It's true! Sparkling water really does make the fluffiest pancakes! I followed this recipe exactly and added 1 cup of organic frozen blueberries.

I might never follow another pancake recipe for the rest of my life.

Tamale House is tucked away on 1707 E 6th St. Did you know the family behind the tamale house is one of the first to sell tacos in Austin? With a nod to the original family recipes; the kitchen sends out authentic, delicious Mexican comfort food. You'll find the whole family running operations at this bustling eatery.

With this much passion and ambition for delicious food; it's no surprise that Tamale House East is rolling out vegan options - with gusto. It started with one new (very popular) vegan tamale and growing requests from their loyal and new customers. I'm so happy to announce that Tamale House East now offers Food for Lovers Vegan Queso! We're excited to welcome T.H.E. to our growing list of Austin restaurants.

We had no issues about leaving our laptops behind, and having lunch at Tamale House. We started with 2 pitchers of mimosas, and then two bubbly champagne cocktails. First out, the chips and vegan queso. Tamale House uses ranchero sauce, and guacamole with beans. Their tortilla chips are fresh made from El Milagro, a local tortilleria just blocks away. We asked for extra chips. This was really fresh and flavorful. Their guacamole is so yummy.

Next, we each enjoyed a chalupa (a crispy corn tortilla topped with beans, vegan queso, lettuce, tomato and avocado) and a gordita. The masa for the gordita is house made and perfect. It's stuffed with portobello mushroom, beans and more guac on top. This was the best way to spend our lunch ‐ team queso sharing delicious food!

Don't be the last to know and enjoy these options. This family-owned gem on the east side is pulling out all the stops! They're so excited to share their beloved recipes without animal products, for their vegan fans.

All you need to know about this spot (via Austinist):

A "modern Australian-style Thai" concept from owners Jesse Herman and Delfo Trombetta. If those names are familiar to you, it is likely because they're the same team behind 2nd Street interior Mexican stalwart La Condesa. Herman and Trombetta have also brought along executive chef Rene Ortiz and pastry whiz Laura Sawicki from the La Condesa team to oversee the new project, which is helmed by chef de cuisine Alexis Chong.

We love La Condesa. It's beautiful. The food is creative and unique. I knew Sway wouldn't let me down.

Chefs Rene Ortiz, Alexis Chong and pastry chef Laura Sawicki don't get tripped up when they hear you're vegan. They run with it.

What's really great is that most of these menu items were already vegan. I think we only had to make one modification.

Our waitress knew every detail about ingredients, including garnishes.

We ordered vegetable spring rolls (avocado, carrot, vermicelli noodle, rice paper, tomato vinegar), Salt & Pepper Tofu and Green Curry (tofu, peas, potato, baby corn, thai eggplant, pickled fresno chili).

For real though, dessert knocked it out of the park. It was playful, fun and totally tasty. Add another point, because it was already vegan, too. Boom!

Coconut tapioca pudding with yuzu, basil seeds, puffed wheat & avocado sorbet.

Okay! This was like Dr. Seuss level whimsy. Chef Laura is a sweet genius.

We killed it.

Sway is beautiful. I want to live there, no joke. I really dig the community seating - even though we scored a private little nook.

It's a cool way to experience everything Sway has to offer. You should go.

(A few images borrowed from Sway's facebook)

I finally made the perfect pecan pie, thanks to this recipe. We wrapped everything up with a game of Loteria.

I'm happy to announce the 3 winners of our The 30 Day Vegan Challenge memberships:

Hi-fives to Sara, Katie & Ellie!

Almost forgot! Shape magazine wrote about us. :)

I'm super in love with Lush right now. My skin's never looked better!

Have a great week.

To me, eating plant-based, nutrient-dense and delicious foods is easy. I'll never have to worry about things like undercooked meat, or getting sick from bad seafood. I'm less likely to suffer from cardiovascular diseases, cancers and high cholesterol that comes from consuming animal products.

