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Thanksgiving Vegan Recipe Testing!

Posted by LD in Holiday Recipes, Menus, Traveling Vegan and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So I spent the weekend doing two things:

1. Testing delcious recipes for Thanksgiving, and

2. Going to PumpkinFest in Keene, NH with my beautifully carved pumpkin that says “Vegan”. Because pumpkins are vegan and I am vegan and pumpkinfest should be too! (And yes I wore shorts in 40-50 degree weather, I am from New England)

So with that cool Autumn Air for inspiration and the smell of fried dough I can’t eat in the air (and a line a mile long that made me grateful I couldn’t) I will give you three of my recipe testing reviews. I made biscuits, butternut squash macaroni, and pumpkin chocolate chip bars. I would also like to note that I had to order some of the stuff online that I needed for these masterpieces (and more that I plan on making) from various sources which is partially why I have been offline. RESTOCKING! My favorite is always www.veganessentials.com because they have almost everything.

BISCUITS!

Let’s start with Mom’s Vegan Kitchen All Purpose Bisquits (http://store.veganessentials.com/vegan-all-purpose-biscuit-mix-by-moms-vegan-kitchen-p3330.aspx).

This is an investment of time. You will need to roll these out twice folding in between and cut that cold soy butter (earth balance) quickly and into small pieces keeping in mind the whole bag is not the serving size directed on the back of the bag for isntructions. They do it based on 2 cups and there are five in the bag.

Next issue, you need to make them as high as possible as they do not rise much. I would also advise adding extra plain soymilk. After they get cool they dry out a little.

Last issue, my husband said they were too salty once you add butter and applied marmalade instead to contract with sweetness. They were delcious but had to stay warm or they got dry and a little hard. I added homemade hash browns for him (diced russet potatoes, earth balance, bell peppers, onions, and salt/pepper) and he was happy.

What about you folks? Too salty? Better way to make them moist? How about a different brand? Should I try the Joy of Vegan Baking recipe next time?

NEXT….

Butternut Squash Macaroni

Recipe from Whole Foods: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2349?utm_source=email&utm_medium=Grocery&utm_term=Vegan&utm_content=Recipe&utm_campaign=2012_10_03_Recipes

I got this recipe in my inbox and the picture looked amazing so I was in! This makes your whole house smell like thanksgiving and is relatively simple to make. I call it a dump and go. You dump most of the ingredients into your cooking pots and pans and heat. There is chopping of the squash involved but I am sure there is a way to buy it pre-chopped. However, I happened to have a whole squash from a friend’s CSA that she got too many of. Score for me!

My suggestions: Use any nut you want. I used pecans because that is what I had in the house. Nest, don’t use panko breadcrumbs. Go for a hearty breadcrumb or even a stuffing on top. It needs the saltyness. Mine was way undersalted despite salting everything individually. I swear coconut milk eats up salt magically!

Overall: This came out delicious. If I weren’t vegan I would still eat it. You can make it into a casserole and add faux chicken and other veggies and top it with stuffing and make it the yummiest Thanksgiving side dish ever. I love this recipe with my whole heart!

TELL ME HOW YOU MAKE OUT WITH A DIFFERENT BREADCRUMB!

NEXT…..

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

Recipe: www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com

First if you haven’t heard of Mavis and her goal to only spend $100 a month on groceries while growing the rest in her 1 acre yard in the great Northwest, well you need to! I look forward to her blog and its insights, hilarity, coupons, and guidance each night. She posts recipes for all types omnis to vegans. She has her own chickens, gardens, bartering neighbors, and nicknames for all. I love to read about how her life is and what it is like to be an urban farmer in essence while being green and thrifty. But I love it most when she shares her vegan recipes from her garden of goodies!

This week was pumpkin chocolate chip bars.

The good: They are sweet and yummy and you can portion them out in muffin tins.

The bad: My husband ate almost all the chocolate chips (365 vegan semi-sweet) so I had to sub 2/3 of them for pecans.

