Monday 27 October 2014

VEGAN CHOCOLATE ORANGE CUPCAKES

VEGAN CHOCOLATE ORANGE CUPCAKES

These were amazing. I love using fresh fruit vs extracts. It gives it some real flavour. I mean vanilla is fine, buying pure vanilla bean is insanely expensive but oranges are pretty cheap so go big and get organic. :) I've had a major sweet tooth lately and have been baking tons so be prepared to see most dessert post! I hope everyone is enjoying big hearty autumn meals like we are. Happy cruelty free cooking:)



Recipe
MAKES 12


1 1/2 cups white unbleached flour
2/3 cup of turbinado sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash of cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup of coconut oil
1 1/4 cup almond milk
1 organic navel orange (1/4 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice)

Steps
Preheat oven to 350 F and oil a cupcake/muffin pan.
In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients and stir them together with a fork well.
Create a well in the middle and begin to add wet ingredients. While stirring, start with the oil then milk and fresh squeezed orange juice last. I cut my orange in half and squeezed a 1/4 cup of juice out of it. Mix your vanilla in with that and add to mixture. Everything should be pretty well mixed by now. Make sure all the lumps are out! It should be a little runny so if its not, add some more almond milk 1 tablespoon at a time. Grate some of your orange skin over the top of the mix and stir one last time. Using a large spoon, scoop out enough cupcake mix to fill your cupcake pan about 2/3 of the way full.




Use the other half of your orange and shave off some skin (using a grater) for the top of the cupcakes. Then squeeze whatever remaining juice you can get out of it over your cupcakes. Pop in the oven! Bake for 15-20 mins.



These are so soft and fluffy. Squeezing the orange juice over top really boosts the


 flavour and also makes the tops look neat! I hope everyone enjoys :)

Happy baking!


Saturday 18 October 2014

VEGAN PUMPKIN COCONUT CREAM PIE

VEGAN PUMPKIN COCONUT CREAM PIE


This was the dessert I made for my boyfriend and I on thanksgiving. Nothing too crazy fancy but its simple and delicious. This recipe works great if you bake it, chill it and eat it the next day. It really helps all the filling form together and makes it realllyyy good. My crust was a little hard so im going to add more oil to the recipe because I think that would have helped a lot. I also used earth balance regular butter spread instead of the shortening sticks. That probably would have helped as well. Anyways here we go!!


Recipe

Filling
1 can organic pumpkin puree
1/4 can coconut cream
2 teaspoons cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons coconut shreds

Crust
1 1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup quick oats
1/4 cup graham flour
1 ripe banana, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup earth balance shortening or buttery spread, melted
dash of almond milk


STEPS

In a large bowl add all your dry ingredients of your crust. Mix them together well with a fork to make sure its all unison. Build a well in the middle and begin to pour all wet ingredients in starting with your banana. Begin to mix it all together. Trying to incorporate all the dry parts so your dough forms. Keep stirring until a ball forms and then begin to mix with your hands. This helps the dough form together really well. Once all your dry ingredients are absorbed and your crust ball has formed you can get your pie pan ready with some oil and begin to roll out your dough. Roll it a little larger than your pie pan so you can make a crust around the edge. Place pie crust on top of the pan and begin to squeeze in dough by pressing with your fingers. Pop it into the fridge and its done until its ready to bake!!

In another large bowl add all the ingredients of your filling. Starting with pumpkin puree and coconut cream then following with all your dry ingredients. Mix it together really well with a fork and give it a little taste test to make sure its sweet enough for you. (I don't make my baked goods very sweet) Pop that in the fridge as well for 15 minutes and you're done!

