No Tuna Vegan Salad

BEST EVER!

Drain & Rinse a can of Garbanzo's. Hand smash them loosely with a fork.
Add:
3 stalks chopped celery
1/4 c roasted nori shreds
2 TBSP veganaise
2 TBSP or so finely chopped red onion
2 black olives chopped
1 TBSP dill relish

BETTER than tuna salad--beans have protein, kind to the earth, no heavy meatals!! win win win

I rolled it up in my fresh garden lettuce. This was my first try with veganaise and I love it! I am a best foods mayo LOVER and I was totally apprehensive to try veganaise but it is salty, eggy, and yummy. mmmmmmmmmm

First try body bar

First try: Almond Oatmeal Honey Glycerine Bar

2 Cups grated soap
1/2 Cup water
1/4 Cup Coconut oil
1 Heaping Tbsp oat flour
1 Tbsp ground almonds
1 Tbsp honey

I used plain unscented glycerine soap, gluten free oatmeal, almond butter from New Seasons, and spun honey from Trader Joes. Melted the soap, water, and coconut oil, then added the other ingredients. stirred for a bit then poured it in a mini bread pan mold. I think it needs to cure for a couple weeks. I'll be making more posts about soap with lotsa pictures and good information. You should try this it is VERY satisfying to wash my hands with my new soap, I'm going to go take a bath with it right now :-)

Dishwasher Detergent

I was tipped off recently by my lovely, sweet, dandy, well spoken, funny, smart as a wip, BirthGoddess, friend, and neighbor, about how to make my own Dishwasher Detergent.


1 Cup Borax
1 Cup Washing Soda
1/2 Cup Salt
1/2 Cup Citric Acid














put it all together in a container & shake. One heaping tablespoon per load.





















Notes:
~You can use 15 packets of lemonade Kool Aid packets in place of the citric acid
~If you use regular citric acid (I found it at Whole Foods for $4.99 for 4oz), the entire mix will likely harden into one lump. I have read that it is better not to mix the citric acid in, but rather add it in a separate compartment in the wash, or mix it at the last minute. I have also read that adding a packet of silica gel (like the ones you find in shoe boxes) will keep that from happening. My first batch (pictured here) turned into one big lump and I'm adding the silica gel packet now I wonder if it will do anything
~One last tip: pour a splash of vinegar right into the bottom of the washer before starting, or put it in the "rinse agent" compartment of the washer

Enjoying Garden Lettuces

This is our first garden year. My problem with fresh garden lettuce, from friends or the farmers markets, has always been it doesn't seem to keep well. Like, you better eat it the day you get it, or it's a big waste. It is super bad to waste fresh produce that a friend gives you and it's horrible to waste food you spent top $$ for at the farmers market. Speaking of saving money, we haven't bought bag lettuce in a couple months. I spent $2.50 on a little flat of 6 different little lettuces. Mike eats salad every day so we were spending $5 - $8 a week on bag lettuce. And THAT lettuce is not nutritious like mine is! Oh I just can't say enough good things. But how to keep it from going bad within hours?? I'm going to tell you.

Pick your lettuce low on the leaf, near the stalk of the plant
















Bring your lettuce in and place it in a bowl of water cut side submerged for 1 or 2 hours.




















Pull the lettuces out of the bowl and place it lined up neatly on a long row of (still connected) paper towel. A nice touch is to put one type all in a row, then the next type on top of that, longways, repeat with all the different lettuces. That way, when you're unrolling, you only have to unroll a little bit to get all the varieties together.















Roll up the paper towel and put it in a plastic bag and put it in the fridge. I kept this lettuce for 10 days or more. We got full use of it, none was wasted.

Savory Vegan Broth

I love cooking and I love using broth instead of water whenever possible. I always used store bought chicken broth until I became vegetarian. I tried using vegetable broth from the store but that stuff is GROSS and always has a sweetness blagh! MY vegetable broth is savory and so satisfying. I start with about 2 lbs of white or brown mushrooms, and chop them up like so for lots of surface area.




















Another thing I've learned since going veg is I can cook very well withOUT butter. Sautee the mushrooms in a dry pan, or spray some cooking spray if you must. :-) till they're nice and browned



















Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil, add 1Tbsp salt, along with the mushrooms. At this point I like to add about 1/2 of an onion. I'll use the ends or the scraps, or if I don't have any scraps, I'll use the nice part. I'll also add several cloves of garlic smashed, with the skins on. Boil all together for about 5 min, lower to a simmer, and leave it simmering for 20 min up to an hour. Then turn off the heat and it can sit there and steep for up to 3 hours till I'm ready to strain it out and put it in jars.

Gluten Free Teriyaki

Bet you didn't know teriyaki sauce ISN'T gluten free. I had NO IDEA and when I tried to find a GF option, I learned that it just doesn't exist! I was kinda pissed for a second. I knew pretty quick this wouldn't be hard to duplicate GF.... #1 thing is finding Tamari. It is pure soy sauce made just from soy. Regular soy sauce contains wheat along with the soy! I found Tamari at Uwajimaya which is my local Asian Supermarket that I love :-)

3/4 C Tamari
1 C Water
4 Tbsp Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch


that's the basic, I added garlic powder. Another nice add in would be ginger :-) The Cornstarch isn't necessary either if you're using this as a marinade or dressing. I was going to cook this and spoon the sauce over rice so I wanted it a bit thicker, but you don't NEED it
I made this: GlutenFree Paradise Bowl

Our First Colaboration

Mike and I worked together to come up with an unpretentious vegan nacho cheese sauce we like to call QuesoEsque

1 Cup Raw cashew (pieces are fine) soaked for at least one hour in salty water. Drained
1/2 a red onion loosely chopped
1 can white beans, drained
2 limes (juice only)
1 Cup unsweetened non dairy milk
2 Tbsp yellow miso
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (more or less to taste, we used more)
2 tsp cumin
3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 Cup roasted red pepper
7oz can fire roasted green chilis

Put all ingredients except the can of chilies into a blender and blend super well. Pour mixture into a sm/med sauce pan, add the can of green chilies (undrained) to the mix and simmer for just a little bit

Now you can top a Basic Baked Potato like this

Or you can just keep it simple and have a nice dip.

This is SO good and guilt free!!! Try it asap :-) :-)

Basic Baked Potato

Set Oven to 375wash & dry potatoesStab each one with a knifePlace them directly on the oven rack put a cookie sheet on the rack below (just in case)Bake for 1 hour & ten min