Vegan Spanakopita

http://www.madejustright.com/user/recipe/spinach-and-mushroom-phyllo-squares

Just made these last night.  First time working with phyllo bread, and I think I did pretty well.  I did over "butter", but I'll use less next time, because it was pretty rich.  The filling is really yummy.  I used grapeseed oil, instead of the olive oil the recipe calls for.

• 2 10-oz pkg chopped spinach, thawed
• 1 tbsp. of Olive oil (I was out of olive, so I used grapeseed oil)
• 1/2 cup(s) of Earth Balance Margarine (I used more, oops)
• 1 1/2 cup(s) of Daiya mozzarella
• 1 1/2 cup(s) of mushrooms, diced
• 12 phyllo dough sheets
• 1/2 tsp. of salt and pepper, or to taste

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Drain the thawed spinach. Squeeze as much liquid from the spinach as possible. Transfer to a large bowl. Pull apart the spinach as much as possible.
3. Add the diced mushrooms to the spinach, as well as the salt, pepper, and olive oil. (yummy)
4. In a small saucepan, melt the Earth Balance.
5. Using a pastry brush, coat each side of the phyllo bread and layer them on top of each other in the pan.  (I used four or five sheets for the bottom.)
6. Layer on the spinach/mushroom mixture, then the Daiya cheese.
7. Layer the remaining (4-5) phyllo sheets on top, again buttering each layer as you put them down. Butter the last one.
8. Cut into squares and bake for 40 minutes.  (I cut it, after baking.)

Saturday Baking Urge

Chocolate Cardamon Drops link here.  I get the urge to bake, and these cookies lent something else to the calming down experience of baking.  You get to roll them in your hands, almost like gardening.  Well, only in the therapeutic way that occurs when you are all alone and your toddler is playing outside with your husband, who agreed to give you a thirty minute baking break.

The cookies just came out of the oven, and my daughter is furiously signing "more" and saying "more".  They need to cool, but sure smell good!  My husband popped one in his mouth, fresh from the oven; it was hot and he had to use the kitchen sink to cool his mouth.  This whole episode only fueled the signing of my toddler, who just watched Daddy eat a hot cookie.  Again, they need to cool.

Cool Cookies

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Carrot Cake for all the bunnies out there!

Making carrot cake from this link minus the raisins.  Instead of a butter cream frosting, I'm going to make a cream cheese vegan frosting from Vegan Celebrations by Alicia Simpson.  It contains:

1/2 cup cream cheese, vegan
1/4 cup Earth Balance, or that's what I'm using for the margarine
1 tsp coconut extract with 2 drops (liquid) vanilla Stevia (this is changed from the original 1 tsp vanilla extract)
3 cups confectioner's sugar

Beat till light and fluffy.

So VERY yummy!  And healthy...carrots, walnuts and coconut = healthy!

Eco Sevi = Awesome Company!

Vegan Nom Noms: How To Make Seitan: An Illustrated Guide

Vegan Nom Noms: How To Make Seitan: An Illustrated Guide: Now if you really wanted to be a Level 5 hardcore vegan (or just don't have access to vital wheat gluten/gluten flour ) you would make seita...

Happiest Moment

Today, I made chocolate pudding.  You see, my daughter has a very nasty stomach bug and needs to take probiotics, which come in small packets.  Due to the explosive nature of her illness, we could not go out and buy pudding.  This recipe did the trick.  I added the probiotics to a spoonful of pudding,  and the medicine went right down.  

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 1/2 cups soy milk
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions

1. In small bowl, combine cornstarch and water to form a paste.
2. In large saucepan over medium heat, stir together soy milk, vanilla, sugar, cocoa and cornstarch mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. Continue to cook and stir until mixture thickens. Remove from heat. Pudding will continue to thicken as it cools. Allow to cool five minutes, then chill in refrigerator until completely cool.

Yea!  Vegan pudding with the right consistency!  

Vegan Kid-Friendly Nail Polish

How cool is this?!? Hopscotch Kids is a vegan, non-toxic nail polish line for kids!  I stumbled upon them this morning, as I was looking for a vegan alternative to Zoya nail polish (I'm having some trouble with their lack of customer service skills).  So, Zoya is out, and Hopscotch/Scotch Naturals vegan nail polish is in!

Evelyn always wants me to paint her nails as I paint mine, but I usually can only bring myself to paint one little baby toe.  I worry about the toxins in nail polish, even though my polish was vegan, that still didn't mean it was safe enough for my kid.  Not to mention the polish remover!  Evelyn's one painted toe stays painted, until the polish chips off.  She doesn't seem to mind the chipped look.  :)  But, it appears that Hopscotch Kids has a safe nail polish remover for kids!  I'm just so excited to try this out!  Woo hoo!