Vegan Quesadillas

One of my favorite meals is still possible vegan-style, thanks to vegan cheese! Veggie Shreds and Rice Shreds are my favorite. I like my quesadillas with cheese, grilled onions, black beans, and avocado.

Read More

Small Lemon Cake

When a friend had a birthday a couple weeks ago, I thought I’d surprise her with a little cake when we got together with some friends at my place.

White cake + lemon buttercream frosting. Not healthy but delicious.

Read More

Boy & Girl Blankets

For recent baby showers for friends. Nothing like a soft baby blanket!

Read More

Rainbow Cake

Last week I finally made a rainbow cake for a friend’s shower… I’ve seen so many around and though they’re pretty easy, hadn’t done it yet.

The verdict? Looks awesome, tastes okay. If I used Ina’s white cake recipe, which I love, it would have been much better… but because I was on a time crunch I used cake mixes. So really, it was a colorful boxed cake ;)

The layers are so thin they cook really quickly. Here’s what I used:

- 2 white cake mixes

- Homemade lemon cream cheese frosting

- Wilton dying gels coloring

Separate the batter. Dye it. Bake two layers at a time for 15-18 minutes each.

Perfect for a party or shower.

Read More

Vegan Veggie Sandwich

Bread, hummus, avocado, veganaise, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, spinach. And if you have the time, grilled onions. A staple for lunchtime around here!

Read More

Blanket for Baby Girl

The first of several I’ve been making for baby girl! Girl stuff is definitely more fun (and cute) than boy baby items.

Read More

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

So delicious and chewy! I adapted them from my traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Here’s the recipe:

- 3/4 c. Earth Balance

- 3/4 c. brown sugar

- 1/2 c. raw cane sugar

- 1/4 c. applesauce

- 3/4 tsp. vanilla

- 2 c. flour

- 3/4 tsp. baking soda

- 1/2 tsp. salt

- 2 c. vegan chocolate chips

Cream Earth Balance and sugars. Add applesauce and vanilla and blend until smooth. Separately mix dry ingredients and add to wet mixture. One incorporated, add chocolate chips.

Bake at 370 for 9-11 minutes. And enjoy for as long as you can keep them in your house.

Read More

Pesto Panini

Last week after getting my blood tested at my 29 week appointment, my doctor told me my iron is a little low (I thought, that sounds about right seeing as I’ve had meat only 2-3 times in the past 3 months!). However, I was a little frustrated because I eat a lot of spinach which has a high amount of iron. She said low iron won’t hurt the baby, just my energy level.

I do feel great being vegan, but am going to start taking an iron supplement and having meat once a week while I’m pregnant/nursing. This weekend I made us a ham and pesto panini (adapted from Martha Stewart’s prosciutto pesto panini).

Here’s how I made it:

The original recipe called for ciabatta bread, which I didn’t have, so I made some individual loaves. (Yes, I love bread and used a mini-loaf for each sandwich. They were very filling!)

Then I sliced open the loaves and slathered pesto inside:

Then I layered with thin ham, spinach, tomatoes, and cheese. You can use yummy vegan rice cheese if you’d like, or the good old real cheese my husband prefers ;)

Read More

Vegan Banana Bread

I liked this so much I honestly thought it was better than my traditional “Sour Cream Banana Bread” with eggs, butter, and of course lots of sour cream. I adapted this from a vegan carrot cake recipe.

• 1/3 c. Earth Balance, softened
• 1/2 c. packed organic brown sugar
• 2/3 c. organic raw cane sugar
• 1/3 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 c. unsweetened almond or soy milk (vanilla or plain)
• 1/2 t. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 c. mashed banana
• 1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 1/2 t. cinnamon
• 1/2 t. nutmeg

Cream Earth Balance and sugar. Add remaining wet ingredients. In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients and slowly add to wet mixture. Pour into greased bread pan and cook at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

Read More

Vegan Black Bean Burgers

This has become a new staple in our house—so easy, delicious, and full of protein. Here is the recipe:

• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 can black beans, well drained
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 slices bread, crumbled
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
• salt and pepper to taste
• oil for frying

Sautee the onions till soft, about 3-5 minutes.

In a large bowl, mash the beans until almost smooth. Add sauteed onions and the rest of the ingredients, except the oil, adding the flour a few tablespoons at a time to combine well. Mixture will be thick.

