My scrambled veggs bring all the girls to breakfast..

Perfect Duo

Hey all you wondeful fans out there.   How have you been?
I just had the pleasure of trying out the new Follow your Heart Vegan Egg.  So - that's why I'm coming to you.  That, and I just really felt the need to start blogging again.  I know I say this, then fall off the other side of my cloud, but I really need to try.  I make some awesome stuff every day that really needs to be noticed.. (toot toot my horn).

Vegg Scramble

So, a few months back, you may remember that I tried the new 'Vegg Scramble' created by the marvelous Rocky Shepard with his revolutionary vegan 'egg', The Vegg.  I had high hopes for it.  I absolutely love the vegg egg yolk, I would not even suggest a different substitute to anyone, but.. the scramble left a lot to my imagination.  It was weird, cakey, almost bisquicky.  I tried to love it, I tried.  I did different things with it, seasoned it, changed up consistencies - but after my last tablespoon was gone, I never purchased another.

 Enter - the new "Follow Your Heart" vegan egg!   I received my little 'egg' carton yesterday, and along with it, another container of 'Vegg' vegan egg yolk.  For one, because I use the stuff like crazy, and for two - because I was about to mash up the two best vegan egg products out there, in the morning (this morning).



So - this happened.  Bleary eyed, 6:45 AM (sorry the pics are a bit dark, I only

had one light to work with).
I opened up the little carton, and found some tips, (which I admit, I didn't even read), and on the back was a recipe for something - which I'll try later.  So, sucking down lemon water I get out the measuring cup. Again, here I am half asleep and I measure the stuff out in the cup (dumb).  I have to put it in a bowl so I can measure out my 'ice cold' (I think there's a trick to the reason it's supposed to be ice cold) water.

 So there are the ingredients - however, what you DON'T see is the 1/2 tbs vegg powder I added into the follow your heart egg.  Upon watching a blog on this FYHVE yesterday from Rabbit Food Grocery (The place I bought it and one of my favorite stores in Austin), they were saying it was a bit bland and even though it had the eggy texture it wasn't as eggy strong as the vegg - so - fixed that.  If I'm going to eat vegan scrambled eggs (we've talked about this, I didn't go vegan because I didn't like the taste of this stuff)  I'm going to eat something that really TASTES like scrambled eggs.  I digress

There's what it looks like all mixed up together.  Water, 1/2 tbs vegg powder, and two tbs follow your heart vegan egg.   Nothing else at this point.  It was suggested I add onion or garlic powder, or even salt and pepper in the mix, but I opted for salt and pepper later on.  I'm also wondering how almond milk would fare in this aside from water.. ok doesn't matter right now.

Poured that baby in the pan on top of a little olive oil and immediately (unlike the vegg scramble) began to scramble.  The vegg you have to leave in the pan for several minutes before you can even attempt to scramble... and it's bready too.  This one fluffed up like no one's business the second it got hot.  Oh yeah - scrambled 'eggs' without the tofu!  Now we're talking!  If I never have to buy tofu again I won't miss it!






During this time I plated some fruit, sung a little tune and popped a piece of toast in the toaster. (It had 6 mins to cook, however I had to help it scramble once every minute). 
Then voila badabing.. done.  Put it on the plate, sat it down, salt/pepper - check.

I haz scrambled eggs again in my life!   They seriously tasted how I remember them to taste.
Now - my next goal - to get the 'soft boiled' egg thing down.  It's something I swear I'm going to master if it's the last thing I do!  Hard boiled and deviled - DOWN - soft boiled, next.
We'll see.  I've got some time.

Now, off to make Green Bean Casserole for my tribe at work for a Thanksgiving lunch tomorrow.

Til next time.  Peace, love and rainbows!

Irish Eyes Were Smilin'

Top O' the day after St. Patty's day, to ya!

My original idea was to come home and scarf down leftovers, but I remembered I promised a weekly blog, so I figured - why not play up St. Patty's day? 

