Vegan Creamy Scalloped Potatoes from "The Vegan Slow Cooker" Book of Kathy Hester

The Vegan Slow Cooker: Simply Set It and Go with 150 Recipes for Intensely Flavorful, Fuss-Free Fare Everyone (Vegan or Not!) Will Devour  by Kathy Hester.

My love affair with Slow Cookers started with 'The Indian Slow Cooker" book by Anupy Singla.  After cooking through her entire book, I thought I should probably look at some other slow cooker materials, in the event that I might actually have company that does not like Indian Food.  Okay, actually, the people that are actually allowed into our animal sanctuary must love Indian Food-so I don't see that as a future issue.  But I still wanted Kathy's book!  I held out for as long as possible, as my shelves are actually rupturing from the sheer volume of recipe books I have accumulated.

So many of the recipes in Kathy's book looked great. While it would be a great buy for nearly anyone, it seems like it is screaming "vegan comfort food" to me!  While lots of the recipes don't require any extra tempeh, soy, gluten ingredients-there are a fair share of "home cookin'" eats.  I settled on the scalloped potato recipe because my man loves his taters & I tend to have the basics on hand. 

The Nutritional Yeast.  This is "old school" vegan cheese.  I used to go through this stuff like there was no tomorrow, making spicy, tomato based mac & cheeze sauces.  Now brands like Daiya & Follow your Heart have the corner on the "Vegan Cheese" market.  However, Nutritional Yeast (which does not have true yeast in it), is packed with B12 and a myriad of other nutrients.  Great on popcorn, salad toppings, old school cheeze dishes, and even as a raw cracker or raw kale chip ingredient.

So this is the cashew, yeast based cheeze.

Always buy organic Potatoes.  They soak up everything from the earth, and you don't want that to be pesticides.

Yes, I have a "salad shooter".  It is great for soft stuff, however, it blows sometimes when dealing with harder root veggies.  Potatoes do well.  You could also use food processor or mandoline (pay attention so you retain your fingers through process).

Layering the potatoes & cheeze sauce. And press "Go".

Final Product.  Hubby liked a lot.  And I liked that there wasn't any s--t in it.

Sprinkled some Daiya on top to further entice hubby...........and raw broccoli.

This book is full of soups, casseroles, pasta & grain dishes, meatless mains, sandwich & taco fillings, breads, snacks, breakfasts, & desserts.  If you are feeding a mainstream audience, I have a feeling this may appeal to you.  Lots of comfort foods & a fair amount of "meat" subs.  Some recipes include Sweet & Sour Smoked Tofu (Gluten Free), Cheezy Broccoli Rice (GF), Hearty Faux Steak & Gravy, Wholesome Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, Spinach Artichoke Dip, Cheesy Chorizo Dip, Be My Valentine Chocolate Oatmeal, and Pimento Cheese Fondue.  Thinking some of those appetizers would be great to bring to real "mainstream" events, where even brown bread or kale would freak people out! While there are lots of recipes that call for packaged cheeses or meat substitutes, there are also just as many that are made from old school vegan eats.  She does not use dry beans in most of the recipes (that call for legumes).  So you would make the beans first, or just buy them canned.  The only problem with canned, is that Eden is the only brand I know of that does not use BPAs & is organic, and it's pricey to do that a lot.  I am very partial to at the very least, using soaked beans in the slow cooker.  But I believe that nearly every slow cooker book has you make the beans and then use them in a different recipe.  I think it would be worth soaking them & adapting some of the recipes to make it a truly 1 step recipe.  

And the dogs.....

www.gatewaypets.com

Pj petting Horton (brindle) and Fallon (blonde dog).  Fallon is  the mother of Shiloh (on the right)

East St. Louis

Mr. Tux (black & white) and Friend.  Their friends have been rescued.

East St. Louis, Illinois.

Shy Rebel standing in the middle of the street.  There is a sewer hole with no barricade around it.  So many streets are plagued with major potholes or have sewer holes that are open & not truly protected.  People steal the lids to them and sell for the metal.  This is a particularly deep one.  Pj has rescued several dogs that have fallen in similar holes.

East St. Louis

The Vegg. Vegan Egg Yolks. Lucy's Vegan Gluten Free Cookies.

"The Vegg" a Vegan Egg Yolk!  10% of proceeds go to Compassion Over Killing.

There has been a lot of "hype" about this new vegan egg yolk product in the vegan blogosphere. Much excitement and people patiently waiting for a vegan version of some of their faves like Hollandaise sauce, real french toast, and egg custard.  Others immediately responded "Ick.  I would rather eat real food."  But what is pretty cool about this product, is that it pretty much "is" real food.  It is basically nutritional yeast and kala namak, or "black salt".  So it isn't some crazy soy protein isolate or some gluten filled fake meat, just a couple of pretty standard ingredients made into a powdered mix that you can use in place of egg yolk.

It comes in powder form & you add either water or a dairy free milk, depending on the type of recipe you use.

I didn't have a lot in the house, but did have some of this "Wildwood" tofu, which has a crazy protein content in it.  Super firm, it doesn't require a press or draining.  It has 14 grams of protein per serving and 7 servings per package! Plus 15% of your RDA of iron per serving.  It is also higher in calories than most other tofu! So figured I would make Scrambled "Veggs".

