Recipes

Just a note about recipes...I have been so busy lately with getting stuff ready for our upcoming school year, that I just haven't found the time to post recipes for the last couple of posts. If you see a picture in a post and the recipe isn't posted, just let me know and I will be happy to send along the recipe!

Snow peas and Thai Tofu Salad

I really love snow peas but don't often get to have them because they are so expensive. I have loved having snow peas in my tower garden this year!

I added some to my favorite Thai Tofu Salad and they were delicious!

Kale!!

I love my tower garden so much and it has exploded with growth over the past couple of weeks. I daily have the pleasure of harvesting kale or basil or lettuce or snow peas or green beans!  Though we don't like the dinosaur kale quite as much as the curly kale, both are delicious and fresh.

My first kale harvest was a little overwhelming...it filled my kitchen sink! Yum!

The other day I had a craving for some kale salad and it made me so happy to step out onto the deck and cut off a pan-full of fresh kale to satisfy my palate!

Vegan 4th of July!

I love the 4th of July! We usually don't do anything real exciting but it generally tends to be a fun day of cooking up red, white and blue taste delights, clothing the kiddos in super cute outfits and having a BBQ as a fam. This year was no exception!

We started off the morning with waffles and a tri-fruit combo of strawberries, bananas, and blueberries.

My cute boys in their festive outfits!

I was quite impressed with the dessert I devised this year - a Dark Chocolate Mousse Pie with Fresh Berries! Heavenly!

The boys decided they didn't want their dessert to be quite so chocolate-y (imagine!) so when I whipped the tofu in the food processor, I spooned out some of the creamy mousse before it had been blended fully with the chocolate. The result was cute little cups of chocolate-vanilla swirled mousse. I topped theirs with berries as well!

Ended our day with a BBQ dinner eaten on the porch!

Fresh Salsa!

I love summer! Since spring and fall are such short seasons around here, summer is probably my favorite season of the year. One of the very best parts of summer, in my opinion, is the abundance of fresh produce at local farmers markets. I frequent several in our area and sometimes end up going to the farmers markets 2-3 times a week! I love fresh fruits and veggies!! This past Saturday, the boys and I headed to the market and picked up fresh tomatoes and jalepenos to make fresh salsa to eat as a treat along with our fresh tortilla chips (also a farmers market find!). I used my food processor to blend fresh tomatoes, jalepenos, cilantro, lime juice, garlic powder, sea salt, minced dried onion (I can't do raw), and a few homemade pickled peppers from last year's garden.

The results were fresh, summery and delicious!!!

Sizzling Szechuan Beefless and Broccoli...Brussels Sprout Chips...Vegan Meat Lovers Pizza...Vegan Loaded Veggie Pizza

I must say, I love Gardein! I think they make the most fabulous meat substitutes and recently they have come out with so many new items. I love that the ingredients in Gardein are delicious foods rather than a huge list of things I can't even pronounce. I recently picked up a bag of Sizzling Szechuan Beefless Strips.

I cooked it according to the package instructions but I also added a bunch of fresh broccoli to the pan (which is shown in the picture on the package but not included in the package). I served it over sticky rice and it was AMAZING!! My hubby (who absolutely loves Chinese food) said it was the best Chinese food ever and that it was every bit as good as any restaurant Chinese dish! SCORE!! It was really amazing and a new family favorite. My boys loved it too!!

I am always on the lookout for a good Brussels sprouts recipe and I came across a recipe for Brussels Sprouts chips and decided it was a must-try. Though a time-consuming dish, it truly is delicious and loved by all three of my boys! I modified the recipe a bit and these things are delicious! All you have to do is cut the stems off your sprouts and then peel the leaves off layer by layer (thus the time-consuming part). Once you have a sufficient amount of leaves (they cook down so I would recommend doing at least a pound of sprouts. The bigger the sprouts the better for this dish), drizzle them with oil and a sprinkle of sea salt and nutritional yeast. Then bake them at 400 degrees for 15 min or so - if you want them crispier, you might want to cook longer.

