Category: Recipes

3 Vegan Meal Ideas | What I’ve Been Eating Lately

On By VictoriaIn Low Spoon Recipes, Recipes, TofuLeave a comment

For awhile I was really unmotivated to cook. All I wanted was something quick to heat up in the microwave, or to order something from Doordash. Anything quick and easy that took no effort.

I think a lot of my lack of motivation was due to constantly being home and not leaving the house for the last 6 months. I lost a lot of interest in my own hobbies, too. 10lbs later, now I’m trying to eat healthier and get back in shape (while still rarely leaving the house). Here’s what I’ve been eating lately.

Fruit Salad

I know this doesn’t sound exciting, but I’ve been eating this for breakfast or lunch every day lately. This is one apple and one banana with a peanut butter “dressing”. I like to add granola and cinnamon on top too. Here’s how I make it:

  • 1 apple
  • 1 banana
  • 1 tbsp peanut butter
  • granola
  • cinnamon

This is the granola we’ve been using. We found it at Target:

First, I dice up the banana and apple, and add it to a bowl. Then, I mix together the tablespoon of peanut butter and a splash of water to thin it out. I also add some cinnamon to the “dressing”. Then I just mix that in with the fruit, top it with the granola or whatever else you would like to add, and add some more cinnamon on top! This has been such a treat to have, especially for breakfast before work.

Air Fried Tofu Wraps

I air fry a lot of tofu when I’m trying to eat healthier. For lunch a few days ago I had some leftover tofu that I wrapped in tortillas with spinach, carrots, and dried cranberries. For a sauce I mixed together 2 tbsp of Sabra’s classic hummus and a packet of Taco Bell’s Diablo hot sauce (very fancy, I know).

To cook the tofu, cut it into cubes and mix it with cumin, paprika, black pepper, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, and onion powder. Make sure the tofu is evenly coated with the spices. I cook it in the air fryer at 400° for 20 minutes, flipping it halfway through.

And… more air fried tofu

I just really like air frying tofu…

This is 1/4 of a block of tofu, cubed and air fried like in the last meal. I had it with spinach, white rice, and sriracha. For the spinach, we had frozen spinach that I sautéed in a pan with garlic and crushed red pepper. Really simple, but healthy, filling, and easy to make.

What have you been eating lately? Have your eating habits changed at all lately due to quarantine? Let me know in the comments!

Veganized Crunchwrap Supreme

On By VictoriaIn Recipes

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I really like Taco Bell. It’s our go-to anytime we get fast food because it’s so easy to customize and veganize (the Taco Bell app is a game-changer!). I also love making Taco Bell-style food at home. We’ve been making tacos a lot recently, and I’ve been reheating the soft tacos in a microwave for lunch. These reheated in the microwave are so good and taste like Taco Bell, and I really don’t know why I like it so much.

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There are a ton of other recipes out on the internet for vegan crunchwraps, but we’ve been on such a Taco Bell kick lately I wanted to share how we made them.

Ingredients:

  • A large burrito flour tortilla (we bought la banderita homestyle tortillas)
  • refried black beans (we get the Winco brand refried black beans with jalapeños)
  • corn tortilla chips (Julio’s tortilla chips are one of our favorites)
  • shredded iceberg lettuce
  • Boca veggie crumbles
  • Daiya American cheese slices
  • salsa (we really like Pace’s mild chunky salsa)
  • taco seasoning (or chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and cumin)
  • diced white onion
  • pico de gallo (diced tomatoes, cilantro, white onion, and cilantro)

For the bean mixture:

Heat the black beans in a pan over medium high heat and covered. While that is heating up, warm up the Boca ground crumbles in a separate pan with a little bit of oil, some diced white onion, and add the spices. Mix together the refried beans, ground crumbles, and salsa once the ground crumbles are browned and the onions are caramelized.

Next, assemble the crunchwrap. This is how I stacked mine:

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(Tortilla, black beans + veggie crumbles, lettuce, pico de gallo, a slice of Daiya’s American cheese, and finally some tortilla chips on top.

