Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

It's a beautiful fall day. Perfect for baking!

• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• the juice from one lemon
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup Earth Balance or other margarine
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 Tablespoons Ener-G egg replacer
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup poppy seeds
• the zest from one lemon

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease or line a muffin pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate small bowl, whisk together then lemon juice, almond milk and vanilla.
   
3. Cream together the margarine and sugar, then add the egg replacer. Stir in the lemon zest and poppy seeds. Mix in the almond milk mixture.
   
4. Gently combine the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients just until mixed. It will be a pretty thick mixture.
   
5. Spoon into your muffin pan. I'm not a huge fan of super sweet things, but if you like extra sweet muffins, sprinkle the top of each muffin with a pinch of extra sugar.
6. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
7. Eat! And by the way- these smelled so good I had to take a bite before I could even take the picture...
   

Phyllo Dough Apple Tart

So for those of you who don't know, I've lost about 100lbs over the past 3 years. I'm pretty proud of myself if I do say so myself. Recently, I haven't been doing so hot, though- I guess I'm experiencing one of those weight loss "plateaus". And it super sucks. So I'm going to try to be all hard core again about calorie counting, working out, etc. And part of that means trying to find yummy deserts I can make that aren't TOO unhealthy. Enter the Phyllo Dough Apple Tart. It's still delicious, but much less calorie-filled than my usual baked goods.

• 1 golden delicious apple cut into 1/4 inch slices
• 1/4 cup light margarine, melted
• 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 Teaspoons cinnamon (more or less to taste)
• 1 Teaspoon salt
• 5 sheets of Phyllo dough, cut in half
• 2 Tablespoons of powdered sugar (for dusting on top)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix the melted margarine, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt
3. Layer the apples evenly on one half of the Phyllo dough
4. Cover the apples in most of the margarine/sugar mixture
5. Top with the other half of the Phyllo Dough
6. Top with the remaining margarine/sugar mixture
7. Bake for 35 minutes (until golden brown)
8. Let cool and dust with powdered sugar.

4 Servings
Calories: 149

Total Fat 4.8g

Saturated Fat 1g

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 0mg

Sodium 557mg

Total Carbohydrates 24.3g

Dietary Fiber 1.6g

Sugars 10.2g Protein 1.8g

And in case anyone wants to see before and after pictures, here you go!

Before

After

Peanut butter cookies

YUM.

• 1/2 cup butter/margarine
  
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg/ egg replacer
  
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 375
   
2. Cream the butters and the sugars
3. Add the egg and vanilla
   
4. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add these to the wet.
5. Roll into balls. Flatten with the back of a fork on a greased cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool on cooling rack. Try not to eat all of them at once.
   

Potato Lentil Parsley Soup

I know it's only the beginning of September, but today it feels like fall. I love fall- all my favorite things happen in fall: Halloween, Thanksgiving, sweater weather, hay rack rides, carving pumpkins, drinking cider, and most of all SOUP!!! Here is my first soup of the season. The great thing about this soup is that it's just a basic recipe that can be changed a million different ways- no russet potatoes? Try sweet! No onions? Try corn! No lentils? Try beans! Have some leaks/ peas/ green beans/ etc sitting in the fridge about to go bad? Throw 'em in! This soup also freezes really so you can reheat it whenever you need some comfort food.

• 1 cup lentils (soak in water for a few hours before making the soup)
• 3 medium potatoes, washed and cubed
• 6 or so carrots, peeled and cut into circles
• 1 bunch of celery, chopped
• 1 white onion, cut into half moons
• 2 qts veggie stock
  
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

Cut up all the veggies and parsley, add to broth. Boil until everything is soft. Easy Parcheesi.

10 servings
Calories 142

Total Fat 2.0g

Saturated Fat 1.7g

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 0mg

Sodium 618mg

Total Carbohydrates 28.3g

Dietary Fiber 8.9g

Sugars 5.2g

Protein 6.7g

Chocolate Oatmeal Scotchies

I needed a snack to take with me to the final Harry Potter movie. Shhhh- don't tell the movie theater I'm sneaking cookies in. Maybe if they offered some vegan options, I wouldn't have to (but I probably still would because homemade is ALWAYS better).

• 3/4 cup vegan margarine
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs worth of egg replacer (I just used Ener-G, but it might be interesting to use banana)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup vegan butterscotch chips
  
• 1 cup vegan chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Cream together margarine and sugars
3. Add the egg replacer and vanilla
4. In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients
   
5. Hand mix in the oats, chocolate, and butterscotch chips. Don't over mix.
6. I always just use my hands to make cookies- don't worry, I wash them first. Just form balls of dough and set them evenly apart on a greased cookie sheet. Use the back of a spoon (or your fingers) to smush slightly so they are flatish. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool and sneak into a movie in a giant purse. Enjoy!
   

