Chickpea Dip

One of my favourite treats from Christmas used to be crab dip....which no longer works in my life because the dip has crab and cream cheese. So, I decided to test out a vegetarian dairy-free version.

I wasn't sure I would like this with the 'fake' cream cheese, but once I chilled it I didn't notice much of a difference.

I like this stuff well enough that it's difficult not to eat it straight from the container. I have to force myself to eat veggies or crackers with it.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup canned chickpeas
• 4 oz of Tofutti cream cheese
• 1 1/2 tbs of French dressing
• 1 tbs of ketchup
• 1 tbs of chopped onion
• 1/4 cup of mayo (you could use a vegan one here)

Directions

1. Mash up the chickpeas with a fork or a potato masher. Mix in the other ingredients.
2. Chill for at least an hour.
3. Enjoy!

Baking Review

I had planned to blog about my holiday baking as I went along, but then the holidays got into the way. So I figured I would clump it all together in one post.

 

Vegan Oreo Truffles

 

 

I already blogged about these here. They seemed to be a favourite of the bunch and no one made comments on the use of vegan cream cheese. They will continue to be part of my regular holiday rotation.

 

 

 

 

 

Big Soft Ginger Cookies

I make these every year and continue to be satisfied with how they turned out. I didn't veganize the recipe but I did sub out the dairy ingredients. The recipe is found at allrecipes.com. Click here for a direct link. Sorry for the crappy picture quality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caramel Squares

This was my favourite creation. I have a few things to tweak (the chocolate cracked when I cut it and I overcooked the base) but overall, they were delicious. I veganized the original recipe, which is found here. I replaced the sweetened condensed milk using a recipe to condense almond milk. Unfortunately I didn't find that they froze well, which really just means eat them right away. And you will want to anyway.

 

 

 

And then I got lazy with the camera. In addition to the above, I also made Peppermint Patties (which everyone raved over), and Fudgee-o Cookie Bark (it was ok).

Vegan Oreo Truffles

These are probably one of my favourite things to make for the holidays. They take minimal ingredients and I only get mildly annoyed with the chocolate dipping.

I can't really take credit for this recipe, but if you are anti-clicking on links, basically you take a mashed up bag of Oreos and mix with vegan cream cheese. (I used Tofutti). Then you roll them into balls and dip them in chocolate. I chill mine a bit first to make them easier to work with.

You can make endless creations. Pre-dairy-free days, my favourite was regular Oreos dipped in white chocolate with crushed candy cane sprinkled on top.

This time around I opted for regular Oreos with vegan chocolate chips with a smidgeon of mint extract and gingerbread Oreos with vegan chocolate chips

Both versions are delicious. Next time I might add a bit of coconut oil to the chocolate so it is easier to work with.

If you are worried that all of this seems to simple, click the links to prove I'm not lying. I've included vegan and non-vegan links:

• Regular Oreo Truffles
• Vegan Oreo Truffles

Stuffed Pepper Soup

From the recommendation of my sister, I decided to veganize a stuffed pepper soup recipe from skinnytaste.com.

I serve smaller serving sizes when it comes to soup it seems, and got about 9 servings (1 cup each) out of this in comparison to skinnytaste.com's six servings.

Ingredients

2 cups of cooked rice
1/2 cup of chopped of a coloured bell pepper
1/2 cup of green pepper
1 cup of chopped onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 can of lentils (about 2 cups)
28 oz can of petite diced tomatoes
1 3/4 tomato sauce (I used spaghetti sauce)
2 cups of veggie broth
Italian spices

Directions

1. In a large pot, sautee onions, peppers, and garlic for a few minutes.
2. Add the lentils, tomatoes, tomato sauce, broth, and spices.
3. Cover and simmer for approximately thirty minutes.
4. Meanwhile, cook your rice.
5. Serve soup and top with your cooked rice.
6. Enjoy!

If you eat dairy and/or aren't vegan, it would be super yummy with cheese on top.

