I'm going vegan...again!

Welcome back.  I am trying my best to make this a priority, so here's to trying again.

What's going on with me:

I am recently back from a vacation back in the United States over the holiday period.  It probably goes without saying that my partner and I have put on a few pounds over this festive period.  Being back in my home country made me vulnerable to the foods that I can no longer acquire in the United Kingdom and I found myself indulging in things I don't typically like simply because I can't get them in the U.K.
Not only that, the last few months have been a bit chaotic with myself finishing my bachelors degree and my partner starting postgraduate education.  We didn't always have the time or energy to ensure that we were eating well.  It was all about convenience and very little thought was put into what we ate.  Most nights we would eat a takeaway and feel disgusting after, yet we did this almost every night.

Cut back to today.  We decided that we were going to participate in Veganuary to give our bodies some much needed nutritional therapy and challenge our way of cooking and eating in our house.  I know that this blog in the past has been run as a vegan recipe blog, but I have not always been a strict vegan.  I typically eat vegan for about three months and then add a little bit of meat into my diet every now and again.  If you are crazy about labels, I guess you would call me a flexitarian.  But the term isn't important to me.  What is important is that I am feeding my family delicious food that doesn't break the bank.  I like to make vegan food and then I like to share it with you, the audience.

We started Veganuary early to jump straight back into the groove the moment we landed back in the U.K., so keep an eye out for new recipes in the coming month!

Kalua Pork with Cabbage

What a week!  It is good to be back into the kitchen, but better now that I am settled (sort of) in my new place.  Along with moving I was working on a commercial for NBA 2K15 - yes, the video game - on top of working my normal job.  With all of that going on this was placed on the back burner (no pun intended) and forgotten about.  But it is a new day and I have a new recipe to share.

If you are anything like me, you enjoy food...I would hope so if you are reading this blog.  If for some chance you got here by mistake and have read this far - good for you!  Maybe cooking isn't your thing.  That's totally fine, but try these recipes out.  If it doesn't turn out...well, just post about it on HERE and let me know so I can enjoy your mishaps while I photoshop the crap out of mine.

Back to the recipe, living in Las Vegas there is a large Hawaiian population.  With that comes amazing Hawaiian food and restaurants.  One of my favorites here is L&L Hawaiian BBQ where they have everything from Spam Musubi to Kalua Pork.  Personally, these are my two favorites but I'm not about to go out to eat all the time so I started making it myself.

Normally this recipe would have you cooking the pig in a hole in the ground.  For those of you that live in Vegas you probably know how impossible it is to dig into the earth here.  Though, it's delicious I am not about to try and dig through this ground, so we make due with what we have.  A SLOW COOKER!  Below is the recipe as I have found it online.  With that being said...let's just get to cooking.


Kalua Pork and Cabbage

Kalua Pork and Cabbage

Ingredients

• 2 TBS Kosher Salt
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 (5 lb) bone-in pork shoulder roast
• 1 TBS soy sauce
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp liquid smoke flavoring
• 1/2 large head cabbage, shredded

Instructions

1. Mix kosher salt, black pepper, and ground ginger in a bowl; rub evenly into surface of pork roast; place seasoned roast in a slow cooker.
2. Stir soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and liquid smoke together in a bowl; pour over the pork roast.
3. Cook on Low 10 hours.  Add cabbage to the pork and sauce in the slow cooker; cook another 30 minutes.  Shred pork to serve.

There you have it.  Simple and easy.  I did change the recipe a bit.  Before I do the rub I like to pierce the pork roast with a knife a fair number of times - a la Jodi Arias - so the liquid can get into it a bit.  With the pork in a slow cooker I will rub the liquid mixture into the pork as best as I can.  Doing this helps keep the dry mixture of salt, black pepper and ground ginger on the pork.  Whether this helps or not I don't know.  It's just what I do, and there is nothing wrong with deviating from recipes.  It's hard to mess this recipe up.  Also, as I don't need 5 pounds of pork so I only use two to three pounds and adjust the recipe accordingly.  Now, if you aren't into doing the conversions yourself HERE is the link to the original recipe where you can adjust the number of servings and it will calculate all of the measures for you.  This original recipe makes for 10 servings.  Changing it it to six servings as I did will call for just over 3 lbs of pork.

I love this recipe, but some of the people in my house didn't care for the lingering smell that comes with slow cookers.  Vegetarians...I hope catch a flesh eating virus.  How ironic would that be?!?  (Disclaimer:  Only kidding about that.  My roommates are neither vegetarians nor have a virus.)  On the bright side, if nobody else eats it at least the dog will like it.

That's all that I have for today.  Enjoy, share, reply and until next time....

Happy Snacking!

Luke

Refrigerator Pickles

I have been playing around with pickles lately...  **How do you continue writing after a statement like that?** 

Basically, I have been making pickles because they are delicious.  Last time I bought some pickles they were a lot sweeter than I wanted them to be.  The time before that there was too much garlic.  Getting annoyed that I didn't like the pickles I was getting I decided to make my own.  Looking at a simple recipe I threw something together that I like and hopefully you will too.

