What are you cooking or baking today?

Liberty said:
I'll post the recipes if wanted. Happy cooking everyone.
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Please do.

Brownies - hmmm, maybe I should make some Money Back Guaranteed Brownies. The store that called them that never had to do a refund.

Almond cookies have also been in my thoughts. I think I’ll just buy some from the bakery.
 

StarSong said:
So you skip the cream altogether? Interesting. I quite like potato leek soup - also vichyssoise - but gave them up when I mostly stopped using dairy. Do you increase the potatoes to compensate?
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No, I don't add more potatoes. It isn't much cream, only about 1/2 cup, so I just add a little more chicken stock.

@Jules, I found my dairy-free friend! 😉

@StarSong, the other day I mistakenly thought it was Jules who was dairy-free. She said she wasn't dairy-free, and I couldn't remember who said they were. 🤔 It's you! 🙃🙂
 
One of the things I am enjoying so much about retirement is being able to cook more from scratch and trying new things. Nothing puts a damper on a great recipe than knowing the on-call phone could go off at any minute!

My go-to healthy supper recipe lately is chopped onions, red bell pepper and zucchini. I sauté this as a base then add different combinations of other veggies as the inspiration strikes. Sometimes I add cooked potato or carrot chunks. Baked portobello mushrooms also goes well with it. Then I season it and sprinkle feta cheese on top… yum!!
 
Bella said:
@StarSong, the other day I mistakenly thought it was Jules who was dairy-free. She said she wasn't dairy-free, and I couldn't remember who said they were. 🤔 It's you! 🙃🙂
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I'm pretty good at sticking to a WFPB (whole food plant based) diet most of the time, but from late November through early January I stray from completely avoiding cheese, butter and eggs. (I do marathon Christmas cookie bakes and make dozens of pizzas.)

I might have a few bites of fish once or twice a month, but rarely any other kind of meat unless I'm traveling and it's a local specialty, in which case I'll sometimes taste it.

In an effort to not be a pain in the a$$ to hosts, I always find something to eat that fits my preference, or shrug my shoulders and make an exception for that event, but still avoid the meat. After 9 years, I've pretty much got this down pat. My nephew admiringly calls me a practical vegan. (DH is a vegetarian but not dairy free.)

We eat lots of vegetables and whole grains.
 
StarSong said:
I'm pretty good at sticking to a WFPB (whole food plant based) diet most of the time, but from late November through early January I stray from completely avoiding cheese, butter and eggs. (I do marathon Christmas cookie bakes and make dozens of pizzas.)

I might have a few bites of fish once or twice a month, but rarely any other kind of meat unless I'm traveling and it's a local specialty, in which case I'll sometimes taste it.

In an effort to not be a pain in the a$$ to hosts, I always find something to eat that fits my preference, or shrug my shoulders and make an exception for that event, but still avoid the meat. After 9 years, I've pretty much got this down pat. My nephew admiringly calls me a practical vegan. (DH is a vegetarian but not dairy free.)

We eat lots of vegetables and whole grains.
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So, I'm curious, do you use any cheese alternatives, such as Daiya or Kite Hill, or butter alternatives like Miyoko's or Earth Balance?
 
Bella said:
So, I'm curious, do you use any cheese alternatives, such as Daiya or Kite Hill, or butter alternatives like Miyoko's or Earth Balance?
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Rarely. I did in the beginning though. DH and I moved from omnivore to plant based in one fell swoop after watching a couple of movies (Vegucated and Forks Over Knives). We did it for health reasons along with our compassion for animals.

Truth is, most vegan products, butter substitutes included, are barely (if at all) healthier than animal sourced versions.

After doing this for so long, I have zero desire for meat and stay away from added fats. Vegetables, fruits, grains, beans and legumes make excellent meals and snacks. Yes, I have Earth Balance in the fridge, but barely use a tsp of butter every few months, if that. IMHO, a bit of homemade hummus adds better flavor to baked potatoes or vegetables.

