Tag Archives: connoisseurus veg

I asked for a slow cooker for Christmas, thinking mostly about making bulk staples- cooked beans from dried, vegetable stock, tomato sauce, etc. But I knew I would eventually try some other recipes, that would be served up as dinner. So here are my findings- with mostly good results.

Vegan Jambalaya

Sadly I think the point of a slow cooker is slightly missed here. The recipe calls for you to add more ingredients midway through the slow cooker. I get it. It tastes better and prevents overcooking this way. But realistically you can’t just come home from work and add more food. You could still make it if you plan on waiting even longer once you get home for the added ingredients (and if your slow cooker has a timer)

But aside from that, the flavors are all there. And since I am a stay at home mom, it all worked out. It does call for a specific flavored vegan sausage, but that is my only complaint. I am sure you could google a recipe on how to make one if you can’t find it near you.

Bottom Line: Good for stay at home days or timed cooker

Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup

So many mixed feelings about this soup. For starters- I love how cheap it is to make. Carrots, celery, onions, and split peas. I could crunch the numbers but I am fairly certain the whole soup costs less than $5. It is also REALLY easy to make. Chop- toss- and let it cook. I love how the texture is very smooth but not puree smooth.

The flavor was pretty good, but not mind blowing. I always bring this up since I feel like traditionally non-vegan foods that are close to being vegan need to be a solid 100. Otherwise people swear by that little “je ne sais quoi” that meat brings to the table, in this case a little bit of ham. So I wish she included a little bit of paprika or liquid smoke, etc. I can easily do that, but non-vegan readers might not think of that.

Bottom Line: Overall good, easy to enhance

Slow Cooker Root Vegetable Stew

This recipe, although it isn’t in the title is suppose to be inspired by a Moroccan tagine (or tajine). If you never had one before it is just a spiced stew cooked in a clay pot, commonly cooked in Northern Africa and the Middle East. I’ve made a few tagine recipes, but not in the traditional cookware.

The first thing I noticed was that there wasn’t that many spices. Seemed a little suspicious so I doubled the spices (for some.) Truthfully I wish they included a wider variety of spices becuase they didn’t jump out that much. I also skipped the raisins and the chickpeas. The chickpeas because of a weird scheduling issue, and the raisins because I thought it would be too sweet. I’m glad I did that because all the root veggies were super sweet!

This was a fast-yet-slow slow cooker recipe. So much time was spent peeling and chopping, but the slow cooker gets put on high so it only takes about 4 hours overall. Making it not so great if you want something to cook while you are at work (unless you work from home) Overall this isn’t a bad dish, though it felt like it was missing something. It does make a HUGE amount.

Bottom Line: Very sweet. Wolfie LOVED it.

Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Macaroni

I wanted to try and pick recipes that weren’t just soups and stews for this review. I’ve modified quite a few recipe to use a slow cooker to ensure that I don’t burn things on the stovetop or know that I can go for my “late” walks (you know… at 4-5pm) and still have a dinner on the table.

I’ve also made quite a few vegan mac and cheese recipes. So I have quite a few high standards. Let me state that vegan mac and cheese is sort of like a chili- you need a really good balance of flavors. So usually when I see a vegan mac and cheese with a short list of ingredients, I am skeptical. But I gave it a go.

What I got was a SMELLY house… or maybe not. I mean my house smelled terrible, but it could of been because of our trash, but likely a combination. Honestly- it smelled like vomit. I have no idea why. It crept up all morning, but all that was in the slow cooker was water, canned tomatoes (didn’t use fresh like the recipe), butternut squash, and herbs. WHAT?! I also found that the pasta was easy to over cook. If you are wondering how you make this recipe- you cook the squash for several hours, blend, add the rest for about 15-20 minutes for the pasta to cook. Also there just wasn’t enough bang in the sauce. I eventually add some miso to add a little kick.

But that all being said, the overall concept wasn’t bad. I think in the future I would tweak the recipe around, and pay more attention to the pasta while it cooks up. I probably would snag a mac and cheese recipe I like and modify it for the slow cooker to include all the flavors I like. And Wolfie LOVED the dish. So it wasn’t a total bust.

