Norwegian Potato Salad & Creamed Peas (Grønn ertestuing)

 Just a short post today to share with you TWO Norwegian Side Dishes for Norwegian Vegan Foods Week here at My Blissful Journey!  This first one is Creamed Peas or Grønn ertestuing in Norwegian!  BUT...wait...it's not 'just peas'...it's true!  I added a little more for color and nutrition but the idea is the same!  There are Peas, Corn, Carrots, Green Beans, and Lima Beans in there!  I used an Organic Frozen Bag I got on sale a while back.  Here is how I made it CREAMED, tho...


2 C Mixed Veggies (or straight-up Peas)
2-3 C Water
3 T Earth Balance
3 T All-Purpose Flour (I used Gluten Free from Bob's Red Mills)
1 tea Coconut Crystals (you can also use Sugar of choice)
Salt, Pepper - to taste (I used Wildtree's California Blend)

This turned out pretty good.  Not one of my most favorite dishes or attempts but not too shabby.  I think it was more of a texture thing with me than anything.  I am glad I tried it tho and I did eat almost all of it!  I had a small dish as a snack - since it is fairly sweet - but I had two helpings with my last two Cabbage Rolls.  It worked out nicely!  I'm told TRADITIONALLY this pairs nicely with meatballs but if you were to do the veg*n equivalent - I would assume it would also go well with Veggie Meatballs or a Nutloaf, even!

Another side I did was  Norwegian Potato Salad as you can see a little bit of it in the blue glass dish, here.  I only did enough for one side to accompany my meal...but I will be doing this again and soon because I really enjoyed it!  Here's the quesi-recipe for this:

3 Potatoes
1/2 to 1 Onion
2 T Grapeseed Oil
1/4 C Apple Cider Vinegar
1 T Coconut Crystals (or Sugar of Choice)
2 T Parsley

I'll be back tomorrow with more!  In the meantime...I would LOVE to read your comments!  Have a great day!

Cauliflower Soup (blomkålsuppe), Mail Call Monday, Foods Alive Nutritional Yeast

 Hi friends!  Happy Tuesday!  When I get stuff in the mail - I'm like a kid in a candy shop!  Seriously!  Every single item I get in the mail I am extremely thankful for!  Today...I am especially thankful for my new friends at Foods Alive!  Here are some of the wonderful products I will be writing about in the next few weeks!  I have to admit I have already started munching on BOTH of the Flax Crackers!  YUM!  Full review on them coming soon!  I also already tried the Nutritional Yeast...which I will get to in a moment.

 As you may (or may not) know...I have been doing theme weeks here at My Blissful Journey!  The Theme is World Foods and this week is foods from the country of Norway!  Yesterday I mentioned that I do have Norwegian roots so I am quite interested in the veg*n foods and food alternatives!  If anyone has any vegan recipes from Norway I would appreciate it!  Another thing I am looking for is suggestions for next week!  Which country would you like to see 'tastes' from?

Today I'm posting about blomkålsuppe - Norwegian Cauliflower Soup!  It's been a while since I have made a soup.  I used to do them all the time!

I guess one could say I did this soup TWO Ways!  In the first photo I did the soup - straight-up - and in the 2nd photo I added a little something!  Here's what I did...

4 C Vegetable Stock (I used Wildtree Vegetable Bouillon to make it!)
3 Small Potatoes
5 C Cauliflower
1 Carrot
Pinch of Parsley
Pinch of Nutmeg

For the 2nd photo I added 1/4 C of Foods Alive Nutritional Yeast to give it a cheesier type flavor.  This worked really well!  I probably could have also added Garlic and/or Almond Milk and maybe some more small potatoes and/or some potato flakes - or even a squirt or two of Bragg's Liquid Amino's - and I might - down the road when I try this again - but I would certainly call this a successful attempt in it's own!

I was going to wait to review their lovely Nutritional Yeast but since we are talking about it - now is as good a time as any!

The Product Description from their website is this...

Nutritional yeast is an excellent source of protein, dietary fiber, vitamins (especially the B-complex vitamins including B12), and minerals. Yellow in color and with a nutty cheesy flavor, nutritional yeast is an inactive yeast that is a favorite amongst many vegans because of its unique flavor and similarity to cheese when added to foods.
Vegan - Kosher - Gluten Free - Co-Op America Approved

If you have read any of my posts before you will see that I have used Nutritional Yeast several times in my postings!  I have tried other brands - they are either too expensive - and/or not available in my area!  When I saw that Foods Alive's Nutritional Yeast was $8.99 for 6-ounces I knew it was a DEAL!  Then when I smelled and tasted it for the very first time last night I knew right away that it was far superior than my 'default' I have been buying on the local level in bulk.

I'm extremely excited about this Nutritional Yeast!  I will be using it often in near-future posts!  But I had to share this with you NOW!

Another awesome thing I found was on the Foods Alive website a video for Popcorn using their Nutritional Yeast!  You'll HAVE to check it out!

Also...when you are on that page make sure you click on the Nutritional Info for the product!  Not only is it wonderful for B Vitamin's, etc...it's full of PROTEIN!  Their Nutritional Yeast has 8 grams of Protein in just 3 Tablespoons!

This product is YOUR ammo - vegetarians, vegans, and health nuts!  This is your ammo to those questioning you with those phrases we've all heard before...'where do  you get your protein' & 'what about B Vitamins' - well...here you go!  This is a fabulous product at a great price from a wonderful company with quality products that is good AND good for you!

