You see this? It’s homemade milk. No cows were involved. This milk is so simple and easy and the possibilities are endless. I eat it in smoothies, with cereal or in my homemade chai. It’s super healthy and if you choose to use sesame seeds like I do, then you will get an extra boost of calcium. I am going to show you how to make it. Let’s get started.

Start off with some unhulled sesame seeds.

One cup should do it.

Pour enough water to generously cover the seeds. Soak your seeds 6-8 hours.

Once you are done soaking. Gather your ingredients together. You will need sweetener (I use dates), lecithin (thickener), unrefined coconut oil, sea salt, your pre-soaked sesame seeds. The optional ingredient is protein powder. It’s not necessary, but I like to fortify my milk. You will also need a mesh bag to strain the milk from the pulp.

Drain off your seeds and rinse them really well.

Dump your rinsed seeds in the blender.

Fill the blender halfway with water.

Blend really well.

This is the fine mesh bag I was talking about earlier.

See how fine it is?

You can buy these online for 8-10 bucks or from Chinatown for less than that. Either way, it’s a worthy investment.

Pour the milky seed mixture in the bag. Get all the delicious and nutritious milk out.

It’s quite simple and easy.

Pour the strained milk back in the blender and add your sweetener. I add 1 date per 1/4 cup of dry seeds (4 dates for 1 cup). Add a pinch of salt. 1 heaping tablespoon of lecithin. 1 heaping tablespoon of the unrefined coconut oil.

I also add a scoop of protein powder, but you don’t have to.

Because of the protein powder, I add extra water, however this might make your milk too thin. Add one cup of water at a time and blend until you get to the consistency you like. With my recipe above and using the vitamix, I end up with 8 cups of milk.

Creamy, dreamy and good for you.

NOTE: The sesame seeds can be switched out for other types of nuts and or seeds. ie. almonds

This is just a ploy to get you to ignore the fact that this is not a recipe post. Don’t worry, we didn’t run out of vegan recipes that will make your inner thighs touch (unfortunately I know this as fact). This month went by so quickly. Where does the time go?

Time thief!

It’s not her fault.

Okay, it kinda is.

Those cheeks man!

I can kiss those cheeks all day.

Seriously.

Oh, look! She wants to share!

She really wants you to take it.

Sike! (Don’t act like you don’t know what that means.)

Enjoy the fleeting moments.

She thinks she can talk! Actually, she knows she can talk, we’re just not up to her speed yet.

Pitter Pat goes my heart!

I made waffles. It’s serious… I’ve made waffles before, but they were never good. They were blah. I knew I could do better, I just didn’t know how. Sue Gregg has entered into my life and I am a changed woman. She has shown me the way. I was kind of skeptical at first. But, blender waffles are the ONLY way to do waffles. They must be done the Sue Gregg way and you will become a believer too!

Yes, what you see above will create waffles, I promise.

Start with dumping 2 cups of brown rice in the blender. Yes, I said brown rice.

Dump in 2.5 cups of vegan kefir yogurt OR 2.5 cups vegan yogurt thinned with vegan milk of your choice OR 2.5 cups of vegan milk with 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (this makes vegan buttermilk).

Add 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.

Add 2 tablespoons of coconut oil.

Blend. Let everything get all incorporated and then go to bed. Well, you don’t have to go to bed, just leave the waffle batter in the blender covered, on the counter overnight. Sue Gregg explains this as the two step process. I just call it planning ahead. The grains get to soak and get all softened up and break down from the acid in the yogurt OR buttermilk. So in the morning, all you have to do is add some last minute ingredients…

Add 2 tablespoons of flax seeds and blend.

Add a enough milk to open up your vortex. Once that hole is open, dump in 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Quickly turn off blender. You don’t want to overwork the batter once the baking soda has been added.

Make sure you have plugged in your waffle iron and coated it with oil.

You might want to hurry up and make these before she chews off her fingers.

Drool. Moan. Repeat.