Bottom Line: Interesting concept, needs tweaking to the sauce, needs attention towards the end.

Slow Cooker Seitan Pot Roast

I remember awhile ago learning that you can make seitan in a slow cooker. One day I remembered that and searched for a recipe. This was the first one, and I think I should of looked harder. The name of the author sounded familiar so I figured, gotta be good right?

Overall the recipe worked. The veggies cooked up and were yummy. The seitan cooked and was tasty, buuuut wasn’t the best seitan I ever had. It was pretty plain and I could think of a million other recipes that were tastier. The seitan works perfectly fine for OTHER recipes, but not something that I would want as a Thanksgiving dinner.

Bottom Line: Method check out, flavors meh

Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Lentils

I love seeing price breakdowns of food. I hear things like “serves two people for $10!” and I THINK that’s a lot, but I really don’t know. I just know how much a spend each week for my husband and I (and now little munchkin.) But by having the prices next to the food I can think “am I over paying for lentils?” and “thank god for Trader Joe’s coconut milk!” So I think I overall spent LESS than her numbers, but I haven’t personally crunched the numbers for spices and veggies (how can I? they were from my CSA)

So let’s go with how the food turned out. Overall the recipe is pretty straight forward. Toss everything into a crockpot. Cook. Add coconut milk. Okay. Simple enough. The end result? Pretty tasty, though I am not 100% amazed. I would certainly recommend this recipe. Super easy, great for working families. TONS of food. It wasn’t mind blowing though. BUT I like how simple it was, and it is great way to introduce vegan food to newbies. Simple, cheap, nothing crazy, and full of flavor.

Bottom Line: Great for vegan newbies and busy families.


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Hope everyone is having a good weeks so far! I hope everyone hugged a cat and ate a vegan donut! I know I sure did. Alexa is starting to draw again, or rather sharing what she is drawing. This is Alexa’s bae AJ Lee. I am not a huge wrestling fan like Alexa, but I have to say I like how women are being represented. I mean I remember some of the big wrestlers when I was young and they were all HUGE, male or female. I think the current wrestlers are much more realistic looking.

Yesterday I was able to watch Totoro with my nieces and play outside with them. My older niece, Morgan, might of been too old for Totoro, but Gwen, who is 4, thought it was a hilarious movie. I am thinking Morgan might like Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, or Ponyo better. The funny thing is that I remember watching Ponyo with Morgan when she was very young, and she was in tears when they went to the retirement home. Which was pretty funny in my opinion. I think the music made it seem like something bad would happen.

Farm Round Up:

What I got:
1 bunch Collard Greens
1 bunch of Red Russian Kale
1 quart + 1 pint strawberries
1 big kohlrabi with greens
1 bunch of radishes with greens
1/2 bag of spinach
1/2 bag of baby swiss chard

What I’m cooking
Black Eyed Peas and Collard Greens
Cheesy Vegan Alfredo with Peas and Kale
Triple Berry Sundaes: cherry chocolate chip ice cream + wild maine blueberry syrup + strawberries
Chocolate Chia Pudding with strawberries
Kohlrabi Curry (greens used in a smoothie)
Salads with sliced radishes (radish greens used in smoothies)
Penne Pasta with Gingered Lentils and Spinach (hubby loves this stuff)
Thai Red Curry Soup with adzuki beans, corn, & swiss chard

Recipes:

Sadly my farm was running low on bok choy by the time we got there because these noodles looks sooo yummy.

I need to get me some fakon-bacon and try out this yummy looking radish dish.

This dish inspired me to take corn and red curry to a whole new level.

Nature:

I am usually not surprised by article that tell you have to make meals more “nutritious” but this one blew me out of the water. It is funny some of the recommendations I do, but mostly out of laziness. XD

Sadly there is a huge die-off of saiga. The article sad, but hopefully the population bounces back.

Things get creepy when sawtooth sharks start reproducing asexually.

