December 4, 2011

Baked Apples!

I threw this together the other day, because I wanted something like apple pie but didn't want to make a whole pie. And I am currently eating more for breakfast since they were so tasty.

Ingredients:
2 apples, cut in half with seeds cut out
chopped pecans
raisins
cinnamon/nutmeg/cloves
brown sugar
coconut oil (or Earth Balance)

Just mix all the dry ingredients together in whatever proportions you will enjoy. Scoop the mixture into the hollowed-out apples halves. Top with a small dollop of coconut oil or Earth balance. Bake at 350 degrees (in a pan with a little bit of water) for about 30 minutes until the apples get soft.


Yum!

December 1, 2011

Vanilla Extract

In preparation for holiday gift-giving, I have started making a huge amount of vanilla extract! It's really the easiest thing in the world to make...and it's something that just about everyone uses at one point  or another.
It only requires 2 ingredients: vodka and whole vanilla beans, plus about a month of wait time.
I bought a 1-liter bottle of vodka and 6 vanilla beans.
Cut the vanilla beans into pieces and split them open to expose the seeds (I'm assuming they're seeds?) and drop them into the bottle of vodka. Then just let that bottle sit in a cupboard for at least a month, giving it a gentle shake every once in a while..
I'm going to strain out the seeds and bean bits before putting it in smaller bottles for gifts.

Super easy!!

November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

I came home for Thanksgiving and my mom bought me a Tofurky Feast! I've never had one before, so I'm kind of excited to try it :)


October 30, 2011

Raw almond milk

I love making almond milk! It's super easy and relatively cheap and tastes so much better than store-bought varieties...delicious all around.

You will need:
1 cup RAW almonds
3 cups filtered water
splash of vanilla extract
2 medjool dates (pitted)

Soak the RAW almonds in water overnight, then drain and rinse.
Put the soaked almonds in a blender.
Add 3 cups filtered water.
Add vanilla and dates (or sweetener of choice)
Blend for what seems like forever until liquidy.
Pour the liquid though a nut-milk mesh bag and squeezeee.
Now you have almond milk!
And some almond pulp for baking with.


October 13, 2011

Delays

Unfortunately, cooking and baking has been pretty low on my priority list lately. Life and whatnot getting in the way. But luckily there's lots of vegan options on campus where I spend most of my days... 

I also have a thing of vanilla Coconut Bliss ice 'cream' that I haven't been able to get myself to finish. But that's another story for another day.

Hopefully I'll discover a fantastic soup recipe soon.

August 24, 2011

Squash Blossom Tempura

Holy vegan deliciousness. Squash blossom tempura. If you have a squash plant or a farmer's market that offers these tasty flowers, pick them up. I use the term "tempura" sort of loosely here.



Batter Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground mustard seeds
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup ice-cold water

Whisk all these ingredients together right before you're ready to fry

Heat up a pot of canola oil (or whatever oil you desire)

Dip the de-stemmed squash blossoms in the batter and drop into the pot of oil

Let them fry until they are slightly golden brown

Dipping Sauce Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
 1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp. honey



Totally not healthy, but totally amazing.

August 20, 2011

The best Zucchini Bread ever.

Yeah, I made that claim. And I'm standing by it. I can't get enough of this stuff; I've been making it a lot since I perfected this recipe to my liking. Even my omnivorous friends love it!

Ingredients:

  • 5 tbsp ground flaxseeds
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup homemade applesauce
  • 2 cups brown sugar (loosely packed)
  • Seeds of 1/2 vanilla bean (or 1 tsp. vanilla extract)
  • 2 large zucchini, grated
  • 3 cups oat flour
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 2 Tbsp. cinnamon
  • 2 tsp. nutmeg
  • 1 tsp. cloves
  • 3-4 oz. grated dark chocolate
Mix the flaxseeds with the warm water until it thickens


Mix this mixture together with the oils, applesauce, sugar, and vanilla


Stir in the grated zucchini. Set aside


In a different bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients (flour-cloves)


Stir the zucchini mixture into the dry mixture

Fold in the grated chocolate until well-mixed




Grease 2 loaf-pans with Earth Balance or oil and divide the batter equally between them

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes 

Enjoy this with some good coffee and you won't be sorry.


August 14, 2011

Miso Tofu Nori Rolls

I altered the Smokey Miso Tofu marinade recipe on veganyumyum.com (an awesome blog, btw!) just a smidge, and wrapped it up in some nori sheets instead of making sandwiches out of it. Pretty solid/filling vegan "sushi":

Marinade:
2 Tbsp. white miso
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp. toasted sesame oil

Mix all this in a bowl like so:

Cut a block of (well-drained) firm tofu into slices. Soak those slices in the tasty marinade for about 10 minutes and then place in a baking dish:

Bake at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to brown.

