I Entered In The Inside Jersey Best Home Chef Competition!

Hey! I know it has been absolute ages since I have updated, unfortunately life has been insane. BUT I just entered my Garden Veggie Moussaka in the Inside Jersey Best Home Chef Contest! I thought I would share the recipe with all of you, because this dish is absolutely amazing, delicious, healthy, fat free, and a perfect way to use your summer garden veggies! Sadly, I didn't take any pictures, but if I get chosen as a finalist, I will certainly photograph the dish I cook for the judges! So please, enjoy the deliciousness that is Garden Veggie Moussaka, and wish me luck!

Experience the joy of the summer harvest with my garden vegetable moussaka. I made this dish almost excusively with local produce, fresh herbs, and lots of love.

Prep time: About 45 minutes

Bake time: 1 hour

You will need:

3 3quart saucepans (2 if using canned lentils)

1 grill pan (or access to a grill)

1 electric beater

1 lasagna pan

foil

3 cups cooked lentils

½ cup veggie stock

1 yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 handful fresh herbs (oregano, thyme, sage- if not fresh 1/2tsp of each will do)

3 stalks celery, diced

2 small or 1 large bell pepper- green or yellow

1 cup crimini mushrooms, coarsely chopped

1 medium zuchinni, diced

5 carrots, chopped

4 medium tomatoes, chopped

Salt & pepper to taste

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 large eggplant, thinly sliced by hand or mandolin

6 medium red potatoes, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350.

Cook lentils according to package in one of the saucepans. Or, if you're using canned lentils, rinse, drain, and set aside. In one of the saucepans, over medium heat, sautee the garlic and onions in ¼ cup veggie stock until the become clear. Add the herbs, allow to sit for a minute, then begin to add all the other veggies except for the potatoes and eggplant. Add the remainder of the veggie stock, allow to simmer for about 15-20 minutes, or until the carrots become tender. Once they are tender, remove from heat, set aside, and add lemon juice. Salt and pepper to taste. While the veggies simmer, in the other saucepan, bring the potatoes to a boil, and cook until tender. Personally, I like the skins on my potatoes, but that is up to you. While the veggies and potatoes are cooking, put the grill pan on medium high heat and place the thinly sliced eggplant around the pan in only one layer so that they are touching sides, but not overlapping. Cook for about 4 minutes on each side, or until the eggplant is soft with a slight crisp to it. You might have to cook the eggplant in batches. You can also grill the eggplant, or fry it, but I found grilling or grill pan preserves the flavor and the health of the eggplant. Once the eggplant is done, you can place on a plate and set aside. Once the potatoes are done, you have 2 choices. If you'd like a slighty chunkier, heartier dish, drain the potatoes and leave them chopped. If you'd like something a little more “traditional”, or as traditional as a non-meat moussaka can be, drain the potatoes (save about ¼ cup of the water) and use the electric beaters to mash the potatoes to your desired consistancy. Use the saved potato water to make them a little creamier, or add more vegetable stock if you have some extra.

Now that everything is cooked, you're ready to ensamble!

Mix the lentils and veggies.

In the lasagna pan, start with a layer of eggplant, placing the slices in a smiliar fashion to when cooking them. You can leave a little space between each slice. After the eggplant layer, add a layer of lentils and veggies. Another eggplant layer, another lentil veggie layer, until you have about a half inch of space left in the pan, or run out of veggies. Top with your potatoes. Cover the pan in foil, and place in the oven. After 30 minutes, remove the foil and allow dish to continue cooking for another 30 minutes, or until the potatoes have a nice crust to them. You can enjoy this dish either right away, or save it and enjoy another day. All the flavors of the garden, harmoniously dancing in your mouth. And I promise, you won't miss the meat.

I'm Back! Yay!

