Super Duper Oatmeal

If you went vegan and thought, "Oh no! What am I going to have for breakfast," fear no more! Oatmeal is perfect for breakfast because you can eat it at home or at work, plus dress it up and feel so gourmet. 

If you tend to run short on time in the morning, you can buy packets of plain, unsweetened instant oatmeal to keep at work, as well as the staples like almond butter, ground flax, and dried fruit. If you have a fridge, you can keep your soymilk there, though you could also just make it with water. If you make it with soymilk, make sure to watch it in the microwave so it doesn't boil over.

Serves 1, but easily multiplied for your sweetheart or family.

Base recipe:
1/2 quick, rolled, or stone cut oats (I use quick)
1 c non-dairy milk (eg soy or rice milk)
1 tsp cinnamon

Choose from any of the following options:
1/4 c dried fruit (eg cranberries or apricots)
1/2 c fresh or frozen fruit (eg strawberries, cranberries, even mango)
1 tbl peanut or almond butter
1 tbl ground flax seed
1 tsp maple syrup
1/4 c non-dairy chocolate chips
1/4 c Grape Nuts or Kashi 7 Grain Nuggets

Directions:
-- Unless you've already successfully made oatmeal using microwave, I suggest using the stove.
-- Put all ingredients, except fresh fruit or Grape Nuts if using, into medium seize pot.
-- Turn stove to medium and cook until desired constistency.
-- Pour into bowl and add fresh fruit and Grape Nuts to the top.
-- Enjoy warm. Do not share.

-- Ilana

makingveganwork.wordpress.com

Vegan Ice Cream

While the vegan ice creams on the market are amazing, sometimes they are just not affordable – monetarily or calorie-wise. This soft serve can be low calorie and fat free (depending on your add-ins), easy to make, and delicious. I recommend using a VitaMix blender, but any blender or food processor you have will do.

Soft Serve Ingredients (serves 1 – 2):
2 frozen bananas (peel before freezing!)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 – 3 tbl non-dairy milk

Additional options:
1 – 3 tbl cocoa powder
1 tbl nut butter (eg peanut or almond butter)
other frozen fruits (like frozen strawberries or cherries)
1/4 c non-dairy semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
–Ahead of time, peel bananas and put in freezer. This is a good way to save bananas that are almost gone. However, if you put them in while they are still yellow-green, they will taste less like banana, as well as be not as sweet. If you do accidentally freeze the bananas with the peel on, let them defrost for 5 – 10 min and then use a knife to slice the peel off. Here is my bag of frozen bananas:

– If you are using cocoa powder and/or nut butter, put those into the blender first. Trust me – it helps it mix in faster and also keeps it from going everywhere when you start it.
– Add all other ingredients. Start with 1 tbl of non-dairy milk and add more as needed, depending on your blender, to help soften it.

– Turn on blender to medium speed. If you have a VitaMix, start at low and move to medium high, using the tamper to keep it moving. If you have a blender or food processor (either one works) like a Cuisinart, try an appropriate setting (like ice crush). You will also need to stop often to push the ingredients down, especially if an air pocket develops.
– If your blender is really having trouble, let the bananas defrost at least 10 – 20 min before using them and then refreeze the soft serve for about an hour for the right consistency. You could also make the ice cream with fresh bananas and then freeze overnight.

– Scoop out and serve plain or with vegan sprinkles (no confectioner’s glaze) and/or non-dairy chocolate sauce.

Did your blender make it through?

Seitan Soup

Making seitan can seem a little overwhelming at first. Seitan soup is easy! It surprisingly tasted/smelled like matza ball soup a little (though I’m sure vital wheat gluten is not kosher for passover).

Soup Ingredients:
6 c low sodium broth
1 c packed collard greens or kale, chopped
1/2 green or red pepper, chopped
2 small carrots, chopped
1 tsp each or to taste: thyme, basil, oregano, sage
1/2 tsp or to taste ground pepper

Seitan Balls Ingredients:
1/2 c vital wheat gluten
2 tbl nutritional yeast
1/2 c water

Directions:
– Put all soup ingredients in large soup pot.

– In a small bowl, mix vital wheat gluten and nutritional yeast. Add the water and mix thoroughly.

– Pinch off small pieces into the soup.

– Bring to boil on high, then turn down to medium and simmer until seitan is cooked (about an hour on the stove or 20 min on high in a pressure cooker). The balls should be slightly squishy, but solid.

– Serve while hot. Suggested to be served with toast with Earth Balance.

Usually when you make seitan , you boil it until it’s done and then drain the water. With a soup, I think it's less to worry about, plus the flavors are all magnified since you don't dump the water. What did you think?

- Ilana

More vegan "cheesy" sauce!

Mmmm...Does this look good enough to eat? I sure thought so...In keeping with the "vegan cheesy sauce" theme, I thought I'd post this photo of a dish based on "Best Vegan Macaroni and Cheese Ever" Recipe, published in United Poultry Concerns' pamphlet Life Can Be Beautiful: Go Vegan! When I make the cheesy sauce from this recipe, I tend to mix it with steamy hot just-cooked whole wheat pasta and veggies (broccoli, in the photo above) right before serving, rather than baking it...although macaroni baked with this sauce and a breadcrumb topping is a real treat! Oh!-And I tried using fancy spicy mustard in place of the yellow mustard, which was super yummy and created a little zing in case you're up for that! Here's an interesting article to check out from The Salt: NPR's Food Blog - Cracking the Code: Making Vegan Cheese Taste Cheesier...aka the most interesting chemistry lesson ever! I wasn't a big fan of chemistry class, but I'm grateful for the chemistry behind Daiya vegan cheese!

