Toasted Oil-Free Granola~pg 47

Vegan Culinary Institute La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

After cooling my mixture, I added dried cranberries.

I felt like it needed a little more sweetener so I added a little agave nectar when eating it with plain soymilk.

The ever-present label!

I'll store this in the fridge to keep it fresh.

Claire's Macaroni & Cheeze~pg 125

Vegan Culinary Institute La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I love, love, love this recipe. I have made it many times! Giving up cheese was the hardest thing; I'm a cheese addict. I have made this with Follow Your Heart Cheddar and Jack a few times. This was the first time I've made it with Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds~WOW! I could have eaten the whole pot  but I restrained myself and shared with my husband. I did have extra cheeze sauce left as I didn't boil enough pasta so guess what I am having for lunch tomorrow?! Before I transitioned to a vegan diet my cholesterol was 283. Now it is around 180. It Does Make a Difference. I grew up on these comfort foods and was always worried what I would feed my grandchildren when they would come to visit. This will be the first on the menu!

I served my macaroni & cheeze sprinkled with No Salt Shaker (pg. 303) and Black Bean & Sweet Potato Burrito filling (pg. 158) served on a corn tortilla which I brushed with olive oil and baked to crisp it up.

Have an awesome, healthy weekend!

Nutty Oatmeal Raisin Cookies~pg 221

Vegan Culinary Institute La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I doubled this recipe and it made 3 1/2 dozen cookies. I love a full cookie jar! I used almond butter for the nut butter and Ener-G egg replacer ( I think I measured it wrong when I doubled it but the cookies still turned out yummy!) I used a mixture of dark raisins and golden raisins; I chose not to add chocolate chips this time. The cookies are just fine without them.

Ahhh! The joy of a full cookie jar!

Black Bean & Sweet Potato Burritos~pg 158

Vegan Culinary Institute La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Betty's Salsa~page 63

This is a very tasty salsa-anything with cilantro in it is tasty to me! Instead of 2 large tomatoes, I used a  

14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes, drained.

Sweet Potato Mash

Black Bean Mixture

Toppings: Betty's Salsa, Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds, shredded cabbage, chopped tomatoes

Before folding!

After folding!

This is definitely a big burrito-might have to use a fork on this one! I have made this before and used the filling on corn tostada shells which was very good also.

Jay-Lo's Fried "Chicken"~pg 167

Vegan Culinary Institute La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Mmm! Mmmm! This satisfies my craving for fried chicken without killing the bird! I fried my"chicken" in canola instead of the olive oil. My seitan broth never boils all the way down so I used the leftover flour coating, some cornstarch and soymilk and made a delicious brown gravy. Reminds me of my mama's fried chicken dinners; now just more compassionate. Even my husband likes this; he walked in this evening while I was cooking and made that "mmmm" sound! On the health side no cholesterol!

Raspberry Apple Crisp~pg 234

Vegan Culinary Institute La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Hot from the oven!

I sneaked a taste of this and I think I will be having this for breakfast with a cold glass of soymilk!  In the recipe it doesn't specify peeled or unpeeled apples; I peeled mine-I don't like chewing on the skins. Also, I used frozen raspberries. I melted my margarine before mixing it in with the other crust ingredients and it turned out delicious!

Sloppy Jane's~pg 159

Vegan Culinary Institute La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

It feels so long since I've posted a recipe. But, after a long weekend involving herniated discs, a trip to the ER, morphine and cortisone injections I am finally back. I just take long rests on the couch. I don't want to get too far behind!

I served this on toasted mini buns (not as much bread to eat!) I didn't have a large dill pickle so I used 2 heaping Tbsp. of dill pickle relish. I like the flavor of this but it's too spicy for my husband; next time I will cut down on the chili powder. Now it's time to recline again!