~Pecan Crusted Vegan French Toast~

Oh my lord! I made these this weekend and we all loved them! I would've made them like the book ("Skinny Bitch") recommends and chopped the pecans so they would've been nice and chunky, but I babyized the recipe by food processing them into a fine powder so our little one could enjoy (pecans are such good fats and super high in antioxidants). J loved them!! And his dad and I are totally hooked. Next time I'll do 1/2 and 1/2 to see how it turns out. I think the coconut oil for frying is perfect for the lightness and flavor it brings....yummm, so good!



Serves 6

1-1/2 cups soy or rice milk
3 tablespoons corn starch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
6 tablespoons chickpea flour or brown rice flour
1 cup finely chopped pecans
2 tablespoons refined coconut oil, or more as needed for cooking
6 to 8 slices vegan whole wheat or whole wheat raisin bread
Maple syrup for topping

In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy or rice milk, corn starch and cinnamon. Whisk in the chickpea or brown rice flour. Transfer the mixture to a shallow bowl. Place the pecans in another shallow bowl.
In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the coconut oil. Once slice at a time, dip the bread in the milk mixture, turning to soak both sides. Dip ONE side in the pecans, pressing to coat (I found after I did the first one I had to really sprinkle and press the pecans into the following pieces). Arrange the bread in the skillet (you might have to do more than one batch), pecan side down. Cook 2-3 minutes, until the pecans are well-browned. Carefully turn the bread, and continue cooking until the second side is browned, 2-3 minutes. Serve immediately with maple syrup. Enjoy!


toddlers: the toughest food critics

New Friends & New Recipe

J pointed these sweet cows out to me the other day when we were at the store (at first I didn't even know what he was pointing to and freaking out about). He has taken to them quite strongly. He is FASCINATED and loves watching how in love they are (and they are very in love ;)






The black one took a while to warm up to us and was quite protective of his lady who was so curious and gentle.



We came home and got in the pool and later made the best vegan mac and cheese. All the while thinking of our new buddies and how happy we were they aren't in a factory farm right now (these cows might be the RARE FEW who are just a part of someone's family, like dogs :)

Throughout the week J would say, "cows!" very enthusiastically to let me know he remembers.



The Best Vegan Mac and Cheese

Because this isn't packaged (ie: nasty, powdered formula) it obviously takes a little bit longer to prepare, but if you make the entire recipe it lasts for a good 4-5 days (for two adults and a baby anyway). I always want to freeze it but never end up doing so b/c we eat it all. Mac and cheese is always good served w/ leafy greens (see my older post for a good/simple collard green recipe)! Enjoy~




Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of plain soy milk
1 cup of water
1/3 cup of tamari or soy sauce
1 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2-1 tsp. salt (depending on how salty you like it)
1/4 of a block of firm (not silken) tofu
1 cup of canola or vegetable oil
1 1/2 lbs of pasta of your choice preferably macaroni
a relatively large baking pan (like a brownie pan)
1 dollop of mustard (optional)

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Boil water in a big pot for the pasta.

All of the ingredients sans pasta can easily go in a blender (this is by far the easiest way).

Once pasta is cooked, drain, and pour into the baking pan. Then pour the "cheese" sauce over the pasta.

Bake until the top of the pasta looks slightly browned and crispy about 25-30 minutes. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't turn too crispy on the top.

Best lasagna ever!

Vegan Lasagna



Ingredients:

You'll need a food processor for the blending. This lasagna is incredible! J ate a whole big slice one day and was saying, "ummm" the whole time. He's my biggest fan in the kitchen ;) Enjoy!



8-12 lasagna noodles (depending on how many layers you want
1 jar of organic spaghetti sauce
1 tub firm tofu
1/2 onion
3 cloves of garlic
fresh basil (1 whole container)
1/8 cup of pine nuts (they are expensive, I used cashews and it was great)
olive oil
vegan parmesan or nutritional yeast (I used nutritional yeast and it was deliciously "cheesy"!)
vegan mozzarella (optional)
2 TBL tahini (arrowhead mills works great)
1 Pckg of frozen spinach (or two c. or so of fresh)
2-3 portabellas

Directions:

1. Drain tofu.. get as much water out as you can.
2. Dice 1/2 onion, press garlic cloves, cut mushrooms, and sauté in olive oil until soft.
3. Add tahini and stir.
4. Crumble up tofu and add to mixture.
5. While that's cooking, make the pesto. Put basil, nuts, olive oil, and some vegan “parmesan” OR NUTRITIONAL YEAST) into the food processor, blend until smooth. (btw, this turns out to be an awesome pesto on it's own).
6. Add mixture to tofu.
7. Thaw out the spinach in the microwave, and get as much water out of it as you can.
8. In a 9x13 baking pan, lay four noodles across. Spread 1/2 of tofu/mushroom mixture and 1/2 of spinach in layers. Coat the with generous helping of sauce.
9. Repeat.
10. End with layer of noodles, topped with sauce, shredded "cheese" or, top layer can be sauce and nutritional yeast.
11. Bake for 45 minutes at 400F
12. Let it cool for a while before serving.

sugar-free cookies

the son loooooves these (enthusiastically calls them "cooks") and they're actually healthy. they went fast (the nerdy parents dipped into them as well). next time i'll double these recipes and freeze (they freeze well). the blackstrap ones have a ton of calcium (great for veg kids). the p.b. cookies are made with olive oil and you totally can't tell.




Ginger Biters




Ingredients (use vegan versions):

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
1/4 teaspoon cloves powder
1/4 cup margarine (earth balance is best. i love the sticks for baking!).
1/2 cup blackstrap molasses
2 tablespoon maple syrup (optional) * i didn't use but would if they would've been cookies exclusively for adults ;)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Mix dry and wet ingredients first separately then together to form a nice soft dough. Refrigerate for 20 minutes (I only did for 10, came out fine). After the 20 minutes have elapsed take out of fridge and shape into 2 balls. Place balls on either a surface sprinkled w/ flour and flatten to 1/4 thickness. Use cookie cutter or a knife to create whatever shape you want ( I made little men and hearts with a cutter). Bake for 10-15 minutes. Cool on rack.

Enjoy!
Serves: 12-20






Peanut Butter Cookies



Spelt flour bakes into a slightly darker cookie, whole wheat pastry flour is slightly blonder - more traditional in appearance in the end. I used regular old unbleached all purpose

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, spelt flour, or unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup organic natural (nothing added) peanut butter
1 cup maple syrup or agave ( i used agave)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Place racks in the top third.

In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. in a separate larger bowl combine the peanut butter, maple syrup or agave, olive oil, and vanilla. Stir until combined. Pour the flour mixture over the peanut butter mixture and stir until barely combined - still a bit dusty looking. Let sit for five minutes, give one more quick stir, just a stroke or two. Now drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets. Press down on each one gently with the back of a fork. It's a loose batter, so if you're set on doing criss-crosses, go ahead and chill the batter for an hour or so before this step. Bake for 10, maybe 11 minutes - but don't over bake or they will be dry. Let cool five minutes and transfer to a cooling rack.

Make 2 - 3 dozen cookies.