Thursday, October 22, 2015

Sloppy Joe Pasta

Okay today I experimented with Sloppy Joes in the Pressure cooker, it came out really good!

1 cup dried lentils
1 chopped onion
3 garlic cloves chopped
2 cups of water
2 tbsp of soy sauce
2 tsp of chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
8oz tempeh roughly sliced /chopped


I mixed all of these ingredients in a pressure cooker on high for 10 minutes. This unfortunately wasn't enough time. So I did another 5 minutes. Still wasn't quite enough time, So I am thinking that 20 minutes in the pressure cooker with unsoaked lentils should be enough.  Fast release.

After the first round of 10 minutes I added

1 can of diced tomato
3-4 dashes of chipotle powder
1/4 c tomato ketchup
1/2 tbsp yellow mustard

That's when I put them back in for 5 minutes.

But I have heard that acidity in tomatoes makes it harder for lentils to get soft.. so maybe it's possible
that the first round could only be like 15 minutes with the lentils, and if you wanted to do a second round you can otherwise, it tasted pretty good after the first round, the only reason I did another was I was thinking maybe the lentils could get a bit softer. They did get a bit softer, but not as soft as maybe I would have preferred. I was so hungry though I ate it anyway :)

I also cooked up a package of spiral noodles... mixed it with the sloppy joe stuff, and sprinkled it with nutritional yeast.

It was amazing.

:) 

Monday, October 19, 2015

Possibly the best vegan breakfast?

Luckily this past week I've been on a homecooking/working out binge daily.

For breakfast a couple of days ago, I made:
Steamed kale
Steamed acorn squash
Scramble tofu (1 tsp of oil, tofu, plus generous dashes of herbs (mixed, basil), nutritional yeast, paprika and a bit of salt and pepper)

I mixed it all up afterwards, I wasn't able to eat the all of it.

And last night, we had family over my mom made a vegan chili full of veggies -- broccoli, bell peppers, sweet potato, beans, corn, tomatoes, and mushrooms.

I made this corn bread recipe, which turned out awesome and everyone loved it!
http://www.food.com/recipe/vegan-cornbread-115929

This morning, I mixed my leftover bfast from the other day, kale, squash, tofu, plus corn bread, and raosted chipotle bean dip (available at natural grocer) Kind of like a scramble, and wow, it is amazing!!

Next bfast with company I am making this for sure! Chipotle beans, cornbread, plus scramble of kale, tofu plus squash!

Different but works sooo well in the morning :)


Monday, October 12, 2015

Just found this gem

Wow I just found this... I liked how they put this together and labelled everything so very nicely :)

http://www.vegan.com/cookbooks/

Pressure Cooking and Slow Cooking

As a graduate student,
Can I just say how much these things are just blissful ways of getting wholesome nutrients in a no fuss way??

So last week, I got a bit of a cold. Thank god vegan colds are like, the most amazing kind of colds you can get. So compared the colds I used to get before I went vegan. It was like snotty, coughy, feverish monster for at minimum a week. Okay maybe I didn't have a fever for a week. But Sore throat would last 2 days, bad sneeze would last 2-3 days, bad cough would last 3-5 days. It was awful. And I'm sure everyone can relatively relate to the awfulness that a cold can be. I also used to get these 3-4 times a year!!! And that was normal!

Okay as a vegan, I get sick once per year... if that.. maybe even once per year and a half.

This is how it usually plays out.
Okay so maybe I will have one day of death. Tiredness, sore throat. (Monday last week)
But the day after, I was relatively okay, a bit of fatigue, a bit of a runny nose, but nothing even close to what it used to be before being a vegan.
Day after, a little bit of a cough, but pretty okay. The intensity of a vegan cold is like a 2, and the intensity of a vegetarian/meat eater cold is like a 10, on a scale of 1-10.

 A pretty dramatic difference.

Anyway.

So last week I made soups that I've been living on ever since lol.

Both inspired from the Vegan Pressure Cooking Cookbook by JL Fields
And one made in a slow cooker while the other was made in the pressure cooker.

While I also made rice on the stove.

Apart from the soup, this week I've eaten a lot of green apples, and gardein  (not) fish sticks, I am totally in love with those.  I made a nice salad with the fish sticks, plus romaine lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers- I used a garlic mustard dressing (olive oil (1 tbs), lemon juice (1/2 lemon), 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tbsp mustard... that was for one serving, but I think there are better mustardy garlicy dressing recipes if searching for it online.

Okay so I made:

Potato, Apple and Lentil Soup:
1/2 cup diced onions
1/2 sweet potato diced
2 potatoes diced
1/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika
dash of cayenne
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 apples diced
1/2 cup dried green lentils
4 cups low sodium veggie broth
1/2 tsp salt
ground black pepper
1 cup frozen mixed veggies

Throw everything into a slow cooker on high, and voila, 4 hours later you got some delightful stew!!

Creamy Kale Miso Soup:
4 garlic cloves cut in half
1 small sweet onion quartered
1 carrot diced
4 cups low sodium veggie broth
150g silken tofu
1 bunch broccolini chopped
1 cup brussel sprouts
1/2 cup of green peas
3 tbsp yellow miso
black pepper

Throw everything into a pressure cooker and cook on high pressure for 4 minutes, let it slow release.  If after 10 minutes it hasn't released, let out the pressure.  Once you open it up, I used an immersion blender to get it creamy.

