Tag Archives: Fast

Dr. McDougall’s Vegan Meal Plan Day 6: Lunch

Posted by LD in Confessions and Rants of the Vegan Persuasion, QUICKIES!, Vegan Meal Plan Testing and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So we are closing in on day six. I wake up hungry and I am hungry each day by dinner which means that I am losing the weight and my body is reacting at the appropriate times. I am not hungry all day and I actually have enjoyed all the foods I have eaten and don’t think of them as “diet food” as much as a normal breakfast and lunch. At dinner I just eat reasonably. i splurge a little once a week but that’s all. Simple enough.

 

Pistachio Citrus Quinoa Salad 2

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Lunch Day 6: Pistachio Citrus Quinoa Salad (made with organic quinoa and couscous)

 

Okay first off this smells amazing coming out of the microwave and is also the simplest to make so far. 1.5mins inthe microwave and some water and we are good. When i took it out of the microwave my coworker declared she was going to lunch because I was making her hungry with whatever yumminess I just made. So far, so good and it isn’t even in my mouth yet! It is not too salty or sweet and you can definitely taste teh citrus. It does get a little thick as it sits so keep that in mind. You may want to add some extra hot water, a dash of oil or margarine if you feel it is too think but I ate it just fine as is. The seasoning is very nice and backs up the refreshment of the citrus flavor. I did notice the pistachios but couldn’t really taste them. I did get one that stuck in my teeth though! Overall a very simple dish. I would say this is more of a side dish I would have with maybe a vegan chicken salad. I wouldn’t eat this as much as a main meal but I enjoyed it overall.

 

Pistachio Citrus Quinoa Salad 1

 

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Food is Love.

The Hippie Gypsy

Dr. McDougall’s Vegan Meal Plan Day 5: Lunch

Posted by LD in Confessions and Rants of the Vegan Persuasion, QUICKIES!, Vegan Meal Plan Testing and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

I was in a curry kinda mood all week. I love curry. I had a wonderful tofu coconut curry at this restaurant Opus in Salem, MA the other night and it just made me want to eat curry forever. I really kinda hate Indian food though so I am more of a Thai curry kinda girl. This lunch cup was more of an indian curry but I was surprised by it!

 

All Natural Asian Pilafs Lentil Curry 1

 

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Lunch Day 5: All Natural Asian Pilafs Lentil Curry

 

So, now that you all know I kinda hate Indian food I must say this wasn’t terrible. It was spicy which I am absolutely okay with but it was also very salty and had a lot of flavor going on. I would say thus far, this is definitely my least favorite but I did eat it all. I struggled a little because the curry was strong but the meal was hearty and filling. I have learned to put a napkin instead of foil over my meals as they sit and it works fine enough. The rice was a little chewy but generally okay. If you like this kind of curry please eat up! Otherwise, maybe go for the other curries I listed before.

 

All Natural Asian Pilafs Lentil Curry 3   All Natural Asian Pilafs Lentil Curry 2

 

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Food is Love. 

The Hippy Gypsy

 

 

Dr. McDougall’s Vegan Meal Plan Day 4: Lunch Only

Posted by LD in Beginner Recipes, Confessions and Rants of the Vegan Persuasion, QUICKIES!, Vegan Meal Plan Testing and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sorry for the delay between day 3 and 4. I went on vacation and had a nasty cold so I am just getting back to the computer. I am still sick though. What is with these summer colds everyone is getting? My father has double pneumonia my husband is heading toward bronchitis and even the baby had the sniffles. Well, nothing a little oatmeal and about a bucket of drinking water and ten cups of tea hasn’t seemed to handle well enough! Back to reviews of this awesome vegan meal plan.

