have you heard the hype?

Have you guys heard the crazy benefits of coconut oil? I was researching natural remedies for acid reflux (yeah gross) and stumbled across an article that talked about coconut oil and I couldn't even believe it. I mean it is a miracle, it absorbs fat, it fights viruses, it's anti-fungal, it boosts your immune system, it cures acid reflux, I could go on and on, look it up.

I am so sorry for my absence, I worked 9 days in a row (ughhh) and today was my planned day to do some baking (mixed berry oatmeal bars were on the agenda) but I woke up with a fever and vomiting (despite this being the internet I feel ok over sharing with you guys, very strange). This is an older recipe, but I will be sharing it with you because I feel bad I haven't been posting.

Vegetable Stir-Fry With Sesame Oil

Ingredients

1 tbsp sesame oil

1/2 cup coarsely chopped onion

3 or 4 cloves garlic

3 stalks celery

1 full carrot 

1 bunch fresh spinach (stems removed)

6 or 7 large mushrooms

6 spears of asparagus

1/2 cup baby corn

1 tomato

any other vegetables you're in the mood for

1 tsp soy sauce

2 tbsp teriyaki sauce

2 tsp ginger

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

salt and pepper to taste

Start some rice in a rice cooker, then begin to heat your sesame oil in a wok on low heat. If you don't use sesame oil because it can be expensive try checking an Asian market, it will be much cheaper, but either way it is worth the money, it adds really delicious flavor. Add the coarsely chopped onions to the wok, crush and finely chop your garlic and add it to the wok.

Coarsely chop the rest of your vegetables, starting with the hardest (the ones that take the longest to soften I usually add celery, carrots, and asparagus first) then add your seasonings, soy sauce, and teriyaki sauce and cook until tender.

Serve over rice with soy sauce, it is also delicious with fried tofu! Enjoy!

mom's biscuits and gravy

This is an adaptation of my mom's gravy recipe, I grew up with this gravy and it's so delicious. So I have a huge confession, when I'm feeling lazy I use bisquick for my biscuits, it's vegan and it's easy, don't judge me. So make your biscuits and put them in the oven, while they're baking make your gravy.

Country Gravy Vegan Style

1/4 cup TVP crumbles

1/2 cup boiling water

1/2 tsp soy sauce

3 tbsp earth balance

4 tbsp flour

2 cups non dairy milk (almond milk for whatever reason doesn't work in this recipe it doesn't thicken so I use soy milk)

1 tsp garlic salt (or more if desired, I use more)

pepper to taste

Add the boiling water to the TVP and set aside. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the earth balance, once the earth balance is melted add the TVP and soy sauce.

Cook over medium heat until the crumbles start to brown, about 15 minutes, they should look like this;

add the flour and mix it into the crumbles.

Add your non dairy milk of choice in one slow steady stream.

Add the garlic salt and pepper and continue to cook on medium heat stirring constantly until it thickens to desired consistency. Serve over fresh biscuits.

Special thanks to the boyfriend, who takes most of my pictures for me <3

let's talk breakfast

I'm back from vacation, it was lovely, after all of the time that went into testing and perfecting a carrot cake my boyfriend requested ice cream cake, I surprised even myself when I pulled off a home made 5 layer ice cream cake, that recipe will come eventually, it needs some fine tuning still. I'm going to post my breakfast recipes separately so they are easier to search, I hope you enjoy!

Breakfast is hands down my favorite meal, I love it anytime of day, and I love visiting places like Chicago where brunch is served well into the afternoon. My early vegan days I pretty much gave up on breakfast, I thought I had to settle on oatmeal and fruit for the rest of my vegan days, but then I started doing some research and was relieved to find out how many options there really are, and to create a few of my own. Now I can enjoy oatmeal and fresh fruit instead of resenting it! Brekfast for the boyfriend and I is usually a feast including hashbrowns, tofu scramble, and biscuits and gravy. Isa Chnadra's tofu scramble is perfect as it is so I won't post a recipe.

Whatever you're making for breakfast always start with your potatoes, they take ages to properly cook.

