I emailed to find out if the Buttered Cinnamon Raisin Toast tea at 52teas.com contains dairy and got a response that all of their “natural flavors” are vegan. He is checking into whether the imitation bacon bits used in some of their teas are vegan. I will update if I hear more on that.

Hi,
Can you tell me if flavors like Buttered Cinnamon Raisin Toast contain any dairy (the natural flavors is unclear)? Also, are there any animal products in your imitation bacon bits?
Thanks, Kristin

Kristin,

Thanks for your interest in our products. All of our natural flavors (including—believe it or not—the bacon flavor, are 100% vegan and certified Kosher). I know I was stunned by this at first myself (How can you have natural butter and bacon flavors that are vegan?) but the manufacturer explained to me that these are natural bacon-like and butter-like flavors, so I guess that’s that.

So, you have nothing to fear from the flavors themselves. As far as the bacon bits go, I should be able to answer your question, but unfortunately, I cannot. We grabbed some imitation bacon bits from the grocery store to give the blend a little color, and I don’t have the jars any more. I don’t THINK there were any animal products in them, but I couldn’t tell you with absolute certainty. Next time we re-blend it, I will pay closer attention.

Let me know if you have any other questions,
Frank
52teas

I’ve been searching and experimenting for a long long time to get the perfect dinner roll recipe. This is it! It is a home on the table on a special occasion and it is also great with a warm mug of soup or stew. These rolls are super soft and they taste fantastic. The recipe makes a lot, so you can pull them apart, cool, and then freeze remaining rolls for another night (if there are any left over).

This recipe is originally from nstemple on Veg Web. I’ve modified it to make corrections and to give the bread more softness.

Maple Wheat Pull-Apart Rolls

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warmed unsweetened soy milk (microwave about 30 seconds)
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 pkg. instant yeast (quick-rise)**
1/4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
2 cups unbleached white flour***
1 teaspoon salt
Oil for brushing

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine soy milk and maple syrup. Add yeast and stir to dissolve. Cover and let sit until bubbly, about 5 minutes.

To yeast mixture, add canola oil, whole-wheat flour, 1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour, and salt. Stir until well mixed.

Generously flour a work surface with some the remaining flour and place dough on it. Knead dough, gradually incorporating remaining flour (until the dough you’ve incorporated enough that the dough doesn’t stick to your hands). The kneading will take 10 to 12 minutes. By the end of this time the dough should be slightly sticky but it should not stick to your hands (add a little more flour if it does). Place dough in a large oiled bowl, turn dough in bowl to coat with oil, and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Place in a warm place. Let rise until doubled, 30 to 45 minutes.

Lightly oil an 9″x16″ glass baking pan. Divide dough into 16 equal pieces, shape into round balls, brush lightly with oil, and place in prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap, place in a warm place, and let rise until until doubled, 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake rolls until golden brown, 20 minutes.

** High Altitude – use less than a package. I didn’t measure it, I just left about a 1/2 tsp in the package.
*** This will depend on the dryness of your flour. I live in very dry climate, so my flour is very dry. You may need more.

The recipe below is from 1,000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson.

—x-posted over at Cooking from 1000 Vegan Recipes—

I’ve had a favorite vegan macaroni and ‘cheese’ recipe for years (New Farm Cookbook recipe) and have been quite dedicated to it. I see new recipes for macaroni and ‘cheese’ all the time and have not been able to bring myself to try another. I sometimes even buy ingredients to try another recipe and wind up making the old standby. Well I finally did it. I made a different recipe.

I tried the Baked Mac and Cheeze and you know, I loved it. I still like my old recipe too, but I cannot decide which one I like more. This recipe is less creamy (and probably a lot healthier) but it tastes great. It has a little onion in it which gives it a nice flavor and also has a healthy dose of cayenne for a big kick. I think I might use just a tad less cayenne next time, but otherwise, I would not change a thing. This recipe will probably now be the go-to macaroni and ‘cheese’ recipe for a while. It was time for a change.

I used whole wheat breadcrumbs for the topping.

Served it with broccoli.

The recipe below is from 1,000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson.

—x-posted over at Cooking from 1000 Vegan Recipes—

I recently bought some seitan from a local natural foods store. I didn’t realize till I got home that it was shaved seitan (cut very thinly). I had no idea what to do with that, so I stuck it in the freezer. I was looking through the book looking for something to make and saw the Seitan Noodle Casserole {p 316}. It looked perfect for the seitan in the freezer. I made this last night for dinner and thought it was just ok. I expected it to be creamier than it was (more like a tetrazzini). It tasted fine, but I’m not sure I’d make it again.

I’m guest posting over at Cooking from 1000 Vegan Recipes this week, so you’ll see that all my posts will be cross posted over there. The recipe below is from 1,000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson.

—x-posted over at Cooking from 1000 Vegan Recipes—

I love tahini in just about anything. I especially love tahini in salad dressing so I had to try out the Creamy Tahini Dressing {page 102} and I definitely was not disappointed. The tahini really shines in this dressing and makes me look forward to our nightly dinner salad. I did think that it was missing an element of sweetness so I might add a dash of agave nectar to it next time.