Try to fold it up in the center, and place it in a pan over medium heat with the open side down. It may not be pretty, but make sure the edges on the open side all come together in the middle. Mine was not looking too good at first, and I had to refold it, but it ended up holding together pretty nicely.

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I did not use any oil, just a non stick pan over medium-high heat, and I cooked both sides until each side was crispy and the side that was open stayed shut.

That’s how we made our homemade crunchwraps! It was pretty quick and easy to make, plus it was such a nice treat to have after a long day at work.

If you liked this, also check out my Veganized 5-Layer Burritos!

Where I’ve Been // what I ate today + a cheap pad thai inspired recipe and pumpkin spice cookies

On By VictoriaIn Recipes, Tofu, Vegan baking, What I Ate Today3 Comments

I’ve been away for the past month, and a lot has changed. I needed a little break while adjusting to new things. I now have a new job where I can sit most of the day and have a regular sleep schedule and I’ve been feeling so much better mentally and physically.

I’m going to be posting regularly again, and to start it off here’s what I ate today.

Brunch:

We started out Labor Day with some vegan breakfast burritos and donut holes from one of our favorite breakfast places, OMG Donuts. Their burritos are really cheap, but they are so tasty and nice to pickup for a quick breakfast. We took these to the mall to eat (because it was way too hot to eat outside which was our original plan) and walked around the mall for a bit.

Dinner:

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I wanted pad thai for dinner, but I wanted something quick and easy to make and kinda healthy so this is what I came up with.

You will need:

  • noodles (rice noodles would probably be best, but we just used fettuccine noodles)
    • we made about half of the box
  • a block of extra firm tofu
  • spices for the tofu:
    • black pepper
    • paprika
    • onion powder
    • garlic powder
    • cumin
  • for the sauce:
    • 2 tbsp sesame oil
    • 1-2 tbsp soy sauce (we used low sodium soy sauce and added about 1 1/2 tbsp, but add more if you’d like it saltier)
    • 1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
    • a splash of lime juice
    • 1 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • lots of veggies
    • we combined an asian stir fry and sugar snap pea stir fry mix from Winco. We used half a bag of each for this meal. These included: broccoli, carrots, onions, celery, red peppers, mushrooms, water chestnuts, and sugar snap peas.

First, I cubed the block of tofu and coated it with the spices. I put it in the air fryer and cooked it for about 20 minutes at 400ºF.

While the tofu cooked I boiled the pasta and defrosted the veggies in a pan. Then, I mixed together the sauce.

I moved the veggies to a separate bowl to add the sauce to the empty pan. Let the sauce heat up for a minute, then mix everything together (the sauce, veggies, noodles, and tofu) and let it fry in the pan for a minute or two, stirring it occasionally to make sure it doesn’t burn.

This turned out so good. I’d also recommend adding peanuts on top if you have them to make this a little more like pad thai. Pad thai is one of my favorite comfort foods (honestly, anything with noodles is), and this was a cheap and easy way to satisfy the craving. Nothing beats actual pad thai, but this was really tasty.

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Dessert:

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Winco had some pumpkin spice cookie mix for pretty cheap, so we picked some up (even though it’s super hot out but it’s pretty much fall already, right? The Halloween Oreos are already out).

We used half of the cookie mix and mixed that with 1/2 of a flax egg, half of a stick of Earth Balance vegan butter, and 1/8 cup water (we just veganized the instructions on the back of the package). We also added dairy free dark chocolate chips and sprinkled the cookies with cinnamon, all spice, and brown sugar before we put them in the oven.

I really recommend picking this up and making these if you see it in store, they turned out SO moist and pumpkin-y.

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That’s what I ate today on this last day of a very lazy Labor Day weekend. We had a relaxing weekend filled with lots of yummy vegan food, video games, and movies. Hope everyone had a great weekend. ♡

3 Easy Vegan Meals // what I’ve been eating lately

On By VictoriaIn RecipesLeave a comment

It’s been a busy month. I haven’t had a ton of time to cook and a lot of my meals have been beige and ugly. Here are some quick meals I’ve been making:

1. Egg-less Egg Salad

I made this the other day just with some leftover tofu scramble and Vegenaise.

