Big Raw & Vegan Blog Living Food Goodness Green Leafy Vegetables

Tomato Gravy

2011-11-09T10:17:00.000-08:00

I made up this recipe to use up the remaining black bean liquid and tomatoes from when I made
Bean Balls

Tomato Gravy:

In a sauce pan:
The remainder of the canned tomatoes.
The liquid from the can of black beans
1 cup of liquid from the remaining canned corn.
2 tbs tomato paste
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
Salt (and any other seasoning you like) to taste

Stir it all up and bring to a low boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until it's thick enough for you.

Spaghetti and Bean Balls

2011-11-09T10:09:00.000-08:00

Well, it's not spaghetti but the title was catchier than macaroni with tomato gravy and bean balls. So I went for it :)

Black Bean Balls:

1 can black beans, drained (Reserve the liquid for the tomato gravy)
1 cup thick rolled oats
1 tbs flour
1/2 cup canned italian style tomatoes, chopped (reserve the rest of the can for the tomato gravy)
1/4 cup canned whole kernel corn
1 roasted Anahiem chili, finely chopped
1/2 cup grated carrot.

Place all in large bowl and mix well. Then add:

1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
1 tsp ancho chili powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tbs nutritional yeast
2 tsp ground cumin

Mix well and let stand one hour or more to thicken.

Pre-heat oven to 350F

I made 8- 1/2 cup balls

Place balls on lightly oiled pan

Bake 30 min, turn bake 30 min more.

Super Easy Vegan Peanut Curry Dinner

2011-10-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

Sadly, I didn't take a photo but I want to save this one.

First I put some chopped garlic in about a tbs of olive oil and let it cook for a few minutes, just short of getting brown. Then I drained a can of green beans, saving the liquid, and added that to the oily garlic. I looked in the fridge and found some leftover kernels of corn and put in about half a cup. I drained and rinsed a can of pinto beans and tossed that in too. I let those sit over a med heat, stirring occasionally, just to put a little brown on the vegetables.

I added 2 tbs of peanut butter, a couple squirts of Sriracha and a heaping tsp of curry powder. Then I used the green bean juice like it was veg broth (because it is) stirred it all up and let it reduce down to a thick, pasty curry.
Yum.

1 tbs olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 can green beans drained, liquid reserved
1/2 cup corn kernels
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a sauce pan. Add garlic and stir. Just before the garlic starts to brown raise the heat a little and add green beans, corn and beans. Stir occasionally. When the veg begins to brown a little, add:

2 tbs peanut butter
Sriracha to taste (about 2 tsp)
Heaping tsp curry powder
Reserved green bean liquid

Stir until peanut butter is disolved. Reduce heat and simmer until reduced.
Serve with rice or noodles or bread or just eat it by itself.

Fran Costigan Fixed My Favorite Peanut Butter Cookies! Vegan Dessert Recipe!

2011-05-20T10:50:00.000-07:00

I made these delicious VEGAN peanut butter cookies from Fran Costigan's MORE GREAT GOOD DAIRY-FREE DESSERTS NATURALLY which is, IMO the definitive dairy-free, vegan dessert cookbook. To save space I will link to my review of this comprehensive guide.

Easy peasy, simple peanut butter cookie recipe veganized w wholesome ingredients. I subbed almond milk for soy milk so it's soy-free, too.

This "lower fat" cookie is crumbly, mouth-melting-ly delicious w coffee or ice cold nut-milk.

I Fixed My Favorite Peanut Butter Cookies

from More Great Good Dairy-Free Desserts Naturally

Yield 30 (2-inch cookies)

3/4 cup light natural cane sugar

1/2 cup unbleached white flour

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter, at room temperature

3 tablespoons canola oil

1/4 cup soymilk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1. Position rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Place a wire mesh strainer over a medium bowl. Add 1/2 cup white sugar, the white flour, pastry flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to the strainer. Tap the strainer against the palm of your hand to sift the ingredients into the bowl. Stir with a wire whisk to distribute the ingredients.

3. Combine the peanut butter, canola oil, soymilk, vanilla, and vinegar in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is smooth; it will be very thick. Add the dry mixture to the peanut butter mixture and pulse a few times, only until the dough begins to hold together.

4. Transfer the dough to a bowl and press and squeeze with your hands until the dough is smooth and shiny.

5. Put the remaining 1/4 cup sugar on a plate. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in the sugar and place 2 inches apart on the prepared sheets. Use the back of the tines of a dinner fork to press each cookie horizontally, then vertically, to flatten them into the traditional peanut butter cookie shape.

6. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 8 to 10 minutes, until the cookies are lightly browned. The cookies will be soft, but will firm as they cool.

7. Set the baking sheet on a rack and cool for 3 minutes until the cookies are firm enough to move. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool. Store in a tightly covered container at room temperature for two to three days.

Tip: The cookies sometimes puff up during baking, making the crisscross pattern disappear. (This seems to happen sometimes but not always.) If this is the case, remove the cookies from the oven after 8 minutes, and press the design into the cookies again. Bake another minute or two

Click HERE to buy this great book from amazon OR click HERE to buy it from Book Publishing Co

Another Giveaway!

2010-12-11T08:04:00.000-08:00

Click here to enter: Holiday gift guide – world’s best origami review and giveaway Ends Dec 13!

December 6th, 2010

Emmy Says "I was sent a book called World’s best origami for review. This book is a great gift idea for a broad range of people, anyone from tweens up through adults. When I was pitched for this book, I saw an image of the books cover, and gladly accepted. I expected the book to be about as thick as a magazine, so I was really surprised when the book showed up and was twice as thick as I was expecting. This book has so many awesome origami pieces that can be made! There’s so many ideas, that even non-artistic people are likely to find a few projects in here that interest them. Who knew you could make a ring out of paper? Some ideas in the book are even educationally based and could be used in high school science classes, like a DNA strand. Some designs are very detailed, and would be really hard to make if using a small piece of paper. Others are much more basic and could be made by tweens. I think origami is neat, but my only real experience with it so far had been an origami calender I bought. It was suppose to be 365 different origami designs, one for each day of the year. However, almost every idea in the calender was an animal of some sort, and I quickly realized that almost all of the designs were extremely similar. The dogs, cats, fox, horse, etc were all almost identical. I was afraid that might be the case with this book, but it’s not at all. There is an animal section, but all of the animals are unique. However, the animal portion is just one small section of the book, there are several other sections like flowers, geometric, people, and my personal favorite – practical. I thought it was really neat that this book shows you how to make different styles of envelopes out of paper. How practical and neat!"

Journal Buddies Giveaway!

2010-12-11T07:45:00.000-08:00

Emmy's Boos and Rawrs is having a Journal Buddies giveaway!
This giveaway is open to the US and will end December 13th at noon EST.

Emmy Says: "Between the ages of 6-13 or so, I had more diaries than I could count. Ryan said he had several journals as a young kid as well. Traditional journals are a great way for kids to express themselves. Journal buddiestakes the traditional journal idea and makes it a step better, by not only allowing kids to express themselves and reep the benefits of a traditional journal, but they also get a bit of a self esteem boost. Each journal entry includes four parts. For each entry the child is suppose to pick a buddy. It could be a friend, a sibling, a neighbor, anyone. The first section of each entry is a daily quote, which is basically suppose to get your child thinking about a specific idea, and they are usually inspirational ones. The second part is a fill in the blanks area, where the child’s buddy lists three compliments, or three character traits that they like about the child. I like this section the most. I am still friends with kids I became friends with in first grade. We obviously had a great bond from the very beginning. However, I don’t remember ever telling my friends why I liked them, or what they meant to me until we were in high school. Children’s friends can be really important to them and it’s great that this encourages them to share their feelings about each other. It’s also great to hear compliments from siblings, parents, etc. Who doesn’t love compliments? Sometimes we get too wrapped up in life and forget to specifically tell kids what we like about them and why they are special to us, but it can really mean a lot. So I think that section is great. The third section is a focus word, meant to inspire thought, or perhaps to even inspire a journal entry. The fourth section is blank space, for either a written journal entry, drawing, or just about any other form of self expression. These pages are open to be used as your child wishes, for just drawing, for drawing out a story, or for writing a story or diary entry. Overall I think they are a great way to encourage your child to feel good about themselves. Journal buddies are aimed at children ages 7-12 and come in two types, one for girls and one for boys."

Check out this amazing Giveaway!

2010-12-01T14:37:00.000-08:00

Emmy's Boos and Rawrs is having a contest!

Santa’s blowout giveaway – over $140 in products to be won!

I have over 140 in products to be given away, and depending on how successful the event is, more products might be added. The products for sure being given away include:

1. a scoopfree automatic litter box. (normally retails for 139.95, now 99.00)

2. a bolt laser toy, for cats.(free with above litter box, normally 19.95

3. A glee gum make your own chocolate kit. (13.00)

4. a $25 gift card to abcneckties.com. (25.00)

Such awesome gifts! One person will receive all of the items above.

IF I get up to at least 1,000 GFC followers (I currently have 942) And up to 325 facebook ‘likes’ (I’m currently at 273) AND at least 350 total feecburner users (Email, rss, google reader, etc. I’m currently at 280) then I will add these items of my own, shown in picture below. If those stats aren’t reached then they won’t be added. Each of these items will go to a separate winner.

1)The imposter by kip kreiling. An inspirational book about a how a juvenile criminal went on to succeed in business and life. See it on amazon Here

2) Think twice by lisa scottoline. This book is an advanced readers edition that isn’t fully edited but the entire story is included. The cover is different than the one shown. View it on amazon Here. Us only.

3) The ‘I hate to cook book’ by peg bracken. View it on amazon here. US only.

4)a diva cup in a size 1. This is for women under age 30 who haven’t had a child. Open worldwide.

5) A beeswax candle. This image isn’t of the actual candle, I borrowed that from google. But it’s a circular beeswax candle, similar to those shown. US only.

7) Two flexi-8 clips. One is a size large and the other I don’t know the size of, but it’s about an inch and a half long.Again, photo isn’t the clips you will receive. Open worldwide.

9) A set of white solar christmas lights from outdoor solar store. These are great lights but they don’t work too well for me because the solar panel is suppose to be stuck in the ground and I’m in a third floor apartment. US only.

So, head on over and follow the intructions for multiple entries!

Oat Cheese Recipe

2010-11-13T15:55:00.000-08:00

I like the original recipe for oat cheese.
But this is better.
I added a healthy dose of fermented okara for texture and got a smooth, creamier textured product with a tangy flavor sans the lemon juice and tahini in the original recipe. I also use less water than the original recipe and leave out the cornstarch.

It softens when you heat it and makes a very convincing vegan grilled cheese sandwich.
Stir into cooked pasta, put bread crumbs on top and bake 20 minutes for vegan mac n cheese.
Slice and layer in a vegan lasagna.
Freeze and grate over vegan pizza before baking.
Heat and add chopped jalapeño; pour over chips for vegan nachos

Put in blender carafe:
1/2 cup fermented okara paste
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup (or less) nutritional yeast
1 tbs paprika
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt (or less)
1 cup water.
Blend until super smooth.
Pour mixture into a saucepan over med heat.
add 1 cup water to blender carafe to rinse the blender and pour that in the saucepan, too (no waste).
Simmer, stirring constantly until very thick and holds it's shape. 10-15 minutes or longer.
Pour into mold and chill.
Turn out for slicing, freeze for grating, spoon for sauces.

Chillin' in the loaf pan.

Festive Cranberry Sauce Recipe

2010-11-12T13:44:00.000-08:00

It's getting to be that time of year again.

No matter what you call it, families will get together and celebrate and that means big family meals.
This 4-ingredient vegan cranberry sauce is made days in advance and waits patiently for your holiday dinner convenience. Leftovers? There probably won't be any but if there are this sauce is very thick and doubles as jam for your toast or biscuit. A couple of tablespoons go a long way to flavor soups, sauces and smoothies. Try a scoop in your oatmeal, you won't regret it.

Festive Cranberry Sauce

12 oz cranberries, separated 10 oz and 2 0z
1 orange, deseeded
2 cups water in large pan
1 cup organic evaporated cane sugar

Bring water and sugar to a boil in a large pot while you

Puree in food processor 10 oz of fresh cranberries and one whole orange (including the peel) cut in quarters. Remove any seeds and thick white pith from the orange if need be.

Add puree and whole berries to the boiling sugar mixture and reduce heat, keep it bubbly.
Stir constantly until it reduces by 1/3. Be careful, the spatters can burn very badly.

Pour into a large jar, cover and cool. Refrigerate for two days and serve.

Happy Holidays and Stay Vegan :)

Toast Your Own::How to Make Curry Powder

2010-11-10T11:17:00.000-08:00

Curry is a favorite around here. Of course, I don't like to use pre-made curry powder. You know me. I like to make my own so I know exactly what's in it and I can control the flavor, heat, bitter and sweetness.
Batch to batch, the spices change, the amounts change but this is the general recipe I use for my homemade curry powder.
This is a recipe has a mild heat. The cayenne used is 90,000 SHU. Your heat may vary.

Whole spices:
2 tsp coriander seed
2 tbs cumin seed
1 tsp fenugreek seed
1 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp whole white pepper
1 tsp crushed red pepper

Ground spices:
1 tbs paprika
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tbs turmeric
1 tbs mustard seed powder

1/2 tsp hing (asafetida powder) (don't toast)

Toast* all whole spices until smoky and fragrant.
Let cool
Grind to a powder and place in jar.
Toast all ground spices,
Let cool and place in jar.
Add untoasted hing
Mix well and store cooled product in airtight container.

