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Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Cute little things!


Picked these cute little spoons up the other day. Just wanted to share <3 
Little things make my day so much better.

Monday, April 28, 2014

Easy, random and delicious!



So, I wasnt in the mood to make  big dinner tonight. Last night I made cauliflower Alfredo (recipe to be posted soon). It's Monday and I was too tired to go to the grocery store so I made do. 

Roasted cauliflower, quick bread, guacamole and sautéed tempeh with sweet chili sauce. Best thing is, they went together beautifully! 



Roasted cauliflower 

1 head cauliflower
Everything seasoning, to taste
Olive oil

Place cauliflower on a baking sheet and drizzle just a little oil over the whole thing. Sprinkle seasoning all over, to taste (I used trader joe's everything seasoning but you can use whatever you want really)

Bake on 375' for about 30 minutes. 

Sautéed tempeh

1 package tempeh
Oil
2 to 3 T sweet chili sauce

Break apart the tempeh into bite size pieces and place in pan that is on medium heat with a little oil. Get each side goldenl brown and then pour on the sauce. Sauté until pieces get a little darker and glazed on each side.

Quick bread 

3 C flour (1C whole wheat flour)
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 T everything seasoning 
2 to 3 C water 
1 T veggie oil 

Mix dry ingredients then add when. Add water one cup at a time while mixing with a spoon until it clumps. Then knead the rest with your hand. Roll out dough on parchment until it's the size of a baking sheet. Bake at 350' for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. 

Guacamole 

2 ripe avocados 
1/3 C nutritional yeast
1 t salt
1 t pepper 
2 t everything seasoning (sense a theme here?)
1 small package of cherry tomatoes, cut in half

Mash avocados together first. Then mix in the rest of the ingredients.

Friday, April 25, 2014

Fried Avocado Tacos




I asked everyone what they wanted to make vegan. Well, here's one that I thought was perfect for a Friday night! A bottle of wine, chips and salsa and fried avocado tacos with mango purée and tomato foam. Too good for words!

Fried Avocado

Panko bread crumbs
2 large, ripe avocados
Salt and pepper, to taste
Oil

In a small bowl, mix Panko with salt and pepper. Place about 2 T of oil in a pan and turn to medium heat. Cut the avocado in half and take out the pit. Cut again into 4's. Peel off skin like you would a cut orange. Place the avocado into the breading and lightly push panko into avocado so it sticks. Put coated avocado into the pan and fry until golden brown on each side.










Mango Purée

1 large, ripe mango
1 inch, fresh ginger 
1 T garlic powder

Place all ingredients into a blender and purée!

Tomato Foam

2 large tomatoes
1/2 red onions, diced
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 T oil
1 T thyme




Place all ingredients into mixer and blend. When foam starts to form, stop mixing. Not everything will be blended. It's better that way.

And there you have it! I added black beans and pea shoots to my taco along with a couple pieces of fried onion with the extra panko. It tasted amazing! I hope y'all enjoy as much as I did. 




*check out my roasted cauliflower and chickpea tacos for homemade tortilla recipe!



Good Morning!


Nothing like coffee in the morning from the Peekskill Coffee House. 

Hope everyone has a great day :)

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Oven Baked Potato Chips

                         


Hey! Guess what! Potatoes are vegan! Just in case you were wondering. Wanna know what else is vegan? Potato chips! Yes, that's right. But not just any type of chip. I'm talking about homemade, better for you, chips. Here's how!

Oven Baked Potato Chips

3 russet potatoes (I used 8)
3 T olive or canola oil
Salt, to taste  

Slice potatoes as thin as possible. I did this by hand, but if you have a device for more even slices, use that. Place potato slices in a bowl of cold water and let sit for about 30 min.

                                  

Pre heat oven to 375'. Lay out a piece of parchment on a baking sheet. Drain water and leave potatoes in bowl. Drizzle oil and sprinkle salt over slices and mix together. Place potatoes in a single layer on baking sheet. 

                                      

Bake chips for about 20 minutes or until they're golden brown. Remember that they will be darker than a regular bagged chip. Play around with the time until you get desired texture.


   

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Spinach Salad


Keeping it simple tonight, folks. Spinach salad with all the fixins! What's the best thing to do with all the randomness in your fridge and pantry? A salad. That's it. 

For this one, I threw spinach, green olives, almond slices, chopped roasted red peppers, frozen corn that I heated for a minute on the stove, carrots, shredded cabbage, white beans, cherry tomatoes and avacado in a large bowl. 

For the dressing I just whisked together some olive oil, hemp seeds, oregano, salt and pepper and nutritional yeast in a small bowl and drizzled that on top of the salad.

The greatest part about making salads is that you can add whatever you want. It's a great way to use up what you have so you can go buy more ;)


Monday, April 21, 2014

Chocolate Cream Pie


Everyone loves pie, but taking the time to make it isn't always loved. Here's my quick "i can make it vegan" chocolate cream pie! The pie crust and whip cream are both store bought. Those i'll post recipes for at a later date but since I was limited with time, a tasty spelt crust and soy whip did just fine!

