Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

I tweaked a recipe today to make these vegan.  And they turned out great!

VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1 1/3 c. shortening
1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
2 flax "eggs" (2 T. flax meal + 6 T. water)
2 t. vanilla
4 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
12 oz. vegan chocolate chips

Mix up flax "eggs" in bowl and refrigerate for 5-10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375.

Cream shortening and sugars.  Add flax "eggs" and vanilla and mix.  Add 1 c. of flour, baking soda, and salt and mix.  Then add second cup of flour and mix.  Then mix third and fourth cups of flour.  Can add 1-2 Tbsp of water if needed if dough becomes too dry.  Finally, mix in chocolate chips.

Drop 1" balls of dough onto cookie sheets.  Bake 10-12 minutes, until cookies are just barely turning golden.  Cool on racks.  Enjoy!!

Apple Pie Pull-Apart Bread

This dessert isn't vegan or gluten-free but it looked so good I couldn't pass it up!

APPLE PIE PULL-APART BREAD

1 tube Pillsbury Grands Flaky biscuits
1 large apple, cored and thinly sliced
Cinnamon sugar (1/3 c. sugar, 1 t. cinnamon, 1/4 t. nutmeg)


Spray bottom and sides of bread pan with cooking spray.  Preheat oven to 350.   Toss apples in cinnamon sugar.

Slice each biscuit in half lengthwise so you have 16 rounds.  Coat each biscuits with cinnamon sugar.

Layer biscuits, alternating with apples slices, in bread pan staring and ending with a biscuit.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.




***The biscuits turned out kind of doughy and this recipe needs more apples.  Try doubling the amount of apples and doing more pans so biscuits aren't so squished together.***

Vegan Slow Cooker Chili

We had family dinner this week on Saturday because of some family that is in town visiting.  This week's recipes turned out SO GOOD!  Everyone loved it and was raving about it.  This will definitely be a repeated dinner!

VEGAN SLOW COOKER CHILI

1 (28 oz) diced tomatoes

1 (14 oz) diced tomatoes with green chilies

1 (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15 oz) pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15 oz) corn, drained and rinsed

2 c. vegetable broth

2 t. garlic powder

2 t. onion powder

2 t. cumin

1/2 t. red pepper flakes

2 t. chili powder

1 c. uncooked quinoa, rinsed well
1 (12 oz) Lightlife Smart Ground Veggie Protein Cumbles

Combine all ingredients in 6 qt. slow cooker.  Cook 6-8 hours on low, or 4-6 hours on high.  

Serve with: tortilla chips, avacado, cheese and sour cream (dairy or vegan depending on your preferences)

It was so good that I forgot to take any pictures until it was almost too late and everyone was almost done eating!

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

I saw this recipe posted on Facebook earlier this week.  I had to do some substitutions to make it vegan and I think it turned out pretty darn good!

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

2 spaghetti squash - halved lengthwise, seeds removed
2 T. olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic (or 2 t. chopped garlic from jar)
2 t. dried basil
4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 15 oz pkg. extra firm tofu
4 t. corn starch
2 t. baking powder
1 c. dairy-free mozzarella cheese
3 T. dried parsley
1/2 t. salt
6 T. bread crumbs


Preheat oven to 400.

Coat a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Place squash, cut side down, in dish.  Bake 30-45 minutes, until fork-tender.  While squash is cooking, drain and press tofu between several sheets of paper towels.

With fork scrape squash strands into a large bowl.

Respray baking dish with cooking spray and set aside for later.  Warm oil in skillet over medium heat.  Add onion, garlic, and basil.  Cook until onion is soft.

Add tomatoes and cook until mixtures is dry.

While tomato and onion mixture is cooking, crumble tofu into a separate bowl and mix with cornstarch and baking powder.

To squash add tofu, cheese, parsley, salt, and onion/tomato mixture.

Pour into greased baking dish, sprinkle with bread crumbs, and bake 30 minutes.

Black Bean Lasagna

Tonight's recipe is courtesy of Trisha Yearwood.  It's one that I've had on my list to try for a while and I finally decided to do it this week.  It was surprisingly delicious!

