Betty and Francs Vegan Love: A diary of sweethearts gone vegan for 60 days

~ MMMMMM Meatless Meatball Hoagies :-) - and Creamy Cole Slaw

The other day Franc and I came home from work exhausted and starving. We had some fresh buns from our favorite local bakery (Vibo's) and I remembered we had a bag of meatless meatballs from Trader Joe's in the freezer. We made dinner in less than thirty minutes and it turned out Fab! We had not tried these meatless meatballs before and they turned out super quick and convenient. I made a reallly basic sauce onions, mushrooms, garlic, italian seasonings, and a can of red pack brand plain tomato sauce with a splash of Francs home made wine :-) Let that simmer about ten minutes and added the frozen balls directly to the pot. They took about ten minutes to heat all the way through. Spoon the meatballs and sauce onto the buns and top with white Daiya brand cheese. While I was doing this Franc was making a nice colorful coleslaw recipe.

Meatless Meatballs

xoxo,
Betty

Here's my quick and easy Creamy Vegan Cole Slaw Recipe:
Use one bag of pre-shred coleslaw mix.I also added about half a cup of diced diakon
Add 2 cups of Red Cabbage chopped and about 1/2 of one onion chopped up fine.
Whisk up 3/4 cup of Veganaise, 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Pour over slaw mix. You can add a little salt and pepper to taste, if you like. If you like your dressing more creamy add a little more Veganaise, a little more runny and sour add a little more vinegar. This recipe make a big bowl of slaw so you can put some away for later in the week. Of course you can shred your own cabbage and carrots if you like - this is just the quick version.

Franc & his slaw

Yummo - Franc

~ Betty and Franc meet the author of The Happy Herbivore Cookbook!

Lindsay Nixon, the Author of The Happy Herbivore did a book signing in Pittsburgh this past weekend. Franc, myself, and the small fries, were able to get our copy signed and say hello! Yeah we were SO excited! Here is our pic:

Betty&Franc and family with Lindsay Nixon

~ Betty's B T A ( Bacon kinda, Tomato, Avocado)

So I had a really nice looking tomato and it made me hungry for a BLT. Instead, I made a BTA, hey why not? We have a fabulous local bakery so I picked up some buns, fresh tomato, Avocado, Veganaise and some non bacon bits and Voila' the perfect lunch for Franc and I.

Betty's BTA

                                                                     Now that is a good lunch ,
       PS                                                               Betty
      We just bought a box of
Toffutti Cuties. They are mini
non-dairy ice cream sandwiches
if you havent tried them you MUST! OMG :-)

Caramelized Onion, Walnut and Pear Salad. Franc

I made Betty a tasty salad for lunch today and it turned out great. I actually learned this recipe from my cousin who is the executive chef at Grouse Mountain Lodge - which happens to be a great resort and a fabulous restaurant in Whitefish, MT.I made just a couple of small modifications to be sure it was Vegan. Enjoy!

Francs - Caramelized Onion and Pear Salad with Walnuts. (Makes 2 large dinner salads)

Slice up 1 cup of Red onion and saute in a pan with about 2 table spoons of Veggie oil. Your going for long skinny pieces of onion, not diced bits.You want the onions to cook over medium heat until the sugars come out and they begin to caramelize and get soft and sweet. It will take a good 10 min till they get to the right point. Stir often and be sure they don't burn. You want a nice golden brown color on them but not a burnt, black color.

Next dice up one ripe pear and add to the cooked onions. You want these to soften up just a bit and start to release some of their juice. You still want the pears to have a little firmness to them, so don't cook them so long they turn to mush. This step should take just a couple of minutes. If your pears are not very ripe (like mine were today) you can sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar over them as they cook.

Once you have your onions and pears ready. Plate up a large dinner plate with some spring mix. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of walnuts over each salad. Next put half of the pear and onion mixture over each salad. I dress the salads with Balsamic vinegar (a heavy drizzle to taste) and just a little extra virgin olive oil (about 2-3 teaspoons per salad).

Francs carmelized Onion and Pear salad

You'll really love the different textures in this salad. The crunch and richness of the walnuts, the softness of the onions, the sweetness of the caramelized onion and the pears plus the sourness of the balsamic vinegar. Enjoy with a little crusty Italian bread, if you've got it!

-Franc

Here's an easy alternative to Pancakes and it's Vegan! - Franc

As a certified big "American Breakfast" lover, one of the things I had to adjust to when going vegan was no more bacon, eggs, and fatty pancakes. While my waistline thanks me, it took a little while for my tastebuds to adjust to more lighter fare. So here's one small alternative to Pancakes that I've actually been eating since I was a kid... Corn Meal Mush Cakes. My dad and uncle made these ever so often in my Italian American home. Oh memories.... Here's what you do -

Corn Meal "Pancakes" - Vegan Baby!

