Category: smoothies


Moe’s Vegan Lettuce Wraps and my Organic Purple Kale Berry Smoothie!

Filed Under: recipes, smoothies, vegan
Apr.20, 2012

One of my best friends, Moe, just let me know that she made some awesome vegan lettuce wraps for dinner out in Minnesota! After seeing the picture she texted me, I thought you might like to know how she made them! So, here they are: Vegan Lettuce Wraps! Or as Moe’s super sweet kids call em’: Kung Fu Panda Tacos! (how cute is that?!)

INGREDIENTS:

Tofu
Vegetable Oil
Soyaki
TJ fried rice
Sliced green onions
Frozen corn
Frozen peas
Sunshine slaw (shredded carrots, broccoli, and a bit of purple cabbage)
Romaine hearts

Soy sauce (optional)
Sriracha (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
1) Heat oil in a pan
2) Add tofu and crumble, kind of like tofu scramble
3) Cook until it lightly browns and all water has evaporated
4) Add Soyaki evenly. The tofu will quickly absorb it. I pour until it stops absorbing.
5) Add rice and all veggies except the green onion.
6) Cook until everything is hot.
7) Stir green onions in at the last minute.
8 ) Cut the bottom 2 inches of the romaine heart lettuce off and separate.
9) Spoon rice/tofu mixture into lettuce leaves, top with soy sauce and sriracha and enjoy!

Moe also said: “I had those veggies left over in the fridge/freezer. You could use all fresh and switch it up too. I change it up depending on what I have on hand. Cilantro and jalepenos are really yummy in them too but I didn’t have any this time. The rice tofu and soyaki are always the base. I suppose you could use brown rice and add all your own veggies.”

Looks like a great meal & kid approved too! Thanks Moe! But WOW, you sure like a lot of hot sauce! Hopefully that one wasn’t for the kids! –>

And if you’re in the mood for a fruit smoothie, you might want to test out the variety of scrumptious ingredients I experimented with today. Super yummy and healthy! I used lots of berries for antioxidants, bananas for potassium, organic purple kale for vitamins A & C, vanilla almond milk for B12 & calcium, peanut butter for protein (almond butter works great too!) & a little flax meal for iron & fiber!

It’s best to use as many organic ingredients as possible, but I know organic fruits & veggies can be pretty pricey, especially berries. If you’re on a budget, you might want to check out Trader Joe’s for a good price on frozen berries (cherries, blueberries, raspberries & blackberries). I always make sure to have a bag handy for when good organic berries are hard to come by.

This smoothie was SO good! (and how beautiful is that giant organic lemon that I got from the farmer’s market!?)

Also, just a reminder! You can still get a FREE digital copy of this month’s Vegetarian Times (April/May 2012) if you need more recipes! And hurray for Starbucks! They listened to the outrage voiced by consumers and by June will no longer be using crushed bugs to color their strawberry frappuccinos! Instead, they’ll use lycopene, a natural tomato based extract. Now if only they’d offer almond milk!

Man, is it HOT here in Southern California today! Hope everyone is stayin’ cool! If you’re vegan, you’re already kewl! Now, just stay hydrated… and have a beautiful, relaxing evening! I know I will! My new VegNews Magazine just arrived, so I’ll be hitting the hay early! HAPPY to be vegan! Ciao!

read more

vegan cardamon sugar cookies & a super sweet and vibrant fresh fruit & kale smoothie!

Filed Under: desserts, smoothies, vegan
Feb.20, 2012

I’m not sure if any of you are familiar with “Glitter and be Gay” from Candide, but it’s a really beautiful aria that goes clear off into the stratosphere of the coloratura soprano range. I was supposed to sing it at a vocal audition today and just couldn’t get that last crazy high note this afternoon, so I cancelled. (Darn you, Kristin Chenoweth! lol)

Feeling like a big 98 pound blob (yes, that is possible), I moped around the house complaining that I was cold and wanted something warm and sweet. Since I’ve stopped buying most “convenience” foods, the best my husband could offer me was “microwaved sorbet.” Umm, thanks but NO thanks, hubby! “A” for creative thinking though…well, maybe more like an “A minus”.

