Tonight we ordered out Pei Wei, my daughter loves Chinese! As I was deciding what to order I realized I didn't not want to order my "usual", Pad Thai-no egg. As I looked over the menu I remembered that I used to LOVE the Dan Dan Noodles dish Pre-Vegan, but could not order it because they use egg noodles. Then I had a thought, why not just ask them to use rice noodles instead? I am in LOVE!!!! It was delicious and a much needed change. I always tell everyone you can find something vegan to eat just about anywhere. I forget that just because they have some options if something else sounds good see if you can tweak it. Don't just look at what is offered, but what sounds good. Most places are more than happy to change a few ingredients so you can enjoy the meal you want.

Almond Milk vs Regular Milk

As I was sitting at my kitchen table this morning, ready to eat my breakfast, I looked down at my bowl of cereal and thought how pretty the fresh fruit had made it look. How often do you take the time to "dress up" your food so that it looks more appealing and taste more delicious? My plain bowl of cereal with just a little bit of fruit added made me stop and think about what I was eating, and stop to enjoy it.

Interesting comparison between Almond Milk(Vegan) vs 2% Milk. Almond Milk has 60 calories, milk has 100. Almond milk has 2.5 g of fat and so does milk, but Almond Milk has 0 Trans Fat whereas milk has 1.5 g. Almond Milk has 0 cholesterol, milk has 10 mg. Almond milk has less carbs and sugars. This is what is probably most surprising to any non-Vegans, Almond milk and milk have the same amount of Calcium and Vitamins A & D. You should try it some time and see what you think, we like Almond Breeze unsweetened.

Sometime we get so caught up on how difficult something is suppose to be that we make it harder than it is. I think a lot of people have this attitude with eating vegan. It should be so difficult to find things to eat, when in reality it is so simple. My husband is out of town so dinner tonight had to be quick, easy, and no prep time. I decide to make pasta marinara with garlic bread and a big side salad. I often forget to not worry about finding a recipe and just make something I love.

Easy and Delicious

Tonight's dinner was so easy to make that I recommend if you have been wanting to try something, make this. It was easy to put together and took no cooking skills, only down side is you have to give yourself enough time. We had Roasted Sausage, Peppers, Onions, and Garlic over Brown Rice, delicious! So simple, here you go:

12 cloves of garlic (you don't even have to mince these, just peeled!!!)
3-4 red, yellow, or green bell peppers (any combo will do) cut into 3/4" strips
2 onions, quartered and cut into 3/4" strips
2 TBSP Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
4 vegan Italian Sausages (I used Smart Sausages by LightLife)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine garlic, bell peppers, onions, oil, salt, and pepper, tossing to coat. Place on baking sheet and cook for 20 mins. Stir in the sausages and cook 15-20 mins, until sausages start to brown.

I served this over brown rice made with vegetable broth instead of water, it was great!

You say broŏˈsketə, I say Bruschetta

I had some of the best Bruschetta I have ever eaten at Brio (http://www.brioitalian.com/index.html)!! It is their seasonal Bruschetta so you have to go soon if you want to try it. It has a basil pesto sauce spread on the bread, with heirloom tomatoes and yellow peppers drizzles in olive oil, topped with fresh basil. YUM YUM!!

Big Ass Crunchy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

My daughter insisted on making a special treat for her grandpa who came to visit today. I found this recipe and believe me, the picture does not do it justice! They were wonderful!! Give them a try.

2 c whole wheat flour
2 c rolled oats
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 c canola oil
3/4 c peanut butter
1 c granulated sugar
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c vanilla soy milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, lightly grease two cookie sheets.
Mix flour, oats, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl mix together the oil, peanut butter, sugars, soy milk, and vanilla.
Add dry ingredients to the wet, and mix. For perfectly round, large cookies: pack a 1/3 c measuring cup with dough, pop out and roll the dough into a firm ball. Lightly grease the bottom of a pie plate; press the top of the cookies with the bottom of the pie plate to flatten to a 1/2-inch thickness. Bake 12-15 min till cookies have puffed a bit and are lightly browned. Allow to cool at least 10 mins to firm up before moving off the cookie sheet.
Makes 12 cookies.

Breakfast for Dinner

In case you haven't been following my blog, or don't know me, I am a huge lover of breakfast!! Finding Vegan breakfast can be difficult but I have found a new cookbook with lots of recipes and ideas. Tonight for dinner we had pancakes and they were scrumptious!! They were very filling and had a sweet touch to them. I dressed them up with powdered sugar and fresh strawberries. I served it with vegan sausage, what a great meal!!

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 TBSP canola oil
1/3 c water
1 to 1 1/4 c soy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 TBSP pure maple syrup

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In separate bowl, combine all the other ingredients. Add wet ingredients to dry, mix until just combined-do not overmix.

Dinner Party

Tonight we had a few friends over for a dinner party. It was great company, great food, and fun times!
For our appetizer we had an Insalata Caprese Salad-Vegan Style: Tomato, Cucumber, and Basil with Balsamic Vinegar and fresh pepper.







For dinner we had Pasta Puttanesca with home made garlic bread.






And for dessert we had peanut butter cookies with chocolate drizzled on top and fresh strawberries dipped in chocolate.

Vegan Breakfast, Yay!!

I was told about a place here in St. Louis that does a great vegan breakfast so this morning me and the family loaded up and went. I am a huge fan of the first meal of the day so I was rather excited to give it a try. It's called SweetArt (http://www.sweetartstl.com/) and it was heavenly!!! We ordered a VEGAN CINNAMON ROLL!! Wonderful, but unfortunately no pic-it was just a bit too good to stop!! Then we got french toast, which was divine and scrambled tofu with tomato, avocado, and facon (fake bacon) all on a english muffin. They also have a bakery that offers many vegan options. Guess we will have to go back to give some other things a try.