Breakfast Pizza

Happy Friday!
It's going to be a great weekend, minus the bit of rain we are supposed to get by tomorrow morning.
We have a concert to go to tomorrow night..... Folsom Live, 5 stages and one of my all time favorite bands
The English Beat is playing!  I can't wait!!!

Yesterday morning while my stomach was growling I noticed in my refrigerator that I had a little bit of pizza dough left.  Light went off.  Breakfast Pizza!  I had some cashew cream chipotle sauce leftover as well.  So this is how I put it all together! It got a huge thumbs up from my husband.

Preheat oven to 450. While letting the pizza dough warm to room temperature I sauteed up some fresh spinach.  Next I cooked up some scrambled tofu (tofu, nutritional yeast, salt, garlic powder, onion powder) in a bit of oil.  Then I heated up some Soyrizo.  When the dough is ready I rolled it out and put on my pizza stone,  sprayed some olive on it and put in oven for 5 min. to partially cook.  Took it out and spread the cashew cream on it, spinach, tofu scramble and Soyrizo.  Put back into the oven for about another 5 min or until the pizza crust started to turn golden.  A couple of nice additions would be to top it off with cilantro and avocado, which I had neither on hand.
The end result did not disappoint!  It tasted as good as it smelled.

My go to pizza crust:
from Organic Style
1 C. warm water (110-115 degrees)
Pinch of sugar
1 Pkg.(1/4oz)active-dry yeastt
3 C. all purpose flour, plus more as needed
(you can substitute 1C. whole-wheat flour for 1C. all purpose flour)
2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for bowl

1. Pour water into small bowl.  Add sugar and sprinkle yeast over the top.  I like to do a quick stir to mix it all in. Let it sit in a warm spot until the mixture proofs, is bubbly and active, about 8min.
2. Combine flour and salt in mixing bowl.  Add the yeast mixture and olive oil, mix to combine scraping down he sides with a rubber spatula.  The dough should form into a ball.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead 10-12 times with your hands, until dough is no longer sticky and appears smooth and elastic.  Shape the dough into a ball.
3. Transfer dough to a large bowl coated lightly with oil.  Turn dough to coat.  Cover with a clean dish towel .  Leave in a warm place until dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.
4. Punch dough down and knead 3 or 4 times.  Divide the dough in half or if you really want a thinner crust you can divide it into 3 balls.  Roll out on a lightly floured surface and use as you wish or you can pat each disk and wrap  in plastic wrap, place in freezer bags. You can freeze it up to 3 weeks.  (I usually use it all so freezing isn't an option for me). Before using the dough from the freezer, let it sit at room temperature until it becomes springy and pliable 1-2hrs.

Chipotle Cashew Cream
from Veg News
adjusted by dreaminitvegan

1 C. raw cashews
1 C. filtered water( you can add a little more water at a time to make thinner)
*1 canned chipotle pepper with seeds taken out
1/4 C. nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp. sea salt

In a blender, puree all ingredients until smooth.

*note: canned chipotles can be very hot so add according to desired heat. You may only need half a pepper or maybe more due to the heat.
You can also make this sauce without chipotles.

Have an amazing weekend!

Organic goods from Costco and a quick gnocchi.

Good morning! 

It's definitely feeling like autumn and I'm having some mixed feelings about it.  Most of this year so far has felt like a blur maybe that's why I'm just not ready.  Change is good I tell myself.   It's interesting though, the different feel and smell in the air when the weather starts to change.  I think of being bundled up, the rain, old movies and the smell of spices. I guess that's not so bad.   

How do you feel about the changing of the seasons?

I've been shopping at Costco more due to their increase of organic foods and items. So exciting!  Below are just a few of the organic items I've bought.  They also have soups, raw sprouted seeds, breads, jams, hemp seeds, chia seeds, frozen berries, and lots more! That huge pack of Baby Kale up above cost less than $4.  Hello!!! Awesome deal and it's very tasty!  First time I've eaten baby kale.

Berries. I actually just picked up a 12oz pack of organic raspberries for $3.49!  The grocery store down the street from us is selling non organic raspberries 8 oz for $3, so this is a steal!

Bob's Red Mill 7 lb bag less than $8.

