eat food, as much as you like, all plants

This gravy rocks. Forget that it is made with only plant fat. In fact I wouldn't tell people that its vegan. I have served it to a host of meat eaters and they poured it all over their turkey and loved it.

Gravy is one of those culinary glues that hold things together. Mashed potatoes for one without gravy is just, well mashed potatoes!  I have a few really great recipes for gravy. The first of note is from Jill Nussinow. Her Golden Gravy uses a combo of tahini and soy with some flour for a really nice, simple, creamy gravy. Super easy to make and hard to screw up.Next up is a more complex, more savory gravy from Miyoko Schinner. Her Poultry-type Gravy employs a yeast flavoring powder made from Nutritional Yeast (aka vegan crack) and various herbs and spices. I like this one because the yeast and spices really give a warm, savory, chicken like flavor. It is a fuller bodied, rounder gravy than the simpler golden gravy.Lastly Mary McDougall's Rich Brown Gravy employs a whole onio…

This is one of those super simple crock pot soups that is pretty fool proof. I hesitate to even put amounts in the recipe. You basically chop up the veggies and cover with broth. Add a little ginger and black pepper and cook overnight. Puree in the morning and adjust some seasonings. That's it! For those of you that love the steps see below.
Autumn harvest Sweet Potato and Apple soup
Chop these into medium sized chunks-
3 small-med sweet potatoes (unpeeled)
3 small russet potatoes (unpeeled) 3 small apples 2 large carrots  1 onion 3-4 cloves of garlic peeled 3" piece of fresh ginger peeled and grated Black pepper to taste 2 qt of broth 1 cup of white dry wine (optional)
This is stupid simple. Throw all of this in a pot. The veggies will fill the slow cooker and the. You add liquid to cover them. Cook on high for 4.5 hours. Then puree and adjust any seasonings and salt. I suggest serving  it with rice blended in for some extra energy and texture.
Hope you all enjoy it as much as we have.
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Baked tofu is delicious. Packs a mean protein punch and is way too expensive I'm stores. . Making it is a snap and you get to customize it to YOUR taste buds and save a few pennies in the process.

This recipe takes about 5 -10 minutes to assemble and about 30-40 minutes to bake. No pressing, no marinating, and some fairly straight forward ingredients. 
I mean, you guys have tahini at this point in your life right? ;)
Of course my version is oil free and adapted from a recipe I started with from Vegan Eats World.
Super easy, super-firm, super yummy baked tofu
Preheat oven to 425 degrees 
Take: 30 oz giant-ass block of super firm tofu & cut into half inch rectangles
Whisk all of the following together in a large glass casserole dish- 1/4 cup of soy sauce or tamari 4 TBL veggie broth/miso broth 2 TBL maple syrup or agave 4 tsp lemon juice 1 tsp garlic granules 1/2 tap cayenne pepper 1 TBL tahini
Add each piece of tofu. Dip and flip to coat on all sides. Snuggle them all neatly in…

So I haven't written anything here in like forever. Honestly the last 6-8 months I have been getting less and less strict about what I eat. I can't call myself vegan anymore. Even if that is how I have eaten 80-90% of the time lately. I also hadn't limited the fat intake as much and let my exercise routine go to shit. I haven't been sleeping much and I have been dancing and having a lot of "fun".

I started to get this nagging mild nausea this summer and it was really starting to bug me. I decided it was time to spot check my blood sugar and low and behold its skyrocketed back to my diabetic levels.

This really bummed me out....

I had also gained some wight back. I didn't care about that so much. But I care about my blood. I started to get that anxious feeling of worrying about your health that was all too familiar for me.

I guess after 2 years of having reversed my diabetes and maintaining 60-70 pound weight loss I was starting to feel bullet proof.

Sadly…

Lazy Saturdays call for long slow cooking projects. Even with the little ones nipping at your heels non-stop. If you can get these babies on the stove first thing 3 hours will pass like a blink of an eye.

I have been realizing lately that the days that I incorporate beans into my meals are the days I don't hunger nearly as much between meals. Not to mention when you don't have all your meals planned having a pot of beans around can really save you in a pinch. Of course having cooked grains like brown rice, quinoa, farro and the like added to your beans is a meal. The fridge with cooked beans and cooked grains is the appliance of someone who won't go hungry that is for sure.

I cook the spices whole in this recipe. I don't mind crunching into a coriander seed or two personally. If you a weirded out by that thought then I would recommend either toasting the whole spices and grinding them or if you have some cheese cloth make a little boquet garni and remove it at the end…

I am absolutely convinced that this is one of those dishes that If you don't tell people that it is good for them (vegan, no added oils, etc.) that everyone will love it. In fact I am pretty sure that this is what Remulus Dreypa eats every day for strength and complete nutrition. This dish isn't just for breakfast. It could be the base for a bunch of quick meals. You could eat it over rice, polenta/grits, or my new favorite starch base couscous.

It doesn't require any oil or additional liquid if you have a good heavy bottomed non-stick pan.

Ingredients-
Dice these:
2 large sweet potatoes
1/2 onion
1 red bell pepper
1 carrot
4 cloves of garlic

1 cup of frozen corn kernels
1 (28oz) can of fire roasted diced tomatoes (liquid drained off)
1 (15oz) can of kidney or black beans (rinsed)
1 Tablespoon of chili powder (I really like the Whole Foods 365 Chili Val de Sol blend)
1/2 Tablespoon of cumin
Black pepper to taste

Possible garnishes-
Ketchup
hot sauce
salsa
chopped parsley/…