I've been eating this stuff on rice all week.  :)


Scrambled Tofu and Sauteed Kale

Scrambled Tofu:
(for one)
1/2 package of silken tofu
1 tsp rice bran oil
1 tbsp nutritional yeast seasonings
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
dash of rosemary
dash or two of black salt
dash or two of black pepper
1 garlic cloves minced

Heat the oil and garlic in a pan, add the tofu. Let sizzle for 5 minutes, stirring as needed.
Add the soy sauce if it starts looking a little dry. Add the seasonings, stir fry for a couple more minutes until heated thoroughly.

Sauteed kale:
1 tsp rice bran oil (also great with sesame oil)
1 tsp soy sauce
2 minced garlic cloves
3 cups of chopped kale

Fry garlic in the oil, for a few minutes and then add the kale. Sizzle the kale until it's wilted but still bright green, and may even get a bit crunchy on the edges, if not it's still tasty!

Add the kale and the tofu to one plate and garnish with chopped tomatoes.


Thursday, October 1, 2015

Chia breakfast and BLT wraps

These have been my two most common foods this week. And my chia breakfast I've been having for months and months now.

Chia Cereal:
3 tbsp chia seeds
1 scoop of vega nutritional shake vanilla flavor
enough water to cover
2 tbsp apple sweetened cranberries.

Mix everything together and let it soak for a few minutes and it is ready to consume. I also travelled around New York/ New Jersey last week, and took ziplock bags full of these three ingredients and I had an instant nutritional breakfast anywhere I went.


BLT wraps:
This takes less than 5 minutes to make, I was inspired by visiting a vegan restaurant in NYC and ordered this, and it was sooo amazing! I craved it so much afterwards that as soon as I came home I bought the ingredients so I could make it too.

2-3 leaves of romaine
1/2 tbsp vegan mayo
1 slice of cheddar vegan cheese (I use Daiya)
3-4 slices of tomato
(the restaurant also had avocado in the wrap, however the avocados at my local organic store were pretty unripe so I went without)
2 slices of tempeh bacon
1 wrap

I take the shortcut way, of using a microwave.. Take a wrap, put the slice of cheese on one side, plus 2 slices of bacon.  Microwave for 45 seconds. Add the tomato, lettuce, and mayo to the other side of the wrap. Roll it up and consume :)

So easy and so satisfying :)

Monday, August 3, 2015

For the love of Pho

Okay, so I've hardly been doing anything in the kitchen, but if I do anything, lately I've been making pho, it's my all new favorite go to dish.

Today as an overview:

Breakfast: Mesa Sunrise with raisins (nature's path organic) cereal and vega protein smoothie
I was out of almond milk, so I used one scoop of vega vanilla flavor protein smoothie with about 8oz of water, stirred thoroughly and dumped into a bowl of gluten free corn, quinoa, amaranth flake type things -- brand listed above, available at natural grocer.

Lunch: Herb's Garlic Sprouted Bagels made by Silver Hills Sprouted Bakery.
1 bagel with cream cheese (daiya chive and onion cream cheese style spread)
and 2 fishless filets (by gardein-- these things are amazing by the way) -- I would have put it on my bagel, but I was too hungry to wait for the fish to cook lol.

Dinner:
hearty pho :)

4-5 cups of water
1/2 package of brown rice noodles (I use Annie Chun's 8oz, so 4oz for this recipe)
2 veggie no salt bouillon cubes
1/2 tsp salt
1 head of broccolini chopped
1 package of shiitake mushrooms
2 tsp shoyu
1 tbsp vegan butter
juice of 1/2 lime
4 small carrots chopped
1/4 cup lima beans
1 garlic scape chopped
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
red chili flakes (optional)
additional herbs or garlic powder (optional)

Boil the water, add the carrots, broccolini, shiitake, scapes, bouillon cubes, salt, butter, shoyu and lima beans. After about 5 minutes add the noodles simmer for 2 minutes until noodles are done.

Turn off the heat, add the lime juice, cilantro

you got yourself a super healthy meal in about 10-15 minutes, assuming you can chop veggies quickly :)



Friday, July 31, 2015

Vegan Potluck

I recently got a question from a friend, "What recipe would you bring to a potluck if you want to show others how amazing vegan food is?"

This is the recipe I shared with her, from "Oh She Glows" cookbook.  It's my all time favorite for situations where you want to impress.

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas:

2 cups sweet potatoes peeled and chopped small (I baked these prior to adding them to the enchiladas-- chopped, with a bit of oil, salt and chili powder, adds a lot to the overall taste of the dish)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
fine-grain sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 bell pepper chopped
1 can black beans drained and rinsed (15oz)
2 handfuls spinach roughly chopped 
2.5 cups 5 minute enchilada sauce or store bought (I put recipe below)
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tsp chili powder or to taste
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp kosher salt 
5 sprouted grain tortilla wraps or gluten free corn tortillas 

Avocado Cilantro Cream Sauce:
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
1 medium avocado 
2 tbsp lime juice
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder


5 Minute Enchilada Sauce (I recommend making this sauce, it's soo good and pretty easy!):
2 tbsp vegan butter or light tasting oil of choice 
2 tbsp flour
4 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 scant cup tomato paste
1.75 cups vegetable broth
1/4 -1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a large rectangular baking dish.  

Make the Enchiladas: Place the sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan and add enough water to cover. Bring the water to a boil then reduce the heat to medium high and simmer for 5-7 minutes or until fork tender. drain and set aside (my favorite is baking them in the oven with some oil and salt, adds some awesome flavor and crispiness to the enchiladas!)

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. add the onion and the garlic and saute for about 5 minutes, until the onion is translucent. season with sea salt and black pepper. 

