Vegan Crepes!

Breakfast is the best meal of the day! These crepes are absolutely deliciousJ They are also very easy and quick to whip up.

*Six 6 inch crepes

Ingredients:

½ c. soymilk

2/3 c. water

¼ c. vegan butter, melted (I use Earth Balance)

1 c. whole wheat flour

¼ tsp. salt

1 tbsp raw sugar (I use Stevia)

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 tbsp water (to thin)

Berries (topping) I use a frozen berry medley containing blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. I just defrost some in a bowl.

Additional toppings:

Sliced peaches, bananas, strawberries, or any fruit for that matter

Powdered sugar

Maple syrup

Nut butter

Directions:

1.       Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl.

2.       Whisk until smooth and thin. Add water if it still needs to be thinned.

3.       Put a little bit of vegan butter or oil in a skillet.

4.       Pour a small amount of batter on the skillet so that it is thin and round. You can make them as small or as large as you want!

5.       Flip carefully when the top is covered with bubbles. Cook until lightly browned on each side.

6.       Top with berries or whatever you would like. I also add some maple syrup to them.

Vegan Pizza!

My favorite food before going vegan was pizza! I loved itJ After becoming vegan, I made a lot of vegan pizza to satisfy my cravings. There are many ways you can make vegan pizza. There are many different toppings, sauces, and crust you can use.

Makes two 9 inch pizzas.

1.       Make the pizza dough. Start preparing toppings while pizza dough is rising.

Pizza Crust Ingredients:

1 ½ c. warm water

¼ ounce packet yeast

1 tsp. salt

3 c. flour

Pizza Crust Directions:

1.       Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2.       Whisk water and yeast until dissolved.

3.       Add salt and whisk again.

4.       Stir in flour and knead.

5.       Set aside and let dough rise for 20 minutes.

6.       Knead again. Let rise for another 10-20 minutes.

7.       Split the dough in two. Spread dough out on two pizza pans. You can also make one big pizza pan. Use a cookie sheet if desired. Make sure to grease the pans with olive oil!

8.       Spread olive oil on the top and bake for 10 minutes. Take out and add your favorite toppings.

Additional Crusts:

-Use a bagel or a tortilla for the crust!

-You can also buy a store bought pizza dough mix. Pillsbury makes one!

Directions for pizza toppings:

1.       Saute ½ an onion and 4 cloves of garlic in olive oil. Season with black pepper, crushed red pepper, oregano and parsley.

2.       Saute 1 can of artichokes in olive oil with lemon juice and paprika.

3.       Brown ½ of a Gimme Lean ground beef tube or any mock vegan meat. I seasoned the meat with mesquite seasoning.

4.       To make the pizza, spread the two pizzas with tomato sauce. I buy tomato sauce at the store that doesn’t have any sugar in it. Spread the onion mixture, then the artichokes, then the meat onto the pizzas. Sprinkle daiya cheese (I like Mozzarella) on the pizzas.

5.       Cook the pizzas at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

6. Add basil, parsley, or oregano.

Additional toppings:

Tomatoes

Olives

Basil

Spinach

Avocado

Vegan pepperoni (Yves makes them!)

Mushrooms

Red/green bell peppers

Pineapple

Tempeh

Tofu

Seitan

Additional sauces:

Hummus

Bbq sauce

Pesto

Vegan Burritos

I love vegan burritos! I make a lot of them and freeze them.

Ingredients:

1 small onion, diced

½ tsp salt

1 red bell pepper, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

¼ tsp pepper

1 tsp chili powder

1 small tomato

1 14 ounce can refried beans

1 ½ c. cooked brown rice

1 avocado, diced

2 tbsp chopped cilantro

Juice of ½ lime

Salt to taste

Daiya pepper jack cheese

Spinach

5 large whole wheat tortillas

Directions:

1.       Cook rice while preparing onion, red pepper and tomato.

2.       In a large skillet, sauté the onion with the salt over medium low heat for about 5 minutes. Add the red pepper and cook for 10 minutes more.

3.       Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.

4.       Add the black pepper and chili powder.

5.       Add the tomato. Turn off the heat.

6.       Heat the refried beans in a saucepan.

7.       Make the guacamole. Mix avocado, cilantro, lime juice and salt to taste. Mash the pieces of avocado.

8.       Spread a tortilla with the refried beans, then the rice, then the onion mixture, then the guacamole, then the daiya cheese. Put it in the microwave or oven to melt the cheese. Top with spinach and fold into a burrito.

9.       Enjoy!

Additional Ingredients:

Black beans

Tempeh

Tofu

Zucchini

Vegan sour cream

My Path to Veganism

I have been following the blog, zenhabits (zenhabits.net). It is a great blog and I am interested in and agree with his blog posts. I had been reading zenhabits before I became a vegan. Leo Babauta writes about simplicity, health & fitness, motivation, frugality, happiness, goals, and living in the moment. I am interested in all of these subjects. In May 2011, I happened to read a blog post he wrote about veganism. http://zenhabits.net/diet/ This blog post got me thinking. This is how my thought process went: If Leo writes about all of these topics and I agree with them, why am I not vegan? I decided to research further.

I am a huge fan of Ellen DeGeneres. I found out that Ellen is vegan. In an interview, she said that she became vegan after watching “Earthlings”. I decided to watch it. I was able to watch the entire thing for free online at earthlings.com. It was difficult to watch. After watching it, I decided to become a vegan. My husband and I decided that from that point on we would no longer buy non-vegan food, clothing, or support zoos and circuses. We became vegan in June 2011.

●I am vegan because I don’t want animals to suffer.

●I am vegan because I want to help the environment.

●I am vegan because I want to eat healthy.

●I am vegan because I want to reduce my risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and high blood pressure.

My transition into becoming a healthy vegan:

1^st Stage:

1.       An easy transition is to stop eating white flour, white rice, and white sugar.

2.       Eat whole grain bread, whole grain pasta and brown rice.

3.       Use olive oil instead of other unhealthy oils.

4.       Take a multi-vitamin.

5.       Don’t eat French fries, fried potato chips and donuts.

2^nd Stage:

1.       Don’t buy candy even if it is vegan.

2.       Don’t buy anything with high fructose corn syrup or white sugar.

3.       Eat vegan cookies, cakes, desserts once in a while.

4.       Eat frozen, processed foods once in a while. (Boca burgers, Amy’s Kitchen, Gardein, Tofurky)

5.       Eat pancakes/French toast once in a while.

3^rd  Stage: (This is the goal stage that I have not yet attained)

1.       Eat 80% raw.

2.       Eat more beans and nuts.

3.       Buy and use a dehydrator.

4.       Take a B-12 supplement.

5.       Sprout

6.       Stop toasting bread. Acrylamides are cancer causing substances. Toasting your bread increases the presence of these toxic substances.

*I will write a blog article about how to make a gradual transition into veganism.

I want to hear your stories!!! Comment and tell me why you became vegan and how you are trying to eat healthier.