Cookies and Pasta

Since today is Christmas, I thought it only fitting to make some sugar cookies. I veganized a recipe from my mom's old Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and ended up with the following very unhealthy, but delicious, recipe:

Sugar Cookies
2/3 cup vegetable shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1 t vanilla
2 T water
1 tsp orange juice (you can really use whatever kind of liquid you want in place of water and OJ, the original recipe had milk and eggs, but I didn't have any soymilk or applesauce for substitutes)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
sprinkles, small candies, or icing for topping (optional)


Cream the shortening, sugar and vanilla. Add the water and orange juice and beat until combined. There may still be a little liquid that doesn't get absorbed, but this is fine. In a separate bowl, sift together the rest of the ingredients. Blend into the creamed mixture. Divide dough in half and refrigerate for at least an hour. The longer you chill the dough the easier it will be to work with.

On a lightly floured surface roll half the dough to about 1/4" thickness. Leave the other half of the dough in the refrigerator to stay cool. Cut rolled dough into desired shapes with cookie cutters. If you are using sprinkles or other toppings put them on top of the cookies now. Bake at 375°F for 7-10 minutes. Remove cookies from trays to cool. Repeat with the other half of the dough. If you are icing the cookies make sure they are completely cool before icing them.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

I'm always taking shortcuts with recipes so my cookies only chilled for about twenty minutes. The dough ended up a little sticky but it was still manageable. I couldn't find any fun cookie cutters so I cut the cookies out with the top of a glass. I didn't feel like rolling out the second half of the dough because it was really sticky so I just shaped the cookies in my hands and they came out fine. The longer these bake the crunchier they will be. I like soft cookies so I only left them in for 7 minutes.

the beauty of a plain sugar cookie (excuse the bad lighting in my kitchen):

Since I ate an embarrassing number of cookies today, I opted to go for a slightly healthier but just as easy dinner.

Pasta with organic kale (which we froze over the summer), bell peppers, diced Chinese eggplant, garlic, frozen peas, and crushed tomatoes. I threw the topping together in a frying pan while the pasta cooked and I was ready to eat in ten minutes.

Pasta salad, French bread

Today was a salad day for sure. I cooked up some ziti, then drained it, and mixed it with diced bell pepper and carrots. Seasoned with basil, garlic powder, onion powder, nutritional yeast, pepper, and a little salt. I also have some organic mixed greens with sprouts and fruit, as usual.


The credit for this bread does not go to me, but to my mom. You can take my word, however, that it is delicious.

From the cookbook Bread Machine Magic:

Authentic French Bread
Makes one 1 1/2 lb loaf (measurements to make a 1 lb loaf in parentheses)

1 (3/4) cup water
1 1/2 (1) tsp salt
3 (2) cups bread flour
2 1/2 (2 1/2) tsp yeast
cornmeal

Add all ingredients except the cornmeal to the bread machine in order. Select dough setting and start machine. When the dough is done rising in the machine, turn it out onto a floured surface.

For a 1 1/2 lb loaf, shape the dough into either one 12-inch oblong loaf, 1 large round loaf, 2 thin 18-inch thin baguettes, or 8 rolls

For a 1 lb loaf, shape the dough into either one 10-inch oblong loaf, one large loaf, one thing 24-inch baguette, or 6 rolls.

Dust the top(s) with a little flour and rub it in. Place on a cookie sheet dusted with cornmeal. With a sharp knife or razor, slash the tops about 1/2 inch deep down the center. On an oblong loaf make 3 slashes, on a round loaf make an "X" or "#". Cover and allow to rise in a warm place for until doubled (around 30-45 minutes).

Place a pan of hot water in the bottom of the oven (this will make the bread have a crispier crust). Preheat the oven to 450°F. Bake the round or oblong loaf about 20 minutes, the baguettes about 15 minutes, and the rolls 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and serve warm or cool on a rack.

This bread does go stale quickly so it's best made within a few hours of eating.



If you don't have a bread machine I imagine you could add the warm water into a bowl and then proof the yeast for about 5 minutes. Then add the salt and flour and knead for 10 minutes. Allow to rise until doubled and then follow the above directions.

I've never tried this without a bread machine, but I'm relatively certain that it would work

Pasta, stir fry

A backlogged lunch; because there really is no better time to update a blog than at 7:30 on the night before a paper you haven't started is due.

This was a failed attempt to imitate the veganlunchbox blog's lo mein lunch. I cooked some spaghetti and then tossed it around in a frying pan with some soy sauce and vinegar. I also stir fried some veggies and tofu. The pasta just ended up really dry and a little salty, not like lo mein, but still not bad. The stir fry was also pretty good. Also pictured are peanuts, blood oranges, plum, sugar snap peas, grapes, and carrots.

Happy Monday!

Pasta, cereal

I've been a quite the delinquent blogger and blog reader the last few weeks so I just noticed that one of my favorite blogs, the vegan lunchcast, is back up and running after extended downtime! Check it out for some lunches that are way more interesting and varied than mine will ever be.

And back to the same old...

Ziti, bell pepper, walnuts and pistachios from Friday.
On Thursday I took a cute little box of soymilk and a container of Cheerios. Come lunch I had non-soggy cereal with soymilk. I'm not a huge fan of the taste of EdenSoy soymilk, but it's the only brand we can get in individual boxes. I don't like drinking soymilk a whole lot so it's really convinient to be able to get the individual boxes which have a long shelf life since I often can't finish the regular carton before it expires.

Spaghetti

I like leftovers, but there never seem to be any in my house. That's probably my fault. You'd never guess it by looking at me, but I, the tiny, barely 5' 2" girl can eat more at one sitting than most people can at two or three. Today, however, I did have leftovers that made it to my lunch.


Featured above, spaghetti with steamed broccoli, a little bit of olive oil to prevent sticking, and some red pepper flakes. Some pistachio nuts and pita chips on the side in addition to cantaloupe, carrots, and an orange.

(i just realized that I've had carrots in every single lunch that I've packed this year. What can I say, I'm a creature of habit!)