The Smoothie Vegetarians

If there is one thing I truly love, it is a gooey brownie. I absolutely love brownies and I’ve been on the hunt to find the perfect vegan brownie recipe. When I couldn’t find one I loved I decided to create my own. Brownies are one of my favorite desserts to enjoy. I like to top it with powdered sugar or vegan ice cream and whipped topping. I am not really a fan of hard or crunchy brownies. No, I love a nice and soft brownie. One that, when warm, almost melts into the ice cream. Great, now I’m hungry. Brownies are actually quite easy to make and to veganize. A lot of vegan bloggers, YouTubers and recipe websites have them. This recipe was adapted from one I found in an old recipe book my mother gave me. It’s simple to make, takes ingredients you probably have in your pantry and is sure to please everyone. Vegan Brownies 2 Cups Flour 2 Cups Sugar 3/4 Cup Cocoa Powder 1 tsp. Baking Powder 1 tsp. Salt 1/4-1/2 tsp. Cinnamon 1 Cup Water 1 Cup...

Sometimes it is hard to get ready in the morning and still eat breakfast…but it doesn’t have to be! Breakfast is one of my favorite meals and coming up with some easy meals that are quick has been a lot of fun. Some may have some prep to do the day before but they are easy to throw together, easy to prep and easy to take with you to work, school or wherever! Peanut Butter Banana Toast This one seems a little blah but with the addition of agave it is amazing! I just toasted some bread, spread on peanut butter then chop up some bananas. You could stop here but then I just add some agave and it becomes something a little more special. The sweetness of the agave blends well with the creaminess of the peanut butter. It’s one of my favorite things to have for breakfast. You could also use an English muffin (vegan of course) instead of toast. I also like to use powdered peanut butter as well. Smoothies I love something that is super portable, easy to change up and pa...

High Omega 3, Purslane Dinner  Dish Recipe *From Jan’s Raw Kitchen Kreations* Purslane  ("Portulaca oleracea") is one of the healthiest plants to eat, a succulent, edible green, high in Omega 3 Fatty Acids. Some people opt to cook this food, but I prefer it in its most natural form, ie. Raw. Here is one way I like to have it: Ingredients. Serves 2-3 1 Cup Purslane chopped into bite sized pieces, 1 Cup cauliflower – food processed to rice grain size. 1 Cup Chopped Cherry tomatoes. ½ Cup Diced white  onion ½ Cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked overnight. 1tsp cayenne pepper 1tsp black pepper  Directions Combine all ingredients in a bowl, mix in well, Allow to marinade for 12 hrs refrigerated, Set at room temperature for 45 mins. Serve with avocado slices, mixed greens and enjoy! Jan P. López 

Easy Raw Vegan 'Rice' Combo *From Jan's Raw Kitchen Kreations* Ingredients [Serves 3 - 4 persons. ] 1 Cup Sweet Corn 4 medium Beets- shredded finely 4 medium Carrots - shredded finely. 3 cups of cauliflower - food process to fine pieces. 4 Tablespoons fresh  Lime juice. 3  cups of Jicima - food process to fine pieces. 2 teapoons black pepper - optional Directions Combine all veggies in one bowl, Sprinkle on Black Pepper. Pour lime juice in and marinade for 1 1/2 hours. Serve and enjoy ! - Jan P. Lopez

Vegan Pretzel Bread 4 Cups of All purpose white non bleached flour. ⅓ cup melted vegan butter. I use earth balance. 1⅓ cup of warm water. 1 pinch of salt. some coarse salt to decorate. Yeast proofing: 2¼ tsp of yeast + ½ tsp of sugar + ¼ tsp of warm water. Alkaline bath: 6 cups of water + 2 Tbsp of baking soda. Take all your yeast proofing ingredients and mix them together. Set aside until it foams and doubles in size. Mix your flour and sugar. Add the proofed yeast and melted butter. Set your stand mixer to low speed and add your water very slowly. Once you use all your water is used. Set the speed to high and let it sit for 5-6 minutes. Take your dough out. It should be very sticky. Cut into 4-6 pieces and shape it into 4-6 balls. Oil a baking sheet, place your 4-6 dough balls in there, leaving at least 3-4 inches in between. Cover with a towel and let rise for 45 minutes or until it doubles in size. Prepare your alkaline bath by putting the wat...

