Southwestern Breakfast Hash

This recipe originally had jalapeno & tempeh, but I found the addition of the grain meat sufficient to replace both ingredients.
2 medium red potatoes, baked, cooled & cut into 1-inch cubes
1-2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
3 green onions
8 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
2 teaspoons nutritional yeast seasoning
Mexican Chipotle Grain Meat Sausage such as Field Roast
Handful of spinach
1 medium avocado, coarsely chopped
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add potatoes and cumin cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Add green onions, tomatoes, beans, yeast, and grain sausage, stirring, until tomatoes begin to break down, 5 to 7 minutes. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Remove pan from heat and gently stir in avocado. Season with salt and pepper.

 

 

Creamy Vegan Mushroom Barley Soup

I found this recipe and discovered that it was SUPER easy to convert to vegan and it's OH SO TASTY! Original recipe can be found here.

 

1 tablespoons olive oil

4 shallots or 1/4 cup onion, minced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1 stalk celery, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1½ pounds fresh mushrooms, sliced

½ cup whole grain barley

2 teaspoons Better Than Bouillon no chicken base

2 teaspoons Better Than Bouillon vegetable base

4 cups water

¼ cup canned coconut milk

 

In a large soup pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the shallots, carrots, and celery and cook until softened but not brown, about 5 to 6 minutes.

 

Add the garlic and mushrooms to the pot and cook while stirring for 5 minutes more.

 

Add the barley, water, and bouillon, to the pot and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook until the barley is tender, about 30 to 40 minutes.

 

Stir in coconut milk and serve warm.

 

Store the leftovers in the fridge or freezer.

Vegan Rainbow Asian Slaw

This is without a doubt my new favorite go-to vegan recipe, my "I don't like that" child LOVES this meal! It's a keeper for sure and super simple, and I hope you agree.

Rainbow Asian Slaw

Dressing:

• 1/4 c. agave nectar or real maple syrup (honey for non-vegan eaters)
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 1/4 c. rice vinegar
• 1 Tbsp Bragg Liquid Aminos or light soy sauce
• 1 tsp dark or roasted sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp peanut butter
• 1/2-1 tsp Sriracha hot sauce (I like the heat!)
• 1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
• 1-2 garlic cloves (♥-garlic!)

Slaw:

• 4 c bagged broccoli slaw mix
• 2 c matchstick or shredded carrots
• 1/2-1 c mung bean sprouts, rinsed
• 1 small can chopped water chestnuts, drained
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced into bite sized pieces
• 1 c pre-cooked, shelled edamame
• 2 medium green onions, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup roasted peanuts
• 1/2-1 c loosely packed chopped fresh cilantro (.....again, ♥-cilantro!)

1) Whisk the dressing ingredients together until well incorporated
2) toss the slaw ingredients together and pour dressing on.
3) ENJOY!


Recipe Source: adapted slightly from http://www.onceuponachef.com/2011/03/asian-slaw-with-ginger-peanut-dressing.html

Juice it!

Fruit & veggies in liquid form. Sometimes it's just nice to change things up a bit....yummm, I love my juicer!

Dilemma...vegan breakfast & our super fruity solution!

Our only dilemma with the vegan way is breakfast. We've really struggled to find solutions to our lack of vegan breakfast knowledge. We've searched cookbooks and scoured the Internet for recipes with no real 'winner'. The family always has too many critics in it to settle on a 'favorite'....well I think the dilemma is solved! What better to have for breakfast than fruit salad....even more what better to put that fruit salad in than a warm soft tortilla. Bingo, the Breakfast Fruit Burrito is born!

This breakfast is SO simple, just gather your favorite fruit and chop it up...check out CJ's favorite fruit below:

Tropical Fruit Salad:

2 kiwi's, diced

1 mango, diced

7 strawberries, sliced

½ pineapple, diced

a drizzling of agave nectar (optional, our fruit was no quite juicy ripe)

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix. Let sit for 10 minutes to let flavors blend.

Serve fruit salad in warmed flour tortillas. We like Tortilla Land flour tortillas, we buy ours at Costco...with a large family we go through them fast!

While I was preparing this meal my boys were moping about making moaning sounds. I'm not sure if they were really convinced that it wasn't going to be good or if our last few attempts have just broken their spirits but it was a sad sight. I am SO pleased to share that it was a HUGE hit in our home!! Remember to have paper towels around as the fruit juices REALLY get flowing...enjoy!

Breakfast failure!

The other day my hubby and I decided to do an internet search for vegan breakfast ideas. CJ loves French toast and with our now no milk & eggs rule we thought French toast was out of the question…..until we came across a vegan version. CJ was sold on it from the get go because instead of milk & eggs it called for mashed bananas and soy milk….all natural! How about all disaster. It was MUSH that stuck to our nonstick skillet and ended up being scrambled French toast. Anyone out there ever used this recipe and had any luck?….please tell us your trick. In the mean time we’re still on the hunt for a good vegan French toast. Another one calls for tofu to replace the soy milk from the other recipe…don’t know if it will make that much of a difference but I’ll let you know!

Homemade Vegan Flour Tortillas

My brother spent 2 years in Honduras and when he returned he said that this tortilla recipe is just like what they make there. There's baking powder in the recipe making them a bit more chunky in comparison to that nasty stuff we eat here in the states called tortillas.

4 cups all-purpose flour (or 1:1 whole wheat and all-purpose mix)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
6 tablespoons coconut oil (because it almost has the consistency of lard)

1¼ cups hot water

¼ cup non-dairy milk (I use soy)

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt, cut in the coconut oil until fine soft crumbs form and you can no longer see chunks of coconut oil.

Add the water and non-dairy milk and mix by hand (this is the fun part, but remember to remove your rings!). Once ingredients are well incorporated and you have a smooth dough, cover and let rest for 20 minutes DO NOT SKIP THIS PART IT MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE IN THE TEXTURE OF THE DOUGH).

Divide the dough into about 18 equal portions (I have a kitchen scale I use). Using one portion at a time (cover the remaining dough) roll out on a lightly floured surface to about a 7-inch diameter. Cook on a non-stick skillet at medium-high heat. Keep in a tortilla warmer or in the oven at the lowest temperature wrapped in a damp towel (be sure not to use fabric softener on your kitchen towels or you'll have some awful tasting tortillas....trust me I know!) until ready to use. ENJOY!