Vegan Sloppy Joes

We've returned from an amazing road trip (I'll post later) and I'm back to cooking.  I absolutely love traveling, especially with my hubby.  We visited some interesting places, ate some awesome food, and saw one of my good friends along the way.  One thing I love about traveling though is that it makes you really appreciate the comforts of home so much more.  I love eating out, but after a week away I was anxious to get back to cooking some vegan goodies.

I may have overdone it this week.  I made some vegan skewers and also sushi for the first time ever.  I see a lot of meals on sticks for my family in the future.  I love experimenting, but sometimes you need to keep it fairly simple especially on busy week nights.

I've been craving lentils (I know, that sounds weird) but really they are delicious!  They're good for you too!  We've been trying to minimize our processed food intake.  As much as we love Gardein their products are highly process and should be considered a special treat.  I've been trying to incorporate more tofu, tempeh, beans, and lentils into our meals.  Here's one way I incorporated lentils…

Ingredients

• one package of Trader Joe's precooked lentils
• one 15 oz. can of tomato sauce (I used Trader Joe's organic tomato sauce)
• 1/4 cup BBQ sauce
• 1/2 green pepper chopped
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic chopped
• salt and pepper to taste 
• your choice of bread (I bought a baguette at TJ's and sliced it)

I love how this child and husband approved meal came out.  It was a hardy dish loaded with healthy ingredients.  It was super simple to make as well.  I cooked the sloppy joes in a cast iron skillet, but you could use any pan.  First I sautéed the garlic and onion with a minimal amount of vegan butter then added the peppers.  Once this was fragrant I added the precooked lentils, can of tomato sauce and BBQ sauce to the pan.  I stirred and let this simmer until the lentils were heated.  I piled the lentils on some bread with lettuce, vegan mayo, and some avocado I had on hand.  Boom.

I couldn't make this meal too simple, so I decide to throw some homemade back onion rings into the mix.  This meal was a hit.  The lentil sloppy joes also can make a great topping on a salad as well.  I know I've been snacking on them all weekend.  Whole food goodness (with onion rings).     

Vegan Quiche

Well I have been terrible at this whole blog thing.  I have a ton of excuses, I had an incredibly busy month at work, I'm taking a Sheltered English Immersion class which is about as fun as it sounds, and life is just busy in general.

Don't worry, I haven't neglected feeding my family.  In fact, I've come up with some recipes that have been well received in our house.  Now it's time to share...

I've always been partial to quiche.  Mainly because it helped me pass French class in high school.  I'll explain...

 I was terrible at French because 1. I was/am a terrible speller 2. I was completely uninterested.  My guidance counselor used to give me a hard time because I could get an A in AP English, but was sliding by with a B- in French class.

Well that B- took a lot of work!  Mostly my mom's work and by work I mean she made me quiches for extra credit.  Yes, I am dating myself here.  I went to school when you could actually bring food in for the class.  Oh the good old days before all these food allergies and worrying about kids' BMI's.  So yes, I earned a hefty 10 points of extra credit for bringing in quiche and passing it off as my own creation.  A web of lies...

So today, as you know, my family and I are vegans, but quiche is still on our menu.  I did a little experimenting and came up with something that's pretty damn close to quiche, is super versatile, and


is packed with protein and veggies.

Ingredients

•  1 block of silken tofu
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• veggies of your choice (I used onion, garlic and broccoli)
• 1 cup vegan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

I've been branching out in the world of tofu.  Silken tofu is awesome!  You can make smoothies, desserts and so much more with it.  If you've never cooked with silken tofu before don't be alarmed by it's appearance, it's delicious.  You not press silken tofu but I would recommend wrapping it in a cloth for about 20 minutes to get the extra water out.  Next you are going to throw your tofu in a blender with some nutritional yeast and salt and pepper to taste and blend together until the mixture is smooth.  

Next saute your veggies.  I used garlic and onion and threw in some frozen garlic.  Once that was cooked I placed my veggies a large mixing bowl.  I added the vegan cheese and then mixed in the tofu and nutritional yeast.  Mix everything together  I sprayed a Pyrex pie dish and added the mixture.  I sprinkled some more vegan cheese on top and cooked it in the oven at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.  Obviously this is a crust less quiche, I have yet to make this using a crust.  Let's just pretend we're trying to be healthy here.  

