Sweet & Spicy Korean Lentils

Last night I had my first try when it came to spicing Korean Lentils.  I used green lentils in this which seems to take me forever to cook down.  I prefer red lentils - just for the record.  These were ok for a first attempt but I will be tweaking them.  The flavoring ended up being pretty tasty and it seemed to marinate them but I would like a little bit more standing sauce for these.  I can see them working in a Korean equivalent of a Sloppy Joe that way.

Ingredients to combine & cook down:
1 C Lentils
2 1/2 C Water
1/4 C Bragg's Aminos
2 T Minced Garlic
2 T Minced Onion
1 T Minced Ginger
1 t Sesame Oil
1 T White Sesame Seeds
3 T Brown Sugar
Red Pepper Flakes (to taste)

The default seems to be to throw a bit of them on top of the rice like I did in the first 2 photos.  In the last one, I couldn't help but stir the flavorful lentils in with the rice.

Again, I would also like to try them on a bun for a twist on a Sloppy Joe but I really think it needs a thick sauce.  Like a Korean BBQ Sauce or something.

Don't know unless you try, right?  What do you thinking of my Vegan Korean Lentils?

No Nut - No Oil - No Salt Vegan Mac & Cheese & a Few Sunday Buys!

I've had a few people contact me about the many cheesy dips, sauces, etc I have been posting lately and ask for ones without nuts or oils or salt.  HERE is one of those recipes!  I introduce you to the No Nut - No Oil - No Salt Vegan Mac & Cheese Sauce I put on my last rough of elbow mac!

Recipe:

1 C Sunflower Seeds, Soaked

2.5 C Water

1 Large Carrot

1/2 T Minced Garlic

2 T Tomato Paste

1/4 C Nutritional Yeast

1 T Lemon Juice

1 T Flour (I used Bob Red Mill's Gluten Free All-Purpose)

Squirt Yellow Mustard

2 T Bragg's Liquid Amino's

1/2 tea Turmeric

I really liked the way this one turned out!  I think the difference being I soaked the sunflower seeds and the addition of the squirt of mustard and the amount of Animo's!  The 'saltiness' comes from the amino's so there isn't any added salt but there is still sodium.  Of course I sprinkled Smoked Paprika on top.  I have been getting a few questions about that lately, too!  YES...I'm a bit addicted to Smoked Paprika lately but there are some other reasons I am adding it to a lot of my stuff.  One of these days I will share that info with you!

I was in Wegmans TWICE in TWO days!  That is rare.  What is even more rare is that I bought very little for myself when I did go there.  Here is one of the things that I did pick up.  This is my first time trying this vegan Tofurky pizza.  It was ok.  I'm not much of a fake meat person but I wanted to try it.  It wasn't bad but I have had others I enjoy more.  I think that if it just had the pesto sauce and veggies with a little more vegan cheese it would have been more my speed.  I eat very little fake meats...I'm just not usually interested in them.  I never liked real meat so why would I like fake meat?

I have yet to try these but I have to say I'm HELLA EXCITED!!!!  In the freezer section side-by-side were these 'bad boys'.  One was Carrot & Potato 'French Fries' and the other is Broccoli & Potato 'French Fries'.  I'm looking forward to the flavor of them stand alone and then I will probably come up with dipping sauces for them, too!  I will surely keep you posted!  They are Gluten Free, Vegan, and Non-GMO!

Creamy Red Pepper Vinaigrette - Vegan!

Just a quick post today with a new recipe for Creamy Red Pepper Vinaigrette that is VEGAN!  This can actually be a dip or a dressing!  It's super yummy!  I was going to make something completely different and already put a large amount of Apple Cider Vinegar into my blender and realized I didn't have 2 main ingredients I needed for the recipe I was looking at so instead of wasting what was already in there I shifted gears and came up with a Creamy Red Pepper Vinegar Diddy!

I had some leftover cauliflower and multi-colored mini peppers for dipping.  This was a snack last night and RAW too!

Below you can check out the recipe!  I had a few other things I was going to try and blog about this week but will hold off until next week instead!  Happy Weekend!


Creamy Red Pepper Vinaigrette Recipe

1/4 C Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 C Cashews
3 T Hemp Seeds
5 Mini Sweet Red Peppers
1/2 T Minced Garlic
1/2 C (or more to thin) Water
3 T Nutritional Yeast
1 tea Smoked Paprika

For a more savory flavor feel free to add a squirt or two of Bragg's Liquid Amino's!

