Spinach and Feta Pinwheels (Long Island Vegan)

Hi everyone! This week I tried the spinach feta pinwheels, veganized by Long Island Vegan. They were fun to make, though a little melty/messy after baking, but still delicious! I’ll definitely make these again; they were a really fun treat, and the leftovers were great, too! 

Here’s Rogue being a cutie, hanging out at the top of the tall cat tower. She often will skip the lower levels and just climb straight up the “trunk” of the tower like a baby bear would climb a tree, haha! 

Peace. :)

Pizza

Hello on the 20th day of the Vegan Month of Food! Today for Nostalgia Week, it's Pizza Friday!

Pizza

Ingredients:

(crust)

--1 Bob's Red Mill 16 oz. package Gluten Free Pizza Crust mix

--2 T flaxseed meal + 6 T water (replaces the 2 eggs)

--1 1/2 cups warm water

--2 T olive oil

--yeast packet (included in the pizza crust package)

(toppings)

--tomato sauce

--shredded Daiya (both mozzarella and cheddar)
--vegan pepperoni slices (I used Lightlife's Smart Deli Pepperoni)*

*If you leave off the pepperoni, this pizza is gluten-free! :)

Directions:

(Preheat oven to 425°F.) Combine yeast and water in a large bowl; let stand a few minutes. Add the flaxseed meal and olive oil, stir. Add the pizza crust mix; stir until combined. Split dough in half (makes two 12-inch crusts), leave in bowl, covered for 20 minutes so it can rise. Place one of the doughs on a greased pizza pan (I used a baking tray). With wet hands, spread out the dough to cover the pan (I made a round 9 1/2 inch crust). Bake for 7 minutes without toppings. (Store second unused dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, in the fridge.) Remove from oven, add sauce, Daiya, and vegan pepperoni slices. Bake for 7 minutes (the package says 15-18 minutes, but 7 minutes seemed sufficient for mine since it was smaller). Remove from oven; allow to cool slightly, slice with pizza cutter, and serve. (Mine made 4 slices.)

Notes: I do enjoy a thicker crust, but I probably will spread out the crust a bit thinner when I use the leftover dough to make another pizza. (Even though the cheese got melty and the bottom of the crust cooked well, the middle was a bit doughy; still delicious, though!) I really enjoyed the vegan pepperoni; I loved pepperoni when I was younger, and this tasted very similar (and was notably less greasy!).

Growing up, "Pizza Friday" was always fun; we alternated between ordering a pizza or making it at home ourselves. Of the two options, homemade pizza was much more delicious and way more exciting since I got to help my dad with preparing the dough and adding the sauce and all the toppings. My favorite combination, which I made here today, was cheddar, mozzarella, and pepperoni. As I helped to layer on the toppings, inevitably, here and there, a slice of pepperoni would end up getting eaten instead of being placed on the pizza (and today, I was sure to try one after I was done adding all the toppings). Also, my dad always used baking trays for the pizza, and he would spread the dough out fully, so our homemade pizzas were always rectangular; it was fun because when he sliced the pizza, the slices ended up as squares.

pacman?

Last night, Mystery joined me on the couch when I was watching TV. She decided to snuggle in against my left leg. Luckily my camera was nearby so I was able to snap a picture.

Peace. :)

Mozzarella Sticks

Hello on the 14th day of the Vegan Month of Food! Today I made my first-ever vegan mozzarella sticks, and it was quite the adventure. I based my recipe mainly off the VeganZombie's, which I found through this blog post on Food With Heart. I also checked out two recipes here and here.

Mozzarella Sticks

 

Ingredients:

--1 block of Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet mozzarella

--seasoned breadcrumbs + 1/2 tsp pepper (I used Edward & Sons Italian Herbs organic breadcrumbs)*

--soy milk

--flour

--canola oil

*if you don't use seasoned breadcrumbs, you'll want to include garlic powder, oregano, and salt in addition to the pepper

Prepare three bowls, one with soy milk, another with flour, and the third with seasoned breadcrumbs and pepper. Cut the mozzarella block into cheese sticks (I got 16 "fingers" out of it, and then 8 of them I halved for mozzarella "bites"). Dunk a cheese stick in the soy milk, then in the flour, dunk back in the soy milk, and then into the breadcrumbs, making sure to cover the cheese stick as thoroughly as possible. Set aside on plate. Repeat process for the remaining cheese sticks. Pour a couple inches of canola oil into a cooking pot and heat it up; drop a clump of breadcrumbs in to test when it is ready to fry. Using tongs, add three cheese sticks to the pot; remove when they have turned golden brown. Set on paper towels to absorb the excess grease. Repeat until all the cheese sticks have been fried. Serve the mozzarella sticks with sauce and enjoy!

Notes & thoughts: Near the end of the batch, I had some difficulty getting the cheese sticks fully coated, especially when the breadcrumbs started clumping together in the bowl. They looked and tasted pretty good, though in most of them, the cheese didn't melt much, so that was kinda disappointing. (Maybe I didn't let them fry long enough? But the ones I had in longest ended up with the cheese starting to melt out. I guess I just need to determine the perfect length of time to have them fry. More experimentation!) 

The next time I make these, I think I will add a bit more salt (the salt in the seasoned breadcrumbs wasn't enough for my tastes) and maybe try using a more melty cheese like Daiya. Overall, I'll call it a success, though, and I have plenty of leftovers to enjoy in the next couple days.

Tomorrow, be sure to check back in for the start of Nostalgia Week, which I will be kicking off by making my first-ever tofu scramble (vegan "scrambled eggs"). There will also be shiitake bacon. :)

Here is a snuggly sleepy Mystery saying goodnight.

Peace. :)

Pizza Bagels

Hello on the fifth day of the Vegan Month of Food! Did you know that today is National Cheese Pizza Day? I had no idea until I saw it mentioned by a fellow Vegan MoFo blogger, Melissa of New Orleans in Green (see Happy National Cheese(less) Pizza Day!). Today's post, therefore, features vegan cheese pizza in the form of...

Pizza Bagels

    

Ingredients:

--plain bagel, sliced open

--tomato sauce

--spinach, chopped

--shredded vegan cheese (I used Daiya, both mozzarella and cheddar)

--garlic salt

Place the open bagel halves on a baking sheet. Add tomato sauce, spreading evenly. Layer on some spinach, add the cheese, give a quick shake of some garlic salt, and put in the oven at 350°F for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving. Enjoy!

This is a super quick & easy meal to make. I like to have them with potato chips and a pickle on the side. 

Zach likes his pizza bagels without the spinach and with a sprinkle of salt instead of garlic salt.

And to close tonight's post, here's a photo of Mystery snuggling with her little pink bear.

Peace. :)