Buy one package of Corn Meal Mush. Mush is very similar in taste to Polenta. You usually find mush in the dairy section near the eggs. It comes in a tube shaped package. Slice up the mush into 1/8 inch thick rounds. You want all the slices to be as uniform as possible so that they cook evenly. In a large fry pan melt about 2-3 table spoons of Vegan Butter (we like the Earth Balance brand), then add the mush rounds in a single layer. Flip as needed. Simply cook till the mush is soft and cooks through. I personally like it when the edges get just a little tiny bit crispy. Serve on a plate with a little extra vegan butter and natural maple syrup. They are yummy and a nice alternative to pancakes. Yes, I fatten them up a bit with the butter, but you can use less if you like ;-) I also like to serve this dish with a little fried potatoes on the side. Makes a great meal on the weekend when you have the time to do a big breakfast for the family.

- Franc

~Betty and Franc at Primantis

Vegan style Primantis sandwich

We're from Pittsburgh. If you've ever lived or visited here then you know about Primantis Bros. If you don't you must go! Primantis is a place unique to the area that makes HUGE sandwiches on Italian bread with meat, cheese,vinegar based Cole slaw, and french fries piled onto this enormous sandwich. They also have awesome pizza with fresh hand tossed dough and many other delicious offerings. We love to go there and have a few beers and a feast. I think were getting to the point after about 5-6 weeks of eating plant based that we are able to feel confident eating at the places we normally ate prior to our switch and knowing we can tweak the menu. We ordered a pizza with extra sauce, mushrooms, onions, and banana peppers (hold the cheese) we also had a sandwich with tomato, fries and coleslaw. Everything was great and we've been eating here forever and never missed a thing. If we can eat at Primantis than we can pull this off any where...

Betty at
Primantis

Chowing down in the Burgh'

Betty & Franc

~Betty cooks some Harmony.

Once again I have cooked more recipes from The Happy Herbivore cookbook. As you can tell I have found this cookbook to be very easy to use and exceptionally useful. I keep making more recipes and loving them all. I made the 5-Spice Harmony Bowl

5-Spice Harmony Bowl

Do you ever get the feeling after an evening out with friends when you have eaten way too much food and you really need something to just balance you out? Well its not called the Harmony bowl for nothing. This was a very simple and healthy dish that made my girls come running into the kitchen to see what smelled so good. The sweet potato in the 5-spice atop turnip greens and rice was light and filling and simply delicious. What a beautiful lunch. I Had enough left to save for the next day.

As you all know from our blog posts Franc and I like veggie burgers ALOT! We eat them all the time because they're quick and easy after working all day. We top them with everything we can think of, most recently we discovered daiya cheese which melts fantastic on our veggie burger with some onion, mushrooms, veganaise and as a side dish we made Baked Onion Rings!

Baked Onion Rings

These were quick to make and are virtually fat free since they are baked and not fried. I think their my new favorite companion for my veggie burgers....

                                                                     Peace and Harmony,
                                                                               Betty

Franc does Italian food

Hi All -

I decided to make some yummy Italian food for Betty and I tonight. I love to cook it up when I have the time and this meal was really tasty. Plus I was able to make it with some items I needed to use up in my fridge. Try it out!

Cherry Tomato and Garlic Sauce over Fettuccine:

Boil some water and add a heavy pinch of Sea Salt. Add 1/2 pound of fettuccini or your favorite pasta and cook till it's aldente. Drain and keep back about a 1/2 cup of the pasta water to add to the sauce at the end.

Here's the sauce: Add about a cup of whole cherry tomatoes, 1-2 table spoons of minced fresh garlic, 4 table spoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 2 teaspoons of Italian Seasoning, and 1/2 cup of green scallions finely chopped to a large frying pan and simmer till the garlic and scallions start to soften. Take a fork and smash each cherry tomato. Be careful because the tomatoes will want to squirt everywhere! The juice from the tomatoes will add to the mixture and start to form a light sauce with the oil. Once you have a basic sauce, toss in the cooked pasta with the extra pasta water and mix well. At this point you can add some garlic salt to taste, if you like. Plate up and serve. I also like to drizzle a little extra EVOO on top just to make it extra rich.

Here's a great and simple Vegan Bruchetta that goes well with this dish...

