Day 2! The Vegan Luster is Starting to Fade.

Tuesday

Thoughts:

I'm hungry! Not really but emotionally! I'm realizing I must be addicted to cheese, because I'm starting to feel withdrawal! Cheese is my comfort food of choice. It makes me feel happy, and in my happiness I feel "full" emotionally. I know it sounds complicated but cheese any kin dof cheese does it for me, and right now I'm depriving myself of happiness. Apparently I'm the only one starting to question this little vegan adventure. The hubby came home almost skipping. He LOVED his lunch! Ate it all and said he felt good inside knowing he was eating really healthy "good for you" food! Good for him! Yes, I'm almost rolling my eyes. Why am I not equally happy? This was all my idea! I guess I better suck it up and get focused. I'm no quitter!

So for Breakfast:

The girls and I had more Fruit Salad, Blueberry Muffins and Blueberry Soy Yogurt. Hubby had more Oatmeal and sliced bananas.

After yesterdays fiasco which I amazingly forgot to share?! I decided to cut us all a break and fall back on an old faithful. 

Lunch:

PB & J on Whole Grain Bread with Almond Milk and Fruit Salad.

So let me tell you about yesterday's lunch. What started out as a great idea ended badly!

I decide the girls would like making their own pizzas. I made them on these Flat Out Wraps which don't say they're vegan but have no animal products in them other than honey which I know some vegans don't approve of. Okay so we know I'm not a real vegan and as much as I consider myself a purist I still bought these wraps , and I'm calling them vegan, sue me. The tomato sauce and Daiya mozzarella cheese are vegan.

Everything was going great, and the girls enjoyed spreading the sauce out and sprinkling the cheese.

Then we toasted the pizzas in the toaster oven to melt the cheese and warm the wrap.

Looks great doesn't it? Well it would have been, the Flat Out Wraps are really tasty! The problem was the Daiya veggie cheese. I'm not going to be prejudice against all veggie cheese but this brand was terrible. Here I go, ready? The texture was nice until you chew a little, then it feels like your mouth is stuck together. Maybe it was just too much "cheese" but that's just me being nice. It was a really weird feeling in your mouth! Even the girls decided after a few  Needless to say I had to make something different for lunch. Which took up more time, that I don't have. 

So dinner has to be a HIT!

Dinner:

 Gardein Enchiladas Suiza garnished with Toffutti Sour Cream. On the Side Stewed Garbanzo Beans, Yellow Rice, and Steamed Broccoli.

First I pulled out a Secret Weapon (not secret anymore)!!!!

SOFRITO!!!

I keep it in my freezer, it freezes beautifully! I make it in a big batch and use it as I need it. It's made of  fresh cilantro, garlic, green peppers and onion. Some people add tomato but I do not.You can add it to just about anything, it gives this really authentic Spanish flavor to everything. Eggs, Soups, Stews, Roasts, Tacos, Rice and in this case Enchiladas.

So to make the Suizas part you half, season and roast Tomatillos along with garlic and onion.

When they are soft you blend them in a food processor along with some cilantro, and blend until smooth. While the tomatillos roast I cooked the garbanzo beans with Red Onion, Sofrito, a little cumin, and Sazon. Sazon has Mexican saffron in it and that's what gives rice and beans their lovely yellow color.

I like to cook the beans on low until they are tender and falling apart.

Then I sliced and sauteed the Gardein Chicken Scallopini with more of the Sofrito and a few spoonfuls of Suizas sauce.

Doesn't it look like real chicken!!! Then I assembled the Enchiladas.

You just make a little burrito with the "chicken" and I sprinkled a little Daiya cheddar veggie cheese, and poured some sauce on top.

Dinner is served!

And everyone loved it!

Except me :(

Again wit' tha cheese! The shredded "cheddar cheese" just turned me off. The label reads "vegan flavoring" but my buddy Jen the "food scientist" tells me the chemical name ins Diacetyl, thus the name Daiya Cheese. Well it smells almost like real cheese and the taste is a buttery cheesy taste. It's not a bad taste, but when you heat the cheese up it smelled just like vomit. The smell burned my nose it was so bad. So if you make this DON'T use Daiya cheese!

