Vegan Broccoli Cheese Grits

Posted on February 12, 2013 | 1 comment

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I suppose if living in the south means I have to like grits, then, well, I have no problem with that!  Grits can really hold their own! They can be breakfast (a giant bowl of grits served with a side of toast is a filling & delicious meal) OR they can sit on the sidelines alongside a tofu scramble or biscuits & soysage.   If your kids like broccoli and cheese rice, you have got to try this recipe!!!

If you don’t have nutritional yeast in your pantry yet, it’s time to break down and go buy some! You wont regret it! It’s delicious! I regularly put it on pasta, popcorn & tofu, just to name a few things. Red Star is a popular brand.  Check  your nearest health food store!

I can’t believe that I had never thought of this delicious & easy addition to traditional grits! Adding broccoli not only increases the deliciousness, but adds tons of nutrients and makes the desire to add cheese obsolete! I used to melt soy cheese into my grits, but I can honestly say, THIS is the way I’m eating my grits from now on! It’s healthier and it tastes better! Win-Win! 🙂

Vegan Broccoli “Cheese” Grits

  • 2 cups water
  • 1/2 cup corn grits (yellow or white) (please note: cornmeal is not the same thing as grits)
  • anywhere from 1/2 – 1 cup chopped broccoli (I like to use 1 cup)
  • 2 heaping Tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 2-4 tsp olive oil or soy margarine (I used Earth Balance)
  • 1/2 tsp salt

1 – Combine the water and broccoli in a non-stick saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.

2- Remove from heat and stir in grits with a long-handled wooden spoon. Return to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.

3- Stir well, add remaining ingredients and mix. Devour!

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I enjoyed my grits with some buttered toast & “eggplant” bacon. (Note: the eggplant “bacon”
did NOT turn out as expected! Maybe its just not for me. Or maybe I made it wrong. Next time I’m using my good old reliable tempeh bacon or Smartbacon!)

I saw some new “faux shrimp” recently at the grocery store. It was NOT vegan… It contained egg or something. (It may have been the Yves brand?) It was alongside even more “faux seafood”, which I thought was pretty cool.  If you are vegetarian, you could even make “shrimp & grits”, which is one grit dish I have never had… Honestly, it doesn’t sound very appealing to me… but neither did pineapple on pizza, which is one of my favorite things! (If you ask me, the grocery stores are doing a pretty good job overall keeping up with us vegans! Of course health food stores are still the best places to find what you are looking for, but I was very happy with all the vegan-friendly additions to the natural food section/produce department in the our recently revamped Kroger.)

Man, I wish that all these faux meats were around back when I first went vegetarian! In today’s world, there is really no reason to eat meat! They make being a vegetarian so easy! And more and more stuff is becoming vegan, by demand! Being vegan takes a little more effort – but hey, that’s where I come in, right?!

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African Sweet Potato Soup

Posted on February 6, 2013 | 2 comments

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Mmmm… I really love soup, especially when its cold outside! This is the first time I made this African Sweet Potato Soup with Peanut Butter, Black Eyed Peas and Beans and it turned out so delicious! This soup is also gluten free, and makes a great hearty bowl if you are having company.  This could easily be a New Years dish since it contains black eyed peas… Perhaps next time I make this, I may try adding in some greens!

(I slightly altered the recipe below from the original one here @ the gluten-free goddess. The original recipe also includes jalapeno and cilantro. The jalapeno I decided to leave out because my kids don’t usually care for spicy foods, and the cilantro I left out because I didn’t have any! I also used a white onion instead of a red one. What can I say?…. It still tasted absolutely great!)

I was pleased that my kids tried and (more or less) liked this soup.  My son scooped his bowl clean… I think he could sense that it contained peanut butter (hahaha) which is one of his favorite foods! My daughter wasn’t as big of a fan, but she did finish her bowl for me.  I am a sucker for peanuty soups… especially ones like this. It makes about 4 adult servings. We served ours with a side of coconut jasmine rice, which the kids always love! It would also be great with some cornbread. The peanut butter can be substituted for almond butter or sunflower seed butter if you have allergies.

