Lentil Bolognese

Very yummy

1 onion-medium sized--chopped
1 medium celery-chopped
2 medium carrots grated
4 cloves minced garlic
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp onion powder,
2 cups chopped tomatoes (canned)
2 cups marinara sauce
1/3 cup red wine
2-3 cups vegetable broth
1 cup dry lentils
spaghetti noodles

Optional: bay leaf, 1 tab soy sauce, 1 tab balsamic vinegar , mushrooms, 1/2 cup plant based milk (I didn't use these),  fresh basil (I did use the fresh)



Cook lentils separately according to package directions.

Place about 1/4 cup water in large pot. Add onions, celery, and carrots. Saute about 10 minutes or until softened. Add wine, tomatoes vegetable broth, marinara sauce and seasonings. Cook at least 20 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Mix in the lentils and anything else from optional ingredients.

Serve over pasta

Another recipe can be found here: https://theplantbasedschool.com/wprm_print/35197

Minestrone

Very tasty and easy

1 large onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 stock of celery, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes (I prefer stewed TOMATOES that I cut up)
1  (15.5 can cannellini beans
1/2 cup or so of string beans
4 cups vegetable broth
1/2 tsp dried oregano (I often use more--but you can add more at the end--see directions
1 tsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

other Optional additions--GF Penne (handful)
                          left over ham
                          chopped cabbage (however much desired)
                          chopped small potatoes with skin on
                           a chopped turnip
                           chopped kale
                            chopped zucchini
                           Tofu crumbles (the frozen kind are good in this)
                           thyme  and sage and fennel seed are also good in this

In a large pot cook onions, carrots, celery and garlic with a bit of water. Cook about 7 minutes until softened.

Stir in tomatoes with their juice, green beans, chopped cabbage, chopped potatoes, broth, seasonings, penne. Cook 20 minutes or until just tender.

Add cannellini beans and taste and adjust seasonings

coconut tandoori chicken crockpot

Quite tasty---serve on rice or with noodles or in a wrap--whatever.  Found recipe here: https://pinchofyum.com/instant-pot-coconut-tandoori-chicken 

The ingredients are as listed and you can go to the link for the how to.   I changed mine since I can't have the level of spice that it calls for.  But here are the original ingredients:

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs (me breasts)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons garam masala  (me less)
• 1 tablespoon chili powder  (me-omit)
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder (less for me)
• 1 tablespoon cumin  (less for me)
• 2 teaspoons salt  (less for me)
• 2 teaspoons turmeric  (a bit less)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger  (Me less)
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (me omit)
• 14 ounce can coconut milk (me lite)

HOW TO: go to the link--gives instant pot, crockpot, and freezer verion.

GF Banana muffins using GF King Arthur flour

This came out yummy, but I did change a few things from the recipe on the back of the package. Note to self only eat 1/2 a muffin at time since bananas trigger facial sweating for me ;-)

2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar (could do less)(I prefer 1/4)
1 and 3/4 cup of the gf King Arthur flour (called measure for measure flour)
1/2 cup vegetable oil (can do part applesauce and part oil instead)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large mashed bananas

1. Preheat oven 375 and line muffin tin with paper cups or whatever.
2. Whisk together dry ingredients.
3. Add the wet ingredients with bananas to the dry mix
4. Divide among 10 muffin cups
5. Bake about 20 minutes until center springs back when lightly touched

Shortbread cookies GF

Shortbread GF/ tasty takes minutes.  found it here https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/gluten-free-almond-flour-shortbread-cookies-recipe  yummy!!!

Ingredients

• 1 cup (96g) almond flour
• 3 tablespoons (43g) softened butter
• 3 tablespoons (21g) confectioners' sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix all of the ingredients in a small bowl until a cohesive dough forms.
3. Scoop 1" balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheet; a teaspoon cookie scoop works well here. Arrange the balls of dough about 1 1/2" to 2" apart.
4. Use a fork to flatten each cookie to about 1/4" thick, making a crosshatch design.

Hasty Pudding

Hasty pudding is nice for a breakfast change up. Found it here: https://www.almanac.com/recipe/hasty-pudding  I added maple syrup and coconut milk after cooking.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal (I used a finer ground cornmeal--NICE

1 cup cold water

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups boiling water

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix cornmeal with cold water. Add with salt to boiling water. Reduce heat and cook 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently. Serve with cream and maple sugar, brown sugar, honey, or molasses. Chill unused mush, slice, dust slices with flour, and brown in butter or bacon grease. Serve with syrup.

