What Did You Cook or Bake today?

Moussaka w/baked breaded eggplants slices, leftover tomato mushroom sauce, red and green peppers diced, diced leftover tomato, sliced raw potatoes, cooked quartered mushrooms, more tomato mushroom sauce, topped with a soy béchamel sauce, baking right now.
 
Moussaka w/baked breaded eggplants slices, leftover tomato mushroom sauce, red and green peppers diced, diced leftover tomato, sliced raw potatoes, cooked quartered mushrooms, more tomato mushroom sauce, topped with a soy béchamel sauce, baking right now.
I've never made baked breaded eggplant slices right. Any tips? Or maybe I expect too much. Mine didn't want to soften no matter how long they baked.
I want some kind of garlicky pasta dish. I have green beans cooked, and mushrooms and some raw cashews :shrug:
 
  • Like
Reactions: feather
Hi @silva I baked the breaded eggplant about 40 minutes at 350 deg F but it wasn't completely soft. Once baked in the mushroom broth and tomato mushroom sauce, it was perfectly done. BUT, they lose their crunch of crispy crumbs that way. They must need a moist heat.
 
  • Like
Reactions: silva
Hi @silva I baked the breaded eggplant about 40 minutes at 350 deg F but it wasn't completely soft. Once baked in the mushroom broth and tomato mushroom sauce, it was perfectly done. BUT, they lose their crunch of crispy crumbs that way. They must need a moist heat.
Thanks--that was my problem! Same with baked falafel
 
  • Like
Reactions: feather
I sugared sliced strawberries yesterday and today made Bisquick biscuits to have with the vegan Truwhip topping. The berries didnt' get very juicy! The berries themselves were fine--do you need more sugar? When my grandma made these they always had lots of juice

I tried Pure Farmland maple breakfast links, and made a gravy to go with them and the above biscuits. I had their meatless balls which were great, these links thought were too sweet. The gravy was wonderful! I mashed up 3 links and used the grease, flour, oatmilk, sage and dried onion

Made pesto with basil, garlic scapes, and sunflower seeds. Very very thick. I mixed some with soy yogurt as a dressing for a pasta salad. I added cooked kale--hope that wasn't a mistake, as it's going for tomorrows lunch!
 
I sugared sliced strawberries yesterday and today made Bisquick biscuits to have with the vegan Truwhip topping. The berries didnt' get very juicy! The berries themselves were fine--do you need more sugar? When my grandma made these they always had lots of juice
more sugar! 😁

I find when I only use a little bit, when trying to be good, there is less juice.
 
  • Informative
Reactions: EllieW
Neither cooked nor baked....
I have a big bag of agar, because I had expectations of it being like Jello! (it's not, it's more like plastic)
I've used it for cashew creme chese cakes, which are delicious, but as just a jelling agent it's really gross
Most of the recipes use coconut cream, which I'm not fond of, but I figured it would just need something creamy and fatty so I messed around and made a good dessert

Simmered 1.5 teasp of agar in 1/2 cup water. blended a can of mango in light syrup, added some sugar, some lemon juice, a big glob of Truwhip vegan whipped topping (from Aldi). While the stuff was blending I slowly added the agar mixture. Poured into silicone molds
I added more whipped topping and sugar to the second mold and it was even better :lick:
These were a texture between a jello and a mousse. Sliceable, but soft

I'll make again with other fruits, next time leaving some bits
This would be perfect for an old strawberry pretzel dessert I used to make. Pretzel crust, then the mouse with strawberries and cream
 
My husband was at a walmart to get tires and he saw an unadvertised special, bing cherries for 99 cents/lb. So we debated last night about making a cherry jam/puree, canning it, which we'd use like most fruit we cook down, for toppings or spread on toast, or to sweeten a dish. Cherries are one of our favorites. He picked up 20 lbs. Today we spent a couple hours pitting 10 lbs, and they are in the roaster cooking now. By the end of the day, they will be cooked and we'll taste it for sweetness. If it is sweet enough, then we won't add a sweetener and we'll can it in 8 oz jars (but we only have a few left, so 12 oz jars). YUM cherry jam (or almost jam). We'll do this again, tomorrow for the other 10lbs.
 
My husband was at a walmart to get tires and he saw an unadvertised special, bing cherries for 99 cents/lb. So we debated last night about making a cherry jam/puree, canning it, which we'd use like most fruit we cook down, for toppings or spread on toast, or to sweeten a dish. Cherries are one of our favorites. He picked up 20 lbs. Today we spent a couple hours pitting 10 lbs, and they are in the roaster cooking now. By the end of the day, they will be cooked and we'll taste it for sweetness. If it is sweet enough, then we won't add a sweetener and we'll can it in 8 oz jars (but we only have a few left, so 12 oz jars). YUM cherry jam (or almost jam). We'll do this again, tomorrow for the other 10lbs.
Wow…very ambitious of you! I love cherries but I don’t think I’ve ever seen them for less than 3.99/lb. I usually treat myself twice during the summer.
 
Wow…very ambitious of you! I love cherries but I don’t think I’ve ever seen them for less than 3.99/lb. I usually treat myself twice during the summer.
Thank KL, we do this with fruit whenever we find a good price. They are never at this price so we are stocking up. We also do grapes, peaches, nectarines, and plums the same way. We make apple butter and pear butter if we have a good harvest of them from our trees.
 
Wow…very ambitious of you! I love cherries but I don’t think I’ve ever seen them for less than 3.99/lb. I usually treat myself twice during the summer.
We've had sales as low as $1.99, and they have been good. I do hate that they package them up in those ziploc bags. I don't like to buy that many! I poured some into a regular plastic bag
Cherries are on the dirty dozen list of things to get organic. Organic cherries are like $15! A pound isn't that much either
 
  • Like
Reactions: PTree15 and Emma JC
I made a chocolate silk pie, with Aldi dark Belgium chunks, silken tofu, and a chocolate sandwich cookie crumb crust.
I hadn't made this since first turning vegan! I'd forgotten just how decadent this is--delicious and rich
 
I have two banana breads in the oven! One has walnuts and cranberries. The other has chocolate chips. I used two different recipes but they are similar. Pics to follow if they are post worthy. 🤞🏼
Oh…aaaaannnnnddddd…I cut the sugar/oil in half! I’m so proud! I figure worst case scenario, if they are inedible, I can sprinkle with powdered sugar or make a glaze lol.
 
They are absolutely delicious as is. The cranberry walnut is less sweet than the chocolate chip one, naturally, but the flavor is so good I don’t have to add any powdered sugar or icing. I think I can even use less sugar next time in the chocolate chip one! It’s a miracle!
 
Now I can’t wait until my next bunch of bananas gets over ripe haha.

Can you defrost frozen bananas, that you were going to use for smoothies, and use them to bake banana bread or will they be too mushy/water logged?
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Emma JC
Now I can wait until my next bunch of bananas gets over ripe haha.

Can you defrost frozen bananas, that you were going to use for smoothies, and use them to bake banana bread or will they be too mushy/water logged?

I think you can use unfrozen ones... let us know if you try it - if you replace the rest of the oil with apple sauce they will be a tad sweeter and you won't miss the oil!

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com
 
  • Like
Reactions: KLS52