Spaghetti Made of Awesome and TVP

I love the food processor. So very much. And I don't think that I could attempt this sauce without it. Or, if I did, the carrots would show and then my Mom wouldn't eat it. Tee hee hee...

Throw an onion in the food processor. Chop it up. Put it in a big pot on the stove with some olive oil and brown the onion. This is a crucial step, as it will provide the sauce with a flavor of heartiness.

Throw a bag of baby carrots into the food processor. Grind them up fine. When your onion is browned, add the carrots.

Throw a big ol' bunch of basil and 4-6 cloves of garlic into the food processor. Chop this up finely, as well. Add to the pot on the stove.

Add some oregano and a few bay leaves. I like to buy my spices as I need them in bulk, because it's less expensive and the dried herbs are more potent when they haven't been sitting in my cupboard for ten zillion years.

Open up 3 big cans of tomato sauce and one can of tomato paste. Empty them into the pot.

Cut up several (3 large) zucchini and add them to the pot. I like to cut them in quarters lengthwise and then chop 'em into little bits. The food processor does not do this one well. Use your knife skills.

Add a lot of fresh spinach and cook until the zucchini and the spinach are done.

Pour in about a cup or so of TVP.

You can also add some nutritional yeast. This makes for a cheesy-tomato sauce, which I enjoy, but you may not. You might. Go for it.

I like this over shells or orichette or fusilli or something like that, instead of spaghetti noodles, but, hey, make your own choices…

Myer Lemon Poppyseed Cupcakes

So tasty. So very tasty...

First, pre-heat your oven to 350. Then set up your cupcake tin with the foil cupcake liners. For some reason, the paper ones really, really, really stick. Don't waste your cupcakes on paper liners.

1/2 cup Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream,
2/3 cup vanilla soy milk
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar
the zest from one myer lemon
the juice from one myer lemon

Then sift these things together and put into the wet mixture.
1 cup plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Mix it all up and add some poppyseeds. I like a lot of poppyseeds. You may not. I don't know. Just add until it looks right.

Fill your cupcake liners just about halfway. If you put too much batter in, then when it's time to glaze your cupcakes, you'll spill the glaze all over the counter... Wasting precious tasty glaze...

Bake your cupcakes 20 to 22 minutes and then, transfer 'em to a cooling rack to let cool.

While they are cooling, juice another Myer Lemon. Then add powdered sugar to the juice until it's all glaze-like.

Now, POKE your cupcakes with a stick!!! Okay, a toothpick. Poke 'em a lot. Not so much that they are reduced to crumbles, but enough that they get glaze through and through when you pour a little more than a teaspoon on top of each cupcake.

Yum.

Eat 'em up.

Oh! They are tasty when cold.