Chocolate Mudpies

I've been really slacking on posting recipes and blog posts lately. It's so much easier to point and click the iPhone before chowing down than it is to type out recipes! #firstworldproblems! 

Tonight I decided to try the 6 ingredient Chocolate Mudpies that I saw on Finding Vegan! Boy am I glad I did!!!

This is raw, vegan, GF and gluttonous!

Crust:

1 cup pitted dates, soaked

1.5 cups walnuts

3/4 cup cacao powder

Mudpie Filling:

1 package silken tofu

1.5 cups melted vegan chocolate chips

1/2 cup of coconut milk

First pulse the walnuts and cacao in the food processor until finely ground. Then remove into a bowl and drain and pulse the dates. Fold the nut mixture back in and blend.

I lined muffin tins with Saran Wrap and equally portioned balls of the mix into each one, then pressed into the bottom evenly. In the freezer she goes!

Now, clean the food processor and et ready for the filling. Add the tofu and coconut milk into th food processor.  In a double boiler (or microwave) heat the chocolate chips. Add the melted chocolate chips into the food processor and while they're still warm turn on high until it's consistency is fluffy! 

Remove the muffin tin from the freezer and add two to three dollops of the filling onto each crust. Place back in the freezer for at least 30 minutes and Voila! Amazing chocolate mud pies!!

Mmmmm, I love turtles...

A lovely humanoid named Soo-Jin sent me a recipe once upon a time for vegan turtles. You know, those sweet and salty delicious chocolates? Me too. 

I admit that tonight I cheated while making these, because I already had melted chocolate on the go (making macaroons) and "caramel" in the fridge (it's the kiddo's go-to snack) and a variety of raw nuts are always in my pantry. 

If you too have all of these goodies, here's whatcha do.

Pipe a quarter sized dollop of chocolate onto a sheet of parchment paper. In the middle place one half pecan. Around the edges place pecan bits and pieces.

With a small spoon, put a small amount of "caramel" on top of the whole pecan. Sprinkle sea salt on the "caramel" and top with more melted chocolate.

Set somewhere cool (fridge or covered porch/garage if you're Canadian like I am..) In about 20 minutes they should be set and ready to OM NOM NOM.

Nanaimo Bars!

Nanaimo Bars. AKA food of the Gods. Chocolatey, Icingy, Coconutty goodness. I love the way the top layer slides all over the icing layer forcing you to cram the whole thing in your mouth in one bite. Maybe that's just me? 

Anyway, PC came out with a "kit" for Nanaimo Bars and much to my surprise, the base ingredients are vegan! Which means if you're so inclined you can add some Earth Balance, non-dairy milk and egg replacer when you get home and complete the vegan goodness. I used almond milk and flax egg. 

I'd say the results were awesome. In total it only took about 20 minutes (thanks to the icy conditions out back which I used as my fridge/freezer). Well done PC!

My only suggestion with these would be to give as many away as possible so you don't eat the whole tray. At 300 calories a pop (damn you!) you should limit yourself to one and savor the hell out of it. 

Cheers!

Vegan 'Egg' Nog

I have never been a big fan of egg nog. Rum, yes. Nutmeg, yes. Festive drinks, Heck yes. The egg part of the nog has always creeped me out. 

I stumbled across a vegan egg nog recipe online (Linked below). It is super easy and tasty, provided that you like rum and nutmeg.

Ingredients:

- 1 Frozen Banana

- 1/2 cup of non dairy milk (I used almond)

- Rum, to taste. (I used half a bottle ;))

Blend all ingredients in a blender, add ice if the banana isn't frozen enough or all that rum thinned it out. Ha! 

The picture isn't necessarily an accurate representation of the colour- it's in a caramel brown coloured glass and topped with nutmeg. But dang it's good!

http://www.girlmakesfood.com/vegan-eggnog/#sthash.xunjawlP.dpuf

Coffee Muffins w/Mexican Cocoa Glaze

Ok, so I have managed to find a muffin/cupcake hybrid thanks to ecorazzi.com.  It has the smooth coffee flavours of a Saturday morning muffin but the sweetness of cardamom, cinnamon and sweetened cocoa that make you ooh and aah until the last bite.


