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Veggy Salad with Quinoa

May 24, 2012 by Erin

Ahh…May 24. Today is my friend Sean’s birthday. Normally, I wouldn’t blast my friends’ birthdays on my blog but Sean’s having a bit of difficulty admitting that 1. Birthdays are the shit! (seriously, it’s a whole day for people to celebrate how awesome you are. What’s there not to love) and 2. he’s a year older than he was last year (26 isn’t old, thankyouverymuch!!). So to help him deal with his unhappiness over this particular day, I’m doing what any good friend would do…I’m sharing his birthday with the entire internet world.

(Don’t worry… I don’t get that many hits on this blog)

((He’s still going to kill me and possibly never talk to me again))

So, in celebration of Sean’s birthday, I’m sharing with you today… drum roll please….

A Salad!!

Wait..what? I know, it’s weird BUT the ice cream cookie cups I made in his honor will be way better to share with you tomorrow, as in Friday, as in the end of the week. I started the week off with a smoothie, I can’t end it with a salad!

I wasn’t even going to post this on my blog cause I didn’t want to bore you but my roomie, Bonnie, said it sounded pretty good and was interested so I figured I’d give it a shot. After all, this blog was designed to share with you my vegan meals and this is what I’ve been having for dinner all week

Veggy Salad with Quinoa
from Lauren Conrad.com 

  • a big handful of mixed greens, lettuce and/or baby spinach (I used baby spinach)
  • 1/2 an avocado, cubed
  • a handful of cherry tomatoes (I slice mine in half, which is sort of weird but the only way I can eat them)
  • 1/2 a cucumber
  • 1/4 cup slivered almonds
  • 1/2 cup cooked quinoa
  • balsamic vinegar, olive oil and lemon,lime or orange juice
  • salt and pepper to taste

Combine greens to quinoa together in a big bowl. Mix together the vinegar, olive oil and juice. Pour over salad and top with salt and pepper.

I didn’t put measurements for the dressing because honestly, I never measure this out. I always do a few glugs of balsamic vinegar, a splash of oil because I really don’t like a ton, and a little more lime juice than oil. Not very scientific.

The addition of the quinoa is great because it makes the salad really filling. I feel like, though salads can be really good for you, they often don’t hold you over. This one actually makes you feel full and satisfied so I’m a big fan! Thank you pinterest for introducing me to Lauren Conrad’s website. I’m kind of a fan now!

So in conclusion, Happy Birthday, Sean! As my present to you, I won’t make you eat this salad because  I know it’s not up your alley. And I hope you still speak to me at work. =D

 

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Breakfast Smoothies

May 22, 2012 by Erin

I feel like starting the week off with a smoothie is sort of starting the week off on a wimper. I feel like I should start with something amazing and gripping like cupcakes! Or cake! Or a cocktail!

Instead, you get a smoothy.

*Whomp, whomp*

But here’s the thing- it’s almost summer time in New England. I know some of you may actually already feel like it’s summer, but New England is really holding out. It’s cool and rainy here and I’m actually thinking that Bean, Kale and Potato soup is looking pretty good.

Even though, it may not feel like summer yet, I’m already planning two beach trips- to the Cape and to North Carolina- and both will require me to suck up my dislike and wear summer clothes *dun, dun, duuun*

(I’m already counting down the days until boots weather)

Until then though, I have to tighten up on the healthy eating. No more cinnamon pancakes for dinner! (even though they are soooo good…)

So here’s a breakfast smoothy I started the week with:

Oatmeal Smoothie
fromMartha Stewart 

  • 1 cup ice
  • 1/2 cup frozen raspberries (though any berry would work)
  • 1/2 cup plain coconut-milk yogurt
  • 1 banana
  • 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 TBSP honey
  • 1 cup coconut water

Place ice and raspberries in the bottom of blender, and other ingredients on to. Blend until completely smooth.

The recipe says this made 2-4 servings but those would be really small breakfast servings if you divided it into 4! I split it in half, put half in the fridge for the next morning and froze the second half in ice cube trays. I just blended the cubes together the morning of or the night before. Either works!

Alright, hopefully my food choices pick up this week and somehow manage to be fun and healthy.

PS. Do you like my ghetto smoothie cup?? Someone threw my fancy-schmancy travel mug out at work so I’ve been in smoothie to-go cup limbo. I need a new one STAT!

