"I Can't Believe It's Not Alfredo"

 Are you craving Alfredo pasta but are trying to cut gluten and dairy out of your diet? Well do I have a recipe for you.

 I work at Trader Joes and often times I find myself discussing favorite recipes with customers. One day this lady told me about an Alfredo recipe made with raw cashews and I had to try it for myself.
 This is my own rendition, but it is absolutely amazing. I like to make it for people and see if they can tell it's not the real deal. Here is what you will need-


       

                                     

A package of your favorite GF pasta, I like TJ's corn penne

1 1/2 of boiling pasta water

1/2 cup of raw cashew meal

1 tsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 cloves of garlic

1 tbsp of olive oil

2 tbsp of nutritional yeast

salt and pepper to taste

a hearty dose of freshly chopped basil


                                                   ~Directions~

Add pasta to boiling water. Measure 1 1/2 cups of the boiling water and add it to a blender and add everything but the basil. Pulse the ingredients until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add the blended sauce to a sauté pan and cook over medium heat until the sauce starts to thicken. Drain pasta and rinse the starchy water off of it.  Toss the pasta with sauce and garnish with the fresh basil. Serve immediately.

Mock Pulled Pork Sammie's (Vegan)

These are so good and sufficed my cravings for some good barbecue. I found the idea on Pinterest and made it my own with a few tweaks!

You will need!

4 Portobello Mushrooms

2 Tb. Earth Balance

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 large sweet onion, very thinly sliced

1 1/2 cups favorite BBQ sauce

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup of thinly sliced cabbage

A good baguette 

Shred portobello mushrooms on a grater. Thinly slice onion, preheat sauté pan on medium heat and add the earth balance. Add onions and mushrooms and sauté until tender about 5-7 minutes. Add barbecue sauce and water and cook down until consistency of pulled pork. Slice baguettes to form a base for your sandwich, top bread with mushrooms and cabbage. And enjoy! 

Raspberry Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies (Vegan)

 These cookies are so good. I recently tried them out on a whim and they were dangerously addicting.

 You will need:
1/4 tsp of salt
4 cups of flour
1 tsp of baking powder
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp of vanilla
1 1/4 of butter substitute such as earth balance
Egg substitute equal to one egg
Raspberry jam
Vegan chocolate

Cream earth balance and sugar and vanilla and egg substitute until well combined. Mix dry ingredients until blended and then add wet ingredients. Form dough into golf ball sized balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Make a hole in the dough ball with your thumb and place jam inside of the holes. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 for about 12-15 minutes. Let cool and melt chocolate, drizzle over cookies cool and enjoy!!!

A Granola's Granola

Here is a delicious recipe for vegan granola. It was a hit with my hubby and I love the fact that I can control the sugar and ingredients in it!

You will need-


3 cups of old fashioned cooking oats
2/3 cup of wheat germ
1/4 cup of cranberries
1/4 cup of flaxseed
1/2 cup of coconut
1/4 sunflower seeds
1/2 cup of apple juice
1/2 cup of agave nectar
1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp of vanilla



 Combine dry ingredients and set aside. Combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl and than add to dry. Mix until well combined. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and spread granola mixture in an even layer. Cook in a preheated 350 oven, check granola frequently moving around in pan until evenly golden brown. Should take about 30 minutes. Set aside cool and enjoy!!!

Vegan Stuffed Shells

     Hello all! Well I just got back from a Carribean cruise and needless to say the food was all to plentiful and calorie laden, so I am back on track today with this delicous recipe I made up.
I hope you enjoy it!





3 cups of pasta shells

14 oz of extra firm tofu

A jar of organic pasta sauce

2 Cloves of garlic

1/2 a green pepper diced

1/2 cup of red onion

1 tblsp of olive oil

3 sprigs of fresh basil

Salt and pepper to taste

4 tablespoons of vegan Parmesan cheese



Blend tofu, olive oil and salt and pepper in a blender till its the consistency of ricotta cheese. Sauté onions and peppers in olive oil until tender add garlic. Set aside and let cool. Add shells to boiling pasta water. Cook pasta till al dente. Add cooled peppers and onion to the creamed tofu mixture along with chopped basil and two tablespoons of cheese. Add a layer of tomato sauce to the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Stuff shells with tofu mixture and line up on pan, cover with the remaining sauce and cheese. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 35-40 minutes, cool and enjoy!

Tofu and Veggie Bacon Scramble

          Tofu Scramble With Veggie Bacon

                                  

 I tried something new out with tofu tonight and I must say it was absolutely delicous. The only part of the scramble that isn't a 100% vegan is the veggie bacon which you can totally avoid adding. I used Morningstar veggie bacon which unfortunately does have egg in the ingredient list. The tofu is from Whole Foods and it was so amazing. Anyway let me share the recipe with you.



1 cup of chopped green pepper 
1/2 cup of red onion
1 cup of white mushrooms
Salt and pepper to taste
4 slices of veggie bacon such as Morningstar 
2 cups of crumbled tofu



 Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet. Add onions and peppers and sauté until tender. Add crumbled tofu and then mushrooms. Place four slices of veggie bacon on a plate and microwave for 1 1/2 minutes until crispy. Chop up bacon and add to vegetables and tofu, cook until tofu is golden brown and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with bread and vegan butter, and enjoy. Serves two.

Going Vegan...

 

    Hello all! It's been so long since I've been on here. I am excited to share that I have recently decided to become a vegan indefinitely. So I will be sharing some of my experimental recipes on here. So far I have made vegan pancakes, I have tried tofurky and next week I plan on trying out some new recipes with tofu which I can't wait to share with you all. One of the reasons I have made this decision is because I feel very strongly about cruelty to animals and the chemicals we consume that is put into our food. We do have a choice of what we put in our bodies on a daily basis and its up to us to take charge of our health! I believe that there was a time when we were intended to eat animals, before the time of cloning and mass slaughtering , back when family farms raised grass fed cows and put them down humanely and fed them to their families and their communities. Times have changed and things are not done the way they should be. It's hard to believe that the ground beef you pick up at your local grocery store contains the meat 10,000 cows and has been made from cows who were fed cow and treated as machines and not living beings. We are facing a big problem and its up to us to take charge of what we consume, and it starts with knowing our food. What about purchasing your meat from your local farmer and your produce at the farmers market? I'm hoping to get some information out there and help people see that what we eat not only effects our health but our community. I'd much rather support the neighbor up the road than the billion dollar company Walmart, wouldn't you?