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 :) 

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! 

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. 

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. 

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! 

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. 

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!