Chocolate Peanut Butter Dream Dessert

Ingredients:
Alternative Baking Company - Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip
So Delicious Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Melted Skippy Natural Peanut Butter

Can't beat chocolate peanut butter in my book!

Eating Out: Kelly's (Dunedin, FL)

Vegetarian Sandwich at Kelly's in Dunedin, FL

Dad is back visiting for the weekend, so I thought I'd take him out for lunch.  We went to a place in town called Kelly's and it was my first time going there as well.  Pictured above is the Vegetarian Sandwich minus the cheese and without the coleslaw side.  Yum!

Breakfast Feast

Tofu Scramble, Home Fries, Toast, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, Tea, and Orange Juice.

Dad's in town on a surprise visit and I really wanted to make him something special.  We ended up going out for lunch and dinner the last two days so I could show him the town and all our favorite places, so I made him breakfast before work today and went all out!

Breakfast included:

Tofu Scramble w/ Home Fries

Toast (Made with fresh bread using my new bread machine and this recipe - Simple Bread Machine Wheat Bread)

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (Made the same except I used vegetable oil instead of Earth Balance)

Hope he liked it! 

Product Review - Jokerz Candy Bar

I took my Dad wandering in town and he and my hubby decided to get ice cream.  With a lack of vegan ice cream in my area, I walked to the near by candy store and grabbed myself one of these bad boys - Jokerz Vegan Candy Bar.  It reminds me of a vegan Snickerz.  Yum!!  

A little pricy here, $3.25 in town, but another store out on Clearwater Beach has them for $2.25.  Hardly comparable to the $.99 you can usually get regular candy bars for.  I say we start a movement for a mainstream vegan candy bar.  Who's with me?

Verdict: 9/10 for taste, 5/10 for price. 

BBQ Sloppy Joes

BBQ Sloppy Joe on Easy Vegan Bread

Chef Assistant Paul and I found this amazing BBQ sauce and I decided to try BBQ Sloppy Joes.

15oz can Black Beans, drained and rinsed
¼c Quick Oats
¼c BBQ Sauce of choice

1 Green Pepper, chopped

½ Onion, chopped

Chop up the onion and pepper and saute on medium in a small amount of water until softened.  While those are cooking, put the black beans in a bowl and mash them.  Add the black beans, oats, and bbq sauce to the pepper and onion mixture and heat until warm.  Serve on bun or bread of choice.  

Tofu Sandwich

I had some tofu in the fridge and saw this recipe in an e-mail from Peta and had to try it.

Recipe: $3 Dish of the Day: Grilled Tofu Sandwhich

I used the recipe for the tofu but added tomato and avocado to the sandwich instead with my fresh made bread!

I don't think I drained the tofu enough before pouring on the soy sauce because it probably only absorbed an 8th of what it called for.  Next time I will press my tofu before adding the sauce.  Also the soy sauce made this dish VERY salty, so maybe lighter on the sauce wouldn't be such a bad thing.

For $3, this meal gets an A!

Easy Vegan Wheat Bread

This was my first attempt making bread (well, mostly made by Chef Assistant Paul) and it turned out pretty good!

Recipe: Easy Vegan Wheat Bread

After finding out the bread I was eating might not be vegan, I just got sick of trying to find breads in stores and decided I was going to make my own.

I hope to buy a bread maker in the future and experiment with many different types of bread!

Sweet or Spicy Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Squash

I have decided I am going to try to create one dish entirely on my own each week and I have been craving some nice roasted veggies and here is what I came up with.

1/2 Butternut Squash, seeded and cubed
3 Medium Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 Tbsp olive oil
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Creole Seasoning

I had so many I had two trays, so I thought I would try them two different ways.

First combine all the potatoes and squash and add olive oil to mix around and a little on each pan. Mix around so it the potatoes and squash are lightly covered in oil.  Disperse evenly between two baking sheets.

The Sweet:
On the sweet pan, lightly sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg to your liking and mix around.

The Spicy:
For the spicy pan, lightly sprinkle with creole seasoning and mix.

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, flipping every 15 minutes.  If you like them soft, this worked perfect.  If you like them a little crispy, I'd leave them in another 15 minutes.

Near East Whole Grain Blends Roasted Pecan and Garlic

Near East Whole Grain Blends Roasted Pecan and Garlic

Since I moved to Florida, I have come to love Publix's Buy One Get One sales - hence how I got to try the Near East brand.  This dish would work great as a side or as a small lunch.  Easy to make and took less than a half hour.

Spicy Chik'n Quesadillas

My Nikon's battery was dead, so I had to use the Droid cam.

We had some leftover chik'n from the homemade "Chipotle" and needed to use it before it was gone.  Without having all the "Chipotle" ingredients, I thought I would throw together some quesadillas.

Ingredients:
Wheat Tortillas
Vegan Cheddar (My favorite is Follow Your Heart Vegan Cheddar)
Chipotle style Chik'n
Saintly Black and Gold Salsa from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen
Salsa (I used Great Value Peach Pineapple Salsa)

Both the chik'n and Saintly Black and Gold Salsa were very spicy on their own, but combined in the tortilla, cheese, and salsa it wasn't too hot and turned out very well.  I would definitely make it again.

Verdict: 8/10

Hot Skillet Salad

I've never thought of salad as being a hot meal, but this was rather tasty!

I used this recipe: Hot Skillet Salad from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen

I found I did not have the balsamic vinegar for a dressing, so I made the Dijon dressing from the Good Seasons box and it worked out pretty well.  It was so good, I ate two servings... oops!  

Strawberry Granola Cereal

As I am trying to plan my meals for the week and suddenly hunger hits and I needed something quick before grocery shopping. 

Strawberry Granola Cereal

½c Granola

3/4c Strawberries, chopped

½c Plain Rice Milk

Drizzle some agave over it and mix

Quick snack to hold me over, but wasn't quite what I was craving seeing it's 5PM and no longer breakfast.  But at least I know a great breakfast alternative for the future!  

Rating: 8/10 as a breakfast, but would probably up the portion.  

VeganConsultant.com

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