The Vegan What, Where and Why

I saw a really great post earlier on a site I was visiting and I thought I'd share it.  

 

"The word 'veganism' denotes a philosophy and way of living which seeks to end the idea of animals as property and exclude all forms of intentional exploitation of, use of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing, research or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, including people and the environment.
In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals."

This should give you the info to help start off veganism a lot easier:

Here is a list of animal ingredients to avoid:

http://www.happycow.net/health-animal-ingredients.html

More things to avoid:

1. Animals as clothes: Leather, skins, furs, wool, silk, down, feathers...

2. Animals as entertainment:  Circuses, rodeos, zoos, aquariums, animal fights, animal races, hunting...

3. Companies that DO NOT test on animals(however CHECK INGREDIENTS they only verify testing not ingredients): http://www.leapingbunny.org/indexcus.php


Vegan products:
http://www.veganstore.com/

http://www.animalrightscoalition.com/

 

Vegan recipes:
http://vegweb.com/

Happy Tofurkey Day!

Check out this Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake I am making.  Stole it from a wonderful vegan, Megan: http://www.downhomevegan.com/2011/10/chocolate-cheese.html

I'm also making pumpkin pie.  This is a long time favorite of mine and I have yet to make it really, really great as a vegan.  Maybe this time will be the charm?!?

Lastly, I made oatmeal raisin cookies...

I may post pictures later.  This baking session got interrupted by Murray, the sick doggie.  Feel better, Murray!

Mashed Potato Pizza and Beer Cake

A vegan's delight.  To try to make a non-vegan, meat loving, omnivore think twice (even for a brief moment) about a vegan diet.  This got eaten by three non-vegans, one of whom is my roommate and she's probably 70% vegan.  At home, she's 90% vegan at home.

Tonight, I attempted to make a vegan version of Pizza Luce's Baked Potato Pizza.  I declined using the broccoli, and was not quite sure on the recipe due to the fact that I have not eaten this pizza since I went vegan.   Anyway, my roommate talked me into using whole wheat flour...that was the first mistake.  Overall, I gave this pizza a Vegan Gal rating of 3. It could have been much better with an improved crust.

The beer cake, coming from the woman who hates beer, is not good.  I give this a Vegan Gal rating of 1. Don't make this cake.  I got this idea on a wild hair.  Not again.

Try my chocolate fudge cake with raspberry sauce.  Now, I give this a Vegan Gal rating of 8.  This is a bad picture.

Shepherd's Pie and Chocolate Cake

Traditional Vegan Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients

• Mashed potato layer:
• 5 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons vegan cream cheese
• 2 teaspoons salt
•  
• Bottom layer:
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 clove garlic, minced, or more to taste
• 1 pinch ground black pepper to taste
• Some sort of meat substitute (I used two cups of TVP)
•  
• 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Daiya

Directions

1. Place the potatoes in a pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Turn the heat to medium-low, and boil the potatoes until tender, about 25 minutes; drain.
2. Stir the vegan mayonnaise, soy milk, olive oil, vegan cream cheese, and salt into the potatoes, and mash with a potato masher until smooth and fluffy. Set the potatoes aside.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and spray a 2-quart baking dish with cooking spray.
4. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir the onion, carrots, celery, frozen peas, and tomato until softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the Italian seasoning, garlic, and pepper.
5. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and crumble the vegetarian ground beef substitute into the skillet with the vegetables. Cook and stir, breaking up the meat substitute, until the mixture is hot, about 5 minutes.
6. Spread the TVP mixture into the bottom of the baking dish, and top with the mashed potatoes, smoothing them into an even layer. Sprinkle the potatoes with the shredded cheese.
7. Bake in the preheated oven until the cheese is melted and slightly browned and the casserole is hot, about 20-25 minutes.

Here's a pic before going into the oven.  I give this a Vegan Gal rating of 6 (my roommate says it needs a rating of at least 7).  Add mushroom gravy for more flavor and down home style.

Chocolate cake with Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting

Cake Ingredients

1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup warm water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp distilled white or apple cider vinegar

Mix the dry ingredients first and then add the wet.  You can even prepare this in the pan you bake it in to save dishes! Bake in an 8x8 pan at 350 for about 30 minutes.  

Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting (from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's) The Joy of Vegan Baking

This cake is divine.  Vegan girl rating of 7.5!  This cake is so good that non-vegans will rave about it!