Recipe Review: Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

My first attempt at these cookies was not that successful. Personally, I blame my 2 year old assistant. Something about the texture of the dough was off. I added more flour and then the cookies were cake-y.

So, I did what all good aunts do....I fired my niece and tried again. Attempt # 2 yielded much better cookies. My final product didn't quite brown as much as shown in the pictures from the original, but in my opinion those look overcooked.

Unfortunately, I cannot take credit for the recipe and I didn't change enough to call it my own. The only change was that I used applesauce instead of the flax egg....only because I didn't have flax. I also flattened the cookies slightly based on other tester reviews.

These cookies are really good.  They will be my go-to going forward.

Anyway, another successful recipe from oh she glows:  Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Spaghetti Squash Au Gratin (Veganized)

It seems that lately I can only find spaghetti squash in massive quantities. Since my husband doesn't eat it, I've had to explore ways to use it up that isn't just spaghetti. In my hunt for recipes, I came across a recipe by Martha Stewart for Spaghetti Squash Au Gratin. Naturally, I had to make a few changes to make this vegan.

I also adjusted quantities to yield fewer servings.

Overall, I enjoyed the recipe and I would make it again if I needed to use up some squash.

 

Ingredients

• 1/2 tbsp. Earth Balance (or other dairy free butter alternative)
• 1/2 cup mushrooms
• 1/2 cup onion
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1/2 cup chickpeas
• 1/2 cup veggie broth
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 2 tbsp. all purpose flour
• 2.5 cups of spaghetti squash (I partially cooked mine in the microwave first)
• 1/2 cup vegan breadcrumbs (I used a mix of breadcrumbs and flavoured croutons)
• 1 tbsp. soy parmesan
• dash of spices of your choosing

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a small frying pan, sauté your mushrooms, onion, and chickpeas in butter. Set aside.
3. In a medium pot, bring broth, almond milk, and garlic to a boil and let boil at medium-high for a minute.
4. Slowly whisk in the flour and reduce heat to a simmer to allow the mixture to thicken slightly.
5. Add your mushrooms, chickpeas, onion, and squash. Stir ingredients so squash is well covered with sauce.
6. Transfer to a bread pan.
7. In a small bowl, mix your breadcrumbs, soy parm, and spices. Sprinkle on top of the squash mixture.
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Recipe Review: Lentil Walnut Apple Loaf

Just imagine this less blurry and with
general improved picture quality

Someone recommended that I try Lentil Walnut Apple Loaf from ohsheglows.com. I generally like recpies found on this site, so I figured I would give it a chance.

I went to the grocery store to gather my ingredients. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get walnuts so I figured I would sub in almonds. I didn't know if this would work but I didn't see an alternative.

When I got home and started the prep work, I began to think that it was a mistake....not because of the recipe itself, but because I never ever liked a true meat loaf....the texture, flavour, meat....blech. However, I felt kind of committed to follow through with my plan so I forged ahead.

The only thing I changed was the use of almonds instead of walnuts. The end product was pretty good. The apple sauce gives it a nice flavour. The only thing I would do differently next time is chop my almonds smaller. My chunks were too big and out of place.

Soft Pumpkin Cookies (Vegan)

I came across this recipe and decided to veganize it. I also experimented and changed the finished project for three different versions of the cookie. All testers agreed on the best cookie, which is the main recipe below.

I like this recipe because it is really easy and not that time consuming.

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup vegan margarine
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/3 cup of applesauce
• 1 tsp vanilla
• sugar for rolling

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and pumpkin pie spice in a medium bowl. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix the remaining ingredients and slowly add the dry ingredients.
4. Form the dough into round balls and roll each ball around in a bowl of sugar. Place the balls on a cookie sheet and flatten them slightly. (I find it is helpful to chill the dough first, but that's up to you)
5. Bake cookies for 15 - 18 minutes.
6. Let them cool and then enjoy!

