Okay, so I know that most people probably know how to make pasta, but it’s seriously one of my favourite things ever, and it’s so versatile, so I wanted to share a really simple, delicious, homemade take on it.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon oil (I use safflower)
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1-2 garlic cloves, finely diced, or 1 tablespoon smashed roasted garlic spread*
• 2 Field Roast Italian Sausages (or more if you want!), sliced to your desire
• 1 large can crushed tomatoes (I love the Muir Glen Organic Fire-Roasted)
• Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, & Thyme… or whichever ones you like
• crushed red pepper
• other spices to taste
• S&P to taste

• 1 box pasta (I used quinoa veggie curls, they’re cute, yummy, and gluten-free!)
• pinch of salt
• 1-2 tablespoons Earth Balance
• S&P to taste

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the onion, and saute until almost clear.
2. Add in the garlic, saute a bit longer until just cooked.
3. Add in the sliced Field Roast Italian Sausage, and cook until browned.
4. Add in the crushed tomato sauce (pour carefully, and don’t wear white).
5. Mix in spices.
6. Bring to a simmer, turn to low, and let cook for 5-10 minutes (or longer is better).
7. Bring a separate pot of water to boil for the noodles.  Add a pinch of salt.  Cook to package directions.
8. After draining the pasta, throw it back into the pot with the Earth Balance and S&P. Stir until coated.
9. Put your sauce on your noodles in your bowl, and put it in your mouth!  Enjoy!

*to make a roasted garlic spread, simply heat your oven to 450 degrees.  On your full head of garlic, chop off the top so that all the cloves are exposed.  Pour 1-2 tablespoons of oil into the exposed cloves, and wrap in foil.  Roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes, until soft.  Pull out the garlic from the peel, and mash with a bit of olive oil.  Use immediately or store in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.

It’s that time again… Meatless Monday!!  Chef Melanie and I spent hours yesterday working out this recipe for YOU!  I’ve had this idea for a while to make a savory gluten-free crepe, with a bit of a crunch, with apples and some form of cheese.  And then I spent all Saturday morning picking fresh Colorado apples at a rich family friend’s place in the mountains, so I got super stocked up.  The fresh apples work great in this recipe.

Savory Autumn Crepes (gluten-free)
makes 8-12 crepes, depending on size Read the rest of this entry →

It’s Meatless Monday again!  Have you ever talked to someone about being vegan or vegetarian, and they say something like, “I just really need to eat meat/dairy every once in a while”?  As ridiculous as most of us know that sentence is, we all should know that it is a difficult concept to decide to forgo all animal products.  Personally, I remember telling my best friend that I could never be vegan… not more than a week before I did it.  So, we should be understanding when people can’t exactly get their heads around going 100% vegan.  So then, instead of lashing out about all the reasons they should go vegan (which they probably know some of already), simply implore them to try it once a week, on Meatless Mondays!  They’re becoming fairly mainstream, and it’s super easy to go vegan just one day a week.  Plus, before you know it, you’ll probably be doing it even more often, and eventually maybe even take the full plunge.  In any case, one person going vegan for one day DOES make a difference! Read the rest of this entry →

For me, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups were hard to give up. I tried Justin’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups but wasn’t super blown away. Luckily, today, I had an aha! moment.

“Aha!” I said, rifling through my freezer. “I will make chocolate coconut almond butter truffles!”

These had four ingredients (you could add flax seeds). The almond butter was fresh ground from the bulk section. Whole Foods 365 brand keeps it cheap.

I didn’t write down proportions but it’s super easy and I bet you could make them, too.

1. Melt semi-sweet chocolate in a double boiler – put a ceramic/glass/metal bowl over a pot of boiling water. This melts the chocolate and keeps it from burning. Some semi-sweet chocolates have milk products in them, which is annoying, but you just need to check the ingredients.
2. Mix up the almond butter and shredded coconut in a separate bowl. You should be able to make little balls of this coconutty almondy paste that somewhat stay together.
3. Drop the little ball in the melted chocolate and roll it around with a spoon, until it’s coated.
4. Remove the chocolate-coated ball with the spoon and put it on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Freeze.
5. Remove to eat, ravenously. You have to keep them cold-ish or they’ll make a mess.

Here one is, closer up. Enjoy!

**Side note: I thought of entitling this post “Nuts and Balls” but decided that that would not be family-friendly enough for teh Facebooks.