Makes approximately 1/2 cup of curry powder.

*How to toast spices:

Heat dry saucepan or skillet on med heat.

Place seeds or powder in pan and stir or shake until they begin to turn dark and emit smoke.

Once spices begin to release a perfume-y, smoke-y scent remove from heat and allow to cool.

Take care not to burn the seeds.

Product Review: Gladrags & the Mooncup

2010-11-08T20:58:00.000-08:00

Like many people I want to lessen my waste output. So I make a conscious effort to reduce the amount of disposable and one use plastic and paper products and packaging I consume.
Then I heard this:

(from gladrags.com) "If you menstruate 340 times in your lifetime, using 20 disposables per period, that amounts to 6800 pads or tampons thrown away. Now consider all the women using disposables in the world. If 500 million women use disposables throughout their lifetime, that's 3.4 trillion pads or tampons thrown away! Not only is landfill space taken up, but these materials cannot be reused and are no longer part of the resources available to us. Then, of course, there's all that packaging, (wrappers, boxes, applicators) that are also thrown away, all the garbage bags used, all the fuel used to truck those products to the stores week in and week out. Using GladRags for even a portion of your cycle makes a difference!"

What? My period is wasteful? Dang. It's so obvious when I think about it.
And then I thought about this:
I want to spend less money. Times are tight. Everyone wants to save a buck. We've cut out some unneccesary stuff but then I realized that at $5 a month for disposables, about one box of tampons and half a box of pads, for 5 years, hm, 12 x 5, carry the 1, that's $60 bucks a year! They say that well cared for Gladrags menstrual pads and the Mooncup can last even longer than 5 years and after seeing and using them, I believe it.

No adhesive. The wings snap securely around the crotch of your undies.

One cup and a couple of pantyliners is all I needed for my whole cycle!

Choosing disposable pad and tampons means a monthly expense of between $5 and $25 for every woman. Over the course of her menstrual life disposables costs the average woman more than $5,000. By comparison, reusable alternatives give years of protection for a fraction of that cost. If you buy a set of 2 GladRags pantyliners and a Mooncup at a cost of $50, that kit (compared to the price of disposables) will pay for it self in 10 months or less and last 5 years or more.

I want to ease the chemical burden that living on this planet causes in my body and the chemical burden my living places on the planet. In our society there is no way to live without producing waste. There is only so much you can eliminate and still function efficiently. Adopting reusable menstrual protection products into your routine is one big way to reduce the amount of toxins you take into your body and reduce the amount of toxins realeased in to our waterways through paper and plastic production and disposal.

My Anecdote:
I entered 2 internet giveaways last month. One for a Mooncup and one for a set of Gladrags pantyliners. I won them both. Yeah, I couldn't believe it either!
Anyway, for my last period I used the Mooncup w GladRags panty-liners to back it up. It took a couple of tries to get the cup placed right but once I got the hang it was amazingly, life-changing-ly wonderful.
I had a heavy flow last month and did leak but only because I forgot about it and it over filled (It's THAT comfortable). Fortunately the panty liner was enough to catch it. It's my recommendation that a cup and two panty-liners (wash-one-wear-one system) is the minimum needed to get through a cycle. I washed the liner by hand every day, even when there wasn't any leakage, I just rinsed it and hung it in the laundry room it dried in less than a day. I usually have a medium-light flow, your experience may vary.

Getting over the ICK Factor
I know that initially when a person hears about reusables the knee-jerk reaction is "ICK! Reusable PADS?!?!? I could never..."
I know, me too! I was apprehensive. I don't have a problem with the washing part, because cloth pads are as easy to wash as your underwear. I didn't know if they would be comfortable, if they would really work and be reliable. How would the practical side play out? It's a risk, it's new territory. It could go horribly wrong and one of our greatest fears as modern women could come true. Disposables have been around all our lives. They were introduced in the 1930s. It hasn't always been that way. Even though most of them didn't talk about it, our great grandmothers used reusable pads because there wasn't anything else. Read more on that here.

Not convinced? OK, Let's go over the disposable routine:
With disposable tampons and pads, you
1 Go to the store about 340 times and spend over $5000 in your menstruating lifetime.
2 Use a product once, then throw it in the landfill or flush it into our water, that works most of the time and smells like death all of the time.
3 Put the used tampons and pads in a bin next to the toilet so they stink up the room. Then take them to the landfill where they will stay for 1000s of years.
4 Get a yeast infection, a rash from the adhesive stuck to your butt, an over-dry irritated vagina and a dose of toxins and a lighter wallet every month.

Here is the reusable routine
With a Mooncup and GladRags you
1 Make a one time investment of $50 for 5 or more years of menstruating
2 Reuse your menstrual cup and pads which are worry free so you only have to attend to them once or twice a day, is so clean you almost don't ever see any blood, EVER except when you are dumping it in the toilet and has virtually no odor.
3 Simply rinse your cup (or wipe it out if you're in a public restroom) after dumping in the toilet and reinsert. Give it a good cleaning at the end of your cycle and it waits for you in it's pretty bag (included) until next month. To clean your pads: Soak in cold water (if you need to) then rinse and wash in your machine with warm or cold water (never hot, it sets the stains) with the regular wash, no extra load, nothing goes to waste. Hang or tumble to dry with the rest of your laundry. A whole cycles worth of pads, even if you don't use the cup, isn't any bigger than a large bath towel.
4 Reduce irritation and discomfort. You can't feel the cup AT ALL when it's placed right. The cup collects the flow rather than absorbing it, so the vaginal tissues aren't dried out as they can be with disposable tampons. When you wear cloth menstrual pads you feel nothing but dry, soft, fuzzy, comfy flannel and take in no toxins at all. Your Gladrags are made from organic cotton and the Mooncup is medical grade silicone, no leaching or off-gassing what-so-ever. You absorb nothing.

Save money, time and lessen your waste output with reusable menstrual products.

Now you know. I hope I've given you something to think about or perhaps knocked you over the fence if you've been thinking about it already. It's a very small thing to do only a couple of days a month and it really, really can make a big difference.

Would you like to reduce the amount of toxic chemicals such as dioxin in your life? Remove concerns about yeast infections, irritating fibers, possibly cancer causing agents and other skin irritants?
Would you like to reduce your contribution to "disposable" wastes which can take many years to break down, if they break down at all?
Would you like to support small businesses rather than multi-national conglomerate corporations?
Would you like to save hundreds of dollars a year by walking past the "Feminine Products" aisle in the grocery store and never even have to stop? Imagine never running out of pads or tampons again. Imagine never having to make a late night or early morning run to the store to buy over priced, toxic product.
Would you like to discover that cloth pads made from natural fibers have none of the odor associated with paper products and are as easy to clean as washing your underwear?
Would you like to insert a cup in the morning and not have to think about it again until evening?
Would you like to live your ethics by making an easy, healthy lifestyle choice that will significantly lessen your contribution of disposable plastic to landfills?
You can accomplish all of these things and more by switching from disposable pads and tampons to reusable cloth pads and a menstrual cup.

Take my advice: Buy a reusable pads and cup kit like the one I use. They are available for purchase from Gladrags here: Moon Cup and GladRags Kit.

How to Make Vegan Tamale Pie: Lesson 2: Make the Filling

2010-11-06T19:10:00.000-07:00

Part 2 in a 2 part series. Click for Lesson 1: Make the Corn Meal Mush

Tamale Pie. AKA Tamale Casserole, Tamale Bake, Polenta Pie, Chili Pie, the names go on and on but the result is the same. Layers of creamy polenta surrounding a savory filling, it's a fantastic main dish served with a salad, a hot meal in a bowl and a great side dish.

Bake individual pies in pint canning jars for food on the go. You will look like a pro at your next potluck when you bake and serve a hot tamale pie in a beautiful covered casserole. Yeah. That's you. Looking good, there.

The filling of this pie is a bomb vegan chili. Fresh ingredients are best. Use canned if that's all you have.

Ingredients:
1 prepared Tamale Pie Crust
4 stalks celery
1 med onion (yellow or white)
Half red bell pepper
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs Chili powder
1 lb tomatoes, raw or canned
1 can black olives

1 cup cooked pinto beans.

1 cup cooked, diced potato.

Instructions:

Chop celery, onion and pepper into 1/2" pieces.
Saute chopped veg in 1 tbs or less of olive oil with your favorite chili powder until the vegetables are very wilted, almost starting to caramelize.
Add 1 can tomatoes or about a pound of chopped raw tomatoes (preferred) and a half a can of black olives, reserving other half of olives for topping.
Simmer on low heat, with lid, for at least 30 minutes to an hour. The longer the better.
Add more water if needed.
Remove the lid and let the sauce reduce until very thick.
Add cooked beans and potatoes.
Stir well and simmer until thick and hearty.
Cool.

Bomb Vegan Chili Almost Done

When it's cool enough to handle, spoon vegetable filling into prepared Tamale Pie Crust.
Layer 1/4" slices of cold cornmeal mush on top of pie.

I'm no artist.

Cover and bake in pre-heated oven at 350F for 30min.
Remove cover and add olives and other garnish (vegan cheese, jalapeños, diced bell pepper, etc) to top of pie.
Bake an additional 15 minutes or until top is crusty and brown.
Cool for 15 minutes, slice and serve.

Garnish and bake uncovered an additional 15 minutes

Serves 4 hungry people as a main dish type entrée, 4-6 as a groovy one dish meal, or 6-8 as a side dish.

Enjoy!

Make a Vegan Tamale Pie Lesson 1: The Corn Meal Mush

2010-11-06T13:50:00.000-07:00

Tamale Pie. AKA Tamale Casserole, Polenta Pie

For the "cornmeal-mush" crust you will need:
6 cups water.
1/2 tsp salt (optional)
2 cups dried corn meal grits or polenta. I like a coarse grind, you might like finer.
Seasoning is optional. You can use whatever seasonings you want, or none at all if you prefer.
I used
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp dried thyme

Place all ingredients in a large pot with a lid that fits. Keep the lid nearby for when it starts to boil.
Bring to a boil, stir constantly with whisk until it starts to bubble violently.
Lid on and lower heat to Low.
Leave it until it's really, really, thick, 5 minutes or so.
Let it cool until handle-able, not completely cold but not lava-hot.
Line an 8x8 pan with about a half inch layer of polenta.

The rest of the polenta goes in a small loaf pan in the fridge; it will be sliced to top the pie, later.

Editor note: I will update later with a link to lesson 2: The filling and baking process, but briefly:

Fill the crust with your filling of choice, reserving some sauce for topping later
Top with cold polenta slices.
Bake, covered, 30 minutes @ 350F.
Uncover, top with sauce, vegan cheese, or other garnish of your choice like olives, jalapenos, etc.
Bake uncovered @350F for an additional 15 minutes or until brown and crusty on top.
Cool 15min or more. It's even better let to go stone cold and reheat. (yay, leftovers)
Slice and serve

Photos of the indoor vegetables

2010-11-04T08:59:00.000-07:00

First I'd like to thank Blogger for changing the photo uploader so I can use it again. Thank you, Blogger

Next I'd like to share these photos of our indoor veg and flowers. Keep in mind, all are being grown VEGAN! No animal derived fertilizers are used in our gardens.

Red lettuce. We have 14 of these.

Here is a photo of the starts on Oct 28 Wow, have they grown in 7 days!

Giant tomato plants. Not sure what these are. There are 6 different types of heirloom. I have the seed packets still; I will have to compare packet pictures with plants and name them.

Ruby Chard. I harvest a handful of leaves for a side dish or smoothie regularly.

Sweet Potato. We grew this from an eye. I think it probably won't produce potatoes in that small pot but it's a beautiful plant, nonetheless.

We found a dead, dried up plant on top of a trash can behind a church in Ashland, Ore. It has a stalk sticking up and I just had a feeling it would grow so we brought it home, put it outside next to the garden and squirted it with the hose once in a while. Near the end of summer it started to grow beautiful green leaves. Now there are 3 or 4 stalks and I hope a flower of some kind pops out. I wish I knew more about flowers!

Ok, That's it for today. I hope you enjoy the photos.

Is the comment section working? ;D

Moo Cow Momma

2010-11-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

Moo Cow Momma is having a reusable family cloth giveaway!
Click Here to enter

Lessening our dependence on disposable cloth and single use plastic is very easy to do with cool cloths like these.

Gladrags Giveaway!

2010-10-05T10:46:00.000-07:00

Mommy Of 1 and Counting and Gladrags are having a giveaway! Click here to enter

Vegan Benedict

2010-10-04T08:47:00.000-07:00

This is a reposted entry from March 2009

This morning for Sunday breakfast/brunch I decided to make this easy dish:
Vegan Benedict

I got this recipe from the McDougall* quick and easy cookbook that I bought at Goodwill for $3.99. I love that store.

I changed it slightly.

VEGAN Hollandaise Sauce

1/4 cup peanuts. The peanuts I used were soaked then dehydrated. (you can use any kind of raw, unsalted nuts. Cashews work well.)
1 cup water
blend the nuts and water until smooth pour into a saucepan and add
2 tbs lemon juice
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp nutritional yeast
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1 tbs cornstarch mixed with 2 tbs cold water
Mix it all together with a whisk and heat slowly, stirring constantly until thickened. About 5 minutes on med heat.

The sandwiches

Toast six slices of bread
Plate the bread, two slices per plate and put a thick slice of tomato and avocado on each slice of toast.
Pour the hot hollandaise sauce on top of the sandwiches and serve immediately.

Serves three.