First off I want to apologize for my lack of updates. I had started this blog with hopes of updating at least once a week if not more. Shortly after my last update I had to start preparing for my radiation which meant I had to stop taking my thyroid hormone. For those of you who don't know, the thyroid controls almost everything that goes on in your body. “The thyroid produces hormones that influence every organ, tissue and cell in the body. The hormones also control heart rate, body weight, body temperature, energy level, muscle strength and menstrual regularity.” I had to stop, cold turkey, my thyroid hormones. For over 2 months I did not have a metabolism and all I wanted to do was curl up and cry every day. All I did was sleep. I gained lots of weight even though I barely ate. It was awful. I was depressed for a while, and after work each day just wanted to cuddle with my amazing Chris. I am now back on my thyroid hormones but was recently diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia as well as TMJ. Trigeminal neuralgia is an inflammation of the trigeminal nerve. It's been described as the worst pain known to man. I have atypical bilateral trigeminal neuralgia. That means that as opposed to normal TN which causes random attacks of sharp shooting pain, my pain is constant. I always feel like I am being beaten with a shovel, and then I will occasionally get an attack of sharp shooting pain on top of that. Add to it the TMJ, which can cause the muscles of my jaw to contract and swell up and prevent me from opening my mouth.... I've had a really insane past few months, and I am hoping that I can keep up with this journal from now on.

I've got quite a few recipes I'd like to pass on, The Worlds Best Split Pea Soup, Amazing Cheezy Mac 'n Tomato Bake, the BEST Carrot Cake Cupcakes you will EVER eat... but for now, I am going to veganize my mothers favorite recipe. Hungarian Apple Tart Pies. It's something that was passed down to her from her father, my grandfather. He was at one point, a head chef at the Copa in NYC waaaay back in the day (1950's-60's) and I have fond memories of his food. In my mothers version, she uses premade pie crusts. I will be doing the same, only for convenience and because she has already purchased them. I'm going to get to work- the results and recipe will be posted soon!

<3

Openfaced Garbanzo "Tuna" Salad Melts

For some reason or another, the past few days I have been craving tuna salad. Well, not tuna obviously, but something similar, with the same texture, pungent flavors, something that would bring me back to my childhood. After Googling “vegan tuna salad” for ideas on what to use as a base, I decided to make open faced melts with Daiya cheddar shreds. I served one to a non-vegan friend of mine (with real cheese, because I need to get it out of my house) and he thought they were incredible. Frankly, so do I! This has almost immediately become my new favorite recipe, and I know for sure I will be eating some melts for breakfast tomorrow morning!

Open Faced Garbanzo “Tuna” Salad Melts
makes 4 servings

1 can drained, rinsed chickpeas
2 stalks celery, halved lengthwise and diced
1 carrot, peeled, quartered lengthwise and diced
½ medium yellow onion, diced
1 large dill pickle, quartered and diced
1 tblsp sweet relish
1 tblsp dijon mustard
1 tblsp nutritional yeast
3 heaping tblsp vegan mayo
salt & pepper to taste

2 large ripe tomatoes, sliced into 8 equal sized slices

4 vegan English muffins halved, or bread slices
4 slices soy cheese or Daiya cheddar shreads

Move oven rack to 2nd from the top. Preheat broiler. Place chickpeas in medium mixing bowl, smash with either a fork or a potato masher until crumbly and no visible beans are left whole. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and mix until blended. Place muffin halves (or bread slices) onto a baking sheet. Place one tomato slice on each english muffin half, then top with a heaping portion of salad mix. Top with a slice of cheese or a handful of Daiya shreds. Place under broiler until cheese is melty, between 5-10 minutes. Enjoy immediately.

Mmmmmm! Yummy goodness! If you don't have Daiya avialable, or don't like cheese substitues you can opt out, but Daiya makes all the difference, much better than the soy slices.

Even the plate was happy! Haha.

Throwback Thursday- Poutine

Throwback Thursday! While I will most likely use Throwback Thursday to cook some veganized version of food from my youth (mainly French, Hungarian, and American food,) today I decided to dedicate my throwback to my time in Toronto. I miss Canada so very much, not just the food which was fabulous, but the people, the country, the places, and the lifestyle. So here I dedicate my third food entry, my first Throback Thursday post to Canada <3

So today I spent a majority of my morning listening to some fabulous Canadian music (Gob, Alexisonfire, Cancer Bats, Buck 65 to name a few) and it got me to thinking... since being back in New Jersey I have really missed good ol' poutine. Sure we've got disco fries, but once you have had poutine, there's no looking back.. Traditionally, poutine is a French Canadian dish and consists of crispy french fries covered in gravy and cheese curd. Quoting the poutine wikipedia, “The French fries are of medium thickness, and fried so that the inside stays soft, while the outside is crunchy. The gravy is a light chicken, veal or turkey gravy, mildly spiced with a hint of pepper. Heavy beef or pork-based brown gravies are not typically used. Fresh cheese curd (not more than a day old) are used. To maintain the texture of the fries, the cheese curd and gravy must be added immediately prior to serving the dish.” So I decided to embark upon creating vegan poutin! I will be making oven fries with a mushroom veggie gravy and almond-cashew curds. Man oh man is this delicious!

