The Food On My Plate

Simply Granola

2011-10-16T20:18:00.000-07:00

What is there not to like about granola? It's healthy, wholesome, nutty and perfect year round! Let's not forget, about the easiest thing in the world to make. Around here, this goes fast so I make a big batch, but this recipe can be easily halved.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. old fashioned rolled oats (Bob's Red Mill is nice)

2 cups sliced almonds

2 cups chopped pecans

2 cups walnut pieces

2 cups shredded coconut

1 tsp. allspice

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. almond extract

1/2 stick nondairy "butter" like Earth Balance

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 molasses

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. In large mixing bowl combine oats, all nuts, coconut, allspice, cinnamon, brown sugar and salt.

3. In small pot melt butter and add oil and molasses. Take off the heat and let cool for 2 min. Add extracts.

4. Add liquid mixture to oats mixture and incorporate all ingredients thoroughly.

5. In three or four batches. Each time spreading out onto foil or parchment paper lined cookie sheet or large shallow glass baking dish.

6. Set timer and stir around after 8-10min. Bake for another 8 min and check that it is golden brown and take out. Granola is one of those things that will go from perfect to burnt from one minute to the next. So keep and eye on it. I usually spoil the first batch. Oh, well!

7. Store in air tight container.

PROVECHO!!!

Can we have stromboli for dinner mama?

2011-10-16T19:47:00.000-07:00

Goofus says, "Can we have stromboli for dinner mama?" and it makes me smile and chuckle that my 6 year old one night request stromboli and the next tamales.

Ingredients:
1 batch of 5 minute pizza dough
1/4 cup marinara sauce ( I love this one.)
1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1/2 package of Match Italian Sausage
1/2 yellow onion chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups Dayia vegan mozzarella cheese shreds
salt and pepper for seasoning

Preheat oven to 375F.

Sautee onion until translucent. Add garlic and italian sausage until browned. Add spinach and stir to heat.
Roll out dough into a rounded rectangle and spread marinara sauce.

Sprinkle sausage and spinach mixture evenly.

Springle cheese and start to roll tightly. Brush with olive oil and top with a pinch of salt and a pinch of dried rosemary.

Bake for 35 minutes or untiled browned. Let sit for 10 min before slicing and serving.

PROVECHO!!!

Easy-est pie Pizza

2011-09-25T19:26:00.000-07:00

Andria, you are an endless source of inspiration ... have I said that lately? HAHAHA ... I miss you! Ok, enough gooshiness. Since you are so busy, but love pizza I've found a way to get good pizza with a 5 min. investment. It just PAINS me to the deepest of my soul that you go out and BUY pizza dough! PLEASE try this, you will love it. And eventhough this will make you a thinner pizza than the pizza you are used to from me, it still "soft" enough for Mr. Dave.

5 minute Pizza Dough

2 teaspoons of yeast

1 & 1/4 cup warm water (if you don't want to use beer or wine, then 1.5 cups water)

1/4 cup white wine or lager beer (just to add more flavor to the dough)

4 cups of bread flour (preferably, but fine, you can use all purpose)

2 teaspoons of kosher salt

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Mix yeast into water and let it bloom for about 5 min. While the yeast blooms mix the flour, salt and drizzle olive oil over the flour, who cares it's all going to get mixed together anyway. Ok, now that the yeast has bloomed, add the beer, mix it and add to flour mixture. Mix it all with your hands in the bowl, once it has mostly come together you can take it out and finish kneading on the counter. Knead for 2 minutes. If it feels too sticky add more flour by the tablespoonful until it's nice and smooth but still tacky like the sticky part of a post-it. Divide into four for personal size pizzas or into two for one kiddie pizza and one adult pizza. Leave dough to rise in the same bowl you used to incorporate ingredients, just cover to make air tight with plastic wrap. Let rise for AT LEAST 3 hours, if overnight it will be even better. The dough will be super easy to roll out, you can do it will your hands, but make sure that the counter is well floured so it doesn't stick. To bake, preheat oven to 350F and done, top as you wish!

See ... no bread machine ... no multiple kneading and rising times. 5 minutes for incorporating ingredients, 2 min to knead and 30 min. to rise and you're ready to assemble! Now ... please stop buying pizza dough! Your Sicilian ancestors are turning in their graves woman!

PROVECHO!!!

Tamales anyone?

2011-08-11T21:39:00.000-07:00

These are an adaptation from Terry Hope Romero's recipe from her book, "Viva Vegan!". I stuffed them with soyrizo beans mixture and sides of fresh salad dressed with olive oil, salt and lime juice and sausage chorizo style from SmartLife. The drink, that's up to you! I think most people might think a margarita would be nice, here goes the Mexican culture mini lesson, but they are not really a traditional Mexican drink. Beer is more ... traditional.

This can seem like a daunting process the first time, but once you've done it once you will see there are a few steps but none of them difficult. I multitask. When I want tamales for dinner, I will soak husks during lunch. While kids have their quiet time mid-afternoon I'll set up in the kitchen and listen to an audio book on the ipod or set up in front of the TV and watch the previous night's novela. This of course would be even more fun and more authentic if you get a couple of girlfriends to come over, all be part of the process and you get to chat while you assemble and then share the finished product. That reminds me of making tamales at my grandmother's home in Mexico, different generations of women coming together around the table and making dozens of tamales while we chitchatted (ok, gossiped!).

Ok, go on, get started ... it will be worth sooo worth it!

Soyrizo Bean Tamales

yields +/- 2 dozen

Ingredients for basic dough:

1 cup nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening (Crisco)

1/2 cup Earth Balance "butter" or other non vegan butter

4 1/2 cups Maseca (Mexican corn masa flour)

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 qt. vegetable stock

1 package of dry husks

Stuffing:

1 1/2 cups cooked pinto beans

3-4 tablespoons soyrizo

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Soak about 1/3 of the husks in the package in warm water for at least an hour before you start making dough. You can fill the sink or use a large mixing bowl. Use a heavy lid to hold husks down so they are completely submerged in the water.

2. Use a mixer to cream shortening and Earth Balance until fluffy and light. Sift in the masa harina 1/2 cup at a time. Add baking powder and salt. At this point I like to put the mixer aside and continue the mixing using my hands. Warm the stock in the microwave for 1 min. then pour over the dough. By mixing the dough with your hands you will be able to get a good feel for what the dough is supposed to feel like when it's ready. It should feel like butter cream frosting, maybe a smidgen stiffer, but not much at all or the tamales will be too dry. The final and ultimate test is once you have finished incorporating all the broth, drop 1/2 teaspoon of dough into ice cold water. If it floats, you are good to go.

3. The husks should be nice and pliable by now. Take them out of the water and squeeze as much water out of them as possible. Spread out on a kitchen towel while you start to prepare the bean mixture.

4. Heat olive oil in a large pan add soyrizo and let brown for a couple of minutes. Add cooked beans with a little of their broth so they don't dry out. Once beans seem to be warmed through, turn off the heat and mash them. Set aside.

4. At this point, you can set up your "assembly line" with all the ingredients. Ideally on your kitchen table, assembly will take a while and it will be more comfortable to have more room and be able to sit while you assemble. Yeah, go ahead, go get that Negra Modelo for the complete experience! Set the dry husks, the dough, and the beans all in front of you.

5. You will notice that the husks aren't all the same size. The ideal husk should be about 4 1/2 to 5in across at the bottom. If a husk is smaller than this, set it aside, it won't go to waste it will have a different job in the process. If the husk is 6in or larger you can trim it down by pulling off the sides with your fingers. Grab a husk and with a table spoon spread about 2 tablespoons worth of masa on the husk. The PRO way is the hold the husk in your hand as your spread the dough on it, but if it seem easier place the husk on the table. Either way, it should be pointy side away from you, flat side towards you. Spread dough around leaving about 1/2 inch margin from the bottom. Set it aside. You can pile the husks with dough on top of each other about 6 high until you have used up all the dough.

6. Now it's time for the filling. Grab one of those husks with dough and add one tablespoon of bean mixture in the center of the dough. Fold one side in over the dough, the other side in over the already folded over husk and the the pointy part down over the folded in sides. Check this out: http://www.makingtamales.com/cook.html

7. In a LARGE pot with a steamer basket add about 2 inches of water and two coins. If the water starts to run out, the coins will start to "dance", and you will have an alarm letting you know you need to add more water. Set the heat to medium high to start the water boiling, take the steamer section out and put the lid on so the steam doesn't escape.

8. All the too small or rejected pieces of husks from before can now be used to line the bottom of the steamer basket. Only use as many as necessary to line it. Arrange all the assembled tamales in the steamer with the opening of the tamal facing up. If your steamer basket is too big, or if you decide not to cook all the tamales at once (you can place raw assembled tamales in zip loc bags and freeze to cook later), you can wad up a large piece of foil and place in the center of the steamer basket and arrange tamales like a tepee propped up around the foil. Once the water is boiling and the tamales are in the basket, place steamer in pot. If you had more husks left cover tamales with them to trap steam. If not, or in addition to, place a folded kitchen towel, tucked in all around the tamales to trap as much steam as possible and then cover with pot's lid.

9. Steam for about 45-55 min. on medium low heat. Take out one tamal at about 45-50 min. mark with tongs and unwrap it. If the husk peel CLEANLY away from the dough, they are done. But just to make double sure, don't turn off the heat just yet. Let the tamal sit for a minute to cool and take a taste to make sure it's cooked through. If it is... YOU'RE DONE!!!!!

PROVECHO!!!!

