Vegan Spinach Artichoke Pasta

In our household there is no such thing as too much pasta.  It pretty much dominates our pantry.  I usually have at least 10 different types of pasta at any given time.  In my defense though, there are SO many dishes that you can create with pasta.  You can pretty much mix it with any vegetable, any protein, any sauce and have an amazing dish.  You can't go wrong with pasta.  This is another super simple pasta dish that can easily be made into a meal by the addition of your protein of choice.  You can get creative with your spices and herbs too.  Throw in some oregano or thyme, even dill if you'd like. 

Vegan Spinach Artichoke Pasta

Ingredients:

8 oz. Orecchiette Pasta
14 oz. Can Artichoke Hearts
2 C. Fresh Baby Spinach Leaves
1 C. Grape or Cherry Tomatoes
2 tsp Fresh Garlic Paste (I LOVE garlic, add or reduce the amount to your liking) 
2 tsp Olive Oil (or oil of your choice)
2 TBSP White Cooking Wine
1/2 C. Daiya Mozzarella Shreds

Method:

1. Cook pasta according to package instructions.  Drain and set aside.
2. Heat oil, garlic paste and white wine in a large skillet over medium heat.  Cook and stir until the wonderful garlic smell invades your senses.
3. Chop your artichoke hearts a bit (or not, if you like chunks) and toss into the garlic mix.
4. Add your spinach leaves and cook just until leaves are a bit wilted.
5. Add your pasta and toss until all ingredients are incorporated
6. Toss in your tomatoes and Daiya Mozzarella Shreds and cook just until tomatoes are heated, but not overcooked (overcooking will cause them to wrinkle and shrivel).  When tomatoes are heated just right, they will release their amazingly sweet juiciness on first bite. mmmm, delish!
7. Voila! (I say that a lot)  You have created a perfectly tasty, simple, and fast pasta dish.

Vegan Flaky, Fluffy Biscuits

I really love me some soft, fluffy, flaky biscuits.  This is a crazy simple recipe that anyone (even kids) can make with ease.  It's fast to stir up and fast to bake.  From start to finish, these will take about 17 to 20 minutes.

Vegan Fluffy, Flaky Biscuits

Makes ~7 - 3" Round Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 C. Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 Tbsp. Baking Powder
2 tsp. Vegan Sugar (I use Woodstock Farms organic, vegan sugar)
1/2 tsp. Cream of Tartar
Dash of Salt
1/2 C. Vegan Shortening
2/3 C. Coconut Milk (or almond or soy)

Method:

Oven 450F
In a bowl stir together all the dry ingredients.  Cut in shortening with two knives or a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles small peas.  Make a well in the center and add the milk all at once.  Stir in the milk until the mixture comes together.  Do not over stir.
Knead dough gently on a floured surface until dough holds together well.  About 10 strokes.
Pat the dough down (no need for a rolling pin) to about 3/4" of an inch thick (this will create biscuits that are 1 1/2" tall.)
Cut the biscuits with a floured 3" cutter and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Vegan Tofu & Veggie Soup

Vegan Tofu & Veggie Soup

Ok, so the pic isn't great, but the soup is!  I made this with my vegan biscuits and we had the perfect winter dinner.  Veggies, potatoes, and tofu make this soup hardy and healthy. This can be cooked in the crock pot or on the stove.  Either way it will come out amazing!  I do have to admit that I am an "eye ball" cook.  I tend to throw things in and I don't really measure.  The ingredients in this soup are approximate, but in all your dishes, just tailor the herbs & spices to your liking.  I always do several taste tests on everything (especially cookie dough!)

Ingredients:

4 Large Potatoes (skin on or off, whatever you like)
Carrots (the amount depends on what you like & how big the carrots are. I'll let you decide)
Brick of Firm Tofu
1 1/2 C. Frozen Corn
8 Sliced Baby Bella Mushrooms
4 to 5 C. Vegan Vegetable Stock
2 tsp. Garlic (more or less to taste)
2 tsp. Onion Powder (again, more or less to taste)
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
3 or 4 Leaves of Fresh Basil
1 1/2 tsp. Dried Oregano
2 tsp. White Cooking Wine
Salt if you wish

Method:

Ok, I love mise en place (putting in place or everything in place).  I prepare everything before I put things together to make cooking easier.  I start out by draining, cutting, and measuring all my ingredients so that everything is all set to just throw in.

1. Wash & cut potatoes (I leave my peels on), slice mushrooms, and chop basil.
2. Drain tofu and pat dry with paper towels.  Cut into nice square pieces about 1" large.
3. Add vegetable stock and white cooking wine to stock pot or crock pot and add all your spices (garlic, onion powder, black pepper, basil, oregano, salt).  Set the crock pot on low or set your stove to simmer or low.
4. Add tofu, mushrooms, carrots and potatoes.
5. Cook the soup until the potatoes are the desired doneness.
6. Add the frozen corn and heat until cooked.
7. Voila! Soup is done!  Pair this with my vegan biscuits and you'll have a delicious meal.
Enjoy!

Vegan Sweet & Sour Casserole

Vegan Sweet & Sour Casserole

I love this dish.  It is super easy to throw together and is amazingly delicious!