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Chimichangas

May 18, 2012 by Erin

I’ve been trying to write this blog for 45 minutes but I keep getting interrupted by this awesome song, which keeps coming up on my dance playlist:

If you’ve been watching Girls like I told you to, then you’ve probably been rocking out to this song for at least two weeks now. Me? Well, I don’t actually get HBO. So, I have to wait until I can find alternative means to watching it, which means I was about a week or two behind in hearing this song and loving it.

BUT I’ve recently realized one of my friends not only gets HBO, but he’s also a Girls fan. I’m seeing some bargaining going down in the future, something along the lines of ‘you let me watch Girls at your places and I’ll let you hang in my air conditioned apartment’. After all, New England summers can be pret-ty humid… =)

oh, what’s this? You came to this vegan blog for recipes?! Sorry! I was distracted by the fact that it’s Friday, which has put me in a dancing mood.

Anyway, here is one of the easiest, tastiest recipes in my vegan arsenal. Interestingly enough, it was a Weight Watchers recipe that I had at my parents’ house one time. The original recipe called for ground turkey and was 5 points per wrap. I’m not sure how veganizing it effects the points but I can tell you it’s still delicious! Also, I promise this is my last cinco de mayo inspired recipe that was too late for you to use for cinco de mayo. sorry…

Baked Chimichangas
veganized from Weight Watchers (sorry I don’t have a direct link for you. I don’t have a membership)
8 servings 

  • 1/2 pound vegan ground beef (Boca Ground Crumbles are vegan. If you don’t want to use fake meat, you could sub in any type of beans, especially whole black beans, frozen corn, a combo of both or you could leave this ingredient out completely. They rest of the ingredients still provide a filling meal)
  • 16 oz refined beans (Weight Watchers suggests fat-free)
  • 1 3/4 c. salsa
  • 4 1/2 oz canned green chili peppers, mild, drained and diced
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 3 TBSP scallions, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup vegan cheese (I used Daiya Pepper Jack)
  • 8 large burrito-size wheat flour tortillas
  • 1 c. salsa
  • guacamole or vegan sour cream (optional, I liked just mashed up avocado)

Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Coat a large skillet with cooking spray. Coat a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Add vegan ground beef to skillet and cook over medium high heat until heated through, about 5 minutes. Add the beans, 1 3/4 cups  of salsa, chili peppers, chili powder and scallions. Cook until heated through, about 3 minutes, stir in cheese.

Meanwhile, wrap tortillas in foil; warm in oven for 10 minutes. Assemble chimichangas by spooning about 1/2 cup of filling onto each tortilla; fold in sides and roll up. Place each chimichanga, seam-side down, in prepared dish. Bake uncovered, until tortillas are crisp and brown, about 20 minutes.

Serve each topped with salsa and guacamole/vegan sour cream.

After trying to take a  staged photo of refried bean-filled burritos and attempting to make them look appetizing I realized 1. the Weight Watchers ones were most likely chilled, pressed, cut and then photographed to make them less gooey and 2. it wasn’t going to happen on this blog. All my pics come out looking like mush. I tried my best, readers. Just trust me when I say they are easy, delicious and filling!

Now if you don’t mind, I have to go find my hairbrush and rock out/lipsynch to this song for the 800th time while attempting not to mess up my freshly painted toe nails. HAPPY FRIDAY!

Posted in Recipes | 2 Comments »

Strawberry margarita cupcake

May 16, 2012 by Erin

These are the cupcakes, everyone. THE cupcakes I dreamed about making for Cinco de Mayo and couldn’t because I was sick. But I was not going to let a little bug prevent me from making them.

And they turned out delicious!

They earned me a hug from my roommate’s vegan friend, who seriously has the worst vegan diet I’ve ever heard of. He practically lives off power bars. So clearly, he enjoyed them!

They also earned me glowing reviews from my other roommate’s special guy friend. This is high praise because he is a hardcore meat eater. He even hosts a ginormous bacon festival every year. Anyway, he really liked them, too!

So, clearly, they get the non-vegan and vegan seal of approval, which basically means they’re awesome.