Book Review: Alan Roettinger's Speed Vegan. Quick, Easy Recipes With a Gourmet Twist

2010-09-19T15:13:00.000-07:00

In this post I review
Alan Roettinger's Speed Vegan. Quick, Easy Recipes With a Gourmet Twist

Speed Vegan by Alan Roettinger
Quick Easy Recipes With a Gourmet Twist

Alan Roettinger has been a private chef for prestige clients from entertainers to presidents. He has absorbed techniques and flavors from many cuisines through his extensive world travel. His first book, Omega-3 cuisine, showcased his ability to bring taste and health together. In this book he shows that anyone can cook fresh, delicious and visually pleasing vegan gourmet food, prepared from healthy, minimally processed ingredients, even if they have very little time.

In his introduction, Alan explains that the while the main function of his book would be to showcase quick, easy recipes for people who are pressed for time, writing the book was a bit of a challenge for him. His personal philosophy is to plan well and start early! He tries to show you how to prepare food "the right way" while insisting there is no "right way" other than using the best ingredients, techniques and flavors and refusing to cut corners or try to save money on inferior ingredients, habits which devalue your final product.
Alan started out to write a vegan cookbook even though he wasn't a vegan. He states that he still considers himself an omnivore but has taken on a strict vegan diet. Alan, how is that going for you? We'd love an update!

Alan encourages us not to be intimidated by cooking. "If ...people could do it with stone knives and clay pots, surelyyou will be able to do it with todays refined tools". Inspiring!

The minimalist Essential Kitchen Equipment chapter is broken down into three sections: Must Haves, Hard Time Working Without and Makes Work More Fun. It's a bare-bones list; I actually have everything on the lists except a microplaner. I think most people who do any cooking at all will have almost every thing on these lists, too. If not, there isn't anything exotic or hard to find and there is a list of online resources in the back of the book.

Stocking the Vegan Pantry is where the going might get a little tough. There are staple ingredients listed which are, while not exactly exotic, may have to be ordered if you live in a small town like we do. Anyone who lives in a city where there are specialty grocery stores or markets shouldn't have any problem. The list is broken down into levels of stability, from items with very long shelf life, like dried mushrooms right down to things that need to be kept frozen.The descriptions are fun to read and thorough, I've learned a lot from this book, and, of course, there is a list of online resources in the back of the book.

Jump Starts is my favorite chapter because time-conscious meal planning, unless you BUY pre-made ingredients, takes a little behind the scenes preparation. In spare time (like at 3am when you can't sleep because you're worried about what you will take to the omnivore picnic) you make basic ingredents to have on hand so later you can put them together with fresh vegetables, pasta or grains to make fantastic meals. Some stand out recipes are Garlic Oil, Roasted Garlic Puree, Hot Red Pepper Sauce, Sun-Dried Tomato Paste and Balsamic Vinagrette.

Snacks. This section contains dips, spreads, chutney and other things you might put on crackers, bread or papadums. It also has a recipe for Tempeh Sticks that are deep fried in coconut oil and served with a coconut-peanut sauce that I'm sure even the most hardcore tempeh disliker would enjoy.

Soups. I love soup. Autumn is upon us and a warm soup is great when weather is in transition. This section contains classics you love (or will love) like Leek and Parsnip, Navy Bean and Swiss Chard and exciting combinations like Tuscan Kale and Coconut soup with Tofu.

The hefty Salad chapter is the biggest in the book, weighing in at 34 pages! There are leafy salads, slaws, fruit salads, pasta, bean and grain salads, salads from many nations, mushroom, warm and cold salads, wild greens and sprouts salads. Main dish, side or dessert, no aspect of salad is left untouched. A great meal planning companion just for the endless salad ideas. A quote "Fennel is an appetite enhancer, a digestive aid, and a palalte clenser, but most importantly, it's freaking delicious." I couldn't have said it better myself, Alan!

Next is Pasta and Grains. Using a wide variety of pastas and grains paired with vegetables you might not eat every day, this section is bound to widen the repertoire of dishes you bring to potlucks! Seriously, though, simple recipes with easy to follow instructions are the order of the day for this chapter with dishes like Orecchiette With Herb Sauce (Orecchiette is a kind of home-made pasta typical of Puglia, Apulia, a region of Southern Italy. See, you're learning stuff already!) and a simple Linguine With Sundried Tomato Sauce
to a very hearty Brown Rice and Carrots with Natto Miso. Flavorful ingredients and bold textures combine seamlessly. If you make it through this section and the salad section (that's more recipes than I care to count) we'll get started on:

Vegetables and Legumes . Asparagus with Canneli Beans, Mashed Aloo Gobi, two kinds of Mashed Potatoes. This chapter could take you from main dish to side dish easily enough on it's own. Black Beans, Mushrooms and Bok Choy, where have you been all my life! There are some great dishes here that could be incorporated into vegan holiday meals. I don't know about you but I always bring my own food and most of these would travel quite well and be good warm or room temp.

The Sweets section is impressive. Fancy desserts you could serve at an small dinner party and really see everyone's reaction. Little pieces of art like Nutty Chocolate Balls, Spiced Pears in Wine and two vegan sorbet recipes, Spiced Pear Sorbet and Coconut-Banana Sorbet. I really like the Aztec Hot Chocolate Spicy! I want some now.

There are a lot of health-mined original recipes in this book and better than that, there are ideas in this book. Speed Vegan will kick-start your boring vegan rut and make you learn more about some foods you might not have tried otherwise.

"You take from a recipe, but you GIVE to a dish" ~Alan Roettinger

How to Cook Garbanzo Beans in Pressure Cooker In 30 Minutes Flat :: Quick Easy Vegan Recipe

2010-09-17T15:38:00.000-07:00

Writing this how-to I assumed you've used a pressure cooker before. If you have not, learn how. Pressure cookers have improved safety vastly in the past few years, save lots of time and energy and are very versatile. I learned a LOT from Miss Vickie's website and you can too!

You will need:
Pressure cooker with rack.
Med stainless or glass bowl with high sides.
Timer.

Ingredients:
1/2 c garbanzo beans (chickpeas) soaked for 8 hours or more.
6 cups water.

Do this:
Put 4 cups water in bottom of pressure cooker with rack inside.
Rinse soaked beans and place in bowl with 2 cups water.
Place bowl with beans and water in cooker on top of rack.
Put the top on and seal your cooker.
Set timer for 30 minutes.
Bring your cooker up to pressure at high heat then turn heat down only enough so it stays at pressure.
When timer goes off release pressure under running cold water, being careful not to block steam vent.
Open the cooker, carefully remove the extremely hot bowl containing the cooked beans. Drain and serve beans as desired.

How to Bake Rice in the Toaster Oven :: Easy Vegan Recipe

2010-09-17T13:56:00.000-07:00

You will need:
8x8" cake pan and foil to cover
1.5 c brown rice
2.5 c boiling water or broth

Pre-heat toaster oven to 375F

Put 1.5c rice in cake pan.
Heat water/broth to boiling.
Pour 2.5 c boiling liquid over rice.
Cover pan w foil and place in hot oven for 1 hr.
Remove from oven and allow to stand covered 5 minutes.
Fluff with fork and serve.

A versatile recipe. Add turmeric raisins, nuts, chopped veg for pilaf. Replace half of the water with tomato puree and red pepper for Spanish rice.

Vegan Cookbook Review & Giveaway: More Great Good Dairy-free Desserts Naturally

2010-09-15T10:03:00.000-07:00

(If you just came for the VEGAN DESSERT COOKBOOK giveaway click here)

For the rest of you, On With the Reviewing! (fanfare)

The book: More Great Good Dairy-free Desserts Naturally offers a complete course in vegan, dairy-free, eggless baking, and also serves as a quick reference for when you need a fancy dessert to impress your friends and family.

The author Fran Costigan, a graduate of the New York Restaurant School and the Natural Gourmet Institute, is a nationally recognized culinary instructor, author, consultant, recipe developer and innovative pastry chef.

Even if you don't want or need a complete course in vegan, eggless, dairy-free baking and just want a sumptuous, gourmet treat made with all natural, minimally processed ingredients, this book is a great reference and kitchen companion.

Recipe sections are:

Gels, Creams, Puddings and Sauces
Cookies, Bars, and Little Bites
Cobblers, Crisps, Biscuits, Muffins, and More
Cakes, Fillings, Frostings, and Glazes
Pies and Tarts
Fruit, Beverages, Frozen Desserts, and Confections

Reference sections include a list of essential ingredients and tools you will need for the recipes in this book (a huge help for making recipe shopping lists!)

There is a detailed glossary of ingredients, explaining many different types of natural sweeteners, leavening agents and vegan gelling agents. Techniques for using tofu in desserts and how different kinds of tofu are used in different recipes is addressed. A very helpful section about pan sizes and how they affect baking times and products is included.

The section of "Tips and Techniques for Making and Baking Desserts" is full of valuable hints for beginners. Any beginning baker or even experienced baker baking vegan for the first time could learn a lot from this book.

In the back of the book the fairly detailed list of "Resources for Ingredients and Equipment", is a treasure trove of suppliers of vegan products and professional cookware, bakeware, knives and resources for information on vegan and vegetarian nutrition.

The recipes are intermediate to expert level but if you read the book you will learn a lot and probably be able to master any of the techniques presented in this book.

This review copy was graciously provided by Book Publishing Company who is hosting "Luscious Vegan Desserts" promotion now through the end of October.

You may click here to register for a chance at winning a free vegan dessert cookbook.

Another Giveaway!

2010-09-14T13:32:00.000-07:00

Enter to win a keeper cup at The Crafty Charlestonian

Unlike tampons and pads, there is NO WASTE associated with The Moon Cup, which means far less in our landfills.

Giveaway!

2010-09-09T20:18:00.001-07:00

Enter to #win a cloth menstrual pad from @boosandrawrs & @sckoon. Enter the #Giveway here http://tinyurl.com/2fkf6ee

Deep Dish Caramelized Onion Pizza Pie

2010-09-07T10:32:00.000-07:00

I made a regular yeast pizza crust, rolled it out to about 12" across and put it in a lightly greased 9x2" deep, glass pie pan. I crimped the edges like a pie. Poke holes in the crust with a fork so the bottom will rise evenly.
Bake the crust at 425F for 5 minutes.
I filled the crust with a mixture of caramelized onions, mushrooms and Yves Lettuce Wrap crumbles. It's not just for wraps, says the label!

I baked the whole thing for another 15 minutes at 425F. Even though the outer crust is hard, the pie looks and smells really good.

Delicious. Very sweet with a tender crust.

How to make Irish Moss Gel

2010-08-27T07:39:00.000-07:00

Irish moss is a seaweed. It has many uses. This is a Rawfully Tempting article about Irish moss.

How to make Irish moss paste, or gel.
Grab a small handful of dried Irish moss.
Put it in a medium bowl and cover with cold water. Swish it around once in a while and let it soak for 4 hrs, until it is about tripled in size.
Drain the moss into a sieve, discard the water. That it reconstituted ocean water. You can really smell the ocean during the initial soak but once it's cleaned and blended the smell is not noticeable.

There are little bits of vegetable matter and sand and strings of plastic. It takes a while to pick it all out. Take your time and clean it well, rinsing and picking in between all the little branches. Anywhere you see a dark spot its probably a little piece of stuff you want to pick out.
Once you have the moss picked clean, rinse it one last time and discard the rinse water.
Put moss in high speed blender with 2 cups water for every 1 cup moss.
Blend until there are no more chunks. Add a little more water if needed to blend. Let the blender take breaks and cool off so the gel doesn't overheat and cook.
Transfer your gel to a jar or jars with tight lids and store in the fridge for three weeks. You can use it in desserts and smoothies, as an egg sub in baking as a moisturizer and facial mask and many other applications.

Check out the article at Rawfully Tempting, it's very informative.

Vegan Lunch Soup and Bread

2010-08-23T18:22:00.000-07:00

Minestrone soup and individual bread loaves

Vegan Taco Night!

2010-08-22T21:36:00.000-07:00

Dinner tonight

Corn tortilla, brown rice, yellow dahl, tasty walnut taco filling, fermented salsa and jalapeño pickle.
Too bad I was out of lettuce :(

I love tacos. I love that I can make every component from scratch without turning on the oven. I love that I can make all the ingredients early in the day, or the day before, store them in the fridge then whenever we're ready to eat I can roll out and cook the tortillas, re-heat the beans and rice and dinner is served!
I love that everyone builds their own, choosing their own condiments and the order in which they are placed on the tortillas. Will you skip the beans and have extra rice? Will you wrap and eat like a burrito, fold like a taco or eat with a fork? It's up to you. I don't judge.

How to Make Fermented Salsa

2010-08-22T21:30:00.000-07:00

Put one cup of fresh salsa in a 32 oz, wide mouth canning jar.
Store loosely lidded jar in a warm place (80-95F) for 12 hours or more until it starts to smell "tangy" and begins to bubble.
Put a tight lid on the jar and store in the fridge.

Fermented foods should keep indefinitely but if it starts to smell funky, grow hair, get a slimy texture or goes a funny color, toss it!

How to Make Corn Tortilla

2010-08-22T21:19:00.000-07:00

Makes 4 9" tortillas

1/2 cup masa harina
2/3 cup water
pinch salt (optional)

All ingredients together in a bowl.
Mix with hands until dough is the consistency of grainy play-dough.
If it's too crumbly, wet your hands and knead again until dough sticks together and forms a smooth ball.
This dough can be refrigerated or frozen until you are ready to use it.
Thaw if needed and cut dough ball into 4 pieces.
Roll one piece into a ball and place it in a plastic bag. Flatten and roll with rolling pin until you have a tortilla about 9" across. Carefully peel the plastic away.
In a very hot skillet, place raw tortilla and cook about two minutes on each side until it starts to get little brown spots.
Place on a plate wrapped in a towel to keep warm. Re-heat before eating in microwave for a couple seconds or in warm oven for a few minutes, or on a hot griddle as needed.

