Category Archives: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

Sweet Potato Shepherds Pie

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There’s no denying that when the leaves start to turn brown, and there is that little crisp in the air that, that it is time to bring out the harvest season foods! As sad as it is to say goodbye to summer, saying hello to fall comes with pulling out my favorite sweaters and some of my personal favorite flavors. In particular, this Shepherd’s Pie is a hearty, and savory, harvest season classic that comes together in satisfying textures layered with savory, sweet, and umami. Shepherd’s Pie is a standard item in many kitchens, and it is a heavily requested dish veganized. I just know you will be making this dish all fall and winter long, and you may even be tempted to bring it out in your fall and winter season holidays.

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Cooking and Recipes

Homemade Cream Cheese and Sour Cream

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While we are all stuck at home and stores struggle to keep their shelves stocked, this is the perfect time to learn how to be self-reliant when it comes to your pantry staples– even the refrigerated ones!  Below are a few different options for dairy alternatives made from shelf stable ingredients so you can stock up on the bulk dry goods and get cooking to keep you going.

variety of brown nuts on brown wooden panel high angle photo
Photo by Marta Branco on Pexels.com

Below I go over a few different methods to make cultured and flavored cream cheese and sour cream from a few different ingredients to be allergen-friendly.  Dairy free options that are price friendly and delicious, simple and fast to make and a range of complexity for different levels of home cook or food science geek below!

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Cooking and Recipes

Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread Muffins

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Making cornbread muffins takes a lot of the stress out of the cornbread, the smaller size cooks quicker, cracks less, and its ALMOST like an attempt at portion control, provided you eat them one at a time 😉 These gluten-free gems feature jalapeno, but I have definitely substituted for a scorpion pepper here and there when I know I am entertaining my fellow heat demons.

Photo by Tabitha Mort on Pexels.com
Photo by mali maeder on Pexels.com
Photo by Alexander Mils on Pexels.com

 

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Cooking and Recipes

Maitake Mushroom Steak

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Hen of the Woods, also known as Maitake, is an incredible and complex mushroom, with many small lips, and has a tendency to crumble.  Pressing the mushrooms condenses the flavors, and squeezes out the natural liquid, allowing it to soak up a delicious marinade while firming the texture into a bite-perfect steak.  Joining the already meaty flavor and texture of this mushroom, the steak will brown and bring on the smokey flavors of the marinade leaving an aroma in the air and a bold flavor on the palette. This recipe is a sneak preview inspired by the recipe in my upcoming book: Plant Based Gourmet

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Cooking and Recipes, Health, Lifestyle

Vegan Keto

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Vegan Keto may seem like a contradiction in terms…isn’t Keto that crazy butter and bacon diet? GROSS!  However, there is a way to do keto vegan and delicious!

After all, anything you can do I can do vegan, right? 

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Vegan Keto Chocolates! The dream can be real. Comment below if you want me to post the recipe!

So whether you are looking for a rapid weight loss diet, a cleanse, or something new, giving vegan keto a try could be worth it– you will eat ALL OF THE AVOCADOS, who doesn’t want that?

For me, Vegan Keto is the perfect way to transition between the seasons, reset my food habits, drop some pounds and change up my metabolic rate! I usually go 1-2 months Keto and then enjoy the comfort foods of the winter, the fresh fruit abundance of the summer, the crisp apples of fall, and the florals of spring. I’m never one to compromise flavor, so come and get inspired with my vegan keto shopping guide and meal ideas below!

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Cooking and Recipes

Jerk Jackfruit

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1 tsp cinnamon
Date Honey/Syrup

Jackfruit looks strange from the outside– its giant and green, oblong and covered in a million tiny green spikes– but inside it is a mildly sweet fruit somewhere between a mango and an artichoke.  The young green jackfruit can be found in cans, or it can be found whole or pre-cut closer to ripe in most asian grocery stores. I always like to finish my jackfruit in a cast iron pan (I use this one from Lodge)

A little bit of bravery and a very sharp knife will cut through the thick outer skin of the whole fruit, giving you a great base that can take on many flavors from pulled v-pork to jerk v-chicken, giving you a healthy plant-based alternative to classic foods! Even better, jackfruit grows in abundance, making this a sustainable crop for local farmers year-round.

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Cooking and Recipes, Health, Lifestyle, Uncategorized

Kombucha for ALL

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There comes a time for every health-loving vegan, every trend-loving hipster, and every ferment-loving culture-fiend, when it’s time to learn to make kombucha.  And why not? Buying it retail is upwards of $5 a bottle, produces a fair amount of single-use package waste, and sometimes the flavor choices are…questionable. Preparing your own kombucha can be a little addictive, especially since the basics are easy to master, and a virtually endless amount of tweaking and flavor combinations can radically alter the outcome! It’s such a rewarding practice that you’ll probably be making your own by the gallon every month in no time!

This recipe uses a combination of ceylon and sencha with organic sugar and will have 2 ferments over the next 20 days! Basic recipes below, look for amazing flavor recipes in PART 2!

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Cooking and Recipes

Homemade Plant-Milk, Nuts and More

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The prospect of making your own plant milks at home can be a daunting proposition.  You need to trust your instincts, and you’ll run into a lot of recipes that describe esoteric equipment and lengthy preparations and the need to plan ahead (overnight nut soaking!)

In this easy guide, I will go over the basic outline of a plant-milk recipe, that can be applied to practically ANY nut or seed to produce your own plant milk, and a few variations you can use to get different results, whether they be for flavor, sweetness, or speed.

 

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Cooking and Recipes

We Can Pickle That- Snap Peas

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Snap peas are incredibly versatile.  They make great snacks raw, and you can basically throw them into any salad or sandwich no problem, and they get  sautéed and added to a lot of stir fries.  Just when you thought you had your snap pea game down, you realize that I, and Portlandia, might have another idea:

In this post, I will go over two different methods of pickling, one the lacto-fermented kind (despite the name, its definitely vegan, it is merely referring to the lactobacillus bacteria that is involved in all open air fermentation) and the other using vinegar.  The vinegar method is faster, but not as beneficial for your gut flora as the fermented kind, however the combination is ideal because the apple cider vinegar serves as a prebiotic while the fermented produces probiotics, and in both cases your radishes, turnips, sweet peas, and another other veggies laying around can live long past their peak time.

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