Peaches, peaches and more peaches

2011-08-11T21:10:00.000-07:00

Last year was the first year we picked peaches and we only brought home about 5 lbs. I sliced and froze them and had D E L I C I O U S smoothies for months. Peach is probably my favorite fruit and when I ran out of frozen peaches mid winter I wished I had picked more when they were in season. This year I will not live with that regret. I loaded up my trusty companions and we headed to Eckert's Farm again. They helped me pick and carry the box and we came home with about 10lbs this time. I hope I can fit them all in the freezer. Probably slim chance, I keep that freezer like I'm preparing for a hurricane, it must be one of those things that stays with me from living in prime hurricane territory most of my life, HA!

Zofia was quite excited about the peach picking adventure!

Zuben, like always, being silly pretending to hide from the camera

Did you really think that my peach eating was going to start and end with smoothies?! NOT! I made a whole wheat peach galette with a layer of almond paste between the crust layer and the peaches. I topped it with homemade vegan ice cream. Recipe below.

Vegan Coconut Milk Pineapple Ice Cream

1 container Tofutti Cream Cheese (8oz.)
1 small can coconut milk (14oz.)
1/2 cup soy milk
2 TB tapioca flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 small can of pineapple juice (6oz.)

Blend all ingredients and refrigerate for 1-2 hrs. Pour into ice cream machine and let churn for 30 min.

PROVECHO!!!

Blackberry season ...

2011-07-19T22:35:00.000-07:00

Blackberry season is here and since I missed it last year I wanted to make sure I didn't again this year. It was hotter than heck but it is always so much fun to harvest fruit. Next weekend ... PEACHES! Zuben can get into these crazy complaining funks and the elements gave him enough reason to do so the entire time. That is up until about 3 min. before were going to leave and he got into finding the good berries ... I swear!

Just like with the strawberries, if they had weighed Zofia before and after we would have had to pay twice as much for the berries.

Finally we get to the REAL fun stuff .... what to do with the berries.

Berries three ways .... first, I made jam.

4 cups of berries

1/4 cup of water

1 cup of sugar

Zest of 1 lemon

2 in. peeled cube of ginger

*Put it all in a heavy pot and reduce for about an hour.

Brownie topped with nondairy whipped topping and blackberry jam ... need I say more?

Very Berry Ice Cream with Stracciatella

1 cup of each, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries
1 container of Toffuti cream cheese
1 canof coconut creme
1/2 cup sugar
3 TB. tapioca flour
1/2 cup melted chocolate chips

* Place all ingredients in a blender, cool a couple of hours in fridge then pour into ice cream maker. Five minutes before the end of the cycle pour the melted chocolate through the top opening. Enjoy!

Homemade Blackberry and Cream Cheese Poptarts

Flaky pie dough (your favorite recipe)
Blackberry jam
Tofutti cream cheese

*Preheat oven to 350F. Roll out dough and cut into 5"X5" squares. Place 2 teaspoons each of cream cheese and jam in the center. Fold over and pinch all along the edge with a fork. Bake for 20 min. or until golden but not too brown. When cooled drizzle with confectioner sugar icing.

Provecho!!!

Regresando y engordando

2011-06-29T10:46:00.000-07:00

Despues de haber estado en Tucson por tres semanas sin acceso a cocina regrese con ganas de desquitar por tiempo perdido. Me aisle en la cocina y manos a la obra toda una tarde. No solo para quitarme de encima las ganas de picar, saltear, sazonar y hornear pero tambien para por medio de mi comida agradecer a mis suegros que se quedaron aqui cuidando a mis chiquitos.
Aqui pues esta el resultado ... todo vegetariano claro!
Y antes de que se me olvide, como todavia mi cerebro no sabe si debo hablar español o ingles pues escribire esta entrada en ambos ... =-)

Cannelloni stuffed with vegan cheese, tofu and spinach
Ahorita tengo flojera asi que dejare la receta para otro dia. =-)

Homemade Bread - No Knead ... can't even start to explain how addictive this bread is. Find recipe here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html Except for one thing, the recipe calls for the dough to rest for at least 12 hours, but I've tried it by letting the dough rise only 6 hours and you can see the results below. Nice! (At risk of sounding like a broken record, the $20 investment in a food scale for a recipe like this is totally worth it.)

Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake
I've been on a pumpkin kick since Thanksgiving. The way I see it, this qualifies as one of my daily vegetables, maybe even two! Right?! Recipe below picture

*inspired by recipe in The Joy of Vegan Baking
Ingredients:
1 store bought frozen pie shell, deep dish
1/2 container Tofutti cream cheese
1/2 pkg (6oz.) vacuum sealed silken FIRM tofu, Mori-Nu brand
1 can (400 gms.+/-) organic pumpkin puree
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon FRESH ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F.
In a blender place cream cheese, tofu, pumpkin puree, brown sugar, maple syrup, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and cloves. So yeah ... all ingredients except for the pie shell. Mix until you have a smooth consistency. Pour into frozen pie shell and bake for 1 hour or until center looks firm. Cool for AT LEAST two hours before serving. Top with non-dairy whipped topping.

PROVECHO!!!

Cake BakeOff: Vegan baked goods VS All the other sinful stuff

2011-05-14T14:56:00.000-07:00

Outdoor Recreation on base held their annual Spring Festival today ands part of their festival they had a Cake Bake Off. Because of my perfectionist nature (doesn't that sound better than saying, weird Type A personality?), I spent days thinking about what kind of cake to make, and how to decorate, etc etc etc. They had several categories: themed, layered, cupcakes, no frosting and specialty (gluten-free, etc.). I was so excited to go head to head against the "regular" baked stuff that has the advantage (?) of getting a lot of its flavor from the fat in it's ingredients. I couldn't decide on which category to enter, that is, until I was told I was NOT limited to one entry or one cake! Woohoo! I made two cakes and at the last minute also entered a cupcake.

This first cake I decided to decorate only with colored white chocolate butterflies. I wanted to keep it simple. But it didn't lack personality, don't let the outside fool you! Cake was vanilla, frosting was cream cheese frosting with lemon zest. It is DELICIOUS!

View from the top

TA DA!!!! Rainbow on the inside!!!!

Almond Joy inspired cake. Vegan chocolate cake, cream cheese frosting, shredded coconut and toasted almonds. Seriously. This is the least flashy of the three, but honestly it was my favorite. I wish I had a magic wand to eliminate calories and I could just eat the whole thing in one sitting. Hhhmmm....

Just look at this deliciousness!

Chocolate Tiramisu Cupcakes

These babies where spiked with a little Amaretto, y-u-m! They were the "after-thought" entry. I had clocked in 6+ hours the night before the bake-off making the other two cakes. All from scratch, the cakes... layer by painful layer .. hahaha, I crack myself up! The frosting, the decorative accents, etc. I had a little chocolate batter left so I made 1/2 dozen cupcakes, just to use it up. The next morning, up at the crack of dawn with the kids I figured I had time to put those cupcakes to use. After about 30 seconds of thinking about it, I decided turn them into Tiramisu cupcakes and entered the cupcake category as well. They took all of 5 min.

And the winner is ..............

Cash prize baby! Ok, it was only $25 bucks, but hey .... bragging rights, no?! And the kids were excited about the ribbon I got. Zuben said, "I'm so proud of you mama, I knew you could do it!" So sweet!

I know, crazy ... after all the work and thought I put into the other two cakes, the one that won was the one with the least effort. Is there a lesson here?

Creamy Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pesto

2011-03-31T13:34:00.000-07:00

Dinner tonight was whole wheat spaghetti with creamy roasted red bell pepper with sauteed shitake mushrooms and baby broccoli. At first I was hesitant about the shitake mushrooms because I think they belong almost exclusively with Asian type dishes, but I wanted something "meaty" to stand up to the pasta and sauce. It complimentde the flavors well and the baby broccoli didn't shy away either.

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pesto

Ingredients:
2 roasted red bell peppers (fresh roasted or from a jar is fine)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pinenuts or a mix
5-6 tablespoons vegan parmesan
1 tsp each of salt and pepper
1/8 cup unsweetened soy milk
3 tablespoons vegan cream cheese (like Tofutti)
1 clove garlic, minced

1. Place all ingredients in food processor and mix for 2 min. or until you get a creamy sauce.

PROVECHO!!!

Chicken salad two ways ...

2011-03-30T21:01:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'll be the first to admit, I'm addicted to Top Chef on Bravo. I love that show and that's where I stole that idea of doing a dish, "two ways" =-) This chicken salad takes about 10 min start to finish, but the flavor develops as it sits overnight in the fridge. This is one of those meals I make at the beginning of the week and eat all week long for lunch because it's tastes so great, it's already made and it's healthy. It fulfills all the requirements!

The first is a simple chicken salad wrap ... ok, I should say that I never take the time to say SOY chicken or SOY milk or whatever the case, because anyone that knows us knows that we don't eat the "real" thing. I take it to be understood that if I say chicken I really mean some type of faux chicken.

Back from the tangent ... this SOY chicken wrap hits the spot for what is a usually hurried lunch.

(Faux) Chicken salad wrap
Ingredients:
1 pkg Quorn chicken cutlets, thawed and diced small
1/2 green apple, diced small
1 stalk celery diced small
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans chopped finely
juice of 1/2 large lemon
1/4 cup vegan mayonnaise
1/8 cup nondairy sour cream (like Tofutti)
salt and pepper

1. I like to use the chicken the same day I buy it at the store and not give it time to get freezer burn. I let it sit on the counter and once it is completely thawed I start to put the salad together.
2. In a large bowl combine all ingredients. Season with salt and pepper. You can eat immediately, but it will taste better the next day.

This dish reminds me of being a little girl in Mexico and watching my aunts (my mom has 4 sisters) in the kitchen cooking food that looked like this to celebrate some family baby shower or bridal shower. I thought they were such the lady-like food, teeny and delicate. They are so perfect for a girly get together. The cups that hold the chicken salad are made of toasted bread. Food that Fia labels as, "so cute, mama!"

