Lasagna

Let me start off by saying...."mmmmmmm". This lasagna is amazing!

Cheesy Lasagna
(found on vegweb.com)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 ounces carrots, sliced and steamed
1/4 cup canned low-sodium vegetable broth
16 ounces herbed tofu (I used a 10 oz. package.)
8 ounces vegan cream cheese (I used organic cream cheese.)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup nutritional yeast, optional (I did not use this.)
12 lasagna noodles, cooked (The package I bought had 11 noodles.)
2 to 3 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce (I used 2.)
1 (16 ounce) bag spinach leaves
2 to 3 (14 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce (I used one 25 oz. jar.)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Add olive oil to a large skillet, place overmedium-high heat until hot. Add parsley and garlic, saute for 1 minute. Addcarrots and veggie broth; simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.

2. Add herbed tofu, vegan cream cheese, and lemon juice; stir well. Cookover medium heat stirring constantly until the vegan cream cheese starts tomelt. Stir in nutmeg. Add nutritional yeast if you'd like it a little bit morecheesy! Remove from heat; keep warm.

3. Place 3 lasagna noodles in bottom of an 11" x 7" bakingdish (I used a 9"x13" pan). Spread tofu mixture over top, place 3 noodles on top of that, and spreadtomato sauce and spinach on top of those. Repeat process until all noodles areused up. Top with spaghetti sauce. (I was nervous how it would taste not having any cheese on top, so I added a little bit of shredded mozzarella cheese. However, it was not necessary. The lasagna was so excellent that the other flavors overpowered the cheese, so it didn't make a difference whether it was there or not.)

4. Cover and bake for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 20 to 30minutes until it is thoroughly heated. Usually a lasagna takes about 45 minutesto cook thoroughly.

The website quoted, "This is the best lasagna I have ever made or had, or non-vegan... it issuperb... your non-vegan friends will be wowed!". I completely agree! We LOVED this lasagna! It is sooooo good....so good "you want to lick your plate" good! I prepared the dish earlier in the day and put it in the refrigerator. That helped make dinner easy later that night, when we just threw the pan in the oven. :) We added a green leaf lettuce salad to our dinner, as well as homemade garlic bread (smart balance olive oil butter and garlic on top of a millet/flaxseed bagel). Hope you enjoy!!

Blueberry Muffins

Very Simple Blueberry Muffins

(from vegweb.com)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup raw sugar (Turbinado is what I used)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup nondairy milk
1/4 cup organic extra virgin olive oil

1 cup frozen blueberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place baking cups in a muffin pan.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stirin nondairy milk and oil.

3. Fold in blueberries. Pour into baking cups and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Makes: about 8 muffins

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

This was a very special breakfast with a side of blackberries, strawberries, and kiwis! You will LOVE! The blueberries give it a natural sweetness!

Tofu Tacos Leftovers

We had leftover tofu from our taco meal, so we decided to make a "crunchwrap supreme", and it tasted just like Taco Bell! Wow!!! I'm not kidding! We used millet and flaxseed tortilla wraps and spread organic refried beans on one side. Then we layered the other side with avocado, tofu, tomatoes, lettuce, and whole grain taco shells. We also added a few slices of american cheese, but it would taste just fine without. Last, we poured a little bit of organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) into a skillet and browned it on each side. Your kids would NEVER know this is healthy! This was so amazing, I feel like I totally splurged! lol This is a must to try!!

Delicious Spread

Combine vegenaise and pesto together and you will have an amazing spread for sandwiches, vegetable dip, you name it! During the week, we have vegetable sandwiches. We use Ezekial bread, the vegenaise/pesto spread, and a mixture of vegetables (usually a combination between spinach, tomatoes, avocado, and cucumber). You can top with a dash of balsamic vinaigrette as well! Enjoy!

