Vegan Fondue feat. Cheezy Bites in Vegan Beer Batter

This Christmas my husbands family decided to celebrate a little early so everyone could be together. With families growing its hard to all get together at Christmas time. So we celebrated on Sunday night with an extra twist to tradition, instead of the typical turkey dinner we had a fondue party!
My mother in law has been hosting fondue parties since she was 19 years old, so we all knew that it would be well stocked with different types of fun dipping sauces, meats and cheeses, with of course a chocolate and caramel for dessert.

Now being vegan I wasn't participating in any of this, but non the less I was still excited because I was getting my very own pot this year! One that I could experiment with and try some new and fun things. I haven't got to fondue since I turned vegan so this was a pretty big deal to me, because for those of you who have fondued you know how fun they can be.
Sadly, we got to Devon's parents for brunch and ended up munching all day, which can be great but not when you have a huge fondue feast waiting for you that night. So by the time supper rolled around I was still very full from the days festivities so I didn't get to experiment like I wanted to. BUT! I did get to try the cheese balls, something that I knew I had to try. Devon's mom Mary B. already had a batter recipe that was tried and true so I just subbed out the eggs for a flax egg and voila vegan batter!

When I tasted my first bite of this cheezy goodness, I actually was on the brink of tears. For I haven't had something that good in a long time.... something so heavenly, so gooey, so melty, so amazingly non-vegan (but vegan!!!) cheezy goodness that it was definitely cry worthy. I made about 7 of them and had to call it quits. I should have stopped at one, but seriously who would do that?

So if you have a deep fryer, or are headed to a fondue party soon, I HIGHLY suggest you try these bad boys out, you wont be disappointed!

 

Vegan Beer Batter
3/4 cup of flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 flax eggs: 6 tbsp. water, 2 tbsp. ground flax
1/2 cup beer
Mix together all dry ingredients. Let your flax eggs sit for about 10 min to set before adding them into the dry mixture, then add beer. Mix until well combined. Best if you can let the batter sit for 1-2 hours before using.

The vegan cheese I used was a block of Daiya in cheddar flavour. I cut it up into 1/4 inch blocks, dipped them into the batter and fried them for about 2 minutes or until golden brown. Like most fondue/deep frying, let them sit for a minute or two because the insides will be hot!

Thanks for reading!
xoxo -N

 

 

 

Le Pizza Fries

Muhahahah I have suckered you in to another pizza recipe! You maybe wondering "is this woman mad? This is the like 20th pizza post!" Why yes, I am mad... mad about pizza!
I didn't even like pizza back when I wasn't vegan, it was just another supper idea that didn't really catch my attention. But ever since I turned vegan I am addicted! I love creating new fun ways to eat pizza, some healthy like my spaghetti squash pizza boats found here, or some not so healthy like my newest post...PIZZA FRIES!!!
Yes I said pizza fries. Two of the greatest foods ever, combined into one amazing dish that will have you wondering why you never thought of this before. I know I did!
Well its simple, bake fries in the oven until toasty brown.
Top with your favourite vegan pizza toppings, like:

• hot peppers
• tomatoes
• olives
• mushrooms
• mock meats
• onions
• pineapple

Sprinkle with some Daiya Mozzarella, broil it for 5 mins (be careful you don't burn it like I did!)
Heat up some pizza sauce to dip in and viola you got yourself supper! Or a snack, or maybe ever breakfast! This would be the perfect college breakfast!
If you are feeling generous you could even share this dish at a party with your friends. If not eat this in the car before you go in and blame your dog for eating it while you were getting ready (if you don't have a dog, I cant help you).

Thanks for reading!
xoxo -N

Fresh Rolls with Low Fat Lime Peanut Sauce

I am on that mission again! Trying to find another sauce that holds up to my fresh rolls original peanut hoisen sauce. I swear it is my lot in life to try as many dipping sauces as I can, yes I am that addicted. And this new Lime Peanut sauce is pretty damn good, if I do say so myself. I am really satisfied with the results, especially since its low fat!

As usual I was craving fresh rolls for lunch while at work and I was thinking of that sweet and salty sauce that accompanies them. Which got my brain thinking about how I can adjust my original sauce to make it low fat. Cue in zucchini and you got your self a Low Fat Party! Zucchini is really the best kept secret in the cooking world. It can be used in so many ways its ridiculous.