 The other day I decided pizza sounded really good and I wanted to make some creative ones. I had some leftover onion/poppy seed roll dough in the fridge that I used as the crust. I made the crust thin so it would crisp up nicely. On one pizza I spread pizza sauce over it and then layered it with Lightlife Pepperoni, Field Roast Italian Sausage and Tofurky Polska Kielbasa (all sliced and browned in a bit of oil beforehand). On the second pizza I spread a layer of balsamic reduction (1 cup balsamic vinegar simmered for 20 min on low until it becomes a syrup and then mixed with 1 T maple syrup) over the dough and then layered it with artichoke hearts, chickpeas, and pine nuts - a funny sounding combo but it was delicious! I baked them both at 425 for about 10-15 min until the crust was browned. Yum! Once again, loved by all!

 

Tower Garden Harvest and Mandarin Peanut-Crunch Salad with Crispy Wontons

One of my favorite purchases last year was my Juice Plus Tower Garden. It is the most incredible way to grow veggies (and fruit if you choose) that are delicious, low maintenance, and yield a lot of produce!! This year I am growing peas, green beans, basil, lettuce, tomatoes (cherry and heirloom), dinosaur kale and curly green kale (multiples of everything). My tower is doing amazingly well this year and I got to harvest my first bunch of lettuce yesterday.

Of course fresh lettuce gave me the perfect opportunity to serve delicious salads for dinner!

Making crispy wontons

I tried out the Mandarin Peanut-Crunch Salad with Crispy Wontons from Chloe's Kitchen, with many modifications! It turned out fresh and delicious!

Mandarin Peanut-Crunch Salad with Crispy Wontons (modified from Chloe's Kitchen)

Dressing: 1/4 cup vinegar (I used white because it's all I had)
2 T canola oil
2 T brown sugar
1 T agave
2 t orange zest
1 1/2 t sriracha sauce

Mix ingredients together and set aside
Wontons:
Gyoza wrappers
canola oil
Place 10 gyoza wrappers on a cookie sheet coated with cooking spray. Use a pastry brush to lightly brush oil on surface of each wrapper. Flip wrappers and repeat on opposite side. Cut eat wrapper into strips using a pizza cutter. Bake at 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes or until crisp. Set aside.

Salad:

4 oz lettuce of choice
2 cups green cabbage
2 carrots, peeled and shredded or julienned
1 11oz can mandarin oranges, drained
1/2 cup peanuts
1/2 cup shelled, cooked edamame

Mix salad ingredients in a bowl and toss. Pour dressing over salad and toss to combine. Top with crispy wontons.

Quadruple Berry Pie...Thai Tofu Salad...Chick-un and Bean Vegan Enchiladas

This year I made a berry pie for my Birthday and it was delicious! I think it was the best berry pie I have ever made! It is such an easy recipe and there is no added sugar - and of course no artificial sugar either!

Quadruple Berry Pie
3 cups frozen mixed berries (blackberry, blueberry, raspberry blend)
1 can frozen 100% juice concentrate ( I used Apple Raspberry - you can use cranberry or a cranberry blend also. I have never tried it with just plain apple juice...don't think orange juice would be good either!)
10-12 whole fresh strawberries, washed, de-stemmed and cut in half
Cornstarch to thicken
1 single pie crust (recipe below)

Pie Crust
1 1/2 cups flour
1 /2 t salt
1/2 cup canola oil
2 T soy or almond milk

 Set aside 1/2 cup of the juice concentrate. Add mixed berries and remaining concentrate in a saucepan and heat until bubbly. Mix 3-4 T of cornstarch into concentrate that you set aside until smooth. Slowly stir into berry mixture until thick and bubbly. If mixture isn't thick enough, mix another tablespoon of cornstarch with a tablespoon of water and slowly stir in. Remove from heat as soon as mixture is thick. Set aside to cool. Meanwhile, make your pie crust. In a 9 inch pie plate, mix all crust ingredients. Stir with a fork until well mixed. Press into pie plate and up the sides of pie plate. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 min or until lightly browned. Cool When filling and pie crust have cooled, place halved strawberries in the bottom of the crust in a single layer (you might need slightly more or slightly fewer strawberries than listed, depending on size of the berries). Pour cooled filling over strawberries. Refrigerate until completely set.