African Sweet Potato Soup

  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp red or green Thai Kitchen curry paste – hot or mild, to taste
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 medium onion, peeled and diced
  • 4 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
  • 1 large yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced
  • 1 14-0z can black eyed peas, rinsed and drained
  • 1 14-oz can white beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 14-oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 4 cups broth
  • 1/2 cup 100% natural peanut butter + 1/2 cup hot water (to equal 1 cup) I recommend using chunky peanut butter to give it a little  extra texture and crunch in the soup.
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red hot pepper flakes
  • Juice from 1 big lime
  • 2-3 tsp brown sugar (or agave nectar), to taste
  • sea salt and black pepper, to taste

1) Heat the olive oil in a soup pot. Add the curry paste and cinnamon; stir for a minute to mix the pol with spice. Add the onion, garlic, sweet potato, yellow pepper. Stir and cook the veggies for 5-7 minutes, until softened.

2) Add the black-eyed peas, white and black beans, broth, melted peanut butter, red pepper flakes and cilantro.

3) Bring the soup to a high simmer, cover, and lower the heat. Keep the soup on simmer and cook until the vegetables are tender, 25-30 minutes.

4) Stir in the lime juice and sweetener. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with cilantro, if you please!

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This delicious soup is packed with flavor AND protein!

P.S. This soup could easily make a ‘Dinner and a Movie’ night with Disney’s ‘The Jungle Book’.  That was kinda my original plan. My kids love hearing about different places in the world (in this case, Africa) and how different people live  and how our lifestyles are alike or different.  It makes for a great educational conversation!  However, somehow on this night we got sidetracked &  we never got around to putting in the movie!

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Posted in beans, fall, gluten free, soup & stew, Vegan, winter

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VOTE FOR YOUR VEGAN NEIGHBOR!!

Posted on January 29, 2013 | 3 comments

I hope you all have been enjoying reading about my family’s vegan lifestyle on my blog. I’d love to make it into “The Top 25 Vegan & Vegetarian Mom Blogs” this year! Please help me achieve that goal! Just click the button above – That’s it! No signing up required!  PLEASE NOTE:  you can vote once every 24 hours through February 7th!

UPDATE: So, I think I finished at #27 or 28 this year… I’ll make it next year! I have really enjoyed sharing meals and my tidbits about my life with you all and I hope to see the number of my followers continue to grow! Hopefully just being on the list brought more viewers to my blog… and towards a kinder diet. Afterall, the whole point of my blog is to encourage you to bring more vegetables (& less or no meat) into your life!

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Fezzik’s (Get Well) Seitan Stew with Dumplings (aka Thieves Forest Stew)

Posted on January 14, 2013 | 1 comment

Check out our favorite ‘Dinner and a Movie’ night ever! If you haven’t seen Rob Reiner’s movie ‘The Princess Bride’ (based on the book by William Goldman) you are seriously missing out!!  The movie came out in 1987 and it still remains one of my favorite movies in the world! It is also one of the most quoted movies ever!

Click HERE to read all about this inconceivably awesome movie and meal!

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KISS YOU?.. AS YOU WISH!!

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Posted in dinner and a movie, seitan, soup & stew, Vegan, vegetables, winter

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Don’t Forget to Breathe

Posted on January 9, 2013 | Leave a comment

The first few days of this New Year have been good to me. Not that you would know, because I am already behind on my blogging! But I’m not gonna be down on myself for it – one cannot realistically be expected to tackle ones list of resolutions 100% straight away…  As much as I can help it, from this moment on, my life isn’t gonna be controlled by my to-do lists (which I am a master maker of)… I’m truly going to try to live this year “one day at a time” and enjoy my every minute. For what else is there?… yesterday? (yesterday is gone)… tomorrow? (tomorrow hasn’t happened yet, and maybe it wont, so stop worrying about it!)… And SO… that leaves us with – (drum roll please)… the present moment!! And at the rate my kids are growing, if I’m not paying attention every minute, they will be grown and gone before I know it!

