Raspberry Watermelon Mocktail Cooler

 Our raspberries are coming in and leftover holiday weekend watermelon, we thought we would try a mocktail combining the two,

4 cups watermelon chunks
1 cup raspberries
1/2 cup agave
1/2 cup lime juice
12 oz of sparkling water

Directions:
Blend all but the sparkling water
Pour the sparkling water over ice in 4 glasses and top with the watermelon/raspberry puree. 

Menu 5/29-6/2

 This is post 1000!!! I can't believe it, we started this 6/1/2013.

Monday: dinner with friends

Tuesday: vegan-mixed-grill-platter 
We used a homemade ranch

Wednesday: French Onion Casserole
We altered this quite a bit, we used white beans instead of cashews and subbed our homemade dried Onion Soup Mix for the seasonings. We also added diced onion and minced garlic to the pasta.

Thursday: Smothered Burrito

Friday: BBQ Vegan Chik'n burger
We substituted coconut aminos for tamari and added 1 tsp of poultry seasonings. We also used our homemade BBQ sauce

Menu 5/22-5/26

 Monday: dinner with friends

Tuesday: Black Bean Polenta Cakes with Pepper-Cilantro Salsa - Forks Over Knives

Wednesday: Italian-Style Zucchini and Chickpea Sauté | Forks Over Knives

Thursday: Black Bean & Sweet Potato Quesadillas Recipe | Forks Over Knives

Friday: Mac and Cheese

Vegan German Sweet Potato Salad

 We love German Potato Salad and thought we would make it a little more healthy.

Ingredients: serves 4-6

6 oz Hempe Bacon (we substituted hempe for tempeh and used coconut aminos)
1/2 cup celery with leaves, diced
1/2 cup red onion, diced
2 TBS sugar
1 TBS all purpose GF flour

1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/3 cup water
2/3 cup apple cider vinegar
3 pounds peel and sliced sweet potatoes, steamed 
2 TBS minced parsley

Directions

1. In a large skillet, sauté celery and onion in water or broth until tender.
2. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, GF flour, salt, mustard, vinegar and water until smooth. Add to the skillet. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 1-2 minutes until thickened.
3. In a large serving bowl, combine the potatoes, and parsley. Drizzle with sauce and stir gently to coat. Season with additional salt if desired. Crumble hempe bacon; sprinkle on salad. Serve warm. Refrigerate leftovers.

Menu 5/15-5/19

 Monday: dinner with friends

Tuesday: Hempe Wings

Wednesday: pizza

Thursday: Mexican Quesadilla Casserole 

Friday: Mediterranean Bean Salad

Menu 5/8-5/12

Monday: dinner with friends

Tuesday:  Falafels from Trader Joe's mix, harissa veggies and Greek Potatoes

Ingredients:
1 1/ 2 cups cauliflower or broccoli florets
2 cups diced zucchini
1/ 2 bunch baby carrots or 3 regular carrots, peeled and cut into halves
2 red peppers
2 tbsp lemon juice
1tbsp cold-pressed olive oil
1 tsp harissa spice
1/ 3 cup oat flour
1/ 2 tsp sea salt
1/ 4 tsp freshly cracked pepper
Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix until all the vegetables are coated in the spice and oat flour.  bake at 375 for 30 minutes

Wednesday: leftovers

Thursday:  7 layer Potato Nachos

Friday: Taco Salad

Greek Fava Beans

 We were given a free package of fava bean seeds and thought let's give them a try. I was told they tasted like lima beans and thought, yuck!!! They don't, they are delicious. Two pounds with pods yields about 1.5 cups of shelled beans.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs fava beans with their pod
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium size onion, finely chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup water
• ¼ cup fresh dill, chopped
• 1 TBS lemon juice

Directions:

1. Remove the fava beans from their pods.
2. Make a small slit on each bean.
   
3. Fill a saucepan with boiling water. Add in salt and stir.
4. Soak the beans in this hot salty water for about 10 minutes. Then peel their shells.
5. Heat olive oil in a pan and cook onions and garlic until translucent.
6. Add in shelled fava beans and cook for about 5 minutes.
7. Add in salt, sugar and water. Cook over medium low heat until tender, for about 20 minutes.
8. Remove from the heat and let it cool a bit. Then add in chopped fresh dill and lemon juice. Then stir.