Classic :: Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies ::

Ok.
Are you ready?
This recipe will blow your mind.  Nana won't believe that these are that vegan stuff.  They are moist, fat, soft, and wonderfully packed with plenty of chocolate chips -- the way I LOVE them.  I usually make big, fat ones you wouldn't let yourself eat as a slim, trim 20-something.  No, no -- these are the I-don't-care-I'm-gonna-eat-the-whole-darn-thing-sized cookie.




My husband absolutely loves them.   My father in law had this cookie in cake form, he loves it so much:

You like?  I make them, and deliver them for your next party!


Ahem, ok, now for the serious stuff, the ingredients.  I always make sure my ingredients are organic, and the quality is good.  It really makes a difference in the outcome.  


Vegancitas Chocolate Chip Cookies:


Makes about 24 BIG cookies.


3/4 cup Earth Balance
2 cups organic sugar
1/2 cup organic brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tablespoons soy/rice milk to add as needed
1/2 cup applesauce
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
4 cups flour
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips


Mix dry ingredients, set aside.  Mix vegan butter, sugar and brown sugar until smooth.  Add vanilla and applesauce.  Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients bowl and mix.  Add milk as needed if it seems to dry.  Try to mix sparingly, as the baking soda will lose it's levening agent.  Add your chocolate chips.  


Wha-la!  You can substitute the applesauce for 1/2 cup of pumpkin for halloween!  


I use a 1/4 cup to measure and scoop my cookies, and they are big, beautiful, and delicious.  You can use a tablespoon scoop as well, and cook at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes.  Basically, until they are a pretty golden brown on top.  


Man, these cookies are my favorite.  Anytime I have a hankering for something sweet, I make these.  


So, have fun this weekend, as it is cooling down (maybe) where you live.  Or, you want something to do with your kids for this weather, baking is a wonderful thing to do with your family.  Paolo, who's 3, loves to help me pour the ingredients in the bowl, or turn on the mixer for me.  And he loves being part of something he helped make.  

love, love, love, 
vegancitas

Autumn Goulash with Jasmine Rice, Buttery New Potatoes with Parsley

The weather has cooled down here (por fin!) and, it's been nice to crave food that warms my pansita...


I went to the Farmer's Market last week and picked up some Rainbow Chard.  Have you ever?  It's really tasty.  My husband described it as a "sweet spinach".  It's a very healthy green!  It's high in fiber and antioxidants.  It's slightly bitter, but mixed with the right veggies and seasonings, it's absolutely wonderful.  The leaves are a beautiful emerald green, and the veins and stems are beet red to golden yellow, to even fuschia. I immediately was drawn to this leafy vegetable once i spotted it.  I've never tried this before, so I was really hoping for success!


I sauteed and simmered this with a big zucchini squash, tomatoes, garlic and lemon.  It was absolutely delicious.  Buttery, warm; exactly what I was craving.  Added with some buttery, sweet New Potatoes, and it was a perfect meal for this cooling weather.  


Autumn Goulash:


1 bunch of Rainbow Chard, cut into strips
1 large zucchini squash, or 2 small ones (any type, really), chopped into chunks
3 tomatoes (roma, beefsteak, etc.), diced
3 cloves garlic, diced and minced
1 large lemon
2 tbsp. Earth Balance
2 tsp. lemon pepper
salt and pepper to taste


Steam your Jasmine Rice!


In a large pan, melt Earth Balance and add minced garlic.  Cook garlic for about 2 minutes, then add tomatoes and zucchini. Cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the tomatoes have softened and liquified a little.  Add Rainbow chard and lemon.  Let simmer for 5 minutes more. 




Buttery New Potatoes:


6 New Potatoes, cut into quarters
1 tbsp Earth Balance
1 tbsp parsley
salt and pepper to taste 


Wash your potatoes!


Put everything into a casserole dish and microwave for 12-14 minutes. Check every 6 minutes to mix and check for softness.

Next time, Vegancita's famous Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies!


love, love, love,
vegancita

chicana "chicken" salad

Antonio and I were in the backyard this weekend, embracing the "fall" weather. It is hot as hell, I tell you! We were driving earlier in the day, and the temperature read, "111 degrees". "That can't be right, " I thought, but, hey, we are in Southern California.

After running laps chasing Paolo and feeding Joaquin for the 198th time today (I tell ya, he doesn't stop eating!) It was finally time for Mama to Cook Tonight!

We needed food; and we needed it fast! I was feeling light headed and dizzy...and irritable! Antonio is down right cranky if he's running on low blood sugar, and Paolo; well, I say "EAT!" and he comes a runnin'....

