Vegan Life

MYO Vegetable Broth

by ladypbwiggins

Okay vegans, vegetarians, plant-based, clean whatever your label this is a definite budget booster. Standing in the grocery store or online  trying to decide which is the healthiest vegetable broth to buy could be overwhelming. Like the good determined to be clean eating people you are, time is spent reading and comparing ingredients. Even after choosing the one with the least ingredients, you think about the preservatives added so this little box can sit safely on the shelf.

Make Your Own is the solution. It is very easy. I must admit I used the recipe with a few changes. I added a jalapeno. Wasn’t very spicy because it was diluted by 10 cups of water and the water from the vegetables. Also, I did not use a pot to simmer on the stove. I used my 10 cup pressure cooker on the soup setting. I had more than a 10 cup yield. Less liquid is lost with the pressure cooker.

My yield was 4 cups in 3 ziplocked bags.

3 bags x 4 cups = 12 cups bagged and

1  1 quart mason jar= 4 cups

So I had 16 cups of vegetable broth.

But wait that’s not all. What about the cooked veggies? I juiced them. From that process i got another 16 cups The result was thicker so I think it would be great for soup or chili bases.(The darker jars contain the veggie juice). So I had a total of 32 cups of vegetable broth.

And then there’s the pulp from the juiced veggies. I’m thinking about dehydrating to make a veggie boullion. Don’t know if that will work but I shall see.

For the Budget

It cost at my local market $2.60 for a 32oz box of organic vegetable broth. 32oz = 4 cups

I made 32 cups. 8 oz  =1 cup

32 cupsx8oz = 256 oz

256oz equals how many 32 oz boxes.  I made the equivalent of 8 boxes of organic veggie broth with no preservatives. I froze most of it. The cost was under $10. The mushrooms were the expensive part. If you make it without mushrooms and use other veggies it might be even less.

To be fare; If I had purchased 8 boxes the cost would have been $2.60×8= $20.80. I know for some the $10+ dollar difference isn’t much but don’t forget about preservatives and sitting on shelves.

It only took the time to wash 1 carrot, 2 celery stalks , 1 onion 1 leek, 4 garlic cloves and 8 oz of mushrooms. Put in pressure cooker. Bottle after it cools. That’s it. I juiced the cooked veggies so that took about another 5 minutes to put them in my Nama J2 and bottle the juice.

Vegan Yogurt Experiment

by ladypbwiggins

Have you ever made a food that you really liked but could not reproduce it? When my husband and I first began our raw vegan journey, I had a recipe to make raw cashew yogurt. Two moves later I cannot find the recipe. Today I decided to try to make it. I have two exerimental elements. I am not using a probiotic tablet. I am using a SCOBY and a little kombucha that dripped off the SCOBY. One more thing I’m doing different.  Rather than letting the mixture sit in a warm place on the counter, I’m putting the mixture in my dehydrater.

I’ve missed having yogurt.  I’ll let you know how it worked out.

I remembered that I posted the first attempt and I found my post. It turns out I also didn’t use cashews before. I used coconut meat. This is truly a new experiment.

Make Your Own: No Tuna Chickpea Salad

by ladypbwiggins

I liked tuna salad before vegan. I have my own veganized version using chickpeas. The difference is capers, a cashew based Mayo(Make Your Own recipe) and coconut amino. I had used avocados, seasoned salt(homemade).

Of course I had to try this one. It was the first thing I made. I forgot to take a picture, so I forced myself to make it again. 😂 That is why you saw other posts first.

This is good. Almost as good as mine. I could eat bowls of this and nothing else. 5 stars

Get the book and Make Your Own

Make Your Own: MaYo

by ladypbwiggins

I must confess. I don’t usually eat mayonnaise.  Too oily in the mouth. But this mayo has no oil, so I’m giving it a try. For my mayonnaise replacement, I use avocado.

This one may become a staple. It was very easy to make. I specifically made it for the Chickpea No-Tuna salad sandwich. That is tomorrow’s endeavor.

If you like mayo

Make Your Own: Jalepeno Lime Sauce and Creamy Caesar Dressing

by ladypbwiggins

As you can see, the Caesar Dressing jar looks like it took a hit. It did. My salad cried out for it after it’s first encounter. Both of these sauces were really tasty. However, they were a little sweet for my taste. I’m more of a salty, briny, spicy kind a person. Next time I will make them with half the amount of dates. I will add an extra jalapeno because I like it hot. Overall, these sauces are quick, easy and worth it. 4.75 🌟

Nut Milk with Nama J2

by ladypbwiggins

Hey J2 owners, I just made walnut milk.  I have wanted to make it but squeezing the milk from the nut bag is painful these days. I made cashew milk because I didn’t have to strain it. I made the cashew milk in my Vitamix.

