I’ve been trying to get across to the members of my family that Curlytop and Snugglebug are like over-sized camcorders these days. Anything we say or do is likely to be played back for us by one of our little cinematographers – most likely at the most humiliating or improper moment.

So far, this has included choice phrases uttered by adults and teens in the household (not terribly appropriate for either set, and definitely inappropriate coming out of the mouth of a kindergarten student). Sometimes, it includes an interesting pose or gesture.

Sometimes, it includes both.

Yesterday, Snugglebug walked up behind Curlytop, grabbed her sister’s posterior and declared, “Ooooh… that’s NICE!”

Pepper and I stared at Snuggle in disbelief, then looked at each other. “Did she just do what I think she did?” Pepper asked. I nodded. “Where did she learn THAT?” Pepper wondered aloud as I explained to Snugglebug we don’t do that and it’s not okay and her sister’s bottom is her sister’s bottom, and we don’t touch it.

I knew the answer, of course, but Pepper confirmed it when her father came home, entered the kitchen, kissed my cheek and copped a squeeze. “Ooooh… that’s NICE!” he announced to everyone within earshot and a decent line of vision.

Then, he scooped up the four-year old attached to my leg.

Where did she learn that, indeed?

I love vegan makizushi, but I don’t love feeding my kids white rice. White rice means less B vitamins, iron, potassium, magnesium and all sorts of good stuff lost in the processing. I used to make our sushi with half white, half brown rice, gradually increasing the brown-to-white proportions, and now I can pass off all-brown rice sushi with few complaints from the little sushi snatchers.

Know what else I don’t love? Going out for sushi, ordering my vegan sushi, and seeing it made on the same counter that had raw fish on it a minute ago. Gross.


I add flax seeds to my sushi rice for Omegas and other goodies. Check out the nutritional info on whole flax seeds here.

Here’s how I do it:

Brown Rice Sushi with Flax and Black Sesame Seeds

Ingredients:

2 c. uncooked brown rice
As much water as you need to thoroughly cook the rice (I use 4-5 cups, but it depends on your rice. Remember brown rice typically needs more water than white.)

1/2 c. rice vinegar
4 T. cane juice crystals (I use Zulka)
1 T. canola or vegetable oil (olive oil is too strongly flavored for my taste in sushi)
1 t. black sesame seeds
1 t. flax seeds

Nori sheets

Sushi fillings of your choice, cut into matchsticks (I used spinach, carrots, and beets)
Other filling suggestions: avocado, cucumber, fried tofu, baby corn, pickled ginger, bean sprouts, asparagus, green onion, mushroom, red or yellow bell pepper… (I’m allergic to both asparagus and mushrooms, so you’ll never see them in any of my recipes. A vegan? Allergic to asparagus and mushrooms? I know, right?)

Directions:

Cook the rice as directed.

Tip: Before turning on the heat, I use gloved hands to gently rub the rice between my palms to release some of the natural starch from the bran into the cooking water. This helps the rice stick together, in my real or imagined experience.

While cooked rice is still hot, combine vinegar, cane juice crystals and oil in a blender, mixing until cane juice crystals are dissolved, and pour over rice. Add seeds and mix thoroughly.

Let the rice cool to body temperature before you begin rolling your sushi.

I use the International Sushi Maker Plus to craft my sushi because I am lazy and have no sushi-rolling skills. It’s easy to use and inexpensive.

If you don’t have a sushi makin’ machine, check out this link or this one for a tutorial on how to roll with a bamboo mat.

Whether using a mat or a machine, follow the directions for filling and rolling your sushi, then slice into ten sections per roll.

Serve with pickled ginger and wasabi, if desired. You can make this as a main dish, or serve it as a side to an Asian-inspired dish like this one or this one.

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When Mr. Wright and I were cultivating our first crop of kids, we crafted a code word for Grown-Up Time: soup. As in, “If we can get all the laundry done, the dishes washed, the kids to all their appointments, dinner made, and I can get a shower today, there’s a microscopically slim chance I’ll feel up to having soup for dessert after the wee ones go to bed.”

Last night was one of those rare nights when the stars aligned, and Mr. Wright and I set about preparing the ingredients for a steamy batch of soup.