I absolutely love this meal! It is perfect for a warm day, full of delicious veggies and flavorful tofu. Yum!!

Thai Tofu Salad
(warning - I didn't measure out how much I put in each bowl so I didn't list exact amounts! Partly depends on how hungry you are too!)
1 1/2 cups white sticky rice, cooked according to package instructions (or you can use brown short grain rice but make sure you allow extra cooking time)
1 cup carrot coins
1 cup cut green beans
1 cup broccoli florets
1 block extra firm tofu, drained and pressed, cut into small cubes

Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette
1/4 cup peanut butter
8 T Thai marinade (recipe follows)
8 T vinegar
3/4 minus 2 T (confusing but that's the measurement!)

Thai Marinade
2/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup white wine
2 T sugar
1 t ground ginger
1/2 t garlic powder
1 t chili garlic paste

Heat oven to 425. Place cubed tofu on a cookie sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until tofu is browned and firm. Remove from oven Bring a pot of water to boil. Add carrot coins and green beans and cook until crisp tender. Add broccoli and cook an additional 3 min. Remove from heat and drain. Set aside. Combine ingredients for Thai marinade and set aside. Combine ingredients for vinaigrette and set aside. Toss tofu with remaining Thai marinade (after 8 T have been removed). Assembling the salads: In dinner bowls, place a scoop of rice, a spoonful of veggies and a spoonful of tofu. Drizzle each bowl with vinaigrette. This meal is best served when lukewarm.

 I used to make this recipe for Chicken Enchiladas and I recently gave a go at veganizing it. Delicious results! Plenty of flavor and downright YUM!
Chick-un and Bean Vegan Enchiladas
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove minced
1 package vegan chicken tenders (I used Trader Joes Crispy Tenders)
1 cup chunky salsa
4 oz vegan cream cheese
1 T chopped cilantro
1 t cumin
1 cup cooked beans or your choice (I recommend pinto, black or navy)
8 flour tortillas

Cook chick-un according to package instructions. When cooked, remove from oven and cut into small pieces. Set aside. In a skillet coated with cooking spray, cook onion and garlic over medium heat until translucent and tender. Stir in 1/2 cup salsa, cream cheese, cilantro, cumin, and beans. Divide filling among tortillas, rolling tortillas after each fill. Place rolled enchiladas in a 9x13 pan coated with cooking spray. Pour remaining salsa over enchiladas. Bake at 350 for 15-20 min or until bubbly and slightly browned.

Birthday Fun

My Birthday was this week and my family spoiled me! I had a wonderful Mother's Day and Birthday with my fabulous fam!

I was so excited to get this cookbook from my sister - I checked it out at the library and fell in love with it. My sister also treated me to a new Norwex bathroom cleaning scrub mit. Love Norwex!!! No chemicals or cleaning products needed! My sister also made me the most fabulous and amazing veg pasta dish - seriously the best ever!

One of the great gifts I usually get from my mom at Christmas and Bdays is jar mixes - I love them!! I always have some in my pantry to choose from - muffins, breads, casseroles, soups. Awesomeness!!

My hubby treated me to a vegan coffeehouse called Mudpie on my Bday also. We were full from a delicious breakfast (thanks to my wonderful husband cooking for me!) so we just split a soy caramel frappe. Oh my goodness! Seriously the best frappe we have ever had!! The coffee was strong with just a hint of sweet creaminess. The coffee was so flavorful and full-bodied. Delicious!!

Corn and Kale Salad - my new craving!!

