Fast Food Breakfast: To-Go Muffins for the Freezer

I know you have those mornings, too... the ones where you're just way too busy to sit down for a good meal. The temptation may be to grab a donut on the way, or to not eat at all (!!?). With me working nights and passing my guys like two (5?) ships in the night one morning a week as they head off to school with Daddy... There was at least one morning a week that they were rushing off without a substantial meal in their tummies. So I whipped up a new creation - and they are good! These muffins are a bit dense, but moist and wonderful! Simply pop them out of the freezer and microwave them wrapped in a paper towel for 30-60 seconds. Wow! So easy and filling and fast!

ENJOY!

To-Go Muffins

1 cup Flaxseed
1 ½ cups water
9 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups old-fashioned oats
4 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoons coriander powder
1 ½ cups shredded coconut
1 ½ cups pecans
1 ½ cups raisins
7 cups water
1 cup vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Boil flax seed and water in a large glass dish until thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Watch this carefully, as it loves to boil over. If it begins to, stir and return to heat repeatedly if necessary. Set aside.

3. Mix dry ingredients together thoroughly.

4. Mix flaxseed mixture, water and oil into the dry mixture. Don't over work.

5. Scoop about 2/3 - 1 cup of batter into greased muffin tins and bake until golden brown on top, 25-30 minutes.

6. This is a huge recipe, intended to make about 30 large muffins. Cool them completely (the ones that make it that long!) and wrap in individual plastic wrap, wax paper, or ziplock baggies. Then store in the freezer in an airtight container. They will stay fresh for weeks or more!

Creamy Italian "Sausage" Noodles

This dish is a "Mike" creation. I love it when he gets creative in the kitchen. He can be complex sometimes (surprisingly, in the kitchen), but it is so worth it!

Creamy Italian "Sausage" Noodles

1 cup water
⅓ cup cashews
½ cup unbleached flour
1 cup mozzarella cheese, Daiya is still my favorite - dairy and soy free
⅛ teaspoon butter flavoring
½ teaspoon teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon sugar
4-5 cups water

1 12 oz box whole-wheat rotini noodles noodles 
water, for boiling

1 tablespoon oil
2 cups broccoli florets
4 patties MorningStar Farms sausage patties, crumbled
1 large onion, Chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
⅛ teaspoon minced ginger, shredded
1 can green ripe olives, Diced fine

1 cup cilantro, chopped, added at the time of serving, and as garnish


1. Blend cashews with the first one cup of water until very smooth. (You may have to add a little more for your blender to handle it.) Blend all the first set of ingredients until very smooth, and set aside.

2. Boil noodles according to directions on the box, strain, saving about a cup of the water.

3. Sauté onions, garlic, and ginger in the oil and noodle water until slightly soft, 2-3 minutes. Add broccoli and cook briefly, stirring, about 3 more minutes.

4. Combine all and heat through.

Happy Thanksgiving!! No Turkeys were harmed in the creation of this blog...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! I decided to get started a bit early to give you time to shop, prepare and enjoy this tofu bird. :-) I'm so excited about this. Don't be daunted... It's NOT difficult at all to make. Just read the instructions. It's rather fun, and so worth it...

**No Turkeys were harmed in the creation of this blog...**  I'm not a tree hugger, but am a vegetarian for health reasons, but those who know me know I'm a bird person, and I do think they're kinda' too cute to eat.


One Big Bird

1 ½ cups vital gluten flour
2 tablespoons chicken-style seasoning
1 "egg-worth" Egg Replacer
⅔ cup water
 -----
½ cup chicken-style seasoning
4 eggs-worth Egg Replacer
2 cups water
14 ounces tofu, water packed
4 cups vital gluten flour
 -----
10 cups water
½ cup oil
2 tablespoons chicken-style seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
 -----
Onions, celery, carrots, your preference

NOTE: This "turkey" is SAFE. You don't have to worry about raising it to a certain temperature or special sanitary measures. If you are reasonably clean through the process, it's not "picky" like cooking the real bird.

1. Place the last oil, water, chicken-style seasoning and salt in a 6 quart crockpot and turn on high.

2. In a food processor, blend first gluten, chicken-style seasoning, and "egg" and water. Do this very quickly! If you do it by hand, "quick" is even more essential. Set aside.

3. In a blender, blend second chicken-style seasoning, "egg," and tofu until smooth, about a minute or two. In the food processor, mix this liquid with the gluten flour very quickly.

