cover them in chocolate to make them more like a real moon pie(This was actually Rob's idea). As you can see I used tongs, so I wouldn't burn my fingers. Mmmmm.

Here are the strawberries I bought...

Yum!

I had a little chocolate left, and I decided to try dipping a different fruit: mandarin orange.
They looked really funny after the dipping :)
Here is everything after some time in the refrigerator. The moon pies were phenomenal!! Wow! The orange slices popped in my mouth. They were also tasty. And of course, chocolate covered strawberries are always good.