Flax Seeds Part Two

This is taken from the website "The Post Punk Kitchen". It's a vegan/vegetarian website with some really great ideas. My mom made the Banana Bread by Isla and it's delicious.

http://www.theppk.com/

I know I have mentioned 'egg replacers' before (bananas, silken tofu, apple sauce) and one of the best ones if Flax Seeds. Here are detailed instructions on how to use them in your Baking


How to use it:
1 Tablespoon flax seeds plus 3 Tablespoons water replaces one egg. Finely grind 1 tablespoon whole flaxseeds in a blender or coffee grinder, or use 2 1/2 tablespoons pre-ground flaxseeds. Transfer to a bowl and beat in 3 tablespoons of water using a whisk or fork. It will become very gooey and gelatinous, much like an egg white. In some recipes, you can leave the ground flax in the blender and add the other wet ingredients to it, thus saving you the extra step of the bowl.

When it works best:
Flax seeds have a distinct earthy granola taste. It tastes best and works very well in things like pancakes, and whole grain items, such as bran muffins and corn muffins. It is perfect for oatmeal cookies, and the texture works for cookies in general, although the taste may be too pronounced for some. Chocolate cake-y recipes have mixed results, I would recommend only using one portion flax-egg in those, because the taste can be overpowering.

Tips:
Always store ground flaxseeds in the freezer because they are highly perishable. This mixture is not only an excellent replacement for eggs, it also contributes vital omega-3 fatty acids.

"Curried" Broccoli

Indian food is amazing! With so many flavours and tastes, it's unbeatable. Here's a recipe for "curried" broccoli that my sister and I made for dinner one night.

• A head of broccoli
• A diced zucchini
  
• Two garlic cloves
• Chopped onion
• Cumin powder
• Mango Chutney (my friend taught be an awesome homemade recipe, which i'll post next week)
• Naan bread

Chop up your onion and throw in the pan with a bit of olive oil and chopped garlic. Season with cumin. Meanwhile on a baking sheet, place your chopped vegetables into the oven at 300 for 15 minutes until they start to cook. Take them out of the oven and throw them into the pan with the onion. Add two generous table spoons of mango chutney. Stir it all together until the mango chutney forms a sort of sauce and your vegetables are cooked all the way through.

Place your naan bread in the oven at 200 for ten minutes. Once they're warm and slightly toasted take them out of the oven.

Now top your naam bread with your curried broccoli. It's a super easy meal and it tastes really good.

**Instead of naam bread, make rice.

To complete the meal, make a light side salad or oven baked potatoes. For desert: mango sorbet with fresh raspberry and green tea. Yum!

The World's Healthiest Foods

I recently discovered a website called "The World's Healthiest Foods". According to the website, the creators are "dedicated to making the world a healthier place by providing you with cutting-edge information about why the World's Healthiest Foods are the key to vibrant health and energy and how you can easily make them a part of your healthy lifestyle."

There is a link on this website that I really enjoy called "eating healthy". It gives you a list of some everyday foods (fruits, vegetables, nuts, meats) and describes their nutritional content. I think everyone can agree that it is helpful to know the nutritional benefits of certain foods, especially if you have lots of dietary restrictions like I do. Example: when I have a busy day with no time to stop for lunch I'm sure to pack a large bag of trail mix. The protein makes me feel full and it gives me a much needed sugar kick! I also eat a lot of bananas since they help circulate salt in the body and help with fatigue.

The point is, if you choose your produce wisely, you'll find that simple healthy meals can be full of wonderful benefits as well as flavors. The website is also useful since it emphasizes the benefits of eating seasonally. When I'm busy I don't want to spend time looking online for seasonal recipes and new ideas. Instead, I find it easier to learn a few adaptable meals that incorporate seasonal vegetables. It's unrealistic to assume you'll learn a new recipe every week (unless you're a kitchen wonder like Martha Stuart). Decide what you like to eat, what's readily available to you and be creative. Work with what you have (Remember: stir fry is a staple meal for a reason, it is incredibly adaptable to individual tastes!).

