A Festivus for the Rest of Us

Feliz Navidad!

We do things a little un-traditional in our house. Since my husband has always hated ham and I have never been good at making typical American food, we decided years ago to do what we wanted to do at Christmas time! As lovers of pasta and residents of the southwest for many years we came up with a tradition of an Italian Christmas Eve and a Hispanic Christmas. Why? Why not! J

So every year we enjoy a baked pasta dish with salad and bread and Christmas cookies (of course) on Christmas Eve and then on Christmas day I make tamales!!

This year I experimented with some old recipes and tried some new and voila a Festivus miracle (the food turned out yummy)!!!...

Here is what we feasted on this year with recipes posted below, except of course my parents’ Traditional S.O.S Egg Dish…..to get that recipe you will have to be part of the da family (say it in your best Godfather voice). J

Enjoy.

Christmas Sugar Cookies

(Courtesy of Chef S and Chez Bettay)

http://www.chezbettay.com/pages/desserts1/drts_sugarcookie1.html

I’ve tried lots of sugar cookie recipes over the years and have disliked most of them. Either the cookies were too hard or too sticky or not sweet enough.

These cookies are PERFECT! Absolutely delightful. Easy to make. Easy to roll. And most importantly…. delicious!!!!

See weblink above for her recipe.

I made no changes to this perfect recipe.

(And helpful hint – make all the dough and frostings 1-2 days in advance and refrigerate till needed on Christmas Eve or Christmas day.)

Frosting:

You can use any recipe you like.

I whipped Earth Balance Butter with powdered sugar and a touch of vanilla extract till at a perfect consistency. So simple.

Votes:

Adults: 2 thumbs up. Children: 4 thumbs up

Chef E’s Italian Bake

Every year this recipe varies slightly. Different pasta. Different vege added. We used to bake with cheese now we don’t. You can modify it to your liking.

This year we did the following:

1 lb gigli tricolor pasta

16 ounces marinara sauce (make your own or buy it – this year I used Costco’s White Linen’s All Natural Gourmet sauce. Yum)

2 zucchinis

4 shitake mushrooms

4 crushed garlic cloves

2 green onions chopped

1 cup diced tomatoes (we love tomatoes)

1 can black olives

1 cup frozen chopped kale

1 package Field Roast Sausage (from seitan) sliced.

Easy to make:

Cook your pasta.

Sautee all your veges and seitan sausage with olive oil and then add the marinara sauce and simmer.

Mix with your cooked pasta. Let simmer several more minutes.

Top with Vegan Rice Parm Cheese.

And Serve.

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy. (Got kids? Then you must hear this often!!!) J

Votes: Adult: 2 thumbs up. Children: 4 thumbs up

"Da Family’s" S.O.S Tradition

All I can say is that it has been adapted from my family’s original recipe.

I use Earth balance instead of butter and soy milk instead of cow’s milk.

And thank you to our chicks for providing the delicious eggs.

Votes:

Adult: 2 thumbs up. Children: 3 thumbs up (one of our kids doesn’t eat eggs. she is our hard-core vegan)

A GingerBread Family

I used to not like anything gingerbread-ish. However, in the last 3 years I have gained an appreciation and enjoyment of all things ginger. We rotate between houses and men/women. This year our eldest chose men/women. These go great with Silk Soy Nog.

Sift:

5 cups of flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 tsp ginger

1 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cloves

Melt in a sauce pan:

1 cup Crisco vegetable shortening

1 cup sugar

1.5 cups molasses

Cool and then mix all together and add two eggs or use Energy Egg Replacer (As I did).

Roll and cut into desired shapes. (or refrigerate for 2-4 days till needed)



(they also serve as abominable snowmen)



Votes:

Adult: 2 thumbs up. Children: 4 thumbs up

Tiramisu Cheesecake (ooo la la)

Every Christmas season I make many tiramisus. It took me 8 years to craft my perfect Old World Traditional Tiramisu and then 1 month later we went vegan. I found whipped coconut milk to be the perfect substitution for whipped cream (tofu, yuck!).

This year, inspired by the Clark Family, I decided to try something new, but nothing borrowed or blue. I made my first Tiramisu Cheesecake. AND it was really good!

It turned out looking a little funky (sort of like bread pudding). So I covered it with cocoa powder and chocolate shavings and then it was perfect!

