Monday, April 30, 2012

Quinoa...the other grain

This was my second time cooking quinoa.  It is a staple in South American from the time of the ancient Incas.  Quinoa has more protein than any most other grains.  You can use it in soups, salads, as a breakfast cereal or prepare it and eat it like you would eat rice!
I prepared this yesterday before taking Celina on set.  It cooks quickly enough that I could have prepared it after the shoot but I knew I would be too tired.

You can add chicken or another protein before adding the vegetables.

1 cup quinoa prepared with vegetable stock ahead of time
2 cups vegetable broth
4 tbsps olive oil
1 small onion sliced thinly
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
5 garlic cloves, minced
20 leaves fresh sweet basil, julienned
grated vegan parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

heat large nonstick skillet over high heat and add the oil.
add onions, bell peppers, saute for one or two minute.
add garlic and saute until peppers for 2 minutes.
season with salt and pepper.
remove the pan from heat.
add basil and quinoa.
toss until basil wilts.
garnish with parmesan cheese.

serves 4
enjoy!

If you like my blog let me know!  I love to hear from anybody who takes time out of their busy day to read it.  Let me know if you try any recipes.  Take a picture!  Do you know of any new vegan/vegetarian cookbooks?  Let me know!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Brunchiness

Saturdays are going to get busy for the next 8 weeks as theater classes begin again at CASA 0101.  My daughters have learned so much from this program.  
Celina chose not to continue with the program since she gets so much from her advanced drama class in school and her classes at 321 Talent Showcase.  
Yesenia really enjoys the classes and will continue.
So that we have full bellies before we walk out the door I will have the oatmeal cooking overnight in the crock pot and this wonderful baked french toast I found in the Junk Food Vegan cookbook.

Sticky Caramel Baked French Toast

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup vegan margarine
2 tbsps agave syrup
6 slices day-old thick-sliced bread cut in half to make triangles
1 cup nondairy soy creamer or nondairy milk
1 1/2 tbsps flour
2 tbsps nutritional yeast
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt

in a saucepan over medium heat, stir sugar, margarine, and agave syrup until it comes to a boil.
continue to cook for 1 minute and remove from heat
lightly grease a 9" x 13" baking dish and pour mixture into prepared baking dish.
place bread over caramel.
in a small bowl, mix milk, flour, nutritional yeast, cinnamon, vanilla, sugar, and salt.
pour over bread.
let it sit for at least an hour or overnight in the refrigerator.
when read to cook, set oven to 350 degrees and bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown.

enjoy!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Spring Break Dia Numero Tres

Yesterday I busted out my Mini Donut Pan I bought for $9.99 and made Baked Donuts from the Vegan Junk Food.

1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used vanilla soy but you can use any kind of nut milk and flavor)
1 tsps ground flaxseeds
1 1/2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

preheat oven to 350 degrees
combine all ingredients in a bowl until smooth.
lightly grease a donut pan or mini-muffin pan (I used both.  Using a mini-muffin made donut holes which are equally awesome)
fill each halfway with batter.
bake for 15 minutes or when a toothpick comes out clean.

while they are still warm you can roll with these...
cinnamon sugar: 1/2 cup sugar mixed with 1 tsps cinnamon
powdered sugar
chocolate glaze: in a microwave-safe bowl, heat 1 package vegan chocolate chips w/1 tbsp coconut oil in increments of 15 seconds, stirring after each until all melted. using 2 forks, dip each donut turning to coat evenly and allowing extra chocolate to drip off. place on a sheet of parchment paper and refrigerate until chocolate is firm.  alternatively while chocolate is still wet, sprinkle each donut with chopped nuts, shredded coconut or sprinkles.

Enjoy!

Monday, April 9, 2012

Spring Break Day 1

This week is going to be challenging.
It is Spring break for Celina, which means I will have a bored teenager that will find everything boring and not fun.
Although we had beautiful pool weather on Sunday, I will not have it this week. I can't rely on hours of splashing and relaxing.
With no car and not a lot of $$$. It should make for an interesting week.
Sooooo
I'm going to break out the ice cream machine and attempt to make some non-dairy ice cream trying different flavors.
The flat bread maker has not been used in a long time so I will dust that off also to make different breads.

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