How presale works: Order now through July 9th. On July 12th, we're shipping them all out!

Our price is $3.99 not just for presale but forever. That's even how much Whole Foods Austin will sell it for!

Right now, presale is only open to US residents. I'll update once international shipping is open.

Please tell your friends & family! We're risking everything we have because vegan food is something we believe in.

Long time no talk. I have lots to tell you and very little time.

First, Chris and I are having a blast wedding planning and getting ready for our big party. In the midst of all this, we launched Food for Lovers. You might be thinking "what's that about?"

Food for Lovers is the name of our vegan food company. Remember our vegan queso? We had a meeting with Whole Foods and in July we'll be on the shelves in 2 Austin Whole Foods stores! This is extremely exciting for us. We found an amazing manufacturer who is as picky as we are about our vegan queso, and it's mass produced not even 5 miles from our tiny apartment.

We named our company Food for Lovers for a few reasons. We're animal lovers. We're food and health lovers. We love our planet, too. Since we're getting hitched here shortly, you can safely bet we love all these things as deeply as we love eachother.

We have beautiful labels lovingly designed by Chris and we received our nutrition facts a few weeks ago! Check them out:

We're starting with 2 whole foods Austin stores, but we aren't content to stay put in one spot. We will do everything it takes to get our vegan queso in your town. We're bringing you creamy spicy vegan queso that's soy free, nut free, fat free, cholestrol free, has over 50% less sodium that regular queso, in a huge 16 oz jar - for $3.99. It's a value in all sense of the word, we think.

Speaking of which, our website food-for-lovers.com will have a presale starting this week. We'll let you know as soon as pre-sale kicks off. You'll be able to order jars of our very first official batch (not counting the several test batches).

I know it's been forever since I've posted, but it isn't because I don't appreciate all the love, support, prayers, wishes and help we've constantly received. It's because I have a really good opportunity to bring you a tiny piece of what we're about (delicious food, family, friends and our absolute love for animals) that we're moving so fast with every resource that we have, scraping up everything we can and risking it all to get that little piece of us, in your hands. Or, your tummy really.

Thanks for giving us this incredible opportunity. We're scared, excited, stressed out, feel like dancing but we're going all the way. We're excited for you to taste how far my little recipe has evolved, and can't wait to tell you about our future products.

All our love,
Crystal and Chris

This is one of those meals I make when we haven't been shopping in a week. I always have beans and rotel in stock.

It's simple, really:

Blackbeans + Tomatoes + Green Chilles + Spices = Delicious!

I thought I hated blackbeans for so long, but you know what it is? Some restaurants just don't cook them long enough (or properly) so they're hard.

With this recipe, I can put a big can of black beans on the stove to simmer while I walk away. It gives me a chance to make some rice, fix some veggies or make some tortillas. Once the beans are soft, I add in the rest of the ingredients and it's pretty much done.

I use the following as a guideline but deviate from it often. Sometimes, I add more comino or want to use up some onion and peppers. I just toss them in to saute before I start. Definitely use fresh garlic if you have it on hand. Saute whatever you can before adding the beans and you really can't go wrong.We ate this over rice, covered in hot sauce with some of our vegan flour tortillas.

Did you notice the mountain of fresh tortillas? I changed my flour tortilla recipe completely and it's so much better than the original I posted.Fluffier, bigger, more authentic flour tortillas. You definitely want to make these. They're really easy to roll out too.

Even better than rice, add these blackbeans to your salad!

INGREDIENTS

• 1.5 lb can Black Beans
• 1 1/2 cup Water
• 1 can Original Rotel (or any kind of canned or fresh tomatoes & green chilles)
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Comino
• 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar (optional)

(Also optional: garlic, onions, bell peppers for sauteing)

DIRECTIONS

*If you want to saute garlic, onions, any other aromatic veggies do that before adding the beans to the pan)*

1. Pour blackbeans + water into pan on MED heat.
2. Cook for 20 minutes (stirring once or twice)
3. Test 1 or 2 beans. Are the still hard or soft? If soft proceed. If hard, keep cooking.
4. When beans are very soft lower heat to LOW.
5. Add rotel in (or other tomato/green chilli substitute). Drain it unless you want spicier beans.
6. Add in salt, comino, garlic and stir. Taste often and adjust it as you like. Sometimes I like garlicy sometimes we add more cumin. Consider adding your favorite hot sauce as well.
7. Add in the red wine vinegar if you have it on hand.
8. Simmer for 10 minutes and serve.

I'll just reiterate how amazing this is with corn or flour tortillas with veggies or on top of your favorite salad. A squeeze of lime, your favorite hot sauce or a dallop of vegan sour cream would taste amazing with this.

I posted a little tutorial here for making flour tortillas (rolling, cooking & storing) some time back.I liked my original flour tortilla recipe enough but I felt it wasn't perfect. I'm happy to report that I'm back with an all new tortilla recipe that tops the last one in a huge way. These are fluffier, bigger, easier to roll out and so soft. Oh, and very authentic. If you liked my original recipe, you'll love these.

You can mix the dough by hand or mixer.

You'll need:

• some type of roller (or tortilla press)
• comal (griddle)
• tortilla warmer (or ziplock back w/ napkins)

INGREDIENTS

• 5 cups All Purpose Flour
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 heaping tsp Salt
• 1/2 cup Shortening
• 1 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp Very Hot Water

DIRECTIONS

1. In bowl or mixer: mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
2. Add in shortening (or cut it in with your hands) until it's evenly mixed with the other ingredients.
3. Add in water SLOWLY while mixing. Note: You may or may not need all or more of the water depending on where you live.
4. If it seems too dry, add more water. Just play with the dough and knead it into a big fluffy ball.If there are any dry pieces of flour at the bottom of your bowl, you can toss those out.
5. Once you've kneaded your dough, set it aside.
6. Oil a new bowl. Place tortilla dough in the oiled bowl.
7. Lightly oil the top of your dough ball.
8. Completely cover it with a damp towel (not wet. you don't want your dough to get wet.)
9. Allow it to rest, covered, for atleast 20 minutes. The more it rests, the softer and fluffier the tortillas are.

ROLLING OUT THE TORTILLAS

1. Uncover your dough and knead it a bit making sure it isn't too sticky or dry.
2. Portion out your dough into balls. I can make about 16 balls from the dough. Don't make them too small, they need to be able to roll out and maintain some fluffy thickness.
3. Once you have 18 dough balls ready to become tortillas, prepare your work surface.
4. Flour your work surface liberally. Grab a rolling pin and get to work.
5. Grab 1 dough ball, pull the sides of the ball back into itself (gathering it in the back and making a disc)
6. Once you have a nice round disc of dough place it on your surface.
7. roll your rolling pin across the dough vertically. This will make a vertical oval shape.
8. Take your dough, flip it over and turn it clockwise 90 degrees.
9. Lay it down and roll the pin vertically across it again. This should turn your oval more circular.
10. Keep kneading, flipping over and turning the dough until you have ideal tortilla shape and thickness. You want to keep it a bit thick and fluffy. If you roll it super thin, it could end up hard unless your have a tortila press.
11. When you are done with one raw tortilla place it on a plate (covered) and move on until you've rolled out all of your dough.

COOKING THE TORTILLAS ON A COMAL (OR GRIDDLE)

1. Put your comal or griddle on Low-Med Heat
2. Drop your raw tortilla on the griddle. Do not let it burn.
3. Flip it when you see that it makes bubbles. Check the underside often and once it starts browning you can flip it over.
4. Cook on both sides
5. IMPORTANT: when the tortilla is finished cooking you have to place it in a tortilla warmer or zip lock back with napkins inside. I don't have a tortilla warmer so I take a ziplock back, stick 2 napkins inside and place my tortillas between the napkins. I make sure to seal the bag while I'm cooking the other tortillas. This is to keep them soft and pliable. air - exposed tortillas mean tough 'tillas.