Form bean mixture into patties, approximately ½ inch thick and fry patties in a small amount of oil until slightly firm.

I make homemade rolls for buns (using my peasant bread recipe below), slather guacamole on top, and then serve with lettuce and tomato. Great served with salad and/or sweet potato fries.

Read More

Homemade Tomato Sauce

One of my favorite quick meals is homemade tomato sauce with pasta. Whenever I have extra tomatoes that are starting to go soft, I quarter them, throw them all on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, basil, and salt & pepper. Then I roast them under high heat (450) for about 15 minutes, then puree them in my VitaMix. You can also add a little cream, but with or without he cream there are not words to describe how delicious fresh tomato sauce tastes compared to jarred sauce. Mitch and I cannot get enough of this meal. Next time you have some extra over-ripe tomatoes , try it!
Here’s a recap of how to do it; chop and roast tomatoes:
I use my VitaMix instead of my Cuisinart to process because it’s quicker for me, but I’m sure either would do. Pulse quickly so it doesn’t get too pureed and add extra salt to taste.
Pour over pasta and enjoy.

Read More

Fabric.

Fabric always makes me happy… especially with new sewing projects and our baby girl coming in July. Also helps that two of my best friends are having girls within a month of us. Here are some recent fabrics for a little girl blanket. Soon after I’ll be getting started on the baby bumper and quilt.

Read More

Vegan Cinnamon Rolls

I made these using my French peasant bread recipe(below). It has become my staple bread recipe for rolls, bread, pizza dough, and now cinnamon rolls. I’ve tried a lot of other kinds, but this dough always tastes best!

On the dough I used a combination of brown cane sugar/cinnamon and Earth Balance for the filling. For the frosting I used Tofutti non-cream cheese, Earth Balance, sugar, vanilla, and soy milk.

French Peasant Bread

- 2 tablespoons or packets of yeast

- 2 cups warm water

- 2 tablespoons agave nectar

- 2 tsp. salt

- 5 1/2 c. flour (when making bread it tastes great to use half white flour and half wheat flour)

Combine yeast and water. Mix until incorporated with dough hook. Add sugar to activate yeast. After adding 1 cup of flour, add salt, and then continue with remainder of flour.

Once combined in mixer, remove and knead into a large ball with hands. Let rise on greased cookie sheet for approximately 30 minutes – 1 hour. Punch down dough, divide into two large balls, and place onto cookie sheet dusted with corn meal.

Let rise again for 30 minutes – 1 hour. Brush with olive oil then bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes; then turn down oven to 375 and bake for 7-10 more minutes. Take bread out of oven and immediately brush with more olive oil and sprinkle with cracked sea salt or Kosher salt.

When making the cinnamon rolls, let dough rise, then roll out with cinnamon filling. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.

Read More

Baby Gift Set

My go-to gift for last minute showers or when I’m in a time crunch for a friend’s new baby: onesie and matching burp rags.

Read More

Whip up Something New: March, Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Make them today. They are amazing.

Makes 3-4 pans mini muffins or 2 pans of regular muffins

Ingredients:

• 6 ripe bananas
• ½ cup oil
• 1 cup unrefined white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups unbleached white flour
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 Tbsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. ginger
• ½ cup soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)
• 2 cups vegan chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Cream oil and sugars together
2. Incorporate mashed bananas into wet mixture
3. In a separate bowl combine and mix dry ingredients
4. Add to banana/sugar/oil mixture, alternating with the soy milk
5. Add chocolate chips (optional) and mix until incorporated
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-16 minutes (mini muffins) or 20-25 minutes (regular muffin size)

Read More

Plum Street Prints: Shop Opening!

Our print shop opens today! Check us out: http://www.etsy.com/shop/PlumStreetPrints

And if you spread the word about Plum Street Prints, we’ll give you half off your first order! That means you’ll get your first print for $5 if you create a blog post, Facebook post, or mass email—anything that supports our business to a large number of people and links to our shop. Comment on this, email me, or Facebook me if you post about us and I’ll send you a half off code.

And if you have a business site that you’re willing to promote us on, we will likely be happy to promote you on our site as well, once our blog is up and running.

Go tell your family and friends! Thanks for your help!

Shannon (and Lori)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/PlumStreetPrints

http://facebook.com/pages/Plum-Street-Prints/149950705061554

Here are some of our prints—all patterns are original as well as the prints of course.

Read More