Buffalo Wings and Sauteed Kale

Wow, these are really, really good. Chris and I love these. This includes a few different recipes. Here is the recipe for the Buffalo Wings themselves. Here is the recipe for the Tofu Chicken and a bonus recipe for vegan chicken nuggets. Here is the recipe for the Ranch or Blue Cheese Dressing. I am going to use bottled blue cheese dressing. I have, however made the bleu cheez dressing with the jarred  fermented tofu from the Asian Grocer and it is really frickin' awesome. If you don't have an Asian Grocer near you and you want to make the vegan bleu cheez dressing and you don't have miso as called for in Deb's recipe, try this this recipe. Remember that you need to freeze the tofu the night before to make it more "meat-like". I usually use firm tofu for this. I use egg and milk in this recipe instead of the Ener-g and soy milk. I usually cut my tofu into 8 vertical slabs, cut your tofu in half, then stack and cut into 4 vertical sticks. I have never tried this with seitan, but that will be my next endeavor. To make your own "Chick'n Broth Powder" use this recipe, I use this instead of buying the pre-made stuff and Nutritional Yeast is pretty cheap.

This is not my photo ^  http://www.sptsb.com/max.htm owns this photo. This is what you are looking for if you want to make your own bleu cheez dressing.

I made sauteed kale with red kale from my garden, which weirdly enough came up with dormant seeds. This is the recipe I used and it was very delicious although cleaning the greens was labor intensive. I skipped the onion in this recipe because I am out.

Crispy Orange Tofu, Broccoli Stir Fry and Iced Chai Tea

Chris said that he would like some Orange Tofu and I thought that we would need a side dish so I decided on some stir fried broccoli because we usually have broccoli on hand. I decided on this recipe because I liked the finished product photo and the recipe looks simple. I also liked that it is baked. Amazingly enough I have never tried Orange Tofu so this will be a new taste experience for me O.o........ It was delicious! Try this recipe! Just the right amount of heat. The only thing I recommend is to use a tbsp. of cornstarch mixed with a bit of water added to the sauce to thicken it instead of the flour called for.

 The broccoli recipe that I decided on was actually a broccoli and tofu stir fry and I am just nixing the tofu. Here is the recipe that I used....If you like thick sauce, I would use 2 tbsp. of cornstarch instead of the 1 tbsp. called for in the sauce recipe.

I also decided to make some Chilled/Iced Chai Tea today and I used this recipe....I added some bottled vanilla to mine and I used 4 cups skim milk and 6 tea bags and added about 1-2 tsp. of vanilla to the cooled tea mixture....I usually use Celestial Seasonings Chai Tea or Bengal Spice but Kroger did not have them so I used Stash. It sure smells good. I even went to the store and I came back and my entire house smelled like Chai Tea. Feel free to use whatever milk floats your boat, soy, rice, almond, etc. I love soy and almond and I am sure it would be fabulous with any of the listed milks. Chris and I loved this!!!!! Very spicy!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies (Vegan)

Decided to make up a batch of cookies, just because. I was craving some chocolate chip cookies but decided to make some chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, it called for less fat (the chocolate chip recipe that I use calls for 1 cup butter/margarine and this recipe uses 1/2 cup) and somehow eating an oatmeal cookie seems healthier LOL ;) I made my cookies with this recipe, however I used vegetable shortening instead of the margarine/butter and in place of the egg 1 tbsp. ground flax seed mixed with 3 tbsp. water. These are so delicious, soft, cinnamon-y and chocolate-y. I love making cookies because they are so easy to make and were perfect on a wintry night. Chris and I loved these and it made about 18 cookies total, it says it makes 2 dozen but I tend to make larger cookies. The website has a lot of the "in a jar" recipes that would be perfect for gift giving and they are easily veganized. I used walnuts, what I happened to have on hand. I love pecans but I just used the last of them up in the whole wheat pancakes Chris and I had for breakfast. Feel free to use your favorite nuts in this recipe if you make it, and I always use vegetable shortening in cookies because it tends to have the best baked result, again use butter or margarine if that is what you prefer.

Maple Wheat Rolls

Made these for the family, we are having a get together tomorrow evening, here is the recipe, but I make mine with 1/4 maple syrup and I used olive oil instead of canola and I cook them at 350 degrees F. Don't put them in a small pan, roll up and place on a greased cookie sheet or pizza pan with plenty of room to rise. They are not completely whole wheat, but they are the softest, best bread I have ever tasted and I always make these for special occasions.

Maple Wheat Rolls

1 1/2 cups warm water
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 pkg. dry yeast
1/4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups white flour
Oil for brushing
• Combine the water and maple syrup in a large bowl. Add the yeast and stir to dissolve. Cover with a towel and let sit until bubbly.
• Add the canola oil, whole wheat flour, and salt, mixing well. Knead on a well-floured surface and gradually incorporate the white flour. The dough will be slightly sticky.
• Cover with a bowl until doubled in size, about 30 to 60 minutes. Roll into 12 to 16 biscuits. Place on an oiled pan and brush the tops with oil. Let rise.
• Bake at 400°F for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.