Hot Fudge Pudding Pie Cake

SO, apparently this is a post that I never even published back when I lived in Seattle OVER a year ago. Crazy! And weird.. I wonder why I never noticed that it was in my draft section, silly me.  I guess I'll publish it now, Enjoy!!!


I still only have one saucepan, but I broke down and bought a mixing bowl so I could make this cute little dessert I saw in an old book I have, which is Betty Crocker Dinner for Two. I updated the recipe a bit, so it would feed more than two people, as well as added eggs, and omitted the oil and replaced it with butter. It came out awesome! Jason and I had Paul over for dinner, and I made an easy dinner. Beef and Waffles with homemade gravy. All you do is cook the beef, I do a slow cook and just boil it until it's almost done, then set it aside. Prepare the gravy, and then before the gravy boils and thickens, I add the beef, let it boil, turn it to low, and cover it until we're ready to dig in.



I have no more photos to share, since I was in such a hurry to get everything done before the boys came home so all you get is that one, plus the recipes. That just means you get to get off your butt and into the kitchen to make these tasty treats sooner! So do it :)


Easy Homemade Gravy

1/4 C butter
1/4 C flour
4 C low sodium vegetable broth
Salt, Pepper, Seasonings to taste

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add in flour and stir until no lumps. Cook for 10 minutes until mixture starts to change color. Turn heat to low, slowly add broth stirring after each addition. Once all broth is added, turn back up to medium high heat and cook until gravy boils and thickens. You can use broth of choice to make whatever kind of gravy you need, chicken, turkey, etc.



Hot Fudge Pudding Pie Cake - Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker circa 1978

Buffalo Tofu Bites

I haven't ever been a buffalo wing fan, EVER, but I have recently (within the last 4 years I guess) have become a buffalo over lover. So, I try to make all sorts of things that incorporate the flavor, just not the wing. My guy is a huge fan of tofu, so I figured I could satisfy the both of us and make buffalo tofu. I fully intended on making some buffalo tofu burritos with this, but after trying them I was more than happy just eating them by the handful while watching cartoons. It was a pretty fantastic Saturday night. 

Buffalo Tofu Bites

1 15 ounce block firm tofu

2/3 C all purpose flour

1 TS cayenne pepper

1/2 TS garlic powder

1/2 TS smoked paprika

1/2 TS cracked black pepper

Pinch of salt

1/4 C vegan butter, melted 

1/2 C hot sauce of choice

Drain excess water out of tofu, some people have tofu presses, I simply have two plates and whatever vegetables I have laying around. This time I used two sweet potatoes and an avocado.  Use whatever your heart desires, You get the point. Cut tofu in half length wise and then into chunks. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl whisk together flour, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Toss in the tofu chunks to lightly coat. While oven is heating and you are preparing the sauce, set tofu in the refrigerator to chill - about 15-20 minutes. To make the sauce simply whisk together the melted butter and hot sauce. Coat the tofu in the sauce generously, lay out on prepared baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, turning halfway through. I actually baked mine for 25 minutes so that they were super crispy (turning twice) as per my husband's request.  I seriously popped these like candy, they were so good!

 
    

Vegan Pumpkin Donuts

I know pumpkin is associated with Fall and usually around September you start seeing it everywhere you turn, but I don't give a F and I think I should be able to have pumpkin anytime I want throughout the whole year! Whoa.. Who knew I was so passionate about pumpkin?! Anyways, I was having a bad morning the other day and needed serious comfort food. I vowed when I got home I was going to bake something pumpkin. I probably could have ate it out of the can with a spoon the way I was feeling. But baking donuts seemed like a better idea.  I was recently gifted with some donut pants (SCORE!) so, I was more than happy to make these!

Pumpkin Donuts (Vegan)

2  C all purpose flour 

1 TS baking soda

1 TS baking powder

1/4 TS salt

1 TB ground cinnamon

1/2 C brown sugar, packed

3/4 C soymilk 

1/2 CAN of pumpkin puree

1 TB pure vanilla extract

3 TB melted non dairy butter or margarine (I use Earth Balance)

Chocolate chips (for glaze)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a donut pan with cooking spray and set aside (I used a regular donut pan and a mini donut pan). In a large bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon, whisk to combine. In another bowl combine brown sugar and soy milk. Mix until the sugar is dissolved and not grainy. Add in the vanilla, pumpkin puree, and TWO tablespoons of the melted margarine, mix thoroughly. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture using a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Be careful not to overmix, the better will be thick but that's totally normal. Spoon batter into a pastry bag or large ziploc bag and pipe into pans, if you don't want to do this you can carefully spoon the batter into the pans. Bake for 12 minutes or until tops of donuts are light brown and spring back after touching them. They will so hot, so please be cautious and use a spoon to test OR if you're like me, and you are no longer bothered by heat since the tips of your fingers have been burned to oblivion, go ahead and use your finger ;)

Remove immediately to a wire rack to cool completely. To make the chocolate topping, melt 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon earth balance. I just dipped each donut into the bowl and using a spoon swirled it around. You can do as you wish, have fun with it! These were pretty great and luckily I have half a can of pumpkin left at home to make more ;)

Vegan Key Lime Pie

Key lime anything is pretty much the perfect summer treat, and luckily for all of us (you know the ones who do LIKE key lime) this is the perfect little pie - just the right amount of tart and sweet.The other night we had a friend over for dinner, we decided it was going to be our "key lime extravaganza" night and all that really included was Stewart's Key Lime soda and this pretty yummy key lime pie that I made. I would have to say that our dinner extravaganza was a success. I had a small piece of the pie and everyone else devoured it. Thanks guys!

Vegan Key Lime

 Pie 2 8 oz packages of Toffutti better than cream cheese, softened 

3/4 C sugar in the raw 

1 TS pure vanilla extract 

1/4 C key lime juice (if you can't find that you can use regular lemon juice) 

Zest of 1 lime 1/4 C all purpose flour, sifted 

1/4 C vanilla soy milk - I use 8th Continent 

1 Premade graham cracker crust, or you could get fancy with it and make your own. Choose wisely

1 container of Rich Whip

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a stand mixture or with a hand held mixer, beat together the cream cheese and sugar. Add in the remaining ingredients, and beat until smooth. Pour into crust and bake for 35-40 minutes or until set but still a bit jiggly.

I took mine out at about 32 minutes, so keep an eye out! Let cool completely and prepare the rich whip according to package directions. I never sweeten mine, I like it how it is but if you want you can. Again, choose wisely and enjoy!