Tempeh Tacos for Megan Campbell!

If you haven't noticed, I love tacos. Any kind of tacos. And I'm always down to make a different type of tacos. A while ago, I made Happy Healthy Tofu Tacos, but this time I decided I wanted to change it up and use tempeh! Personally, I love tempeh a LOT more than tofu. It has a lot of flavor, and when you marinate your tempeh overnight you get an amazing flavor! Be wary, though, because there are tempeh out there that is NOT gluten free- the ones that aren't gluten free usually have names like "3 grain" "5 grain" and such. But garden vegetable and soy tempeh are perfectly gluten free! 

My favorite marinade for the tempeh is either a buffalo sauce or a teriyaki sauce- both of which are amazing. But for these, I marinated them in buffalo and then sauteed them in my Homemade Taco Seasoning, and they were da BOMBA. This taco seasoning can go far, and it's sooo good. 

The other great thing about tempeh is that it cooks so fast and when you sautee it, you don't lose your marinade- it cooks in it much more! Only 20 minutes and dinner was ready! ugh I wish I had some more! IT WAS AMAAZZINGG.

It's our last week of finals and we're all in a hurry to begin our studies! And if you couldn't tell from this picture, Bil obviously wanted to inhale his burrito if he could. Bill loves to make his into tacos, but I love salads. Next time, I'm probably going to try and make a burrito bowl and see how that tastes- I bet it is going to be orgasmic.

For this recipe, I'll just give you a quick guide on how to handle the tempeh

For the Buffalo Sauce:

1. Cut your tempeh into small strips, not the long-way but the shorter way (you'll understand when you buy the tempeh)
2. Marinate it in your buffalo sauce for 2 hours-overnight: 
        - 1/4 cup buffalo sauce of choice (I used the chili lime by cholula hot sauce)
        - 3 Tablespoons minced garlic
        - a dash of salt and pepper
        - 2 Tablespoons Honey or Maple Syrup


To cook the tempeh:
1. Preheat a saute pan over medium-high heat with 2T canola oil
2. Pour in your tempeh mixture (marinade and everything) and let it sizzle and cook (make sure your tempeh strips aren't over top of each other- let every piece have a portion of the bottom :])
3. after 3-4 minutes, turn your tempeh over and let it cook another 3-4 minutes on each side until it is nice and crispy
4. Throw in 2 tablespoons taco seasoning and just coat everything
5. Put it in a wrap, on a salad, or over rice!


Some awesome additions:

• corn
• sauteed onions
• sauteed poblanos 
• black beans
• spinach
• tofu sour cream

Bon appetit! Oh, and here's a nice little photo for all you people studying for finals! This guy here took a 20 minute power nap and snores like darth vador (courtesy of ally carmona)

Mini Waffle Sammiches!

The stress of finals is killin me!! I'm done my junior year Thursday, but I have 4 finals that are in my way! ahhh!! So close, yet so far! I'm gonna make this post really short, simple and to the point- to make these get a waffle mix- I love King Arthur's! Follow the directions, substitute eggs and milk as such ( I still love the flax eggs for these!) And make these the mini ones if you could! You'll be saving calories! Trust me! Especially if you load up on your fruits! Happy mornings, now on to studying for finals WAH :[

The Loving Hut

This just in- a vegan chain is rissinggg!! My mom and I went when we were in Florida and fell in LOVE! Now, we're obsessed and were on the hunt to find the closest one. Indeed, we did. Our closest is in Ledgewood, New Jersey! It's like a good hour- but me and my mom will drive there because it's that good! And we live in the Poconos so it's kinda a given to drive miles on miles everywhere! My favorite are the soups- and this soup is SO.AMAZING. It's a "Pho Bit" or something like that! ha! All the restaurants are different, but they are in many places! Here's a list!

Anyway's, today was my last day of class, so I'm off to celebrate! WOOHOO!

Stuff-You-Up Peppers!

Thursdays: my day for relaxation. Not only that, but Wednesday was my last round of work and presentations until my first final next Wednesday!!! So instead of starting my studies a week early to get a head start, I decided to cook all day and enjoy the day before I begin my stressful week!

