Baked Falafel

This is the same recipe I posted the other day from Vegan with a Vengeance - this time I baked the falafel on parchment paper.  I just sprayed them with cooking spray and they were delicious and you save a lot of calories/fat!  :)

Vanilla Pumpkin Seed Muffins

This is a wonderful recipe for a light, airy muffin! The original recipe is below and the only things I did differently were: I used 1 cup white flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour instead of 2 cups white and I added 1/4 cup flaxseed meal. For the glaze I used soy milk instead of soy creamer.


2 cups white flour

1 & 1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

1 tbsp Lemon Juice (optional)

1 cup white sugar

1 cup "milk" of choice (I used vanilla So Good soy milk)

1/3 cup oil

1 tbsp White Vinegar

2 tbsp vanilla

1 cup hulled, roasted, unsalted pumpkin seeds (I got mine in bulk for a few bucks)

Mix wet ingredients in one bowl, and mix dry ingredients (including pumpkin seeds) in another. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Bake at 375F for 22-26min.

For the glaze:

3/4 cup icing sugar

1 tbsp room temperature margarine (this saves you from "buttering" the muffin, it won't make the muffin soggy, but instead provides a light hard glaze)

1/8 cup soy cream or milk (I used Silk "cream")

Mix icing sugar and margarine to form a paste, add the cream/milk, slowly. Make sure your muffins are cool and glaze the top.

My pic:

Potato Soup

I just made the best ever vegan potato soup! It's from the fatfreevegan blog and it was amazing~~ This is the link:

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2009/02/quick-and-easy-potato-soup.html

Sooo creamy and thick I wanted to eat the whole pot! :)

Falafel with Tahini Dressing

I made falafel w/ tahini dressing this afternoon from Vegan with a Vengeance. It was very good... wasn't the best falafel I've ever had, but I liked it. Maybe next time I'll add some extra cumin to it even though when I cooked the batter the smell of cumin was really intense. I think Kenny will even like these since they were very mild; he doesn't like chick peas or cumin, but these I think he's going to like.


The tahini dressing was strong at first from the balsamic vinegar. I was disappointed in it (and from wasting 1/2 cup of tahini!) But, when I put it on the pita bread w/ the veggies and falafel I really liked it a lot!

Yes, I fried them (in grapeseed oil)... next time I will bake them to see how they come out. The pita is packed w/ romaine, cucumber slices and red onion.

Colcannon Puffs

I made these today and they were really good!

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2009/03/colcannon-puffs.html

I made them extra large - you were supposed to get 30 puffs out of the recipe, but I got 20 out of it. I added extra kale into mine since I wanted to use up what I had.

Banana Oat Bars

I received this recipe from a friend of mine and they are delicious!
4 cups rolled oats

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 medium or large ripe banana

2 tablespoons chia seeds

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup applesauce

3/4 cup vegan milk product (I used almond milk)

1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

1 tablespoon molasses

1/2 cup agave nectar (I used amber, but I'm sure light would work too)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract (I actually used a praline liqueur here because I was out of vanilla, but I understand that not everyone has praline liqueur sitting around in the kitchen!)

1 cup dried cranberries

First things first: Preheat your oven to 325. Prep your 9 x 13 pan by either greasing it or fulling lining it with parchment paper. Also, go ahead and prep your chia seeds by mixing the chia seeds with the 1/4 cup of water. Let it sit for a few minutes while you work on the other stuff. The seeds and water will make a gel that will bind your bars.

Start by mixing the oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a big bowl. Make a well in the center and set aside.

In a separate bowl, mash the banana to your liking (I like some chunks in mine, personally), and then add the chia gel, applesauce, vegan milk product, maple syrup, molasses, agave nectar, and vanilla extract. Whisk until the clumps of chia gel are mostly broken up and the mixture is fairly homogeneous-looking.

Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Stir in the cranberries.

