Vegan MoFo Day #16 Post #12: Favorite Late Summer Food

Posted by Banana Curl Vegan Girl in Summer recipes, Vegan MoFo 2015 and tagged with coconut spread, corn, corn on the cob, farms, food, local, Massachusetts, Olivio, produce, Rhode Island, salt, seasonal, Summer, vegan, Vegan Mofo 2015, Vgnmf15 September 16, 2015

Hello there,

I had a lot of fun with yesterday’s prompt although it took a long time to do.

Today is a pretty quick and easy post. What is my favorite late summer food? Corn on the cob!

Where I live, we are less than a mile from a local farm (called Four Town farms) that grows tons of corn. It’s the sweetest during the end of the season.

I had some last night and it was so good. I like to lather it with Olivio’s coconut spread (which I put in the picture so you can look out for it) and sprinkle some salt on top. Check out my old-school Mickey and Minnie corn holders too!

Maybe today if I can get my homework done, run, and prep for tomorrow’s MoFo post early I can find some time to check out your MoFo posts about your favorite late summer foods, as well!

Vegan MoFo 2015: Day 9: Post #7 Most Retro Recipe: Ambrosia!!

Posted by Banana Curl Vegan Girl in Desserts, Gluten Free, Original Recipes, Recipes, Summer recipes and tagged with ambrosia, cherries, coconut cream, Coconut milk, dandies vegan marshmallows, fruit, gluten free, greek gods, mandarin oranges, marshmallow, nectar of the gods, pecans, pineapple, Salad, vegan September 9, 2015

Gosh, I’ve been so busy! In addition to being up to my eyeballs in school work, I also performed my comedy routine for the first time over the weekend! It was fun yet scary.

Today’s prompt for MoFo is to create the most retro recipe.

The most retro recipe I can think of besides like, disgusting jello molds and jello salads which would be a huge challenge to veganize, is AMBROSIA SALAD. I think I read a book when I was younger about a family who loved food that had some recipes in it. I’m pretty sure the only one I made from it was an ambrosia type fruit salad. I had never had this kind of a thing before, but I became obsessed with the idea of it after reading that recipe. It had mayonnaise in it though instead of what I guess is typically sour cream (here it’s the tofu and water), and was pretty gross. But I sometimes see ambrosia salads and want them. This one is much better than I remember that recipe being. Though ambrosia is said to be the food of the gods (in greek mythology), and this is definitely pretty tasty, if I was a god, I think I’d choose some chocolate…but I guess chocolate wasn’t around until later…

Ingredients:

1 can Trader Joe’s Coconut Cream, stirred well. If you open it and it’s not liquid, you may need to take an electric mixer and whisk it a bit (also, if you cannot get this product, try regular canned coconut milk with a bit more tofu blended…maybe the whole block)
1/2 block (or whole block if using regular coconut milk) extra firm tofu
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp sugar, divided
1 cup pineapple tidbits, drained
1 small (about 13.5 oz) natural pitted maraschino cherries (check label to ensure they’re vegan), broken in half
10 oz can mandarin orange slices in juice or water (not syrup)
3/4 dried coconut flakes
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 package vegan mini marshmallows (I used Dandies jumbo marshmallows that I cut individually into fourths)

Directions:

Pour the coconut cream into a large bowl.
Blend together the tofu, water, and 1 tablespoon sugar in a blender or food processor.
Pour tofu mix into the coconut cream and stir with a spatula.
Add in another tablespoon sugar and mix well.
Stir in all the fruit.
Add in the coconut flakes.
Finally, stir in the marshmallows.
You can eat as is if it’s thick enough, otherwise refrigerate for a half hour before serving.
Enjoy your nectar of the gods.

Happy Vegan Month of Food (MoFo)! Post #1 My favorite Breakfasts!