Other versions:  As I mentioned above, this is the version that all testers preferred. The other options were Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (same recipe, just add vegan chocolate chips), and the same cookies minus the sugar rolling but with a frosting/glaze on top.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (vegan)

 

 

It looks like the weather jumped from summer to winter and missed fall completely. But while mother nature may not respect tradition, my kitchen does.

I got this recipe from my sister, who got it from someone else. After taste testing, I adapted the original recipe for round two and am satisfied with the results.

It should make about 18-24 muffins depending on your preferred muffin size.

 

Ingredients

• 1 medium banana
• 1/3 cup of unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups of sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 3/4 cups of flour
• 1 1/2 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips (check labels if you want the vegan stuff)

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Peel and mash banana. Stir in applesauce, pumpkin, vegetable oil, and sugar.
3. Combine baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and flour.
4. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Divide mixture into muffin tin and bake at 400 degrees F for 16 to 20 minutes.
6. Enjoy!

Squash & Veggie Soup

I love fall. I love the weather, the scenery, and the food. It's such a comforting time of year. Be warned, after this post, there will be an onslaught of pumpkin posts (soup, muffins, cookies, oh my!)

But for today, the focus is on Squash & Veggie Soup. I found the original recipes on one of my favourite sites, ohsheglows.com. There it is titled Luxurious 7-Vegetable and "Cheese" Soup. It's kind of a mouthful and definitely scary if you aren't a vegetable fan. I mean, seven vegetables? Let's not get excessive and point that out. For you non veggie fans, you will notice fewer veggies in my version...mainly because I realized I didn't have sweet potato once I had started. Oh well.

Anyway, I made a few changes and thought I would share the changes with you. First things first, I divided the recipe in half and then I went from there.

Ingredients

• oil (for sautéing)
• 2 cups of onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup of celery
• 1/2 cup of carrots
• 3 1/2 cups of broccoli florets
• 2 cups of butternut squash
• 3 cups of vegetable broth
• 2 tbs of soy parmesan
• dash of chili pepper, crushed chili pepper flakes, cinnamon

Directions

1. Chop and sauté the onion and garlic in a large pot over medium heat.
2. Add celery, carrots, broccoli, and squash as you chop them. Sauté for a few minutes.
3. Add veggie broth and squash. Simmer for 15-20 minutes until the squash softens slightly.
4. Remove from heat and allow to cool significantly.
5. Add the soy parmesan and other spices. Stir gently.
6. Using a blender, blend the mixture in small batches.
7. Return all smoothly blended batches into the pot to stir together (and reheat).
8. Serve and enjoy.

Cookie Dough Won Tons

I have totally dragged my heals on posting this recipe because I don't want to contribute to the obesity problem. And if you make these, you will eat them.

Do you know what is better than cookie dough? Cookie dough fried in won tons. If I had to pick one thing to eat for the rest of my life (and not gain weight) this would be it. I struggled with the title of this recipe, wavering between:
 

Baked vs. fried

1. The road to world peace

2. This is all I ever need

3. and back off jerk, I'm not sharing



I found the recipe Seeded at the Table. They called theirs Cookie Dough Eggrolls. I made a few changes beyond replacing the egg rolls to lighten it up slightly. I also tried a baked version that just cannot compare.

Anway, here you go. My version resulted in 18 of the finished product but it could vary depending on how full you stuff the won tons

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of Earth Balance or other dairy-free butter replacement
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• 1 cup of flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of chocolate chips
• 36 won ton wrappers (approx.)
• vegetable oil (for frying)
• chocolate sauce (optional)

 

Directions

1. Cream together the Earth Balance and brown sugar.
2. Add the flour and vanilla. When combined, stir in the chocolate chips. Set aside.
3. On a clean surface, join two won ton wrappers by wetting one edge with water. Press together. This will give you a rectangle shape. (see pictures below)
4. Wet the outer edges of this rectangle.
5. Spoon your cookie dough mixture into a line in the centre of the rectangle. Fold up the top and bottom, and then roll the rest, pressing it together gently.
6. Heat slightly less than 1/2 an inch of vegetable oil in a deep but small skillet. (I heated mine on medium-high).
7. Fry each piece ten seconds per side. They should brown and crisp. Place fried pieces on paper towel to drain off some of the oil.
8. Continue until all the pieces are done.
9. Serve warm and with chocolate sauce if you so desire.
10. Try to share with others in your household. 
     