For the Muffin Batter

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups organic coconut sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup warm coffee (I used French vanilla)

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl, all wet in another and then combine. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and spray your muffin tins, if they're not non stick. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Once they're cooled make the glaze. I dipped the top of the muffins in the glaze on low on the stove to get a pretty finish. 

For the Glaze Icing
1/4 cup vegan margarine

3/4 cup unsweetened pure cocoa powder

1/4 cup warm, brewed coffee

1/3 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cardamom

3/4 cup powdered sugar 

Salt, to taste

Basically melt and mix all ingredients in a thick bottom sauce pan and dip in muffins, or drizzle on muffins. And THIS will be the fruits of your labour!

Irish "Lamb" Stew

So I got a request to "veganize" lamb stew. I'm not totally into the whole idea of "stew" to begin with. In my head, an Irish stew would be potatoes and onions in gravy. End of story. But because I adore my wife, I decided to give it a go. Here is what I did:

1 Package Vegan Lamb (Yes! They make this!!!) 

4 large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 large onions, diced

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup (250 mL) vegan "beef" broth

1 tall boy can of Guinness 

1/4 cup (60 mL) tomato paste

1.5 tsp (7 mL) dried rosemary

1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt

2 tbsp (45 mL) all-purpose flour

After chopping and dicing all of the ingredients (except for the flour) I threw them into a crock pot, stirred them well to mix the tomato paste, broth and stout and set it to "stew" for 6 hours, stirring occasionally. I then turned it off and let it sit overnight. 

My god it was hard work!! Ha! 

Fast forward to this afternoon when I got home from work. I turned the crock pot back on.  I then used a spoon to extract about 3/4 cup of the broth into a small bowl. I then added in 2 tbsp of flour and stirred well until smoothe and added it into the pot and mixed well with the broth left behind. I then let it warm and simmer for another hour and a half. 

I'll be honest. My expectations were SO LOW for this. Seriously. Potatoes and chunks of "meat" in gravy. I'll pass thanks. Or so I thought!! 

The Guinness with the "beef" broth, rosemary and tomato paste make for a lovely hearty meal! I suggest you give it a try! 

Vegan Eggs Benny

One thing that I really miss since switching to a vegan diet is eggs benny. Not so much the egg itself, but the stack of awesome flavours! So today for brunch I made a vegan version.

Sauce:

2 tbsp Earth Balance 

1 tbsp flour 

3 tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 tsp turmeric

1 pinch cayenne

Melt butter, whisk in flour. Add half of the almond milk. Bring to a boil and take off heat. Mix in yeast, spices and lemon juice and set aside. 

For the "eggs" I just pan fried 1/2 inch slabs of firm tofu, which were rubbed with sea salt in vegetable oil.

When they were almost done I put the sauce back on and slowly added the other half of the almond milk and whisked it until smooth. 

For plating, I layered baby kale, thick sliced Roma tomatoes, the tofu and drenched with sauce. On the side is a pre-bought vegan curried potato thing that gets no more mention because it wasn't good. Ha! 

Without further adieu... BAM! Delicious layers of vegan awesome! 

Spicy Bean Flautas!

Ok, so tonight's dinner goes in the top ten for awesome. It is flavorful, healthy, quick and DELICIOUS. 

I wanted to make taquitos, but from recipes I was looking at they were mostly fried and the baked ones seemed a little bland. So I made my own recipe, as I often do. It most closely resembles Mexican Flautas. This is a nice spicy one but you could easily modify to make it less so.

- 1 package of gluten free rice wraps (You can use any wrap, we just wanted to try these)

- 1 can green Mexican chili sauce

- 1 can refried beans with green chilies

- 1 can corn

- 1 can black turtle beans

- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro 

Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Then spoon the mixture into the middle of a wrap and roll tightly, leaving the ends open. Put the Flautas on a parchment lined paper and spray with olive oil (I use a Misto) and then bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. I also added some vegan cheese to the top but you could add it inside if you'd like. 

