The Veggie Gal

I know it is a funny name for an ice cream but the base of it is bananas instead of the traditional unhealthy dairy product so there you go!  Actually the bananas blend up so nicely that they resemble ice cream texture very closely and is so much more healthy for you.  Plus kids and husband LOVE this recipe and you can feel good about serving it.  I have even served it for breakfast when they kids are being picky.

This is a super simple dessert that you can adjust the sweetness to by adding or subtracting the dates that you use.  The picture listed below does not have the almond milk pictured because I just forgot but I really like the Almond Breeze brand the best but really you can use whatever type of non dairy milk you like the best.

If your dates are not super soft soak them in a little bit of the milk for about 10 minutes and pour that whole thing in the blender.  I typically buy the organic dates and the organic frozen strawberries to keep it as clean as possible.  Then just regular old bananas that have gotten super ripe which is super important!  The day before you want to make these unpeel the ripe bananas, chop them up a bit and freeze them.  I always buy two bundles of bananas when I go to the store so one bundle can get overripe and I always have them on hand.

This will work best if you have a Vita-mix or other high powered blender but I have made it in a Magic Bullet before too or you could use a food processor and just scrape down the sides as you go until it is blended well.

Strawberry Bice Cream
Makes: as much as you want

Frozen bananas (frozen the night before)
Frozen strawberries
soft dates
Unsweetened almond milk

This is an adjust as you go recipe so add the banana to the blender knowing it will be about half of the size of the serving and then add the amount of strawberries and dates you want and slowly blend in the milk to get the desired texture you like.

If you mess up and add to much milk then just add more of whatever kind of fruit you want it to taste more like, super easy!!  ENJOY!

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Tags: banana ice cream, Breakfast, Dessert, Easy Vegan, Gluten Free, Quick vegan, strawberry ice cream, Vegan ice cream, vegan recipe, Vegetarian

This is a super easy and pretty quick soup to throw together when you don’t have a ton of time.  The flavor is very mild and simple but you can spice it up with some creativity if you want to.  I enjoy the simplicity of it and the kids will eat it so that is awesome for me.

Don’t you love all the tv shows that claim a 5 or 10 minute meal but they have all the ingredients right in front of them all cut up and ready.  Sure many things would take 5 or 10 minutes if all the ingredients were ready for me to put together.  Well this soup only takes about 10 minutes once you have everything cut up and ready but really it takes about 30 minutes including prep but that is pretty quick for real food.

Veggie Miso Soup
Makes: about 8 servings (easy to half)

1 onion chopped (a whole rubber banded amount of green onions is great too)
4-6 shredded carrots
1/2 head shredded cabbage (kind and color of your choice)
1 1/2-2 cups frozen soy beans (edamame)
1 16 oz bag rice noodles (Chinese style) cooked in approximately 8+ cups of water
3/4 cup Miso Paste (flavor of your choice-adjust to taste)
1-2 teaspoons sesame oil
Powdered ginger to taste
2 Tablespoons soy sauce (adjust to taste-can use gluten free to keep it gluten free)
Sesame seeds
Salt to taste if needed

Chop veggies and steam in a little water to cook all the way through and not liquid is left in the pan.

While veggies are cooking cook rice noodles according to package which should only take 5 minutes once water is boiling (DO NOT DRAIN!)

Once the noodles are cooked through add the miso paste to the starchy water with the noodles and stir until blended.

Add the cooked veggies and other spices then adjust to your taste.  Garnish with sesame seeds and ENJOY!

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Tags: Easy Vegan, Gluten Free, Healthy Meal, Quick vegan, vegan recipe, Vegetarian, Veggie Miso Soup

Spring is in the air and I’m getting excited for the weather to warm up and to be able to wear lighter clothes soon.  I actually have a few flowers that just popped up in my front yard so I’m buzzing with excitement.  We all need to get ready for those summer clothes right now and salads are a great way to drop a couple of pounds.

This salad is very hearty that you can just have it alone as a meal.  The quinoa is super high in protein and satisfies a big appetite.  Add what ever other Mexican flavors you enjoy like jalapenos or red onions to make it just the way you like it.

The Ranch recipe is similar to my Cucumber Cashew Ranch just minus the cucumbers and add chipotle seasoning.  It all comes together in less than 30 minutes!