Take 4 slices of some fresh Italian bread, place on a baking sheet and drizzle liberally with olive oil. Bake at 375 for about 5-10 minutes until golden and very crispy. When the bread is toasted take 1-2 cloves of garlic and rub it into one side of the bread - this will give it a really fresh garlicy taste. For the topping I took 1/2 cup of diced tomatoes, 1/4 cup of mild onion or scallions, 2 cloves of fresh garlic minced, a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and about a teaspoon of Italian seasoning and combined well. Top the toasted bread with this fresh tomato mixture and enjoy some awesome, home made Bruchetta. You'll love it!

Both of these dishes only took about a 1/2 hour to prep and cook, making this a pretty quick dish to prepare from start to finish.

Bon Appetito!
Franc

~Oprah goes Vegan

Oprah and her staff went vegan for 7 days and I thought it was a great way to get viewers thinking about what ingredients you and your family are consuming. It also brought to light some things regarding the meat industry that perhaps everyone isn't aware of, in all I think any opportunity to getting people to think about the correlation between their health and their diet is a positive one. Here's a link to the Oprah site that I think is kind of cool. I particularly like the shopping list that's easy to print out and could get you to just look for some of these items in the store the next time you are there.

http://www.oprah.com/packages/vegan-starter-kit.html

All the cool kids are going Vegan,
Betty
P.S
I ordered the book Veganist by Kathy Freston that
they discussed on the show. I cannot wait until it
gets here :-)

Here's my (Franc's) quick thoughts on Oprah's vegan experiment..... As Betty mentioned, I thought it was great that Oprah at a minimum got people to think a little about where their food comes from and the health benefits of a Vegan or Plant-based diet. I think that asking her staff to try Veganism for 1 week was honorable, but I think that more time is needed to really understand this lifestyle. Heck, I still feel I have a lot to learn and I've been doing this for 5 weeks! I assume if she asked her staff to try it for a longer period she would not have had the turn out she did. I really liked the idea that even small changes could make an impact on your health. The idea of going "Veganish"is a nice concept for those not willing to make the full switch to the Veg, I think that if people can incorporate some vegan choices into their diets, that perhaps we could see a decrease in Diabetes, Heart Disease and our countries weight problems. Thanks to Oprah for at least getting people to think about what goes into their bodies and for showing the vegan lifestyle in a positive healthy light.

Francs No-Brainer 5 min peach cobbler

HI Everyone. I want to share my super fast and oh-so delicious Vegan Peach Cobbler recipe. One thing that I found being vegan, is that when it comes to sweets and deserts it's usually easier to make your own than to try and find something at the store. This recipe will only take you about 5min prep time and about 30-35min to bake. Anyone can do it and you will love the results!

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons vegan butter
1 1/2 cup Bisquick mix (i used the "light" version, but you can use the regular if you like)
2/3 cups soy milk (again, I used the vanilla variety since that's what I had on hand, but I assume you can use non-flavored soy too)
7 table spoons sugar
2 - 8oz cans of sliced peaches in their juice

Take a 9x9 baking dish and melt the 3 tablespoons of butter in the bottom if the dish. Next mix the Bisquick, soy milk and 6 tablespoons of sugar together, then pour the mixture into the baking dish on top of the butter. Now add the two cans of peaches with the juice to the top of the dish. Make sure you spread out the peaches to that they are covering the pan evenly. You do not need to mix anything together in the baking dish, just layer it as described. Preheat your oven to 375 and bake for 30-35min until the top gets golden brown. FYI - It will smell great while you are baking! While the dish is baking the peaches will settle to the bottom and the batter will rise to to the top to create a nice crust for the cobbler. As soon as you pull out the cobbler, and while it's still hot, sprinkle the last tablespoon of sugar on top of the crust. This will create a little extra sweetness and provide a little sugary crunchy texture to the dish. Serve while warm and with a little soy non-dairy vanilla ice cream. You'll really love this and it's one of the fastest home made deserts you can make. Enjoy!

- Franc

~Betty makes BBQ!

Hello everyone I decided to experiment with tempeh last night and it turned out really well. First, off we had never eaten tempeh in any dish but wanted to give it a try. I read many recipes and finally settled on BBQ tempeh sandwiches. I combined several recipes and came up with my own version. Here is how it turned out:

Betty's BBQ Tempeh

Here is how I made it:

Take one 8 Oz package of tempeh (I used Trader Joe's brand)

Crumble it up a bit and add a cup of your favorite BBQ sauce

Let that sit

Saute half an onion and one green pepper until they are soft and reduced

Add tempeh BBQ sauce mixture

Heat and serve

I used Fresh Italian Bread

I was surprised when I just happened to glance at the ingredients of the frozen French fries that we had in our freezer. It said they may contain small amounts of eggs and milk? Why would they add eggs and milk to steak fries? Ridiculous, so I made us some baked fries with season salt which was quick and easy anyway.