Add the bell pepper, cooked sweet potato, black beans and spinach. Raise the heat to medium high and cook for a few minutes more or until the spinach is wilted.  

Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce, the lime juice, chili powder, cumin and kosher salt.  

Spread 1 cup of the enchilada sauce evenly over the bottom of the prepared baking dish. scoop 3/4 cup of the sweet potato filling onto each tortilla. Roll up the tortilla and place them seam side down in the baking dish. Spread the remaining enchilada sauce over the tortillas. If you have leftover filling, spoon it on top of the tortillas as well.  

bake the enchiladas, uncovered for 20-25 minutes, until the sauce is a deep red color and the enchiladas are heated through. 

Meanwhile make the avocado cilantro cream sauce (if I remember correctly I at minimum doubled this recipe, if not more, it's really a fantastic sauce!) Add the avocado, lime juice, sea salt, garlic powder, and 3 tbsp of water and process until creamy, stopping to scrape down the bowl and needed.  

when the enchiladas are ready to serve, plate them individually and drizzle or spread some of the avocado cilantro cream sauce on top, garnish with cilantro and green onion if desired.

As for Desserts, these I had at my Brother and Sis-in-laws place and she was so great to dig them up and share them with me:


Here's the link for the Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here's the link for the Coconut Whipped Cream (she put whip cream on the cake plus berries ) 

Vegan Chocolate Cake

1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup margarine
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups dry sweetener
1 Tbsp powdered egg replacer + 4 Tbsp water
1/2 cup almond milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350. 
In a small saucepan, melt together the chocolate chips and margarine, stirring until smooth. Set aside.
Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and dry sweetener in large mixing bowl.
Stir in melted choc./margarine and stir into a VERY lumpy mixture.
Add all other ingredients, boiling water LAST.
Stir a few times with a spoon, then use a wire whisk to mix thoroughly.
Bake for 30-35 minutes in a lightly oiled pan.


Vietnamese Vegan

I had never really had vietnamese food before, but just a few months ago, I started hearing raving reviews of a local place called All Chay, a vietnamese vegan restaurant in Salt Lake City, Utah.  I ate there for the first time with my brother and my husband and we fell in love with the food, I mean we did not have one dish that we didn't think was amazing.

Again recently I had the chance to go to All Chay and again, we were blown away with the subtle yet captivating tastes and experience of the cuisine!

I recently came back from a trip to North Carolina, where my vegan options were very limited. I survived on snack from Natural Grocer which were:

1- Dehydrated mangos
2- Freeze-dried peas
3- Freeze-dried corn
4- Vega nutritional shake powder
5- Raw granola
6- Vegan jerky
7- Raw granola bars
8- Macaroons
9- Crackers
10- Peanut butter
11- Roasted Nori flavored teriyaki

I had brought this all in my suitcase.

Everyday I would walk from my hotel (it was a conference) to the mall across the street -- nice vegetarian restaurants were like an hour away in walking distance, so that was a no go for me since I didn't have a car-- and no sorry I didn't want to have to figure out the bus system.

Anyway, I literally had Moes everyday.  I had a veggie burrito, no dairy, plus guacemole.  By day 5, I was pretty sick of the stuff. I also tried a salad, but seemed to taste the exact same as a burrito, unfortunately.

Once I did meander enough to visit a vietnamese stall, where I got a veggie Pho noodle soup.  And maybe I was just hungry but I totally fell in love.

Now all I want is vietnamese food.

Today I made a vegan pho using:
1 package dried shiitake
1 tbsp vegan butter
1 veggie bouillon no salt
3-4 cups of water
1/2 package of rice noodles
1 carrot chopped
6 leaves of swiss chard chopped
1 garlic scape chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp tamari
1/2 tsp grated ginger
juice of 1/2 lime

Boil the water with bouillon, butter, ginger, shiitake, carrot, scape and noodles, until the noodles are cooked.  Add the rest of the ingredients except the lime, once the chard is wilted yet still bright green, take it off the stove and add the lime juice.

I had this for dinner tonight and it was amazing. I would love to make some banh mi sandwiches soooon.

10 Tips for the Cost Efficient Vegan

Vegan meals don't have to be expensive, but they certainly can be.  Vegan gourmet restaurants, vegan processed foods, vegan specialty products.  These can certainly add up.

Here are a few helpful hints on making veganism as affordable as possible.

My last year of college I actually saved significantly on my food bill by eating vegan.

Granted, I didn't eat packaged foods, at all. Everything I ate was made from scratch every day.  Every morning I would wake up 1-2 hours earlier to prepare my food for the day.

Helpful Hints:

1- Avoid foods that come in cans, boxes and jars as far as possible.

2- Get to know your local farmers market.  Even better, make friends with the farmers.  Talk to them about their culls.  Most farms end up throwing out lots of food, not because it's necessarily bad, but because it may not be 'aesthetic' enough to sell. Farmers markets are certainly more lenient than supermarkets, but typically most farms have a serious amount of veggies and fruits that they end up giving largely away to employees or go to the dump.  Find out if farmers are willing to work with you -- maybe they would be open to you coming and picking it up from their location on their harvest days, or perhaps you can buy these foods in bulk from them for a reduced price.  It's possible that they may be quite happy to work with you on this.

3- Some grocery stores, have a section of fresh foods that are going at a reduced rate, they may have been on the shelf a bit longer, with perhaps a few spots, but these foods are still edible and can often go for half the price of their shelved counterparts, if not more.

