Yummy Acorn Squash

I finally had a chance to try a recipe from Everyday Food I have had for a while. It was an Acorn Squash Soup. I have never made Acorn squash before and It was easy to do in the microwave per the recipe. I will post the link here if you want to take a look. When you put it in the microwave pierce the squash in a few areas with a knife first. There were a few ingredient changes I did to make it vegan. I used vegan butter, vegetable broth and soy milk instead of half and half. I had tasted it before I added the milk and it was also good without it. So now I have made butternut squash, spaghetti squash and acorn squash. This was a tasty recipe.

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/acorn-squash-bisque

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Please come back again soon.

Gnewvegan

Easy Lentil Soup

Here is the lentil soup recipe I made recently I stated I was going to post. I hope you enjoy it.

Easy Lentil Soup

Serves Four
(Makes 7 cups, 1 ¾ cup per person plus a ladle of rice)

1 cup lentils, sorted, rinsed
4 carrots, peeled, rinsed, sliced about ¼ inch thick (10 oz pre-cut and 7 oz post cut)
4 oz onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
6 cups vegetable broth
1 (8 oz) can of tomato sauce (Goya Spanish Style)
2 medium size potatoes, {russet or all-purpose} peeled and cut bite size, (11 oz pre cut or two cups post cut)
1 bag of brown rice, boil in a bag
1 ½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon adobo all purpose seasoning with pepper
Vegan parmesan cheese, grated, as desired

Heat a 4 qt pot about one minute. Then add the oil and heat about 30 seconds to a minute.

Add the garlic and onion and lightly brown, stirring occassional, 4 to 5 minutes.

Add tomato sauce and broth, cover and bring to a boil.

Add Lentils, adobo, and vegetable’s, cover and re-boil.

Uncover and set a timer to 20 minutes.

Cook on a low to medium flame, stirring occasional, until carrots and potatoes are fork tender and the lentils are tender. (do not overcook potatoes)

While the soup is cooking, cook the rice per package directions. When the rice is done keep it separate from the soup.

When soup is done put in bowls, a ladle of rice in each bowl and season with cheese as desired.

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Gnewvegan

Simple Meal

This is a quick post to give a quick meal idea. Yesterday by the time I got back from the store it was late. I had purchased an Asian Salad in the pre-packaged bags in the produce department. Along with that I heated up a potato Knish. It was nice and satisfying.



Thank you for coming to my blog. Next post will be a lentil soup recipe I made the other day.
Please come back soon.

Gnewvegan

Butternut squash and shopping at the health food store

The other day I was out and about and I went into a health food store I have never been. I am always like a kid in a candy store when I come across a health food store. Especially one of those small ones that have jam packed items going multiple shelves up. You never know what you will find. One of the items I purchased was a soy milk powder. I usually order a non dairy creamer from a vegan website but I wanted to see if I could find it in the store. So far I have not found it but on the back of the powder it said you just mix it with water. So, I figured I would try it as a creamer for coffee or tea when I am in need. I carry around with me the creamer so when I am somewhere that has no soy milk, I just pull out my powder. I will let you know how the soy milk powder works out. Other items I bought that day were bean sprouts (a mixture of them), carrots, tofurkey deli slices, my favorite tofurkey Italian sausages, mozzarella by follow your heart and vegan parmesan cheese. I like to stock up with the vegan parmesan cheese. Oh, and I did buy a vegan veggie roll for lunch which I ate with the carrots. (like a veggie roll in a Chinese restaurant) I only needed a few things that day and usually those are items I need to get in a specific store. I do find that the regular supermarkets are starting to sell some more vegan items. But I still have to go to a health food store for certain items.
I had wanted to share with you a Butternut squash risotto recipe that I tried from the Woman's day magazine but I could not find it online. Maybe because it was in the October issue it is not there yet. But this was my first time cooking a fresh butternut squash. I have had it before and always enjoyed it but I usually bought it frozen and pre-cut. It was not hard to peel or cook. I veganized the recipe by simply using vegan butter and cheese that it called for. The next squash I am going to cook for the first time also will be acorn squash. I think it is wonderful to try new vegetables and you may find a new favorite.

Thank you for coming to my blog and I hope to see you again soon.

Gnewvegan

Saving Lions and Tigers

I watched a show today on an actress that devotes her life to saving and caring for lions and tigers. It is a very good cause and I thought I would share the link.

http://www.shambala.org/

Thank you for coming to my blog. Please come back again soon.


