Craving Comfort Foods

Yesterday I had some fresh juice from my Fusion Juicer for breakfast. I added half a beet, a pear, an apple, a small piece of fresh ginger root, a large strawberry, and a couple baby carrots.

I know I posted a while back that I was going to try to eat healthier, less processed foods. I have been for the most part, but I don't believe in depriving oneself. Sometimes we all crave unhealthy meals, even vegans!

For brunch I had a very filling vegan French toast meal with a couple strawberries and blueberries. I included a delicious dollop of homemade coconut milk whipped cream and topped my two slices of French toast with some vegan butter and maple syrup and a few sprinkles of extra cinnamon.

It was very easy to make. I mashed a banana in about a cup of almond milk and added a heaping tablespoon of ground flaxseed meal, about a teaspoon of nutritional yeast, about a teaspoon of cinnamon (which helps regulate blood sugar, and I needed help after this meal! LOL), a dash of black salt (kala namak, which is optional but adds a slightly eggy type of flavor), and about a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

I dipped the pieces of bread in this mixture then fried it in a non-stick pan with a little oil (or you can use more vegan butter for that crispy, buttery flavor). Cook on medium-high for about 4 minutes on each side.

For an early light dinner I wanted some macaroni and cheese. While the noodles cooked in a separate pot, I threw some almond milk over a low heat and added a couple teaspoons of nutritional yeast, some garlic, paprika, onion powder, about a cup of Daiya cheddar cheese, and some cayenne pepper. I stirred until everything melted together and then once I drained the pasta I mixed everything together and decided to add some frozen broccoli, since that always goes well with "cheese," too.

I served it with a small tomato sliced medium-thin and it was delicious. I had enough to bring some to lunch today and enjoy it all over again. : )

Scrambled Egg Sandwich: Vegan Style!

Of course, the vegan style of a scrambled egg sandwich doesn't contain eggs, or any other animal products. It does, however, look very similar and, to me, tastes very similar as well. I used to love a simple scrambled egg sandwich many years ago. It isn't incredibly healthy, but it does supply a good amount of protein and some other nutrients, and this tofu-style veganized version does as well. I love the salty, buttery flavor of this sandwich on lightly toasted whole grain bread. The crumbled tofu converts to a fluffy pile of yum on your sandwich!

There is a type of salt called "black salt," or "kala namak," which has a sulfuric taste and smell (similar to eggs). When this is used with tofu it does present an eggy type of flavor. The salt is not really black in appearance, but more of a creamy pinkish color.

It's not very difficult to make one serving or many servings at a time. For me, I rarely use precise measurements when cooking something such as this, but I will do my best to estimate how much I use per serving for the sake of providing a recipe.

Vegan Scrambled Egg Sandwich: One Serving

Ingredients

two slices bread of choice
about 1 tablespoon vegan butter
about 1/4 cup firm tofu (frozen then thawed)
about 2/3 teaspoon nutritional yeast about 1/8 teaspoon (dash) kala namak / black salt
  (...The Spice Lab's Himalayan BLACK Crystal Salt Kala Namak Salt 16 Oz (fine ground))
about 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon turmeric (depends on how yellow you like it)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt / iodized salt
tiny dash cayenne pepper
dash black pepper, more or less to desired taste
1/5 cup non-dairy milk (I prefer almond)

Directions

1. Toast two slices of bread if desired and coat with thin layer of vegan butter.
2. **BE SURE TO DRAIN/PRESS THE TOFU VERY WELL BEFORE USING! It should feel almost dry.** Mix together milk and seasonings, then add crumbled tofu. Let sit at least a couple minutes.
3. Fry tofu over medium-high heat for about five minutes. Remove and pile onto lightly buttered bread or toast. Enjoy hot.

Ways to indulge in this delicious sandwich but make it a little healthier is to add some ground flaxseed and use less butter, but I think the butter makes it absolutely the best! You can add bell peppers, broccoli, and any veggies you wish. Serve it on a bed of lettuce and tomato if you'd like.

Of course, this sandwich isn't something you want to eat daily, but it's nice on occasion.

By the way, the kala namak can be purchased from Amazon (link below) and is a bit expensive, but only a tiny quantity is needed. It lasts a long time and is well worth the price!

Vegan Cheesecake: My First Time

My first attempt at vegan cheesecake was a complete success! Cheesecake has always intimidated me. Even when I was a lacto-ovo vegetarian and still consumed cheese, I never tried making cheesecake. It seemed so daunting and scary!

I looked over a few recipes online for vegan cheesecake and decided on this one:
I Eat Trees: Perfect Vegan Cheesecake.