My sister-in-law always does a great job of making special dishes for me when she invites us to dinner - she looks for recipes on the internet for vegan fare and always come up with tasty things! The most recent recipe she made was a kale and corn salad. I must say, the first time she made it, I found it delicious...then she made it again and I loved it....then I made it a couple of times and I realized I crave that salad!! It is so amazingly fabulous!! I ate a big plate of it for lunch today. Oh how I love kale!! And what's even better is that my boys like it too! I of course forgot to take a picture until I had already put the leftovers away but at least the general idea can be obtained! The recipe can be found at http://allrecipes.com/recipe/corn-and-kale-salad/ (I don't know why the picture looks that way as the salad looks nothing like that!). I modified it a bit - I used a can of yellow corn (it's still a bit early in the season for fresh)and I don't add the red peppers because two of my boys don't like peppers. I think the salad is delicious right after it's made and still a tad warm. It's also yummy cold. I also just lightly steam the kale and don't warm up the corn. Enjoy!

22 new foods in 4 days!

For science this past week, we studied nutrition and the kids became "nutrition detectives" as we learned lots of new things about food and nutrition. It was probably one of the best science studies we have done! So much fun!! On Monday, we made charts to fill in during the week for new foods the boys wanted to try. For each new food, they got to mark off a box. The boys tried several foods they have never tried before (radishes) and tried lots of foods prepared in different ways than they were used to or re-tried foods they had tried in the past and not enjoyed (eggplant, asparagus, brussels sprouts). Though Braedon's trying new things really wasn't a challenge for him (he generally eats everything I cook and likes it!), he still joined in the fun. Keith tried (or re-tried) 22 new foods in 4 days! We had a great time and we had very pleasant meal times with adventurous palates! Yay for new nutritious food trying!!

Vegan Fried "Eggs" With Spinach, Potatoes and Gravy

I love experimenting with tofu! The possibilities are endless!! The other day, I made a winner! It was easy and delicious! I threw it together without really measuring so this is my best recreation of the recipe!
 Vegan Fried "Eggs" With Spinach, Potatoes and Gravy
1 block extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
1 1/2 Black salt
1 t Fresh cracked pepper
1 T Nutritional yeast
2 T oil Fresh spinach, washed and dried
4 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 T oil
Sea salt
2 T flour
2 T vegan butter
1 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 t vegan chicken-flavored boullion

Heat the oven to 425. Toss the potatoes with 2 T oil and a few sprinkles of sea salt. Spread on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for about 20 minutes or until browned.

While the potatoes cook, slice tofu into 1/2 inch slices. Combine black salt, pepper and nutritional yeast. Sprinkle over tofu. Heat 1 T oil in a skillet and add half the tofu slices. Cook until browned and sizzling on each side. Remove from pan and keep warm. Repeat with 1 T oil and remaining tofu.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour to make a paste. Slowly add the soy milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Stir until smooth, thick, and bubbly. Add the boullion and stir to incorporate.

To assemble the breakfast, place 2-3 pieces of tofu on a plate and top with a generous scoop of potatoes, followed by a handful of spinach and a spoonful of gravy. Voila! Delicious vegan breakfast!!

Zucchini Pasta...Vegan Chick-un Enchiladas...Zesty Tofu Wrap

I've made some pretty fun things this week...trying lots of new recipes. I've seen recipes in several places that use zucchini or yellow squash "ribbons" in place of pasta and I have been wanting to try it. I have been looking through Brendan Brazier's cookbook "Thrive" and this recipe was in it (except it used yellow squash, not zucchini but I had zucchini!). It turned out pretty yummy.