Gnewvegan

Adopt - A- Turkey Sponsorships

The Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY is a compassionate place which rescues, cares for, educates, and offers new beginnings and hope to animals that without them, had no hope. Animals that were seen as a means to justify an end instead of as loving and innocent. I had the pleasure a while back of going there and when it was over I adopted a pig named Joan Jett whom I sponsor. For the Thanksgiving holiday the sanctuary has what they call adopt a turkey where for 25 dollars you sponsor a turkey for yourself or as a gift. This donation helps the farm continue its valued work while educating people about other ways to enjoy Thanksgiving without a Turkey having to be the main course. I thought I would share this link with my readers.





http://www.adoptaturkey.org/



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Gnewvegan

New Frozen Dinners

As much as I enjoy cooking there are times when I am just not up for it. There are not many vegan frozen dinners that I have found. Usually I would buy a dinner by "Amy's". I like the veggie meat loaf the best that she makes. Lightlife sells products that I use for my cooking such as the bacon and veggie crumbles. When I was looking through a store circular I saw that they now have come out with frozen dinners, six variations. The store that I went to only had three of them. I was excited thinking they would be vegan being I use their products already. Well, of the three the store had (a pasta one, Mexican one and Asian Teriyaki) I was only able to have one which was the Asian Teriyaki. It was good but I had hoped I could try the other ones. I looked online at their site and wrote to the company to request they consider making more of their dinners vegan friendly. They wrote back right away and did say they would send the request to the designated department. Hopefully, I will come across the other variations to see if they are vegan. Here is the website.


http://www.lightlife.com/product_category.jsp?c=entrees

Thank you for coming to my blog. Please come back again soon.

Gnewvegan

Hello Again....

Hello again to all,

The last time I wrote was back in June. I was hoping at that time to be able to write like I had been. But, Life continued to take me on a journey that did not permit much writing time. I enjoy doing the blog sharing my recipes and experiences with my readers. Now that I finally have a computer again that will indeed help. Today is a rainy day and the pretty colored leaves are falling to the ground as the wind and rain surround them. It is a warm feeling driving being surrounded by the multitude of colors so enriching with flavor. I can not believe how quick the year has gone by and soon the Thanksgiving feast will be upon us , snowflakes and santa and his reindeer. Even though I have not been able to write I have continued to cook and see what recipes I can "cook" up. :) Today I will share a quick microwave dish I did the other day. I did not measure this one, just threw it together in a pinch. It was tasty.
I found organic brown rice that you put in the microwave and in less then two minutes it is done. I had not seen that before and found it really good when you do not have a lot of time to cook. First I took my microwave steamer and steamed some frozen broccoli. After that I cooked the rice. Then I cooked a vegan "chickn" patty by Boca. In a dish I mixed the rice with the broccoli and broke up the broccoli throughout the rice. Then I broke up the chick patty into bite size pieces and added that to the rice and broccoli mixture. I mixed some marinara sauce in there with some vegan parmesan cheese. Yum... Quick and easy.. This is my tip for a quick meal.

Thank you for coming to my blog and I hope to see you again soon.

GNewvegan

Israel Couscous and Lentil Salad

It has been some time since I posted anything. Life has just been busy. So I like to make recipes that are quick and easy. I made this salad recently with ingredients on hand and I was pleased. You can use whatever salad dressing that you like. Or you can make your own. I used rasberry vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and various seasonings like basil, parsley, onion powder, etc . These are all dry spices and typical spices you would find in Italian dressing. I think I may have added adobo all purpose seasoning. You just use what you like.

Israel Couscous and Lentil Salad

Serves two

1/2 cup lentils, sorted and rinsed

1/2 cup Israel Couscous

3 cups water

1/2 of a 3 oz small onion, sliced (I like to leave in small rings)

2 medium tomatoes, sliced and halved if pieces are too big

salad dressing of choice or make your own

-Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a 2 quart pot.

- Add the lentils and simmer, stirring occasional for ten minutes.

- Then add the couscous and the other 1 cup water. Cover leaving a slight opening for steam to escape. Bring to a boil, uncover and simmer for another ten minutes stirring occasional.

- Taste the mixture and see if it is soft and tender.

- Drain into a collander and run cold water over it until it is cooled down.

- Put in a bowl and mix the rest of the ingredients. Enjoy.

Thank you for coming to my blog. Please come back again soon.