But today, I decided to experiment. I put 2 cups of walnuts in the hopper and turned on. Then I slowly poured filtered water into the mix. The result, strained walnut milk and pulp. I ran the pulp back through to get all the liquid out. I’m going to use the pulp in a burger patty or baked goods.

I am liberated from the nut milk bag!

Make Your Own: Nutty Date Granola

by ladypbwiggins

Who loves granola? I have had many types. Some reporting to be vegan. All reporting to be healthy. Some were. I had not ever used dates as the fruit supplying the sweetness and the glue. The recipe called for Medjool dates and a variety of seeds and nuts.

Before Baking

It was gooey and delicous.

After Baking.

Now don’t make my mistake. I got sidetracked and baked a little longer than most people would like. I enjoyed the crispness. It was a quick blend of nuts, oats and seeds. You can use any nuts you want. I used walnuts.

Make Your Own:  High Protein Loaf Bread

by ladypbwiggins

A year or so ago, I made Javant’s sandwich loaf bread, Healthy Vegan Eating, YouTube channel. It was touted as a light, non-gluten bread. I was curious, so I tried it. It was my first time using psyllium husk. It was good.

Now i have his cookbook and it offers a high protein bread. So of course I tried it. I wanted to know how it compared the sandwich loaf.

High Protein Bread

I expected it to be really dense and hard. It was denser and heavier than the sandwich loaf. The outside was crusty and the inside was soft. I enjoyed it and it was filling.

Make Your Own: Mushroom Bacon

by ladypbwiggins

So many people ask why do you want bacon if you are vegan. I can only answer for myself. I am a born and bred southern girl who grew up with bacon used in all kinds of dishes: Breakfast meals, sandwiches, vegetables and all by itself. The flavor it gives to the foods is something you miss so we , I search for that flavor and a vehicle that will satisfy the month feel and the  purpose bacon once served.

I have tried using zucchini and other vegetables but I want to try mushrooms this time. The trumpet mushroom seemed to be a good a vehicle. I also wanted to try it with no oil. I think that is the biggest difference in this recipe and what I have done before.

The flavors in this date based marinade is very good but I miss the maple syrup flavor. I think I will try his recipe but use less date paste and add a little maple syrup. It is baked and not fried. I was quite satisfied.

I forgot to take a picture when I first removed the tray from the oven. This picture is a few days later as I was preparing breakfast. Notice how much they shrank. I wanted them crispy so I overcooked just a little. Their not burnt but close. Perfect for me and tasty.

Getting Richer

by ladypbwiggins

I have been absent but I have not been idle. I have been enriching my soil. Or should I say life has been enriching my soil? I was blessed to visit Los Angeles in March. I attended the celebration of my mother’s 90th year of life. Old friends, family members I had not seen in a long while and my mom’s new friends (new to me) gathered together. It was glorious. I then spent time with my son and his family. My baby granddaughter gave me pure unconditional love. She is one of my lights.

I returned home to join into a flurry of activity. I was able to spend time with my other lights, granddaughter and grandson. I joined in the resurrection production activities at my church. In the midst of all this the choirs had to prepare for regular Sunday services. I was tired but overwhelmed with joy. I truly enjoy my fellow choir members. We laugh, we cry, we disagree, we work it out, we worship together, we minister together. It is glorious. Rich soil.

Before I went to L.A., I ordered a cookbook, Make Your Own by Javant Benson. I discovered him on YouTube. He is a vegan cook who uses no-oil, no wheat and no refined sugar. I had wanted to decrease if not eliminate my use of oil. I tried some of his recipes and liked them. He had done the heavy lifting, trying different ingredient combinations to produce tasty, healthy vegan food with no oil. I decided it was a worthwhile investment.Now that all the other intense activity is over I can focus on trying his recipes. The following posts will be about this journey. This week I have completed several recipes and I can’t wait to tell you about the experience.

I have made familiar recipes my own when I wanted to vegan-ize traditional recipes. However, I still used oil. Tomorrow I will share my Make Your Own experiences.