My favorite food bars are those which contain healthy vegan, soy-free protein and a short ingredient list. I realize that food bars are not the healthiest way to get one’s nutrients, but there are times in which my schedule leaves me no choice! When I am running late in the morning and don’t have time to pack a “well rounded” meal, I grab a protein bar and greek yogurt to go. They are also awesome for traveling. Well, they are also quite pricey! (meaning wayyyy overpriced for what you get!)

Well, my recent obsession with Nugo Bars and Rebars inspired me to create my own version… this was a completly random and on the spot creation, no pre-meditation!

Ingredients:

-Protein Powder, 6 scoops (I use Sun Warrior)

rolled out dough with puffs “pressed” in for ease…

Chocolate

ingredients removed

instrucctions removed

If anyone attempts making these, please tell me if you do anything different! I am going to be creating another version of these as my goal was to make them more crispy. I am thinking of doing a “rice crispy treat” inspired protein bar next time to acheive the lightness I want.

Nevertheless, these are very tasty and boost 12 grams of protein/bar

Although, nothing can truly beat roasting an entire Kabocha squash until the entire house smells of its goodness, at least in my books.

Oven: 450
Procudre: Roast whole kabocha (I like to poke a whole or two into it)
Time: 15-45 minutes (depends on on the size of your squash) or until just soft enough to safely cut.
LET COOL 5-10 mintues before slicing in half
Slice: Remove stringy insides and seeds and slice Kabocha into half moons and top with any seasonings you like
Seasoning: I left 1/2 of the slices plain; 1/4 seasoned with pumpking spice and coconut oil; the last 1/4 of slices I seasoned with braggs liquid aminos, ginger, garlic, seseme oil, red pepper flakes, and maybe a few others. I figured an asian spice mix was appropriate as Kabocha is a Japanese Pumpkin!
Roast: Roast the the half moons until it reaches your desired crispiness/softness/gooeyness (20-45 mintues longer, flipping half way through)
NOTE: I prefer to roast my veggies on parchment paper with canola oil spray, but when I run out, I opt for foil + spray

I roasted a few trays of kabocha, as you can never have too much! One of the trays also included extra firm tofu, brussel sprouts and broccoli trunks.

Tofu: Extra Firm patted dry & sliced
Seasoning: (another Japanese insipriation) Red pepper flakes, braggs, garlic powder, onion powder, seseme oil, ginger powder, agave, onion granules, and I think that is all (?) I also enjoyed my tofu with some nori!
*The broccoli trunks and sprouts were included in this seasoning mix to simplify things

I loved the half moon style of roasting kabocha. It was carmelized in parts and absolutly delicious (of course). I will defintly rotate my Kabocha prep methods with the half moon style.

Kabocha dinner #1 (there were many “seconds”):

Reheating for Kabocha dinner #2 (although Kabocha is delicious cold!):

squash + maple brussel sprouts + roasted mushrooms + spinach + leftover black beans stir fried with veggies + spices

ps: spinach leaves make awesome little mini “wraps” for the beans or squash

Kabocha dinner #3

tortilla veggie&cheese pizza + shrooms + leftover black beans + bell pepper halves stuffed with black beans and parmesan + Kabocha squash

I am slighly addicted to dipping Kabocha into ketchup + tobasco, but it is excellent on it’s own as well!!

How do YOU enjoy Kabocha if you have tried it? What is your favorite winter squash and way of preparing it?

Leftovers

Try these amazing pulled chicken sandwiches

You will need:

3 Tablespoon (T) of Ketchup
1 T of Apple Cider Vinegar
1 T of grainy mustard (regular will do fine as well)
1 T molasses
1 teaspoon (t) chili powder
1/2 t ground cumin
4 turns of fresh ground pepper
a dash (or 1/8 t) of ground ginger
Desired amount of shredded chicken meat, at least 3 servings (or 12 oz)
-you could also use raw chicken meat cut into 2 inch pieces, cooking time will increase
-add the raw chicken to the saute pan with all other ingredients, follow instructions and cook until cooked through (20-25min)
*Buns of choice (I prefer Rudi’s organic)
Mayo/horseradish

1. Combine all of the ingredients besides the shredded chicken and buns in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover and cook, stirring occasionally.
3. Once sauce has reached desired consistency, should be like a very thick bbq sauce, add chicken
4. Stir with chicken just until it is heated through
5. Spread mayo onto bun (or desired sauce) and top with chicken mixture
6. Serve with a pickle and enjoy

Preheat oven to 425

Step 1: Rinse your chicken with cold water and pat dry
Step 2: Remove giblets if they have not done so for you from the cavity of the chicken
Step 3: Stuff about one lemon’s worth of slices, entire head of garlic, fresh herb sprig and a 1/2 tablespoon of butter into the cavity of the chicken
Step 7: On the top of the chicken, make a small insert into the skin and slide a 1/2 tablespoon of butter underneath the skin
Step 8: Sprinkle chicken liberally with sea salt + pepper
Step 9: Put chicken in casserole/baking/roasting pan or dish and into the oven for 90 minutes, or until the juices are running clear

Enjoy leftovers all week long: Rather than buying chicken strips, chicken thighs, breasts, ect, try and reduce your footprint and buy a whole chicken for roasting. From there, make your own soup stock and freeze it for future usage. Save the planet AND money.

CHeck out THIS link to learn more about the most enviormentally friendly way to eat meat.

HERE is another article to check out about eating meat in the most green fashion possible.

Dark skies and rain outside, sweet smells of baking inside.

Be sure to not attempt piping frosting with these cupcakes, the Newman-O chunks will get stuck.

Ta-da!