But, I need to give some high praises to How Sweet Eats, because I got the idea from her in two ways: 1. I’m SO addicted to her Strawberry margaritas- the traditional strawberry marg and the coconut strawberry marg. She’s turning me into a lush! and 2. She made a gin and tonic cake, which inspired me to turn it into margarita cupcakes. I salute her!

Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes

Cakes
adapted by How Sweet Eats 

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup Earth Balance vegan butter, at room temperature
  • 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 4  Ener-G “egges”
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons freshly zested lime rind
  • 1/4 cup tequila, plus more for brushing the cakes
  • 1/4 cup non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)
  • juice of 1 lime
Frosting
from All Recipes
  • 1 cup fresh strawberries
  • 1 cup vegan Earth Balance butter
  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted (I left this out and just used the 2 1/2 cups below. I don’t love super sweet frosting.)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat butter on medium speed until creamy. Add in sugar and beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add in each “egg” one at a time, beating until fully incorporated before adding the next. Add in vanilla and lime zest and mix.

With the mixer on low speed, add in half of the dry ingredients. Add in tequila, non-dairy milk and lime juice, mixing until combined. Add remaining flour and beat until just combined.

Line cupcake pan with liners and fill cupcakes 2/3 full. My cupcakes didn’t rise too much. Bake cupcakes for 25-30 minutes. When  you remove them from the oven, poke holes in the cupcake with a fork or knife. Brush tequila on the cupcakes.

While the cupcakes are cooking, you can start on the frosting. Place strawberries in a blender; puree until smooth. Transfer strawberry puree to a saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil, stirring often, until puree is reduced by at least half, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely.
If you want your strawberry mixture super smooth, at this point you can strain it through a fine mesh strainer to remove all the seeds and any lumps that my have remained. I did this and loved not having the seeds in the frosting but it also makes a huge mess so you can easily leave this step out.
Beat butter with an electric mixer in a bowl until light and fluffy. Beat 1 cup confectioners’ sugar into butter until just blended. Beat 2 tablespoons strawberry puree and vanilla extract into butter mixture until just blended. Repeat with 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, followed by 2 tablespoons strawberry puree. (repeat the sugar, strawberry puree cycle one more time if you are using the full 3 1/2 c. of confectioner sugar) Beat last 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar into mixture until just blended.
The tequila in the cupcakes is super subtle. It’s the lime and the strawberry that make the  most impression and they are delicious together! I’m especially a huge fan of the lime cake. It’s super light and summery. I will definitely be bringing this to a future BBQ or summer dinner.
Cupcakes on Weds? I thought it would help get you through the week!

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Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

May 11, 2012 by Erin

So Sunday is Mother’s Day. I’m sure you already knew that. I’m sure you already made plans with your mom and I’m sure you already bought her something nice. Because, of course, you remembered it was Mother’s Day Sunday… of course.

Unfortunately, I will be working and not celebrating with my mom, which really stinks because she’s kind of awesome- even though she refuses to admit I’m better at Singstar and Scrabble. It’s ok, though. I was an obnoxious, annoying teenager for a solid 6ish years. For instance, for my senior prom, shopping for my prom dress was so stressful that she came home after hours of shopping and finding nothing (cause I was seriously the worst person to shop with then) and made herself a large, probably very strong, margarita. It’s not my fault that all the dresses were too girly/too ugly/too frilly/too ruffly/too not black/too not-edgy-enough and I waited until the last minute to go shopping! So, letting her think she’s better at scrabble and singstar is the least I can do for her now, right?

Anyway, as Mother’s Day usually equals brunch, I’ve whipped up some pancakes to share with you. These are delicious! Unfortunately, during the process, I realized I’m almost as bad at flipping pancakes as wrapping burritos, so just pretend these are prettier, ok? Thanks.

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
veganized from RecipeGirl.com
if you use the 1/3 cup, as suggested below, will make 4-5 pancakes

CINNAMON FILLING:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) Earth Balance vegan butter, just melted (not boiling)
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon

GLAZE:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) Earth Balance
2-ounces cream cheese, at room temperature (optional. I couldn’t find a vegan version of cream cheese so I omitted this and it still tasted great! Trader Joe’s is suppose to have a really tasty cream cheese, though, if you want to try and find it)
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

PANCAKES:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
1 large “egg”, lightly beaten (I used 1 Ener-G “egg”)
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil

Directions:

Prepare the cinnamon filling: In a medium bowl, stir together the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Scoop the filling into a quart-sized heavy zip baggie and set it aside (see *Tips below).