Just as things were about to come to a rolling boil, we heard the distinct sound of a pair of children’s’ size almost-nine feet stumbling up the stairs to our loft bedroom. “Go on without me!” Mr. Wright cried, but there simply wasn’t time.

Snugglebug crested the top of the stairs, crossed the room, climbed onto the bed and wedged herself between us. Sometimes she arrives half-asleep and conks back out quickly, and Mr. Wright can carry her back downstairs to her own bed.

Last night was not one of those times.

She was wide-awake, and talking up a storm. “Mommy, that’s GirlWonder’s phone. She really, really wants it.” (We’d just implemented a new plan to get the kids to sleep better – collecting their phones at bedtime so they aren’t up all night, texting. Genius, right?) “Daddy, it’s dark in here. We need to turn on the light!” It was well after midnight, and she was running a verbal marathon.

“We need to watch a movie!” Snugglebug announced.

Mr. Wright scooped her into his arms, suggesting a movie would, indeed, be delightful – downstairs, in her own bedroom. Snugglebug resisted, throwing her head into his shoulder in protest, resulting in blood gushing from her tiny nose.

Now, before you call in a report to Children’s Services – and if you’ve known my family for any length of time, I’m sure you have them on speed-dial – I must disclose that Snugglebug gets a bloody nose every time she sticks a finger in her nose, sneezes, or simply looks at herself too long in the mirror.

As Mr. Wright rushed into the bathroom – Snugglebug still in his arms – for the haz-mat material (a.k.a. toilet paper), I fetched the vessel-constricting nasal spray and handed it over to Mr. Wright. This is a modus operandi which takes place a few times a week and changes only in which parent holds the toilet paper to her nose and which retrieves the spray.

There are times, as an adoptive mother, I marvel at how much like me my kids actually are, thus settling firmly in my mind certain portions of the nature-versus-nurture mystery. I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, Snugglebug is my child by the phrases she uttered during our late-night nosebleed adventure:

“I can NOT do this anymore!”

“Daddy, it makes me sad when you do the nose spray. It hurts my feelings!”

“NEVER AGAIN. Do you understand? I never want this to happen again.”

She cried. She whimpered. Finally, blessedly, she stopped bleeding. By that time, it was pretty much a given that she wasn’t going to go back to sleep in her own room, which was fine – the moment for soup-making had long passed, anyway.

With Snugglebug cuddled between us, Mr. Wright and I marveled at how much she’d grown since we brought the six-pound, three-ounce five-day-old wonder home. “I’m sorry about missing the soup,” I whispered. I really, really was. You have no idea how sorry I was unless, of course, you have seven or more kids yourself. In that case, you know all too well the sense of loss I felt.

“There’ll be other soup,” he assured me. “I wouldn’t change a thing about our lives.”

I agreed with him as Snugglebug began to drift off to sleep. “I wouldn’t change a thing, either.” We smiled at one another and he reached over our youngest miracle to hold my hand as the sound of children’s size-eleven feet echoed up the stairwell and Curlytop’s ginger-colored ringlets found a pillow to rest upon.

I was never much of a casserole person until I accumulated seven kids, a busy husband, and a writing career. Now, I love the simplicity of making a few casseroles at the beginning of the week, covering them in foil and writing the baking instructions on top with a Sharpie marker so my teens can “make” dinner when I have meetings or am out of town.

My kids and husband can’t get enough of this particular casserole, and it’s so easy to throw together, I make it quite often. Serve it with a bit of salsa and vegan sour cream. I use Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream.

Now that Princess’s friends are off to college and living on their own, I’ve had several requests for “that chili thing you used to make when I came over.” Here it is, my darlings:

Sexy Vegan Mama’s “Cheesy” Chili Pasta Casserole

Ingredients:

1 lb. (16 oz.) dry pasta of your choice (I used macaroni, because it was what I had)

1/4 c. plus 2 T. vegan margarine (I use Nucoa) or oil
1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. nutritional yeast
1/2 t. black pepper
1 t. ground red pepper
1 1/2 t. garlic powder
2 c. soy milk

5 c. vegetarian vegetable chili (my favorite chili recipe at the bottom of this post)

Directions:

Cook pasta according to directions and drain. Dump into bottom of lightly oiled 9” x 13” casserole dish.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt margarine in a saucepan over medium heat. Combine dry ingredients and stir into margarine to make a thick roux. Be sure to keep stirring until dry mixture begins to toast lightly and is no longer raw.

