caeser salad cravings - check!

I have been craving caesar salad so much lately! Here is something to fix those insatiable needs for a fishy salad ;)

1 recipe for croutons (recipe below)
3 tbsp sliced almonds, roasted in a dry skillet until lightly browned
3 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp shoyu
3 tbsp honey dijon mustard (or just regular dijon if you're a vegan that doesn't agree with honey, but be weary and try a little at a time because simple dijon can overpower the recipe)
3-4 garlic cloves, pressed
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 large heads of romaine lettuce, either sliced or just torn (I try to use as much of the base as well for extra minerals)
1-2 tsp dulce powder
water, as desired

- combine all ingredients, except for lettuce and croutons, into a blender.
- drain the lettuce in cold water and add to a large serving bowl.
- add dressing to the lettuce in little increments until you get the desired lettuce to dressing ratio.
- serve and add croutons!
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Croutons:
5 slices sourdough or whole wheat bread
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 tsp italian seasoning
olive oil

- preheat oven to 325.
- in a small bowl, mix all seasonings together.
- slice bread into cubes, either cutting off the crust or leaving on. I prefer to remove them.
- in a medium bowl, add bread crumbs and olive oil, making sure they are coated well.
- Add a bit of seasoning mixture, toss and stir to coat, then add more seasoning, repeating until well distributed.
- place seasoned bread crumbs evenly on a cookie sheet with lip (to help when needing to stir).
- bake for 10 minutes, stir. bake for 15 minutes. If not browned, stir and bake an additional 5 minutes at a time.

tahini cabbage and noodles with shoyu

This recipe is definitely on the easier side of things. Don't you love that? Isn't that what every parent hopes for? Delicious and simple/easy/convenient - ah hell, whatever you wanna call it!

I raided my kitchen and decided to add in whatever I had that didn't sound good together to see if it WOULD taste good together. Backwards? Perhaps. But super fun!
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1 head cabbage, cut into stips
1 lb noodles of choice
1/2 + 3 tbsp earth balance margarine
4 green onions, chopped roughly
2 tbsp shoyu (or soy sauce, or bragg's liquid aminos. Although, for the aminos I might use less - it's potent)
1 large carrot, sliced
4 T Tahini
1/4 cup veg broth
4-5 tbsp raisins
2-3 generous pinches of fine sea salt

1. Begin to boil a large pot of water for cooking your noodles.
2. Melt the margarine slightly in a large pot or wok. Add the cabbage strips, carrot, and a pinch of salt, let simmer over medium-high heat until the cabbage is a bit yellow.
3. While the cabbage and carrots are simmering, begin to cook your noodles in the boiling water.
4. Once the cabbage is nice and yellow-y, add in tahini, shoyu, and veg broth. Let simmer about 4 minutes, stirring frequently, until everything is warmed through and mixed thoroughly. Add raisins, green onions, and another pinch of salt, to taste. Simmer, stirring constantly, for about 2 additional minutes.
5. Drain noodles. Add wet ingredients to noodles and stir completely. Add pepper (this is a pepper-friendly dish...you can't really add to much) and more salt if needed.

Enjoy!

I might experiment with this recipe a bit more to make it a healthier option (ie: less margarine!). Maybe some oil instead? We'll see, but it was extremely tasty! The raisins make this recipe. Every time I had a bite with a raisin I was in heaven ;) Even Aus, who hates raisins in mostly everything, thought this was rather tasty :)

how do you get your protein?

A friend of mine was recently mentioned in a post in the Livin' La Vegan Loca and Vegan Recipes from SLC Bloggers. Her and her blog were featured. Go Kaycee!

I wanted to share a little blurb at the bottom of the post that talks a bit about protein.

Every vegan is asked about getting an adequate amount of protein. When I talk to my mother, she gives me the talk about calcium supplements and protein. The good news is that when I was tested almost a year ago, I had a slightly high level of protein and everything else measured in the normal areas.

