Mango Crisp

I absolutely love mangos. They're so juicy and sweet! This cobbler is sure to please.

You will need:

For Topping:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/3 cup sugar
1 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t salt
1/4 cup canola oil
2 T water
1/3 cup almonds or other nuts (optional, I did not use)

For Fruit Filling:
6-8 ripe mangos
1 T lemon juice
2 T all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar

Other:
Earth Balance margarine (vegan margarine)
Vanilla Soy Ice Cream (I used So Delicious brand)


1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2) In a large bowl mix together all topping ingredients, first the dry, then the wet. It will look dry.

3) To make filling, peel and cut up mangos into chunks. Mix them in a bowl with lemon juice, flour (from filling list), and sugar (from filling list)

4) Place filling in 8 by 8 baking dish and cover with topping. Cut up Earth Balance margarine into small chunks and lay pieces all over the topping. This will help get it golden brown.

5) Bake about 30 minutes or until topping turns golden brown

6) Serve warm with ice cream

Portabella Burger with Special Sauce

For 2 sandwiches, you will need:

2 large portabella mushrooms
1 ripe avocado
1 tablespoon mayo substitute
1 1/2 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
1 teaspoon lime juice
garlic salt to taste
salt and pepper
olive oil
2 kaiser type rolls or buns
1 tablespoon olive oil
2/3 cup water
earth balance margarine (a trans fat free vegan margarine)


1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees

2) In a baking dish that has a tall rim, like this one:


Stir together 2/3 cup water, 1 tablespoon olive oil, mushrooms, salt and pepper.
Bake these at 425 for 20-30 minutes (baking time will depend on size of mushrooms) Start checking them at 15 minutes. They should be soft but not burnt!

4) Cut rolls in half or use buns. Coat with melted earth balance spread. Place them on baking sheet and put in the oven with the mushrooms. Keep your eye on these, they should get slightly brown and crispy but not burnt.

5) In small bowl, add avocado. Smoosh it with a fork. Add spicy brown mustard, mayo, lime juice and garlic salt to taste. Mix up and put aside.

6) When mushrooms are done assemble your sandwich, spread avocado sauce on top the mushroom. You can garnish with tomato, lettuce, etc. if you want but I like them with just the sauce.

Enjoy!

Leek Stew with Dumplings

This will take some prep time but is so worth it in the end! I found this recipe online and made several changes. You can use any collection of spices you want.

Ingredients:

canola oil or vegetable oil to sautee the veggies

3 leek stalks (use only the white, minus the very bottom, and about 2 inches of the green, but make sure to remove any brown spots. Discard the top. Cut the part you are going to use into rounds

1 large onion, chopped

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon dried parsley

bay leaf: optional, I did not have one

about 20 baby carrots cut into small rounds

3 celery ribs, halved lengthwise and chopped small

4 garlic cloves minced or 2 tablespoons of the jar kind

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

8 cups water

3 veggie boullion cubes

1 or more teaspoons of garlic salt

salt and pepper to taste


FOR DUMPLINGS:

2 cups flour
1 1/2 t celery salt (you really need this)
4 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup water
6 tablespoons almond milk


1) Bring 8 cups water to a boil and add boullion cubes. Stir to dissolve and reduce heat to low. Set aside.

2) Heat oil in large saucepan and add to it the onion, leeks, bay leaf, thyme, basil and parsley. Cook about 10 minutes until veggies become translucent but do not let them burn.

3) Add carrots, celery and garlic and cook about another 10 minutes until carrots start to become more tender.

4) While veggie are cooking prepare your dumpling dough by combining first the wet ingredients in one bowl, dry ingredients in another bowl, and then adding the dry to the wet. Stir well and sit aside for at least 5 minutes.

5) When carrots have started to soften, add nutritional yeast to the veggie blend and then add the boullion broth that you made. Now add your garlic salt and salt and pepper to taste.

6) Cover and bring to a boil.

7) Now, drop your dumplings down into the boiling water, like you were making drop bisquits. I like mine small, but it's up to you.

8) Cover and boil for about 25-30 minutes.

Hot Spiced & Spiked Cider

This will serve approximately 12-24 people. You can leave out the rum if you want.

4 pretty oranges (washed and dried well)
2 oranges (to be sliced into wedges)
2 apples (to be sliced into wedges)
cloves to decorate oranges
1 gallon apple cider
4 cinnamon sticks
2 1/2 to 3 cups light rum (depending on your preference)

1) Stud pretty oranges with cloves. Make holiday designs if you want. Place oranges in punch bowl
2) Cut other 2 oranges and 2 apples into wedges and put in punch bowl
3) Heat cider and cinnamon sticks over medium heat in saucepan for about an hour
4) Pour cider mix over oranges and apples and add your rum to taste.