The ugly: I am on Weight Watchers and I can’t eat them all! However the hubby has eaten three (3) in less than 12 hours and we were sleeping for most of that.

Tricks? If you don’t ave pumpkin pie spice, use the canned pumpkin pie mix instead of pure pumpkin because it is literally the pure pumpkin with the spice. Time saver!

TOO SWEET? TOO PUMPKIN-Y? RECIPES CHANGES YOU SUGGEST?

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So… I will be back at the end of this week with some more recipes for your holiday needs. I keep promising to post my spinach artichoke recipe and I WILL! I finally found where I wrote it our for a friend so it will go up on here as well. I also made a fabulous everyday sundried tomato cream sauce last night and I may have to post that as well. It was super quick to make and I loved it. My husband however just broke the news to me last night that he prefers marinara so I won’t have an omnivore take on this one! He does love my apple caramel pies though so I will place that up with it.

Happy Herbivore Eating Everyone! Keep it hip and take it with you!

XOXOX, The Hippie Gypsy

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Simple. Caramel. Apple. Pie.

Posted by LD in Beginner Recipes, Holiday Recipes, Meatless Monday Desserts

What is better during the holidays than pie? I am not sure if I can find a single thing. Maybe Pie a la mode? Or …. nope nothing.

As a kid my mother would get apple pie from the grocery sometimes only a half of pie for dessert and place it in the produce drawer of the fridge. I am sure she knew it never made it to dinner because my greedy belly would go in there, sneak it out, and sit on our tile floor gobbling up every inch of it after lunch.

These days I know better. Mostly because I don’t want adult onset diabetes but also because I would have a terrible stomach ache and headache from all its delicious sugar. Well with the ideas of a warm holiday pie dancing through my stomach and moderation in the back of my head…. here is my delicious Caramel Apple Pie Recipe. Enjoy loves!

Caramel Apple Pie INGREDIENTS:

2 apples per mini pie peeled and diced, At least 10-12 for a whole pie (I use a red apple that has green in it like macintosh, fuji, gala, etc. See Photo below. I got these apple picking in New Hampshire.)

6 mini graham cracker crusts or 1 whole graham crust*

1 cup brown sugar (or 1/2 vegan white and 1/2 brown)

 1/2 stick of Earth Balance Soy Butter

1/4 cup of Soy Flour

1 tbsp Egg Replacer Powder

1/8 cup of water

1/2 to 1 cup of Pecans or Walnuts (I use pecans)

1 cup Quick Oats

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*(I will do this based on mini crusts, PS check for honey in the ingredients or make your own from Nabisco Original Grahams and melted Earth Balance)

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TIME TO COOK!

Preheat oven to 350degrees.

Peel and dice all the apples.

In a medium sauce pan place 1 peeled diced apple, sugar, butter,  flour, egg replacer, and water over medium low heat. Stir until combined watching carefully as sugar burns easily. It will turn a rich brown color. Add 3/4 of the nuts you have chosen. Reserve the other 1/4 to sprinkle on top of pies.

Place a portion of the remaining apples in each pie crust evenly at about 2 apples per pie. I use a apple peeler/corer and then sliced and quartered them. It reduces the time substantially.

Next, pour at least 2 tablespoons of mixture over each of the 6 pies until covered and full. The apples should be stacked in a dome above the crust. They will sink as they cook down.

Sprinkle tops of the pies lightly with remaining nuts and some quick oats. You may not use all the oats and this is fine.

Place pies on cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees until bubbling and brown (around 15minutes).

Cool for 10-15minutes. Serve warm.

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Feel free to make this with a mini scoop of my vegan vanilla ice cream (earlier super simple recipe) or the coconut whipped cream (also another earlier simple recipe) dolloped on top! It is so delicious and decadent I promise it will be a huge hit! The other day when I was testing it I sent my omnivore male friend from college home with 3 mini pies and he was so happy he would text me as he ate them. Bachelors love take home treats! I was suprised he wasn’t all appled out after eating 5-7 apples while we went apple picking! I guess you can never have too much of a good thing.

ENJOY!