Much has been written and researched on the topic of protein and where a vegan or vegetarian might be able to get it from. Here are some facts from savvyvegetarian.com about protein:

• Too much protein is as harmful as too little, and is linked with shorter life expectancy, increased cancer and heart disease risk, widespread obesity and diabetes, osteoporosis, kidney stress, and bad digestion
• High-protein diets bring about temporary weight-loss, at the expense of overall health, and people quickly regain weight once they return to a normal diet
• A varied vegetarian diet with a balance of protein, fats and carbohydrates, and adequate calorie intake provides more than enough protein
• Complete animal protein is not superior to complete protein from more than one plant source – they give the same result in different ways
• Protein from plant sources doesn’t include excess calories from fat, toxic residues, or an overabundance of protein, which stresses the kidneys.

As a vegan, you get a sufficient amount of protein even by eating very simple! You don't have to make an extravagant meal to make sure you're getting the "perfect" amount of protein in your diet - trust me!

- For breakfast, have a bagel (9 grams of protein) or oatmeal (6 grams) with a cup of soymilk (7 grams).
- For lunch, have 2 slices of whole wheat bread (8 grams) with eggless salad made with garbanzo, also known as chickpeas, (around 6 grams or more of protein). I love Oroweat brand of whole wheat bread. You can find it conveniently at Walmart, Harmon's...just about anywhere.
- For dinner, make a tofu, seitan, or tempeh dish simply by stir frying with some veggies, spices, and soy sauce (about 11 grams or more) served with 1 cup of brown rice (5 grams)
- For a snack at anytime of the day, 6 crackers (2 grams) with approximately 2 tbsp smart balance chunky peanut butter (7 grams). I love the smart balance chunky stuff because I'm throwing in some much needed Omega 3's! Need us some fatties ;) Tip: Get your youngens used to eating this chunky stuff for.that.reason! Those fatty acids are essential for growth.

Vegans get a lot more protein than I think people realize. I would be interested to visit my doctor and see where my current protein levels are at.

...Maybe I will!

garlic bread, fried rice, and ceasar salad

Very yummy simple dinner....BUT...

The salad needs to be perfected :( I'll work on it and post a better recipe. For now, the fried rice is delicious.

Fried Rice
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2 cloves garlic, pressed or chopped
Couple of pinches of sea salt
1 can sliced potatoes
2 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 can bean sprouts, or about 1/2 cup fresh
1/2 cup peas
2 large carrots, chopped or thinly sliced
Cook one cup dry rice with 2 cups of water in a rice cooker (I like to throw in a couple of basil leaves while cooking)
2 tbsp Shoyu (or your favorite soy sauce), more or less to taste
1 tbsp rice vinegar, more or less to taste
I bok choy leaf, chopped (you want the entire thing, so don't throw out the white part. Extra minerals here people!)
4 chopped green onions, white and green parts

1. Heat the sesame oil in a large wok over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and just a pinch of sea salt and stir constantly, for under a minute. Just wait for garlic to become fragrant. Add the carrots and cook for about 2 minutes with an additional pinch of salt.
2. Add in the chopped bok choy, sliced potatoes, bean sprouts, and peas. Stir fry for 2 additional minutes.
3. Add the cooked rice to the wok and sprinkle with some water (maybe 2-3 tbsp). Add your shoyu and rice vinegar, stir fry for 4 minutes, or until all liquid has been absorbed. Stir in green onions.

liqiud yum yums - chocolate style

I am loving me some delicious hot cocoa at night. Everyone should lavish in its wonderful splendor ;)

I have been using a mix from our Aunt Becky from Christmas, but I have some ideas for my own hot cocoa mix. I'll let everyone know how it turns out. I'll be attempting it within the next few days to make a succulent hot cocoa recipe of my very own.

My very favorite add-in...

And, you know, not just tryin' to pony up the dough here, but they are most certainly better than the "normal" marshmallows that you have enjoyed over the years in your s'mores during campouts. These are so much more vanilla-y and dissolve in your mouth. Mmmm. I used them in my s'more cupcakes on this post. I cannot wait to use them for some other ideas - one being the traditional rice krispie treats! Can't get enough of those.

customers

Happy early valentine's day!

These raspberry cuties were purchased by my first customer!!

They also purchased my shortbread cookies!

They made one request - that I change the buttercream frosting to be a delicious strawberry frosting, which I did with fresh organic strawberries. Should have taken pictures. But...shoulda, woulda, coulda, right?

