Look, Ma! No Eggs!! Vegan Omelette

I woke up to some vegan documentary on TV. I have no idea what it was but it then inspired me to make a delicious vegan breakfast that even my non-vegan boyfriend would enjoy. It wasn't the healthiest of breakfasts (to me a healthy breakfast would consist of all raw fruits and veggie juices or smoothies) but it was a rainy Saturday morning and we both were off work for once so we decided to have a treat. I made pancakes with blueberries and bananas, hash brown potatoes and a vegan omelette. My favorite omelette was always spinach and mushrooms. Luckily, I had a portobella mushroom, some spinach and Daiya (gluten-free, soy-free and dairy-free) cheese, hanging around in my fridge. So, I whipped this up  and it was so delicious I had to share the recipe. Of course you can top with whatever you like. Here are a few ideas I had: chorizo and salsa, sauteed veggies, sauteed eggplant and cheese, chili with cheddar. You could do whatever you like with the toppings, get creative!

Vegan Spinach, Mushroom and Cheese Omelette
"Egg" Mixture
10 ounces silken tofu
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp smoked paprika

Place all "egg" ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Add 1-2 TBS water if necessary.

Topping
1 portobella mushroom cap sliced
1//2 C baby spinach
1/4- 1/2 C Daiya cheese

Sautee mushrooms and once they are cooked to your liking, reduce heat and add the spinach to wilt it.

Assemble
Pour about half the mixture into a skillet over medium heat, it will be thick so spread it out a little with a spatula or spoon (don't spread much as it will spread very thin as it heats). When it starts to bubble (kinda like a pancake) add the mushrooms and spinach watch closely until it begins to brown around the edges it will stop bubbling in the middl. Add the cheese then use the spatula to lift the edge of the omelette and fold over. Cook until the cheese begins to melt and flip to the other side. Once cooked you will have a tasty omelette crisp on the outside and soft and cheesy in the middle. FYI- the "egg" mixture also makes a fantastic cheese sauce for vegan quesadillas or mac and cheese.

Vegan Tofu "Turkey" Roast

Need a roast for the holidays that's delicious and not too hard on the wallet like those $20-$40 vegan roasts you see at Whole foods around the holidays? Of course you do! This is the one and it's perfect for Thanksgiving or any meal where you might wish to have a vegan replacement for Turkey. It has a nice crunchy skin and is full of flavor. It goes great with mashed potatoes and gravy.

Vegan Tofu Turkey Roast

Tofu "Turkey" Roast

Step 1
Salt tofu

Step 2
1 tsp onion granules
1/2 tsp garlic granules
1/4 tsp cumin
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp hickory smoke
2 tsp agave
1/4 c soy sauce or bragg liquid aminos
2 c water

Step 3

1/4 c corn starch
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp salt
Dash of pepper

Step 4

Yuba (bean curd sheets)
Olive oil
Salt
Rosemary

Step 1
Salt tofu and use a fork to poke holes in tofu. The more holes you make, the more the tofu flavor the tofu will absorb. Set aside.

Step 2
Prepare marinade. Mix all ingredients in step 2 add tofu and let marinate overnight or for at least a few hours. It works best if you can marinate overnight or even better if you can let it sit for 3 days.

Step 3
Place step 3 ingredients in a bowl and mix. Roll marinated tofu in the mixture to thinly coat.

Step 4
Wrap tofu in  bean curd skin and cut off excess. Brush skin with olive oil, salt and rosemary and place in oven. Bake at 375 until golden brown. Some of the skin will be crunchy some will stay soft. 

Coco-Nog (Vegan Soy-Free "Egg" Nog

Just in time for new years,  here is my recipe for Coco-Nog, named for coconuts which make this nog recipe rich and delicious. I am dedicating this recipe to my grandmother, Mary Ellen Anderson, who can't have a lot of sugar. This nog is full of healthy medium chain fatty acids from coconuts, is low in carbs and sweetened with Stevia in the Raw, which is a combination of Stevia and dextrose which is a safe alternative sweetener, that contains no dangerous chemicals like Splenda, Equal, etc. I am also including the high-carb version sweetened with coconut sugar (safe for diabetics but does still contain carbohydrates but they break down slowly and therefore coconut sugar still has a low glycemic index, plus it has a delicious butterscotch flavor) and a good amount or rum (not recommended for diabetics or those avoiding carbs). Both are delicious! Even a vegan friend who hates coconut loved this nog!

Coco-Nog (low carb version)
2- 15 ounce cans of coconut milk (get the thick kind with 90% coconut and nothing but water added if you can)
meat of one young coconut (if you can't find this, just leave out the water)
6 packets of Stevia in the Raw
2 T vanilla extract
1 T rum flavor (optional)

1/4 C water
20 ice cubes

Nutmeg

Place coconut milk, coconut meat, stevia in the raw and vanilla in blender, blend until smooth. Let sit in fridge until ready so serve, add 1/4 C water and 20 ice cubes and blend again. If your blender is small, you can do half the mixture at a time with only 10 ice cubes. Pour nog into glasses sprinkle nutmeg on top and serve.