Tofu Tacos

Tonight we had a traditional, easy meal made healthy. We had tofu tacos! We used whole grain corn taco shells and the traditional toppings (lettuce, tomato, salsa, etc.). We used organic taco seasoning mix and combined it with a package of cooked/crumbled tofu. All we had to do was heat it up. I'd have to say you could barely tell the difference. You could probably get by with serving it and not telling your kids that it is tofu. :) I can't wait to try the tofu out with some more traditional meals (spaghetti, sloppy joes, etc.)! I found a home-made sloppy joe mix that we will have to try next!

Bean Burgers

Better Bean Burgers

(found on wholefoodmommies.com)

Ingredients

1 can Pinto Beans (rinsed& drained)

1 can Black Beans (rinsed& drained)

1 pepper, minced (I prefer to use a yellow or red, but a green bell pepper works great)

1/4 medium onion, minced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

3 TBS organic ketchup

1-2 TBS organic mustard

1 TBS Wheat Germ (heaping)

1/4 cup sunflower seeds,ground

1 egg (OPTIONAL)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350degrees. Saute the pepper, onion and garlic until slightly soft (using a small amount of oil). Mash the beans with a potato masher or in a food processor (leave slightly chunky). Add the saute mixer to the beans along with the ketchup, mustard, and wheat germ and mix together until smooth. If you want to add an egg to help the burgers stay together, fold the egg after everything is mixed.

Drop the mixture onto a greased cookie sheet into approx. 9 patties. The consistency of the mixture will be slightly wet so the patties will not form easily. Drop the mixture into the shape as best as you can.

Bake for 25 minutes and remove from oven to let cool slightly. Then flip each pattie over and bake them for 10 more minutes.

Serve on top of whole wheat buns and add all your desired toppings. The patties themselves taste really good, but I find my family likes them so much more if we have all of the fun toppings.

This was not one of our most favorite meals, but still definitely a good, healthy option. We will make it again! :)

*Update - We had the leftover bean burgers tonight, and we used organic, non-dairy Ranch dressing and BBQ sauce instead of mustard and ketchup. (Watch out - most BBQ sauces and ketchups have high fructose corn syrup!)  It made a big difference!  It tasted much better and extra special!  I would recommend using as well! :)  

Brownies

Vegan Brownies
(These are from vegweb.com)

Ingredients

1/4 cup canola oil (I used Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
1/3 cup water
1 cup organic sugar (I used raw Turbinado sugar)
1 cup organic whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon ground flax seed
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix wet ingredients in large bowl, then dumpin all the dry. Don't over mix.

2. Bake for about 20-25 minutes.

They're supposed to look gooey! You can even add your favorite veganchocolate chips, add coconut, or nuts! We added vegan chocolate chips.

We enjoyed our brownie with a bowl of chocolate Rice Dream! Yum! :)

P.S. - I couldn't wait to take a bite before I took the picture! lol

Waldorf Salad

Waldorf Salad

(found on wholefoodmommies.com)

1 Apple

2 C. red grapes

3 celery sticks

3/4 C chopped walnuts (we used a bag of mixed nuts we had)

2 TBSP veganaise

4 green onions

1 avocado

1 can of black beans drained and rinsed

Finely chop all ingredients and mix intogether with veganaise. Add avocado last so it doesn't get all mushy in themixture. Scoop into a whole wheat pita with spinach or romaine lettuce and enjoy!

Super refreshing and delicious!

Banana Cinnamon French Toast

Banana Cinnamon French Toast

(found on wholefoodmommies.com)

1 cup fortified vanilla soymilk
1/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1 medium banana
1 tsp cinnamon
1 TBSP fresh ground flax seed

Combine soymilk, oats, and banana in a blender. Blend on high for about 2 to 3minutes, or until completely smooth. Pour into a shallow baking dish. Addcinnamon and flax. Mix well. Soak (it may take a minute or two depending onthe type of bread you are using) each piece of bread in the mix before placingit on a non- stick skillet ** make sure to coat pan with non-stick spray. Cookon medium-high heat for about 3 min on each side or until golden brown. Turncarefully because they get a little sticky. Makes 6-7 slices.

