Breakfast!!!

So I have to admit breakfast is one of my favorite meals of the day! But what is breakfast without eggs, sausage gravy and buttermilk biscuits?  Still yummy, I promise!!!  Speaking of biscuits and gravy, that is my favorite breakfast, so I veganized it!  Thankfully I found quite a few recipes to choose from and jumbled them all together to make my own.

Biscuits:

2 cups self rising flour
1T baking non-aluminum baking powder
1/2t salt
4T margarine (I use Earth Balance sticks)
3/4 cup (6oz) non dairy milk (I use soy)
water to add if dough is too floury

Preheat oven to 450*F
Put all dry ingredients in a bowl. With a fork, cut in margarine till mixture is in fine crumbles.  Add the milk and stir till it clings together.  Add flour a little at a time if too sticky.  pull apart little balls and place on a greased cookie sheet.  Bake about 10 minutes or until golden!

(for a dinner variation on these, add garlic, rosemary, basil, etc)

"Sausage" Gravy:

Well I totally don't have my own sausage recipe, I use one from the Post Punk Kitchen:

smoky maple sausages

1T and 1/4 cup canola oil, divided

1 small onion, minced

smoky maple sausages (see link above)

1/2 cup all purpose flour

2 1/2 cups non dairy milk (unsweetened works best)

pepper, garlic powder, onion powder & paprika to taste

Heat 1T oil & saute the onion till soft.  Add sausage and heat till browned.  Transfer to a bowl. 

Add 1/4 cup oil and flour to pan.  Whisk and make a roux until it bubbles.  Slowly add milk while dissolving roux.  Stir constantly over medium-low heat to thicken.  Once thickened, add back sausage & onions. Stir well and add spices.  Serve piping hot & enjoy!!

What's your favorite go-to and comfort breakfast??

Banana bread, biscuits and peach pie filling, oh my!!!!

So today has been a busy day!  The kids were busy doing "school stuff", Mance is off doing a side job and me, well I got bored.  So what do I do when I'm bored? I cook of course!

We have our bible study tonight with an Italian food theme, so I thought to recreate Red Lobster's cheddar garlic biscuits. 

 I used a base biscuit recipe:

2 cups self rising flour
1T baking non-aluminum baking powder
1/2t salt
4T margarine (I use Earth Balance sticks)
3/4 cup (6oz) non dairy milk (I use soy)
water to add if dough is too floury

Preheat oven to 450*F
Put all dry ingredients in a bowl. With a fork, cut in margarine till mixture is in fine crumbles.  Add the milk and stir till it clings together.  Add flour a little at a time if too sticky.  pull apart little balls and place on a greased cookie sheet.  Bake about 10 minutes or until golden!

for the garlic variation I added garlic powder, basil and oregano till it looked and tasted right!  (The great thing about vegan recipes is you can taste test the dough and not worry about getting sick!!

Banana Bread - fat free!

3 ripe bananas cut in chunks

2/3 cup agave nectar or 1 cup sugar

(mash these in a bowl till creamy)

Add to this:

1t vanilla

2 cups flour (i use whole wheat)

1/2t baking soda

1t each cinnamon & ginger (more or less to your liking)

water to make it more doughy if it is too floury

mix till a doughy, preheat oven to 350, place in a greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour.

optional:

chopped nuts

raisins

dates

I also currently have 2 quart jar of peach pie filling in the canner
about 30 peaches, peeled & chunked
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
cinnamon
ginger

combine all ingredients in a large pot and boil, mashing fruit every few minutes.  Once you get hte consistenct you want, let simmer over low heat for about an hour or until the liquid is nice and syrupy.  Pack into sterilized hot jars and process in a water canner for about 30 minutes.

Peach Salsa

So I splurged and bought a case of peaches at Whole Foods yesterday...yes its a ton of peaches, but it was only $15.

In an attempt to find something I have never made before, I googled peach recipes and got all the normals - pie filling, peaches in syrup, peach butter....but then I came across peach salsa.  I deviated a bit from teh recipe, following is what I used:

per pint jar:

3 peaches peeled & chunked

1 onion chopped

1-3 jalapenos seeded and chopped

juice of 1 lemon

1 inch fresh ginger grated

palmful of fresh mint leaves

cilantro (optional)

mix everything in a bowl then transfer to a food processor & process till as smooth or chunky as you want it.  Transfer to a bowl (then eat or refridgerate) or to a sterilized pint jar.  Process in water bath canner for 25-30 minutes.

This is great on chicken quesadillas (got my husbands approval) and would be great on grilled chicken, fish, baked tofu or atop some black beans and rice.  However you choose to use it, please leave a comment and let me know how you enjoyed it!!

Homemade Sriracha



So I found a wonderful recipe for my favorite hot sauce on  The Kitchenette and thought I would give it a try. (Click that link for the recipe)  However I made a couple small tweeks.  Since I was using homecanned peppers (a mix of red jalapenos & scotch bonnet) I skipped the overnight soak. Also these were canned in apple cider vinegar so I used that for the vinegar.

Cooking vinegar and hot peppers WILL clear your sinuses very quickly!!!

this turned out wonderfully with a great flavor! A little off from storebought sriracha, but definitely worth making!!  I see myself making lots more of this in the future & have a date with Bianca from Vegan Crunk to make some more!!



Canning Supplies Giveaway!

I have no control over this giveaway but thought i would share!
You can can


And on a canning note, I have been canning like crazy!  pics to come shortly!!

the BIG recipe post! (incomplete)

Thanks to Bree for prodding me into posting my recipes, here's one big post with what I am doing today.

~homemade veggie burgers
~watermelon gazpacho
~pickled watermelon rind
~marinated mushrooms
~yellow tomato salsa
~lemon garlic hummus
~tvp chili


Homemade Veggie Burgers:
1/2 cup quinoa, cooked & seasoned
1 can great northern beans cooked & mashed
minced garlic to taste
onion to taste
feel free to add any minced veggies you want, i keep mine simple

mix all ingredients in a bowl and form into balls. you may need to add a bit of flour to get them to stick.  flatten balls into patties.  now they are ready to cook or freeze!  :)


Watermelon Gazpacho:
you can make this by the cup or by the gallon, but I guarantee you will want more!
pureed/liquified watermelon
fresh cilantro, chopped
minced jalapeno
cilantro sprigs

add all ingredients together in a bowl or jug (depends on how much you are making.  refridgerate till ready to serve.  pour into goblets or soup bowls. top with cilantro sprigs for garnish and serve!  Very refreshing on a hot summer day!!!

review: three angels diner rating: 5/5



All I have to say is WOW!  This little gem of a diner is tucked away just a block off of Sam Cooper Blvd on Broad St. in what is turning out to be a cutsy arts district.  The feel when you walk in the door is not quite that of a small mom & pop diner, complete with pinball machines, a couple couches, tunes playing on a record player and great artwork on the walls..with a bar. 

The staff were all very friendly and the menu & the specials were great.  I opted for the Moma's Veggie Sandwich, which is a slice of baked tofu with lettuce, red bell pepper, onion, mayo (regular or vegan), balsamic vinagrette and some sauce on top of the tofu that was great.  The sandwich was close to 4 inches tall when put together and came with a heaping side of chips.  One bite of this sammy and my eyes rolled back in my head, SO GOOD!!

My kids were thrilled they could order blueberry pancakes for lunch and they were not disappointed!  We opted out of the sweet cream and powdered sugar on top, but even plain these cakes were amazing and huge!

My overall rating:  5 out of 5 soybeans!
You MUST visit this diner!!!!!!!

(sorry it took so long to get this up, I was having camera issues)