Make Your Own: No Tuna Chickpea Salad

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: Mushroom Bacon

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

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.