Vegan Stuffed Peppers

I have been wanting to make these for a few weeks now and finally broke down and did it today. I can not take any credit for this recipe. I completely stole this from my friend/ex coworker Maria, who I miss very much. She sent it to me the other night and I just had to try it. I did make 4 peppers instead of 3 (because then we have dinner for tomorrow too!) After a long day of cleaning and hiking it is the exact comfort food I needed. I mean the soup was not going to be enough so this is what I made to go along with it. It was amazing and I can not wait for leftovers tomorrow :)

This is where we                                                                             Jimmy & I at
hiked today. Mount                                                                            the top :)
Sopris is back :)

 Stuffed Peppers
 4 green bell peppers
 1 1/4 cup rice (makes a little more then 2   cups)
 1/2 yellow onion (diced)
 1 tomato (diced)
 1 cup mushrooms (diced)
 3 pieces whole wheat bread (diced)
 1/2 cup caned tomato sauce
daiya mozzarella cheese                        


                            Preheat oven to 350 degrees
1. Cut off tops of green peppers and remove seeds. Place into oven pan.
2. Make the rice according to the directions. Once cooked let sit and cool down.
3. Once rice is cooled, combine with mushrooms, tomato, onion and bread. Mix until it is starting to stick together. Add salt and pepper to taste. 
4. One by one fill peppers with rice mixture. Place in oven for about 15 minutes.
5. Take out of oven and add daiya cheese on top of peppers. Place back into oven for about 10 more minutes or until peppers  are soft. 
6. Remove from pan and cut in half. Add sauce to flavor on top of peppers.

:) :) :) 

Peppers

Stuffing

                                                                                                                   

Mushroom Soup

Growing up my dad always made some kind of homemade soup on Sundays. Being so busy during the week I loved Sundays because it included eating, football and resting ALL day long. Since moving out to Colorado I have been trying to make different soups on Sundays just like pops. Last night I could not sleep if my life depended on it. I tossed and turned so much I almost went to the couch. Anyway while lying there it came to me; Mushroom Soup! I LOVE MUSHROOMS (unlike my sister who is deathly afraid of them because there a fungus) so when I thought of this i was very excited. I looked up some ideas while lying there and knowing what I had in the house this is what I came up with. Also I did make Jimmy stop at the store after our wonderful hike for some cool mushrooms. I picked up some different types to help add to the flavor. Anyway I hope you enjoy it!

Happy Sunday :)  


Mushroom Soup

1 white onion diced

1 shallot diced (optional)

3 gloves garlic

2-3 cups assorted mushrooms (sliced)

4 cups vegetable broth

1 1/4 cup almond milk

2 tablespoons vegan sour cream

3tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon corn starch mixed with water

Salt

Pepper

4 green onions diced

3 tablespoons vegan butter

1. In large saucepan combine butter, onion, garlic and shallot. Turn on medium heat and let cook until onions are soft.

2. Add mushrooms and let cook for about 3 minutes. 

3. Add vegetable broth. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Let simmer for about 45 minutes covered. 

4. Remove about half the mushrooms and add place in food processor. Process until smooth and put back in pot with remaining mushrooms and broth.

5. Add milk, sour cream, flour and corn starch.

6. Let simmer for about 25 minutes until soup has thickened. 

7. Place in bowls( should make 4 bowls) and put chopped green onions on top.

                                                          Serve hot and enjoy :)

Pesto

I usually just use the packet of pesto sauce where you just add olive oil & water & stir but I decided to try and make my own. (I'll be honest its WAY cheaper to buy the packet) but if you ever want to make your own here is the recipe. I don't have a picture but it looks like Pesto, its green haha. You can serve this over pasta or use it as Pizza sauce. Either way its delicious and prob my favorite thing to add to pasta. 