Gnewvegan

Sharing more recipes

Besides creating my own recipes I enjoy trying various recipes. As from the previous post where I shared a chickpea recipe that I enjoyed, I am posting two more links for recipes I have enjoyed. The first one is a recipe by Goya which I veganized. This was easy to do by simply using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth and vegan sausage instead of chorizo. I used the Italian style sausage by Tofurky. Because these sausage really only need heating up this dish took less time to cook. I just cooked it until my desired consistency of the sauce. I made it not to be a soup letting the sauce thicken and adhere to the ingredients.

http://www.goya.com/english/recipes/recipe.html?recipeID=&isSearch=1&searchFor=chickpeas+garbanzos&whichpage=1

The next recipe I had tonight and it is by Woman's day. It was a nice spring orzo salad. I did not have to change anything. I just realized I did not add the sugar to the orzo recipe, I forgot. But I enjoyed it. Both recipes were simple and quick to prepare. These are nice dishes to do especially when you are tired and want to spend limited time in the kitchen.


http://www.recipezaar.com/spring-orzo-salad-362121


Thank you for coming to my blog. Please come back again soon.

Gnewvegan

Zucchini and chickpea ratatouille by Family Circle

The other day I made this recipe from family circle magazine. Below is the link to view it. It was yummy. All the ingredients in this recipe are among my favorites.. I hope you enjoy it if you try it..


http://www.parents.com/recipe/vegetables/zucchini-chickpea-ratatouille/#pluckbottom





Thank you for coming to my blog. Please come back again soon.



Gnewvegan

Preparing for Easter Dinner

With the holiday approaching I wanted to write a post of the meal I will be making. It will be a small gathering with myself as the only vegan. But the cooking is a bit easier because it will be a vegan/ vegetarian dinner. When I was little my nan would always make ravioli for the holidays. And we would fill up on them and have to digest a bit for the rest of the food. So, we have not been doing that for a while now. But this year I decided to make the ravioli especially after I came across vegan ravioli in a natural food store. So here is the list of things I plan to make:

Regular ravioli and vegan ravioli (you could substitute with pasta of choice if you can not find vegan ravioli or make the same pasta for everyone)
Marinara sauce
Salad
Garlic Bread
Sweet potato's
Mashed potato's
Stuffing


Easter Sugar cookies
Chocolate Pudding Pie

As I have written in previous holiday posts the holidays have been wonderful since I became vegan. I have had some hosts make some vegan dishes or simply put part of the dish aside so I can add my own fixings like vegan margarine or cheese. I will also do that for example with the mashed potatoes. I make them and put mine aside so the others can mix it with what they like. When it comes to dinners when not everyone eats the same way there are ways for all to be happy. I am going to put the link below to a previous post I did with recipe ideas. The stuffing will be on that list. I did tweek the stuffing a bit but the original version is tasty also. I usually make toasted orzo pilaf (In the link below) and broccoli but I will not this time. I hope everyone enjoys their holiday. Tonight I will begin my cooking with the marinara sauce and the dough for the cookies.

http://invitationfrom-gnewvegan.blogspot.com/2007/11/my-first-vegan-thanksgiving.html

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Gnewvegan

Interview of me by vegfamily magazine

I am happy to share that I was interviewed by vegfamily online magazine. I thought I would share the link here..

:)

http://www.vegfamily.com/why-vegan/gemma.htm


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Gnewvegan

Sprout Salad

One of the things I do often is use various sprouts in salads instead of lettuce. Broccoli sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, sprout salad mix, are all examples of what you could use. Here are two recipe ideas that I did showing you the variations you could do. Simply make a salad the way you like but instead of using lettuce use the sprouts.

Serves One

1 cup mixed sprouts or of choice, (you could give a chop once over if you like)
1 small tomato, sliced
3 baby carrots, sliced
2/3 cup canned corn , drained and rinsed
Dressing of choice*

I like this with a balsamic dressing. You can buy dressing or make it at home. I usually just pour some balsamic, and extra virgin olive oil on the salad. Then I use various seasonings like salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried parsley, dried basil, etc. Then toss and enjoy.


Variations- Another variation to the sprouts is to add corn, garbanzo beans and red kidney beans. Add dressing and seasonings of choice as above.