People get tripped up on veganism, because they don't know the basics. It's the reason people fall back on foods that they know aren't healthy. It's overwhelming and uncomfortable to try something different. I get that.

If you've ever been curious about veganism, and aren't at all sure where to start; I have something for you.

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau has developed an incredible program called The 30 Day Vegan Challenge! Chris and I have truly enjoyed this program and it's finally time to share it with you!

In The 30 Day Vegan Challenge, Colleen holds your hand through everything!

Baking without Eggs, How to Grocery Shop, Reading Food Labels, Stocking a Vegan Pantry, Filling a Vegan Fridge, How to Eat Out (and Speak up), Packing Lunches and so much more.

It took me years to learn this stuff. She's giving you all the tools, all the help and answers to any and every question you could have about veganism.

I am so in love with this program and I'm giving away 3 Memberships to Colleen's The 30 Day Vegan Challenge! You'll get access to amazing recipes and videos like her Thanksgiving Video below:

I am choosing a winner on Monday 10:00 AM CST. I'm certain that after 30 days, you'll experience a great transformation in health and energy. You'll have confidence in your ability to try something new and exciting. You'll climb mountains and soar like an eagle. Okay, maybe not. Maybe. You won't know unless you try.

This program is easy to use, intuitive, designed for approachability. It's handy, even on-the-go. The 30 Day Vegan Challenge is an invaluable resource; which will undoubtedly change the lives of so many people. I look forward to Colleen's new videos and recipes each day. I'm sure you will, too.

Let's do it. Leave a comment below, and I'll choose a winner on Monday 11/19.

This weekend we invited family and friends over for tacos, tequila, pan dulce and coffee.

My birthday is on Halloween. Instead of tie up everyone's Halloween plans, we hosted a late Sunday brunch.

On the menu:
Flour Tortillas
Corn Tortillas
Refried Black Beans
Refried Pinto Beans
Roasted Golden Potatoes
Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Sauteed Nopales and Mushrooms
Sauteed bell pepper and onion
Guacamole
Chipotle Salsa
Salsa Verde
Pickled Red Onion
Cashew Lime Crema
Pineapple Empanadas
Pumpkin Empanadas
Mexican Wedding Cookies

We made pitchers of:
Sangria
La Condesa's Alma Blanca (with habanero infused tequila)
Fresh Squeezed Agave Margaritas

We used colorful plates & glasses found at West Elm and Anthropologie. We found weaved colorful tortilla warmers at a local Hispanic market.

You can prep everything the night before. The day of, I made fresh guacamole, salsa and potatoes and put everything out on the table for people to assemble their tacos. Chris made pitchers of fresh-squeezed margaritas and the alma blanca. Our friend came over early to make another pitcher of fruity sangria.

As everyone arrived, we served them drinks and I threw some tortillas on the comal before piling them in the tortilla warmers. We brewed a big pot of coffee and everyone devoured the empanadas and cookies.

Easy, stylish, colorful and simple to host - especially if you have amazing friends who will come over the night before and help you dice onions. I'm looking at you, Coffey's.

I love to garnish my guacamole with pomegranate seeds. It's pretty and simple.

For my recent brunch, we made a ton of empanadas. We made fillings from scratch and used frozen premade vegan dough. We rolled out the dough, cut out circles, spooned filling in the center, folded each one in half and crimped it shut using a fork.

You can find the pineapple filling recipe here. Allow it to cool before filling your empanadas. (Note: If you use canned pineapple, omit the water and follow everything else)

For the pumpkin filling, mix together:

• 1 can Pumpkin
• 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
• 4 tablespoons Cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon Molasses
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla

Taste and adjust as needed. It shouldn't be too wet to scoop into the center of the dough circles.

Bake at 350° until golden and toss them in a cinnamon/sugar mixture while the empanadas are still warm.

Make a big pitcher, line glasses with an exotic salt mix, and pour over ice.