DS & DDIL are fairly rigid vegans (compassion for animals), but aren't whole food plant based so they eat a lot of vegan products.
When it comes to vegan mozzarella, I swear I've tried 'em all. Violife is by far the best I've come across. Have to wait to put it on the pizza until it's about two minutes from being done, but Violife has very good stretch and excellent flavor.

Tofutti brand cream cheese and sour cream are good but spendy. Again, I rarely use them, but keep them in the fridge.

For family bbqs we bring Beyond Meat burgers, which we prefer to Impossibles, veggie burgers, or bean based burgers. So I might eat half a dozen Beyond Meat burgers a year. I also use those burgers to make Italian meatballs, which taste great and freeze well. I probably eat only a few walnut sized meatballs every other month, but all three grandkids love them, baby included, so there are always some in the freezer.

Flexibility is my savior because my goal is 90% - 95% of my calories from plants. My life has always been pretty free-form, with lots of stepping over the line along with a a strong "you're not the boss of me" attitude, and my eating style comports with that.

If salad dressing has a bit of cheese or dairy, my knickers don't get in a twist. I use chicken Better than Bouillon because I don't like the flavor of vegetable broth, not even theirs. (That said, this past week I learned BTB has vegetarian No Chicken and No Beef bouillon bases that I'm game to try.)
Things like that.

What about you? Are you vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, or something else? What brought you to it and what's your level of flexibility?
 
Yesterday I made the brownies I’ve been thinking about. They don’t seem quite the same, though it didn’t help that we received an important phone call right at the end while they were baking so they got a little over baked. It also may be that the cocoa is very rich, dark one. Since I no longer have a food processor, it took a little experimenting with my immersion blender. In the end, DH is happy with them.
 
StarSong said:
What about you? Are you vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, or something else? What brought you to it and what's your level of flexibility?
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No, I'm definitely not vegan, I'm something else. I eat pasture-raised meats from local farms, a moderate amount of organic grass-fed dairy and eggs, and organic fresh fruits and vegetables every day. I've been gluten-free for fourteen years because I have to be. No Italian girl would give up semolina unless it was a medical necessity. I eat a moderate amount of gluten-free grains, legumes, and nuts. I prepare my own meals, stocks, and bone broth, and I make my own flour blends for desserts. You'd never guess they were gluten-free. I've got it down to a science.

I agree about cheese and dairy alternatives. Most aren't made from the healthiest ingredients, although some are better than others, but people who can't eat dairy usually miss it and need something to fill the gap and are happy to find a reasonable facsimile. Violife is one of the better ones. For the most part, I avoid polyunsaturated oils, especially soy and canola oils, and use primarily EVOO, organic coconut oil, and occasionally avocado oil.

I'm as flexible as I can be having no choice but to be gluten-free. I don't make a big deal about it and manage it when I'm someone's guest or eating out. I'm happy and satisfied with my style of eating and have a live and let live attitude about how others chose to eat. I'm not the boss of anyone but myself. Occasionally someone will question me about eating gluten-free because they think it's a fad, a passing fancy, or a bandwagon I jumped on yesterday, and I have to set them straight. When anyone gives me flack about what I consume, I pretty much tell them to stuff it. :)

Bella✌️
 
Liberty said:
Making Sour Cream Biscuit Cookies...probably never heard of them, huh!
They are a wonderful vanilla softer cookie made from an old recipe when a milk man had too
much leftover sour cream day after day. His wife made a great recipe using sour cream to help
him sell it.

From then on he sold out and I know why. Just finished eating one with my coffee this morning. Love them microwaved for about 10 seconds.

Also will probably make famous southern biscuits made with the "secret flour" I keep only to
use for these fluffy, delicious biscuits. Nobody makes a good biscuit without the proper flour. January/ February are "biscuit & gravy months"...learned that when we were in the food mfg. biz. Which reminds me, also have a go to recipe for great gravy that has been our staple for years and made in about 5 minutes.

I'll post the recipes if wanted. Happy cooking everyone.
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@Liberty , Yes, I'd like the gravy recipe, please.
 