My new favorite tofu, Hodu Soy.  The company is located in Oakland, Ca.   It is very firm and has a nice slightly nutty flavor.  They have these Yuba Strips as well that are very flavorful and can be tossed on a salad or used in wraps, etc.

I usually use Ecos laundry detergent w/softener.  I was happily surprised to see this at $11.  

I also purchase almonds, walnuts, pecans and seasonings.  So you see if you just take your time you will walk out of there spending more than $100 like everyone else! hahaha!

Can't leave before I leave you with some type of home cooked meal.  This is a store bought gnocchi which I've been serving to my son in place of pasta because it's softer for him to eat while having jaw pain. One day I am going to attempt to make a homemade gnocchi.  Anyone have a good recipe?  I used an easy home made marinara and I added blended cashews for that creaminess.  After the gnocchi is cooked, I heated a pan with a drizzle of olive oil and then sauteed fresh garlic.  After about a minute I added some fresh chopped spinach until cooked and then added the gnocchi and marninara to heat through.  Throw some fresh basil in and wallah!

Have a great day!

Wake Ewa and Kale chips

Whew it's been a busy end of the school year.  One more week to go!

 Recently the parents of the school put on an African inspired luncheon for the the teachers and staff.  All of the recipes were of African origin so from the list of recipes to make I chose the slaw which was easy to veganize due to switching out the mayo for veganaise. I'm really anxious to try to veganize the meatballs they made because everyone raved about them.  The slaw was a hit as well and I will post about it later.  In the meantime here is a wonderful African dish I found online that is so freakin easy to make and tasty.

This is called Wake-Ewa(black eyed beans/peas in a sauce).  Black eyed beans are so quick to make from scratch, they only take about an hour to cook after you soak them and I do a quick soak at that which only takes 2 hours. Beans are a great way to save money, they are very easy to make and you don't get any bpa from those cans.   This sauce doesn't really consist of much, but it's amazing how it comes out with a  rich and creamy taste due to the beans. 

It's a filling and very economical meal to make.  Dave and Keaton had seconds so it makes for a good size portion.

Here's the recipe below with a couple of changes from moi!

Wake ewa

Serves 4

3C. cooked black eyed beans

1 Large sweet or yellow onion(half thinly sliced the other grated)

1 garlic clove, minced

2-3 T. olive oil

1 tsp. chilli powder

1 T. fresh cilantro or 1tsp. coriander ground

1 1/2 tsp. thyme

3 Large tomatoes, diced

dash of sugar

salt to taste ( I found you don't need much salt in this)

In a pan heat the oil then add sliced onions and saute until translucent then add the garlic for another minute.  In the meantime add the grated onion chilli powder, cilantro or coriander, thyme and tomatoes in a bowl and stir together.  When the onion garlic mixture is cooked add the tomato mixture and stir often for about 10min or so, until the tomatoes cook down and flavors begin to meld together.  Next add the black eyed peas, mash slightly and add the sugar and salt.  Stir and cook for another 5-10 min.  Serve over brown rice. 

I finally made Kale Chips with nooch and oh these things are addicting. Above is the consistency of the sauce poured over the kale.  I thought these kale chips would be another great way for Keaton to eat Kale but he said he would rather eat a kale salad.  Hey I'm fine with that, I actually prefer he eat raw kale anyways.  So I guess I get to eat all of these chips. YAY!  The recipe I found was at The Fresh Network Blog but I noticed Gina at Choosing Raw subbed the bell pepper for cherry tomatoes.  So with that being said I subbed that for a regular large tomato and it worked out really well.

These are before they were baked.

Kale chips when they are done baking.

What do do?

Soak 1C. cashews for 4hrs or overnight then rinse. Wash a bunch of kale, break into pieces and put in a large bowl, set aside.  In a food processor add the cashews, 1 chopped tomato or red bell pepper, 1/4-1/3C. Nutritional yeast, juice of a lemon, Himalayan salt to taste.  Blend until smooth. 

Pour the cashew sauce over kale and stir until coated. I don't have a dehydrator so I placed the kale chips on two cookie sheets and baked in a 175degree oven with the door open for about 3-4 hours,or until crisp.

I hope you try these.  

Have a wonderful day!