3 cups tequila (100% Blue Agave Tequila)
2 cups Fresh-squeezed lime juice
1 cup Cointreau

You can soak raw cashews in water overnight (water should be 1" above cashews), in your refrigerator. By morning, they'll be plump and swollen. Drain the cashew water into another bowl or cup (you may need it) and blend the stuff out of your cashews. The more you blend, the fluffier it gets. You may need to add a little of the reserved cashew water to the blender if it's too thick. It'll make a rich cream, similar to sour cream. It tastes like pure cashew, so you can add anything to brighten it up.

My lime crema has the juice of 1-2 limes, 1 jalapeno (deseeded) and 1 avocado.

Taste as you go, and flavor it for whatever you're eating.

Some of my favorite riffs:

• Chipotle Cashew Crema (add in canned chipotle chiles in adobo)
• Habanero Cashew Crema (add in 1 roasted habanero)
• Lemon-berry Cashew Crema (add in fresh berries, lemon juice)

I remember days reaching up to 115, and spending (slightly) less hot nights enjoying the moon over the mountains. We stayed in our friend's dreamy airy house by a mountain. She hikes up the mountain every morning; and after, cools off with a swim. We quickly adopted her routine and even enjoyed fresh strawberries by the pool. Every time I eat strawberries it takes me back to Arizona.

From Erika: "I made my own cereal from the bulk section of my local health food store. 3tbsp chia seeds, 3tbsp buckwheat, 3/4tbsp flax seeds, 1tbsp maple sweetened cranberries, 1tbsp goji berries, 1tbsp hemp hearts, 12 raw chopped almonds (all organic). Add to a small container, mix in 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk (or almond) and agave to taste. Let sit for 10 min or so, mix and serve."

Erika is the fashion designer behind high end lingerie label Purrfect Pineapples. Everything is professionally sewn, hand-made and adorable. No sweat shops, no animal based materials.

Do these Halloween nails remind you of Dexter?

Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Peanut Butter Cups.

Revisit my avocado pie, perfect fluffy biscuits, tortellini from scratch and other recipes right here.

I was hired to interview Sean Lennon a few years ago.

Sean told me about how Eric Clapton taught him a guitar riff that Eric learned from John Lennon many years before.

PS: Sean Lennon looks just like his dad! Check out his label, Chimera Music.

PPS: Image via Yoko Ono's Official Instagram @yokoonoofficial

I de-seeded a poblano chile and put half of a lime and some garlic cloves inside and roasted it. No need to add any oil. The lime will get oozy and seep into the chile.

On the stove, I steamed (using my bamboo steamer) some cubed and peeled sweet potato and some corn.

When the poblanos are ready and fork tender, remove them from the oven and take out the lime and garlic. Squeeze the lime ooze into the chile. Fill the poblano with steamed sweet potato and corn.

We covered the chiles with our vegan queso.

My husband and I own Food for Lovers. We created The World's First Vegan Queso. It's dairy free, fat free, soy free, nut free and oil free. It's really creamy and flavorful; but the entire jar only has 240 calories, 24 g of protein, 0 cholesterol and 0 fat. My vegan queso started as one of my first blog posts. It got so popular that I started selling it to restaurants and was soon picked up by Whole Foods Market. You can buy us all over the country and even Australia! (We still can't believe any of that because it's so cool.) In fact, we're some of the youngest food manufacturers in the country.

Bonus to steaming and roasting? You have time to do other things! I had time to make a quick ranchero sauce.

You could add: beans, guacamole, pepitas, avocado, mushrooms or veg chorizo!

PS: Today I saw Ryan Gosling at Whole Foods.

Lush recently launched a new lipstick line and they're all vegan & not tested on animals (even sexier!)

I'm really in love with this shade and at $22.95, I think it's right on par with other quality lip colors.

Which shade is your favorite?

We're going to the beach to spend time with our family.

Some necklaces do have silk; which I avoid. If you're vegan like me; I'm sure you could order pieces with an alternative material. Most of the pieces are totally vegan! Good news for me.

PS: Let' s help Vinca USA attend their first tradeshow.

PPS: Amber's drawings always crack me up.