4- Grow herbs in your window sills, basil, parsley, chives, sage, cilantro.  If you have space on the patio or garden, it's possible to grow tomatoes, green leaves, salad, radishes. Experiment, find out for yourself how much you can fit in the amount of area that you have. One seed packet, can grow often 7-8 plants. Each plant can harvest several servings.  It's definitely the most bang for your dollar.

5- Some communities have community garden plots.  Sometimes these small plots of land are free to grow whatever you'd like on them, and sometimes it may cost a small amount of money for the season you grow something.

6- Get to know if your area has CSA shares. CSA stands for community supported agriculture. Basically at the beginning of the growing season the farmer sells shares of his produce for that season.  How this works is you may pay a one time installment of 300-400$ depending on the size of the share (often half and full shares are the common features) in order to receive a fresh fruit and vegetables from that farm on a weekly basis.  I get a CSA share from the University campus organic farm. I paid a little over 300 dollars in the spring, in order for a weekly share of veggies that I pick up every Tuesday for about 4 months (if not a little more). In each share of veggies, I get whatever was in season for that week.  Recently the shares may look something like:
1 bundle of beets
1 bundle of kale
1 bundle of basil
1 bowl of raspberries
1 small bag of edamame
1 bundle of swiss chard
1 bundle of parsley
2 heads of lettuce

As the season moves forward the shares have more food,
they start including tomatoes, zucchinis, eggplant, onions, garlic, etc.

It can sometimes be difficult to finish all of the food, I only receive a half share, but it's really ample amount of greens for the week typically. In some cases volunteering at a CSA may mean bringing home lots of extra stuff, either culls, or extras or in some cases the CSA provides volunteers with free shares.  CSA shares definitely can save a lot, especially when it comes to organic produce.

7- Find others who are into foraging and wild food collecting. There may be local meet up groups, or field days hosted by local universities about wild plants, check local events pages.  The cost of wild food is basically the transportation that may be involved in getting to a place where you can collect. Common wild foods (at least in the intermountain west): Amaranth, wild lettuce, dandelions, plantain, sorrel, clover, grass -- actually wheat grass is such a craze in the health food movement, but actually all grass is edible and full of nutrients, the only part of grass that wouldn't be good for health is a black mold that can sometimes be found in a seed head.

*Note: Do learn the common poisonous plants in your area to make sure there aren't any edible lookalikes.  Wild foods do tend to have more bitter qualities than their store counterparts, but on that same note they are also typically much higher in nutrients such as calcium, iron and other essential elements.  These should be slowly introduced into the diet, so to not be too overwhelming for the body, large quantities of new foods can sometimes be a little hard on the stomach, but overtime adjustment will happen.

8- I haven't personally tried this cookbook but Robin Robertson has written a cookbook specifically for vegans wanting to save money, "Vegan on the Cheap", there is also a book by Ellen Jones, "Eat vegan on 4 $ a day".  Both having fairly good reviews on Amazon.

9-Also, just remember that by eating vegan, you are saving some pretty hefty expenses that may not occur later on, because you are amping up your immunity through fresh foods.  To learn more about this, please refer to Primitive Nutrition series on youtube, where multiple first hand scientific journals are reviewed on basically the health benefits of a plant based diet. Other helpful resources: (films) fat sick and nearly dead, forks over knives, healing cancer, eat, and simply raw,  (books) nutritarian handbook.  You may find that medications you once needed, may begin feeling less useful, once your body really begins to adapt and thrive off of whole fresh foods.

10- Cooking/Uncooking tips:

When using online recipes or recipes from books and you want to maintain the same quality yet not use such expensive ingredients, here are some go to ingredient swaps that can make a nice difference in your pocketbook.

