'Fried' Rice and Snow!

Hey everyone! I don't know about you guys, but we've barely had any snow here since a couple days ago.  Our dog is so excited that we finally got some snowy drifts! Everyone was hoping for a snow day on Friday, but since finals are coming up, no one held their breath :)

Anyways, here's some oriental recipes I've been working on the last few weeks...they're both delicious! The 'Fried Rice' is a mixture of long-grain brown rice, wild rice, veggies, and delicious Chinese seasonings...and the Mango Curry Soup is creamy, somewhat spicy, and ridiculously full of flavor.  Check them out!

I wanted a recipe with the flavors of fried rice, but didn't really want to fry anything...so I cooked the rice seperately, sauteed the veggies and seasonings, and mixed 'em together in a big bowl! Honestly, I love this recipe.  It's flavorful and sounds a lot more complicated than it is.  You just have to allow time for the rice to cook and chop your veggies!

Vegan 'Fried' Rice

1 cup long-grain brown rice

1/3 plus 1/4 cup wild rice

2 large carrots, cut into rounds

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

About 1/3 cup of diced onion--maybe 1/3, 1/2 of a medium onion

2 large cloves of garlic, pressed/minced

1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas

3/4 tsp. turmeric

3-5 tbsp. tamari (I use the San-J organic brand)

1/2 tsp. dried ginger powder

1/2 tsp. sea salt

First, cook the brown and wild rice in about 2  7/8 cups of water.  Bring the water to a boil, then bring it down to a simmer and cover it with a lid.  Mine had to cook for about 25 minutes until all the water was absorbed, but other people will probably have different times. 
Anyways, once your rice is done cooling, leave it to cool for a while.  Saute the onions in the olive oil in a large pan for about 2-3 minutes, then add garlic and saute as well.  (Be careful not to burn the garlic!) Add the carrots, celery, peas, tamari, ginger, turmeric, and sea salt.  Cook the vegetables all together for about five minutes, until they're soft but still a bit hard (not crunchy, but not limp).  Add to a large bowl with the rice and mix all together.  Taste, and if it needs more flavor, add some more tamari.  Enjoy!

This is so quick, creamy, and super delicious! I love this soup, and it's best served cold--I take a bag of frozen mango and let it thaw in the dehydrator for a while, then blend it while it's still cold.

Mango Curry Soup (makes enough for one big bowl of soup)

2 1/2 cups thawed or fresh mango chunks

1 heaping tablespoon Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste (can use another curry paste too)

1 tablespoon chopped yellow onion

A few good shakes of salt

Blend everything until it is super creamy.  If using fresh mango chunks, preferably chill in the fridge for a little bit before serving.  This soup is gorgeous, and can be easily doubled for more people.  I doubled it and gave everyone in my family a small bowl. 

I have lots more coming up soon! Everyone have a great week, and to high schoolers across the nation, good luck on semester exams!

Recipes to come and a delicious smoothie!

Hey! I have a TON of recipes that I've been creating lately to post, including...Spaghetti with Hearty Sauce (this is very delicious and authentic-tasting!), Tomato Cumin Wild Rice Soup, 'Fried' Rice, and more!

For now, here's a absolutely yummy smoothie I made tonight.  Unfortunately, it's a rusty red-brown color, but it is tasty and sweet, and I think that makes up for it!

Deliciously Brown Smoothie
2 cups frozen pineapple
1 cup frozen raspberries
1 ripe banana, peeled
3 cups chard (red, rainbow, or green; or you could sub with kale, spinach, or lettuce)
Optional: I added a teaspoon of bee pollen.
Add enough water to cover the frozen fruit and blend until creamy and the raspberry seeds are pulverized.  Yummy!

Have a great weekend!
Megan

Recipes

For now, here's a list of posted recipes! As I add more, I'll link to the respective pages.  For clarification, everything is vegan, and almost all is gluten-free (excepting namu shoyu).  If there's a recipe without a link, it's coming soon!