Bill and I made some delicious Hangover Breakfast Potatoes (no hangover necessary), went on a nice, long walk through the campus, and then I came home and baked so many goodies (which I'll show you sooner or later!) . Then for dinner, Bill helped me make these- Stuffed peppers with green lentils, brown rice, spinach, poblanos and corn. Oh my goodness were they good! We made enough stuffing for about 6-8 peppers, and if you have a dutch oven- I strongly recommend getting that out of the attic and using it! Definitely made a difference! I mean, just look how good it looks!

This recipe is rather time consuming, so if you're in a hurry I wouldn't suggest it. BUT it has great leftovers and those leftovers can make an awesome soup, a great side dish, or you can even pop the leftovers in a pepper and knock of 30 minutes since you don't need to make the stuffing! It's a diverse, fun and easy recipe!

Lentil Stuffed Peppers 

Makes 8 Peppers

Gluten Free and Vegan

Time: 1hr, 20 min.

Stuffing:

1 "Success" bag of brown rice, cooked

1 bag of green lentils

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 poblano pepper, chopped

2 onions, chopped

1 cup fresh spinach leaves

1 small bag of frozen corn

2 T olive oil (plus more to drizzle)

4 cups vegetable broth

1 cup water

1T dried tarragon

1t onion powder

1t garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

grated havarti cheeze (I love Jalapeno-Garlic Havarti Style Wedge by Daiya)

8 Bell peppers (make sure they can stand upright!!)

Instructions

1. Cook your brown rice as directions follow, and set aside. While rice is cooking, rinse your lentils. 

2. In a dutch oven, heat 2T olive oil over medium-high heat. 

3. Sautee onions until translucent, approximately 3-5 minutes. Add chopped poblanos and peppers and cook for another 5 minutes. 

4. Once these are cooked, deglaze the bottom of your dutch oven with 1 cup of the vegetable broth. Once this is done, add in the lentils, corn, tarragon, onion powder, garlic powder, and vegetable broth. Make sure to add only enough vegetable broth so that it is just above the mixture. 

5. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and add your brown rice, s&p and water (only use as much as needed to just cover the mixture). Let it simmer for 30 minutes, covered.

6. While this is simmering, now is a good time to prepare your peppers- Preheat your oven to 400 F and spray a 9x13 pyrex baking dish with cooking spray

7. Cut the tops of your peppers and core out the inside. Assemble them in your baking dish

8. Next, after 20 minutes that your mixture has been simmering, add in your spinach. 

9. Once your stuffing is simmered, take it off the heat and begin to stuff your peppers (I stuff mine to the very top and then some more!)

10. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil, and bake for 30 minutes.

11. After it has cooked for 30 minutes, remove the aluminum foil and sprinkle on the havarti cheese on top of the peppers and drizzle a little olive oil. 

12. Cook for another 10 more minutes- until the cheese has melted and it is browned and bubbling

13. serve and enjoy!

Iggy's newest obsession: chewing straws!

Primal JERKY!

This jerky is by far the best ever. It's vegan and gluten free and it tastes SOOOOO good! I highly recommend these tasty strips of goodness. Please, Meatless vegan jerky that's gluten free?! Ah-may-zing. And, I didn't even like jerky when I ate meat! This just gives a new definition to jerky...and orgy in your mouth 0.o

update on my baby - he can climb on the window !! eeeee this is too scary for me to handle!

Breakfast + Shopping!

This weekend was such a delight! Although it was Blue and White Weekend at Penn State, I had to go home for my best friend's little sister's sweet 16. I know- I haven't been to a sweet sixteen since I was sixteen and that was like...5-6 years ago! Yikes! But it was a lot of fun and I'm so glad I got to see my dream team <3 

The next day, my mom took me business casual shopping! Ahhh crazy how fast life gets at you. Well, I didn't want to overload on a big breakfast because my mom and I were going to seasons 52 to eat ( my FAVORITE place besides The Loving Hut!), but I had to eat! So I made this quick little snackity snack- Banana, Almond Butter, and Rice Cakes! DELISH! You can put some jam on it to make it even better, but personally Almond Butter and Banana is my probably the greatest combo ever. Ever since "Face" from the old Nick Jr. taught me such an awesome sammich!

