Saturday, July 30, 2011

Vegan Butterfingers

Pretty much everyone loves butterfingers.  Who didn't grow up with Bart Simpson skateboarding around telling people off for trying to eat his butterfinger? However, since becoming vegan, they're sort of off the table.  Which is why I was sort of irritated nobody every told me about Chick-O-Sticks until last week:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick-O-Stick

Chick-O-Sticks are exactly like the middle of butterfingers.  Super delicious and peanut buttery.  After finding this part, it was easy to make a full butterfinger.

I bought 3 packs of Chick-O-Sticks (if you live in Chicago, you can find these at an awesome candy store called Candyality).

I improvised my sort of double broiler by placing a metal bowl over a pot of boiling water (works just as well) and then dumped in 1/2 a bag of semi sweet Ghiradelli chocolate chips to melt.  I always add about a teaspoon of vanilla when melting chocolate, but that's my tastes.  If the mixture is too thick or fudgey, you can add small amounts of vanilla or chocolate soymilk.  This will make it easier to dip the sticks.

I just broke up the Chick-O-Sticks into 3 pieces to make it easier, but theoretically you could do the whole thing.  I tossed them in the melted chocolate, then rolled them around till they were coated and pulled them out with forks.  I laid them out on a tray lined with wax paper and put them in the fridge to cool.  Pretty simple!


I want to use these to try to make butterfinger cheese cake, but I'll need to get a good peanut butter cheese cake recipe first.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Loaded Vegan Nachos

I think just nachos and cheese are rather boring.  Instead, I like to put all sorts of stuff on top to make them delicious.  There are a few different ways this could be made.

Take a base of tortilla chips, whichever kind you like best, and dump them into a baking dish (the sort you would make a cake in, the deepest you have).
Preheat the oven to about 250 - you only really need to warm everything up and melt the daiya cheese.
Take whatever kind of vegan taco flavored crumbles you like and add a package of this on top of the chips.  You can also use chili.  My three favorites are Amy's Medium ChiliFantastic Foods Vegetarian Chili, or Fantastic Foods Vegetarian Taco Filling.  Then, add 1/2 to a full can of vegetarian refried beans.  I also like to add a can of kidney or black beans.
Add a cup of your favorite vegan cheese.  Daiya cheddar works particularly well.
Put this in the oven for about 10-15 minutes, until everything is heated thoroughly.

While this is heating, chop up 2 avocados, one large tomato, 1/2 a red onion, and a little cilantro (if desired).  If you want spicy nachos, add fresh or pickled jalapenos.

Once the nachos are done, add the veggies on top and serve.  

Friday, February 11, 2011

Sangria

Sangria is the best drink ever.  It's like an alcoholic fruit salad.  I made it with some friends from work for one of the girl's Superbowl party on Sunday (She's the one who taught me).  It's really good, and you can use whatever citrusy style fruits you have on hand.

You want to start with a pitcher that is approximately a gallon.  We used one like this.  Then take any 750mL bottle of white wine.  I've used chardonnay, white zinfandel, and pinot grigio with good results for all.  I've heard you can use red too, but I've never personally tried it.

Chop up any combination of citrusy type fruits.  Tonight I have lime and strawberry.  On Sunday we used green apple, nectarine, orange, and lime.  If you actually know stuff about wines, you can probably pair flavors to the wine.  Add the fruit to the wine in the pitcher, and let it sit overnight if possible.  It's also good if you make it and drink it right away.

Once you're ready to drink it, fill the rest of the pitcher up with sprite or 7up.  If you want it to be stronger (because otherwise it will be fairly weak like this), add about 2-3 shots of vodka, to taste, and mix well.  You could shake things up a little and try raspberry or lime vodka.

Volia, you have a delicious fruit drink that will make any night better.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Frushi at Orange on Clark st.

I just went to the restaurant Orange, near Clark and Fullerton.  It's sort of a brunch place.  I got fruit sushi (frushi) for the first time and it was amazing.  They had 2 different kinds, one in a nigiri style and one in regular sushi style, and the flavors change frequently.  For the sushi roll, they had lime infused rice rolled with pineapple and for the nigiri, they had coconut infused rice with a green apple slice on top.  They were drizzled in strawberry and orange sauce.  I loved the lime and pineapple ones, I thought they tasted like fruity Popsicles.  It was fairly cheap too.


