Pumpkin Baked Ziti with Carmelized Onions and Sage

This is what Sunday afternoons look like in our house - - trying to get the little Miss No-No to just (pul-eeeze) take a nap! hahahah. Sleeping with Mr. No-No seems to be doing the trick lately. She just falls right out.

To kick off the Halloween season, officially, I decided to do a week of pumpkin / Halloween inspired dinners and lunches. For dinner last night, we had Pumpkin Baked Ziti with Caramelized Onions and Sage from those wonder chefs that wrote Veganomicon. I love that book - everything comes out delish!! I didn't modify the recipe at all (except to cut it in half since it's only the 3 of us) so this is pretty much an exact copy from their book (plus my own little comments).

3/4 # uncooked ziti or penne pasta
2 onions, thinly sliced
3 T olive oil
1 recipe of Cashew Ricotta
1 T brown sugar
1/4 t ground nutmeg
White pepper and cayenne
2 c pureed pumpkin (or 1 15-oz can)
1/4 c veggie broth

Sage bread crumbs:
2-1/2 c fresh breadcrumbs
1/3 c walnut pieces, chopped fine in a food processor
1/4 c vegan margarine
2 t dried, rubbed sage
1 t dried oregano
1/2 t ground paprika
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a 9 x 11" lasagna pan (or two smaller pans) with olive oil. Prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain, rinse, set aside.

While pasta is cooking, make onions: Preheat a cast iron pan over medium. Saute onions in oil until brown and caramelized, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat.
Place cashew ricotta in a large bowl (really, you will need a LARGE bowl) and fold in pumpkin, brown sugar, nutmeg, pepper, cayenne, and veggie broth. Add cooked pasta and onions, stirring to coat. Pour mixture into baking pan and press lightly to level.

Next, make the bread crumbs: Melt margarine in a heavy skillet (I wiped out the cast iron pan and used it again) over medium. Stir in bread crumbs, walnuts, dried herbs, paprika, salt and pepper. Stir until everything is coated (and toasted, and smells faintly like Thanksgiving), about 4 minutes. Remove and sprinkle over pasta.

Bake for 30 minutes. Cool for 10 before slicing and serving.

I served this with chopped raw carrots. It was a filling and complete meal. Miss No-No didn't eat that much (she isn't a big onion fan unless they are well hidden), but Mr. No-No gobbled it down! :)
What surprised me about this whole dish was how creamy it was - really - you can't miss cheese when you have such a wonderful substitute! As I said, these gals are mavens - - - and I know I can never go wrong making something from one of their cookbooks!

More later!  :)

Weekend :)

We had such a fun weekend – Saturday we went to Mom and Dad's – didn't really do all that much – lunch at Kings (Miss M's choice). Usually she gets mac n cheese, but since she had that at CPK the night before, I didn't mention it…and she decided that she wanted chicken (!!!) instead. This is the second time in the past month or so that she has actually asked for CHICKEN!!! I can't believe it. Mom got shark (!) and I got my usual – corn, spinach, and potatoes with miso soup to start (I still am amazed that KINGS has miso soup). But, considering where it's coming from, it's actually pretty good. Afterwards, we went shopping – which was really just us walking around…I don't think that I bought anything!! When we got home, SN had dinner ready for us (so, so nice to be able to come home at least one night a week and not have to worry about dinner!). He made us Tomato, Rice, and Bean Soup and Rosemary Foccacia from Veganomicon. The soup was simple, but wonderful, we have been eating it for lunch every day since he made it. It's nice that he bought me that book so that he could cook so much stuff out of it – hahahhaa! Really, there is nothing in that book so far that has not been good…