Posted by Banana Curl Vegan Girl in Breakfast, Food for Fall, Fruit, Gluten Free, Product Reviews, Recipe Reviews, Recipes, Sandwiches, Summer recipes, Thrive Energy Cookbook, Vegan MoFo 2015, Vegan Month of Food 2015 and tagged with Breakfast, daiya, english muffin, fitquick, gluten free, mango, morning, mousse, oatmeal, protein, Pumpkin, pumpkin butter, raspberries, Recipes, sandwich, sausage, sol breakfast sausage, vegan, Vegan Mofo 2015, Veganism, VeganMoFo, Vgnmf15, waffles September 1, 2015

Hi everyone! I’m very excited to be participating in Vegan MoFo 2015!

Though I’m in the last few weeks leading up to finishing my undergraduate degree and things are pretty intense over here, I’m going to try to post as much as I can. In case you are not aware, the prompts provided by MoFo this year are as follows:

THE LIST:

1 Rise and Shine! It’s MoFo time! Tell us about your breakfast.
2 Recreate a meal from your childhood.
3 Quick, easy and delicious.
4 Tell us about a weird food combo that you love.
5 Best sandwich ever.
6 Re-create a restaurant meal.
7 Make / eat some thing inspired by a book or film.
8 Reach out! Make a new vegan friend & tell us about it.
9 Most retro recipe.
10 Something blue.
11 Focus on a nutrient
12 Tell us about your favourite cookbook!
13 It’s kitchen tour time!
14 Share something vegan (and delicious, duh!) with a non-vegan.
15 OMG, Barack Obama is coming over because he knows you make awesome vegan food! What are you going to make?
16 What’s your favorite late summer food?
17 Make (or eat!) a traditional local dish.
18 Honor a human or non human animal who inspires your veganism.
19 Lunch on the go.
20 Veganize an old family recipe.
21 Autumn equinox eats.
22 Make a dish using all seasonal produce.
23 Fusion Challenge!
24 What [insert well known person] would eat if they were vegan.
25 Share your favorite cuisine.
26 It’s cold and rainy and there’s a snow drift outside your door! What are you going to make using the ingredients you have?
27 Favorite herb or spice?
28 Tacos VS Burritos. Where do you stand on this important issue?
29 What would you bring on a vegan road trip?
30 What three endless food supplies would you take if you were going to be stranded on an island? (Imagine your nutritional needs have been met, these are a bonus!)

This year I am planning a mix of educational posts about different ingredients, creating new recipes, sharing others’ recipes and products, making cute drawings and writing about food, etc.

If you want to know more about the Vegan Month of Food, click here. Also, check out my Instagram @Laurahasheart for some additional posts.

Anyhow! I want to highlight three breakfasts I’ve really been digging lately.

The first is this this oatmeal with mango mousse and raspberries. This is surprising because I’ve always been grossed out by oatmeal. But, in this recipe, you cook off most of the liquid and it becomes chewy and not as mushy and gross-to-me texture-wise. The mousse is seriously amazing! The full recipe can be found in the Thrive Energy Cookbook by Brendan Brazier. Here is the link to the book on amazon. Note: I actually live in a state (RI) where making money off of referring people to Amazon is not allowed. I am just linking to Amazon because it’s the easiest source to link people to when showcasing books. (What book isn’t on Amazon, anyways?) I get no benefits from doing so.

Next up, is a perfect Fall breakfast sandwich recipe, which you can find the recipe to here! It’s called the Jack-O-Pumpkin breakfast sandwich. I take a gluten free/vegan English muffin and toast it. While that is happening, I mix up the pumpkin butter and fry the vegan/gluten free sausage (Sol brand is my favorite right now), and make the easy pumpkin butter. When the muffins are toasted, I turn the toaster oven to broil and stick a slice of Daiya Cheddar on one slice of the muffin and put it in for a few minutes until it melts. When the sausage is cooked, I fry up a few mushroom slices. Then I assemble everything together with some fresh baby spinach. It requires a bit of dancing around the kitchen and being mindful of where things are in the cooking process at all times or else it could end in a slight disaster! For those less experienced, I recommend making the pumpkin butter in advance before you start it all!

