Vegan MoFo #10: The Ultimate Vegan Cheese Sauce!

Hi Friends!

I have an amazing Cheese Sauce recipe to share with you today.  Let me tell you that I have tried so many different "cheese sauce" recipes and none have come close to this one.  It's thick, creamy, and oh so yummy.  I've adapted this recipe from one that I found on the interweb.  I was so intrigued with the use of potatoes and carrots that I had to investigate but, the rest of the recipe seemed a little too plain for my taste so I jazzed it up a bit.  The result was nothing short of amazing.

Remember, there is no actual cheese in this sauce so don't expect it to taste exactly like cheese.  But, do expect to add this to everything you eat!  You may even find yourself licking the blender.  Don't worry, you're not alone.

Ultimate Vegan Cheeze Sauce
Ingredients
2 cups peeled, boiled, and mashed potatoes (I used 3 medium potatoes)
1 cup peeled, chopped, and boiled carrots (I used 3 medium-large peeled carrots cut in 1 inch pieces)
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1/3 cup vegetable stock (water will work, too)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Herbamare
1/2 - 1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp mustard
1 tbsp Sriracha (optional, but adds amazing flavor)

Directions:
Boil your potatoes and carrots until they are fork tender, measure them in their mashed form (that step is more important for the potatoes than it is for the carrots) and add them to your blender.
Place the rest of your ingredients in your blender and process until smooth.  You may have to scrape down your blender a couple of times.
You can serve this immediately or store it in an air tight container in the fridge until you are ready to use it.  The sauce can be reheated on the stove or in a microwave.  Just  make sure you stir it really well.

I chose to try out the sauce on a Tofu 'Egg' Sandwich.  It was amazing!  I can't wait to smother this sauce onto a plate of vegan nachos!  Yum, yum!

TGIF and have a great weekend y'all!

Love,
Ves xx

Family Day!

   Hi Friends!

   It's Family Day here in Ontario which means my Monday was spent at home rather than at work!  I love holiday long weekends.  My sister and I spent the day together at my place watching old movies, chatting on Skype with our mom, painting our nails and eating yummy food.  It was a really fun day and a perfect way to spend Family Day, in my opinion.

Here's what Family Day looked like for me and my sis... oh, and Patchie, too!

Patchie was sunning herself all morning!  I couldn't get her away from the window (not that I tried!).

My sis and I grabbed a coffee on our way to my place and discovered that today is the first day of Roll up the Rim!  Woohoo! (I lost my first roll up... figures!)

My sister made a super delicious (and VERY garlicky) Guacamole.

Patchie trying to steal our Doritos.  Did you know that Sweet Chili Heat is vegan?  It sure is!

Dinner:  I made us "Egg 'n' Cheese" Sandwiches with tofu and my sister loved it.  (She hates tofu!)

We also had some girly fun painting our nails!

I think mine turned out pretty okay!

   I hope you guys had a great Family Day... or Islander Day as I'm told they call it in P.E.I.  Otherwise, I hope your Monday was about as awesome as mine was!

Love,

Ves xx

Vegan MoFo # 9 - RAW Hummus

   Hello All!

   It felt really good to catch you guys up in my last post and hopefully you'll get the chance to make one of those recipes soon.
Today's post will kick off the theme for the week which is... ZUCCHINI! 

   I love how versatile zucchini can be and that's thanks to it's very mild flavor.  This week I'll be using it in a few different ways - some sneaky and some 'in your face', but all will be awesome.  Okay, I think they're all awesome but, you can be the judge when you make them.  Ha!

RAW Hummus
Ingredients
2 organic zucchini, peeled and chopped
1/2 - 3/4 cup raw tahini
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2-3 garlic cloves
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
Celtic sea salt and pepper, to taste (optional)

Directions:
Add all of the ingredients (starting with the wet ones first) to your high speed blender and process until smooth.  Enjoy!

