Conversion Chart Discrepancies

I just discovered while posting my cheese sauce recipe that the conversion charts I've been using to make the recipes metric-compatible aren't true-to-experience at least for the dry measurements. For example, as I convert from cups and tablespoons to grams, the grams are way higher from these charts than what my kitchen scale shows I'm actually using. Ugh  I'm going to have to go through recipes and indicate if they have been "verified by my kitchen scale" or not. I also mentioned this on the conversion chart I've posted on the sidebar. {Sorry, Marie!!}

Photo credit: Hannah Hooper, LadyGrouplove

Baked Potato with Vegan Cheese Sauce

Simple, yummy, filling, nutritious, high-fiber, guilt-free meal. Baked potato with chili beans, blanched broccoli, vegan bacon, and plant-based cheese sauce (link HERE).

-Wash potatoes. Place in 350 F oven. Cook for about 75 min. (There's probably a quicker way that I haven't learned, yet).

-Open can of chili beans, pour into small sauce pan, and heat over medium heat

-Cut rinsed broccoli into bite-size pieces and blanch (click HERE) in boiling water for 2 min. Drain.

-If using vegan bacon, follow directions. (Mine needed to be thawed, then cooked for 2 min each side on pan

-Slice skin off from top of potato. Mash the inside. Pour on hot beans with its own sauce, then top with cheese sauce, broccoli, and vegan bacon...or whatever toppings you are craving :)

Bacon tastes good because of the salt and fat (and sugar) combination

our tastebuds crave (pig meat doesn't taste good without those things).

As I was cooking this plant-based version, my husband and son

came in a said it smelled like bacon. They liked the vegan bacon.

It's good in a sandwich. It doesn't have the same texture

as pig bacon. When I knew how much the young pigs suffer,

it was easy to give up pig bacon. Additionally, pig bacon is a

Class-1 carcinogen...bad news for our body, the pig's body,

as well as the environmental damage from animal agriculture.

Vegan Cheese Sauce for Mac-n-Cheese, Nachos, Potatoes, Veggies, Enchiladas, Fondu, etc

Updated 11-29-19: This is the version I like the most and tastes more like cheese sauce than the original recipe. (I took a screenshot of the original and posted it at the end). Changes made: I halved the recipe, included more seasonings, increased salt, and reduced cornstarch ratios. This is super-yummy. I made nachos last night: corn chips, this cheese sauce, chili beans, salsa, green onions...they all loved it!

Updated 6-23-21: Ground chia seeds is more user-friendly than cornstarch. I added cumin and chili powder, too. Yum!

Gluten-free, nut-free, fat-free, non-dairy, good fiber, nutritious.

This makes at least 3 cups and is around 455 calories for all 3 cups!

(1 c oats = 300 cal, 1/4 c nut'l yst flks = 70 cal, 1 T cornstarch = 35 cal, 6 oz bell pep = 50 cal)

Compare this to dairy cheddar cheese sauce: 1,320 calories for 3 cups (plus saturated fat, high sodium, casein, and other undesirable content like hormones, pus, blood. It also has no fiber.)

Equipment needed: high-speed blender is optimum (although others have used a regular blender/processor then heated mixture in pan on stove)

Ingredients: (conversion verified with my kitchen scale)

1 cup (95 g) rolled oats

1/4 cup (19 g) nutritional yeast flakes 

1 T (9 g) cornstarch chia seeds, ground

2 tsp (5 g) onion powder

2 tsp (10 g) salt {2 may be too salty. Try 1.5 next time. 1 tsp not enough imo} (or 1 tsp Braggs)

1/2 tsp (? g) garlic powder

1/4 tsp (? g) smoked paprika

1/4 tsp (? g) curry powder

6 oz. (150 g) Roasted Red Bell Peppers in water (from jar)

1/2 T (7.5 mL) lemon juice

1/8 tsp (0.88 mL) liquid smoke

2 cups (0.5 L) warm water (I microwaved it for 1:40 minutes)

edit add:

1/4 tsp cumin

1/8-1/4 tsp chili powder (1/4 is pretty spicy)

Directions:

(If you have a larger jar of roasted bell peppers like I did, measure out 6 oz and include liquid, just enough to cover the peppers).

-Put all of the ingredients in a high-speed blender with the ability to cook food

-Blend on high for about 2 min 45 sec (if your water is cold, blending will take a lot longer)

 - - Stop blending once the sauce begins thickening and motor changes noise. It will continue to thicken as it cools

-Transfer to a large container that can hold at least 3 cups

To re-heat:

Jill suggests to put the desired amount in a microwavable container and put 2-3 tablespoons of water or plant milk on top. Don't stir it in, just let it sit right over the cheese sauce so the top doesn't over-heat and get gummy.  Example reheat time: 1/4 cup sauce for 1 min at 80% power. Stir after heating.

{Here is Jill's full live-stream link. She talks about reheating at the 8-minute mark}

Nachos: I added chili powder to the cheese sauce
So goooood!

Cheesy pasta- Yum!

Baked potato with chili beans,
blanched broccoli, vegan bacon, and
vegan cheese sauce

 Oats, roasted bell pepper, nutritional yeast flakes,
corn starch, water, liquid smoke, lemon juice,
onion powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt,
pepper, curry powder, happy cow

To thin for mac-n-cheese, I added plant milk
but didn't stir until after heating in microwave

Something else I didn't know:
Consuming dairy can increase breast cancer risk as much as 50% (link). There's also an increased risk of prostate cancer as well as a possible connection to Type 1 diabetes (link).
The good news:
We do not need animal milk to survive. Our health is better without dairy. (And the cows and planet are better off without the dairy industry).

This is a screenshot of the original blogpost of Jill's
original recipe. It's a good foundation to use and
customize. It's really thick, which might be good
if you are going to slice and reheat it in a sandwich
or quesadilla (I haven't tried either, yet). I mostly
use it as a sauce. I figured if I'm going to keep
thinning it anyway, I might as well not make it so
thick to begin with. I may even reduce the cornstarch
more down to 3/4 T.