Cheesy Tahini Sauce, Turkish Bean & Mushroom Stirfry, Berry Smoothie, and Hungry For A Change

It's been a rough week!  I feel the need for a get-away but can't see that happening for months at least!  But enough about that...this blog is for positives and a place to escape in the meantime without getting negative or frustrated!  I will concentrate on the things I CAN do and CHANGE and that starts with my efforts in the kitchen last evening!

I seriously cannot get enough Tahini lately.  I want to try different flavor combos and dressings and sauces any chance I can, lately!  Last night I whipped up a "Cheese-E Tahini Sauce" or even a "Sweet and Nutty" Sauce, even!  Here's what I did with this Sauce:

1/3 C Cashews
1/4 C Nutritional Yeast
3 T Tamari
1 T (Heaping) Tahini
2 T Garlic Grapeseed Oil
1-2 T Lemon Juice
2 tea Grey Poupon Mustard
2-3 T Minced Garlic
Pinch of Each: Paprika, Nutmeg, Wildtree California Garlic Pepper Blend

All in my Ninja!

One thing I did with this sauce once it was finished was I used it on some Pasta!  But not just any pasta!  It was Vegan Rice & Corn Pasta from Orgran!  It was quite good!

I saved a little bit of this for a salad and/or veggie dipping tonight or tomorrow!

This week I am continuing on with my Foods From Around The World Theme after taking a short break last week.  I decided to try and do veg*n foods from Turkey this week.  For my first attempt I decided to do a version of a Turkish Bean & Mushroom Stirfry.  Here is what I put in this dish:

1/2 Pound of Green Beans (Frozen)
1 Sweet Yellow Onion
About 6 Button Mushrooms, Chopped
2 T Garlic Grapeseed Oil
1 T - or less - of Wildtree Dill Blend
Wildtree California Garlic Pepper to taste

I did this in one of my NEW Pots and Pans that I got from Big Lots!  I ended up having to return my Paula Deen Set after it got damaged after 1 use.  Big Lots was GREAT!  However, they didn't have another set to replace it with so I took what they had which was a Rachel Ray Set instead!  So far - so good on these!

This morning I started my day with a Fruit Berry Smoothie.  Here is what I put in it:

2 C of Mango, Papaya, Pineapple, Strawberry Frozen Mix
1/2 C of Frozen Blueberries
2 tea of Boku Superfood
1/2 C Almond Milk
1 C+ Water

It was tasty!  I might to it again tomorrow!  Tomorrow I will also tell you more about the Boku Superfood!

I was finally able to sit down last night and watch the rest of HUNGRY FOR A CHANGE.  Two of the people in this documentary were David "Avocado" Wolfe and Kris Carr.  There were many others involved in this one but I was able to capture a few iPhone Stills off my phone to post here, today!

I've watched some videos on David and subscribe to Kris's Newsletter.

They are both fascinating!

Have you seen this documentary yet?  If so - what did you think?
If you haven't - are you interested in seeing it?

Do you know about David Wolf and Kris Carr?  If so - what are your thoughts?

Weekend Food & Fun

Happy Monday Everyone!  Warning!  Warning!  This will be a LONG Post, today!  But I have LOTS to share!  So I will get right to it!  This first pictures is of my Friday Night Dinner.  Part of my dinner was Falafel with a Tahini Sauce.  The Falafel Patties were from a Vegan Company - the name escapes me at the moment but I will say they were the best tasting I have had as well as at the easiest to prepare on stove-top that I have tried thus far!  The Tahini Sauce I made from scratch!

Here is what I did for the Tahini Sauce:
1 C Raw Tahini
1 C (or more) of Water
1/2 C Lemon Juice
3 Cloves Garlic
1/2 tea Cumin
1/2 tea Wildtree Lemon Pepper

I was VERY happy with this Tahini Sauce!  I threw everything together in one of my Ninja's!  The flavor was creamy, powerful, slightly bitter - but in a good way - lemony, and YUM!

Saturday I realized I had a bit of Vegetarian Chili that I had to use...AND FAST!  Plus I found a container of Vegan Creamed Cheese that was on the verge of "should I pitch it or not" so I decided to use it right then and there!  I put the Vegetarian Chili on stove top and warmed it up really nice and then put the Vegan Cream Cheese in there and melted it in.  It was so easy and super YUMMY I will be doing this again and OFTEN!

It was a meal in itself but I did use corn chips for dipping!  I would have even used celery if I had any that is!  My Fresh Produce was getting VERY low at the point in the week and all the local stores - the produce didn't look all that fresh...so I ended up buying a lot of frozen this past weekend!  I guess it's better than nothing, eh!?  I can't wait for Farmers Market Season!