It came out looking like a quiche!  My husband really loves this recipe.  We have a CSA box starting in June and I think this will be a great way to incorporate some of our veggies.  I want to to try this with kale sometime for sure.

Bon appetit!
     

Review: "Porkless" Pork

I've had a contentious relationship with pork my whole life.  When I first became a vegetarian in high school it was a gradual process.  Pork was the first meat I cut out of my diet.  I mean there's a reason why two major world religions don't eat pigs right?  Plus pigs are smart and (sometimes) adorable creatures that deserve our respect.

Well I've been reunited with pork (well kinda).  Gardein is on a tear right now with their products.  As I mentioned before I made a pilgrimage to Whole Foods last weekend and picked up some vegan goodies, among those some sweet and sour "pork less" pork.

Holy Cow! Or Pig?

This tasted so much like the real thing (as I recall) it almost made me nervous that it was real meat!  Between the texture and the flavor it was amazing.  The sauce was awesome as well.  I made my dish with some onions and peppers in our cast iron skillet.  Next time I'm going to add some pineapple to it as well.

I paired it with one of our favorite vegan products from Trader Joe's, Japanese style fried rice.  If you haven't tried this out yet I highly recommend it.  It's definitely a different twist on fried rice.  I usually pick up a bag every time I hit up TJ's. 

This was overall a pretty simple dinner to throw together.  I guess you have to have meals like that sometimes right?  I can't wait to see what Gardein has coming next!

Spring and Vegan Seafood

It almost feels like spring is here.  Almost.  We've brought our dog to the dog park twice this week after a long hiatus.  That's a sign right?

Our plants are starting to sprout which is pretty exciting.  I hope I can be a good plant mom to them, I don't have the best history in the world with growing things.  I replanted some scallions and they really have thrived.  It's so satisfying to eat something you have grown yourself, even if it is a garnish (a delicious garnish).

I'm also excited about the new products Gardein has put out.  I heard through the grapevine that Whole Foods was having a deal on Gardein products so I made a special trek there on Saturday.   I usually do all of our grocery shopping at Trader Joe's and Stop and Shop, but Whole Foods occasionally has some great deals of vegan products. I was delighted to see new products I have never seen before and picked up some "crabless" crab cakes and some "porkless" pork.

I have yet to try the pork but I could not wait to try the crab.  My husband is not a fan of seafood so I only made a few to sample.

Overall, I thought they were excellent.  Before I was a vegetarian I was a fan of seafood, not so much fish but everything else.  I made the cakes in our cast iron skillet with a tiny bit of oil and browned them on each side.  Now, I'm not sure these "crab cakes" would rival Maryland crab cakes but as far as a vegan option they were pretty spectacular and really tasted like crab.  I would bet you could serve these as an appetizer to your non vegan friends and pass them off as the real thing.  I dare you to.

Unfortunately the husband and child are opposed to fake seafood or seafood in general, but I guess that means more crab cakes for me.  Score.

I made us some pretty rockin' vegan chicken soft tacos last night.  Whole Foods had a great deal on avocados so I picked up a few for dinner.  Had my family been more welcoming towards seafood I would have made vegan crab cake tacos, but oh well.  Maybe another time.

Review: Eggplant Garlic Spread

I am so happy to be on school vacation.  I love my job, but I also love being able to sleep in past 6 am.  School vacation also is a great excuse to get together with friends and family and eat/make some yummy food.  

To kick off off school vacation I got together with some of my teacher friends on Thursday night.  We had so much awesome (and all vegan) food.  The girl who was hosting is an amazing cook and someone I love talking food with.  She made an awesome appetizer which I have already made for two parties (and it's only the following Tuesday).  

Let me introduce you to Trader Joe's Eggplant Garlic Spread.  I know many of you are not fans of eggplant, and neither is my husband yet he loves this appetizer dish.  It's a nice flavorful savory spread and I have a feeling I'm going to be experimenting a lot more with it.  

So anyways, the only app I've made with this spread (and I'm an expert because I've eaten an entire load of bread with this speed so far) is super simple and easy.  All it is is toasted bread, eggplant garlic spread, and chopped black olives.  Simple.  Easy.  Delicious.  I left the olives off of some of the bread since I know not everyone is a fan.  I would imagine tomatoes would work great as well.  

