Baked Zucchini Boats (Only 128 calories!)

Are you looking for a recipe that is fun to make, delicious, esthetically plesasing, and low in calories? Oh.. and vegan... did we mention vegan? Well then look no further! Our Baked Zucchini Boats are only 128 calories each!

Also, they are already conveniently located in the My Fitness Pal food database. Haven't been on My Fitness Pal? Well, if you're looking to drop a few pounds or simply keep track of your exercise/calorie intake then you should check it out! It is a wonderful site we have both been using for a couple years to regulate our health and fitness goals.

We plan on adding more of our recipes into the food database on MFP but for right now we just have these guys. Once you cook up these Zucchini Boats just search: "Two Vegan Ladies" and they will pop up!

Note: MFP listing is for 1 boat. Does not include pasta or additional boats. A full meal serving-size to us is 2 boats. So about 256 calories. (Not bad for a whole meal!) But we programed the listing as 1 boat so you can regulate it as you see fit. One boat would make a delicious snack.

So let's get to it!

You will need:

2-4 raw zucchinis
1 package firm tofu
4 tablespoons nutritional yeast
garlic powder
salt
pepper
dried basil
dried Italian seasoning
spray oil
1 8oz can of tomato sauce
1/4 block Vegan Gourmet Follow Your Heart Mozzarella Cheese
green onions

First, preheat oven to 350ºF then cut each zucchini in half length-wise and, with a spoon, scoop out seeds. You want to scoop out all the pulp until you have a nice cavern for your stuffing. Set pulp to side (you're gonna need it in a minute!)

Next, in a food processor, combine tofu, nutritional yeast, and all spices. Now, you didn't think we were gonna waste all that delicious and nutritious zucchini pulp, did you? Throw all those pulp guts and seeds right into the food processor with your tofu and spices and blend until thick and creamy.

Now, fill each of your hollowed out zucchini halves with about 2-3 tablespoons of the tofu mixture. Fill them right to the top but to do not overflow.

Spray a casserole dish with a little cooking spray and lay out your stuffed zucchini boats so they fit snuggly. The set in oven.

Let's talk about sauce while our boats cook for about 15 minutes. Canned tomato sauce can be a little bland so it's up to you whether or not you want to flavor it up a bit first before adding it to your boats. We like to quickly throw it in a small sauce pan with some garlic powder and other dried seasonings just to give it a little more kick.

You could also use any homemade or canned sauce of your choice here, but note that the My Fitness Pal database numbers will only reflect the 8oz canned sauce.

Either way, once your sauce is ready to go and 15 minutes has elapsed, pull out the boats. Turn heat up to 450ºF.

Add 2-3 tablespoons of sauce to the top of each zucchini boat. Make sure you spread it out over the whole thing so the flavor will be even.

Next, with a cheese grater, finely grate Vegan Gourmet Follow Your Heart Mozzarella Cheese on top of the saucy boats. Try not to add more than a tablespoon or a tablespoon and a half to each one.

Then chop some green onions and sprinkle on the top for garnish. Place casserole dish back into oven. (Which should now be heated to 450ºF.)

Bake for about 20 minutes or until cheese starts to get really melty and just slightly browned. You may even want to stick the boats under the broiler for just a second before pulling them out depending on how you like your cheese.

Let cool for a few minutes then serve.

These are very yummy as they are but we did serve ours on a bed of pasta that night. They would also go nicely with a side of steamed veggies.

They keep very well in the fridge, so don't be afraid to make a bunch at once!

Enjoy and don't forget add this dish into your My Fitness Pal diary! Just search: Two Vegan Ladies!

With peace, love, and compassion-
The Two Vegan Ladies
 

Vegantastic Shrimp Parmesan!

Years ago when we were still eating seafood, eggs, and diary products there were few meals we enjoyed more than a good shrimp parmesan. Reserved for special occasions, like anniversaries and Valentine's Day, Jenna would whip up a huge pan of cheese covered breaded shrimp and serve it with a huge helping of pasta and garlic bread.

A lot has changed since then. For one, we no longer consume any animal-based products. Thank goodness! For two, we try to make better eating choices in general when it comes to meals like this. As in, pasta made from vegetables and smaller portions. We also load the marinara sauce up with veggies and mushrooms and split a piece of garlic bread half the size of what we would have eaten years ago.

