Easy Peasy Vegan Hoildays with TJ's Vegan Turkey-Less Roast

Well folks, in case you haven't noticed, Trader Joe's (aka TJ's) carries a Vegan "Turkey-Less Stuffed Roast with Gravy" at a whopping price of..... $9.99!! Holy shit batman,  vegan store-bought holiday roasts just became both inexpensive and still delicious! This roast is reportedly made by Gardein but packaged by TJ's :) so that means half the price! So enough with all my exclamation points!!!!!!!

I enjoyed this roast for ThanksLIVING...

...As well as Christmas this year. (I did not eat that animal butter!)

The roast is really easy to bring along and pop in the oven and it is done in about an hour. You will need some veggies like potatoes, onions, carrots and celery to surround the roast when it is baking as well as a little seasoning to taste. 

On an important side note, the gravy tastes like caustic chemicals so I really wouldn't bother polluting your roast or mashed potatoes with it ;) 

So hopefully, you have a TJ's in your area or I am just sitting here typing and feeling like an asshole since I was also able to stuff my face with store bought vegan pumpkin pie...

The life of a vegan is just so damn difficult these days ;)

Peace.Love.Vegan

Amy

Vegweb's Vegan Date Cake

Vegweb's Vegan Date Cake is fabulous. My Step Mom has made this cake for me before but I thought it wasn't as flavorful. So this time, I followed another vegwebber's suggestion and added some spices: 1 tablespoon each of ground ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg. I also made heart-shaped cupcakes and baked them for 15 to 20 minutes. Perfect!

Lazy Dinner

So I just can't get enough of these Grilled Tofurkey Sandwiches!!! This time I had 2 english muffins to use up... Fantastic as usual!

I also made a cake referred to as "Pouding Chomeur" from The Vegan Mouse and it was pretty good, but definitely not very pretty... I was planning on taking it to the monthly birthday celebration at my work but decided against it. I would give the cake 3.5 out of 5 stars though for taste.

Decadent Strawberry Banana Shake

Decadent because this is a "milk" shake and vegan creamer makes it oh so delicious, and kind of fattening. But seriously peoples... If you're vegan and eat pretty decent you aren't gonna be a lard-ass, I promise!

Ingredients:

- 3/4 cup Vegan Creamer, I use Silk Brand Original or Vanilla
- 1/2 cup Vanilla Non-Dairy Milk of choice (I use Vanilla Almond Breeze)
- 1 big handful, Frozen Strawberries (About a cup)
- 1/2 a Frozen Banana

Directions:

- Blend until smooth.

A Quick Dinner & Strawberry "Ice Cream"

Last night, I ate mainly leftovers... Seitan and Broccoli paired with some leftover fried rice.

I also had half a bag of cabbage and carrot coleslaw mix (About 5 cups) and a big zucchini (Cut into small pieces) that needed to be used up. I decided to make a quick Asian-style veggie stirfry by adding:

- 1 T Sesame oil
- 1 T Red Chili Flakes
- 1 T jarred Garlic
- 2 T Braggs
- 2 T Mirin
- 4 T Green Onions

Dinner was cooked up (And nuked up) in about 5 minutes!

For dessert I had some Strawberry Ice Cream and it was sooooooo good! The recipe I got off VegWeb always seemed sketchy to me because of the oil but it turned out excellent! The recipe is for Vanilla Ice Cream but I wanted Strawberry.

I doubled the recipe, added 2 handfuls of frozen strawberries, used canola oil (For the Slald Oil), raw sugar (For the fructose), 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (Didn't specify), and used vanilla almond milk (Instead of plain soy milk). It took about 20 minutes in my ice cream maker. Don't forget, I doubled the recipe!

VegWeb's Vanilla Cupcakes

I love this recipe for Vanilla Cupcakes off VegWeb! I have made it a few times now and it never disappoints. I never change a thing, except for baking the cupcakes a bit longer due to my crappy oven.

I frosted my cupcakes with store-bought Duncan Hines Classic Vanilla Creamy Home-Style Frosting which is vegan according to PETA.

Chocolate Banana "Milk"Shake

I have been making these for quite awhile now... Sometimes I just use chocolate soymilk, some times I use vanilla almond milk and add some Vegan Chocolate Syrup.  Either way, magic in a glass.

Today here's what I did:

Ingredients:

- 1 frozen Banana, broken in a few chunks
- 1 & 1/4 cup Vanilla Nondairy Milk of choice, the sweetened variety
- 2 to 3 tablespoons Chocolate Syrup
- Ice Cubes (Use only a couple for a thin shake maybe four or five for a thick shake depending on size)

Directions:

Blend it up until smooth and creamy!

Trader Joe's Vegan Ice Cream

So I tried this stuff at my Dad's just a few days ago and fell in love. Today I hit up Trader Joe's and got the delicious Mango Vanilla flavor I tried at my Dad's and Vanilla too!

