Roasted Yellow Squash Lasagna For One & A Beyond Meat "Beef Free Crumbles" Review

Who needs pasta when squash is cheaper and readily up to task!

Last week, Beyond Meat tweeted me a surprise coupon for a free product! I just got around to Whole Foods yesterday and used their delicious meat free crumbles (for the first time!) in an incredible pasta-less lasagna. I also originally went to the store with zucchini intentions (knowing that I craved veggie lasagna), but they were all out. Yet yellow squash were plentiful. Overall a good decision- brought more pretty colors into the mix. The broccoli was already the green factor. Our next veggie lasagna- believe me there will be a next time- will include carrots, asparagus, and mushrooms. Oh goodness, I'm already drooling at the thought...

In your grocer's freezer, check out Beyond Meat's Beef Free Crumbles in these sleek designed reusable zipper packages.

100% vegan, gluten free, no cholesterol, no soy, Non-GMO, kosher goodness.

For a short little review, I must say that Beyond Meat is astounding. The appearance, texture and flavor profiles were a savory consistency, almost mimicking the real to a science. Even the smell tantalized my nostrils. They really put a huge emphasis on the Beyond Meat name. I applaud their efforts, especially considering that there's no soy here! Wow. I always use soy ground for pasta sauces and never imagined that there can be a ground without soy. It's a very yummy creation. I needed this. One of my favorite Instagram accounts Another Hungry Vegan always posts pictures with various products like their chickenless strips and I've been aching to try them for a while. So again, I thank them for the generous coupon and baffling the cashier and for making lasagna an out of this world experience. What a gratifying way for a hungry gal to "beef" up a meal!
Although I say that this lasagna is one serving, I bet it could be split into two with a side salad and bread roll. I just happened to be extremely ravenous after three hours spent in rainy downtown (walking to and fro for my official No Transpass Month). Thank heavens for Feist's "Sealion" saving the almost dreary evening. Oh and the lasagna of course.
Unfortunately, our kitchen light bulb went out and all photos are taken in my well lit bedroom, cropped accordingly. No one wants to see a cookie sheet on a desk or witness a grown woman watching Pepper Ann reruns whilst forking her vegan dinner.

Roasted Yellow Squash Lasagna Ingredients and Preparation

1 yellow squash, cut long ways
2 tablespoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon Italian Seasonings
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup broccoli, steamed
1/2 cup Beyond Meat Feisty Beef Free Crumbles
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 tablespoon nutritional yeast

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

On a greased baking sheet, create one layer of sliced squash coated in coconut oil, Italian Seasonings, salt, garlic, and black pepper. Bake for 30 minutes- turning at 15 minute intervals. In a skillet, mix Beyond Meat's Beefless Feisty Crumbles with tomato sauce and nutritional yeast- cooking for 7-9 minutes.

To be honest, it collapsed. But bottom is one squash slice, topped by broccoli, another squash slice, Beyond Meat sauce, and another squash slice, and so forth. Extra nutritional yeast decor.

Close up of lasagna action.

Cinnamon Bread With Cream Cheese Icing

Not your average bread.

I yearned for warm cinnamon goodness. Cinnamon rolls would have been perfect, but there wasn't any more active yeast packets on hand. Simply out of the question. Although I'm quite certain vegans have other ways to make cinnamon rolls rise without yeast right? I haven't even attempted yet.
Cinnamon doughnuts for today's food based holiday- National Doughnut Day would have also been a great dessert. But alas no.
Since I had my lovely new bread pan to have fun times with- a little loaf of cinnamon bread sounded amazing. No raisins. No shredded carrots or other terrific veggie pairings joined with my favorite spice. Just hot, warm cinnamon bread covered in a captivating cream cheese icing. Almost tasted like a cinnamon roll. Almost.
Moist and soft, every knife full is heaven.
Yum. Yum. Yum.
Pleasant treat alongside a mug of almond milk or hot green tea.