For the filling:
Avocado slices
Veganaise
Sprouts

Lay a sheet of nori on a flat surface and layer the filling ingredients and the baked tofu:

Roll it up and slice!


Really tasty! Unless you don't like the taste of seaweed.

August 13, 2011

Sacramento Veg Fest

I dropped by the Sacramento Veg Fest today and it was really nice. A bit smaller than I thought it was going to be, but lots of yummy raw, vegan, and vegetarian food and drink to sample and buy. Foodies are such friendly folk. 
I came away with a box of Lydia's Raw Italian crackers and a jar of Nacheez vegan nacho cheeze:
I've been wanting to try Lydia's raw crackers for a while, but they're $9/box at my local co-op. But lucky day, they were just $6/box at the VegFest! That nacho cheeze is actually really tasty, probably because they used cashews as the base instead of soy-something. I'm usually not at all impressed by vegan cheese substitutes so I tend not to buy them, but this one is pretty top-notch at $6.50/jar.

July 31, 2011

The Green in the Glass!

As mentioned in my previous post, I love green smoothies. Love them.
I've been experimenting a lot over the last few months with different combos and whatnot. I enjoy drinking my food way more than I should...
But I think I've discovered my favorite basic-breakfast green smoothie recipe:
  • Juice of a small orange
  • A couple frozen strawberries
  • A slice or two of frozen peach
  • A few blueberries or blackberries
  • 1 Tbsp. Lydia's Green Powder
  • 2 tsp. ground flaxseeds
  • 3 big handfuls of spinach
  • 3 de-ribbed leaves of chard
  • 2 de-ribbed leaves of kale
  • 1 banana
  • 1/2 cup-ish of homemade kombucha!
  • coconut water to reach desired consistency

Delish.



I can't believe I didn't realize this sooner.

I'm a huge fan of green smoothies and have at least one a day...always one for breakfast! And I use frozen fruit in them for that little bit of natural sweetness. I had been buying the organic frozen fruit that they sell at my local co-op until I had an epiphany: I can just cut up fresh fruit and throw it in the freezer. DUH. That way I don't have to waste the plastic packaging that the bagged frozen fruit comes in.
Some tasty mango and banana


And local strawberries and peaches!

It's amazing how all the tiny little things you do can really add up. Too bad it took me so long to realize how stupid it is to buy pre-sliced frozen bags of fruit when a lot of the fruit I use regularly grows right around where I live. Hurray for this realization!

July 7, 2011

Almond Pulp Cookies

For anyone that makes their own almond milk, you know that there is a bunch of almond pulp left over from the process:

That stuff is too good to throw out! There are so many possibilities on what to do with it (I want to hear your ideas!). With yesterday's batch, I made some Almond Pulp Cookies! I just threw some stuff together that I had around the house and they came out pretty tasty.

Almond Pulp Cookies

  • 1 cup almond pulp
  • 1 heaping tbsp ground flax seeds
  • 1/4 cup dried berries or raisins
  • 1/4 cup rolled oats
  • 3 tbsp agave nectar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp peanut butter

    Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl (duh?)
    ...I used my hands since the dough is a bit crumbly...
    Place small flattened balls of dough on a baking sheet
    Bake for 40 minutes at 225 degrees
    After cooling, roll the tops of the cookies in powdered sugar
    (if you desire)

    Next time, I'll try using maple syrup instead of agave nectar. I feel that almond and maple flavors are made to go together!

Mustard?

For the last few days I've been exploring what things I can make DIY-style....first experiment was mustard.
Probably like most people, I just buy a bottle of the stuff at the store. It never really even crossed my mind that you can make it at home. It turned out to be one of the easiest things ever, and also really cheap!

Basic Mustard
  • 3/4 cup whole mustard seeds (I mixed brown&yellow together. Why not.)
  • 1/2 cup cider vinegar
  • 1/2 cup white vinegar
  • Sugar & salt to taste

    Place your mustard seeds in a bowl with the vinegar. Give it a swirl.

Now tuck that bowl away somewhere at room temperature and let it sit for 2 days
..................
After the 2 days, pour the mustard seeds + vinegar into a blender and blend away!
Whilst blending, add a teaspoon each of salt and sugar, or to taste  
..................
When you have reached your desired consistency, pour into a jar for storage
And now you have mustard!

It has quite a kick to it right away, but it should mellow out as time passes
Keep it in the fridge and enjoy!



I guess there's a first time for everything

I've finally jumped on the blogging bandwagon. It's true, I've never ever written a blog before. So welcome to my first attempt at sharing and writing about the goings-on in my life!

This blog will be a place for me to share my vegan cooking adventures with whoever is interested. Lately, I've started taking photographs of my creations (hence my motivation to start a blog), so be prepared for lots of pictures.

It won't necessarily be strictly a vegan food blog...I'll also be posting about other ways I've found to live as eco-friendly as possible. This is an ongoing process that I love to challenge myself with.

Enjoy!