Confusion Casserole

Years ago, during my vegetarian days, we had a Thanksgiving potluck at the townhouse I lived in during my 2.5 yr stint at Sheridan College. I brought this cheesy potato casserole from home that my mother made once before and I loved.

I have since tried to find that recipe and been unsuccessful each time. My mom maintains it doesn't exist but I know it lies somewhere buried.

So, this is my first attempt at recreating it. I named it Confusion Casserole as I've never made a casserole before let alone tried to veganize one. You know it's a rough draft when your measurements are in handfuls. Serves 3-4

VEGGIES
• 3 med. potatoes cut in chunks
• 2 handfuls of chunked cauliflower
• 1 handful of 1/2 inch squares of onion
• 1 med tomato cut into cubes

SAUCE
• 1/4 c. soymilk
• 1/4 c. vegetable broth
• 1/2 c. nutritional yeast
• 2 tbsp. soy parm
• 1/2 tbsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 squirt of braggs seasoning (can be substituted with 1 tsp. soy sauce)

TOPPINGS
• 1/2 c. shredded vegan cheese (cheddar or mozza - your choice!)
• 3/4 c. vegan cornflake type cereal
• 2 tbsp. melted earth balance



º Preheat oven to 350.

º Boil potatoes and cauliflower until potatoes are only slightly firm. Drain and place in a 9 x 9 (approx) baking dish. Mix in tomato chunks.

º In a frying pan sauté onion in a drizzle of olive oil until translucent. Remove from pan and place in the potato/cauliflower mixture.

º In a pot combine sauce ingredients over low heat, whisking intermittently until it starts to thicken.

º Pour sauce over the vegetable mixture in the casserole dishs. Ensure the liquid comes up to at least 1 inch from the top of the dish. If it doesn't add more vegetable broth.

º Spread shredded cheese evenly over top of veggies.

º Place cornflakes over top of the cheese evenly.

º Drizzle melted earth balance across the entire circumference of the cornflakes.

º Cover and bake for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes or until potatoes are soft.

This casserole is not perfect yet, but it's still really good.

Cheesy cheese cheese Mac

This is my take on the traditional vegan mac & cheese and I've added it to my weekly rotation.


• 2 c. cooked Prarie Harvest Organic Macaroni noodles (my fave noodles so far!)
• 1-2 slices American flavoured Soy Cheese (more = creamier texture)
• 2 tbsp. Soy Parm
• 2 & 1/2 tbsp. nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tbsp. garlic powder
• 1 tbsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3 tbsp. soy milk
• 1/2 tbsp of mustard
• as much Ketchup as you like (optional)

º In a pot on the stove, on low heat add the cheese slices, stirring constantly.
º Once they start to melt add remaining ingredients and continue stirring until well blended. For creamier cheesy cheese cheese add more cheese slices. I usually use a ton of paprika and ketchup because I like it that way!

Product Reviews

CHEESE EDIBLES

Sheeze
• Now this I was excited about. After reading so many raves about this scottish vegan cheese, I assumed it had to be good (and I wasn't expecting it to taste like cheese). It bought the mozza flavour and was horrified to discover it smelled, looked and tasted like cement or paste.

Soymage Vegan Parm
• I honestly cannot tell the difference between real parm and these sprinkles of deliciousness.

Roads End Organics Mac & Chreese - Whole Wheat, Cheddar Style
• Grainy and tastes like paste. Every recipe i've made so far has turned out a bajillion times better than this bunk.
You're better off making your own.

MEATIBLES

Yves Breakfast Links
• These I am definitely partial to. Pre-veg I wasn't a big sausage fan, but nothing accompanies my hashbrowns better than these with a nice dolop of ketchup.

Yves Veggie Ground Round - Original
• This is a staple. I refuse to eat chili or spaghetti without it. Thank you Yves!!

DAIRY

Rice Dream
• I can literally eat an entire carton in one sitting!

Soy Delicious
• I bought this once and it was incredible.. but then I noticed the warning label stating it may contain dairy ingredients??!! I haven't purchased it since.

Tofutti Cuties - Vanilla
• I believe these to be MUCH MUCH tastier than the real ice cream sandwiches. My only complaint is that they're too tiny.

SoGood Yoghurt
• I eat this every single day - I love it in smoothies, by itself and with fresh blueberries and granola tossed in.

SoGood Chocolate Soy milk
• Maybe it's just me, but after a couple glasses it eerily starts to resemble rubbing alcohol.

BAKED GOODS

New Moon Kitchen
Chocolate Chip Cookies
• A damn good cookie! I was amazed that they lasted so long.

Nana Bread
• The bread was pretty dry, which is unfortunate because everything else about it was good.

Sweets from the Earth
Carrot Cake
• It curbed my craving but it was pretty oily and didn't settle well in my stomach, I think it was all that vegan c. cheese icing.

Spiced Nut Biscotti
• I have tried to recreate this, but nothing comes close to the original. Mmmm...

Choc-Coco Pumpkin Bread

The fact that I STILL don't have a measuring cup after the move has not kept me from baking. Like most days I woke up craving my mom's traditional Halloween pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I was not prepared to wait another month to indulge in something that most likely was not vegan friendly. During a slow day at work, I came across an online recipe for a "super moist pumpkin bread" which sounded like it might satisfy my pumpkin baked good craving.

I made some alterations to the recipe as I'm not a big walnut fan nor was I able to find pumpkin puree at the health food store and I added chocolate chips, because everything is better with chocolate. Please note: due to the lack of measuring utensils these are guesstimates and miraculously it still turned out quite nicely! I have never smelled anything more heavenly emerging from my oven! Mmmmm...

• 3.5 cups (or 3.5 tiny colourful ikea plastic cup)all-purpose flour
• 2 c. packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 c. white sugar
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 1.5 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 (14 oz) can of pumpkin pie filling
• 1/2 c. oil
• 1/2 c. applesauce
• 2/3 c. lite coconut milk
• 1 c. vegan chocolate chips
• 2/3 c. shredded coconut

- Preheat oven to 350

- In a bowl stir together flour, b. sugar, w. sugar, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.

- Add pumpkin, oil, applesauce, coconut milk and stir together until just mixed.

- Add chocolate chips.

- Pour into a 13 x 8 inch pan and sprinkle coconut across the surface of the batter.

- Bake for approx 65 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

- Remove from oven and cover with foil for 10 minutes (i'm not sure what this is all about.. but I followed this from the orig. recipe).

LAZY SUNDAY HOMEFRIES

This recipe is suitable for max 2 people so add another potato for 3-4 and adjust ingredients.

• I really dislike cooking in the microwave, but I was particularly lazy one morning so I cut up one large white potato into cubes (washed, obviously, with the skin still on) and stuck it in the microwave for 5 minutes

• After your nuked potatoes are finished, cut them into 1/2 mm slices

• Melt 1 tablespoon per potato of Earth Balance in a frying pan and add the potato bits

• Sprinkle 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of pepper and 2 tsp of garlic per potato

• Fry for approx. 5 mins or until they reach desired crispiness, tossing every minute or so.

I like them with ketchup!