Category Archives: Veganism

Vitamixing it Up with Breakfast Smoothies

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I finally got my Vitamix. I’ve been yearning for one for a long long time. Now I have Glenda, the good blendah. And that means breakfast smoothies all the time. Woot.

IMG_1264I’m gradually working out my smoothie making process. Right now, every weekend, I make several bags of fruit, seasonings, and protein powder and sock them into the freezer. Then, in the morning, I just have to grab some greens, blend them into soy milk (I do that first because I do not like chunks of greens in my smoothies), throw in a bag of frozen fruit, and voila! The funniest part for me is, while green juice made me a little gaggy at first – not the taste but the idea of drinking something green – green smoothies don’t at all.

Some favorite mixes right now are:
– Strawberry, banana, peanut butter, kale
– Strawberry, pineapple, protein powder, spinach
IMG_1364– Blueberry, strawberry, banana, protein powder, kale
– Blackberry (except I don’t love the seeds), blueberry, strawberry, protein powder, kale
– Apple, cinnamon, banana, protein powder, spinach

Yum! If you are a smoothie lover, what are your favorite mixes?

Snowstorm Baking – Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

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Bad weather always means baking for me. Today, while the menfolk were outside shoveling, I threw together a big batch of these beauties!

Ingredients
2/3 cup natural peanut butter
4 tablespoons canola oil
2 cups raw sugar
2/3 cup coconut milk
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cup rolled oats (reqular or quick, but not instant)
1 cup non-dairy chocolate chips or chocolate bar broken into small pieces
1 cup chopped walnuts

Process
Preheat oven to 425°F and prepare your baking sheets.Whisk together first five ingredients until very smooth. Mix dry ingredients. Combine all ingredients and stir to combine thoroughly.Drop batter by large spoonfuls onto baking sheet and then flatten down to about 1/3 to 1/2 inch thickness. Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until tops develop cracks. They won’t look quite done. That’s ok. Remove sheet from oven, and wait 10 minutes before transferring cookies to plate.

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Cheesy Zucchini Pasta Bake – Vegan Recipe

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IMG_1507aI must admit that, while I do most of my meal planning on the weekend before I get groceries, there is almost always a day I forgot or I don’t want to make what was scheduled or I didn’t get enough of something.

On those days, the plan is as follows: Open the cabinet and stare inside. Open the fridge and stare inside. Start that process again but this time randomly pull things out and throw them on the counter. Stare at the pile of things for a while and then start prepping some of them, hoping that an idea will emerge.

And that is how this pasta bake was born. It doesn’t look very pretty, because baked pasta, but it tasted wonderful.

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Ingredients

3 stalks celery, chopped
1 large sweet onion, diced
3 medium zucchini, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 large can crushed tomato
1 lb wheat pasta
2 cups nutritional yeast flakes
1.5 cups TVP bits
2 cups water
2 T oregano flakes
1 T dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

Process

Cook pasta, al dente. While pasta is cooking, preheat oven to 350*. Mix spices into crushed tomatoes and water. Fold in the yeast flakes and TVP. Gently combine all ingredients, including well-drained pasta.

Place in large baking pan and cook at 350* for about 45 minutes, or until all vegetables are done to taste.