quickies are nice

well..um, those kinds of quickies are nice; however, i'm talking about a quickie meal. bang-bang-bang done. i thought i was busy when i just had one kid. i'm still working on the two kid thing. no time to do much of anything, and when i think i've got a rhythm going, someone shits their pants!

i know, i know TMI. but readers of this blog that have two or more children know what i'm sayin'. aiiiight?

anyway, this is some ww pasta with my signature pesto sauce, chopped spanish olives, roasted red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, and some smoked tofu all living in harmony. in spite of all those savory ingredients, it tasted a little bland, so i added red pepper flakes for flair. it wasn't bad and it utilized stuff that had been sitting around in the pantry. if i make this again, i'll definitely add some roasted garlic or up the amount of pesto i use. i hate it when i'm pesto deficient.

me want cookies! nomnomnomnom....

guess who got isa and terry's cookie cookbook for the holidays? dat's right. these are the chocolate crinkle cookies. they are by far the family favorite--perfect marriage of crisp and chewy. it's like a cookie and a fudgey brownie did it and had cookie babies.

what's your favorite cookie from the book?

BOOM! Product Review

BOOM! this is probably the best vegan chocolate i've ever had. the texture isn't smooth as silk--it's a bit grainy, but that don't bother me no how. mr. jewy picked this up for me on clearance at kroger's and i'm glad he did. what i liked about it is that it is sweet for a dark chocolate bar, completely vegan-(none of that pesky jargon on the ingredients that states "used on equipment that processes milk, eggs, etc."), so it's even okay for the vegan police to eat.

added bonus: you gotta like a name like Boom! Choco Boom! i wonder if Enjoy Life foods will come up with a bom-chicka-bom-bom cookie or something.

the perfect holiday bread for christmachanakwaanzika

i made it back into the kitchen! this photo doesn't do this bread any justice, but i'm hoping you can see the bits of berries n' nuts in this glorious bread. i scored some frozen cranberries at the food bank and wanted to make something besides cranberry sauce. i made the cranberry-orange-nut bread from veganomicon. this was really good and makes the perfect holiday bread to bake for that special someone no matter what you celebrate. i'm sure santa, jesus, the maccabees, and all those who honor the spirit of hamarabe would sit around a fire eating this bread with a strong cup of earl grey tea--everyone singing in harmony, of course.

the recipe calls for fresh cranberries, but the frozen worked quite well. i suppose if you were in a pinch, dried would work just fine, although the purpose of using the fresh/frozen is to ensure that you get a burst of plump tart berries in each bite. i did have some clementines lying around so i squeezed them and used them for the juice instead of the OJ, and that worked well too.

c.h.i.p.s.

no, this entry ain't about poncho and jon from the fabulously hip cop drama from the late 70's--this is about the usage of chocolate chips. these are the peanut butter waffles from vegan brunch that i made before i had the baby. and yes, i'll fully admit it, i can't leave a sweet recipe alone. i have to add chocolate chips to damn near everything. in this case, the addition made the waffles 10 thousand times more decadent than they already are.

yippee ki-yay.....

i have no idea how i'm going to maintain this blog since cookie has arrived. i spend my days working hard at not doing anything per doctor's orders--such is the life of someone after major surgery. i've watched more t.v. than i ever have in the past year, including finally seeing the movie die hard. for all of you who happen to be movie enthusiasts out there, there's a particular line in this flick that mr. willis exclaims, "yipee ki-yay mother$%^&*#!"

typically, the yippee and the ki-yay exclamation is uttered only from cowboys. everyone should know this that has seen a tex avery cartoon or watched an old western. i'm not opposed to obscenities or cowboys, but i found it funny to see a young bruce willis-(with hair!) utter this sentence. i found it even crazier to see a young alan rickman-(aka snape from harry potter movies). i hardly recognized him! but that's neither here nor there. the question i want answered is: can a cookie be so good that it would make someone cuss? absolutely!

i imagine bruce said this after having one of isa's cowboy cookies from vegan cookies invade your cookie jar!
i made a batch of these prior to my daughter's arrival. i had mad plans to do more baking from this cookbook, but i can't do squat for another few weeks. this recipe made plenty and freezes well. just defrost and warm in microwave. of course, they're best out of the oven.
sorry for the flash photography--i can't wait for winter to be over so i can take decent outside shots of food again. the recipe suggests using a vegan butterscotch chip along with the chocolate chips, but i'm not from the east coast and have no access to the coveted price chopper brand butterscotch chips. i also didn't feel like paying an arm and a leg to buy them online. i might have to do this if i make them in the future, though.