Fun Stuff:

OMGOMGOMGOMG! Franklin Fountain is having fresh COTTON CANDY at their candy store. That is my favorite type of carnival food. They also have a temp location at the Spurce Street Harbor Park. They BEST have some vegan options available!

Guys I’ve been going nuts over these Sailor Moon workout tanks. I bought a the Sailor Squats, Fight Like a Girl: Jupiter, Crush Misogyny into Moon Dust, and Buns & Guns. I am also hoping sleeveless shirts helps with my friction burn on my upper arm.

Videos:

If you were wondering why there are so many crazy names for vitamins- here is your answer.

SciShow is on a roll this week (actually two articles I posted were things I found out from SciShow but didn’t want to post ANOTHER video). Anyways, this video is about the probable Megadrought that is coming to the west coast.


chickpeas

There aren’t many vegan’s who don’t love chickpeas. They are so versatile and they even have been growing in popularity in their flour form- besan. But this chickpea round-up is all about chickpeas in their cooked bean form. We tried to give lots of options here, pizza, curry, sandwich, salad, and even blondies!

This grouping I am happy to report yummy findings with very different flavor profiles! So I recommend reading all these reviews and pick at least one to cook at home. We got a wide range of styles so you can’t say there isn’t anything you would like.

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Curried Chickpea Salad

I made this recipe on a whim – I wanted to try something new in the kitchen and something that was easy and flexible. I tend to look at a recipe and will tailor it to my liking by either adding a vegetable or spice if I think it’ll improve upon itself. This recipe only really asked for chickpeas, carrots, onions and the home-made curry sauce, but I added craisins to balance out the savoriness and add a little bit of sweet to it and the result was delicious! And it was nice because I was able to make enough to last me throughout the week for meals at work. It’s a great light dish or summer dish to bring to barbeques as well, I would think.

Bottom Line: Good recipe, will make again, would recommend.

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chickpea Cookie Bars

Funny thing is when I picked this recipe I had my doubts from the photos alone. The outside of the bar looks so nice and crunchy but the insides a little undercooked. My first instinct was to spread the batter out, but figured I would follow the recipe fairly strictly and kept with the loaf pan.

The dough was promising, in it’s raw state it was sweet and yummy with a little hint of chickpea. I poured the batter into the pan and baked for a full hour. The end result for the first day is alright. The outside was so crunchy compared to the inside that it was hard to cut into squares. But once the bars sat in a container for a day, they are a lot more paletable. I think I still might try and bake these in a larger more spread out pan next time.

Bottom Line: Not bad for a dessert chickpea bar.

Roasted Cauliflower, Chickpea + Quinoa Salad with Jalapeno Lime Dressing

I made this dish thinking about my lunches for the week. I figured it would make two lunches, and it would be great. Not really. The dish was alright, and I had two things cross my mind. One was that the dish would of tasted better when the chickpea and cauliflower came fresh out of the oven. Then my second thought was that the the dressing was lacking. So if I would do this differently I would make this as a main dinner dish, and double the dressing.

Bottom Line: Yummy, best eat right away, needs more dressing

Crowd Pleasing Vegan Caesar Salad

I made this dish a few times for family get togethers for this Christmas season. I can safely say it impressed everyone, vegans and omnivores alike. The dressing is creamy, garlicky, and salty. The crunchy chickpea croutons were different and added a unique twist to the dish. 

There are only one major “issue” which can be a plus (depending how you view it). The portions are HUGE! So much that I had a hard time tossing the greens in the dressing. This could be problematic if you are making this dish for yourself, but perfect when serving a large party.

But most/all aspects can be prepared a day before hand, so if you are bringing the salad to dinner you don’t have to sweat about cooking a dish while putting your hair up. I did have trouble storing the chickpeas, and they softened after a day. So if you are going to do something the day of, I would suggest roasting the chickpeas first thing that morning.

