NEW vegan bunnies tank top now for sale!

With the summer heat upon us it's time for tank tops!  And what's better than a plain old tank top? A tank top with Vegan Bunnies on it!!  That's right, now for sale on my Etsy store is this super adorable tank top available in several different colors!  Come get yours today!!

Vegan Deep Dish "Sausage" Pizza

My husband and I have been eating a vegan diet for over a year now.  When I ask him, "If you could have one NON-vegan meal, what would it be?" I am always surprised it's not a huge steak he would want, but a deep dish sausage pizza that haunts him. A few weeks back when at our local pizza joint I asked if they could make a vegan version for us, but was sadly told it couldn't be done.  I could see why a non-vegan restaurant couldn't make my husbands dreams come true, but heck - I could!  Friday night the heavens opened up and my husband fell in love - with a Vegan Deep Dish "Sausage" Pizza!  I wanted this to be as true to a non-vegan pie with "real" sausage bites and thick to perfection. Somehow I accomplished it all. The flavor was amazing, crust held up great and the little sausage balls just sent it over the edge!  I now need to go out and buy a deep round pan just for making this pizza!!

Vegan Deep Dish "Sausage" Pizza

Ingredients:
Pizza Crust Dough (I LOVE Whole Foods)
Organic Pizza Sauce - 1 Jar

1 Gimme Lean Sausage
1 Cup Mushrooms, sliced
1 Cup Onion, sliced
Sliced Black Olives
1/4 Cup Sun Dried Tomatoes
1 (8 ounce) Package Mozzarella Vegan Cheese, shredded
oregano, to taste
1 teaspoon Sage
Fresh Basil

Cauliflower "Rice" with Veggies and Tofu

I have been having so much fun in the kitchen lately playing with new recipes.  One thing I have yet to try is replacing my rice with cauliflower "rice." So with cauliflower in hand last night I gave it a try.  What turned out - a VERY yummy vegan dish of goodness!!  My husband who is ALWAYS willing to try something new, couldn't believe it was cauliflower!  That's when I knew it was a true success.

If you are not a huge tofu fan, try searing the tofu really well done.  My husband does not care for it to be too "mushy" but when I cook it really good we both find it to be really enjoyable and tasty.
 

Cauliflower "Rice" with Veggies and Tofu

Serves: 4

Ingredients:
1 Extra Firm Tofu, cut into cubes
1/2 Cup Soy Sauce
2 T. Sriracha
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1 Onion
2 Cups Mushrooms, sliced
1 Bunch Asparagus, cut into pieces
1/2 Cup Fresh Lemon Juice

2 teaspoons Cumin
2 teaspoons Maple Syrup
1 teaspoon Ginger

1 Head of Cauliflower
1/2 Cup Pine Nuts
1 T. Chili Flakes (optional)
Salt and Pepper to taste

keeping it cool in the kitchen & a work in progress

Arizona summers can make cooking dinner an agonizing chore.  The heat of the stove top, heat of the oven...no thank you.  Since discovering raw cooking this past winter I KNEW this was my summertime cooking answer!  Last night was one of my favorite go to quick raw meals.  Bonus - it's SO easy to make!! Tip: If you do not like your food spicy just leave out the chipotle pepper.

Raw Vegan Spicy Avocado and "Pasta"

Ingredients:
2 Avocados, ripe
1 Lemon
1 Chipotle.Pepper
1/2 Red Onion, diced
2/3 Cup of Sliced Cherry Tomatoes

1 T. Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1 T. Red Pepper Flakes
Raw Sunflower Seeds (optional)
2 Large Zucchini

busy start to summer!

I have been a bad vegan redhead ignoring my blog.  I do have a couple of reasons for the missing in action -

1. My daughter graduated from High School!! Woohoo!
2. Work has been crazy off and on.
3. Eating like a bad vegan (lots of vegan junk food) and not feeling that energy and motivation I do when eating healthy.
4. Have realized and now excepted that I am not, nor will ever be, a runner (you can see I have dropped that from my blog header lol).

With summer now upon us things feel like they are slowing down a bit.  So, now for some catching up!

