Vegan Corn Chowder

Happy Sunday!!

This is what I left in the crockpot all day last Sunday. Corn Chowder!!! It's a great warm winter food and goes great with great bread or even a bread bowl.

Anything and everything I can I will turn a vegan. This is a dish that's great for beginners because the only thing you need to change is the milk. I used organic soy milk. You can use any non dairy milk you'd like for this. When I first started eating vegan I played around with a lot of non dairy milks to test their flavors in various foods. I find soy or rice milk will give you that good neutral taste in dishes where you really don't want the flavor to stand out.

So let's make some corn choweder. You can totally cook your own fresh corn up and even cream it yourself. I went for the easy cans here. Where I live during the winter finding some fresh fruits and veggies can be a challenge.

I used a few cans of creamed corn and a few cans sweet corn, so I can have that kind of crunch of the corn in every bite. I diced up an orange pepper, green zucchini, yellow onion, 3 red potatoes and cut up some kale. I tossed it all in the crock pot with about 2 1/2 cups soy milk and 3 cups of vegetable broth. I didn't do exact measurements on the liquids. So I would just eyeball how much you want. I added a TBSP of diced jarred jalapeños. Oh and we must not for get the fresh garlic

For herbs and spices I used Oregon, pepper, red pepper flakes, adobo, and a pinch of thyme.

Once the Corn Chowder cooked all day I took out about half the liquid, it's ok if some of the corn or other veggies get in it. I put it in my ninja with about a 3/4 cup of flour and blended, then add back to crock pot and stir well. I let it cook a few minutes longer it was the perfect creaminess I was looking for.

I served it with some fresh warm everything bread. I'm really loving all the natural and organic choices at Aldi's. The Simply Nature brand is what I try to only buy there. The new bake yourself breads are amazing.

Hope you enjoy. I really loved this recipe and so did hubby!!!

Vegan BLT

I'm in love with some fake bacon!!!!!!! LOL I put it in a lot of dishes. Why I never made a BLT with it?????? I have not a CLUE?? I used a Pita for this yummy lunch!!! I'm still trying to get used to Vegan Mayo. It reminds me of Miracle Whip and that stuff is kinda gross. I was always a Hellmans kinda girl but sadly couldn't have much or I would get sick from the eggs. Anyways I used bagged salad & some tomatoes and of coarse my fav bacon from Light House.

Vegan Lunch Time

I love buying the big box of already bread eggplant at BJ's. It's always something to make an easy dinner with. Well I was craving it for Lunch tooooo!!!!!!!! I baked it then melted some Vegan Cheese on top and some Vegan Mayo on a pita and Lunch!!! It's quick and yummy!!!!

Vegan {corned beef} Hash

Hubby and I used to love Corned Beef Hash with a Sunday breakfast. I used to put it on buttered toast with a ton of Ketchup!!!!!! I KNOW not very healthy!!!! It was good though!! SO I had to find a way for me to eat something LIKE this but VEGAN!!!!!!!! Here's what I've come up with and it's sooooo tastey!!!

1 can of White beans, here I used white kidney beans but I do like the navy beans better.
About 3 good size potatoes 4 if they are kinda small cut into small chunks
3 Slices of Vegan Bacon
Few Dashes of Garlic Salt (If you want more garlic flavor use Garlic Powder)
Few dashes of Pepper
About 2 TBSP of Earth Balance or any Vegan Butter

First Mash up your beans in a glass dish that's oven safe



Then add your potatoes


Then add some Fakin Bakin



Add butter and seasonings and mix well.


Put in 375f oven for about 35-40 mins. I like the top to be nice and crispy!!!!

Vegan Mac - N - Cheese

I've been following this blog Meet the Shannons. So it is just one of my fave blogs to read!! She's cooking here way through a Betty Crocker book!!! Oh and of coarse making it all Vegan!!!! What a great idea right!!! I've made so many recipes from the blog already! i'm having a lot of fun cooking Vegan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So here is a recipe I found and had to try!! I'm super obsessed with MacNChesse and cheese has been the hardest thing to give up being Vegan!! Well not anymore! This is actually BETTER then my old Mac-Cheese.......... YUP i just said that!!! LOL I meant it too!!! I'm eating left overs as I type this!!! So here is her recipe down below!! The only things I did different was use Whole Flour cause that's how I roll LOL!!! I added real onions instead of onion powder and I had garlic salt instead of garlic powder but used less!!!

In no particular order :
Nutritional Yeast : Yes -An unfortunate name that keeps many people from trying this little bit of heaven turned into a yellow powder that is the perfect replacement for Parmesan cheese ( I mean seriously sprinkle it on pizza, salad, popcorn - whatever ). It is also the key ingredient to the best Mac & Cheez ever ( see below ) and making a vegan gravy that you'll want to eat like soup.
3 1/2 cups elbow macaroni
1/2 cup ( 1 stick ) vegan margarine
1/2 cup flour
3 1/2 cups boiling water
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
Pinch of turmeric
1 1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
A few dashes of liquid smoke
Paprika & Black Pepper, to taste

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Cook the elbow macaroni according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.
• In a saucepan, melt the margarine over low heat. Whisk in the flour.
• Continue whisking over medium heat until smooth and bubbly.
• Whisk in the boiling water, salt, soy sauce, liquid smoke, onion powder, garlic powder, and turmeric - add a few dashes of black pepper to taste.
• Continue whisking until dissolved. Once thick and bubbling, whisk in the nutritional yeast flakes.
• Mix 3/4 of the sauce with the noodles and place in a casserole dish. Cover with the remaining sauce and sprinkle with the paprika.
• Bake for 15 minutes.
• Broil for a few minutes until crisp.

Here's My picture!! And let me tell you something my son who always covers his Mac-N-Cheese with Ketchup did not put a drop on this and came back for MORE!!!!!

click here to meet the Shannons

Fried Green Tomatoes

OMG one of the best things on earth is fried green tomatoes!! For some reason I had a crap load of tomatoes that were not turning red!!!!!! No problem there!! Even the kids went nuts over these!!! I kept eating them as I was cooking that I go too full for dinner LOL

Veggie Barley Soup with Potatoes

This was a super yummy soup!!!!!!!!! Also super easy!!! Basically you just use Veggie Stock and barley and add whatever veggies you want to it!! Great with some homemade biscuits!!