Bottom Line: Amazing, but large portions

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Buffalo Chickpea Ranch Pizza

This pizza can be easy to make, if you prep a few things in advance. For example I prepped the ranch dressing the morning of so I wouldn’t have to clean the blender again at night. Aside from that everything is easy to chop, coat, etc. The downside is the dough. I was not impressed by it. I got a tough and dense dough that I didn’t really like. And her recipe calls for pre-baking the dough creating too crunchy of a crust, and I found it broke in odd places.

BUT ignoring the crust, this dish was awesome. My husband had doubts as I spread such a small layer of sauce on the crust. But he was asking for more. I think this dish would probably find it’s way as a standard pizza in this household since it is so easy to make.

Bottom Line: Awesome, but I would use a different dough

Butternut Squash, Kale, and Chickpea Massaman Curry

This is a super easy dish to make, especially if you have the massaman curry already made. It takes about 30 minutes total and it is super filling. I jazzed the recipe up a little and served it over couscous instead of rice, but both would taste great. The only downside is that the dish largely relies on the curry paste of choice, so if you curry sucks, the dish will suck.

But the recipe given to make your own massaman curry at home was pretty good. I used that recipe to a t, with two exceptions, I didn’t add any shallots and I used pre-ground chili powder. The curry was awesome but sadly doesn’t freeze in solid cubes. Instead it is still soft in the freezer. Actually I am not sure if this is a bad or good thing.

Bottom Line: Quick to make.

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Last weekend I was pretty stressed from the week. It was pretty weird and all over the place, so I decided to lay back and relax. I made a yummy pizza dip for the Broncos and Seahawks game, and made an amazing butternut squash soup from Isa Does it. So you might see some REALLY old things on this roundup. I didn’t get to share them last weekend and I didn’t want them to be skipped completely.

This weekend I visited my Grandparents in central PA, and when I mean central I mean centered Pennsylvania. It’s in the middle of state right dab in the middle. The closest city is Altoona, if you want to google it in a map. There maybe some photos later this week and some thoughts of veganism and farming.

BUT for now—-

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beets

Red Velvet Raw Beetroot Heart Bars & BBQ Beetroot Seitan Steaks by A2K

A2K has a lot of beets, obviously since she is tempting me to two different beet recipes! One is a dessert made with beet roots and made into cute little hearts! And she pairs it with chocolate?! I love beets and chocolate. Then she goes savory with a beetroot steak. I don’t get too many beets yet from my CSA, so these recipes are making me sad. Soon. Soon.

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Okay I cheated a little and this didn’t get posted until Monday morning. I was a little distracted by football and cleaning yesterday. I am still keeping true to the new Vegan Mofo setup- at least 4 recipes, and at least 4 vegan articles. I think I even found 5 recipes this time! Actually there were more but I had to stop myself from posting them. So many yummy things are going on this month. 

I’ve been doing well with this Vegan Mofo challenge. Our front page is filled with vegan food posts and I am now starting to pile up ideas of recipes and articles to post. Which is a pretty good thing. But let’s go and check out those recipes and articles!

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Connoisseurus Veg: Vegan Pumpkin Muffins with Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting

I love pumpkin. I love pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin beers, and pumpkin baked goods. Only the pumpkin beers are usually vegan. The others I usually have to make on my own. These muffins look delicious and should be a great replacement for the muffins I use to eat at Starbucks. 

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Sorry that I’ve been MIA these past few sundays. My goal was to keep a list of articles and videos that I wanted to feature each week, but my work schedule kept hindered my writing. It’s not that I work really late, but I am on my feet all day and just need a chance to relax. Pile on some personal life issues and working on the blog fell to the bottom of my to do list.

I didn’t want the Sunday Reading post to go for another week, so I’m featuring lighter reads that I enjoyed and could relate to these past few weeks. Sure, some of these featured posts are a bit older, but I’d still like to share them, especially since they are written by some of my favorite blogs. Although I don’t assume my favorite bloggers have perfect lives, you rarely see any of their struggles through the eyes of their blog. So, I am glad to see some of these girls step up and say “hey, I’ve been going through some tough stuff too.”

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