evol Veggie Curry Review

Last night I was tired. Sitting in my freezer are a bunch of frozen meals that at some point I bought because I thought they would be worthy of a trial. The evol veggie curry wrap had ended up in that dark cold place waiting to be microwaved and eaten. So last night I took it out, wrapped it in the obligatory paper towel and popped it in the micro for just under three minutes.

And the result...eh, it was just ok.

evol Veggie Curry wrap


I had a few major disappointments with this wrap, but I wanted to like it so much. I gave it points for being vegan, and made with mostly organic products, but the image on the box, has nothing to do with what the actual wrap looked like. I loved it for the taste, but the texture, and my inability to identify any of the ingredients inside was disappointing. There were no cubes of tofu, sticks of carrots, and other veggies, all I could see was a mash of what looked like and felt like pre-chewed tofu and brown rice, and some green stuff (what veggie was that?) Every once in a while there was a piece of orange or a different green color that would show up when I took a bite, but those sitings were few and far between.

I wanted, more veggies, less rice and more tofu in this wrap. The wrap boasts that it has 11 grams of protein but for vegan, who needs to bulk up on non-animal protein this just wasn't enough in my eyes. Also 4 grams of fiber?? my sugary terrible for you cereal has more fiber than that in it. The entire wrap was 340 calories, so basically it was a lot of wrap a lot of rice and little of the things that are actually good for you. I think this wrap needs a re-do. Keep the flavor, boost the tofu, and the veggies. All in all it would increase the goods on the nutrition, the fiber and protein and end up reducing the calories, by removing some of the unneeded fillers.

evol, i want to love your products, but this one just doesn't do it. Sorry.

Roasted Pumpkin

It's pumpkin season and after roasting the largest pumpkin that would fit in my oven I'm ready to make as many pumpkin recipes as I want.

I would totally recommend everyone who is planning on making a few pumpkin recipes this season to do this. Roasting your own pumpkin instead of using the canned stuff just brings your recipes to the next level. It's pretty easy to do just takes a bit of time and then you can make pumpkin muffins, bars, cookies, anything and everything you want. Pumpkin is also a great addition to your vegan recipes, as a binder instead of eggs.

Roasted Pumpkin
prep time: 10 minutes
cook time: 40 minutes
oven temp: 400 degrees
yield: varies (depends on size of pumpkin)

1 pumpkin
olive oil


Make sure you wash your pumpkin before beginning. If you're working with a small pumpkin (which i was not) just go ahead and cut the pumpkin in half. across the middle. If not just cut into manageable size pieces. Scoop out all the seeds and insides. (Rinse the seeds and roast the seeds for a great snack.)You want to take the stem off completely before roasting.

 Place skin side up on your baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil. Place into your 400 degree oven for 40 minutes. Once finished in the oven you want to take out and let the pumpkin cool before handling. The skin will just peal off, and can be thrown away. Using a Cuisinart pulse the pumpkin into a puree. The one thing that you should do is remove some of the water that will pool at the top of the pumpkin puree. The easiest way to do this is to place in a container and use paper towels. Just gently push the paper towels onto the top of the puree and you will see the paper towels start to absorb the excess water. You can use the pumpkin right away in another recipe or place in Tupperware and store in the freezer.

Pumpkin is also great for dogs and mine loves it. I'm thinking I'll be making some pumpkin dog treats later this week!

Vegan Coffee Rolls

I've been on an eggless/vegan kick recently. Honestly the idea of eggs is freaking me out slightly. I never really enjoyed making or eating eggs, but now I'm more inclined to bake without them than with them if I can.

We have a family recipe for Coffee Rolls, that is similar to this recipe. However I wanted to work with a separate recipe than my families, because I wanted these rolls to not be a vegan version of something great, I wanted this recipe to be great on its own.

Vegan Coffee Rolls
prep time:  3 1/2 hours
cook time: 15 minutes
oven temp: 400 degrees
yeilds: 35 coffee rolls

1 package dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 cup soy milk (I used light soy because that is what I had.)
3 cups flour plus 1/4 cup flour for kneading
1/4 cup earth promise vegan butter
3 Tbsp sugar**
1 Tbsp ground flax seeds
3 Tbsp water
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 Tbsp earth promise vegan butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

 It does say that this recipe will take 3 1/2 hours from start to finish, and yes that is true but a lot of it is resting and rising time. This recipe is not as intense as it seems from first look. So I'd definitely recommend trying it.

Dissolve the entire package of dry yeast in warm water, then add the soy milk and stir. Add 1 cup of flour to the yeast and soy milk mixture-you are making a yeast sponge. Let sit for 30 minutes.

Cream the vegan butter, and sugar. Microwave the flax seeds with the 3 Tbsp water for 30 seconds until it forms a gummy texture. Add the flax seeds to the creamed butter and sugar, stir in the salt. 

Once the yeast sponge has sat for 30 minutes mix in the vegan butter, sugar and flax seed mixture. Add 2 additional cups of flour to make the dough soft. Turn out onto your kneading surface. I needed an extra 1/4 cup of flour to get my dough to the correct consistency, but just work your dough slowly until it is soft and no longer sticky.