I added the water.....I made the whole package up because the "mixture" should still last a couple of weeks in the fridge.  I have to say that I was really amazed and grossed out at the same time.  Amazed because it had a texture pretty reminiscent of real egg yolk.  It has been so long since I have stirred, touched, smelled anything that was "egg like" in this way, that I was also a little grossed out.  But was thinking the hubby would only embrace this, as he isn't turned "off" by egg/meat substitutes like I am!  The black salt really gives it a unique smell.

So I just used it in scrambled tofu.  It looked real.  The "Vegg" stuff isn't supposed to be an "egg replacer" like flax or potato starch exactly.  It is more of an egg yolk.  So it isn't going to congeal or cook like the "white" part of an egg.  It is going to give an "eggy" flavor and also that kind of "yolky" texture.

So scrambled tofu with the addition of "The Vegg" got good marks from the homestead.  The flavor was subtle, yet present.  Hubby thought it did taste different than my "standard scrambled tofu".  Next we will try the french toast.  I certainly think it could be a decent addition to your vegan kitchen.  It doesn't have harmful stuff in it and it's an easy way to "recreate" some of "the classics".  Try it out for yourselves and see if it might bring some Hollandaise sauce, Caesar Salad Dressing, or Egg Custards back into your life!  Even people like Mark Bittman are getting excited about some faux products......recently he talked about a new faux chicken product that even "fooled" him.  And love how he "defends" faux meats by stating that some people are not going to use a product unless it is basically "the same" as, or blends "seamlessly" into their lives-without any additional work or sacrifice.  So while eating fruits, veggies, and whole grains in their unadulterated form might be more "PC", inluding faux meats & other products to "transition" away from cruelty & help curb climate change, may be more realistic.  Check out the Mark Bittman Faux Chicken video here.

And another product review.  I have had Lucy's Vegan cookies once before, probably in a Starbucks.  I had ordered Keys Sunblock and an entire box of cookies was shared as a "sample" for Valentine's day!  While I normally don't buy any cookies or use evaporated cane juice, they ended up on my doorstep and I caved to temptation.  I did pawn most of the box off onto my husband, but not before trying my fair share.  These cookies are awesome!  Sweet, Crunchy, and super tasty!  Not the super moist cookies that made you wonder about how much oil you just ate, but a light and crunchy type of cookie with marvelous flavor.  Sweet, but not a gag me with a pound of sugar sweet.  This brand is totally Gluten Free, and "Lucy" means it.  They do the whole allergen testing, dedicated facility, etc.... Vegan, Gluten Free, No Tree Nuts, Peanuts, Milk.   I have seen them at Starbucks and think they are pretty widely available.

And here is "Lucy" talking shop.  She founded the company because her own child had food allergies and spent the first part of his childhood "cookie deprived".

Kale Greens from "Forks Over Knives" book

Fresh Kale & other Greens from the Square Foot Garden.

I am so delighted that "Forks Over Knives" is reaching a lot of people.  I am sure that it helps that Dr. Oz  even wrote a little snippet on the back cover.  This book is great because it explains all of the reasons that Plant based is the way to go.  It gives examples of people who have changed their lives by changing their diet and it provides recipes from many different "styles" of veganism.  But they are all healthy.  You won't find any cup of sugar here or extra oil there.  Most recipes have zero added oil, some have a small amount of cold pressed.  Many recipes have zero nuts while others include small portions.  There are also several easy raw recipes included as well.  

Forks Over Knives Book

Forks Over Knives DVD now available.

                      

Simple basics.  I almost always have the ingredients for this at home.  And have made this recipe a half dozen times already!!  We love greens!

You just put a little water with all the ingredients and a few minutes later your Kale is ready.

More posts about Forks Over Knives.....Forks Over Knives on Dr. Oz. 

More Forks Over Knives authors/people behind/plant based healing.

Green Goddess Dressing post from "Forks Over Knives" book.

Check out Nigella, in East St. Louis.  Nigella, Nigel & Nina have lived on the streets their whole lives.  Nina has puppies now and they are in this building that is set to be condemned any day now.  Pj wants to go in there & rescue the pups and the dogs, if possible.  But we need fosters.  A never ending story.  Gateway Pet Guardians finally bought a property!  But it will awhile before we can use it as a shelter.  If you are in the St. Louis area & want to "ride along" to see what Pj does every single day of the year, please follow the link for Gateway Pet Guardians.  We have a "Pet Adventures" rescue tab at the top as well so you can follow along.  And if you are a St. Louis area blogger (or will be in this area visiting, etc...) and want to ride along & blog-please contact us!  Please.  Please come and get the word out about these kids on the street.  East St. Louis is a very underserved area for people & animals.  We are working on trying to help spay/neuter, educate, and rescue these dogs & cats.  We would love fellow bloggers to "ride along"!!

Here's the video of Nigella in the abandoned building.  Pj is the beautiful redhead that feeds the dogs every single morning.  She hasn't missed a morning in over a decade.

And this is video of them from 2010.  Help spread the word!!

And if it's Kale you want to spread the word about, heck, that saves our planet too!

Advertise it!  Check out my Blatant Kale Propaganda post with lots of styles of Kale Tee Shirts!!

These are the Kale and Beet Shirts at Candle Cafe.