Pickled Cucumbers

Ingredients

• 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar, to taste preference
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 5 mini cucumbers, sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• Dill, green peppers, garlic, etc. to taste

Instructions

1. Place sliced cucumbers, onions, garlic, green peppers (or any combination thereof) in a jar.
2. Combine sugar, vinegar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil making sure to fully dissolve the sugar.  Pour over the sliced vegetables.  Add fresh dill to taste, if desired.  Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.  Store in the refrigerator.

Before any of you go off on me - yes, I know that this isn't the best way to make pickles.  This is a way that I use when I want to make them quickly.  Last minute sort of deal.  There are probably better ways to pickle, but try this.  You may like it.  If not...no harm, no foul.

As always, until next time....
Happy Snacking!

Luke

Oprah's Favorite Grilled Cheese

All I can say about this simple sandwich is, "HOLY F***!"  Why did my mother never make this for me when I was growing up?  (I still love you mom, don't you worry about this.  However, you HAVE TO make this for the grandkids.)

The inspiration for this came from work last night.  I work graveyard shift at a resort in Las Vegas and the Employee Dining Room is very underwhelming from 10pm - 5am (here forth shall be called the Dreaded Hours) when they start to serve breakfast.  During the Dreaded hours the food provided is straight from the buffet after they close.  So, we get fed leftover, rejected food from a buffet that isn't known for being good.  It isn't even known that we have a buffet, it is that good....

Anyway, for an hour or so we are lucky enough to have a chef making personal orders just shy of the Dreaded Hours.  It's all free and they can make eggs to order, burgers, chicken breast, quesadillas, sandwiches or wraps and they are not too bad.  Last night I was lucky to catch my favorite chef just before he closed down the grill and left us to suffer fight over the buffet food.  Not being too hungry I just wanted something that wouldn't take long to cook, so I asked for a grilled cheese sandwich.

There was definitely nothing special about this grilled cheese.  It was typical American on wheat and he even threw on a few fries (that went unconsumed), but he takes pride in his work so I smiled, thanked him and sat down for my quick bite.  The first bite happened and I noticed that the cheese wasn't even melted.  He had managed to toast the outside of the bread on the griddle, but the cheese was still as cold as it was when he took it from the prep line.  I took a few more bites and then decided that this was probably for the best as I wasn't all that hungry to begin with.

That brings me to today...  With the heat being in the low 100's I often don't have an appetite, but I know I must consume something.  I wanted to make something quick while I was working on another recipe and decided a grilled cheese would be great because I have everything for it and need to use the ingredients.  Also, I have a basil plant that is struggling to survive in this desert heat so I knew I wanted to use that.  Heading over to Google I typed in "grilled cheese basil" into the search bar and after a few web pages ironically enough ended up at ohsweetbasil.com.  What caught my attention was a recipe for Oprah's Favorite Grilled Cheese.  Now I'm not one to typically follow what Oprah likes, but it was so simple that I had to try it - and you should too.


The Recipe

Oprah's Favorite Grilled Cheese

Five simple ingredients to Oprah's Favorite Grilled Cheese (honey not pictured)

Ingredients

• 2 slices of good quality wheat bread
• 2 slices of Havarti cheese
• 2-4 slices vine ripe tomato
• honey
• fresh basil, 2-3 leaves chiffonade

One side of the sandwich prepped and ready to cook

Instructions

1. Spread a thin layer of honey on each slide of bread.  Top with cheese, tomato, basil and another slice of cheese.
2. You can butter the bread or use a little olive oil in the pan.
3. Grill on a skillet or pan over low-medium heat, or very low flame for gas stove users, until golden brown on both sides.  
4. Remove from heat and enjoy.  You can thank me later.

Oprah's Favorite Grilled Cheese (and soon to be yours too)

For this recipe I made sure to buy some decent Havarti and slice it myself at home.  Also, I prefer to cook the sandwich open faced where both buttered sides of the sandwich cook at the same time.  Each one has cheese on it, a slice of tomato and fresh basil.  I chose to add the honey just before I put the two cook sides together, but this doesn't affect the taste.  For me it is just to make less mess in my pans during cooking.  

Either way, this is an amazing and simple grilled cheese that must be tried by all.  If you can get ingredients from your local farmers market you will enjoy this even more!  Oprah made a good choice with this and I hope you do yourself a favor and take full advantage of this combination.  You will forget all about your nasty American "Cheese" sandwich you grew up with and hopefully never turn back. 

Until next time,

Happy Snacking!

Luke

Lilly's Thai and Vietnamese Restaurant Review

Lilly's Thai and Vietnamese Restaurant

Last night a few friends and I went to Super Summer Theatre's production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.  It's an outdoor theatre set within Spring Mountain Ranch State Park.  Tickets are a reasonable price and all you have to do is bring yourself, a blanket to sit on and maybe some food and beverage to enhance your experience that much more.

