Vegan Maple Syrup Cookies

Ingredients
Organic Unbleached All-Purpose Flour - 1 cup
Earth Balance - 4 tablespoons
Organic Maple Syrup - 1/4 cup
Almond Breeze Vanilla Almond Milk - 1/8 cup
Baking Powder - 1 tspn.

1. Mix baking powder and all-purpose flour properly.
2. Use solidified Earth Balance and mix it into the flour with your hands to make a crumb like mixture.
3. Mix Earth Balance thoroughly so that all the flour is mixed in.
4. Add maple syrup and continue to use your hands to mix in thoroughly to make a smooth dough.
5. Add Almond Breeze and continue to mix and finally knead into a ball of dough.
6. The dough will stick to your hands; use a spatula to scrape the dough off your hands.
7. Wash your hands and now divide it into equal portions making small rounds or any shape that you desire.
7. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes.
8. Let it sit in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes or until it turns brown.
9. Remove from oven and enjoy fresh baked cookies.
* Yields approximately 16 small cookies.

For my Valentine's Day celebration I made a variation of this cookie. I made two heart shaped cookies. On one cookie, I spread 365 Whole Foods brand Strawberry Fruit Spread and topped the other cookie on it to make a sandwich cookie. Needless to stay it tasted full of love :)

Mediterranean Style Quinoa

Ingredients

White Quinoa - 1/2 cup dry
Red Quinoa - 1/4 cup dry
Olive Oil - 1/2 tablespoon
Golden Raisin - 3 tablespoons
12 Almonds chopped
Salt to taste
Water - 2.5 cups

Add all the ingredients in a rice cooker and cook. When done, unplug the rice cooker for the Quinoa to sit and absorb flavors.

Enjoy scoops of Quinoa with grilled salmon and a salad or a vegetable curry.

What I am loving right now

 Justin's Maple Almond Butter

Creamy all natural almond butter with maple syrup - it tastes divine!

For more list of yummy almond butter flavors, go to the link below:

http://www.justinsnutbutter.com/products.php

List of Non Dairy Foods I Like

(Photo: Anthony Verde)

Non-Dairy Milk

Soy Milk – The very famous substitute to milk.

1. Soy Silk (My favorite brand)

http://www.silksoymilk.com/

2. Eden Soy
http://www.edenfoods.com/store/index.php?cPath=24

Almond Milk – My favorite non dairy milk - delicious!

 

1. Blue Diamond Almond Breeze (My favorite brand) - I especially love the Chocolate Almond Dream and also Vanilla.

http://www.almondbreeze.com/

Coconut Milk – New in the market, but so delicious.

1. Turtle Mountain So Delicious (My favorite brand)

http://www.turtlemountain.com/products/coconut_milk_beverage.html

Hazelnut Milk – This is so delicious. The only reason I don’t have this is because it is high in calories.

1. Pacific Foods (My favorite brand)

http://www.pacificfoods.com/our-foods/nut-grain-beverages/hazelnut-beverage-1

They also have several other like Rice Milk, Hemp Milk, Oat Milk but they are not my favorite.

Non-Dairy Ice Cream

Turtle Mountain So Delicious Coconut Milk Ice cream

http://www.purelydecadent.com/products/purely_decadent_Coconut_Milk.html

My favorite flavors - Mocha Almond Fudge, Coconut Almond Chip, Chocolate Brownie, Passionate Mango.

Luna & Larry's Coconut Bliss

http://coconutbliss.com/coconut-bliss-products


My favorite flavors - Cappuccino, Dark Chocolate, Naked Almond Fudge

Good Karma Organic Rice Divine Rice Milk Ice cream

I find Rice Milk has a bit of after taste and a powdery feel but this brand has done a good job.

 http://www.goodkarmafoods.com/good-karma-foods-products

Mudd Pie and Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge taste good.

Organic Nectars Raw Cashew Creme Agave Nectar Ice cream

http://www.organicnectars.com/nutrition-facts.html

I especially love the Pistachio flavor.

Homemade Granola

 Ingredients

1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup maple syrup
3 tablespoons raisins
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon olive oil

Line a baking sheet with baking parchment paper. Mix all the ingredients together and spread it on the sheet.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 25 minutes, mixing the ingredients every 10 minutes.

Remove from oven, cool granola and enjoy!

This recipe yields four servings and each serving is approximately 289 calories.

Annie's Goddess Dressing

 If you haven't tried it already then you gotta have it! It is the best vegan dressing I have tasted so far, very creamy and delicious, tastes yum!

Click here to see information about the ingredients.

Fall Pumpkin Leek Soup

 In my CSA share, I got leeks and pumpkin so I decided to make a soup out of it which turned out to be delicious and very hearty.

1 Whole Leek Chopped in rounds
Pumpkin, peeled and cut in cubes - 2 cups
Olive oil - 1 tablespoon
Garlic - 5 cloves
1 Tomato Chopped
1 Carrot chopped
1 Cup chopped Broccoli
1 Cup chopped Potatoes (red preferred)
2 hot peppers (optional) OR 1 teaspoon ground pepper
2 Bouillon cubes (soup seasoning)

1. In a deep pot on medium heat, saute leeks, garlic, peppers in Olive Oil.
2. Add all the vegetables and saute it until it becomes slightly soft.
3. Add 6 cups water or until the pot is 3/4ths full.
4. Add 2 cubes of bouillon soup seasoning cubes.
5. Let it cook for 30-40 minutes on medium heat or until the vegetables have become super soft.
6. Turn off the heat and let is sit for 10 minutes to absorb the flavor.
7. Serve hot soup with your favorite bread.