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