Fajita Salad / Salat

by Dieter

Lettuce / Salat
Carrots / Karotten
Tomatoes / Tomaten
Soy chunks / Soja stücke
Chili peppers / Chili schote

Sauce option 1:

Olive oil / Olivenöl
Fajita mix / mischung

Sauce option 2:

Liquid gold from the First Mess blog (with modifications: omit garlic & flax, less water so it is creamier, shake in a sealed tupperware rather than mix in a blender)

In a saucepan, pour hot water over the soy chunks to hydrate them. Sauce option 1: Mix the fajita seasoning in. Mix all ingredients in a big bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Sauce option 2: pour over the complete salad

In eine Topf, gießen heißes Wasser über die Soja stücke bis sie feuchtig sind. Mischung mit fajita mischung. Mischung alle die Zutaten in einem große schussel und gießen Olivenöl überall.

Focaccia, Pita, Pita chips

Pita bread

The recipe by The Mediterranean Dish is really good

• My modification: I replace 1/4 of the flour with fava protein powder to make them higher protein. This means that you need to use more flour/fava powder to get the dough to be less sticky and kneadable because fava powder doesn't absorb as much as flour does.

Pita Chips

Based on the recipe by The Mediterranean Dish

• Make pita bread, cut it into pita chip sized pieces, and freeze them until you want pita chips. 
• Ready for pita chips? Place the frozen pita bread pieces on a baking pan and wait for them to defrost. 
• Sprinkle olive oil, salt, and seasonings on top. I like to use Italian spices for the seasoning. 
• Take a fork and rub both sides of each piece in the spiced oil. 
• Place in the oven at 180 C for 10 min. Flip the pieces over, and bake for another 2-5 min until they start to brown

Focaccia

By Dieter

250 ml water / Wasser
1 tbsp yeast / Hefe
250gr flour / Mehl (for high protein version use 1/3 soya flour, 1/3 wheat gluten, 1/3 wheat flour)
Rosemary / Rosmarin
Salt / Salz
Olive oil / Olivenöl

Mix the dried yeast in the water and let sit for 10 minutes. Stir in the flour and knead for 3-5 minutes until there is a smooth dough. Adjust the amount of flour to get a good non-sticky consistency. Let the dough sit and rise for 90 minutes. Pour olive oil on an oven pan and spread the dough on top. Let sit for another 15-30 minutes. Sprinkle olive oil, rosemary, and salt on top. Bake at 240C/465F for 10-15 minutes until it starts to brown and crisp.

Misch die trockene Hefe mit dem Wasser und warte für 10 Minuten. Rühr das Mehl hinein und verknete den Teig für 3-5 Minuten bis er glatt ist. Die Mehlmenge kann angepasst werden um eine gute, nicht klebende Konsistenz zu erhalten. Lass den Teig für 90 Minuten ruhen und wachsen. Schmier ein Backblech mit Olivenöl ein und breite den Teig darauf aus. Lass ihn dort erneut für 10-15 Minuten ruhen. Verteil ein bisschen mehr Olivenöl obendrauf und bestreu es mit Salz und Rosmarin. Backe bei 240C/465F für 10-15 Minuten bis der Teig anfängt braun und knusprig zu werden.

Tofu Scramble

by Corina

1 block firm tofu - OR - 3C fava beans (cooked & seasoned with salt, pepper, and oil)
2T Senf / mustard
1T Schwarzes pfeffer / black pepper
1 Paprika / bell pepper
2 Gurken / pickles
7 Tomaten (klein) / tomatoes (cherry)
2T Oliven öl / olive oil
1 pack Käse / cheese

Optional: 1 box Pilze / mushrooms, Kalamata olives

Kochst die pilze in öl bis sie sind fast fertig, dann hinzufügen alle die reste der zutaten und kochen bis die käse schmelzt.

Cook the mushrooms in oil until they are almost done, then add all of the rest of the ingredients and cook until the cheese is melted.

Gingerbread scenes

We started a new holiday tradition in 2019: making gingerbread scenes with our friends :-)

Gingerbread recipe: the delicious recipe is from http://www.veganchristmas.co.uk/vegan-gingerbread-house-recipe.html. This recipe makes enough for 3 gingerbread stations, which made all of the gingerbread in the pictures below for 2019 (3 houses plus lots of other elements). RECOMMENDATION: only make 1/3 of the recipe if there are only 2 people eating the gingerbread afterward.