the arrival of cookie

hey readers, guess what! i had cookie. she came outta the oven a tad bit early--but she's here and we're doing well. that's why i haven't blogged in 4 eva. i'll try to keep up, but right now my priorities are all about making sure this little gal is getting fed...and that girl is hungry. all. the. time!
long story, but i ended up having a c-section, which means i'm not really doing much cooking right now. and since cookie came right before thanksgiving, my mad plans to whoop it up in the kitchen were foiled and i was a tad depressed about it. i can't lift anything heavy, and i need to take it easy. well, on day two home from the hospital, mr. jewbacca woke me up from a much needed nap to show me how much he loves me: he made THE entire vegan thanksgiving spread you see before you and bought a vegan pumpkin pie from the local food co-op. keep in mind, mr. jewy is an omnivore and didn't have to do this. i was moved to tears.
shown above: mashed sweet potatoes, regular mashed potatoes with tofurkey giblet gravy, tofurkey, and my favorite--green bean casserole. we didn't have any cranberry sauce so i sprinkled the top with dried cranberries. i know this sounds gross, but it tastes really good.


i hope everyone had a great holiday!

i wail, you wail, we all wail for tasty kale!

okay, i'll agree the title doesn't have the same ring as "i scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!" most vegans will agree that kale gets a bad rap. i've come across many a vegetarians and omnivores that won't eat it. but i've found a recipe that will make you fall in love with it.

kale is kind of like spinach. i used lacitano kale which looks all bumpy like a dinosaur. it is packed with vitamins and can be eaten raw, but i don't suggest doing that. most of the time i like sauteing mine in some olive oil and eatin' it with some tahini dressing, but shown above is an african inspired peanut stew with rutabagas and kale.

jewbacca's ground nut stew thangy:

you'll need:

a nice bunch of kale
a big ol' rutabaga
1/4 c. peanut butter--heaping! (any kind will do)
1 container imagine foods brand organic tomato soup
1/2 onion finely chopped
1/4 t. cardamon
1/4 t. cumin
1/4 t. cinnamon
1T samba oelek

salt or bragg's to taste
olive oil for cookin' onions and kale

peel and dice that rutabaga like a big ol' potato, then boil until tender and drain. set aside. while that rutabaga is boiling, wash your kale and finely chop. chop that onion while yer at it too. saute onion first in the olive oil, then add the kale until nice n' tender. add the p.b. and spices being careful to not burn--then set aside.

in a big saucepan, pour in tomato soup. add cooked rutabagas, and the kale/pb/spice mixture until well blended and warm. serve this over rice or by itself. adjust spices as needed. this stew is a real sinus clearer!

outside of cooking note: no the baby isn't here yet. each day my anxious/tired/lazy combo is reaching its thresh hold! sorry i haven't been posting more.

a tale of two seitans

i made not one, but two batches of seitan this weekend so i could have them handy for thanksgiving. i'm planning on making a vegan version of my late MIL's "thanksgiving casserole" which was an orgy of turkey, taters, stuffing, veggies, and gravy layered lovingly in a casserole dish, the stuff of midwesterners dreams. we all know this can be veganified with no problems, and i'm gonna so do it. the batch above is lord seitan's seitan's recipe, post oven. note: you have to click on his specific bio with the link to see the recipe. most seitan you can just boil and make, but i like to bake it at three-fiddy for about 20 minutes or so (flipping over every 10 minutes) to make it nice, chewy, and meat-like.
here's bianca's recipe from vegan crunk. because this is in her cookbook, i can't disclose the recipe. here are some seitanic strips right outta the oven. you can visit her awesome web site here.
again, we have lord seitan's recipe freshly boiled and cut into strips. i noticed it was much more fluffy and porous than crunk's recipe.
bianca's is much more dense and cuts into better strips.

verdict: which is better? i love lord seitan and bianca, so i can't really pick sides. the more appropriate answer is to say that bianca's recipe lends itself to chicken like recipes-(like fake buffalo wings, mock chicken salad, fake chicken strips, or perhaps you could get creative and fashion a nice thanksgiving faust) because of the denser texture. lord seitan's has a bit of a chew to it and is more savory. better for casseroles and stir frys.

product review: wholly guacamole!

