So I had a baby. Now I have no time. So I use MANY vegan life hacks (5 recipes included)!

Posted by LD in Beginner Recipes, Meatless Monday Family Dinners, QUICKIES!, Shopping Vegan and tagged with accidentally vegan, allergen free, almond, betty crocker, beyond meat, Catalina dressing, cheese, chocolate, chocolate chip pancakes, cinnamon rolls, dairy free, daiya, dessert, earth balance, Easy, Fast, feisty crumbles, havarti, Kraft, Low Ingredient, meatless mondays, pancakes, Party, peanut butter cookies, penzey's, pillsbury, quesadilla, quick, recipe, salad, taco, taco salad, tostada, Vegan, vegan cronut, vegan products to buy, vegetarian, what to eat, what vegans eat December 15, 2014

I had a baby a few weeks back. I was very ill before that causing a HUGE lull in my blogging and quite honestly my eating as well. I developed preeclampsia and could barely eat anything or walk, before that I got C-Diff… again no eating mostly doing the opposite of eating. I was the worst pregnant lady ever. If I was glowing it was strictly from swelling and fever. Thank goodness that is over. And let us welcome my vegan baby Solana Bray!

That all aside… I am getting back into my kitchen. Cooking when I can. Thinking of new recipes and enjoying my short moments of quiet when they come. The baby is out of the NICU (newborn intensive care unit, she was only 3lbs at birth but look at those cheeks now!) and at home so these moments are rare nowadays and my two stepchildren came to live with us in August. I think it is easy to tell that things have been hectic. So today I wanted to share some of my yummy vegan life hacks that I have been using to get through meal and snack times after work and on the weekends.

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VEGAN HACK RECIPES:

Peanut Butter Cookies: Use Betty Crocker Peanut Butter Cookie Mix and then sub out eggs with Egg Replacer. They come out perfect. I also use a silpat instead of cooking them directly on a cookie sheet because they are a little more crumbly. Let them sit for a few minutes before serving or else they fall apart.

Cinnamon Rolls: Use Pillsbury Crescent Rolls and don’t separate them at the triangle perforations or buy the dough itself if you can find it. They spread with Earth Balance Buttery Spread and sprinkle with cinnamon, brown sugar, and Penzey’s Vanilla Sugar. Roll up and then cut into 8-10 mini rolls. Bake for about 8-10 minutes until browned. Again, I use a silpat because they get sticky :).

Cheese Quesadilla: Grab some tostadas from the Mexican section of your grocery. I prefer Maizada. Top with crumbled Daiya Jalapeno Havarti. Microwave for about 30-45 seconds and top with another tostada and microwave 10 more seconds. Enjoy!

Taco Salad: I eat this for lunch almost everyday lately. Chop up 1 head of iceberg lettuce. Add shredded carrots. Toss with Catalina dressing. Then mix in cooked Beyond Meat Feisty Crumbles (I make 2 packages) and crushed Fritos. It will be your favorite lunch, I promise. My step kids adore it as a quick dinner as well!

Chocolate Chip Pancakes: 4 cups Bisquick, 3 1/2 cups Silk soy creamer, 1/2 tablespooon of Penzey’s almond extract, 1 cup of Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips. Mix and cook on a skillet sprayed with Pam Canola Oil Spray. These are amazing. As a quick trick sprinkle some Penzey’s Vanilla Sugar on the raw side before you flip it and they are amazing! What a treat! Makes enough for 4-6 hungry people.

And there is always this very easily veganized “cronut” recipe to indulge in if these weren’t enough to make your holiday happier!

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Happy Holidays! Much Love! Food is Love!

Enjoy!

The Hippie Gypsy.