This will be my new recipe for the season! I found this online and veganized it

Espresso Syrup:

Make 1 cup instant coffee

Add ¼ cup sugar and 2 tbs Kahlua

Cheesecake:

12-16 lady fingers (can find vegan variety online or at WFs)

24 ounces of soy cream cheese

2/3 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbs Kahlua liqueur

1 tbs Amaretto (my special edition – thought it would taste nice)

4 eggs (I used Energy Egg Replacer b/c our chicks can only lay so many eggs.J)

1/3 cup soy creamer

Topping:

16 lady fingers, quartered

½ cup melted Earth Balance butter

½ cup sugar

2 tsp instant coffee

Dark chocolate bar for shavings

Cocoa powder and cinnamon to sprinkle on top

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Lightly spray a 9 inch spring form baking pan with oil

Prepare syrup in a sauce pan. Then cool to room temp.

For cake: arrange lady fingers in the bottom of the baking pan and then drizzle with the espresso syrup.

In a large bowl mix the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, liquors, and soy creamer.

Pour over prepared crust.

Now make the topping: Melt butter, add sugar and coffee.

Pour into a bowl and toss the quartered lady fingers.

Arrange on the top of the cake and bake for 45 minutes.

Cool overnight. Then dust with cocoa powder, cinnamon and chocolate shavings.

Votes:

Adult: 2 thumbs up (and one of us hates tiramisu, not me!) Children: no vote (didn’t want to try it)

Chef E’s Terrific Tamales

This year I decided I wanted more authentic tamales. So I did what every good gringo would do – I visited YouTube! J

I found this adorable video. Even if you don’t want to make tamales, I would still watch it. The little girls are so cute!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4xCli6IxDI

I learned the secret! Ancho Chile Sauce!!!

I visited my local Food City and bought all my ingredients and pretty much stuck to what they did in the video, minus the animal flesh and lard!

Here is what Senorita E cooked up:

Ancho Chile Sauce:

1 package El Guapo Pasilla Ancho Chiles

1 cup cilantro (b/c I love it)

Filling: (this is a mock meat version, you could always add beans or veges)

2 packages of Seitan crumbles

1 package of Soy “turkey” crumbles

1 package of shredded Seitan

2 fresh poblano peppers chopped (b/c I love them)

2 cups cilantro (yum)

2 cups vegetable stock

1 tablespoon olive oil

10 garlic cloves (b/c I don’t like vampires) J

1 cup ancho chile sauce

Dough:

4 cups masa

4 cups vegetable stock

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbs salt

1 cup Crisco

1 cup Ancho Chile sauce

FIRST:

Soak your corn husks overnight in water!

Make your Ancho Chile Sauce:

De-seed the dried chiles. And slice them. Place in a pot with 1 cup of water and steam them until tender (about 20 minutes). Then pour into your blender and voila you have sauce!

SECOND:

Make your filling:

Sautee all the above ingredients in your skillet. Let it simmer for several hours so the poblano peppers are fully cooked.

Then store this 1-2 days in your refrigerator.

DAY OF:

Make your masa:

Combine all the ingredients in a BIG bowl. Mix and mix till your arm wants to fall off. Then mix some more.

Then the fun part!

Assembling the tamales (see youtube video – pretty easy to do).

Stack them in your double broiler and let them cook for 2 hrs!

Then ENJOY!!!! What a treat! We served ours with fresh cilantro, guacamole, refried beans and Spanish rice.

And since we made over 50 tamales– we froze most of them to enjoy over the new year!

Votes:

Adult: 2 thumbs up (best tamale ever according to El Senor de la Casa)

Children: 4 thumbs up (and wasn’t too spicy!)

Adios mi Amigos!!

And Feliz Ano Nuevo!!!!

What do you do with all those Thanksgiving leftovers?

 .....I would have just microwaved them….. but thanks to Chef S, we got to enjoy the best Panini’s ever!!!!

ThanksLiving Leftover Panini’s

What you need:

Thinly sliced Italian Bread

Your leftovers.

We used: the Hazelnut Cranberry Roast en Croute, Roasted Eggplant and Zucchini, and Daiya Cheese.

What you do:

Sautee the Roast en Croute in a pan and then place on the bread.

