Meal Plan

The age old question  - "Whats for dinner?". There's really no escaping it because you have to face it every single day of your life. Being vegan, it's even harder to decide! It's always between tofurky oven pizza or pasta if I'm in a rush to decide. So, I came up with a meal plan for this week and will hopefully be updating my blog every week with these new meal plans! Inside of the meal plans will be recipes I have and haven't done before, so tons of new recipes will be written and old ones will be linked! Hope this helps you! 

Green Monster Facial Mask

I turned into a monster Sunday night from a facial mask that I thought up and made! All you need is:

• Avocado
• Olive Oil
• Kiwi
• Blender

The avocado in the mask deeply cleanses into your skin getting rid of most of the dirt left on your face. It opens small pores clearing and cleansing all of the dead skin cells and prevents acne breakouts. 

The kiwi in the mask is for vitamin c purposes. Vitamin C helps restore skin tissue and heals skin. It neutralizes radicals (such as fine lines in the skin, dryness and wrinkles) and makes you look younger. 

The olive oil in the mask helps cure dryness on the skin. 

I'm kinda silly!

Yummy!

Take your avocado and slice in half. Remove the pit, and smush all of it into a bowl (besides the outer shell). Then, cut your kiwi in half and squeeze out the deliciousness. Pour about 1/4th olive oil into the bowl and blend all together. Put a hot towel on your face to open your pores, put Vaseline on your lips and smear all of that over your face! 







If you have any questions or concerns, PLEASE email me at: thevganteen.blogspot.com.
Use this mask as an opportunity - Scare someone! :)
-Ilana xo





Sources:
-http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/information/nutrition/vitamin-c-benefit-skin.htm
-http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20121220105915AAcA5aU
-http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/beauty/anti-aging/olive-oil-for-skin.htm

Not Your Ordinary Quesadilla!

Enjoying my Lemonade? Just cut a thin slice of lemon and place it on the side of a cup - makes anyone feel retro!

Because Sunday nights are always about finishing up projects... And eating mouthwatering, worth burning-your-tongue-for-food! Thanks Ronald for giving us an assignment. I hate bio. But enough about school! Lets get foody ;)

What you'll need!
                         Oils

• Olive Oil
• Canola Oil
• Coconut Oil (Optional)

                  Ingredients

• Daiya Cheese
• Baby Spinach
• Tomato
• Onion
• Garlic
• Mushroom (Optional! I was going to put this in, but I didn't have it at the time.)
• Flour Tortillas (Or whole wheat - I just prefer white flour tortillas... What kind of vegan am I? Haha.)

Actually crying. I want to eat this again sooo badly...

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

First of all, you want to get everything prepped. Cut the onion into slices vertically (or however you like your onions.) and set aside. Un-Clove (is that a word?) garlic and peel the white shell off (or in bio, the membrane) and cut into thick chunky garlic slices. This is the time where you would get the mushroom out also! Place the onion (mushroom) and garlic in the frying pan and drizzle with olive oil. Fry on simmer (or heats 1-5) until a light yellow, or if you're cooking with mushrooms, cook until you can cut the mushroom in half with your spatula (or whatever utensil you're using to fry the items).

While the oil is popping in the frying pan, pop out an oven tray that you can cook tortillas on. Generously coat the pan with canola oil. Lay one tortilla to one of the sides of the tray and take some of the oil that was on the pan and spread it lightly on the top of the tortilla that is facing towards you. Take the daiya cheese and spread on half of the tortilla. On top of that, put the spinach. Then, slice the tomato into thin slices and put however many tomatoes on as you want. I only did three! By now, your frying pan mixture should be done. Put some of the mix on top of the tomatoes, then fold over the unused portion onto the portion with ingredients on it (basically like a taco!).

Continue this method with however many quesadillas you make.

Put in the oven for 7 minutes, then flip quesadilla onto the other side. Cook for 7 more minutes, for a total of 14 minutes in the oven. Wait 5-10 minutes to cool - if you can!

If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at thevganteen@gmail.com

Don't burn your tongue - I learned the hard way!
-Ilana xo

Food Porn!

