cat's birthday

Three requests from Cat for her birthday meal:

Oreo Shake

Vanilla cake with six inches of frosting

Lasagna

The shake because she wanted to have Chicago Diner food, but not drive there. She wanted to spend the entire day in front of the computer talking and playing (online) with her friends. I could so sympathize; I'm a homebody myself.

This plant-milkshake is made with 3 oreos, 1/4 c of plant milk and 1/2 pint of vegan vanilla ice cream, per serving. This was quite a phenomenon and the kids were clamoring for more. Naturally I made them wait for the sugar rush from the cake. 

For her Birthday meal Cat asked for Lasagna. It seems whenever she gets to pick a meal - and we actually have to grant her wish - she requests Lasagna. This and Benedict (David's love) are the two dishes I've blogged about over and over again.

As I've blogged before, go ahead and add your dry pasta to the pan - no need to cook it even if it is not a no-boil noodle. I keep testing this again and again and it is a fact. Just add 6 T of water to the bottom of the pan with some of the tomato sauce, make sure to cover it very tightly and cook on 350 for at least an hour. That should do it and I hope I am not leading anyone astray.

Finally, her cake. A simple vanilla cake (from the Tiramisu recipe) and tons of maple frosting. 1 stick of vegan butter, 4 c of powdered sugar, a few tablespoons of plant milk and 1 t of coffee extract (if you can't find that use 1 T powdered instant espresso and add it to the warmed plant milk to dissolve). She loved it! I made a double batch of the frosting for her and spread it all on the cake. Even the rest of us passed our portion of the frosting to her and she was in frosting heaven.

Happy Birthday, Catriona!

OREO SHAKE PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

minestrone soup

Another request by Cat.

This is her most adored soup and it is so easy to make. This is the Olive Garden version of Minestrone Soup. Although I've made this soup a dozen of times, this was my best attempt. I am not a huge fan of oil and I've even been using coconut oil whenever I do use any, but I used the full 4 Tablespoons of olive oil in this and it was fantastic. 

I tend to minimize the use of processed fats in our diet (except last month, when I felt like I needed to make up for all of our healthy choices over the years), so this soup is great without the added oil, but it is really much better with it. 

Cost Breakdown

vegetables: $3

broth: $1

pasta: $.50

beans: $5

tomatoes: $2

spices, garlic, onion: $.50

Total to make 16 cups:

$12.00