Grandma's Zucchini Bread

Hi all,

This is my grandma's recipe and it is so delish I was surprised she gave it to me because I was sure it had to be a secret recipe, LOL! It's been oneof my favorite treats as long as I can remember. I hope you get a chance to make this because rather than tasting like bread, it is more like cake and it makes the whole house smell like Christmas (or maybe just like cinnamon :) ... It makes 2 loaves but I usually double the recipe because everyone eats it up almost immediately... it freezes very well if you intend to stash some away :) ... I just pulled some out of the oven and I can't wait to get started eating some... you have to try this recipe!

~Mandy

Zucchini Bread
(Makes 2 loaves)

2 cups grated zucchini (skin too, if tender)

3 eggs (beaten)

2 cups sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup crisco oil

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

3 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

Mix everything together well in large mixing bowl (an eggbeater works nicely).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, bake for one hour in baking pans (grease and line bottom of baking pans with wax paper). You may not feeling like waiting, but do let the bread cool for 10 minutes before removing it from the pans!

Southwestern Bean Soup

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced fine.
  
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
  
• 2 quarts canned tomatoes, diced
• 1-2 tablespoons McKay's Chicken Style Seasoning
  
• 2 cups water
• 2 15- ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  
• 1 15-ounce black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 15-ounce can great northern beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 15-ounce ounce can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup corn, raw or frozen
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

In a large cooking pot, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until tender. Stir in the remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Serve hot!

Note from author : I love this soup on a cold day, but it tastes so good you don't have to wait for winter to enjoy it. Try adding a variety of different beans just for something different. If you like your soup a little spicier, add a tablespoon of jalapeno peppers. Now that will warm you up! --- Brenda


Per serving: Cal. 222 Fat 1.5g Sat. fat 0.2g Sod. 610mg Carb.41 Diet. Fiber 11.9g Prot. 12.3g

From the book Cooking with the Micheff sister A Vegan Vegetarian Cookbook.



~AJ

Biscuits

I really really like these as strawberry shortcake (with fresh or frozen-thawed strawberries and whipped cream/cool whip). You can also eat them with jam or (though I've not tried this) with potatoes and gravy...

Ingredients you will need:

1 & 1/2 cups unbleached white flour

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour*

1 Tablespoon Rumford's baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup canola, vegetable, or light olive oil

6 - 8 ounces soy milk

Stir the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Cut the oil in with a pastry blender or two butter knives until the mixture is pebbly. Gradually stir in the soy milk. Stop adding the soy milk when the mixture separates from the sides of the bowl and forms a ball. (if you add a little too much, that's okay, just add a little bit more flour). Roll the dough out on a floured surface and cut into biscuits. Bake on a cookie sheet at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown on the outside and slightly doughy on the inside. They are excellent served warm.

*if you want these to be extra flaky, try using all white flour instead... I did that once and they were goooood... but I guess making them with a little whole wheat flour is healthier.

^^My dad loved them as strawberry shortcake :)

my little sister did too... that's her on her last piece.

Fettucine Alfredo

From the Vegetarian Cooking School Cookbook, by Charise Vierra.

This sauce goes on pasta (as the name suggests, fettucine works great, but as you can see in the pic, so do other pasta), so before you start, you might want to start heating the water for the pasta, or start steaming/cooking any vegetables you want to eat with it. I like it best with pasta and broccoli, but I've also had it with cauliflower, zucchini, yellow/summer squash, or, as in the pic, a few green olives. :)

Ingredients you'll need for the alfredo sauce:

3 cups water

1/2 cup cashews, blanched

4 Tablespoons soy parmesan cheese*

1/2 teaspoon sea salt (I like to add more though)

2 Tablespoons flour or cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 onion, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

Blend 1/2 cup water with the cashews until smooth. Add the remaining water and ingredients, except for the onion and garlic. Sauté onion and garlic until soft. Then add to cream sauce and heat until thickened, stirring constantly with a whisk.

When it's ready, pour it on the pasta (and veggies, if you want) and serve!

*I'll soon be posting a recipe for vegan parmesan cheese whose main ingredient is roasted sesame seeds... I've also had another really good homemade vegan parmesan cheese that I'll try to get the recipe for and post. :)

Manicotti

Ingredients:
1 box manicotti noodles
1 pound firm tofu
1 package Soya Kaas Mozzerella cheese (or you can use a different kind of cheese, we usually just pour our cheese sauce on top instead of getting real or Soya Kaas cheese, because it's kind of expensive; use what works for you)
pasta sauce
1 Tablespoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

(The image on the left is what an uncooked manicotti noodle looks like so you'll know what kind to get at the store... with all those confusing Italian names it can be hard to remember sometimes exactly what the name is!)

Directions:
Cook manicotti noodles according to the directions on their box. Mix tofu with dried parsley, garlic powder, 1/2 cup pasta sauce, and 1 cup of shredded mozzerella cheese (or, if you'd rather just pour cheese sauce on top, skip adding the shredded mozzerella cheese). Stuff noodles with tofu mixture. Spread some spaghetti sauce on the bottom of the casserole dish. Layer stuffed manicotti noodles in the dish. Pour spaghetti sauce over top of the noodles, and then cover with the rest of the grated cheese (or cheese sauce). Bake for 20 minutes at 35o degrees.

Note: This recipe is from the Vegetarian Cooking School Cookbook by Charise Vierra. I added a few things about the cheese sauce in case you couldn't tell. :) There are a bunch of other great recipes in there, and I'll be posting more from it soon.

Vegan Cheese sauce

Here's a recipe for vegan cheese sauce. It's good in lots of recipes like casseroles and over rice, potatoes, pasta (mac and cheese ;) ... ), chips, taco salad, broccoli and some other veggies... yeah you get the picture. :)

3 cups water
1/2 cup oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/3 cup white flour
3/4 cup yeast flakes
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup pimentos

Blend all ingredients together well until creamy. Then pour into a pot and stir constantly over the stove on a little above medium heat until it begins to boil; that means it's thick enough...

Hint: If you want to speed up the stirring process, add only some of the water to the blender with the other ingredients, and bring the rest to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add the blended ingredients to the boiling water and keep stirring until the whole thing is boiling... trust me, it goes a lot faster that way!

Here's a video clip of my sister stirring it... that's about how thick it's supposed to get.