So next time you're at Trader Joe's I would recommend you pick up this spread.  You won't regret it, even if you're not an eggplant fan.  

P.S.  school vacation week is when I realize that my dog sleeps for about 80% of the day.  I definitely want to request being reincarnated as a dog next time around...

Valentine's Day

Happy belated Valentine's Day everyone!

I hope everyone single or attached enjoyed their Sunday.  When I was single I always found Vday to be a great excuse to buy myself flowers and make something nice for dinner.  Now that I'm married I have someone else to buy me flowers, but now I have two people to cook a romantic dinner for (and yes I still want to do the cooking).

So if you haven't been able to tell by now, we like to show our love with food in this house (please see meal #2 below).  I started my Valentine's day with the boys making me a delicious vegan breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, and fruit with yogurt.  It was awesome!

It was absolutely freezing here on Sunday, to the point where it was dangerous to be outside.  I did brave the cold, however, to trek out to the grocery store.  I asked my husband what he wanted for Valentine's Day dinner and I made my pilgrimage to Trader Joe's. 

Dylan requested soup because it was the perfect soup kind of day (i.e. FREEZING!)  I referenced Chloe Coscarelli's Vegan Italian Kitchen cookbook and decided I was making her spicy tomato soup (maybe not so spicy for my hubby).  I love her recipes because they are easy to make and don't require copious exotic ingredients I can only find at Whole Foods for $20.  Anyways, the soup came out amazing and I served the leftovers when my mother in law came over tonight.  Everyone enjoyed it.  

This week my husband is taking me out all week (it's his Vday gift and also we're on school vacation!).  Some of the places we are going are vegan restaurants in the area.  I'm very much looking forward to it and am prepping myself for nostalgia overload!  

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

I'm alive (and went to Grasshopper)!

…I promise.  I've been meaning to post for so long, but the universe has gotten in the way.  So many things have happened in the last few weeks and so many awesome food experiences I missed blogging out on!  Dang it!

In the last few weeks we've seen many friends, had an emergency trip to the ER for my eye, was temporarily blinded in my left eye for a couple of days after that, survived parent/teacher conferences, had an unexpected snow day, my husband had a show (he's in a black metal band if you can believe that) and so much more.

Now I'm back here and cooking on this Saturday night.  It feels more like Sunday since we didn't have school yesterday.  You should have seen me yesterday, I was cooking up a storm.  I was definitely in my happy place (also mimosas were in the picture so that helped).

My husband had a show last night and they were awesome (if you like that kind of music…I am bias).  I of course played the role of the supportive spouse/groupie and came along.  Luckily for me the show was right down the street from my all time favorite vegan restaurant, Grasshopper.  Grasshopper is an all vegan Chinese food restaurant in Allson, MA.  It's amazing.  Everyone who works there is super nice and it's so liberating to walk into a restaurant where you know you can order anything on the menu.

And it's definitely some feel good vegan comfort food for sure.  There are so many amazing choices on the menu and we have a few favorites that I will share with you.  It's definitely not the healthiest food in the world, but you never walk out of there feeling gross like you can with other Chinese food restaurants.

I brought my husband here for his first birthday that we spend together.  I think it was his first taste of heaven.  In case you visit (and I hope you do) we always order…

• The No Name-it's a fried gluten dish that resembles General Gao's chicken.  It is not good for you at all but it is so so good.  
• #69 (Black Pepper Beef)-this is my favorite.  It's a seitan dish sautéed with greens and this amazing sauce.  It's so good.  When I lived closer I would made a trek just to pick some of this up along with some some fried rice on a Friday night.  
• House Fried Rice-  I believe this is #101 on the menu.  This fried rice dish gives you a taste of all the vegan "meats" on the menu including shrimp, fish, chicken and beef.  Sometimes they seem to run out of the shrimp but we were lucky to get some in our rice last night.  
• Chicken Fingers- more like cake chicken fingers.  They are delicious and sweet and one of my hubby's favorites.

So those are our go to items on the menu.  They do have a buffet on certain Sundays a month which I've never been to but I've heard good things.  Please give this place a try even if you're not a vegan or vegetarian!  Everyone can enjoy it!

Soup Night

I don't know about you, but I had a major case of the Mondays this morning.  It was tough getting out of bed.  My husband and I started our day with a Vitamix smoothie and we headed off to work.  One of the highlights (and I'm not just trying to justify the purchase) was drinking out of my $32 dollar water bottle (so worth it).  I drank a lot more water today than I have in a long time.  