Coco-Nog (high-carb version)
2- 15 ounce cans of coconut milk (get the thick kind with 90% coconut and nothing but water added if you can)
meat of one young coconut
3/4 C coconut sugar
2 T vanilla extract

1/2 C rum
20 ice cubes

Nutmeg

Place coconut milk, coconut meat, coconut sugar and vanilla in blender, blend until smooth. Let sit in fridge until ready so serve, add 1/2 C rum and 20 ice cubes and blend again. If your blender is small, you can do half the mixture at a time with only 10 ice cubes. Pour nog into glasses sprinkle nutmeg on top and serve.

BLT- Vegan Tofu Bacon

I handed my boyfriend this sandwich and waited to see what he thought. He took a big bite, chewed it up, paused for a bit then said: "I'd buy this."
Success!!

Vegan BLT!

We had a late night getting out of work at about 2:30am and of course in spite of the late hour we were both starving. I don't know why I had the bright idea to whip up some BLTs with tofu bacon but I'm glad I did. Hope you are too!

This is a simple sandwich:
1. Toast bread of your choice
2. Add vegan mayo of your choice. I like Veganaise.
3. Slice tomatos place on top of bread along with chopped romaine lettuce
4. Add bacon
5. Slice
6. Eat

Here's the bacon recipe:
Slice 8oz non-GMO organic firm tofu (not silken) into thin strips and set aside.
Mix 1/4 C water 1TBS liquid hickory smoke, 1 tsp organic raw agave, and approximately 1/4 tsp sea salt.

Place the strips and liquid in a pan and heat until most of the liquid boils out then add olive oil approximately 2-4TBS and fry until crisp.

*For Paleo dieters: sub shredded coconut for tofu to make something similar to bacon bits.

Make Your Own Dole Whip!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. When you work in a theme park occasionally it just eats your life for months or so at a time. Don't get me wrong, it's a lot of fun but sometimes your life just isn't your own.

So, to make it up to you, this post is about a delicious theme park treat you may have tried just outside the Disneyland Tiki Room. Made with Dole pineapples, this stuff is really popular and refreshing so as you can imagine there is always a line for this one hot days at Disney. It does contain extra ingredients that are not so healthy though. What I discovered recently is that I can make a comprable treat without anything but pineapple... well, and a Champion juicer.

All I had to do to make my own pineapple whip was put the blank on and push frozen pineapple through the juicer and that was it. So for breakfast I had delicious whipped pineapple and clean up was simple, everything just rinsed clean. Love the simplicity of raw foods. For added creaminess and sweetness, you can add a frozen banana but I like it just like this. Pineapple is naturally sweet so no need for sugar. I bet it would be yummy topped with raspberries and slivered almonds. For fun, and because I love chocolate, I added chocolate syrup. I just bought this Santa Cruz organic chocolate syrup. It still sugar but if you have ever as a vegan missed thick creamy hot fudge, this stuff is a great replacement. Mmm. Oh and you could also make a yummy pineapple float just swap out the blank for the screen and make some pineapple juice to add to your frozen confection. Simple and refreshing. If you don't have a juicer that will work for this, I apologize. You should consider getting one. If you can't afford the over $261. price, just keep checking places like craigslist and Ebay. It's worth it! Anyone out there know of other juicers that can do what the Champion does? I love the Omega but not sure it has the same features. Maybe a Vitamix would work?

Home made Dole Whip. Yummy!

Bitter Melon Salsa and Gluten-Free/Grain-Free Crackers/Chips

I was looking through my produce I got in my box from the Farmers Market and there was something in there I never tried before.

It looked like this but I'm not sure. Anyone know of anything else that looks like this?

Mom identified it as bitter melon. I think she was right. Anyway I peeled it and tasted it. It tastes kinda like a cucumber but the seeds are not really edible. I thought it would be great in a salsa. I got a ton of fresh sage in my box as well so I added that in and I have to say it's pretty good.

Bitter Melon Salsa:

1 large bitter melon 

1 yellow pepper

1/4 C onion chopped

1/4 C fresh sage chopped

2 cloves of garlic minced

juice of one lime. 

Peel remove seeds and chop your bitter melon and pepper. Add in the chopped onion and sage and minced garlic mix it all up with the juice of one lime and this it. Simple. 

Crackers/ Chips:

1/2 C yellow flax seeds

1/2 C almond meal

1/4 C water

juice from 1/2 a lime

salt as desired

Mix the flax seeds, almond meal, lime juice and water. Let stand about 10 minutes then flatten  the mixture into crackers or chips and place on a piece of parchment paper. For best results, use a rolling pin to flatten the dough. You can dehydrate  them if you want them to be raw or cook them in the oven on 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes or so. Remove from oven or dehydrator when firm. I used to have a dehydrator but sadly I left it when I moved so I had to cook my crackers but that best dehydrator I owned was the Excalibur. It was fantastic and had a lot of room. However, it's really expensive. I used to have the Ronco version from Ron Popeil and that one is ok (though on occasion it seemed the temperature got a little high and seemed to dehydrate the food unevenly compared to the Excalibur but it only costs like $39. So, I'm in the market for a dehydrator sometime soon. Anyone have any other recommendations? 