Lebanese-Style Lentil Soup

found the recipe here: https://www.bluezones.com/recipe/lebanese-style-lentil-soup-with-swiss-chard-and-lemon-adas-b-hamod/

tasty---we substituted kale for the Swiss chard, used sweet potato instead of Yukon, and didn't use lemon.  We added a half teaspoon or so of garlic also

INGREDIENTS

3 cups red lentils

12 cups water (could use less)

1 large red onion, diced

2 small Yukon gold potatoes, diced (me-one large sweet potato

1 medium zucchini, diced

4 cups Swiss chard, chopped  (me Kale)

1 bunch of cilantro, chopped

¼ cup of lemon juice, more to taste (me omit)

1 teaspoon cumin

Salt and pepper, to taste

Me-added a half teaspoon of minced garlic 

Chickpea salad/ loaded

Go here for the how to: https://peasandcrayons.com/2017/05/garden-veggie-chickpea-salad-sandwich.html

FOR THE SALAD:

• 15 oz canned chickpeas, drained + rinsed (chopped in food processor)
• 3 stalks green onion
• 2 stalks celery
• 1/4 cup chopped shredded carrots
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup finely chopped dill pickle (If using this might not need added salt!)
• 1/4 cup store bought or homemade mayonnaise vegan or regular
• 1-2 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 tsp yellow mustard
• 1/8 tsp dried dill or fresh, to taste
• 1/8 tsp salt (or not!)
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 3 TBSP unsalted roasted sunflower seeds
• 2 TBSP fresh chopped basil plus extra to taste

If not using mayo I add lemon juice , some liquid from the chickpea can and mash part of the ingredients better like hummus to add creamy texture. Sometimes I add a small amount of ketchup.

Butternut squash soup

not the best photo—just want to put this here as I love this soup  https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/moroccan-butternut-squash-goat-cheese-soup-wcoconut-ginger-cream-pistachios/  go to link for directions. Here are ingredients:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cloves head garlic for roasting (or you may sub 2 garlic, not roasted)
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 red bell pepper chopped
• 4 cups butternut squash peeled + cubed
• 1 teaspoon spicy curry powder (me see my note below for sub)
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (me omit)
• ½ teaspoon fresh thyme chopped (or ¼ teaspoon dried)
• 1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
• 2 cups veggie broth
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 ounces goat cheese softened + more for topping
• roughly chopped cilantro + pistachios for topping
• arils from one pomegranate for topping

COCONUT GINGER CREAM

• ½ cup canned coconut milk
• 1-2 tablespoons fresh ginger

Note--I omit cayenne pepper and spicy curry.  For the spicy curry I sub a bit of tumeric, garam marsala, cardamom, coriander , plain paprika, and cumin

Irish stew --vegan and crockpot

This was very tasty and I found the recipe at Forks over knives here: https://www.forksoverknives.com/recipes/irish-white-bean-and-cabbage-stew/#gs.kv2r3t

This makes a huge crockpot full of soup--tasty and nice especially for the winter. 

Go to the link for directions --here are the

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 ribs celery, chopped
• 2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ head cabbage, chopped
• 4 carrots, sliced
• 1 to 1-½ pounds potatoes, cut in large dice
• 1⁄3 cup pearled barley (optional orME substitute with gluten-free grain)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• ½ teaspoon caraway seeds
• ½ teaspoon rosemary, crushed
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 6-8 cups vegetable broth or low-sodium vegetable broth(me-8 cups)
• 3 cups cooked great northern beans (2 cans, drained)ME cannelloni beans 
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• salt to taste

Basically you put everything -except the beans and tomatoes and parsley -into the crockpot and cook on low for 7 h and then add the beans and tomatoes and parsley and cook for one more hour.

note--you want enough broth to cover the veggies while cooking.

Go to link for stovetop directions

GF Vegan pumpkin pie

Easy–and the crust and the pumpkin filling all just mix up in the food processor. Recipe was found   https://minimalistbaker.com/1-bowl-pumpkin-pie-vegan-gf/

Hover if you want a gf vegan version without the coconut items here is a different version https://nannykimsrecipes.blogspot.com/2023/10/pumpkin-pie-vegan.html?m=0

Ingredients:

CRUST

• 1 ¼ cups raw cashews
• ½ cup rolled oats (gluten-free)
• 2 pitted medjool dates (I omitted and it was fine)
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• 2 ½ tsp ground ginger
• ¾ cup gluten-free flour blend (if not gluten-free, sub spelt or all-purpose flour)(me-GF Bisquick)
• ¼ cup scoopable (firm) coconut oil (virgin or refined for less-prominent coconut flavor // or sub avocado oil for similar result)
• ¼ cup maple syrup, plus more as needed

FILLING

• 2 cups pumpkin purée (unsweetened // we like Libby’s brand)
• 2 ½ Tbsp arrowroot starch (for thickening)
• ¾ cup full fat coconut milk (canned)
• ¼ cup coconut sugar (or sub organic brown sugar)
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice (or store-bought)

Go to link for how to https://minimalistbaker.com/1-bowl-pumpkin-pie-vegan-gf/

PS the 9 inch springform pan makes it easy

Here is her video

Cranberry jello dish/ old fashioned

Above is without the cream cheese topping and below is the finished dish and NOTE: this is good without the topping too if you don't want the cream cheese! 


