Post # 10 - Banana Strawberry Ice Cream Pie

Today's post is about vegan ice cream and making your own soft serve ice cream with fruit and the amazing Yonanas machine. I am in no way affiliated with the company or creators of the product Yonanas but I am really love it and below is my review and of how the machine works and what you can do with it.

First off, I love ice cream. Finding vegan ice cream has not been too difficult I have found a lot of great brands out there that I really enjoy such as Pomegranate Chip by So Delicious, Tofutti Cuties ice cream sandwiches by Tofutti and Trader Joe's Soy Creamy product line.

Though I think it is more fun to make your own ice cream and creating your own flavor combinations is a great way to become your own personal taste maker. I got a product called Yonanas which you place frozen fruit into and out comes a delicious and healthy soft-serve treat that is ready to eat.

Yonanas is very simple to use.

Step 1: Peel ripe bananas and freeze.
Step 2: Freeze other fruit such as strawberries or raspberries
Step 3: After freezing for 24 hours take out and let defrost for 15 min.
Step 4: Place 2 Bananas in the Yonanas machine followed by strawberries.
Step 5: Eat and enjoy.

The Yonanas website has many great ideas for using your Yonanas machine and many clever recipes to keep your taste-buds happy.

Below is my recipe for Banana Strawberry Lemon Ice Cream Pie

Serves 5-6

Ingredients:
1 - 6 Frozen Bananas
2 - 1 Bag of Frozen Strawberries
3 - 1 Frozen Lemons
4 - 1 Wholly Wholesome Graham Cracker Pie Crust

Steps -
1: Take all items out of freezer and allow to defrost for 15 minutes
2: Place in 2 Bananas followed by 6 Strawberries and a slice of lemon
 - Repeat until finished ingredients.
3: In a bowl stir the ice cream mixture together to get a good consistency.
4: Carefully layer the ice cream mixture into the pie crust.
5: Serve and enjoy!
6: This mixture can be refrozen and defrosted and served again.

Frozen Bananas, Strawberries, and Lemons.

Kosher Vegan Pie Crust

Finished Product. Banana, Strawberry, Lemon Ice Cream Pie.

Post # 9 - Easy Home Made Pizza

This is a fun pizza to make for any meal.
It is easy to put together and delicious.

Ingredients:

1 Bag:  365 Organic Whole Wheat Pizza Crusts
1 Can:  Muir Glen Organic Pizza Sauce
1 Bag:  Daiya Cheddar Cheese
1 Bag:  Frozen Broccoli and Cauliflower

Directions:

Lace pizza pan with a bit of olive oil
Place crusts on pizza pan
Cover pizza crust heartily with pizza sauce
Cover pizza sauce with Daiya Cheddar Cheese
Cover cheese and sauce with Broccoli and Cauliflower
(or any other vegetables you like)

Cook in oven at 375 for 30 minutes


Enjoy

Post # 8 - Shepherd's Birthday Cake Pie

This week's recipe is my take on a vegan shepherd's pie.

This shabbat is my Dad's birthday.
Hopefully this pie will also resemble a birthday cake.

Since this dish is vegan we will not be using any meat in the pie but instead will be filling the pie with delicious vegetables. You could also add a ground beef subsittue such as Smart Ground.

Serving Size - 6 - 8 people

Ingredients:

Potatoes - 4 average size
Yams - 4 average size
Onion - 1 yellow onion average size
Garlic Clove - 1 average size
Broccoli - 12 oz fresh or frozen
Peas - 12 oz fresh or frozen
Corn - 12 oz fresh or frozen
Cauliflower - 12 oz fresh or frozen
Carrots - 12 oz fresh or frozen
Earth Balance - Butter Substitute

Directions:

1: Boil the potatoes until soft.
    Drain and mash with 2 tablespoons of Earth Balance.
2: Boil the yams until soft.
    Drain and mash with 2 tablespoons of Earth Balance.
3: Chop onion and one clove of garlic saute in olive oil
    Mix in with potatoes.
4: Keep the potatoes and yams in separate bowls.
5: Dice all of the vegetables.
6: In a large pan combine all the vegetables and steam.
    Add in spices as desired. (Garlic, Paprika, Pepper)
7: In a large baking dish spread the yams on the bottom of the pan.
8: Pour the vegetables into the baking dish on top of the yams.
9: Spread the potatoes on top of the vegetables.
0: Place the baking dish in the oven for 30-40 at 375 degrees.
1: Place mini carrots upright on top of the potatoes as birthday candles.

Chopped Potatoes and Yams

Ingredients

Post # 7 Product Review: LARABAR

Today I will be reviewing possibly my favorite vegan product the extremely awesome and tasty LaraBar.

LARABAR Samples

The kind folk at LaraBar were nice enough to send a few samples of some their new flavors.

