Outdoor Dinner

Ate dinner outdoors tonight under a tree and it was a dinner for two! Our lil one went to visit family for the evening. Before that I took the lil one to get his haircut, which he loved! Oh he looks so cute with his new haircut :) We ended up basically spending the day together at home because it was just to hot and humid here :( We would have been sick if we had gone hiking in this kind of weather, plus I worry about the lil one dealing with the heat.

Dinner was pretty good. I'm not the biggest fan of cauliflower mash, but i'm trying out different recipes to get it to my liking.

Marinated veggies with cauliflower mash and rustic vegan bread :) I included the links to the recipes, which i've posted in the past. As for the cauliflower mash...

1 head of Cauliflower
1/4 cup of Olive Oil (you may want to use less)
1 clove of minced Garlic or garlic powder
1 handful of fresh dill (chopped)
Dash of salt and pepper

Place all ingredients in the blender and puree until it's a smooth and creamy like texture. I found it to be quite a strong cauliflower taste in it's raw form. I think next time i'm going to cook the cauliflower so that it's not as strong in flavor. It makes about 4 servings.

Well i'm off to enjoy a movie and visit with the family. Hope you enjoyed my three posts a day adventure. I'm not to sure I could do it everyday, considering some days get so busy and it can be hard to concentrate. It was fun today though!

~Maggie

Vegan Baking Recipes

Well it's finally happened...the weather has turned itself into the summer season. I like to keep the temp down in our place if I can and since we don't have air conditioning it makes it a bit more work. I have to place fans in specific areas, open a close windows depending on the air flow to try to optimize. It's actually kinda silly and fun! Summer sure is busy, busy! I have a couple things on the go, plus life gets involved in there and before you know it I have no time for things I'd like to be doing. *coughs* blog posts *coughs* Anyways, I'm sure your all in the same boat or in a boat since it's summer time!

I'm going to be posting some lovely vegan baking recipes today that are not raw. You might want to try these out when it's not as hot out, so your house doesn't heat up, unless you have AC! Feel free to totally change and manipulate the ingredients in these recipes, that's the fun part of it all, yes?!

I warn you, these are the best pancakes I've ever tasted in my entire 28 years!!! So delicious that I did not add any toppings to them at all, no raw syrups, fruit, nut butter..nothing! They are so flavorful, and my lil guy LOVES them :)

Blueberry Chia Flax Pancakes by Maggie(livingfoodjunkie)

1/2 cup of applesauce
1 cup of nut milk

2 tbsp of lemon juice

1 cup of Whole Wheat flour (or whatever flour you would prefer)

1/4 cup of ground flax
1/4 cup of chia seed

1/2 tsp of salt

1/2 of baking soda

1/3 cup of brown sugar
1/2-1 cup of blueberries

Combine nut milk and lemon juice and let it sit for 5 minutes, to make like a "fake" buttermilk. In mixing bowl, combine applesauce, and the buttermilk mixture. Add in brown sugar, salt, baking soda, flax and mix well. Add in flour, mix well. Fold in blueberries. Pour onto a non stick pan or griddle by 1/4-1/3 cup fulls. Turn when bubbles form on top of pancakes. Makes about 12 servings. Roughly 130-140 calories per cake :)

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Foccacia Flat Bread by maggie(livingfoodjunkie) No pictures sorry! :(

4 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp raw cane sugar (or whatever sweetener you prefer)

1 1/4 tbsp baking powder
1 cup warm water

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tbsp chia seeds

1 tbsp dill (dried, if using fresh just add more to your liking)

1.5 tbsp Italian seasoning

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Knead to a dough consistency for 5 minutes. Roll out dough till its about an inch thick. Lay flat on a large cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees until brown, roughly 15 minutes

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Rustic Bread by Maggie(livingfoodjunkie)

5 cups whole wheat flour

1 tbsp baking powder

4.5 tbsp of quick active yeast

1 tbsp salt

2 tbsp chia seeds

2 tbsp poppy seeds

3 tbsp sunflower seeds

2 tbsp flax seeds

2 tbsp pumpkin seeds

3.5 tbsp of raw cane sugar

2.5 tbsp of coconut oil
2 cups warm water

Combine 3 cups of flour and remaining ingredients (except the warm water) in a mixing bowl. Once all ingredients are combine then add the warm water and mix. Add the remaining 2 cups of flour and mix until it forms a doughy ball. Knead dough for 5-10 minutes. Place back in mixing bowl, cover and let rise 30 minutes. Once 30 minutes has elapsed, pound the dough with your fists and knead again for 5-10 minutes. Shape into whatever bread form you desire (braid, french style, etc...) Cover again and let rise for another 30 minutes. Then bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

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So there ya have 3 vegan baking recipes I've used a few times for breakfast, lunch, dinner and have brought to potlucks.

Hope you enjoy!
~Maggie

Soup for lunch

It's a rainy day and I always crave something warm on a rainy day. I decided it was best to try out a raw soup recipe. I figure since summer is just around the corner, I'm not to sure how long soup cravings are going to around. I scouted some recipes and found this one by Alissa Cohen, the recipe is online so you can check it out here :)






The soup turned out creamy, with little bits of broccoli and a bit of heat from the cumin. I wasn't able to eat the whole bowl of soup as shown in the picture, it was very filling and after awhile quite rich in flavor. I added a some broccoli sprouts as a topping and ended up adding more because it gave the soup a bit of a crunch..yum!






Here are my "seed pizza crackers" I posted about yesterday without all those toppings in the way. I dipped the crackers in the soup and it made lunch all the better :)

~Maggie