Hey guys! Since transitioning to Vegan I have really struggled with finding things to snack on. Unfortunately, most of the repackaged snacks I used to buy have milk or eggs in them. One of the ways I have gotten around this issue is by making my own. Not only am I cutting down on the amount of trash my household creates. Flax seeds are also SUPER good for you so it is a good idea to sneak them where ever you can in your diet. The are full of fiber and a bunch of other vitamins and minerals. This recipe is super easy and fun! These crackers can last up to five days, but they never last that long in my home. Happy cooking! ~Stella~ Flax Seed Cracker Recipe Makes 36 Crackers - 1/2 cup flax seed - 1 1/2 cup flour - 11/2 teaspoon baking powder - 1 teaspoon salt - 1/2 teaspoon black pepper - 2 teaspoons onion powder - 1 teaspoon garlic powder - 1 teaspoon oregano - 1/2 cup nut milk (I prefer almond milk) - 4 tablespoons of melted coconut oil ...

Raw Vegan ~ Nappa Wrap Serving Size : 3-4. Ingredients 1 head fresh Nappa Cabbage~ Use 4 leaves 1 per serving. 4 cups chopped/cubed pineapple 5 cups diced Roma Tomatoes or Heirloom Brandy Wines. 1-2 cups finely diced red onions( small,  1 medium) 1large Avocado. 1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed Lime juice. 4 leaves of shredded Nappa Cabbage, or Romaine Hearts. 1 Tbsp Raw Apple Cider Vinegar(ACV). 2 cups chopped  Button ( or other of preference~ Shitake, Portabella)mushrooms. 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste. 3 garlic cloves ~ crushed( optional). Directions 1 Combine ACV, lime juice, cayenne pepper and crushed garlic cloves( if desired). 2. Marinate mushrooms, onions, pineapples in lime, ACV  and cayenne pepper mixture for 1-2 hours, less if you wish the mushrooms to be more firm in texture. Add shredded leaves in at the last 30 minutes or add in at end fresh. 3. Slice the avocado just before assembling, squeeze lime juic...

As a part of my Zero Waste Journey, I have been trying to reduce the number of things I need to purchase premade. MY goal is to either purchase them in a glass container that can be reused or recycles. The other option is to make it myself! Most of the options for tahini are either sold in plastic containers or are extremely expensive. So then I decided to learn to make it by myself. If I was being honest, tahini is a huge staple in my diet. I use it at least once a day. Between salad dressings, hummus, and a verity of other dishes I go through a ton of it. To my surprise, it was actually really easy to make. Tahini is essentially a sesame seed paste. Sesame seeds can be easily purchased in the bulk section at your local grocery store.  If you tried this recipe and loved it or have a suggestion for improvements, let me know in the comments below! Happy cooking! ~Stella~ Tahini Recipe Makes 3 cups 4 cups sesame seeds 1/2 cup vegetable oil ...

One of my favorite comfort foods is Fried Cabbage. Something about it just fills my belly up with all types of warm feelings and can make me feel better even on the gloomiest of days. I was always a skeptic of cabbage, for some reason I was convinced that I did not like it. Until one day a few years ago my Step Mother made it for dinner and I decided that I did not want to be rude and I ate it anyway. Oh boy! I am glad that I decided to try it There are many ways to enjoy cabbage, you can cut it into thick slices, grill them or roast them for cabbage steaks. You can Use the leaves as a shell for yummy fillings and make cabbage rolls. Or you can just chop it up and fry it in your favorite skillet. For this recipe, a cast iron skillet is the best. This is the way that my Step Mother makes it and it is the best by far. If you do not own a cast iron skillet you can also use a regular skillet it will still taste wonderful! If you have not already, check out our #loveyou...

There is a local restaurant here in Louisville that makes the best turnip cakes. It is actually a local favorite and people travel from all over to eat at this restaurant Sounds great right? Well, the issue is that it is clear on the other side of town. I rarely find time to drive all the way over there to get turnip cakes. So I decided to make them on my own! The recipe is surprisingly easy and only has a few ingredients and is super easy to make. What really makes the difference in this dish is the seasonings. Turnips do not taste like much of anything so you would need to season it very well and serve it with an awesome sauce. Most places service this fried with eggs, but if you are a vegan you can leave out the eggs and serve it on its own. Simply brown it in cooking oil.  This recipe is a hit with everyone I have shared it with! I hope you enjoy this as much as I do! ~ Stella~ Turnip Cake Recipe Makes 4 servings - 1 p...

