Vegan Creamy Curried Butternut and Acorn Squash Soup

So, I know there is no pumpkin in this recipe but I have to admit that I have fallen HARD onto the "pumplkin everything" bandwagon. Trader Joes is my worst nightmare right now with all of their pumpkin foods. There I said it. Don't judge. That being said, I got these beautiful local butternut and acorn squash from Relay Foods (if you haven't tried them yet, you're missing out-they even have 30$ off your first order of 50$ + with code SAVE30 and no, they didn't tell me to say that) and so I was looking for something to do with them. 

Hands on time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour (Squash + Soup Times)
Calories: wait for it... 101 calories per CUP! Dig in y'all!

Ingredients:

• 2 medium butternut squash
• 2 small or 1 large acorn squash
• 3 tablespoons Earth Balance buttery spread or stick
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 6 cups vegetable stock
• 1 package Vegan Cream Cheese (whatever you have, I used Daiya Chive and Onion because it was in my fridge!)
• 2 Tbsp. curry powder (or more to taste- I used 3)
• 1.5 Tbsp. garam masala (or more to taste- I used 2)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Squash:

1. Preheat oven to 375. 
2. Carefully divide squash lengthwise and place face-down in a large, sprayed baking pan.
3. Bake until a fork easily pierces the skin (appx. 45 minutes).
4. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then scoop out seeds and discard, and scoop out the middle and discard the skin

Soup:

1. Melt Earth Balance over medium heat.
2. Saute diced onion until translucent.
3. Mix squash in with onion and Earth Balance
4. Add curry,garam masala, nutmeg and cinnamon; stir well.
5. Add broth and stir well. 
6. Allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.
7. Add Tofutti and stir well. I didn't have an entire package of vegan cream cheese in my fridge so I used half vegan cream cheese and half vegan sour cream and it came out perfect. Play around with this part.
8. Blend with immersion blender (or transfer in batches to regular blender) to fully integrate cream cheese and smooth the texture of the squash.
9. Garnish with cashews, cilantro, or an extra dash of garam masala when serving.

So good y'all, and it made my house smell seriously wonderful.
Diana and guest taster Lucas, both gave this soup a solid "Yup, Alright."  My personal rating was somewhere closer to "Shivers." I feel the need to disclose that Lucas doesn't like squash and yet he ate a bowl and a half.

Enjoy!

Explanation of Diana's "Yum Scale"

See, I told you, meat lover. That's a bacon mustache in case you were unsure. Today I figured it was time to give you a cheat sheet on Diana's scale of emotional eating, since I use it to tell you how good my food is. 

This is straight from the meat lovers mouth. When I asked Diana to try to explain her scale, she said " I can't, it's all in here" and pointed to her heart. I made her explain it. Here it is.

1. Yuk. This one is self explanatory. It's simply gross. Though my guess is that she is too kind to ever tell me that my food is "yuk"
2. Zombie Grumbles  "Hmmm. Hmmmm. Uhhh."  This comes with a shrug, and a "yup, that's food."
3. YUP. ALRIGHT. This is where we move into the "would eat again" category. This is accompanied by a solid repetitious nod. 
4. Shivers. For some reason, Diana's body responds to the food she eats. If she loves it she gets the shivers and goosebumps. Literally. 
5. Tears. Yes. If a food is rated tears, that means ACTUAL tears fell from her eyes because the food she consumed was sooooo good. This rating is obviously the goal.

I hope that this clears some things up for you. I know that interpreting the beautiful mind that Diana has can be a little daunting for us mere mortals. Consider yourself enlightened.

Vegan Garden Lasagna

This second post about lasagna may have helped you understand that I have a Garfield-like obsession with lasagna. This lasagna is so simple it literally took me 10 minutes to prepare and will last me a whole week of lunch/dinner.

Ingredients

• 12 whole wheat no cook lasagna noodles
• 1 jar Classico tomato basil spaghetti sauce
• 2 medium zucchinis sliced
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 1 medium white/yellow onion, diced
• 3 roma tomatoes sliced
• 1 bag of daiya mozzarella style shreds (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Pour 1/4 of sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 pan 
3. Add a layer of the lasagna noodles 
4. Layer 1/3 of zucchini and top with the carrots
5. Add a layer of the lasagna noodles
6. Pour 1/4 of sauce over noodles
7. Layer 1/3 of zucchini and top with sliced tomatoes
8. Add a layer of lasagna noodles 
9. Pour 1/4 of sauce over the noodles
10. Layer 1/3 of zucchini and top with diced onions
11. Add a layer of lasagna noodles
12. Pour 1/4 of sauce over noodles
13. Spread Daiya cheese over the top
14. Cover with foil, bake for 40 minutes then remove foil and bake for 5-10 more minutes

Ok, I swear that's the last lasagna recipe. At least until I try something totally crazy, like cashew "cheese." I actually made some cashew "cheese" for this lasagna but I got so grossed out by the smell that I couldn't put it in. I really need to try it though, because I bet it isn't half bad. 