I found the recipe here: https://www.thekitchenismyplayground.com/2019/11/7-up-cranberry-jello-salad.html  If you go to the link you will also discover links to other jello type dishes.

This is good for church pot luck or Thanksgiving or whatever. Easy to make, but you need to make it early in the day or the night before.

Pictured above is 1/2 of the recipe--I had it in about a 9 by 7 pan I believe. The full recipe is 13 by 9. I just used 1/2 the ingredients. 

Full recipe ingredients:

INGREDIENTS:

Cranberry Jello Layer:

• 1 c. 7-up soda (boiled with the water)
• 1 c. boiling water
• 2 ( 3 oz.) packages raspberry Jell-o
• 2 (14 oz.) cans whole berry cranberry sauce
• 1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained (BUT reserve the juice)
• 1 c. chopped pecans

Topping:

• 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 T. granulated sugar
• 1/4 c. pineapple juice (reserved from draining the can of crushed pineapple)
• about 1/4 c. pecan pieces and/or chopped pecans

Directions at https://www.thekitchenismyplayground.com/2019/11/7-up-cranberry-jello-salad.html
Read more at https://www.thekitchenismyplayground.com/2019/11/7-up-cranberry-jello-salad.html#oY1d4BhBFH4LC61l.99

NOTE: I had to wait till mine had jelled 4 hours to spread the topping, earlier than that it was not set firm enough to spread without mixing the jello and the topping! 



A different salad is Mandarin Orange salad--I haven't made it but it looks good-I found this on facebook.

MANDARIN ORANGE SALAD!! My family's favorite side dish!!

Ingredients:
1 pkg Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix (use dry) I would use sugar free
1 Large can Crushed Pineapple (undrained)
2 Medium/Large cans Mandarin Oranges (drained)
1 pkg Cool Whip 8 oz ( and you could use fat free)

Directions:
Mix together Cool Whip and Instant vanilla pudding (do NOT make the pudding, just use it dry). Add undrained crushed pineapple and both cans of drained Mandarin Oranges. (Use as many mandarins as you like, more/less) Save a few mandarin oranges to decorate the top of salad. Refrigerate until it thickens again maybe a couple of hours before you need to use it.

Kale, wild rice, apple, walnut salad

Nice change up salad found at https://eatwithclarity.com/apple-and-kale-salad-with-maple-tahini-dressing/.   

Note: I prefer leaving out the wild rice

INGREDIENTS

Salad:

• 1 bunch curly kale 
• 1 1/2 cups cooked wild rice (about 1/2 cup uncooked) (can omit)
• 1 large apple 
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 1/4 cup pomegranate airls 

Dressing:

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Black pepper to taste

Go to the link for directions. She had a good idea for preparing the kale by washing and massaging it under warm water. I tore it up.Then I cut it with my kitchen scissors to get bite sized pieces. A bit of lemon would be good in this too.I used straight dark wild rice, she used a mixed kind. I didn't need as much as the recipe called for, but it would depend on how much kale you use.

Another optional way is using the ingredients below:

Ingredients

• 4 cups Kale, shredded
• 1/2 cup Apple, chopped
• 1/3 cup Walnuts, chopped
• 1/4 cup Lemon Juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tsp. honey or maple syrup

recipe found  :https://www.freshfitkitchen.com/kale-apple-and-walnut-salad/#wprm-recipe-container-5545

Red lentil soup/ Moroccan carrot

Morroccan carrot red lentil soup/very hearty and tasty/loving the seasonings. Recipe found here: https://www.acedarspoon.com/moroccan-carrot-red-lentil-soup/

For the how to --go to the link.  Here are the ingredients you need:

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 medium sweet onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups chopped carrots or about 4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 teaspoon coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 cups red lentils, rinsed until water runs clear **
• 1-15 oz can diced tomatoes
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Garnish:
• Fresh cilantro or Italian parsley
• Lemon wedges
• **NOTE: on the red lentils. Some brands cook fast and I have had other brands take forever. Those brands might do better with a pre-soak time!