Vegan Mushroom Tofu Stroganoff

Oh... My... Goodness... This recipe is bowl scraping good. My husband, who is a self proclaimed MEAT lover, even said "Wow this is good." He often says his diet revolves around The Three B's ; bacon, burgers and BBQ. Now, don't get me wrong, I am a girl who loves her three B's, however, I enjoy diversifying my meals with lots of different ingredients! Now moving on, this dish received my husband's stamp of approval! I did have to wait to enlighten him with the ingredients because when I told him what I was making, he was envisioning the creamy buttery original beef stroganoff that his family used to eat as a kid. However, this recipe is sans all of those things minus the creaminess from the cashews. This recipe is delicious and healthy all at the same time, enjoy!

 Didn't want the wine bottle to go to waste! Had to have a glass!

                             Vegan Mushroom Tofu Stroganoff

Serves 5

Original Recipe from Isa Does It

Ingredients:

•   ¾ of a cup of raw whole cashews (soaked overnight)

•   1 ½  cups of miso ginger soup or vegetable broth

•   1 tbsp of oil

•   3 cloves of garlic

•   1 package of Organic Tofu Extra Firm cubed

•   1 container of sliced Baby Bella mushrooms

•   1 container of Cremini mushroom

•   1 Shallot

•   Fusilli Pasta

•   1 cup of white wine

•   3 tbsp of tomato paste

•   Chopped fresh parsley

•   Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Fill a pot of water and boil. Add the pasta, use the directions on the packaging since depending on your pasta the cook times change! (I cooked mine for about 8-9 minutes until Al dente!)

Use a Vitamix to mix soaked Cashews and Miso Ginger Soup. Blend until very smooth. Set aside

Sauté 1 clove of garlic with a little olive oil. Add cubed tofu. Cook until browned on both sides. 

Sauté 2 cloves of garlic in olive oil over medium heat. Add the diced shallot. Occasionally stir the onions and garlic until slightly translucent, about 5 minutes, depending on oven. Add the mushrooms. Cook for another 5 minutes until mushrooms are browned. Add 2 tbsp. of Tomato paste, white wine, salt and pepper to taste. Cook down until the wine has reduced by at least a half. Then add the cashews. Let this simmer until the sauce thickens (about 5 more minutes) Add the tofu back to the sauce. Make sure everything is coated!

Scoop ¾ cup of pasta and top with ½ cup of sauce! Sprinkle a little parsley on top and enjoy!

Girls' Weekend!

Finally! It is a girls' weekend! Paul is away with friends in Atlantic City and Dre-Dre is in town from HotLanta!! You know what they say.. when the cats away the mice will play! Hehe... Just Kidding! As soon as I found out Dre was coming, I knew I must make her absolute favorite dinner.. Lasagna Soup! This is the easiest, most delicious, stick to your bones, heart warming, delectable, soup! It is spoon lickin' good! I am not kidding, people will think you slaved over the oven for hours when really, I threw everything into the crock pot, let it cook for 8 hours later and...Voila!  You have the best soup you've ever tasted! I feel like it tastes like Italy, I mean if Italy was an actual flavor! Hopefully you are as happy as we were! It is totally normal to lick the bowls clean.. we did. This is a no judgement zone if you decide you need seconds. You deserve it!

Skinny Lasagna Soup

Serves 4

Original Recipe from Skinnytaste.com

Ingredients:

•   2 tbsp of oil

•   3 cloves of garlic

•   1 Yellow Onion, diced

•   1 package of Organic Italian sausage, casings removed

•   2 Bay Leaves

•   ½ cup of Basil, chopped

•   1 jar of organic Tomato Sauce

•   8 oz of lasagna sheet pasta

•   Fat Free Ricotta Cheese, for topping

•   Parmesan Cheese, for topping

Directions:

Sauté garlic over medium heat in olive oil. Add the diced onion. Occasionally stir the onions and garlic until slightly translucent, about 5 minutes, depending on oven.

Then add the sausage without the casings. Break apart the sausage and continue to stir until browned.

Take off the heat, transfer sausage mixture into crock-pot. Add tomato sauce, basil, and bay leaves. Cook on low for 8 hours. 30 minutes before serving, turn off the crock pot and add 8 oz of lasagna pasta sheets. Stirring once before the 30 minutes are done. Serve with 1 tbsp of ricotta and sprinkled parmesan cheese! Yum!

Cranberry Orange Scones

I have made/taste tested more scones in the last month than I have in probably my whole life. Not too long ago, we were granted our first snow day. That morning, I woke up on a mission. I wanted to make scones. How hard could they be?! Well… I learned shortly after I saw my first batch cooking, they are very hard, or soft, or not fluffy, or burnt, or cakey or flat. I wanted something that would be a little healthier than the cream and sugar I used in the first batch. Low and be hold I came up with this recipe. Hope you enjoy!

Golden brown.. yum!

Orange glaze.

Cranberry Orange Scones

Makes 10 scones

Original Recipe from Skinnytaste.com

Ingredient:

For the Scones:

1tbsp of orange juice

1/2 cup fat free milk

1/4 cup sugar 

1 tbsp orange zest 

 2 tsp vanilla extract 

 1 large egg 

 2 cups flour (1 cup white, 1 cup whole wheat) 

 1 tbsp baking powder 

 1/2 tsp salt 

 3 tbsp chilled butter (must be cold) cut into small pieces (I usually just take it from the freezer, cut and add it in)

3/4 cup dried unsweetened cranberries

For the Glaze:

1 tbsp of orange juice

2 tbsp of powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat.

Make glaze by combining 2 tbsp powdered sugar and 1 tbsp lemon juice.

Whisk milk, remaining lemon juice, sugar, lemon zest, vanilla, and egg in a medium bowl.

Mix flour, baking powder, salt, in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Stir chilled butter with a stand alone mixer (Mine is a kitchen aid). I used my hands for this step the first time and the scones came out flat and not fluffy. Gently fold in cranberries. Add milk mixture, stirring just until moist. (dough will be sticky) You will need a little extra flour to keep it from sticking to your hands.

Place dough onto a floured surface and knead lightly four times with floured hands. Be sure not to knead too much! That also happened the first time… flat scones are not what you are looking for! Form dough into an 8-inch circle onto baking sheet, about 3/4" thick. Using a knife, cut dough into 10 wedges. Brush lemon glaze over dough. (or you can add after they bake) Bake until golden, about 18-20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. If you added the glaze at the end like I did, let it sit to harden.