  •  Cashews and pine nuts -- cashews can certainly be expensive, often over $10 for a bag (and much more for pine nuts), and same with almonds.  Try sunflower seeds, often they sell for $3 a bag, being a dryland crop they don't take a lot of resources to grow.  In fact, they often grow as 'weeds' in many arid regions.  You can make cheeses with these, creams, even milk.  
  • Cereal -- cereal adds up, especially boxed cereal.  The best savings is to have oatmeal instead of cereal, or something else home-made instead of oatmeal.  
  • vegan meats, cheeses, yogurts, ice-cream and other specialty products -- this is where the costs of vegan can really hit the pocket.  A lot of these products are 5 dollars each, sure maybe they taste amazing, and maybe they are great for special occasions, but for everyday fair, it will certainly add up.  Also many of these products can be made at home, vital wheat gluten is a common ingredient for vegan meats, cashews or tofu are common in cheeses -- however cashews can be substituted by sunflower seeds and tofu can be substituted by chickpea 'tofu' http://www.mynewroots.org/site/2014/04/genius-chickpea-tofu/
  • Tofu-- I just listed this above, but figured it was worth mentioning in it's own bullet.  Not that tofu is that expensive, however making your own from chickpea flour is cheaper, http://www.mynewroots.org/site/2014/04/genius-chickpea-tofu/ 
  • Berries and exotic fruits -- of course these are so good for you, however they are often expensive, apples, oranges and bananas are typically the most cost effective fruits. 
  • Basil - Basil is amazing, and every now and again I may spend to get some, however, other herbs are much cheaper.  Cilantro and parsley for example typically sell for a fraction of the price that basil does.  Cilantro pesto is awesome-- and is personally my favorite, and much cheaper to make than basil pesto. Some people prefer the taste of parsley over cilantro, in that case make pesto from parsley.  
  • Ready made sauces -- to be avoided, the only sauce that is fairly useful in vegan cooking is tomato sauce, for some reason blended tomatoes don't always give the same rich texture that canned tomatoes do.  For all other exotic and fun ready made sauces, just skip them.  Healthier sauces can be easily made at home.  Tahini and peanut butter are packaged foods, however if used sparingly within recipes can go a long way for the investment.  Tahini often goes for $10 a jar, but will last months in the cupboard, and is great in so many recipes.  I've even made my own milk from 1 banana, 1-2 tbsp tahini and 2-3 cups of water blended.  It may be acquired taste, but for the time I had little time I wanted to invest in actually making a nut milk, this was a perfect solution for me.  
  • Supplements-- don't worry too much about this, B12 is important to have but apart from that as long as you are getting plenty of greens, and calories in general, you will have the nutrients that you need from a vegan diet.  
  • Pickles -- organic pickles can be pretty expensive.  Try buying a cucumber instead, slicing it thin and marinating it in sugar, salt and vinegar.  It may add the right amount of tangy crunchiness to your sandwich that you may not even miss the jarred variety.   (http://www.food.com/recipe/norwegian-cucumber-salad-agurksalat-423204)
  • Olives -- Sometimes there are sales on organic olives, but incase it's not happening, capers are generally more affordable.  
  • Bread -- If you are really looking to save money, buy flour not bread.  You will get 6-7 loaves for the price of one, if you make your own bread.  This can be time consuming, so again it really depends what level of cost saving you are interested in. 
  • Junk food -- I know it's tempting, but chips, cookies, cakes, sugar and fat filled things only serve to deplete the body of nutrients, keeping up the vicious cycle of cravings and hunger. The more quality rich food you have the more full you will be, hence the less you will buy.  Raw food recipes are especially great at satisfying cravings.  Try a raw broccoli soup, you may be surprised at how quickly your nerves and cravings stabilize.  
  • Dates, agave and maple syrup-- in the US, alternative sweeteners can be pricy, these are common sweeteners in vegan cooking.  Alternatively you can buy stevia -- upfront costs may be more, however the quantities needed to sweeten are very very minute, hardly a few grains.  One small container can last years -- mine certainly has.  Raisins can also be used, these are much cheaper than dates and can easily replace dates in many raw food recipes.  If neither of these quite fit the bill, agave is certainly cheaper than maple syrup, and can be used sparingly. 
  • Buy in bulk, go to the bulk aisle and get everything you want in dried version, cans of beans definitely add up in cost.  Pre-made rice in bags or boxes give you much less value for your money.  Load up on dried bulk food.  *if you have never cooked dried beans, it's less intimidating than you might think, throw them in a slow cooker for 8 hours while you are at work with ample water alternatively soak them in water overnight and simmer them for 1 hour until they are soft. If you are interested in foods that cook faster, try millet instead of rice, try lentils instead of beans, they don't require soaking or an hour. They can be done in 20 minutes, sometimes a bit longer, but at minimum about 20 minutes.  I have never been brave enough to use a pressure cooker, but that is another way that these foods can be cooked much quicker.  



Friday, June 26, 2015

Pasta and Peanuts...

I've been a bit slack with my posting! Here's a few very simple recipes from today...

Breakfast--

3 tbsp chia seeds
1/2 cup water
1 scoop VEGA nutritional shake powder
2 tbsp apple sweetened cranberries
1 tbsp almonds

Mix all ingredients, then let it sit for 2 minutes so the chia can absorb the water.



Lunch--
Spicy peanut noodles

Rice noodles enough for one

1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp soy sauce
3/4 tsp curry paste
1/2 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp water

Boil the noodles until soft.  Mix peanut butter through water in a bowl until well combined.  Add mixture to the noodles.  :) Easy lunch.

Dinner--
Herb Pasta

Half box of penne pasta
2 zucchinis chopped

1/4 tsp dried basil
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp salt
1/8-1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp dried rosemary
3 tbsp kalamata olives
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp oil
1/8-14 tsp red hot chilli flakes

Boil pasta for 5 minutes, add zucchini to the water.  Once pasta is cooked, drain water from the pot.  Add the seasonings to the past and zucchini, and voila.







Sunday, April 12, 2015

Spaghetti with meatballs

Spaghetti with meatballs:
serves 2 very large portions
1/2 package of gardein meatballs
1 can of tomato sauce
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp agave
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp oil
dash of black pepper and red chilli flakes
1 head small cabbage chopped
1 handful of spaghetti (I used organic hand made ramen! way good :) )

top with nutritional yeast to serve.

Heat meatballs in tomato sauce plus all seasonings until the oil.  Boil Spaghetti until done or whatever pasta you choose to use.  Once the meatballs are cooked add the cabbage until the desired consistency.

This recipe is super fast and filling.

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Chinese cabbage with chikn

1 head of cabbage sliced and core removed
1 package of beyond meat chikn
1 tbsp agave
1-2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp bran oil

Saute Chikn in pan with oil.  Once heated, add cabbage along with the rest of the ingredients. Heat until the cabbage is slightly soft.  Turn off heat and serve.

You can also saute ramen noodles in this mix, if using them put them with the chikn at the start so they are soft by the time you turn off the heat.  

Breakfast Orzo

Breakfast Orzo:

1/3 cup dried orzo
3 cups milk (recipe below)
(Add more water if necessary)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp bran oil
1 tbsp Honee

2 pears chopped
pecans, Honee, and cocoa powder for garnish

Boil milk, add orzo.  Simmer for 20 minutes, occasionally stirring and adding more water by 2-3 tbsp if getting too thick. Once orzo is soft, add oils, honey and salt.