Vegan MoFo ~ Cheesy Corn Grits Broccoli

Sometimes when I stock my pantry I grab items that are on sale and then not really know what to do with the product.  I have to admit corn grits isn't something I do a lot with but after I did this dish last night - I will be doing more in the future with this product.  The corn grits I bought were Bob's Red Mill's Brand and YELLOW Corn Grits.  Here's my recipe for this yummy comfort food.

1/2 C Yellow Corn Grits
2 Cups Water

1 C Broccoli (in Ninja/Food Processor)
2 T Nutritional Yeast
2 to 3 T Earth Balance

Optional Add Ins:
Sprinkle Wildtree California Garlic Pepper
Sprinkle (on top) Parma! Vegan Parmesan - Garlicky Green Flavor

Other Add In Ideas that I didn't Use in the Photo Above:
Spray (or two) Bragg's Liquid Aminos (if you want it a bit saltier)
GoL Perfect Food RAW - Green Super Food (if you want to get more 'greens' in there)

A few reasons I enjoy GoL's Green Super Food:

• One serving of Perfect Food Super Green Powder is equivalent to 140g of fresh grass juice.
• Excellent source of natural Vitamin A in the form of beta-carotene and a good source of natural Vitamin C.
• Contains spirulina that supports healthy immune function.^†
• Contains algae and cereal grass juices that provide a natural source of alkalizing minerals.
• Select ingredients in Perfect Food Super Green Formula are produced through the Garden of Life proprietary Poten-Zyme^® fermentation process to make the nutrients more available to the body.
• Includes a Probiotic Blend to support digestive health.^†
• Supports healthy carbohydrate metabolism.^†
• Great for those on low carbohydrate diets or people who are unable to eat enough green foods.
• Perfect Food comes in two easy-to-use forms: Powder and Caplets.

2 Raw Soups - Tomato Carrot & Tangy Tomato Corn Chowder

Towards the end of my Raw Week last week and on to the weekend I decided to try and make 2 Raw Soups.  Some of the Raw Soups I've done in the past have been hit and miss but I REALLY enjoyed BOTH of these two Raw Soups and can't wait to try more!

First up...this Tomato Carrot - Spice Optional.

2 Tomatoes

4 Sun Dried Tomatoes

2 Carrots

1 T Grapeseed Oil

1 Onion

1 Clove Garlic

Optional Add-ins:

Salt & Pepper to taste (I used Wildtree's California Garlic Pepper)
Red Jalapeno Powder
Hemp Seeds/Hemp Hearts

This next raw(ish) soup is a Corn Chowder of sorts with tangy tomato.

2 C Almond Milk (or Water)

2 C Corn

1 Clove Garlic

5 Sun Dried Tomatoes

1 tea Braggs Liquid Aminos

1/2 each of Cumin, Cayenne Powder, Garlic Powder
Salt & Pepper to taste

This soup is more of a Raw(ish) than actual Raw because of the Almond Milk but you could use water instead...or if you make your own raw Almond Milk, I suppose.  But I did really like the flavor of this one, too!

What kind of Raw Soups do you like?

Sweet & Heat Hoison Marinated Tofu

Last night for dinner I had this plate of vegan food.  It was pretty fantastic if I do say so myself!  On the left you can see I had mixed veggies. Cauliflower, Broccoli, Carrots, topped with a slice of Daiya Cheddar.  I know that it appears I am using a lot of Daiya lately but some of the foods I've been posting have been from the past week and a half or so plus I am trying to use it before it 'turns'.  As for the right side of the plate...that is marinated tofu that I did on my stove top.


Some of the Instagram Followers I have were wondering what I marinated it with.  Well, the recipe is below but first I want to tell you the process I did with the tofu.  I cut a block of it in half, pressed it to get the liquid out, and then set it in a container and froze it.  The next day I took it out of the freezer, added the marinade and put it in the refrigerator for a day to marinate.  The next day I cut it up into cubes and threw it on the stove top until browned.  It turned out WONDERFUL.  Probably my personal BEST attempt at tofu yet!

Sweet & Heat Hoison Marinated Tofu

1 block of Extra Firm Tofu

1/2 C Wildtree Hoison Sauce

1 T Braggs Liquid Aminos

3 T (Coconut Secrets) Coconut Vinegar

1 T Lime Juice

1/2 tea Garlic Powder

Faux Fried Rice

I was going to post about this rice yesterday but I figured with the lengthy progress on the Container and Rooftop Gardening I didn't want to push my luck!

So...today is another day and I have another post.

