Saturday, December 25, 2010

Sweet Dreams

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows
Link to Recipe & Instructions


I have been seeing these all over the place lately so I decided it was time to make them now. I followed the recipe almost exactly except that I cut the recipe in half and baked them at 315 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 minutes. They're a little bit time consuming but you really can't mess them up. It took me about a half hour from the start until I put them in the oven. One tip to make note of is that if you keep the dough at room temperature or slightly warm before you bake them there will be fewer cracks in the cookie when they're finished baking. 

Step 1 - Mix the chocolate cookie dough

Step 2 - Mix the peanut butter cookie dough

Step 3 - Roll the dough into a ball





 Step 4 - Bake and let cool before eating




Raw Option - I came up with 13 cookies so I tried the last one raw. It was quite good and would be an excellent option for raw dessert.

The only problem with these is that now I want to eat them ALL!

The entire batch is 60 WW points, or about 5 a piece. "Pricey" but well worth it.

Enjoy!

Friday, December 17, 2010

Savory Casserole

Tonight I just experimented in making a casserole, not measuring terribly carefully, and it turned out to be tremendous. I was not expecting that. So I will give you my approximations for measurements but I don't think it matters all that much. Aren't casseroles really just about throwing things you like, that go together, in a dish and baking it?  Also, in case you haven't noticed I really love mushrooms and onions. Like, a lot.
P.S. I'm noticing a pattern in my foods looking not so attractive but they taste so good.

Chopped Onions - approx 1/3 cup
Portobello Mushroom Slices - approx 1 cup
Tofu - approx 1/4 block
Nutritional Yeast - as much as you'd like, I used probably about 2 Tbsp
Vegan Cheddar Cheese - I used approx 1.5 oz Daiya
Dash of Salt for flavor
Seasoned Packaged Tofu Meat substitute - I used Field Roast Tomato Flavor slices (2) but it would work well with any "deli" slices, fakin bacon, or soysage just for a little flavor.

In frying pan with either nonstick spray or oil, saute the onions. After a few minutes add in the mushrooms and saute for a few more minutes. Crumble the tofu and toss into the pan along with the nutritional yeast, salt, and meat substitute. Saute for another minute or two. Toss in the vegan cheese, stir in quickly and move it right to the casserole dish. Sprinkle some vegan cheese on top if you like. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Easy Apps

These weren't plated well, I fully admit it, but they tasted delicious. They're incredibly quick and easy to make.

Lightlife Smart Strips with Thai Kitchen Peanut Satay Sauce
The chik'n strips can be grilled in a nonstick pan or baked in an oven. I heated up the peanut satay sauce but I don't think it's necessary.  (Total 2 points) One thing to watch for in Asian sauces is "fish sauce". It is always listed in one form or another in packaged sauces. In restaurants you should ask your server if they can make the dish without fish sauce. That's a trap that I fell into quite a bit when I first switched to a vegan diet.


Gardein Chipolte Lime Crispy Fingers with Mock-A-Mole

Pictured is two crispy fingers cut up into bite size pieces and mock-a-mole that browned a bit while I was working on all of this. I started with Bethenny Frankel's Mock-A-Mole recipe and pared it down for simplicity. I used equal parts avocado and cup(s) of canned peas and then threw in some of my favorite seasonings (onion powder, garlic powder, lime juice, paprika, and salt). Of course if you have the time or the ingredients in your house use fresh ingredients, if not then packaged works just fine. (5 points-the crispy fingers are two points a piece but a small amount of mock-a-mole is just one point.)

Enjoy!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Watching It

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth; I'm still here. Through Thanksgiving I had been making loads of delicious foods for my little blog here but my hips can't take it anymore. So, I've started Weight Watchers. I've always been pretty against the program because they teach portion control (which I've never had a problem with) but they don't teach people how to become healthy eaters. A couple of weeks ago they changed their program and now most fruits and veggies are "free", meaning they don't come out of your daily points allocation. Now I'm giving it a try, we'll see how it goes. Let's face it, how many people want to see pictures of salads and not-so-attractive foods? I know I don't, so I haven't been writing. Today I decided to start it up again and I'm going to keep the posts to easy vegan meals but they'll be more healthy and I'll try to add in some fun extra things such as products that I like.

Recently I discovered the Gardein Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick'n. I know, I'm Gardein obsessed but some of the food is sooo good. This shicken is no exception.  Add some onions when grilling for a little and serve over a 1/4 cup of wild rice and you have a great meal (5 points for any of you other WW-ers out there). The whole thing takes no more than 10 minutes to make. I also try to make a bunch of rice at a time so that I have it cooked and waiting in my fridge. I threw my rice into the pan for the last 10 seconds or so and it turned out quite nice. The mandarin orange chick'n would be great in a stir fry as well. I find stir fry a little tough to do without oil so I've avoided it thus far but I'm sure I'll get there.