As displayed on the sourced website:

Classic Vegan Cheesecake
Ingredients:

16 cinnamon graham crackers, crushed
1/2 cup vegan butter
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1 tablespoon whole wheat flour
16 ounces vegan cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons Ener-G egg replacer whisked into 4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. To make the crust, combine crushed graham crackers, vegan butter, agave nectar, and whole wheat flour in a medium bowl. Thoroughly combine ingredients by hand and press crust mixture into an 8.5 inch springform pan. Set aside.

To make the filling, add cream cheese, sugar, egg replacer mixture, lemon juice, and water to a blender and blend until just smooth. Pour filling over prepared crust. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cheesecake is set in the pan. Allow cheesecake to cool at room temperature to 30-45 minutes. Cover pan and refrigerate overnight, or at least 8 to 10 hours. Slice, top with berries or sauce if desired.

I made a few slight changes when I made the cheesecake. First of all, I couldn't find any cinnamon graham crackers without honey so I found some regular vegan graham crackers that I used for the crust and added some cinnamon and nutmeg. For the crust I also added about a tablespoon of ground flaxseed and about 1/4 cup coconut flakes.

For the cheesecake filling I followed the directions almost exactly, however, for the egg replacer I whisked some of it into almond milk rather than water. I also added about 1/4 teaspoon almond extract and only about 1/2 teaspoon of the vanilla.

This cheesecake was taste-tested by myself, of course, and I loved it! Also, my picky boyfriend and four co-workers sampled this treat and it was very well received by everyone.

Many were very shocked when I said I'd made a cheesecake without "real" cheese, since they know I am vegan, and were a bit iffy about how it might taste. I think everyone was pleasantly surprised. Someone from another office actually contacted me and told me they heard it was good from a mutual co-worker, which made my day!

To top it off, I decided to try the coconut cream whipped cream I've read so much about. I used a chilled can of full fat coconut milk and scooped the top white part out and beat that with a few tablespoons of powdered sugar. It turned out white, fluffy, creamy and delicious! It's a great way to make vegan whipped topping and wasn't too difficult, either, so I was incredibly happy.

It was very tasty and topped the cheesecake with that extra something special. The cheesecake was phenomenal regardless of whether whipped topping is used or not.

Next time I may use a bit more graham crackers and flaxseed in the crust and I may increase the amount of Tofutti vegan cream cheese I use as it was not quite as thick as I prefer, but the taste was flawless. I may also try a gluten-free recipe so my good friend and neighbor can try it. I plan to experiment with ground almonds and different types of gluten-free flours for the crust.

Thanks for the recipe!

Vbar Sunflower & Cranberry Review

In my latest Vegan Cuts Snack Box I received a Vbar amongst the goodies. I brought it to work to try today. It looks pretty plain and similar in appearance to most other vegan energy or nutrition bars. It's a bland beige-like color with some specks of cranberry visible. How would it taste?

I admit wasn't too excited about it, but boy was I wrong! It tastes phenomenal! I was expecting a blah texture and plain bar, but this one has a nice substance to it and is slightly chewy without being overly sticky or having weirdly soft texture as some other bars I've tried. It has just the right balance of sweet and wholesome. The flavor was a mild sweet vanilla nutty kind of taste with a slight cranberry essence. I thought it was perfect! There are several varieties available and I am anxious to try them all!

I searched online for a website and cannot find one anywhere, but they are available for sale at different vegan retailers, such as Vegan Cuts. I am a little tight on cash this month but next month I plan on buying the variety pack, which has my mouth watering!

The bars come in a biodegradable plastic wrapper (and the variety pack comes in a biodegradable paper/cardboard box). The bars are gluten free, soy free, vegan, non-GMO and all natural. Ingredients: Brown rice cereal, sunflower seed nut butter, white sorghum syrup, coconut flakes, dried cranberries, vanilla extract, sea salt, coconut oil. No palm oil or preservatives!

Nutritionally, one bar (1.5 ounces) contains 210 total calories (120 from fat). Since it's vegan, of course there is no cholesterol in this product, a very small amount of sodium, and total fat of 13 grams (only 6 of which is saturated fats, probably from the coconut ingredients and the remaining fat is the good kind: monounsaturated and polyunsaturated types). It provides 4 grams of protein per serving, 3 grams of fiber, as well as phosphurus, calcium, magnesium, iron, and other vitamins and minerals our bodies need.

Sorry for the horrible quality pictures, but here are a couple shots from my lunch at work this afternoon:

This delicious product is distributed by Benefit Foods, which is a California company (big surprise there!). Other varieties include: Almond/Fig/Carob, Almond/Cherry, Almond/Blueberry, Sunflower/Ginger, Sunflower/Cashew. The slogan on the front is "Unwrap Goodness!" YES, I agree and want more!

Healthier, Less Processed.....