Chicken salad in toast cups
Ingredients:
Chicken salad as prepared above
Slices of toast with crust cut off
Salad greens and dressing of choice (Woodstock dressing from Trader Joe's here)
Pine nuts
Carrot ribbons

1. Butter one side of the de-crusted bread slice and carefully shape into a muffin tin. Toast.
2. Assemble salad. Carrot ribbons are simply made by peeling from the half point down of a medium sized carrot. Garnish with pine nuts and dress. A delicate salad in keeping with the feeling of the rest of the dish.

Provecho!!!

This and that ...

2011-03-30T19:59:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure that I know what to call this. It ended up being this and that because he wanted hummus and I wanted to make sure I cooked the kale that had been in the crisper drawer before it went bad. I had never cooked kale before, but I knew I wanted to make a warm side, so I looked up recipes. I saw and like this one by Emeril and of course tweaked it just a bit by subbing some ingredients and adding soy Spanish chorizo style sausage. And used it as a side to warm whole wheat pitas with hummus (recipe below), baby greens, cucumber, tomato and sprouts. It was satisfying and will definately be cooking it again. Emeril's recipe had this without the potato and used pasta instead, sounds good! The finishing touch, and this is very important to tie all the flavors togethe,r is a few drops of lemon juice over the kale with chorizo sausage.

Kale with chorizo sausage

1 lb of kale, cleaned and hand torn to medium pieces

3 sausages from Lightlife Smart Sausages Chorizo Style, sliced to rounds about 1/4 in. thickness

3 red potatoes, diced small and par-cooked in microwave (1-2 min)

1 yellow onion, sliced to 1/4 in slices

2 garlic cloves, minced

olive oil

salt and pepper

1. Heat olive oil on low heat and add onion. Cover and let caramelize for about 15-20 min. Turn heat to medium and add garlic and sausage and let brown for 3 min. Add potatoes and continue browning for another 3-5 min. Add kale, salt and pepper to taste. Toss in the pan and cover until kale is wilted.

Hummus

1/4 cup tahini (sesame paste)

12 oz. chickpeas (can use canned, but if you cook them yourself flavor is SO much better)

1/4 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons) more or less to personal taste

1/2 cup olive oil

salt and pepper

1 clove of garlic, minced finely (optional)

1. In food processor, place tahini, chickpeas, 1/2 of the lemon juice and 1/2 of the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, start with about 1 teaspoon of each. Blend until a smooth, soft paste starts to form. It may still be too chunky but open up and taste so you can decide to your taste if it needs more lemon juice or not. Add more lemon juice if desired and more olive oil to continue mixing and getting a smoother taste. Same with salt and pepper, taste and determine if you want more or not. Add judiciously, you can always add more but can't take any out. =-)

Provecho!!!

Chili and Cornbread

2011-03-30T15:00:00.000-07:00

Just when we thought we were in the clear .... We had a week of beautiful high 60's and low 70's weather, then we got MORE snow!

So what was I to do? Obviously, go to the kitchen to express my sorrow and comfort my soul! =-) HA!

The chili has quite the protein punch with the combination of both tempeh and chickpeas. Although it is not heavy, all you need is one cup to make a meal. The cornbread is not only the required and quintessential accompaniment, but it is also not dense at all. It has good texture from the medium grind cornmeal but is nice and "fluffy" light!

Here goes ...

Vegan Chili
1 yellow onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic minced
1 red bell pepper, diced finely
1 pkg of soy crumbles OR 1/2 pkg of soyrizo (soyrizo adds more flavor)
1 pkg of tempeh diced into 1/4 in. cubes
32 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1/2 cup vegetable broth
12 oz. cooked chickpeas*
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
2 bay leaves
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. In large heavy bottomed pot (with heavy tight fitting lid), sautee the onion until slightly translucent.Add soyrizo or soy crumbles and brown. Add bell pepper, tempeh cubes and garlic with a sprinkle of salt and pepper and continue sauteing until tempeh is slightly browned.
2. Add tomatoes, broth, cumin, bay leaves and chickpeas. Cook on low heat for at least 45 min. stir every few minutes to keep from sticking to the bottom.

* Canned chickpeas are fine, but if you can cook them yourself the flavor is much better and you cut the price to 1/4 that of canned. They might take a while, so you have to plan for it and cook the chickpeas the day before. Cook 1 cup of dry chickpeas and you will use half for this recipe and you can freeze the other half for later use, like for some home made hummus!

Cornbread (not vegan)

2 cups cornmeal
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup almond meal
2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups soy milk unsweetened + 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 450F. And "grease" with butter a 9 in cake pan.
2. Combine soy milk with cider vinegar and set aside.
3. Mix cornmeal, all purpose flour, almond meal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
4. In small bowl whisk eggs with oil until foamy and then add the soy milk mixture.
5. Combine wet and dry ingredients in batches.
6. Pour into pan and bake in center of the oven for 16-18 min. Let cool before slicing.

Enjoy, you will have enough to share with your neighbors or halve recipe.

Provecho!!!

Nostalgic for Mexico ...

2011-03-03T15:26:00.000-08:00

I miss Mexico all the time, but some days a lot more than others. Days like those I soothe with food that reminds me of Mexico. These tostadas are vegetarian which is not typical Mexican food, but I think they are equally as tasty. These tostadas were actually inspired by some I used to eat quite frequently in a Mexican Vegetarian restaurant in San Diego, CA called Ranchos Cocina. They are topped with tempeh, soyrizo and black bean mixture (recipe below). Y-U-M-M-Y! and ... VIVA MEXICO!

After my tostada y had a steamed beet and fresh coconut salad.Grandma Willa mailed the kids a coconut, I'm not sure why ... I didn't ask. Must have been an grandma and grandkids inside joke or something. Papa cracked it open and I drank the water and ate the coconut meat ... turned out to be more than the gringos could handle. LOL. For this salad I steamed some beets and cut the coconut meat into similar sized pieces. Dressed simply with lime juice, salt and chili powder. So tasty and so healthy ....

Tempeh Soyrizo and Black Bean Tostadas

Ingredients:

1 pkg. of vaccum sealed tempeh (you can find it in natural food stores)

2 cups of cooked black beans

1 pkg soyrizo (Trader Joe's and Whole Foods carry it)

1/2 medium yellow onion, diced

1/2 green pepper, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 TB olive oil

Tostada shells ( in Mexican food aisle of most supermarkets)

Tofutti sour cream (in dairy aisle or with soy products in your supermarket)

1 roma tomato, diced for garnish

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil and brown tempeh cubes. Once browned add green pepper, onion and garlic sautee until onion is translucent. Mix in soyrizo and let cook for 2 -3 min., then add black beans. Cook on medium low until heated through.

2. Spread about one tablespoon of sour cream on tostada. Spoon about 1/4 cup of tempeh mixture on top of sour cream and top with diced tomato. Sprinkle some salt and enjoy!

Provecho!!!

Vegan Zucchini Blueberry Muffins

2011-03-03T14:34:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than to wake up in the morning and grab a cup of earl grey tea and one of these muffins, trust me!

Ingredients:

2/3 cup soy milk
2TB flax meal
2 cups grated zucchini (about one large zucchini)
1/4 cup (4oz) apple sauce
1 cup frozen blueberries (I like Trader Joe's organic wild blueberries because they are tiny)
zest of one lemon
3/4 cup canola oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1 cup sugar (or for less sweetness and lower glycemic version try 3/4 cup agave nectar)
1 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
3/4 cup almond meal (Trader Joe's)
1 tsp. baking SODA
1/4 tsp. baking POWDER
1 tsp salt

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. In large bowl combine soy milk and flax meal.
2. In medium bowl SIFT all three flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
3. To flax meal mixture add grated zucchini, apple sauce, zest, canola oil, extracts and sugar or agave. If the mixture seems too dry add more soy milk one or two tablespoon at a time until it reaches the correct consistency. Tip: When measuring agave, maple or honey first measure the oil and the the syrup so that syrup will pour out more easily without sticking to the sides.
4. Combine dry and wet ingredients in batches. Fold in blueberries.
5. Will yield about 18 cupcake sized muffins. Bake for 23-25 min. Let cool on muffin tins for about an hour before eating.

Falafel bites

2011-03-03T13:49:00.000-08:00

It had been years since the last time I made falafel. I had bad memories from the last time I tried to make them. We were living in Omaha. NE and I'm going to take a wild guess and say that there are probably not many people trying to make falafel at home that deep in the Midwest. Anywho... I think the mix was old or something and they would just fall apart completely as soon as they hit the oil. And I've never been brave enough to try to make them from scratch. I might try. In the mean time, Whole Foods has a mix in their bulk bins that does the trick just fine!

When I was making them last night I had started to get pretty hungry so I made myself this little falafel bite. It was a falafel topped with a bit of Tofutti sour cream, then a slice of tomato, a sprinkle of salt and a few drops of lemon juice. It was so tasty that a few of those and a salad ended up being my dinner and I saved myself the carbs and calories from bread. Actually I didn't have pita so I made them in flour tortillas, like tacos, with salsa. Quite the mix of cultures around here!

Provecho!!!