Graduation

I have to start with my daughter graduating really fast!  We are so proud of her!!  The day of graduation she and I enjoyed pedicures and then the day after - Mother & Daughter tattoos!!  We are a bit wild that way lol!  Here are a few photos from the event:

red hair and green thumbs!

Work has been crazy over stressful the last couple of weeks.  I have been eating bad and not walking (it's been HOT too).  My serenity lately has been the backyard in the evenings.  It is the PERFECT time of the year for eating out back and kicking back watching TV (yes, we have a TV out back lol).  However, our backyard has been lacking plants as one of the foster puppies ate most of them last year.  Our favorite papasan chair has been beaten up by the sun.  Our dinning table is way to large for us now and we end up just placing junk on it.  Here is a before photo showing the mess:

You can see that we covered the papasan with an ugly quilt, the table with a DIY project on it, bathing suits drying and just ICK looking.  My first thought was to replace the table with a smaller bar top table for the husband and I to enjoy.  Our first stop at Home Depot and we were done looking.  Quick and easy!  Trying to get the employees there to pull the correct boxes, that was NOT quick and easy.  We also found two chairs we liked to create a smaller sitting area for morning coffee.  My plan was to create three different areas: Sitting for coffee, Bar top for beer and TV and Papasan relaxing and napping!  Here is the bar top table and the start of the sitting area:

Last Sunday morning I enjoyed coffee and watched some Netflix on my tablet, heaven!  We also took our wine barrel we had been putting our Christmas tree in and made a planter out of it, but somehow if forgot to take any photos of it!

The Friday before last weekend I made a cover for the papasan cushion that turned out great!  I used an outdoor fabric that should hold up pretty nice and I love how the dog hair just shakes right off of it.  The girls Mazie and Daphne love it too!  The cover was really easy to make.  I measured the size of the cushion, added two inches to each side, laid the cushion on top of the material and traced with a pen then added two inches to that.  I sewed around leaving the bottom open and added Velcro as a closure. The fun part was stuffing that HEAVY cushion inside, it kicked my BUTT.  I need the husband to help the next day.  Thinking of making Prada a matching dog bed to have outside for her using the same material.

We also spent time adding lights to the backyard (and new plants & lemon tree!).  We have a large palm tree we added white lights to and then I came up with the idea to hang a lantern over the waterfall.  The lantern has a timer candle inside and looks great at night!  I might add one more, now that we are in love with it. I still have a list a mile long of things I want to do; make a drop cloth curtain and the end of the patio for some privacy, add more planters, make a coffee table for the sitting area, etc.  I have to tell myself, "One project at a time!"  Which actually lead to what could me a new addiction for me - Fairy Gardens!

Fairy Garden - Phase I

So, I have seen these on Pintrest and thought they were kind of cute.  After looking more and more I knew I had to create one for my new patio!!  I found lots of blogs and did lots of reading as to how to start.  My Fairy's house would tell me the scale of the items I would want and of course I had to find the perfect Fairy!  I LOVE the customer service on eFairies.com and found both my house & Fairy there! I knew I wanted an English cottage type of house and the little Fairy holding the blue bird...OMG, loved her!  They shipped out the SAME day I ordered them and should be here by tomorrow!!  That will give me my starting place for size.  I did find a bottom planter, but plan on making my garden multiple levels...no, I can't start easy.  We will also be building a stand for the garden as I have found that Mazie enjoys eating the flowers out of my wine barrel planter.

Lots of DIY projects going on this weekend!  I can't wait to get started!!  Hoping keeping busy will keep me from eating vegan junk food!!  Have a great Easter and stay healthy!!

start the day off right! mediterranean tofu scramble

One of my favorite things to do come Saturday morning is make a HUGE tofu scramble.  I make enough to take my husband and I through Sunday, Monday and sometimes even Tuesday!  Every weekend I normally do something different, Mexican, Veggie, just depends on my mood and/or what I have in the house.  This weekend, Mediterranean with a side of homemade red potatoes!

When I grew up we had breakfast EVERY day.  Most days it was just cereal, but sometimes my dad would make something special like pancakes...or not special - like eggs.  I was never much of an egg fan.  Runny eggs totally freaked me out. Changing to a vegan lifestyle, lets just say...I had NO issues with giving up eggs.  If you have not tried making a scramble with tofu you are REALLY missing out.  Not only are they easy, but you can add any or all of YOUR favorite veggies!  Go crazy! Express yourself!