Add soy milk, whisk or stir well and slowly increase heat until sauce begins to boil. Keep on heat, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens – a minute to two minutes.

Pour sauce over pasta in casserole dish. Go ahead and stir the pasta around to make sure every little piece gets a good coating of sauce.

Pour chili over pasta and sauce. Bake, uncovered, for 30 to 35 minutes. Let stand for five minutes before serving.

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Do any of you parents have wrestlers?

While I’m pretty sure I’ll pack on an extra fifty pounds before this cookbook is done, I feel super-sorry for The Dude. He’s borderline for his weight bracket and Mr. Wright (former state wrestler) has been training The Dude hard and serving as the food police.

So sad… The Dude didn’t get any of this cheesecake.

I’ll have to recreate everything after wrestling season is over. Oh, darn.

Nearly every vegan cheesecake recipe I found called for silken tofu.

Here’s the thing… I hate silken tofu. I hate the feel of it. I hate its strange, gelatinous texture and the slimy way it slurps out of its aseptic packaging and sits there, quivering and staring at me until I blend it or run out of the kitchen, screaming in terror and disgust.

So, I simply don’t use it unless I absolutely have to. I’ll always try to modify a recipe to use regular tofu, if at all possible. Therefore, my experiment creating a peanut butter-chocolate layered cheesecake was… extra experimental.

I’m happy to report it worked.

This cheesecake has a very thick graham crust, a layer of chocolate cheesecake, a layer of peanut butter cheesecake, and a layer of traditional vanilla cheesecake.

The first bite was bliss. The second was almost orgasm-inducing. By the third sweet, rich bite I realized I actually wouldn’t mind dying at that very moment, except it would mean I wouldn’t get to finish the entire slice.

I hope you find it equally gasp-worthy.

Sorry for all the photos. I just couldn’t stop taking them. It was so beautiful!

Vegan Peanut Butter S’mores Cheesecake



Crust Ingredients:



1 – 14.4 oz. package graham crackers (Check for honey, milk and whey)
1/2 c. dairy-free margarine, melted (I use Nucoa, which my local Fred Meyer has strangely stopped stocking, but I can still find it at Safeway and even *gasp* Walmart.)

Crust Directions:


Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Use a food processor or blender to whiz the graham crackers into fine crumbs. Add melted margarine and stir thoroughly. Press into bottom of lightly oiled 9-inch spring-form pan.

Tip: Cut a circle of parchment or waxed paper slightly smaller than bottom of pan and line for easy removal from pan.



Bake for 5 minutes and remove from oven. Set aside.

Filling Ingredients:



1 – 14 oz. package firm tofu (not silken)
1/2 c. soy milk
1 8 oz. package vegan cream cheese (I use Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese)
3/4 c. cane juice crystals or vegan sugar
3 T. egg replacer powder (I use Ener-G. Do NOT prepare “egg;” just use the powder.)
2 T. lemon juice
1/2 T. vanilla extract

1 c. dairy-free chocolate chips, melted (Use microwave, stirring every 30 seconds.)

1/2 c. smooth peanut butter (Tip: spray measuring cup with nonstick spray before filling)

Dairy-free chocolate chips and chocolate syrup (for garnish)

Filling Directions:



Put tofu and soy milk into a large blender pitcher or food processor and blend until creamy. (I use the blender attachment on my Magic Bullet.) Add cream cheese and blend until smooth.

Add cane juice crystals or sugar, egg replacer powder, lemon juice and vanilla. Blend until sugar crystals are dissolved. Set aside two cups of filling, separated.

For chocolate layer, combine melted chocolate chips with one cup of reserved cheesecake filling, mixing until smooth. Pour over graham cracker crust and evenly spread.

Optional Note: At this point, you may refrigerate the crust and first layer for 30 minutes to make spreading the peanut butter layer easier. I didn’t. It worked out fine, though I believe my feelings of urgency may have had a negative result on the evenness of my layers.

