Gone Bananas

I just discovered the perfect summer treat. Rather than one giant chocolate covered banana, you get a bunch of little bite-sized nuggets of goodness. 

If you don't have a Trader Joe's in your town, and you have about 10 minutes to spare, you can easily make them on your own.

-Cut a banana into medium-sized slices. I think a slightly over ripe banana would be best.

-Melt dark or semi-sweet chocolate in a double boiler (some recipes call for margarine, but i think you could do without it)

-Line a baking sheet with wax paper.

-Using a toothpick to pick up the banana slices, dip in chocolate and coat all sides

- Place on the baking sheet, and then put in freezer to set

quick fix

Being so busy these last few months left me little time to cook anything more extravagant than a bowl or salad. Luckily I discovered Trader Joes' "Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette" dressing. We usually don't buy store bought dressing because homemade is so easy and so much tastier, but this is a great one to have on hand.

Here are some ways I have used it:

- marinade tofu in dressing, saute tofu in a pan and serve over vegetables and rice

- massage into kale, toss with shredded carrots and cabbage, sprinkle sesame seeds on top, and you have a healthy salad

- make a pot of quinoa, steam some vegetables and use the dressing as a sauce.

- throw some Asian veggies in a wok with dressing and a bit of soy sauce and rice vinegar. Mix with cooked rice noodles. 

All these recipes can be prepared in 30 minutes or less and at $2.99 a bottle their great on your pocketbook.

I'm back...hopefully

I have been on a little hiatus these past few months, and by "little hiatus", I mean getting my master's of architecture. But now that that's out of the way I am back and ready to talk about food. Stay tuned...

i brought hummus...

Anyone still around?

I have neglected this blog; it's not that I have stopped eating, it's just that I have little time. Though for anyone who actually cares, after June 13th I will be free as a bird, and ready to share all my vegan/gf happenings! In the meantime here's a little something that I found amusing.

currently eating...

I know it's totally 80's, and I am a little slow to catch on, but I am really digging rice cakes these days!

Currently I'm into:

Rice Cakes with Peanut butter and Honey, or

Peanut Butter, Honey, and Banana if you want to get fancy or

Rick Cakes with Hummus, Avocado, tomato, cucumber, and salt and pepper.  

And even just plain.  

Note: rice cakes are typically high glycemic, so opt for the Brown Rice Cakes, and try to pair it some healthy fats.  

I love winning contests.

My husband and I won a Halloween costume contest for our Racoons in Garbage Can getup. Our prize? Free cupcakes from Divine Cupcake.  If you are in Eugene and have not been to Divine Cupcake yet, shame on you.  Every cupcake is vegan and they have a wide offering of gluten free options.  The cupcakes you see below are all vegan and GF, though you would never know it. They taste just as moist and sugary and delicious as a laycupcake.

Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 

I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful, I sure enjoyed mine. I spent it with some friends, so I didn't prepare a full Thanksgiving meal.  I should also note that I was reluctant to experiment because there's a lot of pressure to make delicious dishes on Thanksgiving.  I therefore found recipes and only modified them slightly.  Below are the dishes I prepared, links to the recipe, and modifications.  

Roasted Green Beans with Onions and Walnuts

via here

Indian Dahl and Rice

via here

 

modifications: substitute oil or earth balance for butter.

Mushroom Gravy

 

 

 

via here

modifications: I used less oil, used vegetable stock in place of water, added more nutritional yeast, less soy-sauce (I used tamari). Replace flour with gluten-free flour all purpose flour.  I also rehydrated some dried mushrooms, chopped them and added them to the gravy, I then used the leftover mushroom-water in place of regular water.

Ginger Pumpkin Pie

via here

This turned out better then my last pumpkin pie, my last PP didn't have enough sugar. This was plenty sweet and had a great kick to it.

modifications: use EnerG egg replacer in place of eggs, replace half and half with a non-dairy creamer (if using soy, try to use organic), used a regular crust and added a hint of sugar and cinnamon to the dough. 

And here's my plate filled with all sorts of vegan and GF offerings.