So, I've become a Pinterest junkie as of late. (I just organized all of my pins and boards because I'm a freak).  As I was on there yesterday I had realized I'd forgotten I'd purchased some Gardein Szechuan 'beef' strips.  (These are my favorite and I've never made them with the sauce they come with, either).  So I started looking up recipes with 'steak' or 'beef' in them, when lo-and behold, several dishes for Irish Stew came up.   Most of them with the main ingredient as Guiness, or some such Irish alcoholic beverage.   I however, had none - and honestly the thought of beer in my food doesn't really do it for me, I was lucky enough however to find a recipe that did NOT use beer in it - so as such, you can find the original recipe HERE

But here are my own substitutions.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb. stew meat - (I used Gardein Szechuan Beef Strips)
4 large carrots, peeled & chopped - (I used frozen veggies here)
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon rosemary
1 large bay leaf or 2 small
2 cups beef broth - (I used "no beef" better than bouillion)
2 tablespoons butter - (I used Earth Balance)
2 tablespoons flour
heaping 1/3 cup frozen peas - (These were in my frozen veggies)
Mashed potatoes - (and I did use her original recipe and subbed with cashew milk, tofutti cream cheese and earth balance butter) - (recipe found here)

So, I started out with the 'beef' strips.  Cooked them up nicely.  While that was cooking, I also threw in the frozen veggies (it made more sense to do it here - hers was thrown in at the end, but there was no real reason for me to cook mine as long as she cooked hers so I threw them in at the beginning with the onion and garlic                                                                                                  I cooked mine for the amount of time she slated, before adding my broth.
If you're going to do vegan 'beef' broth, you've got to use 'Better Than Boullion' - why?  It's the best.  It's also kind of hard to find on foot. I can find it online though fairly easy.  Once I added the broth, I got started on the mashed potatoes.

Now, she calls for peeling the mashed potatoes, but like the rebel Eve in me is, (That one is for you, Dee, if you're reading this) - I chose not to peel.  That, and my stupid irrational peeler fear.                                               

So, I cut the potatoes, put them in water and let everything do it's thing while I did the flour/butter thing since the butter needed to soften - which I found different, but wow - I think I'll do it again! 
                                              
She calls for a couple hours simmer time, but with vegan food, I've found you don't need to waste that much time waiting - which for the most part is good for me. I hate to wait for food. 

After a while, the potatoes were done, and I drained added and mashed those suckers, and then added the butter/flour mix to the stew, which did make it thick and yummy. Clearly just like a roux but without cooking it first. 

The finished product looked a little something like this
                                       
And TASTED AMAZING!

So, again - here is the original stew recipe.
As well as the mashed potato recipe.

Thank you to Laurenslatest blog for the inspiration.

Next week I'm going to do something a little weird..  How do YOU feel about dill pickle soup?  ;)

Current Music - The buzz of my phone
Current Craving - Leftovers
Current Motivation - Got none.

Gotta get the un-gratin!

I got bored with myself, and maybe slightly unhappy.   So, in lieu of waiting on the ROVL to take shape in an actual book form, I decided I need to engage all of you lovely people again with more veganizations.
This time, I'm sharing the recipes. :)

*Do your happy dance!*

So, last night I decided to try 'Cauliflower Steaks w/Spinach Gratin & Green Beans' - loosely based on this recipe - right HERE.   Although I didn't have spinach (don't judge.)

So - this is what it's supposed to look like:

 

Right.

So, let's get on with it.

I get all of my ingredients together:

1 Head Cauliflower

3 Ounces Baby Spinach (nope - nada, didn't have it. SORRY CHARLIE)

2 Cloves Garlic

6 Ounces Green Beans

2 Tablespoons Butter - (Earth Balance)

2 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour

1 Cup Milk - (So delicious coconut milk)

2 Ounces Cheddar Cheese- (Mozzerella Daiya Shreds)

¼ Cup Panko Breadcrumbs

1 Lemon

1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard

¼ Cup Slivered Almonds - (of which I subbed corn - don't judge here either, this vegan didn't have almonds last night).