Add the roasted veggies and shredded Daiya on top

Brush the outside of the bread with olive oil

Place in your Panini maker for approximately 10 minutes

If you don’t have a Panini Maker, use a skillet or griddle.

Enjoy!!!

VOTES:

Adult: 4 thumbs up

What do Vegans eat on Thanksgiving?

This is a question I get asked commonly… the answer……A ThanksLiving Feast

For the simple Chefs like me:

Holiday Lentil Loaf

Autumn Wild Rice Rissoles

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Gravy

Cranberry Berry Stuffing

Roasted Eggplant, Zucchini and Asparagus

Pumpkin Pie

Pecan Pie

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Snickerdoodle Ice Cream

For the fancy Chefs: (courtesy of Chef S)

Hazelnut Cranberry Roast En Croute

Vegan Thanksgiving Dinner Roast

Herb Stuffing with Smoked Sage “Sausage”

Rustic Roasted Three Squash Soup

Garden Greens with Maple Balsamic Dressing

Creamy Herbed Mashed Potatoes

Garlic Glazed Green Beans

Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake with Oatmeal Cookie Crust

Here are the Recipes and Pictures!

Holiday Lentil Loaf  (courtesy of VegNews):

Recipe:

http://www.vegnews.com/web/articles/page.do?pageId=239&catId=11

Autumn Wild Rice Rissoles (courtesy of Chef TK from Vegetarian times):

Recipe:

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/11091

Very easy to make…. Except I forgot to buy saltines and only had graham crackers and pretzels in our house Thursday morning. So we made a casserole instead of rissoles. It was still yummy!!!!

Creamy Mashed Potatoes:

What you need:

5 small yellow potatoes

5 small red potatoes

5 small purple potatoes (from TJs)

1 container vegan sour cream

1 container vegan cream cheese

1 stick Earth balance

1 tsp chives

1 tsp onion salt

1 tsp garlic powder ( or 1 clove garlic)

Salt and pepper to taste

What to do:

Cook potatoes till soft. Drain water. Add the rest of the ingredients and mash. Creamy and good and pink!!!!

Gravy (Courtesy of Vegweb):

There are many vegan varieties out there, but I think this one is my fave.

http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=12302.0

Cranberry Berry Stuffing:

This year I decided to put a twist on my usual Cranberry Stuffing – in addition to the fresh cranberries and sugar – I added 1 cup fresh blueberries and blackberries! Yum!

Roast Eggplant, Zucchini and Asparagus:

Very easy. I bought frozen sliced Eggplant and Zucchini. Placed them on a baking sheet with the fresh asparagus and drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes.

VOTES:

All the above recipes received

Adult: 2, Child: 0 (thanksgiving has never been a big hit in our house)

Pumpkin Pie:

What you need:

2 eggs (or Energy Egg replacer)

½ cup sugar (or evaporated cane juice)

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt

½ tsp ginger

1/8 tsp cloves

1/8 tsp mace

1.5 cups fresh pumpkin (from Halloween)

1 cup soy milk

What you do:

1.) Preheat oven to 425

2.) Beat all ingredients together

3.) Pour into pastry shell (9 inch)

4.) Bake at 425 for 15 minutes

5.) Reduce heat to 350 and bake for 45 minutes

Enjoy!

Pastry shell (9 inch):

1 cup flour

¼ tsp salt

¼ cup sugar

1/3 cup shortening or Earth balance (cold)

2 tbs soy milk

Use pastry cutter to mix into coarse crumbles. Then gather into a ball, flatten and roll into a circle. Put into pie plate.

Pecan Pie:

What you need:

1 cup broken pecans

1 cup sugar

3 eggs (or energy egg replacer)

1 cup Earth Balance (melted)

½ tsp salt

What you do:

1.)    Preheat oven to 375

2.)    Mix above ingredients together with whisk.

3.)    Pour into prepared pastry shell

4.)    Decorate the top with pecan halves

5.)    Bake 40-50 minutes

6.)    Enjoy!