Chicana "chicken" salad came into the evening. I was working with my greens from the night before, and I didn't want them to go to waste....I hate to waste food, I really do.

I always keep these packages of ready to eat grilled "chicken" strips in the refri, because when we are starving and I need food in about 15 minutes, these are saviors! You can find them at Trader Joe's, where the lunch meats are, or at Fresh n' Easy too. I love them, because I can fry them, microwave them, blacken them...they are really delicious.

I fried some flour tortillas for some added crispiness to the salad. And anything fried is always good!

I used beans we had in the fridge too, because I haste waste...I layered everything on and.......wa-la!

Chicana "Chicken"Salad! But, this isn't CHICANA "chicken" salad with some Tapatio hot sauce. Man, forget salad dressing; use this. It amazingly pulls everything together deliciously.

I always make for four people.

chicana chicken salad:

4 flour tortillas

1 package prepared grilled "chicken" strips

1 package salad greens

1 cup/can pinto beans (kidney, garbanzo, or black would be tasty)

1 tomato, diced

crumbled bleu cheese (optional)

1/2 red onion, diced

1 avocado, chopped

banana peppers

Tapatio Hot Sauce

* Fry your flour tortillas in a pan with a little bit of oil. Fry until golden brown. Take out and let cool. Set aside.

* Heat up your chicken. Microwave, stovetop, however you prefer.

* Layer your salad: tortilla, greens, beans, chicken, tomatoes, onions, and anything else you like. I get organic bleu cheese to add to it. The sharpness of the cheese goes well with the hot sauce and the chicken.

* Top it off with Tapatio, and you have your Chicana Chicken Salad. You can also use real chicken, if you are the flesh eating kind:)

love, love, love,

vegancita

chicana "chicken" salad

recipe on monday...hi-yyyyyah!

vegancita

Vegancita: Spicy Vegan Pizza, Fresh Green Salad with Avocados, and Eggless Gingerbread

Here is our feast!  Isn't it lovely?  

My husband and I try to eat together, after the kids have eaten and sometimes gone to b

ed.  It gives us time alone.  We finally catch up for the day, or talk about different ideas we have, or things we saw that day.  It's a really nice time.  Don't get me wrong, family dinner is wonderful; which we have often...But with a 3 year old, and a 3 month old, family dinner isn't, let's say, completely "relaxing".  We'll eat a little snack together with Paolo, so he doesn't feel left out and we aren't famished by the time dinnner time hits.  Yeah, I'm 

a little tired by this time, but it's WORTH IT.  Today though, we ate with the kids...

The pizza was super easy.  I bought the crust from freshn'easy, so no labor was involved in making the pizza crust.  The salad was easy to toss together and the bread I adapted myself.  I sweetened it with agave nectar...I love agave nectar...

Spicy Vegan Pizza:

1 prepared pizza crust

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

1 tomato diced

1 small jar of artichoke hearts (i think 6 oz. or so)

2 cloves garlic, minced

any other add ons: jar of roasted red peppers, black olives, pineapple, pine nuts, mushrooms

1 tblsp olive oil

2 tsp. italian seasoning (oregano and basil will do)

salt and pepper, to taste

- crank your oven to 500 degrees ferenheit. 

- prepare your crust as followed on your package.

- grease your pizza pan lightly, and lay out your pizza dough.

- add your tomatoes, onions, pineapple.

- add your garlic your olives, your pine nuts, and mushrooms.

- add your seasonings now.

- don't forget a little bit of salt and pepper to taste.

- cook for approximately 15 to 20 mins.

   deliciousness!

Fresh Green Salad with Avocado:

organic spring greens

tomatoes, chopped

pine nuts

avocados, chopped

salt and pepper

- toss together with some lemon, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil.

Eggless Gingerbread:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup organic sugar

1/2 cup agave nectar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 cup Earth Balance

1/2 cup soy/rice milk

- preheat to 350 degrees

- mix all dry ingredients (except sugar), set aside.

- mix Earth Balance and sugar until smooth.  Add agave nectar and milk until well mixed.  

- add dry ingredients and mix well.

- bake for 17-20 minutes at 350 degrees (but don't ever really take your eyes off of it....you don't want to burn it, do you??)

love, love, love, 

vegancitas

Hello new blog

This is a call out to those who love food:

  Those who love to cook;  for yourself, for your friends.

 For your husband, your wife, your partner, your children.

  For your grandparents, your parents, your long lost lovers...

Whomever you do it for....

      You do it with glitz, with gusto, with passion. You love smelling it, cooking it, especially eating it!

2 mamas, 1 mamacita...lots of good food.

Wait and see!

Up to bat first:

 

Vegancita; and her spicy vegan pizza, fresh salad greens and eggless gingerbread.