Enjoy with a little pure maple syrup!

This was even better than regular french toast!!

Bean and Avocado Quesadilla

I found this recipe from wholefoodmommies.com

Bean and Avocado Quesadilla

• 
  
  2 onions, sliced and sauteed over low heat until caramelized


• 
  
  8 oz of mushrooms sliced and sauteed


• 
  
  1 avocado, mashed


• 
  
  1 can of refried beans


• 
  
  10 tortillas (preferably whole wheat - I used millet and flax tortillas that I got from Richard's Foodporium. They are made by Sami's Bakery in Tampa.)

Here's what I did to assemble them -

On one tortilla 1 spread a thin layer of the avocado, on the other tortilla I spread the refried beans and then topped it with the sauteed mushrooms and onions. Put the 2 together, lightly brush the outside with butter (Earth Balance is a non-dairy butter, but I wasn't wild about it. I have been using Smart Balance made with olive oil.) and lightly fry on each side until golden brown.

We made a salad to go with the meal. We use green leaf and red leaf lettuce (more nutritious than typical lettuce). We added tomatoes, onions, refried beans, and a few crunched up healthy tortilla chips.

Pizza

For our Friday night special, we made homemade pizza. I picked up a millet and flax pizza crust from Richard's Foodporium (health store). We spread basil over the crust, then covered the crust in spinach leaves and tomato slices, and finished with fresh chunks of mozzarella cheese on top. It was delicious! Next time we will try it without the cheese, but we had some in our refrigerator that we needed to use up.

Spaghetti and Riceballs

This was a super yummy meal! I found it on edenwellness.org - the picture is from their website too!

Rice Balls
Makes about 35-40 one inch rice balls

1 cup brown rice (measure before cooking - I used instant brown rice.)
½ cup rolled oats
½ cup onion, chopped
¼ cup whole wheat bread crumbs
¼ cup unsweetened rice or almond milk (original flavor is best for this recipe)
½ tablespoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 pinch cayenne
1 Tbsp ground flax seed
3 Tbsp Water
wheat germ (to coat balls)
grapeseed oil (to cook balls)(I used Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

Cook rice according to package instructions. After fully cooked, set aside to cool. Once rice is cool, pulse in food processor to break it down. In a small bowl, mix ground flax seed with water and let sit for 5 minutes. In a medium bowl, mix the first nine ingredients with the flax seed mixture. Roll mixture into 1” balls. Roll each ball in enough wheat germ to cover.

In a large skillet, heat a thin layer of oil over medium heat. Add rice balls to skillet and cook for approximately 10 minutes, turning occasionally, until light golden brown.

Serve spaghetti sauce and rice balls over your favorite pasta.

Valentines Day

It couldn't warm my heart any more on Valentines Day than to think my family wants to eat healthy...and the high heels...well they always make you feel good and especially tall...unless you're like Amy who doesn't wear them...because she has already been BLESSED tall:)  But eating good and feeling good can add to our health.  Being conscience about food started about 31 years ago when I was given a book about healthy eating....PLEASE don't ask me the name of the book because I don't remember....however it changed my life.  To learn about processed food and sugar and red meat was alarming.   I also recall the medical field taking a friend of mine off red meat and sugar because she had cancer.  I thought....why wait till I'm sick...lets start eating healthy now!  Well, needless to say, it was a journey going into an area of life I wasn't familiar with.  I had Heather, who was 2 at the time, to be able to introduce her to nutritional foods...then came Autumn, Chelsy and Haylee.  Well...to present day...we have a family member fighting cancer...and we all have decided to "get back to our roots" of healthy living and encourage Autumns husband, Justin, to eat nutritionally...so it's a family effort and high heels just makes it alot more fun!  So Happy Healthy Heart Day to you all....