Hello Dollies

I've heard these called 7 layer bars and "magic" bars, but I like the name Hello Dollies the best. Whatever you call them, they are yuuuuuummmy!

• 1 cup sweetened condensed soy or almond milk (see below for instructions on making your own)
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (vegan of course)
• 1/2 cup butterscotch chips (again, vegan- and you may have to do some searching)
• 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup melted vegan margarine
• 1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
   
2. Create a crust but combining the graham cracker crumbs and margarine. Use the back of a spoon to press this into the bottom of a greased 8x8 glass baking dish.
3. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and butterscotch chips evenly over the top of the crust. Use a spoon (or just your hand) to slightly press the chips into the crust.
4. Pour the condensed milk over the top evenly.
5. Top with shredded coconut
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes and let cool before eating

Sweetened Condensed Milk
This is super easy! Pour 2 cups of soy or almond milk into a sauce pan with 1/2 cup white sugar. Simmer over low heat until it has reduced to 1 cup. Done!

Sweet Potato Fritters

Fritters are delicious bundles of fried happiness. These fritters are made from sweet potatoes, so you can even pretend they're healthy!

• 1 large cooked, peeled, mashed sweet potato (about 1 pound) Bake in the oven for about an hour or heat in the microwave for 8-10 minutes until soft. After it is soft, the peel should come off pretty easily- just and try not to burn your fingers!
  

• 3 tablespoons canola oil (or what is needed to fry your fritters)
  
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 15-oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• egg replacer for one egg (I used Ener-G)
• 1/4 cup water
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
   
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 to 6 minutes
3. Add beans, 1 teaspoon paprika and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 2 minutes. Separate into two portions. Cover and set aside.
4. Mix cornmeal, flour, baking powder, the remaining teaspoon paprika and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Add the mashed sweet potato and combine.
5. Add egg replacer and water to half the bean/onion mixture. Add this to the cornmeal mixture and stir until just combined.
6. Heat the oil in a pan. Form the mixture into 8 circularish fritters- about 1/4 cup of the mixture each. Fry each fritter in the oil for about 2 minutes on each side until browned.
   
7. Place the fritters on a baking sheet and bake about 8-10 minutes until firm. Serve with the remaining onion/bean mixture and a nice salad.

Makes about 8 Fritters

Calories 314

Calories from Fat 58
Total Fat 6.5g
Saturated Fat 0.6g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 20mg
Total Carbohydrates 51.6g
Dietary Fiber 10.4g
Sugars 3.3g

Cucumber Onion Dill Salad

Apparently I am on a salad kick. I blame the heat. Who wants to eat hearty, heavy food when it's hot? Leave those until the sun goes down! In the mean time, here is a simple salad to get you through your day.

• 2 cucumbers sliced into thin circles- I've always partially peeled these- meaning I partially remove the peel in lengthwise strips using a vegetable peeler leaving a little skin between each strip. I have no idea why I do this other than it's what my mom did. If anyone knows the reason behind this, I'd love to hear it!
• 1 red onion cut in half and then into thin slices. Separate the layers of the strips so you are left with thin half moon shapes
• 6 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 tablespoon dried dill or 1/4 cup fresh chopped dill
• salt and pepper to taste
  

1. Add the vinegar, sugar, dill, salt, and pepper in a bowl (with a lid) and mix until the sugar is dissolved.
2. Mix in cucumber and onions.
3. Put the lid on the bowl and shake, shake, shake! You can eat this right away, but I find it's better if you let it sit for a couple hours before eating.

4 Servings Amount Per Serving

Calories 54

Calories from Fat 2
Total Fat 0.2g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 6mg
Total Carbohydrates 12.4g
Dietary Fiber 0.9g
Sugars 8.9g
Protein 1.1g

Perfect Picnic Potato Salad

Today is hot. It is the first day it has felt like summer. The A/C is on and Buster is sprawled out on the wood floor. It's a perfect time for salads- and I don't mean healthy, greens based salad. I'm talking rich, gooey, tangy potato salad. This salad is great for barbeques, picnics, etc. If you can get it out the door without eating it all, that is.