Once everything is almost ready; I take the cloves out of the oven. They pop right out of their skin, really buttery and almost translucent. I usually throw them in the blender for sauces or add diced cloves to beans, potatoes and pasta.

Last night, during class; I noticed the window next to me was covered in steam. Everyone in the room was drenched in sweat.

Would you ever try hot yoga? My friend Jessie wakes up around 6 AM for hot yoga every day. She co-owns a vegan cookie dough company, and tastes tests a lot of cookie dough. She swears hot yoga keeps her healthy and fit.

P.S. Here's my favorite juice. We make this every night after yoga.

Green Limeade Juice

1/2 head of Kale
1 Cucumber
3 sticks Celery
4 Apples
1/2 Lime, juiced

We started in Texas and drove through New Mexico, Arizona, California and Nevada visiting every Whole Foods Market along the way. Our product is available nation-wide (and even exported to Australia!) We visited each store to demo, meet the locals and introduce our brand.

There's a lot to cover from our trip, which I'll pour over later. We can't wait to tell you about meeting Elijah Wood, driving near hundreds of dust devils in the desert, falling in love with La Jolla and all of our friends along the way.

Here are a few favorites from our trip.

PS: It's October. I'll be 26 on Oct 31st! October also brings The Vegan Month of Food (VeganMoFo). I'll write every day to share recipes, products and things that I love. There are almost 600 other blogs participating. Best way to view them all? Visit randomofo.com - a Vegan Mofo blog randomizer that Chris quickly pulled together last year. It's been updated with 2012 blogs.

Here are a few different recipes using Scotch Bonnet Peppers:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Scotch-Bonnet-Tomato-Salsa-12736

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Hot-Pepper-Jelly

http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Sour-Orange-Mojo-Recipezaar

Melisser's Candy Corn Recipe

Pumpkin Pie Brownies by Isa on the Vegan Cupcakes Blog

Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake by Fat Free Vegan

Vegan Magic Cookie Bars by Fat Free Vegan

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls from Katie at DEOTS, Issue 2

Muddy Buddies

You can find cherries, coconut and cucumber inside, too. Most fruit salads skip coconut and cucumber. Fruit cups happen to be one of my favorite things. Since I'm sugar-free, I love making my own fruit cups topped with plenty of chile mix. Every time we go back home, we stop by La Paletera for their huge fruit cups. By the time we arrive at my parents beach house, we have sticky red fingers and lips. Good stuff!

You've probably seen these chiles in your grocery store, dried and whole. They're really common in Mexican cooking, but I wanted to share a few different takes on the guajillo pepper. I gathered up some vegan recipes from around the web.

Here are some uses and Info about Guajillo Peppers like rehydrating, pastes and more.

This Guajillo and Tomatillo Salsa from Gourmet sounds really flavorful!

From The Bon Appetit Test Kitchen is Panang Curry Paste.

I'd be into a Smoky Two Chile Salsa that uses both guajillo and chipotle peppers.

This sounds kind of wild, but why not! Looking for a Chile-Coffee BBQ Sauce? Here's one from The Food Network Kitchens.

For a refreshing take on guajillo, check out this Ensalada de Mango, Jicama y Pepino (Mango-Jicama and Cucumber Salad) by Rick Bayless.

I want to cover everything in Bobby Flay's Smoky Guajillo Chile Oil.

It's really cool that Pueblo Viejo is super vegan friendly. Even cooler that you can order the Tiko Taco as-is and it's already vegan. No having to say "no cheese" or "no meat". The Tiko Taco is beans, potato and avocado. They're around $2.50 and EASILY the best taco in Austin. I take you seriously if your corn tortilla is doubled. It's what the small family owned taquierias have done forever. Sometimes a corn tortilla breaks and what's better than another one to save it.

Everything's perfect. Like I said, best taco in Austin. Affordable. Satisfying. Their salsa will blow your mind. Their hottest salsa is really really spicy. It coats your entire mouth and lips with spice and you can't escape it. If heat isn't your thing, they have a couple different mild salsas. Their verde specifically is super good.

