photo by dysonish on Recipezaar

My husband and I made these for dinner (our schedules are a little off kilter these days). And we didn’t have syrup But they were still so good! We just topped them with a little Earth Balance. They’re fluffy and yummy and so simple to make!

5 Minute Vegan Pancakes

Kris Carr; cancer survivor, author, filmmaker, motivational speaker, and former model/actress, received VegNews‘ 2009 Veggie Award for “Website Launch of the Year.” CrazySexyLife.com is based on her mantra of “heath, spiritual wealth, and happiness.” She lives a plant-based lifestyle and has a veg blog posse that includes rockstars, raw-foodists, stylists, and more. Kris Carr has catapulted into the spotlight, including press coverage in Vanity Fair, Shape, Glamour, Natural Health, Yoga Journal, and has been mentioned by Oprah, Donna Karen, Dr. Oz, Sheryl Crow, Katie Couric, and Lance Armstrong.

The site includes book recommendations, CD and DVD recommendations, a directory and resources for healthy living, links to wellness centers, a Veggie Vixen starter kit, tips for going green, and a shop to pick up healthy living essentials, including Kris’ favorite products. If you register to become a member (for free), you can join my.crazysexylife.com, and create your own Crazy Sexy Life page, join a forum in The Life Lounge, and join other groups.

Kris Carr’s fame and inspiration stem from her documentary, Crazy Sexy Cancer. Watch the inspirational trailer here:

buy the documentary:

I definitely eat less salads when it’s super cold out. But today felt like a good salad day. Something light, simple, refreshing, and, yes, healthy!

Ingredients:

• Romaine lettuce, chopped
• cherry tomatoes, sliced
• Vegan cheddar cheese, shredded
• chik’n nuggets, grilled and sliced
• Walden Farms Ranch Dressing (calorie, carb, fat, gluten, cholesterol, and preservative free!)

• McCormick Salad Toppins

I love winter break! I actually have time to make yummy food. This evening’s dish is vegan lasagna. I looked up a few different recipes and kinda did my own thing. Lasagna is fun like that. And is ideal for someone like myself who often strays from standard recipes for one reason or another.

We used a 10.5×7″ stoneware dish, but you could probably go a bit bigger. We reached maximum capacity with ours. And glass works fine, too.

Ingredients:

• handful of fresh basil
• 1 box lasagne noodles
• 12 oz. bag of soy crumbles
• 18 oz jar of marinara sauce (at least)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 C chopped onion (or onion powder)
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced (or garlic powder)
• 1.5 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/2 block vegan cheddar
• 1/2 block vegan mozzarella
• 1/2 tub firm tofu
• tub of vegan cream cheese
• few squeezes of lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Boil lasagne noodles with a pinch of salt to al dente. Drain and cool.
In skillet, simmer soy crumbles with olive oil, onion, and garlic. Once cooked, add marinara sauce, fresh basil (chopped or whole), and oregano.

In food processor, make “ricotta.” Put tofu, cream cheese, olive oil, and lemon juice. Pulse until mixed. Try to maintain coarser texture.

In dish, layer bottom with noodles, then soy crumbles, then “ricotta”, then grate mozzarella and cheddar on top. Repeat layering process 2-3 more times. Top with oregano. Bake for about 40 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes or so before serving.

Note: to avoid burning the edges of the noodles, which is easy to do, cover the noodles completely with sauce. Lesson learned.

After some resistance, I finally gave in and saw The Princess and the Frog with my husband. And I ended up really enjoying it. It’s a good story, funny, visually appealing, and has some enjoyable music. So, this, in addition to Sleeping Beauty, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wall-E, A Christmas Story, and Where the Wild Things Are, goes on my list of approved movies for my future children that won’t annoy the hell out of me.

As we wandered back home in the unbearable cold, we were both salivating over all the gumbo in the movie. Though I didn’t have all the ingredients required, I decided to give it a go. I learned the hard way that okra is a key thickening agent in gumbo. Without it my gumbo was pretty soupy. I also didn’t have file powder, which is powdered sassafras leaves that add authentic Cajun flavor and also serve as a thickening agent. Some recipes call for flour instead.

So, here are some vegan gumbo recipes to keep you warm this winter. There’s quite a variety out there, so you’re bound to find one that suits your palate:

Vegan Chef Glorious Green Gumbo
http://www.veganchef.com/gloriousgreen.htm (calls for nutritional yeast)

Gumbo With Vegan Andouille Sausage

http://vegandad.blogspot.com/2008/05/gumbo-with-vegan-andouille-sausage.html

About.com Louisiana Vegetarian Gumbo:

http://vegetarian.about.com/od/maindishentreerecipes/r/veggumbo.htm

ehow Vegan Gumbo
http://www.ehow.com/how_2079619_make-vegan-gumbo.html

Fat Free Vegan Black-Eyed-Pea Gumbo

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/08/black-eyed-pea-gumbo.html

Fat Free Vegan Crockpot Gumbo

http://www.fatfreevegan.com/crockpot/gumbo.shtml

Recipe Zaar 10 Vegan Gumbo Recipes

http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes.php?categ=168%2C54&ls=d

Veg Web Vegan Gumbo

http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=27730.0

Recipe Land Pure Vegan Gumbo

http://recipeland.com/recipe/v/Pure-Vegan-Gumbo-31741

Recipe Source Vegan Gumbo

http://www.recipesource.com/soups/soups/04/rec0436.html

Big Oven Pure Vegan Gumbo
http://www.bigoven.com/9930-Pure-Vegan-Gumbo-recipe.html

Vegetable Stew Gumbo

http://www.vegan-food.net/recipe/112/Gumbo/