Some of my favorite Vegan Blogs and Websites for information, inspiration, and recipes!
http://www.forksoverknives.com/
http://jacknorrisrd.com/
http://www.veganhealth.org/
http://www.theveganrd.com/
http://nutritionfacts.org/
http://plantbaseddietitian.com/
http://www.diseaseproof.com/
http://plantpoweredkitchen.com/
http://www.straightupfood.com/
http://ohsheglows.com/
http://healthygirlskitchen.blogspot.com/
http://www.happyhealthylonglife.com/
http://www.choosingraw.com/
Not necessarily Vegan, but smart:
http://bittman.blogs.nytimes.com/
Yummy fun desserts... (sometimes vegan):
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/
An idea I think needs more exploration:
http://www.theveganrd.com/2012/04/is-umami-a-secret-ingredient-of-vegan-activism.html
What are your favorite sites? I'll keep adding to this posts as I find new sites I like.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Got a minute? Get ch-yeeze-y!
Seriously, you can have ch-yeeze that look like this in less than 5 minutes.
I like to call this, ch-yeeze. It's not cheese, it's a nice little
sauce. Sometimes the girls
like ch-yeeze and sometimes they don't. I always do and it's easy to
make. I love it with broccoli; of course, it goes well with any veggie on a tortilla, too! If you're feeling traditional, put it over macaroni.
Here's the recipe for the 5-minute version of the ch-yeeze sauce:
2. Add nutritional yeast and whisk some more.
3. Add Dijon, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste and whisk frequently until the sauce thickens up (less than 5 minutes). If it’s still too thin you can add more flour to achieve the thickness you desire.
Note: I've never had any problems with it thickening. It's usually super thick in 3 minutes.
I'd never played around with nutritional yeast until my best friend from high school (KJ) made a homemade mac-n-nutrional-yeast-cheese dish when we visited. After KJ made that for me, I got hooked on nutrtitional yeast. I first made this mac-n-ch-yeeze recipe on Christmas Eve when my bestest vegan friend and I had a cooking fest day. This version takes longer, but it is mighty tasty!
Recipes from Oh She Glows (full credit to her everything in italics is from her site).
Ingredients:
Directions: Preheat oven to 350F. Grab a small casserole dish and set aside. In a medium sized pot, add the chopped potatoes, carrots, and onion and fill with water until just covered. Bring to a boil and then reduce to low-medium heat. Cook for about 15 minutes until tender.
Meanwhile, process 1 slice of bread until crumbs form in a food processor. Add in 1 tbsp of Earth Balance (or butter) and process until incorporated. Place in a small bowl and set aside.
Now assemble your cheese sauce ingredients (cashews, almond milk, garlic, lemon, salt, yeast, pepper, mustard) and add just the cashews to food processor. Process until a fine crumb forms similar to corn meal. Now add in the rest of the cheese sauce ingredients and process until smooth.
Once the veggies are cooked, drain and add to cheese sauce mixture in food processor. Process until smooth.
Add your pasta to a medium sized pot and fill with water until the pasta is covered by about 1 inch or so. Bring to a boil and reduce to low, cooking for about 7 more minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.
In a large bowl, mix together your cheese sauce and drained + rinsed pasta. Scoop into your casserole dish and sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture. Now garnish with paprika and bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 350F. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley or dried parsley if you’d like.
Serves approx 4-6.
Note: This is a heavy and drier mac ‘n cheese. If you want it less dry, you might want to add some Earth Balance/butter or additional milk.
Oh she glow's pictures are better, but here's a shot of my mac-n-ch-yeeze from my little iPhone 5; this photo was taken Christmas Eve, 2012.
Here's the recipe for the 5-minute version of the ch-yeeze sauce:
- 3/4 cup unsweetened, unflavored almond milk (or more as needed to thin out)
- 6 tbsp nutritional yeast (Bob’s Red Mill makes one in natural food section of most grocery stores or bulk food stores)
- 1 tbsp all purpose flour (or other flour)
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2. Add nutritional yeast and whisk some more.
3. Add Dijon, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste and whisk frequently until the sauce thickens up (less than 5 minutes). If it’s still too thin you can add more flour to achieve the thickness you desire.
Note: I've never had any problems with it thickening. It's usually super thick in 3 minutes.