With all that said, making the change from shrimp to the plant-based seafood made by Sophie's Kitchen, The Vegg instead of egg yolk, Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet Cheese, and Garden Delight Veggie Pasta drastically reduces the negative caloric and fat intake a meal like this would typically include. So feel free to make it on any "special" occasion. Like getting a good grade on a test or remembering to take a shower... okay any reason at all!

These substitutes are much lower in calories and fat and.... they are amazingly tasty!

This meal is going to include a lot of different vegan products and is a great opportunity to try out a variety of these speciality vegan creations.

You will need:

Sophie's Kitchen Vegan Prawns
The Vegg Vegan Egg Yolk
Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet Mozzarella Cheese
Garden Delight Pasta (or pasta of your choice)
Bread Crumbs
Oil for pan-frying
Pasta Sauce (loaded with veggies of choice and/or mushrooms)
Fresh Bread
Earth Balance
Garlic Powder
Nutritional Yeast

So to begin, Sophie's Kitchen is a great company which offers a wide variety of frozen seafood-like products like breaded fish fillets and vegan prawns. They also offer a breaded shrimp which would probably work great for this recipe but we were really eager to try out a new product called "The Vegg" so we went with the unbreaded variety.

The Vegg is the world's first totally vegan egg yolk. This is the first time we have used it and let us tell you- yes, it looks like egg. Yes, it is the texture of egg. Yes, it works in recipes like egg. But more than any of that... this stuff SMELLS like egg. After blending it up to use for breading the vegan prawns we were so overwhelmed and impressed with how much this vegan product resembles actual egg yolk. You have to give this stuff a try. People are making some amazing things with it like french toast, and fried "eggs"... we are really eager to keep working with it.

Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet Mozzarella Cheese is always amazing. Palm oil free, super melty, and full of flavor. Just how we like it! If you're worried about missing cheese after taking the vegan plunge, don't worry, this compassionate cheese has you covered.

Now, to the recipe.

First, mix your Vegg with water and blend according to directions on bag. You will only need enough to dip your prawns in for breading purposes.

Next, heat a pan to medium-high heat with some oil for frying and fill a shallow bowl or plater with bread crumbs.

Then, dip each of your prawns into The Vegg until covered in liquid and then put immediately into the bread crumbs until well coated.

If pan is ready and well heated set your coated prawns in the oil and fry both sides until golden brown. Set on paper towel covered plate to drain excess oil.

Now, prepare your mariana sauce of choice and make sure to add a good amount of peppers, onions, fresh garlic, and mushrooms. You will need about two cups of sauce.

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Cut your vegan cheese in slices from the block. Each slice should be about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick at most- you want them to melt pretty evenly in the oven.

Layer a shallow baking pan with 1/4 sauce, followed by breaded prawns, then 1/4 cup sauce and cheese.

Let bake in over for 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil your noodles. When we can't get a hold of local noodles made from veggies we default to a product Ronzoni makes called Garden Delight. They can be found in most grocery stores and the nutrition is much better compared to most common pasta varieties. Not that you will be able to taste much of a difference. Less starchy and processed perhaps. But that's about all.

By the time your noodles are boiled it should be about time to check on your prawns. If the cheese is not yet browning set on top rack of oven and broil for just a few seconds. This will happen fast! Then remove from oven and set aside.

Turn your oven back down to 350ºF and spread some Earth Balance on a piece of french bread or fresh bread of your choice. Then top with grated garlic or garlic powder. You could also add some some dried basil/oregano and perhaps a little dried red pepper. Bake for just a few minutes until Earth Balance is melted and bread begins to crisp.

You could alternatively make some of our quick and easy Impressive Bread in a pinch.

Now, everything should be ready to serve. Drain your noodles and top with remaining sauce on a large plate or in a large bowl. This meal is all about family style serving!

Bring over some tongs/spatulas and serve-up the pasta/sauce, garlic bread, and baked cheesy prawns. We also made a salad to go on the side. Gotta throw in more veggies anywhere you can!

Serve with a side of Nutritional Yeast for a cheesy flavored topping!