Top with chopped pears, sprinkle with pecans and cocoa powder with a couple stripes of Honee.

Very filling Bfast


Mixed nut milk:
1/4 cup pecans
3 tbsp hemp seed
2 brazil nuts

Blend with 1-2 cups of water.  Then add 3-4 more cups of water and blend on high.  Add 1 tbsp of agave.  Strain milk into a container.  

Sunday, March 22, 2015

The ultimate breakfast burrito

Breakfast Burrito:
tortillas
chao cheese
condiment of choice (salsa, hot sauce, ketchup)
cilantro

Stir-fry Hashbrowns:
4-5 leaves of chopped kale
2 small potatoes grated
1 vegan sausage slice/chopped
2 tbsp vegan margarine
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
8 stalks of asparagus
2 cloves garlic
1 onion chopped

Melt the margarine in a pan, and add the onion. Cook until translucent.
Add potato, asparagus and sausage, cook until the potato softens. Add kale, salt and pepper, cook until the kale wilts, stirring continuously.

Not so Eggs, Tempeh:
2 packages of tempeh, finely chopped or processed using food processor.
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp ground sage
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp water
3 tbsp milk
2 tsp yellow or dijon mustard
2-3 tbsp salsa
1-2 dashes of smoked black salt (optional)

Take one tortilla, half slice of chao cheese and distribute it onto half of the tortilla.  Microwave for 30 seconds.  Alternatively you could put it in the oven on broil for 3-4 minutes, until cheese is melted.
Take out of microwave or oven and spread salsa, ketchup or hot sauce or other desired sauce onto one side of the tortilla.  Place about 1/4 cup of scrambled tempeh on the burrito, then 1/4 cup of the hashbrowns.  Use 5-6 cilantro leaves to top it off, before rolling it up.  Smother it in salsa or other condiment of your choice!





Thursday, March 5, 2015

cocoa snap cookie bites


cookies
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup organic sugar
1tsp vanilla
1/4-1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 mashed banana
1/4 coconut flakes
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup oil

Blend all wet ingredients together. Stir all dry ingredients together.  Mix both wet and dry ingredients together, is easiest to use the hands, to knead the dough.  Form small balls, 1"x1", and place on a cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 350 F, and bake for 8 minutes.



Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Fiesta Quesadillas

Quick Lunch:
4 servings

4 Gluten free rice wraps

4 slices chao coconut cheese 
1/2 cup corn
1/2 cup pinto beans
2-3 tbsp tomato paste
1-2 tsp hot sauce
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tbsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp tamarind paste
2 tsp sherry vinegar
1 zucchini chopped
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp chopped cilantro


Garnish/toppings
1/2 cup chopped red cabbage
1 bell pepper sliced

In a pan, heat corn, beans, zucchini, water, and tomato paste. Add seasonings and sauces except cilatnro.  Once heated, add the cilantro and turn off the heat, mix well. 

Prepare garnishes/toppings. 

Heat a rice wrap in the microwave or toaster oven, with 1 slice cheese on top till the cheese melts.  Spoon 1/4-1/3 cup of bean mixture on top, top with some cabbage and sliced bell pepper, and fold in half :) 

Monday, March 2, 2015

Pasta, Quesadillas, and Moo Shu Veggies with a twist

First of all, I have to mention that Chao cheese is now available in Logan, Utah, and it is by far the most amazing vegan cheese (apart from home made) I've ever had.

It's made from coconuts and other things, but wow!

I think I ate the whole block in 1-2 days... I know.

Quesadillas:
Gluten free spinach wraps
Chao cheese
Beyond meat chikn strips
homemade tomatilla salsa
hot sauce

Pretty self explanatory, but this is a super lazy meal for sure.  Grap a tortilla, put the cheese down, the strips and microwave for 1 minute, take it out and put a few spoons of salsa over top and fold the tortilla over, voila and eat with hot sauce if wanted :)

These also work good just with cheese, but too easy to eat like everything in one go, so probably best to put some good fillers in it :)

Pasta:

I made two versions of pasta over the past 2 days.

Red Pepper Pasta:
1 tbsp olive oil
2 gloves garlic
1 red pepper chopped
1 zucchini chopped
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp agave
1 tsp sherry vinegar
1 can of tomato sauce
1 tsp hot sauce
nutritional yeast

1/2 package of dried penne prepared


Saute garlic in oil, add red pepper and zucchini.  Add the seasonings through tomato sauce.  Let simmer until the sauce is fragrant and the flavors had integrated.

Add to the cooked pasta and sprinkle with red pepper flakes, pepper and nutritional flakes
I like things on the hot side-- so you can always adjust this to what you feel like.

Mexican-ish Pasta:
1/2 can of pinto beans
1/2 can of corn
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 chopped onion
1/4 tsp basil
1 tsp fresh parsley
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp sherry
3-4 tbsp tomato paste
1/3 cup of water
1/2 tsp salt
kalamata olives
nutritional yeast

1/2 package of dried penne prepared

Saute garlic, onion, beans, corn in the oil until the onions are transparent.
Add the rest of the ingredients until the sauce is fragrant and the tastes have absorbed.

Add to the pasta, and top with kalamata olives, and nutritional yeast.

if I had had cilantro and kale I probably would have added it as well :)

Moo Shu Gardein with Pineapples
1/2 package of Gardein 'Beef' chunks
1/2 head cabbage sliced
2 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sherry vinegar
2-3 tbsp liquid aminos
1-2 tsp black bean sauce (found in asian food section)
1 tsp hot sauce
1 slice of pineapple chopped (middle removed)
1/2 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp minced ginger

Gluten free spinach wraps

Fry ginger and garlic in sesame oil.  Add the other sauces and liquids then add the gardein.  Saute for a few minutes then add the pineapple. Saute for 2-3 minutes than add the cabbage.  If liquids seem less, add tsp at a time of black bean sauce, and liquid aminos.  Heat until the cabbage becomes soft, and add sesame seeds.  Remove from heat.