When we got home we hit the gym together and then had dinner.  I said this dinner really doesn't go together too well, but thankfully neither of us are picky.  

I threw together a dish with mixed frozen veggies and vegan buffalo chicken since I was craving spicy food, though my husband corrected me that you can't crave something you eat all the time.  I don't agree!  I also have a new obsession (pictured above).  It's one of my summer favorites before my vegan days, the classic combo of tomato, basil and mozzarella.  As wonderful as many vegan alternatives are cheese is hard to replace, I'll admit it.  I decided to substitute mozzarella with extra firm tofu.  I pressed it first to get the water out and then sliced it up.  I tossed it in with tomatoes and fresh basil from our "garden" and topped it off with salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar.  I think I'm going to be making this a lot come summer time and hopefully we will have our own tomatoes to add!

We did have some leftovers as well (and obviously bread).  We had a quick visit with my parents yesterday and my mom had soup waiting for us.  I think I ate two and a half bowls in one sitting.  My mom has made a non vegetarian version of this before and she was kind enough to make a veggie version especially for us.  Even my dad was eating it!

Ingredients

• 1 onion (chopped)
• 3 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 32 ounces of vegetable broth
• 2 cans of fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 2 cans of chopped green chills 
• 1 pound of veggie sausage (my mom used LifeLight)

First sauté your onion and garlic.  Once this is cooked add it to the crockpot with the veggie broth.  Then add your canned tomatoes, chills, and vegan sausage.  My mom said she cooked this for awhile in the crock pot, I would give it at least a couple of hours.  The great thing about this soup is you can really play around with it.  You can add vegan cheese, tortilla chips, more broth and additional veggies!  I definitely see this soup in our future!  Happy Monday!

Weekend Warrior (Not)

 This has been a weekend of complete generosity and kindness.  My mother-in-law watched the boy so we could attend our friends' awesome post-Christmas ugly sweater party (they're spectacular hosts), my parents stored all our Christmas decorations in their basement AND made us soup, and my husband earned some major hubby points.   He always takes good care of me (and I like to think I take pretty good care of him!) but this weekend he did so much.  He cleaned and organized our entire apartment (it looks amazing), he drove us everywhere (we did a lot of driving), and he didn't mind that I bought myself a $32 water bottle at Whole Foods.

I've mentioned before that I would love to be able to do all my grocery shopping at Whole Foods.  Now I do love that place, but I don't know if my frugal self could ever buy something I know I can get cheaper other places.  I do love to wander around Whole Foods and they will have deals if you look out for them.  I bought Gardein chicken scaloppini (I can't find it anywhere else) and that was $3.99 which is an excellent price (obviously it was on sale).  However, there are some item I get at Whole Foods that I can't find anywhere else…

The Beast Burger:  My husband and I tried the Beast Burger awhile ago so I can attest that it is amazing.  It's not your average veggie burger.  It's juicy and honesty it tastes like real meat.  It was so close to meat that as a vegetarian it was almost concerning.  I recommend this especially if you're a meat eater who is looking to be a little bit healthier, I think it's a better alternative than a turkey burger, especially if you love that beef flavor.  One burger is 260 calories and 23 grams of protein.  

Seitan.  Dining out at vegetarians restaurants has introduced me to seitan.  I've had some delicious dishes (black pepper beef at Grasshopper in Allston especially).  I've a little surprised it is not as easy to find as tofu and tempheh.  Seitan is wheat gluten, the main protein in wheat.  It's a great alternative if you want to get away from soy based alternatives.  I'll make sure I post what I end up doing with these.

Earth Balance Vegan Cheddar Flavor Squares.  I grew up on Cheez-its.  Well not really, but we always had them in the house.  I'm pretty sure my parents have a box of reduced fat Cheez-its in their cabinet right now.  They are delicious and the ultimate snack food if you ask me.  As a vegan, however, they are off the table.  I love Earth Balance, and I always have their butter in my refrigerator.  Their cheddar squares are great, and I will always want to munch on them, vegan or not vegan.  

I also bought a new basil plant since my other one was not successful.  Still getting the hang of this whole "gardening" thing.  Here's to another healthy week!  

Happy New Year!

