Wild Mushroom Stroganoff

I've debated for a long time if I should put this recipe on here, since the name of the blog is Good-N-Healthy. No doubt the recipe is good but just because there isn't any meat in it, does not necessarily make it healthy. Even the vegan form would not necessarily qualify it as healthy. It's pasta with sour cream, and cream cheese! However, I'm leaving for the week and therefore I must leave my family with some recipes that are quick and easy. So here is a quick and easy recipe that can easily be converted to vegan if you make your own cream of mushroom soup and use Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream and Better Than Cream Cheese products.

You will need:

1 16 oz bag of wide egg noodles
2 tbsp olive oil
1 med. onion, chopped
16 oz mushrooms (I like portabella, shiitake, and oyster mushrooms), sliced
4-6 cloves of garlic, minced or crushed
1 large can of cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup cream cheese
dash salt and pepper
parmesan cheese for topping

Bring water to a boil for the noodles, as it comes to a boil heat a large saute pan with 2 tbsp of olive oil. Once oil is heated add onions and mushrooms, salt and pepper, saute over medium heat until onions are translucent. Move onions and mushrooms to the side of the pan, add garlic and saute until you can smell the garlic really well. DO NOT BROWN THE GARLIC! Browning the garlic adds a bitter taste that we do not want. Once you can smell the garlic, mix everything in the pan together. At some point your water should be boiling, continue to cook the noodles, per package directions. Add the cream of mushroom soup, milk, cream cheese, and sour cream to the pan of onions, mushrooms, and garlic. Heat the sauce through and then add to the pan of cooked and drained noodles. Mix thoroughly, serve hot and topped with fresh parmesan cheese.

Mashed Potatoes

Okay, so here's a SUPER easy one I can't believe I haven't shared sooner! How much easier can it get than mashed potatoes right! So here it is, quick, easy, VEGAN mashed potatoes! I can't stop there, oh no! Part of comfort food when it comes to mashed potatoes is..... you got it! GRAVY! Oh yeah, can't have mashed potatoes without gravy right? Seriously though, VEGAN gravy? I mean this would even get your cardiologist's stamp of approval!! So let's get started.

Potatoes:

1 potato per person (if you have a mashed potato lover, throw in 1 or 2 more)

1 Tbsp. Earth Balance butter per potato

1 tsp salt per potato

1/2 tsp pepper per potato

Optional flavors (any combination of the following):

1 tsp. garlic powder per potato

1 tsp. onion powder per potato

1 tsp. curry per potato

1 Tbsp. Better Than Sour Cream per potato

1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast flakes per potato (for a cheesy flavor) 

1 Tbsp. fresh chives per potato

Decide how you like your potatoes, skin on or skin off, wash well with a scrub to get off all dirt and debris if you like your potatoes with their skin on. FYI: The skin is where you find all of the really great complex carbohydrates, needed for your body to produce energy! So skin on is a good thing! If you'd rather peel your potatoes, feel free to peel and rinse. Cut potatoes into small chunks, place in pot, cover with cold water, add a few dashes of salt, cover, and bring to a boil. 

While the potatoes are coming to a boil, measure out all chosen flavors, including butter, in a small dish. After the potatoes begin to boil, uncover and allow the boil to continue for at least 15 minutes. Check the tenderness of the potato chunks by smashing one chunk with a fork. If it smashes easily, the potatoes are done! 

Save 2 cups of the potato water and drain the rest in a strainer. Return the potatoes to a pan, unless you happen to be in possession of a potato ricer. Put measured ingredients into the pan with the potatoes and 1 cup of the potato water. Using a potato masher or hand mixer, smash/blend the potatoes and spices until smooth and creamy, adding additional water if needed until desired consistency is reached.

Gravy:

1/2 c. vegetable broth (chicken-like) or vegetable stock (beef-like) per potato

1 Tbsp. McKay's chicken-like or beef-like seasoning per cup of liquid used

1 Tbsp. corn starch per cup of liquid used

garlic powder (to taste)

onion powder (to taste)

Bring broth/stock to a boil, mix in seasonings stir until dissolved. As liquid comes to a boil, prepare cornstarch with leftover broth/stock or water making into a thick liquid consistency (not a paste, not too thin). Add cornstarch mixture to boiling stock/broth and stir constantly until desired thickness has been reached. More cornstarch and liquid may be added if needed. Serve hot over mashed potatoes!

