Vegan Chocolate Cake

I don't remember where I got this recipe at this point but I get more compliments on it than anything else I've ever made. It's so delicious!

Description:
Yummy, moist chocolate cake made without using milk or eggs. The recipe below makes one 9-inch cake or 8 cupcakes (bake only about 15 minutes for cupcakes). I doubled the recipe (for both the cake and the frosting) to make a two layer cake. 

Ingredients:
Cake 
* 1-1/2 cups unbleached flour
* 3/4 cup sugar or other sweetener
* 1/2 tsp. Salt
* 1 tsp. Baking soda
* 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
* 1 tsp. vanilla
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 1 tablespoon vinegar
* 1 cup cold water 

Frosting
* 2 tablespoon softened margarine (Earth Balance)
* 1-1/3 cups powdered sugar
* 1/3 cup cocoa
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
* 2-4 tablespoons water 

Directions:
Cake
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder in a bowl and stir with a fork until mixed. Make a well in the center and add the vanilla, oil, vinegar, and water. Stir with a fork until well mixed. Pour into a 9x9-inch baking dish (or cupcake pan), and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool completely, then frost with Chocolate Cream Frosting 

Frosting
Cream the margarine in a small bowl then add the sugar, cocoa, vanilla, and enough water to make a thick but spreadable frosting.

The BEST Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adrian and I were home on a snow day last year googling chocolate chip cookies recipes that were vegan and that also we had the necessary ingredients. These were amazing. The originator was veganhousewives.com

Author: veganhousewives.com

Recipe type: Dessert/Vegan

Prep time:  10 mins

Cook time:  20 mins

Total time:  30 mins

Serves: 12-15 cookies

 

Ingredients

• ½ cup coconut oil
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup almond milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour (please note alternate flours WILL change the outcome of the recipe!)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup vegan chocolate chips (Trader Joe's chocolate chips are accidentally vegan!)

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cream (aka thoroughly mix) together the coconut oil & brown sugar, then add the almond milk & vanilla. The mixture may be really "liquidy" this is OK.
3. In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
4. Combine the wet & dry ingredients (it WILL BE crumbly - this is OK), then fold in the chocolate morsels & any other mix-ins of your choosing.
5. Roll into Tbsp sized balls & place them on an ungreased cookie sheet (or on a sheet of parchment paper on the baking sheet), then flatten them out a bit with your palm. The dough may be a little crumbly, but just smoosh it together and it will work fine!
6. Bake for 7-10 minutes. (I did 8 which was perfect)

(Panera Bread) Black Bean Soup

Lyla found this recipe on Food.com and made it for me while I was sick. It was really good. I liked it a lot. Lyla would have preferred it thicker so next time she is going to blend more of the beans to make it a thicker creamier base, rather than a thin base with chunks in it. 

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 celery ribs, finely chopped
• 1⁄4large  red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 2 small  chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 -1 1⁄2cup  boiling water
• 2(15 ounce) cans black beans, undrained
• 1⁄2teaspoon  salt
• 1⁄2teaspoon  cumin
• 1⁄2lemon, juice of
• 1 1⁄2tablespoons  cornstarch

In a pot, combine the first six ingredients; simmer for 10 minutes.

Add half a can of beans, salt and cumin; cook for 5 minutes.

Puree soup (I use an immersion blender which makes it easy to do it right in the pot).

Add the rest of the beans to the soup.

Combine the cornstarch with 1 1/2 tablespoons of water.

Add the lemon and the cornstarch to the soup; cook until thickened.

Thanksgiving 2016

I always like to track what we had for Thanksgiving dinner. I will try to go back and post a picture. In the meantime, the menu was:


Green Bean Casserole
Mashed Potatoes
Pumpkin Pie
Rolls
Vegan Turkey Roast
Cabbage Salad

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Vegan Overnight Oats

This is a delicious recipe from the ohsheglows website. I make it for special occasion breakfasts and it always hits the spot.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Vegan Overnight Oats

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup oats 
• 1.5 tbsp chia seeds 
• 1/2-1 tbsp chopped walnuts 
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon 
• 1.25 cup Almond milk 
• 1-1.5 tbsp raisins 
• 1/2 sliced banana (optional) 
• Pure maple syrup, to drizzle on top
• Raisins, to garnish (optional)

Directions: In a bowl, add the oats, chia seeds, walnuts, cinnamon, and raisins. Whisk for 5 seconds or so until mixed. Add Almond Milk and whisk until the clumps are gone. Add chopped or mashed banana if desired. Place in fridge overnight or for 1-2 hours. In the morning, remove from fridge and drizzle with a bit of pure maple syrup.

Vegan Chili Con Carne (very child friendly)

We served it with guacamole, chips and white rice. It was delicious!

Ingredients

 1 1/2 large onions, diced

11 oz Beyond Beefy meat crumbles (vegan)

1 garlic clove, finely choppe

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp paprika

14 oz can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 bay leaf

14 oz can chopped tomatoes

1/2 tsp oregano

ground black pepper

basmati, rice, to serve

Cook the onions and meat for 5 minutes in 2 tbsns of olive oil. Stir in the garlic, chili powder, and paprika, and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the kidney beans and bay leaf and fry for 2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and oregano. Bring to a boil, season with salt and pepper, then simmer on low heat for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Take the bay leaf out and serve over rice.

PINK SAUCE by Chloe Coscarelli

This is from chloe's vegan italian kitchen cookbook

PINK SAUCE

SERVES 4 TO 6

Are you nuts about nuts?!

INGREDIENTS

2 Tbsp olive oil

3 minced garlic cloves

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

2 tsp sea salt

2 tsp organic sugar

½ cup raw cashews

½ cup water

½ cup chopped fresh basil

PREP

If you are not using a high-powered blender, such as Vitamix, soak cashews overnight or boil for 10 minutes and drain. This will soften the cashews to ensure a silky smooth cream.

METHOD

Heal olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for about 1 minute, stir in tomatoes, sea salt, and sugar. Cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a blender, combine cashews and water on high until very smooth, about 2 minutes. Stir cashew cream into the tomato sauce and turn off heat. Stir in chopped basil.

NOTES + SERVING TIPS

Toss in some freshly cooked pasta and enjoy!

Pro Tip: try serving with chopped fresh basil cut into chiffonade*.