Veggie Gravy

5-6 baby bella mushrooms, chopped

¼ cup Earth Balance

2 cloves garlic, chopped

¼ meduim yellow onion, chopped

2 tsp Braggs Liquid Amino Soy

2 cups veggie stock

1 bayleaf

1 tsp herbs de provence

½ tsp garlic salt

½ tsp thyme

½ tsp rosemarry

1 tblsp flour

Over medium-low heat in a quart sauce pot, melt Earth Balance. Saute garlic and onions until onions turn clear. Sprinkle in seasonings and bay leaf. Add Braggs and veggie stock and mushrooms. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes. Strain stock from veggies and pour in a blender, then add half of the veggies. Save the rest in the sauce pot for later. Cover blender and turn on high, and through the vent in the lid add the flour. Continue to blend on high for about 2 minutes, or until the gravy is smooth. Return gravy to sauce pot and bring to a boil then simmer, stirring occasionally so that it doesn't burn. After about 5 minutes the sauce should be nice and thick. Cover, and turn off heat.

Almond-Cashew Curd

1 tsp orange zest

1 handful raw almonds

1 handful raw cashews

7 oz extra firm tofu

Combine all ingredients in blender. Pulse until crumbled together.

Oven Fries

2 medium potatoes sliced into ½ inch thick strips about ½ inch wide

2 tsp safflower oil

Place oven rack on the 2nd from the top setting and set oven to broil. Put oil and potatoes in an airtight container and seal. Shake the container to make sure the potatoes are evenly coated with oil, then lay out on a baking sheet and broil until golden brown, then flip over and broil until the other side is golden brown.

Once potatoes are cooked, place in a bowl, then add curds and gravy and enjoy! Sooo delicious!

Hot Fudge Strawberry Parfait

I ended up making that soup, the Roasted Asparagus Soup from FatFreeVegan tonight for dinner. It was delicious! And so pretty!

With a spinach and tomato salad it was fabulous! Since I had gotten in the blending spirit, I decided to keep the VitaMix out and take advantage of the delicious, ripe strawberries I had just purchased. So I made some fresh cashew-vanilla ice cream and layered it with the sliced strawberries and then drizzled some organic hot fudge sauce on top. Mmmm delicious! Recpie as follows:

You need a VitaMix or comparable blender to make this, or an ice cream maker. But VitaMix is much quicker.

1/3 cup cashews

1/2 cup organic raw sugar

1/4 cup soy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups ice cubes

Place all ingredients into the Vitamix container and secure lid.

Select Variable 1.

Turn machine on and quickly increase speed to Variable 10, then to High.

After about 30-60 seconds stop machine. The consistancy should be smooth and creamy. If it's still chunky, use the plunger to make sure the ingrediants are mixing. If too liquidy, add more ice and blend a bit longer. Do not overmix or melting will occur. Serve immediately.

You can layer sliced strawberries and ice cream, then drizzle with hot fudgey goodness. Soooo delicious!

For now I am going to grab myself a cherry slushie and cuddle up with Chris as we watch movies and such. What a wonderful way to end the evening! :) (I can totally have ice cream and a slushie since my throat is still healing from surgery. heh heh heh. it's terrible for me but feels so nice on my throat)

the most important meal of the day

After my surgery last month I lost all of my taste buds. Apparently, it's quite normal after anesthesia. I became hyper sensitive to smell, and couldn't eat most foods because the smell alone made me sick, but without taste buds my favorite foods tasted like dirt. Last week, I finally got my taste buds back! Finally, food! This morning I was dying for some scrambled tofu and pancakes. I decided to attempt yeast pancakes, which make them fluffier and cakier than regular pancakes, but also a lot heartier so that only 2 of them fill you up. Along with a hearty fresh veggie tofu scramble and a piping hot cup of dark roast coffee with coconut creamer, the most important meal of the day quickly becomes the favorite meal of the day!