I've been making these since I had to use a chair to reach the counter. Add home made tortillas to your rotation.

This is a Mexican food staple. It's simple, hearty, cheap and could feed a small army. Isn't that what Mexican food is about?

There's always enough to share and every bite is tastier than the last. What I love about picadillo (pee-kah-DEE-yoh) is that it isn't an exact science. You can cook it down thick and hearty (perfect to fold up in a tortilla). Or, if you're in the mood for stew, leave it more saucy and pour it in a bowl, maybe over some rice, grab a couple of corn or flour tortillas for scooping and you're set. A perfect weeknight meal! if you have more time, this is the perfect filling for empanaditos (mini empanadas).

So what is picadillo? It's traditionally ground beef (veganized using your favorite vegan crumbles), cooked in a tomato/cumin/garlic sauce with tender diced potatoes and red bell pepper. You can add in carrots, green beans, peas, jalapenos or corn. Other types of picadillo invite green olives or raisins to the party. Doesn't sound too bad. I'm a sucker for family tradition though and this simple version hits home. This is my kind of comfort food! Unfortunately, it's not too photogenic. I've made this 3 times in the past 2 weeks, in hopes of snapping a great picture (ha!). This was the best we could do. It doesn't make us love it any less, though. Sometimes you just pick your battles and share the recipe!

INGREDIENTS

• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup vegan "beef" crumbles (I use lightlife brand. Any brand is fine. If you use plain TVP make sure you season it a bit before moving forward with other ingredients)
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1 cup water (2 cups if you want it more saucy & stew-like)
• 3 large potatoes, peeled & diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced (green is fine, too)
• 1-1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2-3 teaspoons ground cumin (comino)
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

DIRECTIONS

To prep: Peel & Dice potatoes. Then, dice bell pepper.

1. Heat oil in a pan over MED heat.
2. Add in vegan crumbles. (if using tvp: season w/ taco seasoning before proceeding.)
3. Brown a bit before adding in tomato sauce. Stir and add in water.
4. Add in diced potatoes and bell pepper.
5. Add salt, cumin and garlic powder.
6. Stir. (Add in 1 cup of green beans, peas, carrots, jalapeno or corn at this time)
7. Cover and simmer on LOW-MED heat until potatoes are completely tender (About 25 minutes)
8. Adjust spices. (I often add more cumin,garlic or salt to taste.)
9. Once potatoes are tender, scoop picadillo into a bowl with rice, inside warm tortillas or filled in savory empanadas!

NOTE: I made a basic version without any added vegetables. The peas were cooked separately and plated under the picadillo for the sake of the picture. Add your vegetables in the picadillo as per the recipe.

Sue, owner of Counter Culture, asked us to take some pictures of her yummy menu items. How could we say no? We love her food and snatch up every opportunity to work together. We're a great styling/photography duo, you know. How delicious do these vegan Philly Seitan and raw Donut Holes look? You're in stitches over the PacMan Caesar salad aren't you? So are we. Here are four of the shots from our last trip to Counter Culture. Enjoy! Thanks Sue!

P.S. If you want us to take pictures of your food for your book/restaurant/website just send us an e-mail. Thanks.

On Oct 29th, Chris took me to our favorite boat rental place. I thought we were having another boatride + picnic date. He went to pickup our boat which was locked up and they couldn't find the key. I couldn't understand why he was so stressed about not having the boat but he quickly suggested walking. We walked down our favorite path on Town Lake.

We came to a spot near the bottom of a bridge when Chris stopped me. Just as I ask why we stopped, I heard a violin! I realized the violinist was playing "Something" by The Beatles when in a confused voice I asked "is that for us?" I looked around and by the time I looked back, there Chris was on one knee. He told me how much he loves me, and thanks God for me every day. He told me that he's always known it was me and that he wants to take care of me. And many other precious words that I'll always remember.

When I said "YES!" (about a million times through the tears) I heard the violinist play "I Will" by The Beatles. Chris walked me over to the waters edge and across the bridge I see "Crystal, will you marry me?" Everyone was clapping for us! The people walking, biking and jogging the trail and even the people on boat tours going under the bridge were ooh-ing and ahh-ing. I'm so blessed and I'm so glad that my best friend likes me too!

Oh! And, if that wasn't enough. On Halloween I turned 23! I got a vegan chocolate tres leches cake. It said "Happy Birthday & Engagement!" Chris gave me my favorite perfume, too. I was on cloud 9! With the over the top romantic proposal to the thoughtful perfume, I told Chris that this birthday "I have no wishes. Instead I'll just give thanks!"

He later told me that my other gift was still at the store and he asked if I wanted to go pick it out. I wanted to just die right there. What more could I ask for? Well, he thoughtfully suggested that he give me a laptop for my birthday so I can get started on wedding planning right away and I won't have to inturrupt his work to borrow his laptop for a few hours a day. He took me out and found me an amazing notebook with windows 7 and I'm positive he's going to be playing with it for quite some time. It's so cool!

So just wanted to say "Yay! I'm engaged to the only person in the world: The guy who I have had a crush on since I was about 15! The one who convinced me to start singing again, showed me compassion to animals and patience for humans (ha), showed me how to really cook, moved to a new city with me where we started with nothing, has taken care of every sniffle and ache and the only person I can look at and be next to for 24 hours a day and still think is the most handsome guy in the universe."

I have the HUGEST crush on him, so I'm really glad he wants to get old with me.

]]>' . date('r', $entry['date']) . 'http://www.veganexplosion.com/mother's-sweet-tea

Yesterday my grandmother passed away. Everyone called her Mother, because she took care of everyone. We'll be spending the next week really remembering about how she enriched our lives. She shared her passion and skill for fantastic Mexican food, and was the foundation of our family tradition. I feel I'm losing a huge part of my Mexican culture but I know that now it's up to me and the rest of my family to keep our traditions going. She's a huge reason I'm so in love with Mexican cuisine. It was always around and she made sure that no one went hungry. She was a grandmother many times over and my mom's best friend. I'll think about her every day.

MOTHER'S SWEET TEA

This summer my mom and I finally "cracked" the secret to mother's sweet lemony tea. It's so refreshing. Chris and I brought this to a potluck over the summer and people thought it was sweetended w/ agave! The sweet tea haters loved every last drop and there wasn't any left to take home. The process creates a sweet tea that's light, lemony and sweet without tasting syrupy, brewed or tart. Please try this one out.

INGREDIENTS

• 8 cups Water
• 1 1/2 cups Sugar
• 3 Large Lipton Tea Bags (Iced Tea Brew)
• 3 Lemons
• Lots of Ice

EQUIPMENT

• 1 Large Boiling Pot
• 1 Stirring Spoon
• 1 Pitcher

DIRECTIONS

1. Pour water into your pot.
2. Stir in sugar.
3. Bring to boil.
4. Add tea bags.
5. Continue to boil for 15 minutes.
6. Remove from heat/burner.
7. Allow to simmer (covered) for 5 minutes.
8. Completely fill pitcher with ice.
9. Pour hot tea over ice.
10. Squeeze lemons into pitcher & drop juiced lemons into pitcher.
    NOTE: Roll your lemons on a countertop to extract as much juice as possible. When juicing, squeeze lemon above a cupped hand to catch the seeds.
11. ***Chill for 2 hours in refridgerator***

This summer was nuts. We moved twice. I won't go into detail, I'll just say PLEASE make sure that the house you're renting is up to code and safe to live in. There are some landlords who have no problem charging sky high rent but can't be bothered to get the house inspected or pay to get it safely running. That house was a deathtrap and as soon as we found out we headed for the hills! We moved into an adorable tiny apartment that costs practically nothing in a great part of town. We are finally stress free! Chris even gained about 25 lbs! We're doing well now! And, lesson learned: Save up for your own house and trust your gut. If it feels like something just aint right, guess what?