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For the tofu scramble I broke up a block of medium firm tofu in a pan over medium heat and added turmeric, paprika, onion powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and black pepper. I had that for breakfast in a burrito that day, and stored the leftovers in the fridge. The next day I mixed the leftovers with 1 tablespoon of Vegenaise and a little bit more black pepper. I had it on some sourdough toast for breakfast.

2. Pasta + whatever is in the fridge

This first example is a cup of shells with red peppers, green peppers, and onions cooked with olive oil and half of a Beyond Meat Sausage.

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Next, this is some elbow macaroni with spinach and a vegan burger patty. I would also recommend adding a little olive oil or something, since I ate this as-is and it was a bit dry. It was alright, but definitely could have used something.

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Finally, this is some penne pasta with a cup of frozen stir-fry veggies with a sauce I made out of hummus, nutritional yeast, and a splash of low sodium soy sauce.

3. Nachos + Loaded Fries

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Not healthy comfort food, but really easy. We air fried some french fries, added a few slices of Daiya’s American Cheese, cooked some Boca veggie crumbles, and topped it with green onions and a dollop of vegenaise (would recommend vegan sour cream too).

a really simple pasta dish

On By VictoriaIn Low Spoon Recipes, Recipes5 Comments

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This is another simple low-spoon meal. It’s also an, “I needed to clean out the fridge but it turned out really good so I’ll make it again” meal. It’s a really easy recipe to make without much effort, but it is filling and extremely tasty.

What you’ll need:

  • 1 cup medium shell pasta (or any pasta you like)
  • olive oil
  • diced onions (I used some diced red onion we had leftover)
  • 1/2 can of baked beans (I really like the Cracked Pepper baked beans from Serious Bean Co we found at Winco)
  • 2 tbsp hummus (I had Sabra’s roasted pine nut hummus and it turned out really good, I’d recommend picking this up but any hummus will do)
  • Boca veggie crumbles (or any vegan protein you’d like to add, Gardein’s meatless meatballs are really good in this too)
  • 1/2 – 1 cup spinach (however much spinach you’d like to add)
I don’t usually use exact measurements for low spoon recipes because it’s more of a throw everything together with as few dishes as possible meal, so add however much or as little of the ingredients as you’d like. This is just how I make it. 

1. First, I boiled a cup of pasta. I only made one serving since it’s easier to drain. After I drained it I left it in the colander and left the empty pot on the stove over medium heat.

2. Next, I drizzled about 1/2 tbsp of olive oil in the pot. I added about 1/4 cup of red onions and cooked them until they were caramelized. Once they were I mixed in about 3/4 cup of the Boca veggie crumbles. I added just enough water so it wouldn’t stick, covered it, and let it cook for 5-7 minutes.

3. After the veggie meat cooked thoroughly I added half of the can of baked beans and covered the pot again to let the beans heat up.

4. While that was warming up I microwaved 1 cup of frozen spinach to defrost it. I’d also recommend adding it to the bean mixture to cook it, but someone doesn’t love spinach as much as I do and I made leftovers of the mixture for us to share. (• ◡•)

5. Then, in a separate cup, I mixed 2 tbsp of hummus and enough water to thin it out into a sauce.

6. I combined everything into a bowl (but only about 1/4 cup of the bean mixture, I saved the rest for leftovers), and this is what it looked like:

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This is a really savory meal that doesn’t take a lot of time to make. The sweetness of the baked beans mixes really well with the other ingredients and creates a flavorful pasta dish without much effort!

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tofu, veggies, + rice // how I make tofu

On By VictoriaIn Low Spoon Recipes, Recipes, Tofu2 Comments

This is how I’ve been making tofu for the past month. I usually put it in rice bowls, burritos, or pasta dishes when I get home from work, but today I made it with rice and a big bowl of veggies. It’s just a really quick and easy meal and I wanted to share it with you all.

