Recently I’ve made a few things that we have LOVED and I want to share them with you!  I love finding vegan recipes that I can add to our recipe files that we all love.  We are not vegans, and quite frankly I wouldn’t call us vegetarians either!  What I would say is that we eat mostly like vegetarians, and love to try stuff that is vegan!  The other day Aaron and I went to a restaurant that is all vegan and it was quite lovely!

Here are my newest recipes to try out:

Sweet Potato & Lentil soup – I’ve done in the crock pot for 3 hours on high, and I’ve also done on the stove, boiling for about an hour.  Either way works great!

Ingredients:

3 cups of lentils (either canned or soaked overnight) — 3 cubes of cubed sweet potatoes — 4 cups of stock (i use veggie of course) & I’ve also needed to add more water sometimes — 1/2 cup diced onion — 1/2 cup diced celery — 1/2 cup diced carrots — 3 tbsp agave — 3 tbsp orange juice – 2 tsp parsley — oil, salt, pepper and I add chipolte spice to mine.

First, sweat the onion, celery, & carrots in a pan on high heat, with a little oil (i use canola).  Let it simmer until the onions are clear.  When they are done, add the sweet potatoes and a splash of the stock, and cook for another 10 minutes.

Add the mixture, and all the other ingredients to your crock pot or pot on the stove.  For crock pot, cook on high for about 3 hours until potatoes are tender.

My kids devour this and Aaron claims it as his favorite soup I make.  I do believe this is vegan too!!  Very healthy and the sweetness of the orange juice and agave make it great for kids to enjoy if you think they won’t like it – they will, I promise!  This recipe makes barely enough for us.  There is nothing left, so I need to double it now.

I also made carrot soup this week and it was again a favorite!  Amos could not get enough of this soup!  It is so good for you, and I think your kids will really like it!  Add chips, or cheese and it’s a fun soup for your kids!

I have also started making a pasta salad that Aaron loves and claims that it’s his favorite pasta salad ever.  Isn’t he being so nice lately with claiming everything I make is THE BEST and HIS FAVORITE EVER!  He’s been known to exaggerate his happiness of something, but it clearly makes me happy to hear it from him!

 

Broccoli, Grape & Pasta Salad from Southern Living (Sept 2011)

1 cup chopped pecans — 1/2 (16-oz.) package farfalle (bow-tie) pasta — 1 pound fresh broccoli  — 1 cup mayonnaise  — 1/3 cup sugar — 1/3 cup diced red onion  — 1/3 cup red wine vinegar  — 1 teaspoon salt  — 2 cups seedless red grapes, halved  — 8 cooked bacon slices, crumbled

1. 1. Preheat oven to 350°. Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 5 to 7 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through.
2. 2. Prepare pasta according to package directions.
3. 3. Meanwhile, cut broccoli florets from stems, and separate florets into small pieces using tip of a paring knife. Peel away tough outer layer of stems, and finely chop stems.
4. 4. Whisk together mayonnaise and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl; add broccoli, hot cooked pasta, and grapes, and stir to coat. Cover and chill 3 hours. Stir bacon and pecans into salad just before serving.

(photo from Southern Living website)

This is such a good salad and here’s what I change.  I use veganaise, and not real bacon.  I also used gluten-free pasta when my mom was in town and it was perfectly wonderful as well!  This is a fun pasta salad and looks pretty as well!

Certainly last but not least I recently made a GOLDEN POTATO SALAD from one of my favorite cookbooks, The Vegetarian Family Cookbook.  This cookbook is one of my favorite cookbooks to use and I feel that it has a great variety of foods and you can even see options for dairy free and vegan.

GOLDEN POTATO SALAD

– 1 large sweet potato — 4 medium Yukon gold potatoes — 1 cup frozen green peas, thawed — 1 medium bell pepper, cut into narrow strips — 2 scallions, thinly sliced

dressing:  — 1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used veganaise) — 1/2 cup low-fat yogurt or soy yogurt — 2 tsp yellow mustard — juice of 1/2 lemon or lime

1.  Bake or microwave the potatoes in their skins until done but still firm.  Allow 2 to 3 minutes per potato, test for doneness, then add a little time as needed.  Let them cool to room temperature.  Slip their skins off and cut into 1/2 – 3/4 inch chunks and place in serving container w/ the peas, bell pepper and scallions.