L to R: Me, Melisser, Charisse (Chris took this picture on Melisser's camera)

Melisser (theurbanhousewife) came to visit and we ate Austin. That's right. We ate the entire city. Melisser, Charisse, Chris and myself pretty much ate everything a vegan can eat in Austin. Check out her Austin visit in detail here:

All About Austin, Part 1. & All About Austin, Part 2!

One of her last nights we decided to lay low. After a successful potluck (hosted by me & Chris), we all decided to meet at Kristen's place (sugarskull) for movie night. I made my Sweet Buns with sweetened red bean paste filling and made another pitcher of tea. I believe the red dots are to traditionally to differentiate between sweet & savory fillings. I made a box for the 4 of us and we snacked, drank sweet tea and talked A LOT. We were surrounded by awesome vegan ladies all week and Chris and I had a blast hanging out.

Melisser brought me Dandies Vegan Marshmallows which I used to make vegan rice krispy treats. Not pictured because we ate them instantly.

I later incorporated the white chocolate chips into my favorite muffin recipe. It's lemon, berry and banana.I veganize the recipe making the following changes: I substitute 1/2 cup soy yogurt for 2 eggs and I use vegan margerine. This recipe adapts well, too. I often am missing one or two ingredients like the soy yogurt or vegan margarine and it still turns out great with all of the crazy last minute changes I make to the recipe.

Check out my beautiful liners! A host gift from Little Rain (an Austin vegan). She gave me another set of liners with another cool design and the best spicy hot chocolate mix ever.

I even made white chocolate chip cookies, ya'll!

Anyway, thanks for being patient. I'll be around more. We're settled and stress free. October is my favorite month of the year! The weather gets great and my birthday is on the 31st! October is also my dad and brother's birthday month. It's the beginning of 3 months of family, fun and food. Need I say more?

just wanted to stop in and say that i love you

you're the best person / programmer / cook / doggie dad / friend / musician (ever)

we've been at each other's side every second for three years straight and it's flown by

i can't wait to one day: be your wife / buy our 1st ugly house (and fix it up) / get old and fat together

you're my absolute favorite person (and you're the only hot guy on the planet)

i'll never get tired of singing at the top of my lungs to your crazy guitar skills

happy 3 years!

(p.s. more recipes are on the way. we're settling into our new lovely house)

I'm posting this in case anyone wants to make vanilla sugar.

All you need is:

• 4 cups Vegan White Sugar (or Agave or Stevia)
• 2 Vanilla Pods/Beans*

The rule is 1 Vanilla Bean to 2 cups Sugar.

*I use Mexican vanilla beans because they're very fragrant and intensely flavorful. Of course, Madagascar and Tahitian are fine, too.

DIRECTIONS

1. Put 4 cups of white sugar in clean jar.
2. Take vanilla beans and lay them out flat.

3. Use a sharp knife to slice vertically down each vanilla bean.
4. Use a more blunt knife (like a butter knife) to scrape out all of the tiny pulp & seeds from within the bean.
5. Drop pulp & seeds on a plate. Scoop and drop pulp & seeds on top of sugar.

6. With a thick knife/fork, swirl around the pulp & seeds. (You want the tiny flecks of black to be evenly distributed throughout the sugar. You can close the jar and shake it up like I did)

7. Next, bury the vanilla beans/pods in sugar completely. (I cut mine in half, made a "star" of beans and placed them on top of the sugar. Then, I used the end of a wooden spoon to push the "star" of beans deep down into the center of my jar, covering the beans completely)

8. Let the vanilla bean sugar sit in jar for 1-2 weeks.

Use this in your favorite sweets such as French toast, rice pudding, or mixed in your coffee/tea.

Short on time? Skip steps 2-6. Those steps are extra work but they impart more flavor and quicker results. Also, the little flecks of black seeds look awesome.

For used and scraped beans:

1. Rinse them and pat dry.
2. Once they are completely dry, bury the beans in sugar.

Go nuts with this! I like to make citrus sugar with different zests and peels.

Don't forget! You can make vanilla AGAVE and vanilla STEVIA this way too!

My mom makes this all the time. It's perfect. There's nothing else that tastes like it. It's magic! You'd never think that the same old spices and ingredients could make such a unique dish. We've made this twice in the past two days. It's so cheap, filling and easy to make.

Need motivation to make this in the next couple of days?

+It requires 8 ingredients: *Including* 3 spices (salt, cumin and garlic powder), water, and olive oil.
+ It takes about 15 minutes to make.
+ I've already made it twice in 2 days so we know it's a winner.

This is another one of those meals will never provide leftovers.

Note: This recipe is a delicate balance. Because of this, don't stray from the recipe much if it's your first time making it. Things like crumbles, tvp, more spices and the recipe can become something else entirely. Even the lime in the photo is just for garnish. Once you make it and know what you're going for, feel free to mix it up!

We ate ours with pinto beans, our queso and tortillas (all on the side).

This makes 2 large or 4 small servings

INGREDIENTS

• 3-4 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 Onion, chopped
• 1 Box of Fideo Vermicelli noodles in the yellow box (the noodles are supposed to be broken up)
• 1/2 Cup Tomato Sauce (which is 1/2 of a can)
• 2 Cups Water
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 Teaspoon Cumin
• 1/8 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

DIRECTIONS

1. Saute onion (Heat your pan on MED, add your oil, then finally add your onions)
2. Once onion is pearly and translucent, ADD in the noodles.
   NOTE: Don't expect your noodles to soften completely yet. Saute them until they are a bit softer. They change colors quickly, and what you're doing now is sauteing UNTIL you reach the color you like. I saute mine for about 2-3 mins.
3. Add in tomato sauce and water. Stir continuously.
4. Raise the heat to HIGH
5. Add in salt, cumin and garlic. Stir, stir.
6. Once it starts to bubble and boil, lower the heat to warm (to simmer)
7. Carefully taste the broth (yummy, huh?)
8. Let it simmer about 7-8 minutes. Stir often.
   NOTE: Watch it closely because you do NOT want to cook off all of your broth, before your noodles are done. You do want the noodles to cook a bit and completely soften, but don't let them burn.
9. It's ready when the noodles are completely soft.

"woohoo! I wish you lots of success with your kickass business ventures."

Thank you to everyone who commented!

Chris and I have been busy keeping Austin fed (one danish, cupcake and cookie at a time). Our bakery blew up so fast. And, we've got the battle scars to prove it. From the oven burns, sprained sore wrists from making danish pastry dough, cuts to smashed fingers. We leave our commercial kitchen looking more and more like injured soldiers. If you're in Austin, stop by Bouldin Creek and check out our stuff.

First things first-
A giveaway! Leave a comment on this post and next week I will pick a winner by drawing a number and choosing that comment!

The winner gets goodies from our vegan bakery! This includes cookies, cake, pastries and more.

About the Queso recipe--
We *temporarily* removed our queso recipe. There's a good reason, though. After a month, we will put it right back where it belongs. We regularly sell our queso (by the gallons) to Bouldin Creek. Also, we are in the process of getting it into a grocery store near YOU. For business reasons, our recipe had to be taken offline while we complete that process. Good news is, it's not too far off and the recipe will be back soon! Believe it or not, the queso you'll be able to buy (from us) online and at your local grocer is an even more delicious/amazing version of our original queso!!

We have a few major announcements this month and the beginning of next month. You know how much we love surprising announcements! Very much! So there's that. Also, I'll have more time to blog. Recipes are coming!

