When Cold outside Boy What are you Cooking

Well its cold outside in Alabama and all I can think off is eating something warm. So I’m going to make me some chili. I use a special ingredient in my chili that may seem a little weird but it work. I use a whole bottle of Guinness and it’s that chili on fire. Oh and you cant have chili with out the corn bread. Man this corn bread so good I think if the people at Jiffy bread tasted it they would change their recipe.

Menu

Ruben Hopping Hot Chili

Southern Style Sweet Corn Bread

This cornbread really tastes like cake maybe if I make some kind of country peach Icing, I could have the first cornbread cake. Uh oh I think I’m on to something back the lab Studdard lol. Until next time keep on cooking Gods goodness.

PASTA PASTA PASTA

I had a great Thanksgiving holiday but I am so tired of leftovers and I really wanted so pasta. I set out to find a great recipe for vegan Alfredo sauce and I did. This sauce was so dang good I wanted to put it on everything. I made some whole wheat spiral pasta and I grilled some Garden Chicken Patties and sauteed some spinach yummy in our tummy lol.

Menu

Spiral Past with Alfredo Sauce

Sauteed Spinach

Grill Garden Chicken Patties

Until next time Keep on Cooking God's Goodness

Thanksgiving Feast

The Holidays are my favorite time of year. I started cooking late Tuesday Night( I will never cook late again lol). I didn't finish cooking until 4:30 am Wednesday. It was all worth it at the end because the food was great. I really hate that I didn't take pictures of this meal. I can't believe my meat eating family like my Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes they were the hit of the day.

Thanksgiving Menu

Mixed Green: Turnip, Collard and Mustard greens

Southern Fried Corn with Vegan Bacon crumbles

Southern Cornbread Dressing

Tofurkey Loaf

Vegan Mac and Cheese

Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes

I never though that I could make a whole Holiday feast without meat, but I did and I am so proud of myself. I didn't overeat this year but I was still sleepy after. Maybe they put something in the Tofurkey lol. Until next time Keep on Cooking God's goodness

I want a sandwich

The theme for today is comfort food. I have always been a fan of grilled chicken sandwiches and French fries from chilis. So yesterday my friend Stacy came over and I set out to make this happen. It turned out wonderful and I’m and I had to make it again for a quick Sunday dinner. The sandwich is pretty straightforward. It’s a Garden Vegan chicken, Vegan Bacon, Vegan Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato and Onions.

Menu

Ruben’s Vegan Grilled Chicken Sandwich

Sweet Potato Chips

Tomorrow I’m Tackling Sandra Lee’s semi-homage cookbook and I will be turning her stuff Vegan. Until then keep on cooking Gods goodness.

Inspired by Clay

Have you ever had a craving for pasta? Well today was that day for me. About two months ago I was with my boy Clay in Santa Monica Ca, and he invited me to dinner at his favorite restaurant. It was a small family own spot off in the cut, but very nice and cozy. Well Clay was raving about this doggone Vodka sauce all day so I had to try it. I must say it did not disappoint me. Today I want to make that sauce for dinner. I went online and found a great Vodka sauce recipe and I was off to Publix. I bought all the ingredients for the sauce and some fresh herbs. I also found some new Garden brand stuff Vegan chicken. I thought the sauce and the vegan chicken would go great together and I was so right. I added some whole-wheat pasta and the meal was complete.

Menu

Whole Pasta with Vodka sauce

Garden Stuffed Vegan Chicken

I loved this dish and I am so proud of how it turned out. Until next time Yall Keep on cooking Gods goodness

The Oprah Chef dish

I’ve been hearing a lot lately about this Vegan Chef on the Oprah Winfrey show, so did like everyone does I goggled him. Well I have to tell I saw him cooking Vegan chicken Scaloppini and it looked very tasty. I said to myself “I can cook that”. So I went to the store and bought all the ingredients came home and started to cook.

Menu

Chicken Scaloppini

Go on you tube to get the recipe and cook this one for your loved ones. Until next time keep on Cooking Gods good food.

