Carmelized Onion and Kale Quiche

Happy Wednesday!  Four more episodes of LOST!  For those of you who are fellow LOST fans,

are any of you going to have a party for the finaly?    I still can't believe it's going to end.  Oh well, I just hope the writers don't let us down!

So here is another juice.  Another pretty pic, it looks like sherbert doesn't it?

I juiced carrots, celery, pink lady apple and a beet.

The other night I made another quiche/tart but instead of using firm water packed tofu I used silken firm tofu.  The results are more of any eggy, custard texture which I must say was really, really, really good.  This is a carmelized onion and kale quiche.  I love onions anyways, especially carmelized, yum!  What's so great about these quiches are that everyone loves them and they can't tell it's missing the eggs.  I thought it would be fun to make a nutritional comparisan between a vegan quiche and a non-vegan one. I found a carmelized onion tart online that seems to be on alot of different sites so I went with that one.   The cool thing is on this particular site they already had the nutritional info, easier for me because I only had to calculate  my quiche. The one I found is a carmelized onion tarte  and it's here at http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/caramelized-onion-tart-recipe.  I added kale to mine. 

I actually got 6 servings from my quiche but the one on delish.com says 4 servings so I adjusted my nutritional info accordingly to 4 servings.

                                       Nutritional Information

Egg and dairy version          My recipe                                                    
                                                                 
by delish.com                                                                          
(per serving)

Calories 495                                        Calories 306.25
Total Fat 32g                                       Total Fat  18g
Saturated Fat 13g                                Sat. Fat  2.75g
Cholesterol 204mg                               Cholesterol    0
Sodium 510mg                                     Sodium 444mg
Total Carbohydrate 36g                       Carbs  21g
Dietary Fiber 3g                                  Dietary Fiber 4.75g
Sugars --                                             Sugars --
Protein 15g                                          Protein 15.5 g
Calcium  268                                      Calcium  237

So you can see the difference here, the vegan quiche has 0 cholesterol and less fat. I tried to calculate the calcium content of the egg/dairy tart and came up with 268g of calcium.  The body actually absorbs more calcium from plant foods than from animal products so even though the egg/dairy version has a bit more you are absorbing more from the vegan quiche.  Down below is my recipe.

Carmelized Onion and Kale Quiche
 vegan version

2-3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 medium/lg sweet onions or 2 cups, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups chopped kale, or to your liking (you can skip the kale if it's  not your thing)
1 12.3 oz. box mori-nu extra firm tofu
2 tsp. low sodium white miso
2 tsp. arrowroot powder or 1 T. cornstarch
1/4 c. nutritional yeast
1/4 cup unsweetened soymilk
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of nutmeg

Crust
(This is a crust for one pie but  I only used half of the dough, just so the crust was thin)

1/2 C. +2 T. spelt flour
1/2 C. sorghum flour
1/8 tsp salt
2 T. Earth Balance original whipped(or your choice)
2 T. cold water

I used a 6-inch round stoneware pan so the tart would be thicker.  Oil the pan and I lined mine with parchment paper so when it's done I could take the whole quiche out and then cut into slices.

For the crust:
 In a food processor add the flour, salt and Earth Balance and pulse until crumbly.  Next pour in the cold water and pulse until smooth.  Take out, make a ball, then make a flat disk and wrap in plastic  and put in refrigerator for about an hour. 


Heat oven to 350.

1. When crust is firm, roll out half the dough, or for a thicker crust roll out all of it.  Press into pan, make a few pricks on the bottom and bake for about 10min.  Take out and set aside.

2.  Heat a saute pan and add the olive oil to it.  Next add in the onions and let cook until just beginning to brown, this can take up to half an hour so keep watch and stir every so often.

3.  While onions are carmelizing in a food processor blend until smooth the tofu, garlic, miso, arrowroot, nutritional yeast, soymilk, lemon juice, salt and nutmeg.  Set aside.

4. When the onions are brown and sweet add the kale and cook until tender.

5. Take the onion and kale mixture and spoon it into the processor mixture.  Pulse a few times to combine.
Season to tast with more salt and pepper if wanted.

Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes until firm and lightly brown on top.

Serve warm and along with a crisp salad or cold the next day is really good too.
Enjoy!

It tastes like Brioche and weekend wrap up

Hello to you all and happy Monday!  Hope everyone is having a nice start to their week.