Unemployment Pie (aka Chocolate Banana Coconut Cream Pie)

I'm so sad the haunted house where I work closed down temporarily. On the bright side we decided to have a "Bye Bye Pie Potluck" and I made a tasty pie! So, I'm sharing the recipe with you! This one is a little labor intensive but mostly because you have to crack open a few coconuts. Yikes! That's hard work but maybe you have a machete or a buzz saw or drill.... there's got to be something that makes opening a coconut easier. I am not suggesting you use a buzz saw. I mean you can try to do it at your own risk I have no idea if it will work. If you do try it and it works without injury, let me know. :)

Anyway, even though no one else who works in my maze is vegan, besides my sister who brought a delicious "chicken" pot pie (which will be blogged at a later date) I still like to bring my tasty vegan creations to share. Besides, there has to be something I can eat there!

 Bye Bye, Pie. You were tasty. 

So, here it is: 

Raw Chocolate Banana Coconut Cream Pie

Crust:

2 C almond meal

3 T Coconut oil

2 T maple syrup or raw agave or date butter

Mix all ingredients into a bowl and press into the bottom of the pie tin. If you like a thicker crust, you can double the recipe.

Filling:

(Layer 1)

2 bananas chopped and spread on top of crust

(Layer 2)

Meat of 2 young coconuts

2 T raw cacao powder or raw cocoa

1/4 C maple syrup or raw agave or date butter

1/4 C cashews

2 T coconut oil

Mix above ingredients in a juicer fitted with a blank or vitamix, blender, etc and puree. Spread this layer over crust and bananas. Place in freezer while you prepare the next layer.

(Layer 3)

2 bananas chopped

1 C dates

1/2 C water

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In blender or food processor puree dates with water and vanilla spread over layer 2 with the chopped bananas. Place pie back in freezer.

(Layer 4)

Meat of 2 young coconuts

1/4 C maple syrup or agave or date butter

2 T raw cacao powder

Puree above ingredients together in blender and spread over layer 3 then sprinkle shredded coconut over the top or if you prefer a sweeter topping, make more of layer 3. Keep in refrigerator until it's time to serve.

Raw Three Ingredient Chocolate Mousse

Need a easy, decadent chocolate fix, without all the sugar and fat? Today I looked in my fridge and saw my raw cacao powder. Knowing how healthy it is and how it makes my cramps and headaches go away in minutes, I wanted some. I also saw my date butter so that's how this happened. It's really simple and so delicious. Try it!!

Chocolate Mousse- Vegan, Sugar-free and All Natural

Vegan Raw Chocolate Mousse:
(Single serving)
1/4 C date butter
1 tsp raw cacao powder
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 tsp water

Pour ingredients into a bowl and mix with a spoon until blended. Eat. Be happy. Ok so it's four ingredients but water doesn't count. ;-)

Date Butter

Ok so date butter. It's not terribly exciting, it's pretty self explanatory how you would make it. I'm going to tell ya anyway. The reason I'm writing about date butter is because I think it's a great staple for sweeting smoothies or tea if you don't mind a little sediment. It's great for spreading on bread or add a little vanilla and a pinch of salt and you've got a great caramel apple dip. I also use it in in my recipes for raw pies and sweets. I like to just make a jar of it and keep it in the fridge to use at my leisure.

Date Butter:
16 oz medjool or honey dates
enough water to cover dates

Soak the dates 30 min or more. After you soak them, pit them and put them in the blender add about 2 cups of the water you soaked them in and blend until smooth. Store in a jar in the fridge and use often.

Blendtec vs.Kitchenaid 5 speed Blender

Wow. I may have been wrong about the Blendtec.  I still think it is a fantastic machine (I've never tried to liquify a whole orange or apple in a blender) but this video makes me think the Kitchenaid blender is a winner at less than half the price of the Blendtec. You want a really great blender because if you are making raw food, it will save you a ton of time in the kitchen. So check it out! Below are the best priced ones I could find.
                                  
 I believe a good blender is necessary and this one is way less expensive than the Blendtec so if you can't afford the top of the line Blendtec or Vitamix, you can still get a great blender.

