Review; Ultimate Chopper

A few years ago we got this ultimate chopper as a christmas gift. It has been an amazing tool in the kitchen because when the blender is too big for your item you want chopped, i just stick it in this little guy and whiz it up! It's very nice and i use it to make pesto, grind up stuff for spreads and usually when i talk about blending small quantities of food in my recipes, this is what I'm talking about. :) 

this is not my picture so i give my credits to amazon.com, where i got the picture. Couldn't take one at the moment, not at the place that has it. 

I am going to give this 5 stars because it is super super handy and i really find it very useful. Easy to clean also. 

Sorry

My apologies here because I went on a week vacation and couldn't have access to a computer I couldn't upload any pictures or recipes but I defiantly will try and do some super super soon! Probably tomorrow! ;) Today I am going to go into the kitchen and start experimenting with making some vegan cheese for you guys! My goal is for it to grate like normal cheese but I doubt i could get it like that so I am going to try and make a log, like you know the fancy logs with crackers all around, anyway that consistency, kinda soft? Yeah, that kind. Not too hard, or it doesn't sound too hard....

What is it? It's Energ Egg Replacer!

This is what i use instead of using eggs in my baking. It works so great in foods and I am very amazed. This box only cost about $7 dollars and i know at first it sounds like a lot but really it's soo much cheaper then eggs because there's about like 140 something eggs tat you can get out that box and so do the math, it's much cheaper! I just quit using eggs so i have about a dozen eggs in my fridge, going to waste,,, need to use them on my face for a nice facial i guess... that's the only thing i can think of using them for! Lol. Anyway, that might be a later post. :p It's gluten free, wheat free, no preservatives, no artificial flavor, no sugar added and no cholesterol! Almost as good as water, except it has like 15 calories. Which is nothing compared to the 70 that the Eggland's best eggs have. I suggest that you use this and I use it in my recipes. Where i put egg, just suppose i use this. I will start putting it down because i have posted this.
You use 1 1/5 t. of the egg replacer plus 2T. water equals one egg.
I hope you guys have fun baking with out eggs and tell me how your goodies come out like!

What is it?? It's Tahini!!

Here's the food that I am going to talk about for today/tonight! It's Tahini! Tahini is basically sesame seeds ground up into a buttery, spreadable, like peanut butter but stiffer?? They roast them and then puree them. We get the Joyva brand on tahini and the ingredient list is like this

for 1 Tablespoon
100 calories
8 g fat
17mg sodium

It's about like peanut butter so i really enjoy using it in my asian cooking. Joyva also makes a halva, which is like a tahini but it's hardened and can have nuts. You can only have like a little little little bit of it because it is like pure fat! So like don't eat that whole thing! Just like super super super small bits. That's how i eat my halva.

Biscuits

This morning i woke up and made some biscuits to go with out fresh box of strawberries that we got yesterday. I did a little remix on the cornbread recipe and this is what i got.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 c. white flour
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1 serving energ fake egg
1 T. baking powder
1/8 c. soy milk powder + one cup water  or 1 cup soy milk
1 1/4 T. oil

Mix it with a WOODEN SPOON not a Whisk!!!! It'll be like thicker dough than the cornbread because the flour is more 'thirsty' than the cornmeal. Put it in a greased pan, either square or round and bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees F. I cut mine into eight pieces, and put some strawberries on top. Since i don't like eating cool whip, (in my opinion, it's absolutely disgusting, i drizzled a bit of honey on top.

Nutritional Facts
Calories 148.4
Total Fat 3.1 g
 Sat 0.4 g
 Poly 0.6 g
 Mono 1.7 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Total Carbs 27.4 g
 Fiber 2.7 g
 Sugar 2.9 g

Carrot Salad

This is my version of carrot salad for 4 people.

2 medium sized carrots
1/4 c. Almondaise 
or regular mayo
1/4 c. raisins

Grate the carrots and then mix in the almondaise. Then sprinkle in raisins. I put less than 1/4th of a cup. This salad is nice when you're getting super super sick of regular lettuce salads.

Onion Peas

This is a recipe that is very easy and that you use frozen peas for.
To feed four people, use 1/2 the bag of frozen peas with water and start warming them up in the microwave. I did for 2 minutes. While those two minutes are going, chop up some Walla Walla sweet onions and get ready to put those in. When the peas are ready, put the onion in, with some garlic and onion powder and have it go the rest of the time. (Mine was for 3 more minutes to get it nice and hot). Enjoy!

Hot dog gravy

This can at the bottom is what i used in my gravy. you can take out the big franks and then it will be brown gravy.

In a blender
2 c. water
4 T. flour

While that is blending, saute some onion in a frying pan
and when the water/flour mix is blended, pour it into
the frying pan. Mix it until it is thick and you might want
to add some marmite

I used about a teaspoon. Make it nice and thick. 