The website is "http://whfoods.org/". I hope you find it as helpful as I did. x

Nothing Beats Roasted Beets

Maybe it's the "tree-hugging hippy" inside of me but I love the earthy taste of beets. They're delicious and fresh. Unfortunately, beets have one major downfall: they're messy. Because of they stain, some people avoid cooking with them (which is a major shame since beets are one of the most delicious vegetables out there). I can understand the average chef's aversion to beets; I too hate peeling them because my hands and clothes get stained. Solution? Grate them (peel and all) then toss them into a salad; it will cut down on the mess factor. My grandma likes to boil them (she wears gloves) and toss them on top of a mango spinach salad or eat them on their own with olive oil and cracked pepper.

Beet season runs from June through October. However, you can readily find them at most produce stores in Vancouver during the winter months. They are high in potassium, fibre, vitamin C and 1 cup of beets has 10% of your daily recommended iron.

It wasn't until I was talking to my friend Liz that I even considered roasting Beets. She suggested I roasting them with herbs and garlic as a delicious side dish. And so I did!

Ingredients

• Beets (depends on your portion size. I usually cook four at a time)
• 2 Garlic cloves
• olive oil
• dried rosemary

Directions

Using gloves, peel the beets first then cut them into thick slices. In a bowl, lightly sprinkle approximately 1tbsp of olive oil, 2 tbsp of chopped rosemary, two chopped up garlic gloves and a dash of salt. Stir it all around.

Place your seasoned beets onto a baking sheet and roast them in the oven at 400 degrees for 45minutes to 1 hour. Check with a fork to make sure they're tender before taking them out. Serve this delicious side dish piping hot! (although that's not necessary)

Instead of rosemary, try parsley.

Banana Walnut and Raisin Muffins

I love muffins. Sometimes I like to be ambitious early in the week and make a batch. One might assume that this would last me quite a while, but one would be wrong. More often than not they're gone the next day. Nonetheless, they taste good.

These particular muffins I made up on a whim. Looking through my bare cupboard, I noticed I had leftover walnuts and a giant bag of raisins. Some other suggestions: chocolate chips, blueberries, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of flour
• 2 ripe bananas
• 1/3 cup of apple sauce
• 1/4 tsp of nutmeg
• 1tsp of baking soda
  
• 1/2 cup of sugar
  
• 2 tablespoons of flax seed (if you like it)
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup of chopped up walnuts
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1/2 cup of almond milk
  

Directions

Mix all the dry ingredients together first. Add in the wet ingredients. Stir it all together.

Take a muffin pan and lightly spray butter (or vegan margarine) so that they won't stick. Pour your batter into the pan and for decoration throw a few raisins or walnuts on the tops. So pretty!

Put them into the oven at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until lightly brown and cooked all the way through. Take them out of the oven and let them cool on the counter for 15minutes.

TIPS: What can you use instead of eggs? There are numerous egg 'replacers' you can use when baking vegan food. My favourite is applesauce because it gives the batter a good texture. Bananas are another good option. A third option is flax seed, although this is a little harder to make/perfect. If you grind about 1 tablespoon of flax seed with 1/3 tablespoon of water in a coffee grinder, it will release the seed oils and create the perfect egg replacer. I believe 1 tablespoon is the equivalent of one and a half eggs.

Enjoy

Taco Night

I'm so excited to be making tacos tomorrow night for dinner. Yes that's right, I'm making tacos ...vegan style.

I've always been a little apprehensive about 'fake meat'. The art of fake meat has been perfected to the point where I now think that it's too much like the real thing. I know that's probably really annoying, but there's something creepy about chicken made out of soy. Especially because it still has the same taste and texture. How do they do it?

But i have decided to forget all that and try something new. The company Yves has lots of vegan meat replacements. When I was at the grocery store the other day, i noticed they had 'Mexican taco meat' and i decided to buy it. Now i have a huge block of soy meat covered in spices just sitting in my freezer; hence the taco night.