This past weekend Dave had off so that was nice because he only gets a weekend off every 4 weeks. Keaton is still getting over an ear infection, he can't hear out of one ear. He is now on his second set of meds because the first go around didn't work.  I just don't like that he has to be on medication for this long, luckily he hasn't been on any kind of medication in like 5 or 6 years.  So that being said we kind of played it mellow over the weekend.

I started Saturday morning out making french toast for breakfast, Keaton has been begging me to make it for weeks. The bread I used for this a Coconut Cream Bread, the recipe is from Celine just click here or recipe is below.  Just so you know Celine and Joni are in the process of yet another cookbook, this will be the third one they have done together, so I've been testing out recipes for this one as well.

 Anyhooo, back to the bread. This bread is absolutely the most delicious bread I've tasted. No coconut taste here, although I do love coconut, instead a light and buttery tasting brioche like bread. No joke! I can't say enough about this bread. I love it!!!! I left the raisins out because the boys don't care for raisins in their stuff. Now the French Toast Recipe using the bread, well you'll just have to wait a while until the cookbook comes out.

Coconut Cream Bread

by Celine
Have Cake Will Travel

1/2 cup (80 g) raisins
1 tablespoon (15 ml) dark rum
2/3 cup (160 ml) coconut cream, such as Kara™, or full-fat coconut milk
1/3 cup (80 ml) water
1/4 cup (48 g) Sucanat
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour, more if needed
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon any oil, to coat bowl
Non-stick cooking spray

Combine raisins and rum. Heat for about 30 seconds in the microwave. Let stand.

Combine cream and water; heat to 100°F (38°C). Add Sucanat and yeast: let stand a few minutes to let the yeast bloom.

In a large bowl, combine 2 cups (250 g) flour and salt.

Add wet ingredients into the flour, and start mixing. Add the remaining flour, as needed.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and start kneading for about 8 to 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and pliable. Add more flour, a little at a time, if the dough is too wet. Knead in the raisins/rum preparation toward the end of kneading time, until well incorporated. Shape into a ball.

Lightly coat a large bowl with oil. Turn dough around to coat, cover, and let rise for 90 minutes.

Punch down dough,

Lightly coat an 8 x 4-inch (20 x 10-cm) loaf pan with spray. Place dough into pan.

Let rise in a warm place for another hour.

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C, or gas mark 5). Loosely cover bread with aluminum foil.

Bake for 25 minutes, remove foil. Spray top with non-stick cooking spray, oil, or water. Bake for another 10 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

Remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack. Let cool completely before slicing and storing.

Yield: One 8-inch (20-cm) loaf

The actual recipe for this is called Malibu French Toast, it has a great sauce recipe and a couple other ones for toppings but I only had time to make the French toast part.  Dave said he only wanted a bite of Keaton's to try, well he ended up asking for some after that.  We all really loved this.  The bread really makes for a delicious tasting french toast.

After breakfast we walked to town and hung out there for a while then later we went to see Clash of the Titans.  We were very entertained by it but I think I liked the original movie better.  I mean that cute metal owl flying around and stuff in the original one.  I need to go rent it!

For dinner I made a veggie meatloaf, mashed potatoes and brocollini.  The recipe is from VegNews.  I love trying different veggie loaves and once I started making this loaf I remembered I have made it once before. Mine isn't as thick looking and I think it's because I have a bigger loaf pan.   It's tasty but I think I like it the next day in a salad, sandwich or a chard wrap like I had below.

One chard leaf, shmear of hummus, slice of the veggie loaf, avocado, tomato and cucumber.  Yum!

Sunday we just hung out and let Keaton go play for a while with his friends.  Then in the late afternoon we all went up to Cold Springs Tavern to watch Keaton's guitar teacher's band play.  Can't wait for more of that type of stuff this summer. 

Afterwards we headed back towards home to eat at Grappolo's.  Keaton and I usually order the penne pasta with mixed mushrooms, olive oil and garlic.

That's it for now.  Enjoy your day!

!!! TWEET NOW for FARM SANCTURARY !!!

Hello everyone!  USA TODAY is launching a campaign for charity, check out the article here, and the one with the most tweets gets a one full page colored ad.  So Farm Sanctuary needs us to tweet the following  in these exact words "#AmericaWants @FarmSanctuary to get a full-page ad in USA TODAY."