• 5 lbs potatoes (I've used several different varieties of potatoes in this recipe and I like red potatoes the best)
  
• 3-5 stalks of celery cut into slices
  
• 1/2 cup Vegenaise or other vegan mayo- I like Vegenaise the best
  
• 1/4 cup yellow mustard
• 1 tablespoon Paprika
• 2 teaspoons garlic salt
  
• 1/4 -1/2 cup dill pickle relish
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut the potatoes into bite sized pieces. Boil these in water for 20 minutes or so- until they are tender enough that a fork easily goes into them but not so tender that they fall apart.
2. Drain the potatoes and cool- I am impatient and end up putting them in the freezer to help them cool faster- you want them to be room temperature or colder (but not frozen)
3. Put potatoes in a bowl (I use the bowl I'm going to serve them in so there aren't more dishes to clean). Add all the ingredients and mix it all up. This is definitely the kind of recipe you should make how you like it- all of the ingredients can be tweaked until you get the combination that takes you to food heaven. You can also add things like Bac-o's Bacon Flavor Bits (yes- they are vegan), onions, and anything else you think would be good.
   

10 Servings Amount Per Serving

Calories 243

Calories from Fat 70
Total Fat 7.8g
Saturated Fat 0.9g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 198mg
Total Carbohydrates 39.3g
Dietary Fiber 6.0g
Sugars 4.5g
Protein 4.2g

Lentil Soup

There is something comforting about parsley in soup. It's sort of earthy and homey and just plain delicious. I recently planted my very first vegetable garden- and one of the things I planted was parsley. This hearty, filling, healthy soup is made using this parsley- the very first product from my garden. Hopefully everything I make with ingredients from my garden is this good!

• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
  
• 1 cup dried lentils (soak in cool water for a couple hours before using)
• 1 smallish white onion, diced
  
• 4-5 carrots, diced
• 4-5 stalks of celery, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, diced
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (like I said- I love parsley- you can use less if you want)
• 4 cups veggie broth (I used 2 Not Ckick'n cubes because it's my favorite)
• Salt and lots of fresh ground pepper to taste
  

1. Saute the onions, garlic, celery and carrots in the olive oil until soft (about 5 minutes)
2. Add the parsley and saute until you can smell the parsley
3. Mix in the lentils, broth, salt and pepper
4. Let this all simmer for about 45 minutes until the lentils are soft. Done!

4 servings: Nutrition Facts
Amount Per Serving
Calories 240
Calories from Fat 37
Total Fat 4.2g
Saturated Fat 0.6g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 64mg
Total Carbohydrates 38.0g
Dietary Fiber 17.2g
Sugars 5.0g
Protein 13.6g

This recipe brought to you by the Freelance Whales album "Weathervanes"

Strawberry Rhubarb Birthday Pie

Happy Birthday Kara! I have always had trouble with pie crust and it is nearly impossible to find a good vegan frozen one (and who would want to anyways??). I finally found a good, easy recipe that does not require cutting margarine into ice water and then praying the heat from your hands doesn't ruin it while you're rolling it out. Something that is cool about this pie crust recipe is that you can just pour all the ingredients in the pie plate and mix them in there- no bowls to clean! I did make extra crust and roll it out for the top, but this recipe is just for the bottom crust. If you want to make extra crust for the top, just double the recipe.

Crust

• 1.5 cups all purpose four
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons soy milk (I bet almond milk would be really good!)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
   
2. Put all ingredients in pie plate
3. Mix
4. Use your fingers to push out from the center layering the crust along the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Poke holes in it with a fork (so it doesn't bubble up when you bake it)
5. Bake for 15 minutes and then use in your favorite recipe.

Filling

• 3 cups strawberries (cut into bite sized pieces)
  
• 3 cups rhubarb (also cut into bite sized pieces)
• 1/4 cup sugar (more or less depending on how sweet you like your pie- Kara likes a sort of tart rhubarb pie, so I did not add a lot of sugar)
  
• 2 Tablespoons flour
  

1. If you are using fresh ingredients, just mix them together in a bowl and add to pie crust
2. If you are using frozen ingredients, add them to a saucepan and warm them up over high heat. Make sure to mix the flour in with some cold water before adding it so it doesn't clump. Stir over medium high heat until the liquid thickens up. Otherwise you end up with soggy pie. And no one wants soggy pie.

Once you have added the filling to the crust, cover with tin foil and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Take the foil off and bake for another 10-15 minute until it is all bubbly.

Spinach Corn Chili Mac

What do you do with the spinach you purchased with the intention of eating more salads (and is now about to go bad in your fridge)? You wilt it and put it in chili mac!

• 2 cups elbow macaroni
• 1 onion, chopped
  
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
  
• 15-ounce can tomato sauce
  
• 1 1/2 cups water
  
• 1 ½ tablespoons chili powder (more or less depending on how you like it)
  
• 1 tablespoon cumin
  
• 10 ounces frozen corn kernels
  
• 16-ounce can pinto or kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  
• 5 cups washed and chopped spinach
  
• salt and pepper, to taste

1. Cook the macaroni
   
2. Saute the onion and garlic in the oil until they are soft.
   
3. Wilt the spinach with the onion and garlic. Wilting greens is very easy- you just throw them in a sauté pan and stir them around until they wilt. Easy Peasy.
   
4. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir and eat!

Amount Per Serving (8 servings)

Calories 344
Calories from Fat 31
Total Fat 3.4g
Saturated Fat 0.5g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 319mg
Total Carbohydrates 63.4g
Dietary Fiber 12.2g
Sugars 5.9g
Protein 18.1g

The very best lasagna ever

I'm not going to lie- this lasagna was hard work. Luckily, my good buddy Christian helped! Both of our spouses had to work on a Saturday, so we decided they would enjoy a good home cooked meal when they got home. It was also a good excuse to get the dogs together in the backyard for a couple hours while we cooked!

• 10 tomatoes, peeled (the easiest way to peel tomatoes is to cut out the stem and put them in boiling water for 30 seconds- 1 minute. Then dunk them in ice water so you can handle them- the peel should come right off!)
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
  
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 red onion
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• fresh basil, thyme, and oregano
• salt & pepper to taste
• mushrooms
• red pepper
• whatever veggies you want to add
• cooked lasagna noodles- enough to make 3 layers in your casserole dish. I think we used about 12
• Vegan mozzarella cheese (we used a package and a half of Daiya cheese)
  

Sauce: This was the part that took the longest. We wanted to make a sauce from scratch- and man, it was totally worth it!

1. Saute the garlic and onion in the olive oil until they are soft and a little brown.
2. Add the balsamic vinegar and reduce down while you are peeling the tomatoes
3. Put the peeled tomatoes in a bowl. Use a potato masher to mash the tomatoes a little- there can still be big chunks- we're going to blend it all together in a bit
4. Add the tomatoes and fresh herbs to the saute. At this point you want to let it all reduce together for as long as you have- we let it all boil together for about 2 hours- it made the house smell AMAZING.
5. After the sauce has boiled for as long as you want it, use an immersion blender to blend everything so it's smooth- its fine if there are some chunks.
6. Add the mushrooms, peppers, and whatever veggies you want to add. Sauce is done and delicious
   

PUTTING THE LASAGNA TOGETHER

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
2. Put one layer of sauce on the bottom of the casserole dish
3. cover this layer with noodles
4. Add another layer of sauce, followed by a layer of cheese, and then a layer of noodles.
5. Repeat. End with a layer of sauce covered in a layer of cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake 10 minutes more. Top with remaining fresh herbs right before serving. ENJOY!
   

Banana Bread Muffins

What do you do with your bananas that turn brown before you get to eat them? Unless your answer is "put them in the freezer until I make them into banana bread" you are wrong. I always freeze my bananas that have become too ripe to eat raw. Once I've collected 3, it's time to make bread (or in this case muffins)

• 3 bananas (you can use ripe bananas if you don't have any frozen)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup veggie oil or Earth balance or shortening
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1.5 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• cinnamon sugar for sprinkling
  

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
   
2. Cream the sugar with the oil/Earth Balance/ shortening.
3. Defrost the bananas if they are frozen. Peel and mash the bananas (a potato masher works just fine). Add the mashed bananas to the sugar mixture.
4. Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and sift into the dry ingredients. Mix. Quick word on spices. This is just how I happen to like my banana muffins. Maybe you like more cinnamon and less nutmeg. Maybe you hate cloves. I don't know- this is just how I like it- feel free to mess around until you get it just right. The great part about vegan baking is you can taste it while you make it! You don't have to worry about weird diseases running around in your batter, so go ahead, taste and adjust the spices so it's just the way you like it.
5. Pour the batter into muffin trays- I made mini muffins tonight because I wanted less calories per muffin (so I can eat more!)
   
6. Sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar. Bake for 25 minutes
   

Calories 75

Total Fat 1.9g

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 0mg

Sodium 113mg

Total Carbohydrates 14.0g

Dietary Fiber 0.6g

Sugars 6.7g

Chocolate Peanut Butter Popcorn

Well hello there, chocolate craving, we meet again.

If anyone reading this thinks that all vegan cooking is healthy, you should probably just stop reading. Sometimes you have to say "screw calories, I need chocolate". Tonight, was just one of those nights. Maybe it was binging on Discovery Fit & Health documentaries, maybe it was the cold weather, maybe it was just in the stars. Who knows. Whatever the reason- here is my chocolate craving buster made from ingredients that did not require leaving my house.

• 2 cups popped popcorn (a cheap way to make popcorn without all the weird chemicals and fake ingredients is posted here)
• 1 square unsweetened bakers chocolate
• 2 Tablespoons white sugar
• 2 Tablespoons peanut butter
• 1 Tablespoon almond milk
• powdered sugar for sprinkling

1. Melt the chocolate, sugar, peanut butter, and almond milk over a double boiler. Add more or less sugar depending on how sweet you want it. I like mine kind of bitter.
2. Dump in the popcorn
3. Mix
4. Sprinkle some powdered sugar on top and enjoy. Chocolate craving: ELIMINATED!!
   

