Vegan MoFo Day 9: Are We There Yet?

What, this MoFo thing isn't over yet? Are you sure? It feels like I've been blogging about food for like forever. Okay maybe not really forever. It's more like I-Make-Up-Posts-All-The-Time-But-Forget-Them-Almost-Instantly, thus putting me into a perpetual state of feeling like I've already talked about something awesome.

Today I'm going to talk about something awesome I have already talked about. Oh no wait, Husband did. Back here. 

Ever have one of those wearying days of working, errands, shopping, kid shuttling, and other fun awesome modern things to do? Sometimes you just want to cook a nice easy meal at the end of the day and not dirty every dish and spend an hour or more to do it. This is that recipe that saves us on those days, like today. Added bonus: It passes the two year old taste test with gusto.

Our Generic Throw What You Got In Stir Fry (Reprise)


This makes enough for 2 if it's all you're eating, 4 if it's a side.

• 3-4 TBS Canola, Peanut or other light tasting "saute friendly" oil. You could also use Coconut oil if you like that taste in your rice
• 2 Cups frozen peas
• 4 cups cooked rice (fresh or even better, cooked and then refrigerated)
• 1 tsp Sesame seed oil (regular or toasted)
• 2 tsp Garlic powder
• 2 tsp Onion powder
• 1 tsp Mustard seed powder
• 1/4 Cup Low Sodium Tamari, Shoyu or Soy Sauce
• Optional, and fun: 
• Any other veg you have on hand, chopped evenly and finely-shown is broccoli slaw from Trader Joe's and red pepper in addition to peas
• Cashews or peanuts
• mushrooms!!
• Sriracha, or another hot sauce
• Seitan (the white steamed seitan from Viva Vegan was an excellent choice for us once) or tofu

Over high heat, cook the peas in 2 TBS oil for 3-4 minutes. Reduce heat to low, and add cooked rice, and add a little more canola oil and the sesame oil. Stir the rice for a few minutes, then add the spices. Cook for 1-2 minutes, then add the Tamari. Stir through and serve hot.

Feel free to add any veggies you find to your liking. Any long cooking or frozen veggies would need to go in before hand (alternatively you could steam them first, then toss them around at first just to give them a little color.

Vegan MoFo Day 6: Blast Off Pops!

 
Happy Monday! While today is day 8 in MoFo festivities, I will be opting to take the weekends of this month off to spend with the family-lots of decluttering, cleaning and general fun to accomplish with my loves! So this is entry 6 for me.

Today I want to post about another quick snack my two year old enjoys. Chocolate fudgesicles! These aren't your ordinary run of the mill fudgesicles, though. These are packed with nutrition and the best part is, my kid loves them. With a capital "L"!

Although I still feel a bit like a delinquent mom when I let her have one after breakfast.

The idea behind this recipe is to make a very thick smoothie, flavored with lots of Cacao powder. The thicker you make it, the more creamy it will be when it freezes! And please note that I use the term "recipe" very loosely here. This is basically a green smoothie in popsicle form, there is a very wide margin of error!

That said, I have been experimenting with this recipe to make about 6 pops (And I always end up with extra, which the kiddo will drink while waiting eagerly for the pops to freeze. I really need a second set of molds!)

Into the Vita Mix, I throw:
6 or 7 medjool dates, pitted
Enough water to cover the dates by about a half inch
1 banana
1/3 to 1/2 cup of cashews
1 heaping handful of washed spinach (pictured) or kale
1 heaping Tbs each of chia, flax and hemp seeds (called the seed trifecta in this house)
1 1/2 Tbs of vanilla extract (alcohol free is preferred in raw desserts, this can also be called vanilla flavoring, though I am using up my extract first and they turn out fine)
3 Tbs organic raw cacao powder, or more or less to taste

To start, place the dates and water in the blender and let them set for 10 minutes or so to soften. This will make them a bit easier to blend. After that, load up the blender with everything else listed-plus anything else you might want to throw in (liquid stevia for sweetness, different nuts or seeds, etc). Remember that you are basically making a thick, creamy chocolate smoothie here-anything you typically put in your smoothies you could add if you like. Experiment!

 Pour into molds (these are BPA free rocket pops by Tovolo, gifted to us by a lovely grandmother. This company also makes stars and a large groovy style set. So cute.)

Freeze and enjoy one! Or two. Hey, they are good for you, right?

Happy Monday!

Vegan MoFo Day 4: Kid Snack Plate

Another quick one, as there are errands to run today!

This is a typical snack plate for my two year old-some nuts (organic raw macadamia) some roasted organic chickpeas (coated in tamari and nothing else-very tasty!) and an organic apple (she loves eating them whole, and will have a fit if she sees me or Husband chopping it up for her). And a big pile of organic nooch* covered kale chips, which she loves-she and I can easily eat two bunches these days. Thank goodness there is plenty growing in the garden!

*nooch=nutritional yeast!

Like reading about food? Check out more Vegan MoFo fun at Vegan MoFo Headquarters International!