1 cup flour
¾ cup rolled oat
½ cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp ground ginger
1/3 cup vegan butter or margarine
¼ cup of your favorite nut butter (I used peanut butter)
2 egg replacers
½ tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips (you can add more if you want)
¼ cup walnut (optional)
Directions
Preheat your oven at 350 mix everything together in a bowl. Scope about tablespoon amount and shape them into patties. place them on a cookie sheet, and bake for about 12-15 minutes. Mine took a bit more my cookie sheet is really think. Also I started the broiler for about a minute to give the top a golden color (but you can skip this part)
* This was inspired by the Sarah Kramer nutty oatmeal raisin cookies, I just made few changes. If you switch the chocolate chips for raisins that’s great too.
Ingredients:
• 2 oz vegan butter I used earth balance but I talked about substitutes in the video
• 1 finely minced onion
• A bunch of Asparagus
• 1-2 clove minced garlic
• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (optional)
• 7-8 cups vegetable broth (or water or better than chicken bouillon with water)
• 1/3 cup Nutritional yeast
Directions:
• Place broth in a large sauce pot and keep over low heat. and use a ladle to add liquids.
• Steam your asparagus and when cutting separate the tips then cut the rest into about 1” pieces
• Heat a sauté pan over medium high heat. Add vegan butter and sauté the onion until soft and translucent. Add garlic and sauté about 2 minutes. Stir in rice and sauté about 5 minutes.
• Add wine and let slowly cook down a couple minutes. Add your first ladle of veggie broth to the pan. Keep stirring continuously, adding a ladle at a time when the previous ladle of liquid cooks off.
• About more than half way through your liquids add the lower part of your asparagus spears and continue to add more liquid
• Once it gets close to the desired consistency add the spear tips and stir.
• After about 25 minutes. you want it to be soft, but still firm. Stir in the nutritional yeast and fresh cracked pepper.
• Note: if you only use water add some salt but if you use broth I think there’s enough salt in the broth
I went grocery shopping the other day and they had Portobello mushrooms on sale. I grabbed a package and I figured I love mushrooms and I can definitely use them for something. Once it got close to dinner time I decided to use them to create a grilled eggplant and mushroom sandwich. It turned out great and it was a real hit with everybody.
Ingredients:
Large Portobello mushrooms
1 Eggplant sliced into thin round slices
Olive oil
Vegan mayo
Sundried tomatoes
Salt & pepper
Whole grain bread or whole grain wrap
Directions:
Brush the eggplant slices and mushrooms with olive oil, pop them on the grill keep an eye on them since it only takes about 5-10 minutes before you have to flip them on the other side. Once they reach to the desired “doneness” which is not even a word but you get what I’m trying to say. Take them off the grill. Chop the sun dried tomatoes and mix with your vegan mayo. While doing that toast your whole grain bread then spread the mayo mix and layer your mushrooms and eggplants, salt and pepper to taste. Do an angle cut, and vuala an easy light dinner.
You can get creative add some pesto, greens, balsamic vinegar, or vegan cheese if you want
Note: you can definitely cook the eggplants and mushrooms in your oven
Yesterday my brother (who is also a vegan & visiting from California) and I went shopping. As always, we had to stop by the frozen vegetarian section and watch the jimmy dean sausages invading that small vegetarian section. We started talking about the Morningstar farm riblets and that we’d never tried it. So we both decided it was time to take a chance on the riblets as they seem to be popular. We went back home made mashed potatoes and some gravy. It was a special feast considering that the last time I made mashed potatoes was last summer for a dinner party.
I took the riblets out of the packaging, they looked interesting *. I prepared them in the microwave according to directions. Then we sat down said our thanks to the cook and started eating. The texture was good but the sauce was extremely sweet (more like a dessert). In other words, I was not impressed, I turned toward my brother and asked what he thought and he said “the potatoes are really good, love the gravy too. But not a fan of the riblets” of course I have to mention the part of him liking the potatoes n’ gravy since I actually fixed them
In a nut shell it’s not my cup of tea, but you’ll never know until you try. You might want to try them if care for really sweet barbecue sauce. However, a sandwich might be a better option, since it might tone the sweetness down.
* The package has 2 riblets and retails around $4.50 if you want to try it catch it on sale 3 for 10 or something
Say Goodbye to store bought stir-fry sauce
As we all know finding vegan stir-fry sauce could be quite challenging. However, when you do find some, there’s an interesting combination of preservatives and things I can’t even pronounce with a nice, pricy tag. Now feel free to Judge me all you want, but I’m going to say it “I love my stir fry Saucy!” and that scrawny little bottle is not going to do me any good.
I did a little research and some testing. My brother gladly accepted to be my guinea pig. Finally, the result was a very simple good sauce recipe and we’re going to call it
Basic Stir Fry Sauce
Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp. sesame oil
1tbs minced garlic
1 ½ tbs minced ginger
1/ 2 cup vegetable broth
3 Tbs. soy sauce
1 Tbs. brown sugar
½ tsp of lime of lemon juice
1/ 4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp cornstarch
1 Tbs. rice wine or sherry (optional if not just use water)
Red crushed pepper, sambal,
Directions:
Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the ginger and garlic and saute for 30 second over medium heat to bring out the flavor and the great aroma. Dissolve the corn starch in the rice wine and save it for later. Add the vegetable broth and all the other ingriedents. Bring just to a boil. Whisk the corn starch into the sauce. Heat until sauce thickens and reaches a full boil. Simmer for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and set aside. Of course, the next time you purchase some spaghetti sauce in a glass jar. Save the jar and reuse it to save the extra sauce
I’m not much of a writer, so please bear with me as this is my first Blog.
A few days ago I came down with a horrible cold. I’ll spare you the unattractive details about my cold lol. Between being hungry and dehydrated, the answer seemed obvious; I NEEDED a hearty bowl of vegetable soup.
I made my way to the kitchen, pulled out some ingredients, and started cooking my “vegetable barley soup”. Before we go any further, as my southern friends say, I want “ya’ll” to know how much of a life saver this soup is. First it’s insanely easy to make; second with a few little adjustments you can make it your own; and last you can make a gigantic pot and freeze it in little containers. You will definitely appreciate it when that busy day comes along and you would reach for the homemade frozen veg soup rather than some unhealthy alternative out of the frozen isle in your supermarket. Don’t get me wrong we all go for that junky food sometimes because we crave it, but I’d rather spare my body the trauma when it’s a matter of being busy.
Ingredients:
1 tbsp Olive oil
1 zucchini
½ lb frozen green beans (feel free to use fresh)
1/3 lb frozen corn
1 lb frozen carrots and peas
1 chopped onion
3 minced gloves of garlic
1 potato (I used 1 medium size red potato)
A hand full of chopped fresh Italian parsley
About 6 cups of vegetable broth (you can use 50:50 water and broth) add more liquid according to your preference
½ cup of tomato sauce
1 chopped tomato or ½ can of chopped tomato.
½ -¾ cup pearled barley
Some dried Italian herbs (basil, oregano …etc)
Salt and pepper to taste
Direction:
Quite simple, chop everything. Try to chop them about the same size. Then, on medium high heat sauté the onions in some olive oil. Add garlic, and toss them for a couple of seconds then add potatoes and the rest of your vegetables. Stir, then add the rest of the ingredients and season. Once it starts boiling turn the stove down to medium low and let it simmer covered for about 30-40 minutes give it a little taste test adjust and serve it with whole grain bread.
