Black Beans Full Of Protein

Are you in the mood for another Beyond the Garden Throw Back Video?  I was hoping you would say YES!  Before I being to divulge the delicious recipes I whipped up during this Retro Beyond The Garden Episode, I wanted to say “THANK YOU” to each of you for your continued support of Beyond the Garden and VLM and the vegetarian community.  I thought it would be fun to share with you how VLM and Beyond the Garden started and how we have evolved.  In this episode, I make 3 simple and delicious vegetarian and vegan recipes.  I get things started with a Black Bean Salad that is loaded with protein, fresh vegetables, and flavor packed dressing.  I next prepare a stuffed tomato entree that is filled with a lot of goodies.  Dessert?  But of course!  I bake a fresh batch of Vegan Snicker Doodles that are very moist and taste great with a tall cold glass of Vanilla Soy Milk.  Try these 3 recipes for dinner tonight.  You will be surprised at just how easy preparing these 3 dishes are and your family will love you for it.  Enjoy!

Need more vegetarian and vegan recipe ideas?  Looking for creative ways to prepare meatless meals?   Make sure you put your name and email address in the form on the right, and I will send you a free e-cookbook that is loaded with vegetarian and vegan recipes.

Until Next Time,

Take Care

EJ

During the summer, my husband and I ventured out to the wild wild west; the west coast that is.  Our first stop on my grub fest tour was Native Foods Café.  My father and step mother absolutely loves this place and would rub it in our faces every time they made a trip out to L.A. and was able to indulge in all of the many vegetarian and vegan offerings at the many restaurants in the area.   My father always told me, that once I went out to the west coast, I would absolutely love it. Once again, my father was right and I can’t wait to return to experience more areas of Cali and discover the many meatless temptations that are served by the many talented vegetarian and vegan chefs.  Before my trip to Los Angeles, I honestly didn’t believe vegetarian or vegan ONLY restaurants existed.  I mean sure, I could go to a restaurant that claimed to have vegetarian friendly recipes on the menu, but we all know what those options are right?  Your typical side salad, French fries, or pasta that leave you both nutritionally deprived and unsatisfied.   I began to wonder;   are vegetarian restaurants really hard to find?  Do delicious meatless café’s really exist?

After visiting Native Foods Café, my confident answer is YES!   For those of you who have had the joy of dinning and indulging at the acclaimed vegetarian and vegan restaurant, you already know what I am talking about.  Native Foods Café’ is the “food child” of vegan chef Tanya Petrovna and has been serving vegetarians and vegans delectable delights for the past 17 years in over 11 locations throughout Chicago, Los Angeles, Orange County, Palm Springs, and Portland.  Chef Petrovna has carefully crafted a menu that is entirely meat and dairy free…even down to their mayo and dipping sauces.

For those of you who have not yet experienced Native Foods Café or do not have one in a city near you, then it is my pleasure to share with you this video of my pigging out and enjoying every bite of my vegetarian meal at Native Foods Café’, Culver City location.  If I could’ve ordered one of each of the 35+ meatless and dairy-free chef crafted menu items, I would’ve been in absolute heaven.  As I entered the vegan café’ the vibe of great food mixed with excellent customer service, and smiling faces reaffirmed that I had indeed selected the right spot to enjoy a meatless meal on a beautiful summer day in L.A.  In anticipation of chowing down, I had already done my research by browsing Native Foods Café Online Menu so I didn’t have to waste any time in line trying to figure out what I was going to “inhale” once I got there.  For starters, I had decided on the Nuevo Native Nachos which were absolutely out of this world.  The Native Chipotle Crema with the Native Cheese was insane.  I was licking my fingers and my plate (thank goodness my husband did not catch that to video).  All of the flavors combined were such a treat.  I highly recommend them.  Next, (of course, I wasn’t done), I had one of Native Foods Earth Bowls.  I chowed down on the Gandhi Bowl which was loaded with blackened Tempeh, veggies and a very flavorful wild curry sauce, while my husband enjoyed the Greek Gyro Bowl, which had the Native Peppered Seitan with quinoa, steamed veggies and an awesome lemon garlic sauce.  Wow! I was happy and stuffed when I left Native Foods Café.