Vegan Hash Browns (you can easily make breakfast potatoes instead, just chop instead of shred)

3 medium sized potatoes (this serves 2 if you have more use more)

1 tbsp earth balance

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp seasoning salt

pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees. Scrub your potatoes clean and toss them in the oven, no need to wrap them in foil or anything, this just jump starts the cooking process. Usually while my potatoes are in the oven I prep the other elements of breakfast. let your potatoes bake for at least 10 minutes and anywhere to 30 minutes, just don't let them get too soft. Pull them out of the oven and let them cool for a few minutes, while they are cooling heat a well seasoned skillet over medium heat, add the butter and oil so that they can heat up as well. Use a cheese grater to shred your potatoes.

Add the shredded potatoes to the hot skillet and top with the chili powder, seasoning salt, and pepper, spread the potatoes into an even layer and don't touch them for the first 7 minutes, this is the secret to crunchy delicious potatoes. After the 7 minutes go by use a spatula to flip them over so that the uncooked pieces are on the skillet and the crunchy pieces are facing up, then let them sit for another 7 minutes. If you like your has browns crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle you can continue to cook them this way until they are hot all the way through, but if you like uniform crispiness you can mix them all up so the middle can crisp too. Serve with salsa!

Spicy Carrot Cake With Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting

This will be my last blog for the next two weeks, sorry for the disappointment, but the boyfriend and I are going to LA for his birthday, we're staying in a hotel so there won't be much baking going on, but I do plan on making this cake for him at a friends house, carrot cake is his favorite!

This frosting is intensely delicious so prepare to indulge!

for the cake:

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp ground allspice

3/4 cup almond milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup soy yogurt

1/2 cup apple butter

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract*

2 cups grated carrots

1 cup chopped nuts of preference (optional)

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

for the frosting:

1 package tofutti better than cream cheese

1/2 (4 tbsp) earth balance

3/4 powdered sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract*

1 tbsp ground ginger

*I get a little crazy with vanilla extract in all of my recipes because I'm obsessed with it (I make my own), but average for both of these recipes would be 1 tsp, just in case you're not as enthusiastic as I am.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour 2 round cake pans.

Whisk together the almond milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside to curdle. In a medium bowl combine your flour, baking soda, salt, and spices, I like to sift my flour because I like a cake with a tight crumb, but if you could care less about the "crumb" of your cake there's no need to sift it, set this aside. In a large bowl combine the almond milk vinegar mixture, soy yogurt, apple butter, sugar, vanilla, and oil, mix well with a wooden spoon. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing well after each addition, once all are combined and you have a smooth mixture add the carrots, nuts, and raisins (if using) and combine. Your batter should be smooth but thick depending on the moisture content of your soy yogurt you may have to add a tablespoon or 2 of extra flour, use your best judgement, if your cake is too moist it isn't the end of the world, it just might sink a little. Divide evenly between the 2 pans and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted through the middle comes out clean. While the cake is baking start your frosting.

In the work bowl of a stand mixer add the cream cheese and butter and whip on medium-high speed for about 5 minutes (I did mine for 10 because I wanted really fluffy frosting) add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and ginger, and mix well. I did not do a very thick layer of frosting on my cakes, so if you like a lot of frosting double the recipe. Try your hardest not to just eat it all with a spoon.

Once your cakes are baked let them cool on a wire rack for at least an hour before removing them from the pans. Once they are cooled put them out on a work surface on very carefully with a sharp serrated knife cut off the rounded tops so you have to level pieces of cake to work with, then place them one onto a cake plate frost it, top it with the second piece and frost again.

Baby Broccoli Pot Stickers

I really, really hate broccoli, I always have and then Lolo from veganyumyum posted this lovely recipe and I am now obsessed with baby broccoli, it's so delicious!

These pot stickers were really delicious, they kind of just came together because I didn't have many ingredients in my fridge. I also really wanted a reason to use my brand new bamboo steamer, bamboo steamers are amazing!

