Thai dinner and cookies

No, those 2 things don't go together in one meal!  But I made them in one day and both were a great success!!!

Actually, I know, I'm long overdue with posting another recipe, so here goes a little overload! ;-)

With Halloween coming up next week, I felt it was time to make some festive cookies -much to the delight of my two kids! *lol*

I've been using this recipe for vegan sugar cookies for a few years now, long before I even became a 'fullgrown' vegan and it never disappointed!

It's from 'Vegan Family Favorites' by Erin Pavlina, another great vegan cookbook!

I've modified the recipe a bit since I actually love using coconut oil in baked goods (I get the 54 oz Nutiva organic extra virgin coconut oil) and it looks as follows.

~* Modified Vegan Sugar Cookies *~

Ingredients

Dough:

*3/4 c coconut oil 

*3/4 c sugar

*Egg replacer for 2 eggs (flax seeds or Ener-G)

*1/4 tsp vanilla extract

*2 1/2 c flour

*1 tsp salt

*1 tsp baking powder

Frosting:

*2-3 Tbsp soy, almond or any plant milk

*Dash of salt

*1/2 tsp vanilla extract

*1 1/2-2 c powdered sugar

*3 Tbsp coconut oil or vegan butter [I've done frostings without this and it worked just as well!]

*Add coloring if you wish

Directions:

1) Mix oil and sugar in a mixing bowl, add vanilla and egg replacer

2) Sift flour and baking powder, add the salt

3) Gently mix dry ingredients with the wet ones until it forms a soft dough

4)Cover with plastic wrap and let it chill in the fridge between 2-4 hrs or even over night. [You might have to take it out a bit in advance before wanting to make the cookies as the dough will be hard as a brick!]

5) Preheat oven to 350 F degrees (180 C)

6) Roll out dough to desired thickness and use cookie cutters to form shapes

7) Place cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for ~8-10 minutes. Let them cook on a rack.

Once the cookies are cooled, beat the frosting ingredients; adding the milk until it's reached the desired consistency.

Spread it on the cooled cookies, adding sprinkles or other deco, 

done! =)

Fresh out of the oven :)

I didn't take pics of the frosted cookies as they honestly didn't look soo pretty anymore after my kids got their hands on with decorating them in purple and orange frosting *lol*, but the taste was good and they had fun, that's all that matters, right? =)

*~*~*~

Next I have to post about my great Thai dinner, which was a first for me!

Believe it or not, I never ate out in a Thai restaurant before! (I was once in Thailand as a child, but honestly can't remember and doubt at that age I ate anything else but hamburgers and fries..*blush*)

I was always intrigued when I read about Peanut Noodles so I finally grabbed a package of Phillipine 'Pancit' noodles and created a dish!

 ~* Spicy Peanut Noodles with Smoky Tofu *~

Ingredients:

*1 Package of Pancit noodles

*1/2 c Peanut butter

*1 Tbsp sesame oil

*1 Tbsp soy sauce

*2 Tbsp lime juice

*2-3 Tbsp chili garlic sauce 

*1 Package firm tofu, drained & pressed [I had mine frozen and then defrosted]

*1-2 Tbsp lemon juice

*2 Tbsp sugar

*2 Tbsp soy sauce

*1/4 tsp liquid smoke

*1 Tbsp nutritional yeast

Directions:

1)Soak Pancit noodles for 5-10 minutes in a bowl of cold water.

2) Heat a bit of olive oil in a pan, add the soaked noodles, fry for a few minutes

3) Prepare the peanut butter sauce with the sesame oil, lime juice and garlic chili sauce.

4) Once the noodles are fried, toss with the spicy peanut butter sauce.

For the tofu:

1) Preheat oven to 425 F (~220 C) degrees 

2) Cut the tofu in strips length-wise so that you have slim 'cutlets'

3) Mix the lemon juice, sugar, soy sauce, liquid smoke and nutritional yeast together and brush each 'cutlet' from both sides carefully

4) Place on a baking sheet covered with a nonstick mat [I assume parchment paper would work as well] and bake for ~20 minutes, then flip them and bake for another 10 minutes.

The cutlets should be brown but not burned, obviously.

!Hint: 

The tofu absorbed a lot of the marinade, so it might be advisable to actually double the recipe! 

I'll have to play around with it and see how I can create some form of 'glaze'.. (If you know how, please share your secret with me!!! :) ) Over all it was really tasty and I look forward to having it on my sandwich tomorrow, together with some eggplant that I roasted today as well!

I served the tofu together with the Pancit noodles as well as some sugar snap peas and my husband wouldn't stop raving about it! :D

No pics of the entire dish, the family was too fast and hungry! =)