Pumpkin Seed Milk

Pumpkin Seeds (Pepitas) are full of magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, iron, copper, protein, zinc, protein , Vit B and unsaturated fatty acids.

It is recommended that vegans eat at least one tablespoon of raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds a day to get their needed dose of all these nutrients. Pumpkin seeds are also an immunity-boosting food and aid in the reduction of cholesterol.

I have never entertained the idea of pumpkin seed milk before, until last Friday when I met a wonderful and very knowledgeable vegetarian woman who does a lot of vegan baking. She told me that her kids (who are now in their teens) LOVE this milk because it's green. She also told me she uses it in her baking, and that it is fantastic to use when making pancakes. Although I haven't tried using it any baking yet (although I have full intentions of one day making a batch of gooey oatmeal cookies and using this milk in them!) I DID make a smoothie with it this morning and YUMMMY. Nuts, in general are really good for having a lot of protein in them..and wowie am I ever full. I took her basic recipe and added some almond extract-yum-yum!

Pumpkin Seed Milk

What You'll Need:

1 cup organic,raw and unsalted pumpkin seeds.

2 cups water
1 cup apple juice
1/2-1/4 tsp almond extract

Put all of the ingredients in a blender and pulse until it's smooth and creamy.

Makes about 2 1/2 cups.

What? FALAFELS?!

MmMm

I totally made some falafels the other night from a receipe. They turned out good enough but the receipe needs to be Bombified, so I'll be doing some tweaking of my own.
Look forward to a tasty falafel dish in the future!

Before the baking process...

After the baking process

Red Curry and Coconut Milk with Pineapple.

I really love curry. I mean, I really love it. Nothing makes me happier these days than a savory dish with coconut milk. This dish was inspired by my love of red curry in a coconut base and my favortie veggies. Out of all the curries, red is my personal favorite. This dish is easy as heck to make, and would be very romantic to cook for your loved one(s) this Saturday. Or, if you're single like me you can cook it for yourself and enjoy it just the same.

What You'll Need:
(makes 4 large servings and 6 small ones, depending on how much rice you cook up and the ratio you use of coconut curry mixture:brown rice.)
2-3 tbsp red curry paste- start with two and add the thrid according to your taste.
1 can lite coconut milk
1 cup crushed pineapple
1 red pepper
water chestnuts
snow peas
baby corn
bean sprouts
2 cups brown rice

Directions:
Prepare your brown rice on the stove.
1)On medium heat, add the coconut milk to your pot, let simmer for a minute or two and then add red curry paste.



















2) Add your crushed pineapple ADD the juice, following after the rest of your veggies. Let simmer for an additional 10 minutes, until the rice is done cooking.














3) Serve rice in 1/2 cup or 1 cup servings















4) Pour mixture on top, or serve coconut/curry mixture in a seperate dish per guest and allow them to determine their own ratio!

Broccoli and Apple Spiced Soup

This recipe happened by accident, as I first attempted to make the “Curried Apple Soup” from Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer’s cookbook How It All Vegan. However the soup took on a life of its own and I decided to scrap the recipe and do my own thing, and it sure tasted great. This is a very hearty soup, perfect for gloomy winter days when all you want is a nice comforting-yet very filling soup. I enjoyed a slice of zucchini loaf with this soup, but it would go great with a winter green salad or simply on its own. Eat up!

What You’ll Need:
(Makes 6 servings)

2 medium Spanish onions
2 Macintosh apples
2 tbsp curry powder
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp black pepper
4 cups veggie stock
1 cup yellow and green beans
1 cup broccoli
½ cup brown rice (if you do not want a stew-like soup that is thick and hearty, add ¼ cup)

Directions:
On medium heart in a soup pot, sauté onions and apples until onions are translucent. Then stir in curry powder, add the soy sauce, cayenne and black pepper. Add your veggie stock and veggies and let simmer for ten minutes or until it comes to a strong boil. Add your brown rice, cover and let simmer on medium heat for half an hour. Add half of the mixture to your food processor and return back to pot, stir it in and serve!

Zucchini Loaf!

Who can resist a zucchini loaf? Rhetorical question!

This loaf is easy to whip up, and can be put together while your favorite homemade soup is cooking on the stove. Zucchini is part of the squash family and is jam-packed with radical fighting vitamins making it a perfect way to enrich your bread with nutrients.

What You’ll Need
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

3 tbsp unsweetened apple sauce

½ cup raw cane sugar

½ cup light olive oil

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp organic vanilla extract

1 zucchini, grated

½ cup raisins

¼-1/2 cup of water (I used close to ½ cup of water, my mixture was really dry. You be the judge of your own dough!)

