More Mango Muffins

I just love me some alliteration in the morning ;) There are no shortage of mangoes right now and I just couldn't help but veganize a recipe on the internet to use two overripe mangoes left in our recent purchase. These are really moist and tropical tasting. You can make bread rather than muffins if you prefer but you'd need to cook it at 350 for about an hour, according to the original recipe, and may need to make a foil tent if the top browns too much during the last 15 min of baking if making the bread.

Moist Mango Muffins

1/2 cup vegan sour cream
1/2 cup vegan margarine
1/2 cup soy yogurt (plain or vanilla)
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups chopped mangoes (very ripe)
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut (didn't have any so I tossed in 1/4 cup unsweetened dried coconut, reconstituted. I know that the flaked would prove MUCH tastier)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 teaspoon rum extract (I didn’t have it so I just used dark rum)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 375 for muffins, 350 for bread.
Mix sour cream and margarine together. Then add mangoes.
Add eggs,sugar, then extracts, then coconut.
Mix dry ingredients (except sugar) together and incorporate into the wet ingredients, stir till all is combined well.
Pour into lined or greased muffin tins (makes 18 muffins) or
Pour into a greased large loaf pan (5 by 10)and bake in a preheated oven for approx 1 hour.
Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

These are more mango-y than the last batch, but I can't decide which I actually like best, they're both super yummy. I only used soy yogurt in this recipe to replace the eggs in the original as we had some that needed using up, but I'm not a fan of soy yogurt in general so I'd probably just use a banana next time.

Does anyone other than me think it's hilarious that spell check within an internet program does not register the word 'internet'? Cracks me up every time ;)

Ta Da! Tostadas!

Mexican Food has always been a favorite cuisine of mine. I always thought going vegan would mean no more for me. WRONG!I've since learned that ya don't need cheese or even cheeze to make amazingly tasty Mexican fare. Tonight I chose to throw together some quick tostadas. So easy!

Here I heated some Amy's Organic Refried Beans w/ chilies while warming my corn tostadas, dropped on a healthy dollop of Dreena's Creamy Cashew Avocado Cream (I freaking LOVE this stuff...'s just too bad you can't see my pretty star design I made after adding it!), added shredded butter lettuce, fresh tomato, a long and winding ribbon of Tofutti sour cream, poured on some freshly made salsa (last grocery shopping outing I spotted some of the most beautiful tomatillos and rushed home to make some), and added a tiny bit of fresh chopped cilantro.

Lazy Much?

I've been spending more time trying to keep our kitchen clean for prospective buyers than I have cooking in it as of late, which is what I'd love to blame for this really tasty, healthy, filling, but tooootally lazy meal. Honestly, I'm embarrassed to even mention it....
Looks good, no? Rice, pinto beans, avocado. You're thinking, C'mon DGMGV, there's nothing wrong and, actually, everything right about good ole fashioned rice 'n beans. I'll let ya in on a little secret......

they're from a CAN! Yup, my laziness of late knows no bounds. In my defense, I was more curious than anything else when I first spotted Eden Organics' line of rice 'n beans at the grocery. When I actually ventured to pick up a can and read the label to find them low in sodium and see that they were about a dollar and change a piece, with about three servings per can? I was enticed enough to toss a couple into my cart (both the pinto and brown rice pictured and a can of kidney and brown rice as well, the latter of which I devoured yesterday after stirring in some homemade salsa without thinking to snap a picture).

I gotta tell ya, add a few of your favorite spices and these babies are cheap, easy, tasty, and healthy...you know, aside from the fact that they spend their days before gracing your bowl in a can.

Either way, with a nice side salad of fresh veggies, nuts, sprouts, and raisins (yeah, 's true. the salad dressing is Annie's not one I made. so lazy. sigh.) this was a great meal for a girl who just didn't have the time to be in the kitchen, embarrassed or not!

And speaking of lazy. I woke the other day a bit late and started making some fauxsage crumbles with tempeh. Halfway thru I realized I had neither the time or desire to whip out biscuits or some gravy to go with it so I did what any lazy (but super savvy!) vegan would do... I wrapped that delicious fauxsage up in a whole wheat wrap with fresh tomato and avocado and enjoyed it with half an organic apple and some raw almond butter.

Lazy never tasted so good!

Better Breakfast

I know, I've been posting a lot of breakfast stuff lately, but this morning's was one worth mentioning. The typical smoothie...soy milk, frozen raspberries, fresh strawberries, banana...but the soy milk was mocha flavored and that's a sprinkling of cinnamon on top. Oh man, was this good! It wasn't too sweet but felt like dessert for breakfast. And here's a typical tofu scramble (onion, garlic, tofu, 'shrooms, soy sauce, nutritional yeast, spinach, oregano, thyme), but with the wonderful addition of two crumbled leftover Vegan Vittles Better Burgers served over toasted bread. What a great spin on what was becoming a little bit mundane in my kitchen. Think it's high time I went with a different spice combo on the tofu scrambles. But this one was still great.

's All in the Sauce

You don't have to be a great cook to make a great red sauce for easy dishes such as this simple lasagna. Ya just have to start things early.
Tho I've yet to fully tap into the Italian gene my mom seems to possess that makes her tomato sauce easily the best anyone has ever made...like, anywhere....I really like the way mine turns out just the same.

The key is in having a few hours to really let the tomatoes cook down. I should have increased the sauce I made by half, but live and learn. This just got better each day, the tofu rinotta even creamier with each serving.

Easy Tomato Sauce

2 cans chopped tomatoes (i use no salt added)
4 T tomato paste (i'm in love with the squeeze tube kind. why they ever thought to sell that stuff in a can i'll never know)
1 T olive oil
3 cloves garlic (tho i'm pretty sure i used four or five)
oregano
thyme
sea salt
black pepper
sugar (yup, you heard me)

1. heat oil in saucepan over med heat.
2. add garlic and saute til it releases it's garlicky good aroma, but be careful not to burn
3. pour in two cans tomoatoes. stir.
4. add oregano, thyme, salt, pepper to taste. stir
5. toss in a good couple pinches of sugar (this, for me, cuts the acidity a bit and gives it a flavor i prefer. you won't need very much. it's a very subtle thing)
6. cover and allow to come to a boil, stirring often.
7. reduce heat to med low to low and stir occationally.
8. simmer for at least a few hours (i think mine was on the stove for four hours or just over).
9. use at will.

or serve in layers of whole wheat pasta & tofu riNOTta (baked in a 375 oven for thirty min covered and 25-30 uncovered), with a side of what else, garlic broccoli!