Tag Archives: dairy free

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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!

 

Solana

 

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.

Tofutti Giveaway! Starts Now Ends March 25, 2014!

Posted by LD in Guest Contributer Articles, Shopping Vegan and tagged with , , ,

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I will be giving away some yummy Tofutti prizes this coming month! Today is my birthday and in honor of another year on this earth, I am giving away one of my favorite brands loot to the best recipe that is sent to me featuring their product! So send me an email at veganhippiegypsy@gmail.com with your favorite homemade Tofutti recipes and don’t forget to send a picture if you have one! I will close entries on March 25th and choose a winner within a week. The recipe will be featured on the blog as a guest blog and any pictures, blogger info, and such will also be featured. I look forward to hearing from you all and seeing how creative you have gotten with this awesome plant based product!

Food is Love.
The Hippie Gypsy.

 

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Vegan Sundried Tomato, Onion, and Rosemary Bread from a Bread Machine

Posted by LD in Beginner Recipes and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I have wanted a bread machine since the day I saw one in a thrift store in Imperial Beach, California. It was $10 and looked like a deal to me. Although I am bummed I didn’t buy it back then I am glad now because I think I would’ve lost my love for them. The reviews on the cheaper models are terrible. They look like war stories of collapsed breads and mutilated pasta dough. That should be a crime because honestly breads and carbs are the only thing that make people truly happy sometimes and if they do all that work to make them from scratch and not go buy a slice of 8,000 calorie banana bread from the coffee shop, then they should be rewarded with something wonderful. Instead the bread falls in the center creating a volcano of doughy gooey mess that one must carefully discard without losing the little rudder that helps knead the bread in the bottom of the baking pan. (Yes, I have thrown mine out and had to recover it already). That being said over the weekend I was very sick with bronchitis. I think I may have coughed up my lungs. So what better to do when stuck in the house for a few days but bake.

I made a delicious batch of my low ingredient oatmeal cookies with bananas, hazelnuts, and chocolate and I made two breads. Only one of which survived because…. well…. I wasn’t paying attention and forgot the flour (yes the flour) in one of them. It didn’t dawn on me for about an hour and then I went OH COME ON! Because I knew the baking portion had started and the kneading/stirring had passed. So my bread lovers here is my recipe for my very successful and delicious smelling sundried tomato, onion, and rosemary bread.

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Sundried Tomato, Onion, and Rosemary Bread

Ingredients (see below for sizes and layering):

  • Crisco
  • (1) White Onion
  • Dried Rosemary
  • Sundried Tomato Infused Olive Oil
  • Sundried Tomatoes in olive oil
  • Bread Flour ( I used Gold’s,  DO NOT use all purpose)
  • Kosher Salt
  • Vegan Sugar
  • Dry Active Yeast ( I use fast rising or bread only)
  • Water

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Preparation:

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First you need to cook down and puree the onions. Just place chopped onions in a pan with Crisco and a few pinches of salt and cook down until translucent. Then puree with a hand blender or food processor. Place to the side.

Take the bread baking pan out of the breadmaker and begin layering your ingredients. Many breadmakers come with their own ingredients and settings. I will generally make a 1.5lb loaf in a 2lb machine instead of the max so that any ingredients I add can be incorporated with enough room. I also always use medium settings like a medium crust color. Not light or dark. Moderation helps with a finicky machine I feel.

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Layering:

The layering of ingredients for this bread are as follows (read below before you start layering:

  • Water (3/4 cup)
  • Infused olive oil (2 tablespoons)
  • Few pinches of salt (about 1 teaspoon)
  • 1/4 cup of onion mixture
  • Sugar (1 teaspoon)
  • Bread Flour (3cups)
  • Dried Rosemary (1-2 teaspoons)
  • Optional: dash of granulated garlic or other spices
  • Active Dry Yeast (1 packet) (make sure to read below before this layer)
  • Sliced Sundried Tomatoes in Oil (1/8 to 1/4 cup)

You will layer the above ingredients one on top of the other in the baking pan to be stirred, kneaded, etc. by the bread machine however when you go to add the yeast there is a small trick. Make a crater in the center so that the yeast can get to the sugar and water easier. Yeast eats sugar so this is helping guide the process. If a recipe doesn’t call for sugar but does for yeast I encourage the same process and 2 pinches of sugar into the dough to help it rise better. Also always use bread flour it is different than all purpose containing more proteins, etc.

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BAKING:

Last place the settings on your bread machine to a basic or white bread setting and moderate crust color and size is for 1.5 lbs. If you want you can always take the bread out and knead it a little before the rise setting and add a dash of water or flour if you think it needs it. I do this occasionally. Sometimes I also spray the pan with Pam/Canola or olive oil.

Once it rises and before it bakes add a drizzle of the infused olive oil and a pinch of salt on top. It will make it have a little extra zing on the crust.

Take out immediately after baking and place on rack. if you are not there that is okay. it will just get a little soggy on the bottom if it auto-shuts off.

Enjoy!

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Food is Love. 

The Hippie Gypsy

Dairy, Non-Dairy, Lactose Free, Vegetarian, or Vegan: What do I eat?

Posted by LD in Confessions and Rants of the Vegan Persuasion and tagged with , , , , , , ,

MILK:

There are always so many questions when you become a first time vegan or vegetarian. My favorite is: Can you have milk? Because the answer is yes, just not cow’s milk. Always throws a few people off. The word “milk” is a process not really a product anymore. So start thinking of milk as a verb and the things that make it up as the all important noun. According to the Free Dictionary “milking” is to draw or extract. You can milk your bank account or you can milk a tree of its sap. Either way this is milking.