RAW Red Pepper Hummus

Ingredients

1 medium zucchini, peeled and chopped

1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
1 - 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped (depending on how garlicky you want it)

½ cup raw Tahini
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
½ tsp Celtic sea salt (optional)

Directions:
Add all of the ingredients (starting with the wet ones first) to your high speed blender and process until smooth.  Enjoy!
** This recipe is the same as the one I posted here except that I omitted the oil.  I don't really think it's necessary to have the added fat and it tastes just as good, if not better.

   I love hummus but I find that the chickpea variety tends to bother my stomach if I eat too much of it.  Which, is all of the time as I can't just stop at a few dips!  I make my own hummus whenever I have a craving and I love it because it's so simple to put together and I know exactly what's in it.  So, if I happen to eat half the batch in one sitting... at least I know the ingredients are real!  Ha.

Love,
Ves xx

Creamy Dreamy Avocados!

   I've been a bit obsessed with avocados recently - okay fine, I'm always obsessed with avocados! (It must be a California thing?)  Lately I find myself buying them in bulk and having one (or more) a day.  I usually put them in my salads and wraps, as is, but I also love to make guacamole and other dips with them as well.
   I came up with this recipe in a pinch when my sis-in-law was coming over.  I had cut up a bunch of veggies and realized that I had nothing to offer as a dip.  Not everyone enjoys dipping their veggies in mustard or salsa the way that I do!  Anyway, I've been making this dip a lot lately and I'm not even close to being sick of it yet!  
Read on for my super yummy (and easy!) recipe...

Creamy Dreamy Avocado Dip

Makes about 4 cups

Ingredients:

2 Organic zucchinis, chopped

1 - 2 avocados (depending on the size)

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1 - 2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 Tbs. raw tahini

3 Tbs. nutritional yeast

pinch cayenne pepper

salt to taste
1/4 cup of water (optional to thin it out, if needed)

Directions:

Cut the avocado in half, peel it and chop the flesh into pieces and put it into a blender.  Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy.  This is not a thick dip which makes it perfect as a dressing in salads and wraps as well.

Perfect for dipping veggies and crackers!

So yum!

Sweet potato fries?  Yes, dip them!

So good in Romaine Wraps!

Enjoy!

Love,

Ves xx

WIAW # 11 & My Vacation in Pictures!

   It's been pretty silent around here lately and I apologize for that but I have good reason, I promise!  Last week my mind was preoccupied with not "letting the cat out of the bag" and ruining our surprise for my mom's birthday.  I've been a little busy being super sneaky with my sis.  We flew out here to Nova Scotia for our mom's birthday and succeeded in surprising her with our visit.  On top of that my mom's brother and his wife (aka our Aunt and Uncle) from Vancouver showed up on the same day to surprise my mom as well!  It's been a crazy few days and I haven't properly sat down in front of my computer to do anything let alone type.
   We've been doing a lot of catching up, sight seeing and eating!  Unfortunately, I've been taking pictures of everything else except my food.  Oops, sorry!  But, I do have a couple of shots of food to go along with some sightseeing photos.
 First things first... the food!
My Summer staples:  Salads, Wraps, and Dips!:

{Dreamy Creamy Avocado Dip!} Stay tuned for the recipe.

{Veggies!}

{Lettuce Wraps} - So yum!  Stay tuned for the recipe.

{Nori Wrap!}

{Nori Wrap} cont'd!

{Nori Wrap - all wrapped up}.  I was trying to be fancy with the "plating"!

{Chopped salad with sweet potatoes and roasted veggies}

{Kale salad, sweet potatoes, and roasted veggie couscous}

And now for some "touristy" pics...

Downtown Digby looking out to the bay.

Health food store in Yarmouth.  I love visiting health food stores (and this one was fab)!

The ferry that will take us across the Digby Neck.

One of the many lighthouses in the area

A little cafe located outside the ferry line-up

Our ferry - the Petit Princess - how appropriate! 

   I hope you've enjoyed some of my food/vacation pictures!  I will post more photos of my vacation later this week.