Being the classy people that my we are, my friends and I grabbed a 12 pack of Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy, picked up a pizza from CostCo and headed out to the ranch for an evening of fun.  Though I don't drink much at all, I began to have the biggest craving for Thai food as the night drew on.  It was sudden and out of place, but then again my partner and I have been getting our fair share of Thai food as of late.  My latest addiction: Pad See Ew.

Being that I live on the west side of Las Vegas I decided that I need to start trying new places in my area.  Just across from my favorite falafel house in Las Vegas I have noticed a few restaurants come and go, but nothing really stays.  Could it be bad location or just bad food?  I don't know, but what I did notice on my way past the area this morning is that there was a Thai restaurant that I have never been to.  And where there is a Thai café, there is Pad See Ew.

I decided to stop in at Lilly's Thai and Vietnamese Restaurant on West Sahara to give it a go.  My first impressions where mostly faded by the fact that I just wanted this noodle dish...NOW!  I placed my order for beef Pad See Ew (there is a $1 up charge for beef) and sat down to wait for my dish.  As I had a few things to get done this morning, I ordered it to go but the wait staff still poured me a glass of water as I waited which was quite unexpected but very welcomed.

Sitting down I began to take in my surroundings, and to be quite frank, there wasn't much to take in.  The tables were very plain and each one had a large sticker on it's edge to indicate the table number.  The front desk was made up of what looked like an ill fitted computer desk set to the side of another desk that could have easily been left behind by the previous tenants of this rental space.  The decorations were few, but I just kept reminding myself that I am here for the food and not the atmosphere.  Besides, I was taking my food to go.  What did I care?

My order only took about 5 minutes to make and when it was ready the host bagged it up, walked it over to me and politely thanked me and invited me back.  For me, the drive home is usually the worst part about take out as the smell of the food taunts me until I have reached my destination.  However, in this instance I got nothing.  It wasn't until I opened the bag fully and opened the To-Go box that I got a whiff of what was to come, and what I got was a short scent of the dish and then...nothing.  I enjoy food that lingers in the air and taunts everyone around that's eating something else to the point of jealousy and begging for a bite.

Upon further inspection of the opened box I noticed the beef.  It had been cooked to an eerie gray to it that made it seem like low quality factory meat that was cut into a uniform thickness.  Looking past that I was excited to see a spring roll that came with this lunch special as it meant that I would enjoy at least one thing.  How can you mess up a spring roll, am I right?

I began to plate my lunch, but was quickly losing my appetite (it's hot here and I don't have a big appetite during the hot Vegas summer's to begin with).  I took my first apprehensive bite and was underwhelmed.  There was so much anticipation that was leading up to this moment that perhaps I was the reason that it wasn't appealing to me.  I took another bite and again wasn't excited, but the food was forgettable.  After my fifth bite I decided to just take the spring roll and enjoy the little bit that I could.

After my meal I looked up Lilly's on Yelp to see if it was just me, but they have gotten some mixed reviews.  The photos make the food look amazing, but good photos don't make up for a lack of flavor which seems to be a common complaint.  Though I didn't get a Thai tea or dessert like I would have wanted to give this place an overall review, I can't say that I will never be back.  

Overall, this dish was not good.  It had little to no flavor, the protein was gray, but the egg roll and dipping sauce were not half bad.  The desserts look delicious and the wait staff is very attentive, but as far as this dish goes there are far too many other Thai restaurants around Las Vegas that make a better Pad See Ew to go to.  I will probably come back to get the curry, Thai tea and coconut ice cream as recommended by others on Yelp.

Thanks for checking out my first review and be sure to come back as I make this dish at home later this week.

Until next time....

Happy Snacking!

Luke

Update

It's been two years, I have moved to a new city and have had a lot of changes, but am happy to say that I'm rekindling this blog. Expect some new and awesome recipes to come.

If you were following my blog originally you will know that it focused on vegetarian/vegan food at affordable prices.  With the relaunch of the blog I will now be focusing on all foods as well as offer restaurant reviews from local eateries in and around Las Vegas. 

If you would like to see anything specifically on this blog let me know by contacting me and I will do my best to accommodate all requests. 

Glad to see you all again! 

                             

Until next post....

Luke

Portobello Mushroom Philly

Hello virtual world. I am back after a brief hiatus. In that time I have started culinary school and have a TON of recipes that I have to share with you, but until I can get them all typed up I hope I can satisfy you with this cheap and easy recipe.

The Recipe:

Portobello Mushroom Philly

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 4 large portobello mushrooms, stems and gills removed (see Tip), sliced
• 1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh oregano, or 2 teaspoons dried
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup vegetable broth, or reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 3 ounces thinly sliced reduced-fat provolone cheese
• 4 whole-wheat buns, split and toasted

PREPARATION

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until soft and beginning to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add mushrooms, bell pepper, oregano and pepper and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are wilted and soft, about 7 minutes.
2. Reduce heat to low; sprinkle the vegetables with flour and stir to coat. Stir in broth and soy sauce; bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat, lay cheese slices on top of the vegetables, cover and let stand until melted, 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Divide the mixture into 4 portions with a spatula, leaving the melted cheese layer on top. Scoop a portion onto each toasted bun and serve immediately.