Low Fat Lime Peanut Sauce

1 zucchini peeled

1 tbsp peanut butter

1 lime juiced

1 handful cilantro

½ clove garlic

Salt to taste

Puree in a high speed blender until smooth and serve with your favorite fresh rolls. My recipe can be found here!

Spicy Cajun Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes have become very popular in the last couple years in both households and restaurants. I normally would only see this vegetable on holidays whipped with butter and brown sugar and topped with marshmallows (not the healthiest way to eat this amazing root vegetable) but now they are everywhere. From restaurants serving them deep fried with some sort of dipping sauce to moms now substituting them out for potatoes on a regular basis at home.

Ever since I got my Actifry I have loved making sweet potato fries because I find that they come out crispier than baking them in the oven, plus I get to use less oil too. So that got me thinking about what else I could use this thing for and I thought “well they don't have to be fries all the time do they?” I could make thick wedges or even just cube them up like a hash.

So for a snack one day I cubed up 2 sweet potatoes and I was just going to put salt on them but while reaching in to the cupboard I noticed this Cajun spice that we had. Light bulb! Cajun Sweet Potatoes! What a perfect combination! So I tossed the cubed potatoes into a bowl and put two tbsp of this Cajun spice on top and tossed them around. The smell was amazing but I felt like I could go one step more into making these perfect. That’s when I grabbed the cinnamon. It would be the perfect complement to the spiciness of the Cajun while also bringing out the earthy flavours of the sweet potato. 

Results? Of course amazing! It was the perfect twist to one of my favorite snack foods. They weren't too spicy that you wanted to stop eating them and that cinnamon really packed an aromatic punch, especially while cooking. It kind of reminded me of Thanksgiving! A holiday that I can wait for, because I am really enjoying our summer! 

Spicy Cajun Sweet Potatoes

2 sweet potatoes

2 tbsp of Cajun spice

1 tsp of cinnamon

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp of cumin (optional)

1 tbsp of coconut oil – Actifry – cook for 20 mins or until tender and crispy

3 tbsp of coconut oil – Oven – bake for 30 mins, or until tender and crispy

Easy Vegan Black Bean Dip

Are you looking for a simple appetizer to take to your next party? Try this easy vegan black bean dip!

My sister in law Brittany brought this to a Mexican TGIF party this past week and I was so thankful that she did. I hadn’t eaten much before we went thinking that there was going to be a lot of guacamole and salsa but sadly I was wrong. There was some quac and veggies but that was it (well for food that I could eat) so when Brit showed up with this amazing dish, I almost took it all for myself, hording it in the corner with the blue corn chips. But I thought I would be nice and share with everyone so they could taste how amazing the dip was.

What I really love about it is that it is super simple to make, just toss into a blender and puree! I know the color isn't the greatest but really what can you expect from a bean dip other than the awesomely brown color! 

Quick and easy Vegan Bean Dip

1 can organic black beans

1 jar of organic salsa

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 handful cilantro 

1 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp chili powder

1 lemon juiced

Blend in a high speed blender or food processor until smooth. It can be served hot or cold and paired with tortilla chips or fresh veggies! 

This is for sure going to be one of my go-to recipes when I am in a bind and need to bring something to a party. Thanks Brittany!

Side note** Brittany didn't put in the nutritional yeast or the chili powder in to her dip, so if you don't have those things on hand I can guarantee that it still tastes amazing!

Thanks for reading

xoxo -N

Vegan Chili Mushroom Bites

 One of the questions I get asked a lot is “what do you eat at parties, or family get togethers?” Most of the party food out there is either meat or dairy based and sometimes both! So often when I go to parties it is usually slim pickins for me, hence why I am always bringing food with me everywhere I go.

This weekend was my sister in law Brittany’s, 21^st birthday and she had TGIF at her house to celebrate. TGIF is Devon’s families way of staying in touch with each other throughout the weeks. Almost every Friday we all get together at someone’s house for appetizers and drinks and catch up with each other. I usually bring some sort of dip like hummus for me to eat and share with people but this week I tried something new. I’ve been really itching to make these and I was super excited to give them a shot.