It’s more than okay to top these with So Delicious coconut yogurt, maple syrup and nuts or nothing or jelly or berries. It’s up to you.

Even toothless babies can eat these nutritious delicious whole grain waffles.

Awww. She wants to share. Not really.

Disclaimer: I did this in a Vitamix with double the recipe of what Sue Gregg has on her website for blender waffles. She states that a regular Oster with the glass container will do. I have a Vitamix and I have four children. Doubling the recipe was necessary.

The thoughts of Salisbury Steak have been lingering in my mind for a long time. Recently a good friend of mine kicked up my craving.

It started a couple of weeks ago with a conversation with Kevin Porter, BMX pro and co-owner of Delicious Cafe.

We’re both afflicted with the same disease…we constantly want to Veganize some crazy meal we used to devour back in our carnivorous days. This time it’s Salisbury Steak. Our joint memory reference was those rock hard, frozen TV Dinners. You know the ones I’m talking about. Back in the day in the foil trays…the ultimate meal – Salisbury Steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, kernel corn and that brownie! I always wanted the dinners that had the brownies. Looking back, I wonder how we survived such grotesqueness…but, I’m here to tell you I did. Hopefully my veganism has reversed the unseen damage inflicted upon my inner being.

Kev was recently at a vegan joint in LA that offered Salisbury Steak. Imagine his excitement! We were just talking about this stuff and there it was. However, once fork hit mouth, disappointment ensued. Now I knew I had to come up with something. So Kev, this one’s for you. When you get back from riding in Spain, you’re invited to a Salisbury Steak dinner at my house.

For the “steak” patties, I used the vegan Boca burgers. I know a lot of people don’t like these, so feel free to substitute a vegan patty that you may like more.

The veggies used will be in two phases:

First:

1 pound of Crimini mushrooms, sliced (that’s about 15 or so mushrooms)
1 Shallot, sliced

Second:

1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/4 red onion, diced
1/2 jalapeno, diced
1/2 bulb garlic, diced

Start off by sauteing the shallots in 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil on medium high heat for only a couple of minutes.

Add the Crimini mushrooms and a dash of Kosher salt to your skillet and saute for an additional 5 minutes. You don’t want them to get too mushy, just til the point they release some of their water.

That’s the look your going for.

Line up your burgers in a baking or casserole dish.

Top with the sauteed mushrooms and onions.

Put to the side and work on your vegan beef gravy.

Saute the remaining vegetables in 2 Tablespoons EVOO and 1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil.

While the veggies are sauteing, get your spice mixture together:

1 & 1/2 Tablespoons Brewer’s Yeast
1/2 Teaspoon cumin
1 Teaspoon Paprika
1 Teaspoon Kosher salt

After about 7 minutes of sauteing, push your veggies to the edge of the skillet and add 1/2 cup all purpose flour and the dry mixture.

Lower the heat to medium low and mix everything together. Continue toasting the roux for about 3 minutes. At this point, slowly add water and continue mixing. You want to add 1/2 cup of water at a time. Slowly stirring and building your gravy.

After you have added two cups of water, add 1/4 cup of Soy Sauce. Mix.

Add another cup of water, mix. Then, using a micro-plane, add 1/4 clove of fresh nutmeg, mix.

The end result of the gravy should not be too thick. Just thick enough to lightly coat a spoon.

Add your finished gravy to the casserole dish. Cover all of the patties well.

Place the dish in a 400 degree preheated oven and bake for about 15 minutes.

Take out and serve!

Who doesn’t love lasagna? Who doesn’t love Mac-n-Cheese? Put the two together….can you say Vegan Heaven? Or as the famous food connoisseur, Homer Simpson, puts it “Aaaarrrrrrhhhh!”

I made this special for my oldest daughter, the diva extraordinaire. She lives with her mother in Cleveland and she’s always complaining about the extravagant meals we make and she doesn’t get to share. Then she proceeds to complain I don’t put any pictures of her on our website. So, now I’m making food and trying to take pictures of her.