Once they're out of the oven they should look more or less like this. 

To serve, I cut the it in half and added a dollop of Tofutti sour cream and sprinkled that with dried cilantro flakes.

I suggest you try these RIGHT NOW they're that good.  

Cheers! 

Vegan What?!

Ok, so one thing that seems to go hand in hand with a vegan lifestyle is overall health and well-being. 

We all know the ethical reasons that people go vegan for, and it's pretty obvious the natural health benefits from conscious eating (even regardless of whether or not it's vegan). But what about other stuff that we do on a daily basis that's unhealthy? 

When I think of "all natural" products and the people who use them I automatically picture the "granola hippy" reeking of patchouli and sporting bloodshot eyes while reciting "namaste".  All stereotypes aside, I think they're onto something! 

Deodorant. Anti-Perspirant. Necessary evils. But do they have to be evil? A lot of conventional deodorants are a chemical cocktail and really not good for you. (Namely the aluminum) But what's the alternative? A healthy blend of patchouli and B.O? NO THANK YOU.

I started researching for natural deodorants that won't leave me feeling paranoid that every bad odour I smell, or think I smell, is me.  And that's where I found this recipe for a natural deodorant that claims to really work. It can be found here:

http://wellnessmama.com/1523/  

I followed the directions and added some tea tree oil (it's a natural anti-bacterial agent) and now to test it! But not me! Haha 

My lovely works from home, and thus has limited human interaction most days which makes her the perfect guinea pig for this experiment. It's also works because she exercises throughout the day, thanks to the "7 Minute Workout" app so that will test its stink-fighting ability. 

The final product looks like this:

It's still solidifying, but basically starting tomorrow Faith will rub a pea sized amount under each armpit, and go about her daily routine. When I get home from work, I'll do the sniff test and report back.

Stay tuned!! 

Butternut Squash Ravioli!

Ok, so tonight I didn't make the soup I thought I'd make. I got home later than expected and instead picked up a Pho soup for my sickly wife. The kiddo got some other leftovers thrown at her so I could start on something I've been excited about all day. Butternut squash ravioli.

Probably one of my fave pasta dishes, which isn't saying much since I'm not a big pasta fan anyway. Regardless, what makes this my fave dish is the combination of savory, sweet and spicy. What's spicy you ask? 

Candied habanero pecans! 

To make these, set the oven to 375. While its warming up get two bowls ready. One full of water and one with your spice mixture. I used brown sugar and habanero powder. (I bought this ages ago and use it for EVERYTHING!)

Put the pecans in the water and then one at a time dip them top and bottom in the powder and lay evenly on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Repeat until your left eye twitches and the sheet is full. 

Then bake for about 5 minutes. They will bubble and look totally gnarly, but don't fret. Once they've cooked and cooled carefully pick each one up and place on "clean" parchment paper. I transfer them to one side and then fold the paper in and use the back. Once they're cooled, jar them and pretend that it was easy. 

Now on to the pasta. First the ravioli shell!

Add 3 cups of semolina flour, 6 tsp of olive oil, 1 & 1/2 cups of room temp water and a dash of salt. Mix the dough and when it's done wrap in a tea towel and set aside for 30 minutes. 

While you're waiting on that make your filling, or the guts as I like to call it. I cheated and had pre-cut butternut squash. Few things anger me like trying to cut up a whole squash. Then add onions and carrots and boil. Once they're boiled, drain and immersion blend the heck out of it. Then in a small pan add some olive oil, minced garlic and nutmeg. Once it's all cooked nicely add into the butternut mix and stir. Now your guts are done! 

They should look like this:

Now back to the dough. Unwrap it and roll it out on a well floured surface. Then use a cookie cutter, or well floured cup edge to cut your ravioli.  I used a scalloped edge cookie cutter for my shape. 