this shit is the bomb. i know, i know--pre-made guac is the epitome of laziness, BUT i'm entitled to be a little lazy every now and then, and you should be too! this stuff is vegan-(i like the pico de gallo flavor best, but i couldn't find a pic). no hidden weird ingredients, just avocados and some spices. you snip open a corner and squeeze it on your favorite food item. simple.

price? i'd never pay full price for this, but mr. jewbacca is the coupon king and we earned $1 off plus got it on sale at kroger and ended up paying 99 centados, nada mas. que ganga!* (*that's yer spanish lesson for "what a bargain!")

verdict? straight up two turntables and a microphone. wholly guacamole company, you'd better send me a care package, damnit.

how to feed a vegan for the clueless

this entry is dedicated to my vegetarian and omnivore friends who have always wanted to help a fellow vegan out by cooking for them, but don't really know what to do. lots of pics, all repeats. why would you want to cook for a vegan? i dunno, out of the kindness of your heart, or perhaps the lovable vegan you know-(cough, cough-hint-hint) might have had a life changing event take place-(the birth of a child, a sudden illness, or the death of a loved one) and might not be in a position to cook for themselves for a few weeks. one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me has been this very act, and i've made a personal commitment to bring hot dishes or tasty treats for those who need them during these life cycle events.

not everyone who reads this blog is vegan, and it is my hope to share the message by letting everyone know 1) being vegan ain't that hard, and 2) even if you don't wanna be vegan--cooking for a vegan in need isn't such a daunting task after all. if you've been called to duty to make something for a vegan, don't freak out. here are some handy dandy tips to keep you from losing your mind, and who knows--maybe you'll even try something and like it!

if you have some basic culinary skills, vegan baking is one of the easiest things to do. pictured above are the banana date walnut scones from veganomicon. you don't have to buy a vegan cookbook to get a recipe either, you can borrow a copy of a popular book from your public library, or conduct a google search for a recipe by typing "vegan_____recipe" and you'll get a ton of recipes or links to some good ones. recipe czar is nice and so is vegweb.com you can even look at my blog or my other buddies blogs and get great recipes there! my favorite source is the post punk kitchen.

if your cookin' skills ain't that grand, you can always buy specialty foods in the natural foods section of your local grocery store or food co-op. pictured above is kashi's sicilian veggie pizza, and it's completely vegan. kashi has many frozen entrees that are pricey, but vegan if you don't know how to cook. most packaging contains a label that clearly states this. if you can't find it, just look at the ingredients. if it says it contains meat, fish, milk, eggs, or any animal by products, then it isn't vegan. trader joe's has gone to great lengths to make sure that the food they sell is clearly labeled with specialty diets in mind. if you're puzzled, go to your local food co-op, find a loveable hippy worker, say "i'm cooking for a vegan and am clueless...help me find something!" and they'll totally hook you up. if you don't have a food co-op near by, you can always look at this link sponsored by PETA-(i can't believe i'm plugging them, because they annoy me so) called "i can't believe it's vegan!" and they list all of the popular brands of food that are accidentally vegan. note: a large portion of these prepared foods are chemically, but vegan.
again, if you lack the knack in the kitchen, you can always order a pizza with veggies, sauce, and no cheese. pictured above is a shot of me from my 36th birthday eating a slice of pie from max's place, which uses vegan cheese. many places do not, and to be perfectly honest--pizza is so much better without it. you might want to ask a place if they use milk or eggs in the crust if you're ordering a pie for a vegan.
the produce aisle is heaven for vegans. again, if you don't have the know how or the energy to cook--get a bag of baking potatoes, bake 'em all up, and bring them to your recouping vegan buddy with a complete array of vegan toppings: salsa, earth balance-(popular vegan margarine), guacamole, tofutti sour supreme-(a vegan version of sour cream), and bacos brand fakin' bacon bits. most commercial imitation bacon bits are vegan, and made of soy unless the package says "100% bacon bits".
if you asked a vegan, "do you like stir fry?" most would answer, "does a bear shit in the woods?" you just can't go wrong here, either. pictured above is something i threw together at my friend baucco's annual mongolian bbq: tempeh, hoisin sauce, green peppers, red peppers, zukes, and some broccoli. easy peasy. if time is a constraint, go to your local chinese eatery and get a veggie stir fry with some tofu added. watch out for things prepared in fish sauce. my buddy chris says you can avoid this dilemma by telling the waitstaff you're buddhist. who knew.

so there you go. next time you encounter an ailing vegan in need, you'll know what to do. thanks for reading and good luck.