Raw Fettuccine With Meatballs And Creamy Marinara Sauce

Vegan, Raw, Gluten-Free, Paleo-Friendly Fettuccine With Meatballs And Creamy Marinara Sauce

I know I am posting a lot of uber-healthy recipes rather than decadent sweet treats. Trust me I have a ton of sweet recipes, which will be coming up soon but this summer it has been so hot and all I feel like eating is fresh, raw wholesome meals that won't heat up my kitchen and that take advantage of my amazing raw organic produce. So, if you're looking for junk food, hang tight I'll post those recipes later even though I might be switching over to a more plant based, less (or no) grain, soy, etc. I still have written down many vegan junk food recipes so I don't want them to go to waste. I will post eventually. I must clarify, when I say vegan junk food, I don't mean junk like the equivalent of fast food or twinkies. I always use quality ingredients which are healthier, they just are a little more processed than say Raw Fettuccine With Creamy Marinara and Meatballs. This recipe is vegan which means dairy and meat free. Also, it is gluten-free, grain-free, and 100% raw. It probably took less time to make than real fettuccine and didn't heat up my kitchen which is very important as we've been in a bit of a heat wave lately. Anyway, I am very excited about this recipe. I hope you enjoy.

Pasta:

4-6 zucchini 

juice of 2 lemons or limes

dash of salt

1 T olive oil (can be left off if you are cutting back on fat)

Peel zucchini and toss or eat the skins or feed to pets (I have a rabbit and guinea pig who love my veggie scraps). Use your veggie peeler to shred the zucchini into noodles then mix noodles in with the lemon or lime juice, salt and oil and set aside while you prepare the sauce.

My cute veggie lovers: Piglet and Thumper

Creamy Tomato Basil Sauce:

8-10 oz of cherry or grape tomatoes

1 T  red onion minced

1 zucchini peeled and sliced

salt to taste

1 clove of garlic minced 

5-7 leaves of fresh basil

5-7 leaves of sage

6-8 olives

Place all ingredients (minus the sage and olives) into a blender, Vitamix or Blendtec  (I know I'm pushing this blender a lot but it is my favorite you may also find a used or refurbished one cheaper on Amazon) and puree. Mix sauce into noodles. Add a few whole leaves of fresh sage and the olives chopped in half.

Italian Sausage Meatballs:

1 C Walnuts

1 C sunflower seeds

1/4 C sun dried tomatoes

2 cloves garlic minced

2 T onion minced

2 T fennel seeds

1 tsp basil

1 tsp oregano

salt and pepper to taste

water as needed

Soak your nuts and seeds while you prepare the noodles and sauce. If you don't remember to soak them, it's ok you may just need to add water while you are blending this mixture. Add all ingredients to a blender, Vitamix, etc or food processor and blend thoroughly. It should have the texture of a thick almond butter or something like that. Once mixed, roll into 1/2" balls.

Serve noodles and sauce over a bed of spinach and top with "Meatballs." There you a have a satisfying, delicious meal that is filling, wholesome and doesn't heat up your kitchen.  

Organic Produce Co-op!!

I just discovered the most amazing thing! The South Central Farmers Cooperative it's an organic produce co-op where you can buy a box of assorted produce for $20, $25 or $40 and pick it up weekly from your local farmers market or whichever of their locations is most convenient. Here's the link for anyone who's reading in Los Angeles: South Central Farmers Cooperative

Anyway, all the boxes are the same size but you can choose to pay more if you can to help cover those who can't afford as much. Pretty cool, huh? The boxes vary depending on what's in season. My box came with several types of zucchini, cherry tomatoes, watermelon, oranges, mandrine oranges, fresh basil, parsley and sage, squash, kale, and I think a bitter melon. I'm not exactly sure what it is. The box is supposed to feed a family of 4 for one week. Not sure how long it will last with how much produce my family of 3 eats but it's definitely going to save us some money. I want to start adding videos to my blog so I think I'll do one next week when I open my box. That way you can see how fresh and amazing it is. I was just too excited this week with my first box to think of doing a video before I started tearing into it. Seeing all the yummy raw produce inspired me so I will have some tasty, healthy recipes coming up. :)

If you have a local farmers market where you live, or maybe you live in a good farming community, you should see they have anything similar to the South Central Farmer's Cooperative and if not, maybe you can organize one for your area. It's a great way to save money if you're trying to be more frugal and eat more fruits and veggies or if you just want to eat more locally grown food. Keep an eye out for my upcoming recipe for raw fettuccine with creamy marinara and "meatballs." All made from fresh organic produce and no meat, grains or dairy. It should be posted by tomorrow so come back and check it out.

Raw Lettuce Leaf Tacos and Raw Nachos

There's a restaurant I love called Sun Power Cafe in Hollywood. It's on Cahuenga blvd, if you're ever in the area and want to check them out. Quite possibly my favorite dish there (besides the chocolate shake or the key lime pie) is the lettuce leaf tacos. They are an appetizer but I usually order them as my entree. The dish seems small, like it wouldn't be a lot of food but it's the perfect amount of food. I guess all those live enzymes, minerals, and vitamins that are so bio available just fill you up faster. You don't miss what's not it them. Anyway, I've been craving them and the Paleo Power Lunch Cookbook I mentioned the other day had a similar recipe so, I made my own even better version today. I was completely ravenous after work and didn't have the time to wait for nuts and mushrooms to soak so I have a new impromptu version of my nut meat which requires much less preparation. I think perhaps the best recipes are invented out of starvation. I could be wrong. What do you think? Do you have any favorite recipes created under similar circumstances?