I'd never played around with nutritional yeast until my best friend from high school (KJ) made a homemade mac-n-nutrional-yeast-cheese dish when we visited. After KJ made that for me, I got hooked on nutrtitional yeast. I first made this mac-n-ch-yeeze recipe on Christmas Eve when my bestest vegan friend and I had a cooking fest day. This version takes longer, but it is mighty tasty!
Recipes from Oh She Glows (full credit to her everything in italics is from her site).
Ingredients:
- 1/2 medium potato, peeled and chopped (about 1/4-1/3 cup)
- 1/2 large carrot, peeled and chopped (about 1/2 cup)
- 1/2 small onion, peeled and chopped (about 1/4-1/3 cup)
- 1.5 cups raw cashews
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 4 garlic cloves
- 6 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 3 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 tsp mustard
- ~300-340 grams dry/uncooked Macaroni or other pasta (I used whole wheat rotini)
- 1 slice bread
- 1 tbsp Earth Balance or butter (I left this out!)
- Fresh or dried parsley, to garnish (optional)
- Paprika, to garnish
Directions: Preheat oven to 350F. Grab a small casserole dish and set aside. In a medium sized pot, add the chopped potatoes, carrots, and onion and fill with water until just covered. Bring to a boil and then reduce to low-medium heat. Cook for about 15 minutes until tender.
Meanwhile, process 1 slice of bread until crumbs form in a food processor. Add in 1 tbsp of Earth Balance (or butter) and process until incorporated. Place in a small bowl and set aside.
Now assemble your cheese sauce ingredients (cashews, almond milk, garlic, lemon, salt, yeast, pepper, mustard) and add just the cashews to food processor. Process until a fine crumb forms similar to corn meal. Now add in the rest of the cheese sauce ingredients and process until smooth.
Once the veggies are cooked, drain and add to cheese sauce mixture in food processor. Process until smooth.
Add your pasta to a medium sized pot and fill with water until the pasta is covered by about 1 inch or so. Bring to a boil and reduce to low, cooking for about 7 more minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.
In a large bowl, mix together your cheese sauce and drained + rinsed pasta. Scoop into your casserole dish and sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture. Now garnish with paprika and bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 350F. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley or dried parsley if you’d like.
Serves approx 4-6.
Note: This is a heavy and drier mac ‘n cheese. If you want it less dry, you might want to add some Earth Balance/butter or additional milk.
Oh she glow's pictures are better, but here's a shot of my mac-n-ch-yeeze from my little iPhone 5; this photo was taken Christmas Eve, 2012.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
New recipe Sunday--it's Apple Swirl Bread
Happy Cinco De Mayo! In honor, I made apple swirl bread and banana chocolate chip muffins. Not your traditional Cinco De Mayo food, but maybe later, I'll make black bean dip.
The banana chocolate chip ones are the ones I made a week ago (linked above). I changed them slightly by taking out 1/4 of whole wheat flour and substituting 1/4 cup of flax. I really like flax. I thought this made a nice change.
I did the same (subtracted 1/4 cup of flour and added 1/4 cup of flax) in the apple swirl bread. I also cut the sugar and maple syrup in 1/2 in the apple swirl bread. The apple swirl bread was still VERY sweet. I will probably reduce the sugar in it even more next time I make it--although, I'll probably make it this sweet when I take it to school for teacher appreciation day brunch. Here's my modified version (less sugar) of the apple swirl bread with my notes, too. The link above will take you to Dreena Burton's site where she has the original apple swirl bread recipe and a nice photo.
Apple Mixture:
1/2 cup diced apple (peeled first) (I didn't measure, I just used a whole medium-sized fuji apple)
1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (I didn't measure, I just squeezed 1/2 a small lemon)
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/8 cup unrefined sugar (I used brown sugar)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice (Nick wants less of this)
Batter:
1 1/4 cups whole-wheat pastry flour (or 1 2/3 cups spelt for wheat-free version--Dreena's note)
1/4 cup flax
1/2 cup oat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon (1 teaspoon)
1/4 tsp sea salt
3/4 cup vanilla or plain non-dairy milk (unsweetened almond and soy as I didn't have a lot of either)
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1-2 teaspoons of water (or more non-dairy milk)
Dreena's instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. First combine apple mixture: in a bowl, toss apples with lemon juice and then add applesauce, sugar, cinnamon and allspice. Mix and set aside. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients for batter (sifting in baking powder and soda). Mix well. In a small bowl, combine milk, maple syrup, and vanilla. Add wet mixture to dry, stirring through until just well combined (without overmixing). Add apple mixture to batter, and using a spoon or knife, ever so slightly fold/swirl it into the batter (okay to have thicker spots, as above, these will create delicious flavor swirls)! Pour into a lightly oiled (just wipe with a paper towel) 9″ x 5″ loaf pan (I use glass). Bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden and a toothpick or skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
I overmixed the apple mixture in the batter and didn't get great swirls, but the bread was really tasty! It's really sweet; I plan to cut the sugar even more in the apple mixture (down to just 1 tablespoon) and probably only use 3 tablespoons of maple syrup in the batter next time.