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It's FRY-day lol! Normally, it would be fish and chips. After going downtown to empty our charitable donations to our favourite shop, we've picked up what was missing for dinner tonight. Eggs and Black Pudding Slices plus Flat Crumpets. Already have here at home, Hash browns, Sausages and Back Bacon and bread for toasts, although we couldn't resist grabbing a Rice Bloomer Bread on special (that'll be used for homemade egg salad sandwiches for Saturday's lunch).

So tonight we're cooking a delicious FRY-up! Unfortunately, couldn't find any Haggis Slices or Fruit Pudding either.

OJ and fresh brewed coffee to wash it all down.
 
Funny you should ask what I'm baking today :) Just the usual stuff that we all do every morning🤣

I baked a few hundred croissants, a dozen white bolillos, a half dozen wheat bolillos, a half dozen telera rolls, some cheese-topped dinner rolls, some sub rolls, eight loaves of Italian bread (three of which were made into garlic bread), three loaves of sweet Italian twin loaves, three loaves of country French bread, a dozen apple Danish pinwheels and a dozen cherry Danish pinwheels, five dozen turnovers (apple, cherry, guava), a few dozen cinnamon rolls (some with pecans, some with no pecans), and a dozen and a half bow-tie pastries. There's more, but I don't remember what.

And tomorrow I'll truck on over to the bakery and do it all over again because while I'm lounging around on my dead center in the comfort of my sitting room the rest of the day, customers will storm the doors and buy all today's efforts and want more.

I ❤️ my job!
 
After all my yakking and angst about that bread I made, it actually came out pretty good. I guess there was just a small pocket of the baking soda that didn't get mixed well enough.

I's delicious toasted.

I may take out some frozen cleaned shrimp to make a shrimp/macaroni/black olive salad tomorrow. Altho' if it's as cold as today is (17F), I think I'll just make a nice, hot, bean and veg soup.
 
Bella said:
No, I'm definitely not vegan, I'm something else. I eat pasture-raised meats from local farms, a moderate amount of organic grass-fed dairy and eggs, and organic fresh fruits and vegetables every day. I've been gluten-free for fourteen years because I have to be. No Italian girl would give up semolina unless it was a medical necessity. I eat a moderate amount of gluten-free grains, legumes, and nuts. I prepare my own meals, stocks, and bone broth, and I make my own flour blends for desserts. You'd never guess they were gluten-free. I've got it down to a science.

I agree about cheese and dairy alternatives. Most aren't made from the healthiest ingredients, although some are better than others, but people who can't eat dairy usually miss it and need something to fill the gap and are happy to find a reasonable facsimile. Violife is one of the better ones. For the most part, I avoid polyunsaturated oils, especially soy and canola oils, and use primarily EVOO, organic coconut oil, and occasionally avocado oil.

I'm as flexible as I can be having no choice but to be gluten-free. I don't make a big deal about it and manage it when I'm someone's guest or eating out. I'm happy and satisfied with my style of eating and have a live and let live attitude about how others chose to eat. I'm not the boss of anyone but myself. Occasionally someone will question me about eating gluten-free because they think it's a fad, a passing fancy, or a bandwagon I jumped on yesterday, and I have to set them straight. When anyone gives me flack about what I consume, I pretty much tell them to stuff it. :)

Bella✌️
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My vegan DIL's stomach does better when avoiding gluten but has some tolerance for it. Even so, if making pizzas when she's going to be here, I make a couple of GF pies for them with Violife mozzarella - some to eat here, some to take home. She's an absolute sweetheart who has some serious food allergies including cumin and cilantro.

When making foods that contain anything she's sensitive to, we make two versions and label plainly (NO CUMIN or CONTAINS CUMIN) so she can distinguish them.

I've not developed many GF skills. Can you recommend a cookbook or blog?
 
After DH gets up I'll start the soups I'd hoped to make yesterday but the day got away from me. DH requested my enchilada lentil soup, and I'm craving some of my everything-but-the-chicken chicken soup. I bought some leeks a couple of days ago and will make my first ever attempt at dairy-free potato leek soup tomorrow.
 

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