For those of you that live near a Native Foods Café and have yet to try an item on their unbelievably delicious menu, I encourage you to nix your current lunch or dinner plans and replace them with a visit to your nearest location.   For those of you in the same situation that I am in, where we are hundreds of miles away from a Native Foods, you can settle for living watching my experience or by purchasing Chef Tanya Petrovna’s “The Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook” and bring the Native Foods to your Native Family.

What are some of your favorite vegetarian and vegan spots to chow down at?  What is an absolute must visit restaurant?

Thanks for tuning in.  Until next time…

Take Care,

EJ

P.S. – Oh, if you are a visitor, make your self at home.  Simple fill out the form to your right, with your name and email address and I will send you a e-cookbook that is loaded with over 100 vegetarian recipes!  Enjoy.

The sound of family and friend s chattering and laughing as the smell of vegan spiced pumpkin bread tickles your

Serve this warm and drizzled with a glaze

guests’ noses and Vince Guaraldi’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas” plays in the background, are some of my favorite memories of the holidays and being around the people who are important in my life.  Food is the centerpiece of family gatherings and holiday parties so of course you want to make sure you put your best “dishes” forward and have a wide variety of tantalizing treats on display.   This vegan spiced pumpkin bread is an easy addition to complement your vegetarian or vegan holiday feast.   If your party menu is already maxed out with your traditional favorites, give your guests a piece of the night, to enjoy when they get home, by wrapping (in a cute and decorative cellophane wrap) these egg-free and dairy-free loaves of scrumptiousness and giving them to your guests to take home with them.  Who could resist the gift of food?  Even better, you can share this vegan recipe with your other vegetarian and vegan friends so that they can bake this bread whenever the mood sets in.

Ingredients:

Bread

1 ¾ cups of all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon all spice

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon baking powder

1 cup of sugar

1/3 cup of brown sugar

½ cup of softened vegan margarine

1 cup canned puree pumpkin

½ cup of plain soy yogurt

1 teaspoon rum extract

2 teaspoons chopped ginger

2 teaspoons grated orange peel

1 cup of raisins (hydrated)

Glaze

1 ¼ cup of powdered sugar

1 tablespoon of vanilla or plain soy milk

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 9×5 inch loaf pan with vegetable oil spray.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg, cloves, and baking powder.

2.      In a mixer or food processor, mix the sugar, pumpkin, soy yogurt, rum extract, ginger, and orange peel.  Mix until the batter is well-blended and smooth.  Slowly pour in the flour mixture, a little bit at a time, until fully blended.  Next, add the raisins and pulse for about 1 minute.  Pour batter into loaf pan.

3.      Bake the bread batter for 60 minute or until the edges pull away slightly from the sides of the pan and the center of the bread springs back when lightly touched.

4.      Cool bread for 15 minutes.  Once bread has cooled, remove bread from pan and allow to cool completely (about 30 more minutes)

5.      While bread is cooling, in a small bowl, add the powdered sugar, soy milk, and vanilla extract and whisk together until smooth.  With a spoon, drizzle the glaze over the bread.  Let glaze set before serving (about 10 minutes)

This bread can easily replace a slice of pie or cake as a dessert.  The vegan pumpkin spiced bread is also a great appetizer that can be sliced and drizzled, with the glaze, and served on a platter.  If you are entertaining for a large group, and you need to save time with cooking and food preparation, you can easily bake the bread ahead of time and freeze the baked bread for up to 2 weeks and just thaw at room temperature for at least 6 hours prior to serving.    What are some of your favorite holiday memories?  Do you have a specialty vegetarian or vegan dish that all of your guests rave about each year?  Enjoy this recipe and more importantly, enjoy the company of your loved ones during this holiday season.

If you need more vegetarian and vegan recipes for anytime of the year, make sure you put your name and email address in the form on the right, and I will send you a free e-cookbook that is loaded with vegetarian and vegan recipes.

