"Pepperoni" Pizza

Why order a plain, non-cheese veggie pizza from a pizzeria when you can make this delicious, and ridiculously easy, version in about 20 minutes at home?

"Pepperoni" Pizza

1 Premade Whole Wheat Crust
1 Small Jar of Ragu Tomato Sauce
1 Box of Lightlife Smart Deli® Pepperoni
1 Bag of Daiya Mozzarella Style Shreds
Olive Oil (to brush the crust)

Preheat over to 375°F.

Place the pizza crust on a baking sheet and brush with olive oil.

Spoon sauce onto the crust and cover with a layer of pepperoni.

Cover the sauce and pepperoni, thoroughly, with mozzarella cheese and then add another layer of pepperoni to top it off.

Place on the bottom rack of the oven and cook for about 15-20 (or until the cheese gets melty and the crust is slightly browned.)

Note: If you can't find lightlife or daiya in your area, Yves Meatless Pepperoni and Tofutti Mozzarella Slices are good substitutes.

Servings: About 8 Slices (dependent on the size of the crust)

Vegetable Bean Soup

I wanted to make vegetable soup, but was feeling lazy and didn't want to drive all the way to the farmers market to get fresh veggies, so I went to the supermarket and decided to try using frozen. They worked great; I couldn't even tell the difference and it was absolutely delicious.

What makes this soup even better is that it was so inexpensive and easy to make! I got the bags of vegetables on sale, so the entire pot of soup only cost me about $5 and will easily feed me for days. I know that I've spent that much on a 1 cup of "homemade" soup from a store or 2 cans of soup, so it's definitely worth it to make your own sometimes.


Vegetable Bean Soup

3 Bags of Frozen Vegetables (12-16oz) [I used Shoprite's Steam in Bag Asian Stirfry, California Blend (Broccoli, Cauliflower & Carrots) and Peas]
1 bag (16 oz) Goya 16 Bean Soup Mix
1 Red Onion
2 Stalks of Celery
1 tbsp minced garlic
Olive Oil (for sautéing)
4 Quarts (16 cups) of water mixed with Osem Chicken Style Consomme [or 4 Quarts of any other type of broth]
Spices*

• Bay leaf
• Old Bay
• Oregano
• Basil
• Cinnamon
• Allspice
• Salt & Pepper (to taste)

*Note: At one point, I just started adding different spices and seasonings without writing any of them down. I don't know the exact measurements - and I may have forgotten a spice or two - so just use this list as a guideline. Experiment and decide what tastes good to you!

Before you begin, make sure you rinse the beans.

Saute the onions in a stock pot until they start to turn clear, then add the celery and saute a few minutes longer. Add garlic, stir a few times.

Add the 3 bags of frozen vegetables and the bag of beans.

Add the vegetable broth or water. Bring to a boil.
[Note: If you are using the consomme, add the powder after you bring the water to a boil.]

Add the spices and then stir a few times to mix everything together.

Reduce the heat to simmer [low/medium heat] and cover.

Let the soup simmer for an hour to an hour and a half. When the beans are cooked, the soup is done.
[Note: I let the soup sit on the stove for a few hours after it was done to let the flavors blend together a bit longer.]

Don't forget to remove the bay leaf before serving.

Servings: You'll probably be eating it for the next couple of weeks.

Split Chickpea Soup

Happy New Year, everyone! I did quite a bit of cooking over the holidays, but didn't have enough time to document anything, so I took a bit of a hiatus but now I'm back. And come bearing gifts of a new soup recipe!

Winter is the perfect time for soup and I've been on such a huge split pea soup kick lately, that I decided to come up with my own version, but with a bit of a variation.