I start the way they suggest.  I cut the cauliflower (which didn't come out quite as pretty as theirs).  I put it all up in the oven at 500 degrees (even the burnt cookie dough from 8 years ago that burned so bad I couldn't clean it off started to smell cookieish again!)  And baked the Cauli - which in the end turned out like so:

Whilest that was baking, they suggested I do all this chopping to green beans (read the recipe, I gave you my substitutions - you can read the recipe all on your own.  I'm not doing your work for you!) ;)   
I had frozen green beans.  Who wants to chop green beans when they're already hungry? I'd already chopped up garlic. I was done chopping.  I also had no almonds to toast, so to add color I used frozen corn.. whatever. I liked it.
 When those came out - quickly, I did the little mustard/lemon thing it suggests at the end and sat them off to the side, where you'll also note I'd completed the home -made panko.

 It was then off to the reason this whole thing caught my eye to begin with.   The bechamel sauce.
Creamy, cheesy fattening goodness.  Of which I not only baked on my cauliflower but I SLATHERED it on when it was done baking, too.
(I might have also eaten the rest from the bowl but we won't talk about it.).
Anyhoo - the bechamel is the un-vegan part of this recipe.  I gave you my subs.   You could also sub any of your favorite vegan cheeses or vegan milks as well.  Right now I'm in a hot and torrid love affair with Field Roast Chao.. but I digress, it's too good to put in a recipe. I eat it raw.

 So after I cooked my bechamel, the cauliflower steaks (as seen above) were ready to come out of the 23408572349747 degree oven, which I think might be clean of cookie now.   I didn't pay attention.
Once those came out, I was to spread the bechamel (which is supposed to have spinach in it, but it didn't, because I didn't have spinach, and even if I did I probably wouldn't have used it. Bechamel is better without greens to me.  So I spread, cover with breadcrumbs and bake again.

This - to your right its what it should look like (sans the spinach) when it comes out of the oven.. however, with more cauliflower on it, I'd already had my share before I took this particular picture.












So - what's mine all look like thrown together w/o spinach or almonds?

VOILA! 
Now, would I make this again?   No.  I prefer my cauliflower boiled, blended with milk and butter and made into faux mashed potatoes.  However, I love potatoes more but I'd prefer cauliflower done that way too.


I'm going to try and do something for this blog every week if I can.  If there's a recipe you'd like to see me veganize - don't hesitate to email it to me:  sherifuqua@gmail.com
I'll even give you a shout out on the blog for veganizing your recipe.
Or - if there's a vegan recipe of yours you'd like me to put my own spin on or try - email me that, too.  I need ideas.  Lot's of them, if I'm going to get back into the groove.
I've missed writing to you guys.  I've missed being part of something.
I'm back!

And one more shout out to The Blue Apron - for their un-vegan recipe, which again you can find HERE.

Now - try it by yourself! :)


See you next week!

Music enjoyed while blogging:  The Muppets - Rainbow Connection
Current Mood:  Getting better
Current Craving:  Something deep fried.

And here lies the RECIPES!!!

Oh you guys!

It’s been *just about* 3 years (around my moms birthday, which is coming up again on Saturday) That I started this blog.  Now I get to tell you that, the icing on the cake – THE COOKBOOK, is available for download on ‘Bakespace’.

You can find it here:

BakeSpace's Cookbook Cafe

BakeSpace is an independent, grassroots community created by and for people who enjoy cooking, baking, and hanging out in the kitchen.

or HERE 

 It won’t be available in actual book form for a while yet – if you know me, you know I’ve not got the money to do that quite yet, but it’s all written out and ready to go for when I’ve got the $ I need.  Buying the downloadable copy would be very helpful.  I get half the proceeds of my cookbook, which I’ll put right back into the making of a few copies of the hand held book form.   I really like this downloadable cookbook though.   For me,  I pull a lot of recipes off of the internet, and to have something like this available to me on my iPad (yeah I have one of those, hard to believe, right?  It was a gift!) But to have it available at my fingertips like this is amazing.  I wish I’d had something like this 2 years ago when I was veganizing the crap out of everything!

I want to say -  many of you crazy people have recipes dedicated to you in this cookbook.