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Gnewvegan

Easter Candy

With the holiday approaching I wanted to post these online stores again. Just because you are vegan does not mean you can not enjoy that Easter Bunny. The first link brings you to Easter candy. You can look through the others for their chocolate or candies. I do not remember which site I ordered from last year but the candy and chocolates I purchased were well received even by non-vegans. I also had made Easter cookies last year which I plan to do again. I used a sugar cookie recipe that I veganized by just using vegan ingredients and bought Easter cookie cutters. In my archives there are two posts, 12/17/08, and 3/26/08 where I talk about cookie making and my first Easter as a Vegan.. Hope these websites and my posts are of some help.

Online vegan stores

http://www.veganstore.com/gifts-and-candles/easter-gift-ideas.html

http://www.vegangoods.com/

http://www.veganchocolate.com/

http://www.cosmosveganshoppe.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc

http://ethicalplanet.com/food-and-snacks.html


Thank you for coming to my blog. Please come back again soon.

Gnewvegan

Steamed veggies as a snack

One of the things that I do often when I want a snack is to steam veggies. A while back I purchased a mini microwave steamer which I love. I always have a variety of frozen veggies in my freezer. It is a wonderful thing because you can have steamed veggies in five minutes (microwave times vary) with easy cleaning. I will have the link to the website where I purchased mine at the end of this post. I also found the steamer by another company called progressive. That link will also be at the end of this post. But of course you can use whichever one you prefer. What I do is steam the veggies, drain them by lifting the slotted bowl part over the sink (be careful because it is hot and steaming when you remove the top cover), and then pour the drained veggies into the bottom bowl. Then I simply mix with whatever I feel at the moment and also depending on what veggies I am having. For example, for broccoli sometimes I use lemon juice and lemon and pepper seasoning, vegan margarine with/without seasoning/ vegan parmesan cheese, or salad dressing. There are many varieties and the good thing is you are eating your veggies. In many of my recipes when I am making a small portion of veggies and I say to steam them, this microwave steamer is what I use. Here is the link to the one I use:

http://www.mileskimball.com/MilesKimball/Shopping/ProductDetail.aspx?CID=Kitchen&SCID=Microwave&ProductID=0000069969

In case for some reason the link does not work correctly go to the miles kimball site and put mini microwave steamer in the search bar.

Here is the other link to the other website which sells the one by progressive.

http://www.organize.com/mini-steamer.html


Thank you for coming to my blog. Please come back again soon.

Gnewvegan

Link for products not tested on animals & link for vegan products by Victoria Secret

I received an email regarding a site where products that are not tested on animals can be found. I was reading through the article about the company that is marketing the leaping Bunny logo which would indicate particular products which are not tested on animals. I thought it would be interesting to share.
http://www.aavs.org/campCompassion.html

I also wanted to post a link concerning Victoria Secrets. A friend of mine told me that Victoria Secret has come out with a line of vegan products. To view these products click on the link below:

http://www.victoriassecret.com/

Then click on the word Pink on the top list of product departments. Then click on beauty on the list of products to your left. It is down at the bottom.

I am always happy to learn of products which are vegan and not tested on animals.


Thank you for coming to my blog. Please come back again soon.

Gnewvegan

Are food colorings vegan?

I used yellow food coloring today and remembered that I have seen natural coloring , pretty expensive in an organic store. So I wondered is food coloring vegan? Then I thought this post would be a good one at this time because Easter is around the corner. Yes, I do not eat eggs so I do not color them anymore. But I have used food coloring in cookies. So, in case you use it in some way for Easter besides eggs I thought let me read up on this. So I did some research online and this is what I found. Some answers by some people stated that some red food coloring is made from beetles but that the other food colorings are ok. I read that yellow number 5 and 6 are vegetarian.. (yahoo) In regard to the red dye when reading another site it also stated that not all red dyes are made from bugs. It stated it would be labeled cochineal, carmine, or carminic if made from the cochineal beetle. FD and C and red number 40 are 99% coal derivatives. (Vegetarian resource group). The latter site also talks about a food guide you can order to help decipher food ingredients. Click on the link number two below in sources. As I was doing further research I began to see why a person would choose to buy natural food coloring. It seems to have to do with additives that are in some of them such as coal tar deritatives (Ehow.com) Spices such as turmeric, saffron, and papikra are also used for some food colorings. Some natural dyes are made of caramelized sugar, beet juice, the seed of the achiote shrub, and algae. Answers.com has a table that shows you where various sources for food coloring come from. An article from the FDA has a table of the various color additives and additives which are certifiable by the FDA. These regulations have to do with the purity and safety of the substance used in the dye. Link number 7 in my list of sources is a short video telling you some of the things I mentioned about natural food coloring and that red may sometimes come from insects. Another source talks about how some people may be concerned with the health risks of certain products used, such as the color derived from coal tar. That source is number 8 on my link list. You can then read about the product that was mentioned in the latter article, FD & C yellow number 5 in the link below from the FDA which talks about that issue. I am not making any claims that I have knowledge that specific additives cause health problems in this post. I have not done the research to support or negate the comment. I just wanted to write about the various possibilities that may impact a persons decision one way or the other. I guess what it boils down to is personal preference. There was only one site I found that had a table showing that yellow may have a source of eggs, or organic meat. But I did not see that anywhere else. There is agreeement that some red comes from insects. That is very good to know so I can look at a label and make sure it does not have the words carmine, cohineal, or carminic in it indicating it came from an insect. The majority I saw was from either the natural spices or coal tar. So it appears that most of these items are vegan/ vegetarian. If one is concerned with safety of the additives that are not from natural sources such as the coal tar then maybe you may want to make sure it is all natural, for example from a spice or plant.