For this recipe, and most raw food recipes, you will need a good blender, I recommend this one: Blendtec Blender HPA-611-25 White - J-2 3qt 

It's my absolute favorite! It really is amazing, it can grind popcorn into cornmeal and rice into rice flour.   So it's great for a gluten-free baker to save money on gluten-free baking ingredients and it will cut time from all of your raw food recipes. If you're interested in more raw recipes, I own this book: The Complete Idiots Guide to Eating Raw By Reinfeld, Mark/ Rinaldi, Bo/ Murray, Jennifer . It makes raw food recipes simple. It really is a great beginner's book.

Anyway, without further ado, here's my new favorite recipe:

Lettuce Leaf Tacos/ Raw Nachos:

If making Lettuce Leaf Tacos, you will need 1 head of romaine lettuce washed. Each leaf can be sliced into two to three "taco shells." If making "Raw Nachos" you will need a couple cucumbers sliced into "chips"

Taco Meat

1 C Walnuts

1 C sunflower seeds

3oz sun-dried tomatoes

1 T chili powder

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp paprika

1-2 tsp salt 

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

Soak nuts and sunflower seeds for 10 to 20 minutes while you prep the rest of your ingredients. Pour excess water out then pour the seeds, walnuts and sun-dried tomatoes into a food processor along with the seasonings. This should have a course texture.  Once blended to desired texture, remove from blender and place in serving bowl. Set aside.

Cheese 

1/2 C almond meal

1/2 C sunflower seeds

1/2-3/4 C water

juice from 1 lime

2 tsp nutritional yeast flakes*

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp onion powder
dash of nutmeg

Add all ingredients to the food processor or blender, add more or less water as needed to reach desired consistency. I made mine about the texture and thickness of hummus. 

UPDATE: I recently made these and discovered a shortcut! I just chopped up avocados, tomatoes and olives and placed them on top, instead of making guacamole. It was easier and tasted great- maybe even better than with the guacamole.

Guacamole

2 Haas Avocados 

1 small tomato

1 jalapeno

1 shallot

1 garlic clove

juice of 1 lime

add salt and cumin to taste

Chop up tomatoes, green peppers, cilantro and black or calamata olives to place on top of the tacos or nachos. Place each taco or nacho topping in it's own separate bowl and each person can make their own with whatever they want to add. I made mine with "meat", then "cheese," then guacamole topped off with tomatoes, green peppers, cilantro and olives.

Paleo Power Lunch- Vegan?

      I can't say I'd ever go 100% Paleo as I don't eat meat and the diet would be rather restrictive. However, I really like this diet's avoidance of wheat gluten, and dairy and generally sticking to natural unprocessed foods. So, I just checked out this great cookbook. It provides a lot of help for planning out your meals for the week and also includes simple and nutritious no-cook recipes. I love un-cooking. I don't post nearly enough uncooked recipes. The only thing I did to make up for the lack of meat, which of course is not normally a lack of food for me but without grains, beans or potatoes (which are excluded from the paleo diet) to fill me up, the recipes can seem a bit sparse for a vegetarian so I made a recipe for "nut meat" (see below for recipe). It's raw, contains no gluten or grain and can be seasoned in any way to match the flavor of whatever dish you add it to.  I also recommend cauliflower blenderized to replace the egg. Maybe you could add flax seeds or cashew or sunflower seed butter or milk for more protein. I didn't try it so if you do, let me know how it worked out.

    I would definitely recommend this cookbook to anyone. If it seems to restrictive for a lifestyle change, it would easily make a great short-term detox diet or a quick plateau- busting diet for weight loss that will give you great energy. If you're vegan or vegetarian, include my nut meat as a substitute for the meat or you can just add extra nuts, seeds, or mushrooms to your meals to keep you from feeling really hungry.

Click here to get the Paleo Power Lunch Cookbook.

And, for anyone who's ever wanted to try gluten-free, soy-free*, dairy-free and egg-free meat alternative, here's my nut meat recipe. I think it needs a new name. Any suggestions?

Nut Meat
1 C raw walnuts
1 C raw white mushrooms sliced- or if you like the taste, dried shitake mushrooms have more of a meat-y texture
1 clove of garlic minced
2 tomatoes
1/4 C Bragg Liquid Aminos*
1/4-1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp sea salt or himalayan crystal salt
1/2 tsp raw agave

In blender, mix the tomatoes, liquid aminos, salt, agave onion powder and garlic. Add a little water if needed to blend thoroughly. Pour into a container with the walnuts and mushrooms and allow to marinate overnight. When ready to prepare "meat," drain the excess liquid from the mushrooms and walnuts then place in food processor and grind to a ground beef consistency.