I created this recipe out of my love for all things sweet, wonderful, healthy & easy.  The sweet & sour sauce in this recipe is so versatile you can use it in just about any dish you'd like.  The complete recipe has a few steps in it (cooking the rice, cutting the veggies, and making the sauce), but you will NOT be disappointed!  The sauce is super delicious and this dish can be made with tempeh, tofu, or seitan.  Our carnivore friends can even add chicken, pork or beef if they so desire.  I have not yet met one person who doesn't enjoy this dish.  

Happy eating!

Veggie Ingredients:

Brick of Firm Tofu (14oz or 16oz)
1/2 Yellow Bell Pepper
1/2 Orange Bell Pepper
1 1/2 C. Chopped Broccoli
15 oz. Can Mandarin Oranges
7 or 8  Sliced Baby Bella Mushrooms
Garbanzo Beans (as many as you'd like)
1 C. Rice

Sweet & Sour Sauce:

15 oz. Can of Pineapple Chunks (reserve 1 cup of pineapple juice)
1 Tbsp. White Vinegar
1 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Corn Starch
2 Tbsp Ketchup

Method:

350F Oven ~45mins

1. Start cooking rice according to package instructions
2. Drain tofu and pat dry with paper towels. Crumble the tofu in heated skillet with ~1 tsp olive oil and cook until done to your liking. I like mine to be a bit firm with a yellow outside.
3. Chop all your veggies (minus the pineapple, oranges, and garbanzo beans) and add to the tofu skillet and cook just until slightly soft. Remove from heat & set aside.

3. Drain the pineapple to get 1 cup of juice (if it isn't quite 1 cup, add some water).  Reserve the pineapple chunks.  Mix the pineapple juice and all other ingredients in a medium saucepan.  Cook and stir over medium heat until thick like gravy.  Set aside.
4.Place cooked rice in the bottom of a greased 9x13" pan or in a large pie plate (I prefer mine in a pie plate).
5.Throw all your veggies, pineapple, mandarin oranges, and garbanzo beans on top of the rice in whatever order your heart desires.
6.  Pour the sweet and sour sauce over the entire casserole.
7. Bake uncovered in preheated oven for ~45 minutes until the veggies are cooked to your liking and the casserole is hot & bubbly.
8. Remove & enjoy!

Vegan School Lunches & Our Super Amazing Containers

I like to be healthy (ok, so I love my sweet treats, but I try) and I want healthy food for my son as well.  I have made every lunch for my son since he started kindergarten (he's in 4th grade now) and I wouldn't dare let him eat the processed gunk the school calls food.  Over the years it's hard coming up with healthy recipes for cold school lunches that he can eat without heating up.  Now that we've gone vegan, we have to be more creative.

This is a blog full of pictures like a children's book, appropriate I think.  These are just a few of the lunches that my son has taken to school.  I'll add more as time goes on. 

Lunch #1.  

Ignore my messy counter, I'm sloppy in the morning before I have my coffee :)
Sandwich with vegan whole wheat bread and homemade Vegan Deli Slices, Vegenaise, and mustard.
A bit of hummus, broccoli, and baby carrots.  On the side or for snacks is peanuts (our school is not nut-free) and Garden Vegetable Wheat Thins.

I am a fan of Bento boxes and bento-like containers, but as I was surfing the web, the ones I found were crazy expensive.  I'm a frugal mom and I hate to spend more than I should on a novelty lunch product.  I refused to pay $30 to $50 for a special lunch container that also required me to buy the case to carry it in.  So, while in my local Wegman's I found these amazing containers.  They are Rubbermaid Lunch Blox and the whole kit was $8 on sale (normally $10.99).  Woo!

I thought it was just a name, but my son quickly found out that these containers "snap" into each other like blocks so that they stay together in the lunch sack or box.  Even the blue ice pack (you can see in the pic) comes with little grooves so that it snaps in on the top and bottom of the containers.
My son thought these were really cool and the containers are the perfect size for a sandwich and three sides.  Another plus beside being cool to play with, is that the tops have a super seal.  The yogurt stayed where it should be and didn't leak out.  We haven't tried applesauce or anything thinner yet, but I have no doubt that these will stay leak proof.

Lunch #2

In the lunch packed above he had his Vegan Deli Slice sandwich (he eats these often since he really likes them), some strawberry Silk Yogurt, a pot of strawberries and blueberries, and leftover cold Vegan Pasta Salad. 

At the same time I found the Rubbermaid Lunch Blox, I found this amazing little utensil set from Sistema.  It came with a fork, knife, spoon, and much to my son's delight, chopsticks.  I'm not a perfect mom and I don't have a perfect kid.  I honestly thought that he would use the chopsticks as a sword at lunch time, but he convinced me to leave them in his kit so that he could have two of his classmates teach him how to use them.  The kit is small enough to be tossed on top of his Lunch Blox.  Each piece in the kit locks in so the utensils stay in place and the case snap locks as well.  I love Sistema products.  We also have a sandwich container and a sides container from the company and each has an easy snap-lock lid system that doesn't leak.