As busy people often do, don’t neglect the little things in life. It IS the little things in life that make up our lives!  Don’t kid yourself. Those little things aren’t  little at all. They make a huge difference in your happiness! I cant even tell you how many mothers have told me this advice (which I have worded to my liking): “stop cleaning house and go play house!”. When your kids are grown, they most likely won’t be thinking, “Oh, my house was always a mess when I was a kid”. It’s more probable they will think, “My mom was always cleaning up instead of playing with me”. Houses will always get messy, but your kids will only be kids for so long.

I just started reading some thought-provoking material last night (The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, if you must know) that has really made me more aware of  how to create the kind of world I want to live in (and I only read chapter one!).  No matter who we are or what we believe, in all of our many religions, beliefs, races, colors, shapes and sizes we all exist in, even though we may appear so different, in our core being, we are all the same.  I’m just reminding you because it is so easy to forget! All of our different resolutions really just sum up to the same resolution, the same answer, which is… making ourselves and our world a better place.

As we all know, energy can be neither created or destroyed. So each time you even just THINK something negative, you might as well be hurling a ball of negativity right out there into your breathing space to bounce around FOREVER. (Add in the ripple effect… and whoa – you better watch out!) Now, I don’t usually walk around imagining everything as flowing balls of energy, but I’m gonna give it a try sometimes!

I heard Oprah say this quote once – she has it hung on the door to her office or bedroom – “Be responsible for the energy you bring into this room”. I love that quote. Its simple, yet it says so much. I’m going to write that somewhere today where I will see it every day.  I also like Jane Fonda’s quote (as heard multiple times in her workout videos), “Don’t forget to breathe.”

So far this year (in its 9 days), I discovered that one of my favorite bloggers, Vegan Dad, is calling it quits. He seems like a very busy guy, though, and I have NO idea how he even was able to make time for a blog to begin with! (Thanks for reminding me that I need to step it up, Vegan Dad!). I urge you to check out his vast collection of vegan recipes. I will probably be trying many more of them myself soon!

Another fantastic bit of news I heard this morning, David Bowie is releasing his first studio album in 10 years. I am literally about to dance out of my chair right now just at the thought of him possibly going on tour. It is really great cause my kids love his music too, they actually request it to be played when I ask what they want to listen to. They also just recently watched (and loved) the Jim Henson movie ‘Labyrinth’, in which he plays Jareth, the Goblin King. (My daughter says to me “Mommm… the goblin kind is sooooo handsome!!” Hahaha!)

So, I really felt the need to get my thoughts in order before posting a new recipe! I feel a Dinner & a Movie coming on… perhaps it will be… Labyrinth?! Or perhaps not… the kids just got a bunch of new Disney movies for Christmas!! I’ll keep you guessing 😉

Don’t forget about your inner child! Go play!! (Yes, this is me!)

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Christmas Gingerbread Cookies… & Chewbacca too.

Posted on December 21, 2012 | 1 comment

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So this is Christmas… and what have you done? Another year over, a new one just begun…

I really can’t believe another year has come and gone.  Every year, each of us have personal resolutions, goals to achieve, things we want to cross off our to-do lists or our bucket lists… but what have we really achieved as a whole? Are we kinder people? Are we living the lives we were meant to?  Are we believing in and helping each other? These are among the questions I am personally asking myself on the eve of a new year. I don’t mean to give myself a hard time, but I can’t help but feel there is always more that can be done.  There is always more a heart can grow (remember that the Grinch’s heart grew 2 sizes just in one day alone!), more a soul can aspire to, and there is always more help that can be given!

I hope to do more volunteering and things to benefit others this year. I really respect my mom for doing Habitat for Humanity every Saturday. I can tell how very fulfilling it is to her. She just returned from a trip to Haiti where she helped build several houses. (I’m so proud of you, mama!)

