Ever since Neil received his two bread baking books at Christmas time he has been addicted to baking and it has been wonderful to have a baker in the house (I’m not really one). One thing we have been making lately are homemade pizzas but unfortunately we don’t have a baking stone so although the pizzas are tasty they just weren’t as crisp on the bottom as we would like. Finally last week I bit the bullet and bought Neil a new Emile Henry Baking Stone and as soon as it arrived we new we had to make pizza.
In honor of Cinco de Mayo we made a Mexican inspired pizza that was topped with Galaxy Foods new vegan Mexican Shreds (disclosure: I received the shreds free from the company to try out). I have to say I loved the shreds and the melted so well on the pizza. I am really weird about vegan cheeses and although Daiya, Cheezly and Sheese are all okay I’m still not much of a fan and often just make my own cheese sauces via nutritional yeast and nuts. Galaxy Foods has been the only vegan cheese that I actually like and so I was excited to try their new shreds, which were tasty, melty and perfect for pizza (and a baked pasta dish I’ll blog about later).
Vegan Mexican Pizza
Ingredients:
1 pizza dough
1/2-3/4 cup salsa
1 portobello mushroom cap, thinly sliced and sauteed
1 small onion, thinly sliced and sauteed
1/2 bell pepper, thinly sliced and sauteed
1/2 cup defrosted frozen corn or fresh
1/2 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons pickled jalapenos
1 cup vegan cheese shreds
Directions:
Preheat your pizza stone in a 550F oven for 30 minutes. Roll out your dough and top with salsa, veggies, beans, corn, jalapenos and cheese shreds. Place on the pizza stone and bake for 8-10 minutes until browned and bubbly.
To serve top with a sprinkle of baby arugula or shredded lettuce, fresh chopped tomatoes, more pickled jalapenos and vegan sour cream.
If you are looking for the giveaway you’ll just go nuts about scroll down!
This weekend Neil and I were fairly busy and it seems that things aren’t going to be slowing down anytime soon! We started the weekend off with a homemade Mexican pizza (recipe to come tomorrow) which was absolutely delicious.
Here it is all fixed up with a sprinkle of baby arugula, fresh tomatoes and sour supreme. We enjoyed our slices, went for a walk and settled on the couch to watch a few shows.
Saturday morning I got up bright and early to bake up a batch of Babycakes gluten free Pumpkin Spice Muffins for our early morning birthing class. Around 8:30 our birthing class teacher arrived (we are taking private classes) and we served up coffee, muffins and fruit before starting our four hours of class. In other news our birthing class teacher is also a doula and last week after doing a bunch of reading Neil and I made a last minute decision to hire a doula for the birth. I checked with Sarah (our birth coach) to see if she had any July openings and she did so after our class we decided to hire her to be our doula (she is really wonderful and so comfortable to be around). I’ll discuss more of this doula talk in Thursday’s update post.
After our four plus hours of birthing class Neil and I were so hungry we decided to use up the remaining homemade dough and make another small pizza for lunch and then I passed out for a few hours. When I finally woke up Neil was going a little stir crazy and was ready to get out of the house so we decided to have a date night downtown including window shopping, drinks (beer for him and water for me) and dinner out at A Single Pebble <–Neil had a gift card from work so free (almost) dinner for us! After dinner we headed home and cuddled on the couch while watching the remainder of the Yankees game, we should have just gone to bed though such a bad game.
Sunday we enjoyed a lazy morning before heading out for brunch with friends that we hadn’t seen since last July. We spent over two hours enjoying food, conversation and having tons of belly laughs at Duino Duende. It was so nice not to have a rushed meal and really enjoy the company. After brunch we rean a few errands, took a nap, Neil did a training run and I watched House Hunters International.
While Neil finished up his run I made dinner of arugula walnut pesto with peas and white beans, a side of kale and leftover tofu from dinner at A Single Pebble. After dinner we went for a stroll and then relaxed on the couch. What did you do this weekend?