MOFO conclusions and a late Halloween post

NOTE: this isn't a food post, but i will discuss some MOFO musings, a skeleton baking pan, and post some gnawdorable pics of my son trick or treating.

first off, i didn't end MOFO with a bang like i had wanted to. i believe i made the 20 post minimum. i didn't even count. i followed mo's instructions, pacing myself with posts, and reading other people's blogs. it was a struggle, but i did it. i'd give myself a grade of a "B". next year will be better.

secondly, let me tell you the story about how i acquired this rad skeleton muffin tin. i had been eyeballing it since october 1st at target-(much like wayne from wayne's world eyeballed that axe he desired--telling the muffin pan "oh yes, you will be mine"), but being the bargain gal i am, i refused to pay full price for the pan and knew it would go on clearance one month later. sure enough, during our weekly shopping i noticed they weren't moving. we had mad plans to go to target first thing this a.m. so i could get that baking pan half off. i didn't really want anything else!

so we get to the store at 8:10 and there are gaggles of peeps with their carts piled high-(can you say mountainous?) around the halloween stuff. i had no idea that people could be so passionate about holiday clearance items: they were like zombies dismembering racks of costumes and boxes of lights. who really needs 4 french maid dog costumes? i suppose someone with four dogs, but the consumerism scared me a little. my heart sank as i saw three or four people who had cleared all of the baking stuff with multiple pumpkin shaped cake pans, batty cookie cutters, and the muffin tins i had been yearning so desperately for and well-- i snapped. in a pregnancy hormone induced rage i audibly-(not yelled, but said aloud to myself) "you have to be KIDDING me! all i wanted was a skeleton muffin tin, and i can't get one because people are too fucking greedy!" not two seconds later, a woman came around the corner--looking down at the floor as knowing what she had done was wrong and said, "um, you know--i accidentally grabbed a few of these. why don't you take this one?" and handed me the skull muffin tin.

now kids, i know that wasn't very mature, boy howdy it wasn't. was that my best jewbacca moment? hardly. am i really proud of myself for behaving that way? i don't know just yet--perhaps i'll suffer some sort of weird karmic baking retribution and never get the results i want from these said tins. i will selfishly disclose this to you my passionate gaggle o ' vegan baking readers: for once my ability to induce jewish guilt and publicly utter profanity at the same time paid off.

post MOFO question: how do you think you did? have you ever had a temper tantrum over buying a cooking instrument or ingredient? what was it?
about my son's halloween excursion--doesn't look like a very happy yoda, now does he? he was petrified at the first house we visited because the yard was all decked out like a haunted house. after two more houses, he made the candy connection and by the fourth house we visited--he was running up with all his jedi powers, pressing his face against the door. we never got him to say "trick or treat!" even once. he did say, "fank you, bye-bye" before he returned to the swamp of dagoba.

happy belated halloween. i think i might take a few nights off blogging. i know i don't look very prego in that picture, but trust me--the belly sticks out and i'm very uncomfortable. i'll make sure to post a few good entries before ms. cookie gets here.

i had the baby! i had two babies! i had three babies! vegan MOFO day 29

ha-ha, fooled you! c'mon, would i really be posting if i had the baby? perhaps--although that would be pretty hardcore even by vegan MOFO standards. truth be told, no. i'd be nursing or napping. OB-GYN-KENOBE sez little cookie needs more time in the oven anyway.

so i finally got around to making these fudge babies that everyone keeps talkin' about. after eating a few i get why everyone is hemmin' and a hawin' over these things-- they are really good, and gluten free! great snack to make for any upcoming halloween celebration. you could probably get extra creative and make them look like eyeballs or something. what an awesome way to get some energy on without spending $1.75 for a larabar! good discovery, ms. chocolate covered katie!

i'd love to prattle on, but i've gotta go watch survivor--it's my guilty pleasure.

MOFO question: what have you made this month that you've never made before? did you get the idea from someone's blog? if so, who's blog?

my top 4 favorite food posts from 2009 vegan MOFO day #28

i'm low on food porn pics and ideas for an entry so i thought i'd list my top 4 favorite posts and dishes of 2009. i surprised myself by not putting more sweets in this entry, but one can't live on cookies alone...or can they?
two words: diablo dog.
i would do anything for loaf, but i won't do that. seriously, i still dream about this. now that fall/winter is here, nothing would do better than another pan of this stuff.
linda richman would say this east coast coffee cake is "like buttah." i'm getting verklempt thinking about it!
who could forget the freezer purge burritos?

mofo question: what are your proudest food moments in 2009?