This place has the best hours. They're open everyday. Most days they're open til 3:00 AM, the rest of the week they are open until midnight. They're also open early from 7:30 AM to 3:00 PM each day and reopening at 6:00 PM until midnight.

Remember to stop by the store for beer before you visit. It's BYOB.

Above is the vegan platter we shared. Microgreen with pepitas, grilled artichoke and truffle olive oil, huitlacoche and mushrooms on masa and tomatoes with basil over corn sauce.

In the back right, you can see the three salsas they make. They are so delicious. One of the salsas has apple in it. We can never get enough.

In the back left, you can peek at some of the infused flavored salts they mix for their cocktails. Lots of them are spicy and go well with their spicy drinks.

My favorite is the Alma Blanca. (habanero infused tequila, ginger, agave nectar, pineapple juice, fresh corn with a hibiscus infused salt rim)

Here's the passion fruit spiced mango margarita:

Check this place out if you live here or visit!

Chris and I love the people behind this company as much as we love their products. Their elixirs are amazing (and vegan!). Each flavor is spicy and totally unique--you'll be hooked.

Image courtesy of prometheussprings.com

From their website: "The company derives its name from Prometheus, the fearless Greek titan and champion of mankind, known for his wily intelligence. He is credited with stealing fire from Zeus and giving it to mortal man, for the benefit of humanity. Inspired by this story, it is with this same passion and vision that the team continues its tireless efforts to help us all rediscover the fire of capsaicin for the advancement of all."

Image courtesy of prometheussprings.com

Their drinks are impressive. I really love their flavor pairings. Citrus Cayenne, Pomegranate Black Pepper, Mango Chili and more. My favorite is Pomegranate Black Pepper. It's even better over ice or mixed into a cocktail. It's great when you have a cold, or when you're feeling better than ever. You'll definitely see these drinks at our next party.

Speaking of parties, here are some mixology tips from their website:

http://www.prometheussprings.com/category/mixology/

This summer, Chris and I grew vegetables on our balcony. We had basil, mint, sweet pepper, tomatoes and jalapeños. The jalapeño plant loved the sun, drank lots of water and produced super fat jalapeños. It even survived neglect during our weekend away. In the summer. In fact, when we came back we found that some of the jalapeños had turned red and wrinkled. The red peppers were sweet and hot. We realized that an aged jalapeño is red with lines; and those red jalapeños are the spiciest.

The plant eventually died. At least now I know which kind of jalapeño to grab at the grocery store. If I'm making vegan bahn mi or something served with raw jalapeños; I'll grab a bright green chile. It won't be too intensely spicy. For salsa, red is the way to go.

Today, we stopped by Juiceland with some friends
(clockwise: Chris, Erika, Rachel, Me)

The Medicine Man is a 2 oz shot of lemon, ginger, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, beet, turmeric, oreganol and habanero. It's pretty intense. Maybe the most spicy thing I've ever had? It's super delicious and it does the trick. One 2 oz shot, made me feel so much better.

Spicy foods/capsaicin/chiles are amazing. It can make you euphoric, offer pain relief and fight inflammation. This month, for the Vegan Month of Food, I'm sharing everything I know about the chiles I grew up eating. To me, it's not worth it unless you sweat a little. The Medicine Man shot was a tasty way to get a quick fix of my favorite pepper, the habanero.