Mediterranean Tofu Scramble with Homemade Red Potatoes

Red Potatoes (I like to start these cooking first)

Ingredients
5 Red Potatoes (more or less as needed), julienne sliced
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder

Directions
Spray frying pan with cooking spray and heat on high.  Clean and slice potatoes and using a slicer cut julienne style.  Over high heat cook, adding salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste (8 minutes).  Turn heat down to med-high, flipping potatoes as needed and cook until crispy.

Mediterranean Tofu Scramble

Ingredients
1 Extra Firm Tofu
1 Red Onion, diced
1 Red Bell Pepper, diced
1 14.5 oz Can of Artichoke Hearts, sliced
1 14.5 oz. Can of Black Beans, rinsed and drained
1 Bunch of Asparagus, cut into bite size pieces
1 Cup Sliced Mushrooms
2 T. Nutritional Yeast
Salt
Pepper
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon Dried Basil
1 teaspoon Cumin
1/4 Cup Sun dried Tomatoes
Sliced Black Olives
1 teaspoon Turmeric
2 teaspoons Balsamic Vinegar

vegan mexican pizza and weekend recap

How much can one person eat in a weekend?  Thinking WAY TOO much in my case!!  I have started giving myself a little more freedom when it comes to the weekend (still all vegan), and I am now paying for it.  Ugh, full and maybe a bit hungover from yesterday lol.

Weekend Recap

Friday we switched up the pizza I normally make and made a DELISH Vegan Mexican Pizza for dinner!  This had to be one of the best pizzas we have had in a while AND really made us feel like we were eating good old junk food.

Vegan Mexican Pizza

Ingredients
1 Whole Wheat Pizza Crust (we buy ours from Whole Foods)
1 Can Refried Beans
1 Onion, sliced
Peppers, sliced
Jalapeno Peppers, sliced
1 Can Sliced Black Olives
1 Tomato, diced
Salt, Pepper, Red Pepper Flakes to taste

what, it's friday already?

TGIF

Really, where did this week go?  To top it all off - I have hardly gone out to walk after work (maybe just Wednesday night) and some how I have dropped MAJOR weight this week!  I am now at my all time low of 137.4 making my weight loss since January 23 lbs.  Dang!

I have to say Wednesday night was a great night.  The boy child and husband went to the Suns basketball game, leaving me home for a nice QUIET evening.  Daphne joined me for a walk and then it was leftovers for dinner.  However on the walk I decided my evening was going to consist of watching Talking Dead (I had missed it Sunday), hot tea and some AMAZING apple slices with raw peanut butter, walnuts and vegan chocolate chips...they were all I could think about as I was walking!  LOL!  It was such a nice night and the boys had a BLAST at the game as well.  My evening got a little more special as the girl child came home from work around 8pm and actually JOINED me on the couch to watch TV.  She's 17 now, and that hardly EVER happens...wait...I think the last time was Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning!

epic st. paddy's day!

St. Patrick's Day in our house is more than corn beef (and vegan corn beef) it is also the day my wonderful and handsome son was born!  Yesterday my boy child turned 14 years-old!!  Both my husband and daughter had to work yesterday, so for the first time in awhile we had a FAMILY dinner TOGETHER on Sunday to celebrate!  It has been awhile since we all ate together at the table, and it was really nice to see my lovely family all there.

I promised the boy child I would make corn beef just for him (and that was all he ate), but the rest of the meal was 100% vegan.  This was my first St. Patrick's Day meal as a vegan and thank God for the internet as I found my recipes for that evening all on one bloggers website - Fat Free Vegan Kitchen!  I made vegan corn beef (using Tofurky Roast Beef Style Deli Slices for my meat), cabbage, roasted red potatoes and Irish Soda Bread!  All amazing!!  I was a little under the weather all weekend, but the meal was so easy to cook up that we might have to have it again sometime during the year.