Vegetarian Inside-out Shepherd's Pie (a non-recipe)

This is no ordinary Shepherd's Pie. In fact, it may not be traditional enough for the average person, but it is yummy. It's also really easy to adapt. My version makes enough to fill one bread pan, which I divided into three servings.

I used the veggie ground round, but I would much prefer beans, so that is what I will use next time.

Feel free to play with quantities of things. This was quickly put together and will likely be modified each time I make it.

Ingredients

Bottom Layer

• either 1/2 cup of veggie ground round or red kidney beans
• garlic clove, divided
• 1/4 cup onion
• 1/2 a can of Campbell's condensed tomato soup (set aside 1tbs)

Middle Layer

• cup of veggies (you could use corn but we use peas & carrots)

Top Layer

• 1.5 cups of potatoes for mashing
• some earth balance
• almond milk
• pepper
• the remaining garlic
• ground pepper

Toppings

• 1/2 cup of mixed beans
• a sprinkle of veggies (corn, peas, green onion, whatever - just something to add colour)
• a drizzle of BBQ sauce & remaining soup mixture

 

Directions

It seems pretty self explanatory, but here you go...

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare your potatoes, boil water, and throw them into the pot.
3. In a skillet, heat your onion, garlic, and protein base (beans or veggie ground round). Once heated through, put it in your bread dish.
4. Add 1/2 cup (minus a tbs) of the condensed soup. Mix up.
5. Add your veggies.
6. When your potatoes are ready, mash them (don't forget to add the garlic you set aside) and put them on top of the veggies.
7. Add your toppings and drizzle your sauce.
8. Bake in oven for 15 minutes or until heated through.
9. Serve and enjoy.

Caramel Sauce Featuring Coconut Flavours

This may sound weird, but it is a really good combination. A family member even suggested just serving the sauce as dessert at Thanksgiving. (I won't be doing that).

My sauce is based off of one from Oh My Veggies. Initially, I didn't use their sauce because I didn't want to open up a can of coconut milk and have some leftover.

Instead, I got creative. However, most people probably don't have coconut cream liqueur on hand so I would understand if you used the sauce found here. 

The flavours are very similar but when warmed, mine is a tad thicker. If you like lots of sauce, you may want to double the recipe.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 2 tbs of water
• 2 tbs of coconut cream liqueur
• 1 tbs of coconut oil
• 2 tbs of almond milk

 

Directions

1. Combine the sugar and water in a small sauce pan. Heat on medium-high and do not stir.
2. Allow the mixture to boil and watch it turn a golden colour to light brown. It will start to smell like caramel. This should take about six minutes, but the colour is more important than the time it takes.
3. Slowly add the remaining ingredients, stirring constantly. Your mixture may react 'angrily' as you add the new stuff. Get angry back with constant stirring.
4. Continue at this temperature until the sauce becomes thicker. This could take 4-6 minutes. Be aware that it will be thicker when it is cooled and that the sauce can be used warm or cool.
5. Resist the urge to eat it directly from the pot and instead add it to something delicious, like Baked Apple Won Tons.

Baked Apple Won Tons

Originally I was going to make Baked Banana Won Tons, but then our trip to St. Lucia happened. During this trip, my husband realized that he doesn't like banana type desserts. So, instead I decided to mash up a couple of recipes. The other one I referred to was Baked Apple Pie Egg Rolls.

My creation got pretty good reviews but it's not something I would make regularly because it's a bit more finicky than pour stuff in a bowl, mix, and bake. There are steps, even if they are easy.

My filling was enough for 13 but this could vary.