If you inspired a recipe or went over the top and beyond making waves about any recipe or even asked me to make something specific in the 2 years I did this, chances are that you’ve probably had a recipe dedicated to you.   It ended up as 116 recipes (give or take some side items which I added with menu items in the 100 weekends I challenged myself).  116!  Not bad!!  I also added all the v-logs, so if you starred in any of my little vegan snippets, you're also in the book!

I’ve been working on this for the past year and I’m so very proud of the work I’ve accomplished.  I hope you all enjoy the recipes you have watched me create.  

I’ll try to continue here and there to  make blog posts so that you can see where my future vegan endeavors take me.  

I’m exiting  Rainbows and moving into a new territory where I’ll now call myself ‘Veganixie’.  I hope you’ll continue to follow me as this mortal gets her fairy wings and works towards creating magic for more masses!

If you buy a cookbook, let me know!  If you are one of the many that would like a hand held copy, let me know too –as I’ll try to only get a certain amount of copies made – to save the trees and all.

If you enjoy a recipe, let me know as well.. send me pics!  I love to hear from you guys!  Rainbows will stay on Facebook, so always feel free to post pictures or changes that you made to my recipes or soliloquies to that page!

Peace and as always,
Rainbows of Vegan Love!

xo
Sheri (Veganixie)

This is an amazing list and your name is probably on it!

Look, RADIO SHOW!

It's been a successful two years in my book.  I've been through love, laughter, heartache, heart break, losing some babies, experiencing a 'haunting', being on the radio, starting as a partner in an all vegan bakery and all the while making food for some very special people.

I'm now beginning work on the Rainbows of Vegan Love cookbook, and it's very slowly beginning to take some sort of shape.  I'm not sure how to get it published, etc.. but I'll be learning that as I go on.  If anyone has any ideas or can help me in this, I'd love to hear them!



I'll keep you always in the loop.  But for now, I need to thank some very awesome people that helped to keep me going these past two years.

ABSOLUTE SHOUT OUT'S TO MY "VICTIMS"  Hehe.. I love you guys, thank you for braving the recipes you did!  

Now, in no certain order:
Joanne Fuqua
Jerry Fuqua
Scott Fuqua
Vicki Goforth
Megan Scalf
Lisa Browning
Tracey Bond
Amy Ketchum
Sandra Carroll
Augustus Kroell
Robyn Granger
Amerie Granger
Christy Thierbach
Jason Thierbach
Elena Thierbach
Jen Scheben
Drew Hetzer
Lori Young
Ben Stigar
Corinne Stigar
Lotus Young-Stigar
Joyce Hoffman
Dennis Hoffman
Andrea Blankemeyer
Debra Shipman
Cindy George
Sam Cooper
Don Scheben
Carol Scheben
Matthew Scheben
Erika Katsaros
Barbara Mills
Laura Dixon-Caldwell
Mary Beth King
Chandy Grant
Deanna Rusk-Rocklin
Tina Powell
Tina Ferguson
Amanda Dages
Linda Mount
Christy Paragin
Kyle Dobkins
Shelly Grien
Julie Grien
Bill Grien
Peggy Grien
LaQuan Grien
And OMG If I'm missing anyone here - I'm sorry!  Thank you thank you thank you a billion fold!

 Ridiculously special thanks to these folks who didn't get to try any recipes, but were vocal on my Facebook posts, as well as my blogs.  You guys kept me realizing I was reaching more than just the folks that were eating.  THANK YOU!

Linda Tabler
Scotty Stewart
Patsy Cline
Jen Weber
Marsha Duke
Dana Cahoe
Jenene Peterson
Alicia Hyland
Gina Kline
Alanna Maloney
Robin Solinski
Eliza McCartney
Kim Zimmerman
Jack Frank
Paula Mounts
Janet Evans
Sharon Yelton
Linda Ryan
Sandra Dick Parrish
Lorien Nagafuchi Wright
Laura Schatz
Zenita Belle
Amanda Marie Paolello
Monique Hypes (who did my artist rendering!)




Big Thanks and love to our animal superheroes that somehow made their names into a recipe or two!