3 Ingredient Vegan Biscuits

Posted by LD in Beginner Recipes, Holiday Recipes, Meatless Monday Family Dinners, QUICKIES! and tagged with 7-UP, 7up, bee free honee, betty crocker, biscuits, bisquick, butter, buttermilk biscuits, buttery, earth balance, earth balance buttery spread, earth balance buttery sticks, Easy, Fast, holiday, honey, lemon lime soda pop, Low Ingredient, margarine, meatless mondays, pancake mix, Party, potluck, Pyrex, quick, recipe, soda, sour cream, sprite, tofutti, tofutti better than sour cream, Vegan, vegan honey debate, vegetarian, what to eat, what vegans eat August 28, 2014

Yup, I said it three ingredient biscuits in just 20 minutes. No this is not heaven but according to my omnivore husband it sure does taste like it! He has deemed these biscuits his favorite vegan item I have ever made and that he would not know they are vegan because they are so buttery and fluffy. He also demanded I make them as a birthday cake in the future covered in gravy. So I guess I am going to have to start work on a white country gravy recipe! In the meantime he was happy with drizzled local wildflower honey. Yes we are those vegans that eat honey (See the Great Vegan Honey Debate Here). However, if you are not…. You can always try that vegan honey that is out since it is actually pretty identical in flavor or maybe some agave, maple syrup, jam, or brown rice syrup.

I have been super sick throughout the last few months being pregnant and am finally starting to turn the corner into my third trimester. I can cook more and the smell of the refrigerator does not make me run to the bathroom to heave up my lunch of water fruits and veggies anymore. So this is definitely a good thing. I hope to start testing recipes again (with the taste test help of Lola my angel of a Dog) and getting more out to you all and I want to thank you all for your patience!

Enjoy this cook hack of a recipe I saw online and veganized. I wish I knew the original source of the base recipe but I don’t so if you do please share!!!

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3 Ingredient Vegan Biscuits

(1) cup Lemon Lime Soda (Sprite, 7UP, etc.)
(1) Cup Tofutti Brand Sour Cream
(4) Cups Bisquick

*1/2 to 1 cup of melted Earth Balance Buttery Spread is required to pour in bottom of pan but is not a biscuit ingredient for the dough

PREPARE:

Pour melted Earth Balance into bottom of baking pan. I used Pyrex pans as they are easier to see the baking through and to keep evenly heated.

Take 3 ingredients and mix until very sticky in medium to large mixing bowl with a fork. My little trick is to put 2 cups of Bisquick in the bowl and then wet ingredients and then the other 2 cups of dry to mix easier.

Form biscuits with your hands and pat down into buttered pan so that each biscuit is slightly separate from it’s neighbor. This allows for the butter spread to cook in between each.

BAKE!

Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.

The bottom will be a golden crust and any peaks on top will have browned.

Makes about 6 very large biscuits. Cool for 5 minutes and enjoy!

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FOOD IS LOVE!

The Hippie Gypsy

Ooey Gooey Vegan S’mores Cheesecake Trifle

Posted by LD in Beginner Recipes, Holiday Recipes, Meatless Monday Desserts, Traveling Vegan and tagged with betty crocker, breyer's, brownie, cake, cheese, cheesecake cream, chocolate, chocolate cake, Coconut, coconut milk, Coconut Whipped Cream, cream cheese, dandies, dessert, Easy, Fast, fudge brownies, holiday, hot fudge, kitchen torch, libby's, Low Ingredient, marshamallows, meatless mondays, Party, pastry, Pie, potluck, pumpkin, quick, recipe, smores, tofutti, tofutti better than cream cheese, travel, trifle, vanilla, Vegan, vegan cheesecake, vegan cream cheese whipped cream, vegan graham crackers, vegan hot fudge, vegan marshamallows, vegetarian, what to eat, what vegans eat December 20, 2013

I joined the Wellness Committee at my work a few months back. I thought it was important to have a truly opposite opinion to the mainstream ideas of health in such a group. One that focused not on conventional “healthy” recipes and ways of being “well” but one that is a little more alternative. I am obviously a vegan but I am also a bit of a hippie and very interested in how wellness is also about being mentally well and taking care of the earth to result in healthy food and a healthy planet. This holiday season we had a Christmas/Holiday/Seasonal get together/luncheon at work. The Wellness Group sponsored it and although it was healthi-er I think we have a long way to go. I must say that I did prepare a not so perfectly healthy trifle for the baking contest so I am as much at fault as anyone on the healthiness of this luncheon. To me this recipe is far from healthy but for the group, I think they will find it the healthiest option on the table with all things considered. Take a look and Happy Holidays! (PS I won the contest!)

