Baked Rice Bites

I've had this recipe card laying around the kitchen for awhile for something called "breakfast in a cup."  It's a rice, cheese, and egg mixture you bake in the oven.  I finally decided to play with it today.  I've been thinking of trying to make them with egg replacer.  I had this great idea to use coconut milk instead of water to give it a creamier texture. They came out OK, the outside is kind of crispy and the inside moist.  I served them for breakfast with some fresh fruit salad.  I think they'd make a good buffet item with a nice sauce, maybe some salsa. 

Baked Rice Bites

3 cups cooked brown rice

1 red pepper diced
1/2 cup diced onion
2-3 mild chilis diced
1/3 cup coconut milk
3 TBL egg replacer whipped with 1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, or to taste.

Combine all in a large bowl and spoon into muffin cups.  Bake at 400° for about 15 minutes until they start to brown a bit.

I added the rest of them to my pot of beans, now I've got beans and rice for lunch this week too.

Pumpkin Curry Soup with a White Pumpkin

I picked up a little white pumpkin this week.  Perfect for a batch of Pumpkin Curry Soup.  I was pleased when my granddaughter said "Oh boy grandpa, we're going to have more pumpkin soup."

Dairy Free Chocolate Layer Cake w/ Dark Chocolate Mint Frosting

I found that if I cruise the liquidation stores regularly there are many organic products marked down to very reasonable prices.  Recently I found coconut milk for .99 a can and low sodium vegetable broth, 10 for $1.   I am usually happy when they're $2 each.  I never know what I'm going to find.  Recently I bought some Bob's Red Mill whole grain cake mix for $1.49 a package.  That's one third the normal price.  I would normally make this all myself, but couldn't resist that price.  I do like Bob's Red Mill products. Of course, I made it my way, with egg replacer and homemade applesauce instead of oil and 1 cup of filtered water.

After the cake was baked and cooled, I poked holes in the bottom layer with a fork.   Then I poured some of the caramel I made last week for the ice creme over the top and spread it around so it would fall into the holes. 

The frosting:

1/2 cup vegan margarine
4 oz very dark chocolate — choc chips can be used, I used 4 oz of an organic very dark chocolate mint bar
1 cup sucanat
1/3 cup soy or coconut milk creamer
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped pecans, lightly toasted
     I like to put some of the nuts in the frosting and some just sprinkled on top.

Put margarine, chocolate, sucanat, and creamer in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil.  Stirring ingredients together, boil for 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and 1/2 cup nuts.  Pour over cake, sprinkle remaining nuts on top. chill for about 30 minutes to set frosting.

And we put it in a bowl with Morgaine's warm baked apple. 

OMG this was a pretty awesome dessert.  My granddaughter gave it two thumbs up.  I think everyone else in the room agreed with her.

Vegetarian Lasagña

When I first moved here one of my new friends thought it was very strange that I would get up and make dinner in the morning, normal for me.  After this, my granddaughter and I will make a vegan chocolate birthday cake for grandpa and while it cools I think we'll check out the Toy Soldier Bazaar.   We have all day to play together, dinner is ready to pop in the oven.

I made a sauce with onions, garlic, julienne carrots and zucchini, a quart of my homegrown tomatoes, chopped green pepper, a diced mild chili, a small can of organic tomato paste, dried herbs from the garden, oregano, basil, rosemary, parsley, sea salt and fresh ground pepper. I added a little agave and some white balsamic vinegar, a dash of cooking sherry, and some sliced mushrooms.  Sliced large because my husband doesn't like them too much.  I still cook with them, but make them large enough for him to pick out.

I made the Ricotta by blending tofu, garlic, a dash of shoyu, oregano, basil, rosemary, parsley, about 1/4 cup olive oil, and about half a large chopped red bell pepper.

I have come along some on the cheese.  I've made this recipe for many years. I used to use cottage cheese, eggs, and Parmesan cheese for a ricotta and about a pound of mozzarella cheese and more Parmesan cheese. This only has about 4 - 6 oz. of cheese for the whole recipe.  I blended grated mozzarella, Parmesan, and Romano cheese.

There's also a layer of chopped greens from the garden, chard and beet greens, between the lasagna layers and the ricotta.

Bake this in the oven on 400° for about 45 - 50 minutes until the cheese melts and browns and the sauce is a bit bubbly.