Vegan Bacon Sandwich

Tonight for dinner my hubby had a bacon sandwich and for the first time in years, bacon actually smelled good. It was strange and a little disturbing. Then I started craving bacon. Which was very disturbing. I had some vegan bacon in the freezer that I've had for months (I bought it for really really cheap). I pulled it out and had a bacon, veganaise, and ketchup sandwich. It was marvelous! I just had to blog about it. It was lightlife smart bacon. It was good and easy. I don't remember what bacon taste like so if you're a new veg*n I don't know if you'd like it, but I thought it was outstanding! :-)

Happy Eating!

VeganMoFo Day 4 - I have the best mom!

My family and I went to my parents' house yesterday for the day and I realized that I have the best mom! I'm the only vegan in the family. I haven't eaten meat in 16 years and I've been vegan for almost 2 years. Yesterday my mom fixed lunch and dinner for us. For lunch we had sandwiches and chips. She made sure that I had multiple options (PB&J or Boca Chicken Patties) w/vegan bread (that she bought just for me). For dinner she had lasagna (beef and cheese), but she made me tofu ravioli. She also made sure that there was dressing that I could eat for my salad, AND vegan croutons! Like I said, I have the best mom in the world!
I just wanted to brag to the world about how wonderful my family is. I hear horror stories about other people and their families. I feel blessed to have the family that I have who honors my choice to be vegan. (Now if only I could get them to join me!)

Happy Eating!

Day 2 of Vegan MoFo...Pizza Night!

Tonight, like every Friday in our house, is pizza night! Before I went vegan it was always cheese pizza, but now...the possibilities are endless! I don't have any amazing secret recipe that's going to blow your mind, but here are some of my favorite pizza toppings.

Artichokes (way better than cheese)
Mushrooms
Onions
Spinach
Garlic
Vegan sausage (which is funny because I never ate sausage pizza when I ate meat)
Cheese sauce (or any vegan cheese)
Olives
Broccoli (it's ok if you cut it up pretty small, other wise I think it's a little odd)

When I'm not really in the mood for pizza I've done a Mexican pizza w/salsa, corn, cheeze, tomatoes, taco flavored TVP...whatever I've got on hand

So...what are your favorite pizza toppings?

Day 1 of Vegan MoFo...Chili

I'm not very good with blogging, please forgive me! I should get better by the end of the month. :-)
Tonight for dinner we're having my momma's chili (veganized). I don't really do recipes, but I can give you a general idea of how to make it so that YOU love! :-)

Momma’s Chili
Ingredients
2-46 oz cans of tomato juice
TVP or Vegan “ground meat” (enough to make it as “meaty” as you like)
Salsa (whatever your favorite is)
Chili powder (to taste)
Spaghetti (broken into tiny bits)

Method
Pour everything in a big pot a simmer until it’s all cooked.

Serve w/vegan cornbread. I made this one today, it's ok but not the best I've ever had. http://www.recipezaar.com/Vegan-Cornbread-115929

ENJOY!!

Recipes

There are two recipes that I've "created" in the last week that my husband, the meat eater, has really enjoyed. I thought I'd post them for those with picky meat eating spouses! :-)



Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:
I batch of cheeze Sauce
2/3 of a bag of shredded hash browns (the frozen kind - I guessed at how much)
2/3 - 3/4 bag of morning star "sausage" crumbles (I'm sure you could use real sausage, but the morningstar is all cooked and ready to go :-)) If you use real sausage cook it and drain it first
1/2 cup tofutti better than sour cream
bread crumbs (or some other kind of topping - French fried onions would be good, crackers would work, corn flakes might be good too).
Directions:
Mix it all up, put it in a sheet pan (casserole dish) and bake at 350 for 30-45mins (until it's hot all the way through and the potatoes are cooked.



Enchiladas

Ingredients:

1 package Fantastic world foods vegetarian sloppy joe

1 can diced tomatoes

1/2 onion

1/4 cup fresh basil

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 batch of "cheeze sauce"

1/2 container of "sour cream" (I used tofutti's better than sour cream)

salsa

Corn tortillas

Directions:

Saute diced onion until caramelized. Add can of tomatoes, sloppy joe mix, and 1/4 cup of water. Simmer until sloppy joe is cooked. (It should have the consistency of meat, kind of).

Add 1/2 container of "sour cream" (appx oz) to the "cheeze sauce"

Assemble enchiladas (put sloppy joe and some cheeze inside corn tortillas, roll, and place in a pan)

Cover enchiladas with "cheeze sauce"

Bake at 350 for 30-40 mins (until cheeze sauce is slightly browned)



Cheeze Sauce

Ingredients:

1/4 cup margarine (vegan)

1/4 cup flour

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1 TBSP soy sauce

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1/4 cup nutritional yeast (to taste)

3/4 cup "cream cheese" (to taste)



Directions:

Mix margarine and flour over low heat. Add broth, soy sauce, garlic and onion powders. When sauce is thickened whisk in nutritional yeast and "cream cheese"

This isn't my recipe. My mom found it on a website...maybe vegweb? as a sauce for green bean casserole. It has been modified. If you know where it came from, please leave a comment and I'll give credit where it's due!



Please leave comments - like, dislike, could/should change...:-)

Guilty?

Let me start with a little background. I'm a vegan mom married to a meat eating man, raising a meat eating daughter. Recently I've been thinking/researching/learning, a great deal about the health benefits of being vegan, and finding out that they are numerous. I had no idea that being vegan was so healthy. I just knew that treating animals the way that factory farmers treat them, wasn't something I was willing to support. I was a vegetarian when I met my husband 6 years ago, but I wasn't an advocate. Things are starting to change. I'm starting to change. I see the health benefits of being vegan. I know what it's done for me, both physically and emotionally, and I want my family to convert. I feel as if I've failed my daughter (who is 3 years old) by feeding her the garbage that she eats. She loves hot dogs and chicken sandwiches. (I know, I already said I feel horrible, stop looking at me like that :-)). I'm supposed to do what's best for her, but what do I do when what I know is best isn't accepted by my husband and her father as being the best? I'm working really hard on making vegan meals my whole family will eat and enjoy. I've even gone back to "fake meats" to fill in for my husband. I just feel guilty knowing that I have been feeding (and am continuing to feed) my daughter animal products.
I think maybe I can eventually convert them both...with time and patience (which I don't have an abundant supply of). I'll be posting updates. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

UPDATE: Tonight for dinner, my 3 year old ate a vegan hot dog. I know it's not the best, but it's better then a regular one! Maybe we're taking positive steps towards becoming a vegan household! :-)

6 "healthiest foods"...according to some.

Yahoo! had an article titled "6 Healthiest Foods You Aren't Eating" so I clicked on it and read the article like any good nutritionally aware person would do. (Here's the link if you want to see it http://droogie.co.uk/veggie/veggiemars.html)
Scallops? Ok, maybe...Dark Meat?! Really? We should be eating more turkey? ONLY a 1/3 of the fat is bad for you. What? Come on people. Why should I be eating more turkey of any kind? It makes you feel full longer. OK, so do whole grains. It makes me so angry to read articles that suggest that we as a nation need to eat more MEAT! I think we eat enough meat. How about we stop eating the animals and end suffering?
Sorry - I just needed to rant.

What do YOU think we need to eat more of? Or less of?