Fat-Free Vegan Pancakes

These pancakes don’t exactly taste like pancakes, but they’re delicious nonetheless! The heat of the skillet melts the banana, making these babies sweet and delicious. I melted some frozen blueberries in the microwave and mixed with about 2 teaspoons agave for a delicious and healthy syrup! This recipe has been modified this recipe from here, and it if fast, easy, and delicious.

Makes 14 small/medium pancakes.

• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg replacer (I used 1/2 banana. You can use a flax egg* or Ener-G egg replacer too)
• 1 cup almond milk
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• Optional: strawberries, bananas, chocolate chips, blueberries (what I used), or anything else you’d like!

1. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl

2. Combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl.

3. Mix wet and dry together

4. Preheat a medium-sized skillet or pan, and spray with non-stick spray

5. Pour three 1/4 cup sized pancakes into pan and add your add-ins

6. Flip when bubbles appear around edges

* A flax egg can be made out of mixing 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds with 3 tablespoons water. Let it sit until it reaches the consistency of an egg. Equal to one medium/large egg.

170-200 calories per serving. 4 servings per recipe.

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A 100% Vegan Test Kitchen Original!

I did it guys. After several days searching for the perfect pumpkin cookie recipe, I decided to take the next step towards ultimate bloggette-ness and make my own recipe, from scratch.

Now, I am not going to call these cookies. I am not going to call these muffins. Or biscuits, or scones, or anything else baked-goods related. I’m not really sure what they are to be honest… but I do know that I like them!

Once I come up with a cute name for them, I’m going to make them more often with all different flavours and styles for you lovely people! Maybe this is the start of something wonderful 🙂

Anyways, here’s the recipe!

Dry

• 1 and 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sucanat
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg

Wet

• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup applesauce (or more if needed)
• 2 tbsp Tazo chai concentrate
• a capful of vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp molasses
• 1 flax egg: 1tbsp ground flax absorbed by 3 tbsp water

Preheat oven to 350° F. Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredient in separate bowl, and then mix together. Use a mini icecream scoop or a 15 mL measuring spoon and scoop onto lined cookie sheet. Press down with a fork or leave in ball form. Makes 18 whatever you want to call them’s. 🙂

These little balls of goodness have the benefits of whole grains, flax seeds, fruits, and deliciousness in a soft, chewy, light and gooey ball of yum!

Recipe Review: Bulgur Pilaf

So, once again this recipe is from my all time favourite blog, Chocolate Covered Katie. Her delicious, simple, and easy to follow recipes are always the first things I look at when I’m in the mood to cook or bake. Katie, if you see this, your blog is amazing! Keep it up! 🙂

This recipe is a lunch and dinner-time favourite of mine. It takes a bit of preparation because the bulgur needs to be cooked, but it’s oh so worth it.

In my meals, I’m a fan of mostly vegetables and less grains and other things, so I altered Katie’s recipe a little. I substituted the bok choy for kale, and used half the bulgur, but it turned out delicious! I had never cooked bulgur before seeing this recipe, but I sure do cook it often now!

The Recipe 

Bulgur Pilaf

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

1 cup vegetable stock

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 1/2 teaspoons fresh, grated ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 zucchini, chopped

5 green onions, cut into about 1-inch pieces (don’t use the roots)

2 medium carrots, finely diced

3 cups bok choy or spinach (EVTK’s version: use kale)

1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic

4 cups cooked bulgur (it works best if you chill this in the fridge for a few hours before using) (EVTK version: 2 cups)

Directions:
1) In a bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients. Set aside.

2) Preheat a pan or wok over medium-high heat and sauté the carrots and zucchini in your sauté-liquid of choice.

3) Add in about 1/4 of the stock mixture. Stir-fry for 3-5 minutes.

4) Add the green onions, bok choy (or spinach or kale), garlic, and another 1/4 of the stock mixture, and stir-fry for another 3 minutes.

5) Add the bulgur and the rest of the stock mixture. Stir constantly for about 5 minutes.

(All credit for the recipe goes to the lovely Katie) 🙂

Vegan Test Kitchen Recipe: Delicious Tofu Cookies!

I’ve made these bad boys a couple times, making variations as I go. The first time I made them I used oil instead of applesauce and white flour, and they were rock hard within a few days. I also used extra-firm silken tofu. A few days ago I used the ingredients below, and they were fantastic. They were chewy and moist, oh so delicious, and they didn’t get hard! I’ll definitely keep this recipe in my good books.

 

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 cup vegan “butter”

1/4 cup soft/medium silken tofu

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

chocolate chips (as many as you want)

 

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Combine the sugars, applesauce, and vegan butter in a food mixer and cream for 5 minutes. Puree the tofu and vanilla until smooth, and add to cream mixture. Mix well. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl, and then add chocolate chips. Mould dough into balls and put on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for about 15-25 minutes.

 

Product Review: Gluten Free Frozen Burritos

These burritos, made by Glutenfreeda Foods are delicious. They have vegan ones, vegetarian ones, breakfast ones, and more. I usually get the gluten free and vegan burritos, and eat them for lunch.