I love this so much, because it's simple and super impressive. It takes very little time to make. Serve with olive oil-drizzled crostini and you have a meal to impress anyone. Fresh basil, garlic and toasted walnuts make your kitchen smell so good.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb Pasta
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 bunches fresh basil leaves
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/3 cup walnuts, toasted
• salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook pasta: Boil pasta water. Once boiling, salt the water. Add pasta. Cook until al dente. Don't rinse the pasta after. The starches on the pasta will help the pesto adhere to the pasta.
2. Toast the walnuts: Set oven to 350. Spread walnuts on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 350. Set a timer, because it's easy to forget about these toasty ones in the oven.
3. In a food processor or blender, whizz together the olive oil and garlic cloves.
4. Stop the processor, add in 2 bunches of fresh washed basil and process until you have tiny flecks of basil.
5. Add in toasted walnuts and pulse away! The walnuts will give the pesto-to-be great texture. Avoid leaving any large clumps of walnut, as the ingredients should come together.
6. Add in the nutritional yeast and continue pulsing the food processor a few times. You can find nutritional yeast (or as we call it, nooch) in the bulk section of any health food store. It's an inactive yeast, complete protein and fortified with vitamin B12. It smells like cheese and is a great substitute for things like parmesan. The nutritional yeast gives the pesto a creamy cheesy flavor and mellows out the garlic.
7. Taste and add salt or pepper if needed.
8. With tongs, mix the pesto into the pasta.
9. Serve with crostini! (Crostini How To: Slice baguette and spread slices on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and bake at 350 for 10 minutes.)

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

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

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 than regular queso.

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 of the support. I have a really great opportunity to bring you a piece of what we're about (delicious food, family, friends and our absolute love for animals). We're moving fast with every resource that we have, scraping up everything we can and risking it all to make this happen.

We're excited for you to taste how far my little recipe has evolved.

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!

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.

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! 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.

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***

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.

I even made white chocolate chip cookies!

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.

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!

(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, Chris and I ran into an old friend. We told him about our food blog and he suggested that we 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.

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.

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.

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

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 tastebuds 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 (see recipe below)
• 2 Large Avocados (pitted, peeled and pureed)
• 1/2 Cup Fresh Lime Juice (I used 20 key limes, any limes will do)
• 10 Ounces sweetened condensed soy milk (see recipe below)
• 1 8-Ounce container for vegan cream cheese
• 2 to 2 1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch

GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST INGREDIENTS

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

SWEETENED CONDENSED SOYMILK INGREDIENTS

• 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

SWEETENED CONDENSED SOYMILK DIRECTIONS

1. Mix water and soy milk powder.
2. Boil.
3. In a separate pan on the stove, melt margerine and mix.
4. Add sugar to melted margarine. Then, add it to the hot soymilk/water mixture with salt.
5. Cool until ready to use.

PIE FILLING DIRECTIONS

1. Puree the peeled and pitted avocados.
2. Squeeze limes for juices.
3. Mix avocado puree and limes in a mixing bowl.
4. Add in 10 fl oz of the prepared sweetened condensed soymilk.
5. Add in cream cheese and cornstarch.

1. Crumble graham crackers (food processor is the best for this).
2. In a mixing bowl, use a fork to mix margerine with graham cracker crumbs.
3. In a pie dish/pan, use your hands to form a graham cracker crust.

ASSEMBLY

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

*Note* The filling will become firm and able to cut even though it may seem soft on top.

You have to make this pie. There's no reason not to. I'll be frank and tell you that this is the most delicious pie ever. If only for its subtle and humble appearance followed by a mind blowing sweet and tangy fusion. This pie is sneaky way to serve up an intensly refreshing but rich flavorful dessert. I'll be making this again...and again.

It's ridiculously perfect, au natural. If you're really treating yourself, add some chocolate sauce, vegan whipped cream, shaved chocolate and graham cracker crumbs. And, take a seat.

Chris and I are foodies at heart. Most days, you can find us on the couch brainstorming and sharing ideas for meals that consist of our favorite flavors. I believe Chris has one up'd me this time, because I'm pretty sure this one was his idea.

We decided to use our traditional cinnamon roll recipe, except with matcha as the base flavor for the dough. The filling is standard fare: cinnamon, brown sugar, and vegan margarine but I've also added sliced almonds to the mix. I'm not sure where I got the original base recipe for the regular cinnamon rolls (it's all over the internet). I've taken that recipe, and made some obvious flavor adjustments so that these don't simply taste like modified cinnamon rolls.

These sweets stand alone in their goodness, so try them out.