Other than that dinner was great and I especially LOVED the Tofutti non-dairy sour cream! It tastes better than sour cream, creamy, no after taste and lots of flavor.
For dessert:
 I made some labor intense vegan cut-out sugar cookies.

Lemon Sugar Cookies which I put a drop of pink food coloring into for Valentines day. Instead of butter I used Earth Balance and instead of eggs I used apple sauce. I did have to add an extra 1/2 cup of flour and freeze the dough instead of just refrigerate it.
This vegan thing sure does require a lot of time and attention! It makes sense that it would be better for you!
Final Thoughts:
Everyone especially the hubby is loving the vegan thing. That is everyone but me, I'm already counting the days. I don't want any meat but some real cheese would sure be nice. Plus I'm literally spending the entire day cooking and preparing. Well that's an exaggerations, because I am baking and doing a lot of extra things most people wouldn't do. I'm Not complaining, because I'm not starving and I am having fun playing with food.
I know I'm behind on my posting but I'll catch up, and if you haven't noticed all of my pictures were taken with my IPhone (I can't find my camera).
Day 3 coming soon!

Day One of Vegan Week!

Monday

First Thought:

Deep breath, exhale! Okay here we go! I really hope they like the food or this is going to be a loooong week!

The Plan:

Wake up early pack hubby's vegan lunch (pray he eats it...and likes it). Make my lunch as well, get cookin on dinner for tonight, and make the girls some breakfast. Here is what I made my husband for breakfast and lunch.

Breakfast: Fruit Salad, Cinnamon and Raisins Instant Oatmeal with fresh sliced bananas, and Banana Crumb Muffins.

Lunch: Fakin Bacon BLT Wraps with avocado and edamame hummus spread, and a Blueberry Soy yogurt.

 I did myself a favor and made the fruit salad and baked muffins along with the Super Bowl food I made the day before. The vegan muffins I made were soooo good if all else fails I'll just eat vegan muffins all week!! The vegan banana crumb muffins and vegan blueberry muffins were really easy to make too.

(click for the recipes and more pictures)

Back to breakfast, the girls and I had fruit salad and muffins. Then I got to work doing my prep for dinner. The hubby loves fresh beets so I plan to cook then now and keep them in the fridge to break out either today or tomorrow or  Wednesday, or lunch one day. Either way they'll get eaten.

I just cut off the greens and cover them with water, and boil them till they look like this.

Do yourself a BIG favor and don't chuck the beets tops! The leafy greens on beets are really good sauteed with a little garlic and olive oil. I almost prefer the greens to the beets!

I also made really great Vegan White Bean and Cauliflower Rosemary Soup.  (click for pictures and the recipe) My plan it to send the hubby to work with soup tomorrow and keep the rest on hand as a quick meal. I decided to go with a quick easy meal for dinner.

Dinner:

Curried Cauliflower with Sauteed Tofu peas and raisins with Cous Cous season with spirulini and green onions.

Nice way to finish the day. Everyone was happy with dinner even though the girls complained that the cauliflower was spicy (my bad). Despite that they ate the cauliflower and had second helpings of tofu and cous cous!

Vegan White Bean and Cauliflower Rosemary Soup

Now this is a super easy recipe! You can not screw this up as long as you don't burn it! Get all of the ingredients in the picture.

3 cans Cannellini Beans

at least 1 cup Cauliflower rough chopped

4-6 garlic clove (your taste)

1/2 onion

2 rosemary sprigs ( I suggest you pluck the little leaves and chop them, but you don't have to.)

2 tablespoon Canola oil

On medium heat Add the oil, garlic and onion first, cook till the onion is soft. (don't burn it)

Now add everything else and 4 cups of this...