Monday night still had to be celebrated, so grandma and I took the boy child out for dinner where his sister worked (about the only way I can get my daughter to do anything for me is visit her at work and MAKE her wait on me LOL!).  We enjoyed pizza (mine vegan) and then his wonderful sister surprised him with cupcakes and birthday candles to blow out!  Later this week for his birthday gift dad is taking him to the Sun's game for a boy's night out!!  They'll have a blast and I'll have a quiet night at home!  I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful son and wish him nothing but a year of luck and love!

why hit the gym when you can just go to your kid's playground?

Just this last month our neighborhood received a makeover at one of the little parks.  I thought, "Oh, fun some new playground equipment!"  Well, the other day I drove by and found lots of kids playing enjoying all of the new equipment and out of the corner of my eye I spotted something that slightly confused me.  It was an elliptical machine.  I kid you not, an elliptical machine.  Right smack in the middle of it all. I think I even asked my husband, "WTF, is that what I think it is?!?"

I wanted to find a photo online to share and wow, there are lots of companies who make playground equipment that looks oddly like the inside of a gym mom and dad would join.  So, what are we saying?  "Hey, kids fitness is fun!!"  Or do the makers (and buyers) think, "Darn there are some really fat kids at the park."  I would love for it to really be more about teaching kids that fitness is fun.  Today P.E. classes are nothing like they were when I was a kid.  I think my kids had less P.E. classes than I did.  I'm pretty sure I took it every semester from grade school until I graduated high school.  I would love to see kids learn to enjoy being physically fit and learn about health and living a healthy lifestyle.

As I am getting older I have learned that the body I have TODAY is the body I will have when I am say, SEVENTY.  What do I want my life to look like then?  Am I killing it off slowly now that I will have a low quality of life at 70?  I have become a believer that my body is a temple and I need to treat it as such.  There comes a day you have to look further down the road of your life and decide how you want that trip to look.

Overall I am just glad to know that I now no longer need to join the gym.  I'm sneaking down to the park when the kids are sleeping and getting in my workout!!

Staying on the whole "kid" theme here I have an EASY and HEALTHY snack that not only will your kids love, but you'll love as well!  I LOVE my dehydrator my husband bought me and found that making fruit roll ups are SO easy to make!!  This past weekend I whipped up a batch of Peach-Banana-Blueberry Swirl Fruit Roll Ups.  You can use ANY fruit which makes this so fun to make.

Peach-Banana-Blueberry Swirl Fruit Roll Ups

Ingredients
1 Banana
3 Cups of Peaches (fresh or frozen, thawed)
1 Cup of Blueberries (fresh or frozen, thawed)

weekend food recap AND a new recipe!

Wow, Wednesday already?  Last weekend was a bit of a wash out with the rain that came our way, so what is one to do?  Cook!  I had a blast trying some new recipes, like making sushi for the first time, and was really happy when everything came out as I had hoped.  Here is a little recap of my weekend, a new recipe and a bit of this and that.  :)

Weekend Food Recap

Saturday I wanted to make up some raw vegan bars that would last through the week and make for a quick grab-and-go snack.  I found a recipe for Raw Vegan Orange Pistachio Bars that turned out GREAT!  They were not on the sweet side, so i would suggest sweetening them up if you're expecting more of that thing.

Next up was lunch.  I had no idea that my husband had never had Spring Rolls before!  Normally I make these for myself on weekends when he works since they are so fun and easy.  Really ANYTHING goes!  This is a great time to use up veggies in the fridge and make something yummy out of them!  I even had some spicy peanut sauce that worked great for dipping them in.  Mine had everything inside from zucchini, red pepper, mushrooms, avocado and sprouts!!  Have all of your veggies sliced up and then get rolling!

great balls of falafel!

While on Instagram yesterday a gal I follow shared a Falafel recipe that not only looked good, but looked easy AND I had just about everything at home to make!  Score for me!!  When the husband works I love cooking up something for myself with enough leftover for him to have for lunch the next day.  I made a few tweaks to the original recipe and decided to use up the last zucchini in the fridge and top with a Cashew Lemon Cream sauce.  This was a quick and easy dinner, enjoy!

