Mexican Quinoa

Ingredients:
2 tsp. coconut or olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed well and drained
3/4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
3-4 diced tomatoes, with juices
1 cup frozen corn (or kernels cut from 2 cobs of corn)
kosher salt
chili powder to taste
1 Tbsp cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 quarter of a lime, juiced

To finish:
Shredded cheese, cheese, sour cream, salsa, and/or avocado


Directions:
1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic to the pan and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.
2. Stir in the the quinoa, broth, tomatoes, corn, chili powder and salt to the pan. Bring to a boil.
3. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cover. Simmer for about 25 minutes, or until the liquid is fully absorbed.
4. Remove from the heat. Stir in the cilantro and lime juice. Serve as desired with cheese, chives, salsa, avocado, and/or sour cream.

Vegan Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup
2 cans of green beans, drained and rinsed OR 2 (9oz) pkgs frozen cut green beans, thawed
1 container of French Fried Onions

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Make the cream of mushroom soup according to link above. Once seasoning is adjusted...
2. Add green beans and 2/3 cup of Fried onions. Stir well. Place into baking pan.
3. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove. Add remaining onions to the top and bake again for 5 min until onions are golden brown. Serve warm.

Quick Homemade Vegetable Broth

Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
1 Tbsp of onion powder
1 Tbsp of dried parsley
2 tbsp of sea salt
1 tbsp of garlic powder
1/2 tbsp of celery seed
1 tsp of sage
1 tsp of marjoram
1 tsp of black pepper
1 tsp of dill weed
dash of soy sauce

Directions:

Mix well, then add to recipe :)

*you can take the longer route by boiling vegetables on the stove. That is definitely healthier and cleaner.

Cream of Mushroom Soup Vegan and Eat Clean

Ingredients:

10 ounces mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 onion
generous pinch cayenne pepper
Salt to taste
Fresh pepper to taste
3 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup vegetable broth (I made my own!)
3/4 cup non-dairy milk (such as almond or soy)

Directions:
1. Trim and discard the mushroom stems and chop the mushrooms into pieces.
2. Oil pan and heat it. Add the mushrooms, onion, garlic, cayenne, salt, and pepper.
3. Cook until mushrooms are very soft and exude their juices. Whisk the flour into the vegetable broth and add to the mushrooms.
4. Simmer, stirring, until mixture thickens.
5. Add the milk and simmer until thick, about 5 to 10 minutes. Adjust the seasonings

Experiment (Cherry) Chocolate Cake (Minimal added sugar)

I am trying to decrease or eliminate the amount of sugar in our baked goods. Plus I really wanted cherry chocolate cake, but we didn't have enough cherries for the recipe I had...so, here it is...

Ingredients:

2 cups organic unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup stevia
1/4 c brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tbsp flax
1/2 cup warm coffee
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 c pureed cherries (we used frozen and thawed it)


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 deg
2. Mix all dry ingredients. Then separately, mix all wet ingredients.
3. Combine, but do not over mix. Batter will be thick.
4. Place in greased pan, and cook for 30-35 minutes.

*We used vanilla icing to top!