Every stuffed mushroom recipe I have come across uses some sort of cheese mixture in them. Which got me thinking, what about stuffing them with other things rather than cheese?!?! I mean it’s not like cheese is the only thing that would taste good stuffed in mushrooms, so what would? CHILI would! And of course I would be using my famous sweet potato chili. Now that I had the main ingredients figured out, what would a good garnish? How about a little Daiya cheese and jalapeno? Devons family haven’t had a lot of exposure to Daiya so why not top off these tasty bites with a little, plus why not add some heat with a bit of jalapeno? Yum! These sounded so good, I knew that they would be a huge hit with the family.

When I make my chili I try to freeze half of the pot in single serving portions. This not only helps me not eat the whole pot of chili but also saves me some time on nights that I don't feel like cooking. I just so happened to have two bags of chili in my freezer, the perfect portion for my chili bites. This averaged about 4 cups of chili, which filled up 3 small pkgs of mushrooms.

These heavenly bites turned out awesome, the whole family loved them and the only thing I would change is the fact that I didn’t make more!

Ingredients

4 cups – appox – sweet potato quinoa chili

3 small pkg of mushrooms, destemmed

2 jalapenos, sliced

½ cup Daiya Cheese

Stuff the mushrooms with the chili, top with jalapeno and cheese. Bake in a 350 degrees oven for 15 mins and serve!

Rawkin Homemade Sushi with Wasabi

I crave sushi about 5 times a month, unfortunately we only go out for sushi about once every 2 months. So you can see my dilemma, my cravings are not being satisfied! Oh the horror! But seriously I love sushi, it is one of my favourite meals and when I eat it, I eat a lot. That’s why I love going out for sushi at DK Sushi House here in Moose Jaw, because they have 'all you can eat' for $24.00 per person. We usually get a group of 8 people together to share the endless rolls, which leads to us complaining of how full we are when we leave. My brother in law Sean usually brings up that One time we made him eat the last piece, 9 months ago, that sent him over the edge of fullness. Something that we thought he would have gotten over, but apparently not!

So one night I stopped by Ashley’s house after work and after talking for an hour, I got the craving for some sushi. I mentioned it to Ashley and her eyes lit up with excitement, she wanted to go to! But she wondered if they would make her rolls without rice in them, she just wanted the nori and the vegetables. We figured we would call and ask before going down to make sure they would and success, they said they would! We didn’t get ‘all you can eat’ because it was just the two of us, but we definitely left full!

Me eating my seaweed salad, and Ashley's no rice sushi rolls!

While there we got to talking about making our own homemade sushi, raw and cooked. I had tried making traditional sushi before with Devon, but it was really soggy and I ended up just scraping off the rice and veggies and eating it like a stir fry. So naturally I was a little apprehensive about making it again. Ashley suggested that we try making raw sushi with cauliflower rice instead, she had noticed someone else had made it and was interested in making it herself.

The next day I was still craving sushi and thought about just making my own. Heck I am not made out of money, so going to Sushi House again was out of the question. Luckily I had cauliflower in the fridge and was curious about how it would turn out. So I got to work on ricing the cauliflower in my Vitamix and thought “how is this going to stick together?”…. Dates, of course! So I threw some chopped up dates in and pulsed until well mixed. I rolled one up, tasted it and thought ‘WOW! Ashley needs to taste this!’ So I immediately texted her to get her butt over to my house for an amazing supper! Little did I know, Ashley was going to SuperStore to get ingredients to make raw sushi too! Great minds think alike!

We were both really satisfied with the result of the sushi, the only thing is you have to eat it immediately or else the nori wrappers get soggy. That could have to do with the quality of the paper or with the water content of the cauliflower, either way, you have to basically roll ‘em and eat ‘em.

 

Ingredients 6-10 rolls

1 pkg raw nori papers

1 head of cauliflower

5 majool dates, pitted and diced

1 red pepper

1 avocado

1 small zucchini

½ cucumber
1 bamboo rolling mat

Thinly slice all of the vegetables, using a mandolin or your knife. Rice cauliflower in high speed blender, only pulsing. Optional step, remove cauliflower from blender and pour into a bowl, take a couple paper towels and try to extract as much water as possible. Throw back into blender and pulse the dates in.

