My First Tofurky Roast!

Today I made my first Tofurky roast at home and it was delicious!  I love Tofurky products and this one did not disappoint.

How to make this roast:

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  You can put the roast in a big casserole dish with a lid, or in an oven pan wrapped tightly in tin foil.  I chose to use a nice sized casserole dish with a lid.

For my roast I chopped up a couple small yukon potatoes and a couple purple potatoes, two carrots, and half of a yellow onion.  I put the veggies around the roast and threw in 4 or 5 smashed garlic cloves.  To baste the roast I followed a recipe from the Tofurky website.

The baste:

3 tbsp of Olive Oil

1 tbsp of Soy Sauce

1 tsp of dry thyme 

Mix the baste ingredients together well and use about 3/4 of the mixture to cover your roast completely.  I then sprinkled a couple generous pinches of salt and a little bit of dried thyme over the veggies and the roast.  

Bake in the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Pull the dish out of the oven and poor the rest of the baste mixture on the roast, and put back in the oven for 10 minutes.  

To serve I heated up the Tofurky gravy, which was super yummy!  But next time I'd like to try to make my own gravy from scratch.  

What is your favorite way to make a Tofurky Roast?

Lentil Vegetable Soup

I randomly decided to grab a bag of Bob's Red Mill Vegi Soup Mix while grocery shopping last week, it was a great deal and is a healthy base for a hearty soup.  When I got home I started reading everything on the packaging and found a recipe on the back and decided to try it out.  I made some alterations to the original recipe provided and came up with a yummy, filling, healthy soup.  Just in time for our cold drizzly nights!

I know that the color doesn't look appetizing, but the flavor is delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of Bob's Red Mill Vegi Soup Mix
• 4 + cups of Vegetable Broth
• 1 cup of your choice of Non-Dairy Milk
• 2 Carrots, Chopped
• 1 Small Yellow Onion, Chopped
• 2 Stalks of Celery, Chopped
• Dash or Two of Garlic Powder
• Salt and Pepper to Taste

Method:

Put one cup of Vegi Soup Mix and 3 cups of veggie broth in a pot and bring to a simmer.  Let soup mix and broth simmer for about a half hour.  Keep an eye on the pot, I ended up adding as much veggie broth as I needed to keep the mixture "soupy" and stir it every once in a while.  In the mean time chop up the veggies.  Once your 1/2 hour is up add the veggies and more broth as needed and let cook until the carrots are soft (about a 1/2 hour).  Once the veggies are soft pull the pot off of the burner and let cool for about 10 minutes.  Poor ingredients into your blender and blend well.  Once the soup is blended add the cup of milk and blend until it's combined well.  Finally add the garlic powder, salt and pepper; season to your liking.

Serve with your favorite rustic bread, I enjoyed mine with sourdough bread while my husband loved his with garlic bread.

Chai Spiced Pumpkin Cookies

Now that Fall is right around the corner I find myself craving everything that has to do with pumpkins.  Today I got my fix and made up some comforting gooey cookies.  I haven't made these cookies since going vegan and learning about the strange ingredients in a lot of pre-packaged foods.  Thanks to Food Fight! Grocery and Wholesome Chow I was finally able to re-create this favorite Fall treat of mine, without worrying about what scary ingredients were lurking in my cookies.

• 1 can of pumpkin puree (do not buy pumpkin pie mix in a can, just pumpkin puree)
• 1 bag of Wholesome Chow's Chai Spiced Cake Mix
• 1/2 a bag, or a few handfuls of your favorite vegan chocolate chips.

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

Do not follow the instructions on the back of your cake mix bag.  Simply empty the bag of cake mix and your can of pumpkin puree in a mixing bowl.  Combine together well with a stiff spatula, once combined fold in your chocolate chips.

Take a spoon full of the batter and place on cookie sheet.  These guys are usually done in about 12 minutes for me, but time may vary for your oven.  

The end result is a thick cake like cookie that has the flavors of Fall in a bite!   

My favorite pesto pasta dish!

We make this at least weekly in my house, my husband (the meat eater) eats this like it's going out of style!  This is a super quick and easy meal that makes great leftovers.  Another plus, the pasta tastes excellent cold the next day!

5 Ingredient Pesto Recipe:

Prep and Cook Time for Pesto:  Maybe 5 minutes

Ingredients:

2 big handfuls of fresh basil leaves

1 cup of sunflower seeds (unsalted)

3 tbs of olive oil

3-6 garlic gloves (depending how garlicy you want it)

1 lemon

Method:

Put all into a blender/food processor except the lemon.  Put the juice of the lemon in the blender with the rest of the ingredients.

