Post Punk Kitchen Forum

the lasagna...
oh.. (sigh). so not good.

sugar cookies good, the poppers are good (didn't really brown properly).

Tried the Minestrone soup last night. It was great!

Of course I made a couple of changes...crushed tomatoes instead of diced, and used all kidney beans instead of any chickpeas, elbow pasta instead of shells. And halved the whole recipe.

Will be making this again for sure! It was very filling. The herbs/spices were just right. I will still use crushed tomatoes instead of diced, since my partner is a tomato-hater, and will use more stock to thin it out. Oh and the spinach was completely unnecessary, and not very authentic to minestrone (in my opinion) so will leave out next time.

I am really loving this book.

Me too.
other than the Lasagna which was a flop - everything is nommy yummy and filling.

This week I made:

Buttermilk Biscuits. (really yummy!)
Eggs (for the biscuits)... this took a while, and I'm not sure if i LIKE. we'll see.
Sweet Sausage (But i made them patty form) -these were... eh.
Meatballs (for meatball soup). REALLY good. I think I'll make these often and make them into like "burger" meat. It took me a bit when they were being formed because it looked a LOT like raw meat. (freaky!).

and okay. I cheated. I made Tami/Celine's no-clucks for the chicken fried steak.
(But I am going to make some mashed potatoes, and the garlic/spinach to go with it).

I am nearly done cooking from this book. I decided that I am not really going to do EVERYTHING (there are more books I wanna do) but this one really is a keeper. I never really had a true fail (other than the Lasagna) and everything else comes out really good-ish. Some is due because I can't find things (ie: vegan whipping cream).

Hello! I'm pretty easy to find, or at least I thought I was! :) I used to be on the PPK a lot more but mommyhood, work, interning, working on two degrees, writing and life have kept me away (although I do have spurts of posting in the playground) so you can always PM me here or I'm on facebook, twitter, email and available through either of my blogs and all my contact info is there. Oh, and the website. Hope that helps. Happy Cooking!

I've made a couple of things out of the book now. My thoughts?

White lasagna: It was ok, but I didn't care for the peas in it, I only used half the vegan cheese called for since I don't like Daiya that much, and the sauce wasn't quite "right". I chalk that up to using plain almond milk which is a tad sweeter than soy milk IMO. I ended up eating it with crushed red pepper to mask the sweetness. I probably won't make it again since I prefer regular old red sauce lasagna made with Isa's cashew ricotta.

French Toast with berry compote: absolutely delicious! I will be making this again and using the leftover orange juice for mimosas!

Baked risotto: I love risotto so I'm really picky about it, however I was thrilled with just how well this turned out considering there is no stirring. I will make this again as well.

Risotto balls: I like these too and was glad to have another option for how to use up the leftover risotto. They'd be great alongside a salad.

Alicia :) I found you :) We had a lovely conversation :)

Rohai - I made it with the soy milk, and I too, found it 'off". I don't mind what it is. Maybe I'm a red sauce girl too.

I am really looking forward to hitting the stretch mark with this project. I think i tackled a majority of the recipes and they were all easyish as pie.

I was visiting some omni friends this weekend, and made the Cornmeal blueberry pancakes (again) and they were a HUGE hit. My brother is a doctor and had to go into work, so I froze some for him and he re-heated in the oven when he was finally done with his 039570349 hour shift.

I made the Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream last night. ZOMG. So good. I challenge ANYONE who says that there is no such thing as 'good' vegan ice cream to try this. It was amazing.

I only had light vanilla soymilk, so I used that, so i used less sugar (I don't like super sweet ice cream). Also, frozen strawberries hurt my partners teeth, so we blended most and only added a few in at the end. By using less sugar, and light soymilk, it was way less calories too!

Thanks GuineaPig/Alicia. Love the book. Picky from the south, omni fiancé loves most everything we have made so far. Nice to find a book that is vegan AND comfort food AND fast AND low calorie. It fits both of our needs. I still have a bunch to try out.

Just made the old fashioned chili beans. It was a good basic chili recipe that can be enjoyed as is or used for enchilada filling, burritos, etc. Its not the most complex chili recipe but it delivers for what it is, a low cal, super fast, super easy chili. I will make this one again and it's ideal for the nights my hubby is cooking.