Desserts (Raw):
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Chocolate Banana Cake
Chocolate Banana Frosting
Carob Fudge
Moist Pecan Peanut Butter Brownies
Chocolate Peanut Butter Buckeye Frozen Cake
Two-Layer Cookies
Chocolate Caramel Pecan Sundae (high-raw)
Pillowy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Desserts (Baked):
Healthy Banana Bread

Side Dishes/Appetizers (raw; * is cooked):
Fruity Turkey
'Fried' Rice*

Snacks:
Peach Raspberry Almond Parfait

Soups & Salads (raw; * is cooked)
Chickpea Wild Rice Soup*
Tomato Cumin Wild Rice Soup
Honey Mustard Kale Salad
Creamy Mango Curry Soup
Vegetable Salad with Hoisin Sauce
Tomato-Rice Soup with Chickpeas*
Summer Refreshing Cucumber Salad

Beverages (all raw):
Peachy Green Tropics Smoothie
Deliciously Brown Green Smoothie
Chocolate Raspberry Shake
Secret Ingredient Summer Smoothie

Entrees (* is cooked)
The Veggie Burger that Changed My Life*

Miscellaneous
Caramel Dip

About Me!

Hi everyone! My name is Megan Sperger, and I'm an (almost) 16-year-old teenage girl living the raw/vegan life.  I eat mostly raw, but do eat cooked foods every now and then.  I love to sing, act, read, and write, and of course cook and create recipes! I try to update my blog as much as possible, but don't always post right away.  I try to live a healthy lifestyle, besides food--which includes yoga, exercising, and for me, reading the Bible :) I am also a proud Christian. 
Just for anyone out there who isn't necessarily a vegan, I am not one of those hard-core vegans who looks down upon anyone who still eats meat/dairy.  I try to live a compassionate, nonjudgmental lifestyle, and though I encourage veganism and think it's great, I won't condemn the people who don't 'convert'! :)
Lastly, I love taking food pictures, but don't have a very good camera.  So please excuse the bad quality and lighting of my pictures.  :)
Oh, and one more thing.  Sorry about the smiley usage--I seem to have a problem with overusing keyboard keys to express my emotions. :)

A little Christmas fun!

Hey everyone! I have a couple things for you today.  What with last-minute homework assignments before Christmas break and such, I haven't had much time to blog.  So...I have a few things today!
First, near the beginning of the month I made a Chocolate Peanut Butter Buckeye Cake, from the amazingly creative Amie Sue of Nouveau Raw! Here's the link and some pictures if you want to make this recipe.  http://nouveauraw.com/desserts/frozen-chocolate-peanut-butter-buckeye-cake/

I highly recommend it--the chewy crust and the creamy filling with peanut butter is divine! The only edits I made: I didn't want extra chocolate ganache, so I just made half the recipe.  It blended fine but balled up super quickly into a hardened mass--I later realized this was because I used agave straight from the fridge.  Cold agave mixed with liquefied coconut oil instantly makes whatever you are blending solid! So, take your agave out of the fridge a while before making the ganache!



Amie Sue's photographs do it more justice than mine, so head over to her site to check it out, as well as some of her other amazing recipes!




Secondly, yesterday I had a gift exchange with some friends at school.  We all brought desserts as well, and since I didn't want to sit there lonely while everyone chowed down, I made a new creation that all my friends enjoyed (yes!! :) )--Peanut Butter Brownies!

Peanut Butter Brownies (makes enough for a 9x9 pan)
2 cups pecans
2 cups pitted Medjool dates
1/3 plus 2 tbsp. cocoa/cacao powder
2 tbsp. agave
2 heaping tbsp. organic peanut butter

Process the pecans in a food processor to a fine meal.  Add the other ingredients and blend until mostly smooth.  Dump in your pan and press down the brownies evenly.  These make nice, thick brownies, and I unfortunately didn't catch a picture :(  But if you want to make these, I suggest putting some type of raw frosting on top--it would be divine! For lovely frosting recipes you can always jot on over to blogs like 'Gone Raw,' 'Sunny Raw Kitchen' or, of course, 'Nouveau Raw'. 
That said, I have lots of treat-making planned for Christmas.  I'll post pictures and updates when I get the chance! Have a great Christmas, everyone!
Megan

Babycakes success!

Hey everyone! A few days ago I got the much-famed vegan, mostly gluten-and-sugar-free cookbook for desserts and delicacies called Babycakes from the library.  Their bakery in New York City is called Babycakes NYC, and they even have a store in Downtown Disney in Florida! Anyways, I thought that since their recipes are amazingly healthy (no white flour! no refined sugar! nope, not here!), we'd try making them for the family.  The first recipe Mom and I tackled was banana bread.  And boy, was it a-mazing!!