Thank you for coming to my blog. Please come back again soon.

Gnewvegan

sources-
1- http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061204155216AAj616x
2- http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/faqingredients.htm#red
3- http://www.ehow.com/about_4596406_what-food-coloring-made.html
4- http://www.answers.com/topic/food-coloring
5- http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/colorfac.html
6- http://pubs.acs.org/cen/whatstuff/stuff/8134foodcoloring.html
7-http://www.expertvillage.com/video/165231_what-food-coloring-made.htm
8- http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-food-coloring-made-of.htm

Link to Information on Organic Produce

A Friend of mine posted this link and I thought that it would be great to share. It is about buying organic produce and has an interesting guide to which produce should only be bought organic. Here is the link:

http://girliegirlarmy.com/blog/20090220/top-15-fruits-and-vegetables-to-buy-organic/

http://girliegirlarmy.com/blog/

You can download a mini guide in the last paragraph.

Thank you for coming to my blog and please come back again soon.

Gnewvegan

Veganized Recipes and Chit Chat

When I first started this blog one of the things I said I will do from time to time is post a veganized recipe. When you first turn vegan it may seem overwhelming not knowing how to eat or products to use. That was one of my goals for this blog was to show people that being vegan can be done and once you learn how it is like second nature. I am still like a kid in a candy store when I am in a store like Whole Foods when I find vegan products. Yesterday I was happy when I found chocolate syrup that was dairy free. I read the ingredients and did not read anything in there that I could not have. So in my basket it went ! And yummy chocolate it was. :) It is by Ah!Laska organic products.. When I was younger (now also) I only drank milk with chocolate or strawberry in it. This way I can have my chocolate soy milk whenever I want. You can also buy chocolate soymilk already made if you like.
Now I will turn this post over to the recipes. The first recipe is about making home made waffles. If you have a waffle maker you can still make waffles even when you become vegan. I looked at a few waffle recipes and the basic ones have pretty much the same ingredients. There is even a waffle recipe on the back of the bisquick box. The one I use I found online somewhere but I did not save the link so I can not post it. But the only changes I had to make was to use soy milk instead of regular milk and enough egg replacer to equal one egg per the box of the brand I use. I use Ener G egg replacer. As you will see from the pictures below they were nice and fluffy. I have a Belgium waffle maker so I am not sure if a regular waffle maker would be smaller in thickness.

The other recipe I am going to talk about is "Italian Pot Pies" by Everyday food. I will post the link to the recipe below. I found this tasty, easy to make and filling. There were only a few changes I had to make. In reference to the ingredients I used veggie protein crumbles by Light life, vegan parmesan cheese, vegan butter by Earth balance, and soy milk. I only made half of the recipe so I had to figure out how much of the crumbles to use. It was easy because thanks to light life they state on the back of the box that "2 cups of the crumbles equal one pound of browned, drained ground beef". When I calculated the serving sizes on the box that one 12 oz box was equal to one pound. So I just used half of it and it worked out well. The only thing I changed in the cooking method was how long to cook the crumbles in the pan. Because it is not beef it does need the specified time to cook. So, I did not time it but when I put the crumbles in the sauce I stirred occasionally for approx. 5 minutes I would say. I was making the topping mixture while I was cooking on the stove. And when It seemed thick and well combined I put the mixture into the ramekins. And ten minutes later I had a tasty pot pie. I loved to cook before I became vegan and love it more now because veganizing a recipe is really fun. It is great to see how you can enjoy tasty vegan food.

