Alright, so I mentioned earlier that I was overrun with giant mutant zucchini from my boyfriend's grandmother's organic garden. I wasn't kidding!


On the right is a regular store bought zucchini. On the left is the freaking huge home-grown zucchini! Do keep in mind too that my boyfriend - who is modeling the zucchini - is 6'2'' and all torso. The thing is as long as he is! I've barely even made a dent in the darn thing. I did, however, have a lot of fun making chocolate zucchini bread and waiting until people told me how good it was before I told them the secret ingredient!

I wasn't able to snap up any pictures of the zucchini bread; my friends ate it that fast! I used a recipe from recipezaar (found here: http://www.recipezaar.com/73985) and made very few changes - I added in about 1/4c. of flaxseed and also underbaked it just a tad so that chocolate chips were like little surprises of melted chocolately goodness in the middle. Yummy!



This is something I whipped up as a quick snack/lunch the otherday, but it turned out so yummy and pretty that I had to take a picture of it and share!

Easy, Healthy, and Delicious Tacos!

1 or 2 handfuls of organic yellow corn tortilla chips (or more, depending on how hungry you are!)
Non-dairy sour cream (I used the non-hydrogenated Tofutti)
Roasted tomatillo salsa (I imagine regular salsa would work fine, but if you can get your hands on Trader Joe's tomatillo salsa, it works very well!)
Arugala
Cherry tomatoes
Kalamata olives
Avocado

Mix together the salsa and sour cream, using about half as much sour cream as salsa. Layer this on top of the tortilla chips. Top with everything else - or anything else you can think of! - and enjoy!

This, of course, was not so healthy... but it was delicious! It tasted just like the greasy oily treats you get from carnivals. I found the recipe on (where else) recipezaar, and changed it to make it vegan. It was surprisingly easy, and the substitutions worked great :) The original recipe can be found here: http://www.recipezaar.com/74146

Dutch Babies
3/4 c. soymilk
1/2 c. unbleached white flour
Egg replacer equal to 2 eggs
1 1/2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 tbsp. non-hydrogenated margarine
1 tbsp. powdered sugar
Freshly cut fruit to top it with (as you can see, we chose blueberries and strawberries. Amazing combination!)

Preheat the oven to 450°
Mix together the soy milk, flour, egg replacer, sugar and vanilla. Put the margarine in the pie plate and place it in the oven just until it is melted - for me, this took only about 30 seconds. Make sure to check it every 15 seconds or so, otherwise you'll end up with margarine burnd onto your pan! Use a brush to spread the melted margarine all around the sides of the pan.
Slowly pour batter into hot pan; bake for 20 minutes; reduce heat to 350° and bake another 8-10 minutes, until the dutch baby is golden brown. Remove from oven and sprinkle powdered sugar over the top; serve immediately with fruit on top!

Alright, so none of these recipes are very current... I'm still playing catch up. These are all from about two or three weeks ago. I've got a lot of recipes to post!

This week has been very busy food wise! I've taken many pictures but have yet to upload them.

Earlier in the week, I recieved some food from my boyfriend's grandma straight from her garden - several potatoes, some tomatoes, and two zuchinni that are about as big as me! I have quite the excess of zuchinni right now and I'm not sure what to do with it (or myself!) I think I'm going to try some zuchinni bread or a chocolate zuchinni cake.

Tonight, I'm trying my first taste of "jerk" with a blackened fruit jerk tempeh recipe I got out of my "Bold Vegetarian Chef" recipe. It's marinating in the fridge right now and smells delicious!

Ok, here is my first raw food recipe. I'm really not sure where I got it from, so if it looks familiar just hollar!

Raw Summer Peach Parfait with Almond Creme



1 c. raw almonds
Water for soaking
4 ripe peaches
2 tbsp. almond butter
1/4 c. raw local honey or maple syrup (we used honey from a friend who keeps bees)
1/4 c. fresh squeezed orange juice
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg (we omitted this)
1 c. of blueberries, strawberries, or other berry of your choice (we used strawberries out of my garden)

Soak the almonds for 6 to 12 hours or overnight - this makes them both softer for your blender/food processor and also easier for your body to digest. When done soaking, drain the water and put the almonds in the fridge until you need them.

Peel and slice the peaches. In a blender or food processor, mix 1 c. of the peaches. Mix in all of the almonds, the almond butter, the honey or maple syrup, the orange juice, the vanilla extract, the cinnamon and the nutmeg. Puree the mixture until it is mostly smooth (it will probably be grainy from the almond butter) and thick. If necessary, add more OJ for a smoother mixture.

Divide the reserved peaches into four tall glasses and top with the almond mixture. Garnish with fresh strawberries and a mint leaf!



This was really very good and filling! We had leftover almond creme, so the next day we mixed it with some banana and cinnamon and made a quick raw crust by chopping almonds and dates in the food processor. I think I liked this even better than the parfait! I would definitely reccomend it, especially on days when it's just too darn hot to use the stove!

Alright, this is the next dish, which I made on Father's Day for my dad (duh). It was very yummy, especially when warm!



Almond Berry Coffee Cake
Adapted and veganized from a Martha Stewart recipe

For the topping:
1 c. unbleached white flour
2/3 c. packed light brown sugar (turbinado would probably work fine as well)
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. sliced almonds, toasted
1 stick softened non-hydrogenated margarine (such as Earth Balance)
1/4 tsp. almond extract

For the cake:
2 1/2 c. unbleached white flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. fresh raspberries
2/3 c. blackberry jam
1 1/2 sticks non-hydrogenated margarine
1 1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 1/4 tsp. lemon zest
Egg replacer equal to 3 large eggs
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. soy vanilla yogurt

Make the topping by mixing together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and toasted almonds. Work the margarine into the topping with your hands until it forms coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the almond extract on top and toss to combine.

