Best Veggie Chili Dogs Ever

Where should you go to get the best veggie dogs ever? Ben's Chili Bowl in DC of course. Seriously, these are amazing. If anyone knows what brand Ben's Chili Bowl uses, please share the knowledge. Though maybe it's better I don't know, otherwise I might have to buy myself another fridge to fit all the veggie dogs I would buy.

Vegan Pot Pie

 

I used to love chicken pot pies when I was a kid. There was just something so satisfying about the soggy crust on the bottom and the way that all the vegetables and chicken were cut into cubes. Thinking about my cubed hashbrown post a few days ago, I'm beginning to wonder if I have a thing for cubed food...hmm. Anyway, as I got older and became vegan, I kind of forgot about pot pies. But then last year one day after work my sister surprised me with a vegan pot pie with tofu. The vegetables and tofu were all cut into the same sized cubes, the crust was soggy on the bottom, but not too soggy, the top was nice and flaky. It brought me straight back to my childhood. 

These pot pies are kind of a good amount of work (which makes me appreciate my sister's surprise last year even more), but I had been craving them for quite some time. So I decided I would take advantage of the weekend and make these. It ended up being a two day process, mostly because I kept forgetting to do things, such as thawing out the tofu and refrigerating the crust. But even though there were some frustrating moments and it did take me two days, I'd do it all over again because they were just so darn tasty. Thanks to my sister for the recipe for the crust!

Flaming Cupcakes

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These cupcakes are way too cool for school. I wish I could take credit for them, but I can't. I can't even take credit for finding the recipe. That thanks goes to my little sister.

If you decide to make these it looks like you could use basically any type of cupcake recipe you want (such as maybe my red velvet cupcakes) just put a strawberry on top and light the thing on fire. You might also want to make sure your fire alarms are working correctly.

Tracy's Creamy Potato Soup

sorry for the bad picture. i found out soup is not exactly photogenic.

When my family first became vegan we basically waved goodbye to all the "cream of" soups. But then my dad (Tracy) figured out how to use tofu and came up with this little gem. My dad is a miracle worker when it comes to soups. He can just throw all sorts of random things into a pot and make something delicious every time. The only problem is that it's nearly impossible to recreate whatever he's made because he just makes it up as he goes. Luckily this creamy potato soup is something he makes pretty frequently, so one time when he was making it I sat and wrote down everything he put into the pot. It's not a difficult recipe, doesn't require too many ingredients, and is delicious. You can't beat it!

Tracy's Creamy Potato Soup

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 stalks celery, diced

1 carrot, finely diced

1/2 large onion, diced
4-6 cups water

2 bay leaves

2 teaspoons thyme

3-6 large russet potatoes, diced

salt and pepper to taste

2-3 tablespoons

6 oz silken tofu 

Directions:

Fry the celery, carrot, and onion in olive oil over medium to high heat until onions are transparent.

Add 4 cups of water, bay leaves, 1 teaspoon of the thyme, potatoes, and salt and pepper. Boil for approximately 30 minutes.

Take a bit of liquid out and cool with ice. Blend cooled liquid, flour, and tofu until creamy and there are no lumps.

Add blended mixture back to the pot with the other teaspoon of thyme.

Stir until it thickens.

Note: depending on how many potatoes you use, you may want to add more water.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Banana Pancakes

I have never had banana pancakes before, so when my boyfriend asked about them, I figured why not give them a try. For me, I personally prefer strawberry pancakes over banana, but I can still see the appeal.

Hashbrowns

Is it just me, or do hashbrowns taste 800 times better when the potatoes are cut in cubes?

New Year's Black-eyed Peas

So it turns out I've been living in a bubble for my entire life because I had no idea that eating black-eyed peas on New Year's day is supposed to bring good luck for the upcoming year. I made this discovery when my boyfriend's mom called him on New Year's Eve to make sure he was stocked up on his black-eyed peas for the next day. I then proceeded to Google it, and sure enough, according to Wikipedia anyway, you're supposed to eat black-eyed peas on New Year's for good luck! Who knew?!* Luckily, we were going grocery shopping anyway, so we made sure that black-eyed peas were added to the list.

I kind of threw all the stuff we had together to make these black-eyed peas. I wish I had some green or red peppers, but I forgot to get some at the store. C'est la vie. Even lacking peppers though, I think it turned out just fine. And the hot sauce really helped to fight away some winter chills, that's for sure!

Coconut Cupcakes

My sister's birthday is in a few days and I'm making her a coconut cake with some lemon buttercream frosting and maybe some raspberries. But before I make all that, I wanted to make sure I had a good recipe for the cake, so I tried out some coconut cupcakes. They are fluffy, soft, melt in your mouth sort of texture, and just a hint of coconut.

Holiday Treats - Sisterly Love

I have my sister to thank for this delicious vegan holiday dessert plate. There's almond toffee, sugar cookies, peanut butter cups, caramel chocolate covered pretzels, turtle thumbprint cookies, and almond candy cake cookies. Or in other words, a lot of yummy stuff.