Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff

Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff

Serves 4

1 ½ Lbs Mushrooms, Sliced

4 Green Onions, Sliced
1 Clove Garlic, Minced
3 T Balsamic Vinegar
1 T Vegan Worcestershire Sauce
3 C Fresh Spinach
1 1/2 C Unsweetened Almond Milk
2 T Cornstarch mixed with 3 T Water
Salt to Taste
1 Box Quinoa or Whole Wheat Pasta, Cooked & Hot

 

 

Sauté the mushrooms and onions with 2 tablespoons of water for about 2 minutes.  Add the garlic, vinegar, Worcestershire and mix well. 

 

 

Continue to cook and add spinach until it cooks down. 

 

 

Turn the heat on high and add almond milk and cornstarch until it bubbles for about 30 seconds.  This will thicken the sauce.  Pour the mushroom mixture over or into the pasta and serve!

Easter Candy Favorites

Wha'd up my Peeps?

Who doesn't love Peeps!  Well actually, a lot of people.  They're pretty sweet.  But they can also be a lot of fun in the microwave.  Peeps were always one of my favorite treats in my Easter basket. Growing up we just had the basics, but now they have chocolate covered, on a stick, rice crispy treats, chocolate and fruity flavored peeps, and many others.

Peeps originated in Pennsylvania by candy maker Sam Born in 1953. The yellow sugar coated marshmallow chicks were the first type of peep. In the 80's the bunny (my favorite) was introduced.  Last Easter over 700 million peeps were consumed. That's a lot of sugar highs!

NoBunny Knows Easter Better Than Cadbury

Remember that commercial of the Cadbury bunny clucking like a chicken? The original ad was aired in 1980.

See the link below for a classic commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFCNvZ_1gg0&feature=player_detailpage

Cadbury creme eggs are milk chocolate eggs with a super sugary cream fondant "egg yolk" inside.  They originated in the United Kingdom and are currently being produced at a rate of 1.5 million eggs per day. The Cadbury company originated in 1824 when John Cadbury opened up a cocoa shop in Birmingham. In 1831 he expanded to a 4 story factory and so the Cadbury Chocolate Company began. In 1875 Cadbury started producing an Easter egg, but this version was filled with sugar coated chocolate drops and coated in a dark chocolate shell. The original Cadbury creme egg was made in 1923 but didn't make it to the store shelves until 1971. It later gained popularity in the 1980's when that silly bunny started clucking.

The Super Flavorful Jelly Belly

 In 1960, David Klein wanted to make a new kind of jelly bean with intense flavors both inside and in the outer shell. He brought his idea to 4th generation candy maker Herman Goelitz Rowland and the Jelly Belly was born. Most jelly beans at that time all tasted the same. Jelly Bellys were very flavorful and were made from natural flavorings when possible. The first flavors were very cherry, lemon, licorice, root beer, cream soda, green apple, grape, and tangerine.

Former President Ronald Reagan loved jelly beans. He was quoted as saying "we can hardly start a meeting or make a decision without passing around the jar of jelly beans". Jelly Bellys were always found in the oval office and on air force one during his presidency. Jelly Belly even created the blueberry flavor in 1981 for Reagans inauguration. They also made jelly bean art out of him. What's your favorite Jelly Belly?

Have a Happy Easter!

Brunchy Bites

Here are some mini treats for a fabulous brunch.

Savory Stratas: Sausage Red Pepper or Ham Artichoke

Makes about 9

These are a little tricky for recipe amounts depending on what bread you use.  Ideally something like a french baguette would be ideal.  Also, what is a large loaf of bread? Bread comes in all sizes. And how dense or crusty is it?  What you will need to do is make sure that the bread is coated in the egg mix and soft.  You may need to add more egg and milk if it's dry. 