Do NOT pass this up!  And PLEASE follow my blog!  I'd love to see you return as I have many other tricks up my sleeve!  Have a great day!

Participating Post In:

• Link Party Tuesday
• Sweet Shot Tuesday
• Tasty Tuesday Party
• Tasty Tuesdays
• Totally Tasty Tuesdays
• Tuesday Friend Connect
• Vegan Tuesdays
• Tuesday Tweets

Vegan Cabbage Rolls, Healthy Vegan Challenge Start, Norwegian Mustard Sauce, Silly Pups, and Stuff

First things First!  Hello Monday!  Today is the FIRST Day of the Healthy Vegan Challenge over at Carrie On Vegan and I'll be participating as I mentioned before!  I'm rather excited about it!  So keep an eye out on near future related posts!  Today's post includes several attempts that fit within this challenge as well!  Such as - one of my goals was to make at least one home made salad dressing per week!  I already accomplished this for THIS WEEK.  More on that below.  Another goal of mine was to continue on with the World Foods Veg*n Style!  I also am doing this!  BECAUSE...this week is Vegan Foods of NORWAY Week!  But before I get to that I have these Cabbage Rolls to share with you!

I was super happy with my very first attempt at Vegan Cabbage Rolls!  They took a long time to do which I am NOT known for at all!  I like quick and easy!  But I would 'treat myself' with these on occasion!  Here is what I did!

For the filling I used:

1 C Cooked Quinoa
2 C Black Beans
1 T Garlic Galore from Wildtree
and I cooked down in some of the sauce.

For the Sauce I used:
1 Medium Onion
2 Smaller Cans of Diced Tomatoes with Green Chili's
About 6-ounces of Tomato Sauce
1/4 C Agave Nectar

I covered the rolls in the sauce and baked for about 45 mins at 375.

 And now for my first Norwegian Addition for this week!  I'm part Norwegian!  I've done a lot of research on my Norwegian Roots with the help of an online friend named Ann!  She's wonderful and I couldn't have done it without her!

When I saw a recipe for Norwegian Mustard Sauce recently I was excited because many of the ingredients I had in my pantry but I wanted to tinker with some of my alternative products, too!

So I ended up doing this recipe last night that I altered quite a bit!  I also ended up using some of my Wildtree Products in this!

3 T Wildtree Dill Blend
2 T Yellow Mustard
1 T Agave Nectar
2 T Apple Cider Vinegar
2 T Wildtree Garlic Grapeseed Oil
1 T Lemon Juice

I added this all to my Ninja and came up with the photo you see here!  BOY OH BOY!  It packs a powerful punch!  I could probably do with 1 to 2 T at the most of the Dill in this case but I'm going to enjoy it regardless!

I can picture this on a salad, as a marinade for Kale Chips or Tofu, or even as a coating for Spinach or Cauliflower!

I had to add a few weekend photo's of the dogs!  They were overly silly this weekend!  The cats were pretty low key but still as cute as ever!  This morning Gabby freaked out a little and it made me laugh out loud!

Anyhow...here is Riley and Suzie!

Suzie's been doing this thing were she'll get REALLY close to Riley either on the floor or on the sofa...I mean, we have a large floor space and The sofa is pretty big, too, but were ever Riley is she'll nearly sit on him as if there were 'no room'.  Here...Riley was laying on his back.  He lays on his back more than any dog I have met!  Suzie went up to him and nearly sat on his shoulder!  Silly Kids!

And over here...is Paco!  If you look really close his tooth is sticking out!  He was totally attached to his "daddy" this weekend!  Even more than usual.

He's surely NOT a afraid of the camera!  He's a HAM.

Some of you know I am not the best at Meal Planning so I often call it Meal HOPE.  Here is what I have in mind for this week so far!

Monday -
Breakfast - Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal
Lunch - Vegetable Soup
Snack - Flax Crackers
Dinner - Leftover Cabbage Rolls

Tuesday -
Breakfast - TBA Oatmeal
Lunch - TBA Veggie Stir Fry
Dinner - Tofurky Kielbasa
Snack - Crackers & Maple Peanut Butter

Wednesday -
Breakfast - Fruit Smoothie
Lunch - Leftover Veggie/Rice/Stirfry
Dinner - Falafel with sauce
Snack - Apple

Thursday -
Breakfast - TBA Smoothie
Lunch - TBA Cauliflower Dish
Dinner - Leftover Falafel and rice
Snack - Dates & Maple Peanut Butter

Friday - TBA Oatmeal
Lunch - Leftovers OR Soup
Dinner - HUGE Salad
Snack - TBA Crackers

Saturday & Sunday - TBA

I already have TONS to post for tomorrow but realize this post is long enough for the day so I will wait.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  I LOVE comments - drop me one - if you have time!  Thanks! 

Participating In: Meal Plan Monday - Mellow Yellow Mondays - Catching The Light - Mandarin Orange Monday - Hello Monday - Mix It Up Monday - Macro Monday - Miscellany Monday - Sunday Snapshot - Camera Critters - Pet Pride - Just Another Meatless Monday - Made By You Monday - My Meatless Mondays - Project 52 - Simple As That - Veggie Mama's Meatless Monday - Marvelous In My Monday  - Clever Clicks