Memorial Day Meal

Today I made Mac n Cheese with Franks, Beans and Greens. SUPER - Steve had 2 plates so it had to be good - yummy food.

First, the Mac n Cheese...(thekindlife.com)

INGREDIENTS
3 cups Elbow pasta
1 cup soymilk
1/4 cup tamari
1 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp paprika
1 glove garlic
1 tsp dijon mustard
2/3 cup canola oil
salt & pepper

STEPS
Cook the pasta al dente.
In a blender/food processor combine the garlic, nutritional yeast, mustard and paprika, blend to chop garlic.
While the machine is running add the tamari, soymilk and canola oil and blend until creamy.
Heat sauce and mix with cooked noodles.
You can also do it as a baked Mac n’ Cheese by adding about 1/2 cup of water to the sauce and undercooking the noodles a little.
Top with breadcrumbs and bake in a casserole dish in a 350 oven until bubbly and breadcrumbs are browned.

For the Franks, Beans and Greens...

1 large can Vegetarian baked beans (Bush's is a good brand)
1 can of turnip greens (southern style)
1 pkg Yves vegan hotdogs

Slice the hotdogs and combine all ingredients together in a saucepan. Heat until warm.

This is one of my favorite meals and tastes so good. Definitely didnt miss any good food today ;)

Pan Fried Burritos

Tonight for dinner I tried a recipe from Christina Pirello. She's a vegan chef who I greatly admire. All her food is YUM.

However, I did a few of my own touches on them. For example, I threw in some potatoes and a little less tomato (for Steve's sake). Plus add a little vegan cheddar Mmmmm Mmmmm Mmmmmm!



Here's how you make them...


Pan Fried Burritos
What You'll Need
salsa:
2 ripe tomatoes, fine dice
1/2 red onion, fine dice
1 red bell pepper, roasted over an open flame, peeled, seeded, diced
2 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced
1 serrano chile, finely minced, including seeds
Sea salt
Extra virgin olive oil

burritos:
extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves fresh garlic, thinly sliced
1 red onion, small dice
Sea salt
1 carrot, small dice
2 stalks celery, small dice
Pinch ground cumin
Generous pinch crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup cooked black turtle beans
1 cup cooked red azuki beans
4, 10-inch whole wheat tortillas
5-6 ounces vegan Monterey jack soy cheese, grated
1/2 cup avocado oil

Instructions
Make the salsa, by simply combining the first 5 ingredients in a mixing bowl. Season to taste with salt and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Mix well, cover tightly and set aside so flavors can develop.

Make the burrito filling. Place a small amount of oil, the garlic and onion in a deep skillet over medium heat. When the onions begin to sizzle, add a pinch of salt and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Stir in carrot and celery, a pinch of salt and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Stir in cumin and crushed red pepper flakes, season lightly with salt and sauté for 1 minute more. Stir in cooked beans, season to taste with salt and cook, stirring constantly, until beans are warmed through, about 3 minutes.

Lay a tortilla on a dry work surface. Spoon _ of the filling onto tortilla and spread it evenly over the tortilla, leaving a 1-inch border all around. Sprinkle with _ of the cheese. From the side nearest you, roll, jelly-roll style to create the burrito. Set aside, seam side down. Repeat with remaining tortillas, cheese and beans.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Lay 2 burritos in hot oil, seam side down and fry until golden on the undersides, 1-2 minutes. Turn the burritos carefully and brown on the other side. Drain on paper and repeat with remaining 2 burritos.

To serve, arrange burritos on a platter and spoon salsa over top.

Makes 4 servings.


The flavors are amazing in this dish. We all enjoyed it AND they're very healthy ;)

What to drink at Starbucks...

How do I stay Vegan at Starbucks?? EASY. First of all, you can substitute soy milk for regular milk in any of their drinks. But until recently, you couldnt get a non-dairy frappuccino because it was a premade mix.

ANGELS SING. They are promoting their *new* SOY frappuccinos!! This is so exciting because not only can I stay vegan and enjoy frappuccinos, but I can get a soy strawberry frappuccino for Caydence.