One of my goals this year will be to blog more often, since I believe that eating vegan & sharing these recipes is definitely as step towards living a kinder life in general. I also want to play more music (namely the ukulele, guitar and the piano) and letting my emotions out through art.  I used to achieve those two goals rather easily before I had children, but now, my kids take up a lot of my free time. (Even though “more sleep” should be on my list for the upcoming year, I may end achieving more of my resolutions by going to bed later & getting up earlier! I have been meaning to see more sunrises…) What are some of your dreams for the next year?

Anyway, enough jibber jabber. I think I know what you are really here for… (oh- one more thing- sorry about the annoying blue-highlighted drop down ads. They are NOT there by my choice!)

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No kid can turn down a Wookie-cookie!!  Just try!!

“Traditional” Gingerbread Cookies

These “traditional” gingerbread cookies are easy and yummy. And since they contain molasses, they are high in iron – which makes them the perfect cookie for little vegans! I put “traditional” in quotations because I’m not sure how “traditional” Chewbacca gingerbread cookies are! This is our first time making them, but they will surely be a X-mas tradition in our house from now on! (We got Star Wars cookie cutters & pancake molds from Williams-Sonoma as an early Christmas gift.) This dough cuts best when cold, so roll it out in sections and keep the rest refrigerated until your ready to use it!

  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 1/3 cup soy milk
  • 2  1/2 cups unbleached flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp ginger
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp cloves
  • for icing: 1 cup powdered sugar + 2 tsp soy milk

1) In a large bowl, stir together the oil, sugars, molasses and soy milk.

2) Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and mix until well combined.

3) Collect the dough into a ball, or 2-3 flattened discs, and wrap in parchment or plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

4) Preheat the oven to 350. Roll out the dough. Make it thin for crispy cookies or make it thicker for chewier softer cookies.

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Here are our Chewbacca cookies, before baking.

5) Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for 9 minutes (for soft and chewy) to 12 minutes (for thin & crispy).  Transfer to wire rack and cool. Ice the cookies when cooled.

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To make icing: mix the powdered sugar and soy milk in a plastic baggie by massaging it around until it is thick like toothpaste consistency. Then cut off a tiny tip of one of the corners and ice those cookies! Then sit them aside until they the icing hardens.

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There is (what I’m sure is) another great gingerbread cookie recipe here. Also, these sugar cookies are easy and great for any occasion. We will be making them in a day or two. I am also hoping to get around to making some of these cookie jars & these coffee fudge brownie jars as gifts! Mmmmm!!

With all the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping and things to do, it’s easy to forget that Christmas is the season of giving… so be sure to spread love, kindness, & peace on earth everywhere you go. Make it your mission to remind others who may have forgotten… It IS a wonderful life!!

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Posted in baking, cakes & cookies, child's play, desserts, holidays, Vegan, winter

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Mint Chocolate Chip Muffins

Posted on December 5, 2012 | 1 comment

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I don’t know if it’s the cold weather, Christmas or WHAT that makes me start to crave peppermint.  Peppermint tea, candy canes, mint chocolate chip ice cream, mint chocolate cookies… and in the olden days, Girl Scouts Thin Mints (which sadly are NOT vegan). You know, people think you have to give up SO much to be a vegan… Well, I have given this a lot of thought and I don’t think that is true at all. Sure, I did have to give up some things.. but then again, no, I didn’t…  What I actually gave up was convenience. If I want a thin mint now, I have to work for it by baking my own. But to me, that is the best part about being vegan (besides making the planet a cleaner and kinder place) – being in the kitchen more, eating better ( & usually healthier) homemade food, sharing time making something with my family.  There are so many memories that can be created in the kitchen. It’s one of my favorite places to spend time with my kids, whether they are coloring at the table or trying to help me mix & bake. There’s something magical about creating food, no matter what it may be. Putting ingredients in a bowl and watching it change and turn into something else… it IS magic!

