April Cookbook Review - The Cheesy Vegan

This month I have been cooking from the Cheesy Vegan by John Schlimm. I have been looking forward to using this book for a while, here's what I thought:

Sharp Cheddar

This was a really disappointing, for me it mostly tasted like lemon. It had a good consistency, grated well and looked the part but even after attempting it a second time with less lemon it still tasted too much like lemon.

Jack Cheese

This was much more successful, a mild tasting cheese with a great texture. I prefer cheese to have a bit more flavour so I probably won’t make this again but its a good example of how nice these cheeses can be

Hot Chili Bean Casserole

I loved this, it was full of flavour and utterly delicious. Definitely one to make again

Tomato Gratin with Cheddar Crumb

This was a tasty and simple recipe to make, very filling and wholesome but I felt there was way too much garlic, I could taste it for hours afterwards

Seasoned Mac and Cheese

This was excellent, made using 2 types of cheese (hard and soft), it was excellent and very indulgent

Cheese Houmous

This was my favourite recipe. Bursting with flavour from the nooch and cashews, I have made this several times with additions such as sun dried tomatoes and loved it every time

Cheesey Muffins

These were little bites of heaven, mini cheesy muffins packed with flavour. Just lovely

Overall I did like this book, what I really loved was the simplicity of most of the recipes, they all came together quickly without hours of prep. Barring one or two recipes I wasn't a fan of I think this is an excellent cookbook which I will most definitely be using in future

February & March Cookbook Review

Unfortunately I have not been able to post anything for a while but over the last 2 months I have been cooking from Veganomicon and Isa does it. Both books are knee tremblingly fabulous and here are the best things I have tried from them (I will be back next month and will be posting about The Cheesy Vegan):

Veganomicon:

Jam Doughnut Muffin:

Midsummer Corn Chowder: 

Cholent: 

Chickpeas Romseco: 

Potato and Broccoli Soup:

Isa Does It:

Coconut French Toast

Mini Muffin Pan Omelettes

Mushroom Hot Pot

Chicky Tuna Salad

Scrambled Chickpeas

Good Gravy Bowl

Cheddary Cashew Soup

Alphabet Soup

Lentil-A-Roni

New England Glam Chowder

Dilly Stew

January Cook Book Review

This month I have been cooking from Happy Herbivore Light & Lean by Lyndsay S.Nixon

 Smokey Apple Baked Beans - I was really looking forward to this but I hated it. It was just too sweet:

Pizza Burgers - These were really rather good. They could have been improved with some onion/garlic powder and nutritional yeast but overall they were a nice filling burger:

Caribbean Chili - I liked this recipe, I left out the pineapple salsa that the recipe states as we don't have it in the UK but I think for me that was a good thing as it made the chili less sweet and really enjoyable:

Lentil Marinara - I really liked this, it was like spaghetti bolognese but made from scratch with lentils. I will be making this again:

Cheese Ball - This was pretty boring and tasted like tofu, it would have  been far better with some extra nutritional yeast mixed in.

Ruby Chocolate Muffins & Cheater Peanut Butter Muffins - Both these recipes were fantastic. I reduced them down to a quarter to make less muffins and they still worked well and tasted great:

Everyday Mushroom Gravy - I have made this about 15 times since I first made it New Years day, I love this recipe and will be making it as much as possible:

Overall I liked this book, some of the recipes are not great but others are just brilliant.
What I also like is that the calorie content for each recipe is also included for the all important New Years slim down. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants tasty low calorie food.

Christmas Food & New Challenge

Hello!

Bit late to post pictures of Christmas food but what the hell I have been having some time off.

Firstly breakfast Christmas morning - Speeculoos porridge - porridge made with M&S soya milk, 1/4 of a jar of speculoos spread and a banana. This was really good but as I get older I am loosing my sweet tooth. I think this Christmas I might eat more savoury stuff

Christmas Dinner - This is my sixth vegan Christmas and my third with Tofurky (hopefully not the last)

Boxing day sandwich - Everything from Christmas dinner in a sandwich

Homemade Christmas Cake - For this I used the Suma cake recipe but I soaked the fruit in brandy before hand and fed it brandy every week

Homemade Mince Pies - I always make mince pies, they taste much better that way covered with soya cream

Devilled Chickpea Sandwiches - I made 2 of my favourite sandwiches over Christmas - Christmas eve was the Chickn sandwich from The Conscious Cook  - no photo's :-(  - and this from Vegan Sandwiches Save The Day (my other favourites were 5 spice seitan with Vegusto & spicy coleslaw & the chickpea pickle from PETA's college cookbook)

Kind of Kedgeree  - I made this with a Redwood/Vbites fish style steak, rice & Vegg fried silken tofu. It looks awful but was yummy 

Redwood/VBites pasty - 2 of my favourite things - sprouts & pastry. These are great pasties and should be made every year

Christmas Pudding Icecream - I am a huge fan of Christmas Pudding Ice Cream, I made this using the vanilla ice cream recipe from Hearty Vegan Meals for Monster Appetites but added half a Co-op finest Christmas Pudding

New Cookbook Challenge - This year I will be doing a far more relaxed challenge, 1 book a month. This month its Happy Herbivore Light & Lean which I will be posting about soon

Wrapping up the cookbook challenge

This year I have cooked from a different cookbook each week, a total of 259 recipes. Some were fantastic and some were awful, I have learnt some great new skills, catalogues some great recipes and learnt an awful lot. Here is a run down of everything thats been made.

