Your Vegan Mom

Pancake Taco

Start with Paul's Buttermilk Pancakes.

In a small bowl, stir together some almond butter and maple syrup with a fork.

Spread a big dollop of the sweet almond butter onto each pancake.

Arrange slices of fruit on one half - pears or peaches or raspberries or whatever you have are all nice.

Fold in half and devour.  

Pizza Shake or Vegan Parmesan

Last May one of you (Heidi) asked what I do about the endless school fundraisers that seem to invariably involve junk food.  Our school has a monthly restaurant night, and I can completely relate to the dilemma of wanting to support the school but not the fast food burger joint that they're partnering with for the evening.  Last year we just sort of picked and chose the few places that actually had something for us to eat on the menu even if it wasn't super great quality food.  We eat healthy most of the time, so I don't stress out too much when my kids eat a thin wedge of white bread with a smear of tomato sauce for dinner one night at the pizza parlor with their pals, or really even more likely, don't even eat a piece of pizza because they're too busy "playing" video games.  (Please don't tell the boy that those machines take quarters.)  

So, I changed up my approach this year.  I decided that I would just be in charge of fundraising for the preschool.  This approach was perhaps a bit rash and explains why I haven't written or cooked since early August.  This job is incredibly time consuming, but somebody's got to do it right?  Might as well be the vegan.  If you are considering going this route yourself, and you have a baby at home, please reconsider.  

So for the most part, with our somewhat limited suburban resources, I have set up moderately healthy restaurant nights for the rest of the year at places that all have some sort of vegan option.  But there are still three pizza nights on the agenda.  And your average pizza ordered without cheese needs a bit of salt, a bit of fat, and a bit of nutritional consequence.    

And that's why amidst the baby socks and snack wrappers and finger puppets and sippy cup lids, (all things that I really just found in my purse, in addition to two legos and one packet of non-dairy creamer and approximately a kajillion receipts.  I am totally cleaning out my purse as soon as we're done here.) I usually have a small jar of pizza shake.  It's called pizza shake because we shake it on take-out pizza.  I wouldn't be surprised if you make something similar.  I've been tweaking this for about a decade and have settled on this recipe (at least for the time being).   

Pizza Shake
You might find that you also like this anywhere that you might use parmesan cheese.  For cooking, I prefer almond meal.  I usually quadruple this recipe and keep it in a big jar in the fridge. 

1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons almond or flax meal
1 teaspoon nondairy butter
1 teaspoon miso

Mix together with a fork until combined.  It will be the texture of fairly fine bread crumbs.

Store in the fridge, but it will do just fine in your purse for a couple hours.  

Samosa Quesadillas and Creamy Mango Salad Dressing

 

I'm kind of excited about this recipe.  I had been meaning to put this idea into action for a long time, but it wasn't until I had a slew of leftover mashed potatoes and a last minute gaggle of moms and kids to feed that I made it happen.  And it was just what I thought it would be - everything good about a samosa - squishy, mildly spiced potatoes and peas encased in a crisp, pick-up-able package, but with all the ease of slapping together a quesadilla.  Good stuff.  And perfect as a super-simple, kid-friendly, mid-week dinner.

We ate this with a salad of red lettuce, spicy pickled onions, and chickpeas, all drizzled with the creamy mango dressing.  Everything was served separately so that the boy could dip all his component parts in a tiny cup of the sweet vinaigrette.  The pickled onions were a nod to the grown-ups in the party, because everything else is mild and easy on a toddler's sensitive taste buds.     

We dipped the quesadillas in the dressing, but if you're not making the salad, these would also be good with store-bought mango chutney.

 

Samosa Quesadillas

• 3 cups left-over mashed potatoes (I've also made this with half sweet potato.)
• 2 teaspoons curry powder (or to taste)
• 1 cup frozen peas (run them under cool water to get rid of any freezer taste and defrost them a little)
• salt to taste
• 6 whole wheat tortillas

Mix together the potatoes, peas, curry powder and salt to taste.  Heat a griddle.  Spread half of each tortilla with potato filling, fold over, and grill on each side. 

Creamy Mango Salad Dressing
makes 1 cup 

• 1 cup mango chunks
• 3 tablespoons lime juice (or the juice of one big juicy lime)
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Blend until smooth and creamy.

Hand-Held Salad and Your Basic Dipping Sauce

 

 And now that we have discussed what the Jaconi Bierys are eating for dinner this week (In theory.  I have strayed so far from my plan.  Do you stick to it?), let's talk about lunch.  I go through lunch kicks.  Last month (and by that I do mean approximately thirty consecutive days), I ate a quinoa-lentil bowl with avocado and walnuts and a quick dressing of flax oil, lemon juice, soy sauce, and sriracha.  And last week was hand-held salads: lettuce leaves, slivers of carrot (the crunch is key, though I imagine bell pepper or jicama would work as well), avocado (gotta have that creamy richness), and sticks of extra-firm tofu.  Take a lettuce leaf, place the other stuff on top and roll up into a little burrito.  Dip in sauce.  

 

Basic Dipping Sauce
This is perfect for dipping vegetable dumplings from the freezer section at Trader Joe's or these hand-held mini salads.  I don't generally measure, just throw in a little salty, a little sweet, a little tangy, a little spicy (if the boy's not looking), and a little sesame until it tastes good.  But for you, I measure.

2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar 
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil   
minced chili or hot sauce to taste

Stir to combine.  Adjust to your taste.  And dip.  

 

 Look!  There's my kid eating salad.  I love that.  And there in the back is the present wrapped in blue tissue paper that I haven't sent to my new niece yet even though she was born over a month ago(!).  Plus, one of my two raddest nephews turned eight three days ago and we haven't even told him how much we love him.  I have to work on this being a better aunt thing.  Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.  

Instant Hot Cocoa says Merry Christmas

Hot Cocoa Mix 

• 3 parts powdered soy milk
• 1 part cocoa powder
• 1 part sugar

Mix and then sift before funneling into clean dry jars for gift giving and holiday sipping.  To serve, use 3 1/2 tablespoons of dry mix to 1 cup of hot water.      

What are you making for holiday gifts?