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (modified: Courtesy of the Vegan Scoop)

What you need:

1 cup soy milk (or any vegan milk)

2 tbs arrowroot (sold at WFs, sunflower, sprouts – baking aisle)

2 cups soy creamer (or could use mimiccreme or coconut milk)

¾ cup evaporated cane juice (or sugar)

1 vanilla bean

What you do:

1.)    In a small bowl combine ¼ cup soymilk with arrowroot and set aside

2.)    In sauce pan mix soy creamer, remaining soy milk, and sugar

3.)    Cook over low heat, till boils

4.)    Remove from heat add the arrowroot and soymilk mixture and continue stirring

5.)    Add Vanilla Bean

6.)    Put in refrigerator for 2-3 hrs till cool

7.)    Add to Ice maker and then Enjoy!

Snickerdoodle Ice Cream (a variation of my Snickerdoodle cookie dough ice cream)

Use same base as above but substitute 1 tbs vanilla extract for the vanilla bean and then add 1tsp cinnamon.

Then when freezing the ice cream in your ice cream maker, 5 minutes before done; add broken pieces of snickerdoodle cookies. I bought my vegan snickerdoodles at TJs. Yum!

VOTES:

The desserts received

Adults: 2, Child: 4.

Chef S Recipes:

Hazelnut Cranberry Roast en Croute:

This you can buy in the frozen section at WFs

Vegan Thanksgiving Dinner Roast:

Recipe at:

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2010/11/thanksgiving-meatless-loaf.html

Herb Stuffing with Smoked Sage “Sausage”:

Use Arrowhead Mills Organic Savory Herb Stuffing

Cook on your stove top and add additional celery and Field roast “sausage”

Rustic Roasted Three Squash Soup:

Recipe at:

http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2010/10/three-squash-soup-easy-vegan-recipe.html

Garden Greens with Maple Balsamic Dressing:

Recipe at:

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000000550064

Garlic Glazed Green Beans:

Recipe at:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/spicy-green-beans-with-garlic-recipe2/index.html

Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake with Oatmeal Cookie Crust:

Recipe at:

http://fatfreevegan.com/

Enjoy!!

The BEST Mac N Cheese


I have tried many recipes and they have been good...but until now I had not found the best. I saw this recipe (or similar ones) about a year ago but never tried them because I just couldn't believe it would taste good. I was wrong once again!! Here is the link from Veg News Magazine.

http://www.vegnews.com/web/articles/page.do?catId=10&pageId=40

What you need:

• 4 quarts water
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 8 ounces macaroni (or whatever pasta you like)
• 4 slices of bread, torn into large pieces
• 2 tablespoons + 1/3 cup Earth Balance
• 2 tablespoons shallots, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup red or yellow potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1/4 cup carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1/3 cup onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup raw cashews (sold at TJs, WFs, sunflower etc)
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika

What You Do:

1. In a large pot, bring the water and salt to a boil. Add macaroni and cook until al dente. In a colander, drain pasta and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
2. In a food processor, make breadcrumbs by pulverizing the bread and 2 tablespoons Earth balance to a medium-fine texture. Set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan, add shallots, potatoes, carrots, onion, and water, and bring to a boil. Cover the pan and simmer for 15 minutes, or until vegetables are very soft.
4. In a blender, process the cashews, salt, garlic, 1/3 cup Earth Balance, mustard, lemon juice, black pepper, and cayenne. Add softened vegetables and cooking water to the blender and process until perfectly smooth.
5. In a large bowl, toss the cooked pasta and blended cheese sauce until completely coated. Spread mixture into a 9 x 12 casserole dish, sprinkle with prepared breadcrumbs, and dust with paprika. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese sauce is bubbling and the top has turned golden brown.

ps i used TJs tricolor vege radiatore not macaroni 

Of course their picture looks better than mine! I did add more pasta and next time will follow their instructions to only use 8 ounces (it will be more cheesey). However, I would add less breadcrumbs and 1/2 the lemon juice.

Perfection indeed!!!

Enjoy!

VOTES:
Adult: 2 thumbs up. Children: 4 thumbs up.

Want to Veganize your Pantry?

Here are some of my recommendations to replace all those animal products! What I also love about vegan products; most come from small companies that are environmentally conscious and the ingredients are organic (mostly), always healthy, all natural and delicious.  Not only are you saving the lives of animals but you are being healthy too!

Milk:

Options: Soy, Almond, Hemp, Rice, Multi-grain etc etc

Our Pick: Silk’s Brain and Bone Health (added omega 3’s, Calcium and Vitamin D)

Where to buy: Most stores but the best price in town – Costco.