Summer Squash Fettuccini with Lemon Pepper Cream From Thrive Foods by Brendan Brazier, p. 226
4-5 medium long yellow summer squash
1 tsp + 1/4 tsp sea salt, divided
2/3 cup cashews, soaked in water 1-2 hours
3/4 cup water
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp or more ground pepper
1 tbsp coconut oil (I used canola)
1 leek, thinly sliced (I used an onion)

Trim the ends of the squash. Using a hand-held vegetable peeler, carefully strip the squash, layer by layer, into noodle-like pieces and gather into a colander. Toss squash strips with 1 tsp of sea salt and place the colander over a large bowl to catch excess moisture. Let rest for 15-20 minutes, then rinse thoroughly and press water out using a clean kitchen towel. Place the soaked, soft cashews in a blender with the water, lemon zest, vinegar, freshly ground pepper, and remaining 1/4 tsp sea salt. Blend for several minutes on high until a very smooth cream has formed. Heat the coconut oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, then add the leeks. Cook until softened, reduce heat to low and add the blended cream to the pan. Stirring constantly add squash to the pan and heat through. Serve immediately garnished with freshly cracked black pepper. When I made my April menu, I went through my binder of recipes that consists of all the recipes I have torn out of magazines, newspapers etc. There are so many recipes in that binder that I frequently forget to go through it and pull out new recipes to try. I found several to try for April, some of which were recipes I had made in my pre-vegan days that I wanted to veganize. The recipe for these Chicken Enchiladas was one of them. I remember them being very delicious and I hoped I would be able to create a yummy vegan version. Thankfully I was successful!

Vegan Chick-un Enchiladas
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 t garlic powder
1 8 oz package vegan chickun tenders (I used Trader Joes Crispy Chickun)
1 can chipotle diced tomatoes with chiles or 1 cup salsa
4 oz vegan cream cheese
2 T chopped cilantro
2 t cumin
1 t salt
1 1/2 cups white or pinto beans, cooked and drained
8 flour tortillas In a skillet coated with cooking spray, cook onions until soft. Add garlic powder, salt, cumin, cilantro and 1/4 cup tomatoes or salsa. Add beans and stir to combine. Add cream cheese and stir to combine thoroughly until all is incorporated. Remove from heat. Meanwhile, cook chickun tenders according to package instructions. Chop cooked chickun into small pieces and add to bean mixture. Spoon filling evenly into 8 flour tortillas, roll and place in a baking dish sprayed with cooking spray (seam down). When all enchiladas have been filled, top with remaining salsa. Bake at 350 for 15-20 min or until tortillas are lightly browned. These were delish! I served them with corn and kale salad and a broccoli salad for a fabulous lunch!

Zesty Tofu Wraps with Olive Tapenade (recipe adapted from Cooking Light April 2002)

 Tapenade:
1/2 cup green olives
1/4 cup black olives
1 t grated lemon rind
1 t oil

Wraps:
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed without oil
1 lb tofu, drained and pressed
1 large onion, sliced
 3 T balsamic vinegar
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 T cider vinegar
1 T honey or agave
1 t rosemary
1 t oil
2 t spicy brown mustard
1/4 t salt
1/4 t garlic powder
4 flour tortillas
2 cups fresh spinach, washed and dried

To prepare tapenade, add all ingredients to food processor and pulse to mince. Do not puree. Set aside. To prepare wraps, combine 2 cups boiling water to the sun dried tomatoes. Let stand 30 min. Drain and chop. Set aside. Cut tofu into slices. Heat a skillet coated with cooking spray. Add onion and cook until soft. Add balsamic vinegar and stir. Remove from heat and set aside. In the same pan, add the tofu and 1 t oil. Cook until browned on both sides (flipping slices in the middle of cooking). In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice, cider vinegar, honey or agave, rosemary, mustard, salt and garlic powder. Stir to combine. Pour over the browned tofu and cook 1 minute. Remove from heat. To build the wraps, take a tortilla and layer it with 2 T of tapenade, 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, 1/3 cup onions, 1/2 cup spinach and 3-4 slices of tofu. Fold and enjoy!

Birthday!!

My sweet baby turned 4 today! For breakfast he requested pancakes so I made him a "4" and a "B" for Braedon. Braedon requested a "Landrover cake" and since I am not creative enough to make a cake in the shape of a Landrover, I made a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and some of his little Matchbox Landrovers on top. It was very delicious and my little guy was perfectly pleased with it! Happy Birthday sweet Braedon!