Smush the mixture into your prepped pan, making sure to smush it into all of the corners. Bake for 45 minutes. When it's done, let it cool for a few minutes to finish setting, then cut into 12 bars. YUM YUM YUM.

Time: about an hour
Servings: 12 (183 calories/serving)

P.S. If you don't have chia seeds and/or don't want to buy any, you can replace the chia gel (the chia seeds + the water) with 2 flax "eggs", or just mash in another banana.

**The only things I did differently were: I used blueberry applesauce and 2 bananas. They were so good. :) Here's my pic:

Vegan Banana Nut Muffins

Vegan Banana Nut Muffins

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

1/4 cup vanilla soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)

1 teaspoon vanilla

3-4 mashed ripe bananas

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup flaxseed meal

1/4 cup oats (I used quick-cooking)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

walnuts (as much as you like)

vegan chocolate chips (as much as you like)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients together - I usually put everything in a large ziploc bag. In a large bowl mix all wet ingredients. Add in dry ingredients and mix until everything is well combined.

You can make this into a bread by spraying a bread pan w/ cooking spray and baking for about an hour. To make muffins like I did, spray a muffin pan w/ cooking spray and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Even better the next day!

Vegan Quiche/Cake/Birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday and I wanted something special for breakfast.  I have been craving eggs so badly and I found a tofu quiche recipe on the fatfreevegan's blog (http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/12/mini-crustless-tofu-quiches.html) I figured this would be perfect!  I made mine with mushrooms, spinach & scallion.  You can use whatever you like in the quiches. I don't care for bell peppers or rosemary so I left those out. I also used tahini instead of almond butter.

I had a few family members coming over later on in the evening to celebrate my special day and they wanted to order pizza.  So they all ordered regular pizza and DH drove 40 minutes to this vegan pizzeria so I could finally try theirs!  It had vegan mozzarella, roasted red peppers & mushrooms - absolutely delicious!! I think mine was better than their "regular" pizza!!   If anyone lives in NY near Rockville Centre - check out Three Brothers Pizzeria!!

My niece made me a vegan birthday cake that was delicious! Soo sweet of her! It was the first time she tried to bake something from scratch let alone vegan! She was very nervous it wasn't going to taste good, but it was really delicious! :)
One of my presents was Babycakes vegan cookbook!  I'm soo excited to make some of the delicious recipes in there!  :)

All in all, I had a wonderful day filled with laughter and love - who could ask for anything more!  :)

Vegan Cupcakes! Nieces Approved! :)

My nieces were coming over today and I wanted to surprise them with yummy cupcakes!  So I found a recipe online (I don't remember where I found it!  Sorry, I can't credit whoever the recipe belongs to! :( )  The only change I made was adding whole wheat flour for part of the white.  I try to use as much whole wheat flour in recipes as possible.

3 cups flour (I used 2 cups white flour and 1 cup whole wheat)
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup canola oil
2 tbsp. white vinegar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cup cold water
 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl; mix wet ingredients into dry until well incorporated.  Fill cupcake liners or lightly sprayed cupcake pan with canola spray 1/2 way with batter and bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Recipe made 2 dozen cupcakes! I frosted mine with Duncan Hines creamy-homestyle vanilla/chocolate frostings. (vegan)  They are really moist and yummy!

Vegan Oatmeal Coconut Chip Cookies

I took a bunch of vegan oatmeal cookie recipes I found online and made up this one -- I added in coconut to it and I was going to add in walnuts and totally forgot!  They came out really good and hearty!

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup canola oil
2 tbsp. vanilla soy milk (or whatever non-dairy milk you'd like)
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 - "flax" eggs  (or egg sub. for 2 eggs) (2 1/2 tbsp. of flaxseed meal + 3 tbsp. water = 1 egg - mixed well)
2 1/2 cups of quick oats
2 tbsp. of vanilla
vegan chocolate chips (as much as you'd like)
shredded coconut (optional)
walnuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix flour, baking soda & salt together - Set aside.  In a separate bowl mix sugar & wet ingredients together.  Slowly add dry ingredients into wet until mixed well.  Now add oats into mixture.  Add in chips, coconut, etc.