 

terriyaki

 

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Day 4: Teriyaki Flavored Organic Asian Noodles

 

So I am finding with all the organic Asian noodle cups that they are slightly sweet. I am not sure entirely what this is accounted from, I checked the label and it only had 8 sugar grams. So I guess it must be something in the sauce. It isn’t a good or bad thing it is simply something I am coming to notice and a pinch of me wishes it wasn’t quite that sweet and a little more savory. The noodles I love though. They remind me of an egg noodle with their elasticity. They have such a good chew to them for being a microwaveable noodle cup. I expect mushy ramen but get these really great quality ones instead. I have also come to find out that many of my local whole foods carry a limited variety of these cups so i may be able to buy more from the store in the future and not just in bulk over the internet. Save the shipping cost. At Whole Foods the cups were all about $1.99. So I think that was a pretty good deal. Now back to the flavor, it is a nice rich terriyaki flavor. Coworkers walked buy adn said wow who is eating that it smells so good. My only comment between mouthfuls: “It actually is really good!” I really have yet to complain about this brand and it is kinda scaring me. I run into so many boring “vegan” meals out there or ones with bad consistency or weird flavors. This has been surprisingly spot on. Bonus to the whole I am losing weight thing for sure! As for the breakfasts, that oatmeal is still killing it. I am so full from it, I can’t even explain what does it but I am stuffed after breakfast! So far, so amazing!

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Food is Love.

The Hippie Gypsy

Dr. McDougall’s Meal Plan: Day 3 Lunch Only

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

So I am starting to feel the diet a bit today. I have officially lost weight already and furthermore my drives to work are filled with the sounds of my tummy yelling for my oatmeal. I had the apple today, used a pinch less water and had it sit longer. Voila! Perfecto! As for the lunch time meal I chose, I picked The soy ginger noodles. Again, I was wanting to put peanut butter in them and make them a satay flavor but I held back sort of. I waited until I ate most of them and then seeing they were only 200 calories added a tiny bit just to try it out and they were phenomenal still. I know I know, don’t alter but don’t you want to know your options if you want to spice things up? I know I do! So here is my full review (before I started adding peanuts).

 

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Day 3: Lunch Meal of Organic Soy Ginger Asian Noodles

 

Okay so I admit I didn’t know how to reduce the work microwaves power so it is my fault that the water/broth boiled over a little. I kept checking it every 30 seconds like an idiot. After I realized it was done, I looked for the sitting time and saw that I needed tin foil to cover it (really?). I get that this seems like a normal item one would have at home but not really on the go. SO I had to forgo the interesting rules about having the noodles sit and just let them sit sans foil. No matter, they came out good anyhow. I think normalizing directions is critical in take away items for people. Telling people to do things like bring more materials and reduce power and chant to it for 30 seconds. All a bit much. I mean I know it is probably a tad more tasty or well cooked with all these fancy instructions but maybe we just need to be more realistic int he rules we set for our cup of noodles. I am flexible but I don’t carry foil to the office. I do carry a can opener though and everyone thinks that is amazing, so I have that going for me. The noodles were very light and had a chew that was reminiscent of the rice noodle or mung bean noodle in its elasticity which I enjoyed. The broth it was cooked in was perfectly light and flavorful and I think I may enjoy it in lieu of a light soup any day of the week. I think my stepkids and husband would even love it with a grilled cheese sandwich some afternoon (we use chao creamy now and multigrain bread, so good). It was filling and even though I did add a dash of PB at the end for taste testing it as a peanut sauce, which was very successful, it didn’t necessarily need anything accompanying it. I did love my chunky PB in it though. 🙂

 

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So overall? Again, a winning day. I am feeling like I am on a lucky streak and afraid that I won’t like the next days lunch because the odds are against me now. I am bound not to like something I would think. But hey maybe not maybe everything from this group will turn out to be delicious. Like diner food is always delicious. I don’t think I have ever had a bad meal at a diner.

 

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Food is Love.