Next up: Vegan Pumpkin Choco Chip Muffins, also from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World….or MY world…

My house smelled of pumpkin goodness while making these, the aroma in you home they create is enough reason to make them. They are a perfect Fall day recipe. I have all the ingredients and amounts on sparkrecipes…

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however, I highly suggest you all invest in the amazing cookbook where all of these beauties come from. So far I have made:

Basic Vanilla Cupcakes
Basic Cocolate Cupcakes (have not appeared on the blog) but very rich and dark
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
Cookies n Cream Cupcakes

Baked tofu with homemade pumpkin cardamom sauce:

Slice and blot (with paper towels) extra firm tofu and bake at 425 for 20-30 mintues depending on your oven, flipping half way throught. You can also “marinate” your tofu in oil or any yummy sauce you like. BBQ is delish. For this recipe, I bake it plain so that it may be dipped in this yummy pumpkin sauce.

Meanwhile, make pumpkin sauce:

1/4 cup pumpkin pecan butter (or TJ’s pumpkin butter)
cardamom and cumin seeds (about a tsp each)
one clove garlic
pinch of ginger powder (optional)
honey, agave or brown sugar to your taste
soy milk creamer to thicken
water to thin if needed

Begin by frying seeds until fragrent in a non stick skillet
Remove from heat and mix with crushed clove of garlic.
Add pumpkin to skillet and stir until warmed throughout, add other spices and seasonings, and then add the fryed seed mixture.
Stir in soy milk creamer and sweetener to taste.
Drizzle over baked tofu, or use as dipping sauce! Delicious on sweet potatoes too.

Sweet Potato Fries:

Peel potatoes if desired, otherwise slice sweet potatoes into wedges.
“Paint” them with olive oil using a pastry brush, you can be quite generous with oil here, as this is the main fat source of the meal and will help in the absorption of valuable nutrients. (you can see my technique for “painting” oil here)
Season with sea salt + garlic powder + red pepper flakes or chili powder

Bake at 500 degrees for 15-20 minutes, flipping half way through.
(Or, if you are baking your potatoes and tofu at the same time, put the oven to 450 and flip tofu when browned on the bottom. Baking time will vary, so keep a close watch!)

Last but not least, MYVERYFIRSTKITCHEN wouldn’t be what it is without a ginormous salad:

Spinach + mushrooms + broccoli + tomatoes + yellow bell pepper + favorite salad dressing (honey mustard for me.)

Perfectly satisfying deliciousness of protein + startch (with some healthy EVOO fat!) + vegggggies. There is even room for a cupcake!

So delicious and low fat. Nutrition info and recipe can be found in my recipe box here

My recipe was inspired form the famous Veganomicon book! My recipe makes 15 slices and each are roughly 155 calories. Perfect morning on the go snack, plus it fills your home with amazing aromas in the oven.

The addition of chocolate chips are optional, but make this bread a sweeter treat.

Sweet + Savory

Perfectly golden top and gooey inside! You must make this amazing recipe.

Toppings are the most fun:) Vegan Newman O’s, vegan chocolate covered almonds, vegan chocolate chips, vegan sprinks, vegan licorice, dried fruit, culinary lavender…

These cupcakes instantly make me happy, as well as anyone else who looks their way.

The butter cream frosting reminds me of fluffly clouds, and tastes like heaven.

The cakes themselves are “springy,” delicately spongy as well as perfectly moist and crumbly all at the same time. I truly adore them.

The recipe from VCTOTW (though with my exact ingredients) includes:
Organic unsweetened soymilk
Apple Cider Vinegar
Organic Vanilla Extract
Organic Evaporated Cane Juice Sugar
Organic Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
Organic Canola Oil
Organic Baking Soda (aluminum free)
Organic Baking Powder (aluminum free)
Sea Salt

And the super amazing fluffy vanilla butter cream frosting includes:
Organic Vegan Shortening
Organic Vegan Buttery Sticks
Organic Powdered Sugar
Vanill Extract
Soymilk Creamer

If you are interested in the nutrition/measuring amounts, you can check out the recipe in my spark recipes box here OR, in my little widget:

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I will be sharing my chocolate version of these dreamy little gems soon.

This bag of sliced french bread has been on the counter for about a week, and I saw one little piece beginning to develop mold! I tossed the one piece, and inspected the rest. What do you do with a bread surplus on the verge of going bad?? Make croutons of course! The way I make them is as healthy as possible. It is very easy to drench your bread in 5-10 tablespoons of olive oil making your croutons a meal in them selves! This works just as well with gluten free bread, baking time may vary though.

Step 1: Measure out 2 tablespoons of your favorite olive oil. I used an herb infused one plus a little regular and poured it in a little bowl with a smashed clove of garlic. You could also add whatever herbs and spices you might want at this point too, but I prefer to add these at the end.

Step 2: Using a pastry brush, lightly and sparingly brush each slice of bread, front and back, with the oil. ( I had about 55 pieces of bread and had a ton of leftover oil!) I enjoy the tediousness of this process, you could of course just toss the bread and oil, but this will require using more oil for even distribution.

Step 3: Decide on the spices you want to use to flavor your croutons. I always use minced onion, garlic powder, basil, rosemary (fresh from the garden!), thyme, red pepper flakes, paprika and sea salt.

Step 4: Slice bread to desired size. I sliced the bigger pieces in half.

Step 5: Put one layer of your bread pieces in the bottom of a large bowl and add your spices, and then toss. Add the next layer of your bread pieces to the bowl, season and toss. Continue this process of layering and seasoning until all your bread is in the bowl!

Step 6: Place bread pieces on a cookie sheet evenly, not overlapping any pieces. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 350. Make sure to check on them as different ovens and bread types will change baking time, and you don’t want to burn your croutons! Enjoy!