stroganoff

From the comment box on my last post...
Let me first say I love to read the comments that you all post! it just tickles me to no end!
thanks for stopping by my little ol blog..

I thought I would share these with you ..
Well, mostly Crystal, who I get the feeling is hearing her biological clock ticking a bit louder these days. Over at Motherhood uncensored she started this challenge of sorts using flikr where you can make your own motivational poster.. these are some posters that her readers came up with (Crystal had asked for kids throwing fits): earplugs, birth control, Parenting, and my favorite - climb every mountain- okay that one is just too cute!

Crystal also asked if I like living in Alaska. Well, I have traveled a bit in the "states"; up and down the west coast many times, California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho. A bit on the east coast; Maryland, D.C., West Virgina, Virgina. And I have been to Hawaii, driven through Canada, been to Thailand and Hong Kong. I have also been fortunate enough to have traveled to many very remote parts all over Alaska. And, I couldn't imagine living any where else. Where I live now is a pretty small town of 30 thousand people (third largest city in Alaska). It is unbelievably beautiful. We live in a rain forest near the ocean surrounded by mountains, glaciers and wildlife. The downside is we live in a rain forest and it is often rainy or overcast here. Another down side is what the locals call "island-itis" - the only way out of here is by ferry boat or plane, and both are pretty spendy.

Leslie asked about the mix diet family.. yes, we all still eat sea food occasionally.. And Daddy-o and kids will order some meat now and then when we eat out. Which is becoming very rare these days. I prepare (I am guessing) 99% vegan food-breakfast, lunch and dinner.. the 1% would be vegetarian because the boys still eat real cheese, yogurt and eggs now and then. Our transition to being vegan is still a work in progress but, coming along quite nicely..don'cha think?



ya, uh thanks Gaia for pointing out my spelling errors.. ewww!


Now on to the food...

Let me just say this was the best stroganoff I ever made! I made the seitan using my old recipe: a combo of Vegan w/ a Vengeance and some "chicken" spice. A funny side note, as I was making the seitan little Emma started eating it out of the pot when it was cooling .. straight up and she loved it! A far cry from a few months ago when I couldn't get anybody to eat the stuff. Anyhoo I also used the Seitan-Portobello Stroganoff recipe from the same book on pg 163. If you don't have the book, both of the recipes can be found on the post punk kitchen. Anyway, of course I had to make some kid friendly changes, like pureeing the onions and mushrooms. I also just used large white mushrooms (much cheaper, and its what I had on hand). I didn't use the red wine, I react w/ a migraine to the smallest amounts. The recipe called for 1 cup of burgundy so I substituted 1/2 cup red wine vinegar and 1/2 cup veggie broth. I can only imagine that the original recipe would very much be a restaurant quality meal!

I was intrigued to try this Cheeze Rice and Broccoli Casserole from the un-cheese cookbook after seeing it on Vegandiva's blog. Well, as Eli is constantly reminding us- he DOES NOT LIKE his broccoli mixed w/ anything! So, both kids had to be a bit coaxed to finish their dinner. I thought it was pretty good and VERY easy to make! I also made more "chicken" nuggets (w/ the seitan I made the other day). This time I used a recipe on the back of the bisquick box. It worked! The seitan is coated w/ bisquick and some seasonings then, I baked it (not fried) w/ a tbls of earthbalance melted in a bottom of the baking pan.