Make sure your hungry if you make this it is SUPER filling!

xoxo,

Betty

~Bettys veggie over biscuits

Hello everyone,
Here's a recipe I made recently that Franc and the girls just loved! It is a spin on my moms chicken over biscuits recipe *disclaimer-This recipe is in no way considered low fat . I made it exactly the way my mom makes her chicken over biscuits but used soy milk, butter and veggie base and vegetables.

Take 2 tablespoons of earth balance and melt in a pan add 2 tbsp of whole wheat flour and cook for a few minutes (this makes your Roux)

Next add 2 1/2 cups give or take of soy milk original flavor

Stir constantly as it comes to a boil. Add a tablespoon of veggie broth base to taste(I ended up adding 2 total)

Continue to stir until it thickens, this will take awhile about 10 minute or so and you will think its never going to thicken but it will. If you would like to expedite the process you can add 2 teaspoons of cornstarch

Add a frozen bag of green beans, corn, and carrots after its thickened up and bring back to a boil

For my biscuits:

I used 3 cups of biscuick (i used the low fat version)
1 cup of soy milk
Mix this together and drop large spoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 450 for 5-7 minutes
You can also sprinkle a little garlic powder or salt on them before you bake them if you like
And voile Vegan veggie over biscuits!

Bettys vegan veggie over bicuits

         This  makes great snowy day comfort food and I hope you like it as much as we did!

                                                               xoxo,
                                                             Betty

~30 Days~

Well we have made our original goal of 30 days. We are feeling more aware of the ingredients of the things that we eat. I am very happy with the physical changes (losing a few pounds) and the general feeling of well being and happiness that we are experiencing by going plant based for thirty days. We have unanimously decided to go another 30 so I'm changing the blog from 30 to 60 days. This is going so well that we are really hoping to make this a life long change but after one month it may be too soon to tell. We will continue to keep you updated on all of the fabulous things we are eating.....

Rockin out another 30,
Betty and Franc

Franc on the road and eatin' vegan

Hi Everyone. This past weekend I had to travel to NYC for business, so I had to prepare a little ahead to be sure I could find stuff to eat. Before I left I Googled vegan restaurants and of course there are a bunch in New York. I decided to try The Organic Grill because it was near McSorley's Ale House in East Village, and I love to stop at McSorleys for some "lights and darks". If you've never been to McSorley's, you have to check it out. It's the oldest bar in New York, still has saw dust on the floor and they only serve two types of beers, light or dark. The atmosphere is friendly and the decor is classic to say the least. Go see it, you'll have a blast.
After a few rounds at the Ale house we stumbled two blocks away to The Organic Grill on First Ave. It's a cozy little spot and the food was goooood. Three of us tried the vegan perogies. They were stuffed with a creamy cheese like sauce and had spinach in them as well. They were more like a ravioli than a real perogi, but over all they were good and they filled you up. We also got a side of mashed sweet potatoes and they were sweet and creamy and just fabulous. My non-vegan friend that was with us was able to get a nice Tilapia dish, so all were happy. The check for four people and 1 round of drinks only came to $100, which I felt was pretty good for dinner in NYC. The breakfast menu looks great too, so I'll have to check that out the next time I'm there.
Over all traveling and eating in the city was pretty easy. Even at the airport I was able to find some nice salads and side dishes to get me through. The one night I went across the street from my hotel and ate a large vegan burrito at Chipolte. It was really filling, fresh and only cost me like $10. The longer I am vegan the more I realize that it's really not as hard as I expected it to be. Even when traveling, which was one of my biggest concerns early on, I'm able to find good choices with just a little planning and creativity. Plus I think it's fun to force yourself to try new places and go a little out of your comfort zone to experience new things.

~Day 29 Mac and cheese

Well I cannot seem to put my Happy Herbivore cookbook down. I just keeping making more and more delicious low fat things in there. Today I made baked mac n cheese:

Happy Herbivore Baked Mac n Cheese

This recipe was really quick to make and the tofu makes it very thick and rich. This is my first experience making "cheese" sauce using nutritional yeast and it turned out exceptionally well. I was pleasantly surprised how cheesy it was I cannot wait to make some Queso for Superbowl Sunday!