Mexican Quinoa Salad with Chipotle Ranch Dressing

Greens of your choice
1/4 cup cooked quiona-per plate (cook according to package directions-chill if desired while making the Ranch)
Handful black beans
Toppings of your choice; olives, onions, tomatoes, avocado
Top with Chipotle Ranch Dressing (recipe below)

 Chipotle Ranch Dressing
Makes approx 2 cups dressing

1 cup soaked raw cashews (NOT roasted or salted!)
Enough clean water to just barely cover the cashews once placed in the blender or food processor
1 teaspoon (or more to taste) garlic powder
1 teaspoon (or more to taste) onion powder
1 teaspoon (or more to taste) dried parsley
1 teaspoon (or more to taste) chives
1/2 teaspoon (or more to taste) dill weed
1/2 teaspoon(or more to taste) lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon (or more to taste) sea salt
1/2 teaspoon (or more to taste) chipotle seasoning (Mrs. Dash works great since no salt is added)
pepper to taste

Make sure you soak your nuts, rinse completely and pour into your high powered blender or food processor.

Add all the rest of the ingredients in the order listed and blend until creamy.  If you are doing this in a food processor stop periodically and scrape the sides down.

Taste and adjust the spices to your liking.  If you need it to be thinner adjust the moisture with more water.

Pour into a container with a lid and refrigerate until well chilled, although it can be eaten right away if you do not mind it slightly warm.

Pour onto your salad and ENJOY!

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Tags: Easy Vegan, Gluten Free, Mexican Food, Mexican Quinoa Salad with Chipotle Ranch Dressing, Quick vegan, vegan recipe, Vegetarian

There are a ton and a half vegan cheese sauces out there and this is my version.  Not much different than most but the twist I like is the roasted bell peppers instead of pimentos that most call for.  The roasting of the bell peppers gives it a little of that smoked flavor which I think is a more cheesy flavor.  I have tried it with smoked paprika as well and that gives it a bit more smokey flavor so experiment with your flavors and see what you like best.

I have tried it without the salt and oh boy it is just NOT the same so if you are low sodium I suggest trying miso or low sodium soy sauce instead so you can keep that salty flavor.  Another fun way to play with this is by adding chipotle spices or chili powder to make it nacho flavored.  I also sometimes grind up a little bit of raw cashews along with some nutritional yeast to a nice slightly chunky powder and mix that in by hand for little tiny chunks but if you want it silky smooth just stick with the recipe below.

I use this to make a mean mac and cheese, nacho sauce for well… nachos and I make a YUMMY nacho baked potato salad that I will post next week.  I am also thinking of adding some to my already good lasagna and I love it on steamed cauliflower and broccoli but I’m sure the possibilities are as endless as regular cheese sauce!

By now from all my previous posts you can see how much I LOVE cashews as my dairy sub and this is yet another showing of how versatile these wonderful nuts are.

Vegan Cheese Sauce
Makes approximately 3+ cups

1 cup raw cashews
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 heaping teaspoon paprika
1 heaping teaspoon onion powder
1 heaping teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup roasted bell peppers including the juice if using jarred (chop them up small enough to fit in the cup if needed)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1-1 1/2 cups of water (depending on how thick you want the sauce-start with 1 cup and work up)

If you do not have a vita-mix like blender soak the nuts for a couple of hours to soften and rinse well.

Pour all the ingredients into the blender (starting with only 1 cup of water) and blend until perfectly smooth.  Add more water if a thinner consistency is desired).  If you are using a high powered blender you can blend until warm otherwise transfer to a pan and heat until warm and pour over whatever you desire and ENJOY!

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Tags: Easy Vegan, Gluten Free, Quick vegan, Vegan, Vegan Cheese Sauce, vegan recipe, Vegetarian

This Cucumber Cashew Ranch post is for my MIL (Hi J!), she enjoyed this dip that I served at my daughter’s graduation party.  She was excited to hear it was cholesterol free and only had good fats (the kind your body knows what to do with) in it so it is ultimately guilt free.

When I was a vegetarian Ranch was one of my must haves and something I used a couple of times a week.  When I went vegan I tried some of the tofu or “sour cream” ranches but they just did not hit the spot so I quite even trying.   I then started to play with cashews as our dairy source and triple SCORE!  I now make almost everything creamy that I used to love from dairy for out of them (Ranch, sour cream, ice cream, mac & cheeze, whipped cream and more…).  I can even get my kids to eat some of the raw veggies that they normally would not touch by dipping them into this creamy and delicious dip.