For mexican taco inspired "meat" season with:
1 T chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp oregano

For italian flavor season add:
sun-dried tomatoes, basil, oregano, and black pepper

*Liquid aminos contain some soy, can substitute an extra 1/4-1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 C water

Ron Popeil Olive Oil Fryer

I am going to be in the next Ron Popeil informercial for his new Olive Oil Fryer and Steamer! So, I have been working on some fantastic recipes. I am determined to get some of my recipes into his recipe book. The major selling point about this fryer is that you can safely and easily cook a 15 lb turkey in 45 minutes. Of course that's fantastic if you eat meat but I don't. However, this is an amazing machine and I have made tons of yummy recipes which have no meat, no dairy and no gluten which is a least a little healthier.

Even though olive oil is healthier than other types of oils, I may have to get together with Richard Simmons again after creating all these fried recipes.

I'm very excited to say I have my new thanksgiving turkey replacement. I'm not a big fan of the Tofurkey roast though I love their deli slices. So, since they were on the whole turkey kick, the first thing I made was a tofu turkey. I used Ron's amazing flavor injector to make my tofu full of flavor. I will post the recipe of how I did it at a later date as I  don't want to give away my recipes yet in case they get used in the cookbook! The whole recipe took less than 15 minutes to make and it was super easy and delicious! The next thing I made was breaded tofu nuggets. I used the flavor injector again and I also made a gluten-free breading using almond meal. It's tasty but I'm still perfecting it. I also wanted to make a few dessert recipes so I made fried bananas breaded again with almond meal and also shredded coconut, fried strawberries, which taste like an amazing jelly doughnut and my most decadent recipe I like to call cherry bombs which is basically chocolate covered cherries fried in a coconut mixture. If you've had fried chocolate covered cherries, I can guarantee they weren't as good as mine. They are also pretty simple to make and are sugar-free and gluten-free.

Anyway, since I'm not giving away my recipes yet, I'll tell you about this fryer. It is a great little machine and all the extra pieces, except the steaming attachment, that came with it fit inside for easy storage. I got some cool extras with the machine that I will definitely use.

The most surprising is the carving knife. It's designed for carving meat but it's amazing. It slices lots of things with ease. I of course haven't tried it on a tin can or anything crazy but it is definitely equal in quality to our Cutco knife set.

I also got the flavor injector which I mentioned earlier. It is a flavor injector. Its got a syringe and a giant hollow needle which comes with a warning not to use on anything other than food. The frightening thing is that is would work on a person- if you had massive veins like a bodybuilder. Please don't inject yourself with anything though cause that could kill you. My sister is actually somewhat disgusted by it. I guess it doesn't bother me due to my medical background and the fact that I'm only injecting tofu. Hmm wonder why I never thought to bring a needle home from blood draws to inject flavor into my food rather than marinate it? Anyway, I have big plans for this flavor injector and I'm really excited to develop more recipes with it.

Another thing I am excited about but I haven't received it yet. It's a cool contraption that you used to bread anything rather easily without getting your hands dirty. I haven't used yet so I can't really go into detail but it will cut down on the time it takes to prepare some of my simple recipes so I'm looking forward to getting that.

There's also a cool little slicer coming. It's called the Spiral Slicer. It's a really simple contraption but it will slice a potato into really thin potato chips in just seconds. It's pretty cool to see it in action but it slices really fast and would made pretty vegetable garnishes or whatever. I am sure I will find some creative uses for that one. It was actually made by Ron Popeil's dad in Chicago, IL.

Vintage Picture of the Spiral Slicer

So, I am really excited to get back in my kitchen and make more cool recipes. I've got to come up with some cool ideas for the steamer. I know I haven't posted in a while but trust me, these upcoming recipes will be worth the wait. ;-)

Nachos for a heart-attack-free super bowl party!

I don't really have much interest in the super bowl besides the commercials and maybe the half-time show, but I love good food and entertaining! If I were having a super bowl party, this is what I would serve. You won't have to worry about heart attacks with this recipe. My sisters and I opted to go to Trader Joe's for a quick meal rather than Chipotle the other day and that is where this recipe was born. We needed it to be quick and with three of us it took less than 10 minutes to throw everything together. So unless you have 3 pairs of hands working in It was so good I had to share. This recipe features vegan nacho cheese, vegan sour cream, refried beans, beef-less taco meat, guacamole, salsa and fajita style peppers and onions.

Mmm Fajita Nachos

Vegan Fajita-Style Nachos

You will need:

2 tubs of non-dairy [cream cheese] spread

1 can Trader Joe's salsa style refried beans

1 pepper (red or green)

1/2 red onion

1 bag blue corn chips

1 package Avocados Number One Guacamole- or if you have time to make any other guacamole recipe, that's fine

1 tub of Trader Joes Serrano Salsa Fresca- or other Salsa you enjoy

1 tsp Trader Joes Red Jalapeno Sauce- if you don't have TJ's maybe you can sub Tapatio or Texas Pete or whatever other hot sauce you enjoy

1 package TJ's Beef-less Grounds

olive oil

1 Tbs lemon juice 

1 tsp chili pepper

1/2 tsp paprika 

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp salt

Start by slicing the peppers and onions first then place the onions in a pan with some olive oil on low-medium heat. While the onions are cooking down, start the taco "meat." 