Lay out nori paper on a bamboo rolling mat, the longer side parallel to your body. Spread out a thin layer of cauliflower rice, in the middle of the paper lay equal amounts of vegetables, try not to add too much or it will be difficult to roll up. Using the rolling mat, roll up the paper tightly. Using some water to seal off the edge.

I like to have the seam of the paper on the bottom of the cutting board while cutting. Also it helps to wet your knife before cutting too!

Cut into sections and eat immediately! Serve with soy sauce, wasabi or ginger and enjoy!

After I wrote this post we went out again for sushi a few weeks later and Ashley brought something that I totally fell in love with: homemade wasabi! It tasted just like the typical green stuff you get from the restaurant, only this was all natural. I mean who would think of making their own wasabi and bringing it to a sushi place? My brilliant sister Ashley, thats who. So here is the link to her site to get this super easy recipe so the next time you make your own raw sushi or when go out you can bring your own too!

Thanks for reading!

Xoxo -N

Vegan Pizza Rolls

Super Bowl Sunday was hosted by my sister in law Brittany this year which of course means a lot of fricken food. I was undecided on what I was going to bring until I remembered that we had a can of Pillsbury Grand Crescent Rolls in our freezer. I had recently learned that they were vegan and wanted to try them out, I am not a fan of breads but I bought a can anyways just to have on hand for such occasion.

What to do with the crescent rolls? Pizza of course! I have been craving pizza lately and thought that pizza rolls would be the perfect Super Bowl snack. So I took the can out of the freezer to thaw and got the ingredients for our stuffing!

I decided to roll out the dough instead of using the precut shapes they provide. This way I can have the shape I want (a rectangle) and the dough goes farther seeing as I didn’t want it to be really thick. I got about 12 pizza rolls out of one can and thought I should get another because there was going to be a number of people there. So we did one can of vegan and one can of regular.

In the midst of football madness and the fact that I devoured most of them,I didn’t get a good picture of how they turned out and I apologize for the pitiful picture that I did take. Please don’t judge me!! Trust me, they taste way better than they look in the picture!

Vegan Pizza Rolls

1 can of Pillsbury Grand Crescent Rolls

1 can of pizza sauce

1 cup of Daiya Cheese

1 cup of mushrooms, chopped

Mash the dough into a ball and pull off ½ cup-chunks to roll out. Using a floured rolling pin, or wine bottle (whatevers handy) roll out on a floured counter to desired thickness. Cut into rectangles about 3’x6’, layer pizza sauce, mushrooms and Daiya cheese. Roll up making sure all sides are tucked in and pop in the oven!

You can put anything you want into your pizza rolls, I just had mushrooms handy!

Thanks for reading!

Xoxo-N

New Year, New Possibilities feat. Mediterranean Surprise Dip

With the ever exciting New Year upon us, a lot of us are thinking about what we might do different in the year 2013. Some may even call these New Years Resolutions. I am personally not a fan of making them because I find it very hard to stick with them. Instead I just give myself a list of things that I would like to see change in the new year. Mostly its things like see my family more, clean the house more, put away the laundry after I'm done it, actually DO laundry, ect. My newest addition to the list is eat fewer chips, they are my weakness and I should really try to cut back. I am not going to kid myself and say I am going to quit altogether because who am I kidding, I don’t want too. I feel like the decision has to come on its own, and I can't force it.

This is how I cut out peanut butter from my diet. When I became vegan I was addicted, it was one of foods that helped me transition into veganism. In the beginning I wasn’t going to give it up (no matter how many times Ashley suggested it), but just this past month I began to really recognize that it was making me feel very ill every time I would eat it. I couldn’t concentrate at work, my stomach hurt and I felt really tired. That’s when the light bulb went came on, PING! No more peanuts. It took me a while to get there, but the decision was my own and I wanted to do it!

Of course there are some of you out there who also want to make health changes but might not know where to start. I would suggest watching the Vegucated documentary, its about 3 ‘normal’ New Yorkers who go vegan for 6 weeks. The movie isn’t that long and I found it quite funny at times. I will warn you that there is some graphic footage (I covered my eyes and my husband let me know when it was okay to re-open them, so I will now suggest a buddy system when you watch it, if you are sensitive like me!). You can find it on Netflix and probably on the internet too.