Carrot cake ... or muffins

2011-03-03T13:40:00.000-08:00

I like sweets but have been trying to limit the all-out-sinful ones in an effort to make sure my jeans still fit. So, I try to make my version of baked goods healthier for me and the kids as well of course! This time I made carrot cake, although usually I try to make whatever baked good in muffin form because it is easier to grab and go in the morning. This particular time it was a weekend so I had more time and I was able to accompany my carrot cake (muffin) with a side of pan fried plantains and some soy sausage. Breakfast of champions!!! HAHAHA

The recipe is exactly the same if you want to make it in a cake pan or muffin tins, the only thing that varies is the bake time. I will give those specifics below.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp/ baking soda
2/3 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. all spice
1/4 tsp. fresh grated nutmeg
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup soy milk
2 TB. flax meal
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup agave nectar + 1/4 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups grated carrot
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 400F. In a large bowl combine milk and flax meal.
2. In a medium bowl sift flour and add all other dry ingredients.
3. To milk and flax mixture add and combine all other liquid ingredients. In batches combine wet and dry ingredients
4. Fold in carrots and walnuts. Fill lined muffin tins or greased cake tin. For muffins bake for 20-22min. For cake bake for 1 hr - 1hr 10min.

Provecho!!!

Fruitarian

2011-02-08T21:04:00.000-08:00

Zofia, if I allowed it, would live off of eating only fruit and bread with butter. The other day we went to Trader Joe's and she went wild putting in the cart every berry that she came across. When we got home I served her a plate of fruit to snack on ... and myself also some fruit ... hhmm .. you'll see...

So this is how Zofia likes her fruit ...

And THIS is how I like my fruit ... yeah ... this is how I roll!

This cake is the E-cakes recipe that I made in a round cake pan instead of cupcakes and the frosting is: 1-12oz. pkg. vacuum packed firm tofu, 2TB maple syrup, 1/4 cup soy milk, 10 oz. melted chocolate chips. Put all ingredients in the blender, and refrigerate for a couple of hours before spreading on cooled cake.

I wanted a for-no-reason-what-so-ever celebratory looking cake that was healthy for the kids (and myself). But if you want to go all out sinful try it with one of the many recipes out there for vegan chocolate cake or cupcakes. My favorite is from "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World".

The night we had this for dessert, the kids and I sang "Happy Un-Birthday to Us" and dug in!

Provecho!!!

A quickie for lunch ...

2011-02-07T19:51:00.000-08:00

This is was the quickest of quickies in the history of quickies. I had left over chili that my kind friend and most excellent neighbor Ms. Cielo gifted us. I added extra Quorn crumbles to make even heartier. Heated flour tortillas, baby spinach layer first, then added the chili on top. Lastly, slices of tomato and avocado sprinkled with sea salt. DONE! So easy and so tasty and healthy, what could be better?

Thanks, Ms. Cielo!

Provecho!

The simple things in life

2011-02-07T19:40:00.000-08:00

Life has to be about the simple things. That means little stress but maximum enjoyment! These chocolate chip cookies are one of those simple things that elevate life. I love to bake them because I have to use a food scale to measure the ingredients and it makes me feel like a professional baker. Plus, it is a great cookie to make with the kids because they get to help measure the ingredients on the scale (squeeze in a math lesson) and they love to mix and have a little taste before they go into the oven. Another great thing about a vegan cookie, not only is it healthier for you but the kids can taste the dough without worries of salmonella because it's egg-free! You don't believe me? Fine, then believe my friend Andria, she says they taste like coffee house cookies. Look at them... they crackle on top!

Inspired and adapted from "The Joy of Vegan Baking" by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

These cookies are quick and easy. But there are two steps that are IMPERATIVE ... I repeat, IMPERATIVE to the success of this cookie. #1 the use of a food scale. If you don't have one, well.. you don't have one. I strongly encourage you to go out and get one. You can find them for $20 and I promise you not only will you feel like a pro, your baked goods will taste like a pro made it. Score! Hey, you think bakers at Parisian patisseries wing it without a food scale? NOT! #2 It is important that you use the melted butter while it is still hot so it will properly melt the sugar. It will result cookie with more "caramel notes" and crispier edges. I know so cause I learned it from America's Test Kitchens, they rock!

Ingredients:

4 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer

6 tablespoons (90ml)

1 cup (200 g) nondairy butter, MELTED (Earth Balance)

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon (120 g) granulated sugar

3/4 cup (200 g) dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup (180 g) white whole wheat flour

1 cup + 3 tablespoons (100 g) all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups (225 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips (I'm telling ya, it's gotta be Ghirardelli)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. In the food processor (unless you have Madonna arms and can really put power into the whisk), mix egg replacer and water.

3. In large sized bowl mix melted butter with both sugars and vanilla extract. Mix for a few minutes until you see the sugars start to dissolve. Incorporate egg replacer mixture.

4. In a medium mixing bowl, SIFT flours. Add baking soda and salt. In 3 batches add flour and incorporate into sugar mixture. Fold in chocolate chips.

5. Place 2 tablespoon-sized dough balls two inches apart on lined cookie sheets. Bake for 10 min. Let cool on cookie sheet for 2-3 min. then transfer to cooling rack.

Provecho!

Empanadas con carne molida - Empanadas stuffed with meat crumbles

2010-11-23T19:12:00.000-08:00

Empandas are tasty puff pastry pockets filled with seasoned soy meat crumbles or picadillo. There are different versions of empanadas in different countries of Latin America, my version given the ingredients (and time) available to me has come down to this!

You will need:
1. One recipe's worth of seasoned soy crumbles (picadillo), same as could be used for tacos or tostadas.
2. One package of puff pastry to make 12 empanadas and you will have some crumbles left for the next day for tacos. Or two packages of puff pastry and you can freeze some empanadas for another day's quick dinner. Or bake them all and give some to your neighbor!

Directions: Defrost puff pastry in the fridge over night.

Half an hour before you will start preparing, leave on counter.

Unfold pastry sheet carefully so you don't stretch it out.

If it is too sticky, it has thawed too much, just stick it in the freezer a few minutes to firm up.

Once sheet is flat, gently roll out with rolling pin just to flatten a bit.

Only extend it about 1/4".

With a pizza slicer, slice pastry dough along the two creases and then once across the middle to end up with 6 pieces.

Scoop about 1-1 1/2 tablespoons of soy crumbles in the center and fold, pressing around the edges.

It took me about 3 years of making these to figure out I could significantly cut on the prep time if I just leave them square. Duh! But if you want them to look a little prettier and more like a traditional empanada, use the pizza slicer to cut the edges and make it half moon shaped.

Place empanadas on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375F for about 25 min. or until puffed up and golden. Let rest for about 5 min. before digging in because they will be quite steamy inside.

Garnish with soy sour cream, shredded cabbage and REALLY spicy salsa, EAT!

Provecho!!!

Simple pasta, simple salad ... quick lunch

2010-10-26T18:43:00.000-07:00

This is about as healthy, tasty and simple as you can get for a mid week lunch. Usually during lunch there is no less running around than any other time of the day with the kids. We get home from preschool, they run and play around while I fix their lunch, feed them while I clean up and get them ready for nap. The usual right? But I don't like to miss out on a tasty lunch, so I try to prepare something quick that I can eat while they are napping.

For this I will cook up some whole wheat pasta or use up some left over from the previous night's dinner. Sautee a portobello cap, toss with pasta, some olive oil, salt, pepper and chopped parsley and basil. Done! Side salad of baby spinach with heirloon tomato and dress that with simple, light dressing of your choice. Not much better than that to make me feel I didn't ruin my morning workout!

Provecho!!!

Mamma mia, la mia lasagna!

2010-10-24T20:20:00.000-07:00

I'm not in the mood for writting enticing commentary, just look at the picture and get to it.

Vegan Lasagna

Serves 6

For sauce:

1 can crushed tomato

1 can fire roasted diced tomato

1/2 small yellow onion, diced

1 carrot. diced

2 stalks of celery, diced

1 cup frozen peas or 1 cup fresh broccoli chopped

1 tablespoon garlic, crushed

salt and pepper

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 block of soy mozzarella style cheese
1 water packed, extra-firm tofu block
1 package lasagna noodles, (no boiling required type, like Barilla)
Optional:
1 package of soy crumbles, like Morningstar or Lightlife
OR 1 package of Italian sausage crumbles, like Match

Directions:

Preheat oven at 400F.

Heat olive oil and sautee onion, celery, carrots and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. When onion starts to have brown spots, add both cans of tomato and frozen peas. Let cook for 20+ minutes. Pour into blender and blend. You want to aim for a semi-smooth consistency, but be careful not to blend so much that you end up with baby food. If you have chosen to make this meat marinara like, then while the sauce is still in the blender, reuse the same pot you made the sauce in and brown the crumbles. Turn off heat. Add the sauce back to the pot and mix into crumbles. You will only end up using about half of the sauce for the lasagna. The rest I store in a mason jar in the fridge for a week or you can pour into baggies or freezer safe container and store in freezer for months. Don't worry you won't store for that long, the sauce is good and it's so convenient to have ready made sauce for the mid-week hurry as pizza sauce or over pasta.

For tofu-cheese mixture layer first drain water out of tofu container. Cut tofu block into four pieces and with your hands over the sink, squeeze out as much water as you can. Once you have squeezed out water place tofu in medium sized mixing bowl. Crumble tofu with fork. Shred entire block of soy mozzarella cheese on top of tofu mixture, then mix tofu and cheese together.

In a glass dish ladle some sauce at bottom so the first layer of lasagna noddles won't stick. Next place first layer of lasagna noddles Next ladle a layer of sauce, spreading it out so the layer of noddle is completely covered. Next spread a layer of tofu-cheese mixture. Next another layer of noddles, then sauce, then tofu-cheese mixture again. So on until you end up with tofu cheese mixture at very top. At this point I like to add some extra cheese on top for nice melting effect.

Bake for about 35 minutes, until you can see all cheese has melted and sauce is bubbly.

Provecho!!!

E-Cakes version 2.0

2010-07-26T19:41:00.000-07:00

Can anyone honestly state that after looking at the pictures above you don't want to run to your kitchen in search of your whisk??? C'mon!!!