TIPS & NOTES
The dark gills found on the underside of a portobello are edible, but if you like you can scrape them off with a spoon.

I made enough just for one sandwich and it was amazing!  Really didn't' need any sides for this as it is very filling.  I would suggest to not only clean the dirt from the mushroom, but take off the gill and the top layer of the mushroom.  It's easily peeled off, so don't sweat this step too much.  Hope you enjoy this recipe and look out for a huge uploading of new recipes!

Until then...

Happy Snacking!

Thai Red Peanut Curry

This post is coming a little late, but I am still going to get it up! So, I am just going to make this short. After a long day of working all I wanted when I came home was some Red Peanut Curry. Without any more a due:

The Recipe

Red Peanut Curry
Adapted from this recipe.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 tomatoes, sliced into small chunks
• Optional: 1-2 cups chopped eggplant, skin left on
• 2 kaffir lime leaves, OR substitute bay leaves
• 1/2 cinnamon stick (OR add 1/4 tsp. cinnamon to the sauce)
• handful fresh basil and coriander/cilantro

Red Curry Sauce

• 1 can coconut milk
• 2-3 Tbsp. minced fresh lemongrass, OR bottled/frozen prepared lemongrass
• 1 shallots OR 1/4 cup purple onion, sliced
• 1 thumb-size piece galangal OR ginger, grated
• 4-5 cloves garlic
• 1/3 cup peanuts
• 1-2 fresh red chilies, sliced, OR 1/2 to 1 tsp. cayenne pepper, to taste
• 2 Tbsp. tomato ketchup or cooked tomato puree
• 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 11/2 to 2 Tbsp. chili powder, depending on how spicy you want it 
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar, + more to taste
• 2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

Preparation

1. Place all curry sauce ingredients in a food processor or blender. Process well. Pour the curry sauce in a wok, deep frying pan, or large pot. Bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the vegetables and continue simmering another 15 minutes, or until vegetables are cooked. 
2. Do a taste test, looking for a balance of flavors. If not salty or flavorful enough, add up to 1 Tbsp. more fish sauce. If too salty, add more fresh lime juice. If too sour, add a little more brown sugar. If too spicy, add more coconut milk. If not spicy enough, add a few fresh-cut chilies or dried crushed chili/cayenne pepper.
3. Ladle the curry into a large serving bowl. Sprinkle generously with fresh basil and coriander (cilantro), and serve with plenty of Thai jasmine-scented rice. ENJOY!

Yield: Serves 3-4 as a Main Entree

For this dish, feel free to add any and every vegetable you wish to the curry. Tonight I made it without the eggplant, but with tomato, green pepper, green beans, onion, carrot broccoli and shiitake mushrooms. Served on a bed of rice, it is hard to go wrong with this curry.

Goodnight everyone. And until next time...
Happy Snacking!

Baked Sweet Potato Falafel and Mirin Ginger Cranberry Sauce

I'm just going to update with a quick recipe today. Not too long ago I posted a recipe for Shichimi Mushroom Rice Bowls. The picture that I posted also had also featured the Baked Sweet Potato Falafel. Falafel happens to be something Oriana and I enjoy a lot. While searching for what would be on our Christmas dinner menu Oriana found an interesting twist on preparing it. The recipe comes from http://www.101cookbooks.com/ by way of Allegra McEvedy of Leon Restaurants. I really like sweet potatoes and this was amazing! Check it out!

The Recipe

Baked Sweet Potato Falafel and Mirin Ginger Cranberry Sauce (on the upper plate)

Baked Sweet Potato Falafel
Adapted from 101cookbooks.

Ingredients

• 2 medium sweet potatoes (orange inside), around 700g or 1 1/2 pounds in total
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 1/2 fresh cilantro, chopped
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 cup chickpea flour 
• a splash of olive oil
• a sprinkling of sesame seeds
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F degrees (220°C) and roast the sweet potatoes whole until just tender - 45 minutes to 1 hour. Turn off the oven, leave the potatoes to cool, then peel.
2. Put the sweet potatoes, cumin, garlic, ground and fresh coriander, lemon juice and gram/chickpea flour into a large bowl. Season well, and mash until smooth with no large chunks. Stick in the fridge to firm up for an hour, or the freezer for 20-30 minutes. When you take it out, your mix should be sticky rather than really wet. You can add a tablespoon or so more of chickpea flour if necessary (the water content of sweet potatoes varies enormously).
3. Reheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Using a couple of soup spoons (put a well-heaped spoonful of mix in one spoon and use the concave side of the other to shape the sides) or a falafel scoop if you have one, make the mixture into falafelly looking things and put them on an oiled tray. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top and bake in the oven for around 15 minutes, until the bases are golden brown.

Makes about 18 falafel, enough for 4 - 6.