Just thought I would share what's going on in our house right now.  This is Peanut and Merlin.  We are dog sitting while my in-laws are enjoying a tropical Hawaiian vacation until the end of the month.  What you are seeing is love, well it's totally one sided, Peanut is completely in love with our Merlin.  I swear this dog is completley obsessed!  Merlin tries so hard to ignore Peanut and he does a pretty good job at it. Merlin is probably thinking that Peanut is never going away and I think he is secretly pissed off at us. 

You can't see him but Peanut is standing below Merlin.  Being a cat has it's advantages.

Take a hike and Quinoa Salad

Happy Saturday morning to you.  I hope you are all having a great weekend.  It's supposed to rain tomorrow.  I'd rather it be sunny but I know the more rain we have the better it is for us out here in California.

Lots to catch up on and I have some real pretty pics to share from a hike Dave and I took a week ago.
First let me say my wrist is better, yay!

 Also my son got home safe from his 6th grade trip and he had a great time.  They went to Camp Ocean Pines in Cambria.  One of the first things he said was how good the food was and the head chef was really nice.  The chef told Keaton that he was the first vegan to cook for.  Every night when Keaton went into the kitchen to get his dinner the chef would ask Keaton questions about being vegan.  Also the last two mornings he was served pancakes and french toast( which I was told had bananas in it)so anyways, he thought that was pretty cool.  So being vegan has it's perks! hee hee. Last year in 5th grade and for summer camp he went to Rancho Allegre, which is close to us, and the "Naturalists" there are either vegetarian or vegan so Keaton would eat what they did.  So for dinner he would go to the kitchen to get his meal, which he thought was pretty cool and special.  He ate like, stuffed acorn squash and portobello mushrooms and pasta, sound like meals and a nice restaurant doesn't it?  It's so nice to know that when my kid is at camp he isn't going hungry.

So here are some pic's of the hike we took up in the Figueroa Mountains.  The cool thing about many of the areas where we hike, there are parts that are shady and those grow tons of ferns all those pretty shade plants.  This one to the right looks kind of lilypad like, it felt a bit on the rubbery side. Then when you get into the sunny parts of the hike the plants change.  There is alot of water coming down from those mountains. 

Before heading up the mountain.

This is a view from the highest point we hiked to.  We want to go to the top which is probably an hour longer to get to.

There are california poppies everywhere right now!

The beginning of a pine cone.

There were a few of these pretty blue butterflies in this certain area. 

I must finish the post with a tasty quinoa salad.  The ingredients are listed below.

In a small bowl mix together

2 C. quinoa, cooked

1 small red bell pepper, diced,

3 scallions, chopped

1/2 C. celery, diced

black olives, chopped

1/2 C. sprouted firm tofu, diced

then pour the vinegarette over and mix well

vinegarette:

extra virgin oilive oil

rice vinegar

agave

s&p

Eat at room temp or cold.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

I'm still here and with gumbo!

Howdy everyone!  I'm still here!  It's finally quieted down around here. Keaton is gone this week with the 6th grade class so it will quieter than usual.  No guitar noise in the afternoon.  Our dog Cleo sleeps with him at night so she is a bit screwed up already. 

Last week while I was doing yard work I pulled a muscle right above my wrist.  I have this nice swollen lump on my arm and if I start doing to much a shooting pain goes up my forearm.  So typing even isn't so nice and I tried mixing some mashed potatoes and wow that hurt.  Enough of my complaining.

I found this great new gluten free milk at Trader Joes a couple of weeks ago and I really like it.  My son doesn't like it as much as just plain rice milk but he's getting used to it.  I like to have a few different milks in the refridge at one time.  I usually have vanilla almond for my coffee, soy milk-for anything, and then usually a rice milk, hemp milk here and there.  This has 3g. fiber, vit.A, iron, b12, vit. D, calcium and phoshorus, no protein though.  Rice milk usually has at least 1g. of protein. The thing about this milk is I just wish that the amaranth, millet and quinoa were higher up on the ingredients list instead of the end.