I made the moon dusted donuts last night and they are yummy! I ended up making about double the amount since I cut them pretty small. They are definitely the best baked donuts I've made since they are yeasted and so don't come out just like donut-shaped cupcakes (like ever other recipe I've tried). They are especially nice with a bit of jam or chocolate spread :)

I had the taco salad last night. It was really really good. That dressing was yum.

The dressing called for half a cup of chopped cilantro, and to just stir the ingredients together. I though that would be a lot of chopped cilantro, and since I have a cilantro-hater in the house, I blended it instead with a little extra yogurt and some water. It was YUM. (needed a bit more salt though, next time)

Easy, good salad. Will be on the bi-weekly rotation for sure. I might add some tempeh or something next time too, if I want to make it more of an entree salad.

Last night we had the gyros. Ok, well last night we had gyros, but used the tzatziki from the gyro recipe in the book (I made my own seitan, not her version)

The tzatziki was really good! the most authentic tasting tzatziki I have had/made since going vegan. Usually I use the cashew/cucumber dip from Vcon - which is amazing, but not really tzatziki.

I did use a blender for everything except half the cucumber. I noticed in this book most of her dressings are just stirred together, but I like blended dressings and sauces. Easy enough to change to my liking. I also used UNSWEETENED plain yogurt, and a ton of fresh dill instead of dried. I was a bit freaked out at first because it did not taste great, to tart, not enough flavor. Let it sit in the fridge for a couple of hours and it was great. Even tzatziki hating partner liked it

I decided to grab this book back off the shelf. This weeks suppers/sides will be:

Butternut bisque
Buttermilk biscuits
Broccoli casserole
One pot jambalaya
Indian chickpeas
White bean cassoulet
Chickpea cheese

I'll report back with my reviews.

you'll love the biscuits w/the chickpea cheese :)

The broccoli casserole is really good. I've had sauces with boiled veggies before, but never with cashews in them. It's really good, I could just eat it with a spoon.

The one pot jambalaya was good. I couldn't find gumbo file so I made it without that. It was a quick weeknight meal I would make again, but I wouldn't make it for company. I'm sure the gumbo file would have added something so there is that...

It was a nice sized portion for the calories.

I made the gumbo again last week. Man is that GOOD! You can definitly cut down the margarine by a few tablespoons, and it won't make a difference in taste (that I could see anyway). I also added more water to get just a few more servings out of it. It was fantastic.

I made the Indian spiced chickpeas tonight. It was delicious!

It has the right amount of heat and was super easy to put together after a long day at work.

The banana nut waffles were very good and I would make them again. They aren't as good as Isa's waffle recipes, but these save you about 40 calories per waffle so when I'm craving waffles and want my calories lower for the day I'll go for this recipe.

The white bean cassoulet was a filling and tasty lunch, but the chickpea cheese is friggin amazing! I can't keep the hubby away from it he loves it so much too! A lot more depth of flavor than a regular hummus.

Fettucini slim-fredo was amazing! It was super quick and that sauce is the alfredo sauce I have been looking for to make my bacon alfredo pizza.

Thank you Alicia! That one was super good.

I keep meaning to make this!!

I freaking love that alfredo sauce. I can't remember if I mentioned it in this thread before, but I made it several times during testing and have more than once made it 3-4 nights in a row. Try adding soy curls reconstituted in chicken-style broth - it's AMAZING.

I made the Caesar dressing last night. I made it during testing and had the same reaction - tasty, but not Caesar. But I didn't use it all last night and had some tonight. It still wasn't exactly like Caesar, but it was much, much closer. So, if you plan on making Caesar dressing, make it at least a day in advance.

My omni hubby has requested the seitan cheesesteaks as his Superbowl dinner with the leftover cheese sauce combined with field roast chorizo for nachos.

I'd call that a winner.

I made the Chickpea Cacciatore earlier this week. It was really good! the flavor profile was just like traditional cacciatore, which I used to make with chicken all the time back in pre veg days.

I wanted to serve it over soft polenta, but I was lazy and just did white rice. Served with some really garlicy braised green chard.

had the leftovers today, and was very tasty, but needs a green with it. But I always like greens with my red sauced stuff.

This book is such a win. I need to make those awesome ginger brussel sprouts again.