Plant Based Snacks: Chex Mix

My family is doing fairly well on our new Plant Based Diet. We have "fallen of the wagon" a few times but overall are doing well transitioning. The hardest part is not meal time...it's snack time. In our house snack time is usually after dinner and before bed, when we are watching T.V. Chips and salsa get old fast, and Doritos, Cheese-It's and Pringles no longer cut it anymore. We needed healthy (or "healthier") snacks to help us stay off temptation...enter Mama Pea. Mama Pea is a vegan blogger with two little "Peas" (her daughters Lulu and Gigi). Not only does she have some hilarious stories and commentary to go along with most of her recipes she also makes some great-tasting food so when Charles started complaining about needing snacks and threatening to drive to the store and get some Doritos I knew I had to act fast. I searched the "Peas and Thank You" blog and found the perfect snack..."Ain’t No Butter Chex Mix" It's delicious, salty and while it does contain salt and some Earth Balance, it's a snack, not a meal and definitely much better than any other snack I could come up with on short notice. (Except for homemade air-popped popcorn, which is vastly under-appreciated by Charles)

Out of respect for Mama Pea I will not be posting the recipe on my own blog but rather providing the link to her recipe:

Ain't No Butter Chex Mix

P.S. She just announced her App last night "Peas Pantry" which I have downloaded so I can search on the go next time =)

Plant Based Diet: French Bread

I love this recipe I found. It's fat free! There are only 4 ingredients in it: water, bread flour, salt and yeast. Charles said it's by far the best bread I've ever made, and I would have to agree with him. It has a thick, crunchy crust on the outside and a soft and fluffy inside, a true French Bread.

Because there is no fat in this bread, it can go stale very quickly so it's best served within hours of being baked and will only last about a day before it starts to dry out...of course in our house that's not a problem since the whole loaf disappeared within an hour. Even if it does go stale on you it makes excellent croutons. 

Ingredients:

1 1/8 c warm water 

3 c bread flour 

1 1/2 t salt

2 t yeast

Method:

• Place ingredients in bread machine and select the "dough" cycle
• Once the bread machine beeps to confirm the dough is ready, take it out and shape it into a 12 in loaf
• Place the dough on cookie sheet that has been lightly dusted with corn meal
• Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour
• Using a sharp knife, make 3 cuts on the top of the dough
• Let rise in a warm spot (or warm oven) for 30-45 min (remove dough during preheating)
• Place a pan filled with water on the bottom rack of the oven, to help produce steam during the baking process
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees
• Bake for 20 min

If you have a bread maker, take 5 minutes to throw your ingredients in it and impressive your family and friends with a bread that looks and tastes like you spent all day in the kitchen!

Plant Based Snacks: Baked Potato Chips

My family is doing fairly well on our new Plant Based Diet. We have "fallen of the wagon" a few times but overall are doing well transitioning. The hardest part is not meal time...it's snack time. In our house snack time is usually after dinner and before bed, when we are watching T.V. Chips and salsa get old fast, and Doritos, Cheese-It's and Pringles no longer cut it anymore. We needed healthy (or "healthier") snacks to help us stay off temptation so homemade potato chips sounded like the perfect solution...and of course a perfect excuse to buy the mandolin I've been wanting forever =)

The recipe is very simple:

Wash a potato (or two, or three), dry it off and slice it into as thin of slices as possible

Spread sliced potatoes on a cookie sheet and using cooking spray (Whole Foods sells a great Olive Oil one), mist both sides with oil

Bake for 375 for about 7-10 minutes, or until golden brown

Lastly, slightly salt them right when they come fresh out of the oven

We practiced with the straight slicer instead of the wavy slice because we could get it thinner, we still need to figure out the correct temperature to cook them on with the thinner slices though because they cook afaster. 

And, of course, because our mandolin was new we had to use it to cut a few french fries as well (which we did fry up in a little grapeseed oil, but I would like to try them in the oven next time instead)

So there you have it, a snack that's just as healthy as roasting potatoes for dinner =) There is only one problem with this snack...I spend about 30 minutes, baking up a couple batches of these, and everyone eats them within 5 minutes of taking them out of the over so I'm not quite sure yet on the best storage method =)

Country Living: Home Sweet Home!

Well after a couple months of searching for existing homes, and not finding anything we liked available, we are now the proud owners of 2 acres!

We are working with a great builder who designed us a beautiful 2 story home, with a cute little front porch to fit the Country Living lifestyle. I am so excited to start picking out all my finishes and for the first morning that we move in, and I can sit on that front porch and sip my morning coffee. I also can't wait till next year to have a huge garden! 

The best part of this lot is that we will only be about 5 minutes from my parents so it will be nice to visit them often and of course they are our babysitters so being close helps that too.

I am hoping this will be our "forever home" and that all of our future family memories will be made here. What a year of changes this has been...new state, new jobs, and now a new home. I can't wait til May to break ground and get started!