They sent over the classics, Apple Pie, Cherry Pie, and few that I had never tried Pecan Pie, Key Lime Pie, Carrot Cake, Peanut Butter and Jelly and my all time favorite flavor Blueberry Muffin.

Almost every flavor of Larabar is vegan and kosher. There are a few newer flavors that include dairy chocolate chips they are Chocolate Chip Brownie, Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip.

What makes LaraBars so amazing besides their great taste is that they all made from whole food, a delecious blend of unsweetened fruits, nuts and spices and no flavor has more than nine ingredients. As it states are there packaging "Pure and simple, just as nature intended."

I love having a LaraBar for breakfast, or as a snack throughout the day. They are quite reasonable usually $1.25 and most months you can find a coupon to bring down the cost.

I believe the company has partenered with General Mills and now you thaknfully find LaraBar is a many more stores than they used to be. I've been getting them a my local Shoprite and they usually carry almost all of the flavors.

Speaking of flavors listed below are all of the kosher vegan flavors available.

Apple Pie - 

A classic. Tastes like the real thing. You can't go wrong with this flavor.

Banana Bread - 

Very tasty but not for those who don't have a love of banana.

Blueberry Muffin - 

This is my favorite flavor ever. I could eat these at every meal all day long. 

Cappuccino - 

I have not yet had this flavor.

Carrot Cake -

 Just tried Carrot Cake this week and I really liked, the pineapple flavor in it was a bit strong.

Cashew Cookie - 

 I have not yet had this flavor.

Cherry Pie - 

Tastes like real cherry pie. Heat it up for some delicious hot cherry pie.

Chocolate Coconut Chew - 

I have not yet had this flavor.

Coconut Cream Pie - 

 I have not yet had this flavor.

Ginger Snap - 

This is an interesting flavor, very good for those who love ginger.

Key Lime Pie - 

My wife really likes this flavor. I love Key Lime Pie but I don't really love this larabar.

Lemon Bar - 

My third favorite flavor. I love lemon. This bar does lemons justice.
Orange Float -
I have not yet had this flavor and am looking forward to finding it.

Peanut Butter & Jelly - 

Its really good, the jelly is the cherry pie flavor mixed with peanut butter cookie. 

Peanut Butter Cookie -

I can only have these once in a while because they are addicting.

Pecan Pie - 

Just had it this week for the first time and loved it. This is my # 2 go to bar now. It is so tasty.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake -  

 have not yet had this flavor.

Tropical Fruit Tart -  

I have not yet had this flavor.

I love larabars because they are made with simple ingredients & you can feel good about all of their delicious kosher vegan flavors.

Fun things to try with larabars:
Heat them up in your convection oven to get that warm pie taste.
Cut them up into pieces & reattach with different flavors, enjoy the rainbow.

I want to thank Lara for her wonderful products and hope they continue their tradition of creating amazing kosher vegan healthy flavors. My suggestion for your next flavor - Peach Cobbler

Post # 6 - Tasty Yam Burritos

Tasty Yam Burritos

Below is a recipe my wife created. It is a delicious nutritious vegan meal that is great for a large shabbot dinner or a few meals during the week. The recipe below is for 10 burritos.

Ingredients

Ingredients:

4 Yams

1 Bag Black Dry Beans 

1 Box of Brown Rice

10 Whole Wheat Tortilla Wraps

Steps:

1: Peel Yams and cut in half.

2: Place cut yams in boiling water for 35 minutes.

3: After Yams have boiled mash them up and add a bit of cinnamon spice.

4: Store in a large glass bowl.

5: Cook Brown Rice 

6: Add spices - garlic, onion powder, black pepper, and paprika.

6: Add cooked rice to large glass bowl with yams.

7: Place black beans in a glass bowl with water overnight 

8: Add to large glass bowl in the morning.

8: Mash all ingredients thoroughly.

9: Add additional spices if wanted.

0: Place the mixture in each tortilla.

1: Fill each tortilla with an even amount of the mixture.

2: To make extra spicy add hot sauce.

Additional add-ons.

Fried Mushrooms and Onions

Enjoy

Post # 5 - Slow Cooked Cholent

Vegan Cholent

A staple of shabbos meals is a slow cooked Cholent. Cholent is a delicious way to cook a hearty healthy meal that will fill your house with an awesome aroma for the entire weekend. The recipe below is my vegan cholent with beans, barley, yams, potato, onion, carrot, spices, and Jamaican jerk sauce.

Serves - 8

Ingredients:

1lb -  Carrots - peeled and chopped
2lb  - Yams - peeled and chopped
2lb -  Potato - peeled and chopped
2 -     Onions - peeled and chopped
2lb -  Beans - any kind dry
2 -    Cans of Corn

Peeled Sweet Potato, Potato, Onion and Carrots

Spices -

Pour in as much or as little spice as you like.
The more spices the more flavor will erupt during the slow cooking process.

Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Black Pepper
White Pepper
Paprika
Cinnamon

All Spice
Pumpkin Spice

Any kind of sweet or spicy sauce.
I found a Jamaican Jerk Sauce on sale that looked good and poured it in.
Add 2-3 Cups of water to help cook beans.

Below are some add-ons that go great with this cholent, i need to get a bigger slow cooker to fit everything next time.
add-ons
Rice
Quiona
Barley

Step 1 - Peel and Cut all vegetables
Step 2 - Put vegetables into slow cooker
Step 3 - Place beans and any add-ons into slow cooker
Step 4 - Pour spices into slow cooker over vegetables and beans
Step 5 - Pour bbq sauce (Jamican Jerk Sauce) over vegetables and beans
Step 6  - Mix items around in slow cooker with large spoon
Step 7- Add 2 -3 cups of water to help move spices around and cook beans
Step 8 - Leave slow cooker on low to cook before and throughout shabbos

Chopped Vegetables with Beans in Crock Pot ready for many hours of Slow Cooking 

Thanks and enjoy!

Post # 4 - Leafy Greens

Todays blog will have two recpies. For tonight's shabbos dinner we are making Collard Greens with Quinoa and White Beans, and Kale Chips. I bought a lot of greens at the end of last week and was planning to make them throughout the week for lunches and dinners but got too busy. So I now have a lot of greens that need to be eaten up, thankfully I have a few people coming over to enjoy dinner with.

I have adapted both of these receipes from sources online. Enjoy the recipes and pictures below.

Baked Kale Chips

By: Lucy DelRey

Adapted below:

Ingredients -
Kale
Olive oil
Pink Himalayan Salt
Soy Sauce
Lemon Juice

Directions -
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper.
With a knife remove the kale leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size chip pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale. Drizzle kale with olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice combined and sprinkle with salt.
Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.

Baked Kale Chips

_________________________________________________________________________________

Collard Greens & White Beans and Quinoa
By Lisa Thiele

Serves about 8

Adapted below:

Ingredients -
2 cups quinoa
4 tablespoons olive oil
6 cups collard greens
2 15oz can of Corn
1 Package of West Soy Seitan
1 teaspoon garlic, paprika, black pepper, zatar, thyme to taste

Directions -
In a small saucepan, add quinoa, 3 cups of water and bring to a boil.
Cook for 10-20 minutes or until all water is absorbed. Set quinoa aside.

In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium heat.
Add collard greens and toss until they begin to wilt
Add corn and seitan and cook for about 3 minutes or until lightly browned.
Add quinoa and additional spices to taste cook for 2 minutes.

Collard Greens & Quinoa

Post # 3 - Product Review: Daiya Cheese

I have been vegan for a little more than a month and it has been  going really great. I am very happy with my decision and am very thankful for all my friends and family who have gone out of their way to provide me with delicious vegan meals when I have visited with them for a meal or two.

I will be posting two posts today, this first post below is a product review of Daiya cheese. My second post will be a recipe for Collard Greens with Quinoa with a side of Kale Chips which will be posted after I cook when I get home from work today for tonight's Shabbos dinner.

There are many vegan cheese products available but out of all of the brands that I have tried Daiya is my favorite. I first tried Daiya cheese at my favorite vegan restaurant in Philadelphia called Blackbird Pizzeria. (note: I will soon be writing a dedicated post to Blackbird and there awesome vegan dishes.)


The reason that I like Daiya cheese the best over other vegan cheeses is that my experience with other brands has been sub-par. Other vegan cheeses may have a good flavor but do not melt well, or they may melt well but do not have any flavor. Daiya cheese has figured out exactly how to make a delicious flavored cheese that also melts great into your cooking.

My favorite aspect of Daiya cheese is that it melts just like regular cheese and the flavor tastes so gooey and fantastic. Daiya offers three delicious flavors of shredded cheeses;cheddar, mozzarella, and pepper jack. I have used all three of these flavors and they are great. I ususally opt for the shredded cheddar flavor and have used it to make lasagna, macaroni and cheese and pizzas. Daiya also recently started offering cheese wedges that are available in cheddar, jack, and jalapeno garlic havarti. I so far have only tried the cheddar wedge and made a delicious grilled cheese sandwich on cinnamon raisin Ezekial bread.

Besides being vegan Daiya is also certified kosher by the OU.

Daiya also has a fantatisc website that has a blog, social media and a ton of great receipes provided by the site and visitors.