While watching, I heard one of the woman say something that has really stuck with me:

"A lot of people think veganism as a religion, which is totally wrong, its not that you have to live by certain rules. Its about minimizing suffering, it’s not about being perfect”

She is right, it’s about being happy and comfortable with the way you live your life. Furthermore, it is a total different experience for each person. If you want to make a change to vegetarian/vegan and not sure where to start, why not just minimize the suffering? Gradually eliminate things from your diet at a pace you are comfortable with. For me chicken was the first to go, it was something that always bothered me so that made it easier to cut out. Another easy way to minimize suffering in you house hold is buying wild game. My husbands family are now wanting to eat more wild game such as deer, moose or wild boar, for environmental and ethical reasons. We can all share it as a family which makes it more affordable and by eating wild you are not contributing to the slaughter houses. 

My recipe today is inspired by a conversation I had with my friend Rebecca the other day. She transitioned into vegetarianism in July and she expressed that she wanted to go vegan in the new year. This got me excited! Another person to share recipes with, Woo Hoo!

She then asked me “how do you deal with going to family functions and being vegan?” This is something I get asked a lot because its one of the main hurdles people have when going vegan.  My solution is to bring your favourite dish and share with everyone. If they like it, then great you are giving them a chance to try something new! If they don’t like it, then more for you!
One of my favorite dishes to take to family functions is my Mediterranean Surprise Dip, its very simple to make and is really tasty! 

Mediterranean Surprise Dip 

Humus - store bought or you can use my recipe below
1 tomato, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1/2 cucumber, diced
2 green onions, diced
1/2 cup of kalamata olives, diced and de-seeded
Balsamic Vinegar

Humus
1 can of chick peas
1 clove of garlic
3 tbsp of tahini 
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup of water

Put all of the humus ingredients into a high speed blender and blend until smooth. 

Spread all of the humus onto a flat serving tray, then evenly sprinkle the veggies on top. The last thing is to drizzle balsamic vinegar all over. This is a trick I stole from the restaurant Original Joes, it adds a sweet and tangy taste to the dish, and you can use ANY flavor of balsamic vinegar! Serve with pita bread, or my favorite choice, fresh zucchini and cucumber slices. 

Thanks for reading!
xoxo -N

Halloween Puking Pumpkin Dip

TIS THE SEASON TO BE HAUNTED!! 

This past Friday we got to host our annual Halloween party, which is one of my favorite parties to plan. I love all the decorating, the costumes and the food.

For a costume I decided to dress up a Katy Perry this year, the candy themed one. NOT the ET one. She is a little too scary for my liking in that video. So I went to You Tube and searched for the video California Gurls and put it on repeat! I probably watched this video 10 times, just to get a her outfit seared into my brain. If I was going to make this costume, it was going to look great. Next was to the closet to see what I had that was Katy Perry-i, and I had.... a white tube top! Perfect, that's all I need! Well except for rhinestones, felt, dog chew toys (the cupcakes!), stickers, pipe cleaners, a headband, satin fabric (skirt) and a pair of tights. I am truly happy I had that white top, because its fricken hard to find one in October!

So I started to sew and hot glue gun the crap out of that top; which lead to burning myself with said glue gun and then sew some more to make the skirt. 8 awesome hours later...TA DA! I'm Katy Perry!

For the food I decided to do the typical munchies, chips, popcorn and something new: The famous Puking Pumpkin. I have always thought he was kind of cute and gross at the same time, which I think is perfect for a Halloween Party.

Ingredients

5 large Avocados
3 large tomatoes
1/2 cup of Cilantro
1 lime, juiced
1/2 large Onion
1 Garlic Clove, minced
Salt to taste

Dice it all up, throw it in a bowl and mix it unit it gets a smooth consistency. I like to leave some chunks of avocado in the mix to add more texture! Enjoy!



Me and my sisters, Chelsea is a Dinosaur and
 Ashley is a Banana!



Yes I Glued each one of those rhinestones on!





Thanks for reading!

xoxo - N