Recs: Just plain awesome!

Eggnog:

YES Silk makes a soy egg nog!!!! Only in stores November to January!!! So hurry!

Butter:

Options: margarines (yuck!) or Earth Balance – come in tubs and sticks

Our Pick: Earth Balance Soy Free or the Whipped variety

Where to buy: TJ (only sells 2 varieties of the tub), WFs, Sunflower, Sprouts.

Recs: Can eat it on anything, melts perfectly and bakes amazingly!

Cheese:

Options: Many but most are horrible. Teese Cheese if you like Velveeta. Daiya for pizza etc

Our pick: Daiya!

Where to buy: Daiya (WFs) and Teese Cheese (Green in Tempe or online)

Recs: For Daiya grate very thin so that it melts evenly or just buy it already shredded (comes both ways).

Sour Cream:

Options: 2 soy varieties on the market

Our Pick: Tofutti

Where to buy: WFs, Sunflower, Sprouts (likely carried at other grocery stores? Might be more expensive though)

Recs: Not good plain. Spice it up with chipotle seasoning if using it in Mexican food. Otherwise is AWESOME for dips or baking or adding to mashed potatoes etc.

Cream Cheese:

Options: Several soy varieties on the market

Our Pick: Tofutti

Where to buy: WFs, Sunflower, Sprouts

Recs: Not good plain. Don’t plan on eating this on your morning bagel (yuck!). We eat our bagels with PB. However this is AWESOME in recipes; dips, cheesecakes, fillings etc

Parmesan Cheese:

Options: Two varieties on the market (soy and rice) It is a finely grated powder.

Our Pick: Galaxy’s Vegan Parm Cheese

Where to buy: WF’s. Maybe elsewhere?

Recs: Great on spaghetti or in recipes.

Cream:

Options: Canned coconut milk, soy milk or MimicCreme (nut milk)

Our Pick: All of the above, depends on how you are using them.

Where to buy: All stores sell canned coconut milk. MimicCreme is sold online or at WFs.

Recs: Would use the coconut or soy milks for ice cream or baking. We use MimicCreme for making alfredo sauce, soups etc.

Whipped Cream:

Options: Soy or rice

Our Pick: Soyatoo Rice Whipped Cream (the soy version is gross)

Where to buy: WFs

Recs: This is great fun for the kids. You can also make your own whipped cream from coconut milk.

Yogart:

Options: Soy or coconut

Our Pick: Silk or So Delicious

Where to buy: WFs or Sunflower or Sprouts

Recs: Different from cow’s milk yogart, may take awhile to get used to. Luckily taste buds are adaptable.

Eggs:

Options: Energy Egg Replacer (made from tapioca flour) or adopt your own hens

Our Pick: Both

Where to buy: Energy Egg Replacer is sold at WFs, Sunflower, and Sprouts

Recs: If you want scrambled eggs and you don’t want to adopt your own hens, try tofu scrambled eggs. The Energy Egg replacer is for recipes that require eggs… it works perfectly! AND you can lick the bowl without worrying about getting salmonella!

Mayo:

Options: The one, the only Vegenaise

Our Pick: Any variety of Vegenaise

Where to buy: WFs, Sunflower, Sprouts

Recs: Awesome and made with healthy oils. There is no reason for anyone to be eating mayonnaise these days

Salad Dressings:

Options: Many

Our Pick: OrganicVille Ranch Dressing.

Where to buy: WFs, Sunflower, Sprouts

Recs: If you read labels, most oil dressings are vegan. This Ranch dressing is great! Or make your own from scratch.

Hot dogs:

Options: Many types of soy dogs

Our Pick: Smart Dogs

Where to buy: TJs, WFs, Sunflower, Sprouts

Recs: We have been eating them for 7 years and I don’t think I can remember what a cow-pig-hotdog even tastes like….

Gound beef:

Options: Soy crumbles made by Boca, Yves, Morning Star etc

Our Pick: Yves

Where to buy: TJs, WFs, Sunflower, Sprouts

Recs: These are great for those who crave ground beef (not me). There is a taco, Asian, and “turkey” variety. They are all great and will even fool the most die hard carnivore. Also, if you like spicy there are soy chorizo types sold at TJs and WFs.