XOXOX, The Hippie Gyspy

Traveling Vegan: Ordering Food Out

Posted by LD in Traveling Vegan

I have been MIA for probably close to a month it feels like. I am not sure, I probably should’ve check my last post date. Either way. I have had a lot on my mind, changed jobs, and then had a huge fight in my family. Part of it had to do with my being vegan. Now if you have just started reading today, I am not vegan by choice. That is why I blog, so other beginner vegans can get through the hard part I didn’t know how to get through. The part where you want a cheeseburger and you don’t care about the damn animals. Well as you get deeper into being vegan a little part of you starts to care about the animals and then perhaps a big part of you (me) will eventually.

I got sick. I had an organ removed. So I am forever vegan. Period. My brother and his wife do not embrace this lifestyle and that is totally fine and up to them. No matter what the animal rights people say I will not push my lifestyle on them. But I would like a little compassion.

When I go out to eat, I have to be detailed and explain my dietary boundaries as a diabetic or gluten allergy person would. Explain what I can’t eat, what I can eat, and why so they understand I am not just being a pain for some new skinny diet. I really cannot eat that stuff and if I do there are major consequences. That being said, I do not go out a lot. I hate it, It’s hard, and stressful. Unfortunately, I have to (sometimes) for family events. During a recent family meeting my brother and his wife brought up how this makes them feel. To a very extreme degree. They deemed me annoying and impossible and that my discussion with the waiters was needless and ridiculous and too detailed. They do not seem to understand what happens when I get sick. Last year an ORGAN was removed. That is a pretty good reason in my book to take the time to explain in detail what I can’t ingest. However they do not agree and asked me to not do this and basically just order and hope for the best so they do not have to hear about it. My sister in law also went so far as to scream at me and repeat the comment that my food choices are “GROSS”. Well my darlings, this is where I must become less than pleasant.

When you go out to order your food, remember…. it is not gross, your order is not annoying, and your reasons (whatever they are big or small) are valid. If your order takes twenty minutes and they need to bring out a short hand court reporter. Let them. You should not have any food forced on you. This leads to food issues. Either overeating, undereating, or resentment. Be happy, be healthy, and tell those folks to go away. I hate food nazis. I don’t want to be told to be vegan, be vegetarian, or be omnivore unless it is by a doctor who has a reason.

Moving on.

So here are my other eating out and ordering tips:

  1. If you have an Apple IPhone: Apps are my best friends! Try the following: Calorie Count (it tracks nutrients), VeganXpress (it tells you by restaurant what you can eat there), HappyCow (it helps you find restaurants that are veggie friendly!), Specialty Produce (tells you what to do with those pesky unknown veggies you got in your CSA package), Dotti (also known as DWLZ.com, this helps you find out nutritional info for healthy choices), and Vegan Steven gives some great recipes too!
  2. Some places can tell you if there is hidden dairy. The Cheesecake Factory now has a lower calorie menu that includes a little milk symbol!
  3. Ask your waitress or waiter about ingredients if you couldn’t find it online. I go to the website of the restuarant before I leave the house. If it isn’t on there I then ask the wait staff. One restaurant brought the box of frozen veggie burgers out at a airport to let me read the ingredients. It was amazing how kind they were!
  4. Most people know someone who is vegan. They will be compassionate and understanding if you take it all with a sense of humor. Say something fun like “I seem to be allergic to everything! Can you help me with the ingredients of this menu item?”
  5. Never back down. If they have the ingredients chances are they can make you something you can eat. Most places have veggies, pasta, rice, bread, and fruit. Ask for something simple like a pasta dish or rice sautee. They will accomodate you.

