Everything is growing pretty well! I am so exited to see my first pepper on my tree! Cant wait for this stuff to really start growing!! Need to separate the carrots and beats soon! I am hoping my husband will make me a raised garden bed this week end, or I just might be doing it my self! Haha!
Okay, so its been a little wile. A lot of good meals have been missed but I must start making more commitment to posting since many people are curious! I am glad to have started up a mini stir and slowly more and more people are asking me questions and a lot of the people are unexpected! It feels great to share just a little bit with someone and help them open their mind =]
Anyway, NOW FOR THE VEGAN SUSHI!
Yes thats right! Sushi can be vegan and super delicious! In request of my friend KiKi, this weekend was girls night and sushi! Girls night did not work out, but I still got all the sushi I could fit in my tummy ! (Dont worry KiKi! I will make some vegan sushi for you soon! )
Literally, the next morning after I made this and posted pics on Instagram and Facebook I got a call from Codys family in Montana. It was just after breakfast for us so I can only imagine how early it was over there, they are early birds. =] They were so excited that they could not wait to ask me how I made this sushi! They are not vegetarians by any means but need to make some appetizers and a main dish for some gluten free and vegetarians at a wedding they are catering very soon. Pretty cool that I can help them out with making a vegetarian dish! =]
I wrote them a email with the things that I learned by making sushi for the first time and videos that I watched before making them! I figured I would share what I wrote them!
What you will need:
-Bamboo Rolling Mat ( you can find at most grocery stores but an Asian market was where I got mine for cheap)
-Rice Vinegar
-Sushi Rice or Brown Rice
-Nori Rolls (seeweed/ also at most grocery and health stores but cheaper at a Asian market)
-Vegan Mayo
-Sugar or Stevia
-Siracha Hot Sauce
-Fillings of your choice:
Avocado
Tofu
Vegan Cream Cheese
Cucumber
Red Pepper
Mango
Leeks
... the list goes on to your imagination!
Of course you can use soy sauce, tamari or liquid aminos along side ginger and
The first thing you will do to get it out of the way because it is so easy is make the Spicy Mayo!
All you need is
Vegan Mayo
Siracha Hot Sauce
This is the simplest recipe ever! All you need to do is take as much may as desired and mix in Siracha to your taste! For presentation, I put the spicy mayo in a ziplock bag and cut of a corner to pipe it on top of the rolls when serving. This stuff is so good! You can also dip sweet potato fries in it and it tastes like the real thing! Just dot go over board bc it is oil, fat and soy!
Next thing you will do is make sticky rice in either a rice cooker or a pot.
This is where you will need your rice vinegar and stevia or sugar. This guy over here can explain better than I can how to make the sticky rice!
Here is my first roll!
Next thing is how to roll!
These two videos were very helpful to me and helped me nail the recipe with their techniques.
Even though this one is not a vegan recipe, it is very helpful!
Okay, yeah so I cheated out a little with showing you through video but I am no professional and this is how I learn things visually! I hope it helps you better to see it then for me to just word it! I did not have enough time to make my own video unfortunately! Just Waiting for my Hubbie to help me make new videos! (hint, hint!)
TIPS
Okay now that you have got that all down I want to share some key tips that really helped me out!
*Cut the fillings into match stick like slices.
*LESS IS MORE with the brown rice! The more rice you use, the less fillings you can put in. Also, waiting to use rice until it is cooled down, but still slightly warm seemed to help than when I waited till the rice was room temp.
*When cutting the rolls use a sharp WET knife, dipping it in water and cleaning it in between slices or as needed.
*Squeeze tightly to make sure all ingredients are
*Put the cream cheese in a ziplock bag and cut a corner to pipe it into the roll easier.
Well I hope you all try to make some vegan sushi! It seemed really intimidating at first for me but once I got the first roll down, I was so confident I made SIX rolls for my family and so we could have left overs! This meal is pared great with some home made miso soup like I did! I used extra mushrooms , extra green onions and tofu! It is very easy to make and is on the label of the miso when you buy it!
Miso Soup
Sweet Kid Roll
I also tried to make a sushi roll for the baby! I figured vegan cream cheese and mango would be super yummy why wouldn't he like it! Well, of course this picky little guy wouldn't like it because it looks STRANGE! I try, I try! If only he would try, he would realize how yummy momys cooking is and how lucky he is to be my son! Haha!
It was fun, it was tasty, and here I am 31 days in! (promise I will stop counting days and maybe just months! haha)
Today is full of left overs from yesterday and that yummy Mexican casserole that I made last night!
So I just wanted to share my beautiful son enjoying a green smoothy from this morning!
I had almost finished my morning Green Drink and Jayce came walking over and saw there was a spoon left in my cup! He picked it up and fed some of the left overs to me, then....
this happened!
Garden is growing! And even though I was hesitant to start because of how late I was, it is starting to sprout!! First time growing beets, carrots, beans and peas! Just look at that beautiful color of the beet leaves!
I was planning on my own to keep it going because it feels good and natural to me, but I was so happy when my husband came to me on his own and said, "I want to do this for longer! Maybe, 6 months? A Year?!". Wow I was so proud of him! I know he doesn't have as strong reasons as I do to go vegan, but it is actually what is right for his body! He has lost about 20 pounds since he dropped it all! He is some sorts of lactose intolerant and always had stomach aches at least once day or even or more, since this month started he only has had one or two! I am very excited that it has become pretty much like a habit now! I am learning more and more every day and love the food and love how I feel!!
