Tag: vegan

Vegan Chocolate Pudding Pie

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I’ve had to be dairy-free while attempting to breast-feed my son, as that he’s allergic to milk. This means that I have to kill my sugar cravings with dairy-free foods. I figure, might as well go vegan, since I have vegan friends and like the challenge.

This recipe can be made with a home-made graham cracker crust, or canned vegan whipped topping. I did what was easiest for me to grab at my local grocery store. The assembly is the easy part. The secret is the chocolate “pudding.”

Vegan Chocolate Pudding Pie
6 Weight Watchers PointsPlus Values per serving
Makes 8 servings

1 vegan 9″ graham cracker pie crust
1 pound soft silken tofu (usually, one cold-pack package of tofu)
1 cup vegan semisweet chocolate chips (usually 1/2 a package)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp Nutritional Yeast
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
5 ounces Soyatoo Vegan Whipping Cream

Set the graham cracker crust aside, ready for the filling.

Cut the silken tofu into about 4-6 pieces, and throw in a food processor. Put the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 2 minutes. You can also melt the chips in a double boiler. Mix up the chips to make sure that it creates a smooth, melted chocolate mess. Pour in with the tofu. Add the sugar, vanilla, salt and nutritional yeast. Yes, salt and nutritional yeast. This is the secret to its deliciousness. Pulse the food processor, initially, then let it go until the contents are evenly mixed and very smooth. Make sure to stop and scrape the sides with a spatula.

Pour the pudding mixture into the pie crust and smooth in evenly.

Take the soy whipping cream and whip with a hand mixer until it’s light and fluffy. Here you can get creative. You can either pour it/spoon it on top of the chocolate pudding, or you can do what I did (sorry, no pretty pics!), which is use a plastic bag with a 1/4 in hole cut in the corner, fill it with the whipped cream, and pipe it in a circle from the outside to the inside. This is where a can of aerosol whipped topping would come in handy.

Throw in the refrigerator for an hour or so, and serve!

Please let me know if you try this recipe, and if you do, what the results were like!

Chewy Vegan Banana Nut Muffins

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I am not a vegan, however, I have this fascination with vegan baking. Mostly, it’s a fascination with substitution, and seeing what I can get away with to make something tasty, yet also nearly healthy. My primary goal is to make yummy treats that are lower in refined sugars, higher in fiber and lower in fat than their conventional cousins. Right now, I’m just playing with making my own recipes. Below is a recipe I recently made. The muffins turned out beautiful, though they are on the dense and chewy side. The nuts should help with the chewiness, by offering some texture difference. They also increase the protein, which I often need to balance out any carbs. Please let me know if you try this recipe, and how it works for you!

Chewy Vegan Banana Nut Muffins

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup wheat germ
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup almond milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 bananas, pureed
  • 1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Preparation

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Oil and flour three mini muffin pans or line with paper liners. Whisk flour and wheat germ, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, and baking soda in medium bowl. Whisk almond milk and vanilla in small bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and banana puree in large bowl to blend. Beat well after each addition until mixture is evenly mixed, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Beat in dry ingredients in 3 additions alternately with almond milk mixture in 2 additions. Mix just until blended. Mix in nuts. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups by generous tablespoonfuls.

Bake muffins until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 23-25 minutes. Cool in pans 5 minutes. Remove muffins from pans and cool on rack.

Extreme Running – NY Times Article

Posted on Posted in Fitness and DietTagged , ,

Mark Bittman (author of our household’s favorite cookbook, How to Cook Everything ) has a story in the NY Times about ultramarathoner Scott Jurek. Not only is Scott Jurek a man who runs crazy distances, he also is a vegan.

I have no intention of becoming vegan, though I do have the intention to clean up my diet more than it is today. I already eat a lot of fresh, local foods, and most of our meat and dairy products come from local, organic and humane sources. I’m trying to limit my overall consumption of meat and dairy, to make other foods more of a staple of my diet. I see vegan as being an unsustainable ideal when done as it is done by most vegans I know (relying on heavily processed, Big Ag foods and petrochemicals). One of the things that exercise makes me ravenous for is protein and fat, which I usually get from meat and protein. I don’t know if I’m not eating the right plant substances when I get that need, but it seems that nothing else satisfies.

Anyway, I digress. Check out Mark Bittman’s article Diet and Exercise to the Extremes. It’s now time for my short and fast run!