And, as any typical teenager…she complains about no pictures, but doesn’t want to take pictures. Never satisfied. True Diva! But you know what, this recipe made her and it’ll make you very happy!

The assembly of this is a cinch, but you’ll need to do some prep work first. You’ll need the following recipes:

Creamy Soy Cheese – 1 and 1/2 times the recipe. Add an additional 1/2 tablespoon of Sea Salt. You want the cheese salty because it will be flavoring the bland pasta.
Tofu Ricotta – 1 recipe
Ste Martaen Marinara Sauce – 1/2 recipe

Our Veggies:

1 red pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 bulb garlic, diced
12 oz sundried tomatoes (the kind packed in olive oil), diced
1/2 lb fresh spinach, washed

You’ll also need one package of Tofurky Italian Sausage links. Slice them up and put to the side.

All prep work is done, time to start cookin! Cook 1 pound of elbow macaroni until just before al dente. You want it a little firmer because it will finish cooking while in the oven. Other than that, it’ll get all mushy. Also, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a large pot saute your veggies (all but spinach) on medium high with 1 and 1/2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

After 5 minutes, add your Tofurky slices and saute and additional 5 minutes.

Add the cooked pasta to your saute veggies and mix.

Add Creamy Soy Cheese to the mix until everything is real creamy and moist. At this point you have Sundried Tomato Mac-n-Cheese. You can cook this by itself for 30 minutes at 350 degrees for a great tasting Mac-n-Cheese dish. But we’re taking this a few steps further.

Time to turn up the yumminess!

Ladle some Ste Martaen Marinara sauce in the bottom of a 11″ x 15″ casserole dish. Cover the bottom of the dish completely.

Add a layer of the Sundried Tomato Mac-n-cheese.

Add a layer of fresh spinach.

Next, add a layer of the Tofu Ricotta.

Top with some more Marinara sauce.

And, another layer of the Sundried Tomato Mac-n-Cheese.

Finish it up by covering the top with the rest of the Creamy Soy Cheese.

Put in your 350 degree preheated oven and bake for 40 minutes.

Wow, that looks awesome! Let the Lasagna glory sit for about 7 minutes then dig in!

Layers of comforty goodness!

Our parting shot. Time to eat. My taste buds are happy…very happy .

Here it is…Tortilla chips, Avocado, Tomato, Cilantro…Nacho cheese sauce. The tasty glue that brings all of the aforementioned together. Look at it! Drippy, mouth watering fabulousness! Forget the runway, give me a seat and some nachos!

My oldest daughter came to spend the winter break with me and this is the first meal/snack we had. It was midnight, but the glory of these nachos lit the sky.

I could blab on and on about these, but let’s get to the recipe so you can start blabbing (where did that word come anyway…blab?).

Veggies:
8 cloves garlic, slice thin or minced
1 jalapeno (2 if you aren’t scared), diced
2 green onions, diced

Cheese:
No other than our Ste Martaen Colby and Olive (8 oz of each). However, you can pick whatever combination you desire

Spices:
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt and more to taste

And:
2 cups of unsweetened soy milk

Let’s start the madness!

Heat 1/2 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil on medium. Add veggies and saute for 5 minutes.

Add one cup of milk and heat to near boil.

While the milk is heating. Get the vegan cheeses ready. As seen above, we are using the Colby and Olive styles.

Rough chop the cheeses.

Add one half of the chopped cheese.

Whisk until smooth. Add the second cup of milk, heat, add the last half of cheese and whisk again until smooth.

Add the spices.

Whisk again.

This is the type of whisk I am using. I don’t know if it has a technical name, but the bottom is flat versus the traditional rounded bottom. This helps act as a masher. When the cheese is added, I mash the cheese in order to help break up the chunks. If you’re using a different kind of whisk, work it out.