Pesto

bunch of basil

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons water

2 large garlic cloves

1. Combine all ingredients in food processor until smooth

2. Heat in microwave for 30 seconds.

3. Mix and serve over pasta or on pizza. 

Bean and Corn Quesidillas/Nachos

Ahhhhhh I have been so busy I have not even had time to sit down and add to this. Well I haven't really made much to add to it I've been so busy! I'm not complaining be busy is good and I love it! I've been subbing everyday since they hired me which is awesome! And I started coaching HS girls basketball so that's keeping me even busier. Well anyway I have been planning on making this since last week and finally got the chance last night. Jimmy and I very badly need to go grocery shopping but have decided to wait to we have zero to eat apparently. Anyway I had all of these ingredients still and was trying to use everything in my pantry lol well lets just say I told jimmy that after Christmas we are investing 20 bucks into a Quesidillas maker bc I so dearly miss mine and this was amazing. Jimmy responded with you could make Quesidillas every night and that would be fine with me! So here you go!

Bean and Corn Quesidillas

1 can black beans (rinsed)

1 can white beans (rinsed)

1 can whole kernel corn (rinsed)                   

2 yellow/white onions (diced)

1 red pepper (diced)                                                           

Garlic salt

Steak seasoning 

2 tablespoons olive oil

12 small soft taco shells 

Non dairy cheddar cheese (daiya is the best)

Preheat oven to 375

1. Combine diced onion, diced pepper, in large skillet with olive oil. Cook until soft. 

2. Add in black beans, white beans and corn. Combine well. Cook for 3-5 minutes.

3. Add seasoning to taste.

4. Remove from heat.

5. On oven pan place 6 shells on greased or non stick surface. 

6. Place a small amount of cheese on  top of shell. Add bean and corn mixture on top of cheese. Add a little more cheese on top of bean mixture. Place the 6 other shells on top and squish down a little. 

7. Place in oven for about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and shells are a little crispy 

8. Let cool for 5 minutes and using a pizza cutter cut into fourths

                                           Serve hot with a side of tofuti sour cream! 

When I made this I only used 4 shells so therefore I had lots of leftover beans. I decided that the next night the only thing we would need to help us not waste it was tortilla chips! Tostitos scoops of course. We stopped at the gas station and paid way to much for a bag but its always about convenience these days.  I used just the corn and bean mixture and daiya cheddar cheese. I put it in the oven for about 20ish minutes on 350 and served it hot. Be careful not to burn the chips. I constantly checked them to make sure I didn't burn them. They were so good I am not sure what I liked more the Quesidillas or the Nachos!!!

Avocado Hummus Flatbread

I ended up only working half a day yesterday, not what I was hoping for but hey I got the afternoon off. While sitting on the couch working on this I decided I wanted to try and make homemade flat bread. While Jimmy was at work I made the dough. I kind of made up my own recipe and it came out really good. I think I am going to try it without yeast next time though and see what happens. Avocados are on sale again this week so we had picked a few up the night before. I let Jimmy decide between avocado hummus or white bean hummus for the sauce. He chose avocado hummus. We picked out a bunch of vegetables from the fridge and I told him to leave the kitchen. He just messes everything up and picks at all my food lol  

Dough 

1 1/2 cup whole what flour

1 cup flour (some extra for dusting)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/4 cups warm water

active rise yeast

garlic salt

dry parsley

1. Combine sugar water and yeast and let sit for about 10 minutes until it starts to foam.

2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and kneed for about 5 minutes. 

3. Form into a ball and place in clean bowl. Coat with olive oil and cover with damp cloth. Let rise for at least an hour. 

Avocado Hummus 

2 avocados (pitted)

1 can chickpeas (drained)

1 tablespoon lime juice

2 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons tahini

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt 

pepper 

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. 