This recipe is not exact as everyone has a little bit different taste preferences and honestly I make it slightly different each time so I will just give you the ingredients, approximate amounts to use and you adjust it to your taste.  I have made a chipotle ranch out of this as well by just adding chipotle spices and it is a totally different dressing/dip.  Get creative and you could have many different recipes from this one base.

I used this dip to try the Gardein Buffalo Wings (pictured below) which unfortunately I do NOT recommend.  First of all the wings have to be fried in a lot more oil than it says for them not to stick which is just not healthy.  They never really crisp up like the Gardein Crispy Tenders (which I think would work much better with your own homemade hot sauce).  They are soft, slimy and the hot sauce is just hot and not tasty, BLAH.

**If you do not have a vita-mix I highly recommend you soak the cashews overnight to soften completely.**  If you do have a vita-mix or other high powered blender then I still recommend soaking for a couple of hours to get more nutrients from them, make them easier to digest and to soften them so it will be very smooth and creamy.

Cucumber Cashew Ranch

1 cup soaked raw cashews (NOT roasted or salted!)
1/2 cucumber, add more to taste and texture consistency
Enough clean water to just barely cover the cashews once placed in the blender or food processor
1 teaspoon (or more) garlic powder
1 teaspoon (or more) onion powder
1 teaspoon (or more) dried parsley
1 teaspoon (or more) chives
1/2 teaspoon (or more) dill weed
1/2 teaspoon(or more) lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon (or more) sea salt
pepper to taste

Make sure you soak your nuts, rinse completely and pour into your high powered blender or food processor.

Add all the rest of the ingredients in the order listed and blend until creamy.  If you are doing this in a food processor stop periodically and scrape the sides down.

Taste and adjust the spices to your liking.  If you need it to be thinner adjust the moisture with either more cucumber or more water.

Pour into a container with a lid and refrigerate until well chilled, although it can be eaten right away if you do not mind it slightly warm.

Once it is chilled serve on a salad, as a veggie dip,or  with your favorite vegan chicken wings and ENJOY!

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Tags: Cashew Ranch, Cucumber Cashew Ranch, Easy Vegan, Gluten Free, Quick vegan, Vegan, Vegan Ranch, vegan recipe, Vegetarian

Trying to embrace the vegan food lifestyle my husband finds the most amazing recipes.  He found this wonderfully scrumptious recipe from the Herbivoracious blog.  He calls them “Vegetarian Frijoles Charros – Mexican Cowboy Beans with Smoked Onion” but since they are so freakin tasty in our house we call them AMAZING~Smoked Vegan Beans.

Call them what you want but make them and enjoy an amazing, savory and creamy dish that you can serve with just about a ton of things.  We have put them in fajitas, served on the side of veggie dogs, or simply with a salad and corn bread but the possibilities are vast.  We are going camping this weekend so we will precook our beans in the pressure cooker to bring along and the rest throws together really quickly.

These can be made low fat by replacing the oil with a quick spray of cooking oil.  We have made them without the chilies and with and both ways are amazing but we did not use the type of chilies he used so I can’t say how his are exactly. Obviously without the chilies this recipe is a little more kid friendly if your kids are sensitive to heat.  We also did not use the type of onion he suggests and I add a little more garlic because I love it.  Another change we made is how we smoked our onions so make sure to look at his recipe to choose which way you would prefer to smoke your onions.

Here is how we put his recipe together but the credit is ALL his, just marvelous!

AMAZING~Smoked Vegan Beans
Serves: 4+

1 handful smoking wood chips
1 large onion, chopped (depending on how you grill them you may need larger pieces then cut them down after you cook-ours fell through the grill plate we had)
2 whole dried chilies of your choice
Cooking spray (he used 3 T oil-your choice)
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Salt to taste (the tomato paste and crushed tomato have a lot of salt in them so start with less and adjust up it can be too salty-our first batch was)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup canned crushed tomato
4 cups unsalted home-cooked pinto beans, and 1-2 cups of their cooking liquid

Prepare your home-cooked pinto beans the way you prefer.  We cook our in a pressure cooker for 26 minutes and they turn out perfect.  Make sure to keep all the cooking liquid.

Bring your grill to approximately 600° then put a handful smoking wood chips inside of some tinfoil, fold it securely, poke some holes into it and place onto your hot coals.