Serve warm

Thanksgiving Preparations & Marshmallow Pumpkin Pie Recipe

We will be having Thanksgiving dinner with my family tomorrow and I'm in charge of making the dressing/stuffing, a "cheese" ball and pumpkin Pie. The "cheese" ball turned out great and by tomorrow the flavors should all be blended together. It's been so warm here that I still have calendula in the garden so I was able to use it to decorate the top.
My Vegan Cheese Ball recipe






Vegan Marshmallow Pumpkin Pie Recipe

You will need:

1 ready made prebaked crust

1/2 a package Sweet and Sara Vanilla Marshmallows

PIE FILLING:
1 15oz can of pure pumpkin
1 cup almond milk
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 T molasses or agave
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ground allspice
1/4 t cloves

Preheat over to 350 degrees

Using 1/2 a package of marshmallows: cut or tear each marshmallow into 1/4 and place them directly on top of the prebaked pie crust. You can use the other half for another recipe, roast them, or eat them straight from the container.

In a bowl, combine all pie filling ingredients together until totally smooth, no lumps! Pour this mixture on top the marshmallows and bake for 1 hour.

So easy and so darn good!

The Joy of Vegan Creamer

For many years, there was no good alternative to dairy based creamer. Even the ones that were labeled as dairy free contained milk proteins which made them unsuitable for vegans and those with severe allergies to milk derivatives. Then, the folks from SavingOpusOne came up with the perfect solution! These individually wrapped creamer packets are not only delicious, creamy and vegan-friendly, they're all natural and completely lactose-free. And to make them even better, they are made from organically grown soy.

I'm not a coffee drinker but sometimes I like cream in my hot tea and this does the job. Thank you SavingOpusOne!

Purchase SoyGo Creamer

About Mineral Makeup

It seems that a lot of mainstream cosmetics companies have jumped on the bandwagon and started creating mineral makeup, but after a trip to a local big box store and careful examination of the ingredients in these products, I think they are way off base. Mineral makeup should be pure, without preservatives and chemicals, but these products are chock full of stuff I would NEVER put on my face such as talc and other nasty stuff:

TALC: The dangers of talc have been well characterized by studies that show it to be similar in structure to asbestos, a well known cancer causing agent. Even more disturbing is a study that showed that women who used talc in their genital area had a higher risk of developing ovarian cancer. This is particularly disturbing since this cancer has such a poor prognosis when diagnosed at an advanced stage. Equally unsettling is the fact that talc has been associated with lung cancer when inhaled on a frequent basis. Because the particles of talc are so tiny, they can easily enter the lungs and set up an inflammatory reaction. This inflammatory reaction can cause short term problems such as pneumonia as well as chronic problems such as lung disease and cancer. Studies have shown that talc miners who are in contact with this substance on a daily basis have a higher rate of lung cancer as well as a higher rate of nonspecific mortality. SOURCE:
Ehow.com


Please take a look at the ingredients when picking out your makeup!


Revlon Colorstay Mineral Makeup
Active Ingredients: Titanium Dioxide (0.9%)
Inactive Ingredients: Talc, Silica, Nylon 12, Polymethylmethacrylate, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Dimethicone, Cyclopentasiloxane, Perfluorononyl Octyldodecyl Glycol, Grapeseedate, Polyethylene, Mother of Pearl, Topaz, Quartz, Serica (Silk), Cymbidium Grandiflorum Flower Extract, Lactobacillus/Eriodictyon Californicum Ferment Extract, Lilium Candidum Bulb Extract, Malva Sylvestris Flower Extract (Mallow), Dimethiconol, Dimethicone/Silsesquioxane Copolymer, Copolymer, Triethoxycaprylysilane, Lecithin, Alumina, Lauroyl Lysine, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, Mica, Iron Oxides (CI 77491, 77492, 77499), Bismuth Oxychloride (CI 77163)

Maybelline Mineral Power Blush
Polyethylene, Dimethicone, Boron Nitride, PTFE, Synthetic Wax, Cetyl Dimethicone, Acrylates Copolymer, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Trisocetyl Citrate, Aloe Barbadensis (Leaf Juice), Tocopheryl Acetate, Alumina, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Isopropyl Titanium Triisostearate, Polyethylene Teraphthalate, Polymethylmethacrylate, Chamomile Flower Extract (Matricaria Chamomilla), May Contain (+/-): Mica, CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 77499, CI 77492, CI 77491 (Iron Oxides), CI 75470 (Carmine), CI 77163 (Bismuth Oxychloride), CI 77007 (Ultramarines), CI 19140 (Yellow 5 Lake), CI 73360 (Red 30), CI 15850 (Red 7), CI 77742 (Manganese Violet), CI 42090 (Blue 1 Lake), CI 77510 (Ferric Ferrocyanide)


Covergirl Trublends Mineral Makeup:
Mica, Talc, Methylmethacrylate Crosspolymer, Dimethicone, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Methicone, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Sodium Dehydroacetate, May Contain (+/-): Iron Oxides, Titanium Dioxide


There are safe mineral makeups out there:

Herbs of Grace Mineral Foundation (suitable for vegans):
Color Foundation Ingredients: titanium dioxide, iron oxides and mica powder
Translucent Ingredients: serecite

Pure Mineral Color Makeup by Herbs of Grace

Pure Mineral Blush Colors by Herbs of Grace

Lip Luminosity by Herbs of Grace


Again, please do some research before buying cosmetics, for your health :)