Vegan Meatless Taco Filling

2010-08-22T13:02:00.000-07:00

I didn't think I could love taco night more than I did but I made up this filling and now I do:

Tasty Taco Filling
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup walnuts
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp mushroom soy sauce (find it at your local Asian market)
1 tsp paprika

All in food processor, pulse, scraping the sides as needed.
It should be lumpy, not a paste, do not over-process.

Taco filling, sandwich spread, spoon on pasta, over salad, add to soups, casseroles; Add a spoonful any where you want a BLAST of flavor.

Vegan Dinner Tonight Pizza!

2010-08-09T20:09:00.000-07:00

Roasted veg pizza

A slice with eggplant, mushroom, broccoli, sweet potato and tomato.

Mango/banana soft serve.

Vegan Banana Oat Milk For Baking

2010-08-08T10:59:00.000-07:00

I'm making a cake and don't have the 3/4c soymilk the recipe calls for so I put this milk together:

1 VERY ripe banana
1 tbs oats
pinch salt
2 cups water
Blend.
Use as needed in baking, on cereal, anywhere you would use sweetened vegan milk.
Store covered in fridge for about a week. As usual, toss it if it goes funky or starts to grow hairs :)

Win a Moon Cup

2010-08-04T13:51:00.000-07:00

Then you can give it to me!

http://tiny.cc/2p4ay ends on 8/13

In 10 years the average menstruating woman will create 65.6 lbs of garbage with her "sanitary" products alone.
Using alternative menstrual products like cloth pads or latex/silicone cups dramatically lessens a womans impact on landfills. Alternative, reusable menstrual products save money, save time, save your health and save the environment

"The 4 Ingredient Vegan" By Maribeth Abrams with Anne Dinshah

2010-07-17T17:52:00.000-07:00

The 4 Ingredient Vegan By Maribeth Abrams with Anne Dinshah

Are you on the go, in a hurry but need hearty vegan meals for your family? A new vegan who needs some simple recipes to impress your family and friends? A beginner cook who needs some clever dishes to make you look like a better cook than you are? An obsessive/compulsuve who can only eat meals with 4 ingredients?
If you answered "yes" to any of these questions then The 4 Ingredient Vegan is the must-have book for you.

The 4 Ingredient Vegan was written by Maribeth Abrams with Anne Dinshah.
From the back of the book:
"Mary Beth Abrams, MS, is a certifeid nutritional consultant, vegan culinary educator and the author of the cookbook Tofu 1-2-3."
"Anne Dinshah is a lifetime vegan and the author of Healthy Hearty Helpings, a vegan cookbook for busy people who like to eat."

My hat is off to you ladies. As an adult and especially as a vegan, being able to prepare my own meals has been key to my dietary sucess. The 4 Ingredient Vegan will instill some basic cooking skills that you can build on. Sure, you can count on restaurants and having other people cook for you for a while but sooner or later you will be stuck, on your own with nothing but a supermarket and a (perhaps not-well stocked) kitchen. Having some basic cooking skills will save your vegan ass, believe me!

The difference between The 4 Ingredient Vegan and some other cookbooks with more complicated recipes is like the difference between the Ramones and Fleetwood Mac. The 4 Ingredient Vegan's recipes are a whole lot of short songs with a satisfying result, Some other cookbook's recipes are more like trying to see how many notes one could jam into each bar of a 12 minute song whilst having a secret affair with one's lead vocalist.

The 4 Ingredient Vegan is a great cookbook for a beginner or an expert cook. Filled with clever ingredients like purple sweet potatoes and vegan marshmallow creme and crammed with clever things to do with ordinary ingredients that you will have around if you've been a cook-at-home vegan for any amount of time and that you should be able to find easily at your local supermarket, Asian grocery or Natural Foods store.
The preface, "Why Vegan" goes over some very compelling reasons why one would become a vegan:
"Adopting a vegan diet can be a giant step toward improving your health and well-being. It can also be divinely satisfying in terms of the wonderful tastes and textures that plant foods provide. Meat is rarely prepared without ingredients from the plant kingdom to improve its flavor, such as garlic, onions, herbs, and a wide array of vegetable-based sauces. These same delicious flavorings can be used with plant foods to create endlessly exciting yet familiar flavors."

Chapter 1 "Getting Started" has a great section on stocking your kitchen. Each item listed is defined and they give you a clue as to where you might buy some. You might need to get to a supermarket and buy some vegan sour cream, vegan mayonnaise. Or you might click on those links and learn to make your own. It doesn't take as long as you might think. I don't believe vegan marshmallow creme exists. Someone prove me wrong and send me a jar so I can make this Vegan Fudge recipe they include!

Chapter 2 covers Morning Meals, with breakfast and brunch tempters like Cashew French Toast and the Morning Muffin Sandwich.
Chapter 3 is all about Beverages, with a variety of smoothie and cold drink recipes,
Chapter 4 is Soups including a red cabbage soup made with ginger ale!
Chapter 5 is Salads. This section includes some yummy sandwich spreads. I want to try the Tempeh Chicken salad and the Chickpea-of-the-Sea sandwich fillers.
Chapter 6, Dips, Spreads, Savory sauces includes, pasta sauces, spreads for bread and pates for dipping.
Chapter 7, is all Main dishes which look like quick and easy comfort food plus some new dishes to challenge your pallette. I can't wait to try the Roasted Eggplant and Pesto Roulade!
Chapter 8 covers Side Dishes, many of which could double as main dishes. Purple Sweet Potato Pie is going to get made in my kitchen, I swear it to the skies! I might have to use yams, though.
Chapter 9, Desserts, treats, and sweet toppings covers all things decadence and dessert; Baked Pears, Chocolate covered Strawberries, Tahini Chews (which I think I might make tonight)
At the end of it all there is an Index for easy peasy reference.

I've already made the Cashew French Toast and it was FANTASTIC! It's not only a well put together vegan french toast recipe but it gives you some great tips on making perfect french toast.

As much as I love this book I want to complain about one recipe. Pickled Beets.
I quote

"Plan ahead for this recipe, since you have to consume the entire contents of a jar of pickles before you can make it."

The book then goes on to instruct us to process the beets and put them in the jar of pickle juice.

Ok. I have done this. I did it when I was a kid, with carrots. I still do it with the leftover pickle juice from pickles I make from scratch. My complaint is that this could have been a very good recipe with still only 4 ingredients and no directives to consume entire jars of pickles.
Four ingredient pickle recipe I just made up this second

water (doesn't count as ingredient)
vinegar
sugar (optional)
salt (doesn't count)
Spice of some sort, I don't know. Dill?
Cooked or raw veg, cut in pickle sizes go in a jar with the vinegar, water, salt, sugar, spice.
Eat a whole jar of pickles, indeed. (frowny face)

I would definitely recommend The 4 Ingredient Vegan to anyone, vegan or not, who wants to eat good food but doesn't want to spend all day with recipes that have a million ingredients and two million steps. If you don't mind canned and "store-bought" ingredients you can really pad your "Go-To" recipe file with quick, easy and impressive-looking breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert ideas from The 4 Ingredient Vegan.

This book was graciously donated to me by Book Publishing Company for review purposes. I receive no monetary compensation. The opinion given here is my own and is not coerced or paid for in any way.

The Condiment Chronicles :: Vegan Mayo De-Classified

2010-07-12T08:44:00.000-07:00

The word is out. The mystery is solved. The myth de-bunked. You CAN make delicious mayo at home, cheap, without bothering any hens! (graphic)

Who knew it was this easy? Vegan Epicurean knew!

After reading the article with the original recipe about what she did, Here's what I did:

I went to BigLots and got a $2 bottle of canola oil, so this was REALLY cheap. I used one cup of oil (50c) and a 1/2 cup of soy milk ($3.50 for a 1/2 gallon, even cheaper when I make the soymilk myself) and the price of the spices and salt. That isn't very expensive to make over a cup of mayo.

Vegan Mayonnaise on the Cheap!

1 1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup plain soy milk (very slightly sweet so I left out the sweetener called for in the original recipe)

1/4 tsp vinegar

1 tbs lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

Put all in blender with whatever seasonings you want (I used 1/2 tsp dried mustard but you should adjust the salt, sweetness and tartness to your personal taste. It's only as good as you spice it)

If you have a high speed blender you should be able to whip this up in about 30 seconds. With a regular blender, you may have to mix longer.

Makes about a cup and a half of mayo

Scrape the mayo into a jar with a tight lid and store in the fridge.

I will let you know how long it stores sometime in the future! It should last as long as the milk is good and when it's mixed with vinegar, salt and oil I think the milk should last a while in the fridge. We'll see. Let me know if you find out first!

Rest in Peace, Barbara

2010-06-28T08:29:00.000-07:00

The wittiest kitty I ever knew.

Garlic Scape Pesto

2010-06-26T19:38:00.000-07:00

2 bunches garlic scapes
1 shot olive oil
salt to taste
All in food processor until a thick paste forms.
Transfer to a lidded jar and store in refrigerator for at least a week.

You can put this on pasta or use as a spread for bread or bagels, etc.
It can be used in many recipes as a garlic sub.

I made fried potatoes for Breakfast

2010-06-19T09:44:00.000-07:00

Cube and steam until soft but not mushy 4 small red potatoes (about 4 cups raw).
Heat 1 tbs olive oil in a large skillet.
When the oil is hot add one cup sliced onion and one cup of cubed raw sweet potato.
When the onions started to get translucent stir in the cooked red potatoes, 1 tbs chopped raw garlic. 1/8 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp salt and stir well.

Cover the skillet with a screen and let it cook over med heat w/out stirring for 5 minutes.
Then add 2 cups of raw, rough cut mushrooms and stir it well. Cover with screen and let it cook again for 5 min.
Stir and let cook 5 min one more time.
Once the sweet potatoes are soft but not mushy, Serve HOT.

Hi-Diddly-Ho, Neglectarinos!

2010-05-14T08:27:00.000-07:00

I won a giveaway in February. Through a series of events out of MANY people's control the package delivery was delayed. I finally received it yesterday and it was well worth the wait.
in this entry I am going to catalog the contents of the package. In the coming days I will prepare/review the following products:

Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Homemade Wonderful Bread Mix

Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Vanilla Cake Mix

Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Pizza Crust Whole Grain Mix (not listed on amazon)

Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Shortbread Cookie Mix

All natural Pop Chips Salt and Pepper Potato Chips
Real Foods Corn Thins
Kiss my Face Whenever Shampoo & Conditioner sample (which I don't use but the man will)
Raw Rev 100 (it was de-lish)
Road's End Organic Gravy Mix Golden and Shitake
Nutiva Hemp Protein Powder sample
All of the above came with coupons accept the first two.
I also received a bunch of FYH coupons and purchased some vegan cheese to use with the pizza crust.

See you soon, I hope!

Garden Update: How's it Growing?

2010-05-02T13:05:00.000-07:00

I took some photos today to share our progresses with you! We are very close to summer. Historically, there is no risk of freeze after June 1st here, but there is lots of warm sunshine in my Southerly Exposed picture windows so the seeds that were started in March are getting kind of big. Hang in there, little fellas!

The herb garden. Planted March 8th. The dill and sage have been very abundant so far. The basil and oregano, not so much. The chives not at all. Strange they grew in order like that. I turn the pot daily so it gets even sun. I finally gave up and I replanted chives about 2 weeks ago but still no show. The front row is all calendula. The two outer plants were planted Mar 8 along with a bunch more that never germinated. The little ones in the middle were planted about 2 weeks ago and started just fine. Beats me.

Chamomile, planted April 26. The seeds are like dust and the starts are so wee and cute!

I filled some empty coconut shells with dirt and started more calendula there. I'm hoping to get plenty of flowers.

Note to the vegan police :) Yes, the planter next to says "ice cream". Sadly, I do NOT live in a vegan world no matter how much I want it. Luckily for me there is no cooking of animals in THIS house but the guys still eat animals products such as ice cream and I can't bear to throw those perfect plant starting boxes out. I don't eat the products, but I AM in charge of waste management in this house and I re-purpose some of the trash that is created when the people I live with buy and consume animal products. I have thought hard and I feel very deeply about this and I think using the containers to grow plants is the best conclusion to two bad situations: the eating of animal products and the disposal of the wrappers that they come in.

The cucumbers have flowered. Is it just me or does that sound like a spy identifying to another spy?

There are actual BEAN PODS on my bush beans.

This is a tomato I started last year. It gave me HUNDREDS of cherry tomatoes. I grew it in a pot. I brought it inside and cut it back at the beginning of winter except for one branch that was still flowering, I let it continue. Immediately it leaves branches and tiny flowers that didn't produce started growing back. I kept watering and feeding it rocket compost all winter in the warm, sunny window and now it has three wee tomatoes and lots of flowers on it!!! Has anyone else ever had a tomato plant grow for more than one season? I didn't think it was possible.

Here is a full view of the 2nd season cherry tomato:

See the stumps where it was cut back?

Ahoy! Cilantro!

More basil.

I want to have too much basil this year. I don't think it's going to happen but I will keep planting.

Bell Peppers. I hope I have as good of luck with peppers this year as last.

Flax and fenugreek in the yellow pot. The pods are fenugreek.

