Fresh Taste Friday ---Recipe #7--- Sweet Potato Casserole VEGANIZED

Growing up, there wasn't a Thanksgiving or a Sunday dinner for that matter, that went by that our mother didn't prepare sweet potatoes. Whether she baked them or candied them, we were having sweet potatoes! My favorite way to enjoy them is either in the form of a baked french fry (which I ate last night; will share the simple recipe soon) or as simply a baked potato with vegan butter and a little organic brown sugar. Tis the season to fancy it up a bit! Our mother usually would candy her sweet potatoes for the holidays but I remember a few occasions where she mashed some potatoes and topped them with some marshmallows. Talk about a classic. I've heard this recipe called yammallow and in essence that's really what it is --> Yams and marshmallows!

Lately, I've become obsessed with veganizing and healthifizing (totally not a word) traditional or readily recognizable recipes. I've also found that if you don't tell people it's vegan, they really wouldn't know the difference. It's all about the layers of flavors and making the vegan version taste a million times better than the original.

This will easily serve about 8 people. Since it's the holidays, you'll definitely want to make more. I promise this recipe is your ticket to being a holiday vegan rock star!!!!

Oh yeah! Vegan marshmallows are a MUST!!!! All marshmallows aren't vegan. Well, none are unless the package says VEGAN. The reason being is because gelatin is derived from the collagen inside animals' skin and bones. All of the commercial marshmallows I've seen on the market contain gelatin making them a non-vegan food. My favorite vegan marshmallows are Dandies and yes, they taste better than the real thing! (All of the measurements can be doubled or tripled depending on the amount of people you're serving)

In addition to the vegan marshmallows, you'll need

4 boiled sweet potatoes (or one per guest)
Lots of cinnamon (I never measure the cinnamon)
4 tbs brown sugar (or 1 tbs per guest)
4 tbs vegan margarine ( 1 tbs per guest)
2 tbs vegan cane sugar (1 tbs per guest)
4 tbs cornstarch mixed with 1/4 of soy milk or soy creamer (to double simply use 6 tbs cornstarch to 1/2 cup soy milk)
1 bag of marshmallows should suffice but if you like it gooey get another bag and have at it!

After the sweet potatoes have been boiled, let them cool until they can be handled. Peel them and if you have a potato ricer press the boiled potatoes through it so the strings can be removed. I just prefer the strings out. This process also takes care of mashing the potatoes for you so from here toss in all of the ingredients (except the marshmallows) and mix until well combined. Place in a casserole dish and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes. It should be bubbly around the edges and starting to firm up on the top. You don't want it to be too firm. Top with the marshmallows and bake for another 10-15 minutes (depending on your oven). You're just looking for the marshmallows to look like this.....

Enjoy!!!!!!

It’s HaLlOwEen

Between now and next Monday American’s will consume an abundance of sugar.  That’s not even considering the fact that the holidays are coming. Heck they are here!  There will be office parties, trick or treating, mall events, house parties and the list goes on and on.  All of these events spell one thing and one thing only…..SUGAR! Sugar is literally killing the human body.  Yes it taste good, but the high fructose and sucrose does such damage .  Sugar can suppress the immune system, it interferes with the mineral relationship with the body, can cause hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children.  Sugar can produce a significant rise in triglycerides, reduces the body’s defense against bacterial infection, reduces bone density, leads to ovarian cancer, increases fasting glucose levels, copper deficiency, interferes with calcium and magnesium.  Weakens eyesight, can cause arthritis, gallstones, appendicitis, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, hemorrhoids, and the list literally goes on and on.  Sugar is a weapon to the body.  Is an occasional sweet tooth going to kill you….NO! However, we shouldn’t want to aid in these conditions effecting us, and one way to aid is to continue putting the poison in our bodies.  Sodas, chips, cakes, ice cream, etc.  October 31, 2011 there will be pillowcases and garbage bags filled with nothing but sugar, sugar, and more sugar.  I remember when I was a kid my mother would take my bag of candy and put it in the freezer so that I would not consume it during that week.  Not just Halloween though.  Our daily Starbucks Frapps, and Lattes,  Mocha’s, you name it.  High sugar follows us, we eat it and it sits in our bodies eating our teeth away, our calcium away, the magnesium, our immune system………AWAY! Reduce your sugar intake.  Like way down!  There are alternatives to sugar, you just gotta go out and research to find it, but it’s there. 

Have a great day and Keep JoOcing!