This is what makes this recipe Vegan, if you don't care about that use chicken stock. Bring the stock to a simmer and turn heat down to low. Cook for another 30-45 minutes or until the beans start falling apart.

 Then taste and season with salt and pepper to your taste. Spice it up with a few dashes of Tabasco. You can also add carrot along with the Cauliflower.

Once the soup is seasoned to your taste blend it in a food processor until smooth.

This is a great recipe to freeze for later, and break out as a quick dinner, or lunch!! ENJOY!!

Vegan for a Week!!!!

So I've finally gotten the green light from my hubby! We're going vegan for a week, and we're bringing the kids along with us! I'll just put this out there right now, I've already decided the kids can cheat, cuz how can I deny them their chicken nuggets fix. But Mama and Papa are committed to this vegan adventure.

So I'm sure that a lot of people saw the Oprah Show and their going vegan for a week episode. I also shouted it out on Facebook and got a lot of feedback. I have been wanting to change my diet and eat healthier, more vegetables less meat, less carbs. And I thought going vegan would be like going to rehab. At the very least when this week is over I'll just add dairy back into my diet, which would make me a vegetarian which, I can do!

I should take this moment to issue a little disclaimer. I'm not recommending anyone just go vegan for a week on their own. Definitely ease into it! Try eating vegetarian once or twice a week. Take the time to try out alternatives to meat and dairy products. Give you self the chance to develop a taste for them. I am a professional chef and I have taken the time to try lots of different vegan and vegetarian products with my family. I've also planned a menu with a variety of fresh products not just processed meat alternatives, so we not only get a variety of flavors but a variety of nutrients. We also take vitamin supplements every day.

The trick to changing your diet is always find great substitutes for your favorite dishes, and never let yourself get hungry, plan your snacks!

So, the first thing I figured out is my plan. Not any old plan you mark out in your head. A real plan, the kind you sit down and write on a piece of paper. Starting with, what the hell am I going to eat?

Okay so this is my plan......

First I trolled the Internet looking for sample menus just to get an idea of what other vegans eat. Then I

applied my Culinary skills and came up with my own menu. Meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 7 days, plus snacks and add on meals. I'm going vegan and I don't plan on starving plus I have 3 children and I need to get focused so I don't panic every time they say, "I'm hungry."

Here it is my menu! Well, I won't tell you that now. I'll share that later this week. Let me tell you about my grocery store adventure!

After I got my menu together I made a grocery list of everything I would need and headed down to my favorite place, Wegmans, Or as we call it at our house, "Weggy Wegs." Thank goodness I made a grocery list!

Because its easy to get distracted in Wegmans. Wegmans has alot of really great store brands that taste amazing and are really affordable. So, It was really nice to see such a huge variety of vegetarian and vegan products. Plus Wegmans has a special labeling system which tells you if products happen to be vegan, vegetarian, lactose free, heart healthy, Kosher, etc. I'm prity sure other stores have similar labeling systems. I found this really helpful because it meant I didn't have to look for some new vegan product to use in place of some product we already know and like. As an example we have oatmeal in the morning, and for the convinence we use instant oatmeal in the individual packs and add fresh fruit to it.. The Wegmans brand Maple and Brown sugar oatmeal is not vegan but the Wegmans brand Raisin & Spice is, so we just switched flavors. I used this trick for a few items.

 

 I also bought twice as much fresh fruits and vegetables. That along with some new vegan meat alternative, tofu, seitan, Almond Milk, Earth Balance Butter, Soy Yogurt, and Daiya Veggie Cheese.

As for the produce I picked  items that packed the most punch both in nutritional value and flavor. I got cantaloupe, blueberries, pineapple and strawberries for a fruit salad. I figure we can have fruit salad for breakfast a few days and for dessert or snack a few other days. I got both spinach and collard greens, plus I plan to cook the green on the beets. I grabbed tomatillos and tomato for plus fresh herbs, Cilantro, rosemary and thyme. The Avocados I like to throw on everything, salads, sandwiches, bread or just mash them up. Cherry tomatoes will be sliced in half and roasted over pasta. In our house broccoli is a staple item, along with sweet potato. One of my husbands favorites is fresh beets; so I got golden and regular cooked with carrots they are so sweet!