Sometimes there are days when it’s literally impossible to cook something to eat for lunch, and these burritos are lifesavers on those days. I will definitely continue to buy them. 🙂

The burritos are easy to cook and have a nice, dense-but-not-gross texture and taste. Make sure to cook them long enough though so that the bread will soften. I usually take mine out of the freezer in the morning and microwave them for about 1 minute & 30 seconds at 12. You can take them out of the wrapper and grill them or bake them too!

Recipe Review: Boatmeal

This recipe is from Chocolate Covered Katie‘s blog. I have tried a lot of her things from cookie balls to bulgur pilaf, and I must say I’ve absolutely loved every single recipe! I am proud to admit that I was not disappointed in the least with this recipe. I tried her basic boatmeal recipe, and added a few of my own things to it. First I tried chai concentrate and pumpkin puree, then I did bananas and banana yogurt, then I tried coconut milk and vanilla with an apple pie-type crust. Everything was delicious!

I would highly recommend trying out any of her stuff. The boatmeal is delicious as a meal, a snack, and a dessert! I’m sure savory boatmeal wouldn’t be too bad either. I will definitely use this recipe again!

 

The Recipe

• 1/2 cup oats (50g)
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon (and 1/8 tsp nutmeg, if making pumpkin version)
• sweetener, such as 1 1/2 to 2T maple syrup or 1 to 1 1/2 packs stevia
• 1/4 cup canned pumpkin or applesauce (50-60g)
• 1/4 cup milk or creamer or water (60g)
• heaping 1/16th tsp salt
• Optional: 1 to 2T oil or favorite nut butter (if oil, scale the milk back a tiny bit)
• Optional: raisins, walnuts, brown sugar for the top

Preheat oven to 380 degrees. Combine raw oats, spices, pumpkin, and milk. Pour into a small baking pan, 1-cup ramekin, or mini-loaf pan. Cook for 20 minutes, or more until it gets firm. Finally, set your oven to “high broil” for 3 more minutes, or until it reaches desired crispy-ness (or simply just bake longer, but broiling gives it a nice crust).

(All credit goes to Katie!)

Recipe Review: Banana Soft Serve

This recipe is from a blog known as Choosing Raw.

The recipe is simple and the method is quick and easy. I made some just out of curiosity, and ended up eating almost the whole batch! I’m probably going to finish the last of it tonight for dessert. 🙂

The banana “ice cream” involves one ingredient: bananas.

That’s it! All you do is throw 2 or 3 frozen bananas into a food processor, pulse until the bananas are blended, and then process for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy.

I had a bit of trouble with getting the bananas to stay near the blades, so I added about 2 tablespoons of coconut milk. I also added about 1/2 tablespoon of Maranatha no stir almond butter for some sweetness. It turned out delicious! I’m definitely going to make this recipe again; maybe even today! Haha.

Recipe Review: Pear And Cauliflower Curry

Yesterday I made a dish from a new cookbook called “The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions”

The book, designed to inform new vegans and vegetarians on animal product substitutions, was very well written and easy to follow. Each chapter was split up according to the type of substitution in the recipe, whether it’s milk, eggs, meat, or more. This recipe was under the “Dairy Substitutes” chapter.

The ingredients were simple enough to find in the grocery store, and the method was far from complex. My mother and I were actually a little put off by the simplistic method: throw it all in a pan and stick ‘er in the oven. But, we tried it anyways, and boy am I glad we did!

We lined our baking dish with tinfoil, and I added the ingredients from the top to the bottom of the page. The melted coconut oil began to harden though, so when it came time to mix all the ingredients, it stuck to the tinfoil and I ripped it. So, my suggestion when cooking this is to use a non-stick pan, and add the melted coconut oil just before mixing.

The finished product was delicious. I’m not one for spices, so  I was a little skeptic to try something like this, but it was perfect. There was a bit of bite so as to keep the dish interesting, but it wasn’t so spicy that its consumers had smoke fuming out their ears. All in all, I’d definitely make this recipe again.

 

The Recipe

3 tablespoons melted coconut oil

1 tablespoon garam masala

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon brown mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

1 small head cauliflower, broken into small florets

2 firm pears, quartered and cored

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup chopped yellow onion

1/4 cup coconut milk

1/3 cup dry roasted salted cashews

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsely

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Combine all ingredients in a 9×13 inch baking dish and roast for 30 minutes, stirring half way through. Turn oven off and leave dish in the oven for another 15 minutes, or until cauliflower is cooked. Sprinkle with cashews and parsley or cilantro, and serve over rice, bulgur, quinoa, or couscous!

Introductions Are Not My Strong Suit!

Why hello there! My name is Emily. I’m a 16 year old high school student with a passion for photography and water polo. I love cooking and I love being active in animal’s rights even more. I have vegetarian on and off my entire life, and I have been a committed vegetarian for about 3 and a half years. I am currently making the switch to becoming vegan, but I am spending a lot of time working at it and doing my research before labelling my lifestyle as such.

This blog, however, will not be a personal one. I will be reviewing, commenting on, and researching vegan, gluten free, and vegetarian recipes, cook books, food items, and more. Recipe reviews from blogs and cookbooks will make up most of the blog, but I will also talk about different kinds of tofu and soy products, and much much more!

Stay tuned for my first review from a fabulous cookbook called “The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions”

Enjoy!

– Emily