  Recipe Type                                                                                         Recipes Tried

Cookies	3
Seitan/Seitan dish	18
Tofu Scramble	9
Rice Dish	11
Stew/Casserole	28
Risotto/Barley	5
Indian Dish	3
Chilli	6
Soup	33
Bake/Pie	10
Potato dish	4
Cake/Bar	8
Cheese	10
Mac & Cheese	6
Pizza	3
Pasty/Pillow	1
Puree/Spread/Pate	7
Scone/Biscuit/Bread	8
Quiche/Tart	9
Omellett	5
Noodle Dish/Pad Thai	3
Sandwich	18
Hash	3
Drink/Creamer	1
Desserts	3
Pasta Salad	1
Pancakes	1
Jam/Curd/Sauce	6
Burger	11
Stuffed Things	1
Tempeh/Tofu	4
Bread/Breakfast Loaf	4
Sloppy Joes	3
Ribz	1
Breakfast Oats	3
French Toast	1
Salad	6
Yorkshire Pudding/Toad in the hole	2

Here is a list of my favourite recipes, those in red are the ones which I intend to make again:

Very Vegan Christmas Cookies
Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Rabbit Food Cookbook
Ohio Valley Tofu Vegan Yum Yum
Creamy Broccoli Mushroom Bake Bake and Destroy
Mac and Yeast Bake
Green Bean Casserole Pizza
Breakfast Pizza Essential Vegan Cookbook
Tofu & Mushroom Stroganoff
Tofu Mincemeat
Macadamia Cheese Vegan Stoner
Pad Thai
Falafel Pie
Potato Hash
Holiday Pie Vegan Slow Cooker For 2 Or Just For You
Cheezy Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese Chloe’s Kitchen
Easy Peasy Pasta Salad
Pancakes for Dinner
Cheesy Broccoli Soup
Sea Salt Toffee Bars Vegan Rustic Cooking
Cream of Pea Soup
Irish Stew And Dumplings Vegg Cookbook
Tofu Vegg Omelette
Lemon Curd Vegan Sandwiches Save The Day
Crispy Leek Mushroom Mania Sandwich
Country Sausage Sandwiches
Devilled Not Egg Salad Sandwiches The Uncheese Cookbook
Colby Cheese
Gee Whizz Spread
Philly Potato Chowder
Cheez-a-Roni Skinny Bitch In The Kitch
Bitchtastic Brownies
Chicken Salad Sandwich
Tuna Salad
Chicken Noodle Soup
Denver Bitchlette Hot Damn & Hell Yeah
Chili Non Carne  Vegan  Diner
Pastrami Style Seitan Roast
Great Smokey Mountain Cheese
Barbecued Ribz
Ooey Gooey Brownies Vegan Slow Cooker
Cheesey Broccoli Rice
Chili Relleno Casserole Authentic Chinese
Basic Fried Rice Vegan Brunch
East Coast Coffee Cake  Italian Feast Sausages Vegan Boulangerie
Croque Monsieur Vegan Taste Of France
Vichyssoise Conscious Cook
Split Pea Soup
California Gardein Chicken Salad
Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cake Superfood Kitchen
Tofu Broccoli Quiche Nut Butter Universe
Roasted Nicoise Salad with Cashew Goddess Dressing
West African Peanut Stew Vegan Comfort Food
Chick'n Seitan
Tuno Casserole
Loaded Baked Potato Soup VWAV
Sweet Corn Chowder
Post Punk Chickpea Gravy
Chocolate Raspberry Blackout Cake PETA’s Vegan College Cookbook
No Need To Visit a Diner For Hash Browns Casserole
The Morning After Scramble
Not Your Average Burrito
Chick Magnet Chicken Casserole
In A Pickle Chickpea Salad Please Don’t Feed The Bears
Chinese Take Out  Veggie Burgers Every Which Way
Seitan Burgers with BBQ Mango Sauce Vegan Junk Food
Sloppy Joes Animal Aid Solihull Recipes
Veg Soup with Herby Dumplings
Cheezly Broccoli Bake The Healthy Voyagers Global Kitchen
Suthun Biscuits & Gravy The Vegan Table
Quesedilla  Hearty Vegan Meals For Monster Appetites
Roasted Broccotato Soup with Bacon Flavoured Chickpea Croutons
Real Men Eat Quiche Lorraine The Sexy Vegan
New England Blam Chowder  Vegan Eats World
Five Spice Seitan Cookin Crunk
Seitan Chicken
Tofu Chicken
Creamy Tofu Chicken Pasta Bake
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Country Vegetable Soup Appetite for reduction
BBQ Mango Beans Low Calorie Vegan Comfort Food
Split Pea Soup Another Dinner Is Possible
Goulash
Happy Herbivore Abroad Creamy Mushroom Barley Finally I have picked my favourite cookbooks out of the 52, these are the books which were outstandingly good and I really enjoyed cooking from: Bake and Destroy Vegan Sandwiches Save The Day Skinny Bitch In The Kitch Vegan Diner The Conscious Cook PETA's Vegan College Cookbook Hearty Vegan Meals for Monster Appetites Cook'in Crunk So there we go. Its all over and done with. Happy Christmas!