2.  Combine the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and stir together.  Stir into the potato mixture.

3.  Season with s&p and enjoy!!  I added garlic salt and onion powder.

We all loved this and it’s a great side to a meal.

What new meal have you tried lately that you love?  Share the recipe with us, because we love to try new stuff!

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I have some more recipes to share with you!  I’ll share my favorite first:

PICKLE PASTA SALAD from the VEGAN STONER blog

I seriously could eat this 3x a day for a week and not be tired of it.  I want to encourage you to try vegenaise in this recipe.  I know it’s not probably something you have bought often, but it’s dairy free and really taste good.  I get mine at Sprouts and Whole Foods.  I made this at my moms house and she didn’t have vegenaise and honestly it wasn’t as good!  For real.  Give it a try!  If you are dairy and gluten free this is a fun recipe for you!!

Next is another one from the Vegan Stoner that I made this week for the kids and I while Aaron was out of town.  It’s really simple and my kids actually ate it.  Not all of them loved it, but they ate it (b/c that’s what we do at the Ivey house) and it had good stuff in there for them.  Cayden could have eaten the whole loaf had I let him!  Oh and we ran out of ketchup on night #2 of this meal and that makes a difference.  It’s super good with ketchup and that honestly helps some kids eat stuff that they don’t like that much!

LENTIL LOAF – for frozen veggies I used lima beans because that’s all I had.  I can see how peas and carrots would be good as well!

There are my two new vegan recipes for the week.  What did you try new this week?  A new food?  A new recipe?  A new cooking blog?  Tell me, I want to know!

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I forgot to post my new recipes that I tried yesterday, so here they are a day behind ….

#1 – One of our most favorite go-to-desserts EVER and y’all it’s healthy!  You will kiss me on the lips next time you see me if you make this.  I’m not even making that up.  We made it for our Supper Club this past week and they all loved it!

COCONUT ALMOND FUDGE

1 cup extra-virgin coconut oil

3/4 cup carob powder

1/4 cup raw almond butter

1/4 cup unheated honey

1tbsp. vanilla

Place all ingredients in a glass container and set in simmering water until melted if needed.  Mix together well.  Spread thick paste mixture on a piece of buttered parchment paper; allow to cool in fridge or freeze.  Remove and serve immediately.  Makes 1 1/4 cup

#2  CROCK POT EGG BRUNCH CASSEROLE – I found this recipe on none other than all of our new obsession … Pintrest!  It was so easy and perfect for my family being in town this weekend!  How wonderful to go to bed with the crock pot on and wake up to a fabulous breakfast.  Aaron said he woke up at 3am to the most wonderful smell in the house!

I will tell you that I had every intention of putting in veggie bacon and just forgot to buy it.  You could use any kind of meat you wanted.    I also forgot that Aaron had bought dill for me, so it was kinda lacking in seasoning.  Oh and I couldn’t find the pepper that night so it didn’t get any.  You see how I cook … if I can’t find it, I just leave it out!  So, it tasted fabulous, but I realize how much more fabulous it could be if I had put everything in it!

Last but not least I tried another recipe from one of my new favorite recipe blogs and I must tell you that it wasn’t my favorite, BUT I think I’ll use a yellow onion instead of white next time.  Aren’t white ones the most potent?  It was very oniony and my kids barely touched it.

Anyhow … maybe you’ll like it!  I might try it another time just to make sure, b/c I think it has great potential for something for my kids to use as dip besides regular ole’ Ranch dressing that I never buy.

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Here’s what I tried this past week:

Mexican Quinoa Salad – The Nourishing Gourmet Blog (This site is devoted to nourishing recipes, sustainable practices, and making it all work for real families on a budget.)

*Photo from THE NOURISHING GOURMET blog

This weekend we had a great meal for my family that was visiting!  Aaron of course made the best Mexican Corn I’ve ever had and some steak fajitas that were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, but since this isn’t his blog you won’t hear about those, but you will hear about this quinoa salad that I made and think I might make every week until the day I die!

