I have been loving breakfast lately and have whipped up some great treats for the Hubz and I. Monday morning we enjoyed some banana bread protein pancakes with agave glazed fruit and of course enjoyed with Kicking Horse Coffee– I am addicted to this stuff!
Agave Glazed Fruit (for more than 3 people add more fruit and and extra tablespoon of agave)
1/2 cup sliced strawberries
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup raspberries
3T agave nectar
Directions:
Preheat a griddle.
In a small bowl blend the wet ingredients until mostly smooth; it is okay to have some small banana chunks. In a large bowl whisk all of the dry ingredients together. Create a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients in and stir together. At this point you can add a little more non-dairy milk if you like your pancakes thinner otherwise it’s time to cook.
Spray the preheated griddle with cooking spray and drop 1/4 cup of pancake batter on it. Cook 3-5 minutes on the first side and 1-2 on the second side until light and fluffy.
Top your pancakes with the agave glazed fruit and enjoy!
Since the weather has been crazy hot the past few days I’ve decided to keep it light and make some cooling coconut yogurt parfaits. This morning I even made my dad a greek yogurt parfait since he was up bright and early with us. I layered coconut yogurt, strawberries and a blend of oats, chia seeds and flax meal.
Hey Bloggies Hubz here to bring you a product review of my new favorite kitchen gadget!
A couple of months ago, the fine people at Sodastream sent us a Sodastream Jet Soda Maker and a whole host of flavours to sample.
As someone who used to drink way too much soda, the soda stream is definitely a great product. While the upfront cost may be a little intimidating, it doesn’t take long for it to be paid back. When you take into consideration the cost of the flavours and the cartridges it works out to about $0.25 per can of soda or $0.25 per litre of soda water.
It’s also wonderfully convenient. It’s nice to be able to make some seltzer to mix a drink or some soda to go with your meal whenever you want.
We were also provided with many different soda and water flavourings. The flavours were similar to those of mainstream soda brands. One good thing about adding your own flavouring is that you are able to control how much you add. I found this great because it would allow me to control how sweet the soda was. My favourite soda flavours were the cola and lemon lime. My favourite of all though were the “MyWater” flavourings. These flavours are made from natural ingredients. With a little drop of the flavours, you could add a little punch to your drink.
There is a lot less sugar and calories in these sodas than commercial sodas (and they have no High Fructose Corn Syrup), but this comes at the expense of combining sugar with the artificial sweetener Splenda to keep the calories low. To avoid the artificial sweeteners, you can stick to the MyWater flavours or by coming up with your own flavours for the sparkling water.
Overall, I think the SodaStream is a great value for people who drink a lot of soda and seltzer.
Disclaimer: SodaStream 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.
As you read in my last post the Hubz and I took a quick trip to Massachusetts to have a night away and to do a little shopping at The Container Store and Ikea to outfit our new apartment. Our goal is to have everything organized and beautiful ….but first we need to be able to move in. On our way down to MA we shared a Twist drink that the company sent me to try. These beverages are certified organic and are basically flavored waters. The first flavor we tried was West Indies Lime which was delicious! It tasted like key lime pie and was almost creamy just like a pie and brought me back to Key West…..aww I dream of the beach.
Once we arrived and checked into the hotel we were hungry and decided to head to The Pulse in Somerville for dinner which you can read all about here. Since we were not satisfied or full from our meal at The Pulse we walked down the street to Joshua Tree for a beer and sweet potato fries.
We woke up early the next morning and decided to head to Watertown to the Deluxe Town Diner for some yummy vegan pancakes. However when we arrived we saw a new breakfast wrap filled with tofu, soy cheese, veggie sausage, avocado and black beans and we both decided to go with that and coffee.
The food was really good but the homefries were a bit cold and the coffee was some what watered down. The service was slow and my bottomless cup of coffee was bottomed a number of times. I loved the atmosphere though; it is an old diner and still seems to have the original fixtures which brings you back to a different time. Overall the food was really good and their pancakes are delicious as well.
Rating:
Value: 4/5
Food: 4/5
Atmosphere: 3.5/5
Vegan Friendly: 2.5/5
After breakfast we headed out to The Container Store where we picked up some great items to organize our new place and then we were off to Ikea where we found a great new dining room table. I can’t wait to show you all when we finally move into our new place and put it together. After hours of shopping we decided to have a quick and super inexpensive lunch at Ikea; we both got the organic pasta with marinara sauce for only $2 each! It wasn’t the best food but it did the job.
After Ikea we headed home which felt like forever so we stopped for iced coffee and finally made it to my grandma’s where we made dinner and got ready for our garage sale which was extremely successful. The rest of the weekend has been spent relaxing.
