Red Love Pizza

A delicious idea for a themed pizza night with the kiddies!  The special ingredient is always LOVE!

Dough
2 1/2 to 3 cups flour2 1/4 tsp yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried parsley

Toppings
red pizza sauce
Daiya mozzarella shreds
red peppers
red onions

1: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2: Mix flour, yeast and salt together
3: Add olive oil, warm water, salt and dried parsley
4: Cover and set aside for 10 minutes

5: Oil baking pan and spread dough out in shape preference.  I chose heart!

6: Bake for 10 minutes

7: Add toppings, including pizza sauce

8: Red onions and red peppers (or whatever you prefer...I was going for a "red" theme!)

9: Add Daiya

10: Get creative ;)

11: Bake for 10-15 minutes until Daiya is completely melted. 

Optional: Broil for 1-2 minutes to brown Daiya and outer edge of crust if you'd like.

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

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!

Alternative: Chicken Strips & Fries

Just a quick kid-friendly alternative!  For a healthier option, opt for carrots and hummus... I like some nice baked fries every once in awhile though.  ;)

Gardein Seven Grain Crispy Tenders
crinkle cut fries

S'mores

Not going to lie, I ate four squares of these... and I'm not even that into sweets!  So much fun watching the marshmallows balloon up in the microwave!  This is a perfect mini "cooking" project to do with the kiddies.

2 Honey Maid honey grahams (generic brands have dairy in them)
2 small scoops of Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips
a few Dandies (or Sweet & Sara) vegan marshmallows

Makes: 2 smores squares

1: Break grahams in half and put one scoop of chocolate chips and two marshmallows on each square
2: Place top cracker on and lightly push down

3: Microwave for about 15 seconds and there you have it!

Note: The marshmallow gets huge in the microwave, so if you try to "radiate" (heh heh) this without a top cracker on it, the marshmallow will balloon all over the plate!

*This recipe contains honey.

Double Chocolate Peppermint Cocoa

Oh my yum!  If you're into chocolate, this is perfect for you!  I, myself, am only fond of chocolate at certain times of the month *wink* and this treat fills the bill.  

mug of Silk soy chocolate milk
1 scoop Starbucks Hot Cocoa mix
1 tsp peppermint syrup
bunch of Dandie's marshmallows

Heat soy chocolate milk in microwave or on stovetop until hot (maybe 2 minutes).  Add one scoop cocoa and peppermint and mix thoroughly.  Top with marshmallows!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

What a fun activity to do with the kiddies!  And such a nice, healthy snack alternative!

raw pumpkin seeds from 2-3 pumpkins
2 tbsp melted Earth Balance
salt & pepper

1: Preheat oven to 250

2: Mix cleaned/rinsed seeds, melted Earth Balance and salt/pepper until completely coated

 3: Spread out on pan and bake for 45-50 minutes until seeds are golden brown

 4: Place in an airtight container for storage

Vanilla Hot Cocoa

Just another reason to dust that old bag of marshmallows off...  *wink*

1 cup Silk Very Vanilla Soy Milk

2 scoops Starbucks hot cocoa

a bunch of Dandie's marshmallows

Heat very vanilla soy milk in microwave or on stovetop until hot (maybe 2 minutes).  I prefer to heat it on the stovetop and whip it until frothy.  Add two scoops cocoa and mix thoroughly.  Top with marshmallows!