Ive picked up some tortillas (although you could easily make these at home) and vegetables. I might even go all out and grate some soy mozzarella to top them off.

I like to add edamame beans and corn., as well as the usual fixings of onions, chopped lettuce and tomatoes.

Since the 'meat' is already seasoned all you have to do is heat it up in a pan. Quick and simple.

Serve with salad, tortilla chips and salsa, yam fries....whatever suits your fancy.

Wake Me Up Muesli

My friend Emily taught me how to make Muesli (essentially it's toasted granola). It taste really good and can be easily adapted to your individual tastes. Plus it's kind of nice to make your own cereal because a)it's cheaper and b) you actually know everything that goes into it!

Ingredients

• large oats
  
• raisins or dried cranberries
  
• nuts (walnuts or pecans)
• flax seeds
• sunflower seeds
• panella (or brown sugar)
• maple syrup or honey
• all spice
• ground cloves
• cinnamon

Heat up a large frying pan. Don't put any oil in the pan, but be sure to keep a eye on it; the oats will toast quickly.

Toast your oats a few cups at a time. Keep flipping them until they are lightly brown on both sides. It doesn't have to be perfect, so long as the general colour is light brown, it'll taste good. I usually do a whole bag of oats at a time. Why? Because making Muesli is a time consuming task.

Once you've toasted all your oats put them into a large mixing bowl. Chop up your raisins and nuts. Put as many or as little as you see fit.

Toss in your spices. I only use a little All spice and ground cloves, maybe 1tsp of each and about 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. But again, it depends on how much you're making. So add a little and gradually increase the amount.

Add flax seeds and sunflower seeds. I like to go heavy on the flax, because it is high in omegas.

In a large pot, pour in your mixture and turn the heat on very low. Add about 1/4 sugar and your honey. If you use Maple syrup, it tends to be sweeter, so adjust your sugar accordingly. I personally don't like mine too sweet, so I use very little sugar and I use only enough honey to make some of the cereal begin to stick together. Once you've stirred it all together and the sugar has melted, take it off the heat and let it cool before putting it away.

Et voila! it's perfect just with milk (soy/almond/rice) or topped with bananas, strawberries, blueberries, etc. My mom likes to throw some on top of her yogurt in the morning. I love Muesli because I am always starving at breakfast and it keeps me full until lunchtime.

Grace's Pizza

Grace makes a wonderful vegan pizza. Yah! vegans can have Pizza!

Ingredients

• pizza crust or Greek pitas
• frozen spinach
• pesto sauce
• tomato/ pizza sauce
• roasted red peppers
• olives
• mushroom zucchini, broccoli

Directions

Cover the pizza crust with tomato sauce. Add a generous amount of pesto (yum). Add some of your defrosted chopped spinach, them go crazy with veggies. I like chopped broccoli, roasted red peppers, olives, mushrooms and zucchini. You can also top it off with some tofu (if you aren't sick of it yet!).

Stick it in the oven at 350 for about twenty minutes or until the crust is lightly brown and the veggies look cooked.

Of course you can add cheese if you are so inclined; feta would taste good.

Zinc Topper

If you're sick of munching on almonds or peanuts, why not try sunflower seeds? I like to toss Tamari sauce on the sunflower seeds then I bake them for about 10-15 minutes in the oven. It's quick and they taste really good. Usually, I'll make a whole bunch at once, that way I can throw some on a salad or eat them as a snack and still have leftovers. Plus they're high in zinc, which is always exciting!

Pitas filled with Couscous love!

I promise to be better at posting messages more frequently. The past two weeks have been insanely busy and hence the lack of posts.

Every Tuesday my sister comes over for vegan dinner. Sometimes I'm not terribly creative and I like I don't have a lot of time in between class and dinnertime, so I improvise. Here's what I'm planning to make this week.

Pitas filled with Couscous Love!