Chocolate Cream Filling

3 T dark chocolate cocoa powder
3 T cornstarch
1 t vanilla
1/2 C sugar 
Handful of semi sweet dark chocolate chips 
2 C almond milk, unsweetened 


In a double boiler, you can just use a pot if you don't have one, mix dry ingredients. I've turned the stove on already to get the water boiling. Mix in almond milk and stir until you have a thick consistency. About 10 minutes. Once thick, remove from heat and add in chocolate chips and vanilla and mix until chips dissolve. Pour into pie crust let it cool until room temp. Cover with plastic wrap or oversized Tupperware container and put in the fridge. I let it chill over night but a couple hours or so will do. Once completely chilled you can add the whip cream. Or, just cut and add whip cream to individual slices. 


Happy Birthday!!




It's my husband's birthday and to celebrate I made a vegan chocolate cream pie!  So good and so easy! Stay tuned for the recipe tonight :) 

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Homemade Vegan Hotdogs


I totally made vegan hot dogs! I'm so impressed with myself :) This was my first go at it and they were pretty delicious! My husband and I quit the fake me officially in January. The only thing we eat is tofu, seitan and tempeh and we don't eat either of those often. We started to cut back on the fake burgers, chicken, etc. over the years. Really only eating them when we were in the mood for junk food or if we were having a BBQ. Since quiting all the mock meats, we've never felt better! However, that doesn't mean that I don't miss grilling a good burger or a couple hot dogs with some Daiya Cheese, especially while being outside on a beautiful day. So, I'm very happy to say that we can still enjoy a classic cook out, but healthier. 

Vegan Hot Dogs

1/4 t tumeric
1/4 t curry 
1/2 t garlic powder
1/4 t cumin 
1/4 t paprika
1/4 t pepper
1 t celery salt
1.5 t salt
2 t whole grain mustard
1/2 t smoke flavor
2 T soy sauce
2 T vegetable oil 
1 t arrow root
1/3 C almond meal
1 C vital wheat gluten
1 package firm tofu
1 red onion, chopped into medium size pieces 



Place everything but almond meal, VWG and arrow root into a deep bowl. Use hand mixer and blend everything together. I left chunks of onion but you can also use a food processor and blend everything until smooth, if you prefer.


Next, add dry ingredients and mix with spoon.



Stir until light, fluffy dough forms.


Cut little rectangles of parchment about the size of your hand. I made about 17 hot dogs with this mix but depending on the size you want, you'll need more or less paper. Do the same with foil.


Scoop about a tablespoon of dough into your hand and roll into ball. Then start rolling that into a log. Then place on parchment.



Roll the parchment around the dough then do the same with the foil, like you would with corn on the cob.



Now, fill a pot with a little water and place your steam tray on the top. Put about 7 or 8 hot dogs in steamer and set timer for 55 minutes. 


When timer goes off, remove from heat. Unwrap, and they should look much darker than they started off. They'll be firm at this point also, so you could grill them or just eat right away. 




Hope this was helpful to all you vegans who don't want to eat those nasty store bought veggie dogs. Or for all of you who want to try something new. Let me know what you think! 


















Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Vegan Lettuce Wraps





Not sure what to make with all the veggies in you fridge? Well, lettuce wraps it is then! The best part about this super easy dish is you can use anything! These particular lettuce wraps I used cellophane noodles, baby corn, cabbage salad, broccoli sprouts, cashew halves, mango and a carrot tahini salad I threw together.


Carrot Tahini Salad

3 to 4 carrots, peeled (I like to make extra)
1 T tahini 
1 t sesame seeds
1 t garlic powder
1 t parsley
Scallions, thinly diced
1 to 1.5 t toasted sesame oil
Salt and pepper, to taste 

Place everything in a bowl and mix together. You can use the same ingredients and replace the carrots with cucumber instead. 



Cabbage Salad

1 package broccoli slaw mix
1 T sesame oil
3 T peanut sauce or teriyaki sauce 
Scallions


Nothing to this one. Throw it all in a bowl and mix!


Cellophane Noodles

1 package cellophane noodles
1/2 onion, diced
1 t oil
3 to 4 T soy sauce 
1 t garlic powder
1.4 t ginger
Salt and pepper, to taste


Boil water in medium pot. Turn off Burner and add noddles. Let them soak for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside. In large skillet, add oil. Sauté onions until tender and add noddles. Mix in spices and soy sauce. Continue to mix while burner is on medium heat for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. When cooled, add to lettuce as base for you wraps. 





Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Just Lovely


I put a new side table in our bathroom and decided to use it for my girly things. This tray belonged to my great aunt and the crystal candy dish belonged to my grandma. Just adding a little feminine touch made me feel so good. 

This may not be a vegan recipe, but I wanted to share it none the less. 

Monday, April 14, 2014

Chickpea Salad


When I was meat eater, one of my favorite sandwiches was tuna with lemon pepper and pickles. Surprisingly, chickpeas with veganase tastes pretty similar to having a tuna fish sandwich. Even if tuna was never your thing, this is awesome! No, it does not taste like fish. But when you add the spices and mayo and put it on bread, it has a flavor that reminds me of tuna.