Link to pot pies:

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/italian-pot-pies

Thank you for coming to my blog. Please come back again soon.

Gnewvegan

Italian- marinated vegetable salad by Kraft Foods

I am posting the link to a recipe by kraft foods which I have been wanting to try. It is simple and very tasty. I did not add the olives because I do not care for them. I used my own mixture of oil and vinegar and seasonings. And I ate it right way :) When I steam veggies if it is a small amount I use a microwave vegetable steamer. I use it often and used it here for the veggies. Microwave times vary. Usually I steam for 5 minutes for most veggies I want fully cooked. Potatoes are a bit more. Here I steamed it for a little under three minutes. Here is the link and I hope you enjoy the recipe if you try it..


http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/italian-marinated-vegetable-salad-66113.aspx


Thank you for coming to my blog. Please come back again soon.

Gnewvegan

I tried TVP for the first time

On 2-10-08 I wrote a post about what TVP is. Here is the link to that post:

http://invitationfrom-gnewvegan.blogspot.com/2008/02/what-is-tvp.html

I decided I wanted to try it so I did some research on the net to find the simplest recipe I could to make this. Here is the link to the recipe I used. I did not do the recipe exactly as it stated because I used seasonings I had available. But I cooked it the way the recipe said to. I really just wanted to get a taste of TVP and the consistency so I could apply it to my own recipes. I also decreased the amount of ingredients just enough for me. I found TVP in a container in an organic grocery store. It was on an open shelf, not refrigerated.


http://vegetarian.about.com/od/maindishentreerecipes/r/tvptacos.htm

I took pictures as I was cooking in different stages and then the final product which you will see below.

The first picture is when the TVP was first in the pan being reconstituted with water.

This is when I added the peppers and onions plus seasonings.



Now It is ready to put in my tortilla.

And here is the finished product.



All in all I enjoyed my dinner. At first, maybe it is just my sense of smell, the TVP had a chicken odor when it was being reconstituted. I have started to develop an aversion to certain smells since I have been vegan so maybe that is why I was sensitive. But that quickly dissipated when I added my seasonings. I could see how this could be used for things like sloppy joes and this taco. It has a thick type consistency needed for those recipes. This is kind of like tofu to me where you may have to acquire a taste for it or play around with it to get the consistency and taste you like. I did like it but it is different so I would need to make some more recipes. But I would use this again and had a nice filling dinner. I had that same full feeling I got when I started eating tofu for the first time. I always find it enjoyable to try new things and then creating new recipes with that ingredient.


Thank you for coming to my blog. Please come back again soon.

Gnewvegan

Quick and Easy Soup

I love to cook and create new recipes. But there are those days when I come home and I do not even want to chop an onion. Well, yesterday was one of those days. So, I wanted to make something quick with what I had available. Recently I had bought frozen soups in a bag that you cook similar to the rice in a bag which I had never seen before. It was on sale so I read the ingredients and once I saw it was vegan I thought why not try it. I had bought the split pea soup and there were two packs to a box. I like a bit more seasoning so when I had it the first time I added some vegan parmesan cheese and some adobo seasoning. I wanted to make a fuller soup yesterday without much more effort. So, in a soup pot I boiled the water per the soup instructions and then put the soup pack in the pot. Total cooking time of this soup was 15 minutes. After 5 minutes I added a bag of the boil in a bag brown rice for it’s cooking time of ten minutes. After the 15 minutes was up I simply drained the pot and emptied both bags into the pot. I added some sliced tofurkey sausage to it and I wanted a bit more broth so I simply added some veggie broth. Then I sprinkled on some parmesan and I had my quick soup for dinner. No fuss and hardly any cleanup. There are other quick versions of soup you can do but this I guess you could say is my bag in a pot soup combo. :) You could use any soup you want and if you do not like brown rice you can use white. It has been chilly outside so soup was just what I needed. Today it is windy and I do feel a chill so luckily I have some left over soup in the fridge which I can heat up for lunch. I have it stored in these microwave soup mugs which are ideal. Another way to store your soup and to quickly heat it up without any fuss especially when you are on the go. I love soups and make them often in the fall and winter season. I hope everyone stays warm and that a nice bowl of soup can be enjoyed on a cold winters day however you make it.

