Ahoy! We’re back again to show you another great vegan and gluten-free drink from our vlog series. In today’s review, Christie and I take a look at Spire Mountain Dark and Dry Cider.
The cider is pretty darn tasty, and worth taking for a spin. Don’t forget, if you have a favorite you would like us to review, or if there is a beverage you would rather get some other fools to try for you, drop us a line!
From Brent and Christie… Peace out, my vegans.
Brent and I have been pretty lazy lately and that’s mostly burrito kick since we found gluten-free wraps made from teff. This wasn’t one of those nights.
All you need is the following in your blender.
1 cube of veggie bouillon
juice from a lemon
1/4 cup of hemp hearts (pine nuts work too but hemp is cheaper and more sustainable)
5-6 cloves of garlic (more if you like it spicy)
1 large bunch of spinach (frozen is fine)
1 tsp flake red pepper
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 block of silken tofu (use a cup of dry cashews, soaked overnight if you’ve got a soy allergy)
BLEND! We served ours with pasta that we tossed with chickpeas, sun dried tomato and porcini mushrooms.
It was definitely a worth while experiment because it was tasty and loaded with nutrients.
This is Brent and Christie, signing off!
Today we’re going to be talking about shepherd’s pie. This is an easy enough dish to make at home but sometimes you just want to go straight to the eating part of making dinner.
The ingredients were unobjectionable, the nutrition was okay and as usual I wish there was less packaging but it’s a small price to pay for a easy meal.
This particular dish was definitely more flavorful than some of the other dishes we’ve tried. We barely had to do anything to it to get it to taste awesome.
This is Christie and Brent, signing off!
This post is about making stock for soup, mashed potatoes, French Onion soup, gravy, risotto or whatever you would normally use soup stock for and it’s crazy simple. Even if you like to compost (or have bunnies to ‘process’ your leftover veggies) this is a great way to get more out of your veggies before you throw them in your bin. Get yourself a big old freezer safe storage container. Every time you peel the skins off onions or garlic, cut the ends of carrots or celery, stems from parsley and other herbs, stumps from mushrooms or broccoli… really anything. I add lemon peel from time to time for certain recipes like pho and orange peel for zesty soy curls. Dump it into the container (I like to use a freezer bag) and store in your freezer.
When your container is full of veggie scraps, dump the contents into a pan, cover with water and simmer for at least 2 hours. Strain the liquid into a container and freeze for whenever. Now the veggies are extra mushy for composting or your sink disposal.
The stock will have no added fat or sodium and full of flavor. I like to store the stock in zippered freezer baggies too. If the bag is full enough for about 1/2 inch thickness when lying on its side, then you’ll be able to thaw it quickly.
This is Christie, signing off.
Brent and I wanted something simple and delicious as we were recovering from our flu and this was it. One of the bigger issues with our love of Texan and Mexican cuisine is the lack of a suitably large soft tortilla to wrap Tex-Mex delights in. Fortunately we recently discovered that gluten-free wraps exist!
These babies are about the size of your typical wrap and are pliable, unlike their corn counterparts (which often must be fried in order to bend without breaking). You’ll need the following:
6 large soft tortillas
1 tin of black beans, drained
1 tin of diced tomatoes (seasoned with chilis and/or lime works well, I like Muir Glen)
1 package of crumbled tofu (Marjon is great) or 1 cup of reconstituted TVP
1 cup of your favorite chipotle, mole, ranchero or enchilada sauce
1 large onion, sliced
flake red pepper to taste
Daiya (optional)
corn oil
I sauteed the onion until it was soft. Then I added the tofu crumbles (use seitan if you’ve got a soy allergy), beans tomato and sauce. I stirred it until it was a good burrito consistency, adjusted the seasonings and the let Brent at it.
We plopped a generous amount of the burrito filling onto our new favorite wraps and then microwaved them (on top of a paper towel so they don’t get soggy) to melt some pepper jack Daiya we sprinkled on top. We added spinach after melting the cheese but we ate them before I could get a picture. Cilantro would have been good too!
It was spicy, hearty and packed with good nutrients for recovering invalids need. I suspect that’s just an excuse and we’ll do it again soon. YAY!
This is Christie and Brent, signing off.