We just recently purchased some nutritional yeast so that I could make some of these cheesy recipes, it is so delicious. Franc really loved it on his popcorn , a double bonus is that its very nutritious. Hes even started adding it to some of his home made bread recipes!
xoxo,
Betty

~Day 28 Bettys Birthday soiree :-)

Hello everyone its day 28 and it just happens to be my Birthday! In honor of this special day I celebrated with friends and family and went to one of my favorite restaurants Ichiban!! This is a Japanese Hibachi /Sushi restaurant that has a large menu and I was able to order a ton! I did mention to the waitress my dietary restrictions and she was a super helpful. I started with some Miso soup and then had a seaweed salad

Seaweed Salad

For my main course I choose a sweet potato roll (it was Amazing) with no eel sauce, an asparagus roll, and a green roll (avocado and asparagus) Being a lover of sushi I really enjoyed these veggie versions equally as well as I enjoy conventional sushi.

Veggie Sushi

I also ordered a side dish of teriyaki veggies because I just couldn't resist! Needless to say my eyes were much larger than my stomach and I ended up taking home a Huge doggie bag.

Teriyaki Veggies

I had a wonderful Birthday Dinner and a fabulous time with everyone but I missed my sweetie Franc who was out of town on business :-( Not to worry though hes taking me to a new all Vegan restaurant to celebrate when he gets back so the celebration continues!
Blowing out my candles,
Betty

27th Day Betty and Franc

We found some quick easy, ready to eat Indian food we wanted to share with everyone. We tried Kitchens of India - Red Beans with Curry for a quick ready made dinner option tonight. These meals are all fully prepared and all you need to do is heat and eat. Best of all they are Vegan and seem to be all natural without a bunch of preservatives! The curry sauce is just perfect, not too spicy. At first the package doesn't seem like a lot of food, but the beans are really filling and the package is perfect for two people. We paired it with some fresh made jasmine rice, steamed cauliflower and a little flat bread. It was an awesome meal and it only took about 4 minutes to cook! We highly recommend the Kitchen's of India products for quick, easy and tasty meals.

- Franc and Betty

Betty and Franc - Day 26 Red Robin YUM :-)

We have a quick review of our lunch we had at at Red Robin. We've been to Red Robin in the past and enjoyed their gourmet burgers and fries, but this was our first trip there as Vegans. We knew they had Bocca and Veggie burgers, but we're not sure about some of the sauces. We asked the server for help and she returned with the kitchen manager who had a whole list of the menu items which contained egg and or milk products.We found this super helpful and made our decision much easier. I (Franc) had the Bocca burger with onion, Whiskey River BBQ sauce, lettuce and tomato. Betty had the Veggie burger combo with yellow mustard instead of the honey mustard. Both burgers came with unlimited steak fries and were very large and filling. I was most impressed that the staff at Red Robin took the extra time to find us the information that ensured we were eating a Vegan meal. Most places wouldn't make the extra effort, so we really appreciated their efforts.

Our Tasty Bocca Burgers at Red Robin

After returning home, I checked out the Red Robin website and found a couple of cool tools that were really helpful. First, they had the list of foods which contained milk and egg in their allergen list on their site. They also have an awesome tool which allows you to custom build your burger! The tool will even calculate the fat and calories with your custom selections, plus you can print out your creation and take it to the store for them to make for you. Enjoy!

Burger munchin' Betty

~Day 25 Betty and Franc Mexican Cabbage

We made two more recipes from the Happy Herbivore cookbook! The first was the one pot Mexican Cabbage it was cabbage onions, garlic, corn, black beans, in a tomato sauce and it was delicious! I'm not really a cabbage person but in this dish its perfect. Franc came up with the idea of putting it in a corn tortilla and it made the perfect burrito!

Happy Herbivore Mexican Cabbage on a corm tortilla

This is one of those recipe that's a go to. I will definitely be making it again and another bonus is it takes about 15 minutes from start to finish. The second recipe we made was the cheater Pad Thai

Happy Herbivore Pad Thai

This recipe was super quick and easy and Franc LOVED it but it was a little spicy for me next time I'm going to reduce the hot sauce and let Franc add as much as he wants to his. I am anxious to make this again and add a bunch of veggies. Again another great go to recipe!

Eating some wonderful dishes,
Betty & Franc

~ Betty Chili Sans Carne and Cornbread

~Day 24 Betty

Several months before I made the vegetarian to Vegan shift I began doing research about cooking and recipes and general information that I thought I would need before actually making the switch, I wanted to be over prepared. I found many great vegan websites and blogs. One great resource that I’ve found has been Happyherbivore.com this is a website/blog that has lots of information and recipes that are really easy and delicious. They are low fat vegan cooking with mostly ingredients you already have. I recently received the new Happy Herbivore cookbook and I love it! I love a cookbook that you can open up and start cooking things that night without even having to make a trip to the grocery store! I quickly went through mine and then immediately headed for the kitchen and whipped up some Chili sans Carne! It’s a quick and super easy chili recipe that was so good even my small fries liked it J To go with our chili I also made homemade cornbread and it turned out amazing! Not only are these recipes tasty but and they are low fat! Thank you Happy Herbivore I can’t wait to taste some more!

