VEGAN Sweet Potato Oatmeal Casserole

In this new journey in my life as a vegan and to eat cleaner in general, I have noticed that the most challenging meal of the day for me to plan for is breakfast! 

I know.... it shouldn't be that difficult, right? 

But those of you who know us....  know that my daily routine begins

"...lights, camera, action" BEFORE 7:00am! 

 

And most meals here at HQ do not support a vegan lifestyle, so that means

I'm carrying at least my breakfast to the dining room (3 blocks away) practically everyday! 

 

So, here I am building my arsenal of easy, tasty vegan breakfasts.

Hope you all love this one as much as me and Sea!

 

 

Sweet Potato Oatmeal Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:

1/2 cup regular oats
2 cups organic almond milk (or milk of choice)
2 small sweet potatoes, peeled, chopped (made 2 cups raw or 1.5 cups cooked)
1 tbsp chia seeds (if you omit, you may have to reduce the milk)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
2 tbsp pure maple syrup

 Crunchy Topping:

1/3 cup chopped pecans (or nuts of choice)

2 tsp Smart balance (or coconut oil)
2 tbsp flour
1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400° F. Pierce each sweet potato several times with the tines of a fork. Place the sweet potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. Bake until tender, about 45 minutes. Once cooled peel and mash with a fork (or potato masher if your fancy).

 

 

 

 

2. In a small pot combine the oats, milk, and chia seeds. Whisk well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low-medium and cook for about 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently.

3. Add the mashed sweet potato into the pot and stir in the cinnamon, maple syrup, nutmeg, vanilla, and salt to taste. Adjust seasonings to taste. Cook on low for 3-5 minutes.

 

I had forgotten to add the chia seeds!!!

 

4. For the crunchy topping: mix together the pecans, flour, Smart Balance, and brown sugar with a fork until very crumbly. 

 

 

 

5. Pour the oatmeal mixture into a baking dish and spread it out evenly, then sprinkle crunchy topping to cover the casserole.   Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes at 350° F.  Set oven to BROIL for the last 2 minutes, watch very closely.

Makes 3-4 servings.

 

 

 

Enjoy!!  Thanks again to Angela for the inspiration behind this one!

 

Hey Everyone!

So, now that I'm back from my super LONG hiatus.... I've decided to hit the ground running this month by joing the VEGAN MoFo crew!!  haha! :)
October is the "Vegan Month of Food" and I am happy to take on the challenge to post some new recipes I've tried or at least plan on attempting.

Hope you all enjoy this one!

 

Vegan Coconut Cream Cupcakes

*Gluten-Free Option Noted

Cupcakes:

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour* (sub: gluten-free all purpose flour plus 1tsp xanthum gum)
2 Tablespoons cornstarch* (sub: arrowroot starch)
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup coconut milk (I use the "light" cans from TJ's)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:
Combine milk and vinegar and allow to sit for a few minutes. 
Sift dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl and set aside. 
In a separate bowl combine the milk/vinegar, sugar, oil, vanilla and stir well.
Slowly add the wet mixture into the dry, and beat for 2 minutes until smooth.
Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 way full.

Bake 20-22 min at 350 degrees

Makes 12 cupcakes

 Frosting:
1/2 cup coconut oil
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup coconut milk
Directions:
Beat coconut oil until broken down and creamy. 2-3 mins. Add sugar and mix well 3-5 minutes until well blended. Add vanilla and milk and beat until fluffy 5-7 minutes.

ENJOY!!!!!

 

RAW VEGAN Overnight Oats

Hello my friends!!!

Well, I am trying my first vegan recipe for the month and it actually turned out MUCH yummier than I imagined!    I don't know how much longer I will be able to do it raw - since it's getting colder in NYC already, but for you west coasters, this may be right up your alley!!

Raw Vegan Overnight Oats

1/3 cup Rolled oats
1 Tbsp chia seeds
2/3 cup non-dairy milk
1 tsp maple syrup
Fresh fruit of choice
Nuts (optional)

Makes 1 serving

Directions:

Place all ingredients - minus the fruit - in a mason jar, give it a quick stir and place the lid on top.  Leave the sealed jar in the fridge overnight.  In the morning, pop the top and add whatever fresh fruit you have on hand.  I only had cantelope in the fridge, and you can top it with nuts for some extra good fat.

Thanks to Angela @ Oh She Glows for the inspiration!  She has many breakfast porridge recipes that I am dying to try now that the colder months have arrived!

Happy Vegan MoFo

The Great Wall of China

Today we went to the Great Wall. We took a taxi to a section of the
Great Wall that they call Mu Tian Yu. It is about 100 km outside
Beijing, so it took a little over an hour to get there. There were not
a ton of tourists, and we had amazing views! The hike up & down the
wall was about 3.5 km long and we went as far as you can go (Tower
23)!and walked all the way back! It took us 3 hours!! The Terrain was
rough, but oh so worth it!!!

Macau & Southern China

We have had a blast in China so far! We spent a few days in the
southern part of the country - which was SUPER clean and everyone
friendly and as helpful as they could be!

We also took a day trip to the Island of Macau. Very quaint little
place, it was owned by the Portugese for a few centuries, but now it's
governed by the rather large Casinos. It looks like Las Vegas!

There were also typhoon warnings the day we were headed north - we are
so glad we were able to get out before the weather got too crazy!

Here are some highlights:

Banquet Dinner

Sunday after the program the Hong Kong Branch organized a large dinner
banquet full with live music, theocratic history, folk dance & a
cultural show! It was spectacular! This was all following a 10 course
menu!! Yummmm

Hong Kong Special Convention Day 2 & 3

We had the amazing privilege to watch 570 symbolize their dedication
on Saturday!! There were many more who weren't able to make it to the
venue because of lack of $$ or inability to obtain a visa :(
Peak attendance was over 19,500!
It was an awesome experience!

Special Convention Hong Kong Day 1

What an awesome day!! We sat in the English section today and there
were about 3,500. We had over 16,400 total attendance and they are
expecting it to
go over 20,000 tomorrow!
There are many that come from Japan & Korea to help out! The majority
in the section of the 'language of the people' are students...

Hong Kong Island

Well, finally made it to Hong Kong!

There was a group of about 30 friends waving at us and calling out to
us when we arrived at the airport! Good thing we remembered to wear
our lapel cards.

It was so exciting to see all those bright smiling faces! We met
several families from the Philippeans, a couple in the circuit work
there too, and the rest locals.

We didn't even have a chance to pull out the camera, when we were
wisked away to our host familys home.

This was our view from the double-decker bus, looking out across
Victoria Harbor is Hong Kong Island.

I don't even know what day of the week it is, I just know we're TIRED.

Stay tuned....

*seatabs*

The longest 16 hours of my life....

Hey everybody, I know you've hearing about this trip for what seems like the past year...

But finally the day has arrived!  We are on our way to Asia!!

We left Brooklyn at 6:45am and it's now 4:00pm and yet some how we ended up one time zone further away from our destination than when we began our journey!

Chicago isn't that bad if your actually out on the town, but this 3-1/2 hour layover, exiting the domestic terminal and re-entering at the International Terminal which was just about a mile away, going through security yet again is a tad frustrating.

That's ok, here's home for the next 16+ hours!!!

Hope we can show you a little of Asia & abroad through our eyes!!

.....eventually