Also, baking times may be off because I used a toaster oven since our oven is being a jerkface. They turned out well enough that my husband commented that we don't need to get the oven fixed. I resisted the urge to beat him over the head with the dirty baking tray.

 

Ingredients

• 2 apples chopped into itty bitty pieces
• 1/2 a lemon, juiced
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar
• 1/4 cup of flour
• sprinkle of cinnamon, to taste
• 26 won ton wrappers
• a bit of melted Earth Balance or other butter substitute (or the real deal if that's your thing)
• a bit more cinnamon and brown sugar
• a sauce of your choosing (or Caramel Sauce from Carrot Fight, or Caramel Sauce from Oh My Veggies)

 

Directions

1. Preheat  your oven (or toaster oven) to 375 degrees.
2. Chop up your apples, being aware that they will be the filling in pretty narrow rolls, so you don't want huge chunks.
3. Place chopped apples in a bowl with lemon juice, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon.
4. Set aside for a few minutes. Do lunges or something.
5. Get out your won ton wrappers. Take one won ton wrapper and wet an edge with water. Overlap another won ton wrapper on top of this edge and press the edges together so you have a large rectangle. Wet all edges.
6. Lightly fill the center of your joined wrappers with the apple filling. Fold up the bottom and top and then roll the left and right sides inwards. Press the edges together and place on a slightly greased baking sheet.
7. Do this however many more times until you run out of filling or wrappers.
8. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the edges brown. A few minutes before they are done, drizzle melted butter on top and sprinkle some sugar and cinnamon to finish them off.
9. Add sauce, serve, and enjoy!

Update:  Now that I've had fried cookie dough won tons, I would try frying this instead. Definitely less 'healthy' but likely worth it. And yes, I will be blogging about the cookie dough won tons. Stay tuned.

Tomato Soup

With cooler weather arriving, I was inclined to try out another soup. This week I was inspired by Tomato Herb Soup from Budget Bytes.

The finished product is nice and thick and doesn't get the nasty skim
on top that can happen with Campbell's Tomato Soup.

The other difference is that this homemade. And it tastes way more authentic with a strong tomato flavour. For most people, this is good (which is why I'm sharing the recipe) but it was a reminder that I don't love tomato.

I know, I know....why try something that isn't true to my taste buds? Well, I don't have an answer for that.

Anyway, the recipe was 'inspired' by the original in that I made changes to make full use of ingredients that I have on hand and to match the size of cans that I bought. It should make 5-6 servings. Here you go:

Ingredients:

• 540 mL can of diced tomatoes (feel free to play with flavour. I used a garlic & herb kind)
• 1/8 cup of onion (or more or less to your taste)
• oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• spices of your preference (I used chili powder, Italian seasoning, and black pepper)
• a can of tomato paste
• 2 tsp. of brown sugar
• 2 cups of vegetable broth

 

Steps

1. If you want a super smooth soup, feel free to blend your diced tomatoes and onion and set aside.
2. Sauté your garlic and spices in oil for a couple of minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic.
3. Add the tomato paste and brown sugar and stir on medium-low setting for a few minutes.
4. Add the diced tomatoes, onion, and vegetable broth and stir until smooth.
5. Heat all ingredients for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Serve and enjoy!

Edited:  If you serve it with a tiny bit of cheese or daiya, fresh chopped onion, and flavoured crackers or croutons, the tomato flavour is diminished and it becomes fantastic.

Fudge & Fire: Testing (delicious) Coconut Fudge

I finally got around to testing out a coconut fudge recipe. It is amazing. It has perfect consistency with a light taste of coconut. Most testers raved about the finished product.

The one exception was my husband who said that it was "pretty good". It is important to note that "pretty" is paired with most of his reviews. He uses "not bad" when he wants to change things up.

For example:


Me: how does this shirt look?
Him: pretty good.

Me: Did you like the movie?
Him: Ya, it wasn't too bad.