We decided to have an early dinner to beat the crowd. Seasons 52 is always soo busy. But this is what I got!!! It's called the Farmer's Market Special- Grilled Tofu, Spicy Snow Peas with grilled shiitake, and steamed beats, carrots, asparagus, broccoli Peppers, and carmelized Onions. It was HEAVEN. It filled me up too! Now, if you want to take the non-gf choice, you can have the sauce and taboouleh that says on the menu, but since I can't eat them, I asked for them without it and my waiter gave me extra vegetables instead! Honestly, without the sauce it was awesome and I felt like I wasn't missing out on anything! Oh please I want some more!

Hangover Homestyle "Diner" Breakfast Potatoes

Now I know it's a Tuesday, but we have Mad Mex Margarita Monday's here at penn state. Let me tell ya- not only does Mad Mex have gluten free and vegan options, but on these Monday's they have $5 22 oz Margaritas with a plethora of flavors. Case and point- I'm so glad I don't have class on Tuesdays. Monday is the only day that I actually drink- ironic I know, but Mad Mex is just my favorite place in the world! And, I have my Tuesday morning breakfast ready to happen.

These breakfast potatoes are so simple, and so delicious, that if you are ever going to make anything from my blog, it has to be these. All you need are baby red potatoes, onions, peppers, salt and pepper, olive oil, and crushed red pepper flakes. Get your oil nice and hot, add in your onions, caramelize them, add in your peppers, then add in your potatoes. Once your potatoes are in, reduce heat from medium-high to medium or medium-low and cook them until they have a nice crisp, brown exterior. season with salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes and you have yourself the greatest diner breakfast potatoes- DINERS will be wanting this simple recipe! Serve them with ANYTHING, I love mine with a Tofu veggie scramble, or just a huge plate of breakfast potatoes on their own! If there's anything that's going to cure the Tuesday Hangovers, it's gonna be a greasy plate

warning- this recipe is probably not your best bet of healthy- if you want healthy, try roasting them instead and lemme know how it goes! I don't have that kinda patience to wait ~45 minutes in the morning for food!

Oh goodness, Iggy already trying to master flip cup!

Energy Dense Lunch!

When you're a nutrition major, you are always hearing the importance of Energy Dense (ED) foods. vs "empty calories". ED foods are foods like your vegetables and fruits- these are very low in calories but high in nutrients- iron, calcium, vitamin C, b vitamins, etc! Empty calories are your processed foods- twinkies, hostess, white bread, all that nasty stuff; these foods are extremely high in calories and have slim to none nutritional value. These foods are obviously the foods you want to keep as your "cheats" and very limited. It's so hard to keep this out of your diet when you eliminate them because your body is so used to this sugar addiction, it kinda crashes in a way and your body begins to crave it. But you need to eliminate it and as much as it is gonna be hard, but the end results are gonna be awesome! 

Here's an awesome idea to substitute maybe a sandwich and it's sooo delicious!

Spinach salad with:

- 1/2 c Tuna salad

- 1/4c carrots

- 1/4 red bell peppers

- 1 cup sliced cherry tomatoes (I roast mine!)

- 2 T sesame seeds

- balsamic vinaigrette (I make my own- balsamic vinegar + EVOO)

Healthy snack idea?! Rice cake with BANANAS (yup, they're under what looks like a mound of chocolate) and melt a few pieces of dark chocolate in the microwave. Perfect snack to curb that little craving and it tastes s00o delicious :]

Now, if you're reading this right now, I advise you to immediately get off my site and go outside~ it's BEAUTIFFULLL :]

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins + Homemade Flour Mix!