Since I already experienced the deliciousness of the Mango Vanilla flavor, I decided to go for the Vanilla tonight. It is delicious on it's own but I decided to drizzle mine with some organic vegan chocolate syrup. Fantastic!

Perfect Chocolate Ice Cream

I've finally got it! The perfect recipe for some amazing, vegan, chocolate ice cream without the lingering coconut taste. I have been messing around with making chocolate ice cream for awhile now... This is it!

INGREDIENTS:

- 15 oz. can of coconut milk (Highest fat content you can find)
- 1/2 cup raw sugar
- 1/2 cup plain vegan creamer (I used Silk)
- 1/4 cup chocolate syrup
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 banana

DIRECTIONS:

- Throw all of your ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
- Add mixture to your ice cream maker and follow your ice cream makers instructions.
- My ice cream was ready in about 30 minutes.

*When my ice cream was finished I put it into a tupperware and let it sit in the freezer for about 15 minutes, then scooped it out. The texture was amazing this way, absolute perfection.*

Easter Dinner

I had a fantastic Easter this year! My Dad and Step Mom are starting to get into this vegan thing and almost all the dishes were vegan! The vegan items included: Bryanna's Soy and Seitan "Turkey", mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes (coated with "butter" and brown sugar), carrot and onion stir-fry, stuffing, salad with poppy seed dressing, and Pineapple Upside Down Cake for dessert!

This is by far the best holiday meal I have had as a vegan and I love that some members of my family are being so supportive! I hate when all there is for me to eat is basically whatever I cart over and a salad. Sorry I don't have too many pictures of all the goodies I got to eat. I was halfway through my dinner when I realized I forgot to take pictures!

Bryanna's Soy and Seitan "Turkey" turned out fantastic and I will be using this recipe again for the next holiday get together! I used Method #1, hand kneaded my "turkey" dough, and baked my "turkey" in a 2.5 quart Corningware Casserole dish. The texture was fantastic, it had the exact same texture taste of turkey. My only suggestion for this recipe is reducing the amount of Bryanna's Homemade Vegan "Chicken-Style" Broth Powder used... The flavor was too overpowering on the outside of the "turkey" but the inside tasted much better. Bryanna says to use 1/3 cup broth powder for 2 cups of water, next time I am going to try using only 4 teaspoons of broth powder (The regular amount used when using the broth powder in other recipes).

Bryanna's Soy and Seitan "Turkey"



Pineapple Upside Down Cake

El Torito Style Sweet Corn Cake

This is soooo easy! I just veganized the recipe on the back of the El Torito Sweet Corn Cake Mix package, which didn't require much effort. I only had to substitute regular butter for vegan butter (I used Earth Balance stick butter for easy measuring). Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

- 7.4 oz package El Torito Sweet Corn Cake Mix
- 15 oz can cream-style corn
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup vegan butter, melted

DIRECTIONS:

- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- In a bowl combine corn cake mix, melted butter, water, and cream-style corn. Mix until ingredients are combined.
- Bake, uncovered at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until liquid has been absorbed. Mine took about 55 minutes but my oven is lame.
- Use an ice cream scoop to serve the sweet corn cake as a side dish or for dessert.

Strawberry Ice Cream

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 can coconut milk (high in fat, mine has 14 grans per serving)
- 2 to 3 big handfuls frozen strawberries
- 1/2 cup raw sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Pour in an ice cream maker and let it churn for 20 to 30 minutes... Walla! Vegan ice cream :)

I like mine melted a bit and stirred around! Pic below:

Banana Blueberry Ice Cream

INGREDIENTS:
- 13.5 oz can coconut milk*
- 1 cup non dairy vanilla milk
- 2 frozen bananas**
- 2 cups frozen blueberries**
- 1/2 cup raw sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract

* Get the fattiest coconut milk possible (mine had 14 grams of fat per serving!)
** Bananas and blueberries do not have to be frozen but this will help cut down the ice cream making time.

DIRECTIONS:
- Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
- Pour blended ingredients into your ice cream maker and make according to manufacturers directions.
- My ice cream took 30 minutes to make.

Makes: 4 servings
Preparation time: Less than 5 minutes
Ice cream making time: 20 to 30 minutes.

Homemade Vegan Ice Cream

So, we all know vegan ice cream is super duper expensive... Like $5 for a pint... So why not make your own? Ice cream makers aren't really that expensive (under $100, I think mine was around $60) and are really easy to use.

I found this recipe: Coconut Ice Cream (base) on vegweb.com and it's amazing, the best vegan ice cream recipe I have found so far... I decided to make chocolate and recommend halving the recipe.

For some reason vegan homemade ice cream tastes perfect right out of your ice cream maker but turns rock hard after being in the freezer. You could always leave it out to thaw on the counter for about 5 minutes if you want to have leftovers.

Makes: 2 servings (if you halve the recipe)
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: Takes about 20 minutes in the ice cream maker