Finally, I need to rave about FitQuick waffle mix, which can be bought at veganproteins.com! When I had to go gluten free, I was really sad at first because I didn’t know if I’d ever have a vegan waffle as good as I had before. When I decided I needed more protein in my breakfasts to fuel Crossfit, and I actually had some money to spend (being a broke college student sucks sometimes!) I had to try this. I decided to go with the vanilla flavor, but there are lots of other options, even a savory pizza one! They cook in my waffle iron so perfectly and are quite tasty! I love them pretty plain with a tablespoon of Olivio Coconut Spread (an amazing accidentally vegan product I found recently!) and a tablespoon of maple syrup. I pair it with a side of Sol vegan/gluten free sausage.

That’s it for today! Enjoy, and let me know some of your gluten free/vegan breakfast recipes! Also let me know if you try any of this food and let me know how you like it!

Vegan Mofo 2014: Too Good Baked Good Tuesday: Raspberry Lime Rickey Cupcakes!

Posted by Banana Curl Vegan Girl in Baked Goods, Original Recipes, Recipes, Summer recipes, Vegan Mofo 2014 and tagged with baking, coconut oil, Cupcakes, fruit, green, lime, pink, raspberry, raspberry lime, Rhode Island, RI, rickey, riva, Summer, vegan, Veganism September 16, 2014

Hello,

Today is the day I bring you the recipe that some of my friends from RIVA (Rhode Island Vegan Awareness) have been patiently waiting for almost a month since the vegan Summer picnic in which I originally brought them to.

These have, in my opinion, the best tasting frosting ever! My mom who apparently finished all the leftovers of the frosting last night when I made them again yesterday from my class would agree.

Raspberry Lime Rickey Cupcake Recipe:

Makes 14 Jumbo cupcakes (use jumbo liners and fill them 2/3-3/4 full….)

or 24 regular size cupcakes

Ingredients for the cupcakes:

2/3 cup coconut oil, melted not solid
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups unflavored (plain) almond milk
2 limes worth of zest
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
~1/4 cup raspberries, preferably somewhat mushy when you use them

Ingredients for frosting:

1/2 cup earth balance
1/2 cup organic non hydrogenated vegetable shortening
3 cups organic powdered sugar
1/4 cup raspberry lime rickey syrup (link here)

Directions for cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place jumbo liners (if using) into a muffin pan…it says you can place them onto a cookie sheet but I’m doubtful. Maybe try that if you have enough batter to make a few more cupcakes though. I just put 2 extra liners into a muffin pan that has 6 slots.
Mix the melted coconut oil and sugar together in a stand mixer. Make sure you’ve already grated the lime zest and juiced the limes for the next step because the coconut will solidify more if you stop to do that after this step.
Add the almond milk, lime zest, lime juice, and vanilla and mix on a low setting until combined.
Add the flour, baking soda, and baking powder and mix until a batter forms. You will want to scrape down the sides of the bowl really good with a spatula, and then mix a bit more.
Fold in the raspberries and mix until the raspberries combine and are no longer whole.
Place about 1/3 cup into each jumbo cupcake liner, or until 2/3-3/4 of the way full. For regular size cupcakes, you will have about 2 1/4 tbsp to put in each cupcake liner.
Bake for about 23-25 minutes for the jumbo cupcakes, mine were good at 24. If using regular sized cupcake liners, bake for about 20 minutes.
They will be an interesting green color when done, which I thought was cool and I hadn’t actually anticipated that effect!

Directions for the frosting (beware, this frosting is seriously one of the most amazing things I’ve invented, I believe…)

Cream together the Earth Balance and shortening in the mixer.
Slowly add the powdered sugar, mix until large clumps form.
Add the raspberry lime syrup and mix until fluffy.
It becomes the most beautiful light pink color! And its flavor is totally amazing!!
Frost the cupcakes after they have completely cooled, and add garnishes like a lime wedge or a raspberry on top!