Banana Walnut Chocolate Chip Muffins: The Joy of Vegan Baking Adaptation

Posted by LD in Beginner Recipes, QUICKIES!, Traveling Vegan and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So I love muffins and chocolate and bananas and my “Joy of Vegan Baking” Cookbook so when I saw a recipe for Banana Walnut Chocolate Chip Muffins I passed out in a heavenly rush on my kitchen floor! All jokes aside the recipe was easy and yummy and hit the spot. I could make a ton of them for a work related early morning meeting or just to snack away at throughout the week for the whole family. I even brought some to my neighbor’s house last night for the kids and they became the “best muffin I ever ate” by the 8year old omnivore at the house. So that being said, I knew I had to throw the adapted recipe up. The “Joy of Vegan Baking” calls for more chocolate chips which I am usually game for but in this case they were crumbling apart from the chips so I cut them in half and it was perfect. I also added a little more vanilla and some flaxseed powder. The muffins keep well and are pretty good ingredient wise with nuts, seeds, and 4 bananas. Can’t beat a semi-healthy muffin! Enjoy!

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INGREDIENTS:

2cups All Purpose Flour (I use unbleached from Trader Joe’s)

1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda

Pinch of Kosher Salt

1 Cup Vegan Sugar (Whole Foods has a good one)

1/3cup Canola Oil (Vegetable will work but Canola is better)

4 Bananas ripe or brown (deep yellow work best although brown are a little sweeter)

1/4 cup water

1 tbsp Mexican Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup Vegan Semisweet Chocolate Chips (green package at whole foods)

1/2 cup chopped raw walnuts

OPTIONAL: Add 2 tbsp powdered flaxseed for a little extra goodness, it won’t effect the flavor or texture!

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LET’S BAKE!

Place paper in muffin tins. You can use folded parchment or just any good old cupcake paper wrapper. I have tons of old Christmas ones so red and green it is!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Get two bowls to mix in. One for wet ingredients one for dry. The larger one for the wet ingredients as you will add the dry to this mixture later.

Flour, Baking Soda, and Salt in on bowl (optional flaxseed powder). Lightly whisk to combine everything well.

Next, in the larger bowl or the “wet” bowl mix the oil and sugar until it looks like a yellow slushy.

Mash in the bananas to the “slushy” mix. Then add water and vanilla. Combine well.

Now sift the dry mix into the wet mix slowly. I would add about 1/8 at a time then stir in completely and sift in the next bunch to avoid those bubbles of lumpy dry mixture.

Once all is combined well stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.

I did not add walnuts to one batch at the request of my neighbors kids the other day and the muffins were still deemed the “best muffin she has ever had”. 8 year old approval is a good thing especially an 8 year old omnivore! So nuts or no nuts they are A-OK. Moving on…

Scoop mixture into cupcake pan/cups. I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup if my Ice cream scoop is unavailable.

Back for 25minutes in a gas oven it may take closer to 30 in an electric oven.

Take out, cool, and eat.

Vegan Bacon Mac and Cheese

Posted by LD in Beginner Recipes, Meatless Monday Family Dinners and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So the other night I needed to get rid of the block of Daiya Cheddar Cheese I had in the fridge before it went bad. Not that I knew what the expiration date was but I knew it had been in there too long at this point. So I decided to make a cheese sauce. Then I went into the freezer for veggies and saw that the Maple Smoked Marinated Tempeh Bacon was long past overdue for getting into my stomach and decided it would be a junk food dinner night! Bacon mac and cheese had sounded like a good idea for a while but I was terrified that my execution of such a dish would come up wanting. So I made the sauce and then dipped a piece of the bacon I cooked up into it as a test. That test was the most delicious test I have ever taken. It came out well. The next question was will the tempeh get soggy or mushy and gross in the sauce? A day later still perfecto! There was only a little bit of oil separation in the container that I place in the fridge after 3 days. So those leftovers became my lunch and let me tell you, best lunch ever! The moral of this story: you can be vegan and still have bacon mac and cheese and enjoy like my husband the omnivore did. Just don’t steal my extra bacon slice I forgot to crumble and make yourself a sandwich before I am done cooking, like my husband did.

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BACON MAC AND CHEESE!