You know you love cooking when you sigh out loud thinking about the delicious food you're having as a midnight snack tonight. Get ready for a dinner that you (and whoever you share it with - but why share when you can have it all to yourself? ;)) will never want to stop eating, and takes 20 minutes to make. Talk to you all soon! 

Who knew that the food in the back of your cupboard could turn into a meal for days?

Hey guys! I've been thinking about new simple recipes and this one got me. I need lunch for tomorrow also so... why not something that's quick, cheap, easy and simple to pack up?

What you'll need:

• Rice (I used whole grain)
• Bok Choi
• Green and red peppers
• Tofu
• Olive Oil & Canola Oil
• Braggs Soy Sauce

Get out a pot that you think can hold one cup of rice and two cups of water. I think you get the picture there! For every one cup of rice, use two cups of water. Put two cups of water in the pot on the stove and wait until it boils. When it boils, set one cup of rice into the water, turn heat down to simmer and cover with a top.

       Time for one of my favorite vegetables!! Cut the butt (the end of the bok choi) off of the vegetable and scrub any dirt off with warm water. Cut the bok choi in half vertically and place in a pot, filling the pot half way with water. Put the pot on the stove and set heat for medium to low simmer. Cover with top.

       Cut up the peppers any way you want. Coat the bottom generously with olive oil and place the peppers in. Cut the tofu into cubes, and place those in too.

Check on the bok choy! To see if it's ready, take a fork and see if you can stick it through. If you feel any hardness to the vegetable, leave it on for about 5-10 more minutes until soft and stab-able.

Check the rice and see if its ready! If all of the water is absorbed by the rice, taste to test! If still a bit hard and all water is absorbed, add less than 1/4th cup water. Cover back with top.

Stir the peppers and tofu together until the green peppers turn a bit brown and are also stab-able and soft. Turn everything off when done.

       Mix together in a bowl and add a decent amount of braggs. Taste to test. Add 1/3rd cup olive oil and 1/3rd cup canola oil, serve while hot and enjoy!!

If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at: thevganteen@gmail.com.

Hope you enjoy this quick meal for days!

-Ilana xo 

Mercy for Animals Action Center

http://www.mercyforanimals.org/action-center-effective.aspx

Biggest honor to be mentioned on a website by my favorite organization Mercy for Animals! Representin! 

Veg Celebs

Guess who just pledged 22 more days of veganism? My girl Beyonce! You go girl.

Warm & Fuzzy Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Hello everyone! I hope everyone has had a wonderful Kwanzaa, Hanukkah (Chanukkah), Christmas, and every other holiday that each of my viewers celebrate! I hope everyone is ready for the great new year, too! Since it's been so cold and dreary down in Michigan, Iv'e decided to warm things up a bit in my body and kitchen! These chocolate chip cookies will make you want to eat more and more every time! (Pictures coming soon)

What You'll Need:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 cup sugar 
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

What you'll do:

First, preheat your oven to 350F. While that's heating, mix all of your ingredients together in a large bowl very well. I used one of those mixer machine thingys and it was great!

After your cookies are all mixed, roll the dough in your hands to form a small ball. Press down on it to get a flatter, rounder shape. If you have cookie cutters and normally do this step a different way, do it!

Bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes, but the sides of the cookie might get brown. With a spatula, lift up the cookies a little bit to see if it's brown on the bottom. If it's a light brown or medium toned brown, get the cookies out!

Let them sit on a cooling rack for about 3-5 minutes, grab a glass of delicious almond milk and enjoy!

If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at: thevganteen@gmail.com
Have an amazing New Year, see you all in 2k14!
-Ilana xo

The Best French Onion Soup Around!

My parents are both sick with colds, and it's been pretty chilly in my area lately. So I thought, what's better than soup for this? How about French Onion? So that's exactly what I did.

What you'll need:

• One baguette (I used white)
• 2-1/2 lbs. Onions (thinly sliced)
• Water (It's so hard to find... Jokes!)
• Miso. For this one, if you have the actual soup great! If you can't find it, pick up the soy bean paste. I'll add directions in the recipe about this.
• Fresh thyme
• Any type of mozzarella cheese alternative (I used vegan gourmet)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Olive Oil

Pre-Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius)

I'm so excited for you guys this tastes so good and it's so quick to make! First, what you want to do is cut the baguette diagonally in thin slices. The thin slices should be about one each each. The reason why is this is for the croutons! Cut about 8-10 of those. Get out your olive oil and use a knife to spread it on both sides of the bread. Put those pieces on a tray and pop them into the oven! Cook them long enough until you can see some golden brown.

