My crust is my flax cracker recipe (flax seed, sun dried tomato, red pepper, yellow onion, garlic, lemon juice, Italian seasoning, fresh rosemary, red pepper flakes, splash of water, fresh ground black pepper, dash of sea salt) spread out into a circle on a ParaFlexx sheet. I dehydrate it at 115 degrees for 24 hours (flipping it over after the first 5).

The sauce was made from sun dried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, garlic, the juice from 1/2 a lemon, broccoli, sweet onion, green pepper, fresh rosemary, red pepper flakes and a dash of sea salt all processed in a food processor (process the fresh tomatoes last so they remain in tact). I don’t keep exact measurements for this. When you’re eating raw, the foods you’re making are still meant to resemble their cooked brethren. The reason I use sun dried tomatoes and broccoli in my sauce recipe is to add texture and thickness to it; the other ingredients are for flavor. Use as many or as few of these ingredients as you’d like, just keep it thick so the flax crust doesn’t absorb a bunch of liquid and turn to mush.

My cheese was my macadamia nut ricotta recipe. I added fresh rosemary and the jucie of 1/2 a lemon to it to keep everything taste aligned.

I used a soft spatula to spread the sauce and the cheese onto the flax crust and then I put it back into the dehydrator for another 15-20 minutes at 115 degrees. You can keep it in longer or not at all if you’re starving.

For our side, Loren went out into the garden and grabbed a bowl of leafy greens.

Things you (should) already know about me:

• I LOVE Mexican food
• I LOVE Italian food
• I love to combine things that I love to make one big love fest (in my mouth) (thats what she said).

There are many names for what I’m calling Mex-agna; Mexican casserole, Mexican lasagna, Latin Lasagna, etc. Call it what you want, but I’ll call it delicious.

To get this dish started, preheat your oven to 375 degrees, grab a skillet, some heart healthy oil to sauté with, can-o-black beans, 1 corn on the cob, your favorite salsa, vegan cheese (with melting ability) and some fresh vegetables. I sauteed sweet onion, shredded carrot, green pepper and mushrooms with some cumin, sea salt, fresh ground pepper and cayenne. Do a light sauté to take the tiny bite out of the onion, soften the carrots a tad and to take some of the reserved water out of the mushrooms (the salt with help with this task). Set the sauté aside and sprinkle it with some fresh lime juice. All you need to do to prepare your black beans is open the can and then drain and rinse them. To prepare the corn; cut it free from it’s cob. Spray the sides of your cooking dish lightly (<–seriously) with olive oil, sprinkle a light layer of salsa at the bottom to coat and start building your Mex-agna! I used organic whole wheat big tortillas and ripped them into quarters. My casserole pan was a deep square so I layed out each piece of tortilla so the bottom of the pan was covered. I traded off each layer of the Mex-agna between sautéed veggies with salsa to black beans, corn and cheese. Once you have completed building the Mex-agna, make sure the top layer of tortillas are covered with salsa and then sprinkled with cheese. Cover your baking dish with foil and cook for 35-45 minutes depending on the quality of melty cheese you have. You’re basically warming the dish but also ensuring the tortillas soak up the juices of the veggies and salsa and melting the cheese. I plated mine on top of a bed of spinach with sliced avocado on the side.

Whenever I go for brunch I always get the tofu scramble ($5.95). What an incredible price for whole wheat toast, tofu scramble, potatoes and 2 pieces of soysage. They also have vegan french toast and a $4 mimosa, bloody mary and blood mary bar. I pretty much want to go every Sunday (brunch hours are Saturday and Sunday from 10-3).

My first trip in was to celebrate my boyfriend and I’s 4 year anniversary. Once the staff found out it was our anniversary they had us multiple glasses of wine to taste test, gave us incredible service and even brought us complimentary dessert (home made cannolis and tiramisu cheesecake). I always order the Vegan Vindaloo Pasta off the dinner menu (I request buckwheat noodles and add broccoli and onions). Pastas come with a side of bread, sandwiches are ginormous and come with a salad and anything you order is going to be delicious.

Anytime I can support my community I do.  I am a strong believer in voting with your dollar which is why I shop at the Dekalb Farmers Market, visit local restaurants and breweries and pay special attention to my community’s pet shelters and gardens.  One of my favorite spots in my neighborhood of Oakhurst village is Mojo Pizza N Pub.  The staff is awesome, they have daily beer/drink/food specials and weekly events (like trivia).  If you’re vegetarian, they have tons-o-options.  For us vegans, we can do cheeseless slices, salads or the vegetable sandwich.  I always get my vegetable sandwich stocked full of pesto and marinara sauce. It’s…incredible.