Victoria Turkey
Skip Turkey
Thyme Turkey
Elizabeth Turkey
Gable Turkey
Payton Turkey
Annette Turkey
Cincy Freedom The Cow
Fiesta the Chicken
Chucky the Cat
And all the other animals saved along the way!



Loves and tickles to my very interested kitty (and pup) friends:
Sabrina Delahoya Fuqua
Pippen Louise Fuqua
Sanchez Esposito Fuqua
Lucy Ann Fuqua-Ayers
Ichabod Octavius Fuqua-Ayers
Jospehine Elizabeth Fuqua-Ayers
Chiana Lauren Scheben
Niko Scheben
Monty Scheben
Chloe Valentine Scheben-Katsaros
Jaben Thierbach
Sheldon Cooper Thierbach
Peggy Caldwell
Gus Caldwell
Dick King
Snatch King
F^#*3% King ;)
Simon Felix Fuqua-Ketchum
Eddie Ketchum
Pinky Carroll
Carol Carroll-Ketchum
Serina Fuqua
Theodore William Goforth

Lastly, All my love, heart, and the angels of whom this cookbook will be dedicated to:
Orbie Alexander Fuqua
Bella Lucille Fuqua-Ayers
Jeep Ann Scalf
And last but not least - the chef extraordinare who I *KNOW* helped me through each one of these veganizations:
Rochelle Grien  (Grandma, to me).  

I couldn't have made it without any of you!  Thank you so very much!!

And to complete the cycle - a few of my favorites.
I didn't vlog much but my favorite of the few has GOT to be this one:

And lastly, a favorite pic from each year.

Paula Deen's Peanut Butter Pie - September 2011 - Niece Megan Scalf and Sister Vicki Fuqua-Goforth

Eggnog Ice Cream - December 2012 - My Baby Mama, Lori Young

Rapunzel's Hazlenut Soup and Pan Fried Cornbread - August 2013 - Sheri Fuqua and BFF Christy Read-Theirbach being goofy.

Once again, thanks each and every one of you!  I love you! <3 <3

Peace, Rainbows and Much Vegan Love

Sheri

Ariel learns to EAT with her dinglehopper - Recipe 100 - "crab"cakes and shells n cheeze.

Oh dear Ariel.   She's realized exactly what the land folks DO with a dinglehopper.

And she enjoyed every bite.


Welcome to King Triton's Castle for the very last Rainbows Of Vegan Love, veganization!

This started out actually the night before.  I knew that kitchen space in my dear Ariel's castle kitchen would be sparse, so I made a lot of this ahead of time.   I started with my 'tartar sauce'.   After throwing some tofu in a pile with 'buttermilk' I was ready to mix in a few other ingredients.  Ignore the spectrum shortening.. I didn't use that.  I was also making a cake at the same time for my Snow White.  (I'm so versatile with my princesses)  <3

As the evening wore on (as did the heat in my kitchen) I started out on the 'crab cakes'.  (No I did NOT use my cell phone in the recipe.. it didn't call for it.    I was basing this recipe off of a Paula Deen recipe (the sauce as well).  I almost couldn't believe the amount of butter it used.  (As in, not a ton.. isn't Paula a butteraholic, ya'll?)    After a good add, mix, add, mix I was ready to create patties to chill.

I ended up with four perfect balls ready to take.    Also with this veganization - I created baked shells and 'cheeze' (aka macaroni and cheese baked with three different vegan cheezes).  This was my own recipe, but it was ridiculously fitting.  Vegan crab, vegan shells... it was fit for a ocean party, I'm telling you!



So - I got to Triton's castle (aka Mary Beth's house) and after doing a little jobbie job for her (we'll get to that in a few).. I started the 'shells'.  When those were al-dente, I went ahead and added my three 'cheese' mix and topping with vegan parm, and threw it in the oven with something that smelled delicious and cinnamony. 
Then it was time to fry the 'crab' cakes and get the table set.  All of which was done in good pace while my Ariel behind me was baking brownies (who knew Ariel was such a baker?)