Once both parts of your pie have been refrigerated for 15-30 mins you can take it out and preheat your oven to 350 F. Dump all your filling into your pie crust and begin to smooth it out with a spatula so it looks nice. I even added pecans all over the top of mine for some extra pizazz! Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Wednesday 15 October 2014

VEGAN SEITAN PINTO BEAN ROAST WITH STUFFING

It was thanksgiving the other day in Victoria BC. Which gives me an awesome opportunity to challenge myself. My boyfriend and I usually buy a little field roast quarter loaves for the two of us but since they have ceased shipping to Canada (article will explain) I decided to finally attempt to make my own stuffed roast. WHAT A SUCCESS IT WAS. IM SPEAKING IN CAPS BECAUSE I'M REALLY PROUD OF MYSELF. Making a roast vegan stylez is hard and this one I can confidently say you could feed your meat eatin' friends and they would love it. The stuffing really stepped it up a notch and made it seem like a real roast. 

This recipe also makes enough to invite friends over and have a big meal. I already took 8 large pieces off of it and I still have a quarter of the roast in my fridge. 
The stuffing was too good. It honestly tasted exactly like the kind I used to have back in my meat eating days. 

I used silver hills kings bread for the bread crumbs. If you want to turn your bread into bread crumbs just simply cut up your pieces into small cubes.  Around 1/2 inch in size. Preheat your oven to 400 F. Prepare a casserole dish with some olive oil and toss in your bread. Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil over top. Spice with whatever you would like. I used garlic powder, pepper and salt. Stir them around well so the oil is spread evenly and bake for 7 minutes or until bread is crispy and brown. 

RECIPE
Vegan Stuffing
5-6 piece of bread cut into bread crumbs = 3 cups bread crumbs
4 stalks celery, chopped fine
1/4 white onion, chopped fine
3 cloves of garlic, minced
half a shallot, diced
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon chili spice
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 drops liquid smoke
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
4 tablespoons garbanzo bean flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast

STEPS
In a frying pan on medium heat saute your onion, garlic, shallot and celery until soft. Around 10 minutes. Add your bread crumbs, spices, liquid smoke, vegetable broth, garbanzo bean flour and nutritional yeast. Turn to low-med heat and mix everything together really well. Your breadcrumbs should absorb a lot of your vegetable broth but not all of it so if its too dry add some more vegetable broth, 1 tablespoon at a time. Until everything is moist, not soggy. Fry until all your liquids are absorbed. Around 7-10 minutes. Once your stuffing is ready remove from heat and allow it to cool before stuffing your roast!

*This recipe is great for stuffing the roast but if you want to bake some stuff on the side heres the steps, 
Preheat oven to 350 F. Separate your dry ingredients of your stuffing mix into two even batches. One in a frying pan and one in a oiled casserole dish. Cut your liquid ingredients in half for each mix. Add vegetable broth, liquid smoke, garbanzo bean flour and nutritional yeast to your casserole dish. Stir together well and place in your oven. Bake for 15 minutes or until all liquids are absorbed. 

RECIPE
VEGAN ROAST
1 can pinto beans, drained, blended
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten
4 teaspoons poultry seasoning 
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 1/4 cup vegetable broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
6 drops liquid smoke 


STEPS
Preheat oven to 350 F. In a bowl combine all your dry ingredients and stir together well. Blend your pinto beans with 1 tablespoon of olive oil until smooth. *the bigger the beans are the harder it is to mix it into the gluten
Make a well in the middle of your gluten bowl and add your vegetable broth, soy sauce and liquid smoke.  Start to mix together well and pour your beans in, mixing while stirring. Knead with your hands for 5 minutes. This helps really blend your beans in with the mix. Once everything is mixed together well and your ball of goodness has formed prepare a place on the counter with a large piece of foil. (I used one that was 18' wide) Place your roast on the foil and begin to roll it out forming a rectangle. Roll it out well. If any pieces break its really easy to make it stick back together with your fingers by pinching it. It should be around a 1/4' to 1/2' thick. Any bigger and it won't roll well!  
Once your seitan is ready place a couple big spoonfuls of the stuffing on half of your roast. Make sure theres atleast an inch left on each side of the seitan. Flatten your stuffing down with the back of your spoon. Begin to roll from the side with the stuffing inward. Roll it slightly tight so you can make sure it sticks together but don't squish it. 