Here's some frushi that my friend got the other day (I forgot to take a picture when we went out).  We're hoping to experiment and figure out how to make it ourselves.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Caterpillars

This is an easy little snack that would also be cute on display for parties.
Take a bag of stick pretzels.
For each pretzel, dip one end in creamy peanut butter so that it gets a q-tip sized ball of peanut butter on it.
Set on a plate and then push 2 chocolate chips (non dairy) into the peanut butter on either side of the pretzel, so that they look like 2 bug eyes.  Cute!

If I can think of something that would look like wings, I want to make a "dragonfly" version.

Mine are a little melted from sitting on my stove while baking something, but they still tasted delicious.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Blood Drive #2 results

The blood drive at my work was yesterday, and it went really well.  I was surprised by how many walk ins we had, and how well it went in general.  I've been reading about all the trouble the recent storms have been causing for the red cross and their blood supply, so I had that in my mind most of the day.  I posted a brief article on it alongside the posters in the window for the drive.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703439504576116182306439262.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

"The American Red Cross said it was alerting disaster workers and seeking blood donations, because more than 18,000 expected donations have gone uncollected in recent weeks due to other storms." 


Our goal was 23 pints, and we got 24 successful donations, so that was great.  I'm going to post thank you signs at work for all the donors with a visual of all the people that could help (72 pictures of people I found on the internet.  72 since you can save up to 3 lives with each donation).  It looks really cool to see it laid out visually like that.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Aplastados

In 2008, I spent a few weeks in Ecuador on a study abroad trip, which was really awesome.  I spent time with some amazing people, seeing awesome things, practicing Spanish, teaching at after school programs, hearing stories, and learning another way of life.  Each night our group came together with some of the volunteers there and made dinner together, and the funny thing is that most of our meals were vegan.  Meat is a treat there.  (Actually, I met my first vegan on that service trip and went vegetarian myself shortly after coming back).  We used lots of plantains, among other things.  Instead of doing standard banana chips (thinly slice plantain bananas and frying them), here's a twist on that recipe.

These are called aplastados, meaning smushed or smashed in Spanish.  You use plantain bananas; the longer, thicker ones that can usually be found in grocery stores (although sometimes you have to ask).  You want it to be green.  Pour a layer of canola oil into a frying pan and put it on medium heat.  Get one or two and peel them (Note: this is harder than with a regular banana.  It helps to cut a slit down the side of the peel and work it off with your nails.)  Cut the bananas into slices about an inch thick while the oil is heating up, then put them in to fry until they turn a golden yellowish color (3 minutes), then flip them and do the same on the other side (2 minutes). Pull them all out of the oil and put them on a durable surface that won't melt.  You will probably need to temporarily turn off the heat under the oil so it won't burn during the next step. Take a glass or ceramic glass and, using the flat bottom of it, "smash" each banana disc.

Once they are all smashed, put them back in the oil and make sure it is back on.  Heat each side for another minute or two, then pull them out and salt them.  Delicious!

Using the above times, yours will turn out less brown than mine.  If they seem to be cooking too fast, turn the heat down.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Nectarine Sorbet

This is my second time making nectarine sorbet, and it has turned out deliciously both times.  I adapted a recipe I saw in The Ultimate Book of  Vegan Cooking for Iced Clementines (which look really good) for the proportions, and then changed the rest around.

Take 6 nectarines and puree them in a food processor.  Strain the result through a fine sieve.  I had to do one at a time because my food processor is small, but just strain each one and mix it together.  Once you have strained all of them, you can process and strain the remaining larger chunks again to maximize how much sorbet you'll get.  Throw out the rest.  (Or, if you're Steve, mix it with sugar and the pulp of the limes/lemons you'll have to juice and spread it on toast).

Put 1/2 cup sugar and 4 TBPS water in a large sauce pan on a low heat.  Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved.  Boil for 3 minutes without stirring, then turn off the heat.

While this is cooling a little, squeeze one lime and one lemon.  Add the resulting juice to the sugar mixture and stir.

Add in the nectarine puree and mix everything together thoroughly.  Pour it into a large container, preferably with a lid so that it doesn't get freezer burn.  Freeze for at least 4 hours, stirring the mixture vigorously every hour or two.  After it freezes completely, enjoy.  You'll have delicious sorbet.  Now I want to experiment with other fruits, and possibly make the Iced Clementines.  That would be really cute for a party.

