Sunday, April 28, 2013

Easy Mexican Casserole

As you may have guessed from the title, this recipe is very simple. I almost feel bad posting it as a recipe. Almost. It is very yummy however, so you should try it out.

Ingredients:
1 package corn tortillas
2 cans black beans
2 cans corn
1 large jar salsa (or make your own!)
Tortilla chips
Guacamole and vegan sour cream

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a 9x13" (or similar sized) glass pan.
2) Make a layer of corn tortillas - feel free to rip them in half or quarters and overlap a bit to get a nice solid bottom layer. Next add a layer of black beans (1/2 a can), then a layer of corn (1/2 can), and finally a layer of salsa. Repeat four times. Top the casserole with crushed chips.
3) Bake the casserole for 30 minutes. Let cool for at least ten minutes. Top with guacamole and vegan sour cream.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Banana-Nut Cookies for Humans and Dogs

This recipe comes from the Vegan Dog Book. I was delighted to find that this recipe, in addition to being both dog and human-safe, is originally gluten-free!

Cody and Chelsea approve this recipe!

 This is half of the original recipe, and still made probably two hundred small treats (for training), so scale appropriately. Also be careful with ingredients for dogs - the book has a whole section on what you should and should not feed you dogs, and I wouldn't add anything to these without making absolutely sure that your dog can eat it.

Ingredients:
2 small bananas, very ripe
1/4 c natural peanut butter (make sure there is NOTHING but peanuts and peanut oil if you plan on feeding these to dogs - no added sugar or salt or anything)
1/8 c canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 c oat flour
Apple (optional)

Directions:
1)Preheat the oven to 325. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2) Mash the bananas well with a fork. Add the peanut butter, oil and vanilla and mix well.
3) Add the baking powder and oat flour to the banana mixture and combine well.
4) Take small pieces of dough (I used maybe 1/4 to 1/2 tsp for training treats) and put them on a cookie sheet. Alternatively you can roll out the dough and cut them into fun shapes with cookie cutters - I suggest larger cookies for people.
5) Bake the cookies  for 8-10 minutes. I topped the people cookies with chocolate.
6) Store the cookies in the fridge for up to 7 days. You can also store them in the freezer if you know you won't use that many treats in 7 days.


Sunday, April 14, 2013

Cornbread

I have no idea where my mom got this corn bread recipe, but it's been my favorite since I first tried it. It's very simple, but I must commend whoever first thought to use maple syrup as the sweetener. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2/3 c maple syrup (my mom likes less, so 1/2 c)
1/3 c canola oil
1 c nondairy milk
1 c flour (I'd recommend sorghum or oat flour; you could add some rice or quinoa flour too)
1 c fine cornmeal
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a 9x9" glass pan.
2) Mix the wet ingredients in a bowl. Add the dry ingredients and combine.
3) Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 30 minutes. When it passes the toothpick test it's probably still a bit moist, so you might leave it in a bit longer if you want it drier.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pretzels

Last Christmas my family and I drove from Chicago to Florida. We stopped at a grocery store in Georgia and I was shocked to find a whole vegan/gluten free/natural foods section, and it was at this store that I discovered Glutino pretzels. Vegan, gluten-free, and totally delicious! And when I recently found the same pretzels at Whole Foods, I decided to make a vegan version of their chocolate-covered pretzels, but better, because they have peanut butter!


Ingredients: 
2-4 c. chocolate chips (depending on how many you use)
1 bag Glutino pretzels
1/2 c peanut butter
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tbsp coconut oil

Directions:
1) Pick out the whole pretzels out of the bag. You won't use all of them, but it's good to have a bowl of whole ones. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or wax paper. You'll want a little assembly line of pretzels to chocolate to cookie sheet.
2) Melt a cup of chocolate chips in a double boiler - get a metal bowl that fits nicely in a saucepan, fill the saucepan partly with water and set the whole contraption on the stove and heat it. Mix the chocolate occasionally as it's melting.

3) Drop the pretzels one at a time into the chocolate. Move them around with a fork to get them coated in the chocolate. I usually lift the coated pretzel up and shake it to get the extra chocolate off, then put the pretzel on the cookie sheet.


 4) Once you have all of your chocolate pretzels, put the peanut butter and coconut oil in a small bowl and melt it in the microwave. Stir, and add in the powdered sugar. Drizzle the mixture over the pretzels while still warm, using either a fork or a ziplock bag with a small hole cut in the corner.


So pretty! Each pretzel is about 40 calories, give or take a few depending on how thick your chocolate coating is. And now that you know how to make chocolate-covered things, you might want to try peanut butter patties or peppermint patties.