 

In all fairness I should say that a lot of the vegan and vegetarian products shown above are not new to my family. The kids actually prefer Almond Milk to cow's milk and have been drinking it for at least a year. They eat soy yogurts for breakfast about 4 days a week althought they prefer cow's milk yogurt, but I think the soy is better for you. The Morning Star breakfast "meat" we've all had quite a few times before, same thing with the seitan fakin' bacon, and tofu. The Grits are totally animal product free, good thing because we wouldn't want to give them up anyway. The veggy cheese I've had before but not the Daiya brand.
So the new products are the Tofurky Italian Sausage, Daiya veggie Cheese, non-dairy sour cream, Gardein "chicken" scallopini, and the Tasty Bites Indian Food.

A few things I didn't mention are the Canneloni beans, Falafel, edamame hummus, and the Bolthouse Juices. Later this week I'll be posting the recipe for a super easy and really flavorful White Bean and Rosemary soup that I plan to make. Yes, it's vegan! The edamame hummus was another of the hubbies favorites so it was great news to find out, it too is vegan.
I will post this weeks adventure as it unfolds. Wish me luck!
I

Holiday Cupcakes & Cookies

The Festivities have begun! I'm feeling in the spirit! So, I want to show you these yummies I made, for the Allentown Christmas Tree Lighting last year.Everyone loved them ad I maaged to sell them all (and a few boxes hiding behind the table.) The flavors in this shot, starting at 12 oclock, Vanilla Vanilla, Chococlate Chocolate, Candy Cane, Red Velvet, Egg Nog, Red Velevet again, Vanilla Chocolate and Mint Chocolate Chip. I'm still brainstorming this year's flavors but i'll post some pictures soon.

 Did I mention I made cookies too! Angels were my favorite, the snow men were the girl's favorites.

 Here is everything all layed out on display. Lehigh Valley Cupcakes!

Happy Holidays!!!

Great Pancakes and Zesting Fun

At our house we eat pancakes! We eat pancakes at least twice a week. I make them from scratch trying out all sorts of recipes that I come across. I make pancakes with box mixes I add water, or milk. I add all sorts of yummies to the pancakes. I make them with blueberries, with strawberries, with bananas, or chocolate chips. BUT, these pancakes are the best I've made in a while. All thanks to my friend Jen!

The trick is buttermilk and lemon zest. I used regular pancake mix and to it I added buttermilk and lemon zest. The buttermilk is added in place of the water (as needed) and lemon zest, the more the better.

Seriously you can not screw this up just don't be cheep with the lemon zest! Now in case your not familiar with lemon zest, what it is, how to find it, let me assist you. Lemon zest is made using a zester and a lemon, get it. (See my zester in the picture) The key is the actual zester which is a really simple tool that just scrapes off the skin of citrus fruits. So if you don't have a zester do your self a favor and grab one. Adding the zest of a lemon or lime or orange to any recipes can really take your cooking and baking to the next level.

Great Summer Harvest

Well now the summer is over and I would like to take the time to say....
This summer rocked! Especially when it came to all the really great fresh produce I scored. From the very best heirloom tomatoes to these gigantic okra courtesy of the PPL Grower's Mkt. Or super sweet blueberries and black berries picked at Schmidts farm. This was a really fruitful summer!!

Making Sesame Street's Grover into a Cookie

My friend Jen who is a scientist and a baker at heart asked me for advise about making candy Grover lolly- pops. I of course immediately thought of making Grover Cookies. So I asked her if I could make them for her daughter Cece's 2nd birthday party, she said yes.

