Vegetable Pot Pie

I made a delicious veggie pot pie tonight for dinner. My boyfriend (not vegan) really liked it too.

What you need:

Crust
1 cup Bisquick
1/2 cup soy milk

Filling
2 potatoes
1/2 cup onion
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables of your choice
1 can mushroom gravy
2 tbsp olive oil

What you do:

Chop up onion and potato and saute in frying pan with oil until onion is soft and gold.
Add frozen veggie mix and gravy to onion and potato, simmer for 10 mins.
Mix bisquick and soy milk.
Transfer filling into oven safe dish and cover with bisquick mix
Bake at 400 degrees for 40 mins

It was delicious, hearty, and vegan. YUM!! (Sorry there is no pic)

Christmas Dinner Help

So this year I decided that it would be a good idea that my bf and I hold Christmas dinner at our house... I think its safe to say that now I am a little nervous about what exactly I am going to be serving. I am the only vegan and Christmas dinner has always been pretty traditional growing up.
My Dad has decided that we still need to have a turkey for dinner so he will be cooking and bringing one to my house which is fine with me, I just won't be eating any of it. I also want to make sure that I have a vegan alternative to turkey that tastes great so that everyone can try some. This is where my researching skills have been coming in.
I have heard a lot about Tofurkey's and Celebration Roasts amongst other vegan holiday food alternatives, but these two seem to rank at the top. http://www.chow.com/blog provided an interesting article from The Wall Street Journal that tested four different turkey alternatives. The Celebration Roast ranked the highest in terms of its overall taste and appearances by non-vegans. So I decided that this is what I would get for our Christmas dinner, but I don't think they are sold in Canada. Dilemma, guess its gonna have to be the Tofurkey, which came in second, unless I miraculously find a roast. As for the rest of dinner, I am going to use a mushroom gravy, wait until http://veganvictuals.blogspot.com/ perfects her vegan stuffing, and keep the butter and milk out of all the traditional sides. Dessert is still to be determined, but i am thinking about a vegan trifle and maybe a pumpkin cake of some sort.
Has anyone out there tried either of these alternatives? Which do you prefer?

Yummy vegan treats

I have always had a really sweet tooth and since changing to a vegan diet I have realized just how many desserts I can't eat :( I have only begun to experiment with recipes so I looked for some quick and easy sweet desserts/snacks.

The first one I found is from the grocery store Nyakers Authentic Swedish Ginger Snaps. They're so tasty and I am pretty sure they are also sold at Ikea under the name Anna's. They are cholesterol free, and trans fat free (even better).

The other treat that requires a little more effort than pulling out of a box, but still doesn't involve very much work, are baked apples.

Baked Apples

What you need:

4 Apples

8 tbsp Raw/brown sugar

2 tbsp vanilla

cinnamon (to taste)

water

What you do:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Get your apples and remove the cores

Get an oven safe dish and cover the bottom with about 1cm of water. Add vanilla into water.

Place the cored apples in the dish and put the 2 tbsp of sugar in each apple and sprinkle cinnamon as desired. Bake 10 to 12 mins.

Some people add walnuts, pecans, or even raisins as the picture shows.

Vegan Shepherds Pie

Last night I was looking for a hearty, stick to your ribs kind of a dinner so I decided to make a vegan shepherds pie. Usually I would make two separate meals because my boyfriend eats meat but I decided that that would just be too much work since making a shepherds pie take a while already. It turned out really well. My boyfriend knew it wasn't meat cause I told him but he said he really really liked it. The only change I would make for next time is to cut out the Worcestershire sauce because the veggie meat replacement I used already has a lot of flavour in it.

Here's what you need:

1 lbs ground beef replacement (I used Yves)
1 onion chopped
1-2 cups vegetables - chopped carrots, corn, peas (to save time and work I used frozen mixed veggies)
1 1/2 - 2 lbs potatoes (3 big ones)

1/4 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tsps vegetable oil (I used olive)
Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice


What you do:

1 Peel and quarter potatoes, boil in salted water until tender (about 20 minutes).

2 add oil to frying pan.