We hope you enjoy this meal. It is certainly one of our favroties. And honestly, when you can still make a delicious creulty-free shrimp parmesan, with the help of companies like Sophie's Kitchen, The Vegg, and Follow Your Heart- what reason is there not to go vegan?

With peace, love, and compassion-
The Two Vegan Ladies

Crafty Mac 'n' Cheese

For some of us, no matter how much we change our diets for the better there are still foods that stick with us. We may know that processed foods can make our bodies feel icky and slow but that doesn't change the fact that, even though we no longer consume them, we can look back on quick staple meals from our childhood like boxed macaroni and cheese with fond memories. We may even crave them.


There are even some of us who (although we may not want to admit it) were actually so previously accustomed to the taste of boxed mac and cheese that anything made with real whole foods just seems flavorless or just not quite to that level of radioactive powdered cheese perfection.


This recipe attempts to address that mac and cheese distress your inner child has been expressing, and give it a more natural spin. So whether you're getting off the boxed variety because it contains animal products or because you know the combination of yellow #6, yellow #5, and sodium tripolyphosphate is probably not something you should be putting in your body-  give this recipe a whirl and see if it silences your inner 5 year old for just one meal.


Before we begin, let's say a few words about the hero of this dish, turmeric. A truly underrated spice, turmeric not only has an unlimited number of health benefits (check this list out: Benefits of Turmeric), but it is also what will be making our dish naturally yellow. No dyes, no chemicals- straight from the earth-type color. So thank you turmeric! 


What you'll need:


1 package of soft tofu
1/2 cup Nutritional Yeast

Turmeric

1 teaspoon Deli or Spicy Style Mustard

2 teaspoons Yellow Mustard

1 teaspoon Powdered Mustard

1/2 teaspoons Ground Sage (optional)

2 tablespoons Garlic Powder (powder not salt)

2-3 tablespoons Turmeric

1 teaspoon Cumin

1 teaspoon organic cane sugar

4 tablespoons Earth Balance (soy free is our favorite!)

1 teaspoon Lemon Juice

3 tablespoons Soy Sauce
1/2 cup Almond Milk

Salt

Pepper

1 package of noodles, elbow or rotini work best

Step 1: Open and drain water from tofu then place in food processor with nutritional yeast, all mustards, sage, garlic powder, turmeric, cumin, and sugar. Blend until smooth and creamy. Make sure to push down any wandering clumps of spices. You really want this to be smooth.

Step 2: In a medium sauce pan melt Earth Balance over medium heat. Once softened add the contents of the food processor and stir well.

Step 3: Give the mixture a few minutes to blend then add lemon juice, soy sauce and almond milk one at a time, stirring constantly. 

Step 4: Turn heat down to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Try not to let it bubble too much if possible. Stir often. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Step 5: Boil and drain noodles, mix in 'cheesy' sauce- enjoy!

So what about baked mac and cheese? You know that stuff that's super moist and has crumbled crackers in it? The soul food type of mac and cheese...?

If you want to make a casserole style baked mac and cheese dish then you will need just a few more things. 

You will need:

3 tubes of Vegetable Ritz Crackers 

4 Tablespoons of Earth Balance (again, soy-free tastes the most like butter to us)


Note that blneding the crackers and vegan margarine into this recipe will add in a little more of the processed food element and certainly up the fat content. However, a recipe for a baked casserole version was requested, so here it is!

Step 1: Use the previous mac and cheese recipe but cook the noodles a little less than normal. You want them to be a little firm. Once baked, they will continue to cook.

Step 2: Melt your butter and in a rectangular casserole dish pour about 1 tablespoon of butter then crush 2 tubes of crackers and place on top. You don't want to grind the crackers into a fine powder. Just enough so that they will easily move around the dish.

Step 3: Layer your mac and cheese on top then give the noodles and crackers a few quick stirs to blend the crackers into the mac and cheese.

Step 4: Crush the last tube of crackers and layer it on the top of the casserole then take the remainder or your Earth Balance and drizzle all over the top, coating the crackers. 

Step 5: Bake at 350ºF for 20 minutes. Let cool before serving.

Note: If you're looking for some more nutritional content for this dish try adding some kale or spinach. We've also seen people add peas, carrots, really any veggie to the mix. Your inner five year old may complain, but they'll get over it. We promise!

With peace, love, and compassion-

The Two Vegan Ladies