Slice up your garlic and set it aside until you need it. Chop your onions and place onto a grill plate with holes for the smoke to get through and place onto your hot, smoking grill and grill with the lid closed for 7-10 minutes.  Check at 7 minutes to be sure they do not burn, the end ones might burn a little but that is ok.

Cook your peppers for a minute or two on each side in a hot pan to soften them up a bit.  Pull them out of the pan and chop into small bite size pieces then put them back into the pan with a little cooking spray (or oil) and add the smoked onions, garlic and a teaspoon of salt and cook until it all softens up, maybe 2-3 minutes.

Add the beans, one cup of the bean liquid and the crushed tomatoes, bring it up to a simmer then reduce the heat and cook them for another 15 minutes.  Taste to see if you need to add more salt or more bean liquid to your desired consistency then serve and ENJOY!

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Tags: Beans, Cowboy Beans, Easy Vegan, Gluten Free, Quick vegan, Smoked Vegan Beans, vegan camping, vegan recipe, Vegetarian, vegetarian beans

This recipe was adapted from the book “Skinny Bitch in the Kitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin”  

Back when I was just a naive vegetarian thinking that eating dairy was good for me I was given this book as a birthday gift from my dear friend K.  I looked at a few of the recipes and although they looked great I thought, there is no way I could ever be vegan because I needed eggs and cheese for flavor and the all mighty protein!  I figured I would make a few recipes they way they said and if they did not taste good I would just adjust them to make them vegetarian.  I made this pecan crusted french toast recipe first and realized, wow I could do this vegan thing!  I went from there trying some other recipes from the book and reading their funny antics throughout the book.  I then went out and bought The China Study and that was it, I was vegan but this recipe is what started to open my eyes that is was not as hard as I imagined it being.

This french toast recipe is so good that my husband asks for it all the time!  We really enjoy eating breakfast for dinner and usually have fruit and vegan sausage patties or my Cheezy Tofu Scramble along side of it.  I think the nuts on the bread really help you to feel satisfied and full for a long time.

The recipe as written in their book says it makes 6 servings but I find it is closer to 8-10 servings (at least for me it is) so you can half it if you are feeding less people.  I have written the recipe as it appears in the book with my comments italicized in parentheses.

Be careful about not putting the heat to high because if you put it above the recommended medium heat even a little bit the nuts will burn and the bread will be soggy.   I buy pre-chopped pecans and then chop them even more so that they are all about the same size and can more evenly coat the wet bread.  Make sure to really push down on the nuts with the wet bread evenly lifting it up off of them so they will stick well, otherwise they just fall off.

Pecan-Crusted French Toast

Serves about 8-10

1-1/2 cups soy or almond milk
3 tablespoons corn starch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
6 tablespoons chickpea flour or brown rice flour
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1-1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (or try almond extract YUM)
2 tablespoons refined coconut oil (or use non fat cooking spray)
6 to 8 slices vegan whole wheat or whole wheat raisin bread
Pure Maple syrup for topping

In a medium bowl, whisk together the 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. (I keep the pecans on the chopping board and push them together tightly to lay the bread on)

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the coconut oil (or spray with cooking spray to use less fat). 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. 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. (If using the spray make sure to spray the pan between flips or it will stick).  Serve immediately with maple syrup.

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Tags: Breakfast, Quick vegan, rory freedman, skinny bitch in the kitch, Vegan, Vegan French Toast, vegan recipe, Vegetarian

This is a quick and delicious side dish that tastes as yummy as it looks and it is low fat to boot!    If you are serving it along side of a meal that has a bit of fat in it this can even things out a bit.  I last made it with Macadamia Encrusted Chick’n and it made the perfect side to that wonderful dish.

The vegan “mozzarella” cheese can be left out of it easily since it really does not have a big taste but just looks nice.  I used the Follow Your Heart brand that I cut into chunks but I’m guessing Daiya shreds would be awesome in it!

This recipe is adjusted by personal taste because I usually just cut the amount of bread we want to eat that night so we can use the left overs in the morning for french toast or sandwiches so adjust to your own taste.