Chili sans Carne and Cornbread

GO STEELERS,
Betty

Franc - Day 24 Chocolate covered Newman O's

Heres' a couple of quick and easy recipes I hope you will enjoy. The first is a tofu salad sandwich that tastes a lot like egg salad. The second is a tasty, chocolaty treat that everyone will love.

I've been quite sick the past few days and with Betty's help I'm finally feeling up to getting back to cooking!

Here's the quick Egg (actually tofu) Salad Sandwich
Take 1 container of tofu, pressed and crumbled . To press basically put the tofu on a plate, put some paper towels over it and then put another plate on top with some extra weight. We used a full tea pot on top for about 20 minutes. This will press the water out of the tofu. You want it fairly dry.
Add 2 table spoons of Veganaise, salt and pepper, one teaspoon Italian seasoning, about a quarter cup of finely chopped onion and a quarter of a cup of finely chopped celery. Mix all this together and put on lightly toasted bread. That's it! I think you'll be surprised at how much this tastes like egg salad. Betty was a bit freaked out by it since it was so close to eggs ; -)

Here's my chocolate covered Newman O's.

Chocolate covered newman O's

In a sauce pan, take about a half cup of semi-sweet vegan chocolate chips and melt over low heat. Stir constantly so the chocolate does not burn. Once your chocolate is melted add some soy or almond milk until you get the chocolate to the right taste for you. If you like your chocolate dark and rich, use less milk, if you want it more like milk chocolate use a little more. Once you have the chocolate all melted and combined with your non dairy milk simply dunk your Newman O's cookies into the chocolate (get it all covered really well) and lay flat on some wax paper to set up. Once these cool the chocolate will get hard and you'll have yourself a really delectable snack. Enjoy!
Franc

~Day 23 Feel Better Franc Soup!

Poor Franc cannot seem to shake his cold :-( To help him feel better I made a big pot of Feel better Franc soup :-)

In large pot saute
onions,
garlic,
ginger,
celery I use stalks and the leaves
carrots
I also added daikon today for extra healing powers
I used about one and a half 32 oz vegetable broth and some water
add a tablespoon of Italian seasoning and salt and pepper taste
I broke fettuccine into bite sized pieces and cooked them in the broth

My fingers are crossed that this is going to do the trick on his nasty cold.

Get Well soon Franc,
Betty

~Day 22 Betty Stir fry

Hi Everyone!
Tonight I was going to a surprise Birthday party and was asked to bring a Vegan dish! I was excited and well aware there would be some cynical carnivores in attendance so I wanted to bring something everyone would like. I choose to make a basic stir fry thinking it would compliment the menu as a nice side dish and would work well as my main dish. Franc and I always make stir-fry when we have lots of good veggies sitting around so here's our basic stir fry recipe:

I use any and all veggies I have in the fridge tonight it was
Half a purple onion
some cauliflower
Broccoli
green pepper
A handful of mushrooms
carrots
zucchini
purple cabbage
bean sprouts

I sauteed garlic and fresh ginger then added all the veggies except the sprouts I added them last I then mixed about 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, some sugar in the raw and about a tablespoon of vegan Worcestershire and poured this over the veggies I sauteed for a bit longer and that's it, not only is this dish simple but its gorgeous! I also made a very simple garlic and herb couscous out if a box and took that as well. Everyone enjoyed the stir-fry and the couscous and I had plenty to eat and snack on. I also took a plate of my brownies and most people couldn't tell the difference. All in all it was a success and I do think I'm adjusting to tweaking my diet in social situations, I really didn't care that I couldn't have any cake.

Happy Birthday Mikey!!
Betty

~Day 20 Betty OMG Brownies!!

~Day 20 Betty

Its day twenty and I’ve been dreaming of the chocolate bunt cake we had at the Zenith, so I decided to do a little research on Vegan baking and vegan chocolate. It’s really quite simple and much better to make your bake goods from scratch anyway. I choose to make brownies as my first baking experiment J I found out that Ghirardelli’s makes some baking chips that are dairy free so I went to my local supermarket in search of them. I found a variety of Ghirardelli’s chips but only the semi-sweet baking chips contained no milk ingredients. I made two different batches of brownies and I found both recipes online. The first was OK but the second FABULOUS!!!

Ingredients

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Pour in water, vegetable oil and vanilla; mix until well blended. Spread evenly in a 9x13 inch baking pan.

