vegan

It’s Spring! Beers, BBQing and Blueberry Pie

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Spring has finally sprung and that means BBQing, hiking, camping and lots of SUN! Last night was such a beautiful night we couldn’t pass up doing our 3.25 mile hike/walk at Hubbard Park.  After that we came back for some BBQing and beers. I decided to prep our meal ahead of time so that when we got back from our hike/walk we could get right to grilling and I wouldn’t be in the kitchen getting things ready while Neil was out doing the manly grilling.  We stood around and grilled up some yummy skewers of mushrooms and peppers, onion and sweet potato rounds and some Korean BBQ marinated tempeh. I love smelling like smoke after grilling on our charcoal grill….oh dreaming of camping.

We had a little Ezekiel Pita Bread on the side to catch all the yummy sauce drippings and a nice cold glass To Unibroue Trios Pistoles-SO GOOD! To end our yummy meal we shared a piece of Blueberry Crumble Pie

Blueberry Crumble Pie

You will need a whole wheat or spelt pie crust for this recipe.

Preheat oven to 350F

Filling:

  • 3 cups frozen blueberries
  • 1 T lemon juice
  • 1 T arrowroot (you can also use cornstarch)
  • 2 T palm sugar (you could also use sucant)
  • pinch of cinnamon

Place all ingredients in a medium pot over medium heat and cook until bubbly.  The pour into a prepared whole wheat pie crust.

Topping:

  • 1/4 cup almond meal (you could use flour)
  • 1/4 cup rolled oats
  • 2 T brown sugar
  • 2 T vegan shortening

Using your fingers mix all of this together until it is crumbly.  Then sprinkle over the blueberry filling. Place the pie in the oven and bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Set to the side and let cool.  While it is cooling make the Lemon Glaze.

Lemon Glaze:

  • 2 Cups powdered Sugar
  • 1 T lemon juice
  • 1 t vanilla
  • 2 T soy milk

Drizzle this on top of the cooled Blueberry Crumble Pie, save any remaining glaze to drizzle over slices when serving.

Product Review: Eden Organic Wild Berry Mix

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Eden Organic gave me the opportunity to try one of their products and I chose the WIld Berry Mix.  This Wild Berry Snack Mix has no added salt and is filed with organically grown roasted almonds, roasted pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, raisins, dried wild blueberries and dried cranberries.

This snack mix was delicious and I’m sad I don’t have more (I guess I’ll have to go to the store and find some). I ate this for dessert some nights with some mini vegan chocolate chips to it to make a yummy dessert.  This would also be a great snack for hubz and I to bring hiking with us this summer.  It is filled with protein and fiber and has a nice bit of sweetness.

Disclaimer: Eden Organic provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Product Review: Artisana Raw Organic Nut Butters

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Artisana Raw Organic Nut Butters sent me some teasers of their amazing raw nut butters. These cute little jars had one serving of nut butter in them just enough to get a taste and leave you wanting more. These handmade and raw gourmet nut butters are a great treat. Although they are expensive they are amazing and worth the money as an occasional treat. My absolute favorite of all the samples was the cashew butter; it was amazingly creamy, silky and smooth.  The cashew butter was closely followed by the luscious macadamia cashew butter.  Of course all the others were tasty too.

Disclaimer: Artisana provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Recipe: “Sausage” Stuffed Mushrooms

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“Sausage” Stuffed Mushrooms

These mushrooms make a great appetizer for any dinner or cocktail party. You can make the stuffing ahead of time and fill mushrooms and bake before your guest arrive.  The stuffing would also be delicious in zucchini boats and stuffed squash.  You could also stuff portobello mushrooms and serve with your favorite sides as an entree.

Makes 4-6 Servings

Ingredients:

  • 16 white mushrooms
  • 5 tablespoons good olive oil, divided
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons Marsala wine (you could also use sherry or vegetable broth)
  • 1 vegan Italian Sausage (I used Field Roast), minced
  • 6 scallions, minced
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 2/3 cup panko bread crumbs
  • 4 tablespoons of vegan cream cheese
  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
  2. Remove the stems from the mushrooms and chop them finely. Set aside. Place the mushroom caps in a shallow bowl and toss with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and Marsala. Set aside.
  3. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage, mushroom stems, garlic and green onions cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Add the panko crumbs, stirring to combine evenly with all the other ingredients.
  5. Turn the heat off and  stir in the cream cheese until it has melted and made the sausage mixture creamy.
  6. Place in a medium bowl and stir in the nutritional yeast, salt and pepper. Cool slightly.
  7. Fill each mushroom generously with the sausage mixture. Arrange the mushrooms in a baking dish large enough to hold all the mushrooms in a snug single layer.
  8. Bake until the stuffing for 50 minutes, until the stuffing is browned and crusty.

Product Review: HURRAW! Lip Balm

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I recently posted a review for Crazy Rumors vegan lip balm.  I have found another great vegan lip balm, HURRAW! a great all natural, vegan  and made from premium raw and fair trade ingredients.  One thing that I love about this lip balm is the shape, it’s oval versus round which helps to coat the lips better.  I loved the Cinnamon Tinted Lip Balm; it was a great flavor and gave my lips a nice pink tint. My hubby loved the Vanilla Bean Lip Balm and he was also a big fan of this stuff. It’s great to find not only a vegan but also raw lip balm. I would definitely recommend these to any raw foodist or vegan looking for a new lip balm.

Disclaimer: HURRAW! provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Recipe Post: "Fried" Veggies

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My husband and I are headed to Boston this weekend for a leisurely weekend away and I had a bunch of produce to use up.  This morning I decided since I was going to be out of the house all day that it would be good to get something prepped for dinner ahead of time.  We have been trying to eat high raw now that our winter CSA is over and we don’t have ridiculous amounts of rutabaga and turnip to use every week.  This recipe is almost raw with the exception of the nutritional yeast which gives it a yummy cheesy flavor.

Ingredients (makes 2 large portions or 4 sides):

  • 2 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
  • 8oz button mushrooms, cut in half (you can also try baby bella or portobello if you’d like)
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped into medium sized chunks
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast (if you want to make this totally raw you can omit this ingredient)
  • 1/4 cup cold pressed olive oil
  • 3T lemon juice
  • 1t onion powder
  • 1t garlic powder
  • 1/2t salt
  • 1/4t black pepper

Directions:

  1. Toss the veggies with the nutritional yeast, olive oil, lemon juice, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper; make sure everything is evenly coated.
  2. Spread evenly onto mesh dehydrator sheets (I used 2 in my Nesco).
  3. Dehydrate at 115F for 1-2 hours (this helps to reduce fermentation) then turn down to 105F for at least 10 hours but you could dehydrate these up to 24 hours if you want them really crispy.

Recipe: Skinny Blood Orange Margarita

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Skinny Blood Orange Margarita

Margaritas are generally filled with sugar and can be anywhere from 250-500 calories.  

This recipe is great and only around 150 calories a serving so you can enjoy your margarita without the calorie guilt.

Ingredients: (makes 4-5 margaritas) 

  • 8oz silver tequila 
  • splash of triple sec
  • 1t agave nectar
  • 3 limes, juice and zest
  • 2 blood oranges, juice and zest
  • 3-4 cups ice

Throw everything into the blender and blend to a slush.  

Silly napkins my mom got us to go with our margarita glasses