My weekend was extremely epic! My family are huge Flyers fans, so although it was an awesome weekend since they're up 3-0 vs. the Penguins, it was stressful at best! And on top of that, my mom came to penn state to celebrate game 3! It was so nice to see my mom, and Iggy sure enjoyed seeing his grandma :]

The stresses of living continue. When I thought all was well after I was released from my roommate troubles earlier in the semester, I've found myself in a tough situation. I love the girls I'm supposed to live with, but my mom is not too excited about me signed a year lease to live in for four months, and she kinda wants me to consider renting and living on my own again. I think it's a more logical idea- especially since the reason why I was going to move in with these girls is because of my best friend, who just decided she isn't living there anymore "/. And also, these other girls don't know the difficulties of avoiding contamination, so my mom is really trying to encourage me to possibly rent for four months. It'll also be a lot cheaper on me which is always nice.

BUT ANYWAYS, to celebrate the flyers, I made some amazinggg Lemon Poppyseed Muffins. No relation, just really good and wanted to make something for my mom :] I adapted the recipe from a book by Richard J. Coppedge called "Gluten-Free Baking with The Culinary Institute of America". Indeed, it's a book by a professor at the CIA. However, the book is not vegan, so I made some accommodations to the recipe in the book. I also made a batch of six- one for each person  plus one for a tester :]

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

makes 6

3/4cup Gluten Free AP flour or flour blend below!

1/2 teaspoon Baking powder

6 tablespoons Coconut oil (melted)

1/4c + 2tablespoons sugar

a pinch of salt

2 Flax Eggs

1 1/2tablespoons Lemon juice

Zest of a whole lemon

2 tablespoons Poppy seeds

1. Preheat oven to 375 F

2. Line a muffin tin with muffin cups or cooking spray

3. Whisk flour and baking powder together in a medium bowl

4. beat oil, sugar and salt together until the sugar doesn't seem as grainy

5. In another bowl, combine flax eggs and lemon juice and mix. Add to the wet mixture (oil, sugar, salt)

6. Add to the flour and mix until JUST combined (it can be lumpy- you don't want to overmix it!)

7. Add zest and popy seeds and mix until just incorporated, I would say maybe 4-5 folds 

8. Scoop into muffin tin and baking for 20-25 minutes. You'll know when it is ready when the tops are golden brown and they bounce back when you touch the top.

Homemade Flour Blend

adapted from the book I mentioned above

Yield: 4 3/4 cups

1 3/4 cups White rice flour

1 1/4 cups Brown rice flour

3/4 cup Potato starch

1 cup Tapioca starch

Parmesan Veggie Heaven

It's been a hectic week for school. I had my last crucial exam until finals yesterday, and today I had to complete my final case study for my "nutrition throughout the life cycle" class. I love the class, but the teacher grades unreasonably hard. But what has been my favorite thing of all time was when I went home and my mom bought me some vegan parmesan (obv. gluten free as well). First, I was a little sketched out...I'm not a huge fan of the soy cheezes and whatnot. But this vegan parmesan, was the greatest alternative ever. It tasted like the real thing, I double checked to see if it was vegan (it was). I thought I was going to go through the whole thing in a day! 

It goes great with veggies, I threw some on my vegetable medley I had as a little snack. I also tried it on pasta, garlic bread, more vegetables and it tasted so flippin delicious. I also put it on my caprese salad..yup so good. 

Iggy's been so sweepyyy all day- he had to go to the vet to get a shot :[ poor guy! But he did so well and got so many compliments on his eyebrows <3 

Kickoff to the Flyers Playoffs

Oye vay mamamia! These flyers playoffs are going to be intense. First game was tonight (overtime winner thanks voracek) and I don't know if my little heart can handle more of these games! But, it's been kinda yuck out since we got back from easter, so me and Bill decided to make some cookies! However, the cookies weren't homemade- we found this gluten free, egg free, dairy free premade cookie mix and instantly we were hooked. Well, I was at least; Bill just went along with my excitement.

