Vegan Applesauce Bread Recipe from Ladies Auxiliary Favorites

As promised in yesterday’s post, here is the vegan applesauce bread recipe from The Ladies Auxiliary Favorite Recipes cookbook. Originally submitted by Mrs. J. Leonard from Sandwich, Illinois.

VEGAN APPLESAUCE BREAD RECIPE

2 c. flour 1/2 c shortening

1 t baking powder 3/4 c sugar

1 t baking soda 2 eggs- I replaced with 2 flax eggs, 2 T flax mixed with 6 T water

1 t cinnamon 1 t vanilla

1/2 t nutmeg 1 c applesauce 1/2 c walnuts, optional

-Sift together dry ingredients.

-Cream shortening, then add in and cream with sugar

-Beat in flax eggs and vanilla

-Blend in dry ingredients, adding applesauce at the end and mixing to wet all ingredients

-Let rise 20 minutes then bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes.

Look at that nice crumb! This is a pretty mildly flavored bread and I would add more cinnamon and nutmeg next time. Great texture and it held up well for a few days. I’m pleased that my first attempt at a recipe from this book turned out well. If you make this, let me know how it turns out!

Food That Looks Like My Cat: Applesauce Bread

A friend recently sent me a great old spiral bound cookbook from the Sandwich Community Hospital in Sandwich, Illinois titled Ladies Auxiliary Favorite Recipes.

I remember this type of cookbook well from my youth. A group would gather recipes from the community and send them off to be spiral bound as a fundraiser for the VFW ladies auxiliary or the volunteer fire department. Each person would get credit on their recipe and if you bought the cookbook you would know most of the people inside. And had likely tried a few dishes as well.

I’ve decided to veganize some of the recipes from this cookbook to see how they turn out, starting with Mrs. J. Leonard’s applesauce bread. I’ll have a recipe and review posted here tomorrow. After the loaf came out of the oven, smelling quite autumnal, I noticed that it bore a resemblance to a certain ginger cat.

And indeed, the applesauce loaf from the Ladies Auxiliary Favorite Recipes is a very close match for George. Stay tuned tomorrow for the recipe!

New Dinosaur Tag Toy Plush for Babies

I have new plush tag toys debuting in my shop today!

I reworked my old tag toy pattern to make them smaller and easier to hold for tiny hands. Each stegosaurus has five grosgrain ribbon spines to grab onto and is available in either green or blue with white dots. These make an excellent baby shower gift or a stocking stuffer for the newborn. The super soft fleece is great for cuddling. And if your cat is anything like my George, they’ll love carrying one of these around. Let them pretend to be king of the reptiles!

These tag toy plush are available today at Panda With Cookie for just $12 plush shipping. Be sure to sign up for my newsletter to start receiving new product updates and coupon codes to use. Thanks for supporting handmade!

Monster Plush Are Back

Monster plush are back in my shop starting today!

I spent the past week sewing, finishing, and photographing my original and much loved monster plush. There are a couple up for sale on the website now and more will be listed over the next week.

Monster plush are sewn from either super soft fleece or textured corduroy. Each face is handsewn so each monster has a unique personality. All Panda With Cookie plush are sewn to be gender neutral kids toys that are meant to be enjoyed by all ages. They arrive to you ready for adventure!

Scrambled Chickpeas Nachos

Sometimes you have random things hanging out in your fridge just waiting to be eaten. Sometimes you throw those things together and end up with a funky meal that would have been best left in the fridge. But sometimes you end up with a great dish you’d make again, such as scrambled chickpeas nachos.

We had leftover scrambled chickpeas from Isa Does It, chipotle sausages from Field Roast, some cheese sauce, salsa, and leftover and needs to be used yesterday sour cream. No chips, no problem. Add a little avocado on the side and it’s a scrambled chickpeas nachos feast.

I find the chipotle sausages slightly too hot for my tastes, so having them mixed up in a big ol’ pile of food toned the heat down so I could enjoy them. The scrambled chickpeas is one off the best recipes I tested out of Isa Does It. It looks super simple (and is) but don’t overlook it! I love it as is and it can easily be tweaked with different spices or hot sauces to suit your own personal tastes.

I’m the lone vegan who doesn’t much care for tofu scrambles, hence my meh attitude toward going out for brunch. Most restaurants are heavy on the tofu scramble for breakfast or offer that as the only vegan option. I’ll be starting a campaign to get more places to embrace the chickpea scramble instead so I too can wait in line for 2 hours in the rain in Portland to get my brunch on. Or just stay in with the cat sitting atop the fridge and make my own.

There’s Still Time to Geek Out Your Baby for Halloween

Halloween is the perfect time of year to dress your baby as Manos from that MST3K and Rifftrax favorite, Manos: The Hands of Fate. Panda With Cookie headquarters has you covered with our Manos onesie in sizes up to 18 months.

Dress yourself as Torgo with any beige clothes you have had hanging out in a corner of your basement for a few years and pop your wee one into this 100% cotton one piece. You are sure to be the hit of the office Halloween party.

I will be shipping all onesies the day after they are ordered for the rest of the month so you have time to order and get your Manos oneise in time to terrorize the neighborhood this Halloween.

Food That Looks Like My Cat: Cinnamon Rolls

Back by popular demand! Food that looks like my cat!

This topic was a big hit during Vegan MoFo so I’ll be bringing you more brown-ish and orange-ish foods that look like my brown-ish and orange-ish cat named George.

Today I present cinnamon rolls. I highly recommend the recipe from Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Easy to make, easy to proof overnight, easy to eat. And always delicious.

George had no interest in getting out of bed in the wee hours to look at sweet sweet cinnamon rolls, so I took the pan to him to compare.

The verdict? Not bad. I decided to not make a sugary glaze to drizzle on the cat to further the comparison.

Vegan MoFo 2014, We Hardly Knew Ye

Vegan MoFo 2014 rolls out of town today. Thank you to everyone for reading along this month! Please let me know in the comments if there’s a feature you’ve especially enjoyed this month. I’d like to incorporate one or two into regular rotation here at Panda With Cookie. Vote for what you’ve loved!

Happy fall y’all!

The Garlic: Veggie Burger Tragically Falls Through Grill

Topeka, KS- BREAKING NEWS A veggie burger tragically fell through the grill at Angelina Kelly’s end of summer backyard barbecue. News reports are not yet able to confirm if it was a store bought or homemade veggie burger but it is known that it broke while being flipped and the smaller side slid onto the coals below. As Angelina tried to rescue the other half, it slipped from the spatula and also fell into the fire.

Ms. Kelly has reportedly returned to the house, possibly to get another veggie burger and some foil. Details to come.