Vegan MoFo 2014-Day 11: Thirsty Thursday-Raspberry Lime Rickeys

Posted by Banana Curl Vegan Girl in Drinks, Original Recipes, Recipes, Summer recipes, Vegan Mofo 2014 and tagged with childhood memories, club soda, drinks, fruit, lime, raspberry, raspberry lime, raspberry lime rickey, rickey, seltzer, soda, syrup, vegan, Veganism September 11, 2014

Growing up as a kid I loved this drink, and I still do!

Another funny story is that I first heard about this drink when I was hanging out with my Uncle Ricky, so I always think of him when I think of the delicious pairing of lime and raspberry in a soda.

The recipe requires making a syrup and putting it into plain (or lime) seltzer water.

It will also be used later on (September 16!) in an amazing cupcake recipe that some people I met from the group Rhode Island Vegan Awareness at their annual summer picnic are waiting for after trying them…

Ingredients for the syrup:

6 oz fresh raspberries or 1 cup defrosted frozen raspberries
Juice of one lime
Zest of one lime
1 cup evaporated cane juice

Ingredients for the drink:

1 cup lime club soda or seltzer (or plain, even)
3-6 ice cubes
Lime wedges for garnish

Directions for syrup:

Place ingredients in a saucepan on low heat.
Continuously stir for at least 15 minutes until bubbling and starting to thicken. The raspberries will no longer be whole at all and it will be bubbling quite a bit.
Strain the seeds with a bowl or large measuring cup underneath. Stir with the spoon you used to get all the syrup out. It makes about a half a cup.
Chill before using in a drink, and definitely try it in my raspberry lime rickey cupcake recipe, which I will be posting next Tuesday, September 16th!

To assemble the Rickey (for one drink)

Pour the soda into a glass.
Mix in 2 tbsp of the syrup. Add more sweetener if desired (I have a sweet tooth and added some stevia extract to mine)
Put the ice into the glass and garnish with lime wedges around the glass’ rim.

Summertime Strawberry Lavender Lemonade Cooler

Posted by Banana Curl Vegan Girl in Drinks, Lavender, Smoothies, Summer recipes and tagged with cooler, drinks, extract, Lavender, lemonade, lemons, liquid, smoothie, stevia, strawberry, Summer, summertime, vegan June 18, 2014

Ingredients:

1 cup frozen strawberries
2 lemons worth of lemon juice
1 cup water
Liquid stevia, to taste
Lavender extract, to taste (can find on Amazon, I bought mine at Sur la Table)

Directions:

Blend together, enjoy.

My own version of raw vegan pad thai!

Posted by Banana Curl Vegan Girl in Ideal for potlucks, Original Recipes, Raw vegan food, Summer recipes and tagged with carrots, cashew, cilantro, coconut, Cooking, curry, Garlic, ginger, green onions, milk, mung bean sprouts, pad thai, party, picnic, pot luck, powder, raw, recipe, red bell pepper, scallions, social gathering, spiral cutter, spiralizer, Summer, vegan, Veganism, vegetable centric, vegetables, veggie-centric, veggies, zucchini January 16, 2014

My friend Kian invited me over last night, and we made a really yummy recipe up together! Whenever I have tried to cook pre-created recipes with friends or other people, I have had a challenge doing so for some reason. But this time not following a specific recipe worked really well, and Kian and I made a really good team! Lucky for you all (my blog readers!) I did write what we did down so you can make it too!

Thank you Kian (if you are reading this!) for helping me figure out this delicious dish, and for making the (un)cooking extra fun with awesome conversation!

First of all, to make this recipe work well, you will either need a spiralizer, or some kind of a spiral cutter. I recently got this device from amazon, and that is what we used. It took a few tries to figure out exactly since it does not come with directions. Basically, you just push it into the middle and spin it around. It’s kind of like a veggie pencil sharpener!

Okay, so here is the recipe:

Laura and Kian’s Raw Vegan Pad Thai!

Serves 8-10, would be the perfect size for a picnic, potluck, or party too if you eat smaller portions