Flat breads                       

flat bread dough

avocado hummus

fresh spinach                          you can obvisouly

1 red onion                          make it without shrimp

2 cloves garlic                  as pictured here as well :)

1 tomato

5-6 mushrooms

1 large leek

shrimp

2 tablespoons olive oil

garlic salt

steak seasoning

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

2. Roll out dough into one large flat bread or 2 medium sized flat breads. Place on greased oven tray.

3. Coat with olive oil and place on oven for about 5 minutes.

4. Remove dough from oven and let cool.

In the meantime cut all vegetables. In a small pan place sliced red onion with olive oil and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes or until onion is soft. Also marinate shrimp with garlic salt and steak seasoning.

5. Spread the avocado hummus on top of cooled flat breads.

6. Place all vegetables and shrimp on top of hummus.

7. Place back in oven for about 15 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Be careful to not burn the crust.

8. Let cool, cut and serve :)

Here is the final product (with shrimp) YUMMY!!!!!!!!

Vegan Stuffed Shells

I randomly bought a thing of tofu when I was at this local natural food store because it was on sale. I had yet to cook with it and I figured I would find someway to use it, especially with my new cook book, plus is was on sale. My boyfriend looked at me like I was nuts when I brought him home but I told him we would try it and if it was that bad then I wouldn't buy it again. Anyway I was sitting on the couch one night reading my new cook book when I found this recipe and realized I had ALL of the ingredients. I got Jimmy on board to try it and I decided I would make it the next week. I was very excited to make and try it. We had it for dinner and for lunch the next day and I can't wait to make it again or try it in a lasagna recipe.  The tofu ends up having the same texture as ricotta and lets just say I loved it. Most of this recipe is fom Chole Coscarelli, I have changed a few things. 

Shells
1 pound jumbo shells

1. Bring large pot of water to a boil
2. Cook shells until tender ( don't fully cook as they will cook more later in the oven)
3. Let cool for at least 5-10 minutes

Tofu Ricotta
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow/white onion chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 14-ounce package extra firm tofu, drained
2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt
pepper
fresh basil

1. In a pan combine olive oil and onions and saute until onions are soft. 
2. Combine all ingredients except the fresh basil in food processor. 
3. Once almost smooth add basil (to taste) and process until smooth
4. Add salt and pepper to taste

Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil                                                     

4 garlic cloves, minced
italian seasoning 
salt
pepper
1 can crushed tomatoes 
1/4 cup store bought sauce
1/4 cup almond milk
1 tablespoon brown sugar                                          

1. In a pan combine garlic (chopped), olive oil, and Italian seasoning. Cook for about 2 minutes. 

2. Add crushed tomatoes & sauce & bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes
3. Add almond milk and brown sugar. 

Stuffed Shells
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place some of the sauce in bottom of a glass pan. Open shell and add ricotta until full.  Do this until you run out of ricotta or shells (whatever comes first). Pour remaining sauce on top of shells. Cover shells with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Uncover shells and cook for another 15 minutes or until shells are golden brown. At this point you may add daiya mozzarella cheese if you would like as well. This is a vegan friendly cheese. Let cool and serve warm! 

The left half has the daiya cheese and the right has regular mozzarella for Jimmy haha

Avocado Pesto Pasta

Lately I have had an obsession with avocados. I am not a huge fan of the color (even though green is my favorite color) but they just taste too good for me to even care. My dad on the other hand won't even try them. Sometimes he is like a child and won't try new things hahaha Anyways the day I was moving to Colorado my coworker Maria gave me the most AMAZING recipe. Pesto has also become one of my favorite things this summer. I have been eating it on everything. As soon as I saw this I could not wait to make it. Plus I bought my self a food processor and am obsessed with it. Well anyways this recipe is completely stolen (well the shrimp is my part) from Chole Coscarelli. But I wanted to share it anyway. Pesto, avocados & pasta......how much better does it get???

Avocado Pesto

1 bunch fresh basil

1/4 cup pine nuts

2 avocados 

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 cloves garlic

1/2 cup olive oil

salt

pepper

1 cup halved cherry tomatoes, or just dice 1 whole regular tomato

1. Combine all ingredients into a food processor. (obviously pit the avocados first) haha Add salt and pepper to taste. Make sure it is a good creamy texture.

