In Homage to My Mother

Growing up, my family always had a home-cooked meal on the table. Even when things were tight, even when my mom was really tired, she made sure we always ate something delicious and healthy. One of my all-time favorite dinners was probably one of the cheapest to make: Hamburger Gravy. Served over mashed potatoes sided with a vegetable, I always had seconds. I remember in bootcamp writing to my mother, telling her that the very first meal I wanted when I got out was her Hamburger Gravy.

It's not the fanciest, and it certainly isn't the hardest to make, but for my first blogged Vegan recipe, I thought this would be a great way to let my mom know how much I love her. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't love cooking as much as I do....or be half as good at it!



Mashed Potatoes
(For these, you just make regular ol' mashed potatoes, only use plain soy milk and soy butter)
4 potatoes
1/4 cup soy milk
1/4 cup soy butter (I really like Earth Balance)
Salt & Pepper
Garlic Powder

1. Peel and cut the potatoes. Place in a pot filled with water. Add a dash of salt and boil until easily pierced with a fork (about 10-12 minutes).

2. Drain the potatoes. In a bowl, add the soy milk, soy butter, and spices (to taste). Mash with a masher or beaters and voila!

Hamburger Gravy

Olive Oil
1/2 Yellow onion, chopped
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp Basil
Salt & Pepper
Dash of red pepper flakes
2 dashes of soy sauce
1 package of meatless burger crumbles (I LOVE Boca. MorningStar is really good, too.)
2 cups vegetable broth (I use the bouillon cubes)
1/4 cup Corn Starch

1. In a medium pan, put just enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the onion and garlic; cook until tender. Add the oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

2. Add the meatless burger crumbles and cook until no longer frozen. Add your vegetable broth (or water and bouillon) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat.

3. Add the soy sauce. In a small bowl, put the corn starch and just enough water to make it dissolve (this is an amazing thickener called "slurry"). Slowly add the slurry to the pan, a little bit at a time, making sure to stir constantly. You'll notice as the gravy simmers, it will get thicker, so just add as much to get the consistency you want.

4. Pour the gravy over the mashed potatoes and enjoy!

I steamed up some fresh asparagus (which Cody loves because it tastes good and has the added bonus of making his "pee smell funny") and some garlic bread...mine made with soy butter and Cody's with the last of our 'real' butter.

Again, thanks mom. And thanks to all of you for checking out my first post!








Hi, my name is Cody. Since this is the first food post you may not know me, or understand why I get my own snippet in this blog, so let me explain. I am not a hippy. I love eating animals because they are delicious. I am a fan of eating all things lower than me on the food chain. (Except tomatoes. Gross.) I am the first one to argue any sort of animal cruelty (not in favor of the hippies) and try to keep Elizabeth from taking the wrong path...the hippy path...through this mysterious Vegan forest. So the reason I'm here is to answer the question on everyones mind: Does this weird s*#t really taste good?!. If you are normal and not biased on little animals' feelings, then you should skip to my part. Here are some questions you should ask yourself before reading my section: "Do I refer to my pet as a 'fur baby'? Would I rather refer to a sea-faring animal as a 'sea kitten' so that, should I be tempted to feast on its flesh, I will feel really bad? Do I listen to Green Day? Have I ever used the words 'PETA' and 'awesome' in the same sentence?" If you answered yes to any of those questions then you should probably skip my section. You are officially too concerned with saving the rainforest and do not care about the taste of what you are shoveling into your unbrushed sewer. In fact, you would probably eat some poo if I could convince you that it didn't come from an animal and was full of protein (it is, you should try it). My opinions are based solely on taste, as is my trademark "Cody's Seal of Approval" picture. So without further ado:

...and Cody says...


I rate this dish TASTY! As you can see in my picture, I happily finished this one. Although when I found out that the Worcestershire sauce got dropped because it has anchovies I was a bit displeased. The sauce was definitely missing that delicious, fishy, unpronounceable taste that I know and love. I also enjoy food that I can completely mix together, which takes the guessing game out of proper mouth portions. This dish is definitely in that category. The asparagus was awesome and so was the bread. And now that I come to think of it, the bread had BUTTER on it. That's right, my piece had real butter. Take that one COWS! You lose because I just ate a product based on something that you naturally produce! Well.....SEE YA!