Author: Lindsay Ingalls

Recipe: Vegan Lasagna with Red Pepper "Ricotta"

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Vegan Lasagna with Red Pepper “Ricotta”

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 a box of no-boil lasagna (4 portions)
  • 3.5 cups spaghetti sauce (homemade or jarred)
  • 2T Nutritional Yeast
  • Red Pepper “Ricotta”
    • 1 block of firm tofu, drained
    • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
    • 1 red bell pepper, diced
    • 3 garlic cloves, chopped
    • 2t Italian seasoning
    • 1t onion powder
    • 1t garlic powder
    • 1t salt
    • 1/2t ground black pepper

Directions:   Preheat the oven to 400F.

  1. To make the ricotta: place everything in a food processor and process until crumbly/texture of ricotta.  If the ricotta seems a little dry while processing you can add water a teaspoon at a time to loosen up the mixture. 
  2. To make the lasagna: in an 8×8 glass baking dish layer the lasagna starting with sauce, noodles, ricotta, sauce, noodles.  You should have 4-6 layers and should end with sauce.  Sprinkle with the nutritional yeast and cover with aluminum foil. 
  3. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or as the directions on the lasagna noodle box recommend. 
  4. Once out of the oven let the lasagna cool for 5-7 minutes.  Then enjoy!

Valentines Dinner at Paul & Elizabeth's

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Finishing up our Valentines Weekend posts we ended our weekend and spent our Valentines at Paul & Elizabeth’s in Northampton MA.  We have visited this restaurant before and loved it last time and were excited to spent our Valentines here.  We had so much good food it was crazy and we brought tons of it home. The food here is fresh and delicious and it is almost all vegetarian (there are a few fish dishes).  My husband was delighted the special for Valentines night was the Vegetarian Platter which has these delicious croquettes that he loved last time.  This is now our staple Northampton restaurant. 

Hummus Appetizer we ended up bringing 1/3 of this home because there was so much delicious hummus

 

Hubby got a Wolaver's Oatmeal Stout and I got a glass of Luzon Verde however I guess I forgot to take a picture of it

 

Noodle and Vegetables in Broth with Vegetable Tempura (so much food I brought most of it home)

 

Vegetable Platter: veggies, tofu and amazing croquettes

Stogo- NYC Gourmet Vegan Ice Cream

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This past weekend when my hubby and I were in NYC we decided that even though it was freezing out we just had to stop in to Stogo to try gourmet vegan ice cream.  After tasting a few different flavors we settled on Salted Caramel Pecan and Peanut Butter Fudge both of which were delicious.  The ice cream here is so good and unlike some other vegan ice creams it isn’t icy and if you didn’t know it was vegan you’d think it wasn’t.  It’s a little pricey, $4.50ish for a small, but it is well worth the treat. 

Salted Caramel Pecan

 

Peanut Butter Fudge

Book Reviews: Skinny Bitch

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The Winner is lucky number 8: Congrats Emma! 

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My first impression of Skinny Bitch was that the name was just really not appealing as my husband and I are not ones to use the term “bitch” and I find it has just a negative feeling.  I decided to over look this and give the book a chance since everyone has been reading it.  I must say that the book has a lot of great information.  It is just as it says on the cover “a no-nonsense, tough-love guide” and that is exactly what it is.  The book is filled with important information about the foods people eat from animal products, sweeteners and coffee.  However if you are easily offended this may not be the book for you. 

View on Amazon

 

Following the release of Skinny Bitch a new book came out Skinny Bitch In the Kitch . This book is filled with a variety of recipes for the girl (or guy) who wants to be a skinny bitch (or bastard). The recipes are all vegan and are easy yummy recipes for anyone- you can check out some of the sample recipes on the Skinny Bitch website.

Rory and Kim came up with some kick-ass recipes for every craving there is:

  • Bitchin’ Breakfasts
  • PMS (Pissy Mood Snacks)
  • Sassy Soups and Stews
  • Down Home Cookin’
  • Grown-Up Appetizers
  • Happy Endings (Desserts)

Lastly, my favorite SB book is Skinny Bitch Bun in the Oven a “no-nonsense guide for pregnant gals”.  This book is great for any pregnant mom to be and especially those who are vegan or vegetarian.  For many vegan and vegetarian women there is a concern about eating properly during pregnancy and this book can help get you on the right track and give you great ideas. The book starts out much like the first SB book and then adds in things that are important for pregnant gals to know.  

I received a copy of this book for review however I already own it myself so I am giving you a chance to win a copy of Skinny Bitch Bun in the Oven.  If you would like to win a copy of this book you can:

1. Leave me a comment letting me know why you’d like to win this book.

2. Tweet “I want to win SB Bun in the Oven @cookveganlover http://wp.me/ppaTI-vx”

Please enter to win by February 23, 2009 @ 8am

Blogger Disclaimer: Running Press provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review in return for the free product.

'SNice- Vegan Breakfast in NYC

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This past weekend while we were visiting the Big Apple my hubby and I met up with some of my girlfriends for breakfast at ‘SNice in Chelsea. To our disappointment we were unable to get sandwiches (which all sounded amazing) until 11am and we were too hungry to wait an hour so we decided to start with some lattes.  After sipping on our lattes for a while hubz and I decided to split the tofu scramble wrap which was not bad and pretty filling.  The GF’s went with a bagel with cream cheese and the other granola with fruit, yogurt and honey.  

Everything at ‘SNice is vegetarian and all vegan options are marked accordingly. The menu is mostly that of salads and sandwiches with bagels and breakfast sandwiches in the morning.  The place was pretty quiet for the sit in crowd until around 11am however there was always a line at the counter for take out bagels and coffee. I really would like to return during lunch ours to try one of their yummy salads or sandwiches.  There is also a location in Brooklyn which I understand has a similar menu. 

Delicious Soy Latte

 

Tofu Scramble Wrap

Crazy Rumors

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Vegan lip gloss is one of those beauty items that I think most vegans have a hard time finding.  I don’t know how many times i’ve read the ingredients list on the label of a tube of gloss and see that the only non-vegan ingredient is bees wax.  Well vegans do not fret there are some great vegan lip balms out there and Crazy Rumors is one of them.  

Crazy Rumors kindly sent me a variety of the all natural vegan lip balms in a variety of flavors and even colors.  You can choose from 6 different types of flavors: HibisKiss- Hibiscus Inspired Lip Colors, Fresh Squeezed- Citrus Inspired Lip Balms, A La Mode- Ice Cream Inspired Lip Balms, Gumball- Bubble Gum Inspired Lip Balms, Perk- Coffee Inspired Lip Balms, Brew- Tea Inspired Lip Balms, and Candy Cane- Peppermint Infused Lip Balms.   Crazy Rumors sent me four of their different flavors:

HibisKiss - Breeze: I really loved this lip balm as it gave my lips a nice tint and moisture but wasn't as heavy as a lip stick.

 

Brewed- Peppermint Lemongrass: this one was my favorite! The flavor is incredible and kept my lips moist for long periods.

 

A La Mode- Orange Creamsicle: This wasn't my favorite flavor but my husband sure took to it fast- yes this lip balm is great for me as well as women!

 

Fresh Squeezed- Limeade: this was my second favorite and it was a really nice refreshing flavor.

Blogger Disclaimer: Crazy Rumors provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review in return for the free product.