1 Box of Smoky Maple Bacon Marinated Tempeh by Tofurky (Turtle Island Foods http://tofurky.com/tempehproducts/marinated_strips.html)

Spray Oil

Macaroni or Fettucini

Olive Oil

1 8oz container of Vegan Cream Cheese

1/4 cup Vegan Sour Cream

1/4 cup Vegan Parmesan (I use galaxy foods)

1/2capful of lemon juice

1 Block of Daiya Cheddar Cheese (they sell them next to the shredded version at Whole Foods now)

Garlic Powder

Kosher Salt

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TIME TO COOK!

Place olive oil in the bottom of a deep frying pan (3 inches or more should do). Just enough to coat the whole bottom. Added a thin layer of garlic powder and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt spread evenly.

Place all cheese products into the pan (cube the Daiya and cream cheese for faster melting). Place on low medium heat until melted. Add a splash of lemon juice and soymilk (original) if needed.

In a separate skillet. Spray oil on the bottom and cook tempeh until slightly dehydrated and very brown on both sides. The packaging says 2 minutes each side but I find longer is better as it does better the dryer it is. I had it on heat (low-low medium) for about 15mins.

Once bacon is cooked crumble it by chopping with the side of the metal spatula you used for flipping.

Make pasta of your choice (Macaroni or Fettucini seemed to be good options). Don’t forget to salt the water before boiling!

Drain once al dente.

Toss Pasta with Sauce. Add crumbled bacon after pasta is completely mixed in sauce. Mix bacon in well so it is coated. ( I held out one ladle of sauce and poured it over crumbles so it mixed easier).

Let sit a few minutes to thicken and Serve!

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PS This is great served as leftovers and keeps well if it lasts which in my house it did not. My omnivore husband gobbled up a mixing bowl size portion of it and then made a bacon sandwich with some bacon I hadn’t crumbled yet. The more bacon the better, the flavor comes out well. Next time I may add another 50% more bacon to the mix as it was THAT important. I do not have any pictures yet because I wasn’t sure how well it would go but take my word for it, its yellow, creamy, cheesy goodness!

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Adaptations: place all in a casserole dish and top with panko breadcrumbs, Earth Balance butter, and Wayfare Foods Pig Out Whole Grain Bacony Bits for a more homestyle feel and a bit of crunch! I am semi-obsessed with the bacony bits btw! http://www.wayfarefoods.com/content/products

Half Homemade: Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Cupcakes

Posted by LD in Beginner Recipes, Meatless Monday Desserts, QUICKIES! and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So today is my husband’s birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFF!

Excitement aside. We had a mostly vegan BBQ, my husband is an ominivore so I let him have his steak tips and hamburgers (because everything else he ate was vegan and he was very forgiving of my mood swings when I was detoxing off dairy and meat, I cried over Mac n Cheese once, It was pathetic).  But vegan-wise…  I made vegan beer brats, vegan hot dogs, chili, rice, baked russet potatoes, steamed veggies, a nacho dip, and a spinach artichoke dip with all the edible dipping tools one could ask for. I will try to post my recipes for those dips later this week as they are delicious!

So for dessert, what room there was left for dessert, was filled with the smell of warm milk chocolate and freshly chopped strawberries. I usually add guava with his chocolate cake and a dash of cinnamon but the store didn’t have any. So, I made a delicious half homemade milk chocolate cake with a spruced up strawberry frosting. I took plain white frosting that was “accidentally vegan” and added strawberry preserves from a local farm and freshly chopped strawberries.

The only issue I ran into was I could smell them baking in the oven nearly tasting the melted chocolate chips when I snuck a peak and saw the tops of them exploding and chocolate chips oozing over the top. I panicked for about 10 seconds contemplating pulling them out as they seemingly deflated and then said to my inner self “just wait until the time is up and they are cooked and test them”. When I brought them out it was like magic! The chocolate had formed a crunchy layer across the top similar to a carmelized creme brulee and the inside was soft and moist with little pockets of melted chocolate. The best mistake ever.

S0, I will now share the recipe of my delicious mistake with you!