Enjoy!

Vegan Pumpkin Muffin Deliciousness

It's FALL! Happy October! In the spirit of things I thought that I would try my hand a a vegan Pumpkin Bread that I turned into muffins...It's a portion control thing. They are in the oven as we speak, smelling up my house real good. Look at these.

Vegan Pumpkin Bread

Prep time:  10 mins

Cook time:  20 mins

Total time:  35 mins

Serves: 18 muffins or 1 loaf
Calories per serving: 166

 \
Ingredients

• 1 3/4c flour
• 1 c dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 c pumpkin purée
• ½ c oil
• 3 Tbsp maple syrup
• 3 Tbsp water
• 3 Tbsp chocolate chips (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Grease and flour a loaf pan.
3. In a large bowl, mix together flours, sugar, soda, baking powder, salt, and spices.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together pumpkin, oil, syrup, and water.
5. Add wet mixture to dry; combine until just moistened. The batter will be very thick; don’t worry!
6. Pour into prepared pan or muffin pan and bake 45-50 minutes for bread or 20 for muffins or until top is browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Add chocolate chips to the tops of the muffins.
8. Let cool 20 minutes; use a butter knife to gently loosen bread from sides of pan, then invert onto a cooling rack.

Diana tested these and she actually startled me by the volume at which she screamed "Oooooooh Yeah! That's goooooooood"  On her scale of yuk to tears she said "That was shivers. Fluffy shivers."

Happy Fall everyone!

Vegans are pretty too!

Next week I will be launching a new addition to the blog, Vegans are pretty too! Once a week Diana and I will be introducing a new vegan beauty product via vlog! *Warning- Diana and I are hilarious* Check back!

Peanut Butter "Chocolate Chip" Flax Granola Bars

So, mostly the same story as the granola here. It's hard to find without high fructose, blah blah blah.
Here is my homemade granola bar recipe!

Ingredients:

2 Cups oats

3T chia seeds

3/4 cups organic unsalted peanut butter ( I like crunchy style)

1/3 cups vegan chocolate chips (check the labels!) or Sunspire carob chips

1/2 cup maple syrup (increase to 3/4 for chewier bars)

1/4 t sea salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2. Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl

3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread mixture over the sheet to your desired thickness

4. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove the parchment paper from the baking sheet let cool for a couple minutes and put in the fridge for 15-30 minutes to harden

Then enjoy!

Diana's review: "Does this have peanut butter in it? You know I don't like peanut butter. But, I feel like I should keep eating it after my run. I like the chocolate chips" 

Sounds like it might pass a picky kids test?

Vegan 13 Bean Chili

So this recipe has been with me for several years. 6 I think. It was a trial and error process, and I've finally gotten it perfect. I have had more people ask me for this recipe than any other recipe aside from my amazingly non-vegan lasagna.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups Bobs Red Mill 13 Bean Soup Mix (I start with this and then add whatever beans I want more of)
2 cans of diced tomatoes (you can always dice up your own!)
2 cans tomato sauce (again, making your own is so easy)
Fresh spinach I use a whole bag of organic spinach
1 can of sweet corn or frozen sweet corn. My favorite is TJ's super sweet frozen corn.
2 fresh jalapenos, chopped or sliced
1 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
Cumin to taste
Chili powder to taste
Salt and Pepper to taste (I usually add this per dish)
Tofutti sour cream (optional)
Fried onion strips (optional, we like the added crunch)

1. Soak the beans 24 hours.
2. I like to cook the beans a little before I put them in the slow cooker because it speeds the process up, you can skip this step.
3. Add all ingredients into a crock pot.
4. Cook on high for 3 hours or low for 6-7 hours.

Enjoy! It's amazing.
Diana says "It's gooood" (She said be sure to squint one eye and talk out of one side of your mouth, while saying that like a German man yodeling.) I think she likes it.