Andre Kroecher and Greg Blake are the founders of Daiya and have stated that they got the name for their product from the Sanskrit, Dayaa which means "loving, kindness and compassion" which are the values that Daiya was founded on.

I wish the company continued success and hope to see more great kosher vegan products from them in the future.

Post # 2 - Baking Challah

A staple of Shabbat meals and kosher cooking is baking Challah. Almost all Challah recipes include eggs and therefore they are not suitable for vegan cooking. Below is my first attempt at making delicious Whole Wheat egg free vegan Challah. This recipe was adapted by my wife from the book a "Taste of Challah: A Comprehensive Guide to Challah and Bread Baking" by Tamar Ansh check it out here on Amazon.

Hand Written Challah Recipe

Whole Wheat Vegan Challah Recipe -
This recipe is for four medium sized round Challahs.

• Step 1 -
  Add the below into a small bowl cover for 10 minutes as it bubbles.
  - 3/4 Cup warm water
  - 1/8 Cup brown sugar
  - 1.5 tablespoon of yeast
• Step 2 -
  Add the below into a Kitchen Aid & mix on setting # 2.
  - 1/2 cup olive oil
  - 3/4 Cup brown sugar
  - 1 Cup warm water
  - 4 Cups whole wheat flour
• Step 3 -.
  Add the yeast mixture from step 1 into the Kitchen Aid  and mix again
• Step 4 -
  Add 2 more cups of whole wheat flour into the  Kitchen Aid and mix.
• Step 5 -
  Add 2 more cups of  whole wheat flour into the Kitchen Aid  and mix.
• Step 6 -
  Add 1 cup of warm water a 1/4 cup at a time into the Kitchen Aid  and mix until there is a good consistency.
• Step 7 -
  Allow the mixture in the Kitchen Aid to rise for 10 minutes.
• Step 8 -
  Put a bit of olive oil on your hands and knead the Challah for 30 seconds. 
• Step 9 -
  Take a small ball of Challah out of the mixture and say this is Challah then wrap the piece in foil and throw it away. This is called "Taking Challah".
• Step 10 -
  Get a glass bowl large enough to place your mixture in. Line the glass bowl with a bit of olive oil.
  Place the mixture in the bowl and knead it again for 30 seconds.
• Step 11 -
  Next you will want to cover the glass bowl in a large plastic bag. It should be sealed but have enough room as it will need to rise again. Place the bowl inside of your refrigerator overnight to fully rise.
• Step 12 -
  The next day take out of fridge and shape your Challah. You can add additional ingredients such as as cinnamon and raisins, or a favorite of ours is to add a bit of olive oil on top with zatar.
• Step 13 -
  After you have shaped your Challah it is ready to be baked and can be placed on parchment paper in the oven for 25 min at 350 degrees.

I hope you enjoy the above recipe. Check out my Challah pictures below.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Challah

Whole Wheat Challah

Whole Wheat Challah on Cutting Board

Close up of Whole Wheat Challah

Post # 1 - New Blog - Mission Statment & Goals

Hi my name is Jamie and this is my food blog "Kosher Vegan Cooking" which, as you can imagine from the name, is about cooking vegan and keeping kosher.

I am new to being vegan, my wife and I decided to eat and cook this way for both health related and ethical reasons. We decided to become vegan on May 1st,  2012 and close to a month later we are truly enjoying our decision.

This blog will be dedicated to posting interesting kosher vegan cooking recipes, reviews about kosher vegan products, and interesting links, articles, ideas, and interviews about eating and cooking vegan and kosher.

Many people may be wondering doesn't vegan already mean kosher? I know that there is no meat, dairy, fish, or egg products in vegan cooking so shouldn't it all be considered kosher?

That is a great question and it was the first question I had when I decided to become vegan and remain kosher.

Before I became vegan keeping kosher meant making sure all products and restaurants I ate were certified kosher. Additionally there was also the restriction not to mix meat and milk together as well as keeping fish and meat separate at the same meal.

I was pretty excited about eating vegan and not having to worry about all the kosher restrictions anymore because all of the food I would be eating would be kosher. Though my idea was very close to being correct after doing a bit of research I found out that there are still dietary restrictions when keeping kosher and being vegan but there are not many.

Below is some of the information I found on the Chabad website written by Rabbi Eliezer Posner:

A vegan restaurant or product would not have a hard time getting kosher certification. However, as long as there is no such certification one should not eat the product or at the restaurant.

I plan to post at least one kosher vegan recipe with pictures every week & one kosher vegan product review every two weeks. I also hope to have interviews with vegan companies, cooks, friends, restaurant reviews, and guest bloggers.

The above information is my mission statement and goal for my kosher vegan cooking blog.

I hope you will find the upcoming information, recipes, reviews, interviews, and links helpful and insightful.

Thanks and enjoy,

Jamie