4. Chop or tear the first, thicker mixture into little pieces and drop into wetter gluten mixture. Mix thoroughly.

5. Set a (high-quality, from a cheese store or a kitchen supply store) cheese cloth, opened flat in a colander and spray well with oil cooking spray.

6. Press 2/3 of the gluten mixture into this, pulling the sides up and around and creating a "well." The picture here has stuffing in a bag (DO NOT USE THE BAG), and the mixture isn't quite as runny, but you get the idea… Spoon in 3-4 cups of your favorite stuffing/dressing (moistened according to the recipe or package instructions). Think "pie crust" and press remaining gluten into a disc-like "lid" and press over the "turkey," sealing as well as possible by pinching edges together.

7. Twist and tie bag closed, using strong bread ties if necessary.

8. Place this bagged "turkey" in the broth in the crockpot and turn to "low" setting. Cook on this setting overnight or 8+ hours.

9. Remove "turkey" from broth, placing in a large casserole dish. Chop an onion, a couple stalks of celery and sticks of carrots or your favorite veggies and put around the turkey in the extra space in the casserole dish and then gently pour original broth over all.

10. Bake "turkey" on top rack at 350 for 20 minutes, remove and cover with broth (basting bottle/syringe) and/or spray with oil cooking spray. Return to oven and continue baking. Pull out and re-cover/spray every ten minutes until it reaches a golden brown look, about one hour.

11. "Carve" and enjoy!!

Buttermilk Biscuits and Fantastic Gravy

Nothing says good Southern breakfast like biscuits and gravy, but the more traditional recipes are nutritionally void and don't hold me 'til lunch like I'd like. So here's a better, more nutritious option. The biscuits freeze pretty well, too!

Sorry it's been awhile - I'm working full time now, in addition to full time nursing school, so I share when I can! :-) Thanks for your patience. This is a double recipe to make up for lost time.


"Buttermilk" Biscuits

3 cups white whole wheat flour
2 cups unbleached flour
2 teaspoons salt
5 teaspoons baking powder
½ cup plain yogurt, soy or whatever kind you like
½ cup oil
1 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 425.

2. Mix dry ingredients thoroughly. Add in wet ingredients and mix well.

3. Roll out on floured surface and cut into 2 inch (+/-) rounds.

4. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Brush with a bit of oil and return to oven for another 2-3 minutes until golden brown on top.

Fantastic Gravy

1 cup raw cashews
1 cup unbleached flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons butter, I used my home-made
8 cups water
⅓ cup baco bits

Baco Bits are found with the salad toppers or spices near the Real Bacon Bits at your favorite grocery store, but they are MUCH cheaper by the pound at a health food store. Yum!

1. In a blender, blend cashews, flour, "butter," and salt in a cup or two of water until it is very smooth. Add another cup or two of the water and blend more, until very smooth. Pour this into a 4 quart pot.

2. Add remaining water to blender and blend again. This gets most of the "good stuff" out. Pour into pot.

3. Add Baco Bits and mix all. Stir frequently to prevent lumping until mixture thickens.

Sisters' Day and French Toast

In honor of the first Sunday of August, National Sisters' Day, (What, you didn't know, either??), I present to you "French Toast" - sort of. :-)  By the way, I know it's not August, but I've got sisters on the brain, and you should be used to unconventional by now.

I can cook, I really can, but I come by it honestly. I come from a long line of tasty-down-home-cookin' kind of ladies (and a few guys, too). My beautiful sisters are no exception. My little sister despised all things domestic and loved all things social, until her husband's career made entertaining a vital part of their lives. Then she surprised us all and became somewhat of a domestic diva... that girl can cook and entertain and love people!!

My older sister, on the other hand, was always good in the kitchen. I think she was whipping up Betty Crocker's best before I could read (and she's only 3 years older than me, and honest, I really am literate!). I don't really know where she got this recipe (so thanks, if *you* invented it!), but it's a family favorite. It takes a bit more time than most of my recipes, so it's a treat, but try it, you'll like it! It's reminiscent of French Toast, but quite different, in a good, banana-y way.

It serves up well with a little maple syrup, yogurt and scrambled tofu or eggs (mine has Morning Star Farms "Sausages" crumbled in).

BLESSINGS


French Toast

¾ cup water
2 dates, pitted
½ cup cashews, raw
3 small bananas
6 slices whole grain bread

This is nicer if you cut the bread into strips and evenly coat these. You may have to make more of the mixture.

1. Blend water, dates and cashews until very smooth. Add three bananas, blend, and pour onto a plate.

2. Dip slices of bread into this on each side.

3. Grease pan, broil until golden. Flip and repeat.