3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until the top is no longer shiny. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting into squares.

I followed this recipe but once all of the ingredients were mixed I added about a half of a bag of the Ghirardelli chocolate chips to the brownie batter this really makes them extra chocolaty and that’s how we LOVE them!

In Chocolate Heaven,

Betty

~Day 19 Betty Feeling Saucy

Today I couldn't figure out what to make. I was going to make soup (poor Franc still has a cold) but upon further inspection of my refrigerator, I changed my mind. I had a bunch of spinach that looked like it was nearing the end of its life and some mushrooms and so i whipped up this pasta dish that turned out really well. Here's how I made it:

Saute one half large onion one (or more) Tablespoons of chopped garlic
about a cup of sliced mushrooms
one Tofurky Italian style veggie sausage chopped into small pieces (for the carnivore in Franc)
About two cups (or more) of fresh spinach until it gets nice and wilted
Add about a can and a half of red pack tomato sauce
one can of diced tomatoes with the juice
one half can tomato paste
Table spoon of italian seasoning and a splash of red wine if available (if not a pinch of sugar)
Cook 1lb of penne pasta and add the pasta directly to the sauce. MMMMMMMM !
This is a very hearty dish. I added a little of the pasta water to thin the sauce a bit maybe about 1/4 of a cup
Its extremely filling and even non-vegetarians will enjoy this. Serve with Crusty bread and a salad.

Bettys Spinach & Mushroom sauce

It's Italian night at Betty and Francs House,
Betty

~ Day 18 Betty

Something I wanted to share. Today I had a business luncheon, Ive had this same meeting every month and they typically serve the same buffet. I was concerned because besides salad I was thinking Iwould be unable to eat much. I ask the waitress prior to the luncheon if the cloudy looking Italian contained dairy? She came back with a raspberry vinaigrette in her hand and told me that the Italian did have dairy but the raspberry dressing did not. She also said she was having the kitchen steam me some veggies with no butter.... I ended up having a wonderful lunch of fruit, salad, and steamed veggies and it was simple. I was so pleased it worked out so simple and easy and all I had to do was ask one question. I shouldn't worry this isn't that hard :-)

Easy Peasy,
Betty

Franc - Day 18

Well, I've been tinkering with my vegan meatless meatball recipe and I think I'm pretty happy with the results. We made the meatballs for dinner and finished the dish off with my mushroom gravy and mashed potatoes. I've got a bunch of left over meatballs so I think I will save them and toss them in with some spaghetti marinara this week. I imagine these could also be shaped into patty shapes if you want homemade vegan burgers. Here's the simple recipe:

Vegan Meatballs
1 cup finely chopped portabella mushrooms
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 of a package of Gimme Lean vegan sausage about 8oz
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 can black beans
1.5 cups unflavored bread crumbs (I made my own)
5 tablespoons corn meal
1 tablespoon Italian seasonings
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon back pepper
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons vegetable oil

First take the chopped mushrooms, onion and garlic and saute in extra virgin olive oil until soft. In a bowl take the black beans and smash into a paste. I found that using a small flat bottomed glass smashes them pretty well. Add the sauteed items, sausage, quinoa, bread crumbs, cornmeal, Italian seasonings, garlic salt and pepper in the bowl and mix well. Form small meatball shapes, about a tablespoon worth is about perfect. Add the vegetable oil to a deep fry pan and fry the meatballs until golden brown. I found that when they get a little crispy edge they taste great are are done. Enjoy!

~Franc

Day 17 Betty and Franc - Headed home from our travels

We are getting ready to leave the ski resort today and first we wanted to grab some breakfast....

Oatmeal, fruit cup, hash browns, bagel

Since we starved ourselves yesterday we ordered every ala carte item we could find!

Traveling home we stopped at one of our favorite places to eat. North Country Brewing in Slippery Rock, PA. This is a brew pub with fantastic craft beers and awesome food. Yes, their beer is Vegan ;-) We ordered their hummus plate (which changes weekly) and it was a spicy jalapeno dill hummus which was really interesting. The plate also had apple slices, pita bread and olives to round it off. We then ordered a falafel pita which came with their killer sweet potato chips. Next we had an order of deep fried pub pretzels with a tangy mustard and horseradish sauce. The pretzels and sweet potato chips are so good I don't think we've ever had a meal without ordering them! If your into craft beers, this place has some great ones. I had a nut brown ale and Betty had a beer with a honey flavor (I think it was called Rock Dew) - both were fabulous. Get a growler to go so you can enjoy the brew at home. Please go check out this place if you are anywhere near Slippery Rock, Pa it's really awesome and worth the drive.