2015 was an amazing year for me.  I made some positive strides in my career, got engaged, moved, married one of the best guys ever, and taught my dog to sit with a chip on her head.  Oh and I started this blog…

I hope everyone had a good New Year's.  We stayed in for the evening, which is probably my favorite way to spend that particular evening.  I made a plethora of snacks along with some rocking vegan pho. If you've never had pho before you're missing out.  It's a Vietnamese soup, which I loved back during my days as a carnivore.  I made a vegan version with zucchini noodles, and I don't want to brag but it was pretty amazing.  When I make it next time I will share my recipe I will be sure to post it.

Today we are laying low.  I'm making some more English muffin bread and finishing the margaritas we made last night (I know pho and margaritas are a strange combo, but we're strange).  I'm also reflecting on the year ahead.  I'm not really one for New Year's resolutions.  I think we can all strive to improve ourselves, but I'm not about to make an unattainable goal for myself (i.e. exercise seven days a week and never eat bread…no thank you).   The way my family and I eat is always on my mind.  Food is fuel, and it directly effects how we feel and function.  It's easy to lose control (especially if there's chocolate covered pretzels in front of me), but we should always be conscientious of what put in our body (and indulge here and there of course!).  Here of some of my goals for the new year...

• Be a better vegan:  My husband and I eat 100% vegan at home.  I never buy any groceries that contain animal products.  However, that doesn't stop me from scarfing up smoked gouda cheese at a wedding.  I will strive to eat 100% vegan all the time.  
• Eat more fruit:  No explanation needed, I hardly ever buy it unless there's a request.  Fruits and veggie the way to go.   
• Back to budgeting:  I have slacked on this.  I always budget for our groceries every week, but with the holidays and parties it has been difficult.  Obviously if we're hosting a party or people over for dinner I'm going to need to dish out a little more cash to feed our guests.  Our social obligations are winding down, and I would like to stay more true to the budget I have allocated for our groceries.    
• Be more conscious of the personal/household products I purchase:  I've already have been working on this.  Following a vegan lifestyle means you not only don't consume animal products, but you also need to look where all the other products you purchase come from.  I have started buying Seventh Generation and Method products for cleaning products. I feel better cleaning with products that are not tested on animals and are better for the environment.  I especially love the Method products (they even make body wash) because all their cleaning products some in different scents and they all smell great.  I am also relieved Bath and Body Works products are not tested on animals as well.  
• Gardening:  Yes I know, I don't have a yard, but I have a balcony.  I also have an apartment that gets a lot of sun.  My husband bought me a book for Christmas about gardening in small spaces.  I can't wait to test some of their suggestions out in the spring on our balcony. For now I currently am trying to grow some herbs indoors.  I have a mint and basil plant right now in my window.  I'm also trying to keep this whole gardening thing as organic as possible. Speaking of that…
• Going organic:  I know going organic is a little controversial.  Is it necessary or not?  My husband has always pushed for buying organic veggies.  I've seen a lot of documentaries and heard a lot of podcasts that have convinced me that I should try to buy organic products when they are available, even if they are a little more expensive.  I've already switched over to organic frozen broccoli at Trader Joes (it tastes so much better!) and have been making baby steps since then.  

We'll see how this all works out for me.  I'm looking forward to posting more recipes on here and hopefully some budding plants as well.  Happy New Year everyone!

English Muffin Bread

I hope everyone had a great Christmas.  I had a wonderful first Christmas as a married lady with my hubby.  As much as I love Christmas, I'm a little bit relieved the holidays are winding down.  I enjoy the whole month of December, with all the decorations and parties, but it is a lot of work (and spending money and not eating so great!).  

One of my gifts this year to coworkers and family was English muffin bread.  If you haven't had English muffin bread before you are missing out.  My gift to you is that I will share my (veganized) recipe for you to enjoy yourself.

I used to beg my mom to make me a loaf of English muffin bread.  It tends to disappear quickly.  My mother's recipe is not vegan but the other week she gave us a loaf…a vegan one!  I didn't think it was possible, but it was so good, and my husband and I polished off half the load before breakfast time.  All it took was two simple substitutions and you too can have a (vegan) loaf of your very own.  