Portabella Burgers

This is a summer favorite of mine and my whole family's! I needed to find a way to get away from the overpriced highly processed veggie burgers. Also since I am a mother, full time worker, and nursing student (hence why I don't have more recent posts) I NEED it to be fast and simple!! This is so good!! Hope you enjoy!

Prepare your yogurt pesto spread ahead of time so its ready when you need it.

Yogurt Pesto Spread:

1 cup fresh basil
2 cloves garlic
8 oz package pine nuts
1/2 c plain greek yogurt
dash of salt
extra virgin olive oil

Place basil, garlic, pine nuts, and salt in a blender with about 4 tbsp olive oil and blend well. Add more olive oil a little at a time until you reach your desired consistency. You don't want to drown it but it should be able to spread. You may use this as pesto or add it to greek yogurt for a creamy spread for sandwiches. In this case you will add 1 tsp pesto to 1/2 cup greek yogurt until it reaches your desired flavor. I like pesto so I use about 4 tsp to a 1/2 cup of yogurt. You may use more or less.

Portabella Mushroom Burgers

4 large portabella caps
1 large red bell pepper
4 slices smoked provolone or gouda cheese
4 ciabata buns
4 tbsp yogurt pesto spread
Montreal steak seasoning
extra virgin olive oil

Okay first you will want to prepare your grill, then thoroughly rinse your mushroom caps and bell pepper. You will roast the bell pepper by burning the skin on the grill. Yes I said you will burn it! I mean CHARD! Totally black! Then place it into a sandwich bag and set aside.

Then prepare your mushroom caps by drying the surface with paper towel, then brush both sides generously with olive oil, gently rub on some Montreal steak seasoning. Place the mushroom cap side down on the hot grill and grill for 7 minutes. While you let that sit, use a paper towel to peel all the burnt skin from the red pepper. You should have a beautifully roasted bell pepper completely peeled. Then cut the pepper into strips, removing the center stem and seeds, set aside. Cut the ciabata buns in half, brush with olive oil and set aside near the grill. Pay attention to the time and turn the mushroom caps over after 7 minutes have passed, cook for an additional 5 minutes. During the last 5 minutes place your ciabata buns on the grill to toast. Turn the cap over one last time and divide the red pepper among each of the caps then top with provolone or gouda. Place cap onto the bottom half of a ciabata bun, dress the top bun with 1 tbsp yogurt pesto spread, and place it on the mushroom. ENJOY!!

Serving suggestions: I like this served with traditional hamburger and fry sides but have also enjoyed it with many non traditional side as well. In this picture we have Paneer Masala Kabobs (recipe to follow in a later blog) with a creamy sweet mango and coriander chutney, and a traditional Indian Mango Lassi.

Mock Beef Stew

So this week I decided to try a crock pot vegetarian style beef stew and I was amazed at how well it went! This particular recipe makes quite a lot so you may either choose to freeze it for later, take it to a family or church function, or simply cut the recipe in half.

You will need:

2 boxes organic vegetable broth
4-5 carrots, sliced
4 celery stalks, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen peas
3 medium potatoes, diced
1 1/2 cups beef like TVP chunks
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup McKays beef like seasoning or to taste
4 bay leaves
1 Tbsp. onion powder
1/2 Tbsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. Garam Masala
Salt and pepper to taste


Combine vegetable broth and an equal amount of water in the crock pot then add all other ingredients. Place crock pot on low heat for about 10 hours or until all vegetables are tender. Serve hot with fresh baked biscuits.

I started my crock pot at 7:00 am and we did not get home to enjoy it until at least 5:30 pm, so this is an excellent recipe for those who work long hours! Enjoy!

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

I see cookies on the shelves that claim "gluten-free" and what are they? Not cookies! They're dry, crumbling, sometimes gritty little pufs of powder! Well here's a recipe for soft, yummy, chocolate chip cookies just like when you were a kid!