Best Morning Ever Tofu Scramble

1 14oz package firm tofu, pressed (or extra firm if you like your tofu a bit drier and stiffer, I like mine a bit softer and moister)

1 tblsp safflower oil or avocado oil (to saute veggies)

1/2 cup diced bell pepper (for this I used orange)

1/2 cup asparagus, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, sliced into strips

1/2 cup sliced crimini or portabella mushrooms

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 tsp chilli power

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp mustard powder

1 tsp ground tumeric

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp cumin

2 tblsp nutritional yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1/4 cup Braggs liquid amino soy

fresh juice of 1/2 lemon

Put a large skillet on medium heat. Warm the oil. Add garlic, saute for 2 minutes. Add onions, saute for another 2 minutes. Add carrots, asparagus, and sundried tomatoes and saute for another 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and bell peppers and saute for another 2 minutes. Take the pressed tofu and add it in large chunks to the veggies. I am weird, and I like to squish the tofu through my fingers as I add it- it breaks it apart easier and is fun, but if you don't want to get your hands dirty you can break it apart with a fork or wooden spoon. Stir, and let that sit for a moment. While the tofu is warming, mix together the spices, nutritional yeast, water, and Braggs. Pour over the tofu and veggies, and cook for another 5 minutes on a medium to medium low heat. Once removed from heat, add the lemon juice and stir. Serve immediately and add salt and pepper to taste. Mmm delicious!

You can make this recipe with any veggies you like, or no veggies at all. Some variations I like to make are:

Scrambled tofu with caramelized onions and kalamata olives topped with dilled tofu sour cream (just mix fresh chopped dill, garlic salt, and fresh ground pepper with tofu sour cream, also is a yummy chip dip!)

Scrambled tofu with red peppers, onions, black beans, guac and salsa, sprinkled with vegan cheddar cheese! Throw all of that in a whole wheat wrap with some seitan sausage and you've got yourself a breakkie burrito to die for! Mmm yummy. I love breakfast!

Quick-Rise Yeasty Beasty Pannycakes

2 cups spelt flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1 egg-replacer equivalent egg

3 tblsp organic raw sugar

1 tsp salt

1 pkg quick acting active dry yeast (make sure it's bread making yeast NOT brewers yeast)

1 1/4 cup warm water (NOT hot water- if it's too hot it will damage the yeast, and if it is cold the yeast will not wake up!)

1/2 cup melted Earth Balance (or veggie oil, but I prefer Earth Balance)

1/4 cup rice milk or soy milk

In a large (and I mean large- the yeast will cause the batter to rise, and I had an incredibly large bowl that almost overflowed with batter because of how much it rose, so please don't underestimate!) mixing bowl, pour the warm water and add the sugar. Mix until dissolved, then add the yeast. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. The batter should be sticky and thick reminiscent of cake batter. Cover with a paper towel or a hand towel and allow to sit for about 30 minutes. I let mine sit while I made the scrambled tofu. **Remember, yeast is a living organism that needs the perfect environment in order to be active and work properly. Warm water, not hot or cold, is best- too hot and you will kill the yeast, too cold and it won't wake up. Yeast eat sugar, which is why I prefer organic raw sugar to agave nectar, but if you wish to use the agave it will work, just not as well. Keep your yeast happy, and the end results will be fabulous!

When you return to your bowl, it should appear the batter is trying to escape. If that is not the case, recover and allow to sit a bit longer. Grease and heat a griddle to a medium heat. Because of how thick this batter is, it will not spread out into a pancake on its own, you have to spread it thin. I took a 1/2cup measuring cup and filled it with batter and used my fingers to spread out the batter until it was about 1/4inch thin and about 4-5 inches around, but you can use spoons or spatulas to stretch the batter. I also added some sliced strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries, and if you decide to do the same you will have to press them into the batter. Cook until the edges are brown and bubbly then flip and cook until pancake is browned and the batter is no longer liquidy. Smother in Earth Balance and fresh maple syrup.