Enchiladas, Vegan Style

Vegan Enchiladas with Spanish Rice

I give this a vegan gal rating of 8!  It was wonderful!

Enchiladas

One box Fantastic Foods vegan taco filling or other protein filler such as soy crumbles, etc.
One can enchilada sauce
One can of black beans, drained and rinsed
One case of diced tomatoes
2-3 cups of corn
2 teaspoons cumin
Tortillas
green onions
Daiya cheddar or pepper jack cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine the cooked taco filling with the beans, corn, cumin, tomatoes and half of the can of enchilada sauce.  Divide mixture into tortillas.  Add Daiya on top, wrap and place into a greased baking dish.  Repeat this step until the mixture is gone.  Cover tortillas with the rest of the enchilada sauce, Daiya and top with chopped green onions.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Spanish rice makes a great side dish!

Crazy Good Home Made Lasagna!

Ultimate Lasagna

Ingredients:

• 2 medium onions, chopped (2 cups)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (1 Tbs.)
• 10-oz. bag fresh baby spinach
• 2 14-oz. pkgs. firm tofu, drained
• 1 8-oz. pkg. vegan cream cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
  
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 pound of mushrooms
• black olives, sliced

LASAGNA

• One jar of your favorite pasta sauce
• 12 lasagna noodles
• Soy sausage crumbles, broken apart
• 1 bag Daiya shredded mozzarella cheese

1. To make Filling: Preheat oven to 375°F. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté onions and garlic in oil 4 to 5 minutes, or until golden. Add spinach, and cook 2 to 3 minutes, or until wilted. Transfer spinach mixture to bowl of food processor. Add tofu, cream cheese, basil, and nutritional yeast, and purée until mixture is thick and smooth. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.
2. I cooked the mushrooms with the soy crumbles.  You can do this however you wish. Mix together the tofu mixture with the soy crumbles and mushrooms.  Set aside.
3. Spread one-quarter of the sauce on bottom of 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Cover with 4 or 5 noodles, then half of filling, and ladle on another one-quarter of sauce. Repeat layer of noodles and remaining Filling. Spread sauce evenly over top, and top with sauce and sprinkle with shredded cheese.
4. Cover lasagna with foil, and bake 30 minutes, or until bubbling hot. Uncover, and bake 15 to 20 minutes more, or until noodles are tender and topping is melted. I add the black olives right at the end for fun. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.  The Daiya can get kind of greasy on top, but it still tastes so good!

Rice Crispy Bars with Dandies

Ingredients:

3 tbls. vegan margarine
One package (10 oz.) of Dandies Vegan Marshmallows
1/2 peanut butter (optional)
6 cups vegan (and preferably organic and non-GMO) crispy rice cereal

Melt the butter over low heat.  Add the Dandies and melt those as well.  Remove the pan from the heat and add the peanut butter.  Then add the cereal and mix really well.  Press the mixture into a greased pan and allow it to cool.  Then enjoy!

Vegan Tator Tot Hotdish

This is an old favorite.  I used to complain when my mom made this...ungrateful.  Anyway, I had an urge to make this old school comfort food.  I give it a vegan gal rating of 6.


White sauce:

• 2 cups soy milk
• 3 T. vegan margarine
• 2 T. flour
• salt and pepper to taste

Casserole:

• One 16-ounce bags of frozen veggies, I used mixed beans, peas, corn and carrots
• One bag of tater tots, use only enough to cover the top of the casserole
• 1/2 package of soy crumbles
• 1 bag of Daiya® cheddar cheese
• 4 dollops of vegan margarine

1. Over medium-low heat, mix the flour and margarine. When light brown and bubbly, remove from heat and add soy milk slowly while whisking. Take your time, make sure it’s thoroughly whisked and not lumpy.
2. Return sauce to medium heat and cook until the sauce thickens. Use a wire whisk constantly as sauce thickens.
3. Once thickened to coat a spoon, remove from heat and add salt and pepper to taste.
4. In a 9 x 12 inch casserole, mix the frozen veggies, crumbles, Daiya and white sauce.
5. Scatter the dollops of Earth Balance on top.
6. Top with 1 layer of tater tots, side-by-side, end-to-end.
7. Bake for 1 hour at 375° F.

Fudge from The Joy of Vegan baking cookbook by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
The peanut butter sent it over the top!  I give it a vegan gal rating of 5!  You better have the unsweetened almond milk to go with it because this stuff is rich.

Happy Vegan Eating everyone!