St. Paddy's Day Corned Beef and Cabbage

Happy St. Paddy's Day! Hooray for all the snakes leaving Ireland (or just for green beer and drinking outside!!). What is St. Paddy's Day without celebrating the cuisine of the Irish with some corn beef and cabbage? I don't normally use this blog as a soap box for veganism- I just like posting recipes. SOOO- all I want to say to people who think veganism takes away from tradition is BOO YAH! I'm vegan AND Irish AND I made corn beef and cabbage and no animals had to die. SO THERE.

Okay- recipe time!

• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
  
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 head of cabbage, chopped
• 4 or so carrots, cut into circles
  
• 4 cups veggie broth
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 Seitan loaf (use my recipe!!), cut into bite sized pieces
• 2 Tablespoons flour

1. Saute the onion, carrots, and garlic in Olive Oil
2. After the onion, carrots, and garlic are soft, add the veggie stock, seitan, and cabbage. Let the cabbage reduce down. I like my cabbage to have a little crunch left, but cook it however you like it.
3. After the veggies are cooked the way you like them, use a slotted spoon to remove everything except the broth (there will probably be little bits of garlic, etc left in the broth- that's totally fine)
4. Now for the gravy. Add the flour to a couple tablespoons of cold water, stir until it is dissolved, and add to the broth (if you add the flour directly to the hot broth, it will form clumps)
   
5. Let the gravy cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens up. Pour it over the seitan/veggie mixture and there you have it! Serve with some roasted potatoes and Irish Soda Bread (which is a recipe for another day- mainly because it gives me an excuse to make it again)

Seitan loaf

Okay- I do not have a picture of this because I cut it up and put it in my St. Paddy's Day feast before I had a chance to take a picture. Use your imagination!

Seitan is basically wheat gluten flour. According to wikipedia, "It is made by washing wheat flour dough with water until all the starch dissolves, leaving insoluble gluten as an elastic mass which is then cooked before being eaten”. Whatever that means. Anyways, it can be cooked in different ways to make different flavors and textures. I've made seitan a couple different ways, and each way is good for different applications. Since I will be using seitan in my St. Paddy's Day corn beef and cabbage, this type of seitan is best.

• 1.5 c. vital wheat gluten
• 1/4 c. nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1-2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I'm kind of a wuss- you can add more if you want)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
  
• 3/4 c. cold water
• 4 T. tomato paste
• 1 T. ketchup
• 2 T. olive oil
  
• 2 T. vegetarian Worcestershire sauce (soy sauce would probably work too if you can't find Worcestershire sauce without anchovies- yuck.)
• 1-3 cloves garlic, crushed well

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
   
2. Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl- mix
3. Mix all wet ingredients in a different bowl
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well. Knead for a couple minutes (be careful what you knead on- the spices make this red and it may stain your counter... or at least it did mine...)
5. Form the dough into a loaf. Wrap the loaf in aluminum foil- twist the ends so it looks like a birthday present!- and bake for 90 minutes
6. Once it's cool, take it out and do with it what you will.
   

Welcome Home Pasta Bake

My husband has been out of town all weekend and I'll admit, I kinda missed the guy. It's nice to have time apart sometimes AND it's a fun reason to make a special welcome home meal.

• 1.5 cup veggie broth
• 1.5 teaspoons liquid smoke
• 1 cup TVP (textured vegetable protein)
• 1 lb pasta (I used Penne because it is what was in my cupboard), cooked
  
• 1/2 diced yellow onion
• 3 minced garlic cloves
• 4 cups marinara sauce (make your own!! It's super easy- just mix a couple cans stewed tomatoes, a can of tomato paste, oregano, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper until it tastes how you want it)
• 1 cup shredded vegan mozzarella
• salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Bring 1 cup veggie broth and liquid smoke to a boil. Remove from heat, add the TVP, and let sit for 5 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed.
3. Mix the cooked pasta, onion, garlic, marinara sauce, remaining 1/2 cup veggie broth, salt and pepper in a bowl.
4. Put half the pasta mixture in a casserole dish. Sprinkle with half the mozzarella. Add the remaining pasta mixture and cover with remaining mozzarella.
5. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 10 minutes until it is bubbley and delicious. Serve with some cheesy garlic bread and a side salad.

Welcome Home Ferris!!