The banana chocolate chip ones are the ones I made a week ago (linked above). I changed them slightly by taking out 1/4 of whole wheat flour and substituting 1/4 cup of flax. I really like flax. I thought this made a nice change.
I did the same (subtracted 1/4 cup of flour and added 1/4 cup of flax) in the apple swirl bread. I also cut the sugar and maple syrup in 1/2 in the apple swirl bread. The apple swirl bread was still VERY sweet. I will probably reduce the sugar in it even more next time I make it--although, I'll probably make it this sweet when I take it to school for teacher appreciation day brunch. Here's my modified version (less sugar) of the apple swirl bread with my notes, too. The link above will take you to Dreena Burton's site where she has the original apple swirl bread recipe and a nice photo.
Apple Mixture:
1/2 cup diced apple (peeled first) (I didn't measure, I just used a whole medium-sized fuji apple)
1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (I didn't measure, I just squeezed 1/2 a small lemon)
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/8 cup unrefined sugar (I used brown sugar)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice (Nick wants less of this)
Batter:
1 1/4 cups whole-wheat pastry flour (or 1 2/3 cups spelt for wheat-free version--Dreena's note)
1/4 cup flax
1/2 cup oat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon (1 teaspoon)
1/4 tsp sea salt
3/4 cup vanilla or plain non-dairy milk (unsweetened almond and soy as I didn't have a lot of either)
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1-2 teaspoons of water (or more non-dairy milk)
Dreena's instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. First combine apple mixture: in a bowl, toss apples with lemon juice and then add applesauce, sugar, cinnamon and allspice. Mix and set aside. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients for batter (sifting in baking powder and soda). Mix well. In a small bowl, combine milk, maple syrup, and vanilla. Add wet mixture to dry, stirring through until just well combined (without overmixing). Add apple mixture to batter, and using a spoon or knife, ever so slightly fold/swirl it into the batter (okay to have thicker spots, as above, these will create delicious flavor swirls)! Pour into a lightly oiled (just wipe with a paper towel) 9″ x 5″ loaf pan (I use glass). Bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden and a toothpick or skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
I overmixed the apple mixture in the batter and didn't get great swirls, but the bread was really tasty! It's really sweet; I plan to cut the sugar even more in the apple mixture (down to just 1 tablespoon) and probably only use 3 tablespoons of maple syrup in the batter next time.
Friday, May 3, 2013
My new favorite chocolate
(Potential new favorite chocolate bar)
We try to eat pretty healthy around here, but we do love our chocolate. The vegans here all eat dark chocolate (of course), and the others usually eat dark. I used to have a favorite chocolate, but they stopped making it. They still market a chocolate under the same name, but it's not the same formula and it's not nearly as good. The picture below shows the old packaging and the old formula inside. I did love that chocolate. Alas. It's taken me a few years and lots of sampling to find something else I like (see photo above). I stuck with the process as I had faith that someday I would find love again. (Heh.)
I've now sampled a little over a serving size of the new chocolate (see above) and I love it. From the very first little square I ate, I was intrigued. One thing, I dislike it when there is too much vanilla in a chocolate bar. The new bar, the Madecasse 80%, doesn't have any vanilla.
Here's a review from a NYT's blog of it; here's a link to the company who makes the bar. Former peace corps members started the company to try to do more for Madagascar. I'm going to be reading more about the company and their products. P.S., we'll do some serious tasting, soon! Note, I was in no way compensated for this review and I bought the chocolate myself.
Here's a review from a NYT's blog of it; here's a link to the company who makes the bar. Former peace corps members started the company to try to do more for Madagascar. I'm going to be reading more about the company and their products. P.S., we'll do some serious tasting, soon! Note, I was in no way compensated for this review and I bought the chocolate myself.
Old favorite that isn't made anymore
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