Unlike normal falafel we went with a festive, holiday menu and decided to use a cranberry sauce to serve with the falafel. We decided on a Mirin Ginger Cranberry Sauce. This may not be for everyone, but it worked well with this recipe.


Mirin Ginger Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup mirin (sweetened cooking sake)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 bag cranberries, washed
• 1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated
• 1 clove garlic, finely sliced

Directions

1. Dissolve the sugar in the mirin. Bring to simmer. Add cranberries and continue to simmer until cranberries begin to crack. 
2. Once the cranberries begin to "pop" add the juice from the lemon, ginger and the garlic. Stir cranberry mixture to ensure it does not stick to the bottom of the sauce pan and set the heat to low. When cranberries reach desired thickness remove from heat.

Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Enjoy!

And until next time...
Happy Snacking!

Green Tea-Mango Shortbread Cookies

You are in for a treat this week. It is not often that I share my family's or my own recipes. However, I decided to share with you a recipe that I am currently working on. (Oh, no! I have to make these cookies over and over until they are just right.) It is truly a rough life I lead.

Anyway, this is just a general recipe as it isn't solidified into how I like to make it just yet. I was inspired to make it by the tea I was drinking one day. Obviously it was a mango green tea and I was obsessed with cookies at the time. Working with mango which can get very juicy, and shortbread, which is essentially just butter, can get very tricky. Right now I am trying out variations of mixing in the mango straight into the cookie batter and a thumbprint shortbread with a mango compote.

The first time I made these cookies I just lightly chopped the mango and mixed it directly into the cookie batter and it turned out well. The second time that I made these cookies I put the mango into a food processor and it dulled out the green tea flavor because there was a lot of juice. Because I think that I am going to be solidifying the recipe as a thumbprint with the mango compote I will give you the recipe with the mango mixed it, but also feel free to play around with it.

The Recipe

Basic Shortbread Recipe

• 1/2 pound (1 cup or 2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature 
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar 
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
• 2 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla and mix. 
2. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. 
3. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and bring everything together with your hands. Divide dough into two pieces and flatten slightly. Wrap each piece in plastic and chill OR prepare the shortbread cookie recipe below. 

Green Tea-Mango Shortbread Cookies

• 2 Tbs matcha powder 
• 1 cup chopped mango (about one whole mango) 
• Ingredients from above Basic Shortbread recipe

1. Add matcha (green tea) powder with the flour and salt and sift all ingredients together. 
2. As dough starts to come together add the chopped mango to the batter and lightly mix it enough to incorporate it into the batter, but not enough that it releases all of it's juices into the batter. 
3. Roll shortbread into 1-inch balls and place on a cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with your palm. 
4. Chill for 30 minutes. 
5. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake for about 8-10 minutes and golden on the bottoms. 

Makes about 2 dozen small shortbread.

This is just intended to give you something to play with, as this by no means a solid recipe...YET! Enjoy, none-the-less.

Until next time...
Happy Snacking!

Vegan Pecan Pie

Everyone loves dessert! Period. Don't try and deny it because you know if you weren't on that "New Year, New You" diet you would have a second helping if you allowed enough room after dinner. And if the dessert was good enough, it wouldn't matter if you had room or not because you would probably make room. My point is this: dessert is amazing so I am going to give you another amazing vegan dessert recipe - Amazing Pecan Pie

I found this recipe on VegWeb.com again and made it for Christmas dinner with my friend, Oriana. Needless to say, it didn't last long. This is another simple and delicious vegan dessert recipe, so check it out.

The Recipe


Amazing Pecan Pie

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

• 1/2 cup raw sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 4 tablespoons nondairy milk (I use soy)
• 2 egg substitutes (I use Bob's Red Mill substitute)
• 8 tablespoons vegan butter, melted (I use Earth Balance)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup pecans
• 1 9" unbaked pie crust

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix ingredients. They come out watery.

2. Pour into the pie shell. Place on a cookie sheet and put into the oven for 20 minutes.

3. Reduce oven temperature to 275 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for 20 minutes or longer.

4. Check, center should be slightly soft, but if it seems too watery, bake for 20 more minutes.

Makes: 1 pie, Preparation time: 10 minutes, Cooking time: 40-60 minutes
Original recipe can be found here.

In this recipe I modified it a bit as I had a moment of weakness and bought a few eggs during the week for breakfast. As I said, I am not 100% vegan, but like to eat that way when I can. So, because I had a few eggs left over I used real eggs in this recipe instead of egg substitute. The guy that wrote the recipe said that he used soy milk, but I try to stay away from soy so I used hemp milk or almond milk - I don't remember which one I used as I usually have both in my refrigerator. Everything else stayed pretty much the same except I used a bit more than a cup of pecans to give it the slight design on the top.

Simple and simply amazing! I hope you enjoy this recipe.

Until next time...
Happy snacking!