Prepare the glaze: In a small pan, heat the butter over low heat until melted. Turn off the heat and whisk in the powdered sugar into the pan, stir and add in vanilla extract. Set the pan aside while you make the pancakes.

Prepare the pancake batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk in the milk, egg and oil, just until the batter is moistened (a few small lumps are fine).

Cook the pancakes: Heat a large, nonstick skillet over medium-heat. (You can spray the pan with non-stick spray if you desire but I found they made my pancakes yellow so I omitted this) Use an ice cream scoop (or 1/3 cup measuring cup) to add the batter to the pan. Use the bottom of the scoop or cup to spread the batter into a circle (about 4-inches in diameter). Reduce the heat to medium low. Snip the corner of your baggie of cinnamon filling (it should be the consistency of toothpaste) and squeeze the filling into the open corner. When your pancake begins to form bubbles, add the filling. Starting at the center of the pancake, squeeze the filling on top of the pancake batter in a swirl. Cook the pancake 2 to 3 minutes, or until the bubbles begin popping on top of the pancake and it’s golden brown on the bottom. Slide a thin, wide metal spatula underneath the pancake and gently but quickly flip it over. Cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes, until the other side is golden as well. When you flip the pancake onto a plate, you will see that the cinnamon filling has created a crater-swirl of cinnamon. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, and repeat with the remaining pancake batter and cinnamon filling. Re-warm the glaze briefly, if needed. Serve pancakes topped with a drizzle of glaze.

Tips from Recipegirl.com:

*Quick and easy tip: Use a boxed pancake mix as the base for this recipe. (most bisquick IS vegan, last time I checked.)
*Tips for the cinnamon filling: Before swirling, open up the baggie again and give it a good stir to re-incorporate any butter that may have separated from the sugar. You want the mixture to thicken a bit- it’s best when it’s similar to the squeezing texture of a tube of toothpaste, which will happen if you leave it at room temperature for several minutes. Don’t try to use the filling for the pancake swirl unless it has thickened as it will be too runny to make a solid swirl.
*Keep the heat low or your pancakes might cook up too quickly. Don’t flip them until you see those bubbles starting to pop on top. Flip them with a wide spatula so you can grasp the whole thing without batter and filling dripping all over the place!

If you aren’t seeing your mom this weekend and are instead partying it up with your friends are Friday, I imagine these would also be excellent at soaking up all that beer in your belly the next morning!

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Trail Mix Seven Layer Bar

May 10, 2012 by Erin

Two weekends ago, Melinda and Amelia came over for a dessert baking party. Wine was opened, chocolate was melted and these bars were inhaled. I’m not exaggerating. Melinda wouldn’t even wait for them to set! The pan of Trail Mix Seven layer bars was passed around between all of us on the couch (including two of my roommates) and we ate them directly from the pan.

With our hands.

I wish I was kidding.

I wish we could say we were stoned to at least excuse our behavior but nope! They were just delicious and that’s the only excuse we had!

I woke up the next morning to find a tiny little corner piece was all that remained. The five of us ate almost the whole pan! Clearly, a photograph was not taken and even if it was, I don’t think any of us want us unceremoniously shoving trail mix bars into our faces with our hands to be available on the internet!

Either way, I was forced to make them again for you so I could actually get a picture.

Trail Mix Seven Layer Bars
inspired by Vegan Baking

Crust:

  • 9 cinnamon graham crackers (one packet in Honey Graham Set)*
  • 5 TBSP of coconut oil, melted
  • 1 TBSP + 1tsp water
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup apple juice infused dried cherries (or regular dried cherries)
  • 1/2 cup craisins
  • 1/2 cup chopped almonds
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips
  • 1 cup condensed milk (recipe here. I used Unsweetened Vanilla Almond milk this time)

Prepare the condensed milk ahead of time.

Preheat the oven to 325F. Line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper and set aside.

Put the graham crackers in a large ziploc baggy and crush until the graham cracker are roughly the texture of sand. (You can use a food processor but honestly, why lug it out and then have to wash the whole darn thing when crushing them works just as easily??).  Add coconut oil, water and salt to  your crushed graham crackers, seal up the bag and mush it all around until everything is well incorporated.