Icing recipe: add a little bit of cold water to lots of powdered sugar (at least 2 boxes) and stir. Add more water until you have the desired consistency (not too runny because this is the glue for the scene)

Tips

• Get lots more powdered sugar than you think you need (at least 2 boxes)
• Make the pieces thicker than the instructions - then they will stay chewy on the inside the next day rather than getting rock hard
• Place them on the baking sheet with sufficient distance - otherwise the large thick pieces will grow and fuse with other parts
• Right when the pieces come out of the oven you could still cut the dough to make adjustments
• Don't need baking paper for cutting or baking though - just put flour on the surface and pan and it won't stick (not too much flour though or it gets all over the gingerbread)
• For assembly, first put icing on the surface you want to stick the gingerbread pieces to, and then put the gingerbread on it. 
• Use gingerbread as the floor and then you don't have to scrape icing off of a non-edible surface when you are done eating it. Also, you can jam the standing pieces into the gingerbread floor to make them stand up, then put icing around the bottom for extra stability.

2020 (online party)

Claudia & Freddy: houses!

Elspeth: reindeer pulling a sleigh

Corina & Dieter: Dog sledding through the Grand Canyon

Dogs from top left to bottom right: Lou, Fred, Mellori, Siro, Canelo, Mimi, Atlas, Maja

2019

Baking the pieces in the oven for 16-20 min until they are brownish

Elspeth: A gingerbread scene with a 3D tree, benches, a fire, a path, a gingerbread person, a heart, and a chocolate Santa

Dustin & Susie: A gingerbread scene with a ladder to the roof, tables, benches, cups, and plates with food on them

Dieter & Corina: A gingerbread scene with an ice skating rink, cats and a crow on the roof, crows in the yard, mountains, a snow person, two trees, a flying duck, and a dog

Fajita seasoning

Modified from https://www.spendwithpennies.com/fajita-seasoning/

1T Chili powder
2t Cumin
2t Paprika
1t Sugar
0.5t Black pepper
0.5t Salt
0.25t Cayenne pepper

Great for adding to soy hack and putting in tacos, burritos, and on pizza

***If you add it to soy hack, add a stock cube to it before pouring water over the hack and adding the rest of the spices

Mulled apple juice and mulled wine

by Dieter

Mulled apple juice
1l apple juice
squeeze some lemon juice
1T cinnamon
1t cloves
sugar to taste

Combine all in a pan and warm it on the stove


Mulled wine
2l sweet red wine
1l orange juice
3 cinnamon sticks
handful of cloves

Combine all in a pan and warm it on the stove

Pumpkin pie

Modified by Corina from Louise Hagler's recipe

3/4 lb. firm tofu - or - 250 ml Oatley cream

1 (16 oz.) can pumpkin puree - or - 2 cups fresh-cooked pumpkin  
0.75-1C sugar  
2T oil  
2T maple syrup 

3-4T cornstarch OR 2T tapioca flour (makes it thick)
1 1/2 t cinnamon  
1t salt  
1t ginger powder  
1/2 t nutmeg   

1t vanilla

Optional: 1/2t allspice

Mix in blender, pour into unbaked 9" pie crust, bake 1hr @ 175C/350F.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or vegan hazelnut-chocolate spread (Deutschland: Rewe Bio nuss-nougat creme)

Crust: a margarine-based recipe modified by Corina from https://www.noracooks.com/vegan-pie-crust/ 

2C / 220g flour

0.25t salt

Blend in blender

Add

0.5C / 120g vegan margarine

2T maple syrup 

3-4T ice water

Crust: an oil-based recipe by Brynna Clark Grogan (website is no longer available) modified by Corina

1/2C white flour

1/2C wholewheat pastry flour

3T oil

3T soymilk with 1/2t lemon juice added

1/2t salt

1/2t baking powder

1/2t sugar

• Mix flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar
• Whisk soymilk with lemon and oil in a cup, pour into the flour mixture, mix gently with a fork until it holds together in a ball.  (If it's too dry, sprinkle with a TINY bit of water.) If you have time, place the dough in a plastic bag and refrigerate it for an hour before rolling out
• Roll out and press into pan