Raw Key Lime Pie

Okay, so if any of you are like my lovely mother you are wondering..."Raw" Key Lime Pie.  What the #*!! does that mean?  As defined by Dictionary.com:

Main Entry:	raw food
Part of Speech:	n
Definition:	any uncooked, unprocessed, and often organicfoods, esp. as eaten as a large percentage ofthe diet
Example:	The most popular raw food diet is a raw vegan diet.

So, this is just a quick and easy Key Lime Pie that is amazing and completely vegan!


The Recipe

Key Lime Pie (Raw)

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

    Filling:
    2 avocados
    2 tablespoons lime juice
    1/2 cup coconut oil
    2 tablespoons agave or other sweetener

    Crust:
    1/2 cup almond pulp/flour
    1/2 cup dates (not soaked)
    pinch salt
    pinch cayenne (or nutmeg)

Directions:

1. Lightly oil a muffin tin (springform could work if you doubled the recipe). Blend the filling ingredients until smooth.
2. In processor, combine crust ingredients until fairly smooth, no big chunks of dates.
3. Press crust into prepared muffin tin. Spoon in filling.
4. Freeze 1-2 hours. 3-4 hours gets it hard like ice cream cake. If that happens, set out for 5 minutes before eating.

Makes: 2-4 servings, Preparation time: 10-15 minutes


As I said, quick and easy and you will not be unsatisfied with this recipe. Add a few sliced strawberries on top and have at it!


Until next time...
Happy Snacking!

Vegetarian Chili

It began on a rainy day. The sun was ... not out. The air was ... filled with fog. You could see ... well, about five feet in front of you. Needless to say, this was going to be a blah and lazy day. I woke up to an incredible headache that I couldn't make heads or tails of why I had it. But I knew that I had to get out of my apartment, so I put on my rain boots, dug out my umbrella and headed out to The Growling Rabbit - my local coffee shop and café. A 12oz coffee and one salted caramel cupcake later and I was feeling better, but the momentary relief of my headache was just that...momentary. I knew that only comfort food was going to make me feel better. What better comfort food to make on a cold and rainy winters day than a hearty chili?

A simple search for Vegetarian Chili lead me to FoodNetwork.com featuring Emeril Lagasse's Vegetarian Chili recipe. Let's just get to it, shall we?

The Recipe


Vegetarian Chili
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2003
Prep Time: 25 min

Cook Time: 30 min 

Level: Easy 

Serves: 6 to 8 servings


 Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons canola oil 
• 1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions 
• 1 cup chopped red bell peppers 
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic 
• 2 to 3 serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded, and minced, depending upon taste 
• 1 medium zucchini, stem ends trimmed and cut into small dice 
• 2 cups fresh corn kernels (about 3 ears) 
• 1 1/2 pounds portobello mushrooms (about 5 large), stemmed, wiped clean and cubed 
• 2 tablespoons chili powder 
• 1 tablespooon ground cumin 
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne 
• 4 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped 
• 3 cups cooked black beans, or canned beans, rinsed and drained 
• 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce 
• 1 cup vegetable stock, or water 

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves 
• Cooked brown rice, accompaniment 
• Sour cream or strained plain yogurt, garnish 
• Diced avocado, garnish 
• Essence, recipe follows, garnish 
• Chopped green onions, garnish 

Directions

1. In a large, heavy pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions, bell peppers, garlic, and serrano peppers, and cook, stirring, until soft, about 3 minutes. 
2. Add the zucchini, corn, and mushrooms, and cook, stirring, until soft and the vegetables give off their liquid and start to brown around the edges, about 6 minutes. 
3. Add the chili powder, cumin, salt and cayenne, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. 
4. Add the tomatoes and stir well. Add the beans, tomato sauce, and vegetable stock, stir well, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes.
5. Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro. Adjust the seasoning, to taste.

To serve, place 1/4 cup of brown rice in the bottom of each bowl. Ladle the chili into the bowls over the rice. Top each serving with a dollop of sour cream and spoonful of avocado. Sprinkle with Essence and green onions and serve.

Emeril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika 
• 2 tablespoons salt 
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder 
• 1 tablespoon black pepper 
• 1 tablespoon onion powder 
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper 
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano 
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme 

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

Yield: 2/3 cup

Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch can be found here.
Published by William and Morrow, 1993.


This recipe is so simple and so delicious! The way that I prepared it was just slightly different. Instead of serving it over a bed of rice, I wanted to do it served with cornbread. However, trying to keep the budget low I didn't want to buy cornbread mix. In my refrigerator I had a package of quick biscuits, so I used those instead and it tastes wonderful!

I am also a huge fan of cilantro, so instead of mixing the cilantro into the big pot I was chopping it up for each individual bowl. Add a dollop of sour cream - or in my case Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream - and the Essence seasoning and "Whallah!" Dinner is served.

For this recipe I paid a whopping $11.07 including tax. Eleven dollars to feed a family of four AND have leftovers? You can't go wrong here!

Until next time...
Happy Snacking!