Second, take out your onions. Cut off the ends, then press into the onion (not through it) and make a short line. Peel off the first layer from there! Quickly throw the ends away, and go to the sink. Wash your knife and onion off in cold water. This refrains from you crying! Cut thin slices from that, and repeat with as many onions as you choose (I used about 5).

Put the onions in a big soup pot, adding 1/4th cup oil to that. Put on medium to high heat, and stir for 20 minutes. Not continuously, but not every 5 minutes. Stir them about every 2-3 minutes, and stir for about 2-3 minutes until your 20 minutes are up. At the end, this results in yummy soft brown onions!

*Read only if you have miso soybean paste, if you don't, skip this step!* 

Take your soy bean miso paste and measure out 1/3rd of it. Add water to this until it all dissolves into a watery liquid. Stir until all you see is white/yellow/gray color. Then, pour out
until you have 1/3rd of a cup. Then you're done!

How is the bread coming along? Check it!!! If golden brown, take out and put on a cooling rack.

After the 20 minutes are done with the onions, put on medium heat. Put 3 cups of water into the pot. Add 1/3 cup of miso to that, also. Stir in salt and pepper to taste. 

Now, we're going to start broiling! Heat your broiler to the 200 mark. Place your rack the lowest it can go. Grab about three or four bowls (depending on how many you need) and put the soup in. Don't fill the soup all the way to the top of the bowls, leave about one inch room. Grab the bread, and put two or three on top of the soup. Grate (or sprinkle) cheese ontop of the bread. Repeat this process with each bowl you have. Put the soups in the broiler, and check every 5 minutes until you see little golden brown spots (for the best results, yum!) or until you see that it's just melted.

While that happens, clean up your area, or make garlic bread! Click this link for the recipe: http://thevganteen.blogspot.com/2013/04/yummy-garlic-bread.html 

Once the soup is done, take out and serve immediately!

If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at: thevganteen.blogspot.com
I'm so excited for you guys to take that first bite!
-Ilana xo 

Your Mac N Cheese craving days are OVER!

Who isn't in the mood for gooey, warm, mouth watering, delicious Mac and Cheese that takes about 10 minutes? I don't know about you but I'm always in that mood. My friend showed me this recipe, and after making it I just want to share it with you! This is the elite of the elite, the best of the best Mac and Cheese!!!


What you'll need:

• Silken Tofu
• Daiya Cheddar Cheese
• Milk Alternative
• Dry Mustard
• Salt
• Pepper
• Earth Balance
• Elbow Pasta, or just Macaroni!!

First, grab a pot and put the amount needed of water in that the pasta calls for. Turn the stove on high, and put the pot on one of the burners. When the water boils, follow the instructions on the pasta!

While the noodles are cooking, take out the Silken Tofu, 'Milk', Dry Mustard, salt, pepper, and the Earth Balance. Also, grab a bowl (or just a blender) to mix it in! Cut the silken tofu block in half, and put in the bowl/blender. Mix in 1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard, two tablespoons 'milk' 1 teaspoon salt and a dash of pepper. Mix until a cream.

When the macaroni is done, strain it then put back in the pot. Add about two tablespoons of Earth Balance. Mix until it melts! After you can no longer see the Earth Balance, put the 'cream' and Daiya in. Put as much in as you want depending on how cheesy you want it! Put it back on the burner, and switch it to a medium heat. This just helps the cheese melt faster! Stir until the cheese is all mixed in, and serve hot!

If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at: thevganteen@gmail.com
Hope everyone had a great Labor Day!
-Ilana xo

WARNING - Graphic Content Is Involved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7uJvjbN968
Hello friends, viewers and followers. Please click this video and immediately click the flag on the bottom right corner just below the 'thumb up, thumb down' bar (while you're at it, click thumb down). 
It will then take you to Report This Video.
Click the bubble Violent or Repulsive content, and scroll down to Animal Abuse.
Timestamp selected - (type in) 1:15.
On the right, it says: "Please provide additional details about:"
And copy paste this -
I cannot believe what I am seeing. I am so shocked and ashamed of YouTube seeing how they have NOT took this down sooner. 99,162 + Views? This makes me never want to come back on YouTube at all. I am shocked, ashamed, disgusted and so, SO sad that this repulsive video is on YouTube. I will be telling all my friends to flag and report this, also thumbing it 'down'.


