Vegan Hamburger Helper (Low-Fat)

 

 

 

I'll be honest, one of my favorite meals as a kid was Hamburger helper - it was quick, easy and cheap to buy. Now that I'm more all around health conscious I don't see the need to go back there again, but with a slightly more healthier (in some way) version I've got it all together. You've got the creamy low-fat cheeze, a bit of zing from mustard and the nice alternating textures between noodles and your preffered "beef". Its a great meal that you can make ahead, freeze and then just pop in an oven or microwave later.

(Vegan Hamburger Helper Ingredients)

• 1 C. of Soy or Rice Milk
• 1 tbl. Garlic Powder
• 1/4 C. Nutritional Yeast (half that if powdery)
• 2 tbl. Corn or Tapioca Starch
• Pinch of Salt, Mustard Powder and Paprika
• 1 tbl. Cold Water
• Veg. Ground Beef and Elbow Macaroni

(Vegan Hamburger Helper Directions)

• Heat your milk and add in your nutritional yeast and garlic powder, whisk together as you make a slurry of your starches and cold water.
• Add your salt and slurry into the boiling mixture and whisk. Turn off heat and then fold in your ground beef as you boil your noodles.
• Fold your noodles into the cheeze and veg. beef and serve warm.
• Enjoy!

Itchy Witchy Pesto Pasta

Naan bread with a seared garlic eye and baked garlic nails atop brocolli pesto and nutritional yeast makes the creepiest and tastiest food. Or maybe it really is a witch?

(Itchy Witchy Pesto Ingredients)

• 1 Medium-Sized Head of Broccolli(Par-boiled and shocked)
• 1 Cup of Broccoli Water
• 1/4 Cup of Firm Tofu
• 3 tbl Cornstarch
• Salt, and Pepper to taste
• Olive Oil (optional)
• Al-dente Whole Wheat Spaghetti

(Directions)

• Mix all of the ingredients together in a sauce pot and cook until it becomes a thick sauce.
• Pour over your spaghetti, place into your serving dish, and sprinkle with nutritional yeast.
• Decorate with colored garlic naan and enjoy!

Vegan Cheese Sticks

I apologize for the slightly blurry photo, it seems like all of my photos have been like this lately. These didn't turn out as well as I wanted them to - but you can modify them as you like.

(Vegan Cheese Sticks Ingredients)

• 3-5 tbl Agar Agar
• 3-5 tbl Cold Water
• 1 cup Original (or unsweetened) Soymilk
• 3-5 tbl Yellow Miso Paste
• 3 tbl Nutritional Yeast
• A few drops of India Tree Yellow Dye (optional)
• A pinch of Sea Salt (optional)

(Directions)

• Combine your water and agar agar. Let it sit for about 10 minutes.
• Bring your soymilk to a boil.
• Add agar agar blend to the soymilk, stir in the miso paste and then add the nutritional yeast and dye. Make sure everything is mixed well.
• Pour it into a very small square mold to make the pieces thick.
• Let it sit for about 2 hours and then slice and enjoy!

Sushi Time

Okay, I've been going a little crazy with tofu lately - I know. But there are so many things that you can do with it especially with the fatfree vegan recipe that I just used in my breakfast bento. I found that when you start the tofu omelette off in a cold pan and keep the lid on until the top solidifies - it's very similar to egg sheets used for kyaraben. They didn't turn out as smooth as normal egg sheets but I think that was because I didn't use silken tofu.

Finn's Face:
1/2 block of Tofu (of your choice)
1/2 tbl Tahini
1 tbl Cornstarch
1 tbl Beet Juice
1/4-1/2 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Iodized Salt

Jake's Face:
1/2 block of Tofu (of your choice)
1 tbl Cornstarch
1 tbl Water
1/4 cup of Nutritional Yeast
1/2 tsp Turmeric (I didn't have this)
1/2 tsp Iodized Salt

For Jake's face I had actually only used a fourth of a package of tofu, so if you follow the recipe exactly you may need to split it up into two batches. After you oil your medium-sized non-stick pan, spread in your tofu mixture and make it as round as possible and as smooth and even on top as possible. Turn on the heat and quickly put on a (hopefully clear) lid on top. Check it every so often and once the top solidifies, turn off the heat and remove the lid and use a rubber spatula to carefully scrape around the sides. Turn it upside down on a plate until it cools then pat it down once corrected.

Cut out and place on top of sushi rice and decorate with nori, soy cheese, carrots and sriracha as you like.

Enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3

Healthy Hello Kitty Kyaraben

I'm so proud of myself right now - not only is this pretty healthy despite the white rice, it's pretty and delicious too! It's filled with fruits and vegetables and it's what every child would love. The best part is that I formed the rice ball by hand and it's the first HK to turn out correctly! A recipe isn't really required in this case since it's mostly organic fruits and vegetables, but I will include an ingredient list. Hello Kitty's bow is made up of tofu that had been cut out with two Wilton mini-heart cutters and one small cap.


Hello Kitty Bento Ingredients:
Sweet Organic Peppers
Nori
Strawberries
Baby Carrots
Seared Firm Tofu (seasoned with Mrs. Dash)
Spinach Salad
Grapes
Nutritional Yeast + Rice Cheeze (for the nose)
Japanese Sticky Rice
1 Small Raw Rice Stick (to keep the bow together and pinned)

Enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3

Chick-Peasy Potatoes

I needed something simple for lunch and deciding that just having a whole head of steamed broccoli would be a horrible punishment for those around me - I opted for something out of the cruciferous vegetables. These twice baked chick-peasy potatoes were the perfect treat.

(Chick-peasy Potatoes Ingredients)

• 3 Russet Potatoes
• 1 8 ounce Can of Chickpeas
• 1/2 a tbl of Nutritional Yeast
• Minced and Lightly Cooked Garlic
• Dried (or fresh) Chives to taste
• Salt and Pepper to taste

(Directions)

• Cover three potatoes in olive oil after sticking them with a fork and baked them at 400 degrees until they were soft.
• Wait until they cool down a bit more then scooped out their insides, leaving a little potato to hold the skin's form.
• Sprinkle some olive oil, salt and pepper and bake them until they were crispy.
• Mix their fluffy insides with the rest of the ingredients and then add them to the shell. Make sure to over stuff them so that the edges would crisp up and become cheesy.
• After that is done, sprinkle more Nutritional Yeast on top and place under broiler until top is crisped.
• Enjoy!