Cinnamon Bread With Cream Cheese Icing Ingredients and Preparation

1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup coconut oil
2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup water (or dairy free milk)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Icing

1/2 cup vegan cream cheese (room temerature)
1 1/2- 2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla 

Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together.
Separately mix applesauce, coconut oil, lemon juice, and vanilla.
Combine wet ingredients with dry.
Add water and apple cider vinegar.
Pour into pan, sprinkle additional cinnamon on top (for a great baked in taste and aromatic kitchen scent) and bake for 40-55 minutes- stick a knife or fork in the center if need be.
Whisk together icing ingredients.

Freshly baked bread that slipped from the pan with ease!

Before being iced.

Afterward.

Three generous slices twice iced and cinnamonized.

Ready to eat.

Coconut Cookies With Cashew Chocolate Centers

Yummiest of cookies.

One of my favorite Instagram accounts is BestOfVegan.  They highlight other vegan IG users and share beautifully photographed, mouthwatering recipes if folks use their designated #bestofvegan hashtag. The Road to Health and Happiness's recipe for Coconut Cookies caught my immediate attention. After all, I had been pining away, missing the unforgettable taste of Girl Scout's very popular Samoa cookies. Used to order more than one box of addictive treasures- bad I know.
Still, these here coconut cookies are a plus to anyone's jar! Feel free to add a teaspoon of vanilla- I completely forgot to put it in the batter, but they turned out pretty tasty without it. Plus, next time I;'m thinking of inserting coconut extract for extra oomph! For the Cashew Chocolate, I have a huge crush on So Delicious's Cashew Milks and have been including them a lot lately- just gives that nuttier kick that enhances sweet appeal, especially for these cookies!
Today, I consumed more, discovering that they're even more amazing chilled. I had them refrigerated overnight and came home needing cookie comfort.
Mmmmhmmmm! Perfect with a good dairy free milk alternative!

Coconut Cookies With Cashew Chocolate Centers Ingredients and Preparation

2 cup shredded coconut
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon Califia Farms Toasted Coconut Almond Milk Blend

Cashew Chocolate

1/2 cup So Delicious Unsweetened Vanilla Cashew Milk
1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoon maple syrup

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix all ingredients together.
Form into little patties in hands and rest them on cookie sheet.
Bake for ten minutes and let cool.

In a saucepan, set to medium heat, combine cashew milk, chocolate chips, and maple syrup, stirring until it thickens.

Baked cookies.

Place cashew chocolate sauce in the center.

Sweet, chocolaty, coconutty bliss.

What are cookies without a cold glass of milk...

Or a good short story to read.

Vegan Baked Tempeh Mac N Tahini Cheese & Maple-Balsamic Brussels Sprouts

A yummy new spin on macaroni and cheese joined by a Brussels sprouts favorite.

Hello June! While everyone thinks last Monday unofficially caps off the first day of summer, I always believe that 6/1 is the real deal. 
I have discovered bulk. Very late, yes.
Braggs is usually my choice in nutritional yeast goodness, but a recent trip to Whole Foods changed all that. For now. The $9.99 per pound intimidated, but so far I continually pack less than $2 worth inside of a green baggie. It tastes just as good as any top notch brand.
It's very easy to make a cheese sauce sans the dairy free favorite alternatives of Daiya, Follow Your Heart, and Veggie Shreds. All one needs is nutritional yeast, unsweetened dairy milk of their choice (the nuttier the better), and turmeric.With a pinch of tahini, a simple sauce becomes even more delicious.
Still, a vegan's quest for yummy macaroni and cheese is never completed. We always find inventive ways to mark another new chapter in the story. So here topped with panko breaded crunch, seasoned tempeh mac is a creamy, wicked fulfillment that will not make anyone miss the original. Sweet glazed Brussels sprouts makes this little meal a home run.