Sunday, I got up in the morning and made the Cranberry Pecan Muffins from Vegan Brunch (really - - this woman can not come up with a recipe that I don't like). These muffins were unbelievably good – so good that I will make them the next time we are planning to have someone stay overnight or next time I need a food type of gift for someone. They were easy to whip up, cooked in about 25 minutes, and were halfway gone before 9:30!!! Afterwards, I decided that we weren't gonna hang around the house all day, so we got up and got ready to go for a walk. Miss M decided that she wanted to go to Costco (??), so we went over there, walked around, again – didn't buy anything, but we were probably there for about ½ an hour! I did find a cute Easter dress for Miss M to wear, but in the end, since I didn't bring my own bag (or my car), I ended up putting it back so that I didn't have to carry it around for the rest of our walk. Then, we went to the pet store and Miss M decided that she was hungry. Usually, we go to Subway for lunch on Sundays, but we got in there, and it was busy and loud and I really just didn't feel like it….We ended up across the street at Togos and, since it was early, we had the whole place to ourselves…very nice. On the way home, I suggested we stop for dessert, but about half way there, Miss M actually asked if we could just go straight home!!! We may be doing a long walk EVERY Sunday morning…lol…She even went down for a nap nice and easy!! Whew!!

More later!!! :)

My little girl needs her naps!!!

My SN made us a beautiful broccoli soup this weekend, courtesy of Veganomicon! This soup is so wonderful - it's velvety, smooth, minty, and a bit savory (with dill). Very delicious. He made a big batch of it and we both had some for dinner on Saturday night and have been taking it to work for lunch during the workdays.
Spent Saturday at mom and dad's, but we didn't do much at all. Walked over to Sam's Club and just kind of browsed around - mom wanted to show me some jeans and new shoes (which, of course, I got - new TerraSoles - they are ecofriendly, and animal friendly, and I LOVE THEM!! So cool - I checked the TerraSoles website after I bought them and they are actually TWICE as much on the website compared to what they were at Sams - - I am seriously thinking about going and buying another, "backup" pair). It was supposed to rain and I think we were really waiting for it to happen. But, it didn't ever really start. Miss M fell asleep on the way home, which was quiet, but nice. She woke up, but didn't stay up very late - she's been trying to get out of naps daily, but she sleeps so well every night!!! Seems like she is getting the same amount of nighttime sleep as she was getting before, so a nap would still be a really good thing (I think)..... And when she doesn't nap, she falls asleep at the most inopportune times - - namely, once she gets too tired to hold her head up anymore!!! She fell asleep last night on the way home from school. But, she wasn't in a deep enough sleep that I was actually able to get her into bed and not wake her up.... We ended up putting her down at the regular time and she was up this morning before 6! My little girl needs her naps!!! :(
More later!
:)

Christmas Hangover

Hahahaha! Christmas hangover is exactly how I feel - - basking in the glow of all my presents - and, of course, of the presents I have given. What a wonderful Christmas! Miss M had a TON of presents and that was fun. I'm not sure she can even remember everything that she got - will have to ask her tomorrow....if I remember.
She did get fun stuff: a stroller for her baby, a kiddie laptop (so she can play on her own laptop while I am on mine), a bingo game, checkers (which, suprisingly, she actually understands!), lots and lots of clothes, a necklace, new shoes, lots of dora toys, a new doll, and a little pony carousel - - and that's just the stuff that I remember!
And I got wonderful stuff - five (!) soy candles, that vegan bible - Veganomicon, a pressure cooker, two CDs (Franz F. and Kings of Leon), another cookbook, a new wallet, new pieces of china, the perfume sampler from Sephora, and a (sigh!) Glen Ivy gift card. Then I went yesterday and got a beautiful pink smart phone. <- I wanted the new Sprint phone made with post consumer materials - but, grrrr, they were sold out! The guy told me that they have a list of people who are waiting for one...so, I am on the list, but in the meantime, I am so so so happy with the new phone that I have...so awesome! I love it! I used the pressure cooker today to make lentil soup (from, of course, Veganomicon). I also made the Cheezy Sauce and Broiled Tofu and the Tofu Florentine was for breakfast this morning....ahhhh! I love that book. Everything is so good.... Tomorrow is little Sean's bday party at my mom's and then Tuesday, I am taking Miss M to Disneyland (but, I think I will just drop her off with my parents and then come back home to clean and pay bills, and maybe...do a little cooking...hahahhahaa - I don't think I will be able to resist!). Late, late, late right now. More later! :)