I also had another customer who, straight after my first order, handed over some cash and said "I want anything this will get me. I love everything, so whatever you are willing to make me"....wow! I have been quite flattered with my baking lately and never thought anybody would think such things about it.

For those wondering, I do not have a baking business. Would I like to? Sure! It appears that the potential baking idea we had in place fell through. I am not certain yet, I suppose I will be finding out sooner or later

upcoming meals

I am on this kick currently where I want to bake lots and make different dishes inspired by other countries and regions.

Stay tuned!

alicia's sicilian salad

For dinner tonight I kept it very simple. I was craving your everyday turkey sandwich, so I ran over to Sunflower and got myself some hickory-smoked tofurkey for my 12 grain bread and sliced tomatoes with pepper. Simple, right? Well, I thought I should make things even more exciting by adding ....

DON DON DON

This salad I found in Alicia Silverstone's book The Kind Diet.

I.am.in.love with this book!!

She is so thought provoking and has really made me feel even more aware of what I am putting into my body. When I eat, I am feeding my heart, body, mind, and soul. Before reading her book I was already very aware of what I wanted to be putting into my body, but she has provided me the tools it takes to do so. I plan to try every recipe in her book and gain the knowledge of not-very-common vegetables out there. "Vegetables" was a word I hated for a long long time, now I'm giving them the chance to show me what they got ;)

Beginning with this salad....which I enjoyed very much. It was mega flavorful for only having 6 ingredients. It has Collard greens (some stems kept for extra mineral source), raisins, pine nuts, garlic, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. And water...if you count the moisture used from rinsing the organic greens (kind of important)...but that's it!! Easy easy easy peasy! I will be making this a lot. That is, if I have time when making every.single.other recipe that she has!

spiced nog cuppy cakes

I made these during Christmas time (I know, they're late coming). Not one time, not two times, not three times, but four times I made these to hand out for the holidays! They were a huge hit! Even people that don't like egg nog loved these cuties!

Gotta love the miniatures too. Can't really tell unless they're next to something, but they sure are itty bitty and cute!

pb "kiss" coo-kies

I tried and tried to find vegan chocolate candies shaped like hershey kisses. When that didn't work, I tried and tried to find a decent sized candy mold in the shape of hershey kisses. I found one, but they were too large. Way too large. Darn Hershey can't just make us vegans happy, can they?

So, I used the next alternative, which I was quite happy with :) I melted myself up some chocolate chips I had on hand. Who would have thought that simply using your day-to-day kitchen spoon to dump some melted chocolate on each cookie would result in home-made hershey plops :) I'm pleased and accomplished.

All (and I mean all) of my taste testers enjoyed this treat! Best of all, it is pretty healthy for you and contains higher fiber than most baked goods.

minestrone

I am addicted to this soup.

It is now a staple in my home. I am loving soup more and more as time goes on. I used to be a bit picky with it. I was that way with tofu, but that has changed now too. There are too many flavors and experiences to have with food. I am in love with experimentation and finding healthier food options. Being vegan in itself is completely beneficial that way.
Even so, being vegan isn't always healthy itself. It's certainly smarter than eating my antibiotic-pumped, force-fed, disease-carrying, poorly-treated friends in the field down the road known as cows. But even vegan substitutes have their unhealthies too. Some have high saturated and trans fats. Some carry hydrogenated ingredients and others carry refined. There are so many things to look out for. I want to separate myself from those ingredients as much as possible. Even if that means working at it little by little.

embracing the tofu

I have begun to embrace the tofu.

Just like I said I would in this post.

I made homemade guacamo, baked up some sliced tofu with soy sauce and a few other add-ins, sliced tomatoes, fresh greens, and homemade ranch dressing (in place of veganaise) on some flatbread. For my quick sides; corn on the cob and some balsamic vinegar chips. Fairly quick and even more scrumptious. It tasted just like my good ol' friend who-I'll-never-see-again; chicken sammich. I will be making this again. Lots.

Why oh why did I ever fear tofu and all it's goodness?

failed lemon poppyseed

This poor forgotten pleasure - lemon poppyseed. I so wish these could have been included in the taste testing extravaganza that we had, but it just wasn't so. Unfortunately, they did not turn out.