Which brings me back to these awesome muffins.  They are kind of like magic too – just a taste of one makes me smile! I love chocolate… I love mint… I love muffins – and these muffins bring all my favorite things together! (Now only if I could add some coffee in there!) Note: These are NOT cupcakes. They are without a doubt muffins, but they are the sweetest most chocolatey delicious muffins. Perhaps they should be called… dessert muffins?

Sometimes I need to remind myself why I started this blog. I love sharing all kinds of recipes, but sometimes I forget that not everybody has arrowroot flour, flaxseeds and nutritional yeast in their kitchens (though I highly recommend stocking your cabinet)! But seriously… the most important reason I’m doing this blog is to show others that PRACTICALLY ANYTHING CAN BE MADE VEGAN.  (It’s actually pretty easy to find vegan versions of those special treats, like vegan Twinkies or “Fauxstess” Cupcakes!) My goal is to find a good middle ground – where the food is on the healthy side but is also allowing the “everyman” (aka non-vegans) to be able to cook my recipes without too much fuss.  So, I hope I’m more or less achieving my goal and that you are enjoying the recipes you find here!

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Mint Chocolate Chip Muffins

FYI – the crushed candy cane topping is going to melt onto the muffin tops, which leaves a nice crunchy minty delicious muffin top! I suppose if you left it really chunky it may leave some pretty red/white spots as well. I like to dust the tops of mine with powdered sugar for a snowy effect!  Oh – and if you want these extra chocolatey, I recommend using chocolate soy or almond milk!!

You will need:

  • 1  3/4 cup unbleached flour
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 6 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 12/ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 tsp Ener-G-Egg Replacer* + 4 Tbsp water (the equivalent to 2 eggs)
  • 1 cup non-dairy milk
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 1 tsp mint extract
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips (opt)
  • 1 crushed candy cane for sprinkling on top
  • powdered sugar for dusting on top

(*Ener-G-Egg Replacer can be found in most supermarkets! It is in a yellow box, usually in the “healthy” section. This stuff is great for replacing eggs in baking.)

Preheat oven to 400 F.

1) Sift flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.

2) In a medium bowl, whisk together the “egg” vigorously.  Add the oil and milk and mint extract.  Whisk well. Add the liquids to the dry, stirring just enough to combine. Fold in the chocolate chips.

3) Spoon into the muffin pans, filling them 3/4 full. Sprinkle the tops with crushed candy cane. Bake 15-17 minutes until a toothpick or knife inserted in center comes out clean.

4) Let sit for 5 minutes then remove to cool on a wire rack.

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Getting ready to bake… the candy cane will melt and make a nice sweet crunchy top!

Variation: If you want a chocolate muffin without the mint, simply leave out the mint extract. (Use chocolate milk for extra chocolatey-richness.) Add to the dry mixture 2 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp cloves. Add 1/2 cup chopped nuts if desired! I made them this way first and they were great!

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Here is a close up where you can see some bigger pieces of candy cane bits that made it through the baking process, giving it some pretty red specks!

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Mmm! Yummy candy cane bits!

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Posted in baking, breads, breakfast, desserts, holidays, muffins, Vegan, winter

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Vegan Brownies

Posted on November 25, 2012 | 1 comment

I lucked out and got this vegan baking book for free on my kindle recently! This recipe is from the book ‘Vegan Baking Classics’ by Kelly Rudnicki. The book describes these brownies as “a nice balance of fudgy and cakey” that “tastes like rich chocolate”. I think that description was right on the money. This is the first recipe I made out of this book and we all agreed… these brownies were good! 🙂

I can’t help it… I am and have always been a major sweet lover. My kids apparently inherited this trait. Hopefully, they will inherit more of my good traits than my bad ones! Being a parent, its easy to worry too much- you worry about your kids growing up right, if they will make friends easily, you worry about them getting enough exercise, you worry about if they will be kind to others and grow up to become good law-abiding citizens (just to name a few things). I guess that is one reason why I always find myself trying to find ways to make things a little “healthier” (such as using applesauce in place of oil, forgoing shortening or butter when a healthier alternative can be used)…  However, you mustn’t forget that some treats are simply meant to be eaten sparingly and when the occasion arises, one should perhaps just  “let it be”, and celebrate being alive by indulging in something that is… indulgent!