I started by using a basic butter cookie recipe (I prefer butter cookies to sugar) and a round cookie cutter. Place the cookies on a baking sheet then insert a lolly-pop stick into each cookie before baking. If the sticks come through you can reinforce that area with extra cookie dough. Not to worry you won't see it once the cookies have icing.

To Ice the cookies I use a standard Royal Icing Recipe.

3 Tablespoons Meringue Powder
4 cups (about 1 lb.) confectioners sugar
6 tablespoons warm water

Mix all ingredients together and separate into 5 zip-loc bags. Add the specified colors to each bag. The Blue bag should be the bag with the most icing. You will need Blue (Grover's Body), White (Grover's eye's), Pink (Grover's nose), Black (Grover's eyes), and Red (Grover's mouth).

Okay so once the icing is tinted I like using the bags as piping tools, I just cut a tiny piece of the end of the bag. I just found these tiny bottles which work well also. Once the cookies are baked and cool you will pipe the royal icing out in the same pattern as shown in the photo above. While the icing is still wet you sprinkle matching color jimmies (sprinkles). The Jimmies look like fur.
Once Grover is furry let the cookies dry for about 20 minutes.

Once the fur is dry you fill the eyes, the nose, and the mouth. Then let the cookie dry for 15-20 more minute. Do the black of the eyes last. Let the cookies dry for a few hours before packaging. The royal icing will be hard to the touch when it's completely dry.

I use the same technique to make the other Sesame Street characters.

http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Royal-Icing

Eating Cupcakes in the Rain

So while the rain has been getting a lot of people down, I have the perfect trick to keep us all happy no matter the weather. I took the Cupcakes and Cookies to the 6th Annual Allentown Street Festival, Despite all of our wishes it rained...again! But we got lucky an Sharon the event organizer put us under a gazebo so we stayed dry. I set up our table and waited.

Even in the rain, they came! And they wanted cupcakes!

(Artist Kerri Stevens enjoying a Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate butter cream, she makes the most amazing things out of recycled things. Like wallets out of milk cartons....amazing!)


(Community organizer, Artist, Puppeteer & Chef extraordinaire Yodi enjoying a vanilla cupcake with vanilla butter cream. Yodi is the go to man of Allentown, he organizers these really cool gorilla style art exhibits, makes bigger than life puppets and I just found out he's also a Chef.)

I tried some new ideas for the cookies. Sesame Street and Sponge Bob! There was Grover (my friend Jen gave me that idea), Oscar the Grouch, (was Veronica and Blair's idea) Elmo, some stars for Father's Day and Sponge Bob. The cookies just flew off the table, because what kid can resist these character cookie!

So now we know the secret to beating the "rainy day blues".....Lehigh Valley Cupcakes!!!!!

Great for eating in the rain!

Artist, Melissa Reinbold and her guy eating cupcakes under umbrella. Melissa makes beautiful new pieces of jewelry from found objects and old broken jewelry. She's also a talented graphics designer and helping me with a new logo for Lehigh Valley Cupcakes. They thought the icing "tastes like ice cream"...I LOVE IT!!!!!

Stay tuned and stay dry..... I'm going to show you how I made those cute Grover cookies.

Aneley's Birthday Party Invites

Aneley's last day of preschool happened to also be her turn to bring snack for the class. So since we were inviting the whole class, we decided to make these cookie which accompanied invitations to Aneley's 4th Birthday Party. What better attention grabber then bright colored cookies. I picked the cutter and Aneley choose the icing colors.

I think these are the craziest colored cookies I have ever done. That's what happens when a 3 almost 4 year old is calling the shots. I love the little candles on each cookie that was my favorite part!

Aneley loved how they turned out! Except the part about not eating them until the friends at school got their invitations. Mommy baking cookies and cupcakes all the time and not getting to eat them all is very confusing! Once the cookies were packaged, I attached them to the invites in the teal envelopes. This is how the invites and finished cookies looked. I thought this ribbon made them look like little presents.

They were a huge hit at school...of course!!! What kid doesn't like cookies? I think I like doing cookie favors the best!