Cake Ingredients:

Organics Chocolate Cake Mix by Dr. Oetker (follow recipe on back with below substitutions):

  • 2tbs powdered flaxseed (to sub for 2 eggs)
  • 1 egg worth of egg replacer mixture (1 1/2tsp egg replacer powder whisked with 2 tbs warm water)
  • 2tbs Water for egg replacer
  • Soy Milk instead of Dairy Milk (according to box directions)
  • Canola Oil for “Oil”

1/2cup- 2/3cup of vegan chocolate chips

Frosting Ingredients:

1 large container of white frosting (vegan or accidentally vegan options are at every grocery store it seems, just read the label)

1/2 cup small diced fresh strawberries

3/4  container of strawberry preserves 

COOKING:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

So I started by making the frosting which one would think would be the last step since the cupcakes take about 25 minutes however, due to the heat lately, I needed to refrigerate the frosting so it would firm up.

First combine the white frosting and the preserves then after it has a good flavor (testing is the best part) and is well mixed add the fresh cut strawberries until they are evenly mixed in. Refrigerate. The flavor will intensify as it sits.

Next, make the egg replacer mixture in a small teacup or mixing bowl.

Then in a large mixing bowl place in Chocolate Cake powder mixture.

Grind the flaxseed powder in a coffee grinder and add to the Cake Mix.

Next, add soy milk and oil to the cake mix.

After it starts to get wet and combined add the egg replacer mixture to the cake mix.

Once everything is well combined and a little thick, add the chocolate chips. Mix well.

Finally start placing the cupcake batter into the lined tins. I use cupcake paper cups so that the chips don’t stick to the pan and make my cupcake fall apart.

Place first tray of cupcakes in the oven for between 20-25 minutes.

When taking them out use a fork to slide down the side of the cupcake between the paper and the pan to lift them out and place on a cooling tray or rack.

 Let cool at least an hour before frosting as the chocolate chips will explode onto the top forming a delicious crunchy layer that is more like lava at first! My cupcakes got a little melty with the frosting because of the weather being about 95 degrees and the cupcake being warm still.

Frost and Enjoy!

 

PS If you want to get fancy for a holiday add a heart-shaped strawberry slice on top for Valentines Day or a Chocolate Dipped Strawberry for an Anniversary or a Strawberry Lollipop in the Center for a Little Girls Birthday or Baby Shower!

Traveling Vegan: Snacking your Way to Athleticism

Posted by LD in Beginner Recipes, QUICKIES!, Traveling Vegan and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I was athletic prior to my vegan days. I ran a half marathon just months before being given, what I felt at the time was, a life sentence of veggies. My life has turned around for the better since that event over a year ago and it is about to change again! This week I will be allowed to begin my athletic streak again! The doctors gave me the A-OK to start running or cycling or whatver-ing! I was so excited I joined a gym with free spin classes and yoga! Then I got a call from my new trainer and her question about my diet hit home. I have never been an athlete while vegan. No more lean chicken breast or broiled fish or hard boiled eggs. What should I be eating before my Saturday training session?

So I started first by cutting my calories this month. I was consuming far too many. I use the Calorie Count app on my phone www.calorie-count.com and it is great, Weight Watchers is another great option www.weightwatchers.com but costs about $15 a month for their online food logging service. I prefer the free  calorie count online or app service, it even gives you a letter grade on your eating habits. Now the tough part is what calories are good for this new athletic lifestyle? I have talked to some friends, fellow runners, my old trainer, and referenced some sites. The best advice I was given: more protein less oil. So I went on a hunt for a new protein shake and since I tried one I liked at “The Seed” conference in NYC, I am going to start there and itemize how my training goes or adapts with it. So here is my recipe for the protein smoothie that will start of my travels to the gym, pre-run, and anywhere else I go!

1 packet or serving Vega Vanilla Chai Protein Powder (available at Whole Foods or online)
1 serving frozen tropical fruit blend (again whole foods has a banana, strawberry, mango mix I love)
1 banana
1-2 cups of milk (the suggestion was Rice but I only had unsweetened almond milk or vanilla coconut)
1 tbsp freshly ground flaxseed powder

I place it in the blender with the milk, powder, flax, and banana on the bottom and the frozen fruit is like ice on top. I like a little more milk because it is not as thick but my friend likes it thick so it melts over a period of time in the morning. This is a dense treat so remember it is a whole meal not just a snack! Enjoy!

