Tag: vegan

Recipes, Uncategorized

Tortilla Pizzas

veganlivingbydanielle

Tortilla Pizzas | Vegan Living by Danielle

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup veggie ground crumbles (found in the same section as veggie burgers)
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic or 1/2 tsp powdered garlic
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 2-3 baby bella mushrooms
  • 4-5 black olives
  • 1 handful of spinach
  • 1/2 cup pasta sauce
  • 2 medium sized tortillas

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 450F with the cookie sheet in the oven to warm it for quicker, more even cooking.
  2. Slightly warm the veggie crumbles in a small pan on low heat with olive oil, garlic, and oregano, stirring occasionally. Don’t over cook it now, because it will cook more in the oven and you don’t want it to be dry!
  3. Slice the mushrooms and olives, chop the spinach, and set them aside.
  4. Take the cookie sheet out of the oven and place tortillas on the sheet side by side so as little of the tortillas are overlapping as possible, if at all.
  5. Spread the tomato sauce evenly over the tortillas, leaving a little room around the edges for crust. We don’t want too much sauce or the tortilla will not cook evenly. 
  6. Add toppings evenly over the pizzas.
  7. Place cookie sheet back in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Watch for the edges to be a golden brown, you might not even need 8 minutes! 
  8. Remove cookie sheet from oven and use a spatula to take the pizza off the sheet and put it on a plate or cutting board to cut into 4 or 6 pieces per pizza!

Makes 2 tortilla pizzas.

If you’re like me and like to dip your pizza in ranch or some type of dressing, I recommend the vegan dressing: just ranch. You can find it at most Target stores!

Enjoy!

Lifestyle Tips, Uncategorized

Veganize Your Holiday!

veganlivingbydanielle

Hi everyone!

With Easter around the corner, I’m here to share some tips on how to make lots of dishes vegan! Lots of holiday recipes call for milk or butter, but lucky us! We live in an era where vegan substitutes for non-vegan items are becoming more accessible and taste better than in the past.

Here are some tips to a vegan or dairy-free holiday:

You can create a vegan form of a recipe by swapping out dairy milk for unsweetened, original soy milk!

You can also do this with butter by using Earth Balance spread or stick instead. Also, check the ingredients of some margarines for “Contains Milk,” because some margarines are made with milk, but some use olive oil or soy ingredients instead, like Country Crock Calcium plus Vitamin D spread.

Vegan candy for Easter baskets! Sour Patch Kids, Swedish Fish, Air Heads, Dots, Mike and Ikes, Smarties, Dum Dums, Fireball, Jolly Ranchers, and Blow Pop! Most dark chocolates don’t contain milk, but always double check the label. Justin’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter cups are vegan and Target’s vegan chocolate selection has been expanding!

Hoppy Easter!

 

xo,

Danielle

 

Recipes, Uncategorized

Power Packed Quinoa

veganlivingbydanielle

Power Packed Quinoa | Vegan Living by Danielle

Ingredients:

  • 1 bunch kale (sub spinach if desired)
  • 1 lg sweet potato
  • 1/2 cup dry quinoa
  • 1 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1/2 sm yellow onion
  • 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1-2 cloves garlic (sub 1 tsp powdered garlic)
  • 1 sm zucchini
  • 1 can of garbanzo beans
  • 1 cup of pine nuts
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1 Tbsp of plain hummus per serving as topping (optional)

Directions:

  1. Cut all leafy greens of kale from stems into pieces roughly the size of a playing card. (The best way to cut kale is to slice directly along the stem, on both sides of the stem, removing the leafy green from the stem entirely. Then cut the greens into desired size. The stems are edible, so feel free to add them to the meal if desired. I like to put the greens into a colander after cutting to rinse.) Set greens aside for later.
  2. Cube the sweet potato and put in a pot with the dry quinoa.
  3. Add 1/4 tsp cumin and 1/4 tsp chili powder to the pot.
  4. Add water and put the pot on high heat.
  5. Cover pot and set a timer for 20 minutes, but reduce heat to medium-low once it reaches a boil. (No stirring is necessary while quinoa is cooking.)
  6. Chop onion and place in pan over medium heat with olive oil. **If using garlic cloves, mince garlic and add to the pan now as well. Add powdered garlic later with the other spices.**
  7. Slice zucchini, then cut slices into quarters. Add zucchini, kale, garbanzos, pine nuts, and remainder of the spices (add powdered garlic here).
  8. Cook until all veggies are tender, stirring occasionally.
  9. Serve veggies on a small bed of the quinoa and top with a tablespoon of hummus and a sprinkle of cumin or chili powder if desired.
  10. Enjoy!

Makes approximately 4 servings.

Recipes, Uncategorized

The Best Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

veganlivingbydanielle

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies | Vegan Living by Danielle

CAUTION: These cookies are highly addictive!! Even my dad, who refuses to eat anything vegan and identifies highly with Ron Swanson [see Parks and Rec], cannot get enough of them even though he knows they are vegan! My omnivore family and coworkers always request that I bring these cookies too.

After baking these cookies year-after-year for Christmas presents and parties, I have a few tips to add!

  • Using metal sheets helps make the cookies more cake-like which seems to be the most popular. Bake time will vary depending on sheet type
  • One 15 oz can of pumpkin puree makes about 5-6 dozen cookies. Using a full can requires the recipe to be quadrupled.
  • I use mini chips so there are more chocolate chips per cookie
  • Substitute King Arthur’s Gluten Free measure for measure flour for a gluten free version!

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 Tbsp applesauce
  • 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice, or 1/8 tsp each of ginger, cloves, all-spice
  • 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips (Enjoy Life chips are allergen friendly. Also Stop and Shop’s organic semi-sweet chocolate chips are “accidentally” vegan)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Stir thoroughly pumpkin, sugar, oil, applesauce, and vanilla.
  3. In a separate bowl, stir thoroughly flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and other spices.
  4. Slowly pour flour mixture into pumpkin mixture and blend well.
  5. Once all the flour mixture is blended, stir in the chocolate chips.
  6. Scoop dough in 1-inch balls onto a lightly greased cookie sheet spaced 1 inch apart, they don’t expand too much.
  7. Bake for about 12 minutes. I recommend testing a few cookies before to make sure you’ve got the right time for your oven. They should come out a bit cake-like.

Makes approximately one dozen cookies.

Enjoy!!

Uncategorized

Vegan Snack Giveaway!

veganlivingbydanielle

Vegan Snacks Giveaway | Vegan Living by Danielle

**UPDATE: WINNER CHOSEN

Thanks to all participants!

GIVEAWAY ALERT!!! I am so excited to be sharing some vegan snacks that I love and that are easy to find! I found everything pictured at my local grocery store or Target.

I am going to share them with one lucky winner. To enter, follow me on Instagram and tag a friend in the comments! To get your name in for the drawing 2 additional times, pin one of my recipes on Pinterest and message me on Instagram with a screenshot, or repost this photo or one of my Instagram posts of a recipe.  

Contest ends Friday, April 14 at 11:59 pm EST. Winner will be announced the following day!

xo,

Danielle