Place the dough into a greased bowl, and put in a warmed oven, let the dough rise for about an hour. The oven should not be on. You can warm the oven prior to placing the bowl in by having the oven on 100 degrees for about 5 minutes. The dough should about double in size.

While the dough is rising you want to make the filling. Fork the 1/2 Tbsp vegan butter, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. It will end up being the consistency of sand.

Punch the dough down, and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Roll out the dough into a rectangle, should be about 12 inches by 18 inches. Spread the cinnamon mixture over the entire surface. Roll the dough tightly. Cut into about inch width pieces and place into a greased muffin pan. Let the rolls rise in the muffin tin for another hour.  

Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes until golden brown. Let sit in the muffin tins for a few minutes then turn out onto cooling racks, and let cool.

**Please note that if you are making this recipe for someone who is vegan you should either check with them on if they eat refined sugar, or buy vegan sugar.

Recipe variations: The coffee rolls that my mom makes have raisins in the filling, so if you like raisins you could always add this to the filling. I prepared half the recipe without raisins and half with. I added 1/8 cup of raisins to the filling ingredients. You can also top these rolls with icing, but I don't think they need that extra sweetness.

Be careful, as you can see above. One of mine stayed in the oven for a minute or two too long, and these ended up going down the drain. The caramelizing of the sugar and cinnamon creates this sticky goodness, but it will burn if you leave the rolls in too long.

I really liked these coffee rolls, just enough sweetness paired with the yeast dough, makes them perfect for a snack or breakfast.

Bobo's Oat Bars

New Blog Posts!! Reviews!!

I decided that coming back into posting I would have more to offer if I added in some reviews of new products that I've been trying. So here is one of my new favorites.

Bobo's Oat Bars

These all natural oat bars come in ten different flavors and all (including the chocolate) are vegan and wheat free. So far I've tried three of these flavors, and they were all really good, but I find the original to be the best. One of these bars with a cup of tea has been a great breakfast, even Troy (the pup) loves a nibble of Bobo's bars. They are a bit sticky, so you will need to take small bites and have a drink to sip on between tastes, but this just makes these bars last longer. :)

They are a great oat flavor and are super dense and filling for a bar that is under 200 calories. The original has 180 calories, 6 grams of fat, 9 grams of sugar, 3 grams fiber and 3 grams of protein. So if you are looking for a protein packed snack or a substitute for a fiber bar this is not for you, but all around this bar has a little bit of everything, and it's honestly yummy and it's one of those snacks where you're not going to feel bad after, you'll actually feel better, and full. If you like to feed your body great, healthy and simple food, and love oats then this is truly a crave worthy product. I absolutely love them!
 

The biggest downside is the price. At my local Whole Foods they are $2.49 each. If you order a 12 pack from Bobo directly each case costs $28.80 plus shipping and handling, which comes out to $2.40 each plus shipping. Amazon had a few good deals with free shipping and a couple cases of flavors that were on super sale. So give them a try and also check out their website Bobo's Oat Bats.

Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ever use your last egg for breakfast and need to make cookies? Or have you ever been 1 egg short and wonder can I still make this recipe? Well lately I've been trying to avoid eggs in my baking and have found a few different ways to substitute eggs. This is just one recipe you can't tell is eggless at all. There are a few different substitutes that can be used for eggs and a few are explained below.

Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/8 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter (salted, 1 stick)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar (firmly packed)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 Tbsp ground flax seeds**
4 1/2 Tbsp water
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl combine your flax seeds and water together, place in a microwave for 15 30 seconds. The flax seeds will absorb the water and turn into a thick, gel like substance. It will be the consistency of egg whites. Set this mixture aside. Cream together the butter, sugars and vanilla, then add in the flax seed and water mixture. Stir until combined. In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and salt.) Slowly add the dry to the wet mixture. Beat until the dough comes together. Add the chocolate chips and stir just until coated with the dough.

I use an ice cream scoop to make my cookies, this way they will all be the same size. Using an inch scoop I yielded 30 cookies from this recipe. Scoop your cookies onto a non-greased baking sheet and place in the oven for about 12 minutes, until golden brown. Let cookies harden on the warm baking sheet for a few minutes before moving them to cooling racks.

**Flax seeds are a great substitute for eggs. You can find them at any grocery store usually in the natural foods section. I usually buy the ground flax seeds, but you can also buy whole fax seeds, however if you want to use them as an egg substitute you will need to grind them either in a Cuisinart or coffee grinder. Flax seeds have Omega 3s and a ton of other good for you vitamins and minerals. Other egg substitues with measurements are listed below.
1 Tbsp ground fax seeds with 3 Tbsp water = 1 egg
1/4 cup applesause = 1 egg
Egg beaters (follow directions on container.)
For more check out this PETA link.

Also this recipe can easily be made vegan by using vegan butter, and carob chips as replacements. Some vegans do not eat regular refined granulated sugar (because of the refining process.) So you if you are making these for a vegan you should buy vegan sugar and use it instead of the sugar you have in your cabinet, usually found in a natural foods store.