Good luck on the giveaway!
Start commenting!
Don't forget to include your email address.

Adios.

If you aren't familiar with this drink, it's your lucky day. In South Texas, Mexican restaurants serve horchatas regularly. Wonder why? It has a one-of-a-kind flavor, it's simple to make and nothing is more refreshing than this.

An horchata (or-CHA -tah) is a drink traditionally made of rice, cinnamon, vanilla and milk. Complete with the spicy comfort similar to chai, but creamy/sweet flavor found in rice pudding...all in a drink. There are very few recipes online, and everyone makes it differently although the taste is always the same.

I was pleased when suddenly I remembered this drink and Chris quickly chimed in. We looked for recipes online. Most recipes soak rice overnight, drain, and blend with other ingredients before straining over ice. I have a phobia about using raw rice in anything. Oh, and I also hate for waiting for anything. I'm impatient, what can I say?

We wrote our own recipe using cooked rice. Now, there's no wait! We're pleased that using cooked rice doesn't compromise the flavor. In fact, it might just be creamier. Pour over ice (my favorite) or serve it hot. In California, some bars will make a drink consisting of 2 parts horchata and 1 part coconut rum. This makes 2 servings.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup White Rice, cooked
• 4 cups Soymilk, rice milk or water
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook rice.
2. Add cooked rice and soymilk to blender.
3. Blend for 1 minute.
4. Add sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon.
5. Blend for 1 more minute.
6. Strain mixture through cheesecloth or strainer.
7. Serve over ice or enjoy warm!

TIP: Instead of tossing your strained rice, make Rice Pudding! Simply add cinnamon, sugar and whatever else sounds good. I recommend chocolate or bananas. Yum!

You know I kind of had something prepared to write in the event that we didn't win ApartmentTherapy.com's Homie award for Best Home Cooking blog of 2008.

Now that it's here, I'm not sure what to say... Because we won!Obviously this was no cakewalk. Smitten Kitchen was always 5 votes ahead or behind me and the whole thing was really too close for comfort. That's when all of my readers, family and friends stepped in and voted for Vegan Explosion like crazy. As my first offical blog award, I feel as though I'm watching my small child bring home the honor roll ribbon or something. I had no idea people liked this blog, but I have a feeling a lot has to do with my queso. I am pretty sure I'm buying a new server with the prize money, by the way. So, Thanks.

To show our apppreciation to everyone who spent the time voting and supporting this homegrown blog (there were around 123 of you), I am hosting Vegan Explosion's First Ever Giveaway! (though, it should be called a "giveback").

Look for it right here next week. The prize will be lots and lots of sugary goodness made my myself with my top secret bakery recipes. Keep your eyes peeled.

Thanks for winning this one for us guys. This one's for my vegan "homies"for putting veganism out there.::sprinkles nutritional yeast on the ground::

I know I've gained a few readers. To my new readers, I hope I can encourage you to get out of your comfort zones and try a new vegan meal a week. Even small movements like that add up to make a big difference.

Now, moving on. My oven is back to normal and it's time to get back in the kitchen!

(AKA Pecan Sand Tarts AKA Russian Tea Cakes)

My boyfriend just can't refuse anything containing walnuts, pecans, cashews, almonds (you get the idea...). I can't really stand them, but we're definitely on the same page when it comes to these perfectly buttery, powdery cookies.

These cookies have many names. To me, they're Mexican wedding cookies or sand tarts. My mom would make these in the winter and I was pretty sure Chris would appreciate coming home to a plate full of these. I wasn't really in the cookie-making mood, so I put the idea off for a few days. After making them, I felt silly for waiting so long. They are so effortless and take such a short amount of time to prepare. In fact, you might get the urge to make a few batches.

Not only are they easy to make, but they are seriously addicting. A bite into one of these powdery beauties reminds me of butter pecan ice cream. It's creamy with chunks of pecan and a buttery cookie brings it all together. Really though, there's no way I could describe the taste.

I love that they look so rustic. Each cookie is hand-shaped, baked, rolled in powdered sugar, cooled and rolled in powdered sugar once more. Shape these in circles, balls or crescents; just make them small because they're delicate little devils. Enjoy! You probably have all of these ingredients in your kitchen, so get to it.

INGREDIENTS

• 6 oz Pecan Pieces
• 6 Tablespoons vegan Sugar
• 2 sticks vegan Margarine, at room temp
• 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 2 Cups Flour
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• Powdered Sugar, for rolling

Makes 20 cookies

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 F
2. Mix flour and salt (no need to sift), set aside
3. In another bowl, combine sugar 4 Tablespoons sugar and vegan margarine. (until fluffy)
4. Mix 2 Tablespoons sugar and pecans, set aside
5. Add-in vanilla, flour/salt mix and nut mix.
6. Mix for 1 minute.
7. Make 1 " circles, balls, crescents (all about 1 Tablespoon of dough) and place them on a cookie sheet
8. Bake for 10-11 minutes. (parchment paper makes things fool-proof)
9. Individually move each cookie from the cookie sheet into a bowl of powdered sugar. Once it's completely coated, carefully transfer it to a cooling rack. Do this to all cookies. Once all cookies have cooled, roll each one in powdered sugar once more.

These can store up to 5 days in a sealed container. No need to refridgerate, unless you live in extremely warm climate.

Several months ago, while browsing the produce section of our local grocer, Chris and I ran into an old friend. We told him about our bakery and food blog, and immediately he tells us that we must make avocado pie. I'm sure we made some sort of face at the idea and moved along. Even for avocado lovers...an avocado pie sounds weird. The other day, I was thinking of something to make. Out of nowhere, I recall a voice saying "make avocado pie". I looked up all of the recipes for avocado pie (there's like a handful, none of them are vegan) and decided what my next move was going to be. This is a recipe that you'll love. It's veganized and tested, tweaked and carefully created to blow your taste buds right off of your tongue.

Let me talk about the flavor while my taste buds are still buzzing. This tastes a lot like kiwi, believe it or not. The texture is like a cheesecake, but it isn't one at all. It's light, refreshing and very smooth. Its flavor can be likened to avocado, lime juice, cream cheese, a small amount of sugar and sweetened condensed soy milk. Did I mention you don't even have to turn your oven on for this?

PIE INGREDIENTS

• 1 Graham Cracker Crust (avoid premade, recipe below)
• 2 Large Ripe Avocados (pitted, peeled and pureed)
• 1/2 Cup Fresh Lime Juice
• 1 Tablespoon Agar Powder
• 5 Ounces sweetened condensed soy milk (see recipe below)
• 1/3 Cup Vegan Cream Cheese

• 20 Graham Crackers
• 3/4 Cup Vegan Margerine (Do NOT melt.)

• 3/4 Cup Better Than Milk Soy Powder
• 3/4 Cup Water
• 6 Tablespoons Vegan Margerine
• 1 1/2 Cups Sugar
• 1/8 Teaspoon Salt

GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST DIRECTIONS

1. Crumble graham crackers (food processor is the best for this).
2. In a mixing bowl, use a fork or your fingers to mix margerine with graham cracker crumbs.
3. In a pie dish/pan, use your hands to form a graham cracker crust.
4. Set aside until pie filling is ready to be poured into your pie crust.

1. Mix water and soy milk powder.
2. Boil or microwave on high for 1.5 minutes. Set aside.
3. In a separate pan on the stove, melt margerine on MED-HI.
4. Once it's melted, add sugar to melted margarine. Whisk immediately to incorporate. You don't need to worry about "cooking" the sugar. The texture should be fluffy and powdery.
5. Immediately, add hot soymilk mixture and salt to the margerine/sugar mixture.
6. Gently Boil for 5 minutes.
7. Cool until ready to use (I usually stick mine in the freezer for a minute to cool quickly)
8. The recipe makes much more than you need for the pie so expect to have extra.