Pasta

1 pound of any pasta you would like (linguine or spaghetti is the best) 

1. Bring pot of water to a boil

2. Cook pasta until soft and drain

Shrimp

defrosted shelled shrimp (as many as you want to eat)

garlic salt

steak seasoning

olive oil

1.  Marinate shrimp in oil and seasonings

2. Using a pan cook on medium heat until shrimp are pink and cooked. 

Combine all ingredients in pot. Add tomatoes and shrimp and serve. 

Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa

I know, I know vegans do NOT eat fish. But hey it doesn't hurt my stomach and I need some protein in my life, and like the name says ACCIDENTAL VEGAN which means I do not have to follow all of the rules right? Well anyway I made this for dinner tonight and my boyfriend said its the best thing I have made him since I have been there. It is quick and easy and DELICIOUS!

Mango Salsa
1 small mango diced
1/2 red onion diced
1/2 red, orange or yellow pepper diced
cilantro (to taste) chopped
1 small tomato diced
lime juice (to taste)
salt
pepper
1 tsp olive oil

1. Dice and chop all ingredients in medium bowl.
2. Mix and set aside
(add as much lime juice, cilantro, salt & pepper as you would like)

Shrimp Tacos
4 small tortilla shells
12-16 medium uncooked shrimp peeled
garlic salt
steak seasoning
olive oil

1. Marinate shrimp with olive oil, garlic salt & steak seasoning. 
2. Using a pan, George foreman or grill cook shrimp until pink. Be careful to not over cook shrimp.
3. Place 3-4 shrimp in middle of tortilla.
4. Scoop salsa on top of shrimp. 
5. Eat & enjoy!

                      ***you may want to add tofuti sour cream for extra flavor*** 
                          (I did not do this but the boyfriend says it was good)  :) 

Black Bean Quinoa Burgers

Something I definitely miss is a nice juicy burger. I fell in love with black bean burgers in the spring. The texture is definitely a little different and not the exact same but the flavors are all there. While I was running my parents business in September when they went on vacation my best friend from high school and I had a few "date" nights. She had been telling me about these quinoa burgers she makes and brought it over for me one night. Now I had never had quinoa before and was a little skeptical. Lets just say she was totally right and they were delicious. After my move to Colorado I have had a lot of time on my hands. I did some research looking for a black bean burger recipe. When I came across one with quinoa I knew I had to try it. My boyfriend loves red peppers so I thought it would add a little flare into the burgers. I remember Leanne having some issues with the burgers getting too warm before she cooked them so I made them before I picked Jimmy up from work and put them in the fridge. They definitely cooked better but you have to make sure they get warm all the way through. Lets just say we had them 2 nights in a row because of the leftovers! This will be on the menu again soon :) 

Burgers

1/2 cup quinoa

1/2 red pepper 

1 small white/yellow onion

2-3cloves garlic

1 can black beans drained

1/4 cup plain bread crumbs

2 tablespoons olive oil

Garlic salt

Steak seasoning

1. Cook quinoa a cording to directions.

2. While its cooking chop all ingredients ( you don't have to go crazy it's all going into the food processor)

3. Once quinoa is cooked let cool for a few minutes.

4. Combine all ingredients in food processor and blend. Once it's a good consistency you can stop. Don't over process it.

5. Form mixture into 4 medium sized burgers. Place on plate and refrigerate for at least an hour.

6. In medium sized pan heat olive oil

7. Place burgers in pan and cook. Flip over a few times until both sides are browned and center is warm.

Serve on hamburger rolls or inside a pita. Add whatever toppings you would like. 
 (lettuce, tomato, onion ketchup etc.)

I Served this with the homemade red potato french fries too!

Homemade Red Potato French Fries

These are one of my all time favorites. Anyone who knows me knows my 2 loves in life. Pasta and potatoes. You can make this as a side or a meal. Sometimes I enjoy devouring an entire plate full for dinner. I could eat these everyday and be satisfied. 

