Easy vegan “sushi” snack

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I’ve been trying to eat more seaweed lately because it’s a vegan source of Omega-3s which are great for your health. Before I had a baby I would buy sheets of nori and roll real sushi with cut up veggies, but that is too time consuming for me to do now since Jack is always running around getting into things. The quick alternative I came up with which tasted great was wrapping some leftover vegetable fried rice in roasted seaweed sheets. It’s really quick and easy to just reheat the rice and put a spoonful in a sheet of seaweed and not have to worry about rolling it perfectly or sealing it closed. They don’t look as nice, but they taste great and are healthy!

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these are the seaweed snack sheets I used

Really easy kamut rice crispy treat recipe

kamut treats

kamut treats

 

I’ve made this dessert a few times and streamlined it so it’s as quick as possible and I can whip up a batch in literally 5 minutes while wearing Jack! I originally made it to use up a bunch of puffed kamut (an ancient grain similar to puffed rice) that I bought for Jack but he didn’t really like. I made it on the stove the first time, but then the next time I used the microwave and it worked just as well, but was faster and easier to clean up.

You’ll need (everything is approximate- this is hard to mess up!)

  • half a bag of puffed kamut or rice (3 ounces). I got it in the cereal section of whole foods
  • an entire bag of any kind of marshmallow (3.5 cups)
  • about 1/4 cup butter or vegan butter type substance

Directions:

  • I like to first take a glass container (about 9×9) and spread some butter to grease it, or use some coconut oil
  • Throw in the bag of marshmallows and the butter
  • Microwave for 30 seconds
  • Mix the stuff a little
  • Microwave another 30 seconds
  • Mix everything fairly well, then add the kamut/rice and mix so the kamut is coated
  • Smoosh the mixture into the pan a little with the back of your spoon
  • Let it cool to solidify before serving

If you eat it out of the dish you only have to clean 1 dish at the end! So low maintenance 🙂 This is obviously not healthy with all the sugar, but at least you can use a whole grain like kamut and there are no trans fats or weird ingredients you’d find in store bought cookies.

I bet this would be good with other things added as well like chocolate chips, m&m type candies, or peanut butter chips

Easy vegan pasta with cheese sauce

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I love this recipe because you can use almost any vegetable with it, and the sauce is so creamy! It really hits the spot if you’re craving a cheesy taste. You can make a big batch of the sauce and then freeze it so that next time you make the pasta you only have to wash 1 pot! (That is generally my goal when cooking- the least cleanup possible).

For the sauce, combine in a food processor:

2 cups cashews (you can soak them beforehand if you want it extra creamy, but I always forget)

3/4 cup water (or almond milk etc)

1/3 cup nutritional yeast

optional:

1 tablespoon each of lemon juice, mustard, soy sauce, salt, garlic, and/or miso paste. The flavor is best with all of these added in my opinion, but it’s not a big deal either way.

After blending you get a really thick sauce which is good.

Make a half box of pasta

When there is 1-2 minutes left for the pasta to cook, drain 1/2 the water from the pot approximately

Add the sauce to the pasta, and it will turn into a good consistency with the extra water

Also throw in a ton of vegetables (I did 1/4 package of frozen spinach and 1/2 package of frozen bell peppers)

Cook for another 1-2 minutes and stir, and you will have a magical pot of amazing and healthy pasta with minimal kitchen cleanup required!

To serve, I like garnishing with pine nuts

Additions that work well in this dish include: mushrooms, olive slices, fakin bacon, tomato, broccoli, or a bag of mixed frozen veggies

Easy vegan white pizza recipe

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I made this really quick and easy pizza the other day that tasted really good even though it didn’t have dairy or tomatoes (both of which Jack is allergic to). I used a premade frozen organic crust from Trader Joe’s, but you could use anything from a tortilla to crust you make from scratch. It’s obviously not low carb or anything, but at least there is a good serving of spinach!

Directions:

  • Set out your crust
  • Spread a teaspoon of minced garlic on it
  • Add a bunch of frozen spinach (no need to thaw)
  • Sprinkle some pine nuts
  • Top with either grated vegan cheese or I used chunks of Daiya Jack cheese

Bake at 425 for about 15 minutes, less if you use a tortilla.

Jack even enjoyed eating some small pieces of the pizza crust!

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