Yummy Mac and "Cheese"

In making the decision to become vegan, there were (and still are) some foods that I assumed I'd never be able to eat again. One of the staples in our house before we went veg was mac and cheese; it's a nummy comfort food and one of the few things I made that Taylor would eat willingly.

Well I was very VERY pleasantly surprised to find this vegan version of macaroni and cheese on VegWeb.com. I made it last week and it was so delicious and gooey and garlic-y and TASTY! I honestly think if anyone tasted it without knowing it was vegan they'd have no clue.

Try it. It's good. I promise.


Vegan Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:
1 pound elbow macaroni
3 cloves garlic, crushed
3 cups plain vegan creamer
2 tablespoons garlic powder, divided
2 tablespoons onion powder, divided
2 tablespoons paprika, divided
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon parsley, divided
2 (8 ounce) packages vegan shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1/2 cup vegan breadcrumbs

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Boil macaroni until cooked very al dente; the pasta will cook more in the oven. Drain, place back in the pot, and drizzle some olive oil on it to prevent sticking. Set aside.
- In a medium size saucepan, add garlic and creamer on medium heat. Stir in 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder, 1 1/2 tablespoons onion powder, 1 1/2 tablespoons paprika, salt, pepper and 1/2 tablespoon parsley.
- Slowly stir in 8 ounces vegan cheese and turn up heat slightly until it turns into a gooey confection of garlic, cheesy yumminess. Stir cheese mixture in the pot with the macaroni and toss well.
- In a lasagna pan, start making layers by scooping 1/3 of the macaroni into the pan, sprinkle 1/3 of each remaining spice, sprinkle with 1/3 of remaining vegan cheese, and repeat to make three layers.
- Sprinkle top with breadcrumbs and cover with nonstick aluminum foil. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes and then dig in!

The sweetest thing.

This past weekend we were hanging out at my grandma's house and my brother was keeping Oliver busy while I made lunch. He put Ollie up on his shoulders and the poor little thing got so tuckered out that at one point he wrapped his chubby little hands around his head, rested his head against Jim's head, and almost fell asleep right there on his shoulders. It was so sweet!

Happy Mother's Day!

I'd like to wish a very happy Mother's Day to all the amazing mommies in my life!

I especially want to tell my own mom how much I love and appreciate her. I could never do enough to repay her for all she's done for me, especially since I became a mother myself. She is the most selfless, giving, compassionate person I know. I'm grateful for every sacrifice she's made for me and for how passionately she loves her kids and grandkids. I love you, mommy!


I also want to say happy Mother's Day to my mom-in-law, my Grandma Jacobs, Grandma Reed, and all my amazing aunts, cousins, and friends who are such amazing mothers.

And lastly I want to wish a happy Mother's Day to my best friend Christine. She and I have known each other since grade school but have really become close since both of us became mommies. She and I share in all the ups and downs of motherhood, and I don't know what I'd do without our weekly chats. She has an amazing little girl named Skylynn who has autism, and I'm amazed at how well Christine handles the extra challenges that come from having a child with special needs. Christine is also expecting baby #2 in July and I can't wait to meet her new little one. Have a great day, chick!

(Hope you don't mind that I stole this off your blog, Christine!)


I love all the strong, amazing women in my life who have set such amazing examples for me. I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Race for the Cure

Sean and I participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure this morning. It was so neat being part of such a large group of people; there was about 20,000 people running the 5k!


It was such a beautiful morning and it was so much fun running for a good cause. Sean was so proud of himself for not only beating his last time, but beating me as well. We're going to try to run a 5k every month through the racing season, and this fall Sean's going to run a 10k.

It feels great to be getting in shape and I love that Sean and I are getting healthy together!

Vegan Barbeque Black Bean Pizza

It's been quite the adventure cooking nothing but vegetarian and vegan dishes this past month. I've learned a lot about how to cook and bake with ingredients that I'd never even heard of before now. In looking for good vegan cookbooks I had a really hard time finding recipes that 1) my family would like, and 2) would be easy and quick to make. So I've decided to start posting some of my favorite recipes (some I've found, some I've invented, and some I've altered) in hopes that I can inspire more people to experiment with meatless cooking.

Today's recipe:
Vegan Barbeque Black Bean Pizza

Ingredients:

Pizza Dough
3-1/2 cups flour
2 packets (1/2 oz.) active dry yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 cup very warm water
2 Tbsp. olive oil

Pizza Toppings
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 small red onion, cut into thin strips
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup vegan shredded cheddar
1/2 tsp. nutritional yeast
1 tsp. dried cilantro (you can use fresh if you'd like a stronger flavor)

Directions:

Make the pizza dough (I usually do this a couple of hours before dinner to make sure it'll be cooled completely):
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In large bowl, combine flour, yeast, and salt. Add warm water and olive oil and knead about 5 minutes or until mixture is well combined and forms a ball. Place dough in a bowl and cover with a dish towel. Let dough sit for 10 minutes in a warm place.
- Roll out dough and fit to oiled cookie sheet or pizza pan. Place in oven and bake for approximately 10 minutes or until very slightly browned.
- Remove from oven and let cool.