There was a article published yesterday regarding a harmful chemical called ‘hexane’ which is being used to process soy protein in a lot of popular veggie friendly foods (i.e. Morningstar Farms, Amy’s, etc). Read about this chemical here as well as find out if your favorite veggie food is effected.  One of Gardein’s active ingredients is soy protein….whether or not they use hexane to process it is unknown. They are not listed on the good or bad side.  What I got from reading the article is that most fake meats labeled organic are hexane free but the others are not.

Behold! Hummus Pizza!!!

I buy my whole wheat pizza crust at the Dekalb Farmers Market.  It’s $2.50, organic and vegan so you really can’t beat that with a stick. I cook the crust in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes depending on how much it poofs up. I want the crust to resemble soft pita so I avoid over cooking by constantly checking up on it.  Once its done I let it cool for <5 minutes and apply my sun dried tomato hummus and a variety of raw vegetables (usually cucumber, spinach, carrot, red onion, sun dried tomato, tomato, olives, banana peppers).  Cut and serve with some crushed red pepper flakes and oregano.

Recipe coming soon…..

i know…i siked you out. i’ll put the recipe up soon and notify you via Twitter once i do. if you’re not following us on Twitter already, do so here!

The vegetables we used are as follows:

• 1/2 a napa cabbage cut into chunks
• 3 large carrots cut into discs
• 3 celery stalks chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion diced
• 1 butternut squash cut into little squares
• two 15 oz cans of organic diced tomatoes
• 1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)
• the corn cut off of 1 cob
• frozen peas (we just kind of poured them in)
• diced fresh green beans
• 1 large zucchini sliced and then cut into quarters

We emptied two boxes of organic low sodium vegetable broth and some water into a large pot (water amount depends on how much broth vs veggies you want–always use a least 1 pint’s worth to dilute the broth a little).  We added the carrots, onions, squash and cabbage and brought it to a boil.  We seasoned with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and cayenne pepper, covered the pot and let it cook for about 15-25 minutes until the squash was soft but still a little firm to the bite.  We then added the rest of the ingredients, seasoned again and turned the heat down to medium high and cooked for another 15 minutes (still having it covered).  Consider the squash to be your taste tester to make sure everything is cooked through.  We ladled our soup into the serving bowls and let them cool for about 5 minutes before setting them down at the table.  Cheese eaters should freshly grate some parmesan cheese on top of their soup after the 5 minute cool down.

Oh Vegan with a Vengeance cookbook, you make my tummy smile. I tried out Isa’s recipe for Big Gigantoid Crunchy Peanut Butter – Oatmeal Cookies the other day but made them small and added carob chips. Can I just say that these cookies are the bomb dot com? They’re the perfect cookie for me to pass out to all my friends and co-workers this Holiday season. Even non vegans cannot argue the deliciousness of this cookie.

To make these fantastical cookies you are going to need:

• 2 c flour (I always use whole wheat flour when baking…tastes incredible)
• 2 c oats
• 2 t baking powder
• 1 t salt in a bowl

Toss these ingredients together making sure they’re mixed.

In a separate bowl mix together (using a hand mixer):

• 3/4 c canola oil
• 3/4 c chunky all-natural peanut butter
• 1 c sugar
• 1 c brown sugar
• 1/2 c soy milk (you can use plain or vanilla…recipe calls for vanilla, I used plain)
• 2 t vanilla extract

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and continue to mix. The dough will be sticky and delicious (just the way we like it when we eat cookie batter). Drop little cookie dough balls onto your greased cookie sheets and cook in a preheated 350 degree oven until delightfully brown on top and bottom. Every oven and cookie sheet is different and cooking time really depends on what you’re working with. I believe my cookies were in the oven for around 20 minutes but I can’t be too sure.

…are incredible.  I’m obsessed with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at the moment. Of course, you have to be careful when you’re buying these two things at the grocery store.  Beware of chemicals, additives, HFCS and other non necessary ingredients.  ALWAYS READ YOUR LABELS! Raw foodies–use almond butter and make your own jelly.  Simply smash your fruit together using a potato masher (you can add some agave nectar if you like it really sweet).