The Ultimate Book of Vegan Cooking

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Re-energizing Trail Mix

Trail mix is full of vegan protein and good, healthy fats.  Also, its delicious.  This is the trail I make when I want a quick pick-me-up.  I also make it for the donors who come to the blood drive at my work.  I use raw nuts and roast them myself, which can be tricky.  It seems like half the time they never want to brown, and the other half they burn.  However, this is what works for me:

Combine in a large mixing bowl:
1 cup raw cashews
1 cup raw almonds
1 cup raw pecans
1 cup raw walnuts
1/4 cup sunflower seeds, shelled.
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt, then to taste

Preheat the oven to 350.  Toss until everything is coated in oil/salt and evenly distributed.  Pour it into a baking tray and spread it out into an even layer.  Put it in the oven for 15 minutes or a bit longer if it doesn't look like it has browned at all.  Be very careful not to burn it.  Once you have pulled it out and it has cooled, mix in 1 cup cranberries.  It's great for when you need a little mid-day energy.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Little things from the week

I don't have one cohesive recipe for this post, but rather a lot of little vegan things to share.

I went to Ian's pizza on vegan night with some friends this Thursday.  It was great!  The whole time we were there, we kept hearing group after group order vegan pizza.  I tried the chicken seitan taco pizza and the pepperoni sausage from Upton's Naturals.  The chicken taco was really spicy, but both were extremely delicious.  I got to have my punch card punched and I'm halfway to a free piece of pizza.  The other thing that was really cool was knowing there were other vegans in the restaurant.  Considering I only know 3 other vegans, and one lives in Minnesota, it was a new experience to know that I was surrounded by other people who had the same challenges and subscribe to the same philosophy as me.  It's like at work how, after 2 years of being the only non-meat eater at work, there's now another vegan and 2 vegetarians. Anyway, the night was great.

I accidentally discovered that if you freeze a silk yogurt, the result is delicious.  It tastes how I would imagine frozen yogurt tastes (I've never had it), and like a really creamy strawberry ice cream.  I highly recommend it.

I got some nectarines on sale this week, so I'll be trying to make some nectarine sorbet again, and hopefully posting the recipe soon after.  Also, I'm trying to find a recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies and substituting in cranberries.  We'll see how my time management skills are.  Until next time...

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Meatless Meatballs Using Rice & Lentils

I got the base for this recipe from an awesome vegan cookbook called Vegan Lunch Box, but I modified it to match my own tastes.  This works really well with traditional pasta and sauce.  It's good to eat it just with sauce too.

Take:
1/2 cup rice
1/2 cup lentils

and cook them in 1 1/2 cups boiling water for 30-40 minutes.  While this is cooking, preheat the oven to 350.  After they are done and drained, dump them into a large mixing bowl and add:

1/2 cup flour
2 tsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp cumin
1 tsp Italian herb seasoning

3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp black pepper

Mix this together and then add 1/4 cup water.  It should look sticky and paste-like, but if it's too dry add a little more water until it looks right.

Roll the mixture in to meatball-sized balls and place into a baking pan or onto a cookie sheet.  Brush the balls with a bit of olive oil.  Cook for about 30-35 minutes, or until browned.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

January Blood Drive at Work

I know this has nothing to do with food, but I wanted to mention the blood drive we're having at my work.  Donating blood is a quick, easy thing you can do to help others where the results are immediate and directly save lives.  One of my least favorite misconception that I've heard about vegans/veganism is that by helping animals you can't help people too.  I can choose not to eat meat, but at the same time I can choose to tutor children, or work with the elderly, or donate to a humanitarian charity.  So here's a way where, no matter what you choose to eat, you can help others.  Each donation (about a pint) can save three lives and most people will at some point in their lives know someone who has needed a blood transfusion at some point in their lives.  You may help a premature baby, accident or surgery survivor, or someone who needs to receive transfusions throughout their life due to a genetic condition.

You get a free iron test, mini physical, and your blood is screened for various things.  Also I will be making vegan puppy chow and trail mix (and the red cross provides such vegan treats as juice, oreos, pretzels, nutter butters, ect), so there's delicious reasons to attend as well.  If you can't make it to this drive, there are plenty of others listed on the red cross's website so please consider going.

Sunrise Assisted Living of Lincoln Park - January 30, 2011 Schedule

Interesting Blood Donation Facts


Also I wanted to share this poem that was in the last red cross enewsletter.  I thought it was really touching.