Ingredients

• couscous
• capers
• veggie stock (not necessary)
• tomatoes
• mushrooms
• onions
  
• whole wheat pitas

Directions

Couscous is one of those annoying grains that is difficult to cook because it is hard to measure out (or at least I think so!) I usually cook about 1/3 cup of couscous and gestimate on the veggie stock, but somewhere around 3/4 cup.

Put it on the stove and once it's boiled turn the heat down low, with the lid on. After it has cooked (it should only take a few minutes) throw in the chopped onions, tomatoes and mushrooms and capers. I would add a little more veggie stock and either keep it on the lowest heat or off the heat entirely. Continue stirring every few minutes.

Meanwhile place you pitas in the oven for a few minutes to heat them up or until they become slightly toasted.

Once it's all done, you can start to compile your pitas. I would add hummus inside the pitas just so it doesn't taste dry. But if you're terribly sick of hummus, tzatziki might taste good. Since it's a pita you can add anything; like chopped lettuce or alfalfa sprouts on top.

I would also serve this with a good salad. Maybe a spinach salad with oranges and cashews just to make sure you're getting enough iron and protein.

Enjoy!

and next time I will try to make something much more creative!

There is such thing as a Vegan Thanksgiving!

Tonight my wonderful family made an entirely vegan meal for our Thanksgiving Dinner. We had veggie lasagna with soy mozzarella, kale and mushrooms. Oven baked yams and steamed broccoli with ginger. We also had salad with soy-miso creamy dressing and pumpkin pie! It was wonderful. Now, I know it's not the typical cranberry sauce with turkey, but it's a good example of a filling and tasty meal that's totally animal product free.

Easy as PIE!

I love the cheesy titles.

Until this past Saturday, I’ had never made pie. It seems like such a daunting task, and I in all honesty I’m not a huge pie fan. It’s like eating jam inside a crust. But being Thanksgiving, I decided to make vegan pumpkin pie. Luckily, I was able to make two, because the first one didn’t work out so well! I forgot the molasses and the sugar….

Ingredients

• One can of pumpkin
• ½ cup of medium tofu
• 12oz of almond or rice milk (or soy)
• ½ cup of brown sugar
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 2 tbsp molasses
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ginger
• ¼ tsp cloves
• 1 tbsp cinnamon

For the Crust

If you’ve got time on your hands (and want to go all out) you can make your own crust. The ingredients are quite simple: pastry flour, salt, vegan margarine and cold water. Actually my sister makes her own quiche crust all the time and uses regular flour. Since the pie is full of sugar, don’t worry about making the crust sweet. But it does double the preparation time, so you might just want to buy a pre-made crust at the grocery store. I was able to find one without glucose at Whole Foods/Capers. But being Whole Foods it was about $4.50! So consider yourself warned.

**You can also grind up about ¼ cup of graham crackers and add them into the crust with the flour.

Directions

So at this point you’ve made your crust or bought a handy dandy one from the grocery store. If you’ve made your own (congrats) make sure you bake it for a bit before adding the filling.

Mix the wet ingredients together in a bowl (pumpkin, almond milk, tofu and molasses). It helps if you chop up the tofu first, especially if you don’t have an electric mixer.

Beat it all together until the tofu is blended. It will never be perfect, so expect to see tiny white pieces but this recipe works better with medium tofu than silken.

Add in the dry ingredients, including all your spices. Stir well.

Pour the batter into your pie crust and place in the oven at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Then turn the heat down to 350 degrees and leave it in the over for about 40-50 minutes.

Take it out of the oven and set it aside for one hour. Once it’s cooled, cover it with tin foil and place it in the fridge for at least 45 minutes. At this point you can leave it in the fridge until you serve the pie. The best thing about pumpkin pie is that it’s supposed to be mushy so it’s hard to mess up! My favourite kind of baking!

xx

PS: regarding the iron post, my Grandma says molasses is good with toast.