Now that you’ve read my weekend recap keep scrolling and you’ll find a great giveaway!
A few weeks ago Doug’s Nuts sent me a few complimentary bags of their nuts to try out and ever since then I have been in love. When I first open the nuts I am expecting them to be sugary based on their shiny coating but they were super mild and really delicious. They are coated with a flavorful glaze consisting of organic evaporated sugarcane juice, honey, oatmeal stout beer <– my husband saw beer and had to try them immediately, sea salt, organic vanilla extract, and other natural flavors. In the mix are roasted almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, and pumpkin seeds (the hazelnuts and pecans are my favorites).
I unfortunately finished off my two pouches pretty quickly (time to get some more I guess!) but boy where they good. I enjoyed them over soy yogurt, by the palm-full and my favorite way as a topping for apple “nachos”. What are apple nachos? Simply thinly sliced apples (I use my mandolin) drizzled with almond butter and topped with a sprinkling of Doug’s Nutsand a few mini chocolate chips for good measure.
Giveaway Details- Open Until Friday May 11th at 8pm EST: CLOSED
Doug’s Nuts will provide and ship one 6-pack of Doug’s Nuts to the winner ($30 + shipping costs value) – OPEN TO US RESIDENTS ONLY
Winner:
To enter:
Visit the Doug’s Nuts and come back and leave a comment letting me know something that you have learned. (Mandatory)
Additional Entries: (Leave a separate entry for each)
Yesterday I came home to a wonderful surprise GalaxyFoods sent me a sample of their new vegan cream cheese. As soon as i saw it I knew that we would be having bagels for dinner. However these were not going to be your average bagels with cream cheese these were going to be taken up a notch and be bagels with (no)lox.
I am ridiculously proud of my creation and how much it really looks like a bagel with lox. I used super thinly sliced tomato and onions (done on the mandolin), vegan cream cheese, and capers.
A few tips on how to make these really tasty is to
1. Cut the bagel in thirds This allows you to still have that yummy bagel but also place the toppings on and now have them all fall off when you eat them. It just makes things a little more eye appealing as well.
2. Soak your red onions. If you are a raw onion or red onion hater soaking the thinly sliced red onion in cold water for 10 minutes is helpful in reducing the sharp flavor. The Hubz is not an onion lover especially raw and he didn’t mind them this way.
What is your favorite bagel topping?
Put everything in the blender and blend until smooth. Taste for salt and pepper.
Quinoa and Black Bean Filling:
1 small onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup of cooked quinoa
1 (15oz) can of black beans, drain and rinsed
1/2T chili powder
1T olive oil
salt and pepper
In a large saute pan heat the oil over medium-high. Add the onions to the pan and saute for 5-7 minutes until translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the spices and then the quinoa and beans. Taste for salt and pepper.
1 cup shredded vegan cheese, 1/2 cup for top and 1/2 cup for filling
8 small tortillas
Assembling:
Preheat oven to 375F.
Pour a quarter cup of enchilada sauce into the bottom of a baking dish. Take 2 tablespoons of filling and a sprinkle of cheeze, wrap and place in the baking dish; repeat 7 more times.
Top with the remaining sauce and reserved 1/2 cup of cheeze. Cover the baking dish with tin foil and bake for 10 minutes. Uncover and bake for 5 more minutes until the cheeze is melted and bubbly. Then if you want to you can turn the broiler on to high and broil for 3-4 minutes until the cheeze melts a little more and is slightly browned.
I know you are all probably wondering what cheeze did you use that melts that well and looks so ooey gooey good? It was Galaxy Nutritional Foods vegan rice block cheeze. I am really weird about vegan cheezes and sometimes have tummy issues with soy based ones but this rice cheeze was really delicious. I was shocked to see how well it melted as well as how tasty it was! I also tired the vegan cheeze slices and vegan rice cheeze slices and they were all really delicious as well. I love how the melt perfectly and they flavor is really delicious. I used the slices in quesadillas, on top of veggie burgers and for grilled cheeze (my favorite).