foodjacking--taking recipes for a wild ride! vegan MOFO day 27

just look at that pancake! i found a way to utilize the besan flour without it tasting all beany. you just have to use it in a sweet with holiday spice blend, like these here persimmon pancakes. when i had my 'brinner' fest a few evenings ago, i made pumpkin waffles with the besan flour too.

i pride myself on not having recipes, and am known to sprout 8 arms like an octopus, grabbing random things from cupboards and making tasty food. when it comes to pancakes and waffles, i do a bit of hijacking-(or i guess you can call it foodjacking for that matter) from other recipes, using the necessities as a base, then adding my own flair. just look at any basic pancake or waffle recipe from most cook books, make vegan subs, and add what you want. i took a recipe from veganomicon for chocolate chip brownie waffles and turned it on its head! take note of the following:

jen's pumpkin (or persimmon) waffles (or pancakes)
GLUTEN FREE for sweet baby jebus
*i'm not being blasphemous, SBJ is a referee for the bleeding heartland rollergirls and is a gluten free man.

you'll need:

• 2 c. besan flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t nutmeg
• 1/2 t clove powder
• 1 1/2 t vanilla
• 1 c non-dairy milk
• 1 c pureed pumpkin (canned is fine i guess, i just had some home made puree on hand)
• OR if making persimmon version, use 1/2 c. persimmon pulp. if going the persimmon route, you'll need to up the milk
• 1/2 c chopped pecans
• 3/4 c dried cranberries
• 1/3 c. canola oil

mix dry ingredients first, then wet. if making pancakes, scoop out about 1/2 to 1/3 measured cup of batter on a hot non-stick pan and cook for a few minutes on each side. for the waffle iron, please follow the manufacturer's instructions. either way, you'll want to make sure to spray pan or waffle iron with some non-stick spray.

enjoy with some EB and maple syrup.

the point of hijacking isn't to rip off someones recipe, it's to use the flour/baking soda/wet ingredient measurements so you don't really have to think about how much to add and to eliminate the guesswork involved in coming up with a recipe if you're somewhat gastronomically challenged like me. i find isa's work to be really good inspiration for coming up with my own unique combinations.

mofo question: CONFESS. are you guilty of hijacking any recipes?

new take on an old tradition, vegan mofo day #26

no kids, i'm not gonna preach about how awesome it is to bake cookie dough in muffin tins so you get a super thick monster cookie cup. i'm gonna tell you that i tried olivia's chocolate chip cookie recipe from fairly odd tofu mom's blog. yummy! i made one alteration for the sake of experimentation in gluten free cooking: i subbed chickpea flour. the results? good--a hint of beany flavor, but otherwise great. am i GF now? no, i just have friends who do that and i wanted to see if that flour translated well in the recipe. if i make ol' olivia's recipe el futuro, i'm sure to use the standard ww flour.

since that cookie making experiment took place last week, i've tried a couple other recipes that used besan flour that worked much better. i'll post that entry tomorrow.

mofo question: have you ever made something for a GF friend? what flour did you use? what was the recipe? how did it work out?

brinner! MOFO day #25

well, it's getting down to the wire. i'm getting bigger, progressively more exhausted, and i bounce back and forth between wanting to cook and not wanting to cook. saturday i had a **burst** of energy and made brinner (brunch for dinner) for a couple of my friends--vegan AND gluten free. a challenge i had never attempted.
the food and conversation were so awesome, i forgot to take pics of the spread! shame on me. so please enjoy these pics of my messy assed kitchen. no worries, the beer bottle isn't mine, it's mr. jewbaccas. the menu was tofu scrambler, oven fries, jalapeno corn gravy-(*inspired from veganomicon, but made with on the fly--i severely cheated by making a gravy with corn soup, instant mashed potatoes, frank's red hot, and chopped pickled jalapenos. very good), french toast, and pumpkin/cranberry/pecan waffles made with chickpea flour. we drank ginger ale mixed with some sort of fancy juice blend instead of mimosas.
so the next day i took pics of the left overs. sorry, no waffles to post! i made the french toast with schar bread-(a gluten free loaf of these adorable mini slices). the downfall of gf bread though is that it is hard as a rock, and doesn't hold moisture too well. so instead of french toast these were frenchy toasty tasting crackers.

for dinner tonight i had more jalapeno corn gravy over a baked sweet potato. deliciously simple. i seem to be really in love with the sweet/savory/spicy combo as of lately. i take back my earlier statement about how i think i'll give birth to a bag of sugar and change that to a Frankenstein mishmash of a baby with a giant cookie for a head, a body made of savory curry, and the arms and legs will be little bottles of frank's red hot.