Sweet/Sad story about a momma cow

I found this on tumblr and figured I would share. 

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A dairy cow made the tough choice to hide one of her calves after giving birth to twins. As her fifth birth, the cow remembered her previous agony and knew that both of her babies would be taken away, unless she tried to save one. The intelligence and care displayed by this mothering cow is both heartbreaking and breathtaking. Read this touching tale, told by a veterinarian, about an amazing display of motherly love that proves animals love and feel.

I would like to tell you a story that is as true as it is heartbreaking. When I first graduated from Cornell’s School of Veterinary Medicine, I went into a busy dairy practice in Cortland County. I became a very popular practitioner due to my gentle handling of the dairy cows. One of my clients called me one day with a puzzling mystery: his Brown Swiss cow, having delivered her fifth calf naturally on pasture the night before, brought the new baby to the barn and was put into the milking line, while her calf was once again removed from her. Her udder, though, was completely empty, and remained so for several days.
As a new mother, she would normally be producing close to one hundred pounds (12.5 gallons) of milk daily; yet, despite the fact that she was glowing with health, her udder remained empty. She went out to pasture every morning after the first milking, returned for milking in the evening, and again was let out to pasture for the night — this was back in the days when cattle were permitted a modicum of pleasure and natural behaviors in their lives — but never was her udder swollen with the large quantities of milk that are the hallmark of a recently-calved cow.

I was called to check this mystery cow two times during the first week after her delivery and could find no solution to this puzzle. Finally, on the eleventh day post calving, the farmer called me with the solution: he had followed the cow out to her pasture after her morning milking, and discovered the cause: she had delivered twins, and in a bovine’s “Sophie’s Choice,” she had brought one to the farmer and kept one hidden in the woods at the edge of her pasture, so that every day and every night, she stayed with her baby — the first she had been able to nurture FINALLY—and her calf nursed her dry with gusto. Though I pleaded for the farmer to keep her and her bull calf together, she lost this baby, too—off to the hell of the veal crate.
Think for a moment of the complex reasoning this mama exhibited: first, she had memory — memory of her four previous losses, in which bringing her new calf to the barn resulted in her never seeing him/her again (heartbreaking for any mammalian mother). Second, she could formulate and then execute a plan: if bringing a calf to the farmer meant that she would inevitably lose him/her, then she would keep her calf hidden, as deer do, by keeping her baby in the woods lying still till she returned. Third — and I do not know what to make of this myself — instead of hiding both, which would have aroused the farmer’s suspicion (pregnant cow leaves the barn in the evening, unpregnant cow comes back the next morning without offspring), she gave him one and kept one herself. I cannot tell you how she knew to do this—it would seem more likely that a desperate mother would hide both.\

All I know is this: there is a lot more going on behind those beautiful eyes than we humans have ever given them credit for, and as a mother who was able to nurse all four of my babies and did not have to suffer the agonies of losing my beloved offspring, I feel her pain.

Holly Cheever, DVM
Vice President, New York State Humane Association Member
Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association’s Leadership Council

"Cheesy" sauce recipe

Someone asked for the broccoli recipe from yesterday's meeting.The
batch I made for the meeting was five pounds of frozen broccoli. I've
tried to scale it down a bit, and even if you make too much, a little
extra sauce is a nice problem to have. The measurements are
approximate, because I don't really "do" recipes. I actually made this
one up the night before the meeting when I remembered I had a bag of
avocados that needed to be used up. So, forgive me if something is
missing or it doesn't turn out exactly the same.

This is a really simple base recipe. Spice it up with jalapenos and
use less liquid for a thick Mexican cheeze sauce. Reduce or eliminate
the Daiya for a less fattening (and less expensive!) version. Use
mozzarella shreds for an Alfredo type sauce. Add pureed spinach or
butternut squash for a pasta topping with extra vitamins. Cooking is
fun; get creative!

Avocado Cheesy Sauce

1 very ripe avocado
Approx 1 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk (I used the So Delicious
coconut based milk because it's so thick & creamy, but any brand will
work.)
2 tablespoons margarine (I used Earth Balance baking sticks, but any
brand is fine.)
1 bag of cheddar Daiya shreds
Approx 2/3 cup of nutritional yeast
Approx 1/2 tsp salt, to taste
Approx 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Approx 1 tsp garlic powder
Approx 2 tsp dried parsley (optional)
Approx 1 tsp dried basil (optional)

1. Mash avocado with a fork or potato masher, or puree it in a food processor or blender (easiest choice).
2. In a medium pot, heat your non-dairy milk of choice and the margarine over medium heat.
3. When hot (but don't boil!), add avocado puree, Daiya, and nutritional yeast. Stir periodically to keep it smooth.
4. Add seasonings to taste.

That's everything! Enjoy. :)

-Allie

Tempeh recommendation

The Natural Food Market in Timonium has 2 lb vacuum packages of Tempeh. Better than buying the usual 8 oz package. I lightly fry Tempeh as Saturday breakfast and use it often in stir fry. Add Tiger Tiger Tandoori Paste, Seeds of Change Jalfrezi Sauce, Thai Peanut Sauce or Tomato Sauce.