I also have another rice dish as you will see here!  I wanted to do something like Veggie Fried Rice but this isn't 'fried' per say.  It LOOKS like 'fried rice' so I think I will call it Faux Fried Rice.  Here is what I did and what's in it...

2 C Cooked Rice

2 T Minced Garlic, Minced Sun Dried Tomatoes Combo (or 1 T of each)

1/2 tea Onion Powder

1 C Mixed Veggies

2 T Braggs Liquid Aminos (or Soy Sauce)

1/4 tea Turmeric

As you can see the veggies I used were a mix of: Peas, Green Beans, Corn, Carrots.

This turned out wonderful and I can't wait to have it again!

Carrot Almond Pate

A while back I bought a 5 pound bag of organic carrots for a super low price...I think we only paid about $2.49 so I couldn't resist buying them.  BUT...I have TONS left!  I was trying to figure out a good way to use them FAST!  Of course one way would be to JUICE them and I will be doing that VERY VERY soon with the rest of them!  I wanted something I could dip so I came up with a super easy Carrot Almond Pate of sorts.  I originally saw a similar one online using Cashews instead but I didn't have any cashew left in the house. 

 All I did for this was the following...

4 Large Carrots
1/2 Large Onion
2 Cloves Garlic
2 C Almonds (soaked)
1/4 C Grapeseed Oil
A couple of squirts of Bragg's Liquid Aminos
1/2 C - 1 C of Water

I did this all in one of my Ninja Blenders and it turned out really good!  Sweet yet creamy.  This made a HUGE batch...around 5 to 6 Cups, actually!  So I have been munching on it often.  I took a bit of it and put it thru my Ninja again and added some Almond Milk for a sauce, too!  This is a nice starter or base.  The sky is the limit to additional flavorings!  I will be trying more in the future, I'm sure!

Vegan MoFo ~ Powerful Creamy Vegan Corn Chowder

 I have several posts today so be sure to scroll down!  I was going to post this tomorrow but thought 'why not today'.  Last week I made a POWERFUL Creamy Vegan Corn Chowder that I am fairly proud of!  This has more ingredients in it than most of my dishes but it sure was tasty!

Here's what this has in it...

1 Tomato
1 C Frozen Corn - Blended
2 C Frozen Corn - Whole
3 Cloves Garlic
Handful of Walnuts
1 Avocado
1 tea Bragg's Liquid Aminos
1 C Water
1 tea Dill
2 T Agave
1 T Cilantro
1 C Chopped Carrots
1 T Hemp Seeds

This made a LOT of soup!  It was very creamy and VERY flavorful!  It was quite hardy as well!

Scenic Shots, Community Fun, Chihuahua Butts, Cardboard Characters, and Funky Vegan Food

It's been another BUSY week and it's just going to get busier and busier!  Earlier in the week I told you about going out to eat last Friday at a local Golf Course/Restaurant.  Here are some photos from the overlook.  I took these from our table!  I LOVE all that GREEN!  Funnies part...I can't GOLF to save my life but I LOVE looking at the scenic views of the different courses.  I think we are going to go back again tonight. 

The name of the Golf Course is Jackson Valley Country Club.  They have re-done the restaurant and bar area and I was pleasantly surprised that they had a nice little salad bar last week!  I think I am going to smuggle in some of my own "Earth Balance" and "Organic Brown Sugar" from Wholesome Sweeteners for my Baked Sweet Potato.

I also mentioned earlier this week about the Community Event that we attended this past weekend.  I was so bummed I forgot to take some photos of our area but a friend of ours took this one and I just noticed it on Facebook today!  He did the tye-dye shirts for us!  My sister didn't come this past weekend but my mom and dad are pictured here with me.  For this weekend we will be at Nobel Winery in Westfield, NY.  We also plan to spend some time at camp but the weather is supposed to be really cold this weekend!  I can't believe it was 93 earlier this week and there were reports of SNOW this morning about 10 minutes from my house!  My husband's family has a little over 100 acres in the woods nearby so I hope Sunday to take some photos of that!

This week at work has been NUTS once again!  We had another remote today - Part 2 - at the local car dealership.  It was fun!  LOTS of interviews with the staff and it went really smooth!  I found this cute lil guy in the corner and HAD to take a snap of it.  I took this with Opal's Daughter in mind!  I think she'll find it cute - Happy Belated Birthday by the way!

I had another online shopping experience this week over at VitaCost and I will blog about that next week!  I didn't get that much, really, but some neat Sprouting options and a few things I was totally out of like Tahini, Nutritional Yeast, and I finally decided to get some Coconut Oil/Butter.

