Heart and Soy on Bardstown Road

Chocolate Cream Pie

This is truly decadent. It is so easy, and according to the website only has 293 calories per serving.  Mine has less (given the ingredients I used).

1 package silken tofu = 225 calories
1/2 cup cocoa = 80 calories
1 cup sugar = 240
pre-made vegan pie crust = 960
total = 1505 calories

1505 / 8 servings = 188 calories per slice.

Here's the recipe I used. I say ignore the comments about it being "grainy" because that person obviously used firm instead of silken tofu. duh!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/easy-chocolate-tofu-pie/detail.aspx

Ingredients

• 1 pound silken tofu
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
• 1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
• 
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Blend tofu with an electric mixer or in a food processor until smooth. Blend in cocoa, sugar, vanilla and vinegar. Pour into prepared crust.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes.
4. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

BEWARE - "Natural" Label on Genetically Engineered Products

I was sent this from my friend Shelley at boutiqueChop.blogspot.com.

"Natural" Label on Genetically Engineered Products With consumer interest in how food is produced on the rise, many food companies are now selling new lines of "natural" products—often priced unjustifiably higher than conventionally produced foods and only slightly lower than certified organic products.  These purportedly "natural" products often mislead consumers about healthy food choices. Market surveys show that health conscious consumers buy and trust products that prominently display the word "natural" on the front of food packages, even though the "natural" claim does not necessarily deliver any added health benefits to consumers above and beyond those of their conventionally manufactured counterparts. ConAgra is one such company using a "100% Natural" labeling claim to win over consumers.  ConAgra's Wesson Oils, however, are anything but "100% natural" — because the oils are made from genetically modified (GM) plants. ConAgra sells four types of widely used cooking and food preparation oils under the Wesson brand. All Wesson Oils are sold with a label on the front of the bottle that prominently states they are "100% Natural." We are looking for Center for Food Safety members who have purchased any of the following cooking oils in the last few years sold under the Wesson brand name: Canola Oil, Vegetable Oil, Corn Oil, and Best Blend. If you have purchased these products believing them to them to be "100% Natural" and not to contain genetically engineered ingredients, please contact us at adeeringer@icta.org right away. Please include "Wesson" in your subject line and your state of residence in your email.

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Southern Dinner - Vegan Style

My mother in law and her friends have a CSA subscription with a farm in Port Royal in Henry County Kentucky.  She often times will give us food because its hard to keep up with eating all the produce she receives. So.... I anticipate the next few posts will be dealing with local summer produce, as it tends to dominate meal choices this time of year. 

I actually grew up in the country in Carroll County, Kentucky.  It's just a few miles from the farm where the CSA subscription is coming from. My grandmother was born there, and my father's side of the family hails from those river hollers since the late 1700's.  I still have family there.  

This southern girl, Miss Carroll Country Tobacco Festival, is best at being southern in the kitchen!  Sans the bacon grease!  Bring on the Earth Balance, a wonderful vegan butter substitute. 

Tonight I made cornbread (southern.... not sweet!!!!).  I found and used this recipe, and really liked it:

http://organicgoddess.wordpress.com/vegan-101/columns-2002/2002-03/

Corn Bread

Recipe By: Lisa T. Bennett
Serving Size: 8
Preparation Time: 0:45

1 cup full-fat soy milk (unsweetened preferred, but regular okay.)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup safflower or canola oil
1 1/2 cups cornmeal (white or yellow)
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry or unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon Ener-G egg replacer powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Mix soy milk and vinegar – let sour. It will look lumpy and clabbered, like buttermilk.

Pour safflower oil into a cast-iron pan. Let it heat in the oven while you mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. (If you don’t have a cast-iron pan, use an 8″ round cake pan or an 8″ X 8″ square pan.)

Pour oil into a well in the dry ingredients. Add the soured soymilk – mix quickly. Batter should be like thick cake batter. If too dry, add more soy milk (doesn’t have to be soured).

Pour batter in hot pan, place back in oven and bake until golden and crusty – about 20-25 minutes.
—————
Variations: add any or all of the following: a handful of corn kernels, diced red or green bell peppers, a tablespoon of diced jalepenos, or a teaspon of diced or pureed chipotle peppers.

I also made Southern Fried Cabbage.  Here's a link to the recipe source.  I loved this dish!

http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=10944.0

Fried Cabbage, Southern Style

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

    2 tablespoons oil
    5 cups cabbage, coarsely shredded
    1 medium onion, chopped
    1 tablespoon salt
    dash nutmeg
    1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
    cayenne pepper, to taste
    2 tablespoons vinegar

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large skillet.  Add cabbage, onion, salt and nutmeg.  

2. Cover and cook slowly about 20 minutes.  Add vegan sugar and cayenne pepper to vinegar and mix well.  

3. Pour over cabbage and cook 5 minutes longer.

Delicious with vegan cornbread.

Serves: 2-3, Preparation time: 15 min. or less

Also, because I had peas from the CSA, I tossed them in the skillet with water, Dr. Braggs, garlic paste, and sweet chili sauce. I only cook them for about two minutes, and they turned out amazing.

Raw Vegan Blueberry Pancakes

I made these in the dehydrator at 115 degrees the other day. It filled all 4 trays of the dehydrator, so there were lots to keep in storage for a month or two.  

The reason I made them? My husband thought it would be a good idea to remove a freezer bag filled with 4 cups of organic blueberries to use as an ice pack for his art project. They were thawed and at risk of being trashed.  I wanted to kill him, but instead he got rewarded with this delicious treat. How is this right? Flawed logic!

Blend the following ingredients:

• 4 cups blueberries
• 2 ripe bananas
• 2 cups quinoa flakes
• 1 cup almond meal
• 4 cups shredded coconut 
• 2 tablespoons vanilla
• 1-2 cups almond milk (to get ingredients to blend)
• 2 tsp sea salt

Mix in:

• 1 cup flax seed
• 2 cups chopped pecan

Place in dehydrator on parchment paper.  Let dehydrate until you can flip, then flip and rotate trays.  Dehydrate until you think they meet your fancy.  Mine took about 24 hours.

You can eat them warm with maple syrup, or grab-n-go like a cliff bar.

Strawberry Shake

Craving a shake, burger, and fries. Totally emotional eating, because I had to go to the dentist and that makes me unhappy. I came inches from stopping at a Wendy's for fries, but resisted because I knew the grease would make me feel icky.  

Strawberry Shake - 437 Calories

• So Delicious Dairy-Free Creamy Vanilla Ice Cream - 160 Calories per 1/2 cup.  I used 1 cup, so this is 320 calories.  Feeling gluttonous. Usually, I'd only use a 1/2 cup and also a 1/2 cup of soy milk.
• Silk Vanilla Soy Milk - 1 cup, 90 calories. 
• 5 Strawberries, about 25 calories. 

Fries - 170 Calories 

• Alexia Waffle Fries, 170 Calories

Boca Burger, Vegan - between 90-120 calories

Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Bread - 80 Calories .  I split one slice in half and use it as a bun. 

Total Calories - Between 800-850, allotting for ketchup and mustard. 

Here's what the damage would have been if I were not vegan, and had indulged at Wendy's.

Large Strawberry Frosty - 820 Calories

Medium Fries - 420 Calories

Junior Hamburger (no cheese) - 230 Calories 

Total calories at Wendy's - 1,420

By choosing to prepare this meal at home, using vegan products, I cut the number of calories nearly in half.