Lentil tacos

There is no picture because these were inhaled so quickly :)

The texture was very similar to ground beef tacos. This will become a staple around here!

Ingredients:

1 can pinto beans

1.5-2 cups cooked lentils

Taco seasoning

Taco shells

Toppings of choice

Directions:

Cook lentils per package directions.

Heat shells in oven.

In skillet, heat lentils, beans, and taco seasoning until warm. Add water if needed. 

Assemble tacos. 

Enchilada casserole

This is a good one! Very versatile. It can be vegan and gluten free with minor changes. 

Forgot to take a picture before we ate. 😋 Hubby went back for seconds!

Here's how I made it. I left the cheese out of my half. You could use rice to make it gluten free. Next time I will add corn also!

Please see the source website and original recipe at the end. She has great ideas on how to change this up!

Ingredients:

8-ounces dry fusilli pasta (3.5 cups dry noodles or half a 16-oz package)*

1 tsp olive oil

1 medium jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped*

1 bell pepper, chopped

1-3 tbsp taco seasoning mix (I used homemade) to taste

1 can black beans (or 2 cups cooked), drained and rinsed

1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 can enchilada sauce

1 small jar salsa

1/3-1/2 cup cheese (or non-dairy cheese)

Directions:

 

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grab a 2-quart casserole dish. Add dry pasta to a pot of boiling water and cook per directions.

2. In a large skillet, sauté the jalapeno, and peppers in the olive oil over medium heat for about 7-8 mins.

3. Add the taco seasoning, drained and rinsed beans, and salsa. Stir well and cook for another 5 mins.

4. Stir in the cheese and pasta. Season with salt and pepper to taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

5. Spread 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce over the bottom of the casserole dish. Scoop on the skillet mixture and spread out evenly. Spoon on the rest of the sauce on top and sprinkle with cheese.

6. Bake for 15-20 mins at 350F until heated through. Sprinkle with crushed nacho chips, chopped avocado, salsa, and sour cream.

Yum!!

Read more: http://ohsheglows.com/2011/12/13/naughty-nice-vegan-enchilada-casserole/#ixzz2TsXiEEcp

Cinnamon quinoa bake

Here's my review of the ever popular cinnamon quinoa bake from Pinterest. I made it today following the instructions except I used coconut milk instead of soy milk. The batter was very runny so I added more quinoa but it didn't seem to help. Overall they are decent. The texture is very moist and fluffy which I was not expecting. I will make them again, however, and add raisins and probably one to 1 1/2 cups of oatmeal.

If you make it, let me know what you think! Here is the recipe from Pinterest.

2 1/2 cups quinoa, cooked and cooled
4 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup vanilla soy milk
1/3 cup maple syrup (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

Yields nine to 12 bars

1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF and place the quinoa in a large mixing bowl. Line an 8-by-8-inch baking pan with lightly greased parchment.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, soy milk, vanilla extract, and cinnamon until thoroughly combined. Add maple syrup (if using) and whisk.

3. Add egg mixture to cooked and cooled quinoa. Stir with a large spoon to combine. Pour into the parchment-lined baking dish and spread it around to ensure that it’s even.

4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until set and golden.

5. Using parchment, remove bake from pan as soon as possible so that it doesn’t steam.

6. Cool completely and cut into squares. Serve with a dollop of nut butter.

Source: http://www.fitsugar.com/Cinnamon-Quinoa-Bake-21799042

What am I going to eat today?

Now that I am aware you can post a blog from the iPhone, you will see a lot more posts from me! And thanks to the awesome voice to text function of the iPhone I can save a lot of time posting!

I am becoming more aware of the benefits and necessity of a vegan diet. Kids with food allergies, fussy newborns, and an awareness of how what we eat impacts our health has made me want to do things differently.

So join me on my journey to reduce the amount of meat we eat, avoid the high allergen foods such as nuts, and embrace a healthier plant-based diet while not sacrificing on protein or flavor!

For lunch today I had a salad with carrots and cranberries and a bowl of leftover brown rice with pinto beans and salsa. It was really good! I am experimenting with using nutritional yeast flakes so I put some on my salad.

Tamale Casserole

1lb ground beef

1 (15oz) can ranchero beans (Grillin' Beans makes them but there's also one called Ranch Beans that's cheaper)

1 jar medium salsa

1 box Jiffy cornbread mix

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk (or soy milk)

Preheat oven to 400. Brown meat, add beans(undrained) and salsa and simmer for 5 minutes. Pour into a 9x12 casserole dish. Prepare cornbread using egg and buttermilk - you can add 1/4 cup sugar to the mix also if you want it sweeter. Pour on top of beef mixture. Bake 20-30 minutes or until cornbread is lightly browned.

Egg-free Pumpkin Bread

This is a recipe that I adjusted to make it egg-free (it's technically vegan, too, if you want to sound fancy). It makes 3 loaves!!

Use 3 small loaf pans. I like the disposable foil kind that comes with a plastic lid so you can share!

Ingredients for REGULAR awesome pumpkin bread:

1 15 oz can pumpkin puree

4 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup water

3 cups white sugar

3.5 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1.5 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground ginger

Ingredients for VEGAN awesome pumpkin bread:

1 15 oz can pumpkin puree

2 T vinegar

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup water

3 cups white sugar

3.5 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1.5 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground ginger

Preheat over to 350. Grease bread pans. Mix pumpkin, eggs (or vinegar for vegan recipe), oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl mix flour, baking soda, (plus baking powder for vegan recipe), salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Stir dry mixture into pumpkin mixture until just blended. I've used the mixer before and it turned out well.

Pour into 3 small bread pans. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean.

YUM.

Easy Broccoli Soup

12 oz broccoli
1 leek sliced - can substitute one small onion
1 celery stalk sliced
1 chopped garlic clove
1 peeled and chopped potato
4 cups vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

Cut broccoli florets off stalks and set aside.  Chop stalks into small pieces.

Over med-high heat drizzle olive oil a few times around bottom of a large pot.  Add leeks, garlic, broccoli stalks, celery and potato and cook until edges are golden.

Pour in vegetable stock and bay leaf and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat, cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.  Add the broccoli florets to soup and return to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and let simmer for another 5 minutes or until tender.

Remove from heat and discard bay leaf.  Puree soup in a food processor or blender until smooth and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Monica