There it is, creamy cheesy goodness. Now, stop admiring your nacho sauce and get some chips together. I emptied a whole bag on a pastry board. And let the magic begin…

Pour your sauce all over the chips. Don’t be stingy.

Yeeeeaaaah. Nice and covered.

Top off with some diced tomatoes and avocado. Maybe a little chopped fresh cilantro and your in there.

Right at ya!

How did the crowd react?

Deep concentration…

And happiness (that’s my daughter on the right…isn’t she lovely?) The elated guy on the left you ask…my friend, the Soul Veg East juice bar extraordinaire.

After 5 minutes…the remnants still being gobbled up!

OK, one more beauty shot.

I went on my Lasagna binge the end of last year and created this recipe along the way. It’s a pretty quick formula and adds great flavor to many dishes.

This is what you will need:

1 block extra firm tofu
1 recipe Creamy Soy Cheese (with some adjustments)

That’s it…basically.

Putting it together, let’s start with the creamy cheese base.

Follow the Creamy Soy Cheese recipe with these adjustments to the ingredient list:
1. Increase lemon to juice of 1 whole lemon

2. Add 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons of dried Basil

3. Add 1 Tablespoon of Dried Parsley

4. Increase salt to 2 tsp. This will make the mix a little salty, but you’re adding it to flavorless tofu, so it will even out.

And no jalapeno! Finish processing the cheese according to the recipe and put to the side.

In a large mixing bowl, crumble a block of extra firm tofu. Use a masher to break up the crumbles into smaller pieces.

Add about half of the Basil infused creamy soy cheese and mix.

Keep adding the cheese mixture until the ricotta is a cottage cheesy consistency. You do not want it too runny or liquidy.

And there you have it! Use for lasagna, stuffed shells, manicotti or as a dip. Be careful though, your children or love ones may get forceful when asking for seconds.

Abba, give me some more! Don’t think I don’t know how to use these. Gilbert Arenas taught me how!

See what you did Arenas? It’s all fun and games until the youth get inspired by you. Note to self, don’t make Tofu Ricotta while the children watch the Wizards play.

And the Winner is…well, you’ll have to read a little bit more. This past weekend, Sunday, December 13, 2009…a date that shall live on in our minds and taste buds for eternity. Julia, aka the Snarky Vegan, had the most brilliant idea that culminated in the Vegan Pizza Smackdown at Delisi’s Pizzeria and Bar. The premise of the smackdown was to compare how two vegan cheese’s would compare side by side. The competitors were Chicago Soy Dairy’s Teese and Canada’s own Daiya. These two vegan cheeses have been regarded as the best “melty” vegan cheeses in the country. Well, Chicago has put them to the test.

Delisi’s is basically a dive bar on the north side of Chicago. It’s a no frills, no top shelf kind of joint with super friendly service and enthusiastic local regulars that don’t mind drinking and buying you drinks. The perfect spot to find Vegan Pizza, and deep dish pizza at that. In my experience, joints like this are the jewels of the culinary world. Forget the chandeliers, cloth napkins, Grey Goose, 100 year old scotch and dudes uncomfortably dressed in tuxes. Give me a place that forsakes posh, serves well drinks and puts all of its energy into creating delicious food…in this case, Vegan Deep-dish Pizza! It’s my understanding that Delisi’s just recently started serving vegan pizza and it has caught Chicago by storm. As you know, once a vegan finds a great product, word spreads like wildfire. The most effective form of communication known to man…not the the telegram or the telephone…it’s Tell-a-Vegan. Within days, the whole world will be up to speed.

See, a place packed full of Vegans! Anything to do with pizza, you know I couldn’t leave the children at home. If I did it might have been the last time any of y’all had seen me.

Look how serious Lil’ Z is. Now imagine if I had left him home! He would be posted up at the house ready to use that knife and fork on me.

Baby boy ridding his slice of any vegetable content. Just cheese and crust please. Well, he did add ketchup…does that count as a vegetable?

