Thursday, February 26, 2009

Texas Sheet Cake

The Cake:

Bring to a boil:
2 sticks margarine
1 cup water
3 Tbsp. cocoa

Mix together in a 4-quart bowl:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

In a large bowl, combine the following:
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup butter milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon

Combine all three mixtures together and pour into a greased and floured half-size bun pan or 15 x 11 baking pan.
Bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes or until tests done.


The Icing:

Heat the following in a saucepan:
1 stick margarine
3 Tbsp. cocoa
6 Tbsp. milk

When heated thoroughly, remove from heat and add:
1 lb. powdered sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix well. Pour on hot cake as soon as it comes out of the oven.

Raspberry Trifle

Ingredients:

4 (10 oz) pkgs. frozen raspberries with juice (must use boxed raspberries)
1/4 cup corn starch
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz.)
1 cup cold water
1 (3 1/2 oz.) pkg. instant vanilla pudding
2 cups heavy whipping cream
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 (10 oz) pkg. frozen butter pound cake (I couldn't find frozen butter pound cake, so I used angel food cake. It might have gotten soggier than pound cake would have, but I thought it was still yummy!)
Diluted orange juice

*Thaw raspberries in hot water, and then drain juice into sauce pan.
*Add corn starch and almond flavoring to saucepan, stirring constantly until thick.
*Place mixture into bowl and chill for 5 min., then fold raspberries into sauce and chill again.
*In another bowl, blend condensed milk, pudding and water, then chill for 5 min.
*In another small bowl, add sugar and cream and whip until blended, then add to pudding mixture and place back into refrigerator.
*Cut pound cake into cubes and put half on bottom of large bowl and sprinkle with orange juice.
*Place half of raspberry mixture on top of pound cake then place half of pudding mixture on top of that.
*Repeat with remaining pound cake and mixtures.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Vegan Loaf

Ingredients :

*substitute for 2 eggs (mix 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder, 1 tablespoon corn starch, and 4 tablespoons water)
*1 tablespoon soy sauce
*1 box medium firm silken tofu (350 g)
*3/4 cup chopped walnuts
*1 packet onion soup mix (1.5 oz)
*1 teaspoon oil
*1 onion, chopped
*1 celery rib, chopped
2 cups chopped mushrooms (use portobello mushrooms for a heartier taste)
1 1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon sage
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs (Variations: To make it stick together better, try lowering the bread crumbs to 3/4 cup and adding one of the following: 1 extra box of tofu, 1 cup of instant mashed potato flakes, 1 - 1 1/2 cup of cooked brown rice or 1 cup burger-style crumbles)

Directions:

Mix egg substitute, soy sauce, tofu & onion soup mix together in blender. Add walnuts & blend until smooth.

Saute vegetables in oil until onions are transparent (add other diced veggies if you wish - ie: peppers, carrots, etc). Add herbs/spices while vegetables are frying.

Mix blender ingredients, cooked vegetables and bread crumbs together in a large bowl.

Press into a greased loaf pan. (Or, instead of a loaf pan, use a square cake pan and liberally coat the loaf with ketchup so it gets kind of burnt and caramelized. Yum!")

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let cool slightly. Turn loaf out and slice.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Yummy Vegan Lasagna

Ingredients:

28 oz. spaghetti sauce
1-16 oz bag of spinach leaves
1/2 lb. carrots
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup canned low-sodium veggie broth
1 lb. herbed tofu, drained (not silken tofu)
8 oz. vegan cream cheese (I used regular cream cheese)
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
12 lasagna noodles, cooked
1/4 cup nutritional yeast, (optional for extra "cheesy" goodness)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.
Slice carrots and steam, set aside.
Add olive oil to a large skillet, place over medium-high heat until hot.
Add parsley and garlic, saute for 1 minute..
Add carrots and veggie broth; simmer uncovered for 5 min.
Add herbed tofu, vegan cream cheese, and lemon juice; stir well.
Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until fake cheesy stuff starts to melt. Stir in nutmeg and nutritional yeast, if using. Remove from heat; keep warm.

Place 4 lasagna noodles in bottom of 9x13 baking dish. spread 1/2 of carrot mixture over top. Spread 1/3 of spaghetti sauce and a layer of spinach leaves on top of that.
Repeat layers. Top with remaining spaghetti sauce. Cover and bake 15 min. at 375 degrees. Uncover and bake an additional 20-30 min. until it is thoroughly heated.

Serves a lot.