At first, I was a little nervous, I'm all about making stuff from scratch- I rarely buy premade stuff. My salad dressings are all homemade for peet's sake! But Bill and I just saw this and wanted to try them because we were in a rush for a sugar rush! kneeslap 

Eat pantry "Sugar Momma" Cookie Dough. Gluten Free. Vegan. And flippin amazing. go to www.eatpastry.com to find out where you can buy it in your town. I swear to you- they have so many other options and I want to try them because not only is this cute, but it is AWESOME.

i want.some.more

oh and iggy's newest hideout for when Bill is screaming and running around for the flyers. AYE...it's gonna be a long season! F L Y E R S

The Veganish Diet

My favorite?! Yogurt with a plethora of fruits and then drizzled with agave syrup! Topped with toasted walnuts as well! My doctor told me that since my gluten intolerance is very sensitive (I can't eat oats :[) I should try to incorporate some type of non-fat dairy...so I told him the only thing I will probably eat is non-fat greek yogurt and he said this would be enough. My doctor is very worried of my limited diet, and he told me I'm beginning to lose weight again and is concerned. So I told him I'll go on a vegan-ish diet- A vegan diet with occasional cheats- as in yogurt, fish and eggs :P. My iron deficiency anemia is really low (I registered like 2mg when the recommended is 11mg). But yeah, so yogurt, and rearely fish and eggs are probably the only things I'll ever cheat on. Cheese? eww, no. I'm excited about eating yogurt because I miss that so much! Soy yogurt and other non-dairy yogurts tasted kinda gross if they weren't in smoothies, and sometimes eating soy all day can be kind've weird (lawlz). But here are some really awesome combinations to pair with your yogurt!

Yogurt with:

-Strawberries, bananas, blueberries, and pecans

-Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries

-Mangoes, bananas, pineapple and walnuts

-granola mix with yogurt

-Blueberries, blackberries, bananas, mangoes, walnuts and almonds (Picture above :])

-Goji berries, walnuts, bananas, strawberries, and sprinkle so cocoa powder

-SO MANY MORE! But these are my favorite :]

What are your favorite breakfast ideas!

Happy Healthy Tacos D:

I've been so busy all week! Iggy has been keeping me preoccupied when I am not studying. I'm so frustrated because I'm worrying about a MICROBIOLOGY class...I'm a nutrition major, I'm never going to be explaining to anyone the transcription and translation process! Oye. Anyways, no complaints! This week has been so beautifull! And Bill, Iggy and I have been kicking it back, enjoying the opening season of the Phillies, watching the masters and sixers! 

We're going home for easter this weekend and we needed something to make to use up most of the food that might go bad. So we came up with Tofu Tacos! We made a huge mixture of peppers, tofu, black beans, corn, and tostitos salsa and then my homemade taco seasoning and made our own tacos- delish! It was a very simple recipe, but I'll give you the recipe for my homemade taco seasoning- it's so much better than the store brands and it is so much cheaper- since you probably have all these spices on hand (and if not- you are definitely going to be using them over and over again)

Taco Seasoning

2t Garlic Powder

2t Onion Powder

2-3t Chili Powder (I love ancho-chili powder)

1t Red Pepper Flakes

1t Smoked Paprika

1 1/2t oregano

Use with anything..I rubbed it on the tofu and then cooked it with the veggies! 

Vegan Pot Pie!

Serves 6

Takes approximately 1 hour

Top Layer

3-4 Potatoes, Peeled

2T EVOO

Salt and Pepper to taste

Pot Pie

2T EVOO

1 Sweet onion, diced finely

1 Zucchini, diced

3 Cloves garlic, minced

4 Carrots, Diced

2t Thyme

2t Herbes de Provence (or use 1t terragon if you don't have)

3C Vegetable broth

1/2 Cup frozen peas

1/2 Cup frozen corn

1-15oz can black beans, drained

1-15oz can kidney beans, drained

1t salt

1/2t pepper

Preparation

1. Bring 4 cups water to a boil. Once boiling, add salt and peeled potatoes

2. Boil uncovered for about 10 minutes- until potatoes fall apart when poked by a fork

3. Drain, add 2T EVOO and mash using a potato masher. Add salt and pepper to a desired taste and set aside

4. To begin the pot pie~ first open your beans and drain the water.

5. Saute the onion in the EVOO- Preheat a 4 Quart saucepot on medium-high heat and cook onions until translucent- approximately 5 minutes