Orange pot is pumpkin which is also starting to bloom.

I put some fennel seeds to germinate April 27 but I don't see anything yet. I know from sprouting them that it takes a while.

There are more but uploading is a... very slow thing so that's it for today.

1 more month until we begin planting outside. I'll post another garden update around that time. So, how's things growing with you?

Recipe testing for The Blissful Chef continues!

2010-04-29T15:06:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of the latest batch of recipes tested for The Blissful Chef.

Dinner last night was a huge baby greens salad w chopped tomato and vegan cashew sour cream, spaghetti with Creamy Basil Dressing, and on the side steamed broccoli and mushrooms with Macro Mac n Cheese sauce.

The cheese veg and the pesto pasta all got mixed together.

Mock Salmon Pate on a cracker

Creamy Basil Dressing on a toasted plain bagel.

Vegan Rice Pudding With Raisins

2010-04-22T10:14:00.000-07:00

This is my own recipe, not one that I am testing for the Blissful Chef, so I can share it with you.

I've love rice pudding so I veganized the old recipe.
Rice pudding is very versatile and can be served as a warm, filling breakfast, a side at brunch and you can serve it warm or chilled as a dessert.

Coconut rice pudding

3 c cooked br rice
1 c coconut milk
2 c water
2 tbs raisins
pinch salt (optional)

1 shot maple syrup

All ingredients except maple syrup in large saucepan.
Simmer, stirring almost constantly until very thick. Reduce heat to low, put on a lid and let it cook for about ten minutes.
Add maple syrup, stir and serve.
Adjust the sweetness to your tastes.

Makes three 1+ cup servings.

I like it just as it is but you may want to add more syrup, your favorite vegan margarine and/or milk, fruit, etc.

Rice pudding is a traditional dish that the whole family can love and a delicious way to use up leftover rice. I used last night's dinner rice, a mixture of short grain brown rice and wild rice.
I used fresh coconut milk which is the water and soft meat of a young Thai coconut blended together.

My Life as A Recipe Tester (w/photos)

2010-04-20T18:07:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the recipes I've been testing for the Blissful Chef:

Sweet Polenta Porridge which we had for breakfast this morning:

Carrot Ginger Bisque:

Pineapple Cornbread Muffins:

I also made a fabulous marinated tempeh but forgot to take a photo so I will have to make it again, oh, darn :)

I hope you like these photos, I can't share the recipes but wait, they will all be in a fabulous VEGAN cookbook!

In the next week I'm going to be making gluten free brownies, macro mac n cheeze and some stuff with BASIL! yummy pesto pesto pesto :)
See you soon!

Updated Vegan Peanut Butter Cups

2010-04-13T15:10:00.000-07:00

I made these before but they were better this time.
Vegan Peanut Butter Cups
3 tbs peanut butter
3 tbs nutritional yeast
2 tsp maple syrup
Mix peanut butter, yeast and syrup. Roll in wax paper to form a log and place in the freezer to harden.

I was blessed/cursed this week with a huge sleeve of Dagoba chocolates. Not like the ones pictured here, but individually wrapped squares, 9 grams each. Made without animal products. 65% cocoa. Vegan. Free. I unwrapped 24 of them and melted them in double boiler.

Pour half the chocolate in 3 custard cups and let harden in the fridge.
Cut the peanut mixture log into 3 pieces, flatten them and put them in the custard cups.
Pour the rest of the chocolate on top of each and shake them to get the melted chocolate to settle.
Pop the chocolate and peanut butter filling filled custard cups in the fridge to harden 1 hour or more.

These come out of the cups easily, just stick a flexible blade down one side and they pop right out, ready to eat. I cut mine in quarters for ease of munching.

Steamed Collard Greens

2010-04-13T14:52:00.000-07:00

2 cups collard greens, diced
2 tbs chopped onion
4 tbs finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes.
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
2 cups water
2-3 grinds of pepper

Cook all together in saucepan until well reduced.
Drain and use the liquid as broth.

Vegan Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe

2010-04-12T18:19:00.000-07:00

Southern Style Vegan Buttermilk Biscuits

Pre-heat oven to 450F

2 cups flour
4 tsp aluminum free baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

4 tbs olive oil

1 cup chilled vegan buttermilk (1 cup chilled vegan milk of your choice, add 2 tbs vinegar or lemon juice, stir well, allow to thicken in fridge about 10 minutes)

In a chilled bowl mix dry ingredients well.
Cut in oil until it's a crumbly texture. Use a cold fork, you fingers will make it too warm and you won't get the crumb-like texture you want.
Add chilled buttermilk and stir until a thick dough forms.
Turn out on a heavily floured board and sprinkle flour on top then fold dough over onto itself. Continue to sprinkle and fold until you have a workable dough that you can roll out and cut. Don't over work.
Roll out to about an 3/4" thick
Cut with a 2" biscuit cutter and arrange on dry baking sheet with the circles barely touching each other.
Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown on top.

This recipe made 14 biscuits.

Really easy, really good, 100% veganized for your convenience.

Next time I will use 3 tbs oil and 1/4 tsp salt, but these are DEE-LICIOUS! I'm going to serve them with vegan gravy and steamed collard greens.

Kasha and Bowties

2010-04-02T18:20:00.000-07:00

1 c raw kasha (whole buckwheat groats)
1 c uncooked bowtie pasta (farfalle)
1 tbs olive oil (for frying)
1 med onion, chopped
about 8 med brown mushrooms, chopped
1.5 c vegetable broth, boiling in lidded saucepan

Boil and drain bowties. Set aside.
Heat oil in skillet add chopped onion and mushrooms and saute until soft and translucent.
Ad kasha and stir constantly until it begins to turn brown and smell toasty.
Pour sauteed kasha mixture in to boiling broth.
Lid saucepan and lower heat to simmer.
Simmer until liquid is absorbed.
Add bowties.
Stir and serve.

The Culmination of An Entire Day of Preparing Falafel Dinner

2010-04-01T08:13:00.000-07:00

Ah, the Chick Pea. Also known as Garbanzos, these tasty legumes are full of fiber and oh-so-versatile. They are the main ingredient in hummus and I love me some delicious chickpea curry (chana masala) but many people don't know that they are the major component in falafel.

Yesterday was Falafel Appreciation Day so we had falafel for dinner last night.

Soak and sprout 1 cup of dried garbanzo beans. This takes four days. If you don't have the time you can just soak them over night. When you are done you should have about 3 cups of soaked/sprouted beans.

Do yourself a favor and do not use canned beans. Or any canned food for that matter. They line the cans with BPA and that leaches into the canned food causing all kinds of problems that we won't get into here. It's cheaper to buy dried beans and very simple to soak and sprout them. Do it. You will feel more self sufficient, create less waste and you will thank yourself later. Soaked and sprouted beans are more nutritious and easier to digest. You will have less bean related gas if you soak and sprout beans before cooking.

Use those beans to make Falafel!

These are baked falafel. Crisp on the outside, warm and soft inside.

Because they are baked, they are very low fat. You can also fry these in oil for a crispier (greasier, heavier) product. A sort of "happy medium" can be reached by baking them in advance and gently heating them in a lightly greased skillet before serving.

Sprouted wheat flat bread, falafel, tomato, onion, vegan yogurt sauce and red lettuce came together and made my mouth very happy.

The money shot:

What did you do for Falafel Appreciation Day?

Vegan Middle-Eastern Style Yogurt Sauce

2010-03-31T13:51:00.000-07:00

I veganized this recipe with thick, fermented cashew cream

Cashew Yogurt Sauce

1/2 cup fermented cashew cream

2 tbs tahini paste

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp finely minced garlic

Mix well. Store in lidded container in the fridge.

Baked Falafel Recipe

2010-03-31T13:49:00.000-07:00

I used this recipe and changed it, thusly:

Baked Falafel

Preheat oven to 350F and grease a large baking sheet

3 cups sprouted chickpeas (if you don't have 4 days to sprout dried beans, soak for 12 hours or overnight)
1 cup dried mint leaf
1 onion, rough chopped
5 cloves garlic
1/2 cup leftover tomato/cuke salad (optional. Tomato, cucumber, oregano and olive oil)
1 tbs cumin
1/2 tsp red chili pepper

Everything in the food processor, chop until a ball forms. Add more water if need be.
Form golf-ball sized balls, flatten slightly and place on lightly greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350F for 30 minutes, turn and cook another 15-20 minutes.
Makes about 12 patties.

Super Easy, Super Cheesy Dairy Free Multi-Purpose Un-Cheese Sauce

2010-03-30T17:59:00.000-07:00

I'm making steamed brocolli for dinner tonight so I made a vegan cheese sauce. I know I posted this recipe before but I've been making it and tweaking it each time and I think this is about the best it's ever turned out so I'm posting this new, updated version of multi-purpose cheese flavored sauce for making vegan macaroni and cheese, for pouring over vegetables, great on baked potato, nachos, quesadilla, in casseroles... I even put it on vegan pizza the other day, fantastic!

Super Easy, Super Cheesy Sauce

1/3 cup nutritional yeast

1/3 cup rolled oats

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp paprika (optional. Makes it more orange colored)

2 cloves garlic

1 tbs tahini

1 tbs ACV

2 cups water

Everything in the blender except 1/2 cup water.

Blend until liquefied.

Pour mixture into a saucepan

Put last 1/2 cup of water in the blender carafe, swirl it around and pour that in the saucepan, too. (nothing goes to waste around here)

This is the hardest part.

Put the saucepan of liquified ingredients on low-med heat and stir constantly until it reaches the desired thickness, about 10 minutes.

This mixture will continue to thicken even after you are done cooking. Behold the power of Oatmeal! Store in the fridge in a covered container and add more water as needed to thin.

Vegan Waffle Party 2010 & Buckwheat Toxicity Addressed

2010-03-30T10:26:00.000-07:00

Oh, yeah! Klamath Falls, Oregon, Vegan Waffle Party 2010 will be held at my house, Saturday, May 29 (subject to change). Contact me if you want further details. As it stands, it may just be a party of 3 but that's ok. We will put out a small spread, get plenty of photos and raise awareness of vegan breakfast/brunch by hollering about the whole thing on the internet for the next month. Go vegan!

My challenge is to make some raw vegan waffles. I might just bake waffles but I will spend the next couple weeks experimenting, researching and attempting to make, nutless, raw vegan waffles. I have buckwheat groats, golden flax seed and a cold iron in mind. Raw vegan toppings is another story. I'm accepting suggestions for raw vegan waffle toppings. I'd like to keep food combining rules in mind but I really want a waffle with cashew sour cream and fruit on it.

__________

I'd like to say a few words about the toxicity of buckwheat sprouts. The other day I posted a photo of a bed of various sprouts smothered in marinara sauce. I called it Sprout-ghetti. Some one asked me if I wasn't concerned with the photo sensitivity related to buckwheat sprouts. It's a valid topic and also a raw food myth/fact combo. I'd like to address it here once and for all.

This article by Gilles Arbourg is probably the most comprehensive on the subject. Here is my really, really short summary:
Buckwheat shoots and greens contain a "self-defense mechanism" in the form of a toxin called fagopyrin. A few years back some people went on a raw food cleansing diet consisting of mainly raw juices. Buckwheat greens and sprout juice comprised 20% of their diet for 6 months or more. Due to the huge amount of fagopyrin in buckwheat shoots and greens some of those people developed photo-sensitivity and sensitivity to touch, heat, cold. When they stopped taking the buckwheat greens juice, the symptoms eased and went away.

Let me condense that even further: If a person were to consume buckwheat greens as 20% of their diet for over six months, they might develop sensitivity that goes away after they stop consuming such a high quantity of buckwheat greens.

So my answer is no. Buckwheat greens poisoning is a rare occurrence in people who try to practically live solely on buckwheat sprouts and greens. I eat a varied diet containing a rainbow, nay, an encyclopedic mix of cooked and raw whole fruits, vegetables, legumes, tubers, lots of leafy greens, nuts, seeds, grains and sea vegetables and I don't fear toxicity of sprouts in the amounts I eat. I eat A LOT of seeds, nuts, legumes and I always sprout or germinate them before I eat them, raw or cooked.

"Unlike the shoots of the buckwheat plant, buckwheat groats, or seeds, are not generally problematic because they contain only trace quantities of fagopyrin"

Sprouts in general contain small amounts of toxins to as a natural pest deterrent to discourage predators from munching them before they are able to grow, flower, produce seeds and ensure the next generation. That is why we should always eat a widely varied diet on a regular basis.

Ok, this random, all over the place, daydreaming and mythbusting post is over. I hope you got something out of it. I sure did.

dosis sola facet venenum (the dose makes the poison)

Sprout-ghetti

2010-03-23T22:14:00.000-07:00

How many kinds of sprouts? Buckwheat, red wheat, adzuki, lentil, sunflower, sesame, fenugreek and fennel sprouts with red lettuce, steamed broccoli and roasted eggplant/sun dried tomato marinara sauce over the buckwheat and red wheat. I put lime juice and chopped onion on the red lettuce.

Warm marinara on top of the sprouted buckwheat/red wheat was very satisfying. I call it sprout-ghetti. I'm silly like that.

Sun Dried Tomato and Roasted Eggplant Sauce Recipe

2010-03-23T18:31:00.000-07:00

Make a basic marinara but add 1 tbs of cornstarch. Cook like normal.

Roast an eggplant.
Soak about 5 sun dried tomatoes.*

Once the marinara has reduced by about 1/3 add peeled, roasted and chopped eggplant and finely chopped soaked sun dried tomatoes.