Potatoes

Red potatoes ( as many as you would like)

Olive oil

Garlic Salt

Dried Rosemary

Steak seasoning

1. Cut potatoes into wedges. (Mine are never perfect)

2. Coat with all ingredients

3. Place on nonstick or greased oven pan

4. Preheat oven to 450

5. Cook potatoes for about 30 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. You may want to mix them around a few times so they do not burn. Sometimes I put it on broil for the last minute or 2 to get them extra crispy.

                                Serve hot with any condiments you choose!

Butternut Squash Soup

So the day after I arrived in Colorado my boyfriend and I went on our first grocery shopping experience together. While I was throwing just about every vegetable you could imagine in the cart he grabs a butternut squash. I had never cooked with one before but funny thing was two nights earlier my friend made butternut squash soup for my going away dinner. I was pretty excited to try and make homemade soup. I made it during the week and it was pretty good but I knew I could do better. I decided to make it again tonight. So I sat down and starting making up a recipe. I have seen recipes with potatoes and I only had red so I figured it couldn't be that bad. I went through my fridge and this is what I came up with. It was DELICIOUS. I can not wait for lunch tomorrow :)

Soup 

1 medium to large butternut squash

1 medium white/ yellow onion

2-3 medium red potatoes peeled

1-2 stalks celery

1 leak (optional)

2 green onions (optional)

3-4 cloves garlic 

Olive oil

2 tablespoons Earth Balance buttery spread

Brown sugar

Salt 

Pepper

4 cups vegetable broth 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Cut butternut squash in half and removes seeds. Coat lightly with melted fake butter and brown sugar. Place on greased or non stick oven pan and place in oven for about 45 mins or until, soft. Be careful not to burn. 

3. In a pot place onions, leak, green onions, garlic and celery chopped with olive oil. Let simmer until onions are soft.

4. In the meantime peel and chop potatoes into squares. Place in pot with broth.  Bring to a boil until potatoes are soft. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

5. When squash is soft remove from oven let cool and remove the inside. 

6. Place all ingredients in food processor and mix until smooth. You may need to do more then one batch.

7. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve. :) 

Garlic Knots

Being born and raised in New York I LOVE MY PIZZA. Unfortunately due to all the cheese and grease I can no longer eat it. Garlic Knots are about the only thing left I can get from the Pizzaria. Over the summer Fridays became known as Pizza Fridays and I would have to be the only one not eat the delicious pizza. I have been practicing my dough making and this week I decided to surprise my boyfriend when he got home from work by making home made Garlic Knots. I made the dough from scratch (my best batch yet) and combined to different recipes to make the garlic sauce. It's about 24 hours after I made these and YES they are all gone. Just between two of. A second batch may have to be made during Football on Sunday.....

Dough
2  1/2 cups flour

1 package active rise yeast (mixed)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup warm water

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Kneed for about 5 minutes. Add more flour if dough is sticky.

2. Roll into a ball and place in a bowl.

3. Put a damp cloth over the bowl and let rise for about 30 minutes 

4. Roll out dough into a 12x12 square.

5. Cut in half and then cut strips.

6. Tie into knots and place on non stick or greased cookie sheet. 

7. Let rise for about 15 more minutes

8. Preheat oven to 375

9. Cook for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

10. Let cool for about 5 minutes

Garlic Sauce

1 small bunch fresh parsley

6-8 gloves diced garlic

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons fake butter

1. Dice parsley place half in pan and half in a bowl

2. Dice garlic, place half in pan with parsley and half in bowl with parsley

3. Place butter in the pan and turn on medium heat. Cook until. Garlic begins to get crispy

4. Add oil to bowl with parsley and garlic

5. Combine all ingredients in bowl and mix together

            ***when knots are cooled dip in bowl and using your hands                

place ingredients on top of knots****

Serve warm or cold