On parchment-lined baking sheet bake cookies for about 15-25 minutes - be very careful when taking them off of baking sheet as they are very gentle.  Let cool down completely before removing them.

Daiya Cheese

I finally got my hands on some Daiya cheese and I must say I was impressed with the texture.  Definitely like it better than Follow Your Heart vegan cheese.  I had it yesterday for breakfast w/ some vegan bacon on some toast.  Next I'll try it in some veggie lasagna! 

Well, the next time might be on Saturday which is my birthday since my friends are taking me out to this vegan Italian restaurant and they use Daiya!  Wooo Hooo!!  :)

Savoy Cabbage Scampi

Super simple dinner tonight... I had 1/2 a head of savoy cabbage to use up and all I did was shred it and saute' it in some soy-free Earth Balance and a little extra virgin olive oil w/ lots of fresh garlic and sea salt.  I made some udon noodles and mixed everything together and it was delicious!  I'm in love with savoy cabbage - so mild and yummy!  Picture is rather dull, but the taste wasn't! :)

Vegan Thumbprint Cookies

Someone posted a recipe over at vegancooking at Livejournal.com for these and all I did was add in flaxseed meal and some shredded coconut... they are delicious!  If you make them - make sure you cool them completely b/c they fall apart easily.  Once cooled the texture is perfect!  This is her recipe:

Thumbprint Cookies
1 cup almonds or pecans  (I used almond meal)
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup safflower or canola oil
1/2 cup maple syrup or agave nectar (I used agave)
1/4 tsp salt
Preferred flavored jam/preserves (I used seedless raspberry)

Preheat oven to 350*F. Process almonds or pecans in a blender/food processor/coffee grinder(my weapon of choice). Place in bowl and add flour, oats and salt. Mix together and then add wet ingredients (oil and syrup). Stir mixture till it becomes dough-like. Form walnut sized balls from the dough and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Press thumb in center to make an indentation on the surface. Fill indentation with jam. Place baking sheet in oven for 15-20 minutes.

My pictures:

Minestrone!

Really good on a cold Winter's day! :)

Instead of making my own vegetable stock, I used Better Than Bouillon Organic Vegetable Base paste (1 1/2 tbsp. mixed into 4 cups of hot water) and then just add 4 extra cups of water to the pot. You made need to add extra water as I find that bouillon to be salty.

I also used:

1 large red onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, crushed

a few carrots, sliced into coins

a few stalks of celery, diced (leaves included)

shredded savoy cabbage (as much as you like)

1 zucchini, diced

10 oz. package of chopped spinach, drained

green beans (I used frozen haricot vert - cut into small pieces while still frozen)

16 oz. can of crushed tomatoes

1 can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can of white cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

3/4 cup whole wheat pasta, uncooked

Saute' onion & garlic in extra virgin olive oil until onions are translucent and then add rest of vegetables, besides spinach. Cook until tender. Then add crushed tomatoes, bouillon mixed w/ water & the extra 4 cups of water. Let cook for about 25 minutes; taste and test for seasonings. You may want to add sea salt/pepper, etc.

Now add the uncooked pasta and spinach and cook for another 10 minutes or until pasta is tender. 

Enjoy!

Kitties

My kitten, Pumpkin, had pinkeye for about 2 weeks... tried 2 different medications and it's *finally* gone!  The 3 other cats got it and the last cat is just about over it.  PHEW!  This has been a nightmare!  Chasing them away from eachother has not been fun or easy!!  I can't believe Peanut (the pup) didn't get it!), thankfully so!  Broke my heart to see them all so miserable. :( 

Anyway, been home sick for 2 days myself w/ a bad sore throat.  Going back to work tomorrow (ugh)... have some pictures to post of some stuff I made.  Instead of resting I was cooking!

Stay tuned! :)