Pumping Iron

I was recently talking to a friend about iron deficiencies. We were trying to figure out some of the best ways to incorporate iron into our diets. Clearly we lead exciting lives since we are both enthralled by our vitamin intakes! Not getting enough iron can be a serious problem as I'm sure you're all aware. And if you're a woman, you're more at risk. I personally don't like to take supplements. I think if you're smart about what you eat, you should be able to get all your nutrients from food. Isn't that one of the main arguments about veganism? that we don't need to depend on other animals for our survival. I digress! The important question is, how can you get enough iron without taking supplements?

First of all, what does low iron do exactly? Well, according to my research it helps your immunity, helps carry oxygen to all the cells in your body and a variety of other essential tasks. I can definitely feel when I'm seriously lacking in iron. I get really tired, I bruise easily and those purple bags under my eyes seems to get more pronounced. Now I'm not sure that these symptoms are all due to low iron, but the point is, iron is something everyone should monitor because it IS important (whether your a vegan or not).

How do you get it? yes dark leafy greens are a good form of iron, but in order to fully absorb the iron provided by these vegetables, it's best to take it with a form a vitamin C. In other words, Vitamin C helps enhance the absorption of iron.

So what are some good vegetables that are also high in vitamin C?

• red and green bell peppers
• broccoli
• tomatoes
• potatoes
• spinach,
• mustard greens
• kale

And obviously citrus fruits and berries, papaya, cantaloupe and grapefruit are also good sources of Vitamin C.

But sometimes it's just too hard to plan a meal with enough protein, enough iron, enough vitamin c, enough calcium..... When i come home at 6pm the last thing i want to do is take an hour just cooking dinner.

So here's my Grandmother's Favourite Tip: molasses. Yes, it tastes gross and is deceitfully pleasant smelling, but it's very high in iron. Every few days, I eat two tablespoons of nasty molasses and I can be reassured that I'm getting some of my necessary iron. That's not to say you shouldn't add oranges to your spinach salad, or pineapple to your stir fry, but it does mean a little less worrying and planning. Two things i think everyone can appreciate.

There are lots of good website online with more information. This is one I like:
http://www.vegfamily.com/health/boost-iron-intake.htm

On a side note: I'm making vegan Pumpkin pie tonight, so provided it goes well, I will post the recipe tomorrow.

xxxx

Spaghetti Squash- Just in Time for Fall

My mom used to make this all the time when we were little! I remember thinking it was super exciting when we’d have Spaghetti Squash for dinner, but now I realize it’s just about the easiest meal in the world! Oh how young and foolish I was. But i do love this meal cause it reminds me of the Fall Season.

Anyways, when I was grocery shopping the other day I saw a special on Spaghetti squash. They were so cheap; I think that even if I haven’t known what they were I still would have bought one! And even though it looks like it would be hard and awkward to cook, it really is easy. Trust me; you’ll never want regular spaghetti ever again.

Ingredients:

One giant spaghetti Squash (it should be bright yellow if it’s ripe)

Can of diced tomatoes
Half of an Onion
Red pepper
Black Olives
Carrots
Eggplant
Basil

Directions:

Cut the squash in half and clean out the mushy inside.
Bake it in the oven at 350 until the inside is soft enough that you can scoop it all out. It’ll fall out in long stringy pieces, hence the name! I like it when it’s still a little hard cause then it has more of that pasta texture.

In a pot pour in the diced tomatoes at low heat.
After about three minutes, add your chopped up veggies. Start with carrots, red pepper, zucchini then eggplant (or if you have your own mix of vegetables, be sure to start with the hardest to the softest).

Throw in your chopped onion and chopped basil. Let the sauce simmer at a low heat for 10 minutes, stirring it every once in a while.

Put your spaghetti squash in a bowl and throw on the sauce. I also like to add black olives and if you want, you can add some parmesan cheese.

Et voila! I dare you to try to find an easier dinner. Plus it’s so hearty, which is nice considering the cold weather.

xx

Community Eats!

On one of my many frequent trips to Sprouts (a student run café at UBC) I notice a sign about Community Eats! In-between big bites of my delicious Apple Cinnamon Corn Cake (its better than it sounds) I frantically wrote down the information before heading off to class.