For our 30th day being vegan we made a recipe from Forks Over Knives The Cook Book, called the Mexican-Style Beans and Rice Casserole. I spiced it up a little and even put in some extra veggies like broccoli and carrots for extra goodness! It was so good! I will not lie, I seasoned it up on my own and gave it an extra kick! I also topped it with some chopped tomatoes and olives to give it a good tang! It tasted so cheese and so creamy! Despite the "4 servings" it claimed, I would say more like 6 with out any sides on the menu!
I HIGHLY suggest this recipe!!
For my Baby Love, I made him Mac'n Cheese from the Forks Over Knives The Cook Book. I added some shreded carrots and spinach to get some extra veggies in him, as well as some gluten free, brown rice breadcrumbs. The pasta was made from quinoa and was gluten free as well! Looks kinda funky, but was yummy! My husband and I have been snacking on it!
Made him a vegan pizza with a gluten free tortilla I found in my freezer! Used Dayia Cheese! He was so thrilled!
I got three books in the mail I have been waiting for!! Ordered them with birthday money(all but Easy Vegan, which one of my best friends gave me)! Thrive Foods, Forks over Knives the Cookbook and The Complete Idiots Guide to Plant- Based Nutrition. I was so so thrilled I have some good stuff to read and inspire me! So far I skimmed through both Thrive and Forks Over Knives, believe it or not I am leaning towards Forks Over Knives as being the better book thus far. It seems to have easier recipes with less oil and also easier to find ingredients. As I skimmed through Thrive, I wasn't as excited as I thought I would be, also saw a lot of ingredients I do not commonly use so it will be interesting to go through again and see what I think when trying some of these! I will keep you posted ;)
I would like to hear if you have read these books and what you think! What Other vegan books have you read, and what is your favorite??
Finally now that all the wedding planning is over as well as the holidays and lots of travel I decided that even though it is late in the season to start up the garden again! I am no big gardener but I really want to teach my self how! Being vegan/vegetarian it is just logical that if you can grow some of your own food to do so! Prices for veggies are getting expensive and as for the large volume that my family and I try to eat, it would really help us out! Also knowing exactly how our food is grown is a huge plus! We are doing it as organic as we can, and the fruit of our labor is rewarding!
Take a look at the seeds I started and what I planted!
Live Well, Be Well & Shine Bright
Always
BB
<3
Just Pruned the basil plant so its a little small and sad looking! haha
Spinach and Lettuce
Beef boy tomatoes as well as cherry tomatoes!
It is hard to see but I planted sunflowers all along the fence here. I took this more for a "before" picture for reference. You can sort of see the markers where I planted 7-8 sunflowers. Cant wait till they sprout up!!
For lunch I finally got to eat the cauliflower that I made for the big game for lunch! I wish there was more but I gave most of it to my husband because I love him! I also ate some salad for lunch.
Hubby was gone for dinner so I made a great little stir-fy with quinoa.
I did indulge in some So Delicious Coconut Milk Ice Cream with no sugar added left over from my birthday! Topped it with some hemp seeds and almond silvers so I didn't feel as bad!
SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!
Super bowl Sunday is a day with parties full of gross gross stuff! Lots of dairy dips, chicken wings, burgers and all this stuff that really isn't good for your body! I was worried going to super bowl party with literally NOTHING TO EAT! I made some cauliflower with buffalo sauce and some vegan blue cheese and also some vegan queso made with fresh veggies and Dayia cheese! The Queso dip was loved by everyone! All my non vegetarian and vegan friends! I was so proud and the dip was gone before I could even take a picture!! =]
We started off with a very hearty breakfast, not the best for you with soy and oil, but it was what my husband and I felt in the mood for!
Tofu Scramble and Potatos!
My very good friend, Kiki, came over for the day and we had a nice girls day (and night)! Shopping at the mall, 2-4-1 cocktails, shopping trip to whole foods, movies and vegan dinner!! Oh, and I for got the movies.. The movies we never finished or payed attention to! Not only is this girl amazing, fun and beautiful she is a vegetarian too if you didn't catch that in past posts ;)
For a pre-dinner snack we make some home made roasted red pepper humus! We love Sabas version, so I figured this was the perfect opportunity to show her how to make humus!!
For dinner I made the New Caesar Salad from the book Thrive Foods by Brendan Brazier, which I am waiting for in the mail! I found the recipe on Eco Vegan Gals youtube channel and didn't follow it to a tee since it was after a drink or two! It still cam came out fantastic! My husband was so happy the next day to eat left overs! Make a big batch and keep it in the fridge!! The recipe was so amazing I only hope the rest of the book will be this killer!! =]
What you will need:
*LESS IS MORE with the brown rice! The more rice you use, the less fillings you can put in. Also, waiting to use rice until it is cooled down, but still slightly warm seemed to help than when I waited till the rice was room temp.
For our 30th day being vegan we made a recipe from Forks Over Knives The Cook Book, called the Mexican-Style Beans and Rice Casserole. I spiced it up a little and even put in some extra veggies like broccoli and carrots for extra goodness! It was so good! I will not lie, I seasoned it up on my own and gave it an extra kick! I also topped it with some chopped tomatoes and olives to give it a good tang! It tasted so cheese and so creamy! Despite the "4 servings" it claimed, I would say more like 6 with out any sides on the menu! 
Just Pruned the basil plant so its a little small and sad looking! haha
