Monday, January 31, 2011

Procrastination..

I have a paper to write for my epidemiology class but instead I am on twitter and what do I find...

bacon is a gateway drug! check it out

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/01/30/133304206/why-bacon-is-a-gateway-to-meat-for-vegetarians?ft=1&f=1001&sc=tw&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

and another interesting article

http://pcrm.org/news/dietary_guidelines_back_plant-based_diets_fight_obesity_110131.html

and my lunch from today/dinner from Saturday night :) (I love left overs)


falafel, spinach, saffron rice, veganese, kalamata olives, and home made hummus
nom nom nom

Enjoy!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Breakfast

My daddy just surprised me with two new cookbooks in the mail and I was so excited because I love getting presents and I love getting mail! On wednesday I accidently slept through my class so to cheer myself up I made brainless banana pancakes from How it all Vegan by Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer. These are the easiest pancakes to make and they were delicious!


1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 banana, mashed
1 1/4 C soy milk
1 Tbsp sweetener (I used agave)
sliced fruit for garnish (I used raspberries)

In a large bowl sift together dry ingrdients and in a small bowl mash the banana and add 1/4 cup soy milk and mix untill there are no lumps. Then add the banana, the rest of the soy milk, and the sweetener to the dry mix and stir until just combined. Then just cook them on both sides and you have some delicious breakfast. I added some dark chocolate chips to mine but they would be just as good plain. This recipe makes 2 or more servings.

Today I woke up extra early for class so I wouldn't sleep through it again and I needed to catch up on some reading. Since I was up I decided to make another delicious breakfast, Fabulous French Toast from this same awesome cook book.


1 1/2 C soy milk
2 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp sweetener
1 tsp cinnamon
8-10 slices of bread, stale or lightly toasted (I missed the memo about stale or toasted and would recommend this because my toast was a little soagy but still delicious)

In a large bowl whisk together milk, flour, yeast, sweetener, and cinnamon vigorously. Soak one slice of toast in batter until bread is gooey. Fry on both sides and garnish with fruit. I used bananas and put a little powdered sugar on top. Makes 8-10 slices.

GOOD MORNING!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Vegan Nutella

The first time I ever had "real" nutella was when I was in middle school and I spent the night at my cousin Kari's house and her husband Max from Italy made me some delicious waffles for breakfast and instead of syrup we had nutella.... and it was heavenly! Ever since I have been obsessed but unfortunately the real stuff is full of milk and non vegan ingredients. So in my new VEGANOMICON cook book, by Isa Chandra Miskowitz, I found a nice mocha-y recipe for not-tella!

Ingredients include:

1 generous cup of toasted and skinned hazelnuts
2 T hazelnut liquor (such as an airplane bottle of Frangelico)


1/4 t vanilla extract
3/4 C. powdered sugar
1/4 C. unsweetened cocoa powder
8-10 T peanut oil

First toast your hazelnuts at 300 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes until the skin is peeling back but do not burn your nuts!


Take the hot nuts and put them into a dish towel and roll them in with the ends all twisted to remove the shells. If you cant get all the shell off its okay it will just give it a more nutty taste which some may prefer.


Next put your hazelnuts, which I found out are also called Filberts, into either a food processor or if you have a juicer with a blank used to make nut butter use that (I used my juicer and will take a lot less time).


Blend until you have a creamyish butter and then add the hazelnut liquor, vanilla extract, powdered sugar, and cocoa.


Blend until it is crumbly and then add 4 to 5 T of oil and scrape down the sides and keep blending in your food processor. Now you will have a some what fudge like mixture. Add the rest of the oil a tablespoon at a time until you have a desired consistency. If not sweet enough add 1-2 more tablespoons of powdered sugar. Store in an air tight container in the fridge. When you take it out of the fridge let it sit out for 20 minutes to let it become spreadable again. I had mine on toast and by the spoonful but it is also great on fruit or with your soy ice cream!


ENJOY!