1. Puree avocado (I like to turn ON my food processor as I drop-in the avocado pieces, to avoid avocado chunks in the puree)
2. While the food processor is still smoothing the avocados, add-in vegan cream cheese.
3. Once they are completely combined, turn OFF the food processor.
4. Juice your limes and bring the lime juice to a gentle boil on your stovetop.
5. Once boiling, REMOVE from heat and ADD agar powder. QUICKLY whisk the agar into the lime juice.
6. Once the thickened lime juice is a little cooler, turn ON your food processor again (it still has the avocado and cream cheese mixture in it) and add-in your thickened lime juice.
7. Finally, get your cooled sweetened condensed soymilk and ADD (ONLY 5 OUNCES) to the food processor with the other ingredients.
8. Once it's completely incorperated, turn OFF your food processor.

1. Pour avocado pie filling into graham cracker crust.
2. Chill overnight.

It's yummy as is. If you're really treating yourself, add some chocolate sauce, vegan whipped cream, shaved chocolate and graham cracker crumbs. And, take a seat.

These biscuits are a thing of our lazy Sundays. On these days, we put breakfast off until noon and we only leave the house for long walks around the hills and trails of our neighborhood. We figure after our intense past week and whatever the next week has to bring--we deserve it. This morning, we stayed home from work and decided to take it equally as easy since our weekend didn't prove too relaxing. We had our Sunday biscuits on Wednesday--so shoot me. These like all quick breads, don't require rising. I made biscuits and gravy for my dad on Father's day while visiting this month. These go perfect with jelly, vegan margerine, or smothered in my country gravy.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Cup Flour
• 1 Teaspoons Salt, depending on how much salt you like (I usually do 2)
• 1 Tablespoon Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
• 2/3 Cup Soymilk
• 1/3 Cup Vegetable Shortening

DIRECTIONS

1. PREHEAT oven to 425
2. In a bowl, sift: Flour, Salt, Baking Powder and Sugar
3. Add in Soymilk and Vegetable Shortening. Mix and knead.
4. Keep Kneading until the dough in manageable.
5. Turn bowl onto a floured surface.
6. TIP: I like to use plastic wrap on my surface. Before rolling the dough, I place another sheet of plastic wrap on the top and roll. The dough won't stick to your rolling pin.
7. Roll the dough out 1/2" thick.
8. With a biscuit cutter, cut about 8 circles.
9. Place on a baking sheet or baking stone.
10. Bake 8-10 minutes.
11. Remove from the oven and top with your favorate spread or gravy.

Here is a warm biscuit with raspberry preserves.

You must try it with my country gravy. It's the ultimate southern comfort breakfast.

This experiment was inspired by a friend at work. Last week, I brought in various vegan food for a cookout. Among the things I brought were some grilled chickpea cutlets (a la Veganomicon by Isa and Terry). My non-vegan friend loved them and said that they reminded her of salmon croquettes. From what I could remember, she was right! The texture was right, but the flavor needed to be tweaked big time.

Usually, kitchen experiments end with an upset version of myself reflecting on all of the ingredients I wasted. Not this time. I made the base of the chickpea cutlet recipe and created a vegan, almost eerily salmon-esque croquette. This dish is sure to satisfy any vegan who is craving the familiar taste of fish--without the actual fish. See? Everyone wins and it's delicious.

Additionally, these are baked unlike traditional croquettes which are fried. I used nori sheets to replicate the fishy flavor that's so necessary in such a dish.  There's some beet juice for color. If you don't have it, just sub water. I have to tell you that if you weren't crazy about fish as a pregan (before you were vegan), then you won't like this. It tastes almost exactly like fish. While I loved the flavor, I just couldn't dig in like it was a zesty burrito or anything. This is perfect for a summer lunch or light dinner, though. Top it with your favorite sauce.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/3 Cup Soy Yogurt
• 1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
• 2 Egg Replacer Eggs
• 1/2 Cup Onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 Cup Celery, finely chopped
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil for Sauteeing
• 1 Cup Cooked Chickpeas
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1/2 Cup Vital Wheat Gluten
• 3 Tablespoons Beet Juice
• 1 Cup Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
• 1/4 Teaspoon Terragon
• 1/8 Teaspoon Black Pepper
• 1/8 Teaspoon Salt
• 1 Cup Nori sheets, finely chopped using food processor
• 1/2 Cup Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs for coating)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a bowl, mix soy yogurt, mustard and egg replacer eggs. Set aside.
2. Cook chickpeas.
3. Meanwhile, in a separate pan saute onion and celery with 1 tablespoon Olive Oil. Cool.
4. Mash cooked chickpeas with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add in vital wheat gluten and mustard/soy yogurt/egg replacer mixture to the chickpeas.
5. In a food processor, place several nori sheets and chop them until you have 1 cup of very finely chopped nori.
6. Add in the rest of the ingredients EXCEPT 1/2 cup Panko reserved for coating.
7. PREHEAT OVEN TO 375 F
8. Form the croquettes. I used a biscuit cutter as a mold and pressed some of the croquette mixture into it. Pull the cutter away from the formed croquette, and you're ready to coat.
9. In a bowl, have the 1/2 Cup Panko ready to coat the small patties.
10. Roll the patties around in the panko until they are evenly coated.
11. Lightly oil a baking sheet. Bake them for 8 minutes, and flip. Bake another 8 minutes to finish the other side.
12. Top with your favorite sauce and enjoy.
13. You can also squeeze a lime wedge and drizzle its juices over the top.

This week, I'll be sharing my new and improved Avocado Pie recipe along with my Sunday biscuits!

Yesterday, we thought we should try making tortellini from scratch. We had all day and figured we could take our time and give it the TLC it needed. We stuffed them with shredded Teese and my Tofu Ricotta.
They were so good. I don't even have a pasta roller so everything was done by hand. We dressed them up with two different sauces. One sauce is a regular tomato pasta sauce and the other is a creamy garlic alfredo sauce that Chris and I have been working on. It tastes amazing, but isn't as creamy or beautiful as I'd like it to be. Until then, we aren't sharing it. (Sorry, but we will share that recipe once it's fool proof and perfect.) Make these tortellini when you have time though. They are so worth the work and every bite is a burst of cheesy creaminess.

INGREDIENTS

3 Cups Flour
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 teaspoons Olive Oil
4 Ener-G Egg Replacer "Eggs"
6 Tablespoons Water

1 Tofu Ricotta Recipe with 1/2 Cup shredded Teese

PREPARING THE PASTA DOUGH

1. Sift flour and salt into a large bowl. Trust me, doing it on parchment paper was NOT a good idea.
2. In a separate cup: mix water, oil and "eggs" together.
3. Make a well in the middle of the flour/salt mixture.



4. Pour egg/water/oil mix into the well.
5. With your fingers, knead until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
6. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour on counter.
**During this time, PREPARE THE TOFU RICOTTA/TEESE FILLING**
7. After an hour, either put it through your pasta roller OR separate it into 4 parts and roll out each part flat with a rolling pin. I just rolled them out as thin as possible, used a knife to cut a rectangle and put the scraps to the side. The scraps later became the fifth rectangle.



8. Place your pieces side by side (above are 3 out of 5). Give them another firm roll if you're using a rolling pin.



9. Cut squares that are about about 2"x2". Brush them with a light coating of olive oil.

STUFFING AND SHAPING THE TORTELLINI



1. In the center of each square, drop about 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of tofu ricotta/teese filling.