Dump the graham cracker crumbs into your 8×8 pan. Spread evenly. Use the bottom of a drinking glass to press down on the crumbs until they are tightly packed together.

Cover the graham crackers with the toppings. Pour the condensed milk over the toppings.

Bake for 35 minutes.  Once removed from the oven, allow to cool completely before cutting into it. I would recommend putting it in the fridge overnight. If you don’t let it cool, it will just be a crumbly mess of ingredients. I mean, it will still be delicious! But it won’t hold together in bar form. Trust me…the crumbly mess is what we ate the first go around because we were impatient.

*I know graham crackers often have honey in them. I could not find honey-less graham crackers when I was at Whole Foods but I don’t have an issue with honey so I went ahead and used them. Also, the Honey Graham brand and Whole Food’s 365 brand had mostly the same ingredients. If you are looking for a honey-less, more all-natural version, I would recommend trying to make these and swap out the honey for agave syrup or maple syrup. These have been on my ‘to-make’ list forever but this recipe wasn’t the time to try it.

The idea for these came about because my cafetaria at work always has seven layer bars and they are sooo good. and sooo not vegan. This was my vegan version. It’s a little heartier with all the fruit and nuts. The great thing about these is, like trail mix, you can customize it to your liking. You could swap out the cherries for raisin (eww, please don’t) or dried blueberries. You could swap out the almonds and pecans for different types of nuts. And you could use any time of non-dairy milk for the condensed milk.

Now seriously, go make these. And maybe have a fork ready so you don’t end up eating them with your hands. Though…I hear all the cool kids are doing that…just sayin’.

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Red Bean, Potato and Kale Soup

May 8, 2012 by Erin

Remember when I was super excited to go to the Cinco de Mayo party my friend, Rachel, was having on Saturday?

Remember when I was just thinking it was an excuse to drink excessive amounts of margaritas and an unhealthy amount of guac, aka mashed up avocado, aka my favorite things ever?

Well…that didn’t happen. I’m starting to feel like if I post something on here that is suppose to happen, it won’t.

Instead, I woke up Saturday with an ear infection, on top of the no-voice situation I’d been rocking since Thursday. So, instead of yummy party food and booze, I made soup. Bor-ing.

It should also be noted that it wasn’t particularly warm this weekend and we are looking at a week of rain so this soup is perfect for New England. I understand it’s warmer elsewhere so don’t think I’m weird for posting soup in May.

Red Bean, Potato and Kale Soup
roughly based off of Red Chard,Potato and White Bean Ragout 

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 to 4 garlic cloves (to taste), sliced
  • 1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/2-inch dice (about two or three potatoes)
  • 3 cups vegetable, 3 cups water
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 TBSP nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp thyme leaves
  • 1/2 cup- 1 cup frozen kale (I used 365 frozen blue curly kale. It’s great! or you can use about a pound of fresh)*
  • 1 can red beans
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 1 to 2 TBS chopped parsley (optional)

1. Heat the olive oil in the bottom of a big soup pot over medium heat and add the onion. Cook, stirring often, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the potatoes and stir together. Add 2 cups of vegetable broth and 2 cups of water, a bay leave, nutritional  yeast and thyme leaves. Bring to a simmer, cover and simmer 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Salt to taste.

2. Add the kale, beans and another 1 cup of broth and 1 cup of water to the pot**, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. The kale should be very tender. Stir in freshly ground pepper to taste and the parsley. Taste, adjust seasonings and serve.

* If you are using fresh kale, remove the leaves from the stem. Saute the stems in with the onions in the first step and then wait to add the kale leaves until step 2.

**When I’m sick, I like my soup broth-y. I feel like the healing properties are in the broth, not the actual food. So, I added more broth/water since it had cooked down significantly. If you like less broth, feel free to leave out the additional 2 cups of liquid at the end but keep a close eye on your red beans. You’ll most likely only have to cook them for 5-10 minutes until they are hot. You don’t want to over cook them or they will burst and make your soup sort of gritty. Trust me…I know…

yummm…this soup was just what the vegan doctor ordered. I curled up with it in my oversized North Conway mug and read for a good portion of the weekend. It also gave me enough energy to clean my room between naps! You should see it…it’s so clean!! Clearly, I should get sick more often if it means time to clean. Who knew?