Heat the wraps and then stuff the cabbage mixture into the wrap and use soy sauce as dip.

And I also made cookies:

Chocolate chip cookies:
 2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 3/4 cup coconut oil, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used homemade...  just melt cocoa butter-- 1/3 cup and mix in lots of cocoa powder-- maybe something like 1/3-1/2 cup and some agave--2-3 tbsp and then let dry at room temp) 1/3 cup of silken tofu, 1-2 tbsp agave and 1 tsp vanilla extract. 350 for 8 minutes.

-- copied from my fb page.  



Okay off to bed, goodnight everyone! :)








Sunday, February 22, 2015

cookies and tacos

I know,

All I ate were cookies today.

Okay I had tacos too.

It's Sunday though :)

I think I also had some fruit salad same as yesterday.

So I spiced up the leftover taco recipe by adding: lime juice, avocado, nutritional yeast, hot sauce, cashew cheese and vegan ranch.

I also made a taco from the leftover pineapple glazed veggies, which was interesting!!

That's all :)

I have so much leftovers, not sure when I'll be cooking again, hopefully soon, I definitely have gotten over my south of the border cravings :) 

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Cookies for breakfast

So I was pretty good this past week and making sure I have been eating relatively healthy.

Today is Saturday and the cookies I bought yesterday were the first thing that lured me in, this morning.

My mid morning snack happened to be leftover tacos from yesterday.  My stomach seemed to be a little confused about choices of food today. But oh well.

My midday meal currently is another fruit salad :)

1 pear
1 banana
1/4 cup blueberries
1/4 unsweetened coconut yogurt (vegan of course :) )
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baobob powder
1 tsp agave

I'll probably have some tacos after this, then for my mom's bday we are going out. Not really looking forward to the food choices, but they do have good hummus at the restaurant we are going to, so may make do with that :)




Tacos, Jamaican roasted veggies and fruit salad

So yesterday I invited my parent's over for a south of the border feast :)
Unfortunately I had a late start to dinner preparation so I didn't get a chance to finish all that I wanted to make. Oh well.

Tacos:
2 sweet potatoes finely chopped
1 tbsp oil

1 can of black beans
1 portobello mushroom sliced and then roughly chopped
1/2 can of salsa
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp lemon juice


Sprinkle the sweet potatoes with oil and put into oven at 400 F for 30 minutes. Place the portobello
mushroom in a large bowl.  Dump the rest of the ingredients on top of the portobello, let sit for 10-15 minutes.  Place ingredients in a frying pan until mushrooms are cooked.  Mix the mushroom mixture with the finished potatoes for the taco filling.

Garnish with:
chopped romaine
chopped tomato
ketchup -- I'm weird I know lol I love ketchup with tacos
salsa
vegan sour cream, cheese
guacemole

-- I just used romaine, tomato and ketchup and a little bit of taco sauce.
---------------------

Jamaican veggies:

1 bunch of broccolini roughly chopped
1 sweet potato diced
1 potato diced
2 carrots chopped
1 tomato diced
1 yellow bell pepper sliced
1 onion
1 slice of pineapple
1/2 cup of orange juice
1/4 cup of lime juice
1-2 tbsp of sugar (if at all)
2 tsp minced ginger
3 garlic cloves
pinch of nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
sprinkle with pepper and red chili flakes

I made two varieties of this dish, since my mom isn't a fan of pineapples. I made a version for her using a tomato in place of the pineapple, she really enjoyed it!  So basically first place the potatoes, carrots and onion on a baking dish, put into the oven at 425 F for 30 minutes covered.  While veggies are cooking blend the pineapple with the orange and lime juice, sugar, ginger, garlic, nutmeg and salt.  Once blended add the pepper and flakes.  Take the veggie tray out and add broccolini, tomato, bell pepper to the mixture and pour the juice blend over the veggies.  Re-cover and put into the oven for another 30 minutes -- could even do with possibly 20 minutes.

---

Fruit Salad:
Serves 3

1/4 cup blueberries
1 pear
1 banana
1/3 cup grapes
1/2 cup unsweetened yogurt
3-4 tbsp agave
1/4 cup of orange juice
2 tbsp lime juice
Soy whip cream

Mix all the ingredients minus the whip cream.  Serve up 3 portions of fruit salad, and top with whipped cream. My family loved this, a very healthy light desert that definitely goes within the south of the border theme :)

I also served vegan chocolate chip cookies  :)

PS i was going to add mangos to this dish.. however once opened they were completely bruised inside :(

Oh well.

Cookbook references:

Jamaican veggies adapted version of the one in
Hot Vegan by Robin Robertson

Tacos inspired by seitan and potato taco recipe in
Viva Vegan! by Terry Hope Romero

Fruit salad inspired by
vegetarian.about.com recipe "Creamy Vegan Ambrosia Fruit Salad with Pineapple"

Friday, February 20, 2015

Jamaican

So recently my husband got me the cook book 'hot vegan' by robin robertson.

And as I was looking through the recipes, I got entirely hooked on the recipes of the Jamaican section/ island section.

Featuring pineapples, mangos, plantain fritters.. etc.