Baked Tempeh Mac N Tahini Cheese & Maple-Balsamic Brussels Sprouts Ingredients and Preparation

1 1/2 cup cooked macaroni
4 oz tempeh (1/2 block), crumbled
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon Liquid Aminos or soy sauce
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Tahini Cheese Sauce

3 tablespoon tahini
1 cup cashew milk (or any other dairy free alternative)
2 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
1 teaspoon Italian seasonings
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Prepare an 8' bread loaf pan and cook macaroni to package directions. 
Hand mix tempeh in olive oil, Liquid Aminos, turmeric, oregano, and black pepper.  
Toss into skillet and 
After macaroni and tempeh are finished cooking stir both together and pour into bread loaf pan.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a saucepan, on medium heat, stir together all ingredients- tahini, cashew milk, olive oil, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, lemon juice, turmeric, salt, and white pepper.
Let warm for 7-8 minutes or until little hot bubbles start jumping around. Don't let this stick to the pan.
*for a thinner sauce add more milk and for a thicker sauce add a tablespoon of flour. 

Pour sauce over cooked macaroni and tempeh.

Before mixing.

Mix sauce into macaroni and tempeh.

Top with panko bread mixture and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Maple-Balsamic Brussels Sprouts simply consists of  2 (overflowing) cups steamed Brussels sprouts mixed with 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, 1 teaspoon sea salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. It's like ala this old familiar recipe.

Finished macaroni and yum.

Tempeh Mac N Tahini Cheese plated with Maple-Balsamic Brussels Sprouts and red onion slivers.

Chow time.

Vegan Pumpkin Pistachio Cream Sauce Over Harvest Blend & Steamed Carrots

A creamy delicious sauce to die for.

It's the last day of May and yummy orange colored food is needed!
A bright pretty food palette washes away an otherwise despairing week. An interview at Whole Foods Market turned awry a few days ago.
I hate job interviews. In fact, I'm very bad at them. The employer asks a question and my replies come out in flustered nonsense. I'm not used to being a conversationalist, spending most of my time drawing, writing, and reading in solitude. But I adore Whole Foods and it seemed an appropriate fit for an organic loving vegan free spirit. Of course, when one isn't used to being sociable and it likely shows there goes a splendid opportunity to be surrounded by summer fruits and vegetables everyday. 
Thankfully chocolate bars and soft carrots make me happy. Not together. Hahaha.
As you all must know, Trader Joe's Harvest Blend is amazing stuff. I use it a lot as basis for meals. It contains good stuff like red quinoa, orzo, baby garbanzos, lentils, etc. Each 10 serving bag only costs $2.69. Talk about a major value.
Pumpkin Pistachio Cream, or in this case Pick-Me-Up-Cause-I'm-Feeling-Down Sauce, perfectly topped harvest and tender carrots with a whip appeal that would make Babyface swoon with jealousy. I received pistachios as a present, having never eaten them. I sampled a few and somehow intuition struck like a lightning bolt- green nuts would be an amazing addition. Plus extra sprinkling beautifies the dish further and gives enticing crunchy texture.
One bite of this delicious meal and all the bad stuff simply vanishes into addictive cream.

Vegan Pumpkin Pistachio Cream Sauce Over Harvest Blend & Steamed Carrots Ingredients and Preparation

1/2 cup Trader Joe's Harvest Blend, cooked according to directions
1 cup steamed carrots
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup almond milk
2 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup crushed pistachios

*as Harvest Grains Blend is on its last few minutes of cooking time- start prepping sauce.

In a medium saucepan, combine pumpkin puree, almond milk, flour, olive oil, salt, curry powder, and black pepper, stirring and making sure nothing sticks.
Warm for 7-8 minutes.
Add crushed pistachios and turn off heat.

Pour over cooked Harvest Blends and steamed carrots.

Topped with extra pistachio and red onions.

Ready for immediate devouring.

Vegan Lemon Powdered Sugar Cookies

Lemon cookies getting powdered sugar love.