Before I say anything else, I'll give you some pictures.  Half the loaves were plain (pillowly deliciousness!) and half were with chocolate chips for my little sister and dad.  They turned out great!!

Plain.......                                                                     ......and chocolate chip (enjoyed by my little sister)

They were sooo delicious! It was amazing to think that they contained ingredients like garbanzo bean flour, agave, rice milk, coconut oil, xantham gum, and so on! I would highly recommend this recipe...there's no nasty bean aftertaste like in some breads.  I won't recommend this book yet, but we'll be attempting more recipes soon, so I'll let you know the verdict!
For now, here's the recipe:

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tbsp. Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour (gotta be Bob's, no sub)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/3 cup oil
2/3 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup rice/almond milk
2 tablespoons of good quality vanilla
1 1/4 cups mashed bananas
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Brush your loaf pan with oil and set aside.
In a medium bowl, measure in flour, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt, cinnamon and whisk. Add oil, agave nectar, rice milk and vanilla and then mix again. Fold in bananas until nicely distributed.
Pour batter into loaf pan (only halway!) and set in the oven. After 20 minutes, check on the loaf and continue baking until it passes the toothpick test. Remove from oven and cool for 30 minutes.

Enjoy your holiday weekend!

Megan

What a high-fruit, high-greens raw-foodist has for Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!
A ton of my friends lately have been asking me what I'll make for Thanksgiving.  Well, I was going to make a big fall-themed feast for myself, but I was really in the mood for lighter dishes last night, and a nice hot soup. 
Sometimes I'll have cooked soup--usually not more than once every two weeks.  My favorite is a Chickpea Wild Rice Veggie Soup by Kahakai Kitchen.  Here's a link to her recipe: http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/2011/06/chickpea-wild-rice-soup-simple-but.html
I usually make a couple modifications, such as soaking and sprouting my wild rice instead of cooking it, skipping the potatoes and paprika, cooking my own chickpeas (don't want any BPA :) ) and cutting down the cooking time.  This is a delicious soup, though, and I highly recommend it as a hearty, warm, satisfying vegan soup! Here's the Kahakai Kitchen's picture of the soup.

Speaking of wild rice and chickpeas, though, some of you might not know how to prepare them.  So, for sprouted wild rice (chewy and tastes the same as cooked wild rice!), soak about 1 cup of dry wild rice (make sure it's high-quality) in 4 cups of water for a 2-5 days, changing the soaking water once a day.  I've had wild rice be ready as early as two days; as soon as most of the rice is split open to reveal the whitish inside and it has increased by about x3, it's done.  Make sure you rinse it every day so it doesn't go bad! Sprouted wild rice is delicious in a variety of raw food dishes, and I like it more than cooked wild rice. 

Next--chickpeas! Chickpeas aren't raw, but I enjoy having chickpeas in the fall and winter.  I cook my own, since I don't want any of those BPA chemicals and more that come from can linings! Also, when you soak your own dried chickpeas, you can get rid of the majority of the inhibitors that are on chickpea skins to protect it.  (Look into why soaking nuts before you eat them is good--nuts have the same type of phytic acide on them that makes it harder to absorb nutrients.  It's an ingenious method, really! Plants are amazing!)
Soak however many chickpeas you want in a bowl with x3 as much water overnight, or for at least 8 hours.  Rinse and drain the chickpeas, and boil them in water, then simmer them until they have reached your desired consistency.  Enjoy!

So, for my lighter supper, I made a turkey out of fruit.  Cute, right?!? Everyone loved it!

It's just sliced bananas on the bottom, topped with an orange half.  Then, you make 8 skewers, with grapes on each end and a variety of berries (blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry are nice, though I only had raspberry on hand) in between.  Lay those out and cut half of a pear as the turkey body.  You can add raisins for the eyes, and cut dried fruit (I used mango) for the mouth.  Lastly, I used a goji berry for the wattle. 

I also had a green smoothie for my supper in addition to the turkey.  It was a great Thanksgiving! Everyone enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend! :)

Megan