Chickpea & Veggie Baked Falafel with Zucchini Pasta

and Cashew Lemon Cream Sauce

Ingredients
For Falafel

1 Can Chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 Red Onion
1/4 Cup Fresh or Frozen Peas
1/4 Cup Fresh Basil or Parsley
1/2 Red Pepper
2 Garlic Cloves
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper
2-4 Tablespoons of Ground Flaxseed, Flour or Breadcrumbs

etsy store items being added!

CRAZY busy day, but I have gotten one new tee shirt design up on my Etsy store!!  This is one of my favorite style of tee shirts, and the mix of color in them makes them rock!  It comes in several colors and printed on the front is KALE and back reads "it's a vegan thing!"  This shirt is a junior size, so please use the sizing chart.  I would normally wear a medium and buy a large in this one (and that is still fitted).  Pick yours up today!!

Happy Wednesday!!

non-pasta vegan mac and "cheese" - oh yeah, it CAN be done!

I have been DYING for vegan Mac and "Cheese" but with my weight loss challenge going on at the office I knew that I really didn't need the calories.  But come on, Mac and Cheese is sooooo good!!  All of that creamy goodness who am I to say no?!  So, what is a vegan chick to do?  Come up with a non-pasta version!!  My thought was if I was to cut out the pasta I would replace it with zucchini and then bulk it up with some more veggies!!  Here is what I came up with:

Spicy Vegan Non-Pasta Mac & "Cheese" with Mushrooms and Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients
3 Zucchini, spiral cut, then cut into smaller pieces
2 Cups Mushrooms, sliced
1-2 T Vegetable Broth
2 Pounds Brussels Sprouts, sliced in half ends trimmed and yellow leaves removed
1 Cup Bread Crumbs

enchiladas or tacos?

The husband worked Tuesday night and I thought it would be better to pre-cook dinner for Wednesday since there was a lot of slicing and dicing involved (and I wanted to walk before dinner on Wednesday!).  My plan was to take this Black Bean Enchilada recipe but cut out the tortillas to save some calories.  I bought Romain lettuce to wrap up the enchiladas but, my error - I should have bought collard greens.  However, the best part about being vegan - Is you can create dinner as you go!  So, for the last two nights we have enjoyed Black Bean Tacos topped with Chipotle Cream Sauce and Spanish Rice!

vegan snacks to die for!

I will be the first to admit - I LOVE junk food!!  After becoming vegan I found that I LOVE vegan junk food too!!  I quickly realized as I finished my first weight loss challenge and gained 14 of the 30 pounds I lost back, that vegan's can be overweight too thanks to vegan junk food.

Beginning of January this year i decided it was time to give up the processed vegan junk food and get back to eating smart and healthy.  My #1 go to snack - hummus!  Oil free hummus at that!  Well, this week I found a new recipe and I'm sorry but this is HUMMUS CRACK!  The creamiest best tasting I have yet to discover.

Roasted Red Pepper & Almond Hummus

by Dreena Burton

Ingredients ½ cup raw almonds (with skins left on) 2 tbsp red wine vinegar 2-2 ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil (optional, can reduce or omit for oil-free) 2 cups cooked chickpeas (rinse and drain if using canned - one can is usually about 1 3/4 cups) ½ cup roasted red peppers (from jar), excess liquid drained off 1 medium clove garlic (or to taste), sliced ½ tsp Dijon mustard ½ tsp sea salt freshly ground black pepper to taste 2 - 4 tbsp water (to thin dip as desired) ¼ - 1/3 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped (for garnish, optional) 1 - 2tbsp almonds, chopped (for garnish, optional)

a weekend of love and food

Valentine's Day

I hope everyone had a happy and healthy Valentine's weekend!  Both my husband and I took Friday off to make for a relaxing LONG weekend.  My husband knows that the way to my heart is either jewelry or cool kitchen appliances, and this year he did great surprising me with my first dehydrator!!  This worked out PERFECT as I was planning on attempting a raw veggie vegan bread in the oven for dinner.  No need for the oven now!!  I have to say this is a VERY easy to use dehydrator so far.  Thank you honey, I LOVE you and my gift!!