Add a little salt and pepper to taste

Blend away!

Add more olive oil if it's too dry, but it should be pasty

Pesto is done!

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Pesto Pasta Recipe:

Prep and Cook Time:  Not long!

Ingredients:

4 cups of uncooked spiral pasta

1 and 1/2 cans of green olives (chopped into halves)

1 little container of cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cup of frozen peas

All of your pesto that you just made (about 1 cup)

Method:

Cook pasta according to the bag's instructions

While the pasta is cooking drain your olives and halve them

Wash and halve your tomatoes

Drain cooked pasta

I like to take the pot that I used for the pasta and throw some hot water in there and throw the cup of peas in it to thaw them real quick

Combine pasta and pesto in a big bowl

When combined thoroughly, toss in the olives and drained peas

Then add in the tomatoes

Add salt and pepper to taste, more olive oil if desired

Link to original Pesto recipe:  http://www.thefreshexchangeblog.com/2012/06/just-5-pesto/

Link to original Pesto Pasta recipe:  http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/pesto_pasta_salad/

Granola Balls

I have made these several times for friends, family and co-workers and these are a hit with everyone!  These are a super healthy snack/treat that keep you grabbing for more.  You can substitute many ingredients in this, such as cacao chips, dried fruits, nuts, etc.

Prep and Cook Time:  10 minutes prep, 30 minutes to chill in the fridge

Ingredients:

1 cup of oatmeal

1/2 cup of peanut butter (or other nutter butter)

1/3 a cup of honey (I know that honey isn't Vegan, but you can use agave instead)

1/2 cup of coconut flakes

1/2 cup of brown rice cereal (I buy mine in the bulk section at Whole Foods)

1/2 cup of ground flaxseed

1/2 cup of chocolate chips

1 tsp of vanilla

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients into one bowl

Once combined well, cover and put in the fridge for a half an hour

Wet your hands with water (it keeps the mixture from sticking to your hands as much) and roll into little balls

Refrigerate when not being eaten and store in an air tight container

Link to original recipe: http://smashedpeasandcarrots.blogspot.com/2011/08/no-bake-energy-bites-recipe.html

PB Apple Toast

This is so simple, I don't know why I didn't think of this before!  This is a new go-to snack for me, especially when I'm at work.  This is such an easy snack to have at work because I keep a loaf of bread and some peanut butter in my office at work, so that all that I have to grab in the morning is an apple and my snack for the day is ready!

Prep and Cook Time:  Less than 5 minutes

Ingredients:

Apple (I prefer Honey Crisp apples when they're in season)

Peanut Butter or any other kind of nutter butter 

Bread (I always use Dave's Killer Bread)

Instructions:

Toast bread in toaster

Spread on the PB on the toasted bread

Placed sliced apples on top of the PB

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes (that are good for you!)

Here is one of my new favorite things to cook for weekend breakfasts, Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes.  These are so tasty, I couldn't get over that they are actually healthy!

These pancakes are vegan and taste like something that you shouldn't eat for breakfast.  Luckily these pancakes only taste like cookies, but are good for you!  From start to finish, these take about 10 minutes and dirty just one bowl (Yay!!).  These can also be made gluten free.  :)

Prep and Cook Time:  About 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 very ripe medium banana

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 flax egg (1 Tbsp flax seed meal + 2.5 Tbsp water)

pinch salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon almond butter or peanut butter (I use PB)

1 Tablespoon canola oil (or coconut oil)

3 Tablespoons almond milk (or sub other milk)

1/2 cup rolled oats (or gluten free oats)

1/4 cup whole wheat or unbleached flour (or sub other flour)

3 Tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips (non-dairy for vegan)

Instructions:

1. Preheat a skillet to medium heat or about 300-325 degrees.
2. Prepare flax egg by mixing flax seed meal and water and letting set for 3-5 minutes.
3. Mash your very ripe banana with baking powder.
4. Add flax egg, oil, salt, vanilla, almond butter, almond milk and stir.
5. Stir in oats and flour until just combined.
6. Sprinkle in chocolate chips and fold gently.
7. Scoop scant 1/4 cup measurements onto lightly greased griddle.
8. Cook for 2-4 minutes on each side – until golden brown.
9. Serve plain or with a small drizzle of maple syrup and a few additional chocolate chips for melting.

Original Recipe can be found here:  http://minimalistbaker.com/chocolate-chip-oatmeal-cookie-pancakes/