When in doubt...

... and I'm not in a good mood, feeling kinda blah and every little thing aggravates me quickly (PMSing maybe?), baking is my solution! 

It soothes my nerves, it calms me down!

It might not necessarily be the best for my waistline.. but then again, thankfully I do like to work out (most of the time at least ;) ) so I seem to keep everything in balance. *lol*

Today was one of those days where I knew, I just had to turn the oven on and get busy! It's still hot here in Sicily (well, at least warmer than some of you might have it already) and while the AC is blasting cool air, I'm still sweating in the kitchen, whipping and blending... and I feel the stress leaving me! ;)

I won't know the outcome of my making yet; it's a vegan cheesecake which recipe I've come across on one of the blogs (again!) and I'm very curious how it'll turn out! 

When I told Hubby about it right after finding the recipe, I got a very skeptical look from him, saying "Tofu in a cheesecake?" and made his typical "this should be interesting!" face.. (Gotta love the confidence of a loved one, huh?.. LOL)

Of course it doesn't help that I totally 'tanked' a recipe last night, also using tofu as a 'cheesy sauce'.. It was a potato broccoli casserole with the said sauce spread on top and let me just say this: If someone doesn't like the taste of nutritional yeast, he/she won't like that sauce!..*sigh*

Anyway.. I just felt like blogging about it already.. the pics will have to come later, once the cheesecake has cooled down and possibly tested already.. (I'm suddenly a bit nervous! LOL)

Stand by for the recipe & pic! =)

For now this will have to do - It always cheers me up, to see my cuddly kitties!  

Both are Sicilian. Tommy (or Thomaso) on the left is ~ 3 years old and since a little over 2 years with us, Minkus on the right is just 6 months old and with us since he's ~6 weeks old! You'd think they're brothers they way they are together!

Aren't they precious!?! 

Lea's Pasta salad veganized :)

My dear friend Lea, whom I've met and become friends with much too late before she had to move far away from me :( ..., always made this super yummy pasta salad when I'd come over and we would hang out for hours, watching Friends or Glee or any other 'chick flicks' and just have a great time! 

Since then it's "Lea's Pasta salad" in my house when I make this! =)

  I've become vegan in the meantime since she moved, so I had to come up with something I could use for the feta cheese!

The nearest answer: TOFU!

Granted, I don't get the firm water-packed one here (or every once in a 'blue moon' and if you're not quick enough, those few packages are already gone again..*sigh*) and even though I've pressed it for good 24hrs in the fridge, it still doesn't stay as firm, naturally.. but still. I'm happy with the result! ;)

 I can't use Mc Cormick's Salad Supreme spice anymore since it contains quite a bit of cheese *dangit*.. so I looked up the ingredients: SALT, SESAME SEED, POPPY SEED, PAPRIKA, GARLIC, CELERY SEED, BLACK PEPPER, AND RED PEPPER

and spiced the salad accordingly myself. For the cheese flavor I simply sprinkled a bit of nutritional yeast in the mix.

I think this salad can be tweaked to everybody's liking easily. ;)

Any kind of veggie can be used; if I have bell pepper, that goes in as well.

~* Lea's Pasta Salad veganized *~

Serves 4-6 

Ingredients:

*~12 oz (320 g) Pasta [I like the tri colored Spirals]

* 1/2 - 1 cucumber, diced into bite sized pieces

*Handful of cherry tomatoes or if not available, ~1/2 c sundried tomatoes 

*1/4-1/2 c black olives, diced [I only had green ones]

*1 c Italian salad dressing [or just make one yourself with olive oil, vinegar, spices]

*Spices such as salt, pepper, paprika, garlic, selery seed etc.

*Tofu 'Feta' [instructions on 'how to make one' follows below]  

Preparation:

Cook pasta accordingly to the instructions, drain, set aside in a bowl and let it cool down.

Cut the cucumber and tomatoes as well as the olives, add to the cooled pasta.

Prep the salad dressing, toss over the pasta & veggie mix.

Add the spices, toss again.

Into the fridge with the bowl and let everything chill!

In the meantime prep your 'Tofu Feta':

Take 1 firm block of tofu (not the tetrapacked Silken one!), preferably pressed overnight, cut into bite-sized cubes.

*1/4 c olive oil

*1/4 c water

*1/2 red wine vinegar or ACV [apple cider vinegar]

*2 tsp salt

*1 Tbsp dried basil

*1/2 tsp dried oregano

*1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:

Place everything except the tofu in a bowl and mix well.

Add tofu, stir and let marinade for at least 1 hour.

Once the 'Tofu feta' is done, add it to the salad, toss again and voila! :)

~*~*~

I think of my friend Lea every time I make this and just had to share!

Miss you tons, Lea!!! xo

Time for Butternut squash soup!

It's MoFo Day #4 and it's time to post a super simple, but super yummy Butternut Squash soup recipe! =) 

[You can easily sub the squash with any kind of pumpkin!]

~* Curried Butternut Squash soup *~

Ingredients:

*1 medium or large Butternut Squash

*1 large oninon

*3-4 med/big carrots

*1-2 Tbsp olive oil

*4-6 c veggie broth [I use one veg broth cube on 6 c]

*~1 Tbsp curry [the normal one, not the hot Madras!]

*salt & pepper to taste

*1 can of full fat coconut milk [I guess light would work too] or in a pinch plain plant milk such as soy, rice or almond.

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350-400 degrees F (180-200 C).

Cut the squash lengthwise in half and then again so you have 4 long pieces.

Rub each piece with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Spike with a fork a few times.

Put on a baking tray, the fleshy part facing *up* and put it in the oven for good 45-55 minutes. 

The squash is ready when it's nice and bubbly.

Let the squash cool down before you gently peel the skin off.

While the squash is in the oven, you can already prep the rest of the soup:

Dice the onion and sautee in the olive oil until translucent.

Add the broth and let it simmer on low heat.

Peel and dice the carrots and add to the onion/broth mix.

When the squash is done, cut it into ~1" cubes and it goes into the rest of the soup.

Personally I always use a pressure cooker for soups, so at this point I simply close the lid of my pressure cooker, turn the heat up and wait for the cooker to start steaming. 

Once it does, I let it go for ~3-5 minutes, then I turn off the heat completely and let it sit. [I rarely use the quick release, though you could, of course.]

If you don't have or like to use a pressure cooker, just cook everything regularly in a 'normal' pot for a good ~30 minutes, until the carrots are tender.

Once the carrots are cooked and the soup cooled down a bit, use a stick blender (or if you prefer, pour it into a stand mixer -just make sure it's not too hot!) and blend until everything is creamy.

Now as the final step add the curry, salt & pepper and the coconut milk (you can also use regular plain plant milk if you don't have coconut milk. It just won't be as sweet and creamy) 

Voila, it's ready.

You can add rice to it or while cooking some potatoes to make it more filling..

We like it just as it is with a slice of home made sourdough bread. 

Guten Appetit! =)