With my first 5k on Saturday we spent Friday getting the grocery shopping all done, but did take time out to try a new vegan restaurant.  24 Carrots in Tempe. They just moved into a new location, which took us a while to find as they did not have a sign up yet lol.  Our normal vegan restaurant has a much larger menu, but 24 Carrots offered some yummy choices.  The meal portions were smaller, but over all good....great? No, but good.  It was fun just trying something new.  Makes you wonder if in the near future you will find more and more vegan restaurants pop up?

love is in the air...and smoky green chile white bean hummus!

Yes, tomorrow is the day for LOVE or steak and sex night as my husband use to call it before our vegan days lol!  Before I chat about Valentine's Day plans for tomorrow I wanted to share an awesome oil free hummus recipe!!  I made this up Sunday and both my husband and I loved how it turned out.

Smoky Green Chile White Bean Hummus

food and yet MORE food!

Things have been busy!  I came down with a cold last Friday which slowed me down a bit over the weekend, but since Monday I have been feeling great again.  Last night was another one of those....where did this evening go?....days.  Our foster puppy iLean was adopted!!  So, before the family came over the husband and I got a great walk in (weather in AZ is amazing!!). 

Then there was dinner...OMG.  I took a few bits and pieces and came up with this must have again dinner:

Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Lentil Cashew Cakes
all topped with Roasted Red Pepper Cashew Cream

While the Brussels Sprouts were roasting it gave me plenty of time to make the Lentil Cashew Cakes and blend up the cream sauce.  My husband and I both have never been "Brussels Sprouts" people, but since eating vegan we have grown to crave them all of the time!

food better than a football game

Hope everyone had a healthy, safe and enjoyable Super Bowl!  The game was a blow out, but the food...amazing!  I felt like we ate and ate, but thank goodness come Monday morning for my work weight loss challenge weigh-in I did NOT gain a pound (down a total of12 lbs.)!!  Woohoo!!  Here are some links to the amazing raw dishes I whipped up:

First up, Red Pepper Stuffed with Confetti Guacamole (less the red peppers) and served it as a dip, AMAZING!! Also to save TONS of calories we used collard greens to wrap all of our dips up in (FYI only 10 tortilla chips have 74 calories).  I promise, we didn't even MISS the chips!!  You will also notice the cheese sauce in the photo, you can find that HERE.  Again, raw and YUM!

who's ready for some weekend?

So excited for Super Bowl weekend...heck, just excited for the weekend period!  This will be our first "raw" Super Bowl AND no beer!!  Yikes, we might actually remember how the game ends lol!  I am really looking forward to making my first raw pizza!  I do not have a dehydrator yet, so using the oven on the lowest setting.  Fingers cross it's as good as the football game should be! 

Big News - I signed up for my first 5k yesterday!!  It's not until the middle of March, but I am really looking forward to it!!  My super duper husband will be there cheering me on.  :)

Last night we enjoyed a wonderful tofu dish.  I found this on Vegan Richa, but made a few changes.  My husband does not care for cubed tofu, so I sliced the tofu super thin and cooked it until crisp which ended up being awesome!

Spicy Orange Tofu and Peppers

hello?....hello?....oh, yes there you are!

I know, I suck.  I truly suck and I apologize for missing for so long.  Not sure what happened.  Work got busy.  Stopped being a healthy vegan.  Stopped working out.  Well - That all changed the beginning of this month when the husband and I realized we REALLY needed to get back to our healthy vegan self's!!

To make sure I really stayed on track I talked my co-workers into another weight loss challenge starting the beginning of January running until May (I'm down 10 lbs. already!!).  Back outside getting my walk (some times run) back on.  My husband and I have also gone more raw vegan which we are loving!  Also gave up the drinking.  Since losing all of my weight and introducing beer back into my diet I started have HORRIABLE stomach issues.  Quit drinking - GONE.  Life is SO much more enjoyable now!!

One of the benefits of eating raw - IT'S SO FAST making dinner!!  Even on the nights the husband works I can whip up something delicious in minutes!  For example, this little gem I made last night.  The original recipe is from Skinny Limits, but I myself was "Limited" with the ingredients I had on hand and came up with this:

 

Raw Vegan Carrot Noodles with Pesto and Mushrooms & Onion

 

Noodles:
 3 large carrots, peeled into noodles (I used just my standard peeler.

Mushrooms:
1 cup of mushrooms, diced.
1/4 cup of red onion, diced.