Wiener-schnitzel with Mushroom Gravy

I didn't set out to make wiener-schnitzel when I first made this years ago, I was just looking to make a cutlet similar to the famous chickpea cutlet of PPK fame but more like chicken patty consistency. Confused? Me too. Instead of chickpeas I use white beans, like great northern, but any creamy white bean will do. The only other things I do different from the chickpea cutlet recipe is I don't add the breadcrumbs to the bean mix, I leave it out and coat the patties with it prior to cooking and I change up the seasoning to suit whatever recipe I am making. We absolutely love this recipe and it always turns out well so we make it often. On this occasion we served it with a mushroom and onion gravy that perfectly offsets the crispiness of the patties. Add a simple salad and some leftover mac-n-cheeze and you got comfort food, y'all!

S is for Spaghetti Squash

I could prolly get away with making this week squash themed as this is my second day in a row of squash dinners. I still have kabocha soup to make with my leftover roasted squash from yesterday. I didn't actually make this dinner, K did, and I have to give props where props are due. So thanks for the healthy and delicious dinner K! I did make our salad (not pictured) and garlic bread though so I wasn't completely worthless. If you have never cooked with spaghetti squash before, go get some. It is the easiest thing in the world to make and is good for you too!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Take a sharp knife and cut the squash in half lengthwise (be careful!) Then pierce the flesh a few times.
Place squash halves cut side down in a glass or pyrex baking pan with 1/2 inch of water.
Bake until the sides are soft, about 30 minutes.
Take out and cool for a few minutes.
Turn over squash and use the tines of a fork to scrape the squash out of the shell, or leave it in the shell like we did.
Add your sauce and viola! Dindin!

I am not sure what was in the sauce except for mushrooms, fresh basil and tomatoes. More than that I would guess. I added some fresh basil to the top for some extra goodness and color. Arrivederci!

Kabocha Mac-n-Cheeze

Recipes using Kabocha squash have been traveling around on blogs for a while now but I could never find any at the grocery store, until a few days ago. I snatched one up and decided to use it following this mac-n-cheeze recipe (she uses butternut squash).   

Creamy Goodness

It turned out well and definitely looked like mac-n-cheese. I don't think it tastes like mac-n-cheese as much as my favorite recipe, Isa's Mac & Shews, but it is seriously creamy and delicious all the same. I think I will try the recipe again as the weather cools down as it is comfort food at its finest. I am sure you could fancy it up a bit too, use linguine noodles instead, fry some sage leaves, or add some truffle oil to the sauce. 

I used about half of my roasted kabocha squash and saved the other half to make soup. Kabocha is very creamy when roasted so it should make for a yummy blended soup. I will definitely buy this squash again, the flavor is terrific! What is your favorite kabocha recipe?

Sunday Mini Food

I swear I am not getting paid to promote Gardein products (but I would, hint, hint). We have been pretty busy lately with work and other projects, like volunteer tutoring for kids falling behind in their subjects in school. We have gravitated to the quick and easy for lunches on the weekends and leave our major cooking for dinners. So Gardein really comes in handy but it isn't cheap so I doubt this will really become a habit once all the crazy settles.

We grabbed some chicken tenders yesterday and some vegan Hawaiian style rolls to make little sliders today for lunch.  The rolls are accidentally vegan which was a nice surprise. I remember my mom used to get the King's Hawaiian bread as a treat sometimes and we would toast up a slice with some butter and jam, delish! I lightly toasted the rolls, added a pickle, some Vegenaise, Daiya swiss, and the tenders. Pretty tasty little treat!
The weather in Austin is so amazing right now because of a cold front we got on Friday, so we had a nice little picnic in the backyard. Check out the little creek behind our house. I took this Friday, the water is almost gone now. I wish it was like that all of the time though, it was awesome.

Crazy Rapids

Farm Life

No food pics today so I will instead post some pics of the dog in Louisiana last weekend. He really loved farm life!

One seriously happy dog!

Morris and his new lady friend. Bella

Ridin' large

Swamp dog!

See you tomorrow!

Szechuan Stir Fry

So Gardein products are pretty much everywhere now, right? If you are in a place that does not have easy access to these products you should definitely change that. This stuff is good and insanely convenient. I have discovered a weird secret about locating Gardein, Target carries more varieties than any other store in Austin, especially the new products they are coming out with. I have found their turkey breast and gravy, chicken sliders, and the newest one I decided to try, szechuan beefless strips.

Check out that broccolini!

I sliced up some yellow onion, red bell pepper, and garlic to stir fry with some beautiful broccolini while I baked the strips in the oven (following package instructions). Instead of rice, I decided to use rice stick noodles for this meal.The sauce packet included looked on the small side but I amped it up a tad by adding some sriracha (surprise, surprise) and it was just enough to coat everything well.

Rice stick goodness

I must say, Gardein has done it again! I thought the beefless strips would be similar to the beefless tips but they are different in a way I wouldn't expect, in texture and seasoning. Good stuff! And who would have thought Target would be the go-to store for these products? Do you have a strange place to get your find vegan goodies?

Burrito Mania

Here in Austin we eat our share of Mexican food and within the past few weeks have started making burritos at home. Crazy, right? Here is something even nuttier, I had never made burritos before in my life ever, and now I am an expert! In fact, we have been so busy (lazy) lately, that burritos are our go-to dinner choice more often than not.
These burritos are stuffed with black beans, brown rice, tomatoes, red peppers, spinach, avocado, and vegan sour cream. I don't know why they look so tiny in the pictures but trust me they are huge!

I squirted some Yellowbird habenero sauce both inside and outside of the burrito above because that stuff is super fly. Yellowbird is from Austin and I linked the kickstarter they have going right now if you wanted to check it out. Basically if you love Sriracha, you will more than likely love Yellowbird too. See you tomorrow!