Veganmofo 2010: An Ode to Apple-Pumpkin Butter

Happy toast. I was going for a "Care-Bear STARE" moment with this (why yes, I AM a child of the 80's!) 

So, I am officially obsessed with apple-pumpkin butter. It's like pumpkin pie on a spoon. And in my belly.  Those cute pumpkins that Nik and I carved last weekend? Yeah, I totally stored them in the fridge and then slaughtered them this week to make some delicious apple-pumpkin butter. I couldn't let them go to waste (and hey, they were $3.00 each!)  

I vaguely followed Susan's recipe, at Fat-free Vegan, but omitting the raisins (blech!! Not a fan!), and used chunks of apples instead of applesauce (and more of them).  And I used two sugar pumpkins, so mine took F O R E V E R to cook. Like four hours! It was a really delicious smelling four hours though. 

Poor kitty cat and big-eyed pumpkins steamed 

Guts scraped out.

DON'T do what I did, and keep it in big chunks cooking. You will have a big burn mark on the bottom of your pan. Puree ASAP!

Much better. Now let this simmer for many hours.

Try not to eat it all in one sitting. (there was a whole other big jar filled, but that mysteriously disappeared.)

So I have been putting this on toast, in my morning oatmeal (um YUM), and my favorite use:

Pumpkin-Chocolate Hot Cocoa!

makes 1 serving

1 Cup Almond Milk (or soy, rice, oat, hemp, etc.)

2TBS unsweetened cocoa powder

2TBS sugar

3TBS apple-pumpkin butter 

Blend all ingredients in blender until combined (or super-whisk if you don't have a blender).

Heat on low in a saucepan, stirring constantly, until desired non-tongue-burning temperature has been reached. Enjoy!

Oh god. It's DELICIOUS.

VeganMofo 2010: Loafing Around

So I wanted a loaf. A veggie loaf, to be exact. It's cold out and has now become the season where all I want for dinner is comfort food.  TV dinner, Mom-style, with lots of mashed potatoes.   I was looking to make a veggie loaf where everything held together and I could smother with ketchup.  This worked well! It held together beautifully! For the veggies, I used celery, a tomato, a jalapeno, a few radishes, and a red onion. Whatever you have in the fridge basically. And make sure you dice them real, real small, so everything holds together well. And then make sure you are liberal with the ketchup and mashed potatoes. Yum, yum, and yum. 

Veggie Loaf

(makes 1 loaf)

Ingredients:

1 cup lentils

1 cup TVP

1 cup SUPER-diced veggies, your choice

2 TBS Olive Oil

3 TBS Tomato Sauce

1 tsp. liquid smoke

2 Cloves Garlic, minced

1 1/2 cups bread crumbs

1/4 cup Vital Wheat Gluten

1 tsp. Thyme

1 tsp. Basil

1 tsp. Parsley

salt and pepper to taste

Directions: (Preheat oven to 350F)

1.  Steam Lentils until cooked.

2. Rehydrate TVP ( I usually add water, a dash of shoyu, and a dash of liquid smoke to it and let it all absorb).

3. Mash Lentils to a paste

4. Add the remaining ingredients and mix with hands until everything holds together and is incorporated. 

5. Oil loaf pan and add loaf.

6. Bake loaf for 1 hour, until golden brown.

7. enjoy!