What you'll need:

3 1/4 C. gluten free flour mix
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. egg replacer
1 C. earth balance margerine
1 C. dark brown sugar
1/2 C. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). In a medium bowl mix together flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, salt, and egg replacer; set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars; add eggs and vanilla then add dry ingredients until well mixed. Stir in the chocolate chips and drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes, cookies will not turn golden brown like other cookies but will be slightly brown around the edges. Allow to cool slightly before removing from the cookie sheets. This makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies.

Nutritional information per 1 cookie: 93 Calories, 12 Carbs, 5 Fat, and 1 Protein

Garbage

Based on the title of this post, you might be thinking I would be talking about garbage in some way. Perhaps I have a really good and easy compost idea, or a way to recycle, but alas no it is actually a recipe for a dish. This is a dish I make for my family and for many guests and family members. It is also the dish that everybody wants me to make for special occasions i.e. birthdays, family get togethers, and even auditions for Master Chef. Yeah NO WAY am I making Garbage for chef Ramsay!! I will however share this aawsome family recipe and tradition with you, my audience.

First of all I would like to say that there are innumerable possible variations to this dish. For this recipe I will use tofu prepared from my blog "How to Prepare Your Entree Tofu" following the directions for stir-fry tofu. However, you may also use a vegetarian or non vegetarian meatball recipe of your choice or vegetarian Croquettes by Cedar Lake foods (this may only be available in Michigan). The only requirement is if you're going to be brave enough to try this recipe YOU MUST be brave enough to try it the way it is supposed to be, TRUST ME!!

You will need:

1-2 blocks of prepared tofu/meatball recipe, cooked
4 jars of La Choy sweet and sour sauce
1 large white or spanish onion
1 large green pepper
1/2 - 1 whole fresh cubed pineapple
4 cups cooked brown/white rice

Salad ingredients as preferred (suggestions):

1 head romaine lettuce
1 diced tomato
1 package sliced mushrooms
1 head broccoli
2 shredded carrots
cheddar cheese, croutons, and dressing of choice for topping

This is where it gets fun. Mix together tofu/cooked meatballs, green pepper, onion, pineapple, and sweet and sour sauce in a thick casserole dish/baking pan cover and bake at 350 degrees (F) until hot and bubbly. You want the vegetables to be tendercrisp not mushy. Cook rice and prepare salad ingredients while the tofu mixture is baking.

To Serve:

Start with small amount of rice on the plate and top with tofu/meatball mixture, then finish by topping with ALL preferred salad ingredients. Anything you would usually put on a salad you will put on TOP of meat and rice including the salad dressing. NOT on the side, NOT as seperate components to one meal, ALL PILED ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER!!! Hence the name, garbage if you don't serve it this way it's NOT garbage it is simply sweet and sour tofu/meatballs over rice with a boring salad, anybody can do that.

Variations:

Use homemade sweet and sour sauce instead of store bought (I will post this recipe at some point). Use different vegetables and different sauces aiming for a different flavor like general tso's, sesame, orange, schezchuan, teriaki, etc. ALWAYS serve over rice, topped with a salad!! You may find recipes for different homemade sauces in this blog under the "Sesame Tofu" or "Vegetable Lo Mein" posts.

Sooo Good Fajitas

Ok, so I recently decided I wanted to try a whole food fajita and you wouldn't believe how rediculously easy this was! You see I've used a lot of processed veggie meats in the past and I really wanted to start getting away from this because they really aren't that healthy. This is a great recipe, I hope you enjoy it and feel free to give some feedback on this okay.

Ingredients:

Tortilla Shells (whole wheat or corn)
1 can black beans
2 C. cooked brown rice
cumin, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder; to taste
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 red pepper, cut into strips
1 green pepper, cut into strips
1 onion, cut into strips
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1 Mango Salsa Recipe (in earlier blog)

Wrap the tortillas in aluminum foil and warm in the oven on 250 degrees. Warm beans and spices (to taste) on stove top until hot. Saute olive oil, onions, garlic, green and red peppers on medium high heat until peppers are tendercrisp and onions are translucent. Tip: add garlic in the last 2-5 minutes of cooking.

Place beans over rice on the tortilla and top with saute mixture and mango salsa and enjoy!