Back story:
Andria, fellow mom, unconditional friend and also on the eternal search of ways to feed healthy food to her two kids, helped me develop this recipe. She was initially inspired by a non-chocolate "muffin" recipe in one of her sneaky cooking for kids cookbooks. She then tweaked the recipe and turned it into a chocolate muffin and later into a chocolate cupcake. After several tweaks she had make the healthiest covert chocolate cupcake on earth. Perhaps, according to her kids taste, a little too healthy and not covert enough, HA HA! My kids loved every time she baked them and ate them up readily and full heartedly. But her kids were starting to change the name to "Prehistoric Muffins" (she's gonna kill me for that one!) because they were a little "bumpy". This is when I begged for the recipe because I also wanted to have on hand a recipe that would feed my kids veggies and fruits and they would be non the wiser. I took it and AGAIN tweaked it and AGAIN renamed it. They will now be known as .... E-cakes 2.0! (e-cakes got their name from the kids who thought the loops on top look like cursive "e"s) These cupcakes are light, moist and not too sweet. They are only sweetened with the natural sweetness of the fruits and some maple syrup, but if you want more decadence you can always sub the maple syrup with some white sugar.

Finally, the recipe:

Ingredients: Yields 1 dozen
1/4 cup frozen, thawed, pureed spinach
1/4 cup frozen, thawed, pureed blueberries
1/4 cup steamed and pureed sweet potato OR butternut squash
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup maple syrup/agave nectar (or 1 cup white sugar)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. flax meal
1 cup white whole wheat flour (King Arthur Brand is best)
1/4 cup whole wheat flour (King Arthur Brand, again)
1/4 cup almond meal/flour (Trader Joe's brand best, Bob's Red Mill second best)
1/3 cup cocoa powder (Penzey's Natural Cocoa best, Ghirardelli's second best)
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F.
1. In a measuring cup measure milk and add apple cider vinegar and flax meal.
2. Peel, dice and steam sweet potato. Thaw frozen spinach and set aside. I cut with sharp knife what looked like plus or minus to be about right amount, then measured it to make sure, then thawed in small bowl in microwave. Thaw blueberries and set aside. Once sweet potato is ready measure and put in blender together with spinach, blueberries, apple sauce and 2 tablespoons of water and blend until you get baby food type consistency puree.
3. To milk mixture add canola oil and extracts. Pour into large bowl and add pureed veggies/fruit mixture. Mix to incorporate.
4. In separate bowl SIFT, SIFT, SIFT, can't stress enough, SIFT all other ingredients: flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In two batches add dry ingredients to wet.
5. Pour into lined cupcake tin and bake for 18-19 min. or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool on rack. Assembling direction after ganache and white icing recipes.

Ganache:
1 cup vegan chocolate chips (Ghirardelli's Semi-sweet is best)
1/2 cup nondairy milk

1. Put both ingredients in a metal or glass bowl and place over pot of boiling water. Don't allow boiling water to tough bottom of bowl. This is called "Bain Marie". Or if you own a double boiler, you could just use that.

White icing for "E"s:
4 TB confectioner's sugar
1 tsp of nondairy milk

1. Whisk in a small bowl and add more sugar or water as needed to get think but still runny consistency. Pour into snack size baggie and snip of just barely the tip of the baggie to pipe out the "e"s on top.

Assembly directions continued:
1. Once cupcakes are cooled and ganache is ready, dip top of cupcakes into ganache and set aside. Refrigerate for 5-10 minutes and take out of fridge to pipe out "e"s. Store in covered container in dry place. Although I wouldn't worry about that too much, they won't last long enough for you to worry about where or how to store them.

Provecho!!!

Everything Yummy Ultimate American cookie

2010-07-04T19:30:00.000-07:00

Again inspired by Isa Chandra's "Vegan Cookies Invade your Cookie Jar" I came up with this recipe to make a more healthful but yet quite indulgent tasting cookie ... Let's Celebrate!

Ingredients: Yields 30-40 cookies
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour ( I suggest King Arthur brand)
1/2 cup almond meal
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup canola oil (when measuring, do oil first then agave nectar and it will pour out without sticking)
2/3 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup almond or soy milk
1 TB ground flax seeds
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup vegan chocolate chips (Ghirardelli semi sweet)
1 cup chopped toasted pecan pieces (Trader Joe's sells them ready to use)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In one bowl combine oats, flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
3. In a second bowl, beat oil, sugar, agave nectar, milk, flax seeds, and extracts. Fold in half of dry ingredients into wet ingredients, once mostly incorporated add second half of dry ingredients. Fold in coconut, chocolate chips and pecans.
4. Drop tablespoons size amount of dough per cookie about 1 1/2" apart. Press down slightly. I fill one cookie sheet with about 20 cookies and bake those for 15 min. Take out and leave on baking sheet until cool.
5.The other half of the dough, roughly another 15 - 20 cookies I drop on a medium baking sheet lined with parchment or foil, do not press down. Place in the freezer overnight and then store in zip lock in freezer. Those will be available for immediate access in case of emergency like your best friend has bad case of PMS or you need to suck up to your neighbor to babysit your kids. Whatever works!

Provecho!!!

A week of dinners

2010-07-04T18:50:00.000-07:00

Grilled unchicken sandwich with caramelized mushrooms, soy cheese mozzarella style, arugula and pesto spread with side of chips ...

Quorn chicken patty topped with marinara sauce, melted soy mozzarella and caramelized mushrooms, sides of broccoli and whole wheat thin spaghetti dressed with olive oil, Parma raw and chopped fresh parsley ...

Quorn chicken pieces in stir fry with baby corn, broccoli, yellow bell pepper, mushrooms, yellow squash, zucchini, hearts of palm slices and water chestnuts with side of brown rice (not pictured) ...

Veggie burger with classic condiments, side of steamed beets dressed with lime juice and salt and side of brown rice with mushrooms, green beans and pine nuts with drizzle of olive oil and salt ...

Hard shell tacos using soy crumbles prepared for "Picadillo" (see recipe), with Mexican red rice, shredded romaine lettuce, diced tomatoes, chipotle salsa, Tofutti sour cream, sliced black olives and sliced avocados ...

Club sandwich with Tofurky oven roasted slices, lettuce, tomato, spinach, onion, vegenaise and mustard on Ezequiel burger buns with side of pesto pasta with cherry tomatoes ...

Nachos (Americanized) using Trader Joe's Long Board tortilla chips, blended a can of pinto beans and cooked with some soyrizo, topped chips with it as first layer, then layer of seasoned soy crumbles prepared "Picadillo" style (see recipe), diced tomato, diced onion, shredded soy cheese and salsa ... dollop of Tofutti sour cream optional =-)

Provecho!!!!

Vegan Chocolate-Banana-AlmondButter Ice Cream !!!!

2010-05-11T17:06:00.000-07:00

Keywords: chocolate and ice cream

For Mother's Day I requested an ice cream machine. My reasoning was that making your own anything, is cheaper than buying from the store, which is true. Also, that it would be healthier because you know exactly what is going into it, and you can pronounce all your ingredients (hopefully), also true. But hey, who am I kidding, I just love kitchen gadgets of all sorts and this is one more for me to make fun stuff to eat, right?!

I was inspired by several websites and their vegan ice cream recipes, but in the end I concocted my own and if I do say so myself it came out delicious. Perhaps beginners luck, since it was my first swing at it. Whatever! It worked and it is pretty tasty.

I will say it is not as firm as store bought vegan ice cream, but I'll try a couple other suggestions/recipes and keep you updated. Or maybe just letting it sit in the freezer for a while longer after it comes out of the machine instead of devouring it straight out of the container might work.The machine's instructions (mine is the $50 one from Cuisinart), suggests at least 10 hours of freezer time for the container. It took mine about 24 hours. Also, do not overflow the container when you put ice cream base in, I almost did. I think I can safely assume, had I put too much, there would not be enough cold to solidify ice cream base as needed.

Anyhow .... recipe, here goes:

1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1 1/2 vanilla soy milk
1/2 vanilla creamer
4 Tablespoons of flax oil
1/2 banana
1/4 cup dutch process cocoa
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon each, chocolate extract and almond extract (optional)
1/2 cup smooth almond butter
2 Tablespoons tapioca flour/starch
1/2 cup extra-firm Mori-Nu tofu
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Put all ingredients in a blender until well mixed. Chill overnight.
2. Follow ice cream machine's instructions
3. During last five minutes add chocolate chips. Total time for my machine was 35 min.

Provecho!!!

Underwears for dinner tonight!

2010-04-20T13:26:00.000-07:00

Calzones in spanish means underwear, plural. Since it was a new item on our dinner menu, I thought I'd have fun with it and get the kids interested. Thus the title ...
They were more than interested. They had fun helping make them and once they were ready to eat, they devoured them! So easy, so tasty, so fun ...!!!
p.s. Thanks to Ms. Andria for being a constant source of inspiration ... ;-)

Ingredients: Serves 2 adults and 2 kids
One recipe's worth of pizza dough
Kitchen sink marinara or your favorite marinara sauce
Field Roast Italian Style Sausage or vegan meatballs (recommend Nate's)
3 cups shredded nondairy cheese
1/4 medium vidalia (sweet) onion, sliced
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup sliced zucchini
olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Cut pizza dough ball in thirds. Then one of the thirds cut in half. Roll out one dough ball and place on either greased or parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
2. Add meatballs or sausage slices, and veggies. Top with a humongous mound of cheese and close dough pocket, pinching the edge. Repeat with other three dough balls.
3. Spray or brush some olive oil and poke holes with fork to allow steam to vent. Bake until golden brown.
4. Allow to cool for 10 min. or so. For the kids I allow to cool 10 min. then slice in half and cool another 5 min. before they dig in.

Here's a couple more pictures, to demonstrate the success of this recipe ...

