Simple Farro Salad

Posted by LD in Beginner Recipes, Meatless Monday Family Dinners, QUICKIES!, Traveling Vegan and tagged with avocado, balsamic, cucumber, Easy, farro, Fast, garlic, holiday, Low Ingredient, meatless mondays, onion, Party, potluck, quick, recipe, salad, salad dressing, tomato, travel, Vegan, vegetarian, vinegar, vinegarette, what to eat, what vegans eat March 13, 2013

So I recently started using my VeganXpress app on my iPhone more to go out to dinner. I found that at Uno’s I could eat many things but at Applebee’s I could eat pretty much nothing (they have both meat and dairy in almost everything even their veggie sides and salads). Last year Uno’s had a Farro Salad I loved on their small bites/apps menu. They have since changed it and added dairy and a bunch of other stuff that overcomplicates it but you can get the original one as a side order and double it. I was in love with it and decided to start making it at home and serving it with tortilla chips. My husband actually loves it and I bring it to family events where it is an absolute hit. So I decided to share it with you folks since it is now omnivore approved!

The farro can be hard to find but if you bug your local Whole Foods on twitter like I did, when they run out they will hold some for you when it comes back in :). Thanks to Whole Foods in Bedford, MA for that! They will also offer to help you with your vegan skills and show you around. Which I am going to take them up on shortly! I love the Whole Foods people!

So you take the farro and cook it. I use a steamer/rice cooker because I have two of them. I am obsessed with this tool and you should invest the $15-25 for one too. It is my favorite kitchen appliance and takes care of veggies and grains without any assistance. Best thing ever!

After the farro comes out put it in a mixing bowl and cover it and into the fridge it goes. I have these awesome Royal Prestige mixing bowls that are stainless steel with snap on covers. I would encourage everyone to get something similar.

When it is cold, you add the vinaigrette and veggies. I toss the tomatoes into the farro but I place the cucumbers on top so they don’t soak in the dressing. I have tried using celery in the past but it is too peppery in flavor for this dish, so keep it light with the cucumbers. Also don’t overcomplicate it and add too much, it will lose its flavor and nuttiness.

I then place it back in the fridge and let it marinate overnight or at least a few hours to settle. Then I bring it with me everywhere, keeping it cool, and serve with tortilla chips!

SALAD RECIPE

1 package Farro (cereal grain)

Water

Salt

(2) Cucumbers

(2) Vine Tomatoes (juicy and deep red)

Add Farro, Water, and a pinch or two of salt to the steamer/rice maker and cook on brown rice setting. Check about 15minutes before it is scheduled to be finished as it may stick if overcooked. Place in a mixing bowl, cover, and place in refrigerator until cold.

While farro is cooling, chop tomatoes and place in a small bowl. Set aside.

Half peel cucumbers so that some green is still remaining, chop, place in a separate bowl. Set aside.

When farro is cooled. Mix in dressing (*recipe below). Then mix in tomatoes.

Place cucumbers on top but do not mix in until you are ready to serve. This will keep them from absorbing too much dressing.

Place back in the fridge and cover. Let sit overnight or for at least 2 hours to combine and settle in the marinade.

Serve cold with tortilla chips.

*DRESSING RECIPE

(You can be lazy and buy a balsamic vinaigrette or you can make this. Up to you!)

Apple Cider Vinegar

Balsamic Vinegar

Olive Oil

Agave

Salt

Pepper

Dried Basil

Granulated Garlic

The directions for this recipe are tricky and not exact. I start out with equal parts oil and vinegar and then go from there. Whisk Whisk Whisk!

I find I add more vinegar in the end and I season to taste with the rest of the ingredients. I love garlic so I am generous with it. I add basil for aromatics and color but add it last and maybe about a tablespoon. The agave I whisk in to even out the vinegar.

I start with half ACV and half Balsamic but it is a balsamic vinaigrette in the end so you want that flavor to come through. I tend to add a few spoons of water to thin it out and will even toss in dehydrated onions if it’s a mostly adult group. Mess around with it and see what happens.

NOTE: Just be careful not to add too much to the salad I put it in and mix it at about 1/3 of a cup at a time until it is saturated well but not swimming. You don’t want any on the bottom that hasn’t absorbed. You can always bring more dressing with you if needed. It should be a fresh not soppy salad!

ENJOY!

OPTIONS: Add dehydrated onions to the dressing or top your salad with sliced avocado if serving in single servings!