Chocolate Chip Brownies

  • 1/2 cup dairy free shortening (I use Spectrum vegetable shortening)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup silken xtra-firm tofu (I use Mori Nu, which is often found on the store shelves with Asian foods, not in the refrigerated section)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup dairy free mini chocolate chips
  • powdered sugar for dusting

In a mixer bowl with a fitted paddle attachment, beat the shortening, sugar, tofu and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt with a whisk. Add the flour mixture to the shortening mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips with a rubber spatula. Don’t worry – If your mix is very thick, you are doing it right! (You can also stir in some chopped walnuts here if you want!)

Preheat oven to 350 and spread the batter in a sprayed 8×8″ square baking dish. (Like I said, it will be very thick, so you literally have to spread it out as evenly as possible.) Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick/knife comes out of the center clean. Cool completely and dust with powdered sugar. Cut into 9 squares and serve!

Enjoy me with a nice glass of cold soy milk!!

This is my first time making brownies using silken tofu… but it won’t be the last!  I love trying new sweets. In fact, it is hard to keep myself from baking only sweets sometimes! I have always eaten pretty healthy, especially since I went vegetarian (and even more so after becoming vegan… and even more since becoming a mom!). Being a mom has also made me try new things more often since kids can be pretty picky! (Thanks kiddos!)

** THE QUICK FIX **  If you are in a hurry and don’t have time to make homemade brownies (though I find in my experience it is best MAKE time for homemade goodies),  Cherrybrook Kitchen has a great selection of mixes for brownies, cakes and more! Most of their mixes are gluten-free & vegan… and did I mention delicious? Duncan Hines’ California Walnut Brownie mix is also vegan.

Stay tuned… I’m starting to think about what muffins, cookies and breads will make it into my Christmas goody bags this year! Any suggestions are welcome!

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Getting ready for the Big Thanksgiving Feast!

Posted on November 18, 2012 | 2 comments

Somehow, Thanksgiving has snuck up on me this year!! I’m sorry I haven’t shared more recipes with you, but I did provide some links below to some of the things I will be making and more!

We are having a family feast for 21 this year on Thanksgiving day at my mom’s, so I decided to pitch in and bring a few things to help out! Plus, since many others at the feast are not vegan, it’s fun to bring a few dishes to show everyone that vegan cooking is incredibly delicious! It just so happens I have a  3-pot crock-pot cooker, so I chose dishes that would work with that. Another great thing about using a crock pot is that I won’t need to use the busy oven at my mom’s for reheating anything – I can easily heat things up just by plugging it in and stirring every now and then! You can’t beat that!

So, here’s what I’m bringing to share…

  • 1) my vegan pumpkin pie
  • 2) vegan macaroni and cheese (my moms mac-n-cheese recipe, veganized)
  • 3) maple pecan sweet potatoes (from the cookbook ‘Vegan Holiday Kitchen’ by Nava Atlas)
  • 4) and something I like to call “Green beans a’la Terry” (a recipe from my friend and old co-worker, Terry, who works at the Grit, my favorite vegetarian restaurant in Athens, GA)

Sorry – I haven’t put any of those recipes listed above on my blog (except for the pumpkin pie)! But don’t sweat it – there are TONS of recipes online that have been making me drool! Here are some recipes that I thought looked awesome from some other sites that I wanted to share!

  • The Post Punk Kitchen has an awesome looking maple pecan pie I am planning on making if I can squeeze it in… and there are many more holiday dishes to peruse here! Check out the Thanksgiving page.
  • Mmmm. We just made these scalloped potatoes tonight. We made them (minus the fennel) and they were spectacular! Definitely making these again!