And since this is Breast Cancer Awareness month look at what the WORLD’S HEALTHIEST FOODS WEBSITE says about quinoa …

When researchers looked at how much fiber 35,972 participants in the UK Women’s Cohort Study ate, they found a diet rich in fiber from whole grains, such as quinoa, and fruit offered significant protection against breast cancer for pre-menopausal women. (Cade JE, Burley VJ, et al., International Journal of Epidemiology).

Pre-menopausal women eating the most fiber (>30 grams daily) more than halved their risk of developing breast cancer, enjoying a 52% lower risk of breast cancer compared to women whose diets supplied the least fiber (<20 grams/day).

Y’all it is GREAT for you and super yummy!  Get some of this in your kids this week … and in you too!  We even enjoyed it the next mid morning after a run.  Oh and just today Aaron put some leftovers on his salad.  It is never ending and makes a ton!

 1/2 cup of olive oil

1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon cumin

2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced or put through the garlic press.

1 teaspoon sea salt

half a bunch of cilantro, washed and finely minced.
5 cups of cooked quinoa (I used red, but white would be very nice too)
Corn cut off of 2 corn on the cobs,
1 bunch of spinach

1-Mix the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, cumin, garlic and salt together in a small jar.

2- Place the cooked quinoa in a large bowl.

3-Wash the spinach and cut the steams off.  Place in a large saucepan with a lid with about 1/4 cup of water. Bring to a simmer and allow to steam until the spinach is wilted. Make sure that you never run out of water during this process. Remove from heat and drain. When cool enough to touch, squeeze out any extra liquid from the spinach leaves and chop into small pieces with a knife and add to the bowl with quinoa.

4- Add a little olive oil to the pan just used, and heat until hot. Add the corn and cook until the kernels are just cooked through (if you have really fresh corn of the cob, you needn’t cook very long). Add to quinoa.

5- Add chopped cilantro to the quinoa as well and stir to combine. Lightly toss with enough of the dressing to coast everything, remembering to stir briskly before using and place in the refrigerator to chill. When ready to serve, toss with some more dressing and salt to taste. Enjoy!

 

Earlier in the week I made TOFU ENGLISH MUFFINS for my kids and I.  They loved it and so did I!  Super yummy and so easy and very good for you as well!

When I made mine I didn’t have any nutritional yeast so I just used bread crumbs and it worked out well.  I probably missed some nutrients for us, but it worked!

What new foods did you try this week?  Share with me and all the readers.  I love new recipes!!!  I have some more this week that I can’t wait to try and tell you about.  If I can ever get Aaron to blog he has made so many great things in the past two weeks.  Maybe he’ll be a guest blogger soon on here!

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I think everyone should try a new recipe each week.  It’s just so dang fun!  With all the social media that there is today it’s VERY easy to find new stuff.  Don’t even get me started on Pintrest, even that site can make a non-cooker want to try new recipes!

I would never call myself a good cook.  I don’t overly enjoy it, but I love looking for new recipes and especially ones that not only look good, but are healthy and easy to make.  Oh and if the ingredient list is short that makes me happy as well.

So, I think it will be fun to post our new recipes that we tried out each week!  Let’s post on Sunday what we did last week. I think that will give us inspiration for the next few weeks ahead!!

Here’s what was new at the Ivey house this week:

CARROT FRENCH FRIES by the blog ELANA’S PANTRY – “organic gluten free recipes and tips for good living… changing the way america eats, one cupcake at a time.“

*Picture from Elana’s Pantry blog*

I had seen these on Pintrest and thought oh my gracious those look amazing!  So, of course I pinned them.    I’m not even certain that this is the original blog that I found them on, but doesn’t her picture look so enticing.

My kids LOVED them!  They were so surprised when I told them they were carrots.  They actually almost taste like sweet potato fries.  Big hit and will do again and again around here!

