Greens are sprouting left and right!

Lacinato Kale

Arugula

Fall garden was planted August 16th!

Lettuces, Cilantro & Kale!

Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Arugula, Swiss Chard, Lacinato Kale & Leeks!!!

Veggie Garden Week #9

It's HUGE!  So excited for my big Cherokee Purple Tomatoes to be ready!

The Year of PICKLES!!!

This year has been awesome for my garden - it's the first year I grew cucumbers. I don't know why I never planted them before.  We have been inundated with cucumbers.  So, what does one do when they have a gazillion cucumbers on the counter??  Make pickles!!

Here are some pictures of my harvest along with the pickle recipe I've been using (YUM):

2014 Garden Update!

So, this is late, but I decided to post it anyway to see how the garden progressed...

GARDENING TIP:  Never, ever work in the garden when it's wet - that means NO pruning, NO harvesting, NO fertilizing, NO walking through the garden either!  Stay out of the garden after a rain or even when their is AM dew on the garden.  Why?  Because it's a great way to spread disease/bacteria to your entire garden and lose it all!  So, enjoy your coffee/breakfast and do some other chores first thing in the morning.  Let the sun dry things out before you go out there!

Garlic Herb Zucchini Noodles & Shrimp

This recipe was amazing!  It was definitely a hit in our household - we cannot wait to have it again!

Veggie Garden - Week 2

I'm a week late with this post - but here's an update on my garden's growth!

My cucumber plant's first bloom!

Basil + jalapeño pepper plant

2 varieties of hot pepper - Vaquero & Pinata

From L to R:  snacking pepper, eggplant, oregano, basil and beets (not up yet)

Tomatoes, jalapeños, chives & cukes

Lots & lots of eggplant, peppers & beefy boy tomato!

Amer-Itali-Asian Black-eyed Pea Tempeh

The veggie garden is well under way...

I finally finished planting my vegetable garden - now if Mother Nature would cooperate and give us a little rain.  Here are a few shots of some of the things I planted:

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad - a new family favorite!

Lisa, one of my gym buddies introduced me to this amazing recipe.  I fell in love immediately - brought some home to my husband and he loved it too!  It is seriously amazing, I've made it at least 5 times in the last month.

Review: Smiling Hara Tempeh

We have tried tempeh on numerous occasions and have never really enjoyed it.  In case you're not familiar with tempeh, it is fermented soybeans.  We've tried different brands, different recipes, different spices/seasonings and never really cared for it.  That was before we discovered Smiling Hara Tempeh!  It's a product of Asheville, North Carolina and boy is it different than all that commercially produced funky tasting tempeh you'll find at the grocery.  I've talked with Sarah at Smiling Hara in the past and she is awesome - I love supporting local companies that are providing us with awesome, healthy food choices.  You can find Smiling Hara at Whole Foods in the Southeast US, in the FREEZER section.

Happy Fall!

I have not dropped off the face of the earth - I took a little leave of absence from my blogging to plan our wonderful wedding and marry the love of my life, Josh in Folly Beach, South Carolina.  It was absolutely perfect in every way - very intimate, nice weather, beautiful beach house - just what we were hoping for!  Here's a photo of us on our wedding day:

I have to admit, I've fallen off the plant-based wagon a bit and I've been eating fish occasionally and have also added eggs back into my diet.  I also was allowing some dairy (pasture-raised Organic butter, some cheeses, half & half, etc.) for a while there during the wedding and "honeymoon" time.  As of this week, I've cut out all dairy again and I feel SO much better.  It's amazing how different I feel in just a few days - less bloated, less congested, etc.  Last year, around the holidays, I was extremely diligent about eliminating dairy and I actually lost weight over the holidays!  I'm vowing to do the same this year - by avoiding all foods with dairy, it makes holiday parties and events so much easier by eliminating almost every opportunity to be bad.

Raw Cinnamon Raisin Cookie Dough Balls

Yet another fantastic Vegan & Gluten-free recipe for your sweet tooth from Texan Erin!

 Ingredients:

For the balls:
• ¾ cup (75 grams) walnuts
• ¾ cup (67 grams) rolled or traditional oats (non-contaminated for GF)
• 1 cup (180 grams) dates
• ¾ cups (180 grams) raisins
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ½ - 1 cup (60 - 120 grams) oat bran or more oats
• ½ - 1 cup (45 - 90 grams) rolled or traditional oats
  
For the frosting:
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil, softened but not melted
• 2 tablespoons honey (agave for vegan)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

1. In your food processor, grind the walnuts and oats until there are no more large chunks and then set aside. Add the dates and half of the raisins to the food processor and process until it's smooth, and then add the vanilla and cinnamon.
2. Process until thoroughly combined and then add the oat and nut mixture. Pulse. At this point, you can start adding oat bran and more rolled oats.
3. Add ¼ cup of each, pulse, see if you like the consistency, and if you want even more bran and oats, add more, a little at a time. You don't want them to get too dry.
4. Roll tightly into balls. You'll have to squeeze them together to get them to stick, but it'll work.
5. For the frosting, stir everything together and pipe onto the balls or just spoon a little bit over. These are already pretty sweet so you might not want it.
   