In a bowl mix the chili pepper, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder and salt in with your Beef-less Grounds. Once thoroughly mixed, pour olive oil into a pan add your "meat" and brown until desired temp is reached.

 While you're cooking the meat or once you're done, it should be time to add the sliced pepper to the onions that have been cooking. Add more oil if necessary. 

Next make the nacho cheese. Take one container of non-dairy spread and dump it into a small saucepan. Add 1/2 C water and 1tsp Jalapeno sauce along with a dash of salt and a dash of garlic. Stir over low heat until your nacho cheese reaches desired consistency. 

Now put the refried beans in a bowl with 1/4 cup water and heat in the microwave on high about 2 minutes. Stir well once you take it out of the microwave. By now our peppers and onions should be cooked so don't forget to remove them from heat.

Then make the sour cream. In a bowl mix the other tub of sour cream with about 2 Tbs of water and 1 Tbs of lemon juice and it's ready to serve. If it still feels too thick you can add a little more water.

Place everything in serving bowls and let your guests put together their nachos however they like. If you're taking food to a party and that's too inconvenient, you can layer it in a large bowl in this order: beans, meat, nacho cheese, peppers and onion, guacamole, salsa, sour cream. Or, try my 7 Layer Dip if you prefer. 

Happy Super Bowl!!

I think I must be a stress eater but at least it's good for my creativity!

My mom's in the hospital, she just had surgery. She's doing well but every time I come home from the hospital I just keep making delicious gluten-free recipes. Maybe it's because all the food at the hospital is so awful I have to remind myself that there's good food in the world. Yesterday I made the most delicious rosemary olive gluten-free loaf which my sister and I polished off before I could think of blogging about it. Today I woke up wanting pancakes so. I made my own recipe and made the dough. They were amazing! Luckily for you guys, I remembered to blog. ;-) This recipe is so easy too!

So delicious!

Easy Gluten-Free Pancakes

Ingredients

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• 1/2 C certified gluten free oats
• 1/2 C cornstarch
• 2 Tbsp. honey* or agave
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. xanthan gum**
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. flax meal***
• 1 C. water + 1/4 C water
• 1 Tbsp. oil- I used olive but I think it would be better with grape seed oil.
• 1/4 C blueberries (optional)
• *Honey is not considered vegan by most so if you're opposed to the consumption of honey, use agave
• ** You can find xanthan gum at Whole Foods or online. I also see it at the chinese grocery stores sometimes. Most recipes don't require much so it's good to just keep around the house for your GF baking needs.
• *** The flax meal and 1/4 C water mixture is a replacement for an egg so if you eat eggs and you don't have flax, you can use one egg instead.

This is the dough before I added the blueberries.

How to make it

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• Put the 1/2 C oats into the blender and blend until the oats have mostly the consistency of flour. In mixing bowl, stir together oats, corn starch, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt. In a small bowl combine the flax meal with 1/4 C water and mix together. Let stand while you get another mixing bowl, and mix the honey, water, and oil. Add to oat mixture all at once and mix in flax meal mixture and blueberries if you're using them. Stir until blended. Pour about 2 Tbsp. or 1/4 C onto heated pan or griddle. On my stove we set it to a 2 out of 8. Not sure what temp that is. Sorry. You can test the temp of your pan or griddle by wetting your fingers and dropping a drop or two of water onto it. If it skates across the surface, it's ready. When you drop the dough onto the pan, you will need to help it spread out as the dough doesn't really spread out easily as regular pancake mix. Perhaps this could be helped by adding more liquid but I didn't think to try that.
• Cook until pancakes are golden brown, you will know it's time to flip when you see little bubbles on the surface of the pancake.  Makes 8 to 10 pancakes. 
• And yes, my sister and I ate them all. :-p
• 
  

I'm the vegan Paula Deen y'all! J/k, I'd never eat that junk, but this food is good!!

So, I'm working on a new cooking endeavor. I'm making a YouTube cooking show! I spent hours filming it last weekend and was so tired at the end, I didn't even film my second recipe. However, y'all are in luck because I'm posting both recipes here so you can have a preview!  I'm not sure when the episode will be edited. So, I couldn't wait to share with you. 


I love pizza. I have tons of creative pizzas I make, but for now, I'm just going to share two that I adore. One of my crusts is regular and one is gluten-free. Everyone loved the gluten free version better. Surprising, but  I'm happy with that result. Anyway, here they are:

Vegan Spinach - Mushroom - Sausage Pizza

Besides ingredients listed below for each component of the pizza, you will also need Daiya cheese.