The Gift of Life

By: Christi Mead Nielsen
Someone saved my life today.
I don't know who they are or even know their name.
I don't know if they are male or female or the color of their eyes or skin or hair.
I don't know how they make their living or what they dream of doing when they go out to play.
I don't know if they believe in God or just the kindness of strangers.
I don't know what made them open that door and leave a part of themselves inside.
I do know their priceless gift was the difference between life and death.
My life. My death.
Without their gift my husband would be without his wife, my son without his mother.
People I love would mourn a sister, a daughter, a friend.
Without their gift my dreams would have died unrealized, unshared, unexplored.
But someone saved my life today with a sacrificial gift of blood.
My family lives together whole.
I live a life of dreams I now make real.
Someone saved my life today.
I don't know who or where or why.
Whoever you are I would just like to say
Thank you.

About the Author

Christi Mead Nielsen
Christi suffered from serious heart problems for the past 12 years and consumed many blood products during her battle. Christi unfortunately passed away a few weeks ago and her husband found this poem she wrote thanking blood donors for saving her life.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Basil Tomato Toast

I made up this recipe one morning over the summer when I had an abundance of fresh basil and needed to use it up.  There's a few different ways it can be made.

2 pieces of toast
1/2 avocado (optional)
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
4 leaves fresh basil (or 1 tbsp dried in a pinch)
2 tbsp Italian dressing

Once the bread is toasted, if you're using avocado, cut the portion in half and spread one half on each piece of toast.  Tear up the basil leaves and sprinkle them over the bread.  Divide up the cut cherry tomatoes between the bread as well, putting them on top (if its cut side down, it sticks better).  Other types of tomato could be used, but cherry is a little sweet and the flavor works best in this recipe.  Finally, pour on the dressing.  This goes well with breakfast.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Peanut Butter in a Pinch

So last night I was trying to make some peanut butter and jelly with Steve, but we ran out of peanut butter.  We decided to make our own.  We took my food processor and some honey roasted peanuts I had on hand, and it came out really well.

Add
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/tbsp olive oil
salt to taste

into a food processor.  Blend it until it becomes creamier and looks more like real peanut butter.  You'll probably never be able to blend it enough for it to be smooth, but if you like chunky peanut butter, it comes out pretty well.  If its too dry, or not breaking up enough, add more oil, and if its too oily, add more peanuts.  Pretty simple!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Simple Apple Cider

I wasn't sure if this was worth a post, but I had to look up Apple Cider recipes for Thanksgiving and they were all unnecessarily complicated.  I like the way my experiment turned out, so here it is.  You need a crockpot for this recipe.

1 gallon of Apple Juice
2 Tbsp ground cinnamon (cinnamon sticks would also work)
1 Tbsp vanilla

Combine all of this into a crockpot and heat.  Serve when warm.  It also smells delicious.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Ian's Pizza - Chicago

For any Chicago vegans, Ian's Pizza is doing vegan pizza by the slice (on Thursdays, starting this Thursday at 5.  Ian's Pizza is super delicious and their cheese is pretty good.  I'm pretty excited to not have to round up some friends and buy a whole pizza whenever I wanted some (plus I love getting "buy 10 get 1 free" punch cards, which maybe I can do now).  If you like vegan pizza, try to show your support and stop by.  Maybe they'll start offering it more frequently.

"Chicken Seitan Taco, pepperoni and sausage seitan, Vegan Florentine and vegan 3 veggie are all making an epic comeback featuring ingredients from Chicago Soydairy and Upton's Naturals."



Facebook Event:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=115750418495051&index=1

Winter Vegetable Soup

Winter always puts me in the mood for a warm bowl of soup, so here's another soup recipe featuring some winter vegetables.  Hopefully you have a crockpot, otherwise a big soup pot will work.

Start boiling water to prepare the broth.  Using Knorr vegetable bouillon cubes works really well to create a broth, or you could use some kind of liquid broth.  I used a whole box of cubes (about 6), which equates to about 12 cups of water.  I like to boil it before I add it to the crockpot when using bouillon cubes because it helps dissolve them better/more easily.

Broth
6 Knorr vegetable bouillon cubes
12 cups water
1 tsp ginger powder
2 cloves crushed garlic/1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp pepper

After this is boiling and everything is dissolved and mixed, pour into the crock pot.

Vegetables

1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 Russel potato, cubed
1/3 cup diced mushroom
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 parsnip, peeled and chopped
1 small sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1/2 box (about 8 oz) medium shaped pasta

Add all these things to the crockpot with the broth and allow to cook for about 35-45 minutes, or until everything is soft.  This was pretty successful at Christmas Eve.

PS.  I can't believe I kept a blog for a whole year.  I'm a bit proud of myself.