Hummus of the day Jalapeno and dill :-)

We ordered so much that we ended up bringing the falafel and a bunch of the hummus home. Yummo.

Falafel and homemade sweet potato chips

                                                           Can't wait to go back and refill our growler,
                                                                          Betty & Franc

~Betty and Franc Day 16 and still on the road

We are on the road and headed to upstate New York for a romantic night away at Peek n Peak Ski resort. Franc checked ahead and found that their restaurant, Royal Court, had one vegan choice plus a few salads and side dishes that would be appropriate for us. We did struggle a little on the drive up, it took a little longer than we expected and therefore we were forced to eat at Burger King. We carefully inspected a food allergy chart in the place and the only non-dairy choices we found were fries and onion rings. Not the healthiest choices but the only options we had at the time. we were famished by dinner and feeling quite terrible.Thankfully, the meal was really nice and worth the wait.

Cappellini with mushrooms, spinach, sun dried tomato, and Pine nuts

At Royal Court dining room we had a lovely meal. We started off with a beautiful mixed greens salad with raspberry vinaigrette. Our main course was Cappellini pasta with mushrooms, pine nuts, spinach and sun dried tomatoes. The pasta was light and not to oily. The sun dried tomatos may have been made at the restaurant because they seemed too fresh to be out of a jar. We also had a nice bottle of Mark West Pinot Noir from California. If you like Pinots, you'll really like this selection for the money. We also ordered a nice side of steamed asparagus with a squeeze of lemon, that was a nice complement to our meal. We were also seated next to a large wood burning fireplace which added to the romantic feel.

While traveling is something that we enjoy very much, we've found that being vegan on the road is a bit challenging. I think that bringing many of our own snacks will certainly help in the future and we will definitely have to plan out where we will be eating dinner before we arrive. This takes a little of the spontaneity out of traveling, but I guess that's the trade off for a healthier lifestyle.We are still learning and this is our first experience traveling with our new diet.

Snowed in,
Betty & Franc

~Betty and Franc Day 15 - Traveling

Today is Saturday and we are traveling for the weekend. We planned to visit my sister and attend a Steelers party she was hosting. We knew that the majority of the food she would be preparing we would not be able to eat, and we did not want to force her to become vegan chef just for us. Therefore, we planned ahead and brought some of our own dishes. We didn't have a lot of time so we also bought some items just so we had enough to eat. Here's the party fare we brought to the party:

Taco Dip
Many thanks to Francs sister who gave us this awesome recipe !
We've made this many times and it was easy to convert to a non-dairy version
These amounts make a 9x9 size dip you will layer:
1/2 can refried beans (make sure you choose vegetarian beans)
1/2 cup non dairy sour cream
1/2 cup non dairy cream cheese
I mix the cream cheese ans sour cream together well and layer it on top of the refried beans
A layer of guacamole (we really liked Trader Joes brand guac)
A layer of Salsa
To top it off we put pineapple tidbits (sounds weird but its FABULOUS!)

This dip is so good we couldnt help dive in before we took a picture!

5 Bean Salad - from Giant Eagle Salad bar (vinegar dressing)

Veggie subs from subway with Italian dressing (yes their Italian dressing is dairy free - I checked!)

Vegan Beer ;-)

GO STEELERS!!!
Betty & Franc

Franc - Day 14 Bread Video

Ok, I have another quick and easy bread recipe for you. This is the no kneed ciabata bread recipe I found on line and it is fast and tasty. Basically all you need to do for this homemade bread recipe is stir the contents, let sit over night and then bake. I've never done bread this easily before and it turn out so good. If you have 5min a day you can bake fresh bread with no problem. I've embedded the youtube video that I got the recipe from. Watch it and be amazed how easy it is! At the bottom is a picture of the loaf I made from this recipe.

My no kneed bead. It's sooo easy!

One more thing I'd like to talk about today is that I'm finding that being vegan is difficult when it comes to social events. I belong to several clubs and fraternities around town, and of course there are always special events and they always have food at these functions. What I'm finding is that it kinda sucks to go to a party and not participate with your fiends in the meal. It's not that I really feel that I need to eat the food that being prepared, but it's more about not joining in and having fun with my friends. I'm sure that other vegans must experience this all the time, but being new to the lifestyle, I'm feeling like the odd man out in these circumstances. At times I almost don't want to attend some of the functions because I don't want to be the only guy at the dinner with an empty plate in front of him while everyone else is eating and having a good time. I'm not really sure what I can do in these situations, but so far it's not too fun. Just something I didn't think much about before going all veg.

Franc