Vegan Bruschetta

Fresh sliced crusty bread, sliced
Tomatoes, chopped
Garlic cloves, minced (or) garlic powder to taste
Red onion, finely chopped
Oregano
Parsley
Red wine vinegar
Salt & Pepper to taste
Vegan Mozzarella cheese, cut into chunks

Since this recipe is by taste just start with the tomato, throw in some garlic, red onion, oregano, parsley and top with a splash of red wine vinegar (not too much) and sprinkle with a little salt & pepper. Mix well, taste and adjust and then let it sit for 15-30 to blend flavors.

A few minutes before you are ready to serve preheat the oven on broil. Chop up the mozzarella then toss with the tomato mixture.

Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray.  Lay the sliced bread on the pan and then evenly spray the tops of the bread with the cooking spray and broil for a minute or two until lightly brown.  WATCH carefully, it sucks to burn them!

Put the tomato mixture on top of your browned bread and ENJOY!

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Tags: Easy Vegan, Lunch, Quick vegan, Vegan, Vegan Bruschetta, vegan recipe, Vegan sandwich, Vegetarian

To expand on my love for Cashew Cream and my experiments with the raw food diet I decided to make a wonderful breakfast parfait last week and YUM.

This recipe works great for kids but you might have to cut back on the nuts a bit and increase the fruit.

Fresh berries work best but I made this on the fly so I used frozen raspberries.  Get creative with what ever fruit you have on hand or like best.  I did the same with the nuts by using what I had on hand.

I did not soak my nuts a head of time as most raw foodists do but if you want to really get the most benefit from the nuts it is best to soak them over night and either eat them freshly rinsed (which will make them a little soft) or dehydrate them back to crispness.  My dedication to raw food eating is not that far yet although I have soaked them before to just eat them and I love them that way.

I will post exactly what I used for my parfait so it can be a starting point for your own ideas, all created around the cashew cream as the base instead of yogurt.

Rawnola Parfait

Desired amount of Cashew Cream
Shredded apple
Handfuls of various nuts
Raw coconut
Chopped dates & raisins
Sliced banana
Raspberries

Place one layer of cashew cream on the bottom of your cup, sprinkle with nuts, coconut, apples and bananas then layer again with cashew cream.  Continue to layer until you have reached the top layer of cashew cream and sprinkle with berries.  ENJOY!

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Tags: Breakfast, Dessert, Gluten Free, Healthy Meal, Quick vegan, Raw breakfast, raw dessert, Rawnola Parfait, Vegan parfait, vegan recipe, Vegetarian

Having not eating meat in more than 26 years you would think seitan and I would be best friends by now right?  Well honestly I have not used seitan before because it just looks scary and gross to me.  I had bought a couple of packages of seitan a few weeks ago and they needed to be used so I decided it was time we became acquainted and see if we even like each other.   I went online to look at some recipes the use seitan and my husband I agreed that fajitas would be a good choice since it seemed to always be a hit and it was a simple place to start.

I have been watching my calorie intake so although I made my husband the fajita in the tortilla I decided to make myself a Fajita Salad instead and it turned out really great!  My husband tasted mine after eating his and said it was better that way so score!  I now love the taste and texture of seitan and know we are going to become even friendlier as time goes by so stay tuned for more seitan adventures.

I was so excited after I took my pics of it because I thought I had created a new, unique dish that I could share with the world.  A Fajita Salad was a great idea and I had thought of it!  Then I decide to just do a quick search on Google and waah waah waah, there are hundreds of Fajita Salad recipes, boo hoo.  Oh well, this is my version!

Fajita Salad
Serves: 2 large or 4 side salads

1 package seitan
1 small yellow squash thinly sliced
1 small zucchini thinly sliced
1 bell pepper thinly sliced
1/2 large onion thinly sliced
5-7 mushrooms thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup salsa
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3-8 sprigs cilantro, chopped
Pinch chili powder (add more if you are not serving kids to your own tastes)
1Tablespoon of water or more to desired sauce thickness

Lettuce leaves of your choice to lay fajita mix on
1 avocado thinly sliced as garnish
Cherry tomatoes as garnish
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook the seitan and vegetables in olive oil until the vegetables are cooked through and the seitan is crispy.  Add the remaining sauce ingredients and adjust to taste and thickness.

Lay fajita mixture on top of your lettuce and top with avocado, tomatoes and salt and pepper.  ENJOY!

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Tags: Easy Vegan, Mexican Food, Quick dinner, Quick vegan, Vegan, Vegan Fajita Salad, vegan recipe, Vegetarian