3 Saute onions in oil (5 mins). Add vegetables, add them according to cooking time. Put any carrots in with the onions. Add corn or peas either at the end of the cooking of the onions, or after the meat replacement has initially cooked. If frozen you don't need to worry about that

4 Add ground beef replacement and saute (8 mins). Add salt and pepper. Add Worcestershire sauce (or don't). If it is getting dry you can add some vegetable stock.

5 Mash potatoes in bowl with soy milk, season to taste.

6 Place meatless mixture in baking dish. Distribute mashed potatoes on top. This is not meant to be smooth or neat, play around a bit

7 Cook in 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Broil for last few minutes if necessary to brown the top.

It Serves fourish. My boyfriend was really hungry so it was pretty much gone by the end of the night.

Enjoy!

Protein

If anyone had any of the same questions about protein I had, here is some information I found at http://www.chooseveg.com/ about how a vegan can get protein by eating vegetables.

Vegan Protein Powerhouses

Many vegan foods are packed full of muscle-building protein, while being low in saturated fat and free of cholesterol. Try these versatile and delicious high-protein foods in your next dish:
Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP) - a dried soy product that can be used in place of ground beef in stews, chili, tacos, pasta sauce, etc.

Lentils - a small but nutritionally mighty member of the legume family, loaded with minerals, B vitamins, and protein--all with virtually no fat. Lentils are excellent in soups, stews, and curries.

Tofu - a product made from soybeans, is the king of versatility. It has a bland taste on its own but it absorbs the flavors of the other foods and seasonings cooked with it. Firm tofu can be used in place of meat in stir-fries or marinated and baked, while soft tofu can be used in dips and deserts like pudding, pie, and smoothies.

Seitan - also known as “wheat gluten”, is a chewy meat-substitute that is the protein part of wheat which is left after the starch and bran are removed.

Tempeh - a fermented soy product with a slightly nutty flavor and a firm texture similar to meat.

Worried about protein and nutrients

Does anyone know how much protein you should have per day???? I have been eating a vegan diet for a couple of weeks straight now and I'm feeling really great but I know I'm not eating very much protein. Does anyone have simple high protein vegan recipes (wow that was specific). I don't know how credible this particular source is but I have been finding a lot of article along the same lines as this one http://chetday.com/strictvegandiet.htm. I have also found articles opposite on websites that promote veganism, so thats kind of biased. Has anyone found any clinical evidence that veganism can cause nutritional deficiencies???

I'm a Cheater

Shame on me. I cheated... and in a really big way, so disappointed. I was doing so well. This is what happens when your hungover. Okay, I'm gonna say it, I went out for dinner with my boyfriend and ordered a steak. I felt really disgusting after though, not only mentally, but physically. My stomach was bloated and I was really tired. I think I need to refresh my mind of the Skinny Bitch.

In the mean time, Alisa Miller at NursingDegree.net gives over 50 health benefits for going vegan. The entire list can be found here:
http://www.nursingdegree.net/blog/19/57-health-benefits-of-going-vegan/, here are just a few of them.

Reduced saturated fats. Dairy products and meats contain a large amount of saturated fats. By reducing the amount of saturated fats from your diet, you’ll improve your health tremendously, especially when it comes to cardiovascular health.

Cardiovascular disease. Eating nuts and whole grains, while eliminating dairy products and meat, will improve your cardiovascular health. A British study indicates that a vegan diet reduces the risk for heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. Vegan diets go far in preventing heart attack and stroke.

Weight loss. A healthy weight loss is a typical result of a smart vegan diet. Eating vegan eliminates most of the unhealthy foods that tend to cause weight issues. Read more about weight loss and a vegan diet here.

Energy. When following a healthy vegan diet, you will find your energy is much higher. This blog post in Happy Healthy Long Life describes how NFL tight-end Tony Gonzalez started eating vegan and gained energy–while playing football.