Finally I found vegan croutons

Finally. I've always loved salads and I always used to add some croutons to my salads, I like them. But when I became vegan, all the croutons on the market seemed to have milk products on them. That really sucks, and I hate when I see something I might like that says: Contains: Milk, or eggs or whatever animal product it is. But now I can say...there is everything vegan, you just have to wait or try to find it. LOL. I was like all this time I've been vegan trying to find vegan croutons. And few weeks ago I went to Wal*mart Superstore and started looking at some croutons...there was a brand that everyone of them had milk on them...but at the back there were these Melissa's [Good Life Foods] Garden Herb Organic Croutons. I read the ingredients and found no animals on it, I smiled :), but I read them like 3 times more. Even when I came here I read them again. LOL but yes they're vegan and organic. YAY for me!
Oh, and they really taste good.

More pasta...

I've been cooking many pasta dishes these days, though I'm not a really big fan of pasta, I do like it. And I don't cook pasta dishes so often, but I wanted to make some, and improve myself in pasta cooking, lol. Oh and also if you want to eat more vegetables, pasta dishes are a great thing to put vegetables on. I think most vegetables (if no, all) can be used to cook pasta.

So the other day I made the "Pasta with roasted vegetables and olives" from the Vegan Express cookbook.
This thing is amazing, you should buy the book, NOW! It does have lots of express recipes, and all of them are so easy to prepare. If you make a recipe, and serve, it may look like you passed all day in the kitchen preparing it, but hell no, that was fast & easy (shh that's the secret, don't tell your guests).

For this recipe I used spiral pasta, sun dried tomatoes, eggplant, red onion, red bell pepper, broccoli, kalamata olives, olive oil, balsamic vinegar & I don't remember what else, but you got the idea, right? Eat lots of veggies with lots of flavor, that even omnivores will enjoy. I know that because I called my cousin and her husband to come home and try them...they loved it! "It is not so salty, but damn tasty", my cousin said. Even her 13 and 10 year old son & daughter ate them. So this can be kid friendly too if you know how to do it.

Lo mein

This is the first time I cook Lo Mein and it was great. It's also really simple & quick to do.

The other day I bought 1 pack of wide Lo Mein noodles, and followed a little the recipe that was on the back of the package. I added other vegetables that wasn't there, and added half water, half vegetable broth & a pinch of salt to boil, for the noodles for more flavor, but you can use only water and salt if you want to, if you don't have veggie broth in hand.

Ingredients:
-water, or half water, half veggie broth [enough to cover the noodles]
- 1 package of wide Lo Mein noodles
-pinch of salt

-few tbsp peanut oil
-few tbsp olive oil or stir fry oil
-Broccoli
-Red Bell Pepper, cut into strips
-Celery, cut small and finely, best
-Some of the Morningstar Farms chickn' style s strips, cut into small-medium cubes
-cayenne pepper powder
-onion powder
-a little more salt to taste
-ground black pepper
-garlic powder


Ok, now you're going to start boiling the noodles in the water with veggie broth [if using] and the pinch of salt for 5 minutes.
Cut the chickn' strips into cubes and season with the spices, black pepper & salt, to taste.
While boiling the noodles, saute the vegetables [you can use a wok or a big frying pan] and the seasoned strips in the oil for few minutes until ready.
When the noodles are done, add them to the wok or frying pan with the veggies and they're ready when lightly golden browned.
That's all.

Enjoy.

Some Grocery shopping

Yesterday I went to a Wal*Mart Superstore and bought some stuff I need for a recipe that later will be posting here. I don't know if you're like me, but I love grocery shopping! I enjoy looking for fresh veggies and stuff and new things to try on recipes, etc. I enjoy looking every aisle...for real. I enjoy grocery shopping the same I enjoy shopping at the mall or looking at magazines at Borders or reading books. :) I bought some organic celery, frozen corn, sweet peas and other stuff for quick meals for when I'm in a hurry or something.

Today I went to Freshmart with my mom and bought another stuff [on the picture]

I bought those Morning Star Farm vegan chikn' strips, scallions, red curry paste, orange citrus sauce, organic kalamata olives, whole wheat bread, dates with coconut, So Delicious coconut milk yogurts, peanut oil,white Basmati rice & a small bowl of fresh fruits my mom and I ate on the road to home..lol :)

I'm going to make the "Pasta with roasted vegetables and Olives" from the Vegan Express Cookbook and will post the recipe and my picture here later.