"So why are you posting this?" you ask? Well, because. It's a good thing. When something doesn't turn out, you learn from it. We all make mistakes. I still thought they were pretty, so I wanted to post it up here in all my shame for all to see :) They are pretty, don't get me wrong, the glaze was what turned out wrong. Not me, mind you.

The cupcake itself? Delicious and tasty and perfect! The glaze was too tart, definitely needs to be perfected. The arrowroot I used to thicken it caused the glaze to be shiny enough you could see your reflection in it immaculately. Kind of, you know, not good when it's a cupcake glaze. Oh well, better luck next time!

It's a cryin' shame that lemon poppyseed MUFFINS now must be lemon poppyseed CUPCAKES. People and they're frosting/glaze addiction, I swear ;)

The cake? Well, this pretty little thing was only about 5 to 6 inches. I was in love as I switched the light on in the oven and watched it rise...slowly, but surely. It was bouncy and firm when done. Complete bliss. But the darn glaze had to go and ruin it all. I'll keep you posted on the perfections and (hopefully not) imperfections that might prevail in the future with this classic beauty.

happy....early...valentine's day

Carrot cake with vanilla buttercream frosting. Like the added touch of color? Happy valentine's day :)

The husband thought it would be fun to take some photos of me doin' my thang. This is my favorite part! I love decorating the pretty mini cakes.

taste testing extravagnaza

I had a baking streak of three days total. Three days of straight, full-on, baking madness!

Bless his sweet little heart, my son was always all up in my business wanting to "hulp" (help) and my kitchen is so incredibly small which made everything quite an adventure. To say the least, this was manageable. To say the very most, this was insatiably fun to experiment and play.

Oreo cuppy cakes. These are the fun kind for those who love some extra cup cake and not as much frosting, like my friend Jenn at work. She adores eating all of the cupcake first because she can't resist, then she eats what she can of the frosting. I can respect that...sounds like she appreciates the work more than the sweetness :)

Shortbread coo-kies with my buttercream frosting. Happy Valentines Day treats! Those little sprinkles are lips and hearts :)

Gingerbread cakes with a zesty frosting. I must say, these were my favorite...they left a bit of a bite at the end, it was quite nice!

Chocolate krispies. I have a few other ideas to make this dish a bit more unique.

Choco mint cuppy cakes. I got the idea for the frosting from one of my books that I wanted to try out, I think I will make the look of these my own soon enough.

Very light 'nilla cakes with fresh strawberry frosting. I used sucanat in this instead of traditional confectioner's sugar which made the texture it's very own, that's for sure. I enjoyed it myself; the cupcake in a whole was very light and fluffy, but I would say 3 out of 10 who tested for me didn't like the texture so much, but thought the flavor was fantastic! I will be making it this way and the traditional way to suite everyone's little tongue tasters :)

Chai tea cakes. Extremely delectable!

Boston Creams. For almost every recipe I put together, I made about four or five itty bitty ones for taste testing. The picture above this one are my miniatures. Don't you love those liners? I heart them!

Here you've got your s'more cakes. Cannot go wrong with these. I devoured mine. I love how I can take my frosting recipe and load it into my pastry bag, put a large tip on, and have it come out the consistency of a big delicious marshmallow. I also love that my local health food store finally started selling Dandies vegan marshmallows. I have forever loved them and hated knowing I had to purchase them online. Well, all that's changed now - thank you Good Earth! So, I loaded the center of each cupcake with some Danies and frosted away. This is for the ultimate marshmallow lover!

'Nilla peanut buttercream cuties. I made both regular and extra-tall cuppy cakes for this one. Nobody can have enough organic peanut butter in their treats ;)

I did forget to photograph two of the recipes I made. One I didn't photograph was my orange marmalades. They were, shall I say, orange-y! A lot of taste testers really liked them, but had some feedback on what I should change. I've taken it under advisement :) I only told people to eat them if they love orange, and not the type of orange that tastes like cough-syrup either. I'm talkin' freshly squeeze orange juice from, none other, but organic oranges!

The other I didn't photograph was my chocolate coconut fudgies. They're basically german chocolate, but they're not your typical german chocolate. I loved them so much. Even my husband who hates coconut absolutely loved them!