Crust

3 ¼ C Whole wheat pastry flour

½ C yellow cornmeal

1 ½ Teaspoon Himalayan pink crystal salt

2 tbsp honey or agave

4 ½ tsp  rapid rise yeast

1 ¼ C warm water 110-115 degrees Fahrenheit

½ C olive oil

Mix yeast ¼ cup of warm water, ¼ cup of flour and honey or agave in a bowl. Let stand in a warm place for 10 minutes. Mix in with the rest of the ingredients, knead for 15-20 min punch down and knead until the correct texture is achieved (add a bit more flour if needed so it’s not sticky). If you want a lighter crust, you can reduce or omit the olive oil and add in up to 1/4 cup of water if dough is too dry.

While the dough is sitting, make your Italian sausage, sauteed mushrooms, tomato sauce and spinach and cheese mixture.

Saute the mushrooms in olive oil, about 5 min on medium heat, remove from heat and set aside.

Make cheese mixture:

½  brick of firm tofu

1 tub of non-dairy cream cheese

3 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp agave nectar

1 tsp dried basil

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp granulated garlic

mash together with fork and add in spinach

Set aside while you make the "sausage" 

Vegan Italian Sausage recipe:

1lb high protein tofu

1tsp salt

3/4 tsp pepper

1tsp onion powder

1tsp Marmite (yeast extract) w/ 1/4 c olive oil

1tsp fennel seed

1 clove garlic minced

2 tsp oregano

Crumble your high protein tofu into a bowl add in salt, pepper and onion powder. Mix the Marmite with olive oil (it won't ever blend completely but mix until the olive oil looks brownish and the Marmite isn't so sticky and blend together with the tofu mixture

Set aside.

Place the minced garlic and fennel seed into oiled pan and sauté together add in the tofu mixture and oregano sauté until the tofu is very browned and a crispy add more olive oil for sauteing  if needed

Set aside and make tomato sauce

Tomato Sauce:

2 cups tomatoes (canned is fine)

2tsp agave

1 clove of garlic

1 tsp onion powder

 Puree all ingredients in blender

When dough is ready, assemble the pizza.

Press dough into oiled pan and up on the sides. Brush the bottom of the crust with olive oil, next spread the spinach and cheese mixture. Spread tomato sauce on top of that then add the sausage and mushrooms. Top with Daiya cheese or any other brand of vegan cheese you enjoy. Place pizza in oven pre-heated to 475 and cook for 20 -30 minutes.

Creamy Jalapeno and Chorizo pizza- Gluten Free

For this pizza, besides the ingredients listed for each component of the pizza below, you will need avocado, olives and Daiya or other brand of vegan cheese.

Pizza crust recipe

3 1/4 cups flour (flour = 1 1/4C GF oat flour, 1C tapioca starch, 1C rice flour)

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1 1/2 teaspoons table salt

1 Tbsp xanthan gum

2 tbsp honey or agave

4 1/2 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast (this is equal to two 1/4 oz packets)

1 1/4 cups warm water

1/4 cup vinegar

½ cup olive oil

Mix yeast ¼ cup of warm water, ¼ cup of flour and honey or agave nectar in a bowl, cover and let stand in a warm place for 10 minutes. Mix in all the other ingredients, knead 10-15 min and let stand covered for about 1 hour.

Set aside while you prep the other components.

Pre-heat oven to 475 

 Creamy Jalapeno Sauce:

1 8oz tub non-dairy creme cheese spread (I use Trader Joe's non-dairy spread, Tofutti also makes a good one)

1 Tbsp TJ’s Red Jalapeno Sauce

1 Tbsp lime juice

1 clove of minced garlic, sautéed in approx 1-2 Tbsp olive oil

1tsp agave

dash of salt

Sauté the garlic first then blend together with the other ingredients

set aside

Next make Vegan Chorizo- you can also purchase vegan Chorizo at many grocery stores if you prefer not to make it however, I love the health benefits of tempe so I made this recipe.

Vegan Chorizo:

Tofurkey brand Homestyle Tempe

1 tsp salt

1/4 Cup apple cider vinegar or regular distilled vinegar

2 tsp agave nectar

2 tsp paprika

2 tsp chili pepper

2tsp organic ketchup

1/4 tsp cumin

1-2 cloves of garlic minced

dash of oregano

ground black pepper to taste

tbsp water

Crumble tempe and mix all ingredients then sauté in olive oil until desired texture and consistency is reached

Set aside

Assemble pizza when dough is ready.

Press dough into oiled pan. Pour creamy jalapeno sauce over bottom of crust and spread evenly. Next add a layer of fresh spinach top with soy chorizo then add olives and top with Daiya cheese. Place in oven preheated to 475 bake for 20- 30 minutes. After removing pizza from oven, slice up an avocado place on top of the cheese. Coat avocado slices with lemon juice so they don’t turn brown. Sprinkle some chili pepper and paprika if desired and serve.