Once your roll is all together begin to pinch the open end with a fork. Pressing it into your roast. Make sure its completely blended together. Using your fingers to pinch any loose ends. 
Wrap your roast in foil and bake for 1 hour. 

Tuesday 14 October 2014

VEGAN CHILI

Its definitely fall time in Victoria now


Everything looks beautiful. I love all the colors of fall time! It was actually the first cold day out here so I thought I'd make my first chili of the season. It was a good call because my house smells amazing now. I had half a loaf of portofino roasted garlic and cracked pepper bread too! Its made by a local bakery here and it is THE BEST. (I attached their website on local bakery) I wish I could share it with the world because its sooo good. Here's my recipe:) I hope this warms you up in the coolldd season wherever you are. Cheers! 

Recipe
makes 4-6 servings
1 white onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons chili spice
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
Half a red pepper, diced
1 1/4 cup vegetable broth
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can kidney beans, drained, rinsed
1 can chick peas, drained, rinsed
1 can bean medley, drained, rinsed
1 can tomato paste
4 drops liquid smoke
7 tablespoons chili spice
1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 handful of fresh thyme
4 basil leaves, diced

Steps
Saute your onion, garlic, chili spice, salt and pepper in a frying pan for 5 minutes. 
 I add some chili spice on mine for extra flavour!

In a large pot on medium heat, combine your vegetable broth, all your vegetables and beans, spices (except chili powder), liquid smoke and tomato paste. Stir together well. Cook for 5 minutes. Add your chili powder and stir well again. Bring to a low boil and reduce to low-med heat with a lid slightly opened. Cook for 1 hour. 



Sprinkle nutritional yeast on top and you're done. Easy right?


Thursday 9 October 2014

TWO VEGANS GO TO VANCOUVER

Last weekend my boyfriend and I hopped on a ferry to go to Vancouver. We went to go see Sebadoh and Norm Macdonald. IT WAS AMAZING. I will say, I got an autographed ep by two out of the three members of Sebadoh.  It made my life a little more complete. ANYWAYS one of the things I LOVEEE about going to Vancouver is how vegan friendly it is. Its almost impossible not to walk by a veg friendly restaurant there. Which is totally refreshing for me since I live on an Island. I wanted to take the chance to check out some new spots I hadn't yet as well as take pictures of the awesome vegan food to show all of you! The population of veg restaurants in Vancouver is just growing as we speak too. I hope we can get a Whole foods in Victoria, they are my favourite!! LETS START A PETITION. 


 First stop was Whole foods. Right as we walked off the skytrain we saw it so we thought why not! We were starving from our travels so we got the grilled veggie sandwich from the deli. It had amazing pesto sauce on it.

VEGAN CROISSANT!! Thats right. It had been so long. My boyfriend and I could not believe how buttery and light they were.  The burrito on the bottom is from BUDGIE BURRITOS. By far the best burritos I have ever had in Vancouver. So cheap and a really funky place inside. Had a total retro feel. Not to mention burrito flag shirts! I loved them. If you're a fan of hardcore punk you will probably know what I'm talking about ;)
Next stop THE BLACK LODGE. We decided we would go there for our pre show dinner. I was SO IMPRESSED. What a cool restaurant. Although very small, we didn't have to wait at all and when we got inside it was well worth it. The whole atmosphere was really cool. The design of the restaurant is simple yet awesome. They really were smart going with a TWIN PEAKS theme restaurant. Punk music was blaring through the speakers. All the servers were super friendly. Pretty much everything on the menu could be "veganized" and I just loveee punk owned businesses. The food although simple, was awesome! Ive been waiting for someone to open a comfort food kinda vegan place. 100% backed restaurant. I will be returning and telling friends about it. 