PS I will keep you updated on how this works at Saturday’s training session!

Traveling Vegan: Fourth of July Trifle

Posted by LD in Beginner Recipes, Meatless Monday Desserts, QUICKIES!, Traveling Vegan and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In preparation of the Fourth of July I have found I need two things 1. Produce and 2. A Sharp Knife.

It has been a hot summer here in the Boston area and knowing this I always prepare lots of cut fruits and veggies that are placed in glass containers in my fridge for snacking or for easy food preparation. After going to the grocery stores and Costco yesterday I came home to chop all my new finds up. I have 3 containers of cucumbers, 1 very large container of tomatoes, 12 chopped apples in a mixing bowl with lemon juice for pie, and 3 containers of strawberries. I felt good about this because when traveling over the fourth of July and surrounding days I see a need for cool raw items like fruit and cutting it up just makes it more accessible. The other day I went through 2 cartons of chopped strawberries from Saturday’s farm stand because of a Graduation party. If they had not been so accessible I may have just gone and lazily bought something. Instead my vegan version of a Fruit Trifle went over so well it was empty within 1 hour. The grocery store cake was barely missing a third of its frosting. So with that I am going to give you my trifle recipe and hopefully you will take that to the next fiesta you get invited to this summer as well as my tips to remember to “chop, contain, and take away” all those delicious fruits and veggies you buy each week. The 30 minutes it takes to do them all after shopping saves so much time later that week when you are in a hurry!

 

Ingredients for Marscapone:

1 8oz container vegan cream cheese

1/3cup vegan sour cream

1/3cup vegan powdered sugar

Ingredients for Whipped Cream:

2 cans chilled Coconut Milk

4 tablespoons Coconut Flour

1tbs Vanilla Extract

1-2cups Vegan Powdered Sugar

Ingredients for Cake:

1 lemon cake mix (try Organics by Dr. Oetker)

2 tablespoons freshly ground flaxseed powder

1 egg worth of egg replacer (I use Ener-gee Egg Replacer and buy it at Whole Foods)

Vegetable/Soybean Oil

Water

Ingredients for Fruit Filling:

4 cups chopped fresh strawberries

4 cups fresh blueberries

START: Make the yellow cake per the box specifications adding 1 egg worth of egg replacer and 2 eggs worth of powdered flaxseed (2tbsp). I use two circular cake pans and fill each half way. Bake until slightly browned and allow to cool before starting trifle.

 

CREAMS: In separate bowls, begin mixing the ingredients outlined above for each of the marscapone and whipped creams. For the whipped cream take only the white coconut cream substance from the can draining away any liquid before it goes in the bowl.  You can double either recipe for more thick creamy layers to the trifle if you have a larger trifle bowl. Whip both until thick and place into the refrigerator while you wait to prep the  rest of the trifle.

 

FRUIT: Chop the strawberries into small squares about the same size as a large blueberry. Blueberries can remain as is for layering.

 

MAKING THE LAYERS: I start the bottom layer with lemon cake. I trim the edges that are crusty off first and then slide to the bottom of the trifle bowl. I then top it with 1/2 of the marscapone cream. The next layer is of 1/2 of the blueberries. Then 1/2 of the whipped cream on top and last a layer of 1/2 of the chopped strawberries. Then repeat the whole set of layers. I save a few blueberries to sprinkle with the strawberries on the top layer as well since it is exposed.

Refrigerate until it is time to serve. Enjoy!

 

PS: This was a crowd pleaser to even non-vegans (since I am the only one that was at this party). They were whispering about it outside and talking to my mother about how talented I was. It is too simple to be talent so sneak around telling everyone you are an amazing chef and whip this up tomorrow morning for your Independence Day party!