  • The Gluten-free Goddess always has an amazing list of holiday friendly foods. Check out her list vegan and vegetarian foods here!
  • And don’t forget about Vegan Dad. He makes some amazing food! I have a “must-try” list accumulated from his blog site!
  • Another good site to explore is Alicia Silverstone’s Kind Life website. Full of good recipes and other veggie news!

If you are new to my blog, you may have missed some previous veggie side dishes that are great for the holidays, such as my lemon maple sweet potatoes, cauliflower mashed potatoes , butternut squash soup, green bean casserole, maple roasted parsnips, agave glazed carrots,… and these pot roast veggies cook up beautifully and easily with a tofu-turkey roast.

You definitely don’t need a turkey to have a delicious holiday meal, but if you need or crave that “meaty” centerpiece, I recommend the Tofurkey roast (available at most supermarkets) or a Field Roast.  Or you can make your own homemade tofu roast (which is a bit more complicated but worth the effort). The Post Punk Kitchen makes a yummy looking seitan roast on their Thanksgiving page (see link above). Regardless of what foods you choose to make, remember the purpose of the holiday is to relax and enjoy the company of those around you!

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Posted in dinner, fall, holidays, Vegan, vegetables, winter

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Vegan White Sausage Gravy & Biscuits

Posted on November 10, 2012 | 2 comments

When the weather starts to get chilly, there is nothing like a big bowl of biscuits & gravy to warm you up from the inside out. I wish I could bring this to everyone affected by the early winter weather storms we’ve had this year. Hopefully you don’t think biscuits and gravy are just a “southern thing”… If you’ve never had a good meal of biscuits & gravy, you are missing out on one of the best comfort foods out there!

This is a meal packed with protein that both kids and adults can enjoy. It makes a great breakfast, lunch or dinner when served over these vegan buttermilk biscuits.

Vegan Sausage White Gravy (“Scarborough Fair style”)

(‘Scarborough Fair style’ contains parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme)

  • 1 tube Lightlife GimmeLean Soysage
  • 2-3 Tbsp olive oil (to saute soysage and onion)
  • 2 Tbsp soy margarine (like Earth Balance)
  • 1/2 – 3/4 large yellow or white onion, minced
  • 1/2 cup unbleached flour
  • 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
  • 3 cups soymilk, plus up to another cup (to thin gravy as it thickens)
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 1 tsp each parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

1) Brown the soysage in a big skillet over medium-high heat with a little olive oil by chopping it into bits with your spatula while it cooks. Once it is chopped into bits and browned,  move it into a separate bowl and set aside.

2) In the same skillet, saute the chopped onion in a bit of oil until translucent. Then add the soysage back in there with the onion and mix them together.

3) Add in the flour and soy margarine to the skillet, mixing well until everything is mixed together thoroughly. Turn heat down to medium.

4) Add in 3 cups of soymilk and stir. Add the herbs & spices. Continue cooking and stirring while it thickens, adding in the last cup of soymilk bit by bit as necessary, until desired thickness is achieved (though once the gravy is pretty hot and getting thick, turn down the heat down to simmer/warm).  Serve over top of these buttermilk biscuits.

Mmmmm…. gravy!

I can’t believe Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away! I know most of us are looking forward to making (or eating!) our Thanksgiving day meals. Perhaps you are making your tried and true recipes, or perhaps you are looking to try something new… either way, I hope we all remember that the point of this upcoming holiday is to bring us all together, to overlook faults & shortcomings and to simply enjoy each others company as we share time on this precious earth together. 🙂

In my opinion, a really good Thanksgiving meal is about enjoying a collection of many different dishes… maybe the turkey is a big part of that to you, but in my family, we celebrate our gratitude by acknowledging that for us, a sacrifice is not a necessary component  on the table. The way I see it, there are enough sacrifices that each of make in our daily lives… this is one day we shouldn’t have to sacrifice anything! It is a day to enjoy, appreciate and be grateful for all that is in existence… every plant, every animal… and every person! That being said, Thanksgiving recipes will be forthcoming!

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