   *I actually made the frosting and preferred the balls without it, so I just ate them the way they were with a couple carob chips on top.   I also didn't blend in all the raisins as instructed in Step 1, I added some to the mix at the end before I rolled them into balls.  YUM!

Eggplant Coconut Curry

I modified this recipe slightly from this fabulous creation on simplyrecipes.com:

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/eggplant_green_curry/

What's in your pantry?

There was this great article the July/August issue of our Experience Life magazine suggesting items that you should keep stocked in your pantry, titled "The Healthy Pantry".  These are great go-to items and with the exception of group #2, it's an awesome way to stock your plant-based pantry too!

Lentil-stuffed Portobellos

I got the idea to make some stuffed portobellos - they turned out quite delicious, if I do say so myself!

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups of green lentils
• 1 cup cooked chestnuts, chopped
• 3 cups of water
• 1 tbs herbs de Provence
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled, chopped and divided
• 6 portobello mushroom caps (try to find some that are more bowl shaped and better for stuffing
• Olive oil
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 1 large vidalia onion, diced
• Salt to Taste

Directions:

1. Rinse your lentils and put them in a saucepan with the water.  Add the herbs de Provence and half of the garlic (do not add salt while lentils are cooking as it can toughen them).  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered for 20-30 minutes.  You may need to add additional water - just add enough to cover the lentils.
2. Sample the lentils to be sure they're cooked to your satisfaction and remove from heat.  Drain any remaining liquid. Add the chopped chestnuts and set aside.  I make the lentils a day or two in advance.
3. Wash the portobellos and remove the stem (you can cut up the stem and use it in the next step).  Place the mushrooms in a large saute pan with 1/4 cup of water over medium heat (you are basically steaming them).  Cook them for covered 3-4 minutes each side.  Keep an eye on them - you may need to add additional water.  Once completely cooked, transfer them to a serving plate.
4. Add 1 tbs. olive oil to a saute pan, when the oil is hot, add the onions, celery and mushroom stems.  Saute until the onions are translucent, then add the remaining garlic.  Once the garlic is fragrant, about 2 minutes, add the lentils to the saute pan.  Salt as desired.  Once mixture is heated through, remove from heat. 
5. Pack the mixture in a large ice cream scoop or measuring cup and stuff each of the mushrooms with the mixture.  Garnish with rosemary if desired and serve.

Serves: 2 - 4 (depending on whether this is your main course)  We served very large mushroom caps on a bed of baby spinach and it was enough for one person.  

I'm on Facebook!

I finally created a page for Plant-Based Happiness on Facebook! 

I'll be slowly adding my photos, recipes, articles, etc. to Facebook, so please login and like my page.

 Click here to access my Facebook page

 

I've had a page on my personal Pinterest for a while, you can access it and follow me here:

http://pinterest.com/jennyjellybean/plant-based-diet-happiness/

Vegan Girl Scout Samoa Wannabes

I've been trying some Paleo dessert recipes lately, most of them also happen to be Vegan or easily Veganizable!

 
The awesome thing about these raw/no bake dessert recipes is they are SUPER quick and they make small batches.  So, they're ready in a jiffy and you there's no pressure to over-indulge since they make only 6 - 12 tasty treats per recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup pecans, plus 8 extra whole pecans
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut, plus some additional for rolling
• 1 cup of pitted dates, about 12
• Pinch of sea salt
• 1/3 cup Vegan dark chocolate chunks (available at Whole Foods)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Add pecans to the food processor and process until they are fine but not clumping.
2. Add remaining ingredients in order above.
3. Roll into 8 balls.  Roll in shredded coconut and press one pecan into the center of each ball.

In the event the balls don't stay together well, you can add a tablespoon of coconut oil to the mix.

Enjoy!

Are you kidding me?

I saw this cookbook recently in a store in Chapel Hill.  What are your initial thoughts when you look at the photo below?

Vegan Apple Pie Protein Shake

I've been experimenting with lots of different smoothies/shakes lately since I've been exercising a lot and I came across a recipe for an Apple Pie shake on the Vega website.



Vega One is more than just a plant-based protein powder, it's got fiber, probiotics, 50% of your RDA vitamins/minerals, Omega-3's, greens, antioxidants, etc.  I usually just combine a scoop with unsweetened almond milk but lately I've gotten more adventurous.