Here it is:

Community Eats! is a biweekly lunch served for free (FREE in Vancouver?? I had to double check that) at the café in the UBC SUB. It offers students a chance to get together and discuss food based issues; such as sustainability, health and organic farming. The best part is all the lunches are cooked with food that would otherwise be thrown out. For example, lots of it comes from produce stores that can’t sell bruised fruits and veggies. What a great idea! I love it. So for anyone on campus, these forums are held every other Friday 11:30-1:30pm.

For more information check out the website at:

http://www.ams.ubc.ca/clubs/nfc/communityeats.html

Homemade Naan Bread

I love these; they're really quick and taste good. I learned how to make them when i was in Ecuador. We'd make them whenever there was nothing left to eat except yesterday's dinner. Take my word for it, you can wrap any sort of leftovers in a naan and it'll taste ten times better!

Plus you can eat them with pretty much anything. Sometimes i'll make one big one and fill it with chopped spinach, tofu, hummus, tomatoes and black olives.


Ingredients

• Flour (white or Whole wheat)
• water
  
• salt
• seasoning for flavour (I like Mrs. Dash's Herb & Garlic, but to each his own)

Directions

Put roughly two cups of flour in a bowl. Throw in a bit of seasoning and salt.

Add only a little water at a time. I don't know the exact measurement cause it's all by trial and error, but start small and add more as needed (approx. 1/4 cup).

Mix the water and flour together with your hands, it should start to form a ball. Kneed the mix, make sure it's not sticky throughout. Check this by breaking the ball in half, if it all sticks to your fingers keep mixing in flour.

Sprinkle more seasoning to your tastes.

Divide the mix into a few balls (depending on how big or small you want them, but probably this will make two of a decent size).

Spread it out into a pancake shape using your fingers, trying to make it as even and thin as possible, but make sure there are no holes.

In a frying pan heat some olive oil, you want a decent size of olive oil, as you'll essentially be frying these. But to keep your heart happy, don't add too much, just enough to make sure the pan is covered.

Turn the heat down to about 6, place a naan into the pan and let it fry for a few minutes. Flip. Keep frying and flipping until both sides appear cooked and light brown. They should sort of bubble.

When I eat these with dip, i usually skip the salt in the mix and instead, I'll sprinkle a bit of coarse salt on at the end.

xx

The Easiest Brownies in the World

If you like all things chocolate (and who doesn't?) then you might want to try these super easy brownies. The best thing about these brownies is you'll probably already own most of these ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup of carob chips (or dark chocolate chips)
  

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.

Pour in water, vegetable oil and vanilla; mix until well blended.

Spread evenly in a 9x13 inch baking pan. Sprinkle carob chips on top.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until the top is no longer shiny. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting into squares.

And enjoy!!

The Number One Question!

If you ask a vegetarian or a vegan what's the number one question people ask them, i guarantee they'll all tell you the same thing: "how do you get enough protein?" I've been asked this question so many times. Now when i hear it i have a generic answer ready to fall off the tip of my tongue: "I eat a lot of nuts." In reality, it requires a little more work then just eating nuts, but you get the idea.

So just to set the record straight, protein is really easy to get from vegetarian food. Meat is not the only option. It's in cheese, yogurt and milk. If you're like me and don't eat dairy, then you can easily get protein from nuts, any soy products, hummus, peanut butter,etc.

Another comment i frequently get is: "i would be a vegetarian but i'm worried i won't get enough protein." First of all, i do recognize that their intentions are good and they're thinking with their heads, not just following a vegetarian trend. But how many non-vegetarian know what their recommended daily protein requirement is? (for the record it varies according to height and weight-find out).

The point is, don't be afraid to eat vegetarian because of protein concerns. If you're making dinner throw in some nuts or tofu. In the morning, add peanut butter to your oatmeal. It might require a little extra research or effort on your part, but it's easy and so worth it, both ethically and environmentally.