Optional, slice up your big frank into coins and warm them in the gravy. I ate this over left over sushi rice and regular rice. 

To complete the meal, i ate it with my Onion Peas and Carrot Salad

Have fun!

Vegetarian Chili

Here's a great vegetarian chili recipe

1 can diced tomatoes' i used the chili diced tomatoes from western family
1 can black beans; use whatever bean you like to use for chili. I just grabbed a random one out of my pantry
1/2 cup water
1 T. Chili powder + or - depending on your likes
1 chili pepper
1/4 t .salt
1 T. soy sauce (shhhh my secret ingredient!)
1/4 c. onion; sauteed in the bottom of the sauce pan
1 clove of garlic; peeled and chopped into small bits

First sautee the onion in the bottom with the garlic. Then add in the tomatoes, beans, water and chili powder and chili. Then add salt and or soy sauce.  This recipe is more like a base to the chili. I put in like 1/3 c. of tvp meat and called it a soup!
I ate this with cornbread, and put some good old Sunflower chip dip in the soup as  like a sour cream. Have fun and eat up!

Xi'an Cold Silken Tofu With Sauce

We visited China this past summer and while we were in Xi'an, the home of the ancient terra cotta warriors, we found a vegetarian restaurant near a pagoda we went and visited right outside the city wall. It was a beautiful place with really nice dishes. We got a hot pot with mushrooms (enoki, shiitake, other ones we don't know the names of) and we got this side dish. Sooo good!

1 package tofu; silken
3 T. Hoisin Sauce ; I used soy vay garlic hoisin
3 T. soy sauce; low sodium
1 clove garlic, chopped
3 stalks of green onion; sliced
1/2 sheet of nori cut up thin.
Carefully put the tofu into a dish. The reason why i say carefully is because silken tofu is very tender and it's super super easy to break it into little bits and then it gets messy. So proced with caution. Pour the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, or what ever marinades over the tofu and then sprinkle on green onions and garlic. Cut up the nori or seaweed very thin with scissors and lay it over the top. Chill in the refrigerator.

Serves 8

72 Calories per serving

Scrambled Tofu

Here's a great breakfast recipe that is a vegan substitute for scrambled eggs. Combining this with hash browns makes a nice breakfast!

1 box of very firm tofu ( i used light kind)
2 T. brewers or nutritional yeast
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. turmeric
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/4 onion, chopped

Saute the onion. While it's sauteing, mash the tofu with a potato masher and put in brewers yeast, salt, turmeric, garlic powder, and any other seasoning that you put with scrambled eggs.
Add the seasoned mashed tofu in with the onion and let it get nice and warm. Serve warm.

Serves from 4-6, depending on how much you take.

Lots of people like to eat their scrambled eggs differently, but this is what i've seen put in it that you can also put in your scrambled tofu

Shiitake Mushrooms
Mushrooms
Red Peppers
Cayenne Pepper
Jalapeno Peppers
Seaweed (Nori)

Per serving  calories <128

Mashed Potatoes 101

Start of today with a little cooking story:
When i first started cooking our family's lunches, i decided that we'd have mashed potatoes and broccoli. I had a vague idea of how to make mashed potatoes, you have the cut up and boiled potatoes, then you mash them into the paste, putting in milk to make it smoother, well, we have four people in our family and i didn't know that for mashed potatoes you need like more potatoes than just one per person. So i washed and grabbed four potatoes, sliced them up and boiled them. Well, when dinner came around, i mashed them and put soy milk with them. My mom came home and she was like how many potatoes did you cook up? I was like one for each of us, like what we usually have for things like baked potatoes. I learned that day that you need almost double the potatoes for mashed potatoes because it like mashes down to nothing!
Here we go on the recipe.
For three people :
6 medium to small sized potatoes
enough water to cover them
1/2 c. milk plus or minus to fit your wishes..
salt to taste

Wash the potatoes, peel them and then slice them up. Put in enough water to cover them and boil them for 20 - 30 minutes. Make sure they're nice and soft. I sometimes pour off some of the water but it's really up to you. Grab your potato masher and then start mashing. Add soy milk and salt to make it easier to mash. Enjoy with sriachara sauce (or how ever you spell it.. it's a red bottle, green nozzle and with a rooster on it. Very nice hot sauce. :-0)

All these Spreads???

You're probably wondering why i have so many more spreads than i do anything else huh? I would too if i were you! Here's the reason why. Spreads are a lot of the time not vegan. I have tried to have a lot of vegan substitutes here that you could get inspired by. So as my blog progresses along, I will be adding more entrées and main dishes, appetizers, snacks, breads and desserts not to forget more spreads and dressings. Just remember to use the spreads and dressings that are nut based sparingly because they do have fat and calories from those nuts! Have a great day and I hope you guys can get vegan inspired!