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for the tofu:

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  • 1/4 block extra firm or medium firm tofu
  • paprika
  • cayenne pepper
  • black pepper
  • cumin
  • garlic powder
  • onion powder

First I cubed 1/4 of a block of tofu. Then I threw it into a bowl and mixed the tofu with the spices. I placed the pieces in my air fryer and baked them for 350º for about 15-20 minutes, flipping the cubes every 5-10 minutes.

the veggies:

  • carrots
  • red, green, and yellow peppers
  • white onion
  • frozen spinach

I steamed the carrots in a pan until they were soft, then added the frozen veggies. I used a frozen pepper stir fry mix that had all the peppers and onions in it to make it easier. I also added garlic powder and onion powder to season it. I just cooked everything over medium heat with the lid on for 10-15 minutes, at least until everything was soft.

and the rice:

I make the perfect white rice by boiling 1 3/4 cup of water for every 1 cup of rice I make. Once the water is boiling I add the rice, mix it once, then let it simmer for 18 minutes. Once that’s done I take it off the burner and let it sit for another 5minutes. After the 5 minutes I finally fluff it with a fork.

I plated everything once it was done, added a little bit of low sodium soy sauce, and topped everything with sriracha.

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It’s nothing fancy, but delicious low spoon meals are always a treat for me. Let me know how you guys like to make tofu in the comments!

Avocado Pasta

On By VictoriaIn Creamy, cheesy, pasta recipes, Low Spoon Recipes, RecipesLeave a comment

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This low spoon recipe is really easy, but makes a delicious and creamy pasta dish. For this, all you will need is:

  • 1 cup pasta (I used elbow macaroni)
  • 1/2 avocado
  • lemon or lime juice
  • black pepper
  • salt
  • basil (I only had dried basil in our pantry so I just used that, but fresh would be even better)
  • oregano
  • garlic powder
  • onion powder
  • optional: a boca chik’n patty or any other meat substitute

First, I boiled the pasta. While it was boiling I made the sauce by blending the avocado, a few drops of lime juice, and the spices. I also added about 1/4 of a cup to 1/2 cup of water to help it blend. It’s a low spoon meal so there aren’t any measurements, I just threw everything in the blender to taste.

After the sauce was blended I microwaved a Boca chik’n patty for 1 minute and 10 seconds and cut it into squares.

Finally, I drained the pasta, added the sauce to the pasta, and mixed in the chik’n. I sprinkled some red pepper flakes on top and that’s it! A creamy pasta dish that’s super easy to make.

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Let me know if you try this out in the comments! Also, how do you feel about avocado with pasta? I thought it would be a weird combination at first, but it’s a great flavor combo, especially with the chik’n and red pepper flakes.

Another Vegan Garbage Plate

On By VictoriaIn RecipesLeave a comment

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I wanted a garbage plate a few nights ago, so I made one. This is what I created.

This is definitely not an authentic garbage plate. I took the basics of a garbage plate and made it quick and easy (and vegan!). I’d recommend checking out Jenna Marbles’ video on how to make one even better: My Boyfriend Cooks My Favorite Meal.

macaroni salad

I loosely based the macaroni salad off of this recipe from Foodie Crush: How to Make Classic Macaroni Salad. I didn’t add eggs, red peppers, or pickles, and I used Apple Cider Vinegar instead of pickle juice. I also used Vegenaise to replace the mayo. I just threw everything together without measuring anything and it turned out pretty good.

potatoes

I chopped up a potato and threw it in the air fryer for about 15 minutes on 400º. After it was done baking I seasoned it with garlic salt and pepper.

meat sauce

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I took the easy route and just bought a few cans of Amy’s chili.

I mixed one can of the spicy chili and one can of medium together in a pot and added garlic powder and paprika. The meat sauce isn’t technically chili but it was close enough, plus I took the leftovers for lunch for a few days.

 

burger patty

I cooked a Dr. Praeger’s All American Sweet Heat Beet Veggie Burger and melted a slice of Daiya American Cheese on top (I accidentally bought two different veggie burgers. I meant to buy two boxes of the All American burgers, but I think I bought one Sweet Heat Beet on accident, that’s why it’s bright red in the picture. I threw the box away before I realized and could double check). The beet burgers weren’t the best for this, but they were still pretty tasty. Get Beyond Meat or the Impossible Burger if you want something more “authentic”.

