Vegan Chocolate Cherry Treat

Chocolate, Frozen Cherries..and more chocolate! Who does not love that!

Ingredients:

Chocolate Soy Milk (or Chocolate Almond milk, if you prefer)

FROZEN Cherries (pitted, can be bought at Costco)

1 to 2 Bananas

Hershey's or Nestle Baking Cocoa (make sure it it dairy free!)


Directions:

Add in:
one or two bananas (I usually stick with one),
frozen cherries (I rarely measure),
about 1/2 cup chocolate soy milk,
2-5 tablespoons cocoa (5 if you want it more chocolatey - if you want more cherry flavor omit the cocoa altogether)

Combine all in a blender and blend up until it is the consistency of a smoothie (add more milk in as needed to thin it out, more cherries to thicken it up.

Cajun Vegan Vegetable Gumbo

 

Ingredients:

 

2 lbs. greens (collard, mustard, or turnip), washed and stemmed 4 Tbsp. vegetable oil 1/4 cup flour 2 large onions, finely diced 1 green bell pepper, finely diced 4 stalks celery, finely diced 1 16-oz. can plum tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped 1/4 cup liquid hot sauce (such as Texas Pete's) 3 bay leaves 1 tsp. file powder (a Cajun spice) Cayenne pepper, to taste 1/2 tsp. each thyme, oregano, and basil 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped 3 garlic cloves, minced Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 6 cups + 1/4 cup vegetable broth 1 10-oz. package frozen okra 1 16-oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed 2 cups cooked white rice

Place the greens in a large soup pot with enough water to just cover the greens. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes. Drain, reserving 2 cups of the cooking water. On a cutting board, coarsely chop the greens and set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, whisk 1/4 cup Vegetable Broth and 2 Tbsp oil and the flour together and cook, stirring constantly, until the roux is a dark reddish-brown, about 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.

In the large soup pot, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and saute the onions, bell pepper, celery, and tomatoes for about 10 minutes or until the vegetables are wilted. Add the hot sauce, bay leaves, file powder, cayenne, thyme, oregano, basil, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the roux, vegetable broth, and the reserved greens-cooking water, stirring well to blend in the roux. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Add the cooked collard greens, okra, kidney beans, and rice and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and serve warm.

Vegan Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients:

4 large russet potatoes, diced 1/2 - 1 cup soymilk 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup water or vegetable stock 2 onions, chopped 1 large bell pepper, diced 2 carrots, sliced 2 celery stalks, sliced 1/2 pound (about 2 cups) mushrooms, sliced 1 15-ounce can chopped tomatoes 1 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained 1/2 teaspoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

Dice the potatoes and steam them until tender. Mash, adding enough soy milk to make them smooth and spreadable. Add salt to taste. Set aside.

In a large pot, heat the water or stock and cook the onions for 3 minutes. Add the pepper, carrots, and celery and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, then cover the pan and cook an additional 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the tomatoes, kidney beans, paprika, pepper, and soy sauce, then cover and cook 10 to 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350° F.

Put the vegetables into a 9" x 13" baking dish and spread the mashed potatoes evenly over the top. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake for 25 minutes, until hot and bubbly.

Got Milk? You Don't Need It

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/07/got-milk-you-dont-need-it/

Read this fantastic article link above - perhaps the BEST quote I can include in this post is by my favorite and most trusted source, Dr. Neal Barnhard:

“Sugar — in the form of lactose — contributes about 55 percent of skim milk’s calories, giving it ounce for ounce the same calorie load as soda.” ~ Neal Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

 
Another great factoid from the article:

[Osteoporosis? You don’t need milk, or large amounts of calcium, for bone integrity. In fact, the rate of fractures is highest in milk-drinking countries, and it turns out that the keys to bone strength are lifelong exercise and vitamin D, which you can get from sunshine.]

Read this great article! Great Info!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Vegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies...YUM!

 

Everyone needs a "treat" once in awhile - and with the holidays coming, why not head off those terrible temptations that crop up with holiday get-togethers by bringing some treats of your own that YOU can eat too!!

 

Check out the link below for a great recipe for VEGAN chocolate chip cookies - that uses NO OILS! Yes, they are still a "treat" so don't eat too many... ;-)

 

These can be easily converted to a Vegan Raisin cookie by omitting the Vegan Chocolate Chips - but why not use both? I do and it's REALLY yummy with chocolate AND raisins! (We do omit the nuts though.)

 

Courtesy of Lizzie Fuhr Assistant Editor, FitSugar

http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2012/08/vegan-chocolate-chip-oatmeal-trail.html

Vegan For The Holidays!

Well, time to find out how Thanksgiving and Christmas are going to fare this year! 

Mom tells me I need to figure out at least two Vegan dishes to prepare for the family for each holiday...this ought to be verrrry interesting. Especially since many in the family are going to turn their noses up at the mention of them being "vegan".

I swear, such discrimination! 

But I am very determined to prove them wrong about taste and appeal...how, you ask?

We aren't going to tell them they're vegan! Ha!