:)

[vegan] Spanish Tortilla

This is really freaking delicious! My mom, little bro and dad, aunt, boyfriend and me loved it. This is a fantastic recipe I really recommend everyone to try it [you'll thank me for it] . It doesn't have any cholesterol because instead of eggs we will use chickpea or fine corn flour, it is vegan, so it''s obvious. You can also use a mix of the two flours, or one of them and add a little of whole wheat flour. Well, no more blah blah and here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup of corn flour (or chickpea flour, if you can find it)
2 cups of water
1 teaspoon of baking powder
3 to 5 small-medium potatoes
1 large onion
Oil (for frying)
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt & pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried parsley or fresh parsley to taste
1/2 teaspoon black ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 butternut squash, shredded [optional]
1 small red pepper
1 small green pepper

Directions:

Wash and peel the potatoes and cut into small-medium size cubes. Wash the onion and cut the same way. Start frying the potatoes in a frying pan and add salt to taste. In another frying pan, add the 2 tablespoon s of olive oil and add the onion, green and red pepper until done. [oh, it smells so good]

In a large mixing bowl add the 2 cups of water, the flour (or flours) & baking powder and mix together until there are not clumps, it should be in between [not too watery or thick] you can add more water or flour depending. Add some salt to taste, the ground black pepper, garlic powder, oregano & parsley. Add the butternut squash, if using. Add the onions, green and red pepper to the mixture and mix well. You can also add some tofurky sausage cut into bite size if you like and it's good too!

Add a spoonful of oil to the frying pan and pour the mixture on it. fry at medium-low heat on both sides for about 10-15 minutes. When turning to fry the other side of the omelet you should do it carefully, or if you are not sure if doing right, have another frying pan ready to turn the omelet on it [you don't need to add more oil when turning] .

Cut and serve with rice, beans, salad, alone, or with vegan mayonnaise.

Buen Provecho ;)

Sunny Blueberry-Corn Muffins

This is the recipe from VWAV and it is fantastic! I will definitively do it again. The muffins are kinda crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Taste amazing! They remind me on my non vegan days that I used to eat lot of cornbread or corn cakes. Yay!, but these ones are definitively better, they have no cholesterol, they're vegan, plus I used 1/2 all purpose flour and 1/2 whole wheat to make them more heart healthy and stuff. They came out perfect. Isa Chandra on the book wrote that they are perfect for spreading with a pat of soy margarine. My mom said they would be amazing with her cup of coffee in the morning. They are amazing on their own, but I might try them like Isa said, it seems tasty, I don't like coffee alone, though. They are perfect sweet corn muffins, and the blueberries and the lemon zest makes them more special, [and tasty!]


Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour (you can use 1/2 all purpose and 1/2 whole wheat if desired)
1 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn or vegetable oil
3/4 cup soy milk
2 tablespoons soy yogurt (I used plain, but I think vanilla or even blueberry will work fine)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 1/4 cups of blueberries (I used 1 cup, I didn't had more, and they were fine)

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Lightly grease a twelve muffin tin (I used liners, so I didn't made this step).
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and sugar.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, soy milk, soy yogurt, vanilla and lemon zest. With a wooden spoon, fold the wet ingredients into the dry. Fold in the blueberries, being careful not to over mix.

Fill each muffin cup three-quarters full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center of one muffin comes out clean. Serve warm.

Enjoy!! :]

Stuffed Jumbo Shells With Vegan Ricotta "Cheese"

Few months ago I went to Freshmart and bought a little box that came with 3 stuffed shells with a vegan ricotta-like "cheese"[tofu] and with broccoli, spinach, spices and sauce. That for $5 and some cents, yes pricey for only 3 shells. I've never made any stuffed shell pasta before. And I loved those I bought, so I got ideas and made them my self today because I save more $ doing them myself and are fresher. I think I was kinda lazy or was very busy so I didn't made this before. But I did today and I loved the results, my mom tried them and she loves it! I did all to taste so I don't have exactly amounts of the ingredients, but accommodate them to your needs and taste.

Ingredients:

-Jumbo Pasta shells
-Firm or Extra firm Tofu (mashed well)
-Sugar
-Basil
-Onion powder
-Garlic Powder
-Few tsp. of fresh lemon juice
-Sea salt
-Spinach (thawed and squeezed dry)
-Broccoli
-A little soy milk (depending on how many shells are you doing)
-Your favorite tomato sauce
-Vegan Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F

Prepare the pasta shells according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.

Prepare the broccoli. Drain and set aside.

Place the tofu, sugar, soy milk, garlic powder, lemon juice, basil, and salt in a large bowl and mash together with a fork until it has a ricotta-like consistency.

Add the spinach & cooked broccoli and mix again. Set aside.

Pour half of the tomato sauce into a casserole dish. Fill each pasta shell with the "cheese" filling and place it, open side up in the tomato sauce. Continue until all shells and filling are used up. Pour the remained tomato sauce over the stuffed shells and sprinkle some vegan parmesan cheese over the top of the entire dish.

Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake for some minutes until all are good, and the sauce is not dried up. Remove foil and bake few minutes more.

Serve and Enjoy. =)