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.
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.
Bake for 35-45 minutes, or as the directions on the lasagna noodle box recommend.
Once out of the oven let the lasagna cool for 5-7 minutes. Then enjoy!
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.
Friday night my husband and I had one of the most amazing meals of our lives. It was one of those meals that not only had amazing food but was topped off with the best service and experience at a restaurant that we have ever had. Prior to our trip away I had contacted Bun the owner of Miya’s Sushi about the vegan options as well as what was included in a vegan platter. He quickly responded back to me to give him to tell him how much we would like to spend and that he would put together a great vegan spread for us. Before we left he followed up on our reservation and told me to just let one of the guys know when we got there that we had a special vegan meal waiting for us. Much to our delight we were seated, ordered our drinks and then the food just started to come out. It was the best feeling to just sit down and not have to worry about what we were going to order and it was an exciting adventure to see what dish would be coming out next. Below are photos with descriptions of all of our dishes we had (we had 8 samples of vegan sushi rolls and I can’t remember what they all were):
sweet mother’s milk: a whole steamed artichoke served with our sauce made from spicy homemade middle eastern pureed jalapeno makdoos.
Vegan version of Tokyo Fro: hip hop is the most popular music of japanese youth & has made the afro tokyo's most popular hairstyle; to have japanese hair processed into an afro costs over a thousand dollars at a trendy hair stylist. this recipe was inspired by the afro; it looks & tastes exactly like a japanese processed fro, drizzled with a delicious chef secret sauce.
Deep Fried Spinach
A tasting of 8 vegan sushi rolls
Overall the food was amazing, the atmosphere was fun and the staff were great. Although Bun was not he created a magical experience for the two of us and I can’t wait to return for some more sushi.
My first impression of this book was that it seemed slightly morbid for a children’s book, however as I began to think about it there really is no easy way to explain to children why it is that we don’t eat animals. Although this book is slightly morbid for children it depicts accurate images of life for animals on factory farms, in the sea or in the rainforest in a way that children will understand. I think that the graphics are amazing in this book and that they are the closest thing to real photos of factory farms without actually having to show children such graphic pictures.
This book starts by introducing the idea that we are all Earthlings and explains what a Vegetarian and a Vegan is. The book is set up in a way that starts with the most familiar animals to the least familiar to children. The first section is about pets which is a great place to start because pets are the animals that children have the most exposure to whether in their own house or at friends/families. Following pets are farm animals from birds to pigs and cows. These pages explain what life is like for the animals when they are free to roam on their own and how life is dramatically different for farm animals when they are placed in factory farms. The last sections of the book are dedicated to ocean and rainforest life. Both of the animals and other living organisms are the least familiar to the average child that would be reading this book (at least in North America).
One of my favorite features of this book is the very last page that list ideas on what you can do to make a difference and learn more. I think that this was a great addition to the book as it gives children and parents ideas on what else to do after the book is done. I also have to add that this book is not only a great tool for teaching your kids why they are vegetarian or vegan but also to teach adults and others why it is important not to eat meat.
Overall this is a must have book for any vegetarian or vegan bookshelf.
Blogger Disclaimer: The publishing house 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.
We had originally intended on having dinner at Pure Food and Wine for our Valentine’s Day dinner but after some time to think it over we decided that it’s a little too pricey for our budget right now. We were however on a mission to make our way to One Lucky Duck at the Chelsea Market . When I saw the Mallomar waiting in the cooler I made a bee-line to it. My husband also picked up one of their Valentine Truffles for me, it was good but not really worth the $3 for the tiny treat. However the $6 Mallomar was amazing and wish we had both got our own because it was that good.
The most delicious thing during our whole day in NYC the One Lucky Ducky Mallomar!
Caffe Ibis, located in Logan Utah, was great and sent me four samples of their organic coffees. The four coffees I tried were:
1. Organic Mayan Sunrise Blend- I really loved this coffee it was a great morning coffee that is a blend of dark and light roasts.
2. Organic Aztec Blend- what I loved about this coffee was that it is smooth, sweet and spicy.
3. Organic French Roast Blend- this coffee is rich caramelly, and smooth.
4. Organic Highland Sumatra Dark- This is my absolute favorite of the 4- it is a light french roast that is full bodied and has light acidity.
I drink a lot of coffee and I loved these coffees. The other thing that influences my coffee purchases are the companies ethical practices. Caffee Ibis has great ethical practices that are both socially and environmentally responsible:
Caffe Ibis Mission
“Our mission for thirty years has been to be “unbeatable for quality and freshness, while supporting social and environmental responsibility.” Caffe Ibis endeavors to:
1. Provide customers with mountain grown and mountain roasted specialty arabica coffee with unbeatable quality and freshness.
2. Provide due respect and fair compensation for the people whose labor brings us our exceptional organic coffees.
3. Respect and safeguard the environment that provides the extraordinary growing conditions true specialty organic coffee requires
4. Utilize buying practices that support shade grown and organic coffee, a sustainable coffee future, and social and environmental responsibility.
5. Honor and respect our partners in this endeavor, and the employees and customers of Caffe Ibis Coffee.
We believe that by adhering to the above principles that we will show returns that justify the costs incurred in presenting our goods and services along with the additional costs of future growth.” Source
To find out where you can get yourself Caffe Ibis Coffee you can visit their website or you can order direct from their website.
Disclaimer: Caffe Ibis 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.
So I have been working on this pantry challenge and have come to realize it’s a fail. I evaluated the contents of my cupboards and well I basically have tomatoes, tomato sauce, pasta and grains…no beans, no other fun pantry items. My freezer is pretty sparse as well – only gin, bananas, edamame and sweet peas. I think that this pantry challenge was a great idea but is just not going to work for me this month since I am lacking in staples. However I am considering coming back to this when i have a more well stocked pantry.
I have to say though I have created some great meals this week. My husband commented on the fact that they were fun and different than we usually have and actually have tasted great. I’ll leave you with some of the items I made this week:
Southwest Grits - Makes 2 servings
Ingredients:
1/2 cup 5 minute grits
2 cups water
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 t each of garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, and paprika
1 t cumin
1/4 t chipotle chili powder
1/4 cup frozen corn
3 green onions thinly sliced
Directions:
In a bowl mix together grits, nutritional yeast and spices.
Bring water to a boil, while stirring slowly stream in the grits mixture.
Turn the heat down to low and let cook this should take about 5-7 minutes, make sure to stir frequently.
Once the grits are almost done add in the corn and green onions.
To serve place grits in a bowl and garnish with green onion, corn and your favorite hot sauce.
Creamy Butternut Squash Penne - Serves 1
For dinner last night I took the bus into Burlington to meet my hubby after work for a date night. We went to American Flatbread which is delicious. I love their menu because it is simple – all they have are 10 signature flatbreads, create your own flatbread and a salad; however their beer menu is extensive – I’d say close to 100 different varieties as well as house made ones.
Hubby had the Wolaver's Coffee Porter and I had Unibroue's La Fin Du Monde
We shared 2 small flatbreads- This one is Revolution Flatbread- housemade tomato sauce, caramelized onions, mushrooms and herbs
Our 2nd flatbread was the Roasted Tomato Salsa- house made salsa (wood fired tomatoes, garlic, jalapenos, cilantro), corn and black beans
