Decided to try some new recipes this weekend.  This one was really good.  The snowballs are excellent and could really be combined with any type of sauce.  We even thought about shaping the into the same shape as chicken fingers and let the kids take them to school for lunch.  This recipe is slightly modified from the Quick-Fix Vegan cookbook.

Snowball Ingredients:
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 oz. can white beans
1 cup package extra firm tofu, drained
1/2 tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. vegetable broth
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten flour
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried basil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven 375 degrees.
2. Combine all ingredients in food processor until well combined.
3. Shape into 1 1/2-inch balls and arrange in shallow baking dish.
4. Bake for 15 minutes, flip each ball over and bake for another 15 minutes.

Srirach Style Sauce Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. vegetable broth
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 15 oz. cans crushed tomatoes
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. Sriracha

Directions:

1. In a medium sauce pan, cook garlic in vegetable broth for a few minutes.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.

I've never been a couscous fan.  I've tried it several times and just did not like it.....until this recipe. 

I went to a work potluck and one of my fellow managers brought this salad to the potluck and it was fabulous!  Cari made the salad for a camping trip and it was wonderful again.  I now ask for this salad frequently because it tastes great and is healthy!  The salad is good warm and good the next day right out of the refrigerator.

Here's the recipe:

I love popcorn but I'm always looking for ways to make it tasty!  Recently my dear mother shared with me a simple way of making popcorn that is much cheaper than buying the expensive no oil, no salt, no butter stuff at the health food store. 

Here's the secret....buy some brown paper lunch bags, put 1/4 cup of popcorn kernels in the bag fold the top of the brown bag down (about 2 folds) and then cook for 2-3 minutes (or until there is more than 2-3 seconds between pops).  Enjoy!

So ok, that's good popcorn but with no butter or salt it makes for a pretty tasteless snack.  I was just dumping a little Franks Hot Sauce on mine, which would spice it up a bit but also make it soggy.  I started looking around the internet and found some interesting recipes.  Here's the one I just tried and really enjoy!

With a quick google search there are LOTS of popcorn recipes, just be careful because many of them want you to add oil or butter....stick with the healthy stuff instead!

Disclaimer:  There are some mixed opinions as to whether it is unhealthy to make popcorn in brown paper bags.  I can't seem to find anything definitive one way or the other but figured I'd let you know in case you had concerns.

A friend at work brought me a bunch of fresh veggies.  There were several different kinds of peppers, eggplant, chives and some fresh basil.  I decided to look through my various recipe books and adapt a basil pesto recipe to my liking.  Here's what I came up with and it's pretty good!

Ingredients:
3 garlic cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. miso
1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 cup fresh basil leaves, packed
1/3 cup pine nuts
1/3 cup vegetable broth

Directions:
Combine all ingredient in a food processor until well blended.

I put the pesto on some flaxseed bread and it was great!!

I've been looking for the new recipe for a Creamy Alfredo Sauce but all the recipes seem to have tofu as the base.  Recently, in a Facebook post from the Healthy Librarian she shared an idea that came from one of her readers.  The idea was to use frozen corn (blended in a food processor) as the base for various sauces or dressings.  I wondered about the idea and was concerned the "corn" taste would overpower whatever flavor was intended for the sauce.  So I did some experimenting and came up with an Alfredo Sauce that got thumbs up from almost the whole family (we will never make something the youngest "diva" happy).  It's super simple and easy to adjust to your own tastes and preferences.  

I apologize for the crummy picture and somewhat empty bowl but we had almost finished it off when I remembered that I needed a picture for this blog (yah, it's been awhile since I've done this!).

So here's the recipe (also on the Recipes page under Alfredo Sauce).

Ingredients:

1 16oz bag of frozen corn (thawed)
1/4 cup soy milk (or more depending on the consistency you want) 
3 Tbsp. nutritional yeast flakes
1 Tbsp. basil (dry)
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
dash of pepper


Directions:

1. In a food processor blend the thawed corn and soy milk until well blended and creamy.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend well.
3. Pour into a saucepan and heat it up until it's nice and warm.
4. Pour sauce over some fettuccine noodles and enjoy!

Yah, yah....I know, it's been months since I've posted anything but I'm going to try to get posts in little more frequent in the future.  The main reason I haven't posted any recipes is because I haven't had time to make many new recipes but with a long Memorial Day Weekend I finally had some time.