Mango Pancakes

There's nothing like a nice fluffy animal-product free pancake made with love and eaten while watching cartoons on a lazy weekend morning. And adding fruit to your pancakes makes them that much better!


There's the typical fruits- blueberries, bananas... but what about something a little more exotic? A little more refreshing? How about mangoes?


It may sound strange but when it comes to adding fruit to pancakes nothing is quite as delicious or unique as mangoes. 


Making vegan pancakes is easy and including the mango is just a few more small steps!


You will need: 


1 ripe mango
1 cup flour (whichever kind you prefer) 
1 tablespoon organic sugar 
2 tablespoons baking powder 
1/8 teaspoon salt 
1 cup almond milk 
2 tablespoons oil


First chop your mango around the pit and remove the peel. We like to use the method where you cut 4 sections and then carve a lined pattern into the mango section, turn inside out and slice off squares.

Once you have all your mango diced, place into a small bowl and set to the side. 
















Then combine all dry ingredients- flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium to large bowl. Stir well.


Now add in wet ingredients- almond milk and oil and continue to stir until smooth.


Once all the lumps are out add in half of the mango pieces from the bowl and throughly mix in.


Heat a non-stick pan to medium heat. Once heated, spoon out batter to desired pancake size. Flip when pancakes begin to bubble.

Continue to cook on opposite side until golden brown or slightly darker depending on preference.

Once batter is gone stack pancakes in individual stacks and top with mango from bowl. Should serve 3-4 people. 

These are great just the way they are but they are also great served with maple syrup!

Now, put on some cartoons and enjoy!

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

Happy Birthday! Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes!

1. Today is a special day around The Two Vegan Ladies household. It's Jenna's Birthday! For the occasion we're doing a lot of different things to celebrate including going out to our favorite all-vegan restaurant with family, spending the day at a water park, and making delicious homemade vegan chocolate cupcakes! 
2. There's a lot of different recipes out there for animal-free cupcakes. A lot of people suggest applesauce or flaxseed to replace the egg typically suggested for cake recipes. We've tried a lot of them with varied results, but in all, when we're wanting chocolate cupcakes- this is our go-to recipe.

What you'll need:

1 cup almond milk

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

3/4 cup raw sugar

1/3 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract or more vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

First, preheat your oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with paper, foil, or reusable liners. Reusable liners you say? Yes, they do exist! Check them out: Reusable Baking Cups The good part about these is you can just pop the cupcake out!

Now, whisk together the almond milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for five minutes to curdle. 

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. 

Next, add the sugar, oil, and extracts to the almond milk mixture and beat until foamy. 

Now, add all together and beat until there are no lumps.

Pour mixture into liners. Fill each cup about 3/4 of the way full. 

Bake 18 to 20 minutes. Test by sticking a toothpick in the center and making sure it comes out clean. 

Once baked, transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting.

So then what about frosting?

Well oddly enough a lot of store-bought frostings are already animal product free. Like the Pillsbury Crescent Rolls- "so fake, it's vegan!" For instance the Pillsbury Cream Cheese frosting... vegan. That's correct. It contains neither cream nor cheese! 

So either take a look at the back of a canned icing (be mindful of whey, carmine if it's tinted redish, and casin)  or try this recipe if you feel like going for something homemade!

This is buttercream type icing. Like what you would taste on a typical birthday cake.

What you'll need:

1 cup shortening 

3 1/2 vegan powdered sugar (any organic powdered sugar will be vegan)

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 almond milk

Beat the shortening and powdered sugar toegther until well belnded. Add the vanilla extract and almond milk and beat for another 5 minutes or until fluffy. 

And don't forget the sprinkles!

With peace, love, and compassion-

The Two Vegan Ladies