This is my son's lunch sack.  We both think that this is pretty awesome.  The top pic shows the bag filled with lunch and ready to be rolled.  This is truly the most amazing lunch bag ever. EVER.  We just roll down the top  as far as we want and fasten the sides together with a plastic snap buckle.  If there is a day when I don't wash his plastic lunch container (gasp!) I use baggies and he can wad this lunch sack up in his back pack and not have to carry it.  The super bonus is that the inside of the bag is lined with some special plastic-like coating (I'm so technical) so it's easy to wash out any spills and liquid never touches the fabric.  We found this little baby at Target for around $8.

Thanks for reading my thrifty, frugal lunch post.  I'll be posting more lunch recipes as I make them up :)
Happy Day!

Vegan pasta salad Recipe

This vegan pasta salad recipe was super delicious and crazy easy!

 

Forgive me if I don't have the exact measurements for this recipe.  It's more of a guide.  I tend to cook by throwing things in and hoping for the best.  Here is the loose recipe (guide) for my vegan pasta salad.

 

Ingredients:

Farfalle pasta (I used about 1/2 box)                               

~2 Tsp Olive Oil (or oil of choice)

1/2 Yellow Bell Pepper

1/2 Orange Bell Pepper

A Few Handfulls of Fresh Baby Spinach

A Few Handfulls of Grape Tomatoes

Italian Dressing (I used Wegman's Zesty Italian Vinaigrette)

Cook the farfalle pasta to your liking and drain.  While pasta is cooking chop bell peppers into happy little pieces and destem your baby spinach (I hate eating spinach stems).

Heat oil in the bottom of the pasta pan (why dirty 2 pans???) and add your bell peppers.  Cook the peppers just until they soften (but if you like softer peppers, keep on cookin').  Add the baby spinach and cook just until wilted.  Add your pasta in and stir all the ingredients around.  Toss in your tomatoes and drizzle your desired amount of dressing over the entire dish, then stir to incorporate.

Super simple!  You can even add olives, mushrooms, or peas.  The options are limitless.  You can also make this a main dish by adding protein like seitan, vegan meatless options like Gardein products, or cooked tofu.

Vegan Deli Slices Recipe

I am a huge fan of the Tofurky made by Turtle Island Foods, but I really enjoy making home versions of our favorite store-bought foods.  I found a good recipe online, but it wasn't quite what I wanted as far as flavor and protein goes.  So I created this recipe that is so easy that you mix up in the blender and stir in the dry ingredients.  My 9 year old son has been eating this for months and he loves it.  It's so versatile and easy!
Believe me when I say that yours will look much better than this!  See the top of mine?  To avoid that darkened spot, you really need to seal your aluminum foil packet well.  (You'll see below in the method).

Vegan Deli Slices

Ingredients:

1/3 Brick Firm Tofu (drained & dried between paper towels)
3 TBSP Nutritional Yeast (I use Red Star)
2 TBSP Soy Sauce
2 TBSP Shiitake Sauce* (optional, I use Wan Ja Shan)
2 Tsp. Vegan Worcestershire Sauce
1 1/2 Teaspoons Garlic Powder
1 1/2 Teaspoons Onion Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Poultry Seasoning (this is simply a mix of thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, black pepper, and nutmeg)
1 Cup Vegetable Stock (I heat mine up a bit)
1/2 Cup Garbanzo Bean Flour
1 1/2 Cups Vital Wheat Gluten (I use Arrowhead Mills)

Preheat oven 450⁰

1. Place tofu, nutritional yeast, soy sauce, shiitake sauce, garlic & onion powders, and poultry seasoning in blender and blend until it's a smooth paste.  Add in the warm vegetable stock and blend slowly until incorporated and the mixture thins out.

2. Pour mixture into a large mixing bowl and stir in the garbanzo bean flour and vital wheat gluten.  The mixture will be a rather sticky mess and that's ok!

3. Prepare a water bath by adding an inch or so of water to the bottom of a 9" x 13" pan.

4. Grease a length of aluminum foil (about 12 to 14 inches long) and place your sticky deli slice mess on the center.  Form your mess into a log or loaf shape and seal up into the aluminum foil.  Make sure that your foil is sealed well or you'll end up with a crispy outer "loaf."

5. Place your lovely aluminum-wrapped package into the water bath and bake in the oven for ~1 hour.  Make sure that you check on your water level throughout the cooking time.  If the pan goes dry, you will end up with very a very crispy bottom.  The loaf will be soft to the touch, but that's ok! It will get a bit more firm as it cools.  At this point you can either place the aluminum pack directly on the oven rack for about 10 to 15 mins or you can take it out of the oven.  Placing it back in the oven will give the outside of the loaf a more firm texture and taking it out of the oven will result in a universal, softer, but delicious consistency.

6. A good, sharp serrated knife should slice this up nice and thin, but I also cut ours into chunks and pieces for use in stir-fry's as well.

* You can easily leave the shiitake sauce out without any problems.  You can also add in liquid smoke or any other herbs or seasonings that you'd like.

Let me know how you liked the recipe and what add-in versions you created.
Happy cooking!