Saturday, December 29, 2012

Vegetable Tator Tot Hot Dish


1 bag frozen vegetables
1 bag of tator tots
1 can of vegetable broth
1/2 chopped onion
salt & cracked pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Bake tator tots until crisp (about 20 minutes)
3. Saute vegetables and onion with a bit of olive oil.
4. Line a baking pan with the veggies and add the crisp tator tots on the top
5. Drizzle the vegetable broth over the top of the tots along with salt & pepper
6. Bake for 20 minutes to allow flavors to absorb

Alternative: You may also add Lightlife Gimme Lean Ground Beef Style for a heartier casserole

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Garlic Biscuits


So many different variations... minus the garlic, add raisins for a morning biscuit or try adding a bit of non-dairy cheese for a creamy biscuit!

2 1/4 cup Bisquick
2/3 cup Silk Soy Milk
1 tsp minced garlic

Optional: Earth Balance to top

Makes: 9 biscuits

1: Preheat oven to 450
2: Stir all ingredients together, then knead 20 times
3: Roll out to 1/3-1/2 inch thick and cut circular shapes with a cookie cutter, or a drinking glass, as I did
4: Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8 minutes
5: Glaze with a little Earth Balance if you'd like and serve warm

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Cheeseburger Salad



2 Boca Burger patties
Daiya cheddar shreds
lettuce
chopped onions
Kraft Thousand Island Lite (very important... "LITE" is the only kind without egg whites!)

1: Chop up lettuce and set aside

2: Grill Boca burgers with chopped onions with one tsp olive oil or Pam cooking spray
3: Chop up into squares
4: Add to salad, along with dressing.  I also added Bac'n pieces and sunflower seeds
5: Yum, yum, yum!  Burger without a bun!  :)

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Homemade Pepperoni Pizza


Perfect dinner to make with the kiddie-cats!  Yum!

Dough:
1 package or 2 1/4 tsp of Rapid Rise yeast
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (or white flour, whatever!)
1 tsp sugar
1 cup warm water
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil

Other ingredients:
pizza sauce
Daiya Mozzarella
Yves Meatless Pepperoni

1: Preheat oven at 450
2: Combine yeast, sugar and warm water in a bowl and set aside for 10 minutes
3: Stir in flour, salt and oil until completely mixed
4: Knead on a floured surface until smooth
5: Grease pan with oil or cooking spray and then spread out dough until thin
6: Add pizza sauce
7: Add Daiya Mozzarella (I put Daiya in a bowl with salt and dried parsley, mixed and then added to the crust)
8: Then pepperoni
9: Add olive oil to the edges of the crust and bake for 10 minutes
10: I broiled mine for an additional 2 minutes to brown the cheese and edges of the crust a bit

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Winter Cookies


Time for seasonal baking to begin!  These delicious sugar cookies were made from this recipe.  Let's decorate!
Creamy Sugar Frosting
2 cups confectioner's sugar
2 tbsp Earth Balance
1 tsp vanilla extract
Up to 3 tbsp of soy milk (add one tsp at a time until you reach the desired consistency)
various food coloring

Here are the vegan decorations we used:
  • shredded coconut
  • raisins
  • gum drops
  • Dandie's Marshmallows
  • Ghirardelli semi-sweet dark chocolate chips
  • VeganSweets white chocolate chips
  • lots of sprinkles!


Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Chocolate Hazelnut Snowballs



Dough ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 package of Rapid Rise Yeast
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup Soy Milk
1/2-3/4 cup water
1 tbsp Earth Balance
1 tsp nutmeg

Additional ingredients:
powdered sugar
Divine Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Truffle bar

1/2 quart vegetable oil

1: Mix Rapid Rise Yeast with sugar and 1/2 cup warm water.  Set aside for 20 minutes to rise
2: Add all remaining ingredients and mix completely
3: Knead and add flour until dough is no longer sticky
4: Cover and set aside for 15 minutes, allowing dough to rise a bit more
 5: Roll dough into one-inch balls
6: Cut up several bars of the chocolate truffle
 7: Add one piece to each dough ball and roll until covered
8: Fry the dough balls on medium heat in a small saucepan, turning until lightly browned
9: Pour about 1/2 cup-1 cup powdered sugar into a bowl
10: Roll balls immediately while hot into the powdered sugar and cover completely
11: Serve warm
 These treats can be stored in an airtight container until ready to serve.  Simply warm them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds!

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Native American Fry Bread (Zaasakokwaan)


Yum, yum, yum!  I love fry bread plain as can be.  I love fry bread as a base for tacos.  I love fry bread with powdered sugar.  I love fry bread nice and warm with peanut butter... super duper fattening, but quite a nice treat!  This is my personal fry bread recipe, however, there is a family recipe that includes powdered milk and lard... not very vegan!  Fry bread was first made from commodities given to the Native American people when they were forced onto reservations, without resources, and had to live on government provided commodities, including flour, powdered milk, butter and such.  Fry bread is not something I feel my ancestors would have eaten prior to the European invasion, however, I preserve the tradition of it because it is important to my family.

4 cups flour
3 tbsp sugar
2 packages of Rapid Rise Yeast
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup Soy Milk
1 1/2 cup water
2 tbsp Earth Balance

1 quart (or less, depending on pan size) of vegetable oil

Makes: 10 medium sized pieces

1: Combine 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast and salt in bowl.  Set aside.
2: Heat soy milk, water, Earth Balance until moderately warm
3: Add to dry mixture and mix for a few minutes, slowly adding an additional cup of flour until dough is thick enough to knead
4: Knead dough on well floured surface, adding up to an additional cup of flour until dough is smooth and does not stick to your fingers
5: Put in a bowl and cover for 10 minutes
6: Heat vegetable oil on medium heat
7: Add circular shapes of dough with a slight hole in the middle to the oil (very carefully!)
8: Flip when they are lightly brown
9: Strain them on paper towels to soak up the oil and serve immediately while warm

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Quick Bean Dip


My younger brother and I made this for a party and ate most of it before the guests arrived!  So quick and delicious!  I'd definitely recommend doubling the batch!

1 can Hormel Vegetarian Chili
1 Daiya Jack Style Wedge
1: Cut up wedge into chunks and add both Daiya and chili to a small crock pot

2: Melt on low for about 30 minutes and serve with tortilla chips
Note: If you'd like to make a double batch, just an additional can of chili will do... the Daiya goes a long way!

Banana Ice Cream


This ONE INGREDIENT recipe is sure to be the most delicious thing you will wish you thought of yourself!  Oh my goodness!

3 medium sized bananas

1: Peel and slice bananas and put on a plate in a single layer

2: Freeze for 2-3 hours or overnight.  You might want to put plastic wrap under them first for easier removal from the plate
3: Blend for 30 seconds
4: Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the blender and blend some more! Repeat this until you're convinced it won't blend smoothly... and then stop when it finally does!  Ha!
5: SO YUMMY!!  And so easy to make! 
Try this with frozen berries, chocolate, peanut butter...and combination you can think of that would be tasty with bananas!  LOVE THIS!  So healthy!