Mushroom Shichimi Rice Bowl

This year Christmas was spent away from my family and in the big city. For my friend, Oriana, and myself it was our first year alone on Christmas in Chicago. Naturally we spent it together. There was the traditional gift exchange, and movies. And just like every other time that we hung out together there was hookah, board games, and of course, food!

As we are both vegetarians it was puzzling us on how we were going to pull off a Christmas dinner. The friends that we had invited to share this dinner with us all found their ways back home, so cooking without having to have them in mind made the planning a lot easier. For me, I was all about the desserts - Raw Key Lime Pie and a Vegan Pecan Pie. (Will post those later in the week)

Oriana, on the other hand, had ideas left and right and after a trip to the grocery store, where everything seemed to be on sale, we had our ingredients. But what were we going to do with them. It wasn't until Oriana found the recipe for Mushroom Shichimi Rice Bowls that we knew that Christmas dinner was going to be Japanese inspired.

I didn't have anything to do with this recipe, but I needed to share it because it was so delicious.

The Recipe

Mushroom Shichimi Rice Bowl (in the bowl) and Sweet Potato Falafel (on the plate) 

Mushroom Shichimi Rice Bowl

Ingredients 

• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
• Fine-grain sea salt
• 12 ounces / 340 g mushrooms of your choice (I used shiitake, sliced 1/4-inch thick
• 8 ounces / 225 g firm tofu, cut into tiny cubes
• 1 small bunch kale / 3 oz / 85 g, well chopped
• Shichimi Togarashi or red pepper flakes, to taste

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet over high heat. 
2. Add the mushrooms in a single layer, stir well, and cook until the mushrooms release their liquid, and then brown, about 5 minutes more. Stir a few times along the way, but don't overdo it; you want the mushrooms to be deeply browned on both sides. 
3. Stir in the garlic roughly 20 seconds before the mushrooms finish cooking. If you need to cook the mushrooms in two batches, do so. Transfer the mushrooms to a plate, set aside.
4. Using the same large skillet, no need to clean it out, cook the tofu along with a couple pinches of salt over medium-high heat until heated through, and until it starts to brown a bit. Roughly one minute before the tofu is finished cooking, stir in the kale. It should collapse and cook down over the next 60 seconds.
5. Season all the components generously with Shichimi Togarashi and salt to taste. For each serving, dish up a heaping spoonful of brown rice along with some of the tofu/kale mixture and a some of the mushrooms.

Serves 3-4.


This recipe was so delicious that I have made it three times in the last week. Not only that, but it includes two of my favorite super foods: Mushrooms (Shiitake, in our recipe) and Kale. When we made this recipe we didn't use tofu as I am limiting my soy based products that I am eating. It still turned out amazing and it is probably better because it didn't have the tofu. We also topped the entire bowl off with soy sauce to taste.

I can guarantee you that if you make this you and are not a vegetarian that you will not miss any meat in this meal. It is simply seasoned, but with a bit of soy sauce the flavors will be bursting in your mouth. Be careful not to over salt the kale as I did the first time that I tried to recreate this dish. Honestly, I would say not to salt the kale as it is just going to get some soy sauce before you eat it anyway.

Cost for this meal is around $5 for the rice, the kale and the Shiitake mushrooms. I only suggest shiitake, but that is my own personal preference for this recipe. I hope you enjoy this one!

Please comment if you have tried this and tell me how you like it.

-------------------------------

Thank you to Heidi from 101cookbooks.com for sharing this recipe.
Recipe can be found here.

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Until next time...

Happy Snacking!

First Recipe - Vegan Seitan Gyros with Tzatziki Sauce

Welcome to my blog!

I am so excited to share this first recipe with everyone. My diet has recently changed to slightly vegan/vegetarian, whole foods, plant-based diet. Growing up in WI means that I LOVE dairy. It has been really hard to take out all dairy, but I have finally been able to do it fairly easily, however, I do find that on occasion I have some cheese in a meal or use butter to cook. Make it known that I am not doing this diet because I am against an animal losing it's life for my consumption, but more to see how this diet works for me.

Anyway, so before I started this diet I had come to know the amazing food known as the Gyro. Being in Chicago means that I can get one on any corner, almost literally. Each one has it's ups and downs and I have come to know where to get a gyro around Chicago and where to avoid. Since I am eating vegan/vegetarian meals I can't eat gyros. Lately I have been craving them, but have not wanted to give in to eating meat, so naturally the next option is to find a vegan gyro recipe.

My default website to find vegan recipes is VegWeb.com and after a short search, I came across an amazing Vegan Gyro recipe with Tzatziki Sauce. Having eaten a real gyro before (and I have had a large variety of them in just about every city I have visited) I was worried that this would taste nothing like a real gyro. Obviously a vegan gyro will not taste like a real gyro, but the last recipe I found was created by someone who has never had a lamb gyro and admitted that it tasted nothing like them. This is not the case for this recipe. The seasoning is very on and topped with the amazing Tzatziki Sauce I almost forgot that it was vegan.