6. Add zucchini, carrots, thyme, herbes de provence, salt and pepper and cook for 7 minutes
7. Add your beans, peas, corn and broth- bring to a boil
8. Reduce to a simmor and cook on low for 20-25 minutes, until the vegetable broth has reduced and your pot pie mixture is very chunky and looks delicious
9. Assemble your pot pie in a casserole dish, topping it with your mashed potatoes
10. Broil on low until your mashed potatoes have a brown top - make sure you watch carefully because it browns fast


ENJOY :]

Food Extravaganza

Happy birthday momma luzz! This weekend, Bill and I went to my house in the poconos to celebrate my mom's birthday on friday. We were both a little nervous because my mom wasn't too hott for Iggy Smalls when I first told her about him. Well, turns out iggy is just TOO CUTE to hate! It was therefore, a successful weekend. yippee! 

Prior to the birthday festivities, I made my mom a carrot cake with buttercream frosting and also carrot cake TRUFFLES.

WARNING: before creating these, you must understand they are going to be addicting. I have probably eaten tons of them already. Andddd...I don't fit into my little baby jeans anymore. hmph. Gonna hop on that

Dinner? Well me and Bill jazzied it up a bit. We decided to make my moms favorite meal of all time- shepherd's pie. I made my pot vegan, Bill created the traditional shepherd's pie. Thank goodness my mom was in love with both! And both of them didn't even make it for leftovers the next day- they were that good

It doesn't look vegan, but I swear to you it is. And honestly, if you are new to the vegan diet, I strongly suggest you make this dish- because it is so hearty you won't even know there's no meat!

ohhh my goodness I want some more!

Carrot Cake and Truffles with Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes 24 Muffins; around 1 personal cake and 30ish truffles

(Adapted from Babycakes Cookbook)

For the cake:

3c GF Flour (I used my homemade one and it worked great!)

1T baking powder

1T baking soda

1t xanthan gum

1 1/2t kosher salt

1T ground cinnamon

2t ground ginger

1/2t ground nutment

2/3c coconut oil

1c agave nectar

1c rice milk (I used vanilla soy and that worked too)

1T vanilla extract

1/2c hot water

3c shredded carrots

For the icing:

4oz vegan butter

4oz tofutti cream cheese

2c powdered sugar

1t vanilla

1t stevia

optional zest of an orange

For the truffles:

2 bags of vegan white chocolate chips (YUP, they do exist!)

Carrot Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 325 F

2. spray 2 12-cup muffin tins with cooking spray (I brushed mine with vegan butter- so good!)

3. In a bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and soda, xanthan gun, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.

4. Add the oil, agave nectar, milk and vanilla to the dry ingredients and stir until batter is formed.

5. Add the hot water and mix until batter is smooth 

6. Gently fold your carrots into the batter

7. Pour 1/3 cup batter into each cup, almost filling it

8. Bake for 25 minutes, rotating after 14 minutes.

9. Let the cupcakes stand for 20 minutes and let them cool before icing.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1. In a medium bowl, beat your butter and cream cheese until mixed and creamy

2. By the cup, add your powdered sugar (slowly! or else it will go everywhere!)

3. Add your vanilla, stevia and orange zest until it is fully incorporated

Carrot Cake Truffles

1. Tear apart your carrot muffins (I tore up all but one and made that a mini cake)

2. Mix your carrot muffins with your cream cheese frosting and using your hands squisshhh them together until you have a crumbly batter

3. Put in the refrigerator  for 30 minutes.

4. Line 2 baking sheets with wax paper

5. Take your crumbled carrot cupcakes and begin to form little balls- using your hands

6. Once all your carrot cupcakes ar ein balls, but them back in the refridgerator to set, approximately 30 more minutes

7. Right before you take your truffles out, begin to melt your chocolate- not all at once but in smaller batches. I would put like a 1/4t of oil in the melted chocolate if it began to harden- to melt your chocolate either use the double boiler method or microwave -Learn how to melt chocolate here!

8. Take out 1 baking sheet of truffles and dip your cake balls into the white chocolate, using a toothpick to twirl it around and get all that goods!

9. Once all the truffles are coated, put in the freezer for 1 hour-overnight, then EAT 

Little iggy had lots of playing to do this weekend and was POOPED when we got home. His mommy was too, so I'll put up the vegan pot pie recipe when I get back from class :]