i'd like to get the following done before the end of the month: make chocolate covered katie's fudge babies-(and take a pick for hug a carb month!), and make an industrial batch of seitan in honor of halloween.

what are your end of the MOFO month goals?

ooooh, me so corny! vegan mofo day #22

i like me some chili. i also like a good pun on a terrible song by the infamous luther campbell. i also like feng-shuiing things. the pantry and the freezer needed to be purged, so this was the result! it's the time of year where it is always too dark to take a good outdoor food porn photo, so i had to use the flash. apologies.

chili-con-corny (get it?)

• 2 c. pinto beans (cooked or canned, it doesn't matter. i defrosted some cooked from the freezer. if you choose to use canned, make sure to drain all the nasty sodium-y bean juice from the can)
  
• 1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles
• 1 can of corn
• 1 c. of tomato soup (prepared, i used imagine brand)
• 1 t chili powder
• 1 T ms. dash chipotle
• 1/2 t cumin
• 1/4 t cinnamon
• 3/4 c frozen pepper/onion blend (kroger makes this, pre-chopped and ready to go!)
• 1/2 t dried garlic, or 1 clove of fresh, minced
• 2 small bay leaves
  

salt and pepper to taste

saute onion/pepper/garlic in some olive oil in a pan. add tomatoes, beans, corn, and tomato soup. add spices and bay leaves simmering for about 10 minutes. cool and store in fridge. tastes better the second day!

i garnished this dish with corn chips, avocado slices, tofutti sour supreme, and frank's red hot. it was super good.

low fat AND tastes good!

hi readers! i don't have much time or energy to post today. i did test the timeless question, "can low fat be tasty?" with positive results. this here is the lower fat banana bread from veganomicon. i added chocolate chips for flair.


what is your favorite low-fat (but tasty) dish?

sweet, meet savory--butternut squash lasagna vegan mofo day #19

this weekend i made some butternut squash lasagna. two pans of it to be precise.
it was awesome. i know people are kind of put off by the idea of sweet and savory in the same dish, and how this could have been a disaster, but it wasn't. just try it. you can still have a side of veggies if you want, but this stuff is fine on its own. above is the second pan topped with some sun dried tomatoes, and below is the pan topped with the soysage-teese topping blend.
i was fairly impressed with the teese cheese. a little definitely goes a long way, and i used one tube between the two pans. some of the leftovers went into le freezer, some in our bellehs, and the rest is going to a couple from shul that just had a baby. what is it with babies this year--'09 has definitely been a baby 'splosion!

jen's butternut squash lasagna

you'll need:

2 9x13 pans
1 box of lasagna noodles ( i used kroger brand wheat noodles)
1 jar of your favorite vegan spaghetti sauce (large jar, large jar!)
1 big butternut squash, that will give you about 6 cups of squash
1 tube of mozerella teese
1 tube of gimme lean! soysage
2 cups chopped frozen spinach
1 cup chopped onion
1T dried garlic OR 2 cloves fresh from a garlic press
ms. dash sun dried tomato blend
some sun dried tomatoes, if you got 'em
canola oil or cooking spray

preheat the oven to 350. peel, chop, and boil the squash. in the mean time, spray or oil the pans liberally. put a thin layer of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of the pan. place three dry noodles side by side over the sauce. in a separate non-stick pan, start browning your onions in some olive oil. once brown, throw in the garlic, then the gimme lean, and after everything is good n' brown, then the spinach. once cooked, put some of that mixture on top of the dry noodles followed with some shredded teese, spread evenly with some more spaghetti sauce. place three more noodles on top of the soysage/spinach blend. once your squash has cooked, drain and mash well with ms. dash blend. spread and pat evenly on top of the dried noodle layer. top off with a little more spaghetti sauce, soysage spinach blend, and top with teese and sun dried tomatoes. you should have enough noodles, sauce, squash, etc. for two pans of this. for the second pan, i ended up having more squash than the soysage/spinach blend, but it still turned out delicious.

BAKE FOR 45 minutes COVERED WITH FOIL. this is super important. all the steam and moisture from veggies and sauce will give life to those dry noodles. bake uncovered for about 8 minutes, and broil for the last two to make the top all nice and bubbly!

pairs well with steamed kale and tahini dressing, but i bet it would even rock harder with some garlic bread.