Your Vegan Mom

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.  

Simple Sweet Teriyaki Sauce

Can you see my jazz hands?  Desmond is at school today.  Felix is taking a nap.  I am writing something and eating lunch.  My own lunch.  It's a teriyaki seitan burger if you must know.  The kids don't really like the burgers.  But it doesn't matter.  Because it's all mine.  My best pal just called.  She said that my voice sounds different.  It does.  It's the absence of chaos around me.  Can you hear it too?  

And lunch is deliriously good.  So good that I'm going to take a picture.  Even though it's just a burger.  On a white bread bun.  No crunchy lettuce or purple onion.  Nothing pretty.  Topped with nothing but teriyaki sauce and mayonaise.  I like it simple.  But also, we've been out of town and there is approximately no food in the house.  

But this is a quick, simple teriyaki made completely of pantry staples.  No food necessary.  I think I may keep it around.  The teriyaki sauce, and this school thing as well.  God Bless September.  

Simple Sweet Teriyaki 
Based on this recipe.   

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water

In a small sauce pan, bring the first five ingredients to a simmer.  In the meantime, stir the cornstarch into the remaining 1/4 cup water.  Add the cornstarch slurry to the pan and stir.  When the pan has returned to a simmer and your sauce is thick (about 1 minute, it will continue to thicken as it cools), you're done.  Remove the pan from the heat and use to glaze grilled tofu or seitan or slather on top of a burger.  

Vegan Kid Snacks

It's overcast today, and slightly gloomy.  I feel just like the grown-up Southern California equivalent of that kid in The Snowy Day.  Last night in a dream, I saw the weather page from the L.A. Times.  It forecast 200 degree highs for the Valleys until Friday, when it would cool slightly.  But when I woke up this morning it was still gray and cool and I put on long pants and went to Desmond's preschool for a back-to-school meeting. 

School starts next week, and it's time to start thinking about snacks.  I already signed up for three snack days at the preschool this month.  With the toddler set, snack is a meal in its own right.  It comes at 10:00.  Often again around 3:00.  And I'm learning to plan for it at the beginning of the week, just like I do dinner, so that I don't blow this twice daily opportunity to get some good food into that little growing body.  

Here's an awfully incomplete list of snacks we like.  A lot of them are recipes from here, some are things you can just go and buy from the store, and some are indispensable recipes from other sites.  I would love it if you would add to the list in the comments.  I even have a tiny treat to entice you to share.  Remember that new children's book I was just talking about?  The author sent some cute buttons of a couple characters in the story along with my review copy.  I'll send two of you a button and a homemade snack.  (So, let's keep it in the Continental U.S.)  I'll draw two names at random in two weeks from the comments here.  Just leave a note about your favorite kid snack.  (Even if you don't have them!  What did you love to snack on when you were a kid, or what healthy snacks have you been making that you just bet a kid would love?) 

• Oatie Bars
• Cheese Crackers (I've been meaning to order a tiny fish cutter, but in the meantime, I just cut squares in irregular cheese-it style.)
• Pudding Cups
• Dried Mango (And, of course, other dried fruit, but both my boys are just such huge fans of dried mango.  They sell the unsweetened variety in the bulk bins at Whole Foods and also packaged at our Trader Joe's.  Tastes like candy and high in iron.)
• Mini Muffins (This zucchini cake will also make you a million mini muffins to put in the freezer.  This sweet potato muffin is great for small children too because it's not very sweet.)
• Oatmeal Cookies
• Fruit (duh.) (Both my boys are currently watermelon crazy.)
• Whole Wheat Pretzel Sticks with Cashew Cheese Dip
• Crackers and Peanut Butter
• Soy Yogurt (I like Wildwood.)
• Edamame
• Carrot Sticks with tahini dip (Though to be honest, I'm the one that wants the tasty dip - Desmond prefers his carrots bunny-style - uncut, greenery attached.)
• Somewhat healthy milkshakes
• All sorts of smoothies
• Popsicles
• Toasted Tortilla Wedges and Bean Dip
• Toasted Pita Wedges and Hummus 

Update:  Thank you everybody for sharing all of your creative ideas!  I'm sending a little love to Amity (comment #26) and Amy (comment #13).  If you two didn't get my email, send me your mailing address and I'll get your pin and treat in the mail!