2. To form a triangle, take one end and press it into the opposite end of the square.



3. Press all sides firmly. You can even stretch out the corners so they are easier to fold.



4. Pick up the triangle, so the top is facing you.



5. Fold the top corner of the triangle over the opposite side of the triangle, leaving a flap.



6. Pick it up and wrap the bottom corners around your fingertip.



7. Press and seal the corners together.



8. Viola! It's a beautiful tortellini. Do this about... 50 times.



This was the final product.

9. Boil the tortellini in lightly salted water for about 3 minutes. They will float to the top when almost ready. Remove them from the water once al dente. I had to boil in three batches, by the way.

Tortellini with creamy alfredo sauce



Tortellini with tomato pasta sauce and shredded Teese

"Concha" is Spanish for "shell". I've heard these called so many things, but concha is the only name that makes sense.

The topping is carved before rising and the end result looks like a pretty shell. Commonly, you'll find three different colors/flavors (pink, brown and white) and the original recipe isn't vegan. My recipe includes all three: cinnamon, vanilla and orange; and it's vegan. They are just one type of pan dulce (sweet bread). These are a perfect morning treat to enjoy with coffee.

If you've never had these, it's nearly impossible to imagine what they taste like. While baking these, I was reminded of going to the panaderia (Mexican bakery) with my mom when I was a child. At the time, there was a well-known place in town. People would drive from all over the city just for this panaderia's famous sweet bread. Often, there would be people lined up outside -- the line would go all the way around the building. The bakery was very tiny. By the entrance, there were trays and several pairs of tongs, and you would grab one of each. The next part wasn't for the indecisive or picky. Everyone was shoulder-to-shoulder, scooting and inching over from one side of the room to the other. You would quickly grab which ever pan dulce you wanted and at the end of the line was the cashier. The cashier would ring you up and toss your items in a brown paper bag. They had every kind of pan dulce you could imagine. This includes items like empanadas, polvorones and maranitos (gingerbread cookies shaped like piggies). No frills - just fresh oven goodness.

Conchas are very easy to make. I tend to use my kitchenaid or breadmaker whenever possible, but there wasn't a need here. Dare I say, "knead"? You just have to make these. I'm not a coffee drinker, but I'd make a pot just so that I can dip the bread into a cup like I did when I was a little girl. Eat these hot. They can store for about a week, as long as they are covered and sealed in an air tight container. I keep them in the fridge, because I hate to leave anything out. They are just as good after being heated in a microwave for about 15-20 seconds. Make these, you'll thank me.

 
DOUGH

• 1 Tablespoon yeast
• 2/3 cup water, warmed
• 1/3 cup vegan sugar
• 1/3 cup vegan margerine
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 ener-g egg replacer egg
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup lukewarm soymilk, warmed up and then cooled in the freezer for 3 mins

TOPPING

Base:

• 1/3 cup vegan sugar
• 1/4 cup soy margerine
• 1/2 cup flour

Flavors: (Do not mix these together, read on)

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons orange zest 1 drop of red food coloring

DOUGH DIRECTIONS

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water.
2. Warm-up soymilk, and place in freezer to cool for 2 mins.
3. Make your ener-g egg replacer egg.
4. Add-in (sifted) sugar, soy margerine, salt, ener-g egg replacer egg, (sifted) flour and cooled soymilk.
5. Knead until smooth.
6. Oil a large mixing bowl lightly (very lightly)
7. Put dough in mixing bowl and turn over onto parchment paper. Make sure that all places for air to enter are covered.
8. Let it rise, in a warm space for about 1 1/2 hours.
9. Punch down the dough.
10. Make 12 portions, shape them into balls.
11. Place on cookie sheet with parchment paper on top.
12. Leave at least 2" between each ball.

PREPARING THE TOPPING

Make the base for the flavors:

1. Mix sugar and soy margerine with a fork until fluffy.
2. Mix in (sifted) flour.
3. Divide into 3 balls.

Flavor the topping, three ways:

1. Mix cinnamon into the first ball. Once color is even, set aside.
2. Mix vanilla into the second ball, set aside.
3. Mix orange zest into third ball. Add one drop of red food coloring. Mix well and set aside.
4. Keep 3 flavors separate.

ASSEMBLE

1. Now you'll need 12 topping circles (one for each ball of dough).
2. Divide each flavor ball into 4 parts.
3. Now you'll have 4 parts for each flavor/color.
4. Take two pieces of plastic wrap.
5. In between the two sheets of plastic wrap, place a topping piece.
6. Shape it into a circle large enough to cover the top of your dough. You can use the back of a spoon or your fingers.
7. Once you have acheived the desired shape and size, remove the top layer of platic wrap. Slide your hand under the bottom layer, lift and turn it over onto the top your dough ball.
8. Once you've done this with all 12 topping pieces, you're ready to make the shell pattern.

MAKING THE SHELL PATTERN:

1. Take a knife and create a shell pattern into the topping. This takes about five cuts lengthwise and a few horizontally. Don't worry about it looking pretty. It just will, trust me.
2. Now, cover and let them rise for 30-45 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350 F.
4. Bake for 15-17 minutes.

This is definitely comfort food. Vegan Meatloaf, Garlic Broccoli and Mashed Potatos with White Country Gravy. This meal easily feeds a few people (meat-eaters included, as always).

Below you'll find my meatloaf and white country gravy recipes. The meatloaf is really delicious, but it pales in comparison to this gravy. I believe it has the capacity to do great things to your tastebuds. Be prepared.

Whenever I think of "vegan meatloaf", I am reminded of 70's veganism. You know, when hippies made it out of nuts and tofu. While I love both of those things, they don't really belong in meatloaf (not mine anyways). My mom used to make great meatloaf when I was still living at home; of course, this was in my pregan (read: before I was vegan) days. I just had to veganize her recipe. I gave it a try about a year ago and it's exactly the way I remember. This meatloaf, like all vegan food, is cholesterol free.

VEGAN MEATLOAF

MEATLOAF INGREDIENTS

• 2 T Oil, to saute veggies
• 2 "tubes" Lightlife brand "Beef Style"
• 1/2 Onion, finely diced
• 1/2 Green Bell Pepper, finely diced
• 1/3 c Ketchup
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t pepper
• 1 Ener-G egg replacer "egg"
• 10 Saltine Crumbs, or Japanese breadcrumbs (like panko)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 F, lightly oil a baking dish.
2. Saute veggies in a shallow pan in 2 Tablespoons oil until soft and clear.
3. Mix everything except salt and pepper in a bowl.
4. Add salt and pepper to the same bowl.
5. Shape mixture into a "loaf".
6. Place loaf into prepared baking dish.
7. Cover all visible sides with more ketchup (it's comfort food, not health food).
8. Bake at 400 F for 40 minutes, with the top covered with foil.
9. After 40 minutes, remove foil and bake for 5 minutes more.

WHITE COUNTRY GRAVY

We have tried so many vegan white gravy recipes. They all end up very weird, grainy or like some sort of jello mold. I know, that sounds gross; but that's why we moved on.

This is a mix of a few non vegan recipes that we found online and veganized. It's perfectly creamy, savory gravy. It's the kind of gravy you can cover anything in and it's totally understandable. My boyfriend and I always make the gravy first, because while making everything else, we taste the gravy to make sure it's good (over and over again). It always is. It doesn't take a twenty tastes to know that. We just can't stop. Also, this is perfect for biscuits & gravy!

WHITE COUNTRY GRAVY INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 c Vegetable Oil
• 3/4 c Flour
• 1 3/4 t Salt
• 2 t Black Pepper
• 4 c UNsweetened soy milk (if you only have sweetened soymilk, you may want to increase the seasonings a tiny bit to counteract the sweetness of regular soy milk)

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat Oil in a large skillet over MED-HI heat.
2. Shortly after, whisk-in Flour, Salt and Pepper.
3. Cook and stir over MED-HI heat until completely mixed.
4. Gradually whisk in soymilk, and bring heat to HIGH heat.
5. It will seem too liquid, but keep stirring and it will become thick after a few minutes.
6. Once it's thick, remove it from heat and keep stirring until it's creamy.
7. If gravy is too thick, DO NOT add water. You can slowly add more soy milk.

