21st-Century Carob Chip Cookies

Since I am trying my hardest to be a healthy vegan I decided that I should give some of the healthier cookie recipes in this book a shot.  I made 21st-Century Carob Chip Cookies.  I was always sort of afraid of carob, it just sounds healthy.  These cookies have totally erased any fear or reservation I had about Carob.

They have carob chips, carob powder, currants, peanuts, Sucanat, whole wheat pastry flour, amongst other healthful ingredients.  Although they are definitely healthy tasting, they do the trick for a sweet treat!  They are super moist and perfectly sweet.  Carob and I are going to be good friends!

Someone paid me to bake!

Last Saturday, I made Crimson Velveteen Cupcakes with Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting for my sisters birthday.  My friends Christine and Wayne sampled them that night and contacted me this week to place an order for a half dozen.  It was super exciting and sort of scary.  I LOVE baking, but I have never had someone pay me to do it, so the pressure was on.

I was very happy with the way these turned out.  I even got them to be more red than the previous batch I made for Teresa's birthday.  I was so honored to have been asked to make Wayne's birthday cupcakes!  I hope they enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed baking them.

The Best Lentil Soup

This week was all about Lentil Soup in my house.  I made 

Lotsa Veggies Lentil Soup.

It was the BEST lentil soup I have ever eaten.  I can't get enough of it.  I made a huge pot of it and have yet to share any.  I may just have to keep all this soup for myself! 

It was filled with onion, garlic, celery, carrots, zucchini, french lentils, spinach, tomato sauce and of course broth and spices.  Not only is this soup filling and incredibly delicious, but it contains 13 g of fiber, 12 g of protein, 1.5 g of fat, 180 Calories, Vitamin A, C, Calcium and Iron all in 1 serving! 

My Sisters Birthday Celebration

Last night was my sister Teresa's birthday party.  She had a "mermaids" party.  This is just our  way of saying an appetizer party. I made Beans, Rice, and Sweet Plantain Empanadas and Crimson Velveteen Cupcakes with Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting.

The Empanadas were made with a Corn Dough and filled with Tomatoes, Onions, Garlic, Green Pepper, Cumin Oregano, Black Beans, Jasmine Rice and Roasted Plantains.  They were super delicious, but what isn't delicious that is deep fried? 

Even though they didn't turn out as red as I would've liked, the cupcakes were a HUGE hit!  Teresa was very pleased.  I hope she got to keep a few for herself!

Pan-Asian Family Dinner

Last night was Pan-Asian Vegan Family Dinner and we had a fantastic time! About 15 people showed up and there was plenty of food and wine for everyone to get nice and full.

James, Angie, and Alicia brought a Sushi Plate that had yummy veggie rolls!

Sarah made this delicious cabbage salad it had lots of fresh ginger!

Alex made this gingery noodle dish which included homemade udon noodles!  I was super impressed.

Leia and I worked together on the main, Orange Tofu and Jasmine Rice.  We fried 3 pounds of tofu and every last piece was devoured!

For dessert I made a Cambodian dessert, Num Tirk Doung (Coconut Pound Cake). 

  Since I couldn't find a vegan recipe for this I made up my own.  It turned out surprisingly well, so here is my recipe:

What You Need:

1 cup Vanilla Soy Yogurt

2 cup All Purpose Flour

1/2 cup Melted Earth Balance

1/2 cup Coconut Milk

1/4 cup Frozen Grated Coconut

1 1/2 cup Sugar

2 tablespoon Vanilla Extract

1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/4 teaspoon Salt

What You Do:

Preheat oven at 325

Grease loaf pan and lightly dust with flour

Cream melted Earth Balance and Sugar together.

Add Yogurt and mix well.

Add Vanilla, Baking Powder, Salt and Coconut Milk and mix well.

Add Flour and Coconut and mix until smooth.

Pour batter into loaf pan.

Bake for 1 1/2 hours.

Let cool completely before removing from the pan.

Everything about last night was wonderful!  It's so nice to have such fantastic friends to share a vegan family dinner with.  My favorite part besides socializing and cooking is trying the  food that each person brings.  Thanks everyone for another fantastic and delicious family dinner!

Upside-Down Shepherd's Pie

I am still in love with my new cookbook Appetite for reduction- Isa Chandra Moskowitz.  This week I decided to try making Upside-Down Lentil Shepard's Pie.  I usually HATE shepard's pie, but since it called for lentils instead of a meat substitute I decided to give it a shot.

The french lentils were cooked with zucchini, shiitake mushrooms, onions, garlic, peas, vegetable broth and spices.  The mashed potatoes were a combination of potatoes and cauliflower with vegetable broth and a little olive oil.

This was an amazingly filling, delicious,  and healthy meal!  I ate it all week!  It was hands down the best shepard's pie recipe I have ever made or sampled.

New Year Cookies

This was the first year in a long time that I didn't host a New Years Eve party. Things were just a bit to hectic for hosting this year.  Luckily, I was invited to my friend Tiffany's party so I had the chance to ring in the new year with a bunch of new friends!  I made

Nutter Betters Sandwich Cookies- Vegan cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.

 The recipe claimed that they would taste just like Nutter Butter cookies and it was right!  They tasted JUST like the real thing, but less processed!  I only got to eat one of these bad boys!  Everyone there LOVED them.  The best compliment I got was when Tiffany went to hand me back my Tupperware she emptied out the last few cookies.  I'm glad they went over so well!