For peanut butter layer, combine peanut butter with remaining cup of cheesecake filling, mixing until smooth. Pour and spread over chocolate layer.

Optional Note: Again, you may pop your project into the refrigerator to allow the second layer to set before spreading the final layer. If you insist.



Spread remaining filling over top of peanut butter layer.

Baking Directions:



Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Wrap bottom of spring-form pan with several layers of foil.

Set wrapped spring-form into bottom of a deep, larger baking pan and fill with boiling water. This water bath will bake the cheesecake from the sides and result in more even cooking.

If you’re lucky enough to live with an active or former firefighter like Mr. Wright, have him use hot pads to put the bubbling setup into the oven. Firefighters are accustomed to performing under conditions which may leave them with third degree burns. Not so lucky? You’ll have to manage on your own. Please be careful!

Bake until cheesecake begins to pull away from edges of pan – about 55 to 60 minutes. Don’t let it brown!

CAREFULLY remove pan from oven (or have your firefighter do it). Let stand for 15 minutes, then carefully remove spring-form from larger pan and peel away foil. Chill for two or more hours before serving. The longer, the better.

Garnish with chocolate chips and drizzle with chocolate syrup before serving.

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I’ve had some discussions over the past few days with vegan mamas who are chefs to omnivorous families. One of the frustrations moms have shared with me is their kids tend to want “regular” dinners (which I take to mean “not vegan”).

Now, Sexy Vegan Mama does the lion’s share of the cooking around these parts, and she sure as Shiitake isn’t going to cook meat, dairy or eggs. However, I can and do modify “regular” favorites from my non-vegan past to prepare for my family. Sometimes, the result is disastrous, and sometimes, it’s whiz-bang awesome.

I made a fairly good manicotti a few years ago,, but I either lost the recipe or didn’t write it down in the first place – two illustrations of my organizational abilities that are each as likely as the other.

So I tried again last night.

Of the 14 stuffed manicotti tubes, Mr. Wright snarfed down six and Pepper and GirlWonder each made a point of saying, “These are really good!” I’ll forgive them their tone of surprise.

Live and learn… I wrote down the recipe this time!

This recipe is also perfect for another group of moms who’ve been crossing my path lately – those who want to try including tofu in family meals, but are worried their kids (or husbands!) won’t eat it or feel the prospect of cooking it is daunting. All the fear of cooking tofu is alleviated in this recipe because it’s simply crumbled and mixed into the stuffing, and your kids will never know it’s in there. Although manicotti takes a bit of preparation, it’s a great starter recipe for the tofu-curious!

Sexy Vegan Mama’s Vegan Vegetable Manicotti

Ingredients:

1 – 8 oz. package manicotti shells

1 lb firm tofu
1 – 8 oz. tub vegan cream cheese (I use Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese)
1 – 8 oz. package vegan mozzarella-style shreds (I use Daiya Deliciously Dairy Free)
1 large carrot, grated
1 – 5 oz. can sliced water chestnuts, finely chopped
1 c. fresh broccoli, finely chopped
1 c. fresh spinach leaves, finely chopped (*see tip, below)
1 handful fresh cilantro leaves, chopped (I use an herb mill)
1 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
1/4 t. black pepper
1/2 T. dried sweet basil

1 – 26 oz. can prepared pasta sauce (or, you know, make your own if you have time – I rarely do)

Optional:

Fresh spinach leaves and cilantro sprigs for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Drain the tofu, then use the back of a wide spoon to mash the block into small “curds.”

Add vegan cream cheese and mozzarella shreds, mixing thoroughly. Stir in grated carrot, chopped water chestnuts, broccoli, spinach…

…and cilantro.

Add garlic powder, nutmeg, black pepper and basil and mix well.

Prepare manicotti shells according to directions on package. Rinse with cold water and drain.

Using a narrow spoon or pastry bag (without a decorator’s tip), fill both ends of manicotti shells with tofu filling. Don’t stuff or cram the filling into the pasta tube, as it will only burst during cooking and make you cry when your manicotti turns out ugly.

Lightly coat the bottom of a casserole dish with a bit of pasta sauce, then place filled manicotti in the pan with a bit of space between each one.