Chicken Nuggets:

Options: Many types (in the frozen section)

Our Pick: Gardein

Where to buy: WFs, Sunflower

Recs: These are awesome!!! Some of the other types are mushy and not textured right. Be CAREFUL to read labels – even though some vege products are soy based – they might still add eggs or milk – so read the ingredients carefully.

Chicken:

Options: many types of patties, cutlets etc (in the frozen section)

Our Pick: Gardein!!!!

Where to buy: WFs, Sunflower

Recs: All of Gardein’s products are awesome! The frozen “chicken” and “beef” are the best textured (according to my husband). Many varieties to choose from. WFs also sells Gardein “chicken breasts” in their prepared foods aisle – you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference! Awesome!

Burgers:

Options: MANY!

Our pick: Dr. Praeger’s Tex Mex Vege Burger

Where to buy: TJs, WFs, Sunflower, Sprouts

Recs: Try different types and see what you like. The soy varieties have a more meaty texture…Or you could always make your own from scratch!

Chicken Stock:

Why buy this? Vegetable Stock is better!

Gummies:

Options: Many types

Our Pick: Tasty Organic Gummies

Where to buy: WFs

Recs: All natural, yummy, and healthy! Why buy those gummies that claim to be fruit when they are just like candy!

Brownies:

Options: Only these two are vegan – trust me I read all the brownie boxes! Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate and Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate

Our Pick: Either one!

Where to buy: Any store

Recs: Use energy egg replacer and voila you made quick and easy vegan brownies!!!

Chocolate Chips:

Options: Dark chocolate varieties. TJs semi sweet chocolate chips are vegan!

Our pick: TJs semi-sweet chips

Where to buy: TJs

Recs: Awesome for everything! The white chocolate chips below you have to buy online from Food FIght in Oregon.

Chocolate syrup:

Options: Several fancy brands.

Our Pick: Ahlaska!

Where to buy: WFs, Sunflower

Recs: This is delicious and great for sundaes or milk!

Marshmallows:

Options: Only one – Dandies

Our Pick: Dandies

Where to buy: WFs or Green in Tempe

Recs: Great for smores or rice krispie treats or rocky road brownies

Candy:

Options: Skittles, Laffy Taffy etc…but if you want Vegan Chocolate bars

Our Pick: Go Max Go Vegan Candy Bars

Where to buy: WFs or online

Recs: THESE ARE THE BEST!!!!

Cookies:

Options: Lots of varieties in stores and online and right under our noses. TJs line of Jo-Jo’s are vegan (peppermint ones too!). WFs bakery makes the best vegan cookies. Most of Newman’s line of cookies are vegan too!

Our Pick: Too many to choose

Where to buy: All stores. Check online too (see websites below)

Recs: Enjoy with soy milk!

Cookie Dough:

Options: Make your own. But if in a bind and want something quick and yummie… then

Our Pick: Eat Pastry Vegan Cookie Dough

Where to buy: WFs (refrigerated section)

Recs: Yum. Yum. Yum.

Ice Cream:

Options: Soy, Coconut, Almond, Rice

Our Pick: So Delicious Coconut Milk Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Where to buy: Everywhere, but WFs and Sprouts have the best variety

Recs: Totally delicious!!!! Nothing better than cruelty free ice cream – no reason to be eating ice cream from poor cows!

And of course:

Nutritional Yeast Flakes – high in protein, no fat, low carbs. Can be added to most recipes as a salty, nutty flavor. Used frequently in vegan cheese recipes. Sold at WFs, Sunflower and Sprouts.

Chia Seeds – high in protein, fiber, and omega 3’s. Sold at WFs, Sunflower and Sprouts. Can be added to smoothies, brownies or oatmeal etc etc

Ground Flax Seeds – high in fiber and omega 3’s. Sold everywhere. Also can be added to smoothies, brownies, oatmeal, breads, cakes, soups etc etc.

Arrowroot – For making ice cream! This is a vegetable root substitute for gelatin! You don’t have to eat animal hooves.

And don’t forget about your legumes and grains. They are easy to store in your pantry for a long time, are filled with protein and vitamins and are inexpensive!!! Like my brother taught me as a child... beans are the magical food! The more you eat, the more you… J Beans and brothers, can’t live without them!