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Cinco De Mayo recipe round up

May 4, 2012 by Erin

Remember me?

This is the first week in a long time I haven’t posted at least one recipe and I’m feeling pretty bad about it. But it’s been a crazy 2 weeks. I’ve:

-Served jury duty. I was on the bench and then at the last minute got removed cause the defendant didn’t like me.  I was still there ALL day though!

–
Saw the Wombats at the Middle East in Cambridge. I can’t remember the last time I danced so much. They were awesome! Check out their song above. Also, their CD is on sale on amazon for $5 this month so definitely check them out.

– worked a lot at my real job

–

Saw the Celtics play the Bucks. We won! Woot!

-worked a lot at my second job

–

Did A LOT of crafting with Rachel for our craft fair, which was yesterday. We got together at least 3 times before the fair. We didn’t do too bad, either. We sold cute map coasters, reusable coffee cup sleeves, wrap bracelets, wristlets, head bands, etc/ She will be posting some tutorials of things we sold on her website soon so check her out.

– baked a Trail Mix seven-layer bar…which was consumed so quickly last Saturday by my friends and roomies that I didn’t even get to snap a picture. I’m hoping to bake it again for you this weekend, though!

With all this running around I did, I forgot Cinco de Mayo is this weekend. Which is unacceptable since it’s practically a day to celebrate my favorite drink- margaritas!

But I couldn’t neglect you completely, so here is a few mexican inspired recipes on my blog that you can make for this weekend if you want to do something a little different. If you only make one thing, make the fresh strawberry margaritas! I’ll be making a pitcher tonight =)

Black Beans and Quinoa Burritos

Crispy Margarita Tofu Tacos with Strawberry Avocado Tacos

 

Fresh Strawberry Margaritas

Black Bean Salsa

Spicy Black Bean and Quinoa Soup

Enjoy your weekend and check back next week! I have a full day free with nothing planned this weekend so you can bet I’ll be cooking you up some yummy posts!

Posted in Life, Recipes | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

Quinoa and Black Bean Burritos

April 26, 2012 by Erin

I had several odd jobs during my high school years.

I’ve fought the madness that is my local fair by working the ticket booth at the entry gate. The fair only lasted a few days but the shifts were long and I handled so much money that I would actually dream about counting out change. And dealing with townies was always…interesting.

I worked at a record store, which was unfortunately more Record Town then Empire Records. I was working for The Man, not fighting him. Polo shirts and black slacks were involved. Not my best look.

But,  the icing on the cake was the tiny coffee shop I worked at while I was trying to save money for a Paris trip, junior year of high school . It was run by this mean cat lady who owned the place. Usually, on the weekends, it was just me and her. She would plop herself on this stool and watch everything I did, only getting up to yell at me/fix something I did. And I ALWAYS wrapped the wraps wrong. They were to tight. Too lose. Too much filling. Not enough. On more then one occasion she would trash what I had done and start over.

So needless to say, I have a mental block about making wraps and burritos. Seriously, I can never get them right. My brain refuses. Filling is always spilling out and the ends never stayed tucked in.

This became glaringly obvious this week when I tried to make burritos for lunch. I tried to 3 days in a row before cursing furiously, plopping everything in a bowl and eating it like that.

And guess what, it tasted just as good! Too bad I couldn’t have done that at my job. I’m pretty sure mean cat lady would have had an aneurism if I even attempted it.

Quinoa and Bean Burritos/Bowls
 inspired by Whole Foods and Rachel Robin’s Nest
makes roughly 6 or 7 wraps or bowls full, depending on the size of your wraps, can easily be halved

  • 1 cup uncooked quinoa (any color will work)
  • 1 can of black beans (you can also use dried but I had a can kicking around from way back when), drained and rinsed
  • 1 block of extra firm tofu, pressed
  • 1 TBSP of olive oil
  • 1 bell pepper
  • 1 sweet onion
  • a pack of taco seasoning
  • water (amount based on the taco seasoning you are using. Mine was left over from a taco night I had with friends and it called for 1 cup of water)
  • wheat wraps (optional)
  • optional toppings: taco sauce, salsa, avocado, guacamole, vegan cheese, vegan sour cream, lettuce, additional veggies

Add one cup of quinoa and two cups of water to a medium sauce pan. Bring to boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, when all the water is absorbed, remove from heat and fluff with a fork. Stir in the black beans.