Our lion cub, pretending to eat with sophistication and patience.

Father, this deep-dish pizza is extraordinary. I am thankful for you allowing me to accompany you on this outing.

Yeah right! Believe me, once the camera went down, so did the fork and the pizza at a record setting pace.

Don’t forget about me. Pizza, in my mouth? Pizza, in my mouth?

Sorry, not this time, baby girl.

Awww . Don’t worry, she got some of Chicago Soy Dairy’s Temptation pineapple ice cream and was very happy.

Alright, stop the yapping, can we eat? Yes, let’s all dig in.

Here’s the scoop from my perspective:

Both Teese and Daiya were similar in how they melted. Both claim to veganly emulate the stretchy, gooey, meltiness of dairy cheese. They both melted, but I didn’t see any close similarity to dairy cheese. Maybe right, right, right out of the oven. Hey, that’s not my hang up though. I’m all about taste.

So the winner, according to my taste buds, is….?

That’s right, Chicago’s finest…Teese from Chicago Soy Dairy! Why Teese? I felt it had a milder flavor that combined much better with the other ingredients on the pizza. Teese did not over power only enhanced every bite. Now Daiya, on the other hand, had an after taste. Maybe its from the tapioca or arrowroot flours, maybe the cultures. I don’t know. All I know, that after taste was more dominant than the flavors of the pizza as a whole. Daiya did seem a little creamier than Teese, but that wasn’t enough to take the crown.

So Teese it is for me. Also, the unsung hero of the day has to be Upton’s Naturals faux meats. Along with the vegan cheese, Delisi’s offers a variety of faux meat products produced by Upton’s. My hands down favorite was the vegan pepperoni. So next time I get back to Delisi’s (next time being every week), I’ll be getting my deep-dish with Teese and Upton’s pepperoni.

Who ever said being a vegan lacked taste, has evidently never been to Chicago. Chicago is producing some of the best new vegan products on the market. I looked forward to when the rest of the world catches up with what we know.

The Mercy For Animals’ 2nd annual Celebrating Compassion Gala was amazing! This has been such a hectic holiday season and we prepped ourselves for this event, however it’s been a while and we don’t get out much…together. I had so much fun being around grown ups, dressing up, serving our cheese, taking pictures, hanging with friends (Kevin & Chelsea) and spending time with my Silver Fox!

The man behind the Ste Martaen brand.

Our spread. Many people came back not only for seconds and thirds, but fourths and fifths. We were flattered!

We shared the table with other vegan Chicago local talent–Karyn’s and Great Taste Cafe. Their food was so beautifully presented!

Karyn’s Raw Sushi Rolls

Great Taste Cafe Roasted Sweet Potato with Chipotle Cream & Green Onions

So Pretty!

Early on in the evening before we were swarmed…

The decor was quite beautiful! The room where we ate dinner was amazing, however it was so dark in there I didn’t attempt pictures. The dinner meal was provided by the lovely people from Chicago Diner, dessert was Delicious Cafe, Raw Creations and Great Taste Cafe, the Late Night meal was provided by Uptons Naturals (someone stole our sandwiches) , Pattycake Vegan Bakery (They had so many vegan desserts to choose from, it was a true dessert buffet!) and Turtle Mountain.

The cast from Oh Brother Where Art Thou showed up! j/k

Kevin auditioning for the new Bond movie.

Not really.

Food, friends and fun!

This Friday, December 4th is the Mercy For Animals’ 2nd annual Celebrating Compassion Gala. Ste Martaen cheese will be there! We’re excited to be one of the vegan businesses involved in helping to honor the vegan change makers in our local community.

We’d like to take this time to thank Delicious for being awesome and so supportive of us!  We’d also like to thank Vegan Chicago for allowing us to debut our cheese and it’s been crazy ever since!  We’re so thankful for the positive feedback and amazing support from the vegan community at large.  Let’s continue to support one another.

Choose Joy!

Laviyah