Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Halloween Cookies!!

I love making cookies for any occasion, but Halloween is especially fun. I have a huge box of assorted cookie cutters so I make them in different shapes and sizes.



For these cookies I made last year, I used Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix and followed the instructions for roll-out dough.  Using Betty Crocker is questionable for some vegans, so if you have any info on the source of the ingredients, or have a fool proof roll out cookie dough recipe, I'd appreciate the feedback. For Christmas I use the low-fat gingerbread recipe from my copy of The Joy of Cooking and veganize it. 

The icing is basic buttercream:  2 sticks Earth Balance, 1 lb. powdered sugar, a tb. Silk Vanilla, vanilla-adjust quantities for consistency-whip and chill.  I put the icing into bowls and tinted it with food coloring drops. I used mini tubes of writing icing for detail, but you could thin some buttercream and use it from a piping bag. 


Happy Halloween :D

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Tuna Sandwich



I got this can of meatless tuna in my +Vegan Cuts  box last month so of course I was gonna try it and talk about it.  I never liked any kind of seafood when I ate meat, so this was a bit of a leap of faith for me.  It was really easy to prepare, open can, drain, put in a bowl, dress and serve.  Okay so very much like real tuna in that respect.  The pieces were small, but not flaked.  The quantity was just right for a taste, and the nutritional content is amazing:  full of protein, but not a lot of carbs or fat.
















I dressed my tuna with FYH Vegenaise, of course, and tapenade from +Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market , which is where I got the awesome rosemary loaf and butter lettuce.  I toasted the loaf, added mayo to one side, topped with lettuce, topped with tuna, cut it in half and wrapped it up to share at work.  So the meat eater said I overpowered the tuna flavor with tapenade.  Which is kind of what I wanted to do, but I could definitely taste the tuna.  It is very close to the real thing.  If you miss tuna, you're gonna love this product, and it's good for you.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Product Reviews: Kite Hill White Alder and Louisville Vegan Jerky

Kite Hill White Alder

I used to love cheese, but I stopped eating it when I was so young that I never got to try anything interesting like brie, gouda, stilton, etc.  So when I saw the box at +Whole Foods Market of course I grabbed one.  The cheese is creamy, mild, and sort of fluffy.  I really liked the taste and would recommend pairing it with something that helps the two foods you choose complement each other.  I served mine on rosemary rolls with olive oil.

 






Louisville Vegan Jerky

+Vegan Cuts offered a sampler pack of this jerky at a great price so I bought some.  It's great.  Chewy, savory, spicy, a little too salty for my taste, but it's full of protein.  I used the crumby bits at the bottom of the bag of Bourbon Smoked Spicy Chipotle to make some quesadillas.  It was wonderful.