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a different (small) bowl, fold the raspberries into the jam. In yet another (large) bowl, mix together the margarine, sugar, and lemon zest with an electric mixer until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Add the egg replacer slowly, beating well after each addition. Add in the vanilla. Mix half of the flour mixture and all of the yogurt into the bowl with the lemon zest mixture. Mix well; then add the rest of the flour mixture.

Spoon half of the batter into a well oiled tube pan (be a little generous here, I didn't use enough batter on the bottom layer and it made the berry mixture ooze a lot). Spread the berry mixture in a ring in the center of the batter. Top with the rest of the batter and then sprinkle with the topping. Bake 60 - 70 minutes at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let it cool on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes. Pull up on the tube to lift the cake from the pan and let it cool an additional 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto a baking sheet, remove the tube portion, then reinvert onto a rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

Midweek Munchies: What Teenage Vegan is contributing for the week Today was one of my largest grocery shopping trips to date! I bought enough for four full dinners (sides included) to feed anywhere from 2 (my boyfriend and I) to 6 (friends and family). I also got the fixings for four delicious desserts, as well as plenty of snacks and things to eat for lunch and dinner. I tried to do mostly organic (when available) and I managed to keep it under $200.00. Bolded items = organic Red bell peppers Roasted tomatillo salsa Twin pack of extra-firm tofu Peach soy yogurt Strawberry soy yogurt Raspberry soy yogurts Arugala Raw pecan halves Raw cashews Raw pine nuts Dried mixed wild mushrooms Cherry tomatoes Fresh parsley Salad tomatoes Ground cinnamon English muffins Joe's O's cereal Hansen's cherry vanilla creme soda Shallots Luna bars Golden raisins Par-baked baguette bread Black beans Sun-dried tomatoes Maple Syrup Green Protein Juice Vegetable broth Quick cooking raw oats Dried zante currants Soft wheatberries Nutritional yeast Apple juice concentrate Single serving wildberry pie Tortilla chips Tempeh Veggie canadian bacon Chocolate soymilk Plain soymilk Avocado Beet Carrot Celery Basil Limes Mango Red onion Valencia oranges Zucchini Kalamata olives Raw macadamia nuts Ginger Habanero pepper White pepper Links to other Midweek Munchies (If you participate, leave your link in the comments and I'll post it below; or, you can post in the comments)

Click here for the Midweek Munchies code
Click here for Harmonia's blog

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A special thanks to Running2Ks and Rift for all of their help with coding, graphics, and encouragement for this project.

PURPOSE of Midweek Munchies: Put together by a small group of Veg Women, we hope to spread the word about healthy vegetarianism while obtaining idea starters for meals, recipes, learn about new products, and meet other female veg*n bloggers. Visiting and commenting on other participants lists are encouraged but not required. Have fun and Go Veg!

Well, here's my very post! I've been surfing around blogspot for a few months now, drooling over all the amazing photos of vegan food. And I finally thought - hey, I enjoy cooking, I take random pictures of my food... why not share? As a bit of an introduction - I am 17 years old (will be 18 in less than a month) and have been meat free for 2 1/2 years, 2 of which I have spent as a vegan. I am the only non-meat eater in my family, but my boyfriend is a vegan and two of my three best friends are also vegetarians. I love love love to cook, especially for my friends - many of whom eat meat or are very finnicky eaters. I especially love making desserts and I think (hope!) I have a knack for it. Most things I make are consumed rather quickly (with a few exceptions, of course). I'm not big on meat substitutes (ie, boca burgers, tofu dogs, etc.) but I do very much enjoy fake dairy (ie, soy yogurt, soy ice cream, soy cream cheese, etc.) I'm not too good at making up my own recipes, but I usually tweak what I have a bit and will always cite the source of anything I steal.

I am very health concious, as you might be able to tell. I was into the raw foods thing for a couple months, but I don't have the will power to stick with it. However, my boyfriend and I still enjoy eating raw occasionally, so I'm sure I'll be posting raw food recipes and such as well! Since I have a stock of several vegan dishes that I have made and photographed, I'm going to start with them rather then what we are currently eating. Once I run out, I'll switch to more current dishes.

So, here we go, my first recipe!

Spinach, Tofu, and Kalamata Olive Stuffed Manicotti
Tweaked from Bunny Toy's Spinach Ricotta, found at the following link: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=7587.0

1 lb firm tofu
1 large handful fresh chopped spinach
1 handful chopped and pitted kalamata olives, or to taste
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp sea salt (I like to use celtic)
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp fresh chopped oregano
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 package whole wheat mancotti noodles (around 6 noodles)
1 jar of your favorite tomato sauce (roasted garlic was great on this!)

Drain the tofu. In a food processor, mix together the tofu, spinach, olives, garlic powder, salt, pepper, oregano, and olive oil. Mix until smooth and similar in texture to ricotta cheese.
Spread about 1/4 of the jar of tomato sauce onto the bottom of a glass baking dish. Stuff the uncooked manicotti noodles with the tofu ricotta mixture using a spoon or a pastry bag. Place the stuffed noodles on top of the sauce in the baking dish and cover with the rest of the tomato sauce. Cover with tin foil and bake for 25 minutes at 375 degrees. Remove the tin foil, and bake for an extra 10 - 15 minutes. Let cool, and enjoy!

We served this with a side of bitter greens topped with creamy italain dressing. It was really very good and very easy to make! I can't remember where I found the tip to bake the manicotti noodles without boiling them first, but it gave them just the right texture :) My boyfriend and mom both gave this a big thumbs up!