The Leftover Creation

Well today was a day that I’m sure most of you have had. Today I had to make something different with leftovers. I have seen my mom make miracles happen with leftovers. So tonight I tried to do just that!!! Last night I made the roasted vegetable and I said to myself” What could be better than a Vegan Pot roast”.  I’ve had this dish before at whole foods and I must say that it’s not always the best. So went in my lab (kitchen) and began to make my leftover masterpiece. I started by making a Vegan version of brown gravy with onion, whole-wheat flour, Vegan Butter and Almond milk. This may seem a bit unorthodox but it tasted really. I took out the leftover roasted veggies and warm them. I also browned some Seitan in a skillet. I put the Gravy, roasted Veggies and Seitan in a serving dish put it in the oven for 20 minutes and It was awesome.

 

 

Menu.

 

Vegan Pot Roast

 

Last night I saw the Vegan Chef from the Oprah show on youtube and he made a seitan chicken scaloppini. I will try to make the dish tomorrow.

Until then yall”Keep on cooking God’s goodness”.

The Kid Friendly Day

Well its Monday ya’ll and the weekend was great. I did a charity event with David Foster for Juvenile Diabetes and my church had Homecoming on Sunday. This Lady Sang “Lord Have Mercy On Me” and the church was jumping. Performing with David is always great. I got to eat at my favorite Vegan Spot Zen Palate and when I got to Atlanta I had some Vegan Jamaican Food (Fire). Anyway I’m back home and its time to cook again. I tried to make a  kid friendly meal tonight, since daughter always cries when we make to many Veggie’s. So today I went to whole foods on a mission to make something my baby would like. In the Freezer section I found these new Vegan Chicken nuggets and In Produce I found some organic carrots, onions and fingerling potatoes. My neighbor got an extra Vegetable box from the Alabama Fresh Food Co-op and was gracious enough to let me have it. So I had lots to choose from. So here is my Menu!!!

 

 

Menu

Vegan Chicken Nuggets

Roasted Potatoes, Carrots and Onions

Steamed Zucchini and Bell peppers (so good) um

 

 

NO sweet stuff tonight. I will only make a dessert once a week, even if it is Vegan we all need to stop eating so many dang desserts. That’s why I’m so dang big now “to many sweets”. Well I hope you enjoy cooking for your loved ones as much as I do. Until tomorrow “Keep on showing love with God’s Good Food”.

 

 

Cooking with friend is always better!!!

Let me start by telling you a story . In College my best friend introduced me to this dude that was a rapper and he wanted us to do a song together. This guy was a vegetarian and we gave him such a hard time cause we ate meat all day. Well lets fast forward to 2009 and we are both vegan and our boy is teaching us to cook vegan meals. Today was a wonderful experience cause both of us love to cook and we were able to bounce ideas off of each other. The end result is amazing!!!!!!!!

 

Today’s Menu

 

Potatoes stir-fry with onions, bell peppers, seitan sausage and celery

Grilled white Asparagus with Spinach and mushrooms

Seitan Steaks

Heavenly Vegan pound Cake with lemon strawberries icing 

 

 

This meal is so crazy; I almost wanted to go back to my old glutinous ways. I will not allow myself to overeat. No but really this further shows me that I can make food that is tasty and the whole family will smile

The Cabbage Creation

Today I felt more alive than I have in a long time. It’s been two week that I have been eating about 75% percent raw foods and 25% cook still vegan though. Well let me stop ranting and raving and get on with what I started this page for. Today I went to store and had no idea what I was going to cook for my family. I didn’t get a recipe out of a popular chefs book like I said I would, so I was lost. Then by some stroke of supreme intervention I wanted some cabbage. Then I saw some sweet potatoes and I wanted that too and   then Asparagus showed up and I had to have that also.

 

 

  So here is the menu for today’s meal

 

Stuffed Cabbage with mushrooms, onions and Seitan

Sautéed Asparagus

Sweet Potatoes Soufflé with chopped walnuts

 

I’m so sorry ya’ll that I didn’t  write down the recipe. Maybe one day I will do a cookbook but for right now I will be going through my favorite chefs book and Making their dishes into a vegan wonderland.Oh and I stopped eating on big plates. I had take control of my portion sizes.

 

 

The Intro

I have always loved food and Now that I am a vegan people always ask me “Ruben how do you live without meat”. My answer to them is this “I live better than I did when I ate meat”. The fact still remains that I am from the south and we love great food. So this blog site is my personal journey to make great tasting food only using 100% vegan and plant based ingredients. I’m sure this will be a challenge but it will also be rewarding when I put my family’s favorite dishes on the table and know without a shadow of doubt that I loving them to life. So Guys I will be home from my trip to New York on Thursday I will blog  then to let ya'll know and see what I am cooking.