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 8
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 358.9

• Total Fat: 7.0 g
• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
• Sodium: 729.1 mg
• Total Carbs: 55.0 g
• Dietary Fiber: 8.4 g
• Protein: 18.1 g

Carrot Cupcakes with Cream "Cheese" Frosting

Happy Mardi Gras! We are having a food day at work tomorrow to celebrate. I love my co-workers and I want them to have yummy vegan food. I've made these cupcakes as a whole cake a couple times but this is the first time making them as a cupcake. I don't understand the whole cupcake "craze", but cupcakes are a good way to serve cake in individual servings at a social function. And these turned out pretty well if I do say so myself.

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3 "eggs" (I used Ener-G Egg Replacer)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup vegetable shortening
  
• 2 cups carrots, finely grated
• 1 can (14 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened (if you can only find sweetened, cut down on the sugar)
  

Cream "Cheese" Frosting:

• 1 (8 ounce) package vegan cream cheese
• 1/3 cup vegan margarine (I used Earth Balance)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2-3 cups vegan powdered sugar (It will depend on how you want the frosting to look. I wanted my frosting to set up a little more, so I used 3 cups)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
   
2. Blend the sugars, shortening, eggs, and vanilla in a stand mixer.
3. In another bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice and salt
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. It will be a little dry.
   
5. Add the pineapple and carrots- it should now look more like cake batter.
6. Put into cupcake pan and bake for 40-45 minutes (I got 18 cupcakes)
7. To make the frosting, mix all the ingredients until you get the consistency you want. DO NOT FROST UNTIL THE CUPCAKES ARE TOTALLY COOL. I know it's hard to wait when you have delicious smelling cupcakes, but believe me, you will be glad you waited.
8. I topped mine with a little extra coconut, but that's totally your call. eat!

This recipe brought to you by "The Suburbs" by Arcade Fire

This may not be the best recipe to start adding Nutritional Info, but here you go!

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 18
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 360.1
• Total Fat: 17.8 g
• Cholesterol: 6.4 mg
• Sodium: 290.2 mg
• Total Carbs: 51.7 g
• Dietary Fiber: 1.3 g
• Protein: 2.3 g

Simple Bread

Once you start making your own bread, you'll realize that the bland, chemical filled "bread" at the store is really just not cutting it. Sure, it's quick in a pinch, but it's just not the same as a good, soft, flavorful homemade loaf of bread. It is really not hard to make bread. It's sort of like doing laundry in that it takes a while, but most of the time you aren't really doing anything. Once you get a basic recipe down you can start switching up sweeteners, fat, types of flour, etc. Here is a basic, easy recipe I use on a regular basis.

• 3/4 Tbsp yeast
• 1/8 cup white sugar
• 1 cup warm soy milk (I usually warm it in the microwave for about 45 seconds)
  
• 1/8 cup melted shortening
• 2 t salt
• 2-3 cups flour
• 1 Tbsp vital wheat gluten

1. In a bowl, mix the yeast and sugar. Stir in the warm soy milk. Let this rest for 5-10 minutes.
2. In a different bowl, mix the salt, 2 cups of flour, and gluten.
3. After the milk/sugar/yeast mixture gets foamy, mix in the melted shortening.
4. Add the dry ingredients. At this point you can add more flour if it is too sticky.
5. Kneed the dough for about 5 minutes until it becomes "elasticy". Place the dough in a greased bowl for 45 minutes- 1 hour or until the dough had doubled in size.
6. Punch the dough down and form into a loaf shape. Place in a greased bread pan, cut a slit down the middle, and let rise for another half hour.
7. Bake at 35o for about 30 minutes.

Asparagus and Tofu Pad Thai

I was hoping winter was over. I know, I know- it's still February. I really enjoyed the 70 degree sunshine last week, though. Now it's cold and snowy again. Oh well, at least it's a good excuse to cook!

• 7 oz rice noodles, cooked and kept warm
  
• 2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
• 4 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1-2 Tbsp agave nectar
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 cup asparagus, chopped
• 8 oz baked tofu, cut into 1/4 inch thick pieces (you can use pre-baked "Thai" flavored tofu, or you can marinate tofu in soy sauce and bake it yourself!)
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup green onions, chopped
  
• 1/2 white onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 Tbsp minced ginger
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
  
• crushed peanuts and chopped cilantro for topping

1. I know this looks like a lot of ingredients, but it's really very easy.
   
2. Saute the onion, garlic, and ginger in the sesame oil.
3. While that is sauteing, make the sauce by mixing the soy sauce, agave nectar, peanut butter, and lemon juice.
4. Once the onion has started to soften, add the asparagus and tofu.
5. When the tofu is heated through and asparagus turns bright green, add the bean sprouts, green onion, and sauce. Mix.
   
6. Stir in the noodles, top with cilantro and crushed peanuts. Eat!

Vegan McMuffins

Everyone loves brinner (breakfast for dinner) but sometimes you want something other than pancakes all the time. Try these little guys with a side of hash browns (just grate a couple potatoes and fry them in Earth Balance and season with salt and pepper).