The only change I made to this recipe was to mix the dressing in the Vita-Mix instead of mixing by hand. The salad is green leaf lettuce, dried cranberries, and gomasio.

I got 5 lbs of free potatoes from our local natural foods store, Cali’s. They needed to be used up pretty quickly as they were already growing some eyes. I looked around the house to see what I had and came up with a potato, leek, carnival squash, roasted garlic soup. The recipe is below. It is for a Fagor pressure cooker at high altitude. For lower altitude, you probably will need less cooking time. You could also make this on the stove and cook for much longer. But, I think the pressure cooker is integral to get the creamy texture of this soup.

Creamy Potato, Leek, Carnival Squash and Roasted Garlic Soup

Ingredients:
2 carnival squash
2 heads garlic
olive oil, salt, pepper
1 T olive oil
2 leeks, white parts cleaned and sliced thin
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried basil
a few cranks of pepper
1/4 c white wine
4 c water
2.5 lbs yukon gold potatoes (4 large), peeled and cut into 1.5″ chunks
1/2 T olive oil
2 T fresh parsley
1 not-chicken bouillon cube
1.5 c soy milk
1/2 c Silk soy creamer
2 T Earth Balance margarine
salt and pepper, to taste

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Slice carnival squash in half and scoop out seeds. Rub the cut side with olive oil and place on a foil lined cookie sheet. Bake for 40-50 min, until tender. Meanwhile, remove loose paper from garlic, slice off the tops, and place in a foil packet. Pour about a tablespoon of olive oil over the garlic and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Seal up the foil packet and bake for 50 minutes at 400. Remove everything from the oven and cool for a while. When cool, scrape the squash insides into a bowl and squeeze out the garlic cloves into the same bowl. Set aside for later.

Using the brown function of the electric pressure cooker (or the stove top), cook the leeks in about a tablespoon of olive oil till tender. When leeks are tender, add the dried herbs and a few cranks of pepper. Cook for about a minute. Add the white wine and cook for another minute. Add 4 cups of water and the potatoes. Add 1/2 T olive oil to the top of the liquid to prevent potato foaming in the pressure cooker. Close lid and cook for 7 minutes (less at regular altitude). Quick release when done, and add the squash, garlic, bouillon cube, and 2 T fresh parsley. Close lid and cook for another 3 minutes. Quick release.

If your pressure cooker is non-stick, you might want to use a measuring cup to scoop the soup to another pot for this next step. Add the cream, soy milk, and margarine along with some salt and pepper. Use a stick blender to puree the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a soft roll and a big dinner salad.

I’m still cooking out of 1000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson. I’m really liking this book. This is Carbonara Style Pasta. I don’t have much to say about this other than YUM.

I used my own vegan parmesan made from the uncheese cookbook recipe, spaghettini, fakin’ bacon, and added peas as suggested in the notes. Go make this because it is amazing!

Yesterday I made some excellent muffins. The recipe is from 1000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson. It is actually a recipe for Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, but I made it into muffins. I’ve had one too many quick bread recipes turn out mushy in the middle and I wasn’t in the mood for failure. Turning the bread into muffins makes it a safer bet that it will be cooked through and quite honestly makes portioning easier too – and I don’t have to slice the bread! These turned out really really good and were quick to put together.

Here are some pics:

It’s gets cold outside and I suddenly need to bake. Tonight I made Chocolate Chip Cookies. I’ve got this recipe down so I don’t even screw around with trying others anymore.

Here is the Tollhouse Cookie recipe veganized:

Vegan Tollhouse Cookies
See High Altitude Vegan version below.

Ingredients
2 Tbsp ground flax seeds
6 Tbsp warm water
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) Earth Balance vegan margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) vegan chocolate chips [1]

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

Combine flax seeds and water in a bowl and set aside.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Set aside.

Beat margarine, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Stir flax mixture well and then add half of it. Mix well. Add the other half and mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. [2]

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

High Altitude Vegan Tollhouse Cookies

Ingredients
2 Tbsp ground flax seeds
6 Tbsp warm water
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) Earth Balance vegan margarine, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tsp water
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) vegan chocolate chips [1]

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

Combine flax seeds and water in a bowl and set aside.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Set aside.

Beat margarine, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Stir flax mixture well and then add half of it. Mix well. Add the other half and mix well. Add the 2 tsp water and gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. [2]

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

1 – most semi-sweet chocolate chips are vegan but double-check the ingredients.
2 – I bake 2 dozen and the roll the rest of the dough into 1 inch balls and put them on plates in the freezer. When frozen, move to a freezer bag. Then anytime you want a cookie, put it on a cookie sheet and bake about 15 min or so, until done.

It is a bit of a Thanksgiving tradition in my house that I bake a pie for Thanksgiving that I invariably hate, then bake another pie the next day. This year was no exception. I didn’t like the pumpkin pie. It came out much too sweet for my tastes, so another pie was made. This pie is an Apple Streusel pie made from my grandmother’s tried and true recipe. And from the pic you can see the I obviously made my own crust (I am the worst at pie crust shaping). I can’t wait to eat this one!