Me: Your arm is on fire. How does that feel?
Him: Well, it's pretty hot. Pass the popcorn.




Ok, so I haven't tested the last one out but I think it is accurate to his typical reviews and his reaction to uncontrolled fires involving BBQs or ovens. But that's a story for another day. 

Anyway, all of that to say that everyone who I'm counting said the recipe rocks.



Edited to add: I learned from this experience that I cannot cut a pan of fudge into 36 even pieces.

Also, when I input the ingredients into a calorie calculator, my calculations did not match those of the original recipe. Each piece is over 100 calories more than the other calculation so if you are concerned about it, double check your numbers. But really, if you are that worried about calories you probably wouldn't be eating fudge. 

Tested: Vegan Mug Brownie

Very dark picture of the brownie

I recently got rid of cookies in my cupboard as a way to reduce the amount of cookies I eat. However, I do like to have a bit of a sweet treat in the evening. And making a vegan mug brownie looked like a great solution. It comes with built in portion control.

Overall, I would say that it is 'ok'. However, the calorie count on it is kind of high, so if this were to make a regular appearance into my week I would cut the recipe in half. I also didn't find the flavour and texture that fantastic.

I would make it again though since I love sweet treats.

And I really shouldn't blog about sweet yummy treats when I'm hungry. This is going to make my grapefruit breakfast seem that much more of a let down.

Watermelon Gazpacho

You know what happens when you have an entire watermelon to consume by yourself? You get creative. I can't count how many bowls of watermelon I've eaten in these past couple of days and when that got boring, I mixed things up. I added it to my smoothies and my salad. I gave some away. And I still had 7/8 of a watermelon left. So, I froze some and was down to 1/2 a watermelon.

I searched for recipes. I found a lot of drinks but not much else. So I sucked it up and made watermelon gazpacho. And then I froze the rest of the watermelon....until I realized that it had been breeding in my fridge and somehow I still have watermelon left.

But onto the gazpacho...I found the recipe on allrecipes.com. I doubted that I would like it but I figured if I put it into a recipe I could give more away. And it worked, I was able to pawn some off on the same family member. I was also right about not really liking it but my sampler said it was ok so maybe normal people like it? (well, as normal as someone can be if they like gazpacho to begin with).

Now I just have to freeze the remaining watermelon and I will have enough for a lifetime of smoothies.

The Leek Soup that changed everything

I'm not really a soup fan. If you were to catch me eating soup it would be because I had no choice and was offered by some well-intentioned family member, or I was actively trying to lose weight. And I definitely never ate any "cream of" concoctions. Uh, hello, broccoli isn't supposed to be eaten ever, *especially* not in soup.

And then I was in St. Lucia and cream of leek soup was served as an appetizer. I dreaded having the bowl placed in front of me because I knew I wouldn't like it. It fell into the "cream of" category and it was leek. Who eats leek??

It turns out, I am on the cream of leek bandwagon. It was one of the best things I have ever eaten. So, naturally I came home and tried to recreate the dish. The recipe I found did not yield as much flavour, and it was a lot of work for what seems to be three servings, but it was still really good. So, here you go: Cream of Leek Soup from the Vegan Chronicle.

World's Best No Bake Bars

A few weeks ago I saw the World's Best No Ba1ke Bars floating around on Facebook. I don't really get people posting recipes to Facebook because it would be a pain to find later (and that's what Pinterest is for). I make exceptions to people sharing recipes with others in mind but I still don't really get it.

As usual, I made alterations to the recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/2 cup maple syrup (the original recipe called for honey)
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1 cup dry oats
• 1 cup Rice Krispies*
• 1 1/4 cups of chocolate chips
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Melt the peanut butter, maple syrup, and coconut oil on the stove. Remove from heat.
2. Add the chocolate chips and stir until melted.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and stir.
4. Pour into a pan and cool in the fridge.
5. Enjoy!

* the original recipe called for 2 cups of oats and no Rice Krispies. I like the crunch that my alteration provided.