Friday, July 31, 2015

Vegan Cauliflower Gratin

Are you ready for this? Do you like comfort food? If you answered yes to at least one of those questions then prepare yourself for the yummy treat I am about to show you.

Level of difficulty: kids were at my feet the whole time, they could have helped too!

Time: 20min to prepare and 20min to cook

Vegan (yes Vegan) Cauliflower Gratin

4 lb (2 large heads) cauliflower florets
2 cups precooked brown rice
4 TBSP coconut oil
4 large cloves garlic, minced
1 red onion, minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
4 TBSP all purpose flour
3 cups non dairy milk (coconut, almond, soy) room temperature
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp dried Italian herbs (whatever you have on hand, I used oregano, basil and parsley)
1 cup nutritional yeast and 1/4 cup for topping
1 1/2 cup vegan mozzarella cheese (I used Daiya) and 1/4 cup for topping (it was one bag for me)
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
pepper

*make sure your brown rice is done before you start... we all know how long it takes to cook*

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 13 x 9 pan with olive oil or use your coconut oil to grease it

Cut cauliflower into bite-sized pieces and steam for 7min. Combine the cauliflower and rice in a bowl and set to the side.

In a large pot (you will see why you need a large pot at the end), warm the coconut oil over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, salt and pepper. Saute until softened. Add the flower and cook for another minute. Slowly start adding the milk, stirring after each cup to combine. Turn the heat down to low and let thicken. Add the nutmeg, cayenne and Italian herbs, stir. Add in the nutritional yeast and vegan mozzarella, stir. Let it all melt, may need to turn the heat up to medium again. Now take that bowl of rice and cauliflower and add it to the large pot. (Glad I warned you about the large part right??) Add salt and pepper to taste, stir to combine and coat the rice and cauliflower in the yummy cheese sauce.

Pour into the 13 x 9 pan, even out and top with nutritional yeast, vegan mozzarella and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the edges start to bubble and you have a nice brown top on part of it. If you think the mixture looks to dry feel free to pour in some more of the milk in to it.


Sunday, July 19, 2015

BEST VEGAN TOFU SCRAMBLE EVER!


Where has this recipe been? I have been trying various tofu scramble recipes, some were so over loaded with spice that it was just to much. Others were boring.... this one takes the cake!

All credit goes to Vegicano... here is the link to his recipe

Tofuevos – Tofu Scramble
1 package of firm tofu – drained
2 TBS Soy Sauce
1 TBS Vegenaise
1 TBS Almond Milk (or non-dairy milk)
1 Heaping TBS of Nutritional Yeast
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp turmeric (for color)
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp paprika
pinch of cumin
salt to taste
Canola oil – for lighly frying the tofu
1. Break up (drained) tofu with your hands (in smallish pieces) into a medium sized bowl.
2. Add the rest of your ingredients to the tofu.
3. Using a rubber spatula incorporate all of the ingredients thoroughly.
4. Taste your tofu. Adjust your salt level.
At this point your tofu as is should taste good. Salt to taste – If you need your adjust your seasonings to your liking this is when you should do it.
5. Heat Canola Oil in a skillet or rimmed pan. Add your tofu and cook until heated throughout.
This is when you decide how you want your tofu. For a harder ‘scramble’ allow tofu mixture to cook longer and brown evenly. For a softer scramble – heat throughout and eat!



Being Vegan and 35 Weeks Pregnant

Here we are, 35 weeks along and baby is growing healthy and big! We had the 28 week glucose test where they check your iron levels as well. Its interesting looking at the other 2 pregnancies and
I feel like with each pregnancy I am healthier and more aware of eating and living better. So waiting for the glucose and iron levels to come back I didn't have a doubt in my mind they would be ok.
Me on the left with another prego friend :)

With the first baby I was vegetarian and thought I was a healthy person and didn't  have much to worry about. The only issue I had was LOW iron levels! I had to take Floridix for my iron. But  it was ok after that. At that time I was still cleaning with some chemical cleaners in the house, wasn't making my own laundry soap, etc... I was walking a lot but not running yet.
Baby #1

Baby #2 I was all like "I got this!" No worries! I'm a runner! I eat clean and from our garden, more organic then not, made my own laundry soap, used my own cleaning products, did juicing the whole 9! I was vegetarian and on the verge of vegan by that point. Again a healthy pregnancy and no issues but some low iron levels for a short time, this time it wasn't as bad. The cure for the low iron was cooking in a cast iron pot and eating my greens with some citrus dressing. Also the molasses with cream of wheat was yummy too :)
baby #2 (37 weeks)
So come baby #3 life was pretty much the same as baby #2 but this time I was full on VEGAN! The crazy part is I wasn't trying to eat high iron foods but more of what my body wanted. It wasn't cravings so much as when I would go eat breakfast or lunch I would 'listen' to what my body wanted. Maybe one day it was a fruit salad, another day some leftovers from the night before, perhaps a tofu scramble... I found the best recipe for that!!! Will share it later....  but either way I was eating what my body wanted. It was satisfying and yet filling in the gaps of what my body needed. My running was much improved too! Right before baby #3 was decided on I had just finished my first half marathon.

My running had to be put on the back burner for a bit. This one decided to drop at 31 weeks and running with a baby that low is not comfortable at all. Picture a 25lb bowling ball sitting low in your pelvis, then run with that there... you get me??? Yeah so come post baby I am looking forward to getting my running shoes back on and getting back into a routine.