Vegan MoFo- Smoky Split Pea Soup

When I think about split pea soup I imagine a green mushy mass with rubbery pieces of ham inside.  Since Isa Chandra Moskowitz rarely lets me down I decided to hold back my prejudices and give the Smoky Split Pea Soup recipe a shot.

I am so glad that I tried this recipe out!  It was AMAZING!  It's nothing like the split pea soup I remember.  This soup had loads of paprika and carrots creating a truly delicious blend of flavors that wasn't mushy or rubbery at all.  This was hearty, smoky, and vegetabley joy!

Jared and I were super hungry, as we usually are at lunch time, so we made tofu sandwiches to go along with the soup.  I know I've already blogged about these delicious sandwiches, but we both thought that sharing this photo with the added avocado would definitely be worth your time!

Vegan MoFo- Cauliflower Pesto Soup

Whenever fall arrives, it puts me in the mood for soup. With extra basil on hand, I decided to try the Cauliflower Pesto Soup out of Appetite for Reduction.

I love a vegan cream soup that doesn't have soy milk or tofu in it, but is still creamy.  Instead of imitation ingredients, this soup had garlic, cauliflower, vegetable broth, salt, black pepper, arrowroot powder, and basil.  As suggested in the recipe, I used my immersion blender to get it suuuuuuper creamy and garnished it with toasted pine nuts.  This soup was light, creamy and surprisingly filling! I will definitely be making this one again.

Vegan Mofo-Brownies

Once in a blue moon Jared will get a craving for something sweet, and I can never turn down sweets, so I scurry into the kitchen and start poking around to see what I have on hand to make dessert.  This time I had everything we needed to make Bitchtastic Brownies from Vegan Bitch in the Kitch. They are supposed to be a healthier brownie recipe than the average so I felt good about my decision to make them.  I was out of vanilla extract, so I used coffee extract as a substitue and that worked out beautifully.  They also contained unsweetened vegan chocolate, sucanat, silken tofu, oil, whole wheat pastry flour, unsweetened cocoa powder and salt. They were SUPER chocolatey and rich, so one small brownie definitely satisfied our craving.  

Vegan MoFo- Breakfast Smoothies

Jared and I have been working hard at adding nutritious treats into our diet.  Lately, Jared has been making some of the BEST smoothies that have ever sipped.  Each week we buy a healthy assortment of frozen fruit so that he can work his magic each morning.

strawberry-mango-pineapple-almond milk

raspberry-strawberry-pineapple

mango-pineapple-vanilla soy yogurt-orange juice

I often refer to these smoothies as slurpees.  They taste just as good as I remember slurpees tasting and you honestly can't tell that they aren't unhealthy.  Even though I can't take credit for making them, I thought that everyone should know about these fantastic healthful drinks.  I love my breakfast slurpees!

Vegan Mofo- The vegan family kitchen

Jared snapped some pictures of the kitchen so, here is a look at my favorite space in our flat...

Some of my spices

The side of the fridge

A few pictures of me in action...

Here is a view where you can see most of the kitchen.  Many of my cooking utensils are in canisters on the window ledge and we have a large stainless steal table for all my prepping needs....

A look inside the pantry... and yes,  there are produce stickers lining the shelves...

Jared made this amazing pot rack to free up some space.

A different spice rack.  I need loads of spices!

Vegan MoFo- Sarah's baby shower cupcakes

So a while ago I made cupcakes for one of my dear friend Sarah's baby shower and I didn't have time to blog about it, so I decided that Vegan MoFo was the perfect time to do so...

I made Chocolate and Vanilla Marble and Toasted Coconut Cupcakes with Coffee Buttercream Frosting

I topped the marble cupcakes off with blue and purple Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting and party sprinkles, of course...

The marble cupcakes were a bit tricky to master because you have to combine two different batters into the same cupcake liner.  It was messy, but well worth the effort

The toasted coconut cupcakes were simply amazing.  The had coconut oil, milk, extract and shreds of coconut in the batter and the frosting had coffee extract mixed in.  The cake combined with the frosting and toasted shredded coconut on top made this one of the most delectable desserts I've had in a long time!

Although I was one of two vegans at the baby shower, the cupcakes were a huge hit! 

Pesto Pizza

So I decided to continue the theme of pesto by sharing another one of our favorite ways to eat it... Pizza!

We bought whole grain crust, coated it in pesto, and covered it in as many vegetables as we could.

This pie has, mushrooms, shallots, onion, grape tomatoes, white eggplant, and baked tofu.

On this one we loaded it up with, shallot, onion, grape tomatoes, red and yellow peppers, white eggplant and mushrooms.

They cooked in the oven on 425 for 12 quick minutes!

Jared and I both agree that this is our new favorite way to eat pizza.  Who needs cheese when you can have all of this?