Split Chickpea Soup

16 oz Bagged Beans (8 oz Split Peas / 8 oz Chick Peas)
6 Cups Water (Plus a few more cups - optional)
6 tsp Chicken Style Consomme (I used Osem)
1 Red Onion (chopped)
2 Stalks of Celery (chopped)
1 1/2 tsp Garlic (minced)
1 Bay leaf
Olive Oil (for sautéing)
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
4qt stock pot (or sauce pan)

Rinse and drain the peas and chick peas and then set them aside.

Chop up the onion and the celery sticks. Pour a little olive oil in the pot and saute the onions over low to medium heat. After a few minutes, add in the celery and garlic and saute another couple of minutes.

Add the peas, chick peas and water to the pot. Stir to mix everything together and then bring the water to a boil. Add consomme - stir. Add the bay leaf.

Cover and turn heat down between low to medium so that the water stays at a simmer.

Let soup simmer for 1hr & 15 minutes.

Remove bay leaf and puree the soup using a food processor or blender. The soup should be really thick so once you pour it back into the pot, add 1-2 cups of hot water. Stir. If soup is still too thick, add more water until desired thickness is achieved.

Add salt & pepper. Serve.

Makes about 8-10  servings

(The longer the soup sits, the thicker it gets, so you can always thin the soup out by adding a bit of water to it before reheating it.)

Create Your Own Lara Bar!

I recently become addicted to Lara bars and while doing some searching online realized that there is basically one main ingredient (dates) and then you can add whatever you want to create your own flavors. There are a bunch of different recipes online (if you want some inspiration for flavors) but this is one I just threw together last night. The possibilities are endless!

Peanut Butter and Banana Lara Bars
(makes 4 bars)

1 box (8 oz) of Chopped Dates
1/2 Bag (3oz) Banana Chips
2.5 Tbsp Peanut Butter (Creamy)
Pinch of Salt

1. Grind up the banana chips in a food processor (or Magic Bullet, blender, etc)
2. Add dates and pulse until the chunks start to break down
3. Add peanut butter, a pinch of salt and process until everything is mixed together and sort of forms a dough type consistency.
4. Lay a piece of saran wrap on the counter. Form the dough into a ball and place it on one half of the saran wrap. Cover and press until it creates a rectangle.
5. Fully wrap and place in the refrigerator over night. In the morning, cut the rectangle into four pieces.

(Note: In the picture, the banana chips aren't ground up. I came up with the idea to grind them first because originally, I had added them to the mixture, last, and had difficulties getting the pieces small enough.)

Homemade Mixed Berry Soy Ice Cream

Last summer, I went to a fundraiser for The Last Resort Animal Rescue and Sanctuary and bought a Donvier Ice Cream Maker (manual version) for $4 - which turns out to have been an amazing deal! I remember thinking that you needed a special type of salt to make ice cream, so I put it away in storage and forgot about it.

Over the past few weeks, I've seen a lot of different recipes - not using salt - but they all called for an ice cream maker which I (thought) didn't have. That is until I paid a visit to my storage room the other day and saw it sitting there! So I picked it up, brought it home and made myself some vegan ice cream. It was delicious, creamy and so simple that I can't wait to test out other flavors!

Mixed Berry Soy Ice Cream

2 Cups Soy Milk (I used Silk DHA Omega-3 & Calcium)
2 Cups Mixed Berries (frozen are fine, but make sure they're slightly thawed)
3/4 Cups Sugar (I used Evaporated Cane Sugar)

1. Freeze the metal freezer bowl for at least 7 hours before use.
2. In a blender, blend together soy milk, mixed berries and sugar until combined well.
3. Remove the metal freezer bowl from freezer and place into ice cream maker. Place the blade in the bowl, pour in the berry mixture and then cover with the lid and attach the handle.
4. Rotate the handle 3 to 4 times and then let sit for another few minutes. Repeat this process for about 20 minutes or until mixture reaches an ice cream consistency.
5. You can eat the ice cream right away of if you want a firmer consistency, transfer the ice cream to a freezer safe bowl and freeze for another hour or so.

That's all there is to it!

Makes about 1/2 quart of ice cream