I've got a lot of kale growing in my garden plus I babysat my daughter's pups for a few days and picked the kale in her garden as well (my paycheck:)). So I came up with this delicious kale chip snack that uses on 4 ingredients. I hope you love them as much as I do.

I love tomatoes and any derivative of tomatoes (think paste, sauce, diced, etc.). So to satisfy my strong desire for this delicious fruit (although considered vegetable by nutritionists) I came up with this yummy salsa. 

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups tomato (chopped or cherry tomatoes)
1/2 cup tomato paste
1 T garlic powder (or 5 cloves fresh garlic)
1/4 cup of chopped onion
1/2 t cuman
water as needed to get to your desired consistency

Mix all of the above in either a food processor or blender and process enough to keep it somewhat chunky.

Ingredients

1 14.5 oz can of fire roasted tomatoes with green chilis 
1 t fresh jalapeno pepper, more if you like it spicier (jarred is ok in a pinch)
1/4 cup yellow onion chopped
2-3 cloves fresh garlic chopped
1/2 t cumin

Throw all the ingredients in a blender and blend for a few seconds. If you like it thicker, add some tomato paste until desired consistancy is reached.

Ingredients

2 packages of Pillsbury crescent rolls
2 packages of vegan cream cheese
1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise
1/2 cup vegan sour cream
6 T ranch spices - I use the Penzeys ranch spice
2-4 cloves garlic pressed
Use what ever veggies you like chopped small. I used about 5 cups of broccoli, cauliflower, yellow peppers, carrots and tomatoes. You can use more or less veggies of your choice.

Method:
Roll the crescent rolls out on a cookie sheet and pinch edges together to form a pizza like crust. Bake according to instructions. Let cool completely. Meanwhile, mix the vegan mayonnaise, sour cream, cream cheese, garlic and ranch spices together in a bowl. Top the pizza crust with the ranch mixture and veggies, slice in squares and enjoy!

​​​So I was craving granola BUT I wanted a savory granola...Check out this recipe I conjured up to satisfy my craving! You can put this granola on salads, pasta or straight from your hand to your mouth. I even gave some to my puppy and he loved it 🐶.
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Ingredients:

Dry:
3 cups of old fashion oats 
3 T pumpkin seeds
3 T sunflower seeds
3 T sesame seeds
1 T Chia seeds
1 T Hemp seeds
1 T rosemary
1.5 T paprika
1 t cumin
1t curry
1 tsp tumeric

Wet:
1 Cup warm water

Method:

Heat oven to 325. Mix all of the dry ingredients together well. Add the water and mix well into a ball. Let sit if possible, for at least 15 minutes. Dump the mixture in a large parchment lined baking sheet. Spread on the sheet completely using a spatula. Put in the oven. You will be baking for about 2 hours but every 20-25 minutes or so, you will need to mix and re-flatten to prevent burning. Depending on how well your oven heats, you may have to do this more often. When you are satisfied with how crisp your granola is remove from oven and let cool. Alternately, if you have a dehydrator, dry over night at the highest temp (mine is 160). Let cool in the morning and for storage, place in a sealed bowl.

In this recipe, I had some leftover sesame ginger dressing from my asian salad and decided to saute it! Just press your tofu between paper towel and place a heavy item on the top for as little as 1/2 hour and cut into cubes. So easy! Just listen to how delicious it sound!

We were at the St. Petersburg Farmers Market on Saturday. Just as the market was ending, there were great deals on produce so I picked up a head of Cauliflower for $2.50 and figured I'd be able to make up something for it with the limited spices I have here in Florida. I really enjoyed the flavors I threw together and hope you do too!

Ingredients:

1 Head of Cauliflower cut up in small pieces
2 T olive oil
1/2 t paprika
1/2 t cumin
2 large cloves of garlic chopped
1/2 cup of vegan parmesan cheese
1/4 cup of vegan mozzarella cheese
chopped green onions or parsley to top (not necessary but it looks nice)

Method:

Pre-heat over to 400 degrees. Place the cauliflower in an oven safe pan. Add the olive oil and garlic and mix well with the cauliflower. sprinkle the spices over the cauliflower and then top with the parmesan cheese. Bake for 15 minutes, mix with a spoon and add the the mozzarella cheese. Bake for another 15 minutes. Plate and top with chopped green onions or parsley (optional). Enjoy all on it's own, or as a side dish!

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Prepping for a Super Bowl Party is easy even if you are following a plant based diet. Here are a few of our favorite easy suggestions! To create a delicious Ranch Dip for chips, vegan meatballs or whatever you like to dip into ranch dressing,  we love using Penzeys Buttermilk Ranch spice. We add a couple of Ts of the spice with a jar of any of your favorite vegan mayonnaise. I always add at least a couple of ts of freshly minced garlic but you can reduce or increase this option depending on your love for garlic.

Next we're going to offer our guests an easy peasy sweet offering. Chocolate Chip Muffins! We use the Vegetarian Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix which we found at our local grocery store (Kroger in Michigan or Win Dixie in Florida). We used plant based milk and an egg substitute to make it vegan. We used a product call Vegg for our egg substitute. We also added about 1/3 cup of vegan chocolate chips and mixed and baked per the instructions!

We're also going to provide an quick and easy pizza option for our guests. For this, we use:

1 Pillsbury Crescent Roll 
1/4 cup olive oil
2 T minced garlic (more or less if desired)
1 jar of Plant Based Pizza Sauce (any with our cheese should work)
1 8 oz pkg of Daiya Cheese or any other plant based cheese
Any chopped veggies you like

Method:

Pre Heat oven to 375. Roll out the crescent roll and stretch onto a rectangular baking pan. Mix the olive oil with the garlic and brush onto the stretched out crescent roll. Bake for about 10 minutes. Remove crust from oven and top with pizza sauce, add plant based cheese and any chopped veggies you've prepared. Place back into the oven for another 6-8 minutes and serve.

Ingredients:

1 8 oz package of vegan cream cheese softened
1/2 cup of vegan mayonnaise
1/2 cup vegan sour cream
1 package of Trader Joes frozen artichokes
1 12 oz package of Trader Joes chopped spinach
1.5 cups of vegan mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup of vegan parmesan cheese
3 large cloves of garlic pressed in a garlic press

Method:

Preheat oven to 400F. Thaw and chop each artichoke into about thirds. Thaw the chopped spinach and strain the excess water out of it. Mix in an oven safe bowl the vegan cream cheese, mayonnaise, and sour cream together. Add artichoke and chopped spinach. Fold in the vegan mozzarella cheese.  Sprinkle the vegan parmesan cheese on top. Cover with foil and bake for about 35 minutes. Take the foil off and bake another 10 minutes. Enjoy with chips or pita bread!

Ingredients:

2 cups of chick peas (drained and rinsed if using canned, save the liquid for aquafaba!)
2 tbsp sesame seed oil
3 cloves of garlic
1/3 to 1/2 cup of olive oil

Method:

Put all of the ingredients and 1/3 cup of the olive oil into a food processor and process until smooth. If the hummus is still to thick, add the remaining olive oil and add more if needed. Enjoy!