Over the long weekend the Hubz and I made a quick overnight trip to the Boston area for a little getaway and to visit a few stores in search of items for our new apartment. The first night we were there we decided to try The Pulse Cafe; a vegan restaurant in Somerville that was rumored to be good.
The cafe is a small cafeteria like place with table service, we were greeted and seated immediately as there was no one else there. After looking over the menu we decided to ask our waitress which two items she recommended and based on her recommendation we went with the BBQ Seitan with slaw and cornbread and the Veg Burger with a mixed green salad.
At this point we are seeing the food and thinking wow this looks pretty good….however our eyes were deceived. The seitan was like eating a sponge, the texture and consistency was awful and I couldn’t finish my half it was that bad. The bbq sauce on the seitan was like sweetened tomato paste, the cornbread was dry, and the slaw was AMAZING. The slaw was the highlight of both dishes which is pretty disappointing considering it is just a side.
As for the burger it was was bland even with the chipotle mayo which you couldn’t even taste. The burger was mushy and with the bun and tomato there was a real lack of great texture, it needed something crunchy and more seasoning. The greens were boring and under a few leaves we found a piece of tomato and red pepper. There was dressing on the salad leaving it very bland as well; just a little lemon juice, salt and pepper would have made the salad 100x better.
The food was disappointing, the prices were expensive ($13 for a veggie burger? come on) and to top it all of the seating was horrible. The dining area has two levels that are separated by a railing; we were seated on the lower level. A group of 3 people came in and were seated on the upper level right next to us so the only thing separating us was the thin railing. The group then proceeded to look down on us and watch as we ate which made both of us extremely uncomfortable. To top it all off we were the only people in the cafe so there was no need to seat someone so close to us.
Overall I would not recommend or visit this cafe again. I found that there was as lot of hype on the internet over this place due to the pure fact that it was vegan. All though it is vegan the food and prices were not worth the visit, especially with a number of great vegan friendly restaurants nearby. To top off the whole experience both the Hubz and I left hungry since we were unable to finish our food.
This weekend it has been beautiful in Vermont, summer has finally arrived! Bianca’s guest post this weekend inspired me to make my own version of eggs benedict, specifically my absolute favorite version that I used to get all the time before I went vegan at Sneakers in Winooski VT. It is a California benedict which includes avocado which just makes this dish wonderful. We enjoyed our benny with homefries, hot sauce and the best coffee ever from Kicking Horse Coffee in British Columbia.
California Benedict (serves 4)
1 avocado, sliced into 16 slices
2 cups arugala, divided
4 whole wheat english muffins, toasted
hot sauce (optional)
“Eggs”:
– 2/3 block of tofu sliced in 2 then again into 4 triangles
1T nutritional yeast
1C vegetable broth
1/4t chipotle chili powder
1/4t cumin
1/4t garlic powder
1/2t dried thyme
1t red wine vinegar
Mix all the ingredients together and place the tofu slices in the mixture to marinade for 30 minutes.
Hollandaise Sauce:
1C non-dairy milk
1T lemon juice
3T nutritional yeast
pinch cayenne
2T vegan margarine
1T cornstarch
1/2C vegetable broth
salt and pepper
Blend all the ingredients together and then place in a small sauce pan over low heat. Whisk occasionally to create a smooth sauce. Heat until thickened and then remove from the heat until ready to use. Warm the sauce gently before serving- you may need to add a little more non-dairy milk to thin the sauce.
Putting it all together:
Top each side of the english muffin with 1/4 of the arugula and place 2 slices of avocado on each side. Top with 1 piece of tofu and the drizzle with the hollandaise sauce. If you would like top with a few drops of hot sauce.
After breakfast we were feeling pretty full so lunch was light just a wonderful coconut milk yogurt parfait which was delicious and very pretty to eat.
Dinner was per the request of my hubby who was craving some spicy delights- tempeh bites. I decided to make three variations a Chipotle BBQ, Sriracha Hoisin, and good old Frank’s Hot sauce. I served it with a little sweet corn guacamole and bean and veggie salad.
Hey y’all! Bianca here from Vegan Crunk. Lindsay asked me to write a guest post, so here goes. If you don’t know me, I’m a Dirty South vegan from Memphis, Tennessee. I’m currently working on a cookbook of veganized Southern classics and comfort dishes. I’ve been vegetarian for almost 16 years, and a vegan for five.
Having spent so much of my youth as a vegetarian (beginning at age 14), I can honestly say that I never really missed meat. Maybe for a few weeks after giving it up, but I don’t remember the transition from omnivore to vegetarian being very hard. Much harder was the move from a lacto-ovo veg diet to veganism.