This is how I put it all together: half the plate with the macaroni salad, the other half with the potatoes. Then I added the chili in between the two, added the burger on top, then topped it with ketchup and yellow mustard.

That’s how I made this super quick and easy vegan garbage plate. It wasn’t the most authentic, but it was really tasty. It’s a weird combo of flavors but it is so delicious.

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Easy Rice Noodles + Peanut Sauce

On By VictoriaIn Low Spoon Recipes, Recipes, TofuLeave a comment

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Today was another low spoon day for me. I wanted something easy but hearty, so this is what I made for lunch. It turned out really delicious so I wanted to share!

This is what you’ll need:

  • 1 cup rice noodles
  • 1-2 cups frozen cauliflower
  • 1/4 block extra firm tofu
  • 1 tbsp peanut butter
  • a few drops of low sodium soy sauce (this is all I had on hand, but liquid aminos would work too)
  • black pepper
  • cumin
  • nutritional yeast
  • garlic powder (I used garlic salt because that was all we had but I’d recommend garlic powder)
  • cayenne pepper
  • crushed red pepper flakes

First, I cut the tofu into cubes and measured out 2 cups of frozen cauliflower. I coated the cauliflower and tofu in the spices (nutritional yeast, black pepper, cumin, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper) and popped them in the air fryer for about 15 minutes at about 360ºF, mixed them around so they would cook evenly, then put them in for another 10 minutes.

I cooked the rice noodles when the tofu and cauliflower were almost done, then made the sauce.

For the sauce I mixed together 1 tbsp of peanut butter, a few drops of soy sauce, and enough water to thin it out. We also had some red pepper flakes from Papa John’s so I added in a bit of that too.

That was all it took to make this super savory, peanut-y noodle dish!

Favorite Oatmeal Recipe & Vegan Soup // a full day of eating

On By VictoriaIn Breakfast recipes, Recipes, Vegan baking, What I Ate TodayLeave a comment

Another what I eat in a day post with easy vegan recipes.

Breakfast: the tastiest oatmeal

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My favorite combo for oatmeal is peanut butter and blueberries, if you’ve never had it before you must try it. I made 1/2 cup of oatmeal with cinnamon, blueberries, and peanut butter. It was my day off, so I threw in a tablespoon of dark chocolate chips too. The brand I use is Enjoy Life, they make a bunch of variants of dairy free chocolate chips. For an exact recipe, you will need:

  • 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
  • 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
  • 1 tbsp Jif natural creamy peanut butter
  • cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp Enjoy Life dark chocolate morsels

First, I added the dry oats to a bowl and added enough water to cover the oats. I microwaved it for 1 1/2 minutes, keeping an eye on it to make sure the oatmeal didn’t overflow while it was cooking. Then I mixed it, added a little bit of cinnamon, then microwaved it for another minute. Once that was done I added in the frozen blueberries and mixed it together to defrost them, then I added the peanut butter and chocolate chips. I microwaved it for a few more seconds, just enough for the peanut butter and chocolate chips to melt.

Lunch: Split Pea Soup with white rice

 

We found a bunch of Amy’s vegan soups when we were at Kroger, and we picked some up for lazy meals. I had half of a can of the split pea soup with some white rice. It was light in sodium, and it was so delicious! If you pick up any of the soups, just be careful because not all of them are vegan.

Dinner: potatoes and spinach

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I just really wanted some potatoes and hummus. I made a cheesy sauce with 2 tbsp of Sabra’s classic hummus, 1 tbsp nutritional yeast, a little water to thin it out, and a few drops of Frank’s Hot Sauce. I made 1 cup of spinach to go with it, but I made it the lazy way by microwaving it with nutritional yeast and garlic powder.

Dessert: cookies

 

This is seriously the BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe: Liv B’s Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe. You have to make these, this is going to be my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe from now on. I really wanted some homemade chocolate chip cookies and found her video on YouTube, and had to make them. They turned out delicious and chewy and I recommend trying out her recipe asap.

That’s everything I ate this day! Just trying to keep it simple and tasty, and showing that being vegan is easy. ♡