Blueberry Protein Smoothie

I decided to create a smoothie to show off my #Smoothietude
I have been in love with blueberries lately, so I decided to create a delicious, healthy, and protein packed mix.

 

Ingredients needed:

unsweetened vanilla almond milk (1/2cup--adjust as needed)

soft/silken tofu (1/2 package)

frozen blueberries (1/2cup)

fresh blueberries (a handfull)

flax seeds (one teaspoon)

stevia (optional--I used two teaspoons)

blend all ingredients until smooth.

for a soy free version you can sub banana for tofu.

This would be a delicious with granola and some fresh blueberries. It was great on its own as well.

 

Let me present, the newest addition to our family, Ponoy.

Vegan Mac and "Cheese"

So I have made this recipe so much I no longer measure, and I have made little changes to get it just how I like.
You can find the original recipe here. This recipe is by Chocolate Covered Katie.
My personal preferences are to add about twice as much cauliflower than the recipe says (for a thicker sauce). I use unsweetened, original rice milk. I also use nutritional yeast and sriracha. I like to use an assortment of noodles and zucchini to smoother in my cheezzzy sauce!

Vegan Skinny Snickerdoodles

Today my friend came over to help me train my cat, Neko (don't know why I never thought of training a cat?).
Her favortie cookie? Snickerdoodles. She also does WW so I wanted to make her some low calorie, vegan snickerdoodles. I made these Skinny Snickerdoodles by Chocolate Covered Katie.
Now my experience with Chocolate Covered Katie recipes; there is never enough food! It is so good but I almost always double her recipes.
Which I did today.

 

 This recipe was super easy and they ended up tasting great. The only thing I would change is either omitting the salt or reducing how much is used. The cookies ended up with a somewhat salty flavor, rather than sweet : /

As for Neko? He had a great first day of training and is working on learning to sit and to wave!

Vegan Tortilla Soup

Today was yet another rainy gloomy day. I put on my rain gear and walked to the store to pick up supplies for some warm and cozy soup!
Now this is a recipe passed down from my dad, and I have changed it over the years to make it just how I like it.
It is my boyfriend's favorite dish I make.

This is kind of a kitchen sink recipe, and you can put just about any vegetable you want in it. But my typical ingredient list is as follows:
 -two cans of beans (you can use whole beans, just as long as one of the cans is refried)
-tortilla chips (I have tried many and Carmen's seem to hold up the best)
-smart ground (today I used up some left over tempeh, but generally 1/3 a package of smart ground)
-vegetable broth (I used one cube today, but prefer 4 small spoonfulls of powdered broth)
-one small spoonfull of chili powder
-one small spoonfull of cumin
Optional Toppings:
-avocado
-one tomato
-1/3 an onion
-over 1/2 if a zucchini
-1/3 pepper of your choice
-one can of olives
-salsa or pico
-vegan shredded cheese
-vegan sour cream

Add both cans of beans to a large pot. Fill one of the empty cans with water and add it to your pot, then add half a can more of water. Heat on medium heat for 2-4 minutes. Mix in your spices, smart ground, and broth. Set a timer for 15 minutes.
Cut your veggies, and add them to a pan on medium heat with EVOO. The vegetables only really need to cook for 7-8 minutes, so I add them once the timer has that many minutes left.
Now your soup will be getting hot, but the beans and spices like to clump. Take a wooden spoon and mash the clumps on the sides of the pot to break them apart. You don't have to be rough, little effort is needed.
Make sure your other toppings (olives, salsa, cheese, etc..) are prepared.

Once the timer goes off, turn off the burners and remove both pans from heat. The assembly of your soup is very complex (;

Start with handfull of chips at the bottom of your bowl.

Ladle in your soup. I usually try to cover the bottom chips.

Add another layer of chips.

Add your cooked veggies, and then add the rest of your toppings.
Finally, enjoy! (Note, that the bowl above is VERY full! This soup is very filling and I would NOT recommend getting a lot in your bowl at once, its always okay to go back for seconds ^.^) I would also like to mention that I only cooked enough vegetables for two people, but the pot of soup can serve 4+, so adjust your veggies as needed.

My LUSH order also came today. This gloomy day ended up not so terrible :D

Buffalo Tempeh Wings and Garlic Green Beans

Sometimes you just can't help but crave something crunchy and fried (or at least fried tasting)---especially when the weather decides to revert back to freezing, and you've been in a rotten mood!
Tonight I decided to try my first ever attempt at Buffalo Wings, recipe courtesy of 28cooks.

It was also my first time boiling tempeh (don't know why I had never thought of it). The texture was great!

My dad taught me to always make a recipe your own, so of course I did not use the suggested seasonings. I subbed two pinches of oregano, two pinches of chili powder, and a little bit of salt.

Rolling the tempeh was fun and messy! They looked beautifully coated (I was worried the breading was going to fall off).

For the BBQ sauce I used the original flavor by Annie's. I added a tablespoon of Sriracha and one tablespoon of Earth Balance Whipped; the soy free kind. I also heated it on the stove instead of in the microwave like the recipe suggested. As for the green beans, I really didn't follow a recipe at all. I simply started the pan with minced garlic and a little EVOO, then added evenly cut, washed, green beans and sauteed for about 3 minutes on medium high heat with a little Bragg's Liquid Aminos.

My boyfriend, Max, and I agreed that the finished product was delicious.
Although this meal caused a lot more dirty dishes than I would like, we will definitely be making it again.

Again the recipe can be found here.