Provecho!

Vegan Zucchini Cake

2010-04-18T20:29:00.000-07:00

This is a cake, not a bread. It is VERY VERY moist and very light. If you like the denser, more "traditional" zucchini bread, this is not for you. =-) But I highly reccomend that you try it anyway and you may just find yourself eating more than one slice. You can also toast it and spread a little cream cheese on it to accompany your morning coffee, just a thought.
I also gotta warn that the ingredients list may seem a little lenghty, but the actual work of putting them together is a cinch, so it balances out. At the risk of sounding too foodie-snobish, I will say that doing your "mise en place" is very important. That is, having all your ingredients out and set up so you don't run around the kitchen like a chicken with it's head cut off, trying to get your ingredients out one by one as you mix. Just do it, it will make the process more time efficient and make you feel like a pro. Added bonus, you will be verifying that you in fact have all the ingredients you need before you get stuck half way through with not enough baking powder. (wink, wink!) ;-) Here we go...

Ingredients:
2 c. grated zucchini (one large zucchini)
1 medium very ripe banana
1/2 cup (4 oz.) apple sauce
juice of one lemon and it's zest
3/4 cup canola oil
1/4 c. soy milk
2 tsp. vanilla
2 TB. flax meal

1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cups almond meal (if at all possible, Trader Joe's brand)
1 tsp. baking SODA
1/4 tsp. baking POWDER
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. fresh grated nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 cup sugar (or 1/2 cup white and 1/2 cup brown)

1. Preheat oven to 350. In your liquid cup measure or small bowl combine flax meal and soy milk. Mix and let stand.
2. In a medium bowl combine zucchini, lemon juice and zest, banana, apple sauce and vanilla. Add oil to the flax and soy milk mixture. Mix vigorously and combine with rest of wet ingredients.
3. In large bowl mix all dry ingredients. Fold in wet ingredients. Pour batter into bundt pan. Bake for 1 hr or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool at least one hour before eating.

Provecho!

Breakfast as a 1/2 birthday celebration ...

2010-04-05T18:54:00.000-07:00

Goofus turned 4 1/2 and instead of baking a cake, especially since I'd had quite a baking frenzy in the last few days, he was willing to celebrate with a big stack of his favorite breakfast ....

Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes
(inspired by Isa Chandra Moskowitz's recipe, Perfect Pancakes, from her book "Vegan Brunch")

1 cup white whole wheat flour (I use, King Arthur Flour)
1/4 cup almond flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 cup water
1 1/4 cup rice, almond or soy milk
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 large banana
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat skillet between medium to medium low heat (at least on my stove medium heat is 1/2 notch too hot, you should know yours).
2. In mixing bowl mix all dry ingredients. In another small mixing bowl mix all wet ingredients. Pour wet ingredients over dry and mix, careful not to overmix, just to incorporate. Cut half of banana down the middle lenghtwise,so you have two matching halves. Then with knife slice down each half leghtwise again and then widthwise to dice. Or whatever, just dice the banana! Add banana and chocolate chips to batter and fold in.
3. I use nonstick skillet and have found no need to further spray or grease the skillet. Pour, cook, flip, cook, as you would any other pancake.

These are best enjoyed if instead of butter and honey you simply eat as is, or spread a thin layer of almond butter on top.

Provecho!

Enmolada time!!!!

2010-04-05T06:56:00.000-07:00

Sooooooo easy! Enmoladas stuffed with a tofu, onion and soy cheese mixture with a side of Mexican red rice ... yum!

Ingredients:

1 jar of Doña Maria Mole (can find in Mexican foods sect of any grocery store)
2 to 3 cups of vegetable broth
1 pkg. of corn tortillas
1/2 pkg (about 8oz.) water packed extra firm tofu
1/2 yellow onion
1 block of nondairy cheese (soy or almond) mozzarella style

1. With a spoon scoop out about half of the mole paste from the jar and put in a medium sauce pan with about 2 tablespoon of oil (any kind you like). Set temperature to medium low and try to break up the paste a little into smaller pieces, then add one cup of the broth and try to mix in until you have completely dissolved the mole paste with the broth and have obtained a thick but smooth consistency. It should look like very thick, gritty chocolate sauce. Continue to heat on low, if consistency seems to start to dry and become more pasty add more broth, it will continue to thicken until you turn the heat off. But you wan to make sure it is heated through and paste and broth are completely incorporated. Turn heat off and cover.
*Note: I know this was a long explanation, it just needs points of reference, so you know what is is supposed to look like, it's actually very quick and easy.
2. Drain tofu and n a medium bowl, crumble half of tofu package with hands or fork. Shred all of nondairy cheese package and add to tofu. Finely dice onion and add to tofu, cheese mixture. Blend all three with fork or spatula.
3. Heat tortillas about three at a time. They cool fast and they are best eaten hot. When the tortillas are heated through but still soft and pliable place on your plate. Add some of the tofu mixture towards the edge of the tortilla and roll to make a taco, set on side of plate with edge down so it doesn't unroll. Repeat with other two tortillas.
4. Once all three tacos are formed, place together and pour some of the mole on top, believe me you want plenty. Add more of the tofu mixture on top. Accompany with a pan grilled faux chicken fillet and some Mexican red rice (sorry, i guess that recipe is still pending .. rain check!).
* Note that it may be a little spicy, so this may not be suitable for children.

Provecho!!!

Eggless Egg Salad

2010-03-01T14:43:00.000-08:00

All the protein - the fat = healthier faux egg salad ... isn't it just beautiful?!?! Plus it comes together in just a few minutes and you have a quick lunch for a few days after. Believe me, you're not going to mind having this for lunch everyday for three days straight!

Ingredients:
1- 16oz. pkg. EXTRA FIRM water packed tofu
1 celery stalk finely diced
1/2 medium yellow onion finely diced
2 tablespoons sweet relish
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup nayonaise
1 teaspoon lemon juice

1. Drain water out of the tofu package and crumble tofu with your own hands as crumbly as you can. I like to put it in a strainer and after I have crumbled it I leave it there for a few minutes or so to keep draining the last few drops. Or if you're too prissy and don't like to get your hands dirty you can always just crumble it in a mixing bowl with a fork. Up to you!

2. Finely dice onion and celery. In a mixing bowl combine all ingredients; tofu, onion, celery, nayonaise, mustard, sweet relish, lemon juice, salt and pepper.That's it, done! Eat! (I will say however, it always tastes better the next day after it has sat in the fridge overnight... )

Another fun way to eat instead of a sandwich is just by diggin in with tortilla chips. These are my current favorites, Trader Joe's longboard chips. Rico!

Provecho!

Vegan "Spiked" Chocolate Pudding

2010-02-28T11:27:00.000-08:00

Ok, this one was overdue. First of all, let me clarify the "spiked" part, no I don't put whisky in it .... although, that might not be such a bad idea ...hhmmm. By "spiked" I mean, it has carrots and sweet potato in it but the kids don't know it. SSSHH!!! Don't tell them!

Here goes ...

1 Mori-Nu (aseptic) Tofu SILKEN, NOT firm

8 oz. vegan chocolate chips (Trader Joe's, and Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet are vegan)

1/4 to 1/2 cup nondairy vanilla milk

1 small sweet potato or 1/2 large peeled and diced small (can omit if you just want all indulgence)
1 medium carrot peeled and diced small (same as above, can omit)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

*optional 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
*optional 1-2 Tablespoons maple syrup

1. Melt chocolate using double boiler method and set aside to cool.

Diced carrots and sweet potato should yield about 1 1/2 cups total.

Steam the veggies until REALLY REALLY soft.

I puree, as if for baby 1st food, with a little milk (always understood that it I mean nondairy!) in Magic Bullet Blender for a couple seconds. At the expense of sounding like a commercial, it is a great piece of gear, because it's really powerful and will give your this beautiful smooth consistency in a couple seconds. Whereas, when I've made the puree in the large blender, it always ends up lumpy, the kids don't mind, but this way it's even more covert.

Now, in the large blender I put the silken tofu, the pureed veggies, melted chocolate and about 1/4 cup nondairy milk and blend until fully mixed. Taste it and see if you like the amount of sweetness. For our taste, the sweetness provided by the veggies is enough and the kids don't know better because they don't really eat very sweet foods and rarely candy. Now, you might have to eyeball it a little bit and see if it needs a little more milk or not, and you have to remember that it will firm up a bit once it sits in the fridge. Refrigerate for at least two hours to allow to firm before serving. DONE!

NOTE: During the summer, use this exact same recipe but pour into Popsicle molds (link to BPA-free, kid size 2oz. molds) and TA-DA!, you got vegan fudgesicles. OR, if you use Extra Firm Mori-Nu and pour into pie shell and refrigerate over night, TA-DA! you got silken chocolate pie. OR, if you use Firm Mori-Nu and one entire container of Tofutti cream cheese, pour into pie shell and refrigerate over night, TA-DA! you got no-bake chocolate cheesecake, top with fruit sauce or nondairy whip, EXCELENTE! Ok, I've got no more annoying TA-DA's left ... GO BAKE!
PROVECHO!

Mexico in the midwest

2010-02-27T21:44:00.000-08:00

This was a REALLY easy one, cooking to the minimum. FYI, Mexican rice, in Mexico is called Red Rice and here is the only real cooking (recipe later) and black bean seitan chorizo to top the tamal. It is a sweet corn tamal, no filling, that I bought at the mexican grocery store. It was frozen, so I just steamed until heated through. Upton's Naturals Seitan chorizo is crumbles that are already seasoned, you just gotta heat and I heated together with some black beans. Sides of sliced tomato seasoned with kosher salt and sliced avocado seasoned with kosher salt also. Mexican rice topped with Toffuti sour cream. If you like your food on the spicy side, do as here, top with pickled chiles and pickled carrots. Provecho!!!