Until then...
Happy WIAW and Enjoy your week (I will)!

Love,
Ves xx

June Foodie Penpals Reveal Day!

   It's my new favorite time of the month... Foodie Penpals reveal day!  I'm like a kid in a candy store when my parcel arrives in the mail.  Actually, it doesn't really "arrive", I have to go pick it up because I live in an apartment and have the world's smallest mailbox.  But I don't care because it's totally worth it!
   I lucked out this month and got matched with Kristy from Gastronomical Sovereinty.  She's a fabulous food blogger who appreciates fresh, local, organic ingredients.  Some of her recipes look simply mouthwatering!  I say "some" because she isn't a vegan foodie, so she does cook with meat.  Check her blog out once you're done ogling my goodies

Check it out...

  I loved the wrapping - especially the pink tissue (although the polka dots were a close second)!  I couldn't wait to unwrap and see what was inside.

   1 & 5.  Sweet Potato Chips!  Homemade by Kristy and as an extra touch she attached the recipe to it.  The chips were super yummy and full of flavor.  Definitely going to make these again!  Kristy said she made the sweet potato crisps because she knew I loved sweet potatoes.  How thoughtful!

   2.  A lemon saver!  Actually it's a grapefruit saver but she said that this one looks better than the lemon one, so I'll take her word for it!  I haven't used it yet since I am so lazy I just throw my lemons on the top shelf of the fridge, even if they are sliced open.  I promise I'll use it this weekend!

   3.  A lovely note from Kristy!

   4.  Homemade Salsa!  With the recipe attached as well. :) Actually it was a kind of Bruschetta mixture and it was delicious!  She also made this because she read that I love salsa. 

   6.  Fernwood Coffee Beans straight from her 'hood!  Organic, fair-trade and climate friendly packaging... what more could you ask for?  Oh yeah, a great brew!  And this coffee did not disappoint.  It was so rich in aroma and flavor.  Yum!

Oh, and the salsa was so good that I couldn't resist adding it to a wrap that I was making for dinner that night. 

   I added a veggie burger that I chopped up, along with more greens and nutritional yeast.  The salsa definitely added some pizazz to my plain weekday dinner wrap!

Big thanks to Kristy for all of my amazing goodies!

   This month I sent a package of goodies to Colleen who doesn't have a blog.  Colleen and I share a tiny bond in that both of our parents (her in-laws) live near Digby, Nova Scotia.  Small world!

If you are new to the Foodie Penpals here is the DL:

On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.

• -You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
• -The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
• -You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
• -Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you can choose to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
• - Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian residents & UK residents.  

Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada! ***If you’re in Europe, please contact Carol Anne from This Is Rock Salt at rocksalt@thisisrocksalt.com to get involved!

Thanks as always to Lindsay over at the Lean Green Bean for creating and hosting this foodie penpal link up party!

'Til next time...

Love,

Ves

Have a Kind Long Weekend!

   It's the day before the Canada Day long weekend!  Some of you may have taken an extra day off work, starting your weekend early and to that I say, Luck You!  I'm off to work and hoping I don't melt in this heatwave that we're having.
   I thought I'd leave you with some 'kind' food ideas for your long weekend eats.  There's a little something for whatever you have planned.  Whether it's a BBQ cookout, cocktails by the pool, or a sweet tooth while watching the fireworks, I've got you covered.

Source

Start by enjoying some...

 Cheesy Layer Dip and 

 Sweet Potato Crisps while lounging by the pool sipping margaritas.

If it's BBQ fare that you're after try whipping up some...

  Beet Burgers, or...

 Bean Burgers along with...

 Coleslaw - vegan, of course - and

Vegan Caprese Salad.  Then wash it down with...

a Dreamy Dreamsicle Smoothie or,

a Chocolate Macashake.  Finish it all of with 

Chocolate Chip Cookies, of course (a side of [vegan]vanilla ice cream wouldn't hurt either!).

Have a safe and wonderful long weekend full of deliciously kind eats!

Love,
Ves xx