Heat thoroughly and serve hot.

Goes well over pasta, on bruschetta, over steamed veg, baked potato... The possibilities for this deliciously roasty flavored sauce are endless!

*I dry mine in the dehydrator. Slice roma tomatoes in half or fourth, place on rack and dry at 105F until they are dried fruit texture, usually this takes 24 hrs or more.

Bacon/Avocado Burger Vegan Dinner Sandwich

2010-03-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

I had some mystery patties in my freezer (I want to say Garden Burgers but here are some recipes for patties), Lightlife Smart Bacon, avocado, lettuce, fermented cashew cream, tomato, onion and plain bagels. I took it to the logical conclusion.

I can't eat something that had a face but I don't mind eating things in the SHAPE of a face :)

Greasy goodness. I cooked them in a tsp of olive oil...
Look at that bacon foam! How authentic :P

This is the man's finished sandwich on bagel, with bacon, onion, tomato, pickle, mystery vegan patty, red lettuce, mayo and ketchup

And mine looking at itself.

"What?? No TOMATO???"

We are really liking the Smart Bacon. The rest are still in the freezer waiting. I'd like to thank Lightlife for making them and for sending me the coupons so I could try them. Thanks!

Reducing and Reusing FTW!

2010-03-22T18:02:00.000-07:00

I've been pretty lucky and won some of the giveaways I entered. One in particular from sleepbamboo.com for $300 worth of pillows and cases. Woot!
I was also accepted as a Gladrags Guerrilla which means I will be promoting the use of reusable products and ending dependence disposable paper even more.

Remember: reusable products in place of paper and plastic are better for your body, better for your budget, better for the environment.

Before you reach for another bottled water watch this
Have fun!

And the Winner is

2010-03-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

52 entries were received and the random number generator picked number 9. Congratulations to Barbara of Rawfully Tempting! I have sent you an email and I hope to get the book out to you asap.

Thanks to everyone who entered I hope I will be having more giveaways here in the future.

Today is the Last Day to Enter My Giveaway!

2010-03-17T09:05:00.000-07:00

I will accept entries until midnight March, 17 and the winner will be announced tomorrow, Thursday, March 18.

There are many ways to enter and you can enter as many times as you like.

Important: Leave entry comments on this announcement post. Comments on this blog post will not count as entries. Sorry for any confusion.

It's easy, all you have to to to enter is go here and pick the vegan cookbook you'd like to win. After you do that leave a comment on this post with your selection. It's that easy!

For extra entries you may

Follow @snubbr on Twitter.com and leave comment here saying you have (or already do). Leave your twitter "@___" name in a comment on this post.

Follow @zucchinibreath on Twitter.com and leave comment here saying you have (or already do). Leave your twitter "@___" name in the comment on this post.
Post a status update on Facebook.com and leave a comment on this post with the link to the Facebook update.
Tweet about this entry. Use this text if you like: Vegan Giveaway! @zucchinibreath and @snubbr are having a #vegan Cookbook #giveaway http://bit.ly/9L43Xj and leave a comment with your @twitter name on this post.
Blog about this entry and leave a comment and link to this here post. Come back and leave a comment and link to your post.
Follow this blog and leave a comment on this post saying that you did.
Add me as a friend on Wellsphere and leave a comment on this post saying you have (or already do).
Follow me on Facebook.com and leave a comment on this post saying you did (or already do).
Subscribe to my RSS Feed and leave a comment on this post indicating that you did. The link is on the right over there >>>
Ask a question on Snubbr and comment on this post with a link to the question.
You can get more entries by posting about this giveaway on Twitter and Facebook or asking on Snubbr NO MORE THAN ONCE AN HOUR, OK? We don't want to be spamtastic about it... Be sure to come back and leave a comment on this post with a link when you do.

Good Luck!

Green Oatmeal

2010-03-17T08:46:00.000-07:00

It's green! The sprouts are alive and it's warm and delicious.

1 cup rolled oats
2 tbs flax seeds, ground
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbs raisins

Mix dry ingredients together well and add 1 cup 120F water. Use more or less water to your taste.

Let it rest for 5 minutes or so. Add more warm water if needed.
Sprinkle 1/2 cup sprout salad on top and stir gently.

Eat. Enjoy your green day.

Simple Instructions for Making Soy Milk From Soybeans

2010-03-16T12:49:00.000-07:00

Making your own vegan milk is cheap, easy and a great way to gain more control over what you eat.
I buy organic regionally grown soybeans for about $1.39lb.

1. Soak 1 cup dried soy beans for 48 hours.

2. Steam soybeans until tender. Do not overcook. Gently cooking the beans removes bitterness from the final product.

3. Blend soybeans with 4 or more cups of water until very smooth.

4. Strain through produce/sprout/nut milk bag.

5. Flavor milk to taste with salt and sugar, vanilla, chocolate etc. (optional)

6. Store in fridge in covered container up to a week or when it starts to smell funny. Personally, when it starts to "blink" before it begins to really smell bad, I use it in baking.

Makes about 4 cups milk and 1-2 cups moist pulp. Adding more water makes thinner milk, perfect for vegan cooking and baking; less water makes a creamier product, better for use as dairy-free coffee creamer, with cookies, over cold or hot cereal, as a base for non-dairy ice creams and making soy yogurts and vegan cheese.

Save the pulp (okara) for other recipes. I fermented mine.

Blender giveaway!

2010-03-15T08:42:00.000-07:00

Raw on $10 a day is having a giveaway for a very groovy blender!

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

2010-03-14T18:57:00.000-07:00

I managed to make them semi decent. The photo doesn't look to good but they were tasty as heck. The boy didn't like the peanut butter filling.

Vegan Peanut Butter Cups

2 tbs peanut butter

2 tsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp sugar

2 3oz bars of vegan chocolate. I used Endangered Species, one cacao nibs and one coffee beans. The bat and the tiger, I can't remember which was which.

Mix peanut butter, yeast and sugar. Spread them on a plate about a 1/2 inch thick and put in the freezer to let it get a little hard. You will cut it in pieces later to put in the center of the cup.

Melt the chocolate. I used an old enamel pot and submerge it halfway in warm water. The chocolate melts slowly but it doesn't scorch that way.

Pour chocolate into glass custard cups, enough to cover the bottom
Take your hardened peanut butter mixture and cut off a piece the size you want. I went with about a 50c piece.

Place it on the chocolate in the cup.
Pour the rest of the chocolate on top
Pop it in the fridge for an hour or more so it sets up.

When you are ready to eat them, fill a pan with 1" of warm water and put the cup in the water. Leave it for a minute or two and the peanut butter cup should pop right out with the help of a bread knife.

Smart Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich Vegan Sunday Brunch

2010-03-14T11:22:00.000-07:00

1 toasted everything bagel
2 slices Lightlife Smart Bacon
1 large leaf red lettuce
Sliced tomato
Hummus

Spread hummus on both halves of the toasted bagel
Assemble the rest of the ingredients in the sandwich
Eat.

This was very good. Erik liked it a lot. It would have been FANTASTIC with some Vegenaise but I was going for a low fat thing so we used hummus.

It crisps up real nice in a lightly greased frying pan. Sizzles like bacon but theres no greasy film all over everything when you are done heating it up. I like that.

Conclusion: Crispy, sizzle-y, salty and chew-y mover over pork fat, this is definitely a winner.
2 g protein, No cholesterol, 1 g of fat and 6% of your daily sodium recommendation in every slice. I prefer fresh fruits and vegetables, sprouted grains and legumes on a daily basis but this was a fun treat.

Erik says "It's not bacon but it's good. I'd buy it if it were on sale." It's$4.49 for a 5oz package.
Judith says "The taste of bacon without the vaporized pig all over the house FTW."

I can't wait to try it in some other recipes.

My first seedling popped up today

2010-03-14T10:08:00.000-07:00

Ruby Swiss Chard

Planted on March 8, showed his lil head March 14.
I'm going plant the chard in pots and grow them inside until it's hot out. Last year I bought a bunch of them already started and planted them in big pots. This is the first time I've started them from seeds.

I just brought home so much fake meat...

2010-03-13T17:13:00.000-08:00

Lightlife, makers of Gimme Lean sausage, I wrote about here (Erik thought it had too much sage), were kind enough to send me some coupons for their products. I was on my way to the store anyway so I picked up 3 kinds, Smart Ground, Smart Dogs and Smart Bacon. I feel smarter already!

They sent me the coupons and some recipe pamphlets and a flyer with all the nutrition facts for every product they make, I think. Most of their stuff is vegan It all contains soy and most contain wheat gluten, some contain eggs. The chicken flavored products (ironically? not really. Just sadly) contain eggs and the honey barbecue flavor has honey in it, so read your labels as usual. Carry on.

So much fake meat. It's going to be here for a long, long time :) I better freeze it.

Baked Chapati Recipe and Tonight's Vegan Dinner:

2010-03-12T23:38:00.000-08:00

Chapati or flat bread or tortillas are basically the same thing. Usually they are prepared on a hot griddle or skillet but they can be baked in the oven.

Whole Wheat Chapati
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs oil
3/4-1 cup hot water
1/4 cup fermented sprouted wheat berries (optional)

Wisk together dry ingredients.
Add oil and as much water as you need.
Mix all together until a smooth dough.

Turn out and knead on floured board until smooth and elastic.

Divide in to 8-10 balls and let stand for 1/2 hour or more. The longer the dough stands the fluffier the chapati will be. Letting the dough stand makes it easier to roll, too. Overnight in the fridge makes them bend to your will like... Well, like a well rested dough.

When you are ready to cook them preheat oven to 350F
Roll dough balls on floured board with hands or rolling pin to about 8" circles.
Bake 10 minutes or less on each side until cooked but not crisp.

Baked sprouted wheat chapati with adzuki salad and roasted pepper/garlic hummus.

This one has fermented cashew sour cream on it, too.

Adzuki Bean Salad

2010-03-12T14:05:00.000-08:00

Adzuki Bean Salad

Sprouted adzuki beans

Adzuki bean are small, red and very full of flavor. This recipe starts with 1 cup of dried adzuki beans. Soak for 48 hours and sprout for 48 hrs. When most of the beans have visible tails, steam them until tender then cool. After cooking you should have about 3 cups of beans.

Adzuki beans steaming

If you don't have 4 days to soak and sprout, at least let the beans soak for 12 hours which will begin the germination process. Germinated legumes are easier to digest, have more available nutrition and are less likely to trigger allergies.

Ok, here is the recipe.

Adzuki (azuki) Bean Salad

Dressing

1 tbs soy sauce

2 tbs rice vinegar

1 tbs sesame oil

1 tsp wasabi powder (optional or sub with horseradish)

1 tsp yellow mustard powder

3 cloves minced garlic

Stir all ingredients together in a large bowl then add

3 cups cooked adzuki beans

1 cup frozen green beans

1 cup frozen corn

Stir well.

Chill and serve.

How to Cook Sprouted Rice or Legumes by Steam Method

2010-03-12T12:09:00.000-08:00

I've been boiling beans as long as I can remember. It's a hassle. I almost always almost burn them and have to scrape the unburnt portion off the top then spend the next four hours soaking and scrubbing a pot. Like I said, hassle. I decided to try steaming them just to see what would happen and it was a miracle! I figured if it worked for rice, why not beans?

Sprouted adzuki or azuki beans steaming.

Note: This is done ideally with sprouted beans or rice. I haven't tried it with dry beans or rice. If you don't have 4 days to sprout your beans or rice, at least soak them for 12 hrs. Soaking for 12 hours will start the germination process. Germinating legumes and rice before cooking makes them easier to digest (less gas), more nutritious and less likely to trigger allergies.

Garbanzo beans or chickpeas steaming

You will need a large saucepan or pot and a heat proof mesh sieve or strainer. A colander with very small holes would work, you just don't want your beans to fall through.
Fill pot with water and place soaked and sprouted beans in the sieve. Put the sieve over the hot water with the bottom of the sieve just above the water level.
Put the stove on high heat and the lid on the pan and let the water boil for 45 minutes or until the beans or rice are soft. The lid doesn't have to be tight.
Add more water as needed.

Sprouted brown rice steaming

And there you have it, steam cooked beans or rice, ready to bend to your will in your favorite soup, salad, salsa, chili or casserole.

Roasted Garlic and Bell Pepper Hummus

2010-03-12T09:24:00.000-08:00

hummus, houmous, humous, hommos, however you spell it, it's one of the tastiest dips ever made. Hail the glorious chickpea!

Roasted Pepper Hummus
3 cups cooked, sprouted chickpeas.
2 tbs tahini paste
1 roasted bell pepper ( I used an orange one, red or yellow would do)
4 roasted garlic cloves
Water as needed
Salt to taste
Place all in processor with S-blade and process until mixture starts to get smooth.
Add water to mixture while processing, 2 tbs at a time until you reach the consistency you like.
I used 12 tbs of water, about a cup and a half or so.

Makes about 3 1/2 cups hummus.
Store in a lidded container in the fridge.

How to Make Tahini

2010-03-12T09:01:00.000-08:00

1 cup raw and unhulled sesame seeds

2 tbs olive oil

2 tbs water

Place sesame seeds in food processor with S-blade and process until fully powdered. They should be about the consistency of corn meal.

With processor running add olive oil and water.

Process until smooth, scraping sides as necessary. It should be the consistency of peanut butter.

Transfer to a glass jar with a tight lid.

Store in refrigerator.

Dinner Last Night

2010-03-11T09:30:00.000-08:00

Steamed, sprouted short grain brown rice, steamed cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli, celeriac and carrots. Smothered in un-cheese sauce.