Hey guys! Today I wanted to share with you a hummus recipe. Hummus is one of my go-to snack items and it can be so expensive to buy. I was asked to make it for a family gathering not that long ago and they suggested that I try to make it from scratch. After doing a bit of research and asking around I realized that it is so easy to make!  I was able to make a big batch of it in 15 minutes and it cost me $2.00 to make double the amount that I usually get from the store for $5.00. I thought that this was so awesome that I could not share it with you guys! This is seriously a skill every vegetarian and vegan should have. Even if you are not a good cook, you could figure this one out pretty easily. This recipe is a pretty basic recipe. You can add other ingredients to make other flavors. For example, you could add roasted red peppers to it or you could add lemon juice to it. If you search there are thousands of things you can add to your hummus. Hummus can be used for ...

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening! Today I wanted to talk a bit about carrots. Let's be honest, there is not much that carrots to not go with. Sometimes I even eat them on their own! A cool fact about carrots that most people don't realize is that they are naturally sweet. They can be pureed and added to different dishes to give them a sweet flavor. At this point you may be thinking, then why add maple syrup to it? I have the perfect answer for you! The two sweetness are different and they complement each other very well. The vegan Worcester sauce is also very salty. When seasoning a dish it is very important to make sure everything balances out. This dish is no exception, the sweetness balances out the saltiness and makes an over all tasty dish. For this recipe, I used multi-colored carrots but regular carrots will be just as delicious as these were. Preparing the carrots is pretty easy, you can incorporate more flavor by letting it marinate over ...

When I was growing up my Mom always made a special Sunday dinner. She would always prepare a roast and sides that complimented it, I would always look forward to it. Lately, I have been really home sick and missing these little details from my childhood. I was brainstorming ideas for something I could make in place of a roast that would be plant-based. I have seen a million different versions of the roasted cauliflower head, it was recently a big trend. So, I looked for one that had similar seasonings to a roast. I found every other flavor profile besides a roast. I thought this was a serious void that needed to be fixed. This is when I came up with this recipe. These are the same exact flavors my Mother used to put in her roast put into a sauce and poured over the cauliflower. With this recipe, you want to sauce to be runny.  If it is too thick it will burn on the bottom, of the baking dish and give the cauliflower a burnt taste. The sauce will thicken by at least...

Hello! One of my all-time favorite things to make before I transitioned to a plant based diet, was shepherds pie. I made it once in culinary class while I was in High School and I have been hooked ever since. Traditional Shepherd's pie has lamb or beef in it and is usually topped with cheese. So, obviously, this would not work with my new lifestyle. The other day I was really craving shepherd's pie, this inspired me to come up with a recipe that would be vegan. I also thought it would be fun to compose the shepherd's pie in a potato kind of like a twice baked potato. This works out super well if you ar not cooking for enough people to make an entire casserole dish. This Shepherd's Pie is also very cost efficient. I paid $0.65 per serving for this dish. The lentils will give the dish a meat like texture and will be similar to the traditional dish. If you are looking for a cheap and delicious meal to make this is the recipe for you!  Did you try this recip...

Hey guys! Today I wanted to share with you a stuffed pepper recipe. The thing about stuffed peppers is that they are extremely versatile. There are so many different kinds of stuffed peppers to try. Growing up, my Grandma used to make an Italian stuffed pepper. In culinary school I learned to make Greek stuffed peppers, Mexican stuffed peppers and even some American stuffed peppers. Most traditional stuffed peppers have meat  or animal products in them but it is not to had to convert it to a veggie friendly dish! The secret is the seasoning! This stuffed pepper is no different. This recipe is an Indian inspired stuffed pepper. The other swap I made in this recipe was the rice. Instead of using rice for this I used cauliflower pearls. Cauliflower pearls make a great swap for rice in many dishes if you are looking for a lower carb option. If you are counting calories this is also a great option. Cauliflower is extremely low in calories. What is your favorite stuffed pe...