Tofu Breakfast Scramble

I have recently been trying to come up with delicious breakfast foods that don't include sugar or gluten - mainly because we are trying to cut back a little on gluten and a lot on sugar! The smoked tofu, kale and potato dish that I posted recently has become a favorite but I was tired of it and I was out of kale so I came up with this scramble. It can hardly be considered a recipe but here's what I did: I browned diced potatoes in a bit of canola oil until browned and mostly soft. Then I added a package of extra firm silkin tofu and crumbled it as I added it to the potatoes. I sprinkled this mixture with a bit of tumeric, cracked black pepper and sea salt as well as a few sprinkles of nutrional yeast. Once this was nicely browned, I added some diced green peppers and cooked about 5 more minutes until the peppers were crisp tender. It was delicious and my boys loved it.

Crossfit Craziness and Workout Protein Drink

My husband gave us a very tough workout today...100 push-ups, 100 crossfit situps, and 100 air squats for time. Wow!! We were dying!! Awesome challenge though. I'm not much for smoothies or protein drinks but my hubby has been drinking shakes for years and loves them as a workout recovery drink. We use the best one available in the protein drink world though which is Juice Plus Complete. Mixed with a banana, some almond milk and some natural peanut butter, it makes a killer shake and is FULL of healthful ingredients. Even I enjoy it (though I have discovered that my hubby makes the absolute best shakes and mine are definitely sub-par!!)! I forgot to take a picture until I was half done with my shake but you get the general idea. Yum!! I am powered for the day - love working out with my awesome trainer:-)

Breakfast love...Crossfit Worthy Tofu and Kale...Tofu Fritatta...Waffles featuring Vegan Whipped Cream

Over the past few months, the hubby has successfully recruited me to his world of Crossfit. I was very reluctant to start and oftentimes I complain about the intensity of it but I love the fact that we work out together on a daily basis and I feel like I've worked hard every time...my muscles complain almost daily! As Frank says, I'm beginning to catch the Crossfit Fever! I couldn't do it without my patient husband and his awesome training and motivation!! We have been attempting to come up with some delicious breakfast menus that are not sweet but rather offer a good dose of protein and a bunch of healthy veganness!! This combo is simple and so delicious. All I do is toss together some smoke tofu (cubed), some chopped kale, cubed potatoes (I have recently used leftover ones that are already roasted and just need to be heated), a sprinkle of nutritional yeast, a drizzle of canola oil, and a splash of cider vinegar. I eat mine with jalepenos and Frank uses some hot sauce. Delicious!



I made a heart-themed breakfast on Valentines day, complete with tofu fritattas and heart-shaped toast. The boys love these fritattas (recipe from Peas and Thank you) sprinkled with vegan cheese - quite a yummy alternative to eggs!


I have recently discovered coconut cream whipped cream and it is so yummy! I followed a recipe the first few times but now that I know the basics, I just throw it together. The keys to making awesome vegan whipped cream with coconut cream are to be sure your coconut cream is chilled and also that your mixing bowl and beater attachment are also chilled. Trader Joes sells coconut cream in cans which makes the process even easier. After chilling your can of coconut cream, open the can and drain off any liquid that is present...there is very little in a can of pure coconut cream. I save the liquid for another use. Scoop cream into chilled bowl, sprinkle with a tablespoon or 2 of powdered sugar and 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla and whip until stiff peaks form. Perfection!!

Birthday Boy!

I can hardly believe my sweet Keith is 7!! We had an awesome time celebrating with him and I made him the carrot cake from Peas and Thank you and it was undoubtedly the best carrot cake I have ever made. Keith has had carrot cake for his Birthday every year since his first Birthday. Truth be told, for his first Birthday, I was trying to come up with the healthiest option for a Birthday cake and carrot cake was the closest thing I could come up with - the tradition has continued! Delicious!!