Be My Valentine!!

I know I'm posting these cookies and recipe right in beginning of March but they are so pretty and delicious I would make them every week if I had the patience. Rolled cookies take some practice, but after a few batches you will baking them like a pro. I love the texture of homemade crispy cookies at Christmas but created this especially for my partner for Valentine's Day. We really enjoyed them.... he asked for them again this week. The flavor of the jam could be replaced, however, I would recommend preserves and not jelly. I veganized this recipe from here.

Valentine Heart Sandwich Cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup margarine (1 1/2 sticks)

1 cup seedless raspberry preserves (heated in microwave until melted and syrupy)

confectioners' sugar for dusting (optional)

In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, vanilla extract, and salt. With pastry blender or two knives used scissor-fashion, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle 4 to 5 tablespoons cold water, 1 tablespoon at time, into flour mixture, mixing lightly with a fork after each addition until dough is just moist enough to hold together. Shape dough into a ball; wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or until firm enough to roll. (Or, place dough in freezer 30 minutes.). Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. On lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll one-third of dough at a time 1/8 inch thick, keeping remaining dough refrigerated. With floured 3 or 4 inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut dough into as many hearts as possible. Place hearts, 1/2 inch apart, on ungreased large cookie sheet. Reserve trimmings. With floured 1 1/2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out centers from half of stars. Remove cutout centers, and bake along with larger cookies, checking after 7 minutes for doneness. Bake cookies 10 to 12 minutes until lightly browned. With pancake turner, remove cookies to wire racks to cool. Roll remaining dough and trimmings together to make more cookies; bake. When cookies are cool, sprinkle cookies with cutout centers with confectioners' sugar. Spread each cookie without cutout center with 1 rounded teaspoon raspberry preserves. Top each with a cookie with a cutout center, gently pressing cookies together to form a sandwich. Store in tightly covered container. To make open face jam covered cookies, place one teaspoon raspberry jam on solid heart cookie and with a small paint brush or spatula pull jam out to cover entire top.

Tofu Buffalo "Wings" in a Wrap

This is one of my favorite lunches. These tofu "wings" have a crispy "skin" and make great sandwiches or appetizers. Best of all, they are boneless : ) I got the recipe from Tofu Mom . If you have not met her yet, I highly recommend you visit her website which she frequently updates. I've tried several of her recipes which she generously shared and all of them have been "keepers". I have duplicated her original creation here, however have given her the proper credit. I hope you enjoy this recipe and her blog as much as I do.

Vegan "SpaghettiOs"

I was visiting several vegan blogs in quest of a vegan version of the famous Campbell's Spaghettios and created something pretty darn close. Don't they even resemble the ones on the Campbell's label?? The good news is that it is very easy and inexpensive to make and VEGAN!! The not so good news is that it is made with commercially made ingredients so it might not be the healthiest. However it is a quick lunch on those cold days when you are need of some comfort food, reminiscent of your childhood past.

Vegan "SpaghettiOs" (my way)

1/2 pound of "O" shaped pasta (I found mine at Trader Joe's, as pictured)

10 3/4 ounce Campbell's tomato soup (this exact brand is essential since they were the creators of the original "SpaghettiOs". Note: "tomato bisque" flavor is NOT vegan)

2 tablespoons of margarine

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1/4 soy milk

1 vegan frankfurter, sliced (optional)

Cook pasta according to instructions and drain, but do NOT rinse!! I prefer my pasta al dente but if you are aiming to replicate the texture of the original version, cook until soft. Melt margarine in the same saucepan and add drained pasta. Add the rest of the ingredients and add more soy milk if it looks too dry. Turn down to very low heat and cover. You want someof the sauce to absorb into the pasta. Enjoy!!

Note: For some odd reason this brand or shape of pasta took sooo long to cook even on a rapid boil. The pasta also expanded tremendously!!! I would recommend only making only a small amount at a time because the leftovers did not taste very good. They were gummy and pastey.