You're probably wondering what this is. When I was a younger, my mom and aunt were always throwing parties. If my memory serves me well, then these are exactly (or very close to) what they made quite often. It's a sugar cookie crust with a toffee spread. It's then topped with sliced Granny Smiths, chocolate and nuts. It's really simple but the taste is really complex--especially the spread.

The first thing you want to do is prepare a sugar cookie crust. I used NoWhey Katie's sugar cookie recipe. It's perfect for this. I didn't have Ener-G egg replacer so I used 1/4 c soy yogurt. Worked like a charm! Once you have your cookie dough ready, simply roll it out on your baking stone or dish.

Blind Bake the cookie crust for 15 minutes at 300 F. While it's baking, prepare your spread.

SPREAD INGREDIENTS

• 1 8-ounce package of Tofutti soy cream cheese
• 1/2 Cup packed Brown Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

OTHER INGREDIENTS

• 2 Granny Smith Apples peeled, cored and sliced
• Chocolate/Caramel topping OR Chocolate Ganache
• 1/4  Cup Chopped Nuts (peanuts or pecans)

SPREAD DIRECTONS

1. With a fork, cream together all of the spread ingredients.
2. Spread on top of cooled cookie crust with a spatula.

When the sugar cookie crust is ready to be removed from the oven, make sure you allow it some time to cool down. This is a great time to prepare the 2 Granny Smith apples. You'll want to peel them, core them and slice them. One the crust is cooled, top with spread. Place the apple slices on top of the spread.

From here, you'll want to top the apples with either a caramel or chocolate topping. We had some vegan chocolate drizzle on hand; but if you don't have any, just make some simple ganache. You can make a simple ganache by boiling about 1 cup of soymilk. Once boiling, remove from heat and add in some vegan bittersweet chocolate chips. To thin out mixture, you can add maple syrup.

Don't forget to top it all off with some peanuts or pecans.

We ate ours with a scoop of vegan Praline Pecan ice cream. Chris says, "I expected this to taste very simple, however it was anything but simple. Every ingredient compliments the others well and this is just really awesome. Everyone should try it." Oh yeah, and it's really easy to make and doesn't dirty too many dishes. It's perfect for a weeknight. In less than 25 minutes, this is completely ready to be eaten.

Now, we really wanted to make our own crust this time instead of the usual one we buy from Whole Foods. The only problem with that is we didn't have a baking stone for maximum pizza crust enjoyability. It must have been "in the stars" because when we contacted our local Pampered Chef representative, not only did she have a pizza stone but she had a model that hasn't even been released yet! She delivered it to our place that night. We were so happy since we didn't have to go to Williams-Sonoma. We love it but HATE the mall.

I also have to mention that we had to make 40 cupcakes last night, so we wanted something easy. The moment we got home, we tossed the pizza dough ingredients in the breadmaker, set it on the "dough" setting, and let it do its thing. We then made cupcakes and went to the store for ingredients. We still had to stop by Whole Foods for some vegan cheese. We usually buy Follow Your Heart soy cheese because of it's meltability (no, we haven't ordered Teese yet) and even at that, it doesn't really ever melt...without broiling. However, they were out of FYH cheese! We had to buy our old friend VeganRella. We set our expectations low for meltability and went on our way.

After we pulled the pizza out of the oven, we were shocked because after only 15 minutes on 375 F the VeganRella was melted.  I'm not sure if they improved their soy cheese or the stone is just that good, but we were pleased. This pizza dough is the only one that's really worked for us so I'm sharing it. It's unconventional but it tastes like a hand-tossed pizza. More thick than thin and very addicting - even for people who pass on the crust. Add more spices, if you like. I always do something different.

Here's the dough rolled out after kneading and rising twice (I was buying time). This is a 15" stone, by the way.

PIZZA DOUGH INGREDIENTS

• 1 teaspoon Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 1/2 cups Hot Water
• 3 1/2 cups Flour
• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Oregano
• 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
• 2 1/4 teaspoons Fast Rising Yeast
• 1/4 cups extra Flour

BREADMAKER DIRECTIONS

1. Dissolve sugar and salt in hot water.
2. Add flour, olive oil and spices to water mixture.
3. Make a well in the flour and add yeast.
4. Start on "Dough" setting.
5. After rising, transfer your dough to a mixing bowl (this is best by turning the dough pan upseide down, as it's very sticky).
6. Add in 1/4 cup flour, mix with hands or spatula.
7. When manageable, roll out onto baking stone or pan.

MANUAL DIRECTIONS

1. Dissolve Sugar and Salt in Hot Water.
2. Add Flour, Olive Oil, Oregano, Garlic Powder, Crushed Red Pepper and Yeast to water mixture.
3. Knead until smooth.
4. Rise for 1 hour minimum (max 1 hour 30 minutes).
5. Add extra Flour and mix/knead until smooth.
6. When manageable, roll out onto a baking stone or pizza.

PREHEAT oven to 375 F and blind bake for 10 minutes.

TOP with ingredients.

BAKE at 375 F for 25 minutes.

After the dough is finished blind baking, you can add whatever toppings you'd like. We topped our crust with the following ingredients:

• Pizza Sauce
• Soy Cheese
• Tomatoes
• Black Olives
• Mushrooms
• Yves "Pepperoni"
• Onion

Straight from the oven.

This pizza fed two hungry vegans for 2 days. Try this dough for your calzones, too.

This basic Japanese curry is a weekly staple at our house. At first, I hesitated to share this "recipe" (I say that because it's very easy), but I decided to go ahead with it when I thought about our vegan/vegetarian friends. Most of them are musicians, some are broke, but they're all always hungry or at least down for some curry. The reason this is the "hungry musician's curry" is because 2 people can eat off of this for 2 or 3 days and it's cheap. When we're feeling pressed for time or cash; we run into the store, grab curry mix, canned vegetables and a fresh onion before rushing back home. It's also a meal you can toss together to impress lots of people, really quickly and on a dime. It smells incredibly inviting. Don't feel embarrased if someone catches you with your face over the simmering curry, inhaling its fragrant fumes. If you're afraid of traditional curry, this is a great place to start. Japanese curry isn't as jarring as some Indian curry can be (though I do love them all). Serve this with steamed rice and soy sauce and you've got quite a meal.  

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pkg Extra Firm Tofu, drained
• Veg Oil, for frying
• 1 large Onion, sliced
• 3 T Veg Oil, for sautéing
• 2 1/2 c Carrots, sliced (or 2 cans)
• 2 1/2 c Potatoes, sliced (or 2 cans)
• 3 c Water
• 1 pkg S&B Golden Curry Sauce Mix (Mild or Medium)
• 2 c Prepared Steamed Rice (or more depending on how many servings you'll need)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Fry Tofu in Oil on MEDIUM HIGH until golden. Set aside.
2. Sauté Onion in 3 T Oil until translucent. Also, this would be great time to start your rice.
3. Add Potatoes and sauté for 1 min.
4. Add Carrots and Tofu.
5. Add 3 c Water.
6. Increase temperature to HIGH and allow everything to boil.
7. Once water is boiling, add the curry mix and throughly incorporate all ingredients.
8. Once curry mix is dissolved, simmer for 15 min.
9. Set aside for 5 min and serve with steamed rice while hot.