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S’mores Cheesecake Trifle

Ingredients:

2 packages Vegan Marshmallows
2 containers Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese
2 cans of Coconut Milk (refrigerated overnight or longer to separate)
1 cup powdered organic vegan sugar
1 squeeze bottle of Breyer’s Hot Fudge Sauce (vegan and sold at Walmart)
1 box of Fudge Brownie Mix (Betty Crocker is vegan)
2 cans of pureed pumpkin
1 box Chocolate Cake Mix (many vegan varieties are available)
1 package of graham crackers

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Preparation:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Get out (2) medium mixing bowls.
Get 1 smaller pie pan and 1 regular sized cake pan.
Get out your trifle container.
Spray cake and pie pan with Coconut Oil spray or some Pam-type equivalent of canola oil.
Open cans of coconut milk and slowly remove top layer of coconut milk fat and leave coconut water at the bottom. Try to remove as little wet material as possible. Place in one mixing bowl with cream cheese. Mix until combined well. Sift in powdered sugar with a sieve or squeeze sifter. I use a plastic $1.99 sieve I got at the Chinese grocery store and it works great. No need for anything fancy! Place bowl of cream in refrigerator.
In second bowl prepare brownie mix with one can of pureed pumpkin. Combine the two until smooth. Place in Pie Pan.
In the second bowl (do not wipe) add cake mix and 2nd can of pureed pumpkin. Combine well until smooth and place batter in cake pan.

Cooking:

Place both batters into oven. The cake will take approximately 30 minutes and the brownies will take approximately 50-55 minutes.
Take squeeze fudge and line the bottom of the trifle bowl. The cake will be going in the bottom and tends to be crumbly. This will give the appearance on the exterior glass of a neat chocolate line while also keeping the moisture of the cake in.
Next, cut or tear marshmallows in half. This will allow for them to be stuck to the glass and cake when layering.
When the cake comes out. Take the trifle bowl and press through to the bottom of the pan. This will create a circular indent. Most trifle bowls are smaller on the bottom than the top. That is why you place the cake and not brownie in the bottom. Cake will squish down and together so it will fit despite the slight size difference.
Flip the pan over on a wire rack to unlodge from pan and cool.
Once cool, tear away edges from the circular imprint and press down into the trifle bowl.
The fudge will make up for any imperfections. Feel free to add more fudge in a circle on top to finish the layer. Then place a few dots on top of the cake to prepare for marshmallows.
Press marshmallows up against the glass all around the bowl and then on top of the cake/fudge layer.
Take out a creme brulee style kitchen torch and brown the cake layers. Be careful lot to get too close the the glass. Not all glass is heat friendly.
Fill in holes between marshmallows with some fudge. Then crumble graham crackers on top. I used 1 package from a box. Approximately 8 sheets (you can reserve some for top layer if you want or just use more!).
Next place 1/3 of the cheesecake cream in the center of the crackers but try to avoid bringing the liquid too close to the edges.
Now add the brownie layer once it has been removed from the oven and cooled on a wire rack. You do not need to make a circular cut on this. Simply cut a triangular piece of brownie out of the “pie” and then it will allow for you to fold it into the trifle bowl by almost overlapping the edges where the cut was made. It also allows for you to have a snack 🙂
Next add the rest of the cheesecake cream and decorate with marshmallows, fudge, and crumbled grahams. I like to line the edge again with marshmallows and place a dollop of fudge between for a nice finish on it 🙂
Refrigerate overnight to settle. Serve cold. Enjoy!