CHOCOLATE ORANGE TOFU PUDDING

Okay friends don’t let the word “tofu” throw you off here.  Some of you I’m certain have never even seen tofu, much less bought it and cooked with it.  Here’s your chance!  Make it like this and you’ll be amazed.  Tofu is actually good for you and provides a great source of protein with low calories.  Heck it’s fairly cheap too!  So why not try and sneak it in your kids pudding if you can.  And really who am I kidding, this pudding is not just for kids.  When I gave the kids theirs Aaron tasted it and was upset that I only made four bowls!  This stuff was delish!!

Cayden approved!

Story approved!

And Deacon was shocked to hear that this had tofu in it …. or tofood as Cayden calls it!

Combine one 12-oz package of shelf-stable firm silken tofu; 3/4 cup (I used a full cup) semisweet chocolate chips, melted; 1/2 cup powdered sugar; 2 tsp vanilla; 2 tsp orange zest; and a pinch of salt in a food processor or blender and mix until creamy.  If mixture is too thick, drizzle in a teaspoon or two of olive oil (I had to do this).  Divide into four bowls and chill in fridge for 1 hour.

CHICKPEA CURRY - from one of my new favorite websites:  THE VEGAN STONER

Not only are their recipes super easy to follow and not many ingredients or steps, but look how cute they are from their website!  My kids loved this.  Super big hit around here!

So, there are my THREE new recipes that I tried this past week.  Not that I’m trying to be a show off or anything, but I actually tried a new one tonight, but you’ll have to wait until next Sunday to see it.  It also involved tofu, as well as veggie cheese, cucumbers and soy sauce!

What did you try that was new this week?  Blog about it and put the link in the comments so I can go check it out and so can everyone else!  Have fun spreading the recipe love.

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About two weeks ago I made a new soup for my kids and much to my surprise they LOVED it!  In fact they loved it so much that they begged for it again the next week.  If you are new to trying out tofu this is great way to test it out.  I PROMISE you can not taste it, but it gives it the creaminess w/out all the dairy if you are on a dairy free diet.  The recipe also has the option to use beans where the tofu would be.  Your choice!

Ingredients:

1.5 tbsp light olive oil

1 medium-large onion, coarsely chopped

2 large or 3 medium broccoli crowns, coarsely chopped

1 vegetable bouillon cube (I use this and sometimes instead of the water I add in some veggie broth)

One 16oz can Great Northern beans or cannellini, drained and rinsed, OR one 16oz tub soft tofu, crumbled (I have only made this soup with the tofu and it’s so good!)

2 cups frozen green peas, thawed

1 cup low-fat milk, rice milk, or soy milk (I have never added the milk at the end and it’s still great!)

1/2 tsp dried dill, or 1 tbsp minced fresh (I really am awful at remembering spices so I’ve never used this, but can only imagine how much more this would become a favorite soup if I would!)

Salt & Pepper (obviously … who doesn’t use that!!!)

Directions:

1.  Heat the oil in a soup pot and add the onion.  Saute over medium heat until golden, 5-7 minutes.

2.  Add the broccoli, bouillon cube, and 4 cups of water (that’s where I sometimes do 1/2 water and 1/2 veggie broth).  Bring to a simmer, then cover and simmer gently until broccoli is tender but not overcooked, 8-10 minutes.

3.  Transfer the mixture to a food processor (I only have blender, so that’s what I use).  Puree until smooth, then return to pot.  Puree the beans/tofu (depends on what you are using) and add to the pot.  Then puree 1 cup of the peas and add.

4.  Add enough milk to give the soup a medium-thick consistency.  Stir in the remaining peas and the dill.  Season with salt/pepper.  Cook over very low heat for 5 minutes, then serve.

 

Oh my goodness y’all it is so yummy and look at all the nutrients you are getting!!!  I got this recipe out of my THE VEGETARIAN FAMILY COOKBOOK that I told you about before.  I said I was going to try and cook every recipe this year.  Well, summer came and I have slacked.  This will be one we bring back and back again though.  My kids LOVE it!

Vegan Option:

4-6 servings

Calories: 181

Total fat: 5g

Protein: 8g

Fiber: 7.4g

Carbohydrates: 28g

Cholesterol: 0g

Sodium: 94g

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