Monday, April 27, 2015

Sushi Craving.


Got a sushi craving last night and with minimal ingredients (sushi rice, nori, cucumber, orange bell pepper and scallions), I was able to whip this up in no time! So good!

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Gardein Fish Filet Sandwich, Scalloped Potatoes & Vegan Subway!


I love Gardein fish filets. They are just like the real thing and make great sandwiches too.


This is f-ing delicious! Recipe from "You Won't Believe It's Vegan!". Slow cooked scalloped potatoes in a creamy, garlic, onion, dill sauce.


The other night I went to Subway for their VEGAN MALIBU GARDEN sandwich. Subway offers two vegan patties now, this one and a black bean patty. This one is my favorite. I have them pile on the mustard, BBQ sauce, lettuce, tomato, pickles, green peppers, onions, olives, jalapenos, pepperoncini, avocado and oil and vinegar! It's like eating a giant hamburger/sandwichy thing. SO good.

Friday, April 24, 2015

Lemon Blueberry Almond Essence Cake.


Super good lemon blueberry cake with almond essence. I had some quebec blueberries in the freezer and a lemon and a half. I thought, "Ok, I'll make Kittee's vanilla cake without the vanilla and use almond extract and add lemon and blueberries to it!" Except I couldn't find Kittee's recipe! I was flipping through my recipe binder for it and couldn't see it so I found a different recipe which was similar so I started building my ingredients that way. Halfway (after putting flour, sugar and baking soda/salt) into the bowl, I flipped back through my binder and found Kittee's recipe that was stuck to another page! So back to Kittee's recipe for the oil, lemon zest, liquid (almond milk/lemon juice) and extract. I noticed the differences between the two were that the former recipe used a teaspoon more of baking soda and Kittee's used more sugar and oil (yes!). Once I swirled in the little blueberries, in to the oven it went. What came out was this very well risen, soft, tender, not too sweet, light cake with a touch of lemon and delicious almond flavor. I was so happy with it. And to just make it more amazing, I put some vegan Coco Whip on top. So good with tea!


Thursday, April 16, 2015

Egg Free Chocolate Chip Cookies.


I wanted to try out the new vegan craze of using chickpea brine (the liquid in the can of chickpeas) as an egg replacer. I haven't made meringues yet which a lot of the other vegan bloggers have tried. I saw this recipe from the Vedgedout blog. Worked great I think! I didn't use Earth Balance stick like they suggested, I used the spread which is all I had so maybe they would have been fuller? Don't know. They were still delicious, even if I overcooked them a tad which gave them a bit of crispiness. They were approved by my husband who thinks Toll House cookies reign supreme.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Grilled Veg Sandwich & Michelada


Grilled up some veggies today in my cast iron grill pan.


Made a scrummy sandwich on ciabatta.

Not pictured but I poured some bbq sauce in there before I took a bite. Yum!


Washed it all down with a michelada.

Saturday, April 11, 2015

Lovely day with a Lovely Lady.

Had a lovely day today with my good friend Cam. She and I love to get together at the local Whole Foods for coffee, breakfast and donuts. After a bit of nosh, we peruse the aisles for goods to go. We also went guitar shopping and came back home and had lunch on the patio.


Vegan chocolate donut and coffee. Mmm. They had other flavors like blueberry, maple, cherry, crumb...but I made myself only choose one!


The savory part of my breakfast from the food bar at Whole Foods: sauteed mushrooms, breakfast potatoes, falafel ball(1), garlic sauce, baba ganouj, quinoa, sweet potato, beet salad. So yummy.


Lunch at home. Tofurky, Follow Your Heart provolone style slices, arugula, tomato and red peppers on ciabatta.


Kim and Cam, happy together.

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Veggie Dogs.

There is something really satisfying about a chili dog. I grew up eating them all the time. At the time of course, we'd open up a can of meat chili, plop it into a pot to heat up and served it over a Farmer John weiner in a bun. It was really good and comforting. Now as a vegan, I can still enjoy a good ol' chili dog. I made my chili from scratch because veggie chili from a can is horrible. The dogs I like are Lightlife Smart Dogs. They are the same brand used by Dodger Stadium, except they use the Jumbo style. They are wonderful. Here's to baseball season which has already begun!


One chili dog and one regular dog with all the fixin's.


On the side: Pickled onion made by our friend Gary. They are GOOD!

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Chickpea Almond Melt, Grocery Finds and LYFE Kitchen Review.



My fave chickpea salad made with chickpeas, ground almonds, celery, green pepper, red onion, vegan mayo, garlic powder, a bit of mustard and salt and pepper. It's truly delicious! I made a scrummy melt with whole grain bread and Daiya cheddar. It was so gooey and satisfying.


If you haven't tried this, do it TODAY!


Yummy accidentally vegan treats. The cashew brittle is to die for.


Asian pasta salad I made with quinoa pasta. I liked it at first but then the next day it sucked. Never buying quinoa pasta again. It fell apart and was hard yet overcooked at the same time.


LYFE Kitchen in Culver City. This was my first time. It has something for everyone: omnivores, veggies, vegan, gluten free. I got this corn chowder which was really good.


The caesar salad with Gardein chicken was good too.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Healthy "Nutella".


Another Happy Pear recipe! I adapted it to make it vegan. First I roasted hazelnuts, then whizzed them in my Blendtec with a little sunflower oil. I was so pleased my blender was able to get it pretty smooth.


Then I poured the hazelnut butter into a bowl and added maple syrup (original recipe uses honey), salt, cocoa powder and vanilla. That's it!


It's not super smooth like store bought stuff but I don't mind the texture at all.


It's good on apples or any fruit, cake, bread and in smoothies. It's a cross between Nutella and Ferrero Rocher.

Puy Lentil Coconut Dahl & Banana Cake.


Beautiful dahl recipe from The Happy Pear cookbook. I'm so in love with their food! I had to substitute a few things because I didn't have them. I used a garnet yam instead of butternut and kabocha squash. I know the squash would have been amazing. Didn't have pak choi so I used baby spinach.


I had some with a bit of white rice. Very very good. The coconut milk is what makes this dish. It is very similar to Thai Masaman curry. Just gorgeous flavors.


Vegan banana cake. Nothing healthy about this! It'll be good with a cup o' tea.