I've been very busy around the house this week in the evenings!  I have been cleaning like a crazy person!  The 'furkids' don't really like that I am not there to snuggle up with in the evenings but there is work to be done! 

FINALLY after a few hours of running around the house the other night I laid down and watched an episode of NASHVILLE on Hulu Plus.  We don't have Cable/Satellite but we do have Netflix and Hulu Plus.  It saves a LOT of money!  Anyhow...as you can see here Paco appreciated the fact I decided to 'call it quits for the evening'.  It was just too funny NOT to take a photo of his lil Chihuhua Behind!

Now on to the FOOD for this past week, eh!?  One night I decided to just pile my plate high of various things I had on stash!  It's hard to tell by looking at it but here is what this large dinner plate included the one evening...Green Beans, Baby Red Potatoes - Pan Fried with Grapeseed Oil and Savory Spinach from Wildtree (also used a little California Blend), and I did some Maple Tempeh over Baby Spinach with a Lemon Garlic Marinade/Salad Dressing I got from Wegman's a while back that was clearly marked VEGAN.  It is darned-tasty for a store-bought dressing!  With the Tempeh leftovers I ended up doing a large salad with greens - mostly Spinach, Yellow Heirloom Tomatoes, the dressing mentioned above, and carrots.

I have been eye-balling this Wildtree Asian Skillet Meal for a while now and I finally decided to do something with it the other night.  I had some Rice Noodles that I cooked up and added the Asian Skillet Meal from Wildtree to it along with some Water, Veggie Bouillon, Green Beans, and Bragg's Liquid Aminos.  It was just the right kind of spicy.  It worked out really well and made a nice large batch so I had leftovers for lunches.  I was so excited that this was another vegan Wildtree option!

Last night I had the munchies and wanted to work off some of the things I had on hand I wanted to finish-up or get rid of.  I found some Artichokes and roasted them up and made this Vegan Dip for them.  The dip has the following in it:
4 T Vegan Mayo
1 tea Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tea Wildtree Lemon Pepper
1 T Minced Garlic

And since I usually have dips around my house I made this one last night, too, to have on hand for a quick snack.  It's a Zesty Lemon Lima Bean Dip and I got the idea in a back issue of Vegetarian Times.  Of course I put my own little twist on it.  It has 1 C Lima Beans, A Splash of Jalapeno Grapeseed Oil, 1 T or more of Minced Garlic, 1 tea Red Pepper Flakes, 1 or 2 T Lemon Juice, and a little bit of water.  It was pretty good!  I hope to make more dips with a Lima Bean base soon!

What are your plans for the weekend?

All Good "Cheeze-E" Sauce and Gravy

I have two posts today but wanted to keep them separate as they are much different from each other as far as recipes go!

This is a tweaked version of a Veg*n All Good Sauce...I added Nutritional Yeast and liked it MUCH better...here's what I did...

1/3 C Grapeseed Oil

1/4 C Veggie Stock

2 T Lemon Juice

5 Cloves Garlic

1 tea minced Ginger

1 tea Red Pepper Flakes

2 tea Braggs Liquid Amino's

2 T Nutritional Yeast

In A Blender.

This was SUPER flavorful!  Very Garlic-E and a little kick of HOT!  I really liked it!  I am thinking of all sorts of things I can do with it like marinate tofu, use as a dressing or gravy, and a sauce for TONS of things!  So far I drizzled a bit over Tater Tots instead of dipping them in Ketchup!  I'm thinking of pouring the rest over rice soon!

Asparagus & Snow Pea Salad

Yesterday I had a fun trip around Warren and Chautauqua Counties in search of some great local produce!  Two of the items I found were these beauties!  The Asparagus is from The Hatch Patch and the Organic Snow Peas are from Aber's Acres.

Tonight I made a 'snack' or a 'taste test' of this and the rest I will be taking for my lunch tomorrow.

I'm rather excited about the way my 'sauce' or 'dressing' turned out!  I must say!  I started with a recipe from one of many Moosewood Cookbooks I have but tweaked it.

The sauce is made up of roughly 2 to 3 Tablespoons of Peanut 'Butter', 2 Tablespoons of Braggs Liquid Aminos, 1 to 2 Tablespoons of Seasame Oil, 3 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice, and 2 to 3 Tablespoons of Agave Nectar or Natural Honey.  I blended all of this into my Magic Bullet and drizzled over top of my salad.  I'm not a Blanching-Pro but it's the method I attempted with the 'greens'.  It kept them a vibrant green in color but also kept them crunchy!