Vegematarian: Slow week

Yes it has been a slow week. It's the second week of summer school. Calculus/intergals is hard work. After classes I go straight to work and on the days I have off, I spend all my time with my b/f. Not a lot of time for cooking. I've been just microwaving morningstar veggie bites for dinner and what not. I still have a lot of lacto octo vegetarian food...

I got this recipe off of recipezaar I still need to get rid of my vegetarian items.

Avocado Pie (Lacto Vegetarian)

8 in" pie/Serves 8 Slices - 282 cal/serving

Filling
1 /173g Avocado
1 14 oz/397g Condensed Milk, Canned
1/3 Cup/79 mL Lime Juice, Freshly juiced

Crust
12 1" by 2"/93g Graham Crackers, Crumbled
2 1/2 Tbsp/37 mL Baby food or Applesauce, Sweetened

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Make the crust by crushing the graham crackers into medium coarse grains.
Cut the baby food/applesauce into the graham cracker until the mixture is cut into texture like coarse bread crumb.
Press the crumb onto the bottom of a 8" circular pan.
Place the crust into the oven and bake it for 10 minutes.
Let the crust fully cool before filling the crust.
To make the filling pit and skin the avocado.
Put the avocado, lime juice and condense milk into a blender and blend it into a thick puree.
Pour the filling mixture into the pie crust and let it chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Verdict: Need to use up some left over vegetables.

It taste much better as leftover since the casserole firmed up and the tofu absorbed more of the flavor.

Vegetable Casserole (Vegan)

9" bu 5" loaf/4 servings

1 15 oz Block Firm Tofu, Thawed or in Packaged
1/4 /152g Eggplant, Sliced into 1/4"
1/2 /164g Large Zucchini, Sliced into 1/4"
3/4 /114g Large Onion, Sliced into 1/4"
2 Cup/592 mL Tomato Sauce
Vegetable Oil

It's best if you use thawed tofu because it absorbs more flavor. Drain the tofu and press as much liquid out of the tofu as possible with a heavy weight.
Slice the tofu block into 1/3".
Cook the Onions in a pan with some oil until half way tender then add in the zucchini and eggplant. Season with some salt and pepper and cook until tender.
Drain as much liquid as you can because when you bake it, all the water sweats out of the vegetables.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Line the bottom of the pan with about 1/2 cup of tomato sauce or enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Then line the next layer with tofu and cover it with another 1/2 cup of tomato sauce or how ever much it takes to coat it.
Line the next two layer with the zucchini and the onion and cover it with 1/2 cup of tomato sauce.
Then line the last layer with the eggplant and coat it with 1/2 cup of tomato sauce.
Bake it in the oven for 45 minutes.

Verdict: Had a lot of plums and I love spreads ;3 Stored in gerber jars. That's why I've been using a lot of baby food in my baking recently. I bought 24 jars of baby food for 10 dollars at my local market with my b/f. I felt like I had a baby and I didn't even know it. I got this recipe off of epicurious. Note: Preserve is not as sweet as jam. It's a tad bit sour for those who dislike sour stay clear of this recipe!

Plum Preserves (Vegan)

Serves 4 4oz jars

2 lb/907 g Plums, Any
1/2 Cup/100g Sugar,Granulated
1/2 Cup/118 mL Water
1 3" Cinnamon Stick

Pit the plums and roughly chop them into large pieces if you like large pieces in your spread and smaller pieces if you like jamish like spread.
Mix the water, plums, sugar and cinnamon stick into a small pot and simmer it for about 45 minutes or until it reaches the consistency you like.

Verdict: Homemade is the best even if it is organic.

Cashew Butter (Vegan)

Yields 1/2 Cup/ 16 Servings of 1 Tbsp = 48Cal/Serving

1 Cup/129g Cashew, Salted Roasted
or
1 Cup/120g Cashew, Raw
Salt

If you are roasting your own nut, preheat the oven to 325F
Place the raw nuts on a shallow rectangular pan. Do not pack your nuts!
Sprinkle enough salt for your tasting.
Roasted for about 10-20 minute or until golden brown. Stir often because they burn easily
Put the Cashews into the blender and blend it until it turns into butter.

**Note: If you like crunchy cashew butter, blend the whole cashew until it's chopped into coarse pieces and reserve 2-3 Tbsp. After you blend all the cashew into a cream, fold in the reserved cashew pieces.