Bean and Veggie Pasta ...

2010-02-27T21:16:00.000-08:00

This pasta dish was inspired by YOU, yes you, Andria, my lone follower ... =-) ... I always enjoy this pasta dish when you make it, so I made my version. I had to alter it, you know, copyright laws and all!!! I wish I would have had some pine nuts, it needed that extra crunchy toasty texture. Instead I added Raw Parma and I think I did great too with the toasty taste of the nutritional yeast and the bits of walnut. The canellini beans are nice and buttery mild and of course gives me some protein.

Boiled the pasta and then in a large skillet sauteed all the veggies and then added the pasta to meld the flavors.
Veggies included some spinach, I think it needed more, also grape tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli, portabella mushrooms and ...

...roasted red peppers and toasted tempeh cut into cubes. At the end I seasoned with Raw Parma, black pepper, salt and drizzled with olive oil. Thanks!

Provecho!!!

Parade of kid's lunches

2010-02-27T20:29:00.000-08:00

I've neglected this blog far too long, and the pictures of my efforts are quickly accumulating. I would like to keep this in a format that can showcase "a day in the life", or a daily journal of our meals, but for right now, I just need to purge ...

Soy weiner or Smart dog, mac and uncheese and corn on the cob

Next, is pan fried Quorn chicken patty that I dressed with some honey mustard dressing ...

.... with a side of steamed brown rice and steamed broccoli. I place the broccoli florets in a ceramic dish, add a squirt of water a dash of salt and stick it in the microwave for a couple of minutes. I know microwaves vary, but in mine, 1.5 cups of broccoli cook to perfection 2 min.

This is a mexican soup I grew up eating (recipe below), my mom calls it "Sopa Aguada" and I have seen it translated as "Pasta Soup". I don't know that I like that translation, but in very simple terms, that is what it is. I add small cubes of nondairy mozzarella cheese and accompany with a side of quesadilla on flour tortilla. FYI, in Mexico, quesadillas a traditionally made with corn tortillas. But hey, flour tortillas are just as tasty and kids prefer them because they are softer than the corn.

Sopa Aguada (Pasta soup)

1 cup alphabet pasta or any other small shape pasta (shells, etc.)

4 cups vegetable broth (can use more broth if you like your soup with more liquid)

1 vegetable bouillon

1.5 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon ground dried onion

1 teaspoon ground dried garlic

1/4 cup tomato sauce

2 tablespoons canola oil

1. Use medium size sauce pan to heat the canola oil on medium heat. Add pasta and sautee until it changes color slightly.

2. Add tomato sauce and stir for 5 seconds and add vegetable broth.
3. Add bouillon and all the spices, stir and cover to boil until pasta is cooked through.

* As above you can add cheese (that it would be nondairy is understood, right?), and I also love to add a good squirt of lime juice.

PROVECHO!!!

Just a bonus for a cold Midwest day ....

2010-02-11T13:41:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah baby, double chocolate cookies ....

HEALTHY(er) Double Chocolate Cranberry Cookie
(inspired by Chocolate Fudgy Oatmeal Cookies from "Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero)

1 1/2 cups oats
1 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup almond meal
2/3 cup cocoa powder (don't be cheap by the good stuff, Penzey's)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flax meal
2/3 cup nondairy milk
2/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (again, buy the good stuff, Penzey's)
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Prep your baking sheet.
2. In medium bowl mix oats, flours, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
3. In LARGE bowl beat sugar, flax meal and milk. Add oil and extracts and mix well again. Add half flour mixture, mix gently, add remaining flour mixture. Lastly, add chocolate chips and cranberries.
4. Use small ice cream scoop to drop cookies on baking sheet. Should yield about 2 dozen cookies. Bake 12-15 minutes. Let cool on rack.

Kids could hardly keep their little paws off them, it's was a challenge to try to get a picture while they were around!

*TIP* Instead of baking all 2 dozen of them, bake one and the other, scoop on a foil or parchment lined baking sheet that will fit in your freezer. Freeze them over night and then place frozen dough balls in freezer bag. Next time you have a chocolate cookie hankering (or if you have a sick friend and want to be nice and share!), you don't have to go through the trouble, just pop them in the oven.
Provecho!

Just another day in paradise ...

2010-02-11T06:03:00.000-08:00

BREAKFAST
French Toast

... this one is not vegan, I used real eggs. I've actually tried the veganized version, a couple of version actually and have gotten disasterous results. I've yet to try the one by Isa Chandra on her "Vegan Brunch" book, I suppose I should. In the mean time this is easy and tasty. One bowl, one egg, two tablespoons of nondairy milk, 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 drop of vanilla extract and mix. Dredge slice of Ezequiel bread and sautee in pan with 1/2 teaspoon of EarthBalance "butter". Done! ohh ... don't forget the sprinkles, lately they seem to go on everything, even broccoli when that starts to get boring!

LUNCH

Lunch was left overs today. For Goofus, this meant doctored up mac and cheese and veg-chicken fingers.

Dr.ed Up Mac and unCheese
1.Defrost about a cup of frozen cauliflower in the microwave, then I add some nondairy milk and in my mini bullet blender to blast it until it becomes baby food consistancy.

2.Cook 2 cups pasta, add 2 TBS. Earth Balance, 3/4 cups nondairy milk, 1/2 cup SoySations (I buy at Trader Joe's) shredded cheese mix of cheddar and mozzarella, 1/2 cup of either Teese or Daiya cheedar vegan cheese and the cauliflower and FOLD IN gently on very low heat until cheese is melted and all ingredients are incorporated thoroughly.

Now, there is some learning curve with this one, but a short one ... you gotta look and taste and add more milk or more cheese until you get the consistency you like. I will add more milk than seems ideal, because once it cools, the cheese will soak up the milk and if you don't have enough milk it will be too dry and heavy instead of creamy.

Goofus opted for left over rice and bean gumbo with Toffutti sour cream, left over from last night and a side of veg-chicken fingers.

For me it was left over pesto pasta with peas and Raw Parma with a side of Quorn chicken patty.

The pesto is basil, olive oil, salt, fresh cracked pepper, Raw Parma and Galaxy Foods rice "parmesan" toppings, and either almonds, walnuts or pine nuts, whatever I happen to have on hand. All in the food processor and done.

I always make more than I need and save the rest in several small snack size baggies. Put those inside a freezer baggie and I always have some ready next time I need some. If I just need a little, I just break off a piece with my hands and warm in a dish in the microwave. I will use it for pasta, on fresh bread or pizza. A great time saver!

DINNER

Stir Fry tonight with Quorn chicken fillets. For the kids I brushed a little Brianna's Honey Mustard dressing on the chicken and pan fried it. Then, sides of brown rice, broccoli and baby corn. I stir fried the veggies for my husband and I and then just picked out the pieces for the kids.

For us, it was yellow squash, baby corn, snap peas, broccoli and ginger chicken seitan. I haven't yet been brave enought to try to make seitan homemade, although it seems like not too much trouble. But a few months ago my neighbors' parents came to visit from California. The are Seventh Day Adventists and live in Loma Linda, CA. The mecca of veganism and a Blue Zone . They brought many vegan meats and other goodies and we were lucky enough to be the recepients of some of these. Amongst these goodies, a huge bag of frozen already seasoned orange ginger seitan chicken pieces. YUM!

DESSERT

I've said it before and I will say it again, if you don't already own books by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, you must head to your nearest book store RIGHT NOW! ... go on ... I'll wait. These beauties are the classic chocolate chip cookie veganized. All the sugar, all the fat, all the fun is still there, the only think it lacks is the animal product. I don't believe anything more needs to be said at this juncture.
Provecho!

Weekday run around ... but with tasty food, it's all good!

2010-02-10T20:16:00.000-08:00

BREAKFAST

On weekday mornings, especially on preschool mornings, who has time to cook up much? This the easiest go to breakfast when we are running even more late than usual. Grumpus and goofus get to pick one kiddie cereal at the grocey store. They get to choose between two healthy ones I present them, not just whatever looks most appealing to them! This time it was Trader Joe's cheerios. They like them topped with half a banana and whatever nondairy milk is in the fridge. We alternate between soy, almond and rice milk. If they are still hungry after they can have some apple sauce or soy yogurt.

LUNCH

It's been a few days since I last posted, so I honestly can't remember what the kids ate for lunch that day, but no doubt it was almond butter and berry jam sandwich cut into a ducks or stars. I, on the other hand, have to have something a little more ... sophisticated. I've been more nostalgic than usual for Mexico, so I made a "Torta" for lunch. It is mexican street food. A sub sandwich like bread roll with MANY choices for meats and condiments. This one is the vegan version of one of the most traditional combinations; Tofurky roasted turkey slices, white nondairy cheese slices, mayo/veganaise, mustard, tomato, jalapen~o slices and lettuce and a side of "Sabritones". Sabritones are fried dough squares with salt, powdered lime flavor and powdered chili. If on any given day you go visit a Mexican elementary or middle school during recess, you will see many a child eating their lunch food accompanied by a bag of Sabritones! They are basically a vegan fried pork rind. So, not the healthiest vegan food out there, but while living so far away from Mexico, it's an easy way to feel transported back. I'll take it!

DINNER

This is an easy dinner that can be simplified for the kids and dressed up for the adults. Spaghetti noodles! Goofus likes them plain, grumpus likes them dressed with a little butter and some Parma Raw parmesan topping, some nondairy cheese slices and faux meatballs.

For us, same noodles but dressed with olive oil, the good stuff for this. I particularly like Goya or just any Spanish origin olive oil. Sorry Andria, but Spanish olive oil is the best! I remain loyal to my roots! Anyway, back to the food, olive oil, kosher salt, fresh crushed black pepper, parsley, sauteed asparagus and pine nuts. Could it be any easier? NO! Could it be any tastier? No!