My boyfriend got the Philly Cheese Steak which I didn't even get a picture of before he started to gobble it up. Haha but it was OFF THE CHAIN. I got the B.A.L.T sandwich. Coconut bacon, avocado, lettuce and tomato. I'm pretty sure they made the coconut bacon in house and it was the best part of that sandwich. I can still taste it. mmm. Oh yeah and thats a PULLED PORK POUTINE. So unique! So delicious. Bravo Black Lodge. 


Heres a picture of us seeing SEBADOH. Right up at the front. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday <3

The next night we went to go see Norm Macdonald. He was extremely intoxicated and extremely funny. One of my favorite comedians. The opener Sean O Connor was so hilarous too. You should check both out if you haven't already!
A little hard to see but you get the idea! 

After the show I was STARVING so we stopped at the Falafel Place just beside our hotel. It was in the 800 block of West Broadway st. Unfortunately I totally cannot remember the name and I feel silly for it because it was actually really good! For late night food i was really impressed. Only 6 bucks too. Well worth it.


Anyways that my Vancouver trip. I was hoping to go to EDIBLE FLOURS but I am going on the 16th for NAS so I will go to more places then and take more pictures and share vegan happiness. I hope this encourages you to go try different things and be open minded! Vancouver, you will always have a place in my heart <3

Thursday 2 October 2014

VEGAN CALZONES

VEGAN CALZONES

Veganmofo month has come to an end and I loved it! I can definitely say I will be doing it next year and I will be getting much more detailed in my posts! I got 800 views just in the month of September so thanks to everyone who liked or shared my blog :) Calzones are so expensive to buy and so easy to make! I bought a new kind of flour that has made my pizza crust 10x better. Its called caputo flour. A local vegan friendly pizza restaurant, FAMOSO here uses it and they are the best pizzas you can get in Victoria! Really authentic italian. Here's a picture of the store bought kind I got



Its much lighter and fluffier. Alot easier to knead the dough. Its really good for throwing in the air to thin it too. I highly recommend trying this pizza dough if you're really into baking like me:)  Here's my recipe for Vegan Calzones. I hope you enjoy them!

RECIPE
makes 2 calzones


Dough:
3 cups flour
1 cup warm water
1 package instant yeast
1 teaspoon salt
handful of fresh thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons rosemary
1 1/2 garlic powder
1 tablespoon olive oil



Filling:
Old newmans honey garlic barbecue sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 purple onion, diced
6 manzanilla olives, sliced
1 can of corn, drained
handful of artichoke hearts, chopped
1/2 orange pepper, diced
1/2 package of yves ground chicken
Your choice of vegan cheese


Me and my boyfriend got to try this new kind it rules!!!


STEPS
Preheat your oven to 400 F
Get one cup of warm water in a measuring cup and sprinkle your yeast on top. Be careful to make sure your water isn't too warm or it'll kill your yeast. Let the yeast stand in water for 10 minutes.
While your yeast is mixing you can combine all your dry ingredients in a large bowl for your dough. Mix together well and create a well in the middle. Add your yeast water mixture and your olive oil and begin to mix together to form dough. Once your dough is formed begin to knead fro 10 minutes. The longer you knead your dough the better. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. 
While your dough is rising you can prepare all your vegetables. My boyfriend and I made ours with bbq sauce but this recipe would work great with tomato paste! The nice thing about calzones is you can put anything you want inside!
Fry your chicken for 5 minutes before you put them into your calzone. I added a couple drops of liquid smoke to make mine even better. 

Once your dough has risen for 30 minutes it should be about double in size. If its not let it rise longer! Knead your dough for ten minutes and split into two equal halves. 
Roll out your dough on a lightly floured surface, nice and thin. It should be about a 1/4 inch thick. Its easier to make the calzones if you roll your dough into a rectangle rather than a circle. Once you've reached your desired size you can begin to add your toppings starting with the sauce and ending with the cheese. Add your toppings to one side of your dough so you can fold it over and seal it. 




Press the sides with a fork to seal your 
calzone completely. Place on a lightly oiled pan. Rub oil on the outside so the top browns and pop it in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes:) I broiled mine for 5 minutes at the end to make the top perfect.