Here is some gumbo I made.  I have been thinking of things I haven't made in a long time and this was one of them and I love gumbo.  This is my version from all of the ones I've made in the past.  This is made with homemade seitan sausages.  Keaton has had stomache issues of which I've spoken about and I try not to serve him alot of wheat products.  I think since seitan is pretty much just gluten it is more intense on his system because he totally had stomache pains later and also with the St. Patty's meal I made him.  You can use a firm tofu, which I have used before  and just broil in the oven to get a bit crispy on the outside, you can also use red beans.  This turned out really good, maybe a tad bit spicy hot more than usual, but that was just me using a heavy hand with the creole spice. hee hee

Veggie Gumbo with Seitan

1/3c. canola or safflower oil

1/3c. flour

2 1/2c. yellow onion, diced

3/4c. green bell pepper, diced

1/2c. red bell pepper, diced

3/4c. celery, diced

4 garlic cloves, chopped

2c. okra, sliced(I used frozen)

1/2 c. ale or dark beer

2 bay leaves

1 T. creole seasoning  or less

6-8c. vegetable broth/stock

salt and pepper to taste.

2 vegan sausages*(note below) sliced and browned in a skillet or firm tofu/beans

             (I have used a firm tofu before)

cooked brown rice

To make the roux in a heavy duty pot, I use cast iron, heat 1/3.c. oil.  Once heated up whisk in the flour until smooth.  With a wooden spoon continue to stir often over medium heat.  You want to make sure you don't burn the roux but you want it to turn a dark caramel brown and be thick. This takes patience and can take a bit of time but is important. 

When the roux is complete you will add to that, onion, red and green bell pepper, and the celery.  Cook until the onions start to turn brown. (I like to add a bit of salt to this to sweat out the onions, you don't have to add much but this way you don't have to add more oil).  It will look like this!  

Next stir in the garlic and okra.  Cook about a minute. Then you will want to add the 1/2 c. ale and let that cook down for about a minute or so.  Once that has cooked out you will add in the browned seitan sausage slices, creole seasoning and bay leaves, stir through then add in the veggie broth/stock.  Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 45min or so.  The creole seasoning I use doesn't have as much salt as some other brands so adjust the salt to your liking.

Once heated through and has become thicker serve over a bowl of rice.

*the vegan sausage recipe I use is Julie Hasson's and you can get it by clicking here.

Have a wonderful day!  It supposed to start raining tonight or maybe tomorrow for a couple of days but that's okay.

Mothers milk and corned seitan and cabbage stew....

A week with my brother and nephew, it was really nice. My nephew, 4 yrs old, likes to go see the buffalope(buffalo)as he calls them, and he was able to pet some sheep. I did too!  They were so cute!  My nephew also loves "tofood" or what you and I call tofu. LOL!  They left to go home on Friday, then my mother-in-law came up late Saturday night to use our computer then left early Sunday.  She and my father-in-law will be back up on Friday for Keaton's Science Fair.  Next?!!!!   We have rooms available on....jk!  We love having visitors.

Here is a brief run down of our St. Patrick's dinner.  My mother in law used to make a corned beef and cabbage for my son years ago and he loved it.  So when Keaton became vegan I told him I would rally up a recipe for him to make him something similar.  My first go around with making the meal was okay.  The second go around, jack pot!  So this year I used the same recipe and it was a hit again with the kid.  My brother even had some and said it was pretty good.  The corned seitan recipe from Vegan Dad was made the previous day.  I didn't have any allspice or juniper berries so I didn't add that and I didn't use as much seasoned salt.  Then for the stew part I used Susan's, Corned "beef" and cabbage recipe at Fat Free Vegan .  I just added a bit more herbs in this and a bit more wine.  I actually think it turned out tastier than last years.

This next bit I've been wanting to post for some time now and it's regarding cows milk, or actually any type of animal milk.  For those of you who still eat and drink animal products or are new to being vegan here is some info.

 So we were driving around alot this weekend in Santa Barbara trying to get Keaton's science fair project working and so I picked up the local calendar called the Independent.  I notice this article that reads "Breast Milk Canape." Hmmmm...sounds interesting,  so I read it and you can too just click here.   So if you just read the article, what is so weird about this?  Wait!  Hold on now.... what I mean is if people drink cows milk or goats why would it gross them out?  Now.....what is milk for?  It's for babies.  Mothers milk from humans or cows, or goats, or pigs...it's for their babies!   Milk is the secretions of the mammory glands that provides food for their babies, it has all of the wonderful antibodies and nutrients for their young.  Now in the article it quotes "Mothers milk, technically, should be one of the healthiest things people can put in their bodies".   But mothers milk is made for babies not adults, it has a high content of fat which is needed for the baby.  Babies at some point are weened off of mothers milk to eat solid food.  Most people whether they know it or not are lactose intolerent or allergic to dairy, we lose the enzyme lactase to metabolize it.  Then there is alot of talk about added hormones to cows milk which was a big deal years ago but cows milk naturally has hormones in it, it's for the calves to grow and calves grow at a rapid pace compared to human babies and they also are bigger and heavier than humans. So people are consuming massive amounts of this stuff which has cows hormones in it. 