It should look like this:

Once the sheet is done, get a roll of tin foil and some vegetable spray handy. This will be your friend/nemesis for the next hour and a half. Break off a piece of tinfoil about 8 inches long. Spray a "line" of vegetable oil. Take one of your shapes, add a small spoonful of guts, put a top on, crimp the edges with a fork and voila! You have your first ravioli. Now place it on the veggie spray and repeat until suicidal, or until all of the dough and guts are gone. You will need a new sheet of tin foil every 3 pieces. The pecans don't look so bad now, do they? DO THEY?! Sorry. It's been a long night. 

If you've managed to stay with me, your pasta should look like this:

Wrap the pasta up nicely, don't give into the urge to smash it to the ground. Just place it gently stacked into the freezer and let it freeze. (Even if you do wish it would burn in hell instead.) 

I digress...

Now you have pasta! All that's missing is a simple tomato basil sauce. I didn't make that. But in theory to construct the most delicious meal follow these steps:

1. Boil pasta until it floats. Then strain.

2. Top with tomato basil pasta sauce.

3. Add some spiced candied pecans.

4. Die and go to heaven.

No clever sign off, I'm just out. Toodles!

Falafel!

Falafel can rarely go wrong in my books. Last night I wanted one after the gym so I made some garlic hummus, spread it generously on a whole grain wrap, topped it with baby kale and cukes, smashed on a few baked falafels, drizzled some tahini and hot sauce and OM NOM NOM!!! 

Sometimes, it ain't pretty but it hits the spot!

Cheers!

Coconut Mini-Loaves...

Ok, so I saw a recipe for coconut bread and was intrigued. It came from the same website as the mango chutney. (www.hotelmockingbirdhill.com)

4-Cups Plain Flour
2 tsps Baking Powder
½ tsp Salt
3-Cups Grated Coconut
¾ Cup Caster Sugar
1 tsp  Vanilla Extract
1  Egg (beaten)
1-Cup Milk

Preheat oven for 375, mix dry ingredients, then add wet. Bake for 50 minutes and voila!

It was not a vegan recipe, calling for milk and eggs. I substituted almond milk and a "flax egg" for the real deal. I also subbed coconut flour and coconut sugar for regular flour and sugar. Here is the result. 

It is a pretty dry loaf, coconut flour tends to be very "absorbent" and trying to take that into consideration I almost tripled the almond milk. (I halved the overall recipe and still used 3 cups of milk.)

The outside is crunchy and the inside is very...hrmmm. Kind of like a dry scone. All in all I'd give them about a 5/10. My original plan was to slather it in jam anyway, so once I did that they were a solid 7/10. (I used Crofter's Superfruit Blend.) 

I might give them another go with non-coconut flour. But not any time soon. Now I need homes for these loaves! Who loves coconut, huh? :)

Heirloom Tomato Chow-Chow!

Holy. Mackerel.

So, we all remember the BEAUTIFUL heirloom tomatoes my friend Nancy bestowed upon me. Let me refresh your memory...

Well, THANK YOU NANCY!

I made a brine of:

• 4 cups apple cider vinegar
• 2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoon dry mustard
• 2 tablespoon turmeric
• 4 tablespoon pickling spice
• 2 tablespoon habanero pepper powder
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 4 pounds firm green and red heirloom tomatoes, cut into quarters
• 5 medium onions, diced
• Once you start boiling the brine, wow. Delicious! 
• 
  
  

You can find the full recipe online at Food Network, but I changed theirs a bit.

I have never canned before, so I made a few novice mistakes. I didn't wipe the rims before putting the lids on. Who knew my messy ways could actually hinder the process? Oh well. Once I re-did that step (ahem, following instructions) they sealed within 10 minutes. Hooray!

They're now sitting on the counter cooling and I am SO EXCITED!

I had a bit that didnt fit in the jars, so naturally I taste tested. WHOA MAMA. The tart taste of tomato hits you first, followed by a kick in the ass from the habanero and then it finished with the sweet sugar taste.

I WILL PUT THIS ON ALL THE THINGS!!

You should too :)

And now, Mango Pickle... 