How to cook rice

Here's how to cook rice. Recently, we got a rice cooker and that has definatly made life easier. Rice cookers do not boil over and that is true.

The ratio for rice is 2 water for 1 rice. That's what i've been using since i started cooking rice.
I boil the two cups of water and when that's boiling, i add in the one of rice. Let cook for 20 minutes. If you have a rice cooker, read the instructions, put in the rice and water and let it go. :) Make sure you use  the proportions that the rice cooker company has because they vary from machine to machine.

Blueberry Bran Muffins

1 1/2 c. wheat bran
1 c. milk
1/2 . apple sauce
1 egg replacer serving
2/3 c. brown suggar
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 t. b aking soda
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 c blueberries

1. Set oven to 375 F. Grease muffin cups.  Mix bran and milk together in separate bowl. Let stand 10 minute.s
2. Mix apple sauce, egg, brown sugar and vanilla. Beat in bran mix. Sift in flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Fold in blueberries. Bake 15-20 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched.

Goes great for breakfasts with home made strawberry preserves.

Nutritional Info
 Calories 117.6
Total Fat 0.8 g
 Sat 0.1 g
 Poly 0.4 g
 Mono 0.1 g
Carb 32.2 g
Fiber 4.1
Sugar 17.7

Oat Bran Muffins

These muffins are some serious muffins and I'm not kidding when i say that. I mean really, these have carrots, bananas, walnuts and the whole deal! These are nice breakfast muffin and even though they have carrots in them, some low sugar home made jam goes really nice on them. :)

3/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 c. oat bran
1 t. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. baking sod
1/3 c. mashed banana
1/2 c. low fat - no fat yogurt
1 fake egg
1/4 c. apple sauce
1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 c carrot
1/2 c prunes, chopped
1/2 c. walntuts

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

Nutritional Facts
Calories 101.6
Total Fat 3.8 g
 Sat 0.5 g.
 Poly 2.5 g
 Mono 0.5 g
Cholesterol 0.6 mg (won't have if you use soy yogurt)
Total Carbs 16.2
 Fiber 1.8
 Sugar 4.9 g
Protein 2.8 g

Au Natruale Peanut Butter

So obviously i am not French because i spelled natural horribly wrong but that was my try at it and I am very sorry. The picture at the beginning is of a peanut butter that i discovered a few years ago and it's like miracle peanut butter. So you see Skippy and Jif have a long list of ingredients. Here are the two...
Skippy: Skippy contains peanuts, listed as the first ingredient, followed by sugar and hydrogenated vegetable oils, including cottonseed, rapeseed and soybean oils, and salt.
Jif : MADE FROM ROASTED PEANUTS AND SUGAR, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: MOLASSES, FULLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OILS (RAPESEED AND SOYBEAN), MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, SALT.

Well, i found Adam's Natural Peanut Butter and i was almost amazed on how the ingredient list went.  It was this - Ingredients : Peanuts (contains 1% or less of salt). Can you believe it???!?!?!!? No sugar, and no added oils! It tastes sooo good!!! Even comes in crunchy. :)It's sooooooooo natural! Here are the nutritional info

For 2 Tablespoons ( 32 grams)
200 Calories 150 from fat
16 g total fat
  2.5 saturated fat
  0 trans fat
  4.5 grams polyunsaturated
  3.5 grams monounsaturated
0 mg Cholesterol
105 mg sodium
6 carbs
  2 fiber
  1 g sugar
7g protein

That's pretty good. There is oil that gather's on the top and we pour off that oil and it works just fine. It takes off some of the fat and calories. But this is really amazing peanut butter. Almost as good as PB2 (a dried peanut powder)! It does still have oils and fats in it though.

Almond Butter

When you think of almond butter you usually think of that delicious brown stuff with chuncks of almonds mixed in and buttery like peanut butter. I love the brown almond butter. But here's a recipe for butter like substance.

1 c. blanched slivered almonds
1 1/4 c. water
3 T. cornstarch
1/2 t. salt

Blend all of these in a blender. Put in a small pot and bring to a boil to thicken. When thickened, pour into a desired container and refrigerate.

Almonaise

This can be used as a mayonaise subsitute
1/2 c. blanched almonds
1 c. water
1 T. lemon
1 T. vinegar
1 t. honey
1 t. salt
1/2 t. onion power
1/4 t. mustard powder
1 T. cornstarch
1/8 paprika

Blend all together in a blender and then boil in a small pot to thicken. 

Sunflower Chip Dip

This is a nice chip dip or use as sour cream for soups and stuff.

1/2 c. sunflower seeds (raw)
1/2 c. water
2 T. lemon juice
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. onion powder

blend all together.