Mom's birthday was last Saturday- May 24th. Only Wednesday I made her lemon cookies and mailed them off. I'm late with everything- bad, bad, and more bad. For weeks, I had The Sweet Life Online's recipe for Lemon Crinkle Cookies bookmarked, planning to send homemade goodies to my lemon loving parent. Weather, work, and lack of proper sleep kept me from proper focus.
Lemon Powdered Sugar Cookies are straight forward- meaning fairly simple to make and are packed with citrus goodness. It's lemon meets sugar cookie. Chewy, moist, and soft, I had a little difficulty keeping my limit at trying out two. Of course, memory served that these were for Mom and hope that she loved them just as much as I enjoyed baking them.
That she did. Seeing as she received package this afternoon. :)

Vegan Lemon Powdered Sugar Cookies Ingredients and Preparation

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
zest of 1 large lemon (about 1 heaping tablespoon)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup apple sauce
2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325 and prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper or oil.
Mix dry ingredients together- whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
Separately stir lemon zest, olive oil, applesauce, lemon juice, and vanilla extract.
Combine wet into dry- don't overdo mixing.
In a bowl, pour powdered sugar.
Using a tablespoon or hands, form dough into balls and roll them into powdered sugar.

Bake for 10-13 minutes and cool.

A little lemon decoration and extra powdered sugar madness.

Worth sampling!

Store in a cute container and tied with ribbon.

Packaged along with a watercolor painted birthday card.

Rainbow duct tape and rubber duck ribbon over an old Just Fab shoebox completes everything! Also in there a Theo Dark Chocolate Cherry Bar, a blue roller ink pen made out of 80% percent recycled bottles (Mom collects pens), and more.

Vegan Roasted Artichoke & Roasted Potato Pizza

Be still my heart- it's roasted artichoke and roasted potato pizza!

I love learning to prepare new foods and today's recipe bears no exception!
In a spare classroom, weeks ago, an instructor left an array of free fresh vegetables set for a finished still life. I took cherries, apples, and two artichokes knowing darn well that I never prepared them before. One of my friends said, "just coat it in olive oil and lemon juice and bake. It's incredible!"
Artichokes with their prickly edges scared me quite to death, but I overcame that fear and cut off the thorns (getting stabbed in the process). Also, it's important to have a snack like peanut butter apples or some Earth Balance Cheddar Puffs during this pizza making. It's an hour and a half of preparation time. One could also roast artichokes and potatoes and refrigerate them overnight, putting on a pizza crust for tomorrow- which frankly truth be told, I did this. I feel like a cook show "cheater"- making a pie from scratch live and already having a finished pie in the oven.
Anywho, I loved this pizza!
Artichokes, which turned out very well, mingling with yummy flavorful roasted potatoes is surprisingly tasty. Whilst my brain wrapped around my fascinating idea, my taste buds loved chewing into soft textures of eccentric ingredients. Although melted cashew cream, Daiya, Trader Joe''s or Follow Your Heart would have been a great addition, no artificial cheese was necessary.  I didn't use a sauce, but I suggest a vegan white or simple "butter" sauce might be perfect.

Pretty yet frightening- the almighty artichoke!

Vegan Roasted Artichoke & Roasted Potato Pizza Ingredients and Preparation

2 artichokes
1 pound little gold potatoes
red onion
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/3 cup almond milk
salt and black pepper

3 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon turmeric
 pizza dough

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Coat artichokes in olive oil and lemon juice.
Wrap both securely in foil.
Coat potatoes in olive oil, Italian seasonings, and salt and black pepper.

Lay them around the artichokes. Bake for an hour.

Take potatoes off and put sheet bake in the oven, baking artichokes for another 25 minutes.

One roasted artichoke ready to be plucked.

Turn oven heat down to 350 degrees.  
Let artichokes cool before taking off leaves, scraping fuzzy part, and taking out the heart.
Mix potatoes, artichoke hearts, almond milk, nutritional yeast, and turmeric together, mashing on occasion.
Layer this on prepared pizza dough.

Nicely browned and baked.

Close up of deliciousness.

Sprinkled additional Italian seasonings atop. Can never get enough of that aromatic oregano, rosemary, and thyme blend.

Pizza mountain of "French" fries and artichokes meeting savory crust.