A Mom-Friendly Menu for Mother's Day

This Mother’s Day, honor your mom—as well as countless chicken, pig, and cow moms—with these delicious meat-, egg-, and dairy-free recipes!

Fluffy Pancakes
Serves 4

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 cups soymilk or water
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Mix together the dry ingredients and then stir in the wet ingredients. If the batter is too thick, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time until reaching the desired consistency.

Pour onto a pan with a nonstick surface and cook over medium heat, turning once when the edges begin to bubble and brown.

Tropical Fruit Freeze
Serves 8

• 1 orange, peeled
• 1 cup frozen banana chunks
• 1 cup frozen mango chunks, strawberries, cherries, or blueberries
• 1/2 to 1 cup soy or rice milk

Combine the fruit and 1/2 cup of the vegan milk in a blender. Process until very smooth, stopping the blender occasionally to stir any unblended chunks to the center.

Add a bit more vegan milk for a thinner consistency.

Herbed Crostini with Roasted Garlic
Serves 8

For the Herbed Crostini

• 1 loaf French or Italian bread
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• dashes of oregano or basil

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Cut the bread into 32 slices. Place the bread slices on a baking sheet and brush each piece with olive oil. Sprinkle on oregano or basil. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown.

Serve immediately with Roasted Garlic.

For the Roasted Garlic

• 8 bulbs garlic
• 8 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Cut off the tops of the bulbs of garlic, exposing the tops of each clove. Drizzle each bulb with a tablespoon of olive oil. Wrap well in tinfoil.

Bake the wrapped garlic bulbs until soft, 50 to 60 minutes.

While warm, spread onto Herbed Crostini.

Lots of Layers Lasagna
Serves 6 to 8

• 2 8- or 9-ounce packages of lasagna noodles
• 1 10-ounce package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 1 14-ounce package of extra-firm tofu
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion salt
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 Gimme Lean Sausage Style or 2 cups of dry textured vegetable protein (TVP) with 2 cups of boiling water
• 4 cups Moo-Free Cheese Sauce
• 5 cups of tomato sauce

Cook the lasagna noodles according to package instructions.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Drain and then mash the tofu in a mixing bowl. Add the thawed spinach, garlic powder, onion salt, basil, and oregano.

Cut the Gimme Lean Sausage Style into 1/4-inch slices or, if using TVP, soak it in the 2 cups of boiling water.

Lightly oil the bottom of a 9- by 13-inch baking pan or casserole dish. Place 1 layer of noodles on the bottom of the pan and spoon on half of the spinach-tofu mixture. Then pour 1 cup of Moo-Free Cheese Sauce and 1 cup of tomato sauce, making sure the sauces are evenly distributed over the whole pan. Add a second layer of noodles and half of the Gimme Lean slices or 1 cup of the reconstituted TVP. Then pour 1 cup each of the “cheese” and tomato sauces. Add a fourth layer of noodles, the rest of the Gimme Lean or TVP, and 1 cup each of the two sauces. Top with a final layer of noodles and the last cup of tomato sauce.

Wrap the pan tightly with tin foil and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling. Then uncover and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Serve warm.

Apple Crisp
Serves 4 to 6

• 5 or 6 apples
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
• cinnamon to taste
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Chop the apples and place them in a lightly oiled 8- × 8-inch baking pan. Cover the chopped apples with the maple syrup and sprinkle with cinnamon.

In a bowl, mix the flour and oatmeal. Then add the applesauce and brown sugar. Mix until the flour is just moistened.

Spread the oatmeal mixture onto the apples. (Don’t worry if all of the chopped apples aren’t covered.) Bake for 30 to 35 minutes and serve warm.