Until Next Time,

Take Care

EJ

This celebration of the meatless lifestyle was just what I needed to be around other “like” minded vegetarians and to generate some new ideas for recipes, videos, and how I can continue to play my small part in helping people become healthier and more informed vegetarians. I had a blast and I encourage each and everyone of you to visit a Vegetarian Food Festival at least once a year.  I had the opportunity to connect and mingle with some really cool vegetarians that were on a mission to impact and inspire the world!  Kathleen, a visual artist, who just founded “From Me To You,” gave me the low down on her latest projects and what inspired her to make the switch to vegetarianism.  Kathleen Crabill was a great sport because I just ambushed her and was like “Hey, can I ask you a couple of questions?  Just keep talking as the video camera is all in your face…” And she just rolled with the punches.  My husband was like, “You can’t do that to people.  You can’t catch people off guard like that.” LOL.  Oh dear!  She was a cool sport about it though!  You can view her artwork at www.kathleencrabill.com. I also got on this awesome “Farm Bus” which was an old school bus that has been converted in to a mobile produce store.  It is called Farm to Family.  I saw a yellow school bus and just had to hop on to see what was inside.  The “Farm Bus” focuses on “feeding communities, one stop at a time” by distributing locally grown food to families in urban areas and educating people about food security from a converted a 1987 international diesel school bus! Farm to Family is a mobile micro farmers market on wheels and and targets areas that don’t have access to fresh food and teaches people what it is and how to cook it.   They strive to help  people to be proactive about changing bad eating habits.  Not bad huh?  These are just some examples of people making an effort to make this world a better place through health, education, and sharing.  Check out the video below to see the Farm to Family story, Kathleen, and experience the vegetarian festivities.

Have you ever been to a Vegetarian Festival?  Which city hosted the Vegetarian Festival you attended?  What is your favorite part about going to these annual vegetarian gatherings?  Don’t forget to share this experience and video with your other vegetarian friends on Facebook and Twitter!

Until Next Time,

Take Care

EJ

P.S. – Oh, before I completely forget, if you want to stay in the “vegetarian loop,” and receive cool and tasty meatless recipes, fun facts, and be a part of the VLM Family, just enter your name and email address in the form on this page and I will send you a FREE Vegetarian E-Cookbook!  Heck Yeah!

Fun and fabulous organic candies, treats, and baking specialties.  No Gelatin, Gluten-Free, and Vegan.  Now that’s my type of treat!  I absolutely love Gummi Bears, of course, the problems is that I couldn’t find gelatin free gummi treats until I stumbled upon Edward and Son’s Let’s Do Organic Gummi Bears.  It was love at first bite I tell ya!.    These organic candy treats are made with natural fruit juices and dehydrated cane juice.  There is even red beet and spinach powder in these delicious treats ( a very sneaky way to get some nutrition in your child’s system – what candy do you know has spinach powder in it and tastes good?)  Each box of Let’s Do Organic Gummi Bears contains 4 small packets of gummi bears which are the perfect size for kids to handle and portion control.  There is absolutely No Fat, or Cholesterol in these gummi delights.  There are 3 different flavors for you to choose from;   Super Sour, Classic, and Jelly.  I am always on the “hunt” for anything sour enough to make me cry so you know I had to try the “Super Sour’ Gummi Bears.  I am sure your fellow vegetarian and vegan friends would love to know about the No Gelatin and Gluten Free Treat.  So do them a favor and share this video with them on Facebook and Twitter.

Have you ever had Edward and Son’s “Let’s Do Organic Gummi Bears?“  What about their other treats?  Have you dared to try them?  If so, what did you think?

Until Next Time…
Happy, Healthy, Vegetarian Eatin’

Take Care,
EJ

P.S. – Make yourself at home and subscribe to receive vegetarian articles, recipes, advice, and so much more.  Just use the form to the right  and enter your name and email address.  You will even receive a free vegetarian cookbook just for subscribing!