Instructions

- Preheat oven to 350*F-

Using a large baking bowl, combine the first four dry ingredients. Add the apple sauce, raw cane sugar, oil, vinegar and vanilla- mix it all together. GENTLEY stir in your grated zucchini and raisins, DO NOT OVER MIX, just blend it together enough so that the raisins and zucchini are nicely mingled into the dough. At this point you will want to judge the dryness of your dough, add your water. Spoon mixture into a lightly coated bread pan and let bake for 45-50 minutes. Let it cool down for 20 minutes (yes, seriously-20 minutes!) before serving.

Oh-My! Sin-Free Shepard's Pie!!!

I really love Shepard's Pie!

Growing up as a child, nothing was more of a comfort food than my Dad's homecooked French Canadian Shepard's Pie. I would come home from a long day of elementry school seeing the kitchen in a fog and my Pops looking rather exhausted. This meant one thing: HOME COOKED SHEPARD'S PIE! OH MY! This food is so high among my favorites that it is the exact dish that had converted me back to the dark side two years ago, when my ex's Mother brought out her homestyle French Canadian Shepard's Pie..I could not resist!

Luckily for us all, I have veganized this wonderful comfort food and I promise that it is still jam-packed with flavor and love. AS A MATTER OF FACT, this dish is popular amongst omnivores. It has the Pops seal of approval, and Ma has been known to savor the taste of this dish as well. If you're having to prepare dinner for some omnivores and have no idea what to make for the skeptic meat eater- think about making this dish because it is a crowd pleaser.
You really don't have to be a French Canadian to enjoy making and eating this dish, but it makes the cooking process a bit more fun if you talk to yourself in French while in the kitchen!

MmMM BONJOUR!

What You'll Need: (Serves four hearty portions, and up to six with a side dish)

1 large white onion
2-3 carrots
1 cup corn niblets
1 cup green peas
1/2 package ground soy (St. Yves or PC makes some nice tasty ground soy.)
2-3 tbsp basil
Soy sauce (to taste. I don't measure the amount I use anymore. Start with 3tbsp and see how you feel.)
3 white potatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup plain soy milk
2 tbsp Earth Balance
Directions:

- Preheat oven to 350-
1) Peel and put your potatoes on the stove to boil. Ever made mashed potatoes before? This is going to be the topping of our pie. Nothing is worse then undercooked mashed potatoes so it's best to start the boil now.
2) Dice your carrots and onion, in a large skillet add the olive oil with the onion and carrots. Let the mixture cook until onions are translucent and carrots are tender&soft.
3) Add in the corn, peas, basil and soy sauce. Let it cook for no more than 5 minutes, keep stiring mixture to avoiding sticking. Once the mixture is almost done, add in the ground soy and cook for an additional 4 minutes.

4) Once the mixture is ready transfer it to a casserole dish and pack it in tight.

5) Time to mash those potatoes! Add the soymilk and Earth Balance and MASH!MASH!MASH! The ideal here is a lump-free mixture, soft and fluffy like clouds.

6) Add potatoes on top of mixture, pack it neat and compact. Stick in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Everything Zen Salad with "Honey" Mustard Dressing.

There are some nights when we come home from work or school and our daily demands are not yet done. I whipped this sucker up in no time flat, on a Tuesday night when I had hardly enough time to get dressed and head out the door before my 7:30pm yoga class-and my tummy was demanding to be fed THAT MOMENT.

This salad is quick and easy to prepare, it is by no means "gourmet" for you food snots out there-but dang it tastes GOOD. You can use whatever dressing you can think of, but I was in a hurry and flipping through my cookbooks when I stumbled upon Dreena Burton's (eat,drink & be vegan pg 81)recipe for "Honey" Mustard Dressing. I'll include the recipe for that in this post, as I had never tried to before until this salad and must report that it is very tasty-and I made a few of my own alterations, so my posted version will be that of my change.

Everything Zen Salad

What You'll Need:
1 veggie pattie (I used PC Blue Menue Bean&Lentil pattie. Yummy and full of protein!)

3-4 roman lettuce leaves
Zen Veggies: onions, red peppers, yellow peppers, carrots. (Look for this mixture in the frozen foods section of your grocery store!)

Handful of mushrooms

Prepare your Zen Veggies! For me, this meant that I stuck them in the microwave for three minutes while I let my veggie pattie cook. Prepare your veggie pattie. I fried mine up in a teaspoon of Earth Balance until it was cooked. Do I need to tell you to wash your lettuce and make sure your mushrooms aren't covered in cack? Add Zen mixture to lettuce, crumble veggie pattie and top with mushrooms.

" Honey" Mustard Dressing

What You'll Need:

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

4 tbsp Agave Nectar

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

dash of sea salt

1 clove of garlic
4 tbsp light olive oil

Stick all of the ingredients starting first with the garlic clove and minus the olive oil in your food processor (or in my case, my Magic Bullet! LOVE that thing) Blend, and then add in your oil, blend some more.