Veggie fried rice

Let's just say life has gotten busy.

Fried rice!

Ingredients
1/4 package of tofu, cubed
2 tablespoons of diced onion
1 clove of garlic minced
1/2 carrot diced
1 celery stalk chopped
3 kale stalks chopped,
1 cup of cubed zucchini
Handful of basil
1 cup cooked rice
A tablespoon of tamari

Let's cook!
In a skillet with a lil oil, brown the tofu cubes. Add onion and garlic. Saute until onion translucent.
Add carrot, celery and cook until soft.
Add rice, zucchini, and kale stir in tamari and cook until zucchini is soft.
And serve with basil on top!

Waffles

Everyone knows waffles are a treat! The carb loading and the endless toppings are something to dream about!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 Tablespoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoon Coconut sugar

2 1/2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 Tablespoons coconut oil
1 cup of almond milk

Directions

1. Mix the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. In another bowl, combine the liquid ingredients. The milk with "curdle" with the lemon juice.

2. Combine the dry and liquid ingredients thoroughly and let sit.

3. Heat up the waffle maker and cook the "dough" per the waffle maker instructions.

4. Top waffles with whatever you like! I use peanut butter and maple syrup.

Cranberry Apple Sauce

I have to say this is the easiest sauce I have made for the holiday celebration.

Ingredients

1 bag of fresh cranberries
1/2 cup water
2 Tablespoons of Maple Syrup
1 granny smith apple chopped

Directions

1. In a sauce pan add water and cranberries on medium heat, bring to a boil and stir occasionally.The cranberries will soften and pop.

2. Add maple syrup and apples to the boiling cranberry mixture. bring back to a boil and stir occasionally.

3. Once the mixture becomes the consistency of slightly runny, turn off heat.

Roasted Vegetables with Tahini Gravy

Thanksgiving spread

This combination of vegetables was great for our Holiday Celebrations; Thanksgiving and Christmas.

My Roasted Vegetables Chopped
    Carrots
    Brussel sprouts
    Acorn Squash
Additional Ingredients
    1 T Olive oil
    1 T Brown sugar
    Salt and Black pepper to taste


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat

2. In a bowl; mix oil, sugar, salt and pepper. Toss in the vegetables and coat them well.

3. Spread vegetables in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake 20 - 25 minutes. At ten minutes (halfway through), flip and stir the vegetables and finish baking .



Tahini Gravy

Ingredients
1/2 cup tahini
1/2 cup water
3 Tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons garlic powder
black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat all ingredients in a sauce pan until slightly thick and hot.

This will thicken overtime as it cools so you can add water to thin it out again.

Mushroom Wellington

Thanksgiving Dinner

This recipe was made first for our Thanksgiving gathering of 2017. It is a gorgeous main with the puff pastry and 'meaty' filling. If you love leftovers double this recipe, not knowing how my family would accept this I only made the one....

So lets make it!

Ingredients

8 oz of mushrooms chopped (baby bellas or portobellos)
1/2 onion finely diced
1 clove of garlic crushed
1 1/2 tsp of fresh chopped thyme or 1 T of dried Italian Seasoning
3/4 cup pecans lightly toasted and chopped
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
pinch of chili flakes
one sheet of thawed puff pastry ( I use Pepperidge Farm)

Directions

1. Sweat the onion and garlic in a skillet, then add mushrooms and seasonings. Continue to cook until the liquid has been cooked out of the mushrooms.

2. In a food processor, blend pecans until fine. Add the mushroom mixture and bread crumbs and blend until combined. preheat the oven to 340 degrees

3. Unfold the pasty and notate the pastry is divided into three parts. Add the mixture to the center section of the pastry making a log with the mixture. One the other two sections cut 45 degree angles from the middle pastry section leaving 1/2 inch between each cut. With each strip cover the mixture in a braiding design.

4. Bake at 350 for about 45 min. If the pasty starts to burn, cover with aluminum foil.

5. Enjoy!

Vegan Holiday Party 2017

The holidays are time to spend time with family and friends. This year, we had incorporated vegan menu items due to two Vegan eaters at the time my sister and I. These are what we had....

Mushroom Wellington
Roasted Vegetables with Tahini Gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Cranberry Apple Sauce

I will add these recipes individually, minus the mashed potatoes. They are the easiest to make, boil - mash - add garlic, onion, butter.

The Mushroom Wellington was tried by all and I have to say that this was one of the best Mains that I have made. The texture with the pate and the puff pastry is divine. My brother-in-law stated that it tastes like the stuffing. I thought it was more elevated flavor than that, however, everyone will love to have it again. I was unable to have leftovers!

The Roasted Veg is something that I would eat day after day in Winter. This recipe is easy and delicious. It will make a great bowl with Quinoa, kale and gravy! The Gravy has a earthy spicy flavor to it to make it warm you up from the inside out.

These are the successful recipes to our gathering for 2017.

Chickpea red curry

Since my last post, lots has changed in my lifestyle. This last year I have been grasping a plant-based diet. To be honest, I was eating a lot of processed foods. Last month, I have started more of a real plant based diet with help of a dietician. Home cooking is the best thing you can do and with that I have made a point to try new foods and meal plan.

This week, my new recipe is a carb load. It contains chickpeas, potato, and  A carrot. My fiance made his very delicious, very meaty thai red curry this last weekend. With me being plant-based, I did not eat it but have been craving it ever since. I was inspired to create a dish for myself that would fulfill my want of curry. As a side note, you can switch the veggies around to the ones you want like eggplant and bell peppers.

Ingredients

1 can of coconut milk
1 tablespoon of curry powder
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 splash of soy sauce
Juice of 1/8 th of a lime
1 can of chickpea
1 russet potato cubed
1 medium carrot sliced in coins
1/4 cup of finely chopped onion
Thai basil
Cilantro

Directions

1. Cook potato in boiling water. And drain potato.

2. Bring coconut milk to simmer on medium heat, add brown sugar and curry powder, and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Add the onion to a heated pan with a teaspoon of oil till they sweat. Add carrot stir until carrot is softened, 2 minutes. Add potato and chickpeas and heat through.

4. Add chickpea mixture to curry and stir till combined. Add soy sauce, lime juice, cilantro and thai basil.

5. Ready to serve with rice! I add a lot of basil and sriracha.