1 tsp sesame oil
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped baby broccoli (including stems)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground ginger
salt and pepper to taste
8-14 egg-less wonton wrapper (if you can't find these you can make your own, but it is a very laborious process)

If you're using a bamboo steamer fill a large pot with at least 4 inches of water and put it on high heat, I added 2 tablespoons of dried lemon grass to the water, one of the wonders of bamboo steamers is whatever you add to the water gets infused into your food, leave this pot of water to boil. In a large skillet heat your sesame oil over medium heat, chop and add the garlic, once the garlic becomes fragrant add the mushrooms. Cook the mushrooms, stirring regularly, until they start to darken in some places, add the tomatoes, broccoli, and all of your spices, and cook stirring regularly until all of your vegetables are softened remove from heat. The easiest way to assemble these is to have everything you need ready to go, so set up your work station, if you're frying these instead of steaming them start heating your pan also, have some water ready, if you're using a steamer put a piece of parchment paper down in your steamer, take a wonton wrapper and put about 1 tsp of filling into the wrapper it's easiest not to over-fill them.

Using your finger wet one edge of the pot sticker and then fold in half and press the edges together, you can crimp them if you like, it does help them stay together better.

Fit your steamer over the pot of boiling water and place the pot stickers into it, put the lid on and let them steam away. The beautiful thing about bamboo steamers is that you can't overcook you're food it just keeps getting more and more moist, so you can prepare any other components of your meal and the steamer will keep your food warm without burning it, they need to steam for at least 10 minutes, or until the wrappers are translucent.

taco night....

If you tell anyone you're making vegan tacos they look at you cross eyed...there are several different approaches that I've seen and I feel like mine is a little different. I'm also a little conceited, I am completely convinced that my vegan cooking far surpasses everyone elses haha, maybe not. I can't disclose the full recipe because it's my dads, but I can share my method.

Textured vegetable protein was one of my favorite vegan discoveries, it's so versatile I've made fake chicken nuggets, and fried "chicken" and hamburgers, and meatballs, and country gravy with "sauage" and anything I feel like making...it works beautifully for tacos.
Start boiling water, around 2 cups. Place 1 cup or more of the TVP into a bowl, add 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed, and 1 beef bouillon cube (if you can't find beef-free beef bouillon just don't worry about it). Once the water is boiling pour it over your TVP (textured vegetable protein) until it comes about half an inch above the mixture, set this aside. In a skillet heat 2 tablespoons of oil chop half of an onion and add it to the hot oil, while those start to cook crush a few cloves of garlic (I love garlic so I use about 4 cloves) add them to the oil, next add the TVP mixture. Brown your fake meat, this takes a while sometimes 20 minutes. Once your "meat" is browning add your seasonings, and then there you go! These have fooled even the pickiest of carnivores they are super delicious and the texture is perfect.

bittman's brownies

Have you heard of Mark Bittman? He wrote this amazing cookbook, I learned so many incredible things from this book, so many of his recipes are my "go to" recipes. Anyways, the other day me and the Boyfriend were sitting on the couch watching Grey's anatomy and he looked right over at me and said, "let's make something together, I want to bake." I was so thrilled, he is the perfect man. These brownies are simple and delicious, they have a decadent texture similar to mousse, and they have 6 ingredients. It doesn't get much better than this!

with a scoop of soy ice cream :)

So here is Bittman's brownie recipe, slightly modified to be animal free!

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate (I use baker's chocolate which is usually vegan)
8 tbsp earth balance or other butter substitute
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup soy yogurt
1 tbsp vanilla extract (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a small baking dish. I don't own a double broiler, of all my fancy kitchen tools I never get around
to buying one of these, mostly because I've found a perfectly suitable substitute. In a small pan add 1-2 inches of water, place a heat resistant bowl, I use corelle because it's everything resistant, that is large enough to rest above the water and not touch it, and turn the burner on medium high, once your water is boiling add the chocolate and the butter. You could melt these in the microwave, but I really don't recommend it because both chocolate and butter substitutes scorch so easily. Once your butter and chocolate are melted transfer to a medium sized mixing bowl and whisk in your sugar, then whisk in the soy yogurt, followed by your flour and vanilla if your using it. Transfer to your prepared baking dish, bake 20-30 minutes, until the middle is barely set.

Tonight is taco night, I will be sure to take pictures and post the recipe!