BLACK BEAN CHEESE-LESS LASAGNA

Serves: 8

1 (14 oz) extra-firm tofu, drained and patted dry

2 (15.5 oz) cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1 (28 oz) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes

1 (12 oz) tomato paste

1 c. water

1 small-medium yellow onion, finely chopped

1 T. dried oregano

1/4 t. garlic powder

1/4 c. raw cashews

1/4 c. nutritional yeast

3 T. olive oil

2 T. finely chopped fresh basil

8 oz lasagna noodles

Place tofu between 4 paper towels (or between two folded up dish towels like I did because we're currently out of paper towels).  Place heavy skillet on top for 1 hour, pressing down on tofu.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375.  Into large sauce pot, stir black beans, tomatoes, tomato paste, water, onion, oregano, garlic powder, 2 t. salt, and 1/2 t. pepper.  Heat to boiling on med-high, stirring often.  Reduce heat to maintain simmer; simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While sauce cooks, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add the lasagna noodles and cook to al dente, according to package directions.  Drain the noodles well.  (THIS IS IMPORTANT!  I decided to try to use no-cook lasagna noodles and they didn't get quite cooked enough.  They were a little chewy and still crunchy on the sides.  Oh well...live and learn...)

In food processor, pulse cashews until finely ground; transfer to large bowl, along with pressed tofu.  With hands, crumble tofu until texture resembles ricotta cheese.  Stir in yeast, olive oil, basil, 1/4 t. salt, and 1/8 t. pepper.

In 13x9 dish, spread 1 c. tomato sauce.  Layer with noodles, sauce, and tofu mixture; repeat layering twice.  Top with 1 c. sauce.  Spread sauce to completely cover noodles.  Bake, uncovered, 40 minutes or until noodles are tender.  Let stand a few minutes before serving.

End result:

It was REALLY good!  (Despite the still too chewy noodles that weren't quite done.)  Dad cleaned his plate!  (Still not sure if it was because he really liked it, or because he was just starving from being at church all day...it was probably the latter, but I'm choosing the believe the former!)

And Julia asked for seconds!  That's a successful dinner in my books.  My work here is done!

Oatmeal Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Bars

This week's dessert was another hit.  At least in my book.  One family member who tried them, didn't like them, but others did.  They were easy to make and had a bunch of good stuff in them.  How can you go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter??

OATMEAL CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER NO-BAKE BARS

1 c. peanut butter (I use Sprout's natural pb because it doesn't have a lot of extra "yucky" stuff in it)
2/3 c. honey
1/2 c. coconut oil (I use Whole Food's 365 brand)
2 c. oats (I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free)
1 1/4 c. chocolate chips (as you can see in the pic: ghirardelli is my choice, they don't use milk fat)
3/4 c. Craisins

Melt peanut butter, honey, and oil in a saucepan over medium heat.  Remove from heat and add oats, chocolate, and cranberries.  Stir until chocolate melts.  Spread mixture into a 9x13 pan.  Refrigerate (or freeze) until hardened.  Store in fridge or freezer.

I cut the pan into 24 squares.  But you can obviously cut them however big you want them.  Beware, though, they are kind of rich, so you don't want them too big or you'll get sick of it before you're done with it!

Bean Tostadas

This week's dinner is another quick and easy favorite.  Tostadas!  Being a native of Arizona I have been born and raised on Mexican food.  I love it.  And when I go too long without it I crave it something fierce.  However, over the last year as I've been making lifestyle and diet changes, I've had to give up a lot of my favorites because they're loaded with meat, cheese, sour cream, and all that other "good stuff".  I've had to adapt recipes (some that came out great, and others I'm still working on), and adjust my expectations.

Tostadas, though, have been something that have stayed constant.  Yea!  All I needed to do was remove the cheese (easily removed and not really missed all that much once you add in a bunch more veggies and salsa for flavor), and sour cream (which I have substituted with a soy version that is actually surprisingly good!).

All the fixings for a easy and super yummy dinner!

I bake my corn tortillas in the oven so you're not getting all that extra, unnecessary fat, by frying them.  Lay the tortillas out on a cookie sheet in a single layer, bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes, then flip over and bake for another 10 minutes, or until they get a little brown and crispy.  

They you can add whatever toppings you want.  At my house we usually stick to the basics: tomatoes, lettuce, cheese (for those on in my house who eat it), salsa, olives, and your choice of sour cream (either dairy or non-dairy).  When I'm feeling like something a little extra (and when avocados are on sale!) I'll make up a batch of my famous guacamole: avocados, tomato, minced onion, seasoned salt, and lemon juice.  So good!!  

Everyone gives these a thumbs up!