• 1 pound drained tofu
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 t salt
• vegan Canadian bacon or sausage (I used Yves Canadian Bacon)
  
• vegan cheese slices (I used Vegan Gourmet)
• English Muffins (try making your own like these!)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix the apple cider vinegar, olive oil, and salt in a ceramic baking dish.
3. After draining and pressing the tofu, cut it into 1/4 inch slices (or you could get fancy and make circles to match the English Muffins).
4. Bake the tofu in the baking dish containing the vinegar/oil/salt for 13-15 minutes. Flip and bake for 10 more minutes until slightly browned
5. Place the Canadian bacon, cheese, and tofu on the English Muffin and heat in the oven or microwave until the cheese is melted. Enjoy!

This recipe brought to you by The Black Angels album "Passover"

English Muffins

Nothing makes me more excited/angrier than discovering I can make something at home when I've been buying it at the store for years. English muffins are now one of those things.

• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 1/4 t active dry yeast (one package)
  
• 1 cup warm water
  
• 1/4 cup melted shortening
• 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

1. First, stir the yeast into the warm water. Let it set until it starts foaming and smells "yeasty" (5-10 minutes).
2. While the yeast is foaming, warm the milk in a saucepan. Dissolve the sugar in the milk. Add the shortening and let it melt.
3. Add this milk/yeast/shortening mixture to 3 cups of flower and the yeast-water. Mix. Once it is combined, add the rest of the flour (only use as much as necessary to form a soft dough.
4. Knead the dough for 5 minutes or so until it's sort of elastic. Put the dough in a greased bowl and let rise for 45-60 minutes.
5. After the dough has risen, punch it down and use a rolling pin to roll it out so it's about 1/2 inch thick. Using a drinking glass (or biscuit cutter if you want to get fancy) cut circles. I got about 18 muffins. Try to get them as close together as possible- it's really hard to re-roll out the dough.
6. Place the circles on a piece of waxed paper that you have sprinkled with corn meal. Sprinkle the top of the muffins with corn meal as well. Cover and let rise again for about 30 minutes.
7. Cook the muffins on a griddle on medium heat- about 10 minutes on each side. I just kept squeezing the sides until they felt soft but cooked through.

This recipe brought to you by the new Radiohead album, "The King of Limbs".

Philly Cheez Steak Sandwiches

Cooking with friends is one of the greatest joys of my life. It’s a great way to be involved in what you end up eating. Everyone contributes and makes suggestions and has a good time. It turns a simple meal into a whole evening event. That’s why these Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches are SO good. They are kind of complicated, but the end result is SO WORTH IT! There are 4 basic components: The bread, the seitan, the veggies, and the cheez sauce. Here we go!

Bread

You can basically use whatever kind of bread you want. I recommend some sort of sandwich bun type situation. I was lucky enough in this meal to have bread made by my good friend.

Seitan

I like making seitan from scratch. It’s so much cheaper than buying prepackaged.

• 1.5 cup vital wheat gluten
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast
• 1 t salt
• 2 t. paprika
• 1/4 t. cinnamon
• 1/4 t. cumin
• 1-2 t. pepper
• 1/8 t. cayenne pepper
• 3/4 c. veggie broth
• 4 T. tomato paste
• 2 T. olive oil
• 2 T. vegan Worcestershire sauce
• 1-3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 4 cups veggie/”not beef” broth

Mix everything together in a bowl. Once it’s pretty well mixed, start kneading it. When I made it, I did not add any more flour. It was kind of sticky, but it stayed in a ball pretty well and I wanted to make sure it didn’t get too chewy. Once you have kneaded it for about 5 minutes, roll it out so it is about an inch thick. Cut it into pretty thin slices (something like ¼ inch thick and 2 inches long). Remember- you are trying to mimic Philly cheese steaks, which have really thin pieces of steak. The seitan will also expand a little when you cook it. It’s kind of time consuming to slice it so thinly, but it makes it so much better. After it has all been sliced, boil it in the 4 cups veggie/ “not beef” broth for 35-40 minutes. I made this the night before and let it marinate in some vegan Worcestershire sauce overnight.

Veggies

Just sauté up some onions, green peppers, and mushrooms in some olive oil with a little bit of garlic, salt and pepper to taste.

Cheez sauce

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons vegan margarine
• Salt & pepper to taste
  

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a sauce pan. Add the water and stir until everything is mixed. Add the margarine and heat until it is as thick as you want.

Once all the components are done, put the seitan and veggies on your bread, cover in sauce and try not to cry at the deliciousness.