INGREDIENTS

Dough

• 2 1/2 Teaspoons Active Yeast
• 1 Cup lukewarm Soymilk
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Matcha
• 2 EnerG Egg Replacer Eggs (you can also use flax based egg replacers)
• 1/3 Cup Vegan Margarine, melted
• 4 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 Teaspoon Salt

Filling

• 1 Cup Brown Sugar, packed
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons ground Cinnamon
• 1/3 Cup vegan Margarine, melted
• 3/4 Cup Almonds, sliced or chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon Almond Extract

Icing

• 2 Cups Confectioners’ Sugar
• 1-2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
• 1/4 Cup Vegan Margarine
• Splash of soymilk (enough to get desired consistency)

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix yeast and soymilk. Let stand until foamy.
2. Mix Sugar and Matcha. Add to soymilk mixture.
3. Add in egg replacer, melted margarine, flour and salt.
4. Mix and knead for 5 minutes.
5. Set aside. Cover and rise for an hour and a half. It should double in size.
6. Once doubled, roll it out onto a flat surface (floured if necessary) in a horizontal rectangular shape.
7. Cover and let it rest for 10 minutes.
8. In a small separate bowl, mix brown sugar, cinnamon, almonds and almond extract.
9. Melt Margarine and spread over dough.
10. Cover dough with filling ingredients.
11. Roll up dough from bottom to top.
12. With a sharp knife, cut the center of the roll first and then keep cutting down the center of each remaining portion until you have 12 or 8 pieces.
13. Place rolls in a lightly oiled baking dish.
14. Cover and let them rise one last time for 45 minutes.
15. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
16. After rising, bake at 400 F for 10-15 minutes.
17. For the icing beat together all of the ingredients. I would add soymilk 1 tablespoon at a time.
18. Let the rolls cool slightly.
19. Top with icing, sprinkled cinnamon and more almonds. Serve with a tall glass of non dairy milk. Yum!

Drizzle some with a citrus-y sweet icing, if you'd like. We usually enjoy these little cookies with soy or almond milk to get us in the holiday mood.

Makes 16 cookies

• 2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/3 cup white granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 sticks (12 TBSP) vegan margarine, softened but still cool
• 1 teaspoon orange zest, packed
• 1 egg replacer egg (I use ener-g egg replacer. Using a flax egg is okay too)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3-4 tablespoons molasses

*Also, an extra bowl of sugar set aside to roll cookies in

CITRUS ICING

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons soy milk
• 1/2 teaspoon orange zest

1. Move oven rack in the middle position, preheat oven to 350
2. Set aside a heavy bottom cookie sheet (parchment paper optional)
3. In a bowl, mix your dry ingredients (everything from flour - sea salt). Set aside.
4. In a mixer, cream together the margarine sticks, brown and white sugar.
5. Once full incorporated, add in orange zest. Mix thoroughly.
6. Add in vanilla and egg replacer.
7. Mix until everything is evenly creamed together.
8. Add in dry ingredients and keep mixing.
9. It may seem crumbly, but keep mixing. Be sure to scrape the sides of your mixing bowl using a spatula! Make sure every pocket of flour is mixed in. (It might seem a bit crumbly until you add in the molasses, by the way.)
10. Lastly, add in molasses and mix well using your mixer.
11. The dough will firm up, becoming softer and darker.
12. Using a tablespoon, scoop ROUNDED balls of dough out of the mixing bowl.
13. Using your hands shape dough into a ball.
14. Roll the ball in some fine or regular white sugar.
15. Once it's coated evenly, place in on a cookie sheet. Pat it down a tiny bit w/ two fingers.
16. Space cookies 2" apart. Do this about 16 times. 8 cookies fit on a cookie sheet so bake 2 separate batches.
17. Bake at 350 for 11 minutes exactly.
18. Remove each batch from the oven, DO NOT remove cookies for 1 minute.
19. Place them on a cooling rack or plate.

Eat after 5 minutes.

Once they are completely cooled, you can eat as is or top them with citrus icing.

To make Icing: simply mix all icing ingredients in the order they are listed. Drizzle.