I'll admit.  It's a little bit of a pain in the butt to make and messy.  Well maybe I'm just messy.  Dylan had to clean the kitchen after I was done…flour everywhere.  Once you get the hang of it it's really not so hard to make.  Here's what you'll need…

Ingredients

• 5 1/2 cups four (spoon cups with a spoon to pack lightly)
• 2 packages of active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups unsweeted soy or almond milk (be conscious of allergies!)
• 1/2 water
• cornmeal
• vegan butter (for lining pans)

First you're going to combine 3 cups of flour, the yeast, sugar, salt and baking soda into a bowl.  Heat your milk and water in a separate pan until they are warm.   Since I was making these for coworkers I used soy milk because I wasn't sure if their kids had any nut allergies.  You have to be careful these days.  The soy milk came out fine and I used almond milk for my family at it was perfect as well.   After your water and milk are heated add this to the dry ingredients and stir in more flour to make a stiff batter.  I would recommend using an electric mixer for this.  Grease two 8.4x4.5 inch pans with vegan butter and sprinkle cornmeal on the sides.  Next you spoon your batter into the pans.  Cover your pans and let rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes.  I don't have too many warm spots in my apartment so I keep it in the oven on the warm setting.  

Next cook your breads at 400 degrees for 25 minutes and you're done!  Remove the bread from the pans right away and let the loaves cool.  Make sure you toast this bread before you eat it!  I recommend slicing it nice and thin.  I've also used this bread to make garlic bread.  Yum.  

I have a couple more packs of yeast calling for me to crank out some more loaves of this bread while we are on winter break.  I think I'm in trouble.  As you can see from the meal above, we've been eating very well this holiday!

Sophie get's some mashed potatoes as well!  Merry Christmas everyone!

Vegan Meatballs

As you can probably tell by now, I love feeding people.  My husband and I had our parents over for dinner on Saturday night and I was super excited to cook for them.  I love having people over and you can guarantee I'm going to make way too much food (who doesn't love leftovers?).  Having people over (especially on weekends) allows me to really bring it to the waltz when it comes to meal prep.

Since our parents were our guests I'm made everything from scratch. I'm kicked the husband and child out of the house (don't worry they had fun seeing Santa) so I could really get to work (and clean this place up!).  I dressed the puggle up in her best Christmas outfit and got to work…

I mentioned my sauce recipe on here before so that was in the works because I'm made (drumroll) vegan  meatballs!  How do you make vegan meatballs you may ask, well I'll tell you.  The main ingredient for my meatballs is mushrooms.  Don't turn your nose up yet.  Mushrooms are a nice meat substitute because (not to be redundant but) they have a nice meatiness to them.  You've probably seen portobello mushroom burgers on menus before.  My husband it not really a big fan of mushrooms but he likes when they are disguised in a recipe.  I've tested these meatballs out on him before and he approves so stay with me...

Meatballs are fun to make.  Vegan meatballs are especially fun because you don't have to fret about contamination from meat or eggs.  You can really get your hands dirty (literally) with vegan meatballs (after washing them first of course!).

I've seen quite a few recipes for vegan meatballs online, and I took inspiration here and there depending on my family's preferences.  My (now vegan) husband always talks about his nana's meatball recipe and how they had oatmeal in them.  Of course I couldn't make vegan meatballs without oatmeal so I incorporated that into mine.  Here's what I did…

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/4 cups oatmeal (uncooked)
• 10 ounces of sliced mushrooms 
• 1 chopped onion
• 3 cloves of garlic chopped
• 1 shallot (you don't really need the shallot, but I love them!)
• 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour
• vegetable oil (for frying)
• salt and pepper to taste

First in a pan I sautéed the onion, garlic and shallot in olive oil until they were lightly browned.  I then added the veggies to the Vitamix (you can use a food processor if you don't have one).  I added my flour and oatmeal (add spices here!) to the mix.  

You should get a sticky brown mixture and you should not be able to differentiate between onion, oatmeal and so on.  This mix is going to be pretty hot after sautéing the veggies so let it sit in the fridge for a little bit.  Once it's cooled I scooped out about two tablespoons at a time and rolled it into a ball.  You can really make you meatballs any size (tiny ones would be great for sliders!), plus you don't really have to worry about internal temperature (since it's vegan!)

You know I like to be healthy, but sometimes you need to fry…these meatballs are a perfect example.  I put my meatballs in a pan with some vegetable oil.  I cooked and flipped them over medium heat until the meatballs were browned on the outside.   