Adapted Recipe: Jokerz Cheesecake (it’s like a snickers hugged a cheesecake)

Posted by LD in Beginner Recipes, Meatless Monday Desserts and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

When I first began trying to make my own vegan food outside of rice, veggies, and spaghetti with Mushroom Prego. I fell upon searching for recipes in vegan blogs all over the internet. I fell in love with photos but when I would see a recipe I would say what the heck is torula yeast and where would I even buy coconut flour and why are their 27 ingredients? So with that, I have definitely taken my time on choosing and making dishes that are tasty, simple, and have no weird ingredients. What I have found is that sometimes things require adaptations and sometimes I am capable of making them. So when i came across a recipe for a Cheesecake that boasted a Snickers Candy bar feel and flavor, I was in! (PS Snickers aren’t vegan 😦  sadly but the Jokerz bar are a good substitute!)

Here is the original recipe: http://havecakewilltravel.com/2009/11/18/cheers-and-cheesecake-cheerscake/

Here are my adaptations:

  1. First I  prefer Newman’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Sandwich cookies for the crust. Lately I will use Oreo ones with Peanut Butter Creme if I can’t find Newman’s.
  2. Layer the ingredients into a food processor is fine however I have dumped them all in out of order before (except for the cookies, they go first to powder out without wet ingredients). The only thing that happens when they are out of order is that sometimes the candybar pieces are a little more chunky in the pie. I kinda like this!
  3. The next thing is DO NOT take the pie out of the oven after cooking. It has to settle for that 30minutes in the warm oven. I was skeptical but I am not any longer. It is a requirement!
  4. Last when you top the pie you need a nutella-esque substitute to top it with. I use Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter if I can find it. Chocoreale is not anywhere in my region of the US it seems. If then do not have it I mix almond butter with vegan chocolate chips, heat, mix, and spread! I also like to chop a few types of nuts and top it with hazelnuts, peanuts, and slivered raw almonds. It looks prettier that way!

Buenos Dias, it’s Chili Time!

Posted by LD in Beginner Recipes, Meatless Monday Family Dinners and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

When I was in college my mother joined Weight Watchers and as a result of her amazing “2 Point” chili recipe she procured from the group I lost 30lbs in my freshman year. It was THAT good and oddly THAT healthy and definitely THAT easy to make. I call it a “DUMP” recipe. Most stuff just gets dumped in a pot or pan and VOILA! However it has ground turkey and powdered milk in it so I had to remake that delicious recipe for myself this past year. Making it without the turkey was okay and the powder being omitted didn’t phase me but I needed more bulk. So I would like to thank Tofurky once again for their delicious ground bits that are supposed to be similar to ground hamburger meat. This bulked it up and made it a staple in my home again!

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Ingredients:

GROUND MEAT MIXTURE:

1 package Tofurky Ground Beef

1tsp kosher salt

2tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp lemon peel

2 tbsp dried crushed jalapenos

1 tbsp seasoned salt or Penzey’s Sandwich sprinkle

1/4 cup dried Red & Green Bell Pepper flakes

1/8 cup ground cumin

VEGGIE MIXTURE:

2 large cans of diced tomatoes

1 large can of black beans (1lb. 13 oz.)

1/2 tsp Ground Red Chipotle

1/2 tsp smoked spanish paprika

1/4 cup ground cumin

1/8 cup chili powder

2 tbsp dried basil

1/8 cup granulated garlic powder

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TIME TO COOK!

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Place Tofurky Meat, oil, and salt into the bottom of a large sauce pan (like one you would make a gallon of tomato sauce in!).

Cook on Medium High until oil has mostly cooked off and the meat has cooked down.

Add additional “meat” spices listed and toss until everything has combined and cooked down.

Next, begin adding Veggie mixture adding the tomatoes and beans first.

Then slowly begin mixing in spices.

Add more chili powder, garlic, salt ,or cumin to taste for a richer sauce or even a dash of hot sauce!

I find extra chili powder and cumin really rounds out the flavor. Use mild or plain chili powder if you are sensitive to spice for the flavor without the heat.

 Cook down for about 30-45mins. Serve hot with rice, corn  tortilla chips, and/or fresh corn tortillas!