 

As a once omnivore, the common misconception of “milk” is the kind of the “whole cow’s milk infused with vitamin D” variety. We all know the red containers. I grew up on those red containers with pictures of missing kids on the sides. However, now we have so many more choices. Almond Milk, Coconut Milk (canned or drinkable), Hemp Milk, Goat’s Milk, Lactaid Milk, Soy Milk, and the list goes on. When you are lactose intolerant your only concern should be the lactose. You aren’t allergic to all dairy just this one part of dairy. Lactose is basically milk sugar or “whey”. Stay away from any dairy products that have sugar in them and you should be golden. As for cheese, the stinkier the better. The aging process gets rid of the sugar and thus the lactose (check the nutrition label, see… no sugar). That is why your belly would say okay to sharp cheddar and no thanks to fresh mozzarella. Next, there are the people who are Vegetarians. They eat dairy so never think that something marked vegetarian is dairy free. You will have to look at the label. Lactose intolerant people can eat lactose free or non-dairy items with those labels. However, Vegans must be even more careful. Dairy free means just that. Lactose free means just that as well nothing more. However this can be confusing for vegans. Sometimes there is “casein” a cow milk based protein in a food labeled as dairy free or lactose free but that does not mean its a vegan item. So beware.

 

Reading labels is a key instrument in keeping yourself on track no matter what food allergy or choices you make. I am a vegan and that is both my choice and my allergy. My step kids and husband are lactose intolerant and so we do lactaid for them and that is also their choice and their allergy. Going vegan is extremely awesome but I think knowledge is power when it comes to food. If you have an allergy, address that first and don’t feel the need to go straight to veganism or vegetarianism. You will have enough on your “plate” (no pun intended… okay pun intended) without adding another layer of things to remove. If you feel connected to the cause or want to do more for your health though, please do go forward. If you need help. Email or comment on this page. I read everything eventually and respond to everything. I want to be your resource in this crazy journey of eating better for yourself and the world. So enjoy your food and spread the word. Food is love.

 

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Food is Love.

The Hippie Gypsy

Lemon Blueberry Breakfast Bundt Cake

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

I use two cookbooks when making cakes in most cases either Chef Chloe’s cookbook “Chloe’s Kitchen” or the “Joy of Vegan Baking”. The Joy of Vegan Baking has an excellent Lemon Blueberry Loaf Cake Recipe if I remember correctly. For the purposes of this cake we are doctoring up Chef Chloe’s vanilla cake recipe (www.chefchloe.com) and making it a lemon blueberry cake for brunch in honor of my Mother’s birthday this past week.

My family is big on brunch. We do Easter brunch every year and for most informal birthday or family get togethers. We are great at doing brunch and I have been to so many hotel brunches all over the world I feel spoiled by them during my Sunday indulgences. I think that brunch is so much fun for everyone because it encourages good eating through small portions and copious amounts of veggie and fruit options even when they are not always attached to vegan items. There are fruit cups, quiches, and omelettes filled with veggie fillings so I am all about it! However, the pastries and baked goods are always filled with eggs and dairy so I am going to change that today with this travel friendly recipe to bring to your next family soiree. I promise everyone will love it. I have made it for a potluck at work a few years ago and recently for a family get together after the funeral of my grandmother and as the only vegan I always suffer the “this tastes different” criticism. But not with this cake. Even my Dad was found picking at it long after brunch was over!

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Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

  • 1 lemon
  • 1 cup of fresh blueberries (plus 1 cup for garnish)
  • 1 jar lemon marmalade (for garnish)
  • 1 tbsp of Lemon Extract
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour (or gluten-free all-purpose flour plus 1 ½ teaspoon xanthan gum)
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 ¾ cups soy milk
  • 1 cup canola oil
  • ¼ cup white or apple cider vinegar (I use ACV not white)
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract (I use Penzey’s Mexican Vanilla Extract)

blueberries garnish cake

TIME TO BAKE!

Chef Chloe’s Vanilla Cake Recipe with my additions in bold caps:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease three 8 or 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together nondairy milk (I USE ORGANIC SOYMILK) , oil, vinegar, and vanilla (ALSO ADD THE ZEST OF ONE LEMON RIND AND 1TBSP OF LEMON EXTRACT AND 2 TBSP OF LEMON JUICE.)
  3. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and whisk until just combined. Do not over mix. (THEN SPRINKLE 1 CUP OF FRESH BLUEBERRIES LIGHTLY WITH FLOUR AND FOLD INTO BATTER. THE FLOUR HELPS THEM FROM SINKING STRAIGHT TO THE BOTTOM OF THE CAKE PAN.)
  4. Fill each prepared (BUNDT) cake pan evenly with batter. Bake for (20-30) minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean with a few crumbs clinging to it. Rotate the cakes halfway through the baking time. Cool the cakes completely before assembly.
  5. I then flip the cake over on a cake pedestle and sprinkle with powdered sugar and garnish with fresh blueberries in the center. I serve this with lemon marmalade that I buy when it is on sale at Christmas Tree Shops since they are famous for having sales on jars of jellies.

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Enjoy!

Serves 12.

lemon blueberry bundt cake

 

WW POINTS: 9pts per serving. (Based on 12 servings)

 

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XOXOX,

The Hippie Gypsy