~Racquel

Fresh Taste Friday ---Recipe #6--- Racquel’s Faux Fish Cakes

Racquel’s Faux Fish cakes

1 lb. extra firm tofu

5 carrots (finely shredded)

Parsley (finely shredded)

Cilantro (finely shredded)

Medium onion (small dice)

1 large celery stalk

4 garlic cloves (minced)

Juice of one lemon

1 tbsp vinegar

2 tbsp soy sauce/liquid aminos

6 tbsp nutritional yeast

Tbsp ground mustard

3 tbsp old bay seasoning

Pepper to taste

1 egg replacer

1 cup +3 tbsp flour

DIRECTIONS: Remove tofu from package wrap in clean kitchen towel to fully drain.  Sit on plate and sit a pot or another plate on top for about 15 to 20 minutes.  You won’t believe how much water is inside of tofu.  Meanwhile, sauté your onion and celery on medium heat in non-stick pan coated with extra virgin olive oil.  Sauté for 3 minutes or until translucent.  Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute more.  Remove from heat and transfer to bowl to cool.  By now the tofu should be ready.  Remove from towel, and crumble with your hands as fine as you can….NO CHUNKS!  Add carrots, parsley, and cilantro.  Mix well with tofu….very well! Add nutritional yeast, soy sauce or liquid aminos, old bay, 3 tbs of flour, mustard and pepper.  Mix well with a spoon (I prefer my clean hands to mix).  By now onion mixture should be cooled.  Add to tofu mixture.  MIX WELL! Add 1 egg replacer (instructions to follow) mix well.  Add lemon juice, mix, vinegar and mix.  You should begin to get an amazing smell from what’s in your bowl.

Combine into balls and form patties and take the other cup of flour and lightly coat patties and put into pan for frying.  3 minutes on each side.  Flip when golden brown.

Egg Replacer

2 tbsp baking powder

1 tbsp water

1 tbsp oil

Mix well until paste like.

Fresh Taste Friday ---Recipe #5--- Sloppy Mike's

I haven't had the traditional Sloppy Joe since I was in grade school. My sisters used to love them (as did I) and I remember the mass hysteria they would cause in the lunch room when Sloppy Joe's appeared on the lunch schedule. However, I'm pretty sure those were made with Manwich. About a week ago, I was at work and had this sudden hankering for the old classic, kid-friendly meal. I literally hadn't had one of these in almost 20 years so I had no idea where the craving came from. Maybe it was the cold, rainy weather. At any rate, I couldn't wait to get home and experiment. Manwich, coincidentally is vegan but it's processed and I've grown very leery of canned and processed foods in the past three months simply because it's not fresh and because there are a lot of things added to keep it safe in that tin can. Things that offer absolutely no nutritional value. And let's face it, it tastes like it came from a can. My mom made hers from scratch when my sisters and brother and I were kids and I'm about to teach you how to do the same thing only without the fat and cholesterol that heavy read meat (and even turkey) leave lurking between the buns.

So here goes:


Ashley's Sloppy Mike's

2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 pound tofu or beef-less ground "beef" crumbles (I use the Trader Joe's brand)
1 large yellow or sweet onion, chopped
1 red or green bell pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons yeast
2 tablespoons Bragg's liquid aminos (this tastes like soy sauce without the salt; feel free to use soy sauce if you'd like)
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 tablespoon black strap molasses
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
a few splashes of your favorite hot sauce (I use either Texas Pete or Trader Joe's pepper sauce)
Black pepper to taste
Whole wheat buns (Trader Joe's whole wheat hamburger buns are vegan) or Trader Joe's Tater Tots (also vegan)


In a large cast iron skillet, melt coconut oil and saute tofu or crumbles for a few minutes (tofu until it's brown; crumbles until they're warm). Add chopped onion, green pepper, and nutritional yeast and continue to saute in skillet. I like to cook the veggies down until they're almost soft (they'll continue to soften as you add the rest of the ingredients. Add the ketchup, mustard, molasses, brown sugar, vinegar, and lemon juice and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. The kitchen should start to smell like one big Sloppy Mike. Add your hot sauce and black pepper and simmer for a few minutes. Enjoy!

I like these one of two ways. Either on a bun or over tater tots! Believe me, the tater tot version will change your life :-)

Have a wonderful Friday and Veg Out!