XOXOX, The Hippie Gypsy

Happy Birthday Cake Recipes

Posted by LD in Beginner Recipes, Holiday Recipes, Meatless Monday Desserts, Menus, QUICKIES!, Traveling Vegan and tagged with banana, Birthday, Birthday Cake, Cafe Indigo, cake, Chef Cloe, chocolate, chocolate chip, cinnamon, Cocoa, Coconut, coconut milk, cupcake, dessert, Easy, Fast, Guava, holiday, Hot Chocolate, ice cream, lemon, Low Ingredient, Mexican, Moo-Cluck, New England, Party, pastry, pumpkin, quick, recipe, strawberry, travel, vanilla, Vegan, vegetarian, Veggie Galaxy, what to eat, what vegans eat, Whole Foods February 23, 2013

So Monday will be my birthday. This weekend I will be removing wallpaper from my new house. As you can see I am a party animal. I cannot wait to make a birthday cake for myself however. Cakes are very important in my family. A few reasons have dictated this importance. 1.) My mother never got birthday cakes as a child due to a mixture of it being an extravagance to a single mom with six kids and also the fact that my mom was born on the second anniversary of her sister’s death. 2.) My birthday is the same week as 4 other family members. My cousin was born the 22nd, my grandmother the 24th, I on the 25th, my aunt on the 26th, and my great-grandfather on the 27th. So that week was pretty party ridden. 3.) My birthday tends to fall during blizzards. So we always had to prepare in advance for the cake in case we could not leave the house for ingredients. In High School once, I discovered that I loved cooking when caught in a blizzard on my birthday. I not only figured out how to get myself Chinese food but I also made myself an apple caramel drizzle cake out of things in the pantry and a very weathered version of the Joy of Cooking and a church cookbook were analyzed and ingredients were questioned like “is baking soda and powder different and is there a substitute for canola oil?”

So this year I am going to give you my favorite low ingredient birthday cake recipe that my husband adores despite it being vegan. I will also post links to some of the most delicious looking cakes out there and tell you where I would buy my cake if I wasn’t going to make it this year.

Enjoy my birthday cake extravaganza!

___________________________________________________________________________________________

My Favorite Birthday Cake Recipe:

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cake with Guava Filling

CAKE:
1 Box of Dark Chocolate Cake Mix (most mixes are vegan just look)
3/4 bag of vegan chocolate chips
1 can of pumpkin
Cinnamon
Earth Balance to butter the cake pans
Parchment to line the bottom of the cake pans

Filling:
1/4 bag of vegan chocolate chips
1 thin large can of guava paste (I like Goya)
Cinnamon
Vanilla Sugar (I like Penzey’s)

Topping:
Chocolate Frosting (You can make it or buy it, I like to make a ganache style frosting)
Vanilla Sugar
__________________________________________________________________________________________

Take all cake ingredients place in a large mixing bowl. Mix until combined. Add Cinnamon to taste. I always add 1-3 tbsp so that I can taste the cinnamon over the chocolate flavor. I test as I add it. Place in two round cake pans evenly lining the bottoms with parchment and buttering them with Earth Balance Buttery Sticks.

Bake according to the box directions. Take out when you can remove a toothpick cleanly.

Next in a medium mixing bowl warm your guava paste so you can spread it in between the cake layers. On top of the cake you will sprinkle cinnamon, spread the guava paste, and then sprinkle chocolate chips and vanilla sugar. Top with warm second cake layer.

Next, warm the frosting so you can drizzle it over the top of the cake. Wait until the cake is cooled. THen drizzle the frosting over the top. Sprinkle liberally with vanilla sugar.

Serve with homemade ice cream.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

LINKS TO DELICIOUS LOOKING CAKE RECIPES FOR BIRTHDAYS!

Banana Split Cake: This looks and sounds amazing.

Lemon Birthday Cake: THis sounds so light and delicious. I would even use this cake as a base for my July 4th Trifle!

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake: Chef Chloe is always a no brainer when it comes to cooking. Her cookbook also has a birthday cake recipe that looks divine! I had a banana cake layer at my wedding by Red Velvet Cafe in Las Vegas, NV and I am a convert!

Strawberry Vanilla Cake: This recipe has quite a few ingredients but I have all of them in my home so I figure so will most vegans. This looks and sounds fresh and delicious and looks amazing like a giant strawberry shortcake. Yum!

Raw Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake: Something more decadent and raw for my raw fans! This looks so sinful I can feel a toothache coming on and the drool pooling on the side of my mouth!

________________________________________________________________________________________

Top Places to buy a Vegan Cake in New England:

1. Veggie Planet in Cambridge, MA: I cannot say enough about the restaurant or the all vegan bakery. It is amazing. Get the cheesecake with strawberries or the Coconut Lemon Passionfruit Layer Cake. I live for these two cakes and served the Coconut at my Bridal Shower last February.

2. Cafe Indigo in Concord, NH and MA Whole Foods: You can get their cakes onsite or at local Whole Foods throughout Massachusetts. The Carrot Cake changes lives. You will never want another carrot cake ever again. I served that cake at my engagement party and I buy slices of it at Whole Foods more than I probably should. My omni husband does as well and sometimes eats mine.