 Moooving on....cows are bred into producing 10 times more more milk just for human consumption!  The cows live uncomfortably and is very taxing on the cows which can lead to getting sick easier and when they stop producing milk at around 4 years old, they will take them to slaughter.   They are also articifically inseminated so they can keep producing milk, then the male calves are taken away from these dairy cows and are used as veal and the females are led on to the dairy life. These animals are being used as machines, they are not treated with any respect what so ever! 

Let's talk cheese.  In the cheese making process they use rennet.  Rennet comes from the lining of the calves stomache, some places use vegetarian rennet and they will list it on the packaging if they do. On a health note just think of how many dairy products are consumed each day. Cows milk with breakfast, cheese on the lunch sandwich, yogurt for a snack, cheese on tonight's dinner pasta, encho's, pizza, burrito's, etc. Dairy Ice cream for dessert.  All of that saturated fat and cholestrol you are putting into your body that is moving through those arteries slowly clogging them up.  We grow up eating dairy products and are told to do so to get our calcium and then we tell this to our kids.  If we eliminate dairy you may ask how do I get my calcium?  Where do the animals get their calcium from?  Cows get there calcium from certain grasses, clover, etc and look how strong they are.  But the cows now a days in the factory farms don't get to eat and roam in the fields so they are given calcium in their food. Well these cows aren't drinking there own milk or anyone else's.  Got you thinking?  Hmmmmm... so if they are given calcium in their food then we can take calcium supplements too.  We can also get calcium from plant foods, seeds, nuts and tofu.    Dr. Fuhrman has a great book called "Disease Proof Your Child" and he speaks about calcium and vitamin D and gives some examples of how much foods contain calcium and how much is absorbed.  One example is:

100 calories of skim milk  calcium 334mg.  percent 32  amount absorbed 107mg

100 calories of bok choy  calcium 787 mg.  percent 54  amount absorbed 434 mg.

So you see we absorb more calcium from eating these plant foods than from animal foods.  Also when you eat animal products and high amounts of salt they make the body acidic so in order to neutralize the body it will take calcium from the bones to make it alkaline and then it is excreted from the body.  When eating plant foods or non animal products,which are not acidic to the body, you don't need as much calcium because less will be excreted.  There are also so many foods that are fortified with calcium, from cereal to orange juice so the chances of not getting enough calcium is slim. The bigger concern recently has been are we getting enough Vit. D which luckily out here in California we get alot of it.  Yay for the sun!

So instead of that slice of cheese try a slice of a creamy avocado, it contains 20 nutrients , contains vitamin E, folic acid, b-vitamins, to name a few and contains healthy fats, no cholesterol.  For milk there are many non dairy milks ranging from soy-rice-hemp milk and many brands that make them.  Take your pick!  I know it takes a while to eliminate dairy, some more than others, do to us eating it from toddler on to adult but you can do it if you realy want to.

So I have spoken and have got that out of my system. Maybe for those who may not have made the switch from vegetarian to vegan yet will realize that these animals are treated just as badly and end up in the same place as those raised for their flesh.  I just wish more people will read more about these things and make a more compassionate and healthy choice. 

  Next time you see a cow, or pig, or goat, look into their eyes...and their whole being.  They eat, breath, scratch when they are itchy, soak in the sun and relax....just like us! 

Have a wonderful and compassionate day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I hope everyone is having a fun and fabulous day!  Our weather has been wonderful the past few days.  Spring has defininitely kicked in.  My brother and nephew came in from Arizona last Friday so we've been busy which has left no time for blogging much.  My nephew is napping so I'm taking this opportunity.  I will be making a seitan corned "beef" and cabbage tonight and will post at a later time.    I thought I would at least share some photo's of a hike we went on last weekend.  All of the flowers are starting to bloom. 

Pretty flowers. 

Here is a toad my nephew found in our backyard yesterday.  When he finally started to move out of those rocks he left a present. hee hee. No I didn't take a picture of that! 

Here is a swiss chard wrap.  Chickpea salad with shredded carrot, tomato and avocado. So cool and refreshing and it's Green for St. Patty's Day. 

Have a fun and safe night if ya'll are going out!