Thank you for coming to my blog. Please come back again soon.

Gnewvegan

My Monday chit chat

Before I started my day of errands which was to begin with doing the laundry I had a cup of coffee and cereal. I use soy milk as my dairy for the cereal and coffee. I alternate between granulated sugar or agave nectar for my coffee or tea. The granulated sugar I usually use is by Florida crystals. By the time I got back home from my morning of doing laundry I was hungry again. I wanted a BLT and usually I use the frying pan. But this time I used my George Foreman grill to make the bacon. I use a vegan bacon by light life called smart bacon. I have always liked my bacon crisp and wanted to see if the grill worked and it did. I had my bread in the freezer so first I turned on the grill and put two slices of whole wheat toast in the warming section of the grill. I took two slices of the Bacon not thawed and placed them right on the grill and closed the lid.. I cooked them until my desired crispiness. I layered the bacon on the bread with sliced tomatoes, onions, broccoli slaw and ketchup. You could just make it with lettuce and tomato and put vegan mayo if you like the way you would normally find it when you were non vegan. Why not serve it with a pickle if you have one. I did not have any pickles so I steamed some shelled edamame in the microwave.. Edamame are soybeans and per the bag it says that ½ cup is 12 grams of protein. I have stated before and would like to state again I am not a nutritionist so this is not nutritional information I am giving in place of you seeing your primary care provider or dietician. I just thought it was a good tid bit to share. I have a mini microwave steamer that I love and use almost daily. It really helps to have the quick serving of veggies and I sometimes even make them when I want a snack. I always keep frozen veggie’s in the freezer so I always have them. I put the amount I want in the steamer part with the grates, put that in the bowl part, fill with water till it reaches the slats, cover and microwave usually 5 minutes but with the edamame about 8 minutes. Microwave times do vary. Then you just drain the water and serve the way you like. Today I sprinkled some Mrs. Dash on the soybeans and then a small bit of Earth Balance Butter. As a snack during the day I had some almonds. Daily chores continue and it is always nice to have a smile in the midst of it all. I knew that when it came time to make my bed my cat butchy would not be far. Now what is that lump in the bed momma bear said?





Why it is Butchy...




My precious kitty :)

When it came time for dinner I wanted to make something quick and easy. I felt like a "stir fry" combo. So in a pot I cooked Lo Mein noodles together with non-thawed stir fry veggies. When they were done I drained the water from the pot, put the combo back in the pot and added some sauce. You could add any stir fry sauce you like either store bought or home made. You could cook rice separate if you prefer instead of noodles. Back in November of 2007 I wrote about making a stir fry with rice. If you want to view it go to the side bar on the left and click on o7 posts. As you scroll down that post was on November 13th and you will see other posts on my tofu crisp strips and my peanut sauce written on 12/23/07. Later on in the evening as I was watching Friends I was a bit hungry so I munched on the broccoli slaw which eased any hunger. And now I head to bed until the sun rises upon the darkened sky with the newness of dawn beckoning the call of new light.




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Gnewvegan

Happy New Year

Happy New year to all. I hope your new year celebrations were wonderful. Mine was a nice evening spent with friends. I made my hummus dip and made a nice veggie platter. My friends had some other munchies, good music, some vino, and Dick Clarks rocking eve on TV. A nice way to bring in the year with good friends. I find it a bit nippy today so soon I will make some tea. Had some oatmeal for breakfast and just finished a nice broccoli slaw, chickpea, tomato and onion salad. I Started to like Mrs. Dash spices so I used some of that, a bit salt, rasberry vinegar and extra virgin olive oil as my flavorings. I love broccoli slaw. It is so versatile for example using it in salads and sandwich rollups. You find it in the produce aisle and usually the mix has some shredded carrots and red cabbage in it. If you can not find it then if you are using broccoli just cut the stems into shreds like cabbage slaw and there you have it... Add some carrots and cabbage if you want and you have homemade broccoli slaw. Not sure what I will eat tonight. I usually like to have pasta on sunday's . But I ate alot of pasta yesterday and had the tiny bit that was left over earlier so I will make something else. I love pasta and could eat it everyday. But of course the diet should not just be pasta and variety in my daily eating is something I love. Well, off to make that tea now. Keep warm and I hope the new year brings love, peace and happiness to all.

Thank you for coming to my blog. Please come back again soon.

Gnewvegan