Alfredooooooooo! I've missed you!

I am in a veeeerry good mood after my dinner tonight! I made Vegan Alfredo Sauce over Local Sweet Potato Pasta, with Sauteed Kale and Homemade Italian Sausages!!! This meal is exciting for a number of reasons!! I think they will make you happy, too!

1) The Italian Sausage is homemade, for my DIY post this week. Homemade sausages are sooooo much better than store-bought, and a whole lot cheaper! I must admit, I do love a Tofurkey Beer Brat or Field Roast Apple-Sage Sausage when I am feeling lazy, but it is realy worth the effort to make my own! Did I mention that it's cheaper?! I used Julie Hasson's famous steamed sausage recipe from the Everyday Dish site. These are so good! I should have made a ton of them and frozen them for later use....maybe next time. 2) I finally got to have Alfredo Sauce! I haven't had any alfredo-type sauce since going vegan, which is about three years now! I know, I know, there are tons of vegan alfredo recipes out there. I just never remembered to make them, really! Soooo, with the help of some PPK'ers, I found Lachesis' Vegan Alfredo recipe on the PPK forums, and it is so wonderful! Another DIY part of this meal...homemade sauces kick the crap out of store-bought sauces. This is a fact. Decadent, yes, but we could all use a little extra fat in our meals now and again! Oh goodness this was so flavorful and creamy and just like I remembered alfredo sauce being in my pregan days! JOY!!!3) I used the local Sweet Potato Pasta from Pappardelle's, a local pasta-maker here in KC. And I loved it! The sweet potato flavor wasn't too strong, but definetely there! Thanks farmer's market! :)4) This was a healthy and complete meal, pretty quick and easy to make, and it tasted amazing...what's not to love?!??!

Sunny Millet Granola

With the rising cost of food these days, it just makes sense to go more DIY! From making your own seitan, baking your own bread, and even making your own soymilk, it seems like everybody is making an effort to make more foods themselves, which benefits the environment, your health, AND your wallet! So, I decided to make a weekly post about something completely homemade, DIY style!! I want to encourage everybody to try this out, and hopefully it will be contagious!

For this week's DIY dish, I made this Sunny Millet Granola! I just played around with some ingredients I thought went well together, and it turned out great! I highly recommend this drizzled with plenty of hemp milk, or sprinkled on top of some vanilla soy yogurt with fresh fruit!!

Step 1: Toast the seeds and nutsStep 2: Bake the granola

Step 3: Add the raisins and enjoy!

Sunny Millet Granola (makes approx. 5 lbs)
3 lbs old-fashioned rolled oats
1 lb uncooked millet
2 cups sunflower seeds
1 cup sliced almonds
2 cups flame or golden raisins
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup molasses or agave nectar
2 Tbs cinnamon
1 Tbs nutmeg
1 tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 375 F. Spread sunflower seeds and almonds in a single layer on a sheet pan. Toast in the oven for about 10 minutes, until lightly browned and you can smell the nuts. Set aside to cool.
While the nuts cool, mix together the oats, millet, applesauce, molasses, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add in the cooled nuts, and stir well to coat all the ingredients with the molasses and applesauce. Pour the mixture into two baking dishes, distributed evenly, and bake for 40 minutes, stirring halfway through. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Stir in the raisins. Transfer granola to an airtight container. This will keep for several weeks if well-sealed!

Now go get cooking!!

Fun With Seitan!

As a money- and package-saving measure, I have been making my own seitan! Seitan is probably my favorite protein choice, even if it does make me gassy! (TMI? nah.) It is really satisfying to see something compleltely homemade on your plate, not to mention how tasty and cheap it is to do it DIY!! I used the recipe in Veganomicon for the first time the other day...and I really liked it! I usually make the recipe in Sarah Kramer's La Dolce Vegan, but I have to admit I like Isa and Terry's version a little bit better. Here's a few things I did with my seitan this week: Vietnamese Bahn Mi Sandwich (from Veganomicon) with Sesame Cabbage Slaw

This sandwich is SERIOUSLY awesome! The sweet and spicy au jus is delicous, and I think this is really a perfect sandwich! I added shredded carrots and daikon radish for an extra veggie kick and a zing in flavor...so freakin flavorful!!

Pumpkin Seed-Fennel Encrusted Seitan, Roasted Beets with Leeks and Celery, and Garlic-Mashed Potatoes

I just kind of made up these recipes with what I had in my house and what I was craving, and it turned out really well! This was a really good wintertime meal and was nice and savory for our tastebuds. Do you know how good roasted beets are?? They rock. Also, these are the pumpkin seeds from the local pumpkin I roasted a while back. Another DIY bonus!!

You should try making your own seitan...it is wonderful and worth the extra effort!