It would be so amazing if you did this, and thank you for your time.

Mini Pizzas!

Pretty sure this is the best 10 minute recipe I've ever had. 

What you'll need:

• Pita Bread
• Vegan Gourmet Mozzarella 'Cheese'
• Marinara Sauce
• Optional - Vegetables of your choice
• Paper towel

For Prep:

Slicer Thingy

• Set oven at 400 degrees
• Get one of those, slicer thingies and slice up the cheese!

To begin, take out one pita (or however many you desire) and cover in marinara sauce, leaving about 1 and a half inch crust and the ends. Then, sprinkle the Mozzarella you have over the marinara (as much or as little as you would like). Pop your mini pizzas in the oven for 10-15 minutes, depending on whenever the pita gets hard.

Take the pizzas out of the oven and put on a plate - careful! They're hot! Let them cool for 5 minutes. While they're cooling, get some paper towel and dab at the cheese, getting all the oil and watery marinara sauce off (the dabbing action makes the pizza look even better!). After those 5 minutes, pop the pizza in your mouth for a huge party in your tummy! ;)


If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at: thevganteen@gmail.com
I hope you have a mouthwatering good time!
-Ilana xo

New Recipe

Hey all! Sorry I haven't been posting, I was at camp for a month. But get excited! I have a great recipe coming to you tonight that's quick, easy, tasty and cheap! Get ready for... Mini Pizzas!! I'll be posting a recipe tonight around 6-10, so keep your eyes peeled!

If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at:
thevganteen@gmail.com

Keep tight, and have a wonderful day!
-Ilana xo

Happy Fourth Of July!

Lanterns 

Happy fourth to everyone! Comment below and tell me what YOU did/ate!
I ate a vegan burger with home-cooked french fries! It was soo delicious. After that (at about 9) we went to the school and shot off big fireworks.

I hope everyone have a great fourth!
-Ilana xo

Bang Bang!

Gardein 'Chicken Stripped' Piccatta (recreated!)

I was dying to make this piccata after I saw it in the vegetarian starter kit magazine from the MFA. I have been wanting to make it for so long, and the day had come. Off to whole foods it was! 

What you'll need:

• Two packets of Gardein chicken strips
• 2 cups of All-purpose flour (I used tapioca flour)
• Non-dairy butter 
• Olive Oil
• 1/3 cup Lemon Juice
• 1/2 cup Vegetable stock
• 1/4 cup White wine (optional)
• 1/5 (or 1/4) cup Capers
• Minced Garlic
• 1 tablespoon chopped Shallot
• Parsley, sugar, black pepper and salt (to taste)

Put the chicken strips in the flour, shaking the access off. Over medium to high heat, melt two TABLESPOONS of the non-dairy butter, with two TABLEspoons of the olive oil. When the mixture of oil and butter start to sizzle and bubble, add the chicken strips. Cook them until they're a golden brown for about 2-5 minutes.

Remove those onto a plate (or cutting board)
Melt 1 or 2 more tablespoons of the 'butter' along with the oil and put the strips back in, cooking them until a deeper brown. 

After this action is done, REMOVE THE STRIPS.

Reduce the heat under the pan to a medium and add the lemon juice, vegetable stock, wine, capers, garlic and shallot. Crank the heat up to a high and bring to a boil. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed. If the sauce is bitter, sweeten it up with sugar. 

My whole dinner!

Now, return the breasts to the pan and simmer for 2-5 minutes until they are heated ad the sauce has thickened. Remove the breasts to your serving platter, and add two tablespoons of 'butter' to the sauce and whisk. Pour the sauce over the breasts and garnish with the parsley. Serve it while its hot!



If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at: thevganteen@gmail.com
Sorry this recipe took so long to put up, guys. <3
-Ilana xo

What's Cookin' Good Lookin'?