So I decided to whip up some cookies really quickly… I noticed there was an old sugar cookie recipe on the fridge, so I used it to get the proper ratios between sugar & flour, and then pretty much just winged the rest. I substituted “Ener-G Egg Replacer” for the “egg” and used coconut milk for the little bit of liquid it required. I usually use vanilla almond milk, but we were out of it. In lieu of butter, I used “Earth Balance Buttery Spread”, which is vegan.

The point is, just take your favorite sugar cookie recipe and adapt it. Here’s a list of “egg replacers” and here’s a picture of “earth balance buttery spread” so you can find it in the store. Smart Balance Light Original with Flax (marked VEGAN on the tub) works too. And then add whatever spices or flavors you want. I chose a dash of cardamon, but I bet “pumpkin spice” or even a little cocoa powder would be tasty too!

In the mood for something a little healthier? Make a vegan smoothie! I made one yesterday with organic dinosaur kale, baby spinach, frozen raspberries, cherries & blackberries, a fresh banana, green apple, almond butter, a little flaxseed meal & vanilla almond milk. You don’t need a recipe! Just throw a bunch of healthy fruits, veggies, nut milks & nut butters together and give it a whirl! You don’t need a fancy blender either! Just remove any large stalks from the kale leaves and you can munch on those while you’re blending!

P.S. Happy Presidents Day! (how awesome is it that Clinton is vegan??!) and a very happy kick off to National Justice for Animals Week! I’m going to be volunteering for a few days at the National Animal Law Competition. Even if you can’t make it to an event to help out, just remember, EVERY vegan meal you eat helps the animals tremendously. I thank you… and the animals thank you too! Compassion for ALL! Whoohooo! …and now back to my sweet, warm cookies!

read more

My no recipe, cheapo blender, yummy vegan green smoothie!

Filed Under: desserts, recipes, smoothies, vegan
Dec.03, 2011

I’ve been putting off making green smoothies because I don’t own a vita mix. Silly, I know. We just have a cheapo blender that my husband found online for $1.04. Yep, one buck & 4 pennies for a new blender! So alas, this evening, I put off all procrastination and decided to make a green smoothie for two, with our no~frills blender & what was handy in the fridge.

Here’s what I threw in:

2 ripe bananas
1/2 organic granny smith apple
1 petite forelle pear
2 chopped dates
1 heaping teaspoon of peanut butter
1 handfull of fresh spinach
1 large leaf of dinosaur kale (without thick stem ~ you can munch on it while you’re blending!)
1/2 cup of almond milk
1/2 cup of orange juice
1 small scoop of vegan ice cream (totally optional)

Blend & Enjoy!

If I were to make this again, I’d try to resist adding the vegan ice cream (it practically jumped out of the freezer!) & I’d cut the dates into smaller pieces since some of the pieces got stuck in the straws. I might also add blueberries, just because I love them so much! But since I was also making this smoothie for my husband, who loathes blueberries, I didn’t add them tonight. And, I just now realized I meant to add some flax powder for Omega 3s. Whoops! There’s always tomorrow!

The point is, you don’t need a really awesome blender or a fancy schmancy recipe book to make a yummy, healthy green smoothie. Just experiment! Add something green for vitamins, antioxidants and phytonutrients (kale is packed with them!), a bit of citrus for extra vitamin C, a nut butter or nut milk for protein, a fruit like apples for fiber and fruits like bananas and pears for sweetness! And Voila! A Green Vegan Smoothie! Simply scrumptious. Take that vita mix!

‎”Let food be thy medicine, and let thy medicine be food.” ~ Hippocrates

à votre santé, my friends!

read more
Powered by WordPress. Theme: Motion by 85ideas.