TODAY

Today I am starting the rest of my life. I know that sounds a little overly dramatic... But I have finally gone totally vegan. I have been a vegetarian for about 9 years and for the last 2 pretty much 80% Vegan. But as of this year I am totally vegan and so is my husband. We just have to finish the remaining non-vegan veggie burgers and we are there... I am very excited. So I have started this new blog. It is exclusively for vegan food and food ideas. I also have another blog Respectlifeeatveggies.blogspot.com which is about food, animals, and everyday life. Later this year I intend to have menu ideas. So that when you go out and purchase food for a week and you want to try new recipes or just have a plan made it will be there. Plus I will work on making all the recipes coincide so that left over veggies do not spoil in your fridge. In other words if we use half a head of cabbage one day then within that week we will use the other half. These post will be labeled simply as "Duo Dining" until I come up with a better name. On this blog I am also going to work on posting more recipes, links to the recipes, or names of the books that the recipes came from so that you can use or find the recipe to use. Stick with me for a couple of months so that I can start putting some of those recipes together. I also have many other ideas for columns . So please stick with me...!!!! I also promise the pictures will be alot better then the ones listed below.... :)

I am also getting ready to start a store at Etsy.com which I am also extremely excited about. I still have to get organized and get a few more things pieced together before I do. There will be "Vegan " stuff, food, baby stuff, animal stuff, and who knows what else.....But stay tuned and for my blog readers I will leave discounts for my stuff.

I am so excited to start off this blog and because it is the first day of 2009 I have some food to leave you with. Its not alot but this is what I fixed today. I know that these two foods are not the best and they are super easy but stick with me for healthier foods.

"Butter Soy Milk" Dumplings

This is quick and simple and you can add veggies and tempeh or some other protein source. Or you can just leave them plane.

2 to 4 Cups- No- Chicken broth or Veg broth
2 Cups- Flour
1/4 Cup Canola oil or Vegan Butter
2/3 Cup Soy Milk
1/2 tsp Vinegar or Lemon Juice
3 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Baking Soda

Put broth in pan and bring to a boil.
Put the vinegar in your soy milk and let it set till it looks spoiled... Then add the oil to the other liquids. In a separate bowl combine all the dry ingredients. Pour in the wet ingredients and mix. Mis till just combined or your dumplings will be tough. Flatten and cut into small pieces like an inch or inch and a half wide. Lay in boiling broth. Turn once they fluff up. Take one out and check after a few minutes to see if it looks like a fluffy biscuit on the inside. Make sure there is no doughy stuff left. If you over cook them they will turn into flat hockey pucks. But they still will taste ok. But try to check one out of every bunch you throw in the pan. Don't put more than say 5 in at once. That way if you mess up you have more to try. Plus if you put to man in it will cool the broth and it will stop boiling. These turn out really good though. Hope you like them. This recipe can also be used for biscuits. Thats basically what a dumpling is just boiled... :)
If you want to add some protein like tempeh take the tempeh let it marinate in some broth to taste. Then put in the center of the dumplings. You can also do this with veggies.... They both turn out great.

Of course to start the new year off with good luck you have to eat something from the greens family. So I normally have sour kraut but today I chose to change it up... With....

Cabbage No- Roles
This is very simple. I was not a huge fan of it but John (my husband) liked it. O well. I have another recipe for cabbage roles that turns out great. I will list it later.

Half of a 3 pound Head Cabbage, shredded or Chopped
1- 28oz can of diced tomatoes
1 1/2 dry Rice white, brown or wild ( just very in cooking time)
3 cups water
Salt
Pepper

OK... The rice. White long grain rice only take 15 to 10 minutes to cook so you can throw it in. But Brown and Wild rice take upwards of 40 to 45 minutes to cook so you will need to partly cook it in advance. Leave about 20 then throw it in with the rest. So throw the rice in with the tomatos and cabbage. The rice will puff and take on the tomato taste and the cabbage will cook down. Depending on how small your cabbage is cut down will determine how long this cooks. Cook till cabbage is tender and the rice is done. Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy.

Now starting the year off right I will do one of the Duo Dining meals... So what do you do with a half head of cabbage? duh.. you make another cabbage meal. So here is one. I will post the pictures later.

Pasta & Cabbage
Cabbage, half 3 lb head, shredded ( long shreds or to hide it put in a food processor)
1 box wheat pasta, rotini
3 potatoes, chopped
4 oz Smart Balance light or other vegan butter
3 to 5 cloves garlic, chopped, depends on how much garlic you like
2 or 3 fresh or dried sage leaves
1 tsp black pepper

Bring water to boil. Put in your shredded cabbage let cook for 10 minutes. Add the potatoes for about 5 minutes and then add the wheat pasta cook for 12 more minutes. In a separate pan while this is cooking add the butter to melt down with the sage leaves, garlic, and black pepper. Take 2 ladles of the starchy water and add to the butter. Let cook down a little. But do not scorch your butter. When your cabbage, pasta, and potatoes are done add the sauce mix to it. And again.. your done... We love this stuff !!!!!!

But stay with me. The blog looks rough right now but I will work on fixing it up...!