Fresh fruit salad

This is a very simple very delicious recipe. It can be modified for any fruit you want to use.  When making a fruit salad I like to squeeze some fresh orange juice on it. This does two things it keeps the color in the fruit more vibrant and it gives a hint of a citrus taste.

Ingredients: 

Half of a medium watermelon diced into bite sized chunks

2 mangos peeled and diced 

1 quart strawberries 

  Any other fruit you would like to add for color or flavor

2 medium oranges juiced

Directions:

Mix all fruit in a large mixing bowl and add the orange juice stir lightly but evenly chill and enjoy!

Yum and done!

Banana Vanilla Cupcakes

I made these beauties for a Memorial Day party.  It is my basic vegan cupcake recipe with 1/2 cup more flour, 1/2 tsp more baking powder, and two bananas blended in at the end of mixing.  I signify the banana flavor by placing a dried banana chip on the top of the frosting.  And yes those are dinosaur sprinkles I was using!

Yum and done!

Spinach Pesto Pasta Salad

I have been introduced to other ways to make pesto recently.  Before I have always used pine nuts but now I am using walnuts.  Better nutritional value and less fat!  I have also been experimenting with putting spinach in the pesto mix with delicious results, and more vitamins to boot!  I apologize in advance for not having photos of the salad it was going before I could take a photo but I am sure I will make many more times this summer and I promise to post my results!

Ingredients:

   For the pesto

 2 cups spinach leaves 

 1 bunch basil

 1 to 2 cloves garlic (depending on preference)

 1/3 cup walnuts

 3 tbsp olive oil

 Salt and pepper to taste

   For the salad

  Box of pasta of your choice I prefer fusilli buries up to you

  8 to 10 olives diced

  1 medium tomato diced

  1/4 cup banana peppers diced
  2 to 3 green onions diced
  Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

      Start the water for the pasta.  In a cuisinart or blender blend the spinach basil and 2 tbsp of the olive oil. After that is blended well add the walnuts garlic and the rest of the olive oil and blend well taste and add the salt and pepper as needed.  Set aside (I usually find it much easier to put in bowl and place in the fridge so it is ready to go).  As the pasta is cooking prep the rest of the vegetables.  Add to a large mixing bowl and add the pesto.  After the pasta is rinsed and drained add that and mix well.
Yum and done!

So then I realized this was vegan!

We were at Trader Joe's the other day and well this was on the end cap near the register. I usually don't indulge even looking at the ingredients of most of this stuff because usually there is milk or some other non-vegan component.  But, well it had a flamingo on it so I had to pick it up right, that is what any normal person would use as a deciding factor in any chocolate bar purchase!  Well it's vegan!  It is dark chocolate and the caramel is made out of coconut with very tiny pieces of coconut in it, truly delicious! Needless to say that poor chocolate bar didn't have long for the world after it was purchased!  Rest in peace, delicious peace chocolate bar!

Ginger Snaps

I recently got some crystallized ginger chips from The Ginger People and decided to try my  hand at the ginger snap recipe they had on the container.  I made it vegan by using egg replacer along with an extra 1/4 cup of water.  The results were awesome!  This is by far my favorite cookie I have made this year, I will make this recipe again, and again and again!  
One word of warning you have to chill the dough and make balls then roll those balls in sugar.  If you think you can skip out on chilling the dough you are wrong as it will make it much less sticky and easier to handle so don't skip that step.

This stuff is pretty awesome!

Ingredients:
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar plus more for rolling the dough in sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup non-dairy butter
• 1/4 cup dark molasses
• 2 tsp of ener-G egg replacer dissolved in 2 tbsp warm water
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 can or 3 1/2 ounces of ginger chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.  Sift dry ingredients together in a bowl then set aside.  Next cream butter and sugar add in molasses and egg replacer along with the 1/4 cup of water.  Incorporate the dry ingredients 1/3 at a time mix well after each incorporation.  Next chill the dough for one hour.  

Here they are getting rolled in sugar

After the dough is chilled form into 1-inch balls and roll in granulated sugar.  Place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, 2 inches apart.  

getting ready for the oven, be careful they spread!

Bake 10 to 12 minutes.  Remove while still soft.  Let cookies cool on sheet before removing.  Makes about 3 dozen.

Yum and done!

Almond Milk

I have seen a few things on the internet about home made raw almond milk and I figured I would give it a try.  I am so very happy I did it was pretty easy to do an probably the best almond milk I have ever tasted.  Make sure you have some cheese cloth on hand before you start the recipe, you will need something to strain the mixture through and even a fine weave strainer won't work.  There are companies that make nut milk straining bags but I am pretty happy with the results from the cheesecloth.

Ingredients:

• 2 cup raw almonds
• 6 cups of water for soaking almonds
• 4 cups water
• 4 dates (optional)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla (optional)

Directions:

Soak almonds at least 12 hours in the six cups of water.

Here they are post soaking

Drain the water from the almonds and rinse well. Place the almonds and 4 cups of water in a blender, plus the optional dates and vanilla if you are using them.  Blend until smooth, you shouldn't be able to see any large chunks of almonds.

before the blending process

Strain the blended almond mixture using a cheesecloth, I placed my cheese cloth in a strainer, which I believe made the process easier.

The cheesecloth in the strainer

This is an example of the almond mixture left over in the cheesecloth

This raw almond milk will keep well in the refrigerator for three or four days, so drink up!

Yum and done!

Apple Crisp

I was wanting something sweet the other day and wasn't in the mode to make a cake or something to rich and chocolaty, plus I had some extra apples in the fridge.  The results, delicious!  This is a pretty simple recipe the hardest part is letting it cook for almost an hour but after that you can feel free to put a scoop of vanilla soy ice cream on the side for an extra treat!
Ingredients:
• 5 apples peeled, cored and sliced
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup flour
• 2 tsp cinnamon

• 1 cup quick oats
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 non-dairy butter melted
• 1/4 tsp salt


here it is ready for the oven

Directions:
  Preheat oven to 375, and spray a 9 by 9 baking dish. Then in a large bowl toss the apples, sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of the 3/4 cup of flour together and place in the baking dish.
 In a medium bowl combine the rest of the flour, cinnamon, quick oats, brown sugar and salt mix then add the butter mix until there are dime to nickel size lumps. These will be little bits of deliciousness after baked!  Pour the mixture over the apples and push some down to rest between the apples but leave a good amount on the top.  Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes then take the foil off and bake for another 10 minutes this will give it a great brown crust!

Yum and done complete with soy ice cream!