But unlike most people, it wasn’t the cheese that held me back. It was the eggs. In my pregan days, I loved eggs … incredible, edible eggs. Fried, scrambled, boiled, made into an omelet — it didn’t matter. After transitioning, it took me a hot minute to get used to the idea of never having another deviled egg or a cheesy, fluffy omelet. That was, of course, before I realized what a wonderful stand-in tofu makes for eggs.
I started with Tofu Scramble:
Though it lacks of the fluff of scrambled eggs, tofu scramble makes up for it in the presence of fresh veggies. It’s more nutritionally complete, and oh so comforting. Here’s my recipe:
Cheeze Eggs
—————-
3 Tbsp. soymilk
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. celery salt
1 cup chopped vegetables, optional
Non-stick cooking spray or 2 tsp. oil
1 lb. extra-firm tofu
Blend soymilk, soy sauce, and spices in a small bowl. Spray a non-stick skillet with cooking spray or use a couple teaspoons of olive oil to sauté veggies (if using) for 3 to 4 minutes. Crumble in tofu and add spice mixture. Cook several minutes until any water from the tofu is absorbed and tofu is hot.
After discovering the Fat-Free Vegan Kitchen blog and Vegan Brunch, I began making vegan omelets:
Finally, I got all crazy and decided that if tofu could make better-than-eggy scrambles and omelets, how would the bean curd fare in a deviled “egg”? After a little experimentation, Tofu Deviled Eggy Bites were born:
I’ve served these at parties to non-vegans who declared that they actually taste very much like actual deviled eggs. The secret is black salt — available at Indian markets. Here’s the recipe:
Tofu Deviled Eggy Bites
——————————-
1 pound extra firm tofu
Half of a 12.3-ounce package of firm silk tofu (about 1 cup)
1 cup canned Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
2 Tbsp. vegan mayonnaise (like Vegenaise)
1 Tbsp. yellow mustard
1 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. black salt (plus about 1 Tbsp. more for spreading on “egg whites”)
1 Tbsp. dill pickle relish
1/2 Tbsp. red onion, very finely minced
Black pepper, to taste
Paprika, for garnish
Fresh chives (optional, for garnish)
Drain water from the extra firm tofu. Wrap in several layers of paper towels and place on a plate. Put something heavy on top, like a jar or book, and allow to press in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
After extra firm tofu is pressed, cut it in half. Then cut each half into four quadrants or squares. Slide a knife on the side of each quadrant to cut three squares from each. In the end, you should have about 24 little squares. If these instructions are too confusing, just cut into bite-sized squares and aim to get about 20 to 24. Set aside.
Place the silk tofu, beans, mayonnaise, mustard, turmeric, and one teaspoon black salt into a food processor. Process for about a minute or until smooth. Transfer to a mixing bowl and stir in relish, onion, and black pepper. Set aside.
Pour the other tablespoon of black salt into a small bowl. Using your fingertip, rub a touch of black salt on each white firm tofu square. Top each square with a dollop (about one teaspoon) of the yellow silk tofu mixture.
Yesterday we picked up the last few items, bureau, bike and shop-vac, from our old apartment and handed in the keys. It was strange to see the apartment empty once again but I can’t say that we will miss it. I am excited to move into our new place and have been looking for new organizational ideas on The Container Store site as well as for new furniture on Ikea.
And now we say ‘GOODBYE’ to our old apartment:
Goodbye kitchen with no counter space and no hood over the stove….
Goodbye bedroom I will miss your wonderfully large his and her closets….
Goodbye double living room/dining room with your painted shut windows…..
Goodbye office; whoever claimed you could be a second bedroom was crazy….
Goodbye ridiculously small bathroom….
Goodbye porch with the gross carpet you served us well-for storage that is….
Goodbye big ugly blue house it was an okay 2 years but it is time to move on.
Now we are living with my parents until our new place is ready which is nice but it’s hard not having our own space since my parents downsized a few years ago when I moved out and their house is really meant for 2 people or a weekend visit but right now it seems it may be a few week visit. One of the benefits however of living with 2 other people and a father who loves nutbutter is having a wonderful supply of jars for Oats In A Jar. This morning my dad made the coffee and I made OIAJ for the two of us.
OIAJ: (serves 2)
Requires 2 mostly empty nutbutter jars
1 cup of oats
3/4 cup almond milk
1 cup water
1t cinnamon
2t chia seeds
1t raw sugar
2T maple syrup
1 banana, sliced
Bring the oats, almond milk, water and cinnamon to a bowl and then turn down to low until the oats are thick. Stir in the chia seeds, sugar and maple syrup.
In the bottom of each jar put 1/6th of the banana and then top with oats do this 2 more times and you are ready to eat!