In lieu of being sick and not wanting to cook, nor eat anything complicated, Christie devised a method of making single-serving soup that is souper easy to make!
See what I did there?
What you need are :
Vegan Bouillon
Instant Rice
Frozen Veggies
Water
Microwave
Put the instant rice and frozen veggies in your bowl, add the bouillon and fill with water. Microwave for about two minutes, stir, and heat again for two minutes.
Watch as I fix it for my sick self.
It seems like a ‘no, duh’ recipe as I write it out, but really it’s a solid recipe to have in ones repertoire. For when you feel sick, or lazy, this soup can have you fed — gluten and cruelty free — in about five minutes.
Hope you all are having a happy and healthy new year!
Peace out, my vegans.
As a kid, spaghetti bolognese was a favorite. It’s a rich meaty sauce wth lots of tomato and onion served with whatever pasta you tend to fancy. In this case, we’re using shirataki noodles and no meat. Shirataki noodles are great for those who are concerned about gluten and calories. If you use regular noodles, your fauxlognese will be more attractive than ours but just as tasty. You’ll want the following
1 onion, diced
3.4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp oregano
1 16oz tin of diced tomato
1 cup of TVP (reconstituted with water) or soy crumbles (Marion tofu crumbles work well here), chopped mushrooms can be substituted for those sensitive to soy
1 cube of “beef bouillon”
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
salt and flake red pepper to taste
olive oil
Add a dash of olive oil and the onion and garlic to your pan and saute until the onion starts to carmelize, stirring occasionally. Add the tofu crumbles or TVP and the dry spices.
When everything is hot and fragrant, add the tomato. Mix it all up, stirring occasionally until hot and adjust the seasonings to your taste.
Your sauce should look deceptively meaty. Top with some vegan parmesan, shredded basil or Daiya or just serve as is.
This is a very kid friendly preparation of vegan fare, tasty and healthy to boot. I hope you get to try it!
This is Christie, signing off!
Hope you guys are surviving the holidays, gang!
In today’s beer review, we review a cider. This hot number is Julian Hard Cider’s Cherry Bomb!
It’s a crisp, cherry cider that doesn’t taste like medicine, and isn’t too sweet either. Watch the full review below.
Thanks again for dropping in. And, as always… Peace out, my vegans.
It’s always nice when I can recreate a classic without the heart stopping cream and butter and even better when it tastes amazing. This is the story of my interpretation of chicken ala king. You’ll need the following:
1 package of tempeh, I like LightLife (above)
1 small onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 carton of mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed and sliced
1 carton of silken tofu or a cup of dry cashews soaked overnight, blended to a smooth creamy texture adding water as necessary
1 pinch nutmeg
1 pinch cayenne
1 pinch thyme
1 cube of veggie bouillon (chicken style works well here) dissolved in 1/2 cup of water
1/4 cup of sherry or red wine
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Add some olive oil to a fry pan, sprinkle it with salt and pepper and put the tempeh in it and rub it around to coat the tempeh on both sides. Now apply heat, turn the tempeh to lightly brown each side.
Set the tempeh aside on a plate. Let the pan cool for 2-3 minutes and then add the wine or sherry and mushrooms.
The mushrooms will start to turn purple. Reduce them and then add the onion and mix well until the onion starts to soften.
Add the bouillon and creamy tofu or cashews and mix well. Stir in the spices and adjust them to your taste. Reduce over low heat, stirring frequently. When you’re getting ready to call in your hungry self, friends or family put the tempeh and bell pepper and let it heat thoroughly.
Brent made some rice pasta while I was cooking up the tempeh and sauce so we served this dish over linguini. Rice or mashed potatoes would be good too.
Some chopped parsley or green onion would make an awesome garnish but it’s pretty all by itself and packed with flavor and good nutrition. Let me know if you get to try it and hopefully you’ll like it as much as we did.
This is Christie and Brent, signing off.
Ahoy, gang! It’s been a hot minute since we did a video review, so here’s a quick and dirty of New Planet’s Off Grid Pale Ale.
Let us know if you have a vegan, gluten-free beverage of choice for us to review.
From Christie and Brent, peace out, my vegans.
Turning Veganese 