For the bread mix:

1 Large Loaf of Crusty Bread, cut into cubes

3 Eggs

3/4 C Whole Milk

Pinch of Salt

Pinch of Pepper

For the Sausage Pepper:

8 Oz Raw Breakfast Sausage Crumble (fully cook it)

1 C Roasted Red Peppers, Diced

1 Clove Garlic, Minced

1 C Shredded Pepper Jack Cheese plus some for topping

3 Leaves Fresh Basil, Chopped

Or For the Ham Artichoke:

5 Oz Fresh Spinach (sauteed)

1/2 Can Artichokes, Chopped

.25 Lb Ham, Diced

Pinch of Nutmeg

1 C Shredded Cheddar plus some for topping

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the bread mix together and set side while you're prepping your other ingredients.

Add in the remaining ingredients and let it sit about 45 minutes to fully absorb together.

Grease a cupcake pan. Squish the strata mix with your hands and make sure to break up any remaining cubed bread. Make a snowball. Well, not really, but ball it up in your hands and toss it into the pan. Continue with remaining mix and top lightly with cheese.

Bake for about 35 minutes and serve. These freeze and reheat well so you can make them ahead of time.

Mini Bread Pudding Bites: Chocolate Banana or Cranberry Apricot

Makes 20-24

For the bread mix:

1/2 Large Loaf or 1 Small of Challah Bread or Egg Bread

3 Eggs

3/4 C Whole Milk

1/3 C Sugar

1 T Vanilla

For the chocolate banana:

2 Mushed Bananas

1/3 C Chocolate Chips, Chopped

Or For the cranberry apricot:

1/4 C Dried Apricots, Chopped

1/4 C Dried Cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the bread mix together. Add in the remaining ingredients and set aside for about 45 minutes. 

Grease a mini muffin pan. Mush the mix together with your hands to make sure that the cubed bread is blended together. Using a scoop, put the mix into the muffin pan. Bake for about 25 minutes and serve!

 

Strawberry Cream Cheese Bites

Makes 15-20

1 Lb Strawberries

8 Oz Cream Cheese, Softened

3 T Powdered Sugar

1T Vanilla

Wash strawberries and dry. With a melon baller, cut off the tops and take out a little of the center. Cut off the bottoms of the berries so that they can sit upright.

Blend the cream cheese with the vanilla and sugar. Put it into a piping bag and fill the strawberries to the top. Serve!

Quiche Pastries: Bacon Cheddar or Smoked Salmon Yogurt
Makes 9

1 Sheet of Puff Pastry
4 Eggs
1/2 C Milk
Pinch Salt
Pinch Pepper

For the bacon cheddar:
1/2 C Cooked Bacon
1/2 C Shredded Cheddar

Or for the smoked salmon:
About 3-4 Slices of Smoked Salmon
1/3 C Plain Greek Yogurt
1 Green Onion, Chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the puff pastry into squares and put them into a cupcake pan. Make sure to press down on the bottom. Poke some holes with a fork or knife on the bottom.

Bake them for about 10 minutes. As they are cooling, press down on the bottoms if it puffed up too much.

Beat the egg, milk, salt, and pepper. Set aside.

For the bacon flavor, put the bacon and cheese in the bottom. Pour the egg mix on top. For the salmon quiche, put about 1t yogurt on the bottom, a few small pieces of salmon, and scallion on top. Pour egg mix on top.

Bake for about 25 minutes and serve.

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms
Makes about 24

2 Packages of Mushrooms
10 Oz Fresh Spinach
1 Pound Bulk Breakfast Sausage
1 Clove Garlic, Minced
1 Cup Shredded Provolone or Jack Cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a sheet pan with foil.

Pull the stems out of the mushrooms.

Saute the spinach, drain off liquid. Saute the sausage. Add together with garlic and cheese. Stuff the mushrooms.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes and serve.

Caprese Stacks
Makes 5

8 Oz Package Fresh Mozzarella Log
2 Plum Tomatoes
10 Pieces of Fresh Basil
Olive Oil
Aged Balsamic Vinegar
Sea Salt
Cracked Pepper

Slice the mozzarella and tomato into 10 pieces each. Pat extra liquid off with a paper towel.

Drizzle the plate with vinegar. Stack in this order: tomato, salt, vinegar, basil, mozzarella, olive oil, pepper. Repeat and put a toothpick in them.