"There you see her
Sitting there across the way
She don’t got a lot to say
But there’s something about her
And you don’t know why
But you’re dying to try
You wanna FEED the girl"

We ate, we chatted, I've come to realize my Ariel needs to be fed something other than sugary snacks more often.

So, this is where I end my 2 years - 100 recipes.  Being vegan brought Mary Beth and I together - and we share of love of making things for others, so, I've joined with her as partners in her vegan bakery Sweet Peace Bakery and I couldn't be anymore excited about it!

I'm sure working with her will render a few late dinners together of which I'll make while she bakes, then I go decorate Sweet Peace goodies.  End result, compassionate, yummy, amazing food for the masses, sweet (and savory at some point).  

That being said - I don't want to throw all the surprises in this one blog, so very soon, you'll see my VERY last blog.  It'll be a thank you to all of you who partook in my recipes, a mention of the fact that yes, I will be putting together a cookbook, and when you can expect it - and very special thank you's to all of you who were not able to eat my food, but always made known your excitement for what I've been cooking.   I will not abandon RoVL Facebook, I'll still fill it with information and fun things for those of you following me, and of course if I have a food request from any of you foodies - they will most always be fulfilled.  Just ask!

Til my next post everyone - Peace, Love and Vegan pixie dust.  xoxoxoxoxoxo!

"Those poor unfortunate souls
So hungry
So true

They come flocking to my cauldron
Crying, "Food, Sheri, please!"
And I help them?
Yes, I do"

We what the land folks loves to cook Under the sea we off the hook!

Let's just jump right into this, shall we?   Like a splash into the sea!  Sebastian.. he's so wise, so cute, such a jerk sometimes.  But you've gotta love him!




Welcome to veganization #100.  The end, Finnito - FINISHED after this!
We've visited 2 princesses already and one 'villain turned good'.  This last blog finds us at the one true vegan princess' Ariel's table!  But what is our focus?

Poison ingredients?  (We solved that).
Clueless chefs?  (Educated them)
Ain't broke, don't fix it mindset (Fixed it)

There's a whole nother group of cooks out there that 'Just Don't Care'.  Like.. "Eh, I love the taste of (said animal product).  Screw it.. let's eat!

*NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!*  Someday we'll live in a world of all vegans.. SOMEDAY.  (Don't burst my bubble).  But until then, it's time to keep proving to these cooks that vegan tastes JUST as good as non-vegan.

Afterall - we can't end up with this scenario in front of a vegan princess!!

We're taking the job on ourselves here at Rainbows of Vegan Love, for our last veganization to make foolish chefs all over look silly.  Because, who says you can't have crab cakes without a crab?! 

<-- DUDE, get off of my blog already and put that fish back in the sea where he's 'off the hook!'





You might say I saved the best for last, and maybe I did.. but there's a whole other reason I saved my Ariel for last.. and you might find out - in the next blog.  But until then, let's see what my Ariel is going to be noshing on - vegan style - this week for dinner.

Crab Cakes                            Sebastian Friendly Cakes
                (with creamy dill dipping sauce)
Calories - 200                                     150
Fat - 10                                                  7
Cholesterol - 82                                     0
Sodium - 491                                        282
Carbs - 5                                                5
Fiber - 0                                                 4
Protien - 11                                            8
WW Pts - 4                                            3



Shells and Cheese                            Baked Shells and 'Cheeze'
Calories -350                                                242                                                
Fat - 18                                                            7    
Cholesterol -650                                              0                       
Sodium  -181                                                 145                                       
Carbs   - 36g                                                   12                                    
Fiber - 4                                                           3
Protien - 6g                                                      7                                                      
WW Pts - 6                                                      6   

I'm going to pull the seaweed over Ursula's eyes and make Ariel sing to me while I cook.  Maybe I can officially become one of Triton's daughters?   





Stay tuned.. in two days I'll be taking gadgets and gizmo's a plenty, also whozits and whatzit's galore over to Ariel's castle.. and maybe she'll find another use for this 'dinglehopper' thing she keeps talking about.

Dive down with me, Wednesday!

Music enjoyed while blogging:
A fan

Current Craving:
Mac and 'cheeze'

Current Motivation:
Finishing with a bang!