Lovely blog with cookbooks: http://veganheritagepress.blogspot.com/

Hoping to win Vegan Unplugged, which is - depending on how you look at it, cooking off the grid or when there is a power outage. This book promises to be both helpful and energy saving (mine and the world's) and sure to be delicious.

Amazing things to do with Whole Soy Unsweetened Plain Yogurt

I highly recommend that everyone swing by Whole Foods, and pick up a container of the Whole Soy Unsweetened Plain Yogurt.

You can mix it half and half with Tofutti cream cheese, or sour cream, or Trader Joe's "This is not a tub of cream cheese," or the new Tofutti Ricotta. 

This will take these less than great products and make them both healthier and more palatable and dairy-like. 

 Add in a little cream cheese into the ricotta/yogurt mix with some italian herbs and a little tasty EVOO and YOWZA. For the cream cheese mixtures, it helps to beat with a whisk or use a stick blender.

I am feeling slightly virtuous, because I had a SMOOTHIE!!

And it was goooood. I had started thinking about less healthy dinner options, but bit the bullet and made a smoothie, and now I'm nicely full and feeling good. I may have a bite to eat later, but am feeling so great about having such a healthy snack that I will probably make much better choices when I do. 

☯

Recipe:

✿ One nice sized organic navel orange

✿ Several handfuls of well washed organic baby spinach

✿ ≅ Half a bag of organic frozen cubed mango

✿ ≅ 1/16 tsp organic ground cloves

✿ ≅ 1/2 tsp organic ceylon cinnamon

✿ 2 cardamom seeds. These have a thin papery coating over little seeds. Remove the papery coating and use the inner seeds.

✿ ≅ 1 tsp ground ginger. (Ordinarily I would use fresh ginger, but am out.)

✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ ✜ 

✿ Cut the outside off of the orange peel and leave the pith, and cut orange in half.

✿ Blend the orange in your Vitamix or blender until it is completely broken down.

✿ Add your spinach and do the same. You may need the pusher here.

✿ Add frozen mango and spices, and blend at high speed until everything is nice and smooth. 

✿ Add filtered water until your smoothie is the consistency you like and drink!!

Vegan gravy!!

UnChicken Gravy 

Modified by Bettina from: http://www.ehow.com/how_8406_make-vegan-gravy.html

First step:

* 1 - 2 minced garlic cloves, to taste

* 5 chopped white mushrooms and 2 - 3 chopped shiitakes

*Sauté the mushrooms with garlic to taste and just a pinch of salt, and set aside to add at end of recipe. Drain on paper towels if you want to cut down on fat.

Second step:

* 1 - 4 minced garlic cloves

* 1/2 medium yellow or white onion, chopped.

* 1 C water + 1 C Wildwood brand unsweetened soymilk, mixed. (Trader Joe's refrigerated unsweetened soymilk is actually Wildwood.)

* 1/2 C vegetable oil. I use a nice olive oil, for the taste.

* 1 t or more of poultry seasoning.

* 10 chopped white mushrooms and 4 - 6 chopped shiitake mushrooms.

* 1 small parsnip chopped fairly small.

* 4 t nutritional yeast.

* 2 - 3 T shoyu or tamari.

* 1/2 C whole-wheat flour.

* 1/4 t ground black or white pepper.

* Additional salt for seasoning

* Add oil to small saucepan and bring up to temperature at medium high.

* Sauté garlic, onion, parsnip, and mushrooms for about 2 minutes over medium-low heat until onion is translucent.

* Add the flour, yeast and shoyu or tamari to make a paste.

* Add the water and soymilk mixture gradually, stirring constantly.

* Bring the gravy to a boil over medium-high heat while pureeing with stick blender until it thickens. 

*If you have no stick blender, stir constantly while thickening, then puree mixture in processor or blender jar, and return to pan.

*If gravy is too thin, add more flour in small amounts until it is thick enough.

* Add pepper, spices, and your sautéed mushrooms from first step. Season to taste with shoyu or salt.

* Serve hot or use as gravy for veggie pot pies with seitan, sauteed mushrooms, peas, carrots, and other appropriate veggies.

Healthy Breakfast Smoothie, and Free Shipping on a Vita-Mix!

Healthy Breakfast Smoothie

2-3 big curly green or red kale leaves with stems
Juice of one lime
1-2 cups water (start with one and add more if needed, the consistency should not be thick.)
Blend till very broken down and getting warm
. . . Add in one frozen banana, blend till incorporated
. . . Add in:
1t Vanilla Extract or seeds from 1/2 pod
1T Coriander powder
1T Tumeric
Maple Syrup to taste
Blend on low just to mix it all together
Should not be thick and gritty, that's why you blend till it's really broken down at first. Should be consistency of milk (but green of course :-)

Will make a couple of glasses, and was very delicious and easy to drink. Unlike my previous attempt at a kale smoothie, this one went down in a jiffy.

Good news! Many of you may have seen Bob DiBenedetto on the news, or attended the press conference on making smoothies. He used my Vita-Mix blender. If you are interested in getting one, here is a code for free standard shipping and handling: 06-005645 (this number is entered in at checkout or you can give it to the customer service representative.)

To order one, you can call 1-800-848-2649 or go to http://www.vitamix.com.