I actually tried the Soy Strawberry Frappuccino for the first time tonight. I ordered it with no whipped cream because it has dairy in it. But I wasn't missing a thing! It's DELICIOUS!

So far, I've discovered very yummy vegan drinks to enjoy at Starbucks....

1. Soy Hot Chocolate
2. Soy Latte (flavored with peppermint or cherry)
3. Hot soy Chai tea
4. Soy Strawberry Frappuccinos (no whip)

Let me just add...

Tall Strawberries and Cream Frappuccino with Whipped Cream...
Calories: 370
Fat: 15g


Tall SOY Strawberries and Cream (no whip)...
Calories: 250
Fat: 2g


LOVE IT!!!!!

My Favorite Cookies

These are the most amazing cookies. They have no butter, milk, or eggs so they are "Caydence friendly".

I cant stop eating these!!

Oatmeal, Walnut and Dried Plum Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup maple sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. fine sea salt
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup safflower oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. molasses
1/4 cup chopped dried plums or other dried fruit
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine the oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the syrup, oil, vanilla extract, and molasses. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir to combine. Fold in the dried plums and nuts.

Using your hands, roll tablespoon-size scoops of dough into balls. Place the balls onto the prepared baking sheet and press down slightly on the balls to flatten the tops. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a baking rack to cool completely.

For variety, replace the all-purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour, barley flour, spelt flour, or a gluten-free baking mix (choose one that does not include baking soda and baking powder). You can also substitute chocolate chips for the dried fruit and any kind of nuts for the walnuts.

The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone. Published by Rodale Books. © 2009

My Story

So I've created this blog to let some people in on my recent decision to eat vegan (no animal products - meat, dairy, eggs, etc). I know, I have some close friends/family who think I've just lost it, but let's start from the beginning...

I grew up eating everything. Never had to worry about food or what was in food. However, in 2007 my daughter was born and we found out she was severely allergic to milk proteins (whey and casein).
My husband also battled allergies to milk, tomato, peanut, etc..

OK. So my whole life changed when I had to start reading labels on food. My list of the usual meals for dinner? SCRATCH THEM. Actually I tried going without dairy for a whole week and whined like a baby the whole time.

Later, we found out my daughter had also developed an allergy to wheat. Our diet then turned to rice, vegetables/fruit, beans and meat. Very healthy I might add. But I still had to have my cheese; and I couldnt do without milk in my tea or cream in my coffee.

Thank God, my daughter outgrew her wheat allergy in 2009 but is currently still allergic to dairy. At that time, I decided to give up dairy for the most part for my daughter's sake. Also, my second daugher was born in 2009 and has NO allergies.

So here we are. Now I have to tell you Ive never been a HUGE meat person. I like meat pretty good... and theres nothing like a nice well-done steak or a piece of deli ham. But I have to be honest, most of the time I ate meat was because I thought I needed the protein and I didnt want people to think I was...weird.

Quite honestly the word "vegan" to me was foreign and my impression of "vegans" were silly tree-hugging wierdos who had about 20 pets and just wanted to be different. Not saying there are people like that out there, but my overall impression was completely wrong. My first REAL explanation of the vegan lifestyle was found in Alicia Silverstone's book "The Kind Diet". THIS BOOK HAS CHANGED MY LIFE.

For those of you who know me well, you know me and animals don't mix. Now, I dont believe in animal abuse or anything, but my motives for eating vegan are clearly not for the animals. For me, eating vegan is all about health and I'm not judgmental of anyone who chooses to eat meat. So lets get that out there right now.

Just in the past few months I've been eating vegan, my body has changed so much. I've lost 2 clothes sizes, my acne is clearing up, I sleep better, and I have ENERGY.
I feel like my skin glows and my stress levels have dropped. For you gals, lets say that horrible visit once a month from "aunt eve" is a piece of cake. No more eating a meal and passing out; or feeling bloated and gassy. The biggest thing I've learned is getting rid of meat and dairy has only helped me discover other foods I didnt know I liked. I eat BETTER and more DELICIOUS food now than ever before.

Going Vegan doesnt necessarily happen overnight. I already had to substitute for dairy for my daughter, so I had a head start. So this blog is for anyone who wants to follow this journey with me and understand where Im coming from when I say I eat vegan.