Ashley

Six Years Later -----> Heaven Rejoices Over One :-)

This morning I was digging through an old email address for the password to one of my vegan cooking sites. I typed in the words vegweb and and old correspondence from me (Ashley) to Racquel popped up. I'd sent her a link to www.vegweb.com and was encouraging her to become a new convert and join all the meat free fun. As you'll read, she wasn't too psyched about it. By this time, I had been a vegetarian for a little over a year and hadn't yet become a vegan (for the first time) but I was sticking to my guns! I thought this would be fun to share since now-a-days (SIX YEARS LATER) she's just as passionate about her plant-based diet as I am. Enjoy!


From Racquel:
HEY SWEETIE PIE,

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE "SOUTH BEACH DIET" I WANT TO TRY IT.

From Ashley: Well, I can say that it is similar to the Atkins diet. As fair warning, any diet that is high in animal protien will cause your bones to secrete significant amouts of calcium, which is a vital nutrient especially in women (active women). Also the low carb thing will cause you to become sluggish because of the lack of complex carbohydrates which are vital to proper brain function. What you really need to do is become mindful of how much animal protein you eat on a regular basis. I am not just saying this because of my lifestyle, but because it is true. I am also not saying this because I want you to bannish meat from your diet - that was a choice that I made for myself! When consuming animal products you are not just eating your calories but whatever calories that animal ate as well. You have to work just as hard to get that burned off of your body. Animal protein can have abverse affects on the digestive system, the bones, and the waistline! Think about it and hit me back!

~Dr. Mac, MD

From Racquel: YOU AND YOUR FREAK'N PREACH'N FROM THE VEGAN BIBLE.  I GOTTA START SLOW POSSIBLY WITH EATING JUST VEGGIES LIKE YOU DID FOR ABOUT A YEAR.  YOU BETTER MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE GETTING PROPER PROTEIN GIRL.  HIT ME UP!!!!

From Ashley: Protein, protein - you meat eaters, I tell ya! Of course we get adequate amounts of protein and I'll tell ya how. First through fortified soy milk, which also supplies tons of calcium. Beans and legumes are rich in good protein without all of the fat and still giving a rich meaty flavor. Protein is found in adequate amounts in most plant foods - it's low in fruit, potatoes, and rice, but extremely high in those beans! I am going to prove to you that animals aren't the only source of adequate protein. Girl, you know that I don't jump into anything without researching it first. I am also doubling up on vital vitamins and minerals that most flesh eaters lack because my diet is plant centered and not meat centered. Meat supplies absolutely no fiber and no vitamins or minerals - if there are they are from what the now dead animal ate. The fiber that I get daily helps keep my bowels clean and running smoothly! Hit me back!

~Mac

From Racquel: heehehehe!  Do you think that less meat would help my sore knees now that I am playing ball again my knees always ache.  uhmmmm....guess what I am eating pasta Italiano soup it is wonderful and no meat.  ooh, you need to go to Kroger they have a wonderful vegan/veggie isle you'd love it...expensive but you'd love it.

From Ashley Restricting meat from your diet and eating only in moderation may result in relief for your soar joints. Also light yoga (seriously) will work wonders for sore joints causing them to work from a different range of motion and increasing flexibility! Either way you are bound to make those joints feel better. If you don't act soon you may have worse damage as you get older! THink about it and hit me back!

~Mac

From Racquel: YOU REALLY THINK YOU ARE A DR. SERIOUSLY THOUGH ALL OF THE ADVISE SOUNDS GREAT.  I WILL TAKE HEED.  WHEN I GET SOME MORE MONEY I AM GOING TO BUY AN ARRAY OF VEGGIES, AND NOW THAT THE WEATHER IS BREAKING I CAN GRILL THEM EGGPLANT, MUSHROOMS, SQUASH, ZUCCHINI,SNOW PEAS, ETC. I LIKE VEGGIES, THERE JUST ISN'T A WHOLE LOT TO DO WITH THEM.  MAYBE I WILL THUMB THROUGH MY VEGGIE COOK BOOK.

From Ashley: All of these sites offer great veggie recipes from salads to pasta! I know you will find something! GIve it shot - I think you are way too afraid to not eat meat. Imagine how good you will feel. Side note - meat is higher in fat than veggies (dug) but the fiber in the veggies (the fiber that ALL meat lacks) will cause you to eat much more while feeling full much faster. Fat does not fill you up nearly as fast as good wholesome fiber!

If you read this far, I decided to give you a little bonus and share the sites I shared with Racquel all those YEARS ago :-) 

www.vegweb.com

www.veganmania.com

www.vegcooking.com

www.vegsource.com

www.vegancooking.com

Thanks for reading!

Keep JoOcing and RAWk On!

Ashley