There's a famous ranch in Texas called King Ranch. I've never been but I'm certain (after a bit of research) that this is where this casserole was "born". My mom used to make this when I was in highscool and it was so good. I know I said we wouldn't make Mexican again, but this is purely Texan food. This cassrole is spicy, with a vegan cream of mushroom soup and a vegan cream of chicken soup, made from scratch as its base. It's mixed with seitan, onion, green bell pepper, tomatos, and lots of melty vegan cheese in between layers of crunchy corn tortillas. This is so hearty. Don't even try this if you can't handle spicy. It's perfectly spicy, if you like spicy. I promise it's not that type of spicy that makes you think "people who eat this don't care about the taste! They are torturing themselves!" I always think this whenever something is unnecesarily spicy. This casserole is not.

INGREDIENTS

Cream of Mushroom Soup: (taken from fat free vegan's base for green bean casserole, slightly varied)

• 8 ounces of Mushrooms
• 3 cloves or 1 1/2 teaspoons Minced Garlic
• Pinch of Cayenne
• Salt to Taste
• 3 T Flour
• 3/4 C vegetable broth
• 3/4 C soy creamer

Cream of (not) Chicken Soup:

• 3/4 C water
• 1 Not Chik'n Bouillon (any vegan chicken bouillon will do)
• 3 Tablespoons Flour
• 1/4 C Soy Creamer

Casserole:

• 1 Onion, chopped
• 1 Green Bell Pepper, chopped
• Vegetable Oil to saute vegetables
• 1 cream of mushroom soup recipe
• 1 cream of (not) chicken soup recipe
• 10 ounce can of Rotel (or any other tomatos and green chiles)
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 Teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/3 teaspoon of Black Pepper
• 6-8 Corn tortillas
• 2 Cups shredded Follow Your Heart vegan Gourmet cheddar Style (soy) Cheese
• 1 box of White Wave chicken style seitan

Directions:

Prepare cream of mushroom soup:

1. Lightly oil a pan and saute mushrooms. Add in garlic, cayenne, salt and pepper.
2. Whisk flour into vegetable broth and add to mushrooms.
3. Simmer stirring until thicker. Add creamer and simmer 5-10 minutes.

Prepare cream of (not) chicken soup:

1.  Boil water. Add in bouillon. When dissolved, add in soy creamer. Whisk for a few minutes and add in flour.
2. Simmer for 5 minutes or until thick.

For the casserole:

1. Preheat to 350 F
2. Saute onion and bell pepper in canola oil.
3. Add cream of mushroom and cream of not chicken soup to the mushroom mixture.
4. Add rotel, chili powder, salt, garlic powder and pepper.
5. Allow the mix to simmer on low heat.
6. Add in whitewave chicken style seitan.
7. Line the bottom of a casserole dish with torn tortilla strips.
8. Top with seitan/soup mixture.
9. Top with a layer of cheese.
10. Repeat above 3 steps.
11. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

If you've ever been to Veggie heaven and had theirs, this tastes exactly the same. I had to have a recipe because every time Chris and I would go there, we'd have to share one. One Saturday morning, I surprised him with these at home. This is my recipe which is pretty much a mix several Chinese recipes/methods:

For those of you who have never had this sweet red bean filling:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azuki_bean

And for those who want to know more about bao:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baozi

You'll be pleased to know that this recipe is very easy.

It's easier if you can find red bean paste at your asian market. It's even easier if you have a bread machine. I've made this with my hands many times with the same result, so no worries if you find yourself without a bread maker.

These need to be steamed. If you don't have a traditional steamer like me, you can use your pasta boiler pot with just enough water on high.

If you have any problems or questions, feel free to email me or leave them in the comments section.

This makes 12 medium sized or 6 large buns.

INGREDIENTS

Inside:

• 3 c Prepared Red Bean Paste/Filling
• 12 (or 6) parchment paper squares

Dough:

• 4 c Flour
• 1 t Instant Yeast
• 1/2 c Vegan Sugar
• 1 1/4 c Water

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mix flour and yeast in a bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, dissolve sugar in water.
3. Mix contents of both bowls (at least 10 minutes)
4. Once is doesn't stick to the bowl or your hands, separate into 12 or 6 equal lumps. **note: If it keeps sticking, add a bit of flour. This is 50/50, here. It happens.**
5. Get 12 or 6 pieces of parchment paper squares prepared.
6. Take each lump, roll them into balls, flatten them on work surface.**I usually cover my cutting board with parchment for this**
7. Drop 1 Tablespoon of sweet red bean filling on to the center of each dough circle.
8. Bring up the sides of the dough around the filling, and seal. I usually just roll around in my hand after sealing to make a smooth ball again.
9. Place the ball on a parchment paper square.
10. Repeat steps 7-9 until you've finished all of the dough.
11. Cover and let double in size for atleast 1 hour.
12. Steam on high for 15 minutes, and enjoy.

IF YOU HAVE A BREAD MAKER

This is a bit easier on you and you don't fill until the end. Either method will result in the exact sweet buns. I do it this way normally, because I can put all ingredients in the bread maker on the "dough" setting and go on to other things knowing that it will mix and rise in the machine.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Put all DOUGH ingredients in the machine.
2. Select "dough" setting.
3. After the dough has risen, follow above steps 4-9.
4. Steam on HIGH for 15 minutes.

TO MAKE FILLING/PASTE FROM SCRATCH

Below is a recipe for sweetened red bean paste, if you want to make it from scratch. This is not my recipe (and I haven't tried it myself) so use it at your own risk. It's easy enough to find the sweet bean paste at a local Asian Market. I'd recommend buying it over making it from scratch for your first time with these sweet buns. It can be tricky.

INGREDIENTS

• 2/3 cup Red beans
• Water
• 1/4 cup Maple syrup
• 1/3 cup vegan sugar
• 1/4cup canola oil for frying

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Rinse and drain your beans
2. Soak overnight
3. Boil your beans in water and simmer for 2 hours or until soft.
4. Drain your beans.
5. Puree your beans in a blender.
6. Press them through a sieve or cheese cloth to remove any water
7. Add in maple syrup and sugar
8. Heat up oil in pan
9. Fry beans on low and stir until the mixture is a very thick paste
10. Keep stirring to prevent sticking
11. Cool and store in a fridge until needed.

INGREDIENTS

• lasagna noodles (if using no boil noodles add 25 degrees to your oven)
• 4 cups pasta sauce (like Prego, but check the ingredients)
• 1.5 lbs of lightlife smart ground beef style crumbles (or 2 boxes)
• 1 Block Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet Mozzorella, Teese or other melting vegan cheese
• 1 Tofu Ricotta Recipe (see below)
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano

Tofu Ricotta

• 2 T olive oil
• 1 pkg firm tofu (water drained, pressed)
• 1 can sliced mushrooms (small can, about 1 1/2" tall)
• 1 can sliced black olives (small can, about 1 1/2" tall)
• 3 T tahini
• 1 T nutritional yeast
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/8 t pepper
• 1 t sage

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. In a food processor, mix all tofu ricotta ingredients and refrigerate.
3. Cook pasta sauce and crumbles over med-hi heat
4. Add in oregano and any other spices you like (I always try something new here.)
5. Bring to a low simmer
6. If you have to boil your noodles, do that now.
7. Prepare a 9x13 dish with a light coating of oil to prevent sticking
8. Spread a thing layer of sauce on bottom of pan
9. Put down 3 noodles, followed by more sauce
10. Now you can layer a thick spread of tofu ricotta
11. Cover tofu ricotta with FYH vegan gourmet or "cheese" of your choice
12. Repeat steps 9-11 until you've run out of noodles.
13. Bake for 45 mins.

This is my lasagna before it was baked. I used no boil noodles here, folks.

Right out of the oven.

Here's my piece next to some amazing garlic roasted brussel sprouts a la Vegan With a Vengeance. Don't worry brussels, I only have eyes for you.

Goodnight!

Tomorrow morning: Sweet Buns