So my plan is to make some of this stuff today, and I am excited, my shopping list:

1 pckg Seitan
1 green bell pepper
vegan margarine (although recently found a really awesome video for making it yourself! I think I'll do that instead)
2 plantains
2-3 mangos
allspice
red bell pepper
pineapple
potatoes


Stay tuned for more :) 

Salads, Pasta, Lentils and Healthy Blueberry Porridge and Snack times :) Summary of the last week

So it's been a long time!  School got the best of me at the end of fall, and next thing I knew I travelled to India for a month to see family I haven't seen in over two years!!

I am back and I am ready to start a fresh!  I want to reinvigorate fresh foods in my life as well as regular exercise.  The stress of daily life can sometimes impede.. but it's a sign that its even more important to make time for that!

So the last couple days I've been making super easy on the go foods.  The scale of goodness from 1-10, maybe is about a 5, the scale of healthiness is probably about an 8 though.  :)

Or something...

So coming back from India I was craving craving fresh foods, I had limited myself to mostly cooked cuisine since I had fallen sick a couple of times there and wanted to reduce my chances of getting any more stomach issues/ colds.  It was relatively mild what I had picked up, but it's good to be somewhat pre cautious while traveling.

I came home and I bought:
cabbage
romaine lettuce
kale
collards
green beans
yellow and orange bell peppers
oranges
limes and lemons
portobello mushrooms
canned organic corn (for the sake of ease)
coriander
parsley
i would have loved basil if they had had.. but they didn't
2 different types of tortillas -- ancient grains, and gluten free
avocados
zucchini

If I had had the option to purchase more fresh fruit I would have, the selection looked pretty sad though at the store so I held off.

First thing I made was:
------------------------------


Spanish Lentils:
3/4 cup of lentils
2-3 cups of water
4-5 sundried tomatoes
3 crushed garlic
1/2 tsp salt

Add all ingredients into a crockpot, cook on high heat for 4 hours

------------------------------


Avocado and Cilantro Lime Corn Soft Taco Salad:
2-3 servings

1 avocado diced
1 can of corn drained
1/2 lime juice
3 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 yellow bell pepper chopped
1/4 tsp salt
dash of pepper
dash of smoked paprika
spanish lentils (optional, can add a few tbsp)

Mix all of the above ingredients into a bowl

2-3 big leaves of romaine sliced
2-3 tortillas
refried beans (home made or storebought -- I used an instant one that is just to be mixed with water... and it was actually pretty terrible.. lol I recommend either from the can or homemade)

Put a tortilla on a plate, top with beans

------------------------------

Savory Portabello with Herbed Cheese Wrap:
1 portobello diced in large chunks
8-9 green beans ends removed and sliced 2-3 mm thick
1 zucchini diced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp soy sauce
2-3 tbsp of sherry vinegar
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp salt

Let vegetables cook in liquids and seasonings for 5-10 minutes.

Herbed Cheese:
1/2 cup cashews
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp salt
1-2 tbsp of water, depending on desired consistency

Blend cashews plus water, salt and lemon juice until desired consistency
add basil.

For the wraps:
Place a tortilla on a plate, spread with 'cheese', layer chopped romaine, and add vegetables


------------------------------


Curried Tomato Pasta:
1-2 servings
1 cup of dried pasta -- boiled

Sauce:
1 can of tomato sauce or 3 blended tomatoes
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 dollops coconut yogurt (or half can of coconut milk -- I recommend coconut milk, I used yogurt, which was fine, but the leftovers.. seemed to have too much of a sour taste)
dash of cumin
dash of pepper
dash of smoked paprika
dash of cayenne
2-3 kale leaves thinly sliced

Once the sauce is heated, add the kale until just wilted, mix altogether with the pasta.  I added nutritional yeast atop :)
------------------------------


Cooked Cabbage and Quinoa salad with Tahini dressing:
1/2 head of cabbage sliced and roughly chopped and lightly steamed
3-4 leaves kale sliced
3/4 cup of dried quinoa boiled

Tahini dressing:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp balsamic
1 tbsp agave
1/2 tsp salt

Mix all the dressing ingredients together

To make the salad mix cabbage, kale and cooked quinoa with the dressing.
Garnish with hemp seeds and flax seeds :)
I actually ate this for breakfast yesterday :)

------------------------------

Healthy Blueberry Porridge:

1 cup of whole groat oats soaked over night
1/4 cup frozen blueberries
2 tbsp of vega nutritional blend (optional -- or any other high protein powder)
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp flax seeds
1 tbsp of hemp seeds
2 tsp chia seeds
2-3 tbsp dried cranberries
1/2 cup of water -- or as much needed to make a porridge consistency

Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender until smooth :)

VOILA


-----------

Snack times:

For snack times, and for moments of hunger, I eat:

1 gluten free tortilla, spread with peanut butter :)

I also recently made chocolate!

I melted 1/4 cup of cocoa butter in a pan, and added 2-3 tbsp of cocoa powder.  oh it was sooo good and it was dark!  I added 1 tsp of agave and MY mistake I added organic sugar... like 1-2 tbsp...
The sugar did not melt like I thought it would!! It was crunchy :////

Quite the disappointment.. anyway, I've still been eating it.

I poured the chocolate into a plastic container. And 5-6 hours later it was dried and easily peeled off. I was breaking it off and eating it.. it tasted awesome... texture was bad.. because of the sugar.. but oh well.

I added it to my peanut butter sandwiches after slightly microwaving the tortilla to get it warm.. and then the chocolate melts... and at that point i never noticed the crunch :)