Meanwhile, slice up the pepper, the onion and the tofu to your liking (I cut mine my veggies long strips like fajitas and my tofu in cubes ). Heat the olive oil to the pan and then add the veggies and the tofu. Saute until the tofu is golden brown on the outside. The onions with me soft and the peppers should still be a bit crunchy. Add the taco seasoning and water to the veggie/tofu mix and stir until the seasoning thickens to a sauce. It should only take about 2 minutes or so.

Scoop quinoa/bean mix onto a wrap. Add veggies and tofu and any additional toppings you like.

Alternatively, if you can’t keep your wrap together (like me) and it all falls apart by the time you get it to work the next day, you can mix everything together in a bowl. My favorite combo so far has been: quinoa, beans, veggies and tofu with taco seasoning, half an avocado cut into cubes, and a little BBQ hot sauce (yes…even my hot sauce is BBQ flavored). I keep the wrap on the side, slice it in triangles before work and then toast them at works as sort of a make shift tortilla chips.

aww…look how compact it is. Too bad as soon as I unwrapped it at work, the whole thing fell apart. Grr.

It’s really easy, full of protein and keeps you full for the rest of the afternoon. Win, win and win!

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Sweet Potato Brownies

April 24, 2012 by Erin

In college, I liked to have writing paper cram sessions. Ok, I didn’t like having cram sessions but it was an unfortunate side effect of having Procrastination Disorder. I would start my paper at around 7 o’clock the night before it was due, work 12 hours straight, sleep for an hour or two, review my paper and go to class around 10.

It’s crazy, I know. But what can I say? This happened with almost every paper I worked on, especially my sophmore year.

So, needless to say I’m 1. an expert on procrastination and 2. an expert on cram sessions.

I had to tap into that well of knowledge this weekend because my friend Rachel from Rachel Robin’s Nest and I decided it would be a super awesome idea to sign up for a craft fair our work is having. We, of course, were super motivated for the first week, compiling a laundry list of awesome crafts we wanted to do. Well…that was a month ago. On Friday, we had very little to show for a craft fair that is next week.

You know what that means…a cram session was in order! Oh yeah!

So, we got together this weekend and cranked out some serious crafts. And no cram session is complete without sugary fuel. In college, my go to fuel was a ginormous french vanilla cappuccino, like the instant ones that you can get at gas stations. I was addicted.

That doesn’t really suit my taste now so I had to look elsewhere. Ladies and gents, let me introduce you to the seriously chocolaty, fudgy Sweet Potato Brownie.

Fudgy Sweet Potatoadapted from

  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp plus 1/16 tsp salt
  • 1/2c agave
  • 1  tbsp maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup pureed sweet potato (directions below)
  • 3 tbsp oil
  • 2 tbsp milk of choice (I used unsweetened original almond milk)
  • 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

Combine dry ingredients, and mix. Combine wet ingredients, then mix into dry. Pour into a greased pan (it will fill up half an 8×8*). Cook for about 25-30 minutes at 330 F.

*These brownies come out very thin. You could easily double the recipe for a thicker, more traditional brownie. You will have to cook the brownies longer, though. If you follow the link above to CCK’s website, she also gives alternatives for a cakier brownie. Unfortunately, it calls for a lot of artificial sweeteners that I’m skeptical about and that I just don’t have in my house. That’s why I opted for the fudge brownies but feel free to pick the variation you feel most comfortable with.

Sweet Potato Puree

1 large sweet potato

about 1/3 cup water

Cook the sweet potato at 400 F for about 40-45 minutes until it’s soft enough to easily pierce with a fork. Let cook completely. Scoop out the insides into a food process and process until smooth, adding the water when need a little at a time. You shouldn’t need too much water but the liquid helps with the pureeing process.

Add a little dairy free ice cream to make a sundae! I used So Delicious coconut vanilla bean. I have to say I much prefer the So Delicious Ice cream line that is made with soy and not coconut milk. But this sundae still hit the spot after a day of crafting! We are so going to kick that craft fair’s butt!

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