Vegetarian Like Me Reviews “Dream Chocolate Bars.” – Looking for a dairy-free chocolate bar option without the complicated and confusing ingredients? Well, you are in luck because “The Dream” – popular for the diary-free almond drinks – has transferred their delicious dairy-free formula to chocolate bars!  This line of “Dark Chocolate Dream” Bars can be used in place of any recipes calling for chocolate chips that may contain dairy.  And since it is summer time, you know what that mean…”SMORES.”  That’s right.  Just buy yourself a bag of vegan marshmallows and a couple of these “Dream Chocolate Bars” a stick, and you’ve  got action.  There are 5 different dark chocolate bars for you to try!  Dark Chocolate Raspberry, Dark Chocolate Rice Crunch, Dark Chocolate Dream Almond, Dark Chocolate Dream Pure Dark, and Sweet Chocolate Creamy Sweet. Parents, you can feel good about giving your little ones these  sweet treats because these chocolate bars are made with no artificial colors, flavors, preservatives or refined sugars they are truly a dairy free and gluten free dream come true.  Make sure you share this video and blog post with your friends on Facebook and Twitter.  The will love you for sharing something as great as chocolate with them!

What is your favorite chocolate bar?  Maybe you have tried every bar in the Dream Chocolate Bar line.  If so, which one is your favorite?

Until Next Time…
Happy, Healthy, Vegetarian Eatin’

Take Care,
EJ

P.S. – Make yourself at home and subscribe to receive vegetarian articles, recipes, advice, and so much more.  Just use the form to the right  and enter your name and email address.  You will even receive a free vegetarian cookbook just for subscribing!

Soy & Vegan Pizzas By Amy's

Vegetarian and Vegan Product Review #6 – Amy’s Soy Cheese & Spinach Rice Crust Pizza – A couple of months ago I posted a review of  Tofurky’s Pizza and I stated that Amy’s did not make a vegan friendly pizza.  Boy was I wrong.  I got tons of comments letting me know that Amy’s does make a vegan friendly pizza.  So, I headed to my local specialty store and purchased Amy’s Soy Cheese Pizza (which is not vegan) and Amy’s Spinach Rice Crust Pizza which is Gluten and Dairy-Free and Vegan .  I am always down to try new pizzas and I believe it is my favorite food (I have so many). I guess I have always over looked that fact that Amy’s made vegan pizzas.  On the front of the box it states that the pizza is Dairy-Free and when you look on the back of the box, right before the ingredients, it states if the pizza is vegan or not!    Once again, I should do a better job reading ingredients

I am sure several of you in the VLM Community has tried at least one of Amy’s Pizzas and there are so many different Amy pizzas to try, I just have to try them all.  So stay tuned for more Amy’s Pizza reviews.

Which of Amy’s Pizzas is your favorite?  If you don’t have a favorite, what type of pizza would you like to see provided by Amy’s Kitchen?

Until Next Time…

Take Care,

EJ

P.S. – Love pizza just as me?  Don’t miss the next Amy’s Pizza Product Review.  Just enter your name and email address in the form below to receive your free vegetarian and vegan cookbook and vegetarian updates.

Grab A Fork A Dig In...

Delicious Vegetarian Peanut Noodle Recipe – I love this light and tasty noodle salad recipe.  It is not only vegetarian friendly, but also vegan and gluten free.  It is so refreshing and goes great with other summer salads and cookout foods.  For the best combination of flavors, make sure you make this Peanut Noodle Salad the night before.  If it thickens up, just add a little water to the sauce and noodles and you are back in business.  I have had this Peanut inspired noodle dish at several different restaurants and I also thought I would just give it a try at home.  Get creative with your version of this Peanut Noodle Salad.  Try making it with “crunchy” peanut butter instead of the creamy peanut butter.  Add some plump raisins to the salad to give it a hint of sweetness.  The possibilities are endless.

Ingredients:

1 pkg of Asian rice noodles, vermicelli, or angel hair pasta
1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar
1 cup of soy sauce
1 teaspoon of crushed chill flakes
1/3 cup toasted sesame oil
3/4 cup of natural peanut butter
1/2 cup of water, vegetable stock, or soy milk
4 ounces of chopped peanuts
4 ounces of chopped cilantro

Directions:

1.  Cook noodles according to package directions and drain all of the liquid once the noodles are cooked and rinse with cold water.