Stand out - Broccoli.

Tune in for tonights dish! Guess what this side meal is apart of? It rhymes with lasta! ;)

If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at: thevganteen@gmail.com
Wishing everyone a happy 4th!
-Ilana xo

Tuesday Update

Mercy For Animals T-Shit! Wut wut

Hey all! I hope you are enjoying my recipes. Tonight I am cooking something special out of a Mercy For Animals Magazine. Its a Gardein "Chicken" Piccata, and I'm really looking forward to it (I hope all of you are, too!)

I am on the Youth Advisory Board for Mercy For Animals, only 11 in the nation get picked! For those of you who don't know what Mercy For Animals is, its a non-profit organization group that helps spread awareness about whats happening on factory farms, and the beautiful world of vegetarian/veganism.

I'll be posting the recipe (maybe) tonight around 8 or 9, but it will DEFINITELY be up tomorrow around 2.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at: thevganteen@gmail.com
Keep your heads up, and your eyes open for this delicious recipe!
-Ilana xo

Beautiful Breakfast Bagels (aka BBB)

My baby Lester just HAD to model this food for you!

Let's face it.. I've had one too many pancakes over the last couple of days. I was thinking of something else I could have that was hot, easy, and delicious and it just came to me! Why not a beautiful breakfast bagel?
What you'll need:

• Bagels (I used whole wheat)
• Tempah Bacon
• Firm Tofu
• Olive Oil
• Coconut Oil
• Go Veggie Cream Cheese
• Turmeric

Cut open your bagel, and place it aside. Take out a skillet (or just two frying pans) and put olive oil (generously coating the bottom) in one, and putting two or three spoon fulls of coconut oil in the other. Put the tempah bacon in the coconut oil, and the tofu in the olive oil. 

*If you like your 'bacon' crispy, I suggest cranking up the heat to high*

Remember when you were new to this whole tofu thing, and accidentally scrambled the tofu instead of making it into cubes or long square slices? Well this scramble shouldn't be an accident! Scramble up the tofu like you would eggs, and add a bit of turmeric  The turmeric will turn yellow (even though it comes out orange) resembling eggs. Once those are done, set them aside on your bagel plate. 

Flip the bacon around until the bacon turns a light brown color (or if you like it crunchy, wait 'til you see a dark brown). Set that on the same plate you put the 'eggs' on.

Spread the Go Veggie Cream Cheese all up on that bagel (hollaa wut wutt) and put the tofu and tempah    on, too. Cut the sandwich in half and enjoy!


If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at: thevganteen@gmail.com
Hope this triggers a party in your tummy!
-Ilana xo

Cold Cut Sandwiches

I HATE stomach aches! I needed something simple to eat, and fast. So why not anything better than a yummy sandwich? 

What you'll need: 

• Bread
• One avocado
• Deli Sliced Oven Roasted Tofurky
• Iceburg lettuce
• Vegan Gourmet Cheddar Cheese

Tear off some lettuce from the iceburg and wash it. After, open up the avocado (take out the pit, too) and squeeze out the yummy stuff (p.s, Avocado is poisonous to some animals so don't feed it to them) on a plate or cutting board and spread it on the bread like you would butter. 
Take out the cheddar and cut off some slices, set aside. Take your iceburg and put however much you want on the bread. Take out your tofurky and put a couple slices ontop of the iceburg. Grab your slices of cheese and put on the tofurky, top it with lettuce and bread, cut diagonally and serve!




If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at: thevganteen@gmail.com
Hope your taste buds dance with this joyous creation!
-Ilana xo

Just Baked!

Whoever has the biggest sweet tooth, this post may come in handy! 

The other day I was at the mall with my friend and he wanted to go into just baked (for all of you who don't know what that is or have heard of it, its a store that sells cakes and cookies and its supposed to be the best) but they didn't have any vegan options. I asked the lady at the counter if they had any that I just wasn't exactly seeing, and it turns out that they don't actually KEEP them at the store, they take orders for specialty items there and send them to the bakery to get made! I ordered myself a grumpy cake cupcake for only $3.13 - and TOTALLY worth it! They also have two other flavors - red velvet and vanilla I think. 

Yum!