 

The Hippie Gypsy

The Easiest Monkey Bread Recipe Ever with @earth_balance and @Pillsbury Crescent Rolls #vegan

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

Every Christmas my mother would make cinnamon rolls for breakfast and we would snack on their sugary, gooeyness while opening gifts on the living room floor. Recently I have either have to make my own from scratch which can be a two day process or buy some that are vegan. This year my mom bought some online from someplace and they were actually pretty awesome. Some company she saw on Shark Tank I guess. However, I was looking for an easier option that I didn’t need to ship in for $100 or make for days. I am a lazy mom of a new infant and all my time is taken up either cooking, cleaning, burping, feeding, changing, or working. I barely sleep. So when I came across a Pillsbury recipe for monkey bread I thought oooooh I can veganize this. AND. I. DID. Bam!

monkey bread 4

It was amazing, the whole thing was eaten by 4 people in a gluttonous feast that lasted less than an hour. We were gross I know, but it was that good. Enjoy!

 

monkey bread 3

 

Vegan Monkey Bread

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INGREDIENTS:

  • (4) Tubes of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
  • Brown Sugar
  • Cinnamon
  • Soy Creamer
  • Pam Canola Cooking Spray
  • (1) Earth Balance Buttery Stick
  • Optional: Nuts

monkey bread 5

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  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a bundt cake pan, spray with cooking spray and then start pulling apart crescent roll dough and balling it up and dropping it into the pan.
  3. After each tube sprinkle a layer of brown sugar and cinnamon very lightly over the dough balls, then continue balling up the next tube worth of dough. The balls should be small about 1/2 to 1 inch in diameter. I also sprinkled in walnuts at this point but any nut will do like pecans, walnuts, etc.
  4. After all dough is in the pan and everything is sprinkled, get a sauce pan and place the stick of earth balance butter in it to melt down over medium heat.
  5. Once melted add 1 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of creamer. Stir until combined into a soupy caramel sauce. I sometimes add a pinch of salt as well.
  6. Pour sauce evenly over the entire bundt pan of dough balls. I try going around the circle from the outside in to make sure I get some on everything.
  7. Note that the bundt pan will not be filled completely but will bake all the way tot he top once the dough rises in the oven.                monkey bread 6
  8. Place in oven and bake for 45-50 minutes.
  9. When it comes out i used a plastic spatula around the edges of the bundt cake pan first before I tipped it over onto the plate in order to serve it. Otherwise the caramel sticks and it won’t come out of the pan.
  10. Serve hot. Pick apart and enjoy!

monkey bread 1

Serves 8-16. Or 4 if you are my family 😉

 

monkey bread 2

 

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Food is Love.

The Hippie Gypsy.

My Aunt’s Taco Salad – Veganized with @BeyondMeat

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

I love love love my Aunt Linda’s Taco Salad. Everytime we would have a family event at my Dad’s parents home in southern Massachusetts she would seem to bring this very simple Taco Salad with her despite the fact she is a trained chef. You would think a trained chef would bring something more severe and fancy but nope, Taco Salad. Here is something I can tell you though, this is the best Taco Salad in the universe and if you are a trained chef and you want the masses to eat salad, this is the salad you bring! It is salty, sweet, hearty, and healthy all mixed together and thanks to Beyond Meat I can now make it VEGAN! (Insert personal dance party moves here). So grab this for the next potluck, Meatless Monday, or Taco Tuesday. You won’t be sorry.

Bravado aside here is the recipe. Enjoy!

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Aunty Linda’s Veganized Taco Salad

 

Ingredients:

2 bags frozen Beyond Meat Feisty Crumbles

2 tbs Olive Oil

2 heads of Iceberg Lettuce Shredded

2 tomatoes diced

1 snack size bag of Fritos (2-4 servings like you’d get at a convenience store)

Catalina Dressing (I use Kraft)

 

Cooking:

Heat Oil and crumbles in frying pan until cooked. Set aside

 

Finishing Preparation:

Chop and shred lettuce and place 1/2 in a bowl.

Chop tomatoes and place 1/2 in a bowl.

Add 1/2 of the crumbles to that bowl and mix. Then add remaining crumbles, lettuce, tomatoes, and toss until well combined.

Add Catalina dressing until covered like a Caesar salad.

Crush Fritos and add at the last minute and toss.

Serve immediately.