Side note: Is there actually a casserole dish made that easily accommodates all 14 manicotti shells? I always have to use my 9” x 13” in tandem with my 9.5” square!

Use remaining sauce to cover stuffed manicotti, ensuring all edges of the pasta are coated in sauce to prevent drying while baking.

Cover casserole dishes with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Let stand for about five minutes before serving.

Makes 14 stuffed manicotti tubes.

*Tip for chopping spinach: Stack spinach leaves, largest on the bottom. Gently roll the leaves, then cut the roll into quarters lengthwise, then slice the long stips into small bits.

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Sexy Vegan Mama was getting a bit big for her britches over here – and I don’t mean she was packing on pounds from all the desserts over the holidays. Even if she was, it’s really not my place to point out her widening rear end.

*ahem*

No… What I mean is she’s outgrown her little corner here at TheGonzoMama.com, and she’s moved into a place of her own.

*sniffle* It’s so hard to when they grow up and leave home.

Anyway, she’s set up shop over at SexyVeganMama.com, where she’ll be sharing her best family vegan recipes (like this one), stories about living the vegan life and more.

Oh! And she has big publishing news! Go check it out!

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I’ve been a busy, busy mama. So busy, in fact, I’ve fallen into the rut of being a lazy mama when it comes to dinner. Pasta. Sauce. Repeat.


Ugh.

Mr. Wright was working late, Pepper and GirlWonder were out of town with Princess, Pockets was with his other parents, and The Dude was at a wrestling tournament, so it was just me, Curlytop and Snugglebug for dinner last night.

I wanted to make something with fresh vegetables, but I wanted something sweet and happy for the little ones, so I threw together this dish, which pleased my girls’ palates and got some nutrition into their rapidly-growing bodies.

Sexy Vegan Mama’s Creamy Orange Ginger Sauce with Stir-Fry and Rice Noodles

Stir-Fry (You may use your own favorite veggies. I used what I had on-hand.):


1 or 2 carrots, sliced
2 or 3 stalks of celery, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
1 to 2 c. cut wax beans
1 medium bell pepper, julienned
1 – 15 oz. can garbanzo beans, drained
1 c. fresh or frozen green peas

If you’re not experienced at stir-frying, there are some good tips here.

Sauce:


2 T. olive oil
1/8 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 t. garlic powder
1 t. ground ginger
1/8 c. cane juice crystals, raw sugar or other vegan sugar (I use Zulka)
1/2 c. orange juice
1 c. soy milk

Heat oil over medium heat. Add flour, stirring until flour is slightly toasted and no longer raw. Add garlic, ginger and cane juice crystals or sugar, mixing into a paste.

Pour in orange juice and slowly increase heat while stirring, until almost boiling. The sauce should just begin to thicken slightly.

Add soy milk and continue stirring, gently increasing heat until sauce begins to bubble and thicken. Pour immediately over vegetables.

Noodles:

Rice noodles are very quick-cooking. The ones I get (below) are in 16-ounce packages, though even for my brood, I usually only use half a package at a time. Boil your water and add a splash of olive or canola oil, which will help prevent the noodles from sticking. They’re very starchy and sticky, those rice noodles. When your water is boiling, toss the noodles in and cook for just a very few minutes until they’re tender – three to five.

Don’t overcook the noodles! If you do, you’ll be left with a soggy mass of starch and you will cry. Yes, you will.

Drain the noodles when they’re done.

Assembly:


Serve the stir-fry and sauce over the cooked rice noodles, adding a sprinkling of slivered almonds, if desired.

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Sexy Vegan Mama has signed, sealed and delivered her juicy collaboration agreement with best-selling author William Maltese (BACK OF THE BOAT GOURMET COOKING, The Gluten-Free Way: My Way, William Maltese’s Wine Taster’s Diary and about 200 more!) as they commence an adventure in decadence!

The project? A “get-real” cookbook (tentatively) titled SWEET AND SIMPLE VEGAN DESSERTS, with mainstream publisher Wildside/Borgo.

What vegan dessert recipes do you look forward to?

Are you a vegan blogger who’d like some pimping? Contact me about recipe testing, interviews or contributing recipes! You’ll be listed in the book’s resources/acknowledgments section!