Provecho!

A Saturday full of fresh vegan meals ....

2010-01-22T13:13:00.000-08:00

BREAKFAST
ok I realize this lacks a little color, but believe me it doesn't lack in flavor ... I guess some fresh chopped parsely next time would help the visual ... anyway ... it's caramelized onions, "Field Roast" vegan wheat sausage and oyster mushrooms... sautee until brown and serve ...

sweet pancakes, savory sausage hash, coffee or tea and watermelon slices to finish ...

with sprinkles for the kids of course ...

LUNCH
Kids wanted hot dogs for lunch ... easy enough for a quick meal after coming home from the goofus' YMCA swim class ...

But, my husband and I wanted something ... else ... I had some left over sliced mushrooms from the night before when I prepared a salad .. so before the fungus grows fungus I figured a way to put them to tasty use ...

here, I added Quorn crumbles and sauteed until heated through ...

prep accompaniments; romaine lettuce or cabbage, sliced tomato, sliced avocado and salsa ...

heat corn tortillas on a skillet and assemble your real fresh vegetarian mexican inspired lunch ...

... add some Mexican rice also left over from a couple of days ago and the meal is complete..

DINNER
Everyone wants different condiments on their burger ... no cheese, extra ketchup, no lettuce, no mayo ... you name it ... but one of the beauties of veggie burgers, versatility!

and blueberry peach milk shakes with vanilla hemp ice cream for complete dinner a la americana...

only one thing was left to complete dinner ... curly fries baby .. oh yeah!

Tasty, simple ... vegetarian! ... Provecho!

Let's keep it simple ...

2010-01-15T18:40:00.001-08:00

Breakfast

Vanilla Strawberry protein shake ...

Fruit was apples and raspberries and toasted mini cinnamon bagels with Toffuti cream cheese ... here shown is what Zofia left, not pretty picture, but I thought kinda funny ... she ate it like a piece of watermelon ...

For Lunch we had leftover pizza from last night's dinner ...

Meatless Meatballs and mix of Cheddar and Mozzarella, both pizzas where made with homemade pizza dough ... the recipe is the same as for bread loaf from previous day, one recipe as detailed below, yields enough for two pizza, each about 12" ... and sauce was left over, also from previous day, before I added the "meat" for spaghetti... this is the "kiddie" pizza

Wheat Gluten Italian Style Sausage, Mushrooms, Red and Green Pepper, Soy Mozzarella... this was the "grown-up" pizza ....

Dinner was Vegetarian Taco Salad from Qdoba for me ... no dressing, I use one from home ... and I "beef up" the taco salad too with some Quorn crumbles picadillo, some avocado pieces and topped with Brianna's Honey Mustard Dressing .... scrumptiousness!

Picadillo ... sautee 1/2 yellow onion and 2 garlic cloves in olive oil, add one pkg. of Quorn crumbles, season with 1/2 teasppon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, 4 TB tomato sauce ... taste if you need more of something ... by all means, add more! This takes all of 5 minutes ...

Finished!!!

Not shown, the kids had vegetarian gumbo topped with Toffuti Sour Cream, but sorry no photo, they ate it so fast, they gave me no time ... we eat from Qdoba about weekly so pictures will be posted soon ...

That wasn't much cooking and it's pretty tasty and very healthy!!! 'til soon, Provecho!

This is one is for Andria ... pasgetti and faux meat marinara

2010-01-13T16:24:00.000-08:00

My friend and fellow stay-at-home-mom says, "Why don't you just cook 'normal' food, like spaghetti and meatballs?". Well, Andria, here's to you .... Vegan Spaghetti and Meatballs. The noddles are brown rice noodles, no gluten and more protein. The sauce is my Kitchen Sink Marinara:

1. I sautee almost every vegetable I can find in my fridge: one head of broccoli, 1/2 of frozen peas, 1/2 cup cauliflower, 1 carrot, 1/2 medium onion are the usual contenders.
2. Then add a can of crushed tomatoes and season with salt, pepper, and italian mix dried herbs. Cook for at least 30 minutes.
3. Blend and DONE.

Since this makes quite a bit of sauce, whatever is left I put in freezer bags and save for two more dinners (pasta or pizza works great!). If you want to make it "meat" marinara, I'll use a whole bag of Quorn meat crumbles and sautee in a pan with onion and garlic, then add the marinara and presto!

Dinner tonight was using that sauce and then topped with Parma! raw parmesan, yes, I'm obsessed with it, I put it on EVERYTHING! I also made some fresh bread, ok this may add to the work load, but not by much if planned right, and it's so worth to have fresh baked bread with your italian themed meal.

I use a bread machine to knead the dough, which leaves ZERO work for me after I have put the ingredients in the mixing container. You can get yourself one used from your local Goodwill or any thrift store for about $12, just make sure it has a "dough" cycle.

PIZZA DOUGH
Ingredients:
1 1/8 cups warm water
2 TB. olive oil
2 tsp. yeast
2 tsp sugar
2 cups all purpose flour (recommend you use King Arthur)
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. dried onion powder
2 tsp. dried garlic powder

Follow machine's instructions. It will take about 1 1/2 hours to knead. When its done, just take it out, cut in half, place one half in a baggie and freeze for later. You can also just keep in fridge if you want to use the next day. Preheat oven to 375F. Do NOT punch down dough, place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper and brush with some olive oil and sprinkle some kosher salt. It will bake for about 20-25 min., but depending on your oven, just keep looking at it, when it looks golden brown (as cliche as that sounds!) it's done. Enjoy with some Earth Balance, "nummy, nummy", says my grumpus!

Now really, that's not so bad ... and it's so healthy and tasty! 'Til next time, Provecho!

Kid's lunch ....

2010-01-13T14:20:00.000-08:00

Breakfast and lunch are usually the most challenging of meals. I seem to get bored with the same options over and over. I want something new and exciting everyday! Yes, I know not realistic and not practical, and since I am trying to be practical so I can concentrate on other more important things! There are so many cookbooks out there for veg food and for "kiddie-friendly" food. Yet, in my experience it's mostly food mom's would like their kids to eat, but most likely won't. I also won't make their food look like caterpillars or pirate ships so they will eat it. They won't be fooled! Plus, if I've ever tried it, they'll pick out what they like out of the food art piece and leave the rest (i.e. the most nutritious part).
The kids are picky, so I have to find a middle ground between me getting bored cooking the same food over and over and them wanting the same food over and over. Today, this one is was an easy one, left over noddles and some kind of veg protein. Here is brown rice noddles, dressed with a little Earth Balance spread and Parma! raw parmesan, a couple three soy meatballs and some cubes of soy or almond cheese. Getting them to eat their servings of fruits and vegetables can be tricky so usually for lunch, they can have dried apricots, dried cranberries or banana chips for dessert. At dinner time, I'll try to sneak in more veggies. I'll show soon .... in the mean time, Provecho!

This crazy life of ours ...

2010-01-13T13:50:00.000-08:00

Maybe it's self imposed, but life can be just so crazy! My hat off and all admiration to those moms that have more than two kids and have a job outside the home in addition to all the work the home itself demands with no mercy or compassion. All that rambling just to work up to say that I already haven't been as religious as I had proposed to be about taking pictures of every meal to demonstrate that that there is life after "giving up" meat, or rather after taking your health seriously. Ok, I'll try not proletize, I can hear Andria chewing off my ass about it already ... "Live and let die", and all that, fine! So on regular weekdays, breakfast has to be fast because we're always late to somewhere ... so it will be something like a frozen waffle sandwhich; thawed in the toaster with Tofutti cream cheese in the center. My husband's version of this, is actually healthier and heartier, he does almond butter and fruit jam. My kids are about PBn'J-ed out, so they won't have it. So back to the breakfast, waffle sandwhich, with a Morningstar breakfast sausage and 1/2 banana on the side. If they are still hungry, they'll have 1/2 a cup or so of soy yogurt. Diluted apple juice or non-dairy milk for drink choice. I'll post other pictures and examples of other breakfast stuff ... mostly we have vegan breakfast, but sometimes we might have a an ovo-vegetarian breakfast, like scrambled egg burrito or migas (which can actually be veganized no problem) I'll demonstrate very soon... 'til then, Provecho!

Weekend Breakfast

2010-01-11T14:17:00.000-08:00

This is the typical breakfast at our house any given weekend ... vegan pancakes! Sometimes,as you can see here, they will be blueberry, other times banana, plain or apple. Whatever Goofus wakes up in the mood for that Saturday or Sunday. I let him choose because he is usually the pickiest eater, so I have found if I either make something I know he likes for sure or I let him choose from 2 types he doesn't necessarily have on his "faves" list, he is more likely to eat it, even if not enthusiastically.

Grumpus, well, doesn't the name just say it all!?!? She is actually not as picky, so she'll go along. Plus, whatever it is she's eating if it has a 1/2 teaspoon of sprinkles on top, in her eyes, for sure it must be good! I figure 1/2 teaspoon of sprinkles doesn't do too much damage and the benefits of the vegan, fruit or veggie laced food I'm getting her too eat outweights it. But, getting back to the point, the vegan blueberry pancakes you see here is a recipe from "Vegan Brunch" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. If you are vegan, heck, if you just plain want a healthier version of tasty, fluffy panckes, you MUST go get a copy!

I will try to post as much as possible samples of meals we have at our house to show that becoming vegan or vegetarian is not that difficult, doesn't have to be expensive, and most certainly is healthier than the non-veg version. I have two kids that are picky eaters and I shop mostly at a regular grocery store and it's totally doable! C'mon you can do it too, "pay the farmer instead of the doctor"!