If you're new to soy products here are some brief descriptions of some of the most common ones:

• Tofu: a soft food produced by adding a coagulating agent to the liquid pressed from pureed soybeans. Use to replace ground beef; as a scrambled egg substitute; add cubes to soups and stews; stir-fry with vegetables; make dips, shakes, and desserts.
• Soymilk: liquid squeezed from pureed soybeans
• Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP): dry granules made from compressed de-fatted soy flour. Use to replace ground beef in tacos, chili, sloppy joes, and barbecue sandwiches.
• Tempeh: a combination of cooked soybeans and grains with a mold culture resulting in a chunky cake. Use as pan-fried cubes as a meat substitute, grill, make a sandwich spread, add cubes to soup or stew.
• Miso: a fermented soybean paste. Use as a condiment or soup base.

xxx

Quinoa Corn Salad

Ingredients:

• Quinoa- a South American Grain that is super tasty, full of iron and a bit like couscous
  
• Frozen corn
  
• Red Pepper
  
• Red Onion
  
• Garlic and Olive oil
• Cilantro

Basically you can add anything you want including all your produce that needs to be cooked (mushrooms, zucchini, carrots, spinach, anything). It might also be good to replace the red onion with chopped up green onions, but instead of frying them I'd wait until the end and toss them in with the hot sauce.

Method:

Cook Quinoa with either water or veggie broth. It cooks similar to rice, so about 1/3 cup of Quinoa for each cup of liquid.

Leave on for about 10-15 minutes on medium heat. You'll know it's done when the 'curls' come out! Take it off the heat, leave the lid on and let it sit for 10 minutes while you prepare the rest.

In a frying pan roast two cloves of garlic and half a red onion, finely chopped, in a bit of olive oil.
Add a cup of frozen corn
Chop up an entire red pepper and throw it in the pan
Add a 1/3 of a Firm Tofu block- cut it up in tiny chunks.
Chop up a handful of cilantro

Stir it all in with the Quinoa off the heat and let it sit with lid on for a few minutes.

Then add Tabasco or Frank’s Hot sauce for taste: I add lots! And salt!

Eating like a Vegan on a Student's Budget

Most students share a common problem- a constantly empty wallet. And if you're anything like me, you'll cut costs wherever you can just to save $10. My sisters always joke that I'm incredibly cheap, and if I'm honest, I'd have to agree with them. I love shopping for Safeway deals, if it's a two for one, I'll buy it. I can't get enough of Costo, even though I don't own a membership card cause who wants to spend $50 a year on that? Instead I've perfected the art of mooch off my much loving friends and family.

Shortly after my first and second year in University i realized that maybe it's worth spending an extra $20 a month on fresh produce. No one likes scurvy. So it only took me two years to recognize the importance of eating well and buying good and healthy foods. And in a city like Vancouver, you really have no excuse not to frequent the produce stores. They're EVERYWHERE and wonderfully inexpensive. I think i spend an average of $5 each time i go and I load up; seriously we're talking bags and bags of berries, veggies and the likes.

You don't have to be a vegan to eat well and adopt a healthy diet and i'm not trying to convert anyone to the vegan way of life! My meat loving roommates would have none of that. Instead, i decided to start this blog to help other students incorporate some "real" meals every once in a while. To expand beyond the staples of chicken and pasta. I have a roommate who, twice a month dedicates two days to eating vegetarian. She loves it because she gets to experiment with different cooking ideas and believe it or not, you don't always need those heavy meats and cheeses that make you feel blah. Even though they taste so good, it's a)not going to kill you to go one day without a hunk of beef, and b) I guarantee you'll get all the necessary nutrients and really enjoy your food! who'd have thunk??

So my first few links will be some recipes I've made up, or tweaked through trial and error, including some quick snack ideas and baked goods (the one thing i always miss the most). I also love this restaurant in Victoria that has the world's best vegan fudge brownies. They're unreal; i made them for some skeptical family members and the consensus was that they were the best brownies they've ever had. I'll be adding those as well.

Cheers,
xx