I found these to have great texture and flavor, not as light and fluffy as your typical pancakes but still delicious! If you don't use all this batter you can store the rest in an air tight container for up to a week in the fridge, just make sure there is room for the batter to expand, otherwise you might end up with a sticky mess of explosion.

Mmmm look at the pretty colours in the scramble! So delicious

And all of the melty berry goodness of those giant fluffies! So hearty and delicious, I have so much batter left over, I can't wait for breakfast tomorrow! Tomorrow it will be with bananas and walnuts! Excited! Even Hunter wants some of this deliciousness! Lucky for him, I saved a bite.

Tonight I plan on making the Roasted Asparagus Soup from FatFreeVegan Blog, I will write all about it if I get the chance! So excited!

Introduction Post!

Let me introduce myself. I am Jenni. 24, lady, vegan. I am a makeup artist and hair stylist but I have always loved to cook though I don't have the patience to work in the food industry. I tried when I was 15, I don't think I could handle it again. I moved to Toronto, Ontario two years ago to attend school at the world renowned Complections, International School of Makeup Arts. After graduation I worked at one of Toronto's top 15 salons, Fuss Hair Studio as well as the makeup artist on Band Foto, a behind-the-scenes TV show about bands having photo shoots, aired on AUX TV. Due to some poor life choices (credit card debt, a marriage that shouldn't have been, etc) I ran out of money and couldn't afford to keep myself in Canada. After I moved back in with my mother and got divorced (don't worry, ex and I are still good friends and I am dating the man I should have married years ago, but due to us both being too young, it never happened...it seems to have been a blessing in disguise, as our relationship now is incredible, and much more mature than it had been previously) I got into a car accident on New Years Eve and on New Years Day my darling Boston Terrier Owen, who was living with my ex husband though we decided on joint custody, was hit by a car and passed away. I had only been back in NJ for a week at that point. And then, my wonderful boyfriend discovered a large lump on my neck. Surprise, cancer! Thankfully I was able to undergo surgery and I am currently recovering. I have been back in NJ since Christmas Eve and have had a very difficult time finding work. I applied everywhere- even Wal*Mart and Best Buy, every single salon in the area, no one was hiring. I finally got a job in NYC at the prestigious Red Market Salon, but it was only on Mondays and Saturdays. Once I found out I had cancer I decided I couldn't commute the hour into NYC, and needed to find work closer to home. I absolutely adore Red Market, but the strain was just too much. It's been one month since my surgery and I am still healing. My body is taking forever to recover, but as soon as I do, I will start working at Zanya Spa Salon in Lambertville, NJ. Six months of chaos later, it seems things are finally settling down and while it's going to be rough financially for a while, I will slowly put the pieces back together and be able to pay off my debt and return to Toronto sometime in the future.

I decided to become vegan one year ago. I never liked meat, and had been on-off pescetarian for several years, then started eating meat again because that's all my ex ate. At that point in my life I became more health conscious I wanted to get ride of all toxins in my body, so I quit smoking and decided to stop taking birth control. After stopping birth control, which I had been on for over 9 years, any bouts of depression that I had previously been suffering were gone. Realizing that I shouldn't eat something I don't like just for mere convenience, and that I could cut my carbon footprint in half by becoming vegan, as well as my many issues with the industrial farming industry and animal rights, I decided to become vegan. I wouldn't have it any other way, and I am not sure why I didn't make this switch years ago.

Living in a city like Toronto being vegan is a breeze. Most restaurants have something on the menu, or vegan options can be requested, and specialty stores are on every corner. Living in the middle of nowhere, NJ it's not so easy. Luckily, I love to cook so the only problems I have are if I decide to eat out but thankfully I have found a few places willing to cater to my dining needs.

I have a livejournal which I use to blog about my daily life, so this journal will be kept mainly for my food ventures! Some of the recipes will be my own, and others will be variations of recipes I have found from other blogs or cookbooks that I love. Most will be my own, but if I find something that was incredible good food should be shared, so I will blog it here. With pictures!

Thanks so much for reading! If anyone has any suggestions for things I should try, or your favorite recipes, please, let me know!