Breakfast of Champions!

Ok, so today I have a LONG day of canning ahead of me. I made my brine last night and its been sitting- so in a few hours I'll be ready to start my mango pickle. 

This is how I have justified a GIANT delicious breakfast of Curry Tofu Scramble w/Sweet Potato Hash.

Not only will this fuel me for the entire day, but it is so easy to make!

Chop some peppers and onion. Heat a pan with a bit of oil/butter/margarine etc. Then once the veggies are almost done, throw in a spoonful of curry paste, stir and let simmer for about 2 minutes. Then cut in some silken tofu for the scramble and DONE! 

While that was happening I put some sweet potato hash in the oven with some olive oil, sea salt and a touch of garlic chili powder. 

Now, FEAST YOUR EYES! 

Vegan "Caramel" Apples...

Ok, so tonight I had zero motivation to cook anything. Like, nada. Zip. Zilch.

So the best thing to do? Make something that takes less than 30 minutes, is one dish or less and is not a pain in the ass.

That's why I chose to make the caramel apples. The caramel is actually a mix of:

- Dates (1/4 cup)

- Coconut Oil (2 tbsp)

- Cinnamon (a splash)

- Raw Agave (a squirt)

- Water

Throw it in a blender and voila. Dippable, pourable, crack. 

The recipe calls to roll it in crushed nuts but seeing as these are for a friend whose daughter can't eat nuts (and I have apparently run out of crushed toffee like I promised! Gah) I used chocolate sprinkles. Which may or may not be vegan. I didn't look because I'm not eating them. Ha! 

It also calls for drizzled chocolate on top, but you can skip back to the beginning for that. I'm tired and I didn't want to. :)

They will look better once they've hardened, and I will definitely try again with nuts and drizzled chocolate- but for tonight, this lazy Thursday- here you go! 

Cheers all ya'll! 

Guyanese Conkies!

Ok, so I wasn't actually really excited to make these. I didn't think I liked them based on the ingredients. Pumpkin, corn flour, lard- no thanks!

But I absolutely love and adore my father in law, and he requested them. Like any other recipe, I veganized and made my own judgement on the recipe. Here's how it all played out, more or less:

Pumpkin Purée (1 cup)

Corn Flour (1 cup)

Vegetable Shortening (1 tbsp)

Black Pepper (1 tsp)

Nutmeg (1.5 tbsp)

White Sugar (1/4 cup)

Brown Demerara Sugar (1/4 cup)

Shredded Coconut (1/4 cup)

Coarse Sea Salt (1 tsp)

Seedless Sultana Raisins (1 cup)

Water - until dropping consistency. About 1 cup. 

Ok, so it all goes in a bowl, stir it up and voila. Just keep adding water until it is thick enough to shape on the leaf. Too runny and it won't steam properly. Too dry and it won't have the desired "pudding" like texture.

I'm growing fond of steaming things in banana leaves. And not just because I have millions of them to use. It is just so much fun. Like opening a present every time!!

Here's how they turned out! I had a taste and I must say- DE-LISH! 

They have a moist cakey taste to them. I want to say like bread pudding, but I can't remember for sure. 

What's next on the agenda? Maybe vegan "eggs" Benny! Stay tuned! 

Touché Fall, Touché...

What I wanted for dinner was a BBQ veggie burger and (cauliflower) "buffalo wings". What I REALLY wanted was a taste of Summer back! I think Fall had a point to prove because this was a #fail!! 

Veggie burgers aren't my fave- but they're a damn good vessel for all kinds of delicious stuff; jalapeño hummus, spinach, zucchini relish, honey mustard, tomato, pickles. YUM! 

I would have taken a picture of it, but I ate it before that could happen. I'm not sorry. I'll do it again.

I used the recipe for cauliflower "buffalo wings" off of the PETA website. I'm willing to give other variations a shot but honestly, this one was BLECK! 

I think I've found my first "Never Again" recipe. 