3. Moo-Cluck Corp. : You can buy these at various whole foods and natural foods stores in the cold section. I have bought all of their items at some point but truly love the vanilla strawberry cake when I need to buy something to run to a party in a pinch. It is yummy and the strawberries are fresh and not just some syrup.

Chocolate Cherry Brownie Cupcakes

Posted by LD in Beginner Recipes, Holiday Recipes, Meatless Monday Desserts, QUICKIES! and tagged with almond, cake, chocolate, cupcake, dessert, Easy, Fast, holiday, Low Ingredient, meatless mondays, Party, potluck, pumpkin, quick, recipe, travel, Vegan, vegetarian, what to eat, what vegans eat February 16, 2013

So during the Superbowl (that I was not impressed at all with, Go Pats!). I decided to experiment on my two favorite people who will eat just about anything. My lovely husband and my very good asian male friend. Both will eat vegan food without any fuss. My husband because he will eat anything, and in bulk. My friend because he grew up in a Chinese family where “vegan” isn’t a foreign or scary but very normal and part of the culture. That being said I decided I would make a chocolate cherry cupcake that was half homemade. Basically an adaptation of the boxed variety. I also figured this could be a great treat for potlucks, birthdays, and the upcoming Valentine’s Day holiday!

So I got to work looking for a good boxed brownie mix that was vegan. I found Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Brownie mix which is really just brownie mix with chocolate chips and that seemed perfect. The reason I say that is because a.) the chocolate chips in the mix were vegan and B.) generally if chocolate cake/brownie mixes do not have chips in them I will add them to add a light flavor mask over any vegetables I toss in and their potential after taste. That being said… enter pumpkin. I know you can add a can of pumpkin to cake mix in lieu of oil/water/eggs but brownies I always hear “add black beans and puree them”. This has never sat well with me as I am part mexican and think refried beans don’t go with my dessert they only touch chocolate in mole, so I went back to my trusty canned pumpkin. Also let me note that you should NEVER add the egg replacer powder with your oil/water to brownie mixes the batter will separate during baking and you will be left with a rubbery batter covered in an oil slick. Oh and my husband will still eat it FYI.

So I added pumpkin to my brownie mix and then stirred forever. Once combined I placed batter equally in 12 paper cups in a cupcake pan. I then microwaved bagged frozen cherries from Whole Foods and placed one squished down in the center of each cupcake. They will be a little runny but that is totally ok. Then I covered half the cherries with a little more batter and half I left exposed. This was just to see what was a better method. Both came out fine so it is really up to you! I liked the batter topped a little better because it seemed like a hidden treasure but the exposed cherry is aesthetically more pleasing unfrosted. I then baked it according to the pan brownie suggestions on the box.

Mini Recipe:

Ingredients: Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Brownie Mix, (1) Can pumpkin, Whole Foods Frozen whole cherries, Betty Crocker Vanilla Frosting, Sliced Raw Almonds, Vegan Chocolate Chips (12chips).

Instructions: Add canned pumpkin to mix. Stir. Place in cupcake papers inside cupcake pan. Add defrosted cherries to center. Bake at 325degrees for about 40minutes. Take out. Let cool. Add frosting a sprinkle of almonds and one chocolate chip!

The end result. They came out so yummy! They are better cooled however. Gives the cherry juice a chance to settle into the cake.

They were lighter than a fudgy brownie but more dense than a box made cupcake. I thought they were perfect. I added a dollop of vanilla frosting (Betty Crocker from the aerosol decorator can) and then sprinkled with raw sliced almonds and one vegan semisweet chocolate chip. However for Valentine’s Day I am thinking red sparkly sprinkles and a heart-shaped dollop or maybe a blue frosting heart? Any suggestions?

Well anyway the almonds are the perfect addition. I am actually thinking I may add a shake of almond extract to the batter next time to increase that sweet cherry flavor. I will tell you all how it “pans” out 😉 … pun intended!

Happy Valentine’s Day folks! Enjoy the chocolatey love with your sweet!

XOXOX, The Hippie Gypsy

Top 25 Must Have Vegan Grocery and Pantry Items

Posted by LD in Shopping Vegan, Traveling Vegan and tagged with almond, chocolate, couscous, cream cheese, dessert, Easy, flax, macaroni, noodle, pumpkin, salad, tofurky, tomato, travel, Vegan, vegetarian, what to eat, what vegans eat January 28, 2013

Inspired by a recent post I read on “The Kind Life” blog regarding Alicia’s top 20 ingredients (http://thekindlife.com/blog/post/alicia-silverstone-20-vegan-essential-kitchen-ingredients) I decided to place my top 25 grocery/pantry needs:

Earth Balance Products: Buttery Sticks or Tub Butters/Margarines and their new cheese puffs!
Organic Soy Milk or Almond: Chocolate, Vanilla, or Plain (I rarely use unsweetened)
Cashews (Raw)
Daiya: The havarti blocks are a god send but all of them are great.
Galaxy Foods Vegan Parmesan (It is the best parm substitute, Parma brand doesn’t taste anything like actual cheese)
Tofutti Products: I love their sour cream, sliced american cheese, and cream cheese. They are a great go to brand even for ice creams.
American Flatbread Company: Vegan Harvest Pizza
Tofurky: Their sliced deli Meats, crumbles like chorizo for tacos, and their grill friendly brats are amazing! You will forget they are fake. The deli meats have a weird odor in the package but on a sandwich it goes away. The chorizo will stain so handle carefully but it tastes just like taco meat.
Miso Mayo: Dill flavor.
Veganaise: It tastes like a cross between mayo and deviled eggs.
Canola and Olive Oils
365 Brand Vegan Chocolate Chips: Just like Tollhouses but no milk!
Flaxseeds: I buy them in a bulk bag and place them in the freezer.
Nutritional Yeast: You will learn this helps cheesify anything.
Canned Coconut Milk
Whole Foods Vegan Sugar
Beans: black, lentil, navy, garbanzo, and canneloni
Canned Pumpkin or Squash
Whole Wheat Pasta
Farro, Quinoa, or Couscous
Rao’s Tomato Basil Sauce
Herbs/Spices: Kosher Salt, Basil, Thyme, Garlic, and Sage Fresh
Potatoes: All kinds from sweet to purple to russet.
Kale or Greens
Canned and Fresh Tomatoes

I shop at my local grocery store for most items but the hard to find things like Daiya and Nutritional Yeast I go to two places: Whole Foods or VeganEssentials.com. Vegan Essentials delivers but requires you to cold ship perishables so check their shipping schedule (right now it is Tuesdays) and the extra cost for the cold packs!

Happy Shopping and Happier Munching!

Thanksgiving Vegan Recipe Testing!

Posted by LD in Holiday Recipes, Menus, Traveling Vegan and tagged with biscuit, butternut squash, chocolate, chocolate chip, coconut milk, cream cheese, dessert, Easy, Fast, holiday, Low Ingredient, macaroni, Party, potluck, pumpkin, quick, recipe, soup, squash, thanksgiving, tofurky, Vegan, vegetarian, what to eat, what vegans eat October 22, 2012

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?

————————————————————————————————-

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

Thanksgiving Vegan Recipe Testing!

So I spent the weekend doing two things:

1. Testing delcious recipes for Thanksgiving, and

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).

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.

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

TELL ME HOW YOU MAKE OUT WITH A DIFFERENT BREADCRUMB!

NEXT…..

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

Recipe: www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com

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?

————————————————————————————————-

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

XOXOX, The Hippie Gypsy

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

Posted by LD in Beginner Recipes, QUICKIES!, Traveling Vegan and tagged with adaptation, banana, cake, chocolate, cupcake, dessert, Easy, Fast, flax, low sodium, muffin, Party, potluck, quick, recipe, The Joy of Vegan Baking, travel, Vegan, walnut, what to eat, what vegans eat August 2, 2012

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!

______________________________________________________

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!

_______________________________________________________

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 bacon, cheddar, cream cheese, daiya, Easy, fettucini, garlic, Low Ingredient, mac and cheese, mac n cheese, macaroni, noodle, Party, potluck, quick, recipe, sour cream, tempeh, tofurky, Vegan, what to eat, what vegans eat August 1, 2012

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.

______________________________________________________

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

______________________________________________________

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!

______________________________________________________

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!

______________________________________________________

;

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 cake, chocolate, chocolate chips, cupcake, dessert, Easy, Fast, flax, Low Ingredient, Party, potluck, quick, recipe, strawberry, Vegan, what vegans eat July 10, 2012

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 almond milk, banana, blender, cinnamon, coconut milk, cold drink, dessert, Easy, Fast, flax, gym, Low Ingredient, low sodium, mango, olympics, protein, protein shake, quick, recipe, rice milk, running, shake, smoothie, strawberry, travel, tropical, vanilla, Vegan, vegan athlete, what to eat, what vegans eat, working out July 5, 2012

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!

The Hippie Gypsy

Food is Love. Will Travel For Veggies. Will Surf for Peace. Be the Change. Practice Compassion.

Tag Archives: what vegans eat

Simple Farro Salad

Happy Birthday Cake Recipes

Chocolate Cherry Brownie Cupcakes

Top 25 Must Have Vegan Grocery and Pantry Items

Thanksgiving Vegan Recipe Testing!

Thanksgiving Vegan Recipe Testing!

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

Vegan Bacon Mac and Cheese

Half Homemade: Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Cupcakes

Traveling Vegan: Snacking your Way to Athleticism