I've been trying to eat less processed foods, even though I love Gardein and Veggie Brothers mock meat and other things I shouldn't consume so much of. I've also been trying to add more nutritional yeast to my foods for the B vitamins. Even though I have been vegan now for over 4 months, my cholesterol was still a bit high, although this does run in the family (and I'm not as active as I should be!).

Anyway, I had some extra potatoes laying around and don't often crave them, but I was craving something cheesy and I love broccoli, so I cooked the potato and halved it a few times on a plate. I prepared a broccoli-cheese sauce using Daiya cheddar shreds (I know it's processed, but it wasn't too much), nutritional yeast, a ton of broccoli, some minced garlic, cayenne and black pepper, and some almond-coconut milk.

It turned out to be just what I was craving. Although it does contain some processed goods, the majority of it, I would imagine, seems healthy and fairly basic. Hopefully it's a step in the right direction. I always drink plenty of clear water and have cut back on some of the snacks like potato chips and sweets.

Since becoming vegan I have probably at least doubled the amounts of raw fruits and vegetables that I eat. I eat a banana a day, usually an apple, orange, and/or pear as well. I love taking kale mixed with corn and nutritional yeast as a side to work and often enjoy salads, raw carrots, broccoli, celery, cucumbers, etc. Just this morning for breakfast I had half an avocado, a handful of mixed blueberries and blackberries, and some pine nuts.

If I can set myself up for some kind of rewards system, perhaps only indulging on mock meats and delicious Amy's Vegan Margherita Pizzas on the weekends and eat right Monday through Friday, I think that would be a great start for me. I also started Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and am on day 4. If I keep up with the healthier eating and more exercise, hopefully I can get my cholesterol at better levels and become more toned as I desire.

What's Wrong with Palm Oil??

I only recently learned of the devastation harvesting palm oil creates on natural habitats, destroying rainforests and ecosystems and crippling the orangutan and other animal populations.

In an effort to raise awareness I have tried to find the most pertinent information from what I consider to be reliable sources. Education, although sad, is empowerment and people must be aware of what's going on in the world, especially when something causes so much harm that can be avoided.

Palm oil, one of the cheapest and most popular oils, also commonly referred to as palm kernel oil, palm fruit oil, and dozens of other names, is found in about half of all packaged goods, if not more. Palm oil can be also listed as PKO, palmate, sodium laureth sulphate, sodium lauryl sulphates, glyceryl stearate, stearic acid, chemicals which contain palm oil, and others, so it really can be difficult to know if this ingredient is in any of the foods you're eating or any of the products you're using. It can even be listed under the blanket term: vegetable oil.

Many shampoos, lipsticks and other make-ups, candy bars and other snacks, and even crackers and other food and cosmetic products often contain palm oil. Even beloved vegan products such as Daiya cheese uses palm oil in their block cheeses (not the shredded cheeses to my knowledge), Lucy's vegan cookies, and delicious vegan candy bars such as Jokerz, among others.

According to Greenpeace: "Demand from emerging economies such as India and China as well as a growing reliance on biofuels in Europe and elsewhere means global production is only set to grow... The environmental damage that can be caused when expansion of industrial production continues unchecked and the undeniable link between palm oil and deforestation can be witnessed via the destroyed peatlands and rainforests in Indonesia, the world’s largest producer."

Many different animals have adapted to the specific environment from which palm oil derives, and reducing the forests and destroying the land from production is causing many species to dwindle rapidly, soon to be on the brink of extinction. The UK-based news publication The Independent claims "The wildlife-rich forests of Indonesia and Malaysia are being chain-sawed to make way for palm-oil plantations. Thirty square miles are felled daily in a burst of habitat destruction that is taking place on a scale and speed almost unimaginable in the West... When the rainforests disappear almost all of the wildlife – including the orangutans, tigers, sun bears, bearded pigs and other endangered species – and indigenous people go. In their place come palm-oil plantations stretching for mile after mile, producing cheap oil."

Please be aware of the devastation palm oil causes and be compassionate enough to check your food and product labels. Do your own research and let everyone know about this. I was unaware of this for so long, and, sadly, I'm sure many others are as well. I have stopped buying products that contain palm oil as much as possible (by this I mean I read all ingredients and if I think it contains palm oil I do not purchase it, but with all the many ways it can be listed, it can be difficult to know I am avoiding it 100%) and will continue to boycott them. Please do the same.

Also, if you choose to become more active concerning this problem, please voice your opinion by calling companies to let them know you are against the use of palm oil and will not be using their products until they stop using it as an ingredient. Spread the word!

My Sources:

http://www.cspinet.org/palm
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/the-guilty-secrets-of-palm-oil-are-you-unwittingly-contributing-to-the-devastation-of-the-rain-forests-1676218.html
http://ran.org/palm-oil
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/forests/Our-current-projects/congo-rainforest/africa-palm-oil-herakles