First of all, the batter. It was crunchy outside  but wet and spongy inside. And then when I added the hot sauce it just got wet and spongy on the outside. The overall flavour of the dish was good but the texture was like...I don't even know what to compare it to. Maybe a wet dish sponge. 

They did look tasty though...

Oh well. I guess you can't win them all. 

I'm onto some Conkies now! Wish me luck!! 

Tricks of the trade...

For me, one of the most important rules about being vegan is being prepared. Or else it's really easy to fall into fast food, packaged food or non-vegan foods. It's not too hard to justify burritos when you're hangry. 

To avoid being in a bind, I try to do the following:

1. Prep ahead of time. For example, the sweet potato hash is a great side dish for dinner on a weeknight because it only takes 15 minutes in the oven. (@425) But shredding a sweet potato can feel daunting, and the clean up sucks. I shred them ahead of time and just refrigerate until I need it. Then, I just open the container, grab a handful, toss with sea salt and olive oil and voila. 

Spread it on a parchment lined baking sheet before cooking and watch the edges around the 10 minute mark.

I paired this with a wrap for tonight's dinner. Truthfully, I was so hungry I didn't take a pic of the wrap because I devoured it. But it was a whole grain tortilla with:

-Guacamole (home made)

-Spinach (organic)

-Tomato

-Sprouts (home grown)

I felt a little snacky after dinner, perhaps it was the knowledge that I have 1,800 loads of laundry to do (ALWAYS! But that's another blog...) so I had a small bowl of (unknown flavour) Kashi cereal, dry. (They're snack bowls and hold about 1/2 a cup)

Now I'm onto laundry (Only 1,798 left!) but I'll be back. With fresh clean sheets and Conkie! 

Cheers!

Thanksgiving...

Everyone seems to be chirping about what they're thankful for, so I've decided to follow suit. 

I'll do this in point form to make it as painless as possible. 

📌My family. This includes my beautiful wife and daughter who love me every minute of every day, even when I'm a little squirrelly. 

📌My mother and father, my sister and brother in-law and my precious nephews who make me laugh like no others. 

📌My grandfather, whom I'm lucky to still have in my life, though admittedly I don't prioritize him the way I should. 

📌My mum and father in law. They get an extra special shout out. Not only because most people have so many complaints about their in laws, but because mine are just incredible human beings. At Thanksgiving my mum makes a separate vegan meal just for me. A MEAL, not just a dish. The unconditional love I get from mum and dad is in direct competition with my birth folks ;)

📌My pets! Maya the dog, Bronson and Tang the cats. The happiness that they give me fills my heart. 

📌My friends! Most people are lucky to have a few good friends. I feel like I have ten time more than anyone else. And you're all top notch. TOP. NOTCH. 

I just inhaled my vegan spread and I'm full and nappy. But I'll leave you with the vision of love that I'm blessed to see every morning when I wake (minus the cats and kid who are off screen)

Happy Thanksgiving!! 

Hot Tamale!

Ok, so the lovely Jaime came over and helped me make tamales. By "helped" I mean she drank red wine and talked me out of bad ideas. Or at least tried to. In not very good at listening or taking direction. Which is why I now have a massive vat of corn dough leftover. I should have halved the recipe. Dangit! 

Anyhow, after making the filling and then the dough, it was time for the pain in the ass banana leaves. I searched all over the place for corn husks but everywhere was sold out. Fack. So I googled and got banana leaves as a substitute. 

The banana leaves are a pain in the ass and this better be worth it! Good lord. Each one is 3 feet long and frozen in a Z fold. Before they can be used they need to be cleaned and soaked in hot water. 

I was having trouble with them splitting, which was apparently entertaining to watch and entirely my fault. I'm not a gentle cook, obviously. Smashy Smashy! 

I loaded the steamer and set the timer for just over an hour.  I did an hour and change because I wanted to be sure they were cooked through even though the recipe only calls for an hour.

Once they were done we sampled one plain and with taquiero sauce. Tomorrow I'll try it with the sauce and vegan sour cream. I bet it will be amazing! 

The finished product!!! It's like opening a Christmas present!