I had a lot of the Tahini Sauce left over from the Falafel that I mentioned above and want to use it - instead of losing it!  I decided to do some Veggie Penne Pasta - it's been a while since I have had Pasta - I cut way back!  To bump up the nutritional value on it a bit I decided to do some Asparagus in with it and used the Tahini Sauce here, too!  This photo is a little tricky...it's almost like I am play "where's Waldo" with the green spears...but...the flavor was good and it worked well here!

I'm in the process of getting some new bowls and plates so you don't have to keep looking at the same 3 background colors!

Sunday I had a rather large (for me) cooking project!  I took MANY photos of this as I went so I could post them here!  I started with some Basil Pesto Grapeseed Oil, 1 Large Onion, 2 C Chickpeas, 1/2 Bag of Frozen Spinach (about 8 ounces), and made sure I got as much water out as I could with that spinach!  I cooked everything up in a skillet.

Next...I made a a (Vegan) Cheese-E Sauce that I originally found over at FatFree Vegan Kitchen and did a few small tweaks to it!

I ended up doing:
1 C Water
1 C Coconut Milk
3/4 C Foods Alive Nutritional Yeast
2 T Arrowroot
1 tea Wildtree California Garlic Pepper Blend
2 T Tahini
1 T Lemon Juice
1 Nice Squirt of Yellow Mustard
1/2 tea Turmeric
1/4 tea Cayenne Pepper

Why did I start this cooking project in the first place?  Because of these Hashbrown Patties!  I got a package of 20 from our local Aldi for CHEAP!  I think they were $1.09 total.  Well, my husband wasn't crazy about them stand-alone and I couldn't bring myself to waste 16 patties!  So...since they didn't have any animal ingredients in them I thought I would try a "first ever" for me!  Hashbrown Casserole!

I think I ended up using 9 or 10 of these in the Casserole, by the way!

I did them on stove top with Wildtree Basil Pesto Grapeseed Oil!

Once all of my components were done cooking to the temperature I was happy with - it was time to MIX!

So that is what you see here, I mixed all of the ingredients into a large pot and cooked a bit more until the "cheese" was thickened and distributed throughout all of the ingredients!

YES!  Even the chopped up Hashbrowns are in here!  The whole sha-bang!

I'm not going to lie...I sampled some and it was tasty!  BUT...it was time to put everything into a Glass Dish and Bake!  I did that at 350 for about 40 minutes.  I also added a bit of Rice Crumbs to the top as well as a little Vegan Parmesan Cheese, too!

Here's what it looked like while in the oven thru the glass...you can see it was starting to brown nicely.

I like it a bit crunchy!  I have a confession, tho, I never had this going up so I don't really have anything to compare it too but I can tell you what I like now and this is something I really like!  Next time I want to try it with Daiya Cheese!

And here is photo of the finished product and project!

Also next time I would like to try Carrots and Celery in this, too!  But after doing all of this I realized this could be tremendously versatile!

I can't wait for the leftovers tonight for dinner.  Along side with this I did some Brussel Sprouts in Balsamic Vinegar but I roasted them a little too long...they were still good, tho!

I warned you this was going to be a long post!  And I'm already saving other items for tomorrow!  This weekend while we were out we got Paco a new shirt!  He likes it and Suzie was a little jealous as you can see here!  The shirt says "I'm The Boss"...he certainly THINKS so!

I really can't help but smile when Paco is...PACO...sometimes...I mean...look at THAT Face!  I can't stay mad long!  This was taken on "Daddy's" lap and I swear he did this blanket folding all himself!  Then he popped his little head out!

Paco wasn't the only one relaxing this weekend!

Riley was pretty comfy and cozy on the sofa on his back!  He's such a goof ball...then again...he fits right in with the rest of our family, eh!?

I didn't leave Suzie out of it!  I snapped a photo of her sleeping, too!

She "beached herself" on the sofa and blanket just like this.  Sound asleep!  Right next to me!  She was suckling and moving her limbs...I think she was dreaming!

I couldn't catch the cats sleeping this weekend or I would have posted some pics of them, here, too, but they continued to be cute and active around the house all weekend!

And I have one more of Paco from last night, here, too!  I caught him in mid-wink!  All I can think of on Friends when Joey said "How's It Goin'".  What would your caption for this photo be!?

And one last photo of the 3 Musketeers for this weekend - all together on the sofa!  They are silly, they are fun, and they are my kids!

Thanks for reading all the way to the bottom of this really LONG post, tho, I do appreciate it!  I have LOTS more to share...and remember...this week is Algerian Foods Week and I will have at least 2 or 3 recipes this week with that region of the world in mind!