I then added my meatballs to my homemade sauce and served over pasta.  I know they're not your traditional Italian meatballs but everyone seemed to enjoy them!  Cheers!

Happy Holidays Sangria

My husband and I had a major milestone this weekend…we hosted our first party together.  Hosting can be a tad stressful, but it's a heck of a lot easier when I have someone else I can tell to clean the bathroom and take out the trash.

Check out Sophie's festive sweater.

The holidays are a great excuse to eat and drink too much.  One of my favorite drinks to make is sangria.  I've been exposed to some quality sangria and some subpar sangria, and I've come up with what I think is a pretty solid combination.  It doesn't involve the most quality ingredients in the world (as you can probably tell by the box of wine) but it's tasty and it's great for a party.  Plus it's super easy to make!

I think the trick with sangria is that you need to make it ahead of time.  That way the fruit, juice, and alcohol really become one.  It's science trust me.

I recommend making your sangria 24-48 hours in advance (just make sure you're not going to sample it too much!).  We had our party on Friday night, so I made my Thursday evening after work.  There's nothing like making a big batch of sangria after a long day at work...

Ingredients:

• One box of white wine (I think they're usually about 3 liters)
• 2 cups of triple sec (more or less depending how potent you want your sangria to be)
• 3 cups of pineapple juice
• fresh fruit 

With the fresh fruit you can really get creative here.  You can use whatever is in season (or on sale!).  My favorite combo is a fresh pineapple chopped up, one orange cut and squeezed, and two limes cut and squeezed.  I throw everything together in a pitcher and 24-48 hours later…magic.

Happy holidays!

Chorizo Rolls

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving!  I certainly did and now I am avoiding pants with buttons for the next few days or so.

We had a great weekend.  Jim the Elf arrive to completely creep out our five year old (but also keep him in line), we set up our Christmas tree, and we relaxed and ate some great food.  Today was absolutely beautiful out so I took our dog out for a nice long walk at my favorite spot.  

Speaking of great food, I think I found a new favorite for my husband.  Best of all…it's two ingredients!

Ingredients

• 2 packages of puff pastry (Pillsbury is vegan!!!)
• 1 package of Trader Joe's soy chorizo 

* The two packages of puff pastry will finish off the entire package of chorizo, but if you have just one puff pastry the extra chorizo makes a great contribution to sauces or vegan tacos!

I have some Portuguese ancestry so I have a soft spot for chorizo (well soy chorizo).  A friend of mine used to bring in a non vegetarian version of these to work and they always were a hit.  She would make chorizo rolled up in a puff pastry and those things would disappear quickly.  I realized I had all the ingredients in my refrigerator and thought I'd give it a shot at making a vegan version.   

Super simple.  I put about 2 tablespoons of the soy chorizo on the crescent roll and roll them up.  As you can see some come out prettier than others...

I cooked the rolls at 375 degrees for 12 minutes.  And about 12 minutes after that half of the rolls were gone…

The hubby and I are hosting a Christmas party this weekend and I plan on making a big batch of these.  I'm looking forward to sharing more recipes/reviews for the holiday season!

Vegan Cheddar Biscuits

I love Thanksgiving.  I love everything about it.  Except for the turkey that is.

Thanksgiving can be a nightmare for vegetarians and vegans.  There's meat and gravy everywhere and lots of relatives asking you questions about where do you get your protein.  Therefore, it's not uncommon for veggies (and some of their non veggie friends) to gather together before Thanksgiving and have their own feast.  I've done with before with my friends and this weekend with got together with my husband's college buddies and had a blast.

One of my contributions to this gathering was my vegan cheddar biscuits.  Here's what you do...

Ingredients 

• 2/3 cup of unsweetened almond milk
• 1 cup Bisquick mix
• 2 tablespoons vegan butter softened
• about 1/2 cup Daiya cheddar cheese shreds
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste

First you need to make yourself some vegan buttermilk.  Take your almond milk and lemon and whisk it together in a bowl.  Let this sit for about five minutes.  I threw all the dry ingredients in a bowl and added the "buttermilk" once it was ready.  I cooked it at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

I made another batch of these babies but with peppers and garlic chopped up and mixed in.  I honestly think you could add anything to these biscuits and not go wrong.  The possibilities are endless.  Happy Thanksgiving!