2. In a large bowl combine the vinegar, soy sauce, chili flakes, sesame oil, peanut butter and water and whisk together.

3. Place the noodles in a large bowl and toss with the peanut sauce until noodles are coated with the sauce.  Sprinkle the peanuts and cilantro on top of the peanut noodles.

***This dish is best served cold.  Try to refrigerate the pasta noodle salad at least 4 hours before serving***

A Cup of Zen Soy Chocolate/Vanilla Swirl Pudding

Vegetarian & Vegan Product Review #5 – The joy of a good spoonful of chocolate pudding.  I have been eating Zen Soy’s Soy Pudding Products for a couple of years now.  Zen Soy’s Pudding products are Lactose and Gluten Free, Certified Vegan and they come in 4 different flavors:  Vanilla, Chocolate, Banana, and Chocolate/Vanilla Swirl.  The local food markets in my neighborhood only carries the Chocolate and Chocolate/Vanilla Swirl.  These 4 oz cups of soy pudding are great to surprise the kids with a snack or treat for lunch or even to enjoy after a long day.  These cups of soy pudding are low fat, cholesterol free and satisfy any dessert craving.

You can feel good about feeding Zen Soy Pudding Products to your family.  You don’t have to worry about any “hidden” animal products or consuming genetically modified soy beans.  With so many “bad for you” products and ingredients that are in prepared foods today, we need to make sure that we read the labels before we buy anything.  It is not just enough to be concerned with hidden animal products.  Now have to be aware of products that have preservatives, made be made with genetically engineered foods, and the loose regulations around “certified organic” and natural products.

Have you tried Zen Soy’s Pudding Products? If so, what is your favorite flavor?  I have yet to try the Vanilla or Banana so I would love to hear if you have tried either one of those flavors.

Until Next Time…

Take Care,

EJ

P.S. -  Want to make sure you never miss out on a Vegetarian & Vegan Product Review?  Like VLM’s recipes and videos?  Make sure you enter your name and email address in the form below to get updates and a free vegetarian and vegan cookbook!

Vegetarian Shepard’s Pie & Vegan Peach Ice Cream Video Recipe – On this exciting and “retro” episode of Beyond the Garden, I explore the makings of a very popular comfort food that I had never eaten before.  This vegetarian and vegan friendly (by using either TVP or Boca Ground Crumbles) Shepard’s Pie is great during the winter months and contains all protein, vegetables, and a starch to make this a complete meal.  I used a mushroom gravy for this recipe, but by all means, try your hand at making a your favorite gravy for the filling of this Vegetarian Shepard’s Pie.  For dessert (I could never forget about dessert) I make a Vegan Peach Ice Cream.  This frozen vegan treat is very similar to the Strawberry Ice Cream recipe.  If you wanted to get “crazy,” you could make a peach and strawberry flavored vegan ice cream.  I bet your taste buds would go absolutely nuts.  LOL

I know we all are pretty busy, so I want to share a little short cut with you for making the Vegetarian Shepard’s Pie.  On this episode, I take the time to make my mashed potatoes (for the topping/crust of the Shepard’s pie) from scratch.   You can use instant mashed potatoes instead of making yours from scratch.  Or, you can leave the skins of the potatoes on instead of peeling them, to save you some time, if you want to make your mashed potatoes from scratch.

If you wanted to make this Vegetarian Shepard’s Pie ahead of time and freeze it, you can do that as well.  Another idea is to just make a vegetable based Shepard’s Pie.  I used Morning Star’s Ground Crumbles as a part of my filling.  However, you don’t have to use a meat alternative at all to have a delicious meal.  You could use a variety of vegetables like peas, carrots, eggplant, asparagus, squash, or anything else you can think of.

I hope you enjoy this “throwback” episode of Beyond the Garden and even more importantly, I hope you enjoy cooking and eating the Vegetarian Shepard’s Pie and Vegan Peach Ice Cream.

Until Next Time

Take Care,

EJ

P.S. – Want more delicious and exciting vegetarian and vegan recipes?  Join the Vegetarian Like Me community and get a free vegetarian and vegan cookbook along with 5 vegetarian video recipes.  It can’t get no better than that.  Just enter your name and email address in the form below and I will send you your free gifts immediately.