Chickpea Salad

2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed 
1 heaping T of veganase (I like no soy Earth Bound)
2 to 3 T pickle relish 
Lemon pepper, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 t whole grain mustard
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 large tomato, diced 


Empty beans into large bowl and mash with potato masher. I like the salad to be a little chunky so the above photo is the end result.


Next, add all of the ingredients and mix! That's it. It's quick and easy to throw together. It tastes great eaten right away or after refrigerated. 

Hope you like it! 



Thursday, April 10, 2014

Vegan Carob Chip Cookies


Yes, I know. They are as delicious as they look. After hours, days, weeks, months even, of searching the internet and scrolling through cook books, I have finally put together the best cookie I've ever had. Besides being vegan, it's truly an amazing cookie. So, here's how it's done and I hope y'all enjoy!

Carob Chip Cookie

2 C unbleached baking powder
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
Cinnamon, to taste
1 C carob chips
1 C raw sugar
1/2 C Earth Bound
1 t vanilla
1/4 C water 



Set oven at 350'. In large bowl, mix flour baking powder, salt, cinnamon and chips together then set aside.

 In small bowl, add sugar and Earth Bound and mix together with a fork. When completely mixed, stir in vanilla and water. 


Combine wet with dry ingredients and mix together. At this point I usually mix with my hand. Place a sheet of parchment on a baking sheet. Use a melon scoop or a spoon to scoop about 1 in pieces of dough onto parchment. 


Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. I've found that baking at 8 leaves cookie with a better chewy consistency. 




Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Seitan Gyros



Nothing like Greek food! Hummus, pita, gyros... Yum! Here's my easy take on vegan gyros that's quick and delicious.

Seitan Gyros

1 package seitan, sliced into long, thin pieces
2 T dill weed
2 T oregano
Olive oil
Tomatoes, diced
1 small red onion, sliced into long, thin pieces
1 small cucumber, peeled and sliced 
Whole wheat pita
Salt and pepper, to taste
Hummus of your choice

Add about a tablespoon of olive oil to your skillet. When heated, sauté your onion until tender. Add in seitan and cook until light golden brown. I prefer the texture when it's more cooked. When you have desired texture, add all of your spices. The burner should be on low at this point. Mix the seitan until completely coated. 

Heat pita for a couple seconds on each side and then add your fixins. You can even add some raw onion if you're like me and put extra onion in everything! I've tried several flavors of hummus also. My favorite is a caramelized onion that I found at Mrs. Greenes and a garlic hummus that you can find pretty much anywhere. 

Hope y'all enjoy! 


Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Whole Wheat Tortillas




4 C flour (2 whole wheat, 2 all purpose unbleached, opt)
1 t salt
1.5 t baking powder
1/4 C veggie oil
Water, small increments 

Mix dry then add wet and knead until light and fluffy adding water to get a soft consistency and flour doesn't stick to side of bowl. Lightly flour flat surface and roll out palm size balls until you get a flat circle the width of your hand. You can made them as big or small as you'd like. 



Place tortilla on a heated flat skillet, like a pancake skillet. You'll notice the tortilla will start to bubble slightly after a few seconds. Flip and watch for a couple seconds. 







Asparagus Risotto



This week I'm using up what I have in the pantry and the fridge. The only thing I bought at the store: vegetables and fruit. I try to keep things on hand like stock, spices, oils, canned beans, frozen veggies and various other condiments. So, I figure since I'm getting low on these items it's time to use them up and then go buy more because my favorite thing to to is grocery shop. I have a terrible addiction to the grocery store! I love it more than clothes shopping, and I LOVE to shop for clothes.

Anyway, I've never made risotto before. My husband has always done it (I'll put his recipe up sometime soon) but last night was night two of using what I had and I gave risotto a shot.  








Asparagus Risotto 

Olive oil
2 heaping teaspoons tahini
1 t smoke paprika
1/2 t pepper
1 T oregano
1 T thyme
1 T garlic powder
1/4 C nutritional yeast
1/2 box vegetable stock
1/2 t smoke flavor
1 T apple cider vinegar
3-5 C water
salt, to taste
asparagus
red onion, chopped
1 box risotto of choice


Start out by sauteing the onion in about a tablespoon of olive oil. Cook until tender then add the risotto and toast until golden brown.



Once the risotto is toasted, it's time to add the stock and all the spices. The salt was added to taste. I probably used about 1 tablespoon. Let the stock boil then cover and simmer for 20 minutes. About 10 minutes in mix the risotto with a cup or two of water. The mixture will have started to stick to the bottom of the pot but once the water is added it'll loosen up. Cover again and let it finish simmering on low.



After the 20 minutes are up, you'll need to add more water to get the risotto stuck on the bottom up. The water also starts to become the base for the creaminess. Now add the tahini, nutritional yeast, smoke flavor and vinegar. After mixing, cover once more and keep on low for another 5 to 10 minutes. 



Make sure to keep tasting so you know if you need to add any more salt or various spices. You're also checking the texture to make sure it's fully cooked. You can add more water at this point to get the creaminess to your liking.