First Meal in the New House

Tonight I cooked my first meal in our new house. Since I've been working late most nights since we moved in we've either eaten out or my husband has cooked. Tonight was the first time I've actually had enough time and energy to make anything. So since I've been craving it, and looking for an excuse to make my favorite gravy I made a veggie loaf and some mashed taters and gravy. It turned out pretty good except that it's hard to make the loaf with the correct consistency. As it is written it tastes really good, but is a bit mushy. I tried to make it a bit firmer by reducing the potatoes and adding more oats but that didn't win rave reviews from the home team. Maybe if the oats used were those that are cut finer it would have worked. Anyway, here are the recipes:

The meatloaf can be found at http://www.recipezaar.com/148722.

I've been experimenting with healthier mashed potatoes, and tonight I boiled the potatoes in vegetable stock, drizzled them with some olive oil and whipped it with some soy milk. I missed the tang that I have been getting by using buttermilk, so next time I make them I'll probably mix a tablespoon or so of lemon juice with the soy milk first.

The best part of course is the gravy. I adapted a recipe that I found in cooking light, which was for a Thanksgiving turkey with a molasses/sherry glaze and the gravy was made vegetables cooked under the turkey and the drippings. Since I don't really want to make the turkey I needed to figure out how to make it without. The result is a very healthy low-fat gravy that tastes nothing like a low-fat gravy. The way that I make it is actually vegan, but you'd never know it. Here is the recipe:

Harvest Vegetable Gravy

2 Tbs. canola oil
1 carrot, chopped in small pieces
1 celery stalk, chopped in small pieces
1/2 c. onion, finely chopped
2 Tbs. molasses
2 Tbs. cooking sherry
2 Tbs. soy sauce
2 c. stock (I use vegetable)
3 Tbs. flour

Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat, and add the carrot, celery and onion. Saute until the carrots soften and the onion caramelizes and begins to brown. Add the flour and toss to coat. Mix the stock, molasses, sherry, soy sauce and stock. Add the stock mixture to the saucepan, and stir until thickened.