Pulled Ports

This is one of those meals that can be as easy or as difficult as you want. I (of course) think that the more of this you make yourself, the better it will taste!

• 2 portobello mushrooms (stems removed, washed)
• 1/2 white onion, diced
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 1 T olive oil
  

If you want to stop here, feel free. Just saute the mushrooms, onions, and garlic in olive oil and top with store bought BBQ sauce. Pour over some bread and eat. Pretty yummy.

• 5 oz can tomato paste
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 T liquid smoke
• 2 T black strap molasses
  
• 2 t garlic powder
• 1/4 t red pepper flakes (more or less depending on how hot you want it. I'm sort of a wuss)
• 1 t salt
• 1t pepper
  
• 1/2 bottle of beer (I used Boulevard Wheat because it was what I was drinking while making this)

If you want to make it more complicated (and in my opinion, more delicious), you can make your own BBQ sauce. I've been experimenting with different recipes. I like this, but I'm still working on it. Just mix everything in a sauce pan and heat. Pour sauce over sauteed mushroom/onions and mix. Enjoy over some hearty (homemade) bread and enjoy with some veggies. On a side note, why do brussels sprouts get such a bad rep? They're delicious!

Chocolate Covered Coconut Balls

I love Mounds bars. Chocolate + Coconut = Heaven! Sadly, Mounds are not vegan (and have some weird ingredients I can't pronounce). Luckily, they are easy to make. Before we start, let's all take a minute and giggle at the word "balls". I will use it multiple times in this recipe, and I thought we should get the giggling out of the way early (c:

• 1 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar (unless you use sweetened coconut)
• Approx 3 T agave nectar- or however much you need to get the coconut to stick together.

• 4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup Almond Milk

Combine coconut, powdered sugar and agave nectar. Wet your hands and roll mixture into balls (I made 16). Place these on waxed paper and stick them the freezer while you do the next step. Melt the chocolate and sugar over a double boiler. Add the almond milk a little at a time until the chocolate mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat. Roll the cold coconut balls in the chocolate mixture. Place the now-chocolate-covered coconut balls on waxed paper and place back in the freezer until the chocolate sets. Eat!

French Toast

Happy Sunday!
French Toast

• 2 cups soy milk (or other non-dairy milk. I bet almond would be good!)
• 4 T flour
• 3 t sugar
• 8 slices bread (I just used store bought, but I think homemade would hold up better)
• non stick spray
• powdered sugar, agave nectar, maple syrup, etc. for topping

Mix soy milk, flour, and sugar in bowl or pie plate. Dip bread into mixture on both sides. Cook on griddle that has been coated with nonstick spray until lightly browned. Flip and repeat. Top with whatever your heart desires and serve.

TVP Taco Filling

Some days it is Friday and all you want to do is stop on your way home from work and pick up something for dinner. But on some of those Fridays, you will only have $5 in your checking account and will somehow have to come up with $10 to pay to see your husband's improv troupe perform at Thunderdome (everyone should go and vote BTW!). On those days, making something quick and easy is almost as good. Here is a recipe for TVP taco filling. (TVP stands for texturized vegetable protein- not the best sounding ingredient, but it's very versatile and very good. Vegans need a PR person to rename some of these ingredients...) It is great for tacos, nachos, etc. Tonight, I made nachos with TVP, salsa, and sour cream (feel free to use this recipe)

TVP Taco filling

• 1 cup TVP
• 1 cup veggie broth (I used "not beef broth")
• taco seasonings- cumin, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper to taste)

Boil the veggie broth and spices. Once it starts to boil, remove from heat and add TVP. Let stand for 5 minutes to rehydrate. THAT'S IT. Super easy. Super good.

PS- when I was naming this post, I originally named it "TVP Taco FEELING". I don't know what that says about me...

Tempeh Tortilla Soup with Tofu Sour Cream

I love using the crock pot. The whole house smells AMAZING when I get home from work. Nothing is better on a frozen February day.


Tempeh Tortilla Soup

• 16oz Tempeh
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 can corn (drained)
• 1 can pinto beans (drained)
• 2 cups veggie broth (I used "Not Chick'n" bouillon cubes because they are the best I have found)
• 2t cumin (or so- I never really measure spices)
• Any fresh veggies you have around- I used onions and green peppers
  

Cut up the Tempeh and veggies into bite sized pieces. Add everything to the crockpot and cook on low for 8ish hours. Serve with vegan Sour Cream (use store bought or see below for a yummy recipe) and some tortilla chips.

Sour "Cream"

• 1 10.5 oz container of Tofu (crumbled)
• 1T olive/vegetable oil
• 2T apple cider vinegar
• 1t agave nectar
• 1t salt
• garlic/onion powder to taste

Put everything in a food processor or blender and mix until smooth.