 

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Happy New Year. Food is Love.

The Hippie Gypsy.

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.

3 Ingredient Vegan Biscuits

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

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.

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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!

 

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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

 

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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!

 

2014-08-27 20.30.57  2014-08-27 20.32.20

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FOOD IS LOVE!

The Hippie Gypsy

Veganized Bisquick Pancakes

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

I grew up in the 80’s and I grew up on Bisquick pancakes. When my Dad would go away on business trips my mom would make huge batches of these for dinner with butter and lots of pancake syrup and cold milk. The Aunt Jemima stuff just wasn’t as good and I remember dreading church pancake breakfasts because it was always AJ instead of Bisquick thus making the pancakes grainy and flat for whatever reason and not fluffy. Well I was pleased as pie when I went vegan and found out Bisquick was also vegan! The only problem… ummm… whole milk and eggs are the additional ingredients. For the past few years I have used flax eggs, mashed bananas, and soy milk to sub but this weekend I tested something else out and it came out exactly how I wanted. So please take a look below and get ready for a delicious weekend breakfast because these pancakes are fast and unforgettable!

 

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Veganized Simple Bisquick Pancakes

2cups Bisquick

1 cup Silk Soy Creamer

1-2 tbsp Vanilla Extract (I use Penzey’s Mexican Vanilla)

2 Energ-G Egg Replacer Eggs

 

Making the Batter!

Make two Ener-G egg replacer eggs in a mug. Mix all other ingredients together and add egg substitute mixture last. Mixing all in well.

 

Cooking!

Heat a skillet to medium or medium high heat spraying with cooking spray or buttering with Earth Balance.

Cook until golden on each side.

Serve with Earth Balance and Maple Syrup. Enjoy!

 

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Food is Love. The Hippie Gypsy.

 

Vegan Spaghetti and “Beyond Meat (R)” Sauce

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

When I was a kid one of my favorite things was watching my mom make meat sauce. I couldn’t see in the pot but I did get to taste test with pieces of white bread. I think I would eat about a half of a loaf of white Wonder bread by the time my mom was done cooking down the sauce. I would wash it all down with some good ol’ vitamin D “red” milk and a big orangey smile. Now that I am a grown up and a vegan… well… this isn’t on my list of things I can do. But I can try to recreate that taste. The only change to my moms sauce is really the meat. The rest was already vegan. So with that, I began my attempt with the use of the new Beyond Meat Crumbles. The only reason I attempted this recipe is because of these crumbles. They have the right flavor and texture and cook the same as regular hamburger would. This was always a problem with other crumbles; they either dried out or got mushy. Not Beyond Meat! So I was so confident making it I made it for dinner without even testing. Just to let you know… they didn’t let me down it, came out perfecto! I love Beyond Meat so so much. You should too. Also, this recipe is super duper simple and low ingredient. It is virtually error proof! Eat up!

 

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Spaghetti with “Beyond Meat” Sauce

 

  • 1 Extra large can of Crushed Tomatoes
  • 1 Extra Large Can of Tomato Puree
  • 2 mini cans of Tomato Paste
  • 1 package of Beyond Meat Crumbles
  • Olive Oil
  • Kosher Salt
  • Seasoned Salt
  • Dried or Fresh Basil
  • Granulated Garlic

 

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Cooking the Meat!

  1. Add a small amount of olive oil to an extra large sauce pot and when warm toss in Beyond Meat crumbles and a few pinches of kosher salt.
  2. Cook until heated and ready to eat.

 

Making the Sauce!

  1. Add all canned tomato products to meat.
  2. Sprinkle in Granulated Garlic, Basil, and Seasoned salt to taste.
  3. Add a little olive oil if you want now.
  4. Cook down stirring frequently over medium heat until slightly dense. Takes about 30-45 minutes.
  5. Keep the top on to avoid splatter!
  6. Serve over pasta of your choice. I prefer ziti with lines or angel hair. Enjoy!

 

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Food is Love. The Hippie Gypsy.