The Smoothie Vegetarians

This week's post is for all the broke vegans, busy moms and dads and for anyone who is too tired to cook when they get home. All you need to do is get a good meal starter and the rest is easy. This week I used potatoes. They pair with just about anything. You can use them with peppers, onions, mushrooms or whatever vegetables you may have on hand. You can also use different spices to change the flavor profile. They are wonderful in soups, stews and are versatile enough to use in any ethnic dish! The main ingredients that I started with today were a bunch of red skinned potatoes (that honestly had seen better days) and a few heads of garlic. I scrubbed the potatoes and cut them in half, cut the tops off the garlic and lightly oiled a sheet pan. I then placed the potatoes face down along with the garlic and put the oven on 350 degrees. The house smelled amazing! I am going to show you three great inexpensive meals thrown together with stuff I had in the house. I encourag...

Hi All, How everyone is doing well this fine Monday morning? Right now it is about 7 PM Sunday night and there is no snow in sight but it is freezing out! On a cold day there is nothing I enjoy more than cooking. I wanted to focus my discussion today on a couple of inexpensive, easy dishes that will feed at least two people for two meals. The main ingredient for these two dishes is a single eggplant. For the first dish  after I peeled the eggplant ( you don't really have to but I prefer it without the skin) I sliced it into 3/4 of inch rounds. I picked out 4 of the slices that were roughly the same size. At this point I realized that I did not have any BBQ sauce at home to marinade them. So I had to whip some up.  As you all may have realized I am a firm believer in using what you have at home so I mixed some siracha, ketchup,molasses soy sauce, maple syrup and a bit of brown sugar and created my own. Again if you don't have these ingredients on hand yo...

Hope everyone had a great week! For those of you that don't know me, I do not like complicated. This is one of the main reasons that I do not like to bake, but love to cook. For me cooking allows me to be creative, inventive and even adventurous. I love being able to scour my cupboards to find the perfect ingredients to make a tasty dish. First, let me start off by saying I did a little organizing in my kitchen paying special attention to my spice collection. I discarded any old outdated spices and discovered a world of culinary adventure sitting in my cabinet. I had exotic spices I didn't know what to do with! My quest begin for a new inventive recipe. I chose a spice called RAS EL HANOUT. Although the name may be daunting, this spice actually contains coriander, paprika, cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper, red pepper, turmeric, ginger, nutmeg, clove and allspice in one little bottle. In during some research, Ras el Hanout means "top of the shop" and has ro...

Quick and Easy Stuffed Artichoke First, let me apologize for not posting last week but I was literally at my wit's end. What does that even mean? To be at your wit's end means that you are so worried, confused or annoyed that you don't know what to do next. I am sure everyone has felt this way from time to time. Have you ever wondered what to do when you are in this state or where you can turn to that you won't be judged? Many times you feel like you are alone and although you will get through it. It would definitely be easier if you had supportive people around you during the journey. Could you sit with a group of women and be totally honest?   Would you feel totally confident that anything you said would not be repeated or discussed outside the group?  Do you have a place where you can freely speak your mind and not be judged?  Not many people have this type of outlet but you can have it if you create it. Two of my very best friends wer...

In this week's blog, I wanted to talk about appreciation, give you a great, easy recipe and encourage you to support the effort to help pets find their forever homes! Spinach stuffed Mushrooms recipe below Last night I was with a group of my favorite women and we were discussing the topic of APPRECIATION and how do you show it.  So this is my question to everyone who reads this blog. How do YOU show appreciation? What do you appreciate?  Some people appreciate the fact that they can see because they know someone who is blind. Others may appreciate that they have a roof over their head and food in their stomach.  In my opinion, one of the most important things is to appreciate the people in your life. Sometimes, we hear about untimely deaths or accidents and people have regrets for never telling the person they lost how much they appreciated them. This is especially fitting because Mother's Day is approaching. Many times, women especially are challeng...

Asian inspired Spring Roll -recipe below This morning I woke up and it was raining. For some people this could either make or break their day. It all depends on how you choose to look at it. Just think about it, if it happened to rain on your wedding day, would that be the worst thing that could possibly happen? You might even think it was a sign signifying that the marriage was bad luck from the start. However, in some cultures, rain on your wedding day is considered good luck and even symbolizes fertility and cleansing. Anyone can find something wrong in the best situation if you try hard enough.  Did you ever meet someone that you know is struggling and their life is absolutely falling apart yet they always seem to be happy? This is someone is actively chooses to be happy. Then there is the person who lives in a beautiful home, has everything they could possibly want and is miserable all the time. Now granted, there are two extreme situations and many of us fall so...

I've been slowly but surely trying to replicate all my omni husband's favorite recipes to vegan versions, and I finally got around to getting a veggie replacement for his beloved jambalaya. I was surprised at how simple this dish actually is once you get past the vegetable chopping. Basically, toss it all in a pot and let it simmer. You should go from start to serving in about 45 minutes, depending on how fast you dice. I'm a slow chopper who tends to eat while I chop, so dinner takes forever when I'm cooking. Be forewarned, this may or may not be some historical or authentically Cajun recipe for jambalaya. I have no idea. I just love the flavor so that's good enough for me. If it's not "real", feel free to leave a comment but I'm not changing it. My lovely vegan jambalaya in a pretty blue bowl. Vegan Jambalaya Recipe Like my famous chili , this is another one of those recipes that you can be pretty flexible with. Feel f...

            Honestly, who doesn’t love a great brunch with friends? Having a brunch event at home can be a better way to save money and feel cozier than going out. I’ve thrown together some great brunch recipes and ideas so you can host your own brunch and invite your friends over to enjoy! These recipes are all delicious so you can show your friends how tasty vegan food is. As always, feel free to modify anything to make it specific to your taste buds and get creative. Jelly Rolls 1 package of crescent rolls (Most are vegan, I used Pillsbury) 16 Tablespoons of Jam (2 tbs for each roll, I used Crofters) Optional: vegan butter First, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Then unroll the dough and separate into 8 triangles or as instructed by your roll’s directions. Spread in approximately 2 tablespoons of jam into the center of each triangle. Roll up the dough into crescent rolls. Place them on ungreased cookie sheet a...