Assemble and bake the pizza:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Put black beans in a medium bowl and stir in barbecue sauce. Spread black bean mixture over pizza dough with a spatula.
- Spread onions and shredded cheese over the top, and sprinkle with nutritional yeast and cilantro.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

This pizza is super yummy and honestly I don't even miss the cheese and meat!


I'll be making more posts about the basics of vegetarian/vegan cooking, along with information about ingredients to use as substitutions as well as some of my other favorite recipes. Please let me know if you make any of these recipes. I'd love to hear what you think!

No more living things: An Update

It's now been exactly a month since the Nichols household went vegetarian. And oh what a month it's been! We've had a lot of ups and downs as far as figuring out what to cook and what we can and can't eat, but it honestly hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be!

After about a week of simply cutting meat out of our diets, we started slowly cutting eggs and most dairy out of our diets as well. At this point we're almost completely vegan, and I've never felt better in my life! This is something Sean and I have been trying to implement in our lives for years, and it feels so great to finally reach our goal.

Here are just a few changes that have happened since we decided to go Vegan:

- We both feel we're more conscious about what we put in our mouths and what we feed Taylor. Unfortunately, in our society especially, eating has become an unconscious thing; we don't stop to really think about what's on our plate and how it got there.

- I'm cooking from scratch a lot more, which is great because it saves money and I know exactly what is in the food we eat.

- We're all trying new things and finding foods we love that we never would have tried otherwise. One of my favorites: avocado and tomato panini. I seriously could eat one for lunch every day of my life.

- A surprising added bonus: Sean and I are both losing weight! I guess it shouldn't be a huge surprise, but it's definitely not something we initially expected to happen. I'm anxious for the both of us to go in and have physicals done, since the last time Sean went in his cholesterol was a bit high and he was close to being borderline diabetic. I'm positive that his test results would be much better now.

Over this past month I've been asked a lot of questions about plant-based diets, and so I thought I'd share the two books I read in April that really helped me change my thinking about food and helped us all make the conversion to a healthier and more compassionate lifestyle.

The first book I read was "Veganist" by Kathy Freston. In this book she talks about how to "lean" toward a healthier diet, rather than radically cutting all animal protein and byproducts from your diet immediately. She also talks about nine "promises" that a vegan lifestyle gives, including reducing your carbon footprint, reducing animal suffering, and protecting yourself and your family from food-born illnesses. Even if you are in no way interested in being completely vegan (or even vegetarian) this book is a must-read.


Reading "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer was the biggest eye-opener for me. He talks very honestly and frankly about the problems that eating meat has caused to our bodies, our country, and the world. He addresses what exactly it means to buy meat and dairy labeled "organic," "cage-free," and "free-range." The thing I love about this book is that he aims to inform, rather than preach. He gives you the facts and lets you decide what is right for you and your family. I highly recommend it.


I was even able to find Taylor a cute and sweet picture book about our new lifestyle. It's called "That's Why We Don't Eat Animals," written and illustrated by Ruby Roth. I love the illustrations and it talks in a simple way about taking care of animals and our planet.



I'm so proud of Taylor for opening our eyes to his little preschooler view of the world and helping us take these first steps toward a vegan lifestyle. It hasn't been easy, but it's helped us all to feel healthier and happier.

Five Months

This little chunker is five months old today! I'm loving getting to know this little boy and seeing his sweet little personality come out.

Here are some little tidbits about our almost-half-a-year-old kiddo:

- He likes to scream. Screaming is his way of communicating with us. If he wants your attention, is upset, or wants his big brother to back off, he screams at the top of his lungs. It's the funniest thing in the world.

- He LOVES his jumper. Even when he's sad and crying because he wants to get out of it, he keeps jumping. It's hilarious.

- Unfortunately Oliver is following in his brother's footsteps when it comes to sleep. Oliver is up CONSTANTLY at night, and hardly ever takes very long naps either. He just wants to be awake, even if it means he's super cranky with big puffy eyes because he's fighting sleep so hard.


- Oliver loves faces. If you get your face close to him he'll immediately stretch out his chubby little hands and touch your cheeks, nose, and lips. The other night he laid next to Sean and I and just went from one of us to the other, running his little fingers all over our faces. It was like he was trying to memorize his mommy and daddy, and it nearly brought me to tears.


- He's getting really good at controlling his hands and can now play with toys pretty easily (and by "play" I mean shove in his mouth).


- Oliver is doing really well with sitting up supported, and I think in another month he'll be sitting up on his own. Every time we lay him on his back he immediately strains to lift his head up; he wants to sit up and see the world.


- Ollie has been getting a serving of rice cereal every day and he really loves it. I have a hard time feeding him because he wants to grab the spoon out of my hand. Funny kid...


- He has the saddest "booby lip" I've ever seen in my life. When this kid is sad he makes sure everyone knows it. And seeing that little bottom lip stick out and his big brown eyes fill up with tears just breaks my heart.


- Oliver loves hanging out with Daddy and Taylor. He's always so interested in what they're doing and I can tell he really wants to be able to do all the things his big brother does.



I know I say this every month, but it's just amazing to me how fast time has gone by! I feel like I blink and another month has passed. Sometimes being a mother is no picnic, and there are times when I feel like I just need a break, but being at home with this little guy and his big brother is so much fun and it's the only thing I want to do right now.