Having never made seitan before, I was a little worried that this wasn't going to turn out well. The recipe called for it to be steamed, but since I have such a small kitchen and limited supplies, I just used my rice cooker and steamed the seitan in the steaming tray. After it was done steaming I cut the loaf into slices to be cooked and then eaten!

It looks so good, right?

The way that I like to load up my pita is with a mix of salad greens, red onion, sliced tomatoes and tzatziki sauce. I got most of my ingredients from Whole Foods, but you should be able to get the ingredients from any health food store as well. Here is the recipe.

Seitan Gyros

Ingredients

Gyro spice mix:

• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon curry spice powder (I use McCormick mild)
• 1 tablespoon garlic salt
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1/2 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice

Seitan:

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 tablespoons gyro spice mix (recipe above)
• 1 cup cold water
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Gyros:

• 4-6 vegan pitas
• 1 onion, finely sliced, optional
• 1 tomato, finely sliced, optional
• cucumber sauce, to serve, optional

Directions:

1. To make spice mix, combine all spices. This makes enough spice for several batches of gyros. Store in a tight lidded container between uses. For seitan, place all dry ingredients in a large bowl, and stir with a fork until well mixed.

2. Add in cold water. Stir with fork until well blended. Knead dough about 23-30 squeezes by hand to make sure all ingredients are well incorporated. Let dough rest 10 minutes or so, and knead dough again for another 2-3 minutes to build up elasticity. Prepare steamer or steamer basket.

3. Form dough into loaf type shape, keeping the loaf about 1" thick (will rise while steaming). Tear off tin foil sheet about 12" long. Spray shiny side of foil with cooking spray. Lay seitan loaf in center of foil. Fold tinfoil up around seitan loaf making an envelope type shape (be sure to leave room around loaf to allow dough to expand while steaming).

4. Fold and pinch outside edges of foil together to make a tight seam (middle seam should be overlapping, it is ok if it is not pinched). Steam dough in foil envelope for about 50 minutes. Remove from steamer, and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. Unwrap finished seitan loaf, and slice into strips 1/8-1/4" thick. Squeeze lemon juice over seitan slices, and allow to sink in while oil heats in pan.

5. Heat oil in a large pan. Add seitan slices, and fry until slightly browned on all sides, about 3-5 minutes each side. Remove from pan, but keep warm. Heat pitas, one at a time, in hot pan. Place on a plate and spoon gyro "meat" mixture into each pita. If desired, top with favorite cucumber sauce recipe, onions, and tomatoes.

Enjoy!

Makes: 4-6 gyros, Preparation time: 20 min, Cooking time: 1 hr +/-

Recipe can be found here.



And let's not forget the Tzatziki Sauce!

Tzatziki Sauce

Ingredients 

• 1/2 (8-ounce) container vegan sour cream
• 1/2 lemon, squeezed
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup cucumber, minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
• 1-1/2 tablespoons fresh dill, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

Combine all ingredients. Mix well.

Recipe can be found here.


For this recipe I like to use Cilantro instead of parsley, but that is my personal taste. I usually just do dill in the normal Tzatziki Sauce that I make, but wanted to share this version.



Mad props to Jamie Monster on VegWeb.com for this gyro recipe and veganmiss for the Tzatziki recipe!

Finished Seitan Gyro with Tzatziki Sauce

For this meal I paid about $15 for all of the ingredients. Most recipes that I have I won't include the cost of everything because I usually have those things stocked (such as seasonings, herbs, etc.). Here is the list of everything that I purchased:

• Sanabel Bakery Fresh Whole Wheat Pita Bread (local) - $2.99 for a pack of 8 large pitas.
• Earthbound Farm Organic Mixed Baby Greens (4oz bag) - $2.49
• Tofutti Milkfree Sour Cream (12oz container) - $2.39
• Small Organic, Fair Trade Cucumber - 48¢
• One Bundle of Cilantro - Free because is wasn't ringing up right at the register
• One Organic Lemon - 93¢
• One Cup Vital Wheat Gluten (.36 lbs @ $3.99/lb) - $1.44
• One Bundle of Dill - 69¢

Total - $11.41 for 4-6 gyros

(I didn't include the cost of the seasonings, garlic, tomato, onion or olive oil because those are things that I always have in my kitchen.)

Price of a Gryo at a local restaurant: $4.95 for one sandwich.

Until next time...
Happy Snacking!

Welcome!

Hello Everyone and welcome to Eat At Home For Less - the blog devoted to sharing the best (and worst) vegan/vegetarian recipes on the web!


Each week I will choose a recipe that I want to share and show not only how eating at home can be a lot cheaper, but also go over meatless and vegan options to some of your favorite dishes.  I am in no way trying to force vegan or vegetarianism, it is merely the way that I have been eating for the last few months and am amazed at the amazing options there are for dishes.


I also want to point out that I am not a professional chef, nor am I dietician or a nutritionist.  What I show and go over on this blog is merely for my own enjoyment and in the process hoping to share some of the best and affordable whole food, plant based meals!


WELCOME!