compassionate women Archives - Page 24 of 31

Berry & Herb Coconut Ice Cream Pops

July 14, 2015 by Jillian Leave a Comment

With all of the rain in central Texas these past few months, I ALMOST forgot it was summer. It hasn’t been it’s usual scorching self. And then my mom sent me some popsicle molds in my birthday package a few weeks ago and I finally got to use them this weekend – and oh yeah, it’s summer! Nothing screams summer like nice cold popsicles. But these are special popsicles. They are magical raw vegan popsicles. The coconut base is rich and creamy paired with frozen berries and fresh herbs. Toss in a little raw sugar to sweeten the deal and you’ve got homemade popsicles that are way better than anything store bought!

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Popcorn Tofu Chikin & Sauteed Veggies

July 8, 2015 by Jillian 6 Comments

This is my new go-to dish. I love it so much. The popcorn chikin is crunchy, the sauteed veggies are savory, the sauce is tangy, the nutritional yeast gives it a hint of cheesiness, and I wash it all down with a refreshing glass of apple cider soda (recipe below). It’s really perfect. I think I could eat it everyday. Plus, the tofu really looks like a chicken nugget on the inside!

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Elisabet Ney Museum in Austin, Texas

July 2, 2015 by Jillian Leave a Comment

All right, so I must admit that this post is less about vegan and more about women. But there is a vegan connection that I will explain below! This museum is one of my favorite places in Austin because it combines some of my most beloved things all in one place: history, art, nature, and independent women. It’s the original studio that Elisabet Ney designed herself in 1892 and named Formosa (Portuguese for “beautiful island”), after her previous home in Madeira.

Ney was born in Germany in 1833. She was the first female sculpture student at the all-male Munich Academy of Art (you go girl). After graduating she moved to Berlin and sculpted portraits for several famous Europeans, including Jacob Grimm (of the Grimm Brothers), philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, Italian military leader Giuseppe Garibaldi, King George V of Hanover, and Ludwig II of Bavaria.

She married Scottish medical student Edmund Montgomery, however, she refused to take his name and often denied even being married (!). She and Edmund immigrated to the United States and eventually settled down in Texas. They purchased a plantation near Houston, but Elisabet decided to build her own studio in Austin, where she lived & worked and occasionally went back to the plantation to see her husband. She had two sons, one whom died very young, and another who is rumored to have joined Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough-riders.

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Vegan S’mores Fudge Brownies

June 29, 2015 by Jillian 6 Comments

These brownies are flaming good. Literally. The last part of the recipe requires you to broil the brownies to get the marshmallows nice and toasty looking. They only need 1 minute to broil and they are ready. But I got distracted and left them in the oven for 3-5 minutes. When I went to get them, surprise! They were on fire. My first thought was to grab some water, but I put so much time and effort into these brownies, I wasn’t about to demolish them because of a semi-raging fire. Luckily the flames went out quickly and I was greeted by the shrill tones of the smoke detector, which I promptly ripped off the wall. When all was said and done, my poor brownies were covered in a layer of ashy marshmallow. On the plus side, after I scraped it off, the brownies looked and tasted great. Lesson of this story? Just because your recipe doesn’t go quite as planned don’t freak out. Sometimes it will turn out even better!

Here are some more surprises from my Vegan S’mores Fudge Brownies: they are gluten-free, they contain roasted beets, and the base of the batter is black beans! However, these brownies taste just as good as any brownie made with wheat flour and dairy products. No one would ever suspect they have veggies and legumes in them!

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Cauliflower Vegan Cheese Steak

June 21, 2015 by Jillian Leave a Comment

Can you handle how good this looks? I for one cannot. I must admit that real steak has never appealed to me, even in my meat eating days, but this cauliflower cheese steak gets me salivating like a hungry dog. I was never a humongous fan of cauliflower, but once I became vegan and realized how nutrient-dense and versatile it is (I mean, Creamy Vegan Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce for crying out loud, not to mention it makes a great pizza crust) I actually get cravings for it on a regular basis. Then there’s cheese… Oh sorry, did I need to go on? Yes, there’s super yummy Daiya Cheddar Cheese shreds all over this dish. And scallions. And a few seasonings. Wham bam boom you’re done!

Although I do create the majority of my own recipes, I can’t entirely take credit for this one. For my birthday last month my friend Salina gave me a beautiful vegetarian cookbook called The Forest Feast. Many of the recipes are vegan as well, and Salina knew it would be easy for me to veganize the recipes that contain dairy in them. She was right!

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