I made this sauce from the PPK. It's pretty phenomenal on vegetables.
I altered the recipe a little I used fermented cashew milk instead of water and 1 tbs olive oil instead of margarine and I didn't put any spice in it.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway to win a free vegan cookbook. There are numerous ways to enter and you can enter every day or even every hour if you are so inclined.
How bad do you REALLY want Veganomicon?

How to Sprout Brown Rice

2010-03-11T09:05:00.000-08:00

Clean 1-2 cups brown rice.
Put the rice in a large jar or bowl and cover with water.
Soak for 48 hours, rinsing every 6-12 hours.
After soaking 48hrs, transfer rice to a sprouting jar with mesh lid for draining.
Set at 45 degree angle so it can drain and rinse every 6-12 hours for 48 hrs. Keep it moist but not soaking.
When you see little tails begin to sprout from the grains, they are ready to cook and eat.

Cook sprouted rice as you would normally cook rice. Steam or boil until tender and serve hot or cold.

Another Exciting Giveaway!

2010-03-11T07:33:00.000-08:00

Kirsten Suzanne is having a giveaway on her
Green Mommy Blog

One lucky winner will get a $50 shopping spree at iHerb to pick out $50 of merchandise of your choosing

Vegan Cookbook Giveaway

2010-03-10T15:35:00.001-08:00

Snubbr is graciously sponsoring a vegan cookbook giveaway through my blog.

It's easy, all you have to to to enter is go here and pick the vegan cookbook you'd like to win. After you do that leave a comment on this post with your selection. It's that easy!

For extra entries you may

Follow @snubbr on Twitter.com and leave comment here saying you have (or already do). Leave your twitter "@___" name in a comment on this post.

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Post a status update on Facebook.com and leave me a comment on this post with the link to the Facebook update.
Tweet about this entry. Use this text if you like: Vegan Giveaway! @zucchinibreath and @snubbr are having a #vegan Cookbook #giveaway http://bit.ly/9L43Xj and leave a comment with your @twitter name on this post.
Blog about this entry and leave a comment and link to this here post. Come back and leave a comment and link to your post.
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Ask a question on Snubbr and comment on this post with a link to the question.
You can get more entries by posting about this giveaway on Twitter and Facebook or asking on Snubbr NO MORE THAN ONCE AN HOUR, OK? We don't want to be spamtastic about it... Be sure to come back and leave a comment on this post with a link when you do.

So, there are at least 8 ways to enter this great vegan cookbook giveaway. I'll put up more if I think of some, feel free to suggest any you don't see in that list.

You may enter as many or as few times as you like.
Entries will be accepted until Midnight Wednesday, March 17th.
It's going to be random number generator chosen so enter often for better chances.
The winner will be announced on March 18th. I will make a post announcing the winner and make my best attempt to contact the winner.
If the winner does not respond to me within 48 hours of the announcement, another winner will be chosen, so be accessible, my winners!

Personally, I would pick Veganomicon.

Good Luck to all of you! My first giveaway, it's so exciting :D

I grew this beautiful flower from the top of a turnip.

2010-03-10T09:39:00.000-08:00

I ate the turnip and put the top in water and a bunch of pretty flowers grew from it. I'm going to try to collect the seeds, any one have any advice about that?

They smell pretty, too.

Here is the turnip top, rooted. It's been in a glass full of water for a few weeks.

Every thing pretty has an ugly side, right?
Click the date to see what the top looked like Feb 12, 2010.

Shortly after that photo was taken the plant bolted and then these flowers started blooming all over it.

I like to show photos like this when posed with the question, "what about all the plants you kill?"

Eating a plant doesn't necessarily kill it.
Plants do not have a central nervous system and don't feel pain.
Eating animals isn't necessary, eating plants is necessary for human nutrition.

Avocado "Fries" & Sprouted Amaranth Cracker Recipes

2010-03-09T11:27:00.000-08:00

I love to make raw snacks. Healthy raw oils like those from seeds, nuts, avocados and olives are very important in a vegan diet, especially if you are endeavoring to eat more raw foods.

These are sprouted amaranth seeds. They are tiny and very hard to deal with and hard to photograph.

These are about 2 days old sprouts.

Sprouted amaranth crackers
1/2 cup sprouted amaranth 1/2 cup flax seed
pinch of salt
1 tsp cumin
water as needed (not much)
In food processor until a thick smooth paste
Turn out and evenly spread on dehydrator sheet, score for the size crackers you want.
Dehydrate at 115F until stable on top (about 1 hour) then turn out on rack and continue to dry until they are as crisp as you want them.

I also made some avocado fries today.

Avocado "Fries"
Slice one avocado into strips
sprinkle with nutritional yeast on both sides.
Sprinkle w whatever other spices you want, a pinch of salt, cumin, black pepper, lemon, garlic, etc.
place on dehydrator rack and dry at 115F for approx 1 hour until you are able to handle them w/out them falling apart.

Red lettuce with avocado fries, sprouted amaranth crackers, turnip pickles and fermented cashew cream.

Has anyone else seen a change?

2010-03-09T08:41:00.000-08:00

I notice the photo uploading function on Blogger has changed. Is is just me or did it change for everyone? It was directly after I enabled Amazon Associates and I'm wondering if the two are related?
Anybody?

Maybe I need Blogger for Dummies.

I'm still working on my Open Sky shop.
I have these groovy Produce Bags check them out. I've been using pillow cases and can't wait to get mine!

Garden Dreaming

2010-03-08T16:54:00.000-08:00

I planted a whole bunch of seeds in little pots today. Zukes, green and golden, cucumbers, three kinds of tomato, eggplant, pumpkin, jalapeno peppers, swiss chard, bush beans and a windowsill herb garden with calendula, chives, oregano, basil, sage and dill.
Have you started any seeds yet this year? Use my new Disqus comments form and let me know, would ya?

Herb Gardening on Amazon

How green is your bag Giveaway!

2010-03-08T11:43:00.000-08:00

Easy Eco To Go is having a giveaway.

I'm Very Excited to Announce:

2010-03-06T08:23:00.000-08:00

The Big Raw Vegan Blog and Opensky.com have partnered!

http://thebigrawveganblog.theopenskyproject.com/ (bookmark that, ya hear?)

I will be scouring the globe to provide you easy access to the world's best reusable products for your home.
I have a passion for reducing household waste and I am committed to helping you reduce waste in your life as well.
I realize zero output is impossible in our plastic society but I truly believe that making small changes in our lives, like reusable cloth instead of disposable paper napkins, can make a big difference if we all work together.
I am dedicated to making little changes more easy and more accessible to you. Check my blog frequently for updates on new products.

I am also passionate about whole food and raw food. I will carry the best kitchen equipment so you can take control of your life. Efficiently prepare your own healthy, unprocessed foods for maximum taste, speed in preparation and nutrition.

Right now it's just a sneak peak. It's live but not many products. I will keep you updated.

Please come look at my shop HERE

Sprouted Bean Experiment Concluded!

2010-03-05T11:53:00.000-08:00

The other day I started some beans sprouting and this is what happened:

4 days ago I soaked a cup of white beans for 24 hrs. Then I put them in a jar with a draining lid and set them up to sprout. Three days and many rinsings later they were starting to show little tails!

I rinsed them one last time and then cooked them in broth until they were soft and all the liquid was gone. I had to keep adding water. It was just like cooking regular beans, no different.

My conclusion about sprouted beans? I will continue to do it. They were delicious. I appreciate that when germinated they are much easier to digest. They take just as long to cook and I didn't really taste any difference. I think from now on I will soak for one day and germinate for one day, shortening it from a four to a two day process. We have beans about twice a week, with a two day soak I won't have to have multiple jars germinating just to keep us in beans. My kitchen isn't that big and I don't feel like branching out right now. Master bathroom with the skylight, I'm talking to you.

Last night's dinner was delicious. I made whole wheat tortillas, I made a wonderful salsa from tomato, onion, corn, garlic and lime juice.

I cooked up some brown and wild rice, steamed about 2 cups of spinach leaves in broth with minced onion and made cashew sour cream.

Burrito night.

Roll your own :)

Today for lunch I sauteed some collard greens and minced onion in a 1/2 cup juice from the salsa. When the collard is thoroughly wilted and the onions are translucent I added a tsp of unsweetened cocoa powder and stirred it in until all dissolved. I added another 1/4 cup of water and let it simmer until the liquid was almost gone.

I served it over wild and brown rice with a scoop of "refried" sprouted beans.

When I say "refried" I mean re-heated with a little bit of water.

Today's smoothie was different.
2 Banana
1 big handful dried mint
1/4 cup Dried Kelp
3 tbs flax seed
Plenty of water

MMM-mm-Minty! It smelled just like summer time. I brought a bunch from the old house and planted it here. I sure hope it grows big. I'd like to plant more around the house but I need this bush to grow so I can make more bushes.

Dinner Last Night

2010-03-04T17:12:00.000-08:00

Steamed artichoke, roasted roots and green salad with orange tomatoes.
The featured roots are turnip, parsnip, potato, celeriac, carrot and garlic.

Another Giveaway

2010-03-04T13:25:00.000-08:00

Free stuff Every Where today!

Raw Juice Girl is hosting this one for a $40 gift cert to Sunlight Blvd Natural products.

Book Review: Becoming Raw

2010-03-04T12:27:00.000-08:00

The book is called Becoming Raw: The Essential Guide to Raw Vegan Diets

It is co-authored by:

Brenda Davis a Registered Dietitian and Nutritionist and author of Becoming Vegan and has been a featured speaker at nutrition, dietetic, medical and health conferences throughout the world.
Vesanto Melina a Registered Dietitian, specializing in vegan and raw nutrition and healthful eating.
Rynn Berry a lecturer and author and the historical advisor to the North American Vegetarian Society.

You can find it and purchase it on Amazon.com

When Rick Diamond contacted me and asked me if I wanted a review copy of Becoming Raw I jumped at the chance. So what if I've never reviewed a book before? How hard can it be? I can read. I have and can form new opinions about stuff. I have the internet to give me guidelines, don't I? I have a blog with at least 7 regular readers, right? What can't I do?

Two books for the price of one! The first 249 pages of this 375 page book cover the history of the raw food movement in the United States, the benefits of raw food and very easy to understand and absorb information about nutrition, carbs, fats, vitamins, minerals, acid-base balance and enzymes. There are sections about the many theories and myths associated with nutrition and factually deals with concerns about the safety of such raw foods as buckwheat greens, sprouted legumes and alfalfa, mushrooms and sea vegetables. I would be lying if I didn't say I learned a LOT from this book and want to read it again! They don't rely on anecdotal information. I like that a lot about a book.

The second part of this book is a stand alone cookbook. With staples like smoothies and nut butters; energizing breakfasts like raw granola; snacks foods including crackers, nut pates, raw cheese and dips: delicious lunch ideas like soups, salads and amazing looking dressings; hearty entrees like raw pizza, pasta and Thai spring rolls; scrumptious raw desserts like coconut macaroons and raw vegan tutti frutti ice cream, there are enough easy to follow recipes for any aspiring raw chef to get started with. Blender, dehydrator and food processor are required for some recipes but not all.

I love this book! Not only is the cover just beautiful and the whole book is printed on paper with post consumer recycled content, processed without chlorine, which saved
140 trees
5952 lbs of solid waste
51040 gall of wastewater
11,283 lbs of greenhouse gases
98 million BTW of total energy,

but it's exhaustive, comprehensive and the layout is easy to read and understand.
I have learned so much reading this and I definitely suggest it to any one considering a raw vegan lifestyle.
They give you the facts about raw and cooked food, good or bad, then allow you to come to your own conclusion about whether you want to adopt a raw food diet and to what degree and then give you some simple recipes to get you started.

I'd have to give it 5 hearts ♥♥♥♥♥ I love it that much! Thanks, Rick for turning me on to this book :)

A Raw Cookbook Giveaway

2010-03-04T10:55:00.000-08:00

Earth Mother
Is having a giveaway. Get over there and sign up, why don't ya? You like free stuff, right? Esp Free Raw Vegan Cookbook Stuff!

Cantaloupe Seed Milk Smoothie

2010-03-04T09:32:00.000-08:00

This super easy, ONE ingredient smoothie recipe is one of my all time favorites.
Next time you get a cantaloupe, save the seeds, strings and any little pieces of the meat you have left over.

Store the seeds, etc in an airtight container in the fridge. Sometime in the next few days put the seeds, strings and flesh of the cantaloupe into a blender add a cup or two of water (depending on how thick you want it) and blend until smooth and frothy.

Strain, decant and enjoy.

Groovy Cantaloupe Nutrition Facts

Serving size 1/2 cup, diced (78g)
Amounts Per Serving % Daily Value
Calories 25
Calories from Fat 0
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 10mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 6g 2%
Dietary Fiber 1g 4%
Sugars 6g
Protein 1g
Vitamin A 50%
Vitamin C 50%
Calcium 0%
Iron 0%

Groovy Cantaloupe Warning

I used to not like cantaloupe because I got a stomach ache every time I ate it. Now I know that cantaloupe must be eaten alone. Because it digests so quickly that any other food in the stomach with cantaloupe will cause fermentation of the stomach contents which means, gas, pain, bloating etc. Now when I get a big, ripe aromatic and juicy cantaloupe I mono-feast on the meat one day, save the seed and mono-feast on a creamy seed milk smoothie a couple days later.

I drink this smoothie on an empty stomach and don't eat anything for 4 hours after I finish it. If I combine this with any other foods I get some harsh intestinal difficulties. You might not, I'm just saying. The rule of thumb for me with melon is "Eat it alone or leave it alone".

Stay Groovy.

How to Store Leeks

2010-03-03T13:08:00.000-08:00

This question has been bothering me for a while now. "How do I store leeks so they last longer than a couple of days before they start to get all dried up and while we're at it, so it's not an awkward 2 foot long vegetable taking up valuable real estate in my fridge?"

Today it dawned on me. Why not just store them the way I store all my other leafy greens?

I cut the root end off, cut the leek in half and chopped the halves in half long-ways.

Spread them out on a clean dish towel.

Roll them up in the towel and stick them in a produce bag.

Actually, that is an old bread bag.

Produce is expensive and I HATE wasting food. This method keeps the leaves from touching each other, it keeps them an even moisture all over and it prevents contact with air and will keep your leeks fresh for a week or more and over time save a bundle of cold, hard cash on your grocery bill.

I wrapped these up with out washing and will wash them as I bring them out to use. Some people wash them first when using this method. If you do, make sure you dry them well, because overly wet spots will cause faster spoilage.

Today's Green Smoothie, Glass Dharma, Buckwheat Sprouts

2010-03-03T08:53:00.000-08:00

Banana
Apple
Flaxseed
Red lettuce
Buckwheat sprouts
Renew Me!
Water
Blend it up in the Vitamix

I was worried about storing the glass straws. I want to use them every day but I don't want them in the way where they might get broken, right?

This is where I've decided to keep the Glass Dharma Straws

Simply standing up in a glass in the cupboard.

Leave me a comment and tell me how you store your straws. Oh, and did you get a little brush with yours? I love that little brush. It hangs right by the sink for easy access.

It's snowing!

This is today's smoothie photo. The photo above is yesterday's smoothie.

Buckwheat Sprouts, 4 days.

Buckwheat sprouts nutritional info:
Vitamins A, B, C and E
Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Niacin, Phosphorus, Potassium
All Amino Acids
Protein: 15%

The sprout people can tell you better than I can how to sprout buckwheat groats.

I hope you have a wonderful, happy day! Stay warm and stay vegan!

I am a HealthBlogger!

2010-03-02T15:05:00.000-08:00

I'm not really sure what that means but I'm sure it's good!

http://www.wellsphere.com/judith-anne/175104/posts

There is no content there yet. Well, there might be after I post this Test Post.

Go VEGAN!

February was a good month!

2010-03-02T09:45:00.000-08:00

3/2/10 Blast off!

Grapefruit and orange juice with a GlassDharma straw.

It was a great month, February. I won a couple of contests so that was fun.

I just heard that I won a Bob's Red Mill contest.
I won a Glass Dharma contest. I got four reusable glass straws out of that one. Beautiful, functional and reusable. I got blue, green, red and amber 12mm straight straws. Perfect for a smoothie. The boy drank his apple juice with one but he said it's too big. Fun, though. I don't have to worry about him breaking it because they are made of thick, heat tempered glass. I was actually thinking if anything, the straw might crack the juice glass! If you are a big straw user these are perfect for reducing your waste output with style. They are guaranteed for life so if you do break one, send it back and they will replace it FOR LIFE!

Two Murano glass bracelets at GW, 99c each.

I also found these kick ass slippers at GW for 99c.

They have non-skid spots on the bottom, heh.

Anyway it's been a nice month.

We registered a business name and we'll start working hard on that soon. I'll let you know when we unveil. Exciting stuff.

Oh, and Grant Butler is staying vegan. Yes.

Brussels Sprouts for dinner tonight :)

Dairy Free Indulgence With Purely Decadent

2010-03-01T13:07:00.000-08:00

Today I'm reviewing a non-raw product. I know, Gasp, faint, and drool on the doilies, Aunt Maude! I did the same thing last week with Gimme Lean! What the heck is going on? I'm vegan first, raw second. When I get my hands on vegan products I want to tell you, a vegan, what I, as a mid-low-high raw vegan thinks of them. So there. Oh, and anyone reading who is thinking "I'm not a vegan!" Yes, you are. You just don't know it yet. Stuff like Gimme Lean, and Purely Decadent will help you to realize it. You're welcome :)

I eat a lot of raw fruits and veges in my daily life and rarely eat anything that comes out of a package. Once in a while it's nice to have a treat. A guilty pleasure. A really, really rich and sweet, frozen treat.

In walks Purely Decadent's non-dairy, soy based, frozen dessert. I got a pint of the Peanut butter Zig Zag. (it's on sale at Fred Meyer, 2@$7. Not cheap but worth it for me. A little goes a long way).

"What is so good about this, this... Product?" you might ask and I will quote their website to answer your blunt and scathing question.

It's:

Dairy Free Lactose Free
Less than half the fat of Super Premium Dairy Ice Cream
Contains only 65% of the calories
Cholesterol Free
No Trans Fats
Certified Vegan
Certified Made with Organic Ingredients

Yeah, I know. Those are good qualities, you might say. But what about the FLAVOR? The TEXTURE? the MOUTH-FEEL?

It doesn't have that GREASY feeling that I remember dairy ice cream having but I would be willing to bet someone couldn't tell the difference in a side by side taste test. This stuff is that good.

I like the fact that the entire package is made of paper so I can recycle it. I know there is no getting around the safety seal plastic but at least it isn't a whole plastic lid.

I had the peanut butter zig zag, as I noted before. It's creamy chocolate ice cream with a swirl of peanut butter and chocolate flake. Remember Magic Shell? The swirl in the middle is the consistency of a magic shell crust. It just works. Peanut butter and chocolate and chocolate ice cream? Purely Decadent, indeed.

My opinion? If you must indulge that sweet tooth on some processed frozen dessert, this is a perfect one to choose. Printable coupons, here.

Or you could always have raw soft serve :D

testing disqus comments

2010-03-01T11:25:00.001-08:00

I haven't had this much fun with html since I quit blogging at diaryland :D

Towel Sprouting or Growing Sprouts w/o a Jar

2010-02-28T19:49:00.000-08:00

You can sprout seeds in a towel, too.

This is buckwheat. The sprouts shown are about 2 days old.

Soak seeds for the suggested time and then put about 2 tbs seed in a a damp towel.

Roll it up and fold as shown and place in a glass or some other place where they will be safe and not too warm or cold.

Don't let the cloth dry up but don't soak it, either. Check and re-dampen cloth as needed, twice a day should do it. If the seeds begin to smell sour, rinse thoroughly and re-roll in a fresh clean, damp cloth.

Allow sprouts to grow to your preferred age and eat, eat, eat!

Buckwheat sprouts contain Lysine which is an important amino acid.

Raw Lunch on Friday

2010-02-26T12:03:00.000-08:00

I wrapped some tomato/cucumber salad and sprout salad in collard leaves.
Before:

After:

Reuse. It comes between Reduce and Recycle.

2010-02-26T08:20:00.000-08:00

Being vegan is about reducing unnecessary suffering. I became a vegan as a direct off shoot of my desire to produce zero waste. Food that doesn't come in packages is mostly raw and vegan, really. The no-poo, the paperless kitchen, composting, and a bunch of other stuff are all about putting out less trash.

Reusing things is important. The less we buy new, the less we throw in the landfill.

Today I made a pitcher to hold my kitchen utensils out of an old blender carafe.

I took the bottom ring off the carafe, removed the blade (important!), replaced the blade with a with a small mouth canning jar lid then screwed the ring back on.

Ta-Da!

Leave a comment and tell me about your fabulous DIY Recycling by Reusing projects.

Dinner last night was cabbage and carrots with steamed with cumin, polenta, spinach and a three color tomato and cuke salad. A very good dinner all around.

Chana Masala, Smoothies and Garden Dreaming

2010-02-25T08:19:00.000-08:00

The rutabaga is getting ready to bloom.

I put a tsp of cumin in my smoothie this morning.

Basic smoothie, mustard greens, banana, apple, cucumber, flax seeds and cumin.
Delicious. I hear cumin is supposed to be good for you and I will use any excuse to eat more of it. I love it.

Dinner last night was Chana Masala over brown rice and black quinoa.

That is chopped jalapeno pickle on top which it didn't need, it was quite spicy.

Let's see. I wrote that recipe down somewhere...

Vegetable Chana Masala

1 tablespoon Earth Balance.
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic clove, chopped
1/2 cup chopped parsnip
1/2 cup chopped celery

Grind together 1 tsp each fenugreek and fennel and use
1/2 tsp ground fenugreek and fennel
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/2 roma tomato, finely chopped
1/2 cup water

1 15-ounce can chickpeas, with the liquid
1 teaspoon paprika
Juice of 1/4 lemon

Toss the EB or oil in a skillet set over medium heat. When melted, add the onion, parsnip, celery and garlic and cook until soft and beginning to brown.

Add the fenugreek and fennel, cumin, cayenne, and turmeric.
Stir until combined and cook until the spices are very fragrant.

Stir in the tomatoes and 1/2 cup water until well combined

Add in the chickpeas. Stir until combined, and then bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer.

Add the paprika and lemon juice. Cover and cook at a simmer until it gets thick.

We spent some time designing the garden last night, plotting out what would go where and why.
Tall plants like beans, tomatoes and cukes will go in the back, mid-sized bushy types like peppers and tomatoes and eggplants will got in the middle.
Short stuff like greens, zukes, pumpkin, WATERMELON! and herbs will go in the front.
Very exciting stuff! It doesn't stop freezing until mid June around here. I'm dreaming of spring. We had a pretty decent garden last year and it was just thrown together without much planning. This one is going to be even better.

Earth Mother is having a Giveaway!

2010-02-24T23:38:00.000-08:00

Click here and follow the easy instructions to enter. Trust me, you'll love it!

Dinner Last Night

2010-02-24T08:40:00.000-08:00

A quick and easy dinner.

Green salad with sliced tomato, noodles, mixed veg and gravy.

The vegetable dish is onion and turnip sauteed in olive oil with some Italian seasoning garlic powder. When the onions were soft I added frozen peas and broccoli and some Gimme Lean sausage balls.

I bought a tube of Gimme Lean Sausage . It was on sale. I like to experiment with the analogs when they are on sale or when I get a coupon for them but I don't generally eat them.

This is, however, a very good review of the product. I am extremely happy with the performance. It really keeps its shape no matter what you do to it. Patties, balls, inside ravioli, crumbled in fried potatoes and stir fry, you can do ANYTHING to this and it stays in the shape you put it in. This is a VERY meat-like product. If someone served this to me, as a vegan, I would question it's plant-based status. E likes it a lot, except the sage spice is too strong for his tastes. I feel like if I buried it in the yard and came back in a year it would still be there. But it's delicious. It tastes and has texture just like breakfast sausage.

Conclusion: It works just like sausage in recipes. Great flavor, strong on the sage, nice texture and ease of prep, just shape, heat and eat. If you like sausage, buy this. I'd like to try the regular kind sometime. I think it would be fun to make a meatloaf...

Sprout Salad

2010-02-23T15:32:00.000-08:00

Sprout Salad

1 tbs lentils
1 tbs shelled raw sunflower seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seed

Place all in a jar with mesh lid and add water, 2 inches over the seeds.
Soak 12 hours.
Drain jar and set at an angle so water does not pool which can cause spoilage. The seeds should always be damp, but not be soaking in water.

Rinse no less than once and no more than 3 times a day for as many days as it takes.

Taste the sprouts daily so you can see when they are at peak tastiness for eating.

A view of the jar from the bottom:

Day 1, starting to soak. You can only see the lentils and fenugreek, the SFS are still floating.

Day 2, tails are starting to form. They are bigger now and the SFS are mingling nicely.

Day 3? I don't know what happened on day 3.

Day 4, ready to eat!

When your sprout salad is grown, put a solid lid on it and store it in the fridge.
Cold retards their growth and they will keep up to 7 days in the refrigerator, longer if you rinse them daily.

Sprouts taste best when eaten fresh.

Eggplant for Dinner Last Night

2010-02-23T08:30:00.000-08:00

Every week I make an eggplant for dinner. Every week I freak out all day about what am I going to do with it and then wind up making it pretty much the same way. Sliced and salted/marinated/fried and baked in some kind of sauce. This week was no different but it was especially delicous. Here's what happpened:

Weekly Eggplant Baked in Some Kind of Sauce

Pre-heat oven to 400F and put on a frying pan to heat about the same temp as you would make pancakes. On my electric stove that's about a 4.

Peel and slice one eggplant.
Marinate 1/2 inch eggplant slices in the marinade of your choice. I used the juice from a jar of olives. Really. It was pretty good.

Inspired by a recipe from Elena at Eat Healthy!!! Be Happy!!! Vegan Recipes, I made this batter:

Dip the marinated eggplant slices in the batter one at a time and cook them in the hot, lightly greased skillet pretty much like pancakes. (woo-hoo, I hear it's pancake day again! Color me confused)

Fry the coated slices in well heated cast iron pan until they are crispy on both sides, about 3-4 minutes per side. I used about 2 tsp of olive oil for the whole batch.

Place the fried slices flat in pan and put about 2 tsp of lightly salted fermented seed cheese on top of each one.

You can use whatever kind of vegan creamy style cheese you have around. Raw Ricotta would work well.

Top each slice with 2 tbs or so of